The DrearGyre

wall reading the pad. The guards stood uncertainly at the door while the interrogator stumbled about the cell until he finally smashed Kari hard enough to force her to let go. He turned, grabbed her by the neck and started to strangle her. She tried to kick but there was no fight left. Her hands fell away from his wrists. She started to turn blue.

  “This student appears to have an interesting definition of what mastering oneself means, sir,” Syll observed to the older Romulan.

  “He will have to thank this prisoner for providing him the opportunity to study many long hours on that subject as well as on the subject of preparation.”

  The student dropped her and she slumped to the ground. She could hardly see as she coughed.

  “I will NOT thank her,” the student roared.

  The older Romulan straightened and turned towards him.

  The student pounded the wall then turned to Kari. “Thank you,” he snarled.

  “Anytime,” she wheezed, waving a hand.

  “You turned your back on a prisoner,” Syll told the student, her voice soft and neutral. “You are fortunate she is not a Breen.”

  He stomped out holding his ear.

  Kari struggled to her feet as best she could. Her side still ached and her lip was cut. She adopted the pose keeping her eyes lowered though she wobbled a little.

  “738766 appears to know our procedures quite well,” the older Romulan commented.

  Syll raised an eyebrow. “The procedures of the Tal Shiar are forever safe with me, sir.”

  She turned to Kari. “738766, how did you come by your knowledge?”

  “Mistress Syll, it took us almost two months to arrive here.”

  “I see. You found the crew of the Darksend to be communicative?”

  “They taught me a little of your language, Mistress Syll,” she coughed out, her voice hoarse. “We had to speak of something. It was of no consequence.”

  “As you say.”

  “No one knew or was willing to say what is likely to happen next. Permission to speak, Master and Mistress Syll.”

  “Permission granted, 738766,” he said.

  “With respect, don’t take my cooperation or inability to withstand your tortures as approval or acquiescence. If I can, I will escape. You killed my friends, destroyed my ship, attacked the Federation. You must pay for that. Master and Mistress Syll.”

  “And where would you go if you escaped here, 738766?” the Master asked. “To the Beloved Nephew?”

  She tried to stifle her gasp, then said. “Maybe if I could bring him to justice for his crimes, then yes.”

  “The Beloved Nephew is a great man and very busy. We do not want to distract him from his important duties with the knowledge of your whereabouts.”

  Her head jerked up. “He’s looking for me? Why? I’m no one. He’s got to have better things to do.”

  Mistress Syll answered. “He has many better things to do. And one would think the Stars of Wisdom would guide him in attending to them. However, it does not mean his attention is not drawn to that which has proved, thus far, elusive.”

  Kari tried to hide her bitterness. “I thought he’d just forget about me once you bastards had your hands on me.”

  “The Tal Shiar are of course always willing and ready to cooperate in assisting the Beloved Nephew,” the male said. “It is our duty to always serve Romulus. We are not controlled by the Beloved Nephew. As I am sure he understands, we report to the authority at the very highest of echelons.”

  “Reassuring, master.”

  He tossed the pad to Syll. “She is your responsibility, Commander Syll. I don’t want another of my students ruined by her. Use your own. Invite her to give up her secrets and then be done.”

  As he left, he didn’t take his eyes off Kari.

  Syll handed the bowl to one of the guards. “Bring me another bowl of soup. Unadulterated. And a healer.”

  They saluted and left, quickly returning with another bowl and the instrument. Syll ordered her to sit on the bed and take the bowl. Kari looked at the soup then sipped the contents carefully. It tasted exactly the same as the first. She finished it though her stomach complained a little.

  “Try not to throw it at me this time,” Syll said, sitting down. “Now turn.”

  “It is an ancient Human fighting tradition, Mistress Syll. Soup bowl tossing. I am quite expert.”

  Syll was glad that the Human’s back was turned. “Hold still.”

  She held the thin shoulder as she moved the healer over the contusions.

  “Isn’t this a little like putting a nice coat of paint on a target?”

  “It is part of the conditioning. To make you pliant and accepting of our mastery of every part of you. You will accept me as your Mistress and you will surrender all your secrets to me.”

  Kari was starting to fall asleep. The poison, the beating, then finally feeling she had real food inside of her made her feel dopey.

  She patted Syll’s hand. “Well, Mistress Syll,” she mumbled. “You may condition me any time you want.”

  The more steps a plan has the more likely it is to fail at step one -- Tal Shiar Proverb

  Vain called Seren to join her in the lookout. The Human scrambled up from the mine shaft to where they could observe most approaches to their home.

  Nursing the ancient mining machinery consumed their time and energy. Seren came to enjoy it. Vain’s time on a Romulan warbird helped her understand the primitive technology though she had no background. However, she had no love for the little creatures in the shafts and refused to go very deep. The best part however was waving at and thanking the man who had sold the mine to them. They loved how his eyes teared up each time.

  The alarm had winked off days ago. If it had been a ship trying to cloak, then it had moved off. Or the alarm had simply stopped working. Or as they hoped, there’d been nothing there at all.

  Seren observed through the binoculars while Vain just watched the cloud of dust heading in their direction. They both recognized the beat up old speeder.

  “Sheriff,” Seren greeted, as he stomped in making their small living room look even smaller. “Your first visit to us! We’re honored. What brings you all the way out here?”

  “Damned fog. Couldn’t get through to you. It’s all over out there today. Think we’re socked in now too,” he groused. He beat himself sending dust everywhere. Vain’s hands clutched into claws. Seren smiled at her though she wanted to pound the Andorian silly as well. He leaned his weapon against the door. “Anyway. Wanted to make sure my two favorite sweeties were okay.”

  Seren took out three glasses and filled them from a carafe of the local brew. He shrugged off his cloak and scarf. A big shiny gold star adorned his fine clothes. Sheriff was emblazoned on it. He sat down and grabbed his drink.

  “Thanks,” she said holding her glass. “We’re fine. Busy, but why?”

  “Cheers!” he smiled at them. They drank the bitter concoction down. “You know that colony of Romulans over on one of the outer circles?”

  Asteroids, planets, debris collected in giant disorganized circles floating around the center of The DrearGyre.

  “Yes, we have heard there are some Romulan colonies,” Vain said, picking up a dust cloth to clean a table. “We have not visited any.”

  “Well, you’re not going to be visiting this one anytime soon, sweets. Someone took it out.”

  She stopped. “Your meaning, sheriff?”

  “Killed every man jack of them. Children as well.”

  “They killed children?” Seren gasped.

  “Reports said so. Bounty hunters maybe. Or mercenaries. Can’t tell the difference myself. Whoever they were they were good. Those Romulan weren’t a pushover from what I understand. And they pushed back but good. Just not good enough.”

  “Bounty hunters wouldn’t just wipe out a colony,” Seren said. “Doesn’t seem their style. Wouldn’t be another mining interest? There’s enough gangs and syndicates and cartels out there.”

&n
bsp; “Yeah, hon, could be. Not my jurisdiction but still, need to keep an eye out. Someone did come by the office though. All secret like. Couldn’t get a look at him at all. Hunting some damned Romulan chick.”

  “You setting yourself up as a dating service now?” Seren laughed. “You can always tell him about Vain.”

  She pushed Seren, chuckling. “Yes, I could welcome a good time for a change.”

  “Hey!” Seren pouted.

  He guffawed letting his antennas dance around. “Probably make way more money than sheriff that’s for sure. They’re looking for her.”

  He threw a small device onto the table. Seren picked it up and clicked it on. “Who is it?”

  “He didn’t say. But they want her real bad. Yeah, I know. That could be a Ferengi. Terrible picture. And hell, I swear all Romulans look alike. No offense, sweets. They want her and they want what she has too. A big reward. Mr. Secrecy wouldn’t tell me what the hell it was, the little dumbass.”

  “Do you know her?” Seren asked Vain handing the device to her.

  Vain examined the device closely. “I cannot say she is familiar to me.”

  “Yeah. The guy said it’d glow green if it detected the right DNA too.”

  The device stayed quiet.

  Vain laughed. “In The DrearGyre, we would be fortunate to get our coffeemaker to work properly.”

  “Got that right. This works though.” A small gun nestled in his hand.

  Seren frowned looking at the weapon leaning against the door.

  “Yeah, people think that I only got the big one.” He winked at her, smirking.

  “I do not understand, sheriff,” Vain said, watching him pull out two sets of handcuffs. “The device says it is not me.”

  “No, but he said that this chick is dangerous and clever. Very clever. I’m going to let them figure it out. I get paid either way. And if I have to, I will haul in just a corpse. Nothing personal you understand.”

  Seren refilled all their glasses.

  “Cheers,” Vain said.

  They all drained their drinks.

  “Yes, nothing personal, sheriff.” The Romulan did not smile.

  He scowled. “Put the cuffs on, sweeties. Think you’ll both look real cute in them. Maybe have a little fun first huh? Then we’ll head back.”

  “You should have brought your deputies,” Vain said not moving. “Backup as they say.”

  “Why share the prize? I keep it all. No need to tell anyone else. Now the cuffs.” He waved at the shackles as he slumped down a little. “And I know you Romulans think you’re such badasses. You just keep an eye on the end of this here gun.”

  His weapon, waving slightly, stayed on Vain. He didn’t look at Seren.

  “You could just call whoever it is who will pay you,” Vain said. “It would save you time.”

  “True.” His speech slurred a little as his antennae drooped. “There’s a little communicator on that device. Not sure it would work in the fog though.”

  His shaking hand wiped the sweat streaming down his face.

  “Klingons possess many good reasons for not drinking with their enemies,” Vain said examining her empty glass.

  “I’m not a Klingon,” he slurred.

  “Still, the advice is sound.”

  He shook his head, then blinked. His fingers clutched at empty air. Confused, he wondered where the weapon had gone. First, he looked at the Romulan who almost appeared neutral. Then spotted it. In Seren’s hand. How had that happened? He tried to reach for it. But then it had disappeared.

  “Wait... But you drank too. I saw. Both. I saw. You couldn’t... Uh... You couldn’t know. I mean...”

  Seren and Vain donned their outerwear.

  “Sheriff,” Vain said, adjusting the turban the Cardassian tailor had given her. “The idea of a lazy oaf such as yourself traveling all this way simply to express concern for our well being is as preposterous as one of those mine spiders conveying interest in what we read at bedtime.”

  She took the little device that the sheriff had brought and put it into a scanner. Then handed it back to Seren who tucked it into her pocket.

  “I am sorry, sheriff,” said Vain. They pulled him to his feet. He didn’t want to but he staggered upright and they propped him up between them. Seren grabbed his belongings and they half carried and half walked him to his vehicle.

  “Please, Vain... A chance. I wouldn’t have.” She was not looking at him. She was looking at Seren. The Human stuffed him into the passenger seat of his speeder.

  Vain wrapped her arms around herself, watching. “Seren...”

  The Human pointed at their skimmer. Her face was emotionless and pale like a geisha, her movements mechanical in their efficiency. Finally, he understood. And his eyes widened in terror.

  “Seren...” Vain pleaded.

  Seren got into the sheriff’s beat up old speeder. As the sheriff whimpered, they bounced over the rough terrain to a cliff that overlooked a giant gash in the planetoid. The speeder lurched to a stop. Seren donned her goggles and breather. The sheriff looked at her but only saw in her glasses his own reflection. A panicked, horrified, Andorian who knew too much.

  “Wait... I didn’t mean... Please. I beg you.” He tried to fend her off as she pulled him into the driver seat.

  Vain approached from the parked skimmer. The Human made sure the sheriff wasn’t going anywhere and got out, letting the air escape from the vehicle.

  “Seren...” the Romulan began.

  The Human gave her a brief hug then guided her back towards the skimmer. Vain hesitated, then spun on her heel and ran to the vehicle, not looking behind her.

  The sheriff gasped, his fingers, feeble, scratched for his breather. Seren grabbed his head by his dirty white hair and smashed his face into the steering mechanism. Blue blood squirted from his nose and mouth. She examined the damage then did it twice more before he slumped over. One of his antennae dangled from his head. He cried drooling onto his chest. She wiped his hair off her hand onto his pants. He spat up phlegm, shuddering. She searched his vehicle just in case there was anything that tied them to him. His body spasmed, vomiting. She looked on herself to make sure that nothing belonging to him contaminated her. His blubbering became a harsh whimper. The wind would sweep away any of their tracks, but she made sure they were obscured anyway. His body twitched desperate for any kind of air it could use. She retrieved the device from her pocket and crushed it against the dashboard. The twitching ceased. She tossed the device into the pool of blood at his feet. She stared into his eyes until certain he was dead. Then she started the speeder down over the cliff. When it finally hit the bottom, there was a small explosion, a brief fire, then just faint blue smoke. Seren scuffed away any foot prints even as the wind erased them. Stepping on stones, she made her way back to Vain. The skimmer’s tracks were nondescript. And on the hard rock would not be noticeable.

  She climbed onto the skimmer and wrapped her arms around the Romulan. Vain kicked the two wheel skimmer into life and they made their way back home. They rode over any tracks the speeder could have made either from or to their home, eliminating them. Seren wanted to take Vain home right away but this had to be done first. She felt the Romulan shivering. It was cold but that was not what was causing her to tremble. She held onto the female and helped guide them home. As carefully as possible, she pulled Vain off the skimmer. She carried her into the domicile. Then redressed her in warm pajamas.

  “I can do that,” Vain said. “I assure you. I am fine.”

  Her teeth chattered. Seren tucked her under the blanket and gave her a quick kiss on her lips. She cranked up the heat then went to the table.

  She cleaned up the three glasses and removed any trace of the sheriff’s presence. Then she examined the bottle of booze. She used a thin tool to reach into the neck of the bottle to remove the now empty capsule. Then using the same thin tool attached a new heat sensitive capsule to the neck of the bottle. As long as they held the carafe normally, the po
ison would not flow. But held in a certain way, the heat of the hand would melt the capsule and dispense the poison into the glass. She would have to test it later to see if the poison had contaminated the bottle. No need to throw out perfectly good booze.

  She undressed down to her underwear then got under the covers to hold Vain against her. She felt like she was embracing an icicle.

  “More terrible things that are my fault,” the Romulan whimpered.

  “Shh, love. He was a bad man. He tried to hurt you. Forget him.”

  Vain looked up into the Human’s eyes. “What have I done to you, Seren?”

  “You have saved my life.” Seren kissed her. “No one is going to touch you, Vain. No one.”

  “It is the conditioning. It is not real.”

  Seren gazed into Vain’s eyes. “There is no more conditioning. You have removed it all.”

  Vain cradled Seren’s face searching her eyes. “If only I could believe that.”

  “Believe it. You must believe it.”

  “I cannot. If you were truly free, you would kill me and leave my body as easily as you did that sheriff.”

  She closed her eyes and nestled her head into Seren’s breasts. She shivered and moaned as the darkness took her.

  Always tell the truth so that the lie is more effective -- Tal Shiar proverb

  Kari swayed, trying to hold her position. She couldn’t clear the confusion from her mind. As usual, she stood naked in the pain field. They didn’t call it that. But it was the appropriate name. She couldn’t move out of the cylindrical containment area which glowed almost warmly about her. Touching it was pure agony. If she fainted as she once had, she would end up pin-balling around inside until she could regain her balance. She’d lost track of the number of times she’d found herself here.

  Inside the tube, the pain field itself washed over her. It wasn’t torture so much as it was merely to keep her mind unbalanced. As Syll pointed out, torture was the refuge of amateurs. The name of this order of the Tal Shiar was the Information Gatherers. Not the torturers.

  Though Syll supervised, she let what Kari had come to believe were her students “practice” on her.

  Kari held out as long as she could then lied when that wouldn’t work. They punished or tricked her into revealing the truth. Sometimes she wasn’t even aware she was speaking. Or what they were asking. It didn’t matter. She knew nothing.

  Starfleet Academy had made available exactly one session on what to do if captured and interrogated. The major parties in the quadrant had no formal agreements on the treatment of prisoners. Basically, the instructor advised, there existed but one strategy. Hang on until that became impossible. Then tell them what they wanted to know. It shouldn’t matter. There was no shame in giving in to them. Do not feel guilty. They would use that against the prisoners. The lecturer seemed almost apologetic. When detainees got back home, they shouldn’t feel that they should’ve done better. The lecturer always used when not if. The psychiatric evaluations for ex-detainees were mandatory. Treatment could not be refused. Assuming anyone got back home. And that was it. No practice, no magic formula for dealing with pain or pressure, no special strategies to free oneself. Just try to keep sane. Then