The Mrs - Splinter Cell

Posted on Thu Aug 24th, 2023 @ 2:00am by Remal Kajun & Captain Rhenora Kaylen & Commander Savar cha'Salik hei-Surak Talek-sen-deen & Lieutenant Commander Aurora Vali

Mission: Repairs and Retribution
Location: Kunar

The Mrs - A Hitch in the Chain

Meanwhile said Duty Officer had been told on the comm to report to The Mrs. This was never a good thing and one that made his gut twist like a knife within his belly. He rose from his comfy chair and made haste to the ornate stateroom, rapping solidly on the door and hoping that he would survive the next 5 minutes.

By the time the officer had arrived, there was a small team already cleaning the blood off the floor before it became stained. The Mrs stood with her back to the door as he entered. Informed of his entrance she spoke as his boots stopped just inside the door. "You have made a mockery of me by withholding information. Even attempted to deceive me by covering it up. Why?"

" To what precisely are you referring Mrs?" The Duty Officer asked innocently enough. There could have been a number of things - the inadequate supply of food to the prisoners as he had been diverting some to his starving family, the fact the ore targets were unlikely to be met this week...the list went on"

She crossed the floor and stood within striking distance where she stopped with no expression on her face. "Have you ever heard the idiom of the man who answered his superior by asking a question? No? Well allow me to enlighten you just a bit. I'm certain that particular soldier did not live long after that encounter. What do you suppose your odds are? Hmm, I wonder."

She leaned in to where her mouth was inches away from his ear, close enough to smell his fear. "Take this message to your workers, Rhenora Kaylen and her group of misfits are not yours to do with as you please. To any one who violates this rule, they will spend 48 hours on the pole. Do I make myself heard?"

"The Pole, Mrs?" The guard almost quivered, the pole was a single pole in the centre of the courtyard where one was shackled and left exposed to the elements without food and water for a period of time. Usually reserved for the most unruly of prisoners it had never been used on a Cardassian. The mere fact the Mrs was threatening it meant something fundamentally had shifted. Maybe his time on this cursed rock under this witch would be shorter than he thought.

"And yet, another question. No one is above the rules. No one is above the law. That includes... you." With that she released a backhand across his face, glove on. While she normally hated to dirty her hands, this was one of her personal guards and one that needed to be served a lesson. "You are reduced one level rank and pay to match, now leave me." She turned up her nose and spun on her heel showing him her back. It was one step away from a disbandment.

The guard received the punishment and said nothing, however he was seething inside. This woman who thought herself above the rest of them needed to learn a lesson in common respect and decency. Keeping his expression neutral he merely muttered "yes Mrs" and left the room, his heart and mind whirling in a turmoil.

---

In The Mines

Savar was dragged back into the mines, his shackles removed. "Get busy Vulcan. You have a lot to get done." One of the guards told him and to drive the message home, placed a boot on his shredded back and pushed him forward. Savar never uttered a sound despite the pain. he would not break. He would not give his captors the satisfaction. Without a word. he got to work placing ore in the nearby cart.

Meanwhile - Rhenora had been thrown into an isolated cell, her back still in agony from the whipping she had received earlier. No treatment had been given, and she knew none would be offered, lest her health seriously deteriorated - then they would treat her enough to ensure her survival only so they could do it all over again. Shivering from the shock the Bajoran pulled what was left of her clothing over herself and huddled into a corner.

The lights were turned off, plunging the cell into an inky blackness reminiscent of Bajor during a new moon. The routine stepping of the guards passing by the cell made it difficult to rest but her body craved it. She settled into her corner, calming her mind and allowing it to drift into a light slumber, senses dulled only slightly.

At precisely 5am, a mere few hours after she'd been thrown into the cell the lightings were unceremoniously raised, the clanging of the garrison changing guards enough to wake the dead from their slumber. Boots stoped in front of her cell door, a scoff and a sneer accompanied a scrap of bread and a cup of water. A fresh tunic was thrown at her, the fabric clinging to the fluid still oozing from her back. Still she said nothing, yanking it on and eating the bread. A gulp and the water too was gone.

"Solitary for you? The Mrs must like you" the guard goaded as the Bajoran was chained at the ankle and shuffled into a deep mine, a pick and bucket in her hands. "Dig" the guard ordered as he settled into what would be a boring and mostly unproductive shift of watching a line prisoner. Occasionally he threw in a curse, some motivating goads, and general unpleasantness towards his charge. It was going to be a long 12 hour shift..this woman said nothing, swung the pick with a boring monotony, and didn't even offer the occasional groan of discomfort. Inwardly he was impressed, not that he would mention it to anyone.

The hours ticked by, time only marked by the sound of pick against rock and ore against bucket. Somewhere in the distance a loud siren echoed, signaling the end of the shift. "Move" the guard grumbled, eager to get out of the dusty mines and back to his quarters. His charge picked up her bucket and pick and shuffled back along the corridor, feet dragging only a little after a long day of manual labour. The cell door clanged behind her and a forcefield was raised for good measure after a portion of bread and water were issued.

Rhenora didn't move until the guard had left, sinking to the floor and eating the meagre food she had been given. Sheer determination and a renewed hatred for Cardassians had been the only thing keeping her going all day, but she knew she wouldn't be able to keep it up. No one could keep that up for long. She prayed for rest but in her gut knew that The Mrs would undoubtedly summon her soon. It would be a deliberate act to break her rest and disrupt any attempt at rest. It was designed to break even the strongest of wills.

Savar had worked with the precision of a machine. He swung a pick, picked up the ore he had chipped out of the mine walls, loaded it in a bucked and then dropped it in a cart. It was tedious, monotonous work. he offered no complaint, nothing to give the Cardassians a reason (not that they needed one to inflict further punishment on him. When his shift ended, he was taken back to his cell and Aurora where he was given half a slice of bread and a half a cup of water all per the Mrs. orders and her insane desire to break him, Rhenora and Aurora and now Remal.

Sitting in the corner, he closed his eyes in an attempt to meditate and give his mind and body a chance to relax and recharge but he knew that before either could be fully realized he would be back before the Mrs and whatever torment she had in mind for him. His only option the only logical option was to endure.

Remal was released with an unceremonially toss into a metal box in the center of the courtyard. Inside the sun baked box, the temperatures had reached 66c and it was still early in the day. As the door slammed shut, he banged his fist on the wall and cried out, "Lost luggage, no mint on the pillow, management is going to hear about this!"

He was preparing himself mentally for the day ahead as he started thinking about happy and fun things that would occupy his mind in the face of adversity. Only a few minutes later there was a scuffle of boots outside his cell box. There was a clanking sound and then several slats in the ceiling opened. Remal squinted as the new amount of light poured in.

And then the real torture began. Bugs, the size of large ants with pinchers and the tails of scorpions, began entering the box in droves. He recognized them from his days in the Occupation and the number of Bajorans who had died by being eaten alive. He tried to remain calm as he removed his shoes to give himself a fighting chance.

Hours later, a dehydrated and hallucinating shell of a man, clutching his arms and acting as though he were attempting to rip off his own flesh, was deposited inside the cell Savar and Aurora now inhabited. Remal was now at his breaking point.

As Remal was tossed unceremoniously into the cell, both Savar and Aurora made their way to his side. "Remal, what happened? What did they do to you?" Savar asked with a quiet intensity. "Remal?! What happened? Then Savar saw Remal's arms and part of his chest, they were literally hundreds of bites lining his arms and across his chest. All were red, angry and festering, oozing pus. Looking closer Savar examined Remal's face, His eyes were almost swollen shut and bite marks were on his cheeks making them puffy and swollen. He looked like a Bajoran gerbil. His throat was also peppered with bites. It was amazing he could breathe.

He really couldn't talk. He could barely comprehend. The bites, or rather the stings of the insects had produced a mild hallucinogens' effect. And as the number of stings increased, so had the effect. Between the poison and the dehydration, Remal's mind was lost in another place, one with white flowing sandy beaches and a cabin which overlooked the waters. Nearby Rhenora flowers stood tall, their fragrance heavy in the wind. In the sky above, a bright star, blinding with it's superior light. She was calling his name. Calling him home.

Aurora could only sit by Remal’s side, so far she’d escaped the injuries thanks to her job as water girl. The slave who’d chosen her seemed to have some sway with the guards, it was then she remembered the bucket was in the corner of the cell where she’d dropped it and there was still some water in it. She waited for the guards to continue on before moving to the bucket, tearing off and damping a corner of her ragged clothing she came back and started soothing Remal’s eyes and face as best as she could.

TBC