06:30 Jun 30 2008
Times Read: 1,080
Alister Maxwell and Alice Brangwin
Vacation Planet, Mudd's Planet
Mudd´s Tower. Balcony
Alister asked the captains wife to join him on the balcony after the injured Cardassians had been brought to sickbay aboard the Pretoria.
“That was quite a performance. Excellent martial arts as always.” Alister said, he smiled politely towards the red headed Asian woman with emerald eyes in front of him.
“Thanks I take pride in my work.” She said with a smile. She knew however where this was going and she felt anger growing inside of her.
“You got out of this easily enough. If you weren't …”
“If I wasn´t, the Captains wife! Then what?”
“You would be in the brig.”
“For kicking the shit of the attackers or what?”
“That medical officer is an old war veteran with too much Bourbon in his system. He wanted the fight and you gladly joined him.”
“They were asking for it.”
“What did you call them? Right, the spoonheads or Cardies. You haven´t changed a bit since Banidar 3. You still think of yourself as a Marquis fighting in the Badlands without a government to back you up.”
Alice was going to reply something but Alister interrupted. Probably to provoke and because he was upset.
"Get over it. There is no WAR! There is a fragile peace between our peoples and it must remain so. What if one of those men were a son of an influential Cardassian and he would have died during this bar fight. How would it look when Cardassian intelligence finds out that one of the most influential captains of Starfleet covers up a thing like that by letting you off the hook. You are a loose cannon and something bad is about to happen when you're around." Alister said.
Alice closed the doors to the balcony. No one can hear them now out here.
Alice yelled at him now, "WHY IS THERE A PEACE? CARDASSIANS RAPED FEDERATION WOMEN. TORTURED SOME OF US. COMMITTED MASS MURDERS. WHY IS THERE A PEACE? CARDASSIA SHOULD BE FIREBOMBED FROM ORBIT ! I WANT GENOCIDE !"
Alice kept yelling at Alister, she pushed him into a corner, Alice forcefully grabbed his hand, "You dumb ass, you have Post-traumatic stress disorder. Look at your hand shaking. Think I never noticed ?"
Alister suddenly found himself on the cold floor, Alice was about to smash his face in when she stopped. He was confused. "What did you do ?" Alister asked.
"I applied a pressure point" Alice told him, "I did not hit you ... yet"
Alister eventually regained the ability to move when Alice returned with T'Mir. "I was going to kill you, you bloody jerk. But Sammy is a very close friend of mine." Alice told him.
Alice continued, "I asked T'Mir to do a mind bridge. I will show you why I fight."
"I may not to able to link your minds" T'Mir warned Alice.
Alice sighed, "You will do fine, please continue"
T'Mir placed his right hand on Alice's temple, his left hand on Alister's temple, before Alister could protest or stop the Vulcan, Alister started to view Alice's memories, chaotic and messed up, many of Alice's memories.
.... A Cemetery in the late afternoon. Alice as a dirty haired girl, 11 years old, walked through the small gate. She toted a skateboard under one arm. A crack of lightning illuminated the silhouette of a large perched crow. Behind the grave yard, a towering gothic-style church. The crow blinked at her from the headstone and ruffled its feathers is it began to rain. Rain spattered the granite, darkening it. Alice looked at bird, "What are you, the night watchman ?"
T'Mir made a mistake, now Alice was viewing a random memory from Alister's mind, a young Alister examined the courtyard where he was infiltrating the Marquis for Starfleet Intelligence. The town was brightly alive with soft patches of grass and people planting flowers. Flower petals floated lazily through the hot air as the swirls of colour wound through the skies, and the cobbled paths were hardly empty, every person at work. The houses were made of sandstone and clay, with large flagstones in the ground leading the outside perimeter of the town. A Chinese woman walked up from behind, she had very short red hair, dark eyes, about 55 years old, "Your fate depends on your opinion on the Cardassians"
Three young girls were standing nearby, supervising a group of 23 younger children in a playground. "Those are my daughters" Rika told Alister with pride, "Jubilee, Alice and Sakura"
T'Mir refocused, Alister was again seeing many samples of Alice's memories.
.... Alice, her two sisters and her parents visiting a well-to-do colony. A short but young handsome Bajoran man stood in front of Alice. "If you hurt me, I'll kill you, and just to let you know, I broke the last jerk's arm who tried to take advantage of me" she whispered as he bought his lips closer to hers, she was watching his lips move to hers, she put her free hand on his chest as his lips pressed to her. Her eyebrows went up. He pulled back with a wet sound. Alice looked into his eyes. "That was nice," she said smiling, her cheeks were burning.
In the distance, Alice's mom yelled, "WHY ARE YOU TORMENTING THE DOG ?!!!" Eight year old Alice sat there, feeling bored, "I can't find Jubilee or Sakura."
.... On the bridge of the USS Petawawa, someone was crying, a junior officer lost his composure. The smell of burning computer wires, low visibly due to smoke. Alice and Alister swore as Alice picked herself up, tasting blood in her mouth where she ended up slamming into the turbo lift doors. Fires broke out on multiple decks. From every single deck: reports of deaths coming to the Bridge, so many dead. A junior officer red damage reports, "Entire Bulkheads were vapourized, emergency forcefields offline."
Alice looked at Miraeko's body on the floor of the Bridge. She had pointed ears, a jagged compound fracture, the fibrous opaque-white outer coat of her left eye was covered in blood, both eyes seem sunken. Icy blue lighting filled the bridge, the only reason why blue lights are used is to indicate life support is failing or off line.
.... Alice was dizzy, the right side of her face caked with blood. Her shuttle took off, Alice looked at Planet Zebes through a side window. Mouse was flying the shuttle.
Alice tasted blood in her mouth. So did Alister.
.... A campfire. A planet in the DeMilitized Zone; a Bajoran, Alice's closest friend, Mouse was there with Alice, Mouse using the metal desk, drumming a 4 note song, over and over. Alice sings, "On a mountain in the night we lie in the darkness and wait. In the mud and blood, I lie cold, sleeping bag and rain clings to me. And my house and my people, burned to ashes, murdered in cold blood, so that they could catch us and stop the Marquis. But those flames and that fire, burn now deep, deep within me. And the spoonheads that laugh -- just a handful of us against their whole great military might. With the cliffs to our backs, they think it's all over for us, But the heart of the Marquis lies deeper and wider, that they'll still find out, that we will win this war even after the Federation left us. Abandoned us after the Cardassians sneaked weapons into the Demilitarized Zone. Long live the Marquis, we will kill the Cardassians, we will win."
.... In Karen's Office , Rakurai Stryker, and Alice's parents were in the office. Alice came in, trying not to walk like a penguin but it is hard not to being eleven months pregnant with half-Edenian twins. The air felt so tense. This was it. The ultimate bomb. Rika Brangwin gave Stryker a PADD. Rika explained to Stryker that this PADD has been locked away by her all these years, this is Alice's journal; "When my sisters died, my parents become overprotective of me. Nearly two weeks after the funeral, I finally snapped. I ran away from home, and met a crazy Vellorian girl my age. Together we stole alot of things, heavy duty drinking and partying, I honestly tried to kill the pain or at least I hoped I'd get killed along the way. We even did drugs. I was reckless, between my skills in martial arts, my insanity, and Mouse's telepathic abilities we were unstoppable. For two years Mouse and I lived this insane life. Mouse and I were hiding on Betazed, when the Dominion invaded. That was a sobering "moment" for us. We had a noble cause, to protect our Betazoid friends."
Alice asked Stryker to read her diary. Stryker looked at her. A nine second pause. He finally looked down and started reading.
August 19th, 2372: You know, if God exists, then I hate him. I used to have a normal life, I was happy, alot of angst and confusion, yes. Sakura and Jubilee can really piss me off on some days, but I never wanted them gone.
August 20th, 2372: It is the fifth day after the funeral. I'm really depressed and have been crying a lot. I miss my sisters. At their funeral, everything made me upset and angry, so I ran off crying. It took two hours for someone to find me.
August 21st, 2372: I am dead inside. I feel dead. Why am I living this tortured life ?
I'm still crying, I really wonder how long it will take for this pain inside of me to stop. My parents are so overprotective of me now. I guess I will be living them for the rest of my life. My father told me that he is putting me into school soon. How could he think about that when my sisters, one half of my family just died?
August 22nd, 2372: Well, my father got things done and over with at school, so I will be going to school next week. Yet I still have the pain inside of me. I have been crying myself to sleep, but I am hanging in there. I can not cry forever. My father hasn't been talking to me too much lately.
When Stryker finished reading the journal he felt depressed. He now knew what Alice went through when she lost her sisters. He knew minor details about Alice and Mouse's illegal activities. But never red her diary. Alice always had trouble talking about that to Stryker, despite her best attempts. Or Stryker trying to help her. But he tried too hard, good intentions, but coming on too strong. Give it time. And that is what Stryker did, he hasn't brought up the subject with Alice for over five years now. Karen entered the room. Alice had trouble talking to the CMO, speaking too fast, almost Inaudible. Stryker stood behind Alice, his hands on her shoulders, lightly and comforting.
.... Standing in the extremely brightly lit corridors of Starbase Prime. The young Tellarite girl smiled showing off all three rows of teeth. "Ah, the lovely Ms. Brangwin." She gave a slight bow. "Always a pleasure."
.... Bedroom, in the dark. Alice rolled over to face her husband, "Well I think I have accepted the idea. Some time in August, there'll be a new member of the family." Stryker smiled. Alice put a hand on her stomach. "One thing is for sure. I'll certainly grow."
.... Day time, outside. A cheerful mood in the air. A birthday party for toddlers. 4 candles on the cake. Alice, Jubilee and Sakura blew out the candles and when the smoke cleared, their father places a cake in front of the triplets. "Happy birthday, girls."
.... A Vulcan looking woman, Mouse's face appears on the surface of the cake, she smiles. "Happy birthday, Alice."
Suddenly the cake become a dance floor and Alice is fourteen, dancing at her highschool prom as the lights and music continued playing. A "Class of 2370" banner hung overhead. She lean in and kissed her nice-looking DATE. Then a quick flash, Alice at her surprise party, emotionally addressing her friends. "I love you guys."
.... Alice couldn't exactly focus on her surroundings, not that it really mattered. The only focus she seemed to have was the Cardassian hovering above her for long moments before moving towards the figure off to the right of her. Gritting her teeth, slender digits curled and attempted to extend into the sleeve of the jacket she wore ... unfortunately, her restraints decided otherwise.
"I'm right ... here ... " her voice rather harsh sounding as she spoke, coming out rather inaudible as she tried to tug at the straps keeping her flat to the table. Her eyes attempted to focus in on the bright room, hearing the man speak to Velenoi ... threaten him with Alice's life.
Instinctively, Alice tried to help Velenoi out by stating she wasn't his friend (because she wasn't) and that she barely knew him. That ... they should just let him go. Yet once more, they turned a deaf ear to her ... and she laid there feeling completely useless. "Take him into the next room ... " she heard that same voice from earlier speak, that cold tone that made her whole body tremble in its wake. Within moments, she felt fingers brushing up against her cheek, causing her to react rather hastily ... not to mention violently.
Alice's head snapped to the side, her teeth catching onto that forefinger and biting down until blood was drawn. Within a second, the scarlet haired woman was seeing stars ... her head having snapped to the other side as a rather large red mark slowly made its appearance on her pale, already bruised cheek. "For that ... I'll take pleasure in this." He spat out angrily, his boots thudding against the hard floor as he moved around the room.
Alice wasn't sure what shocked her the most ... her jacket being ripped away, or the ice cold bucket of water being dumped upon her. A shrill cry rang out to the shock, her body trembling slightly as teeth chattered endlessly. "I'll spare you the details of what I'm about to do ... but there is no doubt in my mind your boyfriend will hear every single cry coming from your ... rather appealing ... lips."
Shoving a wooden piece into her mouth, her fingers gripped slightly at the straps.
Every question he asked, Alice denied ever knowing. Anything about her parents, and the Marquis, she grunted and narrowed her eyes upon the man. Unfortunately, her punishment for not cooperating was electroshock therapy ... in the worst way. The feeling of a high voltage coursing through her small frame was excruciating. Tears stung her cheeks after each brief shock ... the voltage being jacked up higher and lasting longer with each question failed to be answered.
Stubborn red head, she couldn't help it ... but she'd be damned if she said anything to that bastard. The wooden piece in her mouth was taken out ... her exhausted mind searching for questions of her own. Mostly, "Why don't you just kill me ?" she muttered, the question lingering as her blurred gaze attempted to focus on the man hovering above her once more.
Seeing the entirety of your life flash before your very eyes, several times over for that matter ... was never a fun deal. It was the very thing that made this young woman question her own life ... question the reasons as to why she was holding on. There wasn't a single moment in her life anymore that was one of happiness. Perhaps she was just stubborn and refused to die by such an arrogant bastard's hand. Either way there she was, still alive even after all the continuous ... relentless torture. It seems torment had become a game ... a very dangerous game that could and probably would cost her life.
Another stream of electricity jolts her body, smoke literally slipping between her lips thereafter. Alice felt as if her whole face was swollen, that her body was on fire ... then nothing more than numbness took over.
Am I dead? Alice wondered, her head lolling from side to side as voices became drowned out. The clothing she once more ... tattered and barely clinging to her form. Blood trickled from various wounds that had been made to keep her `awake' during the whole process. When one felt numb, could not feel such said pain ... surely they were dying, right?
Yet ... she wasn't dead, not when there was still so much information to gather out of the pretty red head. Until that time would come, and surely it would come to pass, Alice would be spending a great deal of time in her own cell with a bunch of horny guards. She saw what they do to female Bajoran prisoners. Some do not even survive a single night.
Did her Cardassian torturer know this? No ... he really give a damn. Frankly, he was still quite pissed that she got a few good spats out at him ... not to mention injured his hand. Flexing his fingers, his cold eyes settled upon the limp human woman being 'escorted' out of the room .
Reality, Alice knew of no such thing as the guards dragged her out of the room. Just a constant blur ... her whole damn body numb from head to toe. Even as they entered outside, the cold air ... the breeze brushing against her pale form, she couldn't feel it. Handed off to the guards, feeling her body being roughly guided to her cell ... she knew with every fiber of her being that something wasn't right here, yet was helpless to do anything about it.
Body pushed and thrown to the stone floor, it was then that she could feel the pain shooting through her body. Alice's elbow knocked harshly into the floor, causing her to wince and grimace in pain ... yet she couldn't muster a single scream.
Eyes seemed to have swollen shut, her body still shuddering as the cold air continued to enter into the building. Jokes were made as to who would take the woman first ... she knew that this was it, she wanted to die here and now. This was more disgusting than any other torture device they dared to use on her. Lips pursed, a small sob released.
Silence hung in the cell for a few minutes as Alice attempted to regain her composure, now actually feeling the aches and the pains. She knew one of the goal of torture is to make you lose track of time, make it feel like it lasts forever. Make you forget who you are.
"My name .. is Alice .. Alice Brangwin .. " she muttered to herself in slight, broken gasps. Lids fluttered open to reveal electric green orbs, slightly dull and watering from such pain of even opening her eyes. Almond shaped eyes puffed and swollen.
A few scarlet strands managed to curve around her face as her chin lowered some. The Bajoran man, Velenoi was hovering over her. It was then that she attempted to jolt out of her bed ... but bellowed in pain from even moving a muscle. Squinting her eyes shut, tears trickled down her cheeks, his arms wrapping around her lithe form.
"You're the same .. man from earlier this evening, aren't you? You could get .. into trouble .. by talking to me. They'll be back to .. resume the torture. I know it .. and .. I don't know how much longer I could possibly last. It .. hurts. All of me .. hurts."
Alice blacked out. A few hours later, all the guards were comatose as Mouse did her telepathy attacks again. Just like she did when Starfleet Security cornered them on Starbase 325. Only they were going to recover in a few days time. Mouse however was not that nice to the damn spoon-heads. The purple-pink skinned woman carried Alice to safety.
Still, after all these years, Alice hated the Cardassians and the Dominion still burns like a 500 meter high bonfire.
.... Betazed. Hiding in thick underbrush, Alice felt nothing but pure hatred as three Jem'Hadar and a Cardassian walked by. Once they were out of sight, she counted to twenty, then signaled her Betazoid friends to move.
T'Mir focuses his mind, Alice was finally able to show Alister to correct memory; .... On Karissa's Moon, a bright and sunny day. The whole village was caught off guard by the attack of the Jem'Hadar. They materialized as people ran for their lives. No one thought yet of activating the Air Raid Alarms or to order evacuation. Jem'Hadar struck everywhere.
16 year old Sakura Brangwin organized everyone on the playgrounds to shelter. 61 children was enjoying the sunshine, burning off their energy. Having fun.
Among the swings, the sand pits, plastic horses and see-saws, Jem'Hadar and Cardassians materialized. Children were gunned down as they were running. Jubilee and Sakura was shot, fell where they stood, Alice saw it happen. An Andorian 'woman' was hit next, she fell on Alice, the massive body's impact, knocked Alice out, the blue body covering Alice.
3 Hours later, Alice woke up, covered in blood, none of it her own. Death everywhere.
Alice felt her heart wanting to explode. She loved her sisters, when they weren't fighting.
"No..." teenager Alice cried, Tears run down her cheeks. She screamed standing among the bodies, "NO !"
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