Hopeless Options

Posted on Mon Sep 9th, 2019 @ 12:56pm by Lieutenant Commander Mnhei'sahe Dox

Mission: Family Detention
Location: "The People's Will" - VIP Quarters
Timeline: 2396

Laying on the lightly padded bed in the VIP Quarters of the D'deridex-class Rihannsu Warbird, 'the People’s Will', on which she was a prisoner, Lieutenant Mnhei'sahe Dox meditated. Or, at least, she tried to.

Her first time meeting her Grandmother and captor, Deihu Verelan t'Rul had been devastating for the young Starfleet officer. She had said and done virtually everything wrong and it had become abundantly clear how hopeless her situation seemed to be. So she sat and tried to clear her mind and think. There was always a way. There had to be.

In the quiet of the chamber, broken only by the repeating hum of the Warbird’s engine, her sensitive ears could faintly hear the two guards outside her door, shuffling. Two out of a possible fifteen-hundred on board. That was not going to be the way.

A D’deridex-class Warbird was massive. More than twice the size of the Hera. Twice the crew compliment. And the VIP Quarters were dozens of decks away from the bridge and even further from engineering or the ships flight decks. She visualized the corridors she had memorized the specs of with excitement as a child when she was enamored of the ship and its workings. But now all of those details that thrilled her when young were bitter reminders of how functionally impossible it would be to get anywhere on the ship where she could do anything of impact. It was probable that there were guards at most doors and turbolifts. And those specs she had poured over as a child told her that even access tunnels had segmental shielding for anyone not registered for access. Her own room was definitely guarded and the door didn’t acknowledge her anyway, nor were there any control consoles on the interior to even try and circumvent. She almost wished she HADN’T spent so much time as a little girl learning about the ships that she was once in love with so, at least, she could take comfort in ignorance.

As for her attempts at meditation, the Vulcan Kolinahr master Lieutenant Sonak had been working with the red-headed Rihannsu woman for months on the Hera. Training her in Vulcan mental discipline techniques, greatly strengthening her mental defenses, and developing her nascent, though extremely limited psionic potential. But at that moment, she found it near impossible to relax her mind or concentrate. With her eyes closed, she could still see and feel the swirling lavender energy that was a part of her forever. Her gift from her wife and bond-mate, Mona Gonadie. But it was a small piece of her love to cling to. As she thought, she fingered her empty wrist where the pearlescent black Rihannsu ceremonial wedding bracelet should have been but had obviously been taken from her at some point. A reminder of how alone she was.

If she were stronger, maybe she could have reached her mind across the chasm of space to call for help. But she wasn't. She could only make telepathic contact with Mona when they touched.

Alone, she could only touch the piece of Mona left inside her. Captured and kidnapped along with her mother, who was likely being 'interrogated' at that very moment for her petulance, Dox had no idea what to do except wait and hope.

Mona had escaped the Kidnapping attempt. She would return home to the Hera. She would tell Enalia and Rita and they would come for her. It was all she had left to cling too. And as that first long night stretched out before her she began to realize that her captors had likely accounted for that as well.

The lighting in the mid-sized room turned off when she was expected to sleep and back on when she was expected to wake and they were taking their time to let her stew. In the darkness, she cleared her mind and began to focus on that gentle glow in her mind's eye to shut out the anger and panic that was threatening to overwhelm her reason.

You're a kreldanni Starfleet officer, Mnhei'sahe! She thought to herself in the darkness. Act like one. THINK like one!

It took hours, she knew not how many, until she could find her center and calm her mind. Sonak was an excellent teacher, even if she was often an impatient pupil. But with calm came added clarity as she replayed her Grandmother's offers and threats, veiled and unveiled.

The elder Romulan Senator had laid out the groundwork for what she wanted. And she wanted her Granddaughter home with her and likely much more. She made broad attempts, first at reminding the young, embittered Starfleet officer of her painful childhood. She offered her a life on ch’Rihan... the homeworld she had never set foot on. She offered her position and privilege and a life of supposed greater meaning. Told her she was needed there. Told her she would be welcomed as a returning hero by the Rihannsu people for turning her back on the Federation.

Then, when that failed to sway the young pilot, her Grandmother reminded her of her place and her predicament. That she needed the favor of her Grandmother to survive. Then came the threats.

They had Dox's mother as well. And the more the captured young woman resisted, the more they would take out their frustrations on Jaeih Dox. An interrogation she was assured would already have begun thanks to her initial attitude. It was a manipulation tactic and she knew it, but knowing it wouldn’t help her mother.

They had almost all the leverage. But not all of it. "You know a great many secrets that could be quite valuable to a great many parties." Senator t'Rul said plainly. They wanted what Dox knew. She was a senior officer on a ship of secrets. And her Grandmother twice mentioned the name of one of those other parties: Rendal.

Riov Dalia Rendal. Former Commander of Starbase 336. The Starbase the Hera saved from an onslaught by the forces of Asgard, who had attacked the base when it was discovered that Rendal had been experimenting on the sleeping body of a titan. One of the most powerful beings in existence… a god to the gods... and Rendal was cutting into it to dissect it and learn the secrets of the gods.

And as she lay in the darkness, the only light that was provided by the streaking stars warping by through the small window, she realized why Riov Rendal wanted her and it hit her like a warp core breach she couldn’t believe she hadn’t seen until then. She wanted the secrets of the gods. And many of those secrets rested… protected... on her home.

On the Hera.

During that first conversation, Dox sensed actual sincerity in her Grandmother's words. She might not have been raised in the Imperium, but she was moderately decent at telling when she was being lied to. And as warped as she was, Dox believed the Senator meant many of the things she said about wanting some measure of family between them to be restored. But FAMILY wasn't enough of a justifiable cause to kidnap a Starfleet officer with an entire D'deridex-class warbird and risk war so far from the Neutral Zone.

But the Hera was.

And now they had an Intelligence asset and a senior officer with access to those secrets. She and her mother were bait. Laying in the darkness, a tear rolled down her cheek as her options seemed to narrow further. She focused on that swirling collection of lavender energy. The combination of her soul and Monas and thought out as strongly as she could, praying to every god she could think of that she would be somehow heard, ‘Don’t come for us. They want the Hera. Stay away.’

As the night stretched before her, Dox's mind began to fade. But before she succumbed to a fitful and restless sleep, she knew what she had to do. She had to find some way to save herself and her mother. Because if Rendal got her hands on the Hera and the secrets contained within her, it could spell doom for all who opposed her. It could spell doom for her real family.