Tabula Rasa, Part 1

Posted on Wed 19th Dec, 2018 @ 10:51pm by

720 words; about a 4 minute read

Mission: Oblivion
Location: SB109 Security Cells
Timeline: MD 14, Mid-day Meal

"Computer, prepare prisoner meal tray 49-J." The computer obeyed the commands of the Security Chief as she waited for the meal to finish materializing in the food replicator. Once done, she grabbed the tray and walked down the hall to the holding facility which was not far from her office. Isabella entered the holding area and gave a curt nod to one of her security guards posted in front of the holding cell bay door. The guard moved to the side without saying a word and let his boss in.

Isabella made her way to the third cell in the bay which housed a lone female who was sitting on the bed that was coming out of the wall. Isabella noticed that the woman looked very pretty even though she was in a prisoner's uniform.

"Computer, turn off security measures to cell 33-A." The invisible force field that was covering the door flickered and then went out. Isabella entered the cell with the tray of food and placed it on the counter top near the bed.

"I've brought you a little bit of food. You hungry?" Isabella asked her prisoner.

The woman, whose given name was Zelda, looked at the tray with some interest, but she didn't make a move toward it. "I could be, under the right circumstances. For instance, if I could be sure there's nothing in the food that would cause me harm."

She glanced up at the woman, someone she'd not seen before. There was an air of authority about her, but no sense of cruelty. That wasn't necessarily a good sign. Z knew how to deal with cruelty. She knew what to expect of it. If the woman turned out to actually be kind ... the rules of the game changed and put her at a disadvantage.

"I don't mean poison, of course," Zelda mocked. "Starfleet would never poison a prisoner. It wouldn't look good on their shiny humanitarian image, the one they hold up to new members of the Federation. I was thinking more along the lines of drugs that would affect me in ways I won't like. You've already taken my ring, a keepsake from my father. Or ... maybe you gave me something in its place?"

She looked at the woman opposite her with mild curiosity. "Did you set up a time bomb in my bones?"

Isabella sat down across from Zelda and took a grape off of the food tray and ate it. "I can tell you this, no one poisons anyone in my facility." Isabella extended her right out to the still suspicious woman. "Isabella Perry." She said as she waited for the woman to shake her hand.

After a small hesitation, the woman took the hand offered to her. "Zelda Alegari. But I'm sure you know that already, and probably everything else about me." She dropped the handshake, but still didn't reach for the food. Don't fall for it, she heard her trainer say in her mind. It's just a ruse. You have no friends in Starfleet. You have no friends anywhere.

Isabella grabbed the tray and popped another grape into her mouth before she offered it to Zelda again. "How have you been treated since you have been in here?" she asked.

With a half-smile, the woman said, "Like a prisoner." She looked away, her eyes roving the walls, with multiple cameras. They weren't even disguised, but blatantly letting her know she couldn't even have privacy at the toilet. It didn't matter. She'd been well-trained, for a very long time, and felt no modesty about any of her bodily functions.

Looking back at the lieutenant, she mockingly asked, "Isn't that how you're treated?"

Isabella cocked her head at Zelda and answered matter of factly. "If I killed someone, I'm sure it would be. And to answer your question, I don't know everything about you. Actually, there is not much about you known to us. Which is why I am here. Not officially, really. Mainly out of plain curiosity about you."

"You know the old saying about curiosity and cats? I wouldn't want to be the cause of your expiring and being blamed for another murder I didn't commit, so ask your questions, and I'll tell you what you want to hear," Zelda said, shrugging.

 

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