The Heart of Zelda

Posted on Sat 13th Jul, 2019 @ 2:36pm by Commander Paul Graves PsyD & Lieutenant Commander Andrew Eberstark & Lieutenant Adam Keller & Lieutenant Damion Ildaran

1,108 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: A Diplomatic Affair
Location: Intelligence Department, Interview Room 1
Timeline: MD 2, 1540

Previously, in the interrogation room, ... “Her,” Grax said, but also so that Damion would hear. “That’s the one that we need to get to talk.” He had no doubt that Damion (and probably everyone else in the two rooms) was thinking the same thing, but he felt the need to articulate it, just in case anyone was in any doubt.

And now a transfer to a more secure location ...

The woman looked at the ring for a long time, then glanced up at the Ildaron person. "You wouldn't touch this ring?" she said, and leaned back in her chair. "Then I'm not touching it either. I demand a secure room, where I can examine it holographically."

"I would not. Neither would Destiny. And you could just ask," Damion said. "Asking gets you a lot more chocolate than demanding."

She gave him a dismissive look. "If I wanted chocolate, I might do that. Apparently, my life is on the line here, and I'm not a pushover like Destiny ... or the others. You want answers? Well, so do I, and my questions are a lot more important than yours."

"I don't dispute that, Ma'am, but there are ways of dealing with people," Damion said. "What do you know about how that thing was made? Are you aware of its innards?"

"I'd like to speak to a representative now. I have nothing more to say." The woman was hard and sure, determined to give nothing away to the people in the room, or those she was sure watched elsewhere, or perhaps walked around her in a holographic projection of the room.

However many were arrayed against her, they would hear nothing from her until she'd consulted with legal representation. If they didn't give her that ... she was finished talking, and she'd be sure she stayed in control so the others couldn't do any damage either.

Bring on the Iron Maiden, boys. You can't do more to me than has already been done, she thought, knowing it was a Tanith-thought. But Tanith would have smiled slightly. Morrigan had forgotten how.

Adam watched the interaction and grumbled. "What are you protecting them from?" He asked under his breath but enough to be heard. "She's protecting the others," he said out loud. "Mostly Zelda. But the concern is for all three."

"I am a representative--" Damion began, thinking of Grax in the observation room. Then he broke off as a thought occurred to him, and he realized that he wasn't certain how much this current personality knew about her situation. "Ma'am, 'representative' is a somewhat vague word. Are you referring to an attorney?"

"Whatever you call a legal counsel," she answered.

"Thank you. I think we are talking at cross purposes here," Damion said. "We don't want to extract information from you. We want to have a conversation with you. Now, your situation is unusual. When we first brought you in, you seemed to be working with a criminal element under your own free will, so we arrested you, disarmed you, and have detained you. In the process of disarming you, we realized that more was going on than we at first thought.

"We had thought it was simple piracy, perhaps, but we've realized it is much worse and much deeper. We are thinking less and less that you were a willing participant--but we don't know for certain what your relationship with this criminal is or has been. We are also concerned about the danger to you,. The ring in yon container--" He flicked his gaze toward it and then back to the woman--"was made by someone with a sick mind. We don't want you--or anyone--in that person's clutches again, ever. Will you help us take the blaigheard down?"

"I hear what you are saying, but I have no reason to trust you. You've obviously met my sisters. They have no reason to trust you, either ... though Destiny did appreciate the lunch outing," his prisoner informed him with a slightly derisive smile.

"For my own peace of mind, I need the counsel of someone who is not you, not your department, and preferably, not even Starfleet. If you are as concerned as you say, then you will see to that. If you aren't," she shrugged, "you might as well put me back in a cell."

"I appreciate your hearing me out," Damion said. "I personally favor you having counsel. I'm not so fond of you having a non-Starfleet lawyer; that makes me quite nervous, given the matter we're discussing--but I also understand the conflict of interest in it that would make you distrust a lawyer from Starfleet. I will see what I can do. Should I be tasked with finding you an attorney, what name should I give the person?"

The woman shrugged. "It doesn't matter much, really. But he will be talking to me, so you might as well tell him ... Morrigan Endrade."

"How do you spell that?" Damion asked and wrote it down on his PADD, completely unaware that the name had any mythological significance.

In the observation room, Paul leaned back in his chair and studied the image of Morrigan Endrade. "Interesting. She names herself after The Morrígan, a war goddess of Earth. Yet she's very calm, collected, and in control of herself. I still anticipate a fifth personality, but it's possible that what I consider to be still missing in this patient is present in Morrígan in some manner."

"She feels calculating." Adam stated. "I'm not sure but she's definitely the strongest of the four personalities. If there is another one, I'd love to see it."

"No, you wouldn't," Paul said. He sighed. "At least, not if it's the one I'm looking for. Part of me dreads meeting that one."

Folding his arms, Andrew added, "It's also possible this personality manifested itself solely for the purpose of some sort of plausible deniability for her. This one could have been created in response to the others not wanting to compromise themselves or their mission," shrugging, "Wouldn't exactly be a fool proof fail safe but it would provide some sort of back up in case situations like these happened to her."

"Maybe, but I'm rarely off on my empathic reading. Zelda is definitely unaware and Destiny was scared and confused. Tanith, maybe, has some more knowledge than she is letting on but I believe all of them at this point." Adam disagreed with the man. "But we don't know if she's been brainwashed into believing what she believes, so our options are still open.

 

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