The Zelda Alegari Chronicles, Part 5
Posted on Thu 4th Jun, 2020 @ 7:53am by Commander Paul Graves PsyD & Lieutenant Damion Ildaran
Edited on on Sat 6th Jun, 2020 @ 6:15pm
1,416 words; about a 7 minute read
Mission:
Resolution
Location: Intelligence Department, Interview Room 1
Timeline: MD 3, 1010
Previously, an important clue may have been discovered ...
The other side of the wall, Grax pointed at Damion's PADD on the monitor. "Mirror that," he said to Fisher, who was already running his fingers over the master system display. "I want to see what he's seeing."
A moment later, the image of the interview room shrank so that it only occupied half the screen, and, on the other side, was the listing containing the Cairo. Grax scanned it briefly before turning back to Fisher. "I want everything you can find on that ship," he said, and then, without waiting for an acknowledgement, immediately focused back on the image of the interview room.
and now, is there more to find?
Part Four |
Tanith sat back, her shoulders more relaxed. She'd given them something, but what it meant, she had no idea. She had no more to give, so she hoped it was enough.
"Moving on, then," Chlamydia said after a moment, "I'd like to discuss how this ring came to be. We believe it was grown in place. What, if anything, do you remember about that process?"
In the observation room, Paul paid close attention to the viewscreen to see how Miss Alegari would react to that question.
Picking up the see-through container that sat outside its concealing box, Endrade turned it slowly, examining the tendrils that extended down from behind the beautiful gem. She couldn't repress the shudder that went down her back. Evil emanated from the thing, and it was all she could do to hold on to it and look at it. She set it down carefully, and closed her eyes, trying to remember something, anything that would satisfy the pale woman across from her.
"I'm not sure," she said at last, still groping through shadowy memories. "I don't actually remember seeing it, but I sense the ... the wrongness of it?" She opened her eyes and looked at her counsel. "Can you feel that sense that something is twisted about this thing?" she almost pleaded.
"Oh, yes," the legal Addams said. "It's quite a strong feeling of menace, but ... schadenfreude comes to mind from old Earth German. Sort of a ... malicious joy, a spitefulness, combined with a bit of 'I never should have been created'."
"That's it!" Tanith agreed, turning back to glance at the ring, and feeling the word malicious settle into place. "Schadenfreude," she repeated thoughtfully, closing her eyes again to let that take root.
A second shiver went through her and then a third, panic rising as she realized this thing had been in her finger ... IN her finger! What was she supposed to have done with it? Who might have been her target? Her breathing quickened. She felt trapped in the room, trapped in some kind of impending disaster! And then ... calm settled over her.
A whisper went through her as she fell asleep. My turn, little sister. Rest. I hold you securely.
Morrigan looked out at those surrounding her, and her gaze came to rest on Ildaran. "Ah," she said. "It's you, again. Have you nothing better to do than torture my little sisters?"
"I assure you, Morrigan, it's no great joy for the rest of us, either," Damion said, hoping he had guessed the right name. "I very much appreciate and thank you for the misery I know we're putting you all through. I hate that it's necessary for us to stop the people who did this to you."
He let out a breath and went on. "Do you recall the four faces that Dr. Addams showed Destiny? Did any of them have aught to do wi' that ring? Do you remember names or faces of anyone who isn't among those four? Were there, say, people who strapped you or one of your sisters to a chair or a gurney? Did anyone adjust the lighting, bring in instrument trays, bring you food, discuss your vital signs, or take blood samples?"
He didn't need to be an empath to imagine his questions cutting into her like knives. If he were the one who had once been strapped to a gurney to be experimented on, he certainly wouldn't want to be reminded of it.
"Don't waste your pity on me," the woman said. "Save it for my sisters who need it. Yes, I know two of the faces. One was already identified for you. As the woman passed, I saw ... not despair, but something ... determination? regret?" She shrugged, "Possibly despair as well. Her eyes met mine for the briefest of times and then skittered on.
"I can confirm another one, the one Destiny wasn't sure about. He was definitely there, and he was a major player, if not the major player. It was obvious that he was in control of the situation. They'd already given Zelda a tranquilizer, but I saw enough to know that there were quite a few others in the room - three others at least. The woman from the corridor wasn't there, but there was another woman. I didn't ever see her well, so I can't describe her. She was gowned and masked, as was another person. The one who gave the anesthetic, no. He wasn't masked, but I think he was a nobody, just administering drugs."
Morrigan gazed off into the corner where there was probably a recording device, and she quirked her eyebrow, but said nothing about it. It didn't matter how many recordings they made, she could only tell them so much, and she didn't care if it was enough. She only needed to convince them to let Zelda go. The poor child could barely help herself, with all Morrigan did for her. She couldn't be of any use to these people.
"As for the ring," she brought her attention back and settled it on the doctor across the table. "That was something they did while Zelda was out. We woke up, and there it was. There was no real pain, but the finger ached for ... several days. At the time, I didn't understand what was happening, but I'd presume as the anchors set in her bone?"
Chlamydia nodded slowly, pulling her mind back from consideration of the Butcher of Clarvis. "If I am correct," she answered, "it happened the other way around. The ring grew out from the bone, in a process similar to the way that Borg adaptations grow." She sighed. "A shame you were unconscious. It would mean a great deal if we knew how it was induced to grow; whether the nanites in question were introduced directly to the site, or intravenously, or even as an aerosol. Certainly, Doctor D..." she stopped herself from saying the name. No point giving information to the poor creatures pulling at one skin across the table from her. After a brief pause, she went on, "one of the Doctors we suspect was involved has a history of aerosol application of bioweapons."
Morrigan wondered whose name had been on the tip of the doctor's tongue, but she shunted that consideration aside for the moment. It brought nothing to mind. The woman's explanation of how the thing had grown, though, that was interesting.
Leaning forward on the table, she directed a question to the doctor. "Do you think it is Borg technology? I'm sure that sort of thing is illegal, and I know I never signed any permission for such a procedure, nor did any of my sisters, to my knowledge ... which is pretty comprehensive. That's even worse than what I thought was the process," she said, disgust evident in every aspect of her face and voice.
"It is quite illegal, Morrigan," Damion said. "That's why we're questioning you for so many details. We have to find the place. When we find what seems to be the place, we have to be able to confirm it. You were able to tell us something of what the place looks like, and that's a great help."
"The difference between medicine and poison is often a matter of dosage," Chlamydia equivocated. "We believe the original research this is based upon was a sort of counter-Borg agent." She waved her left hand dismissively. "Be that as it may; yes. The current application is not just illegal, a category which may be applied almost accidentally. No; this application is evil."
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