H20 Secured

Posted on Tue 19th Dec, 2017 @ 5:51am by

617 words; about a 3 minute read

Mission: A Phaser as Deadly as a Candlestick
Location: Unknown Senior Enlisted Quarters
Timeline: MD 5, late night

Raela's tale continues ....

When Raela awoke, she had no way of knowing how much time had passed. The small room had no viewport to the outside, and she thought it might be suitable for a junior officer, though she had never dated one and had no experience with such a place. Maybe it was only upper-level enlisted quarters.

The same low level lighting as before illuminated the area. This time when Raela sat up, the room didn't spin around her head. She put her feet flat on the floor and noticed someone had removed her shoes. Sitting for a few minutes confirmed that her head was clear.

"Computer, raise lighting to 100%." There was no effect. Whoever had left her here had disabled her ability to influence her surroundings and, probably, to contact the outside world, but she couldn't presume that without at least trying.

"Computer, contact Caroline Post at FNS." There was no response. “Computer?” Apparently, the computer interface was not active in these quarters. With a sigh, she looked around. She didn’t even see a terminal, so there was no way to go the old-fashioned way, with tapping the surface.

On a table in one corner were a glass and a plate. Raela got up to investigate it, suddenly realizing she had a raging thirst. After sniffing the glass, and deciding it held water, she took a small sip to confirm her theory. Then, she guzzled it to the last drop and looked around to see if there was a way to get more. Walking toward the one closed door, she found a bathroom, and more water. Refilling the glass, she returned to the table and tried to think of drugs which made one thirsty.

It was a fruitless mental exercise, so she abandoned it in favor of the sandwich on the plate. Reaching out to touch the bread, she discovered it was still soft, so it hadn't sat there long. She lifted a corner of the crust and saw ham and cheese. As if the sight of food had sent a signal to her stomach, it growled, and Raela half-smiled. There was nothing to make her feel optimistic, but at least for the moment, no one wanted her to starve.

Picking up half the sandwich, the woman nibbled it as she wandered the confines of the room, looking for anything that might be a clue to why she was here or who had put her here. Presumably someone would eventually come to let her out, or to demand something from her. How long that might be, there was no way of knowing, and she felt on the edge of panic. Fighting that down, she came back to the table and picked up the second half of the sandwich. For a moment, she hesitated, thinking she should save it, in case no more appeared. Then she shrugged and bit into it. In the long run, it wouldn't matter.

In her first circuit of the room, Raela had noticed a few books on a shelf, and she wandered back to take note of what they were. Books were enough of an oddity that it might be a clue later to the person who had held her captive. One was a book on quantum mathematics, another on the history of the Federation legal system. There was a book of 18th century poems, which she thought was odd, and a murder mystery. She pulled that one out, wishing the light was at least a little brighter, but she'd make do.

Settling back on the bed, Raela stuffing pillows under her head, and opened the book. Hopefully, she wasn't going to read something that would give her the willies.

 

RSS Feed