Hair Brained Schemes - Part 2

Posted on Mon Sep 19, 2022 @ 10:59pm by Lieutenant Jason Haines & Civilian Hydel Turvan

4,496 words; about a 22 minute read

Mission: Si vis pacem, para bellum
Location: Deep Space 5

[ON]

Previously...

"Fine, I will grant you a brief moment of my time." He said as he looked towards his next-in-command. "Gul Denat, bring him to the station so that I can have a. . .chat with him." He said matter-of-factly.

"Thank you, Legate", Jason said.

His face didn't show it, but he was pleased. He had made it further than he thought he would.

". . .and don't be gentle either." Turvan said with a sardonic smile just as his image snapped out.

"Of course, sir." Gul Denat said with an equally sardonic smile as he raised his disruptor and fired it into Jason's chest, reducing him to a unceremonious crumple.

". . .couldn't we have just used a hypo-spray on him? He'd still be knocked out on the shuttle ride up." The other Cardassian Trooper said as he began to carry the Human towards the shuttle bay.

"Yeah, we could've, but so what?" Gul Denat said without a hint of concern as he re-holstered his weapon.

Now, The Continuing Story...

Jason woke up in pain. His face and head hurt. He slowly opened his eyes a bit and he could see the severely swollen bridge of his nose where Denat had punched him. He could feel the binders on his wrists behind his back. They were secured tightly. Perhaps beyond tightly, but Denat seemed to be a sadist who enjoyed his job. To add insult to injury, his head bounced off the deck as the shuttle he was one landed, on what he assumed and hoped was Deep Space 5. It took all he could do not to express his displeasure at his pain, but he wouldn't give the sadistic Gul the satisfaction.

Several minutes passed before the back compartment door slid open and the hard boots could be heard walking on the cold tile of the shuttlecraft. Glinn Vakor stood over Jason's prone form for several moments before kneeling down over him, examining him carefully.

"Human." He said both as a adjective and salutation. "Human, wake up!" Glinn Vakor said as he ruffled Jason's hair significantly.

Jason opened his eyes and slowly started to push himself up.

"I am Glinn Vakor, Chief of Security for Deep Space 5." He said with a slight hint of pride in his voice. "I will be your. . .guide during your time onboard this station." He continued. "I will be escorting you to speak with Administrator Turvan." He said coldly. "Get him up" He said to the other Cardassian Trooper.

"I've got it", Jason said, waiving the trooper off as he got to his feet. "Glinn Vakor, a pleasure to meet you. I am Jason, no-one of great consequence in the grand scheme of the universe."

As Jason made it to his feet, the Cardassian Security Chief merely grunted in response. "Follow me." He commanded as he turned and made his way out of the back door of the shuttle and through the bay.

---

Promenade

The Cardassian patrol purposely chose to lead Jason through the Promenade of the station so that others could see the shackled and beaten Human as he trailed behind the other Cardassians. Glinn Vakor felt that it was important for others to see that it would do well for station morale for others to see the haggard Human being led to a destination unknown. He would let their own imaginations guess at what would happen next.

Jason played the role of subjugated prison and kept his head low; not too low though. His eyes darted back and forth as he tried to assess the status of the station as they went along.

"Human." Glinn Vakor said to Jason as he slowed his stride to walk in-step with him. "If it turns out that this is all a part of some scheme of yours, I want you to know that I will personally see to it that you hang from that pylon right there he said as he pointed to one of the higher structures within the area.

Jason looked up and smiled slightly, "Well, if I am stupid enough to try to enact a scheme, it is nice to know that I will have a good view waiting for me."

He lowered his head again in deference to his 'captor'.

Glinn Vakor continued to walk ahead of Jason until the got tot he turbolift lobby that was currently being guarded by 2 Xi'Cadians. Glinn Vakor walked turbolift shaft without paying any attention to the the guards until he was stopped.

"State your purpose." The shorter Xi'Cadian said to the Cardassian.

Glinn Vakor's face displayed a mask of irritation at being stopped by the sentries. It took him several moments to uncontort his face before he finally responded.

"I'm going to see Administrator Turvan." He said slowly through clenched teeth.

"What is the Human for?" The Xi'Cadian asked, gesturing to Jason. "He's shackled, shouldn't he be in the brig?" He asked.

"When you become the Chief of Security, then I might ask for your input, until then just do your job and stay out of my way!" Glinn Vakor snapped at the two Guardsmen. He didn't wait for a response as he made his way through the two and walked into the turbolift shaft, waiting for Jason and the other Cardassian to follow.

"Deck 60," he said.

Jason did a faux wave to the Xi'Cadians noting how Vakor treated them.

---

Diplomatic Conference Room 7

Glinn Vakor led the small group through the hall and towards the designated conference room. He smiled a bit as he saw that the guard stationed at this door was a Cardassian.

"Stand post out here." Vakor said to the second Cardassian with him. "If anything happens, you are to come in immediately and open fire on anything you see moving." He ordered.

Jason didn't say anything. He just observed how the guard reacted before being ushered in.

Administrator Hydel Turvan set down his padd and looked as Jason was brought into the conference room. He stood and walked over to the Human, continuing to observe him.

"For the sake your health, I hope what you have to say was worth it." He said to the Human.

"Legate your hospitality is far greater than it is rumored to be", Jason with a nod. He then turned to Vakor.

"I thank you for your escort and insight Glinn Vakor", Jason said. "What I have to say is for Legate Turvan only, however. I understand your hesitancy being in charge of security and well-being of your comrade, but I don't think you need to doubt that a warrior of the Legate's stature can't handle a shackled human whose eyes are swollen half shut from a broken nose. He will be quite safe and so will everyone else on the station, I assure you."

A silence hung in the air for several moments as the men measured each other. Glinn Vakor certainly was not prepared to leave this ragged stranger alone with his Commander. He was prepared to beat some respect into the Human when he saw Turvan raise his hand.

"Leave us." Turvan said. His men knew that he did not mince words and that any command he gave was given with an expectation of finality. Glinn Vakor knew better than to question the Legate.

"Aye, sir." Glinn Vakor said dispassionately. He continued to eye Jason directly as he made his way out of the conference room and into the hall.

Jason bowed slightly to Vakor as he left.

"Please have a seat." Hydel said to the stranger as he made his way back to his side of the table and once again embraced his glass and took a sip from it. "Either you fail to value your life, or you actually have something that is worthy of my time. So please. . .proceed." Hydel directed moreso than actually requesting.

"I of course value my life", Jason replied. "A life lived in fear of others is no life though. but personal philosophy is not why you are listening to me. My name is Jason Haines. I used to be part of a small Starfleet Intelligence group called Project X. We kept files on many curious races, technology, and sectors of space, such as Pangae, the Fae and their enemies the Masters. Your military victory here is genius I must say. That said, you now have a fight to win that is not physical. I ask you to keep an open mind with what I am telling you and forget about 75% of what that prim and proper, bureaucratic nightmare that is Martiza Soran has said to you, sent you in shared intelligence, or you found in her logs."

Hydel couldn't help but laugh aloud. He had to put his drink down to keep it from falling out of his hand.

"So, the former Intelligence Officer for this installation is standing before me offering to betray not just a fellow Starfleet Officer, but his own Commanding Officer." He said while stifling another fit of chortles.

"You're either suffering from a hallucinatory episode, or you think I'm dumb enough to believe such a tale." He replied to the man.

"But this does saddens me. . ." He said as a dark tone covered his face. "I was hoping that I wouldn't have to execute anyone this week. You'd be surprised how much time it takes to properly plan and carry out one of those." He said. "But. . .oh well." He said as he raised his head again towards the door where his staff was standing on the outside.

Jason smiled at Turvan and he heard 'George's' voice say, 'Something's wrong'.

Jason paused briefly and he felt an odd sensation that wasn't part of wondering when Turvan was going to kill him if he stepped wrong.

'Gotcha', he thought back to George and then focused on Turvan.

"I can only imagine", Jason said. "After all, a really good execution inspires the troops. Hold on, just a sec."

He turned and pushed is thumb into the table until there was a slight popping and crunch sound.

"Bue'quet!!", he swore loudly in Klingon as he pulled his hand with a dislocated thumb out of the cuff and brought his hands out from behind his back. Snapping his thumb back into place, he swore loudly again.

"Damn, I hate having to do that", he said, gritting his teeth. He didn't want to pull out his entire bag of tricks, but if he didn't, he had no chance to convince Turvan that he was a former intelligence officer.

"Now, where were we, oh yes, me betraying Soran", Jason said. "Why wouldn't I? The bitch did try to kill me, twice, killed my father, got me kicked out of Starfleet and stranded me on the planet."

He brought his hand to his chin and let out a 'hmmm', before continuing, "Well, I did deserve the one time she tried to kill me after what I did to her, but still."

He pushed down on his toe, causing his boot blade to pop out. He looked down.

"Oh, don't mind that", Jason said, waving his hand. "Survival purposes only. It can only go in, three or four inches. Enough to kill a T'arg maybe."

He pressed it back into the boot using the chair leg.

"Well, before I let you get to planning my execution, I have a couple of parting gifts I left hidden on the station a long time ago I need to show you so you can dispose of them properly", Jason said. "I don't know about intelligence officers, but I am a paranoid bastard. I figured someone would eventually fool Soran like you have, so I tried to be prepared."

He extended his hand towards the door, "Shall we? You are a busy man."

Hydel was not amused by the Human's performance. He had gone from humored by the Human's audacity to now being quite aggravated by what has amounted in a complete waste of his time.

Hydel set his glass down onto the table.

He did not speak a word for several moments.

"I allowed you to live because I thought there was an outside chance that you had information that was relevant to me." He began slowly, but still not looking up towards the man. "But now it appears that you have used your opportunity to merely waste my considerably valuable time." He said as he looked back up at him.

"For that, I cannot forgive. In fact, I believe killing you would not send the correct message to your kind. I believe that handing you over to our Xi'Cadian associates would be a better lesson about the fatal mistake of wasting my time." He said with a slight upbeat in his voice.

"Interestingly, after my forces swept through DS5 and took it so easily," Turvan said smugly. "I was actually surprised when I learned about the interesting experiments your fellow Human compatriots, the Raddons, were conducting within this station." He said "Raddon Xenobiology Services I believe they called it." He said as he attempted to recall the name. "Once I had assumed control over this station, my Xi'Cadian colleagues became highly interested in whatever it was your Federation had allowed to take place here.**" The Cardassian added.

"Personally, I've always wondered what would be the effect on a Human that was pumped with an undisclosed amount of Ketracel-white." He said sardonically. "Now, I'm a merciful man, thus I will give you 15 seconds to tell me something useful otherwise the last words you will ever hear will be, inject the dose.

Jason gave a slight snort and said, "Well, with the 15 seconds I can only say, the northern continent is the key to the portals, not Soran. The details will take longer than 15 seconds to relay though. Whether you want to listen more, that's your choice."

Jason crossed his arms as he put his back against the wall, his face neutral. He scratched his chin nonchalantly as he waited for Turvan's response.

"Guards!" Turvan snapped as he crossed back to his side of the table and picked up his glass. Within moments Glinn Vakor rushed into the room, flanked by two more Cardassian Troopers, each with their disruptors already drawn and rising to fix a good shot on the Human whom they undoubtedily had determined was going to be eliminated as soon as they entered the room.

"Restrain him." Turvan said in an flat tone. Two of the Troopers holstered the weapons as they each grabbed one of Jason's arms and slammed him face-first onto the table before locking his hands behind his back. Glinn Vakor took this as an invitation to drive his fist directly into Jason's abdomen several times before leveling his disruptor the the base of his skull.

Hydel held up a hand to stop the Security Chief, otherwise he would have to put in an order to have Human brain fragments removed from the table.

"Strip him" He ordered. He wouldn't put it past the former Spy Chief to have hidden various weapons or devices somewhere within his clothing. Turvan had found his best interrogation experiences occured when the subject had been stripped of their protections both physically and mentally.

"Now, I don't know what little lover's spat went on between you and Soran prior to our taking this station and quite frankly I don't care." Turvan said. "Nor am I in any mood to play your silly little spy-games!" He said annoyedily.

"The only reason I am keeping you alive is because you mentioned something that piqued my interest: the Northern Continent of the planet" Turvan said as he took another drink from his glass. He remembered the conversation with the creature in his quarters and how it mentioned that the Fae would want to keep Soran far away from the settlement. That could only possibly mean the Northern continent.

"Now tell me exactly what you know about the Northern Continent." He said in a gritted tone as he stared down at Jason.

Jason didn't resist the beating, although it hurt like hell. He still kept himself focused and didn't let out any sign of pain and bit down on his tongue slightly not to let out a groan.

"This information is still only for you", Jason said, noting the piqued interest. He spat out blood onto the carpet, that came from having his face and the table being introduced.

"Don't kill him, he was just about to inform me of something useful." Turvan ordered to the guards. "He simply needs just a little bit of motivation." He said as he waved them away.

Once the guards were dismissed, Jason said, "Remember what I told you earlier, we are dealing with the metaphysical realm here. Sort of like the prophets of Bajor and the Q. Now, the northern continent, like the southern is a spiritual and temporal hub. There is a race there that simply call themselves the Masters. They are the ones really in charge of the planet and the Fae. They let the Fae play their games, but true control to the portal will only come from them. To gain that requires sacrifice and blood. Not just any sacrifice, but of things that are important to you. Soran's first sacrifice after some of her own blood, was ten security guards. At the time, they were important to her as she was an officer trying to rise within the ranks and gain power. It was enough for an initial allowance of some use of the portals, but not long term without more sacrifice."

He paused momentarily to spit out more blood.

"Then some of the Fae approached Soran", he continued. "They were tired of being beholden to the Masters. They promised her full control of the portals. Like a Romulan, they lied. The Masters, not pleased with the arrangement Soran made, punished her and some of the Fae, which is why the Fae decided to hide for a while. The Masters demanded blood, lots of it. When those Vulcans came through the portal, she made a deal with them. They would start a war here and she would give them un-restricted access to the portal. The team that escorted the Vulcans and their enemies back into the portal were supposed to plant a device that would keep the portal open and then get mowed down by the Vulcans as the opening salvo. Luckily Commander Ryan figured out what was going on and we got back safely and her plan failed. The portals stopped responding to the Federation team, but she didn't want everyone else to know. She was punished once again. She tried other sacrifices, but they didn't work. She even tried murdering her mother, but her father got in the way and sacrificed himself to save his wife. Her father dying was not any sort of sacrifice as she hated him. Her mother however, she did love."

He shook his head slightly as he felt his cheek swelling.

"Now, you enter the picture", Jason said. "I can only theorize at this point that the Masters are setting you up to become the one to rule the portal. Although the Federation politicians are incompetent in general, most Starfleet Admirals aren't. Don't you wonder why more ships weren't diverted to the area when you essentially took control of Xi'cadia? So,I know where you need to go to make your sacrifice. You give me Soran, a shuttle to get out of this area, and leave us out of your temporal schemes and I take you and your first sacrifice there. Do we have a deal?"

Turvan's face remained blank and unobservable as he listened to the Human speak. Internally, however; Turvan was hanging on to his every word. Turvan was aware that Soran's father had died while onboard the station, but he was not clear on the specifics. The idea that she would allow her own family to be sacrificed simply so she could gain power was somewhat surprising, but not completely beyond the realm of possibility. It seemed as if the truth was being revealed about Soran's holier-than-thou facade, to borrow a phrase from the Humans.

"Your Admirlas did not divert a Task Force for this location because it was not worth the expenditure of resources or manpower." Turvan quipped. This planet has little to no value in terms of resources or location near strategic locations." He added. "Plus, in the years since the end of the Dominion War, your government has lost his blood-lust for battle and is willing to accept considerable losses just to avoid a third conflict with Cardassia." He said.

"Now. . ." Turvan said as he leaned closer to the beaten man. "Tell me more about this supposed sacrifice and what all will be necessary." He said.

Jason looked at Turvan and with a nod and said, “The first one is pretty simple, your own blood. From what Soran said, there is an altar of sorts and you have to give it there. Not too much. A bit more than you might during a Klingon blood oath. The thing is, the wound has to heal naturally. This is a sacrifice, not blood for a bio scan. It takes from you as an exchange and you have to accept the wound.”

He paused to give Turvan a moment to take it in before continuing.

“After that, it gets harder”, Jason said. “You have to sacrifice things that have meaning and importance to you. Things that could potentially put you at a disadvantage. For example, after Soran figured out that I was giving her drugs in her drinks to loosen her tongue after our late night encounters…”

Jason saw the incredulous look Turvan was giving him.

“...what? Soran has quite a few vices”, Jason continued with a smile. “Young men and Romulan ale just happen to be amongst them. Regardless, after she figured it out, she unleashed her psychic ,Wells, on me. You see, the lack of Starfleet resources to control a station of this size at first really bothered Soran and she would fight with Starfleet to get them regularly. Once she realized the power available to her from the planet, she decided to use Starfleet’s indifference to her advantage and do some questionable things to secure her power here.”

Jason paused as his jaw was really starting to hurt, but he didn’t want to show it so he kept talking.

“Wells’ mind powers are rather potent and once Soran realized that, she decided to make a secret unit I guess you could call it of those with psychic abilities and moral flexibility to help control information and to influence others’ decisions on the station. During this, Wells and Soran became very close, if you get my drift. Wells is the only person on the station that Soran trusts. So, when the Vulcan that came through the portal expressed desire for Wells, as part of the agreement to start the war, Soran gave Wells to the Vulcan as a gift. Although Wells was going along with the deal to further her and Soran’s own gains, Soran was putting all the work she put into her secret unit in jeopardy. Imagine what would have happened if all those people who were being manipulated found out. She also was sacrificing the one person she trusted and perhaps even loved.”

Giving Turvan a little more time to reflect, Jason then said, “I am not sure what you have here that could fit that sort of category, because I don’t know you except by your intel file. Perhaps some of the Xi’cadian troops as they would put your alliance in danger. Do you have trusted advisors, something along those lines to give in the name of the Masters? On top of that, if I were to speculate, the more you use the power of the planet and portals, the more will be demanded of you.”

"Where is Lieutenant Wells?" Turvan asked. "If she is as valuable as you say, then I will need her in my efforts to re-activate the portals, especially since she has already been through them before." He stated. He was already aware that he needed to locate Soran, but now it appeared as if he needed her comrade as well if he was going to ensure that this worked.

"If I knew I would tell you", Jason said. "When you launched your attack, it distracted her and I was able to break her hold on me. I knocked her and her security escort out cold and left. So, the last I knew she was unconscious on the floor. All she ever had me do was catalog plant and rock samples, but I did overhear her talking to one of her Vulcan aids about a secret lab north of the portals. Not alot, but enough to know it's underground. If I were a betting man, and I am, I would say she might have some sort of hidden passage into the portal caves. "

Turvan eyed the Human suspiciously. He barely trusted a word that came out of his mouth; however, the repeated mention of the facilities to the North did have a semblance of truth to them. It was enough for Turvan to take further action.

"Glinn Vakor!" Turvan shouted for the Cardassian Security Chief to hear and respond. "Put some clothing on the Human and take him down to the surface. Prepare a team to begin an exhaustive search of the Northern Continent. I want to find this facility or complex or whatever the hell it is that holds such an importance to this planet. Keep the Human under secure observation. I have no doubt that he would use the slightest distraction as an excuse to escape or cause more problems." The Cardassian Administrator said.

"Yes, sir." Glinn Vakor said as he hastily grabbed Jason and began to lead him out of the room.


Jason's plan had not included Turvan staying behind. He briefly thought about saying something, but decided not to. Turvan wasn't fully convinced, but convinced enough to put some effort into re-directing forces. That said, his tone indicated that if Jason even farted, he'd get the wrong end of a disruptor.

He lowered his head to Vakor. He had bucked the Cardassian a couple of times already and gotten away with it. He was going to have to be a good little prisoner for the time being, lest he find himself having an accident. He followed the 'sheriff' along obediently.



To Be Continued...


A Joint Post By
---
Jason Haines
DS5 Beach Bum

Legate Hydel Turvan
Prefect of the Cardassian Administrative Zone Deep Space 5
Cardassian Empire

Glinn Vakor
Chief of Security for Deep Space 5
Cardassian Empire



*** = https://ds5.org.uk/index.php/sim/viewpost/792

 

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