Wet Work

Posted on Mon Jul 8th, 2024 @ 12:44pm by Commander Kevin Lance
Edited on on Thu Aug 1st, 2024 @ 1:33pm

Mission: Cat in the box
Location: Romulan Base
Timeline: Current

on:
{Romulan Space Station, Guest Quarters}

Kevin’s PADD chimed, awaking him at the predetermined time. The hour that he had selected was in the dead of the night when most of the base’s occupants would be deep asleep and those on duty would be experiencing the greatest challenge to remain awake. He donned a dark cloak that would cover his features from visual observation. The PADD would corrupt any detection by electronic devices into the image and identity of a Romulan guard that he had copied earlier in the day.

The PADD did not detect any life signs immediately outside of the quarters that he had shared with Mira. He was thankful yet again that she had been removed from the situation albeit in the most dangerous manner possible. Kevin took a deep breath and exited the quarters.

The hallway was empty and Kevin relaxed slightly. He had the auto-injector loaded with the amnesic drug in his hand but he was hopeful that he wouldn't need to use it more than once.

He quickly moved to the maintenance panel where he had hidden the second auto-injector with the Gorn venom and the mechanical juvenile jaws that he had replicated. He believed that they had not been found because nothing has been said, not even rumors, about them. Still, he breathed a sigh of relief when he discovered the items undisturbed in the bag where he had left it. He slung the bag across his back, leaving his hands free.

He made his way to the way to the Romulan diplomatic enclave, periodically checking his PADD to avoid roving security guards. His selection of the target needed to present the Triumvirate with the magnitude of the existential threat posed by the Gorn, the more personal the better. That limited his options to three. Ambassador Vovutho, Nauarchus Saeihr or Sub-Consul Brunuvik.

He had automatically rejected Sub-Consul Brunuvik. If she was, as he suspected, Tal Shiar she would be more of a challenge than he was prepared to tackle. That left either Ambassador Vovutho or Nauarchus Saeihr.

It wasn’t a difficult decision. Ambassador Vovutho had clearly been promised sexual favors from Mira but had accepted her rejection with good graces. Nauarchus Saeihr had, regardless of her naivety, assaulted Mira to the point of traumatization. The remembrance angered Kevin again and steeled his resolve. The Nauarchus would pay for what she had done to Mira.

He waited until the roving guard passed his hiding place then arrived outside the Nauarchus’ quarters. The door was locked and it took several minutes for the PADD to defeat the security system. Finally, the door slid open. The dim light of her bedroom cast long shadows across the room, highlighting the sleek, minimalistic decor. Unlike the guest quarters, holodeck technology was not incorporated into the design. There were two doorways leading off from the main living area. Kevin picked one and was rewarded with the view of a bed with a sleeping form. Quietly, he removed the bag he had slung across his back and laid it on the floor. Then he approached the bed with the auto-injector.

Saeihr must have sensed Kevin’s weigh on the mattress because she almost immediately awoke and asked with some surprise, “Who is it?”

“It is me, Kevin Lance,” he said in a soothing tone.

“What are you doing here?” she asked with more suspicion than surprise.

“Mira left me,” Kevin lied, “and I was lonely.” He leaned in for a kiss to distract Saeihr from the auto-injector that he was slowly moving towards her neck.

Saeihr was not deceived.

She reached out and hit Kevin's wrist hard enough to cause him to release his hold on the auto-injector. The device flew out of his hand and skidded across the floor. She headbutted him, causing him to see stars and giving her time to get off the bed. Blinking through the pain, Kevin followed her off the bed. In the quarter-light of the bedroom’s ambient light, he could see Saeihr’s form but not her expression.

Without warning, Saeihr lunged forward, her movements swift and precise. Kevin barely had time to react, sidestepping her initial strike and countering with a jab aimed at her midsection. Saeihr deflected his blow with a fluid motion, her hands moving like water as she redirected his force away from her.

Kevin tried to press his advantage of height and reach, launching a series of rapid punches and kicks. Saeihr moved with uncanny agility, evading each strike with minimal effort. She retaliated with a spinning kick that caught Kevin in the ribs, sending him stumbling backward.

Saehir used the respite afforded by Kevin regaining his balance to rush towards the auto-injector. Kevin scrambled after her. She reached the device first, taking it in her hand but in doing so presented her back to Kevin. He took the opportunity to wrap a massive arm around her neck and began applying pressure to her carotid arteries. She fumbled with the auto-injector, trying to press it against his leg but wasn’t able to get the angle right as she struggled against the choke hold.

Kevin used his greater weight and strength to force Saeihr to the floor, pinning the hand with the auto-injector between her body and the floor. She struggled to get the hand free but it was too firmly trapped. Kevin applied more pressure and after a half a minute, Saeihr’s body went limp. Breathing hard and with his pulse pounding in his ears, he released Saeihr’s unconscious body. Clearly he had misjudged who the Tal’Shiar agents on the Triumvirate were.

Once he caught his breathe, Kevin recited the phrase that he had been practicing all evening, ”Awaenndraev lioraen”. There was no response. Kevin had to repeat the phrase two more time before the lighting in the bedroom came on.

He didn’t have much time before the Saeihr regained consciousness. He quickly retrieved the auto-injector and held it against her neck, applying a liberal dose of the amnesic serum into her blood stream. He noticed that bruising was starting to form on her neck. Damn the woman, Kevin though, if she hadn’t resisted she would have lived. Now he was going to have to kill her.

He retrieved the mechanical jaws and clamped them down on her leg causing green blood to seep to the surface of her skin. He yanked on the levers causing the teeth to tear the skin, bringing more blood. He removed the jaws and took the second auto-injector to administer the Gorn venom into her wound. He repeated the process on her abdomen.

“Who are you?” Saeihr mumbled weakly, “Why do I hurt so much?”

Cochran damn it, Kevin thought. “Go back to sleep,” he urged her.

“Kevin? Why are you here? What happened?” she asked weakly. The amnesic had erased her memory of the fight and the Gorn venom was sedating her.

Kevin looked at her sadly, his earlier anger gone, and placed a finger on her lips, “Shhhh. Your having a bad dream,” he assured her, “It will be better in the morning.”

“Okay,” she replied and her eyes closed.

Kevin felt sick to his stomach. He didn’t want to kill Saehir but the ligature marks on her neck didn’t fit an attack by a Gorn juvenile. He had to hide that contradictory evidence. With trembling hands, he picked up the jaws again.

Later, back at the guest quarters, Kevin plunged his face into a basin of ice cold water for as long as he could hold his breath. He was trying to reduce the swelling received from the head butt that Saeihr had given him. He might be able to convince people that he had gotten the injury from running into a door or hitting his head on the edge of the pool while swimming laps but it would be better if they didn’t notice.

He had been able to dispose of the mechanical jaws and both auto-injectors in a trash reclaimator. Hopefully, the wounds would be so convincing that the Romulans wouldn’t think to look for another explanation for the attack on the Nauarchus.

He cursed himself for not thinking to grab a dermal regenerator from the medical stores aboard the Norris. He had lacerations from where Saehir had clawed at his arm. Fortunately, they would be hidden by the long sleeves of his uniform.

Having caught his breathe, he once again plunged his head back into the ice water. Part of him hoped that he would drown himself. As it was, the face and trusting innocence at the end of Saeihr would haunt his dreams for a very, very long time.

:off

Lieutenant Commander Kevin Lance
Executive Officer
USS Chuck Norris