A Catalogue of Horrors

Posted on Tue Feb 8th, 2022 @ 12:26am by Lieutenant JG Heather De La Rosa {Kelea-Salik} & Lianej Derani

Mission: Tales from the other side of the Mirror
Location: The Serpents Tooth
Timeline: After 'Hunting For The Good Guys'
1299 words - 2.6 OF Standard Post Measure

[ON]


Once they were taken out of the Airlock, Savar and Heather were taken to seperate cells in the Serpent's Tooth. They were more like sparse rooms than proper cells. The Serpent's Tooth wasn't in the business of taking captives or slaves.

Not long after being locked in, there was a knock at Heather's door, and a soft female voice said. "May I come in? I'm Hesmil, the ship's surgeon. Nish said you were hurt?"

The voice sounded kind, Heather was hoping the woman on the other side was as nice as she sounded. “Please come in.”

There was the sound of the clamps being unsealed, and then the door slid open. A Ktarian woman stood there, dressed in a comfortable black tunic and pants, hefting a medical kit. Behind her were two very beefy orion men, but they just stopped at the door and closed it behind her, leaving heather alone with the alien. She set the medical bag down on the small sink on one side of the cell. "Nish said Doctor Sthilg had been at you? Would you like to me to examine you?"

Heather offered a brief smile. “I was...turned into one of Doctor Sthilg’s Orion hunters. If it hadn’t been for Savar, I wouldn’t be here now.” She paused wishing she had the strength to feel out for her Imzadi. “We found a doctor who managed to give us some help, but as you can see it wasn’t a perfect fix.”

"No. We've seen victims of the lizard's psychosis before. The chances are there will be permanent genetic damage. Let me see what I'm working with, and I'll be able to give you a more accurate prognosis." Hesmil produced a medical tricorder and held it out. "I don't have to touch you, but I will need to get closer to scan you. Can I do that?"

Heather nodded. “I have no objections.” She gave the other woman a curious look. “Is my husband alright? Thanks to whatever mess I’m in I can’t feel him.”

"I've not seen him yet, but I'd assume yes. He's not kicked off, and Nish didn't say anything. I'll check on him when we're done here." Hesmil slowly approached the human/betazoid, stopping not too close, and ran the scanner back and forth in the space between them. She watched the scrolling read out for a moment, and then put the tricorder down. "Heather. I've got good news and bad. But I think you already know that."

Heather nodded. “I figured you were going to say something like that.” She sighed. “How...bad is it?”

"Well. The orion hormones and pheremones he flooded your endorine system with poisoned your own. Including your ovaries. That means you can't have any more children. And it get worse. Sthilg has damaged you at a genetic level. The parts of your genes that govern cell replication to be specific. You can't make new cells anymore. That means, over time, your body is going to literally fall apart. You can't heal naturally. It won't be immediate but it will happen. I can't even predict in what order. And without natural healing, there won't be much. But that's not your biggest issue right now.

"The biggest issue is your chip. Its damaged. Currently its still functioning, but its unstable. If it starts shorting, which it will, it will result in an aneurysm that will kill you. We can take it out, but not without enough damage to your paracortex that you won't have any more telepathy. So we can leave it and it will kill you before the gene damage even makes a dent. Or we can take it out, and you can live what remains of your life without telepathy."

Heather sat totally shocked and stunned at what she just heard. “Wait...so whichever you look at it, I’m dying!?” Her eyes mister over just thinking of her daughter growing up without her. She took a deep breath wiping away tears. “Take the chip out...I’m not ready to die yet. If I can last a few years at least I’ll see my daughter grow up, that’s if I’m not sentenced to die during our trial anyway.”

Hesmil was quiet for a moment, giving her patient a little bit of processing time. "Can I ask how long you've been an inquisitor?"

Heather nodded. “More years than I care to count.” She sighed. “I only did what I had to do to survive. Betazoids like me are considered slave material, good for nothing. When I had the chance for a better life I took it! They called my husband a rapist! All because they saw in my mind how I used to think about him. He didn’t force me to do anything, he never has. I love him, and I’d die for him if I had to!”

"Consent given out of fear of consequences is no consent at all." Hesmil said quietly. Then she sighed, but more to herself than at the terran in front of her. "How many people have you tortured? In all those years you didn't care to count."

Heather shook her head. “I haven’t...tortured anyone. I’ve interrogated, but I’ve always tried to do the least damage I could. The Empire doesn’t care about the the life of rebels, that’s why I started working as a double agent. I was helping the resistance as best as I could behind the scenes.”

Hesmil looked at her steadily. Nish had said the woman was in denial, but this was one of the most complete cases she'd ever seen. "And how many of those interrogations were done without an agony booth? Or a beating?"

Heather shot Hesmil a look. “What kind of monster do you people think I am!? I had nothing to do with any beatings! Yes, I monitored agony booth sessions but not by choice!” She sighed. “What does it matter anyway? Everyone here thinks I’m a monster, just let me die and have done with it!!”

Hesmil started to pack her doctors bag. "If you want to refuse treatment, that is your choice. And given your condition, you may also want to give consideration to...making your own choice... before that too is taken away from you."

Heather frowned. “Wait!.. please. We have a daughter, she needs us... and I need her. Please remove the chip, I’m willing to live what time I have left without my abilities. I just want to be the mother my little girl needs.”

Hesmil finished packing the bag away. "I'll organise the surgery. It will take a day or so to prep. We need extra measures, to compensate for your condition." Then she stepped to the door. "If I may give you some advice?"

Then she ploughed on, not intending to let the former inquisitor stop her. "You want to be the mother your little girl needs? Well, so do I. So do a lot of people on this ship. And we never will, because of people like you. If you think appealing for us to give you what we can't have, because of you, is going to sway anyone's pity, you are very very, mistaken. On the contrary. It will only provoke. So don't. It will serve you better, in the long run. Your little girl is still alive. That's more than the rest of us get."

The Ktarian woman took a steadying breath, and then opened the door, the two orion guards turning to watch the prisoner for any sudden moves. "I'll be back when the surgery is ready." And then the surgeon stepped out of the cell.

{OFF}