Unexpected-Chapter 12

Unexpected

by Orion9

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

*******

Chapter Twelve – Interrogation

Forest
Zenandria
0215 hours
“What do you say, Commander? Tell me where Princess Xanindra is and I’ll make this easier for you … hmmm?”

Hands bound tightly in front of him, and head spinning, Trip strove to remain upright on the chair as he squinted up at his captors. The huge man who stood menacingly beside him was a total stranger but the tall one asking the questions looked disturbingly familiar. He frowned, plagued by the sense of familiarity that lay just beyond his mind’s grasp. He gave up as his head pounded excruciatingly. It hurt too much to think. All his strength was currently concentrated on keeping himself conscious. The last two times he had blacked out, he had been awoken by painful kicks to his already agonisingly bruised side. Judging by how hard it was to breathe, he wouldn’t be surprised if several, or even all, of his ribs were either broken or at least severely bruised.

“I’m not … tellin’ you … a single thing,” he replied through clenched teeth. “Why’d you want her for anyway? She’s just a child. Leave her … alone…”

“Isn’t it obvious, Commander?” the leader sneered, visibly amused by Tucker's show of defiance. “Because she’s my key to the throne, that’s why.”

Trip blinked, astounded by the answer. The Zenandrian laughed aloud at his expression.

“You look skeptical, my friend. Here, let me explain something to you …”

He bent close to Tucker’s ear and whispered for a few moments. The injured officer’s eyes widened as the implication of the other man’s words became clear.

“Why you–“

His judgment clouded by rage, he lunged at the man, and for the second time that night, took both Zenandrians completely by surprise. Before the other man, who was standing just behind his chair, could react, Trip had already rammed his adversary hard against the wall of the hut and was trying his best to strangle him. Only the bindings around his hands prevented him from carrying out the task successfully.

With a roar, the second Zenandrian quickly pried the enraged engineer loose from his leader and dragged him away. Shoved roughly back onto his seat, Trip tried to break free but conceded defeat when a brutal punch to his side turned everything hazy for a fleeting moment. Breathing hard, he sat quietly with his head bowed, fists clenched tightly in front of him.

The man coughed, rubbing a hand across his throat. He then eyed Tucker with a frosty glare as he straightened out his uniform.

“My dear Commander, I’ll have to ask you to be less barbaric with my clothes. After all, I plan to wear this when I claim Xadria’s hand in marriage in a few short hours. Then, she will pay dearly for making a fool out of me,” he vowed with a snarl.

As his captive lifted his head slowly and glared at him, the man continued, almost meditatively, his eyes half closed, “You know, Mr Tucker, if you and your ship hadn’t turned up in the first place, all of this could have been avoided.”

“Now it’s all our fault?” Trip exclaimed in disbelief. He shook his head. “Y’know what? Yer crazier than I thought …”

The man smirked – a hard, hostile smile – the perfect complement to the expression that shone chillingly in his eyes.

“And you, my obstinate friend, are in no position to insult anyone,” he interjected smoothly. ”I ask you again, where is the child?”

“Go to h–“ Trip gasped in pain as another blow caused spots to dance in front of his eyes.

Once again, the man bent close and the engineer had to stop himself from recoiling in disgust.

“We could do this the painful way,” he whispered into his ear. “And I assure you, Commander, it will be exceedingly painful. Or you could just save yourself the whole experience and just tell us where the child is.”

“I’m not tellin’ you anythin’, yer hear me?” Trip yelled angrily as he jerked away, trying to get as far from his antagonist as he could.

The man straightened slowly, a dark scowl on his face. Without warning, his hand lashed out and he backhanded the prisoner hard. The blow, which caught Trip unawares, jerked his head back and split his lower lip. The world shot out of focus as his head fell forward once more, his chin coming to rest on his chest. If it weren’t for the hand that was gripping him hard on one shoulder, he would have fallen off the chair at that point.

Eyeing the semi-conscious engineer with open disdain, the man tugged at the front of his uniform, straightening it. He then sighed dramatically and said with a cruel smile, “I guess we’ll just have to spend some quality time together and do this the painful way after all. How nice…”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Screaming. There was someone screaming close by. Trip tried to raise his hands to his ears to block the sound out but they wouldn’t co-operate. Then, consciousness came roaring back and he realised with a start that the screams were coming from him. He struggled blindly against whatever that was holding him down, trying to break free, as the world narrowed into a single sensation. Pain. Another agonised scream escaped him as the foot ground harder onto his injured leg. The wound gaped open, soaking the already saturated bandage with fresh blood.

Just when he was about to pass out again, the pressure on his leg lessened tremendously and, along with it, went most of the pain. Drained, his head lolled listlessly between his shoulders as he choked in a breath, coughing, tasting blood in his mouth. The throbbing in his head increased, along with his nausea and he retched weakly, spitting out saliva and blood. A rough hand grabbed his hair and yanked his head back.

“I’m going to ask you one last time. Where is the child?”

Trip swallowed with some difficulty, his mouth dry. With considerable effort, he peered at the man standing in front of him as everything swam slowly into focus. His lips parted to bare bloodstained teeth in a faint mimicry of a smile.

“Kiss … my–” he slurred. A hard fist to his injured side stole the rest of his breath away, the punch causing everything to go dim and blurry once more. Head bowed, he fell quiet and closed his eyes, body tense as he steeled himself for the next blow.

The Zenandrian’s anger increased when he realised that he was not going to get anything from his prisoner. With a roar of anger, he raised his fist again, aiming for the face. Before he could strike the blow, however, a voice called out from the entrance of the hut.

“Sir! We have the princess.”

Concentrating solely on the simple task of getting some much-needed air into his lungs, Trip moaned weakly as the words finally penetrated the fog of pain that surrounded him. Dark despair tore into him as he watched his captor walk nearer with the young girl in his arms, a smirk of pure satisfaction on his face.

“You see, my friend,” he gloated as he stood over his hapless captive. “You could’ve saved yourself a whole lot of pain. I always get what I want.”

At the sight of Xanindria’s seemingly lifeless body, a red mist seemed to descend upon Trip’s eyes and he would have charged the man again were he not forcefully restrained by the man who was standing right behind him. As exhaustion and his mounting fever made him an easy man to hold down, all he could manage was a silent glare as he looked on.

The leader laughed derisively as he caught the blaze of anger in Tucker’s red-rimmed eyes.

“Such deep concern,” he mocked. “Not to worry, Commander, she is unharmed. Just sleeping off the drugs from the dart. I believe you have had a sample yourself although I’m afraid you’re not reacting too well to it. You look rather … off-colour.”

“You … let … her go, yer sonnova–“

“Now, now,” the man interrupted sardonically. “No swearing in front of children. Now, if you’d excuse me, I’ve a throne to claim.”

With another triumphant look, he turned on his heels and made for the door, his prize in his arms. Trip closed his eyes briefly, trying his hardest to ignore the sharp searing pain that washed over him as he hung his head in the agony of defeat. He’d failed her. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry…

Lost in his own misery, he wasn’t aware that the second man had left his side and was conversing softly with his leader at the door until a voice called out to him.

“And, by the way, Commander Tucker …”

Trip looked up slowly and met his tormentor’s cold yellow eyes.

“I do hope you’ll enjoy the rest of your stay with us …”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Xanindra opened her eyes and blinked in confusion, her head heavy. Slowly, her vision cleared and she looked up in wonder into a familiar face. He was staring at her, a worried frown on his handsome face.

“Ri’krd!” she cried, launching herself into his arms.

He gave a quiet laugh as he hugged her back. After a moment, he gently disengaged her arms from around his neck and looked solemnly down at her.

“We’ve got to go now, before they come looking for you,” he whispered urgently.

Glancing past him, she gasped at the sight of a man lying face down on the ground and turned back questioningly at her rescuer.

“Who–?”

“Never mind. I’ll explain later. First, we’ve got to get away from here.”

Xanindra’s eyes widened as she suddenly remembered what had happened. She had been running along the path just like Trip told her when she had felt a prick and then nothing.

“Trip!” she breathed, looking around her. She caught sight of a familiar hut through the thick foliage that blocked them from unwelcome eyes and realised that they were not far away from where the Starfleet officer and herself were captives not too long ago. When she failed to locate him anywhere, she looked back at her friend with panic in her eyes.

“Where is he? Is he here?”

“I don’t know,” Ri’krd shook his head unsmilingly.

“But we’ve got to go back and look for him!”

“Shh! Not so loud. What we need to do is to leave here now or we’re going to be captured as well.”

“But, Trip…”

“No, Princess Xanindra,” he said firmly. “I know he’s your friend, but you’re my first priority. Let’s get you to safety first and then, if there’s time, I’ll come back and look for him, okay?”

She studied him for a while and then nodded reluctantly.

“Okay,” she said, getting unsteadily to her feet. He looked on with a frown as she tried to walk. When she faltered in her next few steps, he bit back a curse and scooped her into his arms. Once he had her tucked securely against his body, he ran as fast as he could, heading towards the direction of the palac

TBC

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One person has made comments

Doing good, kid. Keep it up.