Capture

Posted on 26 Apr 2016 @ 1:25am by Lieutenant Colonel Cassandra Blackburn

2,895 words; about a 14 minute read

Mission: Errand of Mercy
Location: Tokyo / Luna
Timeline: ED1

ON:

The streets of Tokyo were bustling in the early morning sun; a throng of humanity flowing through the city like the rapids of a river. Flying vehicles weaved around each other above. Floating through the mass, Cassandra Blackburn worked her way through the crowd. Her destination was the space port, but she felt sure she was being watched.

The feeling had been with her since she’d escaped the hotel room hours before. Starfleet knew she was here – she was out of time and had to get out now.

She pulled her rucksack straps tighter and moved faster. Her feet were complaining and she was tired, having been on the run for two months. Her headache was becoming worse – she had been rationing her doses of Naltrexone and she now only had two left. The alternative was the drink, that ancient evil, and she needed her sensibilities now no matter how much it hurt.

Merging out of the crowd, she slipped into a narrow alley between two tall buildings. It was clean, almost unbelievably so, just like the rest of Earth in the 24th century. Paradise realised. She scoffed at the notion as she pulled out her tricorder from the rucksack. She passively scanned the area for Starfleet signals – she dared not run an active scan; she’d might as well fire a flare for Starfleet security to find her. Nothing detected. Either they’d left or they had finally enacted some form of EM discipline.

She checked her location. Blackburn had studied in Tokyo before joining the Corps, a million years ago, and she knew the city well. Five kilometres to the Spaceport – an hour away on foot. Tightening her rucksack again, her hand dived automatically into the pocket of the dirty overcoat she was wearing and tightened around the hypospray lurking within. She hesitated before pulling it out. Two doses left. She stuck it into her neck and felt her headache fade away again.

“Dammit” She whispered. Thrusting the hypospray back into the rucksack she slipped back into the crowd.

She’d been walking for a few minutes when she spotted the trail. A well-dressed man in civilian clothing, groomed, standing straight as an arrow. He never looked towards her as he walked fifty metres behind her. He was the definition Starfleet security and stood out from a mile away.

Frustration and anger reared their ugly heads in her mind. Why couldn’t they leave her alone? She was so close! She picked up the pace and changed tack towards the municipal transport hub. It was one of the busiest places in the city and she’d stand the best chance of losing him there. She had no doubt they were scanning for her using sensors as well, but she had set her tricorder to a passive scrambling mode.

The crowd intensified as she approached the transport hub. She snaked her way through people quickly, ignoring the hundreds of startled looks of disgust, surprise and occasional sympathy at her dirty, unkempt appearance. Drones caught in their little lives, she cynically thought at the back of her mind. She glanced back; her trail was still there and he didn’t appear to realise that he’d been spotted.

She entered the hub. It was a large open building with literally thousands of people moving within. She pushed through the crowd and tried to open the gap between her and her pursuer. Suddenly, she broke right and darted down a deserted narrow access corridor. Breaking into a sprint, she turned into another corridor and then into a small alcove. Taking her backpack off, she wrapped the straps tightly around her right hand and waited. A few moments later she heard the approach of hurried footsteps towards her. She tightened up, coiled like a spring. As the Starfleet man rounded the corner to the alcove she swung the rucksack, contents and all, as hard as she could at head height. She hit her target, and she felt the impact as the backpack made contact with his face. He fell hard onto his back and before he could move she was on him, her knee driving into his neck. She briefly thought about killing him as she put all her weight onto his throat, but she removed her knee as soon as he was unconsciousness. She had fallen low but she was not a monster.

She pulled his still breathing body into the alcove and removed his tricorder from an inside pocket. Biometrically locked. Damn. She tossed it aside and dug out her own. She found his commbadge and scanned it – basic encryption, easy to break. She worked quickly, as she knew she had seconds before they realised their man had dropped off the grid. She put his commbadge in her overcoat pocket. Rucksack back on, she sprinted back to the main hall and into the crowd. An automated robotic cleaning machine trundled past her, and she slapped the commbadge onto the side of it as it passed.

“That’ll confuse them” She said to herself. She worked her away against the crowd and out into the plaza in front of the hub. She sighted the avenue into the city she needed and headed quickly towards it. As she approached the start of the road, two equally well dressed men appeared in front of her. No deception this time – they stared straight at her and broke into a run. She turned on her heels and ran to the other side of the plaza. The crowd was thinning out and the cover it afforded her was quickly evaporating. The second road was getting closer, but suddenly two Human women and a Vulcan man appeared out of the crowd in front of her. Blackburn’s heart sank.

Only one route left now – back into the transport hub. She ran towards it but the last months had taken their toll on her physically and she was slowing down. The five security officers were closing in on her. Her hands were rapidly searching the pockets of her overcoat. Where was her phaser? She was going to have to fight it out. Then she realised – it was still in the rucksack on her back. Stupid.
The entrance to the hub was close now. If she got inside, maybe she could activate the fire suppression system and escape in the confusion. She stumbled over herself briefly, precious seconds lost, but kept her balance. She looked up – two security uniforms now at the entrance to the hub running towards her and carrying compression rifles. She turned again – both flanks and the rear cut off. She quickly judged her pursuers – assessed the weakest, and charged straight at the human females, now sporting hand phasers only metres away. The move took them by surprise and they reacted slowly. Within seconds Blackburn collided with the first one, throwing all of her weight behind her as she did so. The officer went down. The second grabbed at Blackburn’s arms, but turning in her stride, Blackburn jabbed her elbow in the woman’s face. Blackburn felt the sickening crack as the nose broke. She had got through them! She locked on to her escape route and began running again. Just as she got her momentum back, she heard the familiar whizz of a phaser blast and felt a sudden massive, and overwhelming burning sensation in the back of her left shoulder. She fell to her knees, winded by the stun setting of the weapon. Her vision was blurred. She tried to get back on her feet. Looking up, she saw she was surrounded by at least ten security officers. In the background she noticed another one of them was helping the female officer whose nose was now smeared across her face and bleeding heavily. The crowd of civilians had run from the shooting.

Their leader was one of the men in uniform. He was young, had strikingly blonde hair and was handsome, but he was also very, very angry. He levelled a hand phaser at her.

“Give it up, Blackburn!” He screamed at her. She tried to talk but her body wouldn’t function. She stared at him in defiance. She tried to get to her feet. He shot her in the stomach with another stun blast and she sank back down to her knees. She fought the unconsciousness swelling up inside her. He walked up and kicked her onto her back, placing his foot on her chest. He leaned into her face. “I got you, bitch!” were the last words she remembered from him before blacking out.

* * *

When she came to she found herself staring at a metal ceiling. The lights were so bright they hurt her eyes and her head was in agony – a combination of being stunned by a phaser and her addictions. She tried to move her arms, but found invisible resistance wouldn’t let her move anything. A force field held her to the bed. As she focussed, she saw a woman in a medical uniform moving away from her with the hypospray she had just used to wake her.

The bed began to move, turning her into a leaning upright position. She blinked hard as the lights moved from her line of sight.

“How do you feel? You’ve been out a few hours” Said the doctor.

“The picture of health” Blackburn sarcastically replied. Her throat was dry so the words come out in a croak. Her eyes had adjusted. She saw that there were three other people in the room aside from the doctor – a male Marine wearing the eagles of a Colonel, a female Commander in science uniform, and the blonde security Lieutenant who had shot her.

“I still object to the morality of these orders.” Said the Commander to the Colonel.

“And she wounded two of my people!” Shouted the Lieutenant, still visibly angry.

“Hush. Their injuries were hardly serious.” The Colonel replied. The Lieutenant opened his mouth to reply, thought better of it, and closed it again. “And the orders stand, Commander.” She didn’t reply either. The Colonel turned to Blackburn.

“Welcome back to Luna. Cassandra Blackburn, you have been arrested under a warrant issued by the Starfleet Advocate General. The alleged charges are… hang on.” The Colonel picked up a padd from a nearby table. “Desertion. Theft of Federation property. Escape from lawful custody. Assault of Federation officers. Computer misuse. Telecommunications misuse. Unlawful possession of phased energy weapons, and finally, bringing the Starfleet Corps of Marines into disrepute.” He paused to look at her response.

“Just a few minor things, then. Get on with it.” She said. The Lieutenant flushed red with anger.

“Fortunately for you, you appear to be some kind of strategic intelligence asset to my Corps, despite your abhorrent attitude towards your uniform.” The Lieutenant scoffed in the background. The Colonel picked up another padd and waved it at her. “This is a treatment order from the Federation Judiciary. Two parts to the court order – first to sort out this ridiculous addiction, and the second to treat psychological symptoms by…” Blackburn cut him off.

“You mean ‘Direct Telepathic Intervention’” She hissed. The phrase was singed into her mind, ever since she had read the secret email from Starfleet medical.

“I mean that.” The Colonel said. He turned to the doctor. “Let’s get it done.”

The doctor approached her. Blackburn tried to turn her head away but the force field was strong and she couldn’t move. “Normally, I’d sedate you, but the Commander here needs you alert for her part of the treatment.” The doctor put a device onto Blackburn’s forehead and activated it. She turned away to a computer terminal and Blackburn felt a burning sensation into the middle of her brain. She screwed her face up in pain. The Commander came up to her and held her hand.

“Listen, Cass. I know it hurts. I’m a Betazoid counsellor and I’m going to help…”

“Go hang!” Blackburn shouted out. Taken aback by her ferocity, the Commander let go and backed away.

“I think we should just take what we need and throw her in prison.” Said the blonde Lieutenant.

“I think you need to shut up.” Replied the Colonel mindlessly. The Lieutenant flushed red again and stormed around the room. The other ignored him.

The pain intensified, then suddenly stopped. “All done.” Said the doctor, removing the device. “See, not that bad, was it? Now you don’t need those injections anymore and alcohol will make you repulse by even looking at it” Blackburn pulled a fake smile of defiance.

“Commander.” Said the Colonel. The Betazoid hesitated for a moment, then found some internal resolve and stepped up to Blackburn.

“If you relax and let me in, this will be much easier on both of us” She whispered.

“I thought I told you to go hang.” Replied Blackburn. Sighing, the Commander put her hands on Blackburns head and closed her eyes. Blackburn suddenly felt darkness wash over her, and another presence in her head, invisible fingers pulling at the fabric of her being.

She screwed her face and tried to block it out. “Get. Out. Of. My. Head!” She screamed. After a few minutes the Commander let go and broke the connection.

“She’s really resisting. I’m worried about the collateral damage.” She said to the Colonel, stepping back.

“Try again.” He said. “It is to be expected and the court deemed the risk as acceptable.” The Commander approached Blackburn again, but suddenly stopped as the doors to the room opened. Someone else had come in but Blackburn couldn’t see them. The Colonel moved out of her line of sight. A conversation took place. She strained to hear, but couldn’t make anything out. The Commander hovered in front of her, poised to make another attempt, but watching whatever was going on the other side of the room.
Eventually the Colonel reappeared in front of her. “New orders” He said to the others in the room. “Clear out.” The doctor and Commander left without a word.

“But, Sir…” Began the Lieutenant.

“Clear out.” Repeated the Colonel, himself disappearing.

The Lieutenant leaned towards Blackburn’s restrained head “We’ll meet again” He said menacingly.

“Bullied at school, huh?” She replied. The Lieutenant flushed red again.

“Clear out!” Came the voice of Colonel for a third time. The Lieutenant hesitated for a second then was gone.
Stuck partially upright on the table, Blackburn was still restrained and unable to move. Her head throbbed and exhaustion beckoned. She was jolted out of by the surprise of seeing Daniel Sutherland appear in front of her. He moved over to the terminal and released the forcefield.

Blackburn felt the pressure on her body lift. Slowly, she managed to stand up. She was shaky on her feet, so Sutherland pushed a chair over to her and she sat down. He fetched her a glass of water from the replicator and perched himself on the desk.

“What the hell are you doing here?” She whispered eventually.

“Hello to you too.” He replied. “I’m here to make you an offer.” He showed her a padd. “This is an executive order from the President herself. It does three things. It quashes the charges against you. It rips up the mental health treatment order for direct telepathic treatment and replaces it with admission to a civil facility for traditional therapy, and it guarantees you a medical discharge from the Corps.”

“Why would the President be interested in me?”

“You were requested. Someone asked a favour of her.”

Blackburn grunted. “So what do I have to do?”

“One more mission.” He gave her the padd and she scrolled down. She threw it back on the desk.

“No.” She said.

“No?”

“I am not getting on that ship.”

“Listen, Cass, this is a chance to…”

“I said no and I mean it!” She shouted, suddenly becoming distressed. Anger flushed throughout her and tears rolled down her cheeks. The last six months finally overwhelmed her. Sutherland paused, looking at her. She stared past him at the wall behind and her tears dried. Evenutally, he got to his feet.

“I’ll send the Colonel back in then” He said, moving towards the door.

“Wait.” She said. He stopped. “One more mission, then you’ll let me go?”

“Yes. Presidential promise. But no escaping or running away nonsense. Trust works both ways. Misbehave and you’ll end up back here eventually.”

She sighed to herself. “Fine.” She said quietly.

“Excellent.” Said Sutherland. “There’s a sonic shower in the room through that other door. I’ll get someone to replicate you up a uniform. The Redemption is under rapid departure orders so our shuttle leaves in twenty minutes.” He smiled at her. “Give me a shout if you need anything, Major.” He said, walking out of the room.

She picked up the padd he had left behind, with the presidential seal on the top of the document it displayed. She tossed it back on the table.

“Major.” She muttered to herself. No one had called her that for months.

OFF

OOC: I apologise for the length of this post, however I needed to tie up a few loose ends and get CB onto the ship. Hope you enjoyed.

 

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