The Interrogation: Bast

Posted on 12 Nov 2016 @ 4:01am by Lieutenant Commander Temerant Bast

1,569 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Click Three Times
Timeline: MD9 || 0400 Hours
Tags: Teixeira

The interrogation room was a small room, barely ten square meters. It was dark and damp, and very sparse - there was nothing in the room save for a chair. However, unlike the holding cell where they had all been confined, there was a hint of technology here. The faint hum of some sort of technology could be heard, and although the room's periphery was very dark, there was a bright spot in the center, illuminating the chair, where the Hunters pushed down their guest.

Bast didn't oppose any resistance to the Hunters. He had an idea of what was about to happen. He'd seen a Selamat waiting in the corridor, and there was little doubt in his mind that one was also standing here in the interrogation chamber.

The memories of what the Selamat had done to him back in their own universe still weighed heavily on his shoulders. Using a substance to block the link between the host and the symbiont, they had corrupted his mind, and forced him to turn his back on Starfleet, and work for the Consortium. He had betrayed his oath to Starfleet, to Captain Geisler, and opened fire on his fellow officers. On Camila… The memory of her comforted him. He hung on to that feeling, but pushed her image from his mind, to prevent the Selamat from using it against him.

A faint rustle of clothes behind him caused him to turn around. He saw a tall silhouette in the shadows, watching him. He recognized the robes of the Selamat. His blood curled in his veins. He felt the ice-cold grasp of the Interrogator's mind slipping into his own, and a shiver went up his spine.

= = = = = = =

The Interrogator watched the captive intently. He was different from the others. Obviously a different species, this one had grotesque marks running down the sides of his face.

He could sense familiarity from the captive. He seemed to have already encountered a Selamat, and was bracing himself for what was to happen. But the Interrogator knew that was useless.

He sensed the captive's deep affection for someone on his ship - a female, with yellow hair. The captive was concerned for her safety, but he was also actively trying to suppress her from his thoughts - no doubt to prevent the Interrogator from gaining any knowledge of her existence. But it was useless. Nothing could escape the mind probe of a Selamat.

= = = = = = =

Temerant watched as the tall figure of the Selamat observed him from the darkness, like a wild beast hunting its prey. Of course Temerant was afraid - he had experienced this once before. But he was determined not to let the Selamat have the upper hand.

The cell around him faded from his mind, and was replaced by a rockface. Temerant felt himself dangling at the end of a rope, and could feel the fading sunlight on his skin, in what was a strong moment of déjà vu. He looked over to his left -

And sure enough, there was Camila.

He recognized the rockface. The Interrogator was presenting him with Yolvanda II, when he and Camila had found themselves alone, and where their relationship had begun. He looked at her fondly, and she smiled at him. She stretched her hand out to him, and he reached out to her. The tips of their fingers grazed -

And a great scream came from the sky. Temerant turned to see a great fell beast soaring in the sky, rapidly swooping down on them, and plunging its talons deep inside her abdomen, its neck craning down, and opening its maw to feed on her.

Temerant was suddenly filled with the certainty that if he cooperated with his captors, that everything would turn out all right - that Camila would be safe. If only he would tell them what they wanted to know. Helped them unlock the secrets of the Cochrane -

But it was a ruse, he knew. Another voice told him not to trust his captors. A ray of bright sunlight emerged from the clouds, and a Great Eagle attacked the fell beast, its wings stretching as wide as the Cochrane's saucer.

= = = = = = =

The Interrogator flinched. Something was wrong. He was linked to the Captive, and was holding his mind in a tight grasp, controlling him completely. He could sense the man's fear, his doubts, his doomed determination to resist. But the Interrogator's mind was superior. No one had ever been able to withstand a telepathic assault from the Selamat.

But there was… Something. Lurking in the shadows. A presence.

There was another mind here.

The Interrogator didn't know how this was possible. There were two minds in this subject!

= = = = = = = = =

The Bast symbiont had laid in wait, hiding in the dark recesses of Temerant's mind, biding its time. The memories of the Selamat Ambassador's attack on Deep Space 11 was still too fresh in its mind, and this time it was ready. The link between the Host and the Symbiont was much more mature now than it had been back then. And there was no terazapine inhibitor to disrupt the symbiotic link.

The Interrogator quickly understood what was happening, even though this was the first time he had encountered a joined species. But the initial surprise had broken his concentration - just for a moment. Long enough, though, for Temerant to bolt out of the chair, and tackle the Interrogator to the ground, his knee landing in the pit of the Interrogator's stomach, knocking the wind out of the tall and lanky alien, followed by a quick left jab to the jaw.

Everything that he had kept bottled up for the past three months came to the surface. His reaction at the aggression he'd suffered back on Deep Space 11. Being manipulated by Commodore Terlexa and by the Selamat Ambassador into working for the Consortium. Betraying his oath to Starfleet, turning his back on the Federation, and firing on his crewmates. The mental rape he'd suffered from the Selamat. Everything came bursting out of him, and the Interrogator caught all of it through Temerant's fists, and never had a chance to react. As Temerant's Lethani training kicked in, his movements became more fluid, less rage-induced, and inflicted more calculated damage.

Temerant grabbed the Selamat's head, and smashed it against the ground - and again, and again, ignoring the alien's high-pitched screams, which were now mingled to his own. He felt the Selamat's icy presence in his mind whither away. Blood spattered on the Trill's face and hands, smeared his uniform, and puddled on the ground, mixed with bits of skull and grey matter.

He was gasping for breath when he heard running footsteps right outside the door. The Interrogator's screams had alerted the Hunter guard. Bast moved swiftly to hide next to the door, wiping the Selamat's blood from his chin.

The Hunter took a careful first step into the room. He had, of course, seen the dead Interrogator lying in a pool of blood, his head bashed in on the ground. But where was the prisoner?

He quickly swiveled to cover the sides of the door -

And was knocked backwards against the doorframe when a kick from Bast connected with the Hunter's helmet. The helmet flew off and landed a few feet away, just as a second kick from Bast connected this time with the reptilian Hunter's jaw. Dazed, the guard blinked for two seconds, trying to regain his bearings, when Bast was again on him, kicking him in the knees, which bent the wrong way. The Hunter fell to the ground, writhing in pain. Bast recovered the guard's crossbow, and without flinching, fired.

He ventured an eye out into the corridor. It was empty, but he could only see a short stretch of it, as there was a left bend in the corridor less than twenty paces away.

He stepped slowly and quietly out of the cell, holding the weapon out in front of him. He peered around the corner. Fifty paces away, he could see another Hunter, standing guard by a closed doorway. Bast knew that wasn't where all the prisoners were being held - he had no memory of this corridor.

The Hunter was standing perfectly still, looking at the blank wall in front of him. Bast held the weapon in front of him, aimed carefully, and fired, shooting the reptilian alien dead.

The Trill ran to the fallen alien's side, took his weapon, and looked at the door. It was similar to the door to his own interrogation cell, with a controlling mechanism on the right-hand side. Bast pressed the button, but nothing happened.

He looked down at the fallen Hunter. Could the lock be keyed to DNA, allowing only certain species to open? He hung one of the crossbows over his shoulder, and grabbed the dead Hunter's hand. He held it up at the lock, his first crossbow held at the ready, and pressed the button.

The door opened, revealing another Selamat interrogator. The tall sinister being was surprised, and quickly turned to face the sudden intruder. But before anything could happen, Bast fired, and the Interrogator was killed before he could even realize what was happening.

Bast entered the cell, covered in blood, carrying two crossbows, and saw Commander Teixeira in the chair in the middle of the room.

"Commander," said Bast. "Ready to get out of here?"

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