Lies

Posted on 15 Jun 2009 @ 3:00pm by

3,337 words; about a 17 minute read

Mission: M2: Aggressive Negotiations
Location: Brig
Timeline: After leaving DS5

Elek was soon back outside the brig, waiting for Isha. He knew that, following this, he was going to meet with the captain and brief him on the situation so far - he just hoped that this wasn't the worst idea he'd ever gone along with.

He looked round as he saw Isha walked around the bend of the corridor.

"Madam Ambassador," he said, "I'm still not convinced this is a brilliant idea."

Isha brushed her loose hair back behind her ears, "It may well be the worst I have ever had, but then myself and Opaka taking back my warbird was not really a very good idea either but it worked, sort of. Lieutenant Elek, you know that I have to try, don't you?" she said, "and please, whatever I say or agree to, don't come in. You'll hear everything - you do still speak Rihannsu, don't you?"

He smiled. "I could never forget it." He sighed. "Very well, Madam, I'll be in the other room ... and waiting for you when you come out."

He turned and walked into the observation room.

"Thank you," Isha said though he was no longer there to hear it. For a moment she pressed her brow against the wall as though it might give her a little of its strength and support, then hoping that she looked enough of an emotional wreck, she went in.

---

“And here you are,†Nniol said reclining in the semi-darkness, “sneaking around in the heart of ship’s night. What do you want, Isha?â€

She moved closer to the centre of the room placing her hands on the back of the chair that Elek had used earlier but she did not sit. “Just to talk.â€

“You had that option earlier but you could not wait to get away,†he said his tone as hushed as darkness, “What changed?â€

Nniol exhaled with a gurgling, knowing chuckle, “You needed to speak your own language with someone who doesn’t have to have the philosophy behind the words explained to them; it’s a common enough reaction among captives – those who would never speak in the street if they were free become the best of friends for as long as they are forced to share their prison. Talk then, I’m not going anywhere.â€

“Its not like that. I …â€

That laugh again, “If your new friends could not get me to talk, what makes you think that you will have any more luck? Are they watching through that window? Waiting for me to reveal something in an unguarded moment?â€

“I shouldn’t be here at all,†Isha moved back towards the door, indecision wrinkling across her brow. She opened her hand to reveal a small dampening device, its winking light bright against the dark fabric of her gown, “I thought … I can’t do this … I’ll be in trouble if I’m caught.â€

“You are trouble, Isha. From those glittering alien eyes of yours right down to the nails on your toes … you always have been. I knew that nobody could really be that demure when you first danced into our lives. And that’s the way its been ever after, you get yourself into something you cannot handle and we come and rescue you. Tell me why you’re really here,†he demanded.

Isha hovered by the door, tense and ready to bolt, “I offered my guard a cup of tea … I left him sleeping in my quarters. I don’t have long before he’s missed,†Isha lied. She felt hot and awkward under Nniol’s appraising stare, alone with him it was not hard for her to appear nervous because despite the fact that he was locked up, she found him intimidating.

“What happened to your wrist?â€

Isha realised that she was unconsciously rubbing her arm, “The Klingon … we had a disagreement.â€

“Come closer. Let me see,†Nniol said getting to his feet and moving to the front of the cell. Isha did as he requested, he peered through the energy field, close, but quite unable to touch her. “That will bruise,†he said, “you should get it seen to.â€

Isha tucked her hair behind her ears and looked away. “It might remind me not to pick fights with men who are twice my size,†she said, her cheeks darkening with embarrassment at her own weakness.

“Animals, Isha. Stop expecting them to be civilised.â€

“One could almost forget that not thirty hours ago you thought it was perfectly acceptable to strike me to the floor.â€

“Isha, if you’re going to go around barging onto the bridges of other people’s ships and waving disruptors at them you should be prepared to take the consequences – if you expect to be offered a cup of tea, wait until you have an invitation and behave with a little more decorum once you arrive.â€

Sulkily Isha folded her arms and leaned her shoulder on the lip of the cell, “You and Da’nal would appear to agree on one thing, at least,†Isha replied.

“Space travel must do something to your head, ch’dianvm ailhun. You called out the Klingon? Absolutely priceless! May I ask why?â€

“I want to see that you are taken home and duly tried rather than handed over to a tribe of Klingons for … what did you do?â€

“Hmmmpff, not what they think,†Nniol ambled back across his cell and leaned against the wall exactly opposite Isha. When he spoke his voice was almost a whisper, “So you are protecting me, but from what? It can hardly matter to you which government executes me.â€

“Must you be so blasé?â€

“I’ve been in worse situations. You should be worrying about yourself – who is going to rescue Isha this time?â€

“I don’t need rescuing.â€

Nniol held his hand up to the forcefield; it buzzed at the press of his fingers, “You’re even more of a prisoner than I am, and you don’t even see it.†He shrugged, “Have you asked yourself why you’re so able to get on so well with these yikh?â€

The only sound in the darkness was the draw of her own breath and the soft pulse of her blood in her ears; Isha’s eyes slipped round to meet Nniol’s own gleaming at her from the other side.

“I’ll tell you, then. Its because your beliefs are fundamentally wrong. The philosophy and attitude you espouse is more akin to theirs than ours, hence the feeling of comfort you get from them but you feel uneasy about it because you know on some level that you are wrong. They’ll smile at you and flatter you while it is convenient to them but they’ll turn on you eventually, even your new pet Lieutenant Elek. I think that you are lost, Isha and that you are wondering if I have anything to offer you.â€

She could almost believe him, “You’re wrong, Nniol. I came here because …†she dragged her gaze away, not able to recall where in the conversation they had switched modes and she had begun to answer him as his inferior.

“You don’t belong here, or in that excuse for a space station. It would prove a waste of two ships if you were to change your mind now … but you and my brother were quite a force in the empire, I can justify their loss. I could still use you.â€

“I don’t want to be used.â€

“They’re all using you, you’d see that if you had a little perspective. My offer is still valid.â€

“How can you think that I would …â€

“Oh shut up, Isha,†Nniol interrupted sharply, “The only reason you’re so angry is that you didn’t fight me - chemical inducement merely freed you and gave you the excuse to do what you wanted to do. That is what you are hiding from, it rather damages your own self righteous opinion of yourself, doesn’t it.â€

“Say it before the tribunal, Nniol, I’m committed to this.â€

“Of course you are, Isha, but who are you to bring me to trial and expel me from my House when my own brother would not take such an action against me? Answer me, Isha, if you can.â€

Feeling herself sway Isha slipped to the knees in a billow of skirts, screening her face from Nniol, and from Elek with her hair. The floor was cold and hard beneath her palms, a welcome chill of reality. Nniol was correct, she did not know if what she was doing was right, she should heal the rift in the House, not drive it even deeper by using an authority that was not really hers … Isha fancied that she could feel them both watching her, waiting for her to do or say something.

Quite slowly Isha straightened her shoulders and raised her head, Nniol had not taken his eyes off her; she saw them glint hard and dark as she blinked her tears away, and pulled her hands into her lap. “I don’t know,†she told him.

Elek had been right, she should not have asked to come here, she was more confused than before, but more determined to do what she had to.

Nniol nodded mistaking her distress for reluctant obeisance. “Consider it carefully, Isha, there’s time – your compliance in stabilising my House will be a good first gesture of loyalty, your personal influence over the senate will only help garner support against the current regime – Deep Space Five was a failure, but there are other plans that will have the desired effect. Come down here again, when we cross into the Neutral Zone, not before. That panel up there will drop the field, the code is a simple alpha-numeric, all you will need to do is to bring it down, I’ll do the rest – Do you understand? I will get us out of here, and … I think you’d like the chance to strike back at Commander Da’nal, wouldn’t you, and I have just the way.â€

Unable to trust herself to speak, Isha simply nodded.

Nniol was a very, very dangerous man, perhaps even more so than she had thought and she was letting him think that she was going to help him, the urge to glance round to the window of the observation room was almost overwhelming; she resisted instead keeping her eyes on the floor and swallowing the sickening bitter bile that bubbled like lava up her throat.

Elek had watched this entire exchange with a mixture of horror, sympathy and outright disgust - the latter emotion being directed solely at Nniol, for his horrendous emotional blackmail of Isha.

He sent a mental message to Isha - ~Leave, Madam Ambassador. Now. I will meet you outside.~

It was not hard for her to do as the Lieutenant asked; Nniol had already lost interest in her and dismissed her with his instructions. Isha kept herself steady until she stepped through the door, only then did her hands begin to tremble.

Elek came out of the observation room with equal parts anger and compassion fighting to be heard. The anger almost won out, until he saw Isha's face.

"Madam, do you need to sit?" he asked. The curses he was about to say could wait a few moments.

Isha nodded as she wiped her fingers across her face and sat, "You were quite right," she said with a sniff, unable to look Elek in the eye, "a terrible idea."

"Saying 'I told you so' is the least of my worries at the moment, Madam. He has tried to get you to break through security and release him."

He deliberately left that statement hanging, to see how she would respond.

"Once we reach the Neutral Zone, yes," she said in a bland tone ss she buried her fingers deep in the soft fabric of her skirt. "Lieutenant, I ..." but she was not sure how to finish the sentence, "I know."

"I'm going to need more than that, Madam," Elek replied, an edge of steel entering his tone. "Nniol is trying to coerce you into freeing him. I know the deep and the range of your feelings for him - you took me into your confidence, after all - but he has just tried to batter your confidence, your emotions and your self-respect down, and then demanded you free him."

"He succeeded," she said quietly, "and now you're angry with me too.

"I'm angry at myself, Ambassador," Elek said, and blew out an explosive breath. He paced up and down. "I shouldn't have let you meet him. I saw this coming, and I still let you."

"I did insist. You must believe me when I tell you I will not do it," she said, "Unless it becomes necessary to learn more ..." Isha knew that she had been presented with an opportunity to learn exactly what had and would happen, but she also knew that by the time she reached that stage it would be far too late; she would have neither the strength nor the power to take the necessary action against Nniol and she would merely have become his accessory.

He stopped pacing, and looked directly at her. "Don't worry, you won't have to see him again on this journey." He grimaced. "I wish I could tell you that you'd never see him again, but I'd be lying. When you stand in the court, he'll be there too."

He sat down next to Isha and ran a hand through his close-cropped hair. "If we had more time, I could sit with you, teach you some coping strategies, to try and increase your resistance to his emotional blackmail."

"I will be ready when I have to be," Isha said finally lifting her eyes from the floor. She tilted her head and looked at him, adding a rather small and forced smile at the end. "Any help would be most gratefully appreciated, my husband's brother is not an easy man to talk to."

Elek was surprised, but secretly pleased. His ethical upbringing meant that he couldn't just foister his abilities onto others, but if they asked ... well, that was a different matter entirely. He nodded.

"On Nniol not being an easy man to talk to, we are agreed, Madam." He looked away again, at the wall this time. "I'm due to meet with the the captain soon. You realise I'm going to have to tell him about Nniol's desire to escape?"

"I understand," Isha said pushing her hair back behind her eyes and peeling away the last few strands her own tears had stuck to her face. Earlier she had reflected on how Nniol neither looked nor behaved like a man who had failed; considering this again Isha rolled her lower lip between her teeth "Lieutenant, I think that he is expecting something to happen, and not through me. I was a bonus to him."

Elek nodded. "Any suspicion as to what?" He quietly laughed. "I realise that's quite the leading question."

Isha half rose, "I'll just go and ask him shall I?" she threw a sideways glance at Elek through moist and narrowed eyes, before cracking into a laugh that was half a snort and half a sniff, "That's probably the most inelegant sound I have made since I was five years old ... it was rather a leading question," she said as it softened into polite laughter and she settled back down. "But I apologise, Lieutenant, I have no idea what ... he was not talking to me as his equal - he confided only enough to try and give a rather tantalising glimmer of hope to a broken woman."

"Perhaps, in time, I could have helped you repair yourself?"

"You make it sound as though I'm already dead, Elek!" Isha protested, "If I had a bar of latinum for every time someone has underestimated me ... well, I'd have a very large pile by now."

Elek shook his head. "I don't think you're already dead, Madam - far from it. I've learnt the hard way, never to underestimate a Romulan. You're not dead, just, as you say, broken. There's so much more to life."

"Have you ever walked on ice?" Isha asked, her gaze lost on the far wall and her own distant recollection. "Not the winter skin of a shallow pool but on a glacier or on the solid sea of a polar ice cap? You'll find that it is broken too, fractured, is the way that Rh'vaurek described it to me as it crunched beneath our feet. I think he needed to find a living metaphor for me to understand what he was talking about - every bit of it is broken, it moves, it lives and it endures; it seems like such a powerful thing, freezing seas and crushing mountains, but it is so fragile and owes its existence to the balance of all the other forces that act on it and try to erode it."

Elek nodded. "Imagine what it would be like, though, if its fractures repaired themselves and became fully self-sustaining. It would be a ... thing of wonder - of beauty."

Even as her mouth opened to speak Isha hesitated, "I'm not sure that is possible," she said eventually.

"Madam, I've been alive for nigh on 600 years. Trust me when I say, *anything* is possible."

"Rh'vaurek would have told me if it was possible," she said with a lot more certainty than she felt.

I would be interested to know what *you* think, Madam," Elek said, placing the emphasis on "you", "rather than anyone else."

Isha turned towards him, tucking one leg as comfortably as she could beneath her on the rather functional bench. "I've never thought about it," she admitted. "Regardless of what is said to outsiders we still widely practice d'Sora ... healing flawed individuals is not something my culture dedicates much time to - my own rank in society protects me."

Elek nodded. He had befriended someone during his time on Romulus who had become unwell, and he had undergone d'Sora, and it had upset Elek for a long time. In his own culture, his friend would have been treated, and gone on to live a long and full life.

He remained silent for a moment, lost in thought, remembering his friend.

"I'm sorry," Isha said, laying her hand gently on his arm. "I do believe that you mean well."

He smiled, wearily, suddenly feeling all of his 572 years. "I've met other people like you before, Madam. Knowing they're broken, seeing their damage laid bare before them, but unable to realise that the ability to repair themselves is right there, within their grasp. They just have to reach out and grab it."

He shrugged. "You will come to your own conclusion, in your own time."

"I'll make you a promise, Elek, and it is not a term that I use lightly," Isha said, "If I come through this without being the one who is ... the one who loses, I will consider it very serioulsy. I just wonder why Rh'vaurek never suggested it as a possible option," she added. letting her hand slip from Elek's arm and back into her lap.

"I'll hold you to that." Elek sighed, and stood. "I should go and report to the captain," he said. "He's going to need to know all that's gone on."

Isha nodded, "My guard is waiting patiently around the corner, she did check that I really was meeting you before she allowed me to come round alone. Please send her to me and I will return to my quarters," Isha said, "I'll be most unpopular if I require a further replacement today," she added wearily.

OFF

Lt (JG) Termin Elek
CDO / Counselor

Ambassador Isha e-Khellian i-Ramnau t'Illialhlae

 

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