Posted by Captain Dira Myqian (Commanding Officer) in Deck 9 - Shadows Are Not Immune To Light

Posted by Commander Dr. Royal Sinclair (Executive Officer) in Deck 9 - Shadows Are Not Immune To Light

Posted by Captain Dira Myqian (Commanding Officer) in Deck 9 - Shadows Are Not Immune To Light
Posted by… suppressed (4) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snip)

Everything felt so tight in her chest and it was a struggle to take full breaths, but she kept breathing, making it a priority. “I started coughing and after I got myself into a sitting position he fed me some water. He said how much he missed me, how much he knew I must have missed him. But that he was here and we’d start our lives together finally. So… casual, as if this was always how it would have gone. I knew that in his deluded mind I was just waiting for him to rescue me, so this was all very logical to him. I also knew that if I broke the delusion and he got angry it was unlikely I’d live too long to regret it, so I bided my time and used all my therapy techniques to keep him talking.” Dira’s voice became more distant as she stared at the spot across the space from Royal where she had sat for such an uncomfortable amount of time. Her body seemed to move of its own volition, carrying her closer to the spot and she touched the wall before her hand slid down as the deck rose up to meet her knees. She turned to sit with her back against the wall, not on, but next to the pipe that she had been bound to. She wrapped her arms around her knees. Tiny. Helpless.

She continued talking, but the words weren’t fully registering in her mind. “But every time he hit a point of the conversation where there was a disconnect, like when I asked him to untie me because my hands hurt, he couldn’t reconcile the fact that he truly believed I was a willing party in all of this and yet he was refusing things I was asking of him. I also knew if we moved locations, and if he got me off the ship, it was all over. The odds of an abducted person being retrieved alive went down quickly after that point. But I had no plan of escape. The cable was digging into my skin and I couldn’t get any leverage. But everything changed when the ship shook and I knew it was his doing. Deep down. He didn’t even bother acknowledging that there had clearly been an explosion. He made me so angry,” she said, but the feelings were gone.

Captain Myqian, CO

Royal moved and took a seat on the deck near, but next to, her. “So you bidded time using your skills as a counselor, assessed his mental and emotional state, prioritized your risk, and thought and planned for potential scenarios. Okay… go on. How did you get free.”

Sinclair, XO

Myqian drew in a shaky breath. “I checked how much leeway my wrists had and there was none, but I also realized that if at least one wrist was at a slightly different angle I might have enough room to slip a hand out. But I was really starting to feel unwell, and knew it was likely whatever he sprayed me with. I could use my medical knowledge to diagnose what was going on, but it didn’t help me much. But I made a comment to William about how I was feeling and he got a cool cloth and placed it on the back of my neck.” The shudder that went through her body went unnoticed by Dira. She just kept talking. “When he sat back, he was still close to me and sitting in front, focused on that damn PADD of his. When the ship shook, I knew that things had changed and I was running out of time. So I braced myself and then lifted my feet and drove the boot heels right into his stupid face,” she said, disgust seeping in. “But at the same time I used my momentum to wrench at my left wrist, dislocating it. The pain was enormous, and my shoulder also hurt, but there was no time for any of it. I slipped my other hand out and tried to untie my feet but the knots were too difficult. He was dazed but not unconscious. There was no time! So I just took off my boots and slid the cabling off and hightailed it out of the room into the jefferies tube. But I only had one good hand so I had to sort of propel myself forward. My heart felt terrible and I thought I was going to pass out every second. But I made it to the other maintenance room and all but fell onto the floor. I think that’ how I fully dislocated my left shoulder. And from there it’s like I said before about getting into the corridor and Frigga coming.”

Captain Myqian, CO

Royal nodded and said “So to clarify… you were drugged and restrained but still anticipated various methods to escape and, when the ship shook and you knew it was in danger, you temporarily incapacitated your abductor, dislocated your own wrist and shoulder to free yourself, escaped through the Jefferies Tube and found your way to help.” He was quiet a moment and then said “So even under great personal duress and at the cost of personal injury… you knew your ship was in danger and you did everything you could do to get free.” He turned his head and looked at her with a slight grin on his face. “So have you always been a badass? Or does that just come with the pips?”

Sinclair, XO

Something about the way his tone shifted drew Dira out of the weird haze she was in. She stared at him for a long while before her brows lifted and she broke into a strange laugh. “I don’t think anyone has described me as such… ever. But before this, back on the Calypso, I removed William from duty in the middle of a rescue mission because he was being a reckless ass and put the away team’s lives in danger and was acting irrational. Problem was, I was the next ranking officer, so it meant I was now in charge. I had never been in charge of a mission like that before. He sulked like a toddler but did as instructed and we rescued the miners in time, but afterwards he accused me of insubordination and mutiny. I was restricted to quarters and everything while they investigated.” She shook her head and looked over the room. “When they cleared me of all wrong doing, and I actually was praised for my actions, I realized then and there that I was ready for more.” Dira looked back at him. “That’s when I made the decision to train for Command. But William was bitter and after already rejecting romantic overtures in sessions and removing myself as his therapist, he took to stalking me on the ship. He knew he could ping my telepathy, so he’d intentional send loud thoughts my way. I assumed at the time that he was acting out like a small child and what you do in that situation is ignore the bad behaviour and praise the good stuff and eventually they stop dong the bad behaviour. But… that’s not what happened. My leaving the ship to come here only fuelled this notion in his head that Starfleet was getting in the way of us being together and that I was just too loyal to say no to them.”

Captain Myqian, CO

Sinclair looked at her for a long time, staring straight at her in silence. Finally, he said “You do know that he is no longer a factor… right? I mean, I know how this works; and he is going to be lucky if they don’t just build a prison on top of him, he’s so far in the s#!t. Mental capacity notwithstanding… he’ll never be a free man again.”

Sinclair, XO

She looked away, surveying the room and her hands tightened around her knees, knuckles paling. “Maybe,” she whispered. Determined people could make anything happen. Just look at what he managed before, and look at what she managed to do to escape. Anything was possible. “I just know William better than you or anyone else does. If there’s even a slim chance he can make good on his promise, he’ll find a way. He’s not the smartest man but he knows how to get others to help him.” She suddenly whipped her head back to Sinclair, her dark eyes intense. “But know this, it’s the same as before, the ship and crew come first. It doesn’t matter what happens to me, so long as they are okay.” But as those words came out, her face contorted into a level of unexpected anguish and she buried her head in her arms.

Captain Myqian, CO

“Of course it matters what happens to you. Don’t be daft.” Sinclair said and shook his head as he rose to his feet. “If what happened to you doesn’t matter, then nothing you do matters. And if nothing you do matters, than nothing that comes from your actions matter.” He looked down at her and said “And you know for a fact that that is false. If it were true, you would have been content to let him do whatever he wanted. And you didn’t. You actively combatted him and his agenda because you knew he was an active threat to the ship and the crew.” He looked around for a moment, speaking as he did so. “You matter, Captain. If you didn’t… none of this would be important. And if it wasn’t important, you wouldn’t be in here with me trying to work through it.”

Sinclair, XO