Questionable Morality - Chapter 13
Questionable Morality
Chapter Thirteen
There was no time to lose, as he walked quickly down the
hall, communicator in hand. "Reed to Gomez."
"Go ahead, sir," a husky voice replied.
"Sorry to wake you, but you're needed on the bridge
immediately," he barked. "We're breaking formation to retrieve the
Celestial."
"I'm on my way, sir."
Reed clicked the communicator shut and stood on the
transporter pad. He had to get there before anything happened to them. That was
her family.
--
Em shoved her undergarments into her boots, zipped up her
uniform and took off running, her heart pounding in her chest. She didn't even
have a chance to say good-bye to Travis, as he quickly got dressed. He knew
something was up and wasn't about to go back to sleep.
Travis stepped out of his cabin partially dressed and
putting his boots on as he stumbled down the corridor. He reached for his
communicator and contacted the Intrepid's captain.
"Reed here," responded the disembodied voice.
"Sir, why is �" Travis started, but was cut off.
"Commander, Archer and Forrest were only the tip of the
iceberg. I have it on good authority that forces are moving to intercept
us."
There was a pause and Travis stopped walking as the pit of
his stomach dropped out.
"They are planning retributive attacks against anybody
who was involved. Inform the other captains to have their families placed under
protective services�The Celestial is in danger."
"Aye, sir," Travis stated before he clipped the
communicator closed.
The lighting in the hall turned amber and the slight vibration
of docking clamps being released jarred the ship. Travis pressed the nearest
com panel and instructed the ship to go to tactical alert.
--
Trip rolled Lita gently off of him, got out of bed and got
dressed, his heart rate beating wildly. It wasn't long before he was on the
bridge. "Report!"
"Sir, the Intrepid has broken formation and is at
maximum warp and�"
"Sir, we're being hailed by the Grissom."
"On screen," Tucker stated.
"What the hell is going on? Where is Intrepid heading?
Why is Enterprise at tactical alert?" Vale shook off the last vestiges of
sleep.
"Hail coming in from the Kennedy, sir. It's Captain
Zamora."
The lift doors opened and Travis entered the bridge.
"Sirs, I sounded the red alert. Captain Reed is on his way to provide safe
passage to the Celestial. He stated that we should be on guard � that Archer
and Forrest were just the tip of the iceberg. I'm not sure where he got his
intelligence from, but he stated that the convoy would be attacked and that our
families are in danger."
Zamora blanched and sat down in his chair. "M-my wife �
my children� I just got word from Admiral Bryant. They're dead."
Vale jumped up from his seat and ran to the com station.
"Patch me through to Admiral Bryant, priority clearance delta omega bravo six
two six."
"Lizzie!" Trip thought. If word had
gotten out that he was still alive �
"Commander," Trip shouted across the room.
"You have the bridge. Vale, I'm transporting over. I want to talk to
Archer now!"
Vale nodded.
--
Trip sprinted down the corridor of the Grissom and walked
into Archer's cell. He grasped the other man by the collar of his jumpsuit
before he had any time to react and lifted him from his bunk. "Tell me
what you know!"
"You're looking well, Trip," Archer taunted, his eyes
looking over the younger man's shoulder and staring at Captain Vale.
"Tell me what you know!" repeated Trip, as he
tightened his grip on Archer's collar.
"About?" Archer winced and grasped his ex-friend's
wrist.
"The slavery ring! Who else is in on it?" Trip
spat and shook Archer again.
Archer's eyes glazed over and Tucker backhanded the man.
"Tell me!"
"I'll tell you the same thing I told Reed," Archer
coughed. "Starfleet is merely a pawn. There is no real power there. You
all have pissed influential people off who don't take too kindly when you cut
off lucrative trade opportunities. They'll stop at nothing to ensure this �
little set back doesn't impact their lives."
Tucker looked at the broken man before him. "I want
names!"
Archer laughed. "You're so idealistic, Trip. Even to
this very day, you believe in right and wrong." He rubbed the fresh
trickle of blood that oozed from the swollen cut in his eyes. "To you
everything is black and white. Well, I'm here to tell you my friend. The very
foundation you stand on is nothing more than a gray bottom, which is just about
ready to give out. You're going to have to look past Starfleet to round up the
real culprits."
"Such as?" Tucker stated, backing away and trying
to coax the man before him to reveal more.
Archer tried to smile, but his lips were cracked and
swollen. "You're a history buff, Trip. Remember when the politicians took
their orders from the merchant class. It was all about exploitation then and it
is now. Wasn't the American Civil War over the issue of slavery?"
The words from Archer's mouth suffused a chill through
Tucker. "The withdrawal of eleven Southern states from the Union in 1860
precipitated the U.S. Civil War," he stated softly.
"But it was the issue of slavery that superceded that,
right?" Archer stated solemnly.
Tucker nodded.
Archer sat down on his bunk. "Good luck."
--
Something was off. She could tell by the vibrations around
her. Hoshi blinked and sat up, her eyes adjusting to the dim lighting of the Intrepid's
brig. Where was everyone? She sat up and shook her head. Everything was so
fuzzy, her mind blessedly blank and not haunted by dreams. A wave of nausea
washed over her and she sprinted toward the head.
Flashes of everyone and everything came rushing back to her
as she expelled the last meal she had eaten from her system. She sat up and
splashed some water on her pale face. "God damn chemical withdrawal,"
she told her reflection, as the nausea passed.
She wiped her mouth and coughed some more, her head throbbing
and her emotions stretched beyond measure. She could hardly wait to get back to
the Celestial and get back to business. Of course, Hoshi did not delude herself
that her life would ever be the same. Surely, she would need to take time off
for the trial. Hell, her whole ship would be furloughed for the duration of the
trial. She stretched and winced as tender muscles protested, some of them for
loss of the attentions of her bastard lover.�
In the throes of passion he had said things that had given
the romantic fool inside her dreams of a future with him. Who the fuck was she
kidding? She certainly wasn't kidding him. He got what he had wanted. Any
available pussy would satisfy him. She looked at the bruises along her
shoulder. Those were his. She knew exactly how to elicit him to mark her and
the rush was a high all its own. All she had to do was touch him � his flawed
yet perfect body.
The thought of him suffused her body with heat and she set
out to find him. She pushed herself up against the wall of a corridor as
crewmen ran by. Something was definitely wrong and a renewed urgency grew
inside her.
The lift opened and she stepped in. "Bridge."
The door opened and she stepped onto the bridge, the
normally calm veneer shattered as the com officer announced an incoming
transmission.
"Sir, I'm picking up a distress beacon from the
Celestial."
Hoshi stood still as she took in all around her.
"What are they saying?" Reed stood near the com
officer and peered over the young man's shoulder.
"Nothing, sir. It's automated."
"Sir," Lieutenant Em Gomez looked up from the
tactical station and saw Hoshi. Her eyes fixated on the Captain of the
Celestial and she continued. "I'm picking up a debris field. Nothing
more."
Hoshi looked at Reed's back, the normally straight line
stooped over and his head bowed. The dream-like quality of the scene before her
did not escape her and the errant thought of how she would tell Earl and the
rest of her crew about this particular dream and how they would all have a big
laugh about it made her laugh out loud.
Reed turned around quickly, his metallic blue eyes locking
with hers. He could see she was shaking � from fear or laughter he couldn't
tell. She would hate him forever now.
There was no time to dwell as the Intrepid rocked sharply,
taking on weapon's fire. "Sir, a Klingon ship is off our port side."
Em's fingers danced over her station in anticipation of her Captain's orders.
"Fire phase cannons and a full spread torpedoes!"
He should have known whoever was responsible for the destruction of the
Celestial would still be in the area, and he crossed his fingers that they were
the only ones.
The Klingon ship disintegrated on the screen and Reed cursed
his impulsiveness. There went any shot he had of getting some sort of answer.
Hoshi stood there and listened as damage reports came in,
the nightmare finally turning into a reality. Tears welled in her eyes and she
clenched her fists at her sides. Finally the tears spilled over and onto her
cheeks, her thoughts turning to self-hatred. "I killed them," she
whispered. Her decisions and responsibilities came crashing down on her.
Reed approached her cautiously and noticed her eyes. They
were filled with tears and hatred, unseeing and blank. He wanted to brush them
away and beg forgiveness, but her whisper barred that course of action.
"You didn't kill them," he stated stoically and grasped her upper
arms, giving her a shake. He couldn't stand seeing the hate in her eyes. He
couldn't stand seeing it eat her alive.
Sato's eyes pierced his and he felt a blow across his face
and a pounding against his chest. "You did! You did!"
He made no move to block her punches and slaps. He deserved
everything she threw at him. She pushed away from him and stumbled toward the
elevator.
"You should have killed me when you had the
chance," she spat over her shoulder, the doors to the lift cutting off her
tirade.
--
Archer stretched his manacled hands behind his head, not at
all surprised when the door to his cell opened again. A female figure whispered
to the security guard and the guard left.
She stepped into the light, her fair hair pulled severely
back into a straight ponytail and her gray eyes flashing defiantly at him. She
walked up to his bunk and pulled on the one above his, clicking it back and up
and resting it against the wall. "Captain Archer," she smiled at him
and straddled his waist, leaning forward and crushing her lips to his.
"I enjoyed my time onboard Enterprise before you sold
me and the crew of the Constitution into slavery," Liz Cutler whispered
against his lips, her eyes locked with his. "You watched as your crew
fucked me and I begged them not to. Then you fucked me too. How did you know it
was all an act and that I enjoyed it all along?"
Archer hissed as she ground her feminine heat onto his
aching groin. "Your tattoo."
Cutler unzipped her uniform, tugged it off of her shoulders
and lifted her Henley over her head. She whipped the blue bra off, her breasts
spilling in front of him. "You mean this tattoo?" she stated playfully,
fondling the mark above her right breast.
She pushed off of him and shimmied out of her clothes
completely, turning toward him. She drew a knife out of her bag and proceeded
to cut his uniform from his body.
"You're sworn to the house on Vega colony," Archer
moaned as the metal blade touched his skin. He kept his hands tucked underneath
his head and squirmed as she stripped him.
Liz grinned harshly. "I especially like the way you
fucked me."
"Aren't you afraid you'll be discovered," Archer
smiled back hesitantly and looked over her shoulder.
"They think I'm pumping you for information and full of
drugs. I left strict instructions that I was not to be disturbed because it was
a very delicate process." She slithered down his thighs and shoved his
hardened cock into her mouth.
He groaned and thrust his hips up, losing himself to the
carnality of the act.
She could feel him getting close, as she tasted the
pre-ejaculate. She popped his cock out of her mouth and blew on the tip,
tonguing her way down his shaft and cupping his balls. "What have you told
them?"
"Nothing," he hissed. "I know the score. I'm
dead if I talk."
She turned around and kissed him slowly then turned her back
on him and straddled his cock, sinking slowly onto the engorged shaft and
moaning as his substantial girth stretched her. Cutler leaned forward hugging
his thighs and pumped herself on top of him.
Archer finally pulled his arms from behind his head and
grabbed her ass, watching his cock slide in and out of her cunt. He grinned
when she stopped and wiggled her ass invitingly. He pushed a thumb into her
puckered hole and grinned when she threw her head back and moaned. The memory
of her time with his crew came crashing down around him as he watched them take
turns on her, some of them fucking her pussy, while others fucked her ass.
There were times when they did both at the same time. That is when he knew she
was enjoying it and noticed the tattoo of the line and three dots above her
tit.
Cutler convulsed around him, moaning something about a loss.
She pulled off of his erect member and turned herself around, settling her
tight heat around him once again. He didn't see her reaching for her bag,
calmly grasping the instrument of his death.
Archer lapped at her breasts in front of him and grunted as
he came, not even noticing the slight stab in his neck. A searing pain clutched
his chest and he looked at Cutler in surprise.
"I'm sorry, Jon, but the syndicate can't afford to keep
you alive," she whispered against his ear, feeling him struggle for his
life. "Don't worry. It won't hurt for much longer."
He writhed in agony, the pain in his chest crushing and
quick. His breath caught and his eyes rolled back into his head. He should have
known they would send an assassin after him. He felt her get off of him and
heard a rustling noise. She was calmly getting dressed as he struggled for his
life. "Bitch," he moaned.
She knelt beside him and smoothed a lock of hair from his
forehead. "Just quit fighting it and it will stop hurting," she
kissed his cheek.
Cutler dug around in her bag and took out a uniform his
size. "Hmm, I guess I should have dressed you before I killed you,
huh?"
He seized as his heart pounded wildly then his world went
black.
--
"Right now, I'm adopting a safety in numbers
policy," Tucker announced to Vale and Zamora, as Mayweather nodded in
agreement. He walked around the table in the captain's mess and took his seat.
Captain Zamora stood by the window while Vale sat with his
arms folded upon the table. "Has there been any other word from Admiral
Bryant?" Vale asked, the underlying concern for his family's well being
his primary concern.
Travis shook his head no, and looked down. At least Vale
knew where his family was. The Horizon could be anywhere. His eyes skimmed over
Zamora who continued staring out the window.
"What did Archer say?" Zamora asked quietly.
Trip pinched the bridge of his nose, his thoughts lingering
on Lizzie, his only living relative. Did she even know he was still alive? Was
she still alive? Was she being hunted now because of him? He needed to know but
he was afraid to ask. Then his thoughts lingered on Lita, his respite in all of
this. She was in danger as well, but at least he had her next to him. "It
seems that Archer and Forrest were merely appendages of a greater organization.
He started talking about history and politics. He was vague at best," Trip
concluded.
"He asked you if you remembered when the politicians
took their orders from the merchant class?" Vale repeated word for word.
Travis straightened at that. "But the E.C.S.
conglomerate is the closet thing we have that would qualify as a merchant
class."
"Why would the conglomerate sanction slavery?"
Tucker asked.
"We don't," Travis stated simply, earning an odd
stare from all three captains.
"The conglomerate is comprised of several sub companies
that operate in diversified fields," Travis stated patiently. "Some
of those sub companies are clandestine."
"Do you have any idea which of these sub companies are
responsible for � this?" Trip quizzed as he waved his hand through the
air.
Travis made to leave. "Not off the top of my head, sir.
But I could round up a likely list of suspects in a few hours."
The com channel chirped and interrupted the meeting and Trip
pressed the button. "Go ahead."
"Sir, we're received a hail from the Intrepid. Captain
Reed stated that the Celestial was destroyed and that there were no survivors.
They encountered a Klingon ship, which was destroyed during an
engagement."
Trip remained silent and his thoughts naturally turned
toward Lita.
"Intrepid is on its way to rendezvous. They'll be here
within the hour."
"Thank you, ensign." Trip clicked the panel off.
"Commander Mayweather, why don't you start your search for any sub
companies who actively do business with Klingons?"
Travis nodded and left.
Trip stood up and made to leave as well. "Captain
Zamora," he approached the other man. "I'm terribly sorry for your
loss."
Zamora nodded in acknowledgement.
Vale stood to leave as well.
"I have to go and deliver the bad news to the remainder
of the Celestial's crew."
--
He drew heavily on his cigar and watched her still form on
the cot in the brig. She sat there, hugging her knees to her chest and staring
aimlessly into the darkness. She looked broken and alone. Reed wanted to
console her, but knew he should stay away. Her parting words haunted him and he
continued to watch her to make sure she didn't harm herself.
His scent is what drew her out. It was unmistakable � the
bittersweet smell of his cigar. "What do you want?"
Reed resisted the urge to step back into the shadow and
continue hiding, yet he stepped forward. "I wanted to make sure you were
okay," he stated simply.
"Why?"
He had no answer for her, none that he cared to divulge
anyway.
She scoffed. "Feeling pity, are we?"
He still made no move.
She jumped up from the cot and rushed at him. "What the
fuck do you want?" she yelled.
Reed was frozen inside himself, yelling at himself to
respond, but it was too late.
Sato pressed up against him suggestively and licked his ear.
"Is this what you want? Somebody convenient?" Her hands reached into
his uniform and she winced when his hands crushed her wrists.
"I'm sorry," he whispered against her hair. "For
everything."
Hoshi watched him leave, dismayed at the tenderness he had
demonstrated.
--
He placed a cool washcloth along the back of her neck as she
stooped over the toilet. Lita said nothing at the news and ran into the
bathroom to retch. She was shivering uncontrollably and Trip held her trembling
form, asking her repeatedly if she wanted him to call sickbay.
She refused every time. "I'll be fine," Lita
assured him. "It's just the last of that tracking chemical bullshit they
had us doped up on."
"I'm so sorry," he repeated.
Her face scrunched up in grief and she started to cry. She
stayed that way for the duration of the night, having lost her home and
friends.
--
TBC