Questionable Morality - Chapter 15
Questionable Morality
Chapter Fifteen
Her lover was gone by the time she woke, her headache small
comparable to the hunger that churned in her stomach. Hoshi skipped a shower
and pulled her jumpsuit on, hitting the exit button and coming to a dead stop
as she ran in to a wall of flesh.
"Excuse me, ma'am, but Captain Reed has requested you
stay in his quarters for the time being. There is a matter of security, and he
left strict instructions not to let you pass," a nervous ensign said and
tried to guide her out of the hall and back into his quarters.
"What matter of security, ensign? I'm hungry and
�" She was tired of the cat and mouse game.
"I can send for something from the galley, if you
wish?" replied the ensign in an attempt to assuage her rising temper.
Hoshi looked from the ensign to another ensign and knew she
would be unable to slip past them. "Fine." She raised her hands up
and backed into his quarters, furious with Reed and wanting to throttle him.
That would just have to wait for later.
--
"Tell me what you know about Captain Sato."
He was right in the middle of a hot dream, which included a
certain petite armory officer and he was still half aroused. Finding Captain
Reed at his door fully doused the arousal and Travis snapped to attention,
shaking the last of the sleep from his mind. "W-What's wrong?" he
asked and moved aside, letting Reed into his quarters.
"The tattoo�" Reed started. "Is it possible
you're wrong?"
Travis straightened at his question. He had guessed by the
way Hoshi talked about Reed, they had become lovers. Obviously, he had seen the
tattoo � the mark that was branded into her at birth. "You've seen her
tattoo." It was more statement then question.
Reed nodded.
"Her family runs the house on Earth. I thought it was a
coincidence at first, but it isn't." Travis pulled a shirt roughly over
his head. "I know she isn't one of them. She�"
"How do you know?" questioned Reed, still unsure
as to what to believe, yet hoping for the best.
"I asked her about it. She doesn't remember it. All
she'll say about her family is that she doesn't have one," Travis pulled
up the information he had on the Sato clan and transferred to a PADD, handing
it to him. "I know her, Captain. Archer tried to ransom her to her family
and as far as they are concerned, their daughter died years ago."
Reed looked at the family portrait, the little girl with the
raven pigtails smiling sadly back at him.
"There's only one way to leave the syndicate �
dead," Travis pulled up some additional information. "My bet is that
she already has a hit on her head. Her family wasn't very happy with her
departure from them. I suspect Archer's death was no accident, either and
�"
"Has there been an autopsy performed?" Reed half
listened and continued flipping through the pictures of his lover's history,
his emotions over the information mixed at best. On one hand he was relieved
and his love and trust in her replenished. On the other hand, a sense of dread
stirred inside him.
"The chief medical officer, who just so happened
administered the fatal dose of some sort of truth serum, already signed off on
it." Travis didn't know why, but something had been gnawing at him ever
since Archer's death. It was just too convenient.
"What's your plan?"
"I'm going to get some scans of Archer and take them to
Phlox," stated Travis.
"Phlox?" Reed asked.
"He was the physician on board Enterprise," Travis
explained. "He's been released on his own recognizancebut was transferred to the Kennedy for his own
safety."
Reed nodded his head in understanding, acknowledging the
doctor's fate. He couldn't remain on Enterprise, her new crew wouldn't hear of
it.
--
Lita stared out the window and took small comfort in the
sight before her. The bench was hardly comfortable but the view was amazing.
She could hardly call the aft observation lounge a room. It was more a hole in
the wall that just so happened to be set apart from the hall by a door. The
eerie blue glow of the warp nacelles and the feel of the warp vibrations around
her drew her attention. Her stomach had finally settled down, but her emotions
were raw and hurting.
She had always been a free spirit and had looked for her
next thrill around the corner, but she found her freedom empty now. She had
been part of the Celestial for five years. It was her home and now it was gone.
Suddenly her freedom didn't really feel that liberating.
"There you are?" her lover's Southern drawl broke
through her thoughts. "I had to get my head of security to do an internal
sweep and pinpoint all life signs aboard the ship in order to find ya. Don't
ask me how, but I knew yours would be the furthest away from anybody else,
darlin'. How ya doin'?"
She pulled away from his touch when he tried to kiss her
cheek. "How do you think I'm doing?" she spat. "My friends are
dead and my home is gone. My life just took a turn that I never imagined
possible. My captain is wallowing in self-pity and she discharged me. So, now I
don't even have a god damn job, anymore. Do you have any idea how difficult it
is for a woman to obtain a commission on a cargo ship? I guess I'll just have
to start fresh and call in some old markers. Last I hear there was a spot open
on Orion for�"
"You could always stay here," Trip said softly and
placed a hand on her shoulder.
She looked at him as though he had said something strange.
"And do what? Warm the captain's bed every night?"
Trip was unprepared for the venom in her voice, but knew he
deserved it. His comment did offer little more than a place in his bed.
"My chief engineer died in the escape attempt. Lt. Hess is very capable,
but there's room on the engineering team � and �" He was having a hard
time getting his thoughts together. He wanted her to stay. He wanted her in his
bed.
Lita turned away from him. "N-no thanks, Tucker."
Her nostrils flared and she shook her head. "I'm not Starfleet material
and that seems like an awful long stretch to commit for routine piece of
ass."
That was the second time she had degraded their relationship
and it was pissing him off. "Yeah, you're right. Fraternization regs would
get in the way of my routine piece of ass," he smiled and reached for her,
his hands pulling on her clothing roughly. He was going to show her routine.
She gasped as his tongue invaded her mouth and his fingers
pinched her nipples. His call was simple and she answered it wholeheartedly,
unable to refuse him. The air hitting her skin as he divested her of the last
of her clothing, made her wet and ready.
He slid his fingers between her legs and between her slick
folds, stroking her into a frenzy. "First off," he broke their kiss
on a rush of breath, "You're anything but routine."
Lita heard him through the haze and rotated her hips in sync
with his fingers.
"Secondly, you're not a piece of ass," he hissed
against her lips and sucked her bottom lip between his.
Lita jerked in his arms, as he held her to him, begging him
to take her then and there.
"Thirdly," he moaned and bit her ear lobe. "I
love you � "
Her release was quick and short and she pressed up against
him wanting more, yet he pulled away from her and started dressing her.
"Come with me, Li Li," he requested and grasped
her hand.
--
Hoshi stared at the door, daring it to open and washing down
her crepe with the last of her orange juice. At least they had brought her some
food. Her temper was frayed and volatile and she didn't know what she was going
to do when Malcolm got back. Part of her wanted to kick his ass and the other
part wanted to fuck him raw. Damn the attraction! Damn her weakness toward him
and damn him! Who the hell did he think he was? This is the kind of behavior
she had run away from. This was something her father would have done � locked
her in her room until she begged him for forgiveness.
Those were long weeks, filled with starvation and frequent
beatings � verbal and physical. Her father had always resented her. She wasn't
the right sex. How could he possibly entrust his vast empire into the hands of
a woman? He was a man of pride and honor, unwilling to use the technology
available to him to produce a male heir. She was an only child, a result of
years of trying � a result of her mother's infidelity.
She hated him as much as Hoshi did and when Hoshi was old
enough to understand she told her the truth.
She hated soba noodles, always had and always will, as
she shook her six-year-old head away from her grandmother's attempts to feed
them to her.
"I don't like them," Hoshi pouted and pulled her
head away from her grandmother's hand. "I'm not hungry."
Her grandmother's coaxing words had no effect and Hoshi
jumped out of her chair, her aunt giggling at her refusal to eat and her mother
silently smiling. A loud bang on the table brought the room to a silent
standstill and everybody turned to see her father's fist on the table.
"Pia," he barked.
A young maid rushed to his side.
"Take my daughter and her soba noodles upstairs and
lock them in her room. Do not let her out or feed her until every last noodle
is eaten." He sipped his coffee calmly and glared at his daughter.
He was true to his word, the servants trading shifts and
watching her at all times to make sure she ate the noodles and didn't hide
them. She sat in the middle of her room, surrounded by her soft bed and lavish
toys, not allowed to play with any of them. Some of the servants openly
disdained her, trying to force her to eat the noodles while the other servants
tried bribery. Two days passed, Hoshi's stomach growling with thirst and
hunger, her little body sleeping beside the bowl like a stray puppy.
On the third day, her father came to check on her progress,
the early morning rays of the sun spilling through her sheer pale pink
curtains. He nudged her awake with his boot and she opened her eyes, her lips
cracked as she begged for forgiveness. "A son would have obeyed," he
stated and picked up the dish, throwing it across the room and shattering the
dish against the wall.
Her mother rushed in to care for her after her father left,
saying very little but offering what comfort she could. By the time she was
able to join her family for dinner, a fresh bowl of soba noodles awaited her.
While the others dined on tempura and yakitori with rice, she managed to choke
down the soba noodles.
Hoshi shivered at the memory and licked the sweetness of
some jam off of her lip. She was eleven when her mother found her crying in the
garden, cursing her father and herself for the blood that ran through her
veins. That was when her mother told her that she wasn't the true heir to her
father's fortune. Her mother begged her forgiveness, her own selfishness over
wanting a child had blinded her to the true nature of the beast she slept with
each night. If he ever found out she wasn't really his, he would kill her and
her mother. The disgrace would be too much for him not to do so. He would lose
face.
She pushed back from the table, now full and in need of a
shower. She stripped quickly and succinctly, turning the water on and waiting
for the right temperature. Malcolm was a far cry from her father. He was
capable of great tenderness, yet the overlaying harshness in his persona
strummed a thread inside her she had buried long ago.�
Stepping underneath the warm shower spray, she moaned and
wet her hair, her thoughts washed away. She squirted some soap into her hand
and ran her hands over her arms and torso. She ran her hands over her body, her
mind glorious blank and relaxed �well, relaxed considering everything that had
happened in the last few weeks.
Her eyes closed, she reached for the shampoo dispenser,
unaware of her visitor.
He watched her movements through the frosted glass, arousal
and relief stirring deep within him. The PADD not only showed pictures of her
childhood but had listed a pretty extensive medical record too. By the time she
was seven, she had broken both arms and legs and had experienced a severe head
trauma that required a stay in the hospital. Only one injury, a broken leg,
reported the cause. She had fallen off a horse. In the family portraits, her
smile waned, as she grew older. The water clicked off and she opened the door,
startled to see him there.
Hoshi reached for a towel as soon as she recovered from the
shock of seeing him. She wanted to throttle him. She wanted to make love to
him. She wanted to lock his ass away.
Somehow, she managed to remain calm and ask, "Why am I
locked in your quarters?"
His lover seethed with anger in front of him and he chose
his words carefully. He found no words and placed the PADD on the sink.
She picked it up and stared at the detailed information of
her life. "Where did you get this?"
"Commander Mayweather," Reed replied softly, stood
and took the towel from her, rubbing it gently against her skin in an effort to
dry her.
"Why?" she exhaled, wanting to cry over the
pictures of the little girl. His cotton-covered hands roamed over her skin and
he stopped at her hip, rubbing a spot she knew only as her father's brand.
He held her down as the tattoo was burned into her. She
was six at that time and he screamed at her to obey him, telling her that she
was nothing more than a piece of property to him. She whimpered as the needles
pierced her young skin, knowing better than to cry out. He hated her crying. It
was a sign of her weakness.
"Commander Mayweather has a theory as to who is behind
the slavery activities," he spoke softly, letting his words sink in.
She remained still and silent.
Reed spoke to her calmly, relaying the information regarding
the syndicate and houses, and placed the towel over her shoulders. He looked at
the place on the wall where a mirror should hang and yearned to see her reflection
there. He didn't see the tears, which fell from her eyes.
"No matter how far I go, I'll never be free from
him," she sighed and bowed her head. The bastard had caused her so much
pain as a child and now his long reach had killed her true family. She shivered
as Malcolm ran a comb through her hair.
He could lose himself in her hair. The shine of midnight black gleamed in the light and he kissed the top of her head. "There's
more."
Hoshi looked up at him in surprise, not knowing how much
more she could take.
"Archer's dead. Communications have been blocked,"
he stated and wrapped his arms around her. "His death is suspicious. One
of the houses is the house of assassins �"
Her darks eyes held his and she nodded for him to continue.
"I� fear for your safety," he whispered and traced
his fingertips over her lips delicately.
"All of us are in danger," she replied huskily, as
she hooked a finger over his uniform zipper and started to drag the metal tab
down.
His hand shot out and grasped her wrist gently. "I
know, but I don't care for them the way I � care for you." His inflection
was soft and meaningful and his eyes burned with passion and love for the woman
before him. He could say no more, his feelings for her crippling him. She must
hate him for everything he put into motion. There was no way she could love him
back.
Hoshi pulled her wrist free from his grasp and worked his
zipper down his body. She kissed him, letting her tongue tickle his lips open
and invading his mouth. "Make love to me," she breathed and shucked
his uniform from his shoulders.
"Yes," he moaned in response, "love."
--
"Are you sure?" Travis asked as held the findings
in his hand.
Dr. Phlox nodded his head. "Based on the information
you provided, yes. The plaeset serum Dr. Cutler used never reached the
captain's heart. It's as though it was administered after his death. Without an
internal autopsy, my findings are inconclusive." Phlox paused and made a
notation on the PADD. "I can tell you this though, the captain had engaged
in sexual activities minutes before his death. There is residue on his
genitals."
"Can you tell what kind of residue?" Travis
frowned.
"It's human and it's relatively fresh," surmised
Phlox. "At least he died with a smile on his face," the doctor chortled,
attempting to use human humor. "Did I use the euphemism correctly?"
Travis couldn't help but smile. "Yes, you did."
--
"Where are we going?" Lita asked as Trip led her
down the halls, her stomach churning and her head swimming.
"We're goin' home where I can make love to ya
proper," he replied huskily.
Lita smiled, her heart fluttering wildly in her chest. A
flush crept up her neck and a loud ringing sounded in her ears. She was dizzy
with excitement and she wondered why she was hearing ringing and not fireworks.
She laughed softly and her world went dark, not hearing the concerned voice of
her lover.
--
Soft voices greeted her, a female and a male, the man's
voice full of concern and worry. "Is there any danger to her?" he
asked.
"No, sir," the woman's voice replied. "She's
just having a bad reaction to the counter agent she was given."
"How did it happen?" the Southern drawled asked
wondrously.
The female voice mused, "If I need to tell you that,
sir �"
"This isn't funny, doc," Trip replied caustically.
"Your birth control shot expired while we were on
Nantellis," Cutler informed him. "The counter agent Ms. Mukai was
injected with acted as a fertility drug. The is indeed just a few days
pregnant."
Lita's eyes shot open. Pregnant? A sense of panic
churned in her stomach and she groaned.
Trip grasped her hand in his and sighed in relief when her
brown eyes opened. "Li Li," his voice filled with emotion.
She couldn't speak, her throat closing with tears. The rape
� it could be anybodies baby. She couldn't stop the flow of tears.
"Hush, hush, darlin'," Trip whispered and brushed
her tears away. This wasn't the quite the reaction he had hoped for. He was
stunned, yet ecstatic, but mostly he was scared. He was scared for her and his
child.
"The rape," she cried and pulled away from him.
"Anybody could be the father."
He kissed her hand. "It's mine," he whispered
happily. "Doc Cutler already checked the DNA. It's too early to tell what
it is. We'll get married and�"
Lita listened to his hopeful words filled the room and she
slapped his hand away. "Are you crazy?" she spat.
Trip sat there stunned and Liz grinned maliciously behind
their backs, preparing a hypospray to take care of the problem. Kill anybody
who could testify � She wondered if she would get paid more for killing a
pregnant woman.
"I love ya, Lita," Trip spoke so softly that she
almost didn't hear him.
She cried harder. "You can't," she sniffled.
"I-I'm not �"
"Don't tell me who I can't love, ya fool," Trip
kissed her cheek and nuzzled her hair.
Lita tried to pull away from him, but he held her still.
"If I have ta hog tie ya and drag ya to the alter, we will be married. And
it's not because of the baby. I �"
"You're going to drive me crazy," chuckled Lita,
as she wiped the tears away. She looked at the doctor and blushed.
Liz watched the loving scene with disgust and malice and
held the hypospray that would kill mother and child. It would take a few days
for the Celestial crewmember to die, but she would die, nonetheless.
*****
TBC