Posted by Commander Dira Myqian (Executive Officer) in Around the Ship- Colliding Paths

Posted by Lieutenant Zoi Haven (Chief of Security) in Around the Ship- Colliding Paths

Posted by Commander Dira Myqian (Executive Officer) in Around the Ship- Colliding Paths
Posted by… suppressed (5) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snip)

Dira sat there and the first weird thought that came to her mind was that her butt was going numb. But it was sit here or lay on her side which hurt even more. At least she could watch him more closely as she was positioned. The second thought was that they couldn’t stay here. He’d have to move her eventually and if someone didn’t find her at that point then this was really not going to end well… for her. Watching him work on the PaDD, Dira was trying to pull out another tool from her psychiatrist’s bag of tricks, but she wasn’t sure there was one for this sort of situation. Except to get him to talk more. Anything at all might help. “I had heard that you had gotten a new position on Outpost 18. How’s that been going?” she asked, having no idea that he was currently AWOL after not arriving t report in for duty after an extended R&R. Somewhere out there, people were wondering where the man had disappeared to but no one had thought to tell Myqian. To warn her. Because she had kept his behaviour towards her to herself. Because she could handle it. Later she’d see what a bloody fool she’d been. But hindsight and all that.

Commander Myqian, XO

He waved away the question with an impatient hand gesture as he worked to complete his next step. Finally, after several long moments he looked up at her and smiled in what he thought was a charming way. “Oh, you know I think it’s just not for me anymore. I would rather go exploring with you, or settle down and raise children. How many do you want by the way? I am thinking 3 or 4. After you and I disappear, I am going to make sure Star Fleet doesn’t come after us. We can get away from them forever, you and me.”

Commander WIlliam Franks

She had so far been able to maintain something of a distance emotionally from the man, to treat him as no more than a random person having a psychotic break and her as a trained psychiatrist just needed to observe his behaviour and listen to what he had to say and find small ways to integrate reality so that maybe he’d see the error of his ways. That of course was the best case scenario. This moment right here though was so far from that ideal that Dira lost her ability to look at the situation with detachment.

3 or 4 children. Disappear and never be found. She had understood the possible risk here, that this whole thing would go beyond abduction, but the implications were so suffocating right now that Dira found herself unable to catch her breath. He was waiting for an answer but she couldn’t give one. Instead, she closed her eyes and gasped for air. Whatever he had given her that had caused to pass out was still in her system and it still made her feel weird. A little wobbly and light headed. Not being able to catch her breath did not help in the least. Her chest beat hard in her chest and she truly felt in this moment like she was having a heart attack. Intellectually she knew it was a panic attack, but that didn’t help her much right now. “William…” she gasped. “Some… things… wrong… I can’t… breathe…” A small part of her actually thought passing out from a lack of air was not a terrible thing right now. There was only so much she could take and Dira was fast approaching her limit.

Commander Myqian, XO

He looked up from his machinations at the distressed tone of her voice. He was confused for a long moment, wondering what was happening and then he launched into action becoming the attentive partner he thought he was. “Oh my sweet love. I am sorry. Perhaps I sprayed too much of my concoction in your face. After all, it is not like I had time to truly test it on someone before coming here. I didn’t want anyone to ruin my surprise for you.” He quickly tooled around the bag behind him and after a moment, pulled out a cool compress from the emergency medical supplies he had there. Once they got to their destination, he could find ways to get their needs met, but until then he did not want to be caught in an emergency without it. At least some of his Star Fleet training had sunk in at least. He placed it on the back of her neck.

So much of her rebelled at him even remotely touching her that Dira had to focus harder on not reacting. But then again if she flinched, it could be easily read as a reaction to the cold pack touching her skin. She closed her eyes and allowed herself to relax into the sensation, trying very hard to separate it from the man who had induced the ease. Even if his presence near her made her want to scream, it had the added bonus of distracting him from whatever it was he was trying to do. It might buy her precious time, buy her crewmates precious time. She had no idea if her plea to Zoi worked, so there was still the chance no one knew she was missing and William would have her off the ship before they realized what was happening.

“Don’t worry your pretty head about anything. I have it all under control.”

Commander William Franks.

“You really have thought of everything, haven’t you?” she said, knowing all too well he’d interpret her words as praise. But his comment about his concoction also sat in her mind. She didn’t know what he had used, but it had been potent and not a usual anesthetic. Something like that could have serious effects on a body, and maybe her weird feeling really was more than just a panic attack. Certainly her high heart rate wasn’t helping matters, but could whatever he gave her be causing damage? Dira breathed in slowly, letting that unhelpful thought slip from her mind. Even it was causing damage, there was nothing she could do about it just now. But it did make her desire to get free that much stronger. She very subtly worked her wrists again, trying to see if there was any give to whatever he bound her with. She couldn’t fully see it on her ankles between her boots and her trouser legs, but it was thinner. As she moved her wrists again, it seemed to dig in. Smooth but biting. But there wasn’t any stretch to it- nothing that would allow her to work her hands free. As she tried to twist her wrist, a wave of pain washed over her and she had to breath through it. Gods her shoulders hurt too. She wasn’t sure how much longer she could have them pulled back so far before there were injured ligaments or outright dislocation in the joint. Actually… now there was a thought. She needed more range of motion and it might be time to put her medical degree to use. It could work, even if the pain would be extraordinary. The beauty of being psychiatry and command trained was that she possessed significant skill in compartmentalizing.

He did take her words as praise, though it was easy to see his mind was on his plan and not necessarily on her discomfort. He wished he could trust her enough to unbind her, but he knew she would go against her better judgement when it came to serving Star Fleet. He could not guarantee that she would go with his plan especially if she knew others might be harmed. He couldnt afford to risk her interference. Once they were safely away, he would cut the conduit cables he had used to secure her.

“What else did you bring with you? It’ll be good to know what we have,” Myqian said, hoping he’d take it as her being interested in their escape and not so much distrust about his preparedness. At this point it seemed fifty-fifty. His psychosis was full on and there was just no real way to predict how he’d react to anything.

Commander Myqian, XO

“Well, to be honest, not much.” He shrugged. “Of course I have a medical kit here with me and my trusty PaDD. Now, on the shuttle.... that is another matter. I have garnered plenty of supplies for our immediate departure and some weeks thereafter. I have loaded up an emergency shelter too. I think that will be plenty for now until we find where we want to get settled.”

He looked up at the love of his life and smiled warmly. “I have even thought of several locations we could go away to. Each is more beautiful than the last. I cannot wait to show you.” Then his smile faded, as he remembered he was supposed to be doing something. Oh yes, setting up the site to site transport code that he had gotten from an old Section 66 friend of the family.

Haven, CoS

As his attention was pulled back to his task, Dira knew that time was once again not on her side. Her heart was still racing after her panic attack, but she was focused on breathing evenly. If she was going to do anything, she would have to do it soon. She began to work her wrists again, trying to see if there was even the slightest chance she could slip out. The pain of her deepening abrasions told her no, but she focused on the pain for a moment, gathering it up into a little mental ball and tucked it deep down. Of course, a large burst of pain would break the focus, but she would deal with that if it came to it. For now, she just kept working, a plan forming in her head.

Suddenly the ship shook, surprising Dira with a jolt, the cold pack slipping from her neck, and she could hear the tell-tale red alert from out in the corridor. What the hell was that? She gaze snapped to Franks. He had just caused the explosion, hadn’t he? Potentially harming her crew. Oh, hell no, this was not happening.

William looked as if the blast and resulting shaking and red alert had not fazed him in the slightest because… it hadn’t. He had been expecting this to happen and had not cared one whit that someone might get hurt by his simple yet quite effective booby trap. Innocuous chemicals when mixed together could do some terrible damage. He sat typing away on his PaDD, continuing to set up their transport which he had full confidence would work.

Rage flooded her body in a way she had never experienced before and her it coincided with the formulation of a plan to get herself out of this mess. She wanted desperately to believe that her message to Zoi had gotten through, that someone knew she was missing, that they were coming for her. But any moment now she knew William would beam her out of this hellish little room and if no one knew to stop him, they would be potentially gone. She would disappear. But the sickening reality of being imprisoned with him for the rest of life, forced to play out the adoring partner and mother to his children was nothing compared to the unforgivable act of causing harm to her ship and crew against every oath they had sworn as Starfleet officers.

This. Ended. Now.

Dira was tall and her legs were long. But she had kept them bent with her bound booted feet on the floor- it had kept her stable. And he was still sitting near her after her panic attack. He was still focused on that damn PADD. One shot, that was all she had. And she’d have to simultaneously cause herself intense pain in order to make use of the moment.

Internally gathering up all her anger, Dira swiftly pulled back her legs, tightening her core hard to keep herself upright, and drove the heels of her duty boots right towards William’s head. At the same time, she used that forward momentum to wrench on her left wrist as she twisted it and felt the joint shift, at least partially dislocating it. She cried out with pain and her head swam with pain and endorphins as she tried to slip her hand out of the tight binding that kept her stuck against whatever pipe was behind.

Commander Myqian, XO

Like in many things, William underestimated Dira. He was so focused in his plan and the tools he had purchased to do his will in kidnapping her and running away with her, that he had not remotely considered her reaction would be strong enough to harm herself to strike him in anger. Thus the completely unexpected kick landed with a solid crunch and he collapsed witless, disoriented, and in extreme pain. He didn’t even have the capacity within his spinning head to think to ask why Dira might have done such a thing.

Commander William Franks