Faint sobbing.

It was the first sense he always had when waking up—hearing. Lieutenant Hollis had always heard things first when he awoke, and processed what was going on around him that way.

Faint sobbing. That’s what he heard, and when he slowly awoke, seering red hot pain shot through his whole body. With a cry, the Ferengi lurched forward and lost his lunch in the corner of whatever cell he was in. Amira was nearby, and quickly scrambled over to rub his back.

”Let it out.” Amira frowned as Hollis threw up what was left in his stomach. His head was reeling, and his vision was blurry. “They injected you with a paralytic substance. I’m thankful you can at least move.”

”You—“ He coughed, glancing back at the doctor. She looked worse for wear—a black eye, frizzied hair, bandaging around her shoulder. She was wearing a dark red jumpsuit. “Look like shit.” He spoke, cracking a weary smile.

”Don’t we both.” Amira gave a small chuckle. “They patched up my shoulder. Apparently me being a doctor is too valuable for them to lose.”

”Who’s…they?” Hollis muttered. Amira shifted from one foot to the other.

“Black market traders. Mainly Kaelthri, but there’s some nasty old faces around as well. We just so happened to stumble across their territory.” She rubbed her face. “They also don’t take kindly to warm blooded creatures—especially you and M’Hark.”

”Runt.” Hollis shot upwards at the sound of his roommate. “Is he okay?! What the hell did they-“

“Hollis.” Amira spoke firmly, but gently. “I need you to be prepared for what you’re about to see. Okay?”

”Get off me,” Hollis straggled upwards and hastily looked at his surroundings. A damp, yet sleek cell. It looked like an older prison cell with upgraded components; open door with a forcefield, and barred windows connecting the cells together to look into one another.

“Lieutenant!-“ Amira took a deep inhale as Hollis stumbled up to the bars. If he wanted to stay alive, she was going to have to muffle his reaction.

”Runt!” Hollis called into the cell. “Runt??”

A catian laid across the room, shivering and whole body shaking as the sunlight from the upper window shone down on him. Hollis’ eyes tried to find a telltale sign it was Runt—the chipped ear was a dead giveaway. But he didn’t move.

”Runt! Hey, buddy-“ Hollis was starting to get increasingly panicked. As much as he was annoyed by the cat, he was still his roommate. “HRELLE!” The raise in tone caused him to jump, scrambling backwards and facing the cell window.

He looked awful.

Cuts and scrapes along his mouth and face, with bandaging around his thigh and on parts of his arm. Small bits of Runt’s face was swollen—it was clear he had gotten into a fight. His eyes were wild and one was bloodshot, with his lips curling into a snarl. But that wasn’t the main source of his attention. The individual, bloodied bandages around Hrelle’s fingertips were. The claws that he had always out and taken well care of were nowhere to be seen.

They had declawed Runt.

“…What..what did they..” Hollis’ disbelief turned into anger as he glanced back at Amira.

”Hollis.” Amira spoke, caution in her tone. “You need to take a breath—“

“HEY!” Hollis yelled out, starting to approach the entrance of the cell—but Doctor Sullivan very quickly grabbed Hollis and covered his mouth.

“Hollis, shut the hell up.” She snarled, holding him by the shoulders. “Do you want to get hurt? They will cut your hands off–do you hear me? They will cut your hands off.”  Hollis took a deep breath as he held onto Amira’s hands, his own shaking. Whatever thoughts he had about what this place was and what they could do had melted away as the soft sobs from M’Hark’s cell filled the horrified silence that followed.

“…When did it happen?” He finally spoke. Amira looked away.

“Runt just wouldn’t stop trying to fight them. Trying to leave. Trying to escape. He scratched one of the big guys here in the eye, and-”

“They declawed him.” Hollis spat. Amira frowned and nodded solmenly, looking back at the cell window. Getting a better look at her made the ferengi realize just how exhausted Amira seemed. “How long was I out?”

“Half a day. I’ve been working around the clock to help people here–they’re starving them. Beating them.” Amira looked furious–but she was so tired it was hard to be anything but. “It’s forced labor, a trafficking ring of all things, and drug den.”

“I’m assuming there’s no use getting out of here with us three alone.”

“I’m still trying to figure out why this couldn’t be detected on the sensors. But until then, they’re going to put us to work. We need to get you and Runt at the very least out of here as soon as possible.” Amira ran a hand through her hair.

“What? Why?” Hollis cocked his head to the side. “Doctor, surely they’d-”

“They’re going to use us. Do awful things. Kill us.” Runt’s scratchy, tear filled voice slowly crept through the window. He had barely moved, but enough to get close to the bars. “We’re going to be treated like precious cargo.”

“He’s right.” Amira pinched the bridge of her nose. “Runt’s fur is valuable. I overheard one of them saying something about your skull? It’s–I don’t know, Hollis. But I know that this whole place has it’s eyes on you.”
Silence hung in the air once again. The reality was setting in–and alarmingly fast. But what could even be done? What could any of them do? It didn’t make much sense to Hollis.

“I’m scheduled for something in three hours.” Runt spoke a moment later. His voice was less tear induced, but it was still scratchy. Like he had been screaming for a long time. “They won’t tell us what. But the reasoning is Penal Code 4.57-80.”

“How do you know?” Hollis glanced over at the cat, who looked through the bars. His eyes flickered over to a small panel in the wall–which was on. Two prisoner numbers were on the screen– Number 28971, with the words ‘MEDICAL BAY’ written. The other, Number 28973, had ‘LOADING BAY’ under it. “Ah.”

“We’re going to figure this out. I promise.” Amira walked over to the cell and reached in through the bars–gently cupping the side of Runt’s cheek. The cat closed his eyes and let new tears fall as he leaned into the touch. “But first, you both should rest. We’re all not due for another three hours.”