USS Edinburgh – The Brig – 0915

Two chairs sat in front of the cell that held Commodore Patra.  Both chairs stood empty.  In the darkness of the recesses of the brig stood Commander Harris, Lieutenant Thasaz, and the security chief, Ensign Kondo De La Fontaine.  Harris stepped forward and stood beside one of the chairs.  Patra sat in the center of his cell as rage, anger, and furor played across his face.  His eyes simply stared ahead, hands balled tightly at his sides.  The silence of the room held as both men remained still.

Harris spoke first, “I’m Commander Ambrose Harris of the Federation Starship USS Edinburgh.  You have been transferred to our custody by a representative of the Romulan Empire.” Patra spit at the floor when he heard it and his face remained full of fury.  The CO continued, “We have not yet…accepted your transfer.  You are currently…in between jurisdictions.”  

At that, Patra slowly stood and approached the shimmering forcefield, “You cannot kill the ideas I’ve created.  The Romulan Star Empire is no more…and the rest of it will become a shattered disaster of infighting, and disagreements…violence will eventually overrule negotiations, deals, or treaties.”  He sneered at Harris, “You think you can end what I’ve started?  The suffering…the pain…the power…it is an intoxicating smell to any and all who desire to lead.”  Patra growled, “The Klingons were so easy to tempt…so easy to ply with promises of glory, battle…and more ships.”  He pointed sharply at Harris, “You would be dead in the darkness of space…your body drifting in space like that of your crewman.”  He returned to his seat, “I will kill you eventually.  You may put me on trial…or maroon me somewhere far from here…but I will find you…and your crew….and I will cut at you until nothing but pieces of your skin remains.”  A menacing smile flicked across his face, “You can ask your friends, the traitorous group that they are – I am never long for a cell.  I always find my way back to carve out the hearts of my enemies.”

Harris was smart enough to know much of this was true.  They had asked and been denied a full history of the Commodore from the Romulan ships that had arrived to save Thasaz.  Patra’s influence would not soon fade from the planets he had operated and controlled.  Images of him being led into a prison or a courtroom would only encourage his followers and it would put considerable pressure on any new government that formed from the ruins.  The same insidious snakes would find their way in the doors and take up positions where they could wield influence and power.  “I do not doubt any of that.”  He sat in the chair, “But I don’t think you were listening…your transfer to our custody is not yet…complete.”

Patra frowned, “What do you mean by this?”

Lieutenant Thasaz stepped out of the darkness and sat down in the chair next to her CO, “What he means…is that you are not under the protection of The Federation.”  She leaned back in the chair and crossed her arms, “Hello, Commodore.”

The older Romulan stood and slammed into the forcefield, not wincing as the feedback shocked him, “You presume to speak to me?  You…inconsequential little worm?  I should have ordered your death sooner.  Ended the streak of your family’s incompetence.”  He watched her face react and chuckled deeply, “Ah, yes.  The secrets I know…you wouldn’t dare kill me now.”

Thasaz didn’t speak and simply stared fire into the skull of the Romulan Commodore.  Harris turned to her, “We can make him talk.”  

She stared at the monster a moment longer before turning to him, “I do not know what he’s speaking of – both of my parents were always outsiders in the Romulan Empire.  My father was a failed soldier turned scientist while my mother found diplomacy a spider’s web with too much focus on catching flies and destroying lives.”

Patra remained standing, “Your father was not just a failed soldier…he lacked the qualities for anything aside from studying plants,” he spat as he said it, “He lacked anything resembling manhood.”  He sneered at Thasaz, “Your mother was ineffective at everything she did…simple missions eluded her.  Too soft.  They shuffled her away.”  He clapped his hands with glee, “I still remember the day they died.”  He stared at her now, “Do you?”

Harris looked to his science chief, “You don’t have to do this, Lieutenant.”

She narrowed her eyes, the tears being held back by her own seething rage.  She shook her head, “I remember them being taken into the streets.  I remember them resisting until the very end.  I remember they knew they were innocent.  I remember their deaths because it changed me.”  She stared at Patra, “What do you remember?”

“I remember ordering them dead.  I remember watching the disrupter fire.”  He chuckled, “If I had known you would have become such a problem for me in the future…I’d have ended you just as well.”

Thasaz stood from the chair but didn’t move closer, “Why didn’t you?  Why didn’t you kill me?”

Patra shrugged, “We had a whole list of people that day.  You would have slowed us down.  My men weren’t ready to kill a child anyways.  You have to build up to that.”

Harris quickly tapped the console on the chair, muting the cell as Thasaz sunk back into her chair, her hands mirroring Patra’s clenched fist.  The older Romulan smirked and walked to the back of his cell and sat, waiting.  “You didn’t have to do that, Lieutenant.”

Through tears, she growled, “Yes, I did.  Did you record it?”  He gestured at the PADD showing the session recording.  “They did eventually build up to it.  There were school-age friends that simply stopped coming to school…their families disappeared.”  She wiped the water from her eyes, “They say killing for justice doesn’t bring you peace.  That it only twists your further.”  She faced her CO, “It’s hard to imagine that any of that is true…in this moment, Commander.  They say you only understand the urge to kill someone when someone’s done the unspeakable to someone you know.  I knew a lot of those Romulans over the years, Commander.  I knew a lot of them.”

Harris leaned forward, “My mother has been working on our behalf with the various pieces of the Romulan government that are slowly forming.  Each of them agreed to revoke any diplomatic standing he has with them.  Most of them were onboard with revoking his Romulan citizenship as well.”  He tapped the PADD, “Once I sent out that last bit…everyone at the table agreed.  You’re looking at a Romulan that’s been forcefully exiled.”  He looked into her eyes, “He’ll never see the light of day.  Maximum security.  Orders for transfer just came through.  He’ll be in a hole in the ground for the rest of his life…however long that lasts.”

“You’re not going to let me kill him?”

Ambrose shook his head, “It would feel good in the moment, Lieutenant, I’m sure.  Then you’d have to accept that you’d killed someone.  You’d question if you should have let him fight fair.  You’d wonder if you’d done the right thing.  That he’d suffered enough.  You’d have too many questions.”  He stared at Patra’s smug look, “Where he’s going…it will not be a kind place.  Diplomacy means nothing.  Treaties mean nothing.  It’s where the monsters go to be locked in the depths of space, never to return.  He’ll run out of voice screaming for someone to remember him.  The Romulan’s records will indicate he died today at the hands of the crew of the Clawed Death.”

She stared at him, frowning, “And our records?”

“We will receive notice from the Captain of the Clawed Death and revise our records to reflect.  Anyone comes looking for the bastard…they’ll find a dead end.”  He gestured to him, “Is that an acceptable compromise?”

She motioned for him to tap the console and he did.  She stepped to the edge of the field as Patra bounded up the barrier, chuckling, “Did you commander tell you of the pain that killing me would bring?  That you would become just like me in the end?  That’s my favorite version.”

Thasaz smiled and watched as the Commodore’s own grin faltered, “I am not going to kill you, Patra.  I’m going to tell you that every single functional Romulan and Reman government has revoked your diplomatic status…in addition…and this is my favorite version,”  She moved close enough that the field buzzed lightly against her skin, “Your citizenship has been revoked as well – everywhere where there is someone who has the power to make such a decision…you are no longer recognized.”  Her grin went wider as his faded, “You will die today according to the ships out there.  They will report your death to the Federation and that notice will be transmitted everywhere and anywhere.”  She stepped back, “You will be transferred to a maximum-security prison in the far reaches of some part of empty space and live the rest of your life…in a hole.”  Thasaz gave a slight bow, “You will go where the monsters go…and be buried alive in the emptiness of space.  I wish you suffering and pain.”  She stared at him a moment longer, “Justice has been served for the blood you spilled.”  Patra began to shout at her as she left.

“I WILL NOT BE HELD IN A CAGE!  YOU CANNOT ESCAPE ME!  I HAVE POWER!  I HAVE SHIPS!  I WILL FIND YOU AND…”  Harris tapped the console and he screamed and pounded on the forcefield in silenced and spittled rage.

Harris rolled his eyes and stepped to the next cell in the brig where Saho stood, her eyes wet with tears.  “You have a choice, Saho.  You can come with us and we can find you a home…a place to start over…or you can join him.”

She shook her head vigorously, “I have had much time to think on my sins, Commander.  That…was hard to hear.  To think I once followed him.  That I worshiped his words…his commands.”  She cried, “It has been a hard month of being in my head, sir.  Remembering who I was…and how much I never want to be that again.  I ask for your forgiveness, Commander…and the forgiveness of your crew.”

The CO replied, “You have done more than anyone in your position would.  You saved a crewman from death.  You’ve looked at yourself and found yourself wanting something more than this. Forgiveness is granted, Saho.”  He stepped towards the barrier, meeting her eyes, “We’re going to put you under house arrest…you’ll have a pair of security guards with you at all times – outside our quarters and walking with you wherever you go.  Mr. Kondo will explain where and what you’re allowed to do.”  He signaled to Kondo at the control station and the forcefield that had incarcerated her for a month fell.  Her eyes went wide as she realized what had just happened.

“This…is real?”  He nodded.  She stepped carefully over the threshold gingerly, cringing at the expected forcefield impact.  There was none.  She took another step.  And another.  She stepped until she was arms-length from Harris,  “Uh…sir…May…I…hug you?”

Kondo chuckled and Harris leaned forward, “Permission to hug is granted.”  She rushed into his arms and held her captor-turned savior tightly, tears flowing at the first real physical contact in some time.  

She eventually pulled away, her face awash in her relief.  As she sobbed lightly she bowed slightly to him, “Thank you, Commander.  I am thankful for you and your crew.”  She looked around and he pointed her towards the door as two officers walked her out the door and down the corridor.

Harris noticed Patra was speechless in his cell and he unmuted the man and spoke evenly, “You think you can destroy people…control them…make them bend to your will…and send them to die simply because you wanted to spill blood on the board to make a point.  Saho is her own person now, Patra.  She is the proof of life against your culture of death.  I want that image to be the last you see before we ship you away.  Life finds a way to be lived despite the best efforts of monsters.”  He signaled Kondo to close the walls over the forcefield.  For once, Patra was silent.  Harris waited until the metal wall clicked into place.  He turned and walked out, leaving behind a still stunned Patra who crawled into a corner where he remained for the rest of his time on board the Edinburgh.