Malcolm and Hoshi: The Missing Scenes

In A Mirror Darkly Part 1

Life had taught Major Reed a quite astonishing number of expletives.  He’d aimed most of them at Phlox as the Denobulan blithely operated the controls of the Agony Booth with him inside it – in the intervals between screaming, of course, as he acquired first-hand experience of how extremely effective the device was at creating what it was named for.

At some level of his brain he didn’t blame Phlox at all.  Orders were orders, and Captain Forrest had retaken control of the ship.  Archer had endured ten hours in the Booth, and how he’d achieved that without going insane Reed didn’t know.  He himself had reached a limit at eight; the machine’s readings had told the doctor that the patient’s biosigns were about to go critical, and Phlox certainly wasn’t going to take the responsibility for killing him.  If he thought the treatment he’d administered afterwards to stabilise his condition was going to buy forgiveness, however, he would one day discover his error.  The major’s personal experience of the machine had suggested several ways in which it could actually be improved, and when that had been done to his satisfaction, Reed knew exactly who was going to be the first test subject, orders or no orders.  As the Head of Security, he could always find or invent a reason to inflict suffering on someone.  Quite often he didn’t even bother with having a reason at all.

However, although the treatment had gone a long way towards bringing him back to what could be termed ‘operational capacity’, his exhausted muscles simply had to rest.  There was no short cut for that, and therefore he was back in his quarters when he ought to have been on the Bridge, keeping an eye on what was happening.  The necessity was infuriating, and unease did not sweeten his temper.  With the situation between Forrest and Archer on a knife edge the way it was, he did not trust anyone else to do what he was supposed to do – back the candidate whom he personally believed was going to win in the end. 

Archer.

He turned over gingerly on his bunk, still aware of a multitude of aches from the incredible stress of being held rigid for hours on end by the sheer, unbelievable pain.  As far as that went, he was impressed – and given life on board ship, there had always been the chance he might end up as one of its victims for some infringement or other.  At least he was still alive, which was a bonus; the captain must have been in a singularly good mood at the time.  There were a number of even less pleasant alternatives, most of which were terminal.  Phlox, for instance, had an ongoing vivisection project that was always open to volunteers.  Well – victims.  He liked to refer to them as ‘volunteers’, but then the Denobulan had a strange sense of humour at the best of times.

Lying still was allowing him too much time to worry.  Sleep was not an option.  He considered sending for one of his female MACO crew, but wasn’t sure he’d be up to the exertion; too many of them were eager to step into his shoes, and the combination of having sex with a woman and watching for her to make a move at killing him seemed just a tad too much of an ask right now.  Most times it just added to the fun.  Two had actually made the attempt.  Needless to say they hadn’t succeeded, and even more needless to say they hadn’t lived to repeat it.

So it seemed an idea to find something to take his mind off his predicament.  He wasn’t in the mood for reading, and he was fully up to date with all the supposedly secret traffic on the ship’s communications network.  He could always take a walk down to Engineering and bait that scarred oaf in charge of it, but right now he wasn’t feeling at his venomous best.  Tucker would just have to wait.

So.  Find something else he wasn’t supposed to have access to.  That’s what the Head of Security did, or he wouldn’t be head of it for long.  The problem was, he couldn’t think of anything he hadn’t already broken into, be it confidential files or crew’s terrors.

Getting too damned good at your job, Reed, he thought.

At that moment the door chime sounded.

His eyebrows rose.  His having unexpected callers was virtually unheard-of.  Most people who valued their skins intact made every effort to avoid the slightest unnecessary contact with him.  This arrangement suited everybody, since the methods by which he could be assassinated when he was alone had already been covered by security protocols he’d installed himself. There was always, of course, the chance that somebody would come up with something so fiendishly ingenious he hadn’t thought of it first, but if that happened he’d be the first to know, and indignation probably wouldn’t be his overriding reaction.  Assuming, of course, it was something that allowed him time to have any reactions at all, which would be a big mistake on his assassin’s part.

There was no part of his cabin that didn’t have a loaded weapon concealed within arm’s reach.  Here in his bunk he only had to choose which to draw out of hiding.  The Klingon disrupter was probably his favourite, mainly because its results were so extremely spectacular.  People who’d seen it in action tended to be more careful thereafter not to tempt fate and draw its attention.

The disrupter slid smoothly into his hand.  Checking the power cell was unnecessary; he never allowed any weapon to lose charge.

“Come,” he called.

The door hissed open, and his eyebrows rose even further.

“Lieutenant Sato.”  He even allowed the surprise to show in his voice.  To reveal the instant suspicion he also felt would not be tactful.  Sato was currently warming the captain’s bed, and would therefore not be coming here tonight to make kind enquiries after his health.

“Major.”  She stood just inside the door.  Her eyes measured him.  “I believe you’ve had a pretty uncomfortable day.”

“It wasn’t the best I can remember.”

Taking no apparent notice of the disrupter he was making no effort to hide, she sauntered forward.  He had time to admire the sway of her hips.  There was no doubt about it; she was as sinuous as a snake.

And about as trustworthy as one too, he reminded himself.  She’d transferred herself from Archer’s bed to Forrest’s with lightning speed as soon as the power shifted, and doubtless would do so again if necessary. He wondered irrelevantly if she actually felt anything for either man.  Probably not, at a guess.

Without invitation, she sat down on the bunk beside him.

“You’ve left clear indications that you’ve come here,” he said bluntly.  It wasn’t a question and she didn’t respond to it as one.

“Of course.  And if I don’t get back to my station at the start of the next shift, well ... the captain may start asking some awkward questions.”  She smiled at him.  Or rather, she bared her perfect, pearly teeth.  A grin from a great white shark would have had more warmth and charm.

“Well, I’m honoured I’m sure.”  Sarcasm dripped from every word.  “Now perhaps you’ll tell me to what I owe the pleasure.”

He’d decided long ago that he was past astonishment.  However, he came perilously close to it when she leaned forward and kissed him passionately.  It was probably just as well that the trigger on the disrupter was – comparatively – heavy. He came damnably close to firing it in reflex.

He had no idea what would happen to someone in physical contact with a person who’d been shot with a disrupter.  At a guess, it wouldn’t be pleasant, and since this time it was him he didn’t really want to find out.

Thoughts spun through his mind as her tongue invaded his mouth.  Primarily he was wondering what the hell this was all in aid of.  Secondarily he was reviewing who could possibly have bribed access to the security recordings.  Thirdly he was wondering whether it was he or, indirectly, Commander Archer who was the target for what could only be some clumsy trap.  The reflection that she was a hot kisser and he wanted more was quite a long way down the list, but he was still conscious of the instant surge of lust in response.

With the free hand he could use without risking transforming anyone very painfully into a cloud of atoms he pushed her away – hard.

“Now tell me who put you up to that,” he snarled.

“What makes you think anyone did?” she parried.

He could do a pretty fair impersonation of a great white himself, when he had occasion to.  “I know you, Lieutenant.  You haven’t been exactly subtle, after all.”

“A girl’s got to do what a girl’s got to do.”  The gleam mocked him.  “And I do it so well.”

That wasn’t news.  His access to the security recordings had given him ample opportunity to admire her technique.  He’d occasionally wondered if Forrest ever went to Phlox to get something to save him from heart failure; he wasn’t as young as he used to be, and Sato’s stamina was quite remarkable.

“I’m sure.  But how come I’m suddenly the favoured recipient?”  He leaned backwards on the bunk and surveyed her narrowly.  “A bit of a come-down for you, isn’t it?  A mere lowly Major?  Let me guess.  You’ve been secretly in love with me ever since you came on board, and you’ve decided life’s too short for you not to confess your undying passion.”

“And they say the English have no sense of humor.”  With a slow, seductive smile she took hold of the zip tag of her uniform top and slid it down. 

The shirt beneath it had three buttons.  She unfastened them without haste, while he watched, dry-throated, waiting for the trick, the trap.  His body evidently wasn’t too tired to react.  Another sultry smile told him her peripheral vision had picked up the sudden hardening in his groin.  Seeing her strip on a vid-recording, seeing her in other men’s beds, was a quite different thing from seeing her in his own.

“Archer isn’t going to succeed, you know,” she breathed as the shirt fell undone.  “He’s a loose cannon.  As soon as he gets a sniff of power it’ll go to his head.”

“I wouldn’t know.”  And if you think I’m going to comment on whatever I think of the situation you’re so stupid I can’t imagine how you got one rank bar on your shoulders, let alone two.  Unless you were shagging the entire promotions board at the time.  He watched as she slithered on to her knees on the bunk.  The movement gave him a delectable glimpse of her breasts – not a coincidence, of course; she was far too acute for that.

“Are you going to just lie there and look?”  She straightened up.  God, she knew how to pose, he’d give her that.  Nevertheless his brain was still on the hunt for an explanation, and until he had one she could just bloody sit there.

“Why not?  It’s a nicer view than the bulkhead.”  He gave her a feral smile.  “But please, don’t feel you have to stop.  I was just enjoying it.”

“I’m sure we could come to some arrangement.”  Her hand ran lightly up his thigh. 

“The key word in that sentence was ‘arrangement’.”  Involuntarily his body jerked, but then his free hand shot out with terrifying speed and seized her wrist.  “As flattered as I am, Lieutenant, that doesn’t make me a fool.  Nothing in this life comes for free.  You tell me the price and then we’ll discuss a trade.”

“We’re en route to Tholian space.  Archer’s got control of the ship, for now,” she purred.  “But Captain Forrest’s wondering if you might be thinking by now you’ve backed the wrong horse.”

“Ah.  And you’re by way of being a down-payment.”  Grim amusement flickered across his face as the pieces finally fell into place.  “I thought you said the Commander wouldn’t succeed.”

“He might succeed in getting us all killed.”  She even managed to make a frown look sexy.  “Just think about it, Major.  If – by any chance – there is a ship there, they aren’t going to just let us take it.  Enterprise hasn’t got the capability to take on the Tholians.  He’s banking on the cloaking device, but with spies on board, what if something goes wrong?”

“And if it doesn’t, and we manage to get hold of it, he’ll be in a position to scare the crap out of everyone, up to and including the Emperor.”  He didn’t give her an instant’s warning.  Before she could move, he was kneeling in front of her, and his hands had both her wrists trapped in the small of her back.  “Life’s a gamble, Lieutenant, and I don’t cash my chips till the play’s over.  But since you’ve given me such a delightful opportunity, I’d be less than a gentleman if I refused.”

He felt her tense to struggle, and clamped down painfully on her wrists to keep her still.  “No, that really wouldn’t be good idea.  Just be a good little girl and I’ll let you off with a warning.”

“You wouldn’t dare.”  She spoke through clenched teeth.

“The security recordings will show you made the move, Lieutenant.  Play and pay.”

He used his grip on her arms to pull her against him and began nuzzling into the angle of her neck, nipping gently at the soft skin.  She was so damned alluring that it was going to take all his self-control to let her off with the warning he’d promised; another day he might not have stopped at a warning, but he’d already decided his physical state wasn’t good enough to take risks.  Still, who knew?  This might be his down-payment.  The balance to be collected when Archer was in command and in a position to hand out rewards.  If they succeeded in hijacking that ship and plundering its secrets, the Commander would have women eating out of his hands.  Lieutenant Hoshi Sato would be reduced to an also-ran, an asset that could be safely distributed to one of those who’d earned a place in the new administration.

At least as a start.

His mouth strayed downwards.  He took hold of the shirt’s edges with his teeth and dragged it off her shoulders before leaning back and surveying her with half-closed eyes.

“Beautiful,” he said softly.

“Bastard.”  She was quivering with anger – and perhaps more than anger; her mouth was flushed and inviting, and the body now displayed for his delectation was even more exquisite in reality than it had been on so many hours of security recordings.  But for those hours in the Agony Booth he might have been in a position to find out to the full exactly what talents had made her so indispensable in the beds of two rivals for the captaincy.

As it was, he was still going to enjoy himself.