Part Two
Disclaimer: All the characters
and locations in this story belong to Paramount. What we choose to do with
those characters and locations is our own. This story is NC-17 for sexual
content
When a still struggling Tom Paris was brought
in before the Intendant later that morning, he didn't look much better than
before. He now had a huge black eye, swollen up until it had all but closed his
left eye. He also walked with a noticeable limp. B`Elanna had probably kicked
him hard in the shin, Kira thought to herself, trying rather unsuccessfully not
to smile. And lastly, his shackled wrists had been rubbed raw and bloody, he'd
obviously been struggling against the cuffs with some measure of violence.
Kira stood in front of the pair smiling a
predator-like smile as she appraised her prisoner. "Kneel..." She
ordered the man before her. Tom only shook his head, making no move to lower
himself. Kira flicked an amused glance at B`Elanna and waited patiently.
"She told you to kneel, slave!"
B`Elanna snarled as she kicked backs of his knees, causing them to buckle and
sending him sprawling across the floor. Kira watched the entire encounter with
interest, her first impressions of Tom Paris had been right. He wasn't about to
give in without a fight.
Tom struggled back up to his knees, without
the use of his shackled hands, it took him several moments to right himself
once again. Finally upright, he briefly debated getting to his feet but,
knowing that B`Elanna was probably angry enough to shatter his kneecaps should
he try it again, he quickly decided against it. Besides, he'd already made his
point. Keeping his gaze locked to the ground he held his breath, waiting for
the next blow to come.
To his surprise, instead of a blow, Kira came
up and gently patted him on the head. "Dear Tom, I hope B`Elanna hasn't
been too rough on you." She spoke in a soft, sweet voice. A coaxing voice
he realized after a moment.
Tom glanced up briefly in shock when she used
his name, then swiftly dropped his gaze back down to the floor. It was almost
as though he was remembering what he was supposed to be doing. "Paris,
Lieutenant Thomas Eugene. Starship Voyager." He muttered in an almost
defiant tone under his breath.
"Oh, and I suppose you're going to be
giving me your serial number next." Kira smirked slightly and walked a
little ways away from him. "I only want to make this easy for you. But if
you insist on continuing to bother me, I'm going to be forced to make it much
less pleasant for you."
Tom shut his mouth but never took his eyes
off the floor. B`Elanna hovered near his kneeling figure, ready to kick him at
the slightest excuse. Kira glanced at her, snapped her fingers and pointed
towards the door, nodding briefly to the Klingon. B`Elanna looked angry for a
moment, then catching herself, bowed deeply and stalked out of the Intendant's
quarters.
Tom heard footsteps, then a door closing
behind him. He briefly wondered if he had been left alone. He needed time to
think, needed time to plot a course of action. All he knew as of yet was that
he had woken up in a semi-familiar place, been beaten up by a ruthless B`Elanna
Torres then dragged to someone else's private room. All in all, not one of his
better days.
"Well now, I must say I'm slightly
disappointed in you Tommy." Kira stood in front of him again and Tom could
see his reflection in the polished toe of her high heeled shoe, vaguely
noticing how awful he looked. Kira reached down, grasping his chin and gently
pulling his head up until he was forced to look her in the eyes. "I would
have thought you'd have recognized me by now."
Tom stared at the Bajoran face, there was
something familiar about her features. He had seen her once...on that space
station where he'd met up with Voyager....Deep Space Nine. That was what the
name of the station was. But this couldn't be Deep Space Nine, it was too dark
and dank to be Federation. And the woman in front of him definitely wasn't the
Bajoran First Officer he'd seen there. But if she *was* Kira Nerys then...
Slowly a look of understanding crept over
Tom's face and Kira smiled slightly. "I think little Tommy has it."
"Oh fuck...oh shit..." Tom swore
under his breath as Kira circled him once more. He didn't know a lot about the
mirror universe but he knew it had a reputation worse than his own. This place
was ruthless. Even the greats like Kirk were power hungry monsters here. And
here was a woman who, in his own universe was capable of doing just about
anything for a cause she believed in, standing no more than a foot away from
him. He suppressed the urge to shudder as he realized his situation had gotten
a lot worse. In this universe, Tom knew Kira would be even
worse...backstabbing, manipulative...possibilities Tom didn't even want to
consider. "Shit, shit, shit..."
"Aren't you the slightest bit curious as
to why you are here?" Kira asked with a smirk. She had caught the level of
unease in the young man rising, if she even approached him the right way, he
would probably flinch away in terror. Soon, he would be totally under her
control. It wouldn't take long...
"No." Tom said sullenly, staring at
a point behind her and refusing to meet her gaze, obviously lying. Kira
backhanded him, not nearly as hard as B`Elanna would have but hard enough that
Tom could still feel the lingering sharp sting of her hand on his face minutes
later.
"Look at me when you talk." Kira
ordered, still standing directly in front of him.
"I said..." Tom snarled, looking
directly in her eyes. All traces of his fear disappearing as anger swept over
him. "*No*, I am not curious as to why I am here!"
"Well, that's a shame because I'm going
to tell you anyway. And then you *are* going to agree with it." Tom just
glowered at her, not caring if it got him killed. "You know of the slave
station Terrok Nor?"
"You mean the station *you* lost?"
Tom sneered, briefly wondering exactly how close to death he was treading.
"The one the rebels stole by sheer
luck." Kira corrected idly. "But just how much do you know?"
"The rebels kidnapped Captain Benjamin
Sisko, he influenced your top scientist to work for the rebels and some others,
working for the rebel side managed to take the station away from the
Empire." Tom said in a bored tone, almost as if he were reciting a history
lesson back at the Academy.
"Correct." Kira was honestly
surprised, she didn't think that a screwup and ex-con like Tom Paris, on a
starship out in the middle of the Delta Quadrant, could know so much
information. But then he *was* an Admiral's brat, he was bound to hear some
privy information. She sighed deeply, then continued with the narrative.
"And finally, the Alliance managed to destroy the Empire's fleet coming to
retake the station a few years later."
"That's just wonderful." Tom
muttered sarcastically, shifting slightly to ease the pressure on his sore
knee. "So where do I fit in with all of this?"
"You my dear little Tommy...you are
going to go to Terrok Nor, posing as Tom Paris, rebel pilot. You are going to
offer O`Brian...er...Smiley....information about a fake Empire attack. And
finally, you are going to sabotage the Defiant so that it will explode as soon
as it enters warp." Kira recited her plans to him, unable to keep the
growing smile from showing on her face.
"Really?" Tom asked dryly.
"And why exactly am *I* going to do this?"
"Because the Empire can reward you in ways
you couldn't possibly imagine. And because we are the only ones who can send
you home this time." Kira shrugged slightly at his disbelieving stare.
"Terrok Nor doesn't have enough power to send you home. Not all the way to
the Delta Quadrant. We do however."
"Thanks for the offer but no." Tom
said in a barely controlled voice. "I refuse to help your cause. So toss
me in the brig again, get B`Elanna to beat the shit out of me. I don't care,
I'm not going to help you."
"You don't seem to understand Tommy, you
don't have a choice in the matter." Kira smiled an evil smile as she
gently stroked a hand down Tom's face, drawing sensual circles on his cheek.
"Because you are here to serve me."
"I *won't*" Tom snarled, pulling
his face away from her hand.
"Oh you will Tommy. And you'll enjoy
it." Tom shivered at the cold edge to her voice. "However, I do have
other commitments..." Her voice trailed off as she walked away and Tom
sighed in relief inwardly, he finally had a chance to make some sense of the
situation and figure out how to get the hell out of this Universe.
"But I certainly can't leave you alone
and loose like this. You'd be gone in a moment and dead even faster. However,
I'm sure this will suffice in keeping you here." She picked up a golden
metal ring of some sort and turned back to face him. Tom wasn't sure what
exactly she was holding until her practiced hands opened it and she moved
towards him. She bent slightly to close it around his neck but he shifted away
from her touch quickly, trying to avoid the collar. "You *will* wear
it." She hissed as she caught a handful of his golden hair with one hand
and clamped the collar around his neck with the other, practiced motions that
were almost too fast for him to see. "That will keep you alive...and
now...something to make sure you stay put." Kira walked towards the wall
behind him. Bending down, she picked up a coil of narrow chain that was
attached at one end to the solid wall.
"No!" He exclaimed, trying to pull
away once again.
"Now Tommy, we've gone through this
before." She sighed. "You can either let me put this on you or I can
get B`Elanna to do it for me. It's all up to you."
Tom couldn't help but wince at the thought of
this B`Elanna going after him while he was restrained and couldn't even
contemplate fighting back. He straightened up, staring pointedly at the wall
directly to the Intendent's left once again.
"Good boy." She purred as she
attached the chain to the metal collar. "See how much easier it is for you
when you simply do as I say? I want you to think about that Tommy, while I'm
gone. I'm sure you'd like to get home in one piece." Tom still refused to
look at her, staring at that one spot on the wall. "And we could have so
much fun together in the meantime, you and I." She added, just before she
stepped out the door and closed it firmly behind her.
Tom was on his feet, even before the door had
shut tightly behind her. First he tugged at the collar. It didn't open, nor did
the clasp that the chain was attached to. Finally he pulled hard on the chain,
it was thin and looked as if it would break easily. If he had the use of his
hands he might have actually been able to break free but without them, all he
ended up doing was choking himself in the process. Walking slowly until he reached
the end of his makeshift lease, Tom found he could reach most of the room but
couldn't get close enough to the door to trigger it open.
Moving back against the wall he slumped down
to the floor, trying very hard to keep his mind straight. But panic was slowly
seeping into his thoughts, no matter how hard he tried to suppress it.
"Okay, I'm in the alternate universe and
the Intendent wants me to betray the only free humans in this universe."
Tom thought out loud trying to focus on a solution.
His mind warred between panic and trying to
come up with a plausible escape plan for hours. But finally, he dropped to an
exhausted sleep.
******************************************************************
Tom groaned uncomfortably, having slept
leaning up against a wall. Why the hell had he done...
Then it all came back to him and he woke up
fully with a start. It was then he realized something else and yelped, looking
around for his clothes.
A soft chuckle interrupted his search.
"Interesting what my dear B`Elanna can do with a transporter when she's
inspired, isn't it?" Tom glared at the Intendant forgetting for the moment
the fact that he wore nothing except for the gold collar.
"You're sick." He snapped, fury
banishing any trace of embarrassment he felt.
"Sick?" She repeated questioningly.
"Maybe in your universe Tommy." Kira sighed picking up something off
the table behind her then turned to move towards him, the long leather strap of
her whip snaking behind her.
"Fuck you." Tom snarled but it
wasn't entirely convincing, his voice was quavering and his one good eye
remained locked on the whip.
"Oh, don't worry Tommy, we'll get to
that later." She smiled, working the controls of the tiny remote she
carried. "But I have something else planned for you right now."
Tom wondered what she was doing with the tiny control when he felt the tug at his throat. The chain was being reeled into the wall, forcing him to follow until he was pressed flat, face down against the wall. He waited with growing dread, wondering what she was planning next. He didn't have to wait long. He heard the sharp crack of the whip, only an instant before he cried out, the leather strap biting into his back.