A Spot of Trouble

Posted on Tue Feb 15th, 2022 @ 11:19am by Captain Ivan Petrov & Petty Officer 3rd Class Tuli

Mission: S1 Episode 1: Caretaker, Part I
Location: Slave Pens
Timeline: MD 18, 1750 Hours
646 words - 1.3 OF Standard Post Measure

Tuli had finished her duties for the day and was just sinking down on her small bunk in the slave pens. A handful of the other slaves were around and she gave them a tired smile before lifting a leg to near the edge of the bed. She was just about to slide her boots off to polish them. She didn't want to hear from the Overseer about that.

Heavy footfalls fell on the deck as Paul Guber, a somewhat stocky man with a wide gate and a sour face pushed his way past a pair of slaves gathered in front of one of the doors.

“Get the fuck out of the way!” He exclaimed and watched as the slaves all fell to their knees. His dark eyes scanned the room wordlessly.

Tuli lowered her leg and jumped up from the bed, falling swiftly to her knees with the others. Dark eyes were down.

The man grunted, kicking one of the engineering slaves in the abdomen as he walked by. A warrant officer with a specialty for handling slaves was a rare thing in the fleet. Most officers avoided his role like the plague, but he had always flourished in it. He liked the power and he was good at…keeping them in their place.

“Number 2!” He called out loudly. “My cabin, now!”

Then he turned and walked directly into his room.

"Yes, Master!" Tuli rose and immediately followed him into the room, falling to her knees once more.

Gruber closed the door behind him and stood between it and Tuli, glowering down at her with his same angry expression.

“Do you know why you’re in here?” He asked, testing her.

"No, Master," she said softly, eyes still down.

“We’ll, I heard you had an extremely disrespectful incident with the Chief Medical Officer of this ship. You called her by her name, didn’t you?”

Tuli took a deep breath. Denying it would just make it worse. "Yes, Master."

“And what would possess you to do something so incredibly stupid, slave?” He asked, taking a step toward her, his angry face clenching almost as much as his fists.

"I was surprised to see her, Master," Tuli said, knowing it sounded terrible but not able to think of anything else that wouldn't just worsen things.

"Why would you be surprised to see the Doctor in Sickbay, slave?" he asked. "Does that make any sense to you?"

"I didn't know who the doctor was, Master," Tuli explained. "I knew her before."

"What do you mean you knew who she was?!" he asked angrily. "Where do you know Doctor Lamont from?"

"My first Owner was friends with her father, Master," Tuli explained, "when we were children."

"Oh, is that right?" he asked rhetorically, still looking her right in the eyes. "Well you'd better not make a mistake like that again if you know what's good for you. Do you have any idea how bad it makes me look when my slaves can't behave themselves properly?"

"I'm sorry, Master. It won't happen again," Tuli said quickly, desperately, trying to show enough remorse that the chastisement might remain verbal.

"Oh, you're sorry." he said, reaching for the wall mounted security scream and activating her agonizer for a ten second burst. "No, you're not. But you're going to be."

"I...." She screamed in pain, falling forward. She felt the agony coursing through her body. In that moment, even knowing the agonizer did less actual damage and would fade faster, she missed the whip. The agonizer was well-designed and well-named.

He grabbed her by her chin roughly and pushed her to the ground. This part was familiar to all of his female charges. He used them for whatever he wanted, and their mistakes and disciplinary missteps were only a lose pretext.

"Don't worry. I know how you can make it right."