Shadows in the Mind

Posted on Tue May 16th, 2023 @ 4:41pm by Lieutenant Commander Lyra Cassiel
Edited on on Sun May 21st, 2023 @ 10:02pm

Mission: S1 Episode 5: Ex Post Facto
Location: Banea
Timeline: Date 2371-08-15 at 1900
1793 words - 3.6 OF Standard Post Measure

ON

Lyra’s eyes opened, her sight blurred by hazy white light that slowly darkened into varying shades of greys and blacks and then coalesced into shapes that eventually sharpened into recognizable forms. A table, carpet, shoes… folded hands? She was looking down at them in her lap, but it wasn’t her lap or her hands, they were far too large and masculine.

She frowned.

“What do you see, Lieutenant?”

The male voice cut into the scene, loud and out of place. She could feel a presence far close to her liking. Her hands flexed, but remained in her lap… but not her lap; she grit her teeth and tried to make sense of what was happening to little avail. She struggled to piece together what happened, where she was, but her mine was wholly consumed with the scene that had taken hold over the near entirety of her being. There was no color in her vision, and finally she looked away from “her” hands and up, only to see… herself? Herself sitting across the low coffee table on the opposite couch. She inhaled sharply; it was like looking in a mirror but not.

“What do you see?” The voice cut in again.

“What the fuck is this?” Lyra demanded with a growl. She looked at herself in this black and white world again, but for just an instant it wasn’t her - not the her now; she saw the briefest flash of the smirking face of Madeline. Her gritted teeth relaxed and her lips parted in brief shock; the face was gone again and replaced by the now.

She also became aware of the previously dull but now rapidly worsening pain in her head.

“We were told not to expect cooperation from her.” It was a strange female voice this time and she could hear the male make some sort of sound of pensive acknowledgement.

“Targa, I must insist that you tell me this instant the information I require. What defensive capabilities do the Baneans have?” Lyra watched her lips move and the scowl on her face that was so unlike her; the voice was similar but there was something just a little… off… and not in the way where most people hated hearing their own voice.

“I am sorry, Lieutenant Cassiel.” Now, Lyra was speaking, but her lips poured out the voice of a man and the body that shifted on the couch was sluggish, strong, and unfamiliar. “I can’t provide that information for the safety and security of my people.”

There was understanding, respect, deference - none of the things that voice had actually given her.

“Then what good is a man like you to me?” Her image scoffed and stood.

“Lieutenant, please. There must be some sort of understanding we can reach.” The man - Targa Jalak - who she was now inhabiting in… some way stood as well. The notes of his voice were almost pleading.

The pain in her head was worsening.

”This… this isn’t how any of this fucking happened. What kind of fantasy bullshit is this? What is going on?!” Lyra demanded with her own lips, her own voice, to the two that had spoken.

”It seems the memory engrams have taken.” The woman noted.

”I’m sure this is disorienting for you, Lieutenant, seeing yourself through someone else’s eyes.” The man spoke and almost sounded sympathetic in a strange way.

Memory engrams? What-

“There is no understanding, there is only obedience.” The image spoke, this time with Madeline’s voice, her face. Then Lyra returned, haughty. “Perhaps something your successor will understand.”

Lyra’s shade advanced then, and the Jalak-Lyra stepped back. The shade pulled a short, flat blade from behind her back. Jalak lifted his hands, his voice alarmed.

“Lieutenant, please! Don’t! Help!” He called for his security.

“No one can help you now, animal!” Lyra declared with a strange haughty note. She lunged forward and Jalak-Lyra looked down to the blade now piercing between the lower ribs. The male Banean gasped and immediately stumbled back, landing and falling over the table.

Lyra inhaled sharply in pain, her arms and legs jerking against the restraints in reaction. She felt like she had been stabbed, and in a way - in this memory - she had been. He had been. But it hadn’t been her who had done that. She knew that much. What had happened though? Her head felt like it was splitting open and despite her best efforts to not give them the satisfaction, she let out a quiet groan at the stabbing pain in her lower abdomen and in her head. Her sight was beginning to clear. There was color, light - too bright; she squinted against it.

”The engrams have been successfully implanted, doctor.” The woman said with satisfaction.

“What have you done to me?” Lyra demanded now with her own voice, her own lips. Her vision cleared fully and she was in a small room restrained to some sort of bed. “Release me, now.”

She didn’t yell, she didn’t threaten. She was cold in her anger, and she was certainly angry. It didn’t help matters that her memory was foggy and her whole body felt off. She had undoubtedly been drugged for whatever they had done to her, but she had the distinct feeling it had been more than just the once. She was having trouble remembering the last… she didn’t know how many hours. She didn’t know what time it was. She turned her head and saw one male and one female Banean in the room; the male sat practically right next to her in a chair while the female was behind him holding a large tablet.

Vile creatures.

The man looked at her for a moment and then spoke. “Let the record show that in accordance with the judgment of the Banean court, the sentence has been successfully rendered. For the rest of her natural life, Lieutenant Lyra Cassiel of the ISS Vengeance will relive the last moments of her victim’s life once every fourteen hours.” He paused and added, “May your gods have mercy on you.”

“Sentence? Courts? What in the name of the gods are you talking about? Release me.” Lyra’s voice held more venom this time.

The two Baneans looked at each other and then back to her. “There is no point in trying to deny it, Lieutenant. The memory taken from Targa Jalak was clear as a spring day. You murdered him in cold blood.”

“I did no such thing.” Lyra withheld a growl and pulled at the restraints again. “The man was murdered but I had no part in it.” Did she? No, she didn’t. She couldn’t remember exactly what had happened in that moment, but she was quite certain the man hadn’t died by her hand. That wasn’t the game she and Andrei were here to play.

Andrei…

“Where is my commander?” This time, it was a demand, fiery in its delivery and her dark eyes burned. If they had hurt him…

The Kazons’ suffering would have seemed like a sweet caress compared to what she would do to these people.

“Your Commander will be informed of what has transpired here. I assume you will be released to return to him, but I do not make those decisions.” He stood then and moved toward the woman, picking up the chair to take with him. “For now, I suggest you rest. You will be taken care of here despite your crimes. You have my word.”

Lyra barely restrained herself from outright laughing when the man said that Andrei would be informed. Andrei would kill them all for this, and that thought brought her great satisfaction in the moment. If she were lucky, there would be a few left that she could watch their ends at his hands. “Your word means nothing to me, Banean. I’ve been imprisoned for a crime I did not commit and you will not hear me. So yes, go, tell my commander. Let’s see how that turns out for you.”

She didn’t bother asking to be released again, it was falling on deaf ears.

“Rest, Lieutenant. Your body has been through some strain after all.” The man said, seemingly unaffected by her words - and why would he be? She was restrained on the bed and for all purposes helpless. He turned with the woman and walked out of the door, leaving Lyra alone and in the silence of the cube she was currently trapped in.

Now, she let the veneer of calm dissolve away. Lyra bared her teeth and began to pull more directly at the restraints around her arms and legs to test for weaknesses. Suddenly though, they opened and her arms and legs shot up into the air awkwardly as they had been pressing with not an insignificant amount of force against the metal bindings. Righting herself quickly, she sat up with immediate regret as the world spun and that pain in her head fired again though less intense than the first time. She cradled her head in her hands and just sat there until the disorientation and pain subsided a bit and then much more carefully she pulled herself to her feet.

Whatever was in her system certainly hadn’t worn off at this point; she felt unstable taking steps, but she was determined. By her estimation the room was around eight by eight with only her bed and a table - both bolted to the ground - in it. There was a half wall that hid the view of the toilet and sink combination from the immediate view of the bed. She moved over to the door and immediately her hands were on it, sliding around to try and find any sort of way to open it. She hated feeling trapped.

There was a panel at the bottom which looked like it would be where food or anything else was pushed through, but otherwise the door showed no sign of immediate weakness. There was always a weakness. She was about to continue when that dizziness came again and she stumbled back toward the bed.

She didn’t want to rest, but the human body had a way of insisting on getting what it wanted in the end when it came to needing to stop for a while. With a heavy sigh, she lay back down on the uncomfortable cot and closed her eyes.

Andrei would be there soon anyways, and then the fun would begin.


END