Escaping the Dark Mirror

Posted on Thu Jul 17th, 2025 @ 12:34pm by Captain Shran dh'Klar & Lieutenant Commander Shoniara T’ghann-Travis MD & Lieutenant Inara Senn

1,926 words; about a 10 minute read

Mission: Wounds From the Mirror
Location: USS Saber

The room was freezing. Capt Parker knew she would only have another few minutes of effective use of her hands before the cold took its toll. With Shran and Deanna absent and Shon and the EMH occupied with providing medical care to this person, this Inara, she knew she had to free herself. She diligently worked, though the work was slow as her hands were growing numb, but she was close to unlocking the slave collar.

Shon looked at the tortured Inara and something inside her changed, almost as if the sun was trying to rise, peeking over the horizon. The EMH was busy replicating more Amiadorone for Shon to continue torturing Inara. "No it couldn't be that simple," she whispered to herself. "Computer discontinue EMH" she said, and, as he winked out, a surprised look on his face the sun came up and the awful realization of what she had been doing hit her. She looked down at her own broken body and then that of Inara.

Without wasting time, she replaced Inara's skull and replicated the drugs needed to clear her system. "Inara I am going to help you," she injected her with the reversal agents and a strong analgesia. then she repaired the cuts on the Lieutenant's body and released her from the restraints. "We have to get out of here." Shon said. Noticing Captain Parker, naked and struggling with her own restraints Shon hobbled over, "How can I help Captain?"

The locking mechanism on the slave collar clicked and she removed the restraint. She rose up, standing at her full 5'6 height, a defiant look on her face. She gave a stern look at Shon, "You will have to answer for what you have done doctor. I'll leave that to Shran. My first order of business is to get you and your colleague out of here. If you are willing, I could use assistance freeing my crew." She moved over to the instrument table and took hold of the laser scalpel, activating it and cutting the leather binding that restrained her hands. Walking over to the biobed she deactivated the restraining field and checked on Inara, "Are you able to move lieutenant?"

Inara snapped her eyes open. It was like no time had passed from when Shon was torturing her to now. She balled up her fist and slammed it into Shon. Her hands grabbed around her neck. The eyes that survived the war. It was survival now, and these faces, enemy... Stand bac! Or I'll break her neck!"

"An understandable sentiment, but you need to standdown at the moment lieutenant. She was under the influence of the sadists, and I can tell you from firsthand experience, being under their torturous hands will make you do horrible things" Capt Parker replied.

Inara was guarded. "Who the hell are you? Speak quickly, I will know if you're lying" Inara mentioned.

"Betazoid...good. Scan away. I am Capt Kathrine Parker, and the Saber is my ship. I was sent here to investigate and capture the Mirror fugitives. Needless to say, the intel that was provided led us into a trap. You serve with good friends of mine, Capt Shran dh'Klar and Lt Cmdr Deanna Celes. I wish I would've had Deanna for this mission, might have saved everyone a lot of pain. I would have even settled for you lieutenant, anyone ready and willing to determine validity of something" Parker replied. "Now, we need to move, so how are your lieutenant? Are you able to move?"

She let Shon go. Inara moved to find the emergency sickbay armory, which usually had a small supply of type two phasers and a few rifles. She grabbed a laser scalpel and reconfigured it to cut into the armory. "Shon, give me something for the pain. I'm a goddess damned headache right now." Inara wasn't kidding. "What's our plan Captain, I hope we're not already on plan B?"

"You aren't going to find much their lieutenant, maybe one or two phasers. This isn't a capital ship, just a simple patrol vessel" Parker replied. She moved to the office area and found her medical officer's medical coat. "This will do" she said as put it on. "As for a plan, just winging it at the moment. I want to rescue my crew, but you don't have to help. I can get you to a transporter and get you back to the Washington if that is your wish."

Inara pulled two Type-2 hand phasers and tossed one to Parker.
"Better than fighting them with insults. I already know those bastards aren’t my crew, and I’m going to point out every damned last one of them for you. They hurt my crew. That’s an express trip to hell I plan on sending them all on.

Now, I have a few suggestions," Inara added. "Suggestion number one: they brought us here, so we can bring more from the Wash and take this ship back. Suggestion two: we free the crew, transport the survivors to the Wash, and I take a little trip down to the antimatter pods and disable the magnetic interlocks. The emergency systems will kick in, but if I damage the magnetic constrictor array, we’ll have about ten minutes to beam back to the Wash before these bastards are blown to hell.
Suggestion three: we take the ship back—with me pointing out who to shoot—but there will be casualties. These people are horrendous."

"Any plan that includes destroying my ship is a nonstarter for me I'm afraid lieutenant" Parker replied flatly. "I have to believe that Shran would be sending people over here. That Andorian is nothing if not aggressive tactically. Getting you and your colleague here back to the Washington is a priority for me. If I can get my crew to safety as well, all the better." She looked over at Shon who looked almost as bad as Inara did, "Are you any better doctor? We have to leave."

Shon nodded, "I am willing to help in any way I can?" Shon held a hypo of pain relief in her hand and gave Inara another shot. "That should keep you until we return to the Washington. How can I help Captain? she asked whilst taking a phaser. "I would like to get some payback, what about flooding the rest, or some parts of the ship with anesthazine gas, then sort out the chaff from the wheat?"

"Captain, did you lock down the command codes. If you did Anesthezine might be difficult." Inara mentioned. "However, we can sabotage main life support and reconfigure auxiliary life support for the Anesthezine. We would have to wear rebreathers, and we even have those here in sickbay, and it will knock everyone out onboard. But it's an idea. Then we'd need several ranking officers to override command codes and get your ship back. I'm not Ranking though, as I am a misanthropic science officer who wants to chart nebulae but ends up discovering space nazis and Celt gods."

Parker listened to Shon and Inara. "You two have interesting ideas, but unfortunately these Mirrors are aware of our protocols. Shran has all the codes to this ship, and as you may have noticed with the EMH, they have made changes to carious systems to his advantage. We might be able to do what you suggest, but it would take too long. The longer we stay on the ship, the longer we risk being discovered free. These Mirrors, especially Shran and Deanna are not to be underestimated."

Inara opened some of the Emergency Kits and pulled out the rebreathers to the team. "Then let's get moving, we don't have a lot of time." She put one on and then got a few medical canisters out and one of the cylindrical hand scanners. Acancendrine Gel, and Varathin. and the hand scanner was not only going to be the detonator when it overheated in the Varathin and blew a hole in theg lasses for these two volatile medical compounds to mix. The Canister went down next to the door, followed by the makeshift detonator next to the door." She then opened the jefferies tube. "Never declare war on a scientist, Captain. We know how to turn anything into a bomb."

Shon was still not quite sure what Inara wanted, she was not sure of her reality. All of the cruelty inside her had gone and she was not sure if her own self would ever come back. To be sure she would be arrested for this, court martialed and her commission would be gone as well as her medical license. "What will happen to my family?" she asked out loud, "If I go to prison. She turned to Parker and Inara. "I want you to leave me here, Inara I can never take away the pain and terror I inflicted on you." she picked up a phaser. Let me fight and die, I can have your backs, my life means nothing now. Just....let me go."

"Doctor... I believe I am an expert witness when I will tell the court that it was not your choice to lobotomize me. That being said, I have unique insights on matters of the mind. Regardless. Get over it, and help. Life Support room, and I need someone who can distribute the right dosage of sedative through Auxillary life support." Inara mentioned. "We can cry later, Doctor." She grabbed a med kit and handed it to Shon.

Shon nodded, took the medkit, breaking a cabinet open she took three vials of the sedative and pocketed them. "Let's go home." she said.,

"Stop. I understand your desire to seek out vengeance for what was done and mask it as a clever means of escape, but I'm telling you, it won't work. I'm not having you take risks that put you in danger of being recaptured or worse. If that means I escort you to the transporter room here and now, so be it. I'd like your assistance getting my crew out of the cargo bay where they are being held, but I'll send you on your way and go it alone if need be" Parker said emphatically, reminding everyone and making it clear that she was the ranking officer, and it was her ship.

"Captain I am a physician and will do as you wish, freeing and treating your crew is more important that vengeance. I assure you I will do as you wish." Shon said.

Inara shakes her head. "With all due respect ma'am. How does sending us away solve your problems. Good goddesses, we will need help. At least, we need to have Captain D'Klar send in some support."

"Inara, however we feel this is Captain Parker's ship and, as such we are under her command." Shon said looking at Parker, "your orders Captain?"

"We have no way of contacting the Washington without making it known we are free. The options are sending you home now, or you assisting me in freeing my crew. We'll exit via the Jeffries tube; you can tell me your choice as we proceed."

Inara winced at Parker. "You're not turning me into someone that needs to be sent home, Captain. We'll do it your way, and if that doesn't work, we'll just wing it." Inara noted. 'I'm already beginning to really hate this woman.' She spoke to herself.

"Yes Captain." Shon said, "shall we go?"

They entered the Jeffries tube, making their way to the cargo bay.

 

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