Mind Games By J.P. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- "For Elan - delivered as promised." ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Part 1: Four Walls... "I want her arrested!" stammered Hobbes. "But sir, she's already in the brig." explained Chief Konig. "Well, er, put her in solitary! No visitors!" yelled Hobbes. "I don't think that's necessary." stated Konig. "I do!" Hobbes slammed his hands on Konig's desk. The Chief stood and hardened his gaze. "You're not with your exosquad now, Commander. This is a security matter and where that's the case, I call the shots. Are we clear?" "Chief, there is a reasonable purpose for..." "I said, ARE WE CLEAR?" Konig rarely needed to raise his voice with a member of the crew, but when he did, the look on his face and the tone of his voice made even the most hardened veteran cringe. Hobbes was no exception. "Crystal." "Good. Now why don't we take a walk to see Sergeant Powers and maybe we can straighten this out." Konig gestured to the door and Hobbes lead him out of the room. The pair began the long walk to the brig. Distance wise, it wasn't very far, it was just that the numerous guard stations and check points made it seem that way. After what seemed like a good half hour, they finally arrived at the maximum security cells. "Hello Powers." said Konig. The tall muscular woman in the cell was sitting quietly on her bed. In her hands, she held a small dagger that she was using to make marks in the wall. One for every day she had been there. Konig put his hand between the bars, "I assume that's what Mengele brought you. Let's have it." Powers twirled the weapon a bit in her hands and smiled. "What am I going to do, Rick? Break free and take over the ship...with a dagger?" Konig frowned a bit before saying, "Knowing you, anything is possible." Jessie flipped the weapon around and caught it by the blade. She then handed it over to Konig. "Oh, and incidentally, around these parts people have a tendency to call me Chief or sir." Jessie smiled again. "I know, Rick." Konig looked to Hobbes. "She's a spitfire, that's for sure." Jessie gestured to Hobbes, "What's that loser want?" "I'm not the one in prison." snapped Hobbes. "They can't keep me in here forever, Hobbesy. Think about that, while you're trying to sleep." Konig looked at each of them, noted the tension, and decided to interject. "So you had a complaint, Commander?" Hobbes broke his stare away from Powers to answer Konig. "Someone broke into my quarters last night. They stole something of mine." Konig shot a questioning look to Hobbes. "And you think it was her?" Jessie laughed out loud. "Thanks Rick, I really needed that." Konig was looking a bit shaky himself as he asked, "What exactly makes you think it was her?" Hobbes looked frustrated as he said, "I don't have any proof, but I just know that it was her." Konig's mood darkened, "And how exactly did she get out of MY brig? The guards list her as 'accounted for' the entire night." Hobbes sighed. "Maybe she didn't do it herself, but she ordered it. Who's been to see her?" Konig whipped out a datapad. "Not that many people really. Jose, Mengele, Preston, Dagger, Dyvim...that's it." "Why were they here?" asked Hobbes. "Jose was going over a few things for her upcoming trial, he's defending her. Mengele was here to bounce around ideas with her about new training exercises for Sierra Three. Preston, Dagger, and Dyvim came together. It was a social visit. Mengele was the last to see her, that was five minutes ago." "I'd investigate him, considering how close these two are, and the trio too." stated Hobbes. Konig's eyes narrowed. "Do yourself a favor Hobbes, don't ever try tell me how to do my job. You won't like the reaction it gets. Now, if I look into this and nothing turns up, will you let it go?" "Yes." answered Hobbes. The two of them started to leave, with Hobbes taking one last look at the prisoner. Jessie smiled knowingly at Hobbes while she gently tapped the area just under her left collar bone. "Hope you don't lose anything else." Hobbes thrust an accusing finger at her. "There! You see that? She knows! She knows what was stolen! How else would she know, if she didn't order it?" Konig glared at Powers. She tapped the same area again. Konig's stare softened. He looked back at Hobbes. "Only thing she's guilty of is being observant." Konig rapped a finger on Hobbes' chest, hitting the spot where his rank insignia was normally attached. "Let's go." Jessie watched them leave, leaning against the bars like some sort of caged animal. "Come back REAL soon, sweetie." * * * Crow Mengele lifted up his tray, offering it to Cookie. "Hit me with the good stuff." "Everything I make is good, Mengele." snapped Cookie. "I know. Been a tough day and I'm starved, gimme a double helping of everything." Cookie seemed surprised, for half a second. He gave Mengele a normal sized portion and prepared another that he had packed into a brown bag. "My regards to the Sergeant." Crow smiled sheepishly. "Bless you, oh culinary master." "Whatever. Next!" Crow made his way to a table carrying his tray in one hand and a the bag in the other. Suddenly, a petite girl stepped into his path. Crow quickly walked around her without so much as a word. Nikki Montgomery stared after him a second then followed. "Crow?" No response. Crow put his things on a table and sat to next to Robert Preston. Dirk Dagger sat across from Crow. "Crow, can we talk?" Mengele dug into his food, oblivious to her presence. "Crow, talk to me, please?" "The Lieutenant is busy." stated Preston matter-of-factly. "Then why doesn't he tell me that?" asked Nikki. Preston said nothing, he just continued eating. "Why waste the breath." muttered Dagger. "Excuse me?" said Nikki. "I said buzz off, Gamma trash." Dagger eyed her viscously. Nikki tried once more to get a response out of Mengele. "Crow?" He stood and faced her. "Crow? Crow!?" He stammered. He leaned towards her, causing Montgomery to back off a bit. "My name is Lieutenant Mengele, Trooper. You presume to call me by first name again and I'll have you scrubbing latrines so fast you'll forget what an exofighter looks like inside of a week. Do you understand me!" Nikki managed to sputter out a "Yes." "Yes what?" demanded Mengele. Nikki's eyes began to tear up. "Yes what, Trooper?!" She stood there in shock. Her instincts told to run to her quarters, stick her head under a pillow, and wait for the hurt she felt to be washed away with tears. Yet somehow, she managed to say it. "Yes sir." "You're dismissed, Trooper." Mengele sat down to finish his dinner. Nikki hurried away, the pain evident on her face. * * * Mengele walked out of the mess, intent on dropping by the brig with some 'real food' for Jessie. Instead, he ran straight into Amy Hiatt. She pushed him hard into nearby wall. "What did you do to Nikki?! Answer me, or I'll..." "You'll do what?" asked Crow as he righted himself. "Punch me? Shoot me? You're not a fighter Hiatt, you never were. So don't try to act like one now." He started to walk away but found Hiatt in his path again. "What now?" asked Crow impatiently. "What did you do to her?" asked Hiatt. "I put her in her place." "In her place? She's a wreck you bastard!" snarled Hiatt. "What can I say, sometimes the truth hurts. She should be happy, she always wanted me to leave her alone." "I don't think this was the way she meant it to happen, if at all." pointed out Hiatt. "What's that old Earth saying? Oh yeah, be careful what you wish for, because you just might get it." Crow stepped past her and headed down the hall. "You know, I thought I understood what you were about, Mengele. Guess I was wrong. What kind of person intentionally hurts someone like this?" Mengele eyed her a second before continuing. He left Hiatt with a single comment as he rounded the corner. "That's a question you should ask your friend. I'm sure Fugi and Henderson would love to hear the answer." * * * That night brought little sleep to Commander Hobbes. His exchange with Powers had wound him up tight and he couldn't seem to calm down. Unable to take it anymore, Hobbes got up from bed and left his quarters. He entered the shower room and splashed some cold water on his face. He looked at himself in the mirror. "She's playing with my head, and she's winning." He shook his head and focused on his breathing. Taking slow and steady breaths, he counted each exhale. In time, the calming technique kicked in and he began to relax. Hobbes went back to his quarters and flopped on his bed. Above it, hung his framed diploma from exofleet academy. His landing in bed caused him to look up at it because something fell on him. He picked up what felt like a seed from his chest. He switched on his lights and looked at it. It was a small piece of glass. He glanced at his diploma and founded the glass protecting it shattered. The pieces covered his pillow. Hobbes felt the back of his head. Sure enough, there were little glass fragments stuck in his hair. The diploma behind the glass fared no better, as some sort of edged weapon had been used to carve the words 'no sleep' across it. The silence of the night was broken by the strong utterance of one hate-filled word: "Pooooooooooooooooooooowerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrsss!!!!!!" In a cell on the other side of the ship, Jessie Powers was all smiles. "What are you so happy about?" asked the Chief. "Oh nothing. I just feel...good...really good. No crime in that, is there?" The Chief rubbed his chin, sure something was up. "None that I'm aware of...yet."