<USS Avalon> "Dance in Darkness"
- From: Lyryn Cate <wistful_fancy@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: avalon@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sat, 22 Jan 2005 00:32:15 -0800 (PST)
Dance in Darkness
By Senior Lieutenant Elissabeth Marksbury and The Shadow
The darkness was not surprising as she stepped into her quarters. Elissabeth
was used to navigating in the dark. However, the lack of response from the
computer when she ordered the lights on, was disconcerting. She repeated the
command. No acknowledgment.
Freezing in place, she tapped her com-badge. Again, nothing.
That's when she felt the prickling sensation of being watched. There was
someone else in the room.
He smiled in the darkness and watched her soft silhouette stand still. It was a
wonderful game that he got to play - it was all a part of the job. Quietly,
without a sound, he moved to the other side of the room. All the while, his
eyes watched her. She was good, that much was obvious. Somehow he figured that
his enticing exploits with her would be an intellectual and emotional
challenge.
Something... a breath, perhaps?, caught her attention and her head swivelled in
the direction of the sound. She knew someone was there, but couldn't see a
thing. Elissabeth remained still, holding her breath and concentrated on
listening. Still nothing.
The hair on her arms stood on end and, yet, she waited, not willing to give
away her position by speaking.
The Shadow moved behind her, gently running his hand through her hair as he
walked. Silently receding into the darkness again, he smiled to himself and
watched her more. It was that alluring sensation of knowing that he could see
her and she couldn't him. Anonymity was a gift, quite a gift at that.
She jumped. Elissabeth never heard him coming, never felt him that close, and
yet he had touched her. She turned quickly and reached out to grasp thin air.
Knowing now that he could see her, she spoke quietly with a voice that never
wavered. "Enjoying your game?" She knew all too well, the game being played.
After all, how many times had she been the ghost in the darkness?
He moved again, this time his hand tracing a line across the small of her back.
He cackled silently to himself as he disappeared once again into oblivion. "I
enjoy it, yes..."
She spun around once again, only to clutch the empty space around her.
Patience. It was her only option at that point, and Elissabeth had plenty of
patience. She timed his movements now, attempting to anticipate the rhythm to
his taunting.
He laughed, it echoed ominously around the small space. "Why did you have to
stick your nose where it didn't belong?
"Why are you on my ship?" she countered.
"That shouldn't concern you," the voice came from the opposite side in which
Lissi was looking. "I will warn you now, and I will only do this once, so pay
attention. Do not continue your investigation. If you do, I'm sorry to say,
that there will be unfortunate consequences." Again, he moved behind her, but
this time running his hand across her backside.
She refused to react, no matter how much his taunting annoyed her.
"Investigation? There is no real investigation." How did he know? In every
official channel the investigation was a farce. The only person who knew she
was still after this guy was Fenner. She'd told no one and been very careful.
The ghost's reach was further than she thought. Lissi admitted to herself that
she was impressed.
"Don't play dumb with me," he said, stopping his circular movements, "I know
what you're doing and you won't succeed. So, to save your precious time and
mine, just stop what you're doing."
"So your command is purely to save our time," she smiled slightly, nearly
enjoying this. It had been so long since she'd played cat and mouse. Only she
wasn't used to playing the part of the rodent. Let's see how much he'll keep
talking...
I'll kill him if you do not stop treading where you shouldn't go. His words
echoed in her mind as if to respond to her thoughts. It was one of his better
traits, he thought, knowing that there was nothing anyone could keep from him.
Do as I say.
The unexpected intrusion effected her more than any of his previous tricks. Her
mental barriers were strong and he bypassed them easily. "Your threats mean
nothing to me," she said softly, keeping the calm facade and stilling her mind
as not to betray her.
"Really? It'd be a shame to have to show you that it's not a threat, but more
of a guarantee. Shall I make Lieutenant Monroe an example?" He laughed enough
for her to hear him, "Such a pity too, seems like such a nice - and more
intelligent - individual."
"Your threats are empty. If I refused your 'request' as it were, and you indeed
were to kill him, you'd have no leverage left and still, I win. I think you're
smarter than that." Lissi turned to face him, knowing exactly where he was,
fairly confident she could follow his movements now that she had his faint
breathing patterns ingrained into her mind.
"My dear, you seem to be mistaken that I need leverage. The fact of the matter
is, there are plenty of other things that I could do. Your team for example. It
would be a mystery as to how the holodecks suddenly overloaded and killed the
entire Covert Ops team while they were training" He laughed again, building
with intensity, "Then there's Skyler...wouldn't mind taking her out. And that's
just the people. Do you really want to go that route?"
"Ah, but the entire ship beginning to have mysterious 'accidents' like
Commander Manson would raise a bit of alarm now, wouldn't it? No, I think you
wish to keep your identity secret enough not to draw that sort of attention.
It's not everyone on board a ship that has the ability to over-ride the
computer's memory of site to site transports."
She was better than he thought and deserved more credit. "Very well done,
Lieutenant, but I'm not really here. I'm just a Shadow on the wall and an eerie
feeling of being watched. Even if I was, as you say, discovered, there wouldn't
be much time to catch me because I would be gone again. It's a never-ending
cycle. Besides, it's not my ship - what would I care if a couple dozen people
just dropped dead?"
She smiled wickedly and took a step closer to him. The tables were finally
turning, or so she hoped. "And what would I care if a couple dozen people just
dropped dead?" she asked him in return.
"Well, it would look mighty suspicious if the dozen or so people under your
command died without warning. And, then there's the boyfriend-like character
that would also perish. Seems like enough to make you the object of close
scrutiny and intense investigation," he folded his arms in the black and
glared, "Quite an inconvenience, wouldn't you say?"
Another step. "I do suppose so," still grinning, she took one more step and
whispered, "but I've gotten out of worse."
Four quick steps and he was behind her again. "Why do I get the feeling that
you're more Covert than just being Chief of the Covert Ops department? You know
too much for your own good to be otherwise."
Spinning along with his movements, she remained face to face with the Ghost, or
Shadow as he called himself. Lissi was confident she could reach out and touch
him if she chose. She knew him now, it was almost intimate, if one chose to see
it that way. He was her equal at least, or perhaps slightly better... but she
was not going down in this standoff. "I seem to have piqued your interest," she
said, nearly amused.
"Slightly, don't flatter yourself." There was a pause where the man in the
shadows closely regarded her and passed judgement. "You're smarter than I
thought, but make no mistake about my promises - stop trying to figure it out."
"There is nothing to figure out. Granted, I don't know who you are, but I know
enough to know what you are." Another step brought her nearly toe to toe with
him. She could feel his presence. "Now, my question is, why are you here?"
"I'm looking for something..."
"And Manson is connected - how?"
"You're wanting answers to questions you shouldn't ask."
"Okay, so I don't ask you, but I will ask. You make no mistake about that. You
are interfering with my job. Therefore, I suggest we reach some sort of
agreement or spend the next several hours admiring each other's prowess at
playing the game."
His eyes traveled her body, voluptuous as it was, but reminded himself that he
could look and not touch. "You are a formidable opponent and I could admire
your prowess for a long time," he let his words' meaning linger for a moment
before continuing, "I only wish that the Commander had been more so. Proper
training was all he needed. You stop looking and I'll stop hurting people.
Deal?"
"How much longer do you plan on playing the Shadow on the wall, the eerie
feeling of being watched?" She quoted his words back to him verbatim.
"As long as it takes..."
"Unacceptable. Give me a time frame. Am I looking at weeks or years?" Though he
was only inches away from her, he was far from within her reach. There would be
have to be a compromise and they both knew it.
There was another lengthy pause, "One Week. Acceptable?"
"Agreed." She stared at the one she could not see and wondered for the briefest
of instances at different circumstances between them.
There was an emptiness in the air. A strange hollow echo that could only be
found when someone was alone, talking to themselves. He heard her agreement and
parted company with her.
She was once again alone, in her quarters, and the lights rose to meet her and
illuminated the playing field that had laid desolate for so long. Where they
danced in darkness.
__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
http://mail.yahoo.com
Other related posts:
- » <USS Avalon> "Dance in Darkness"
