JP - Carry on my wayward son - Part 1 of 8 - LtCmdr. Avander Promontory, LtCmdr. Kel V'Len, Lt. Nesre Salo, Lt. Jack Kessler
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((Itech’eman Facility - Location Unknown))
Ripping through trees and brush, two large 150 kilogram Vutmor crashed through anything and everything in their path as they raced in pursuit of their prey. The six legged creatures slammed their 80 millimetre footpads into the dense early morning dew covered forest floor and were locked onto the scent of their prey. Nostrils flared wide as they took in large deep breaths to fill their lungs. Their eyes darted between tree and brush, limb and leaf as they hunted their target.
The lead vutmor finally caught sight of the prey and increased speed with as much effort as a pack leader could as it hunted the quarry. The prey raced through the moisture thickened morning air, jumping ground debris, weaving in and around trees and other dense plant growth as its purser closed in. The heavy fall of the footpads gave away the creatures distance and sent a renewed chill and desire to flee through the quarry.
The vutmor closing in on the quarry from two sides could taste the prey’s scent in the air, could feel the fear from the creature and that drove the vutmor even more intently. Now with their prey in full view the vutmor both had a clear line of sight and the chase was about to end. Salivating at the thought the lead vutmor closed within mere centimetres of the prey, mouth open and ready to snap shut.
Without warning the vutmor sensed danger and immediately slammed its body sideways into a ground rolling halt as the prey exited the side of the forest and lept from the trees into a gorge several hundreds of meters deep. The vutmor had lost its prey.
As the creature lept from the gorge edge his legs and arms swung wildly as he began to plummet to the raging river far below. Death from this high was almost certain, but today was unlikely to be the day he died. The all too familiar tingling tendrils of a transporter beam surrounded him and the view of his fall to the bottom of the gorge faded away.
As he materialized on the transporter pad, he hit the pad with a thud and rolled over to his back. Feet flat on the pad and his breathing labored and heavy from the intense chase. Winded but not dead, it could have been worse he thought to himself as he lay there with his eyes closed catching his breath. Moments passed and then the sound he was all too eager to forget rang out in his ears. The voice of his Zet captor.
Saagar: ::sullenly:: Prisoner 81226-1. This grows tiresome.
Rolling over to put his hands on the pad and push his drained body up to a seat Lieutenant Jack Kessler looked at his capture and smiled at the Zet. A smile that reached ear to ear.
Kessler: What are you talking about? Those mutts of yours had no chance. ::chuckling as he stands and taking a few more deep breaths:: I made it further than last week. You’re getting sloppy or I’m getting better.
Torn - Suk - Saagar was not thrilled to have this prisoner under his watch. In general Saagar did not like housing alien prisoners, the numbers of which kept growing by the day under Arnoc’s leadership. His facility had been designed to house Zet dissidents from the lower echelons. It was easy to keep them tidy. These feral mammals were far more challenging. 81266-1 was particularly burdensome. He’d escaped as many times as Saagar had eyes and he refused to be broken. He was a thorn Saagar did not need. Late in his 3rd lifetime was not the moment he wanted a challenge, a challenge that could cost him his 4th lifetime.
Saagar: ::sneering:: Get up.
Jack walked past the Zet and tapped the back of his hand on his captors chest at the comment and then proceeded out of the transporter room and into the corridor.
Kessler: ::holding up a hand as if to stop the Zet’s next comment:: I know. You want to know how I defeated the ground sensors this time and how I beat your implant lock. ::beat:: You know my price. Information on my mother and father. I can tell you in detail how I keep beating your security but only if you give me what I want.
He’d indulged the creature for far to long, rewarding him with little tidbits in exchange for making the prison more secure. It had gone on far too long and now the man had become a liability.
Saagar: 81226-1 you have no father or mother. You have no hive, no nest and no assets. You are merely a piece of property on a balance sheet. A low value one at that. ::looking at one of the guards:: Take him back.
Jack remained silent after that comment. He had been a Zet captive since the failed mission to retrieve his father and mother. Nearly three months now. Three long months but his captivity had not been what one would have thought a prisoner of the Zet would be. He could move around this facility freely, he had quarters that made those on the Oumuamua seem hard and cold. He had no access to electronics or anything outside of the facility. He knew the facility's name but did not even know if he was on the same planet as where his doomed mission had started.
Ironically, for a prisoner he was treated well. Food was ample and drinks included spirits among other things. It almost seemed as if the Zet went out of their way to make him and several others here in the facility comfortable.
They had an end game and it was clear that their treatment of the captives had a price. Information that leads to financial gains for the Zet. It was all about status and power with the Zet. Control and financial strength made his life as a prisoner very, very comfortable. So far he had been able to keep anything he told them limited but soon they would be pressing for more sensitive information and likewise he played their game by pressing back about information for his parents.
Jack knew full well that he had no way to verify anything they told him as long as he was here in the facility but he kept the ruse up as best as he could. For now anyway.
Kessler: ::stopping in front of a door labeled “K124” and looking up to his escort:: Well, I’d invite you in but I have not cleaned today.
The door hissed open and Jack stepped through into his assigned quarters. As the doors hissed shut he looked around the main room. oO Looks like the crew has been here again Oo he thought to himself, noticing a couple of items moved slightly from where they were when he left. Routinely the Zet would go through his quarters, looking for what he was not sure about but he never found any listening devices or monitoring devices although he would tear the room apart again looking for one.
Following another tense inspection of his room and finding nothing hidden or missing Jack decided to shower and lay down. As he lay there he thought about his parents, wondered if they were alive and if so, where were they. His mind drifted back to the Oumuamua and to his sister, Krystal. The poor girl had been through so much and now she had lost Jack to the Zet. If he ever got out of here he was sure she’d kill him for leaving and not telling her. He knew that Krystal would be cared for though, the crew of the Oumuamua were his extended family and he knew that they would take care of Krystal and would be there for her no matter what happened to him. His thoughts turned to the eyes he missed the most, those beautiful grey eyes. Nesre Salo’s face brought a calm moment of peace to his mind as he thought about her. Her delicate nose, moderately full lips and grey hued eyes set among black hair and lashes had captivated his heart since the first day he met her. She was full of warmth, caring and most important; she loved animals as much as Jack did. The two of them seemed to share an unspoken connection although Jack had nearly catastrophically destroyed any chance of letting her know his true feelings in an attempt to help his best friend. Now, her smile, her eyes were a daily driving force for him. He needed to get out of here and back to both Krystal and Nesre.
For the past month Jack had been pushing the Zet harder and harder with escape attempts. At first he thought they were humoring him but he quickly realized that their security was more easily confounded by certain countermeasures that he thought were common sense items. Well at least in the Federation they were. Here though he had managed to escape six times now. Each time the Zet had caught him and brought him back to the facility. Not mad or hostile at his attempt. More curious as to how he managed to get past their security. Each time he offered to tell them for information about his parents and each time he was told that would not happen. Of course he expected to get caught, he had no idea what was outside the facility. So escape attempts 2, 3, 4, 5 and now 6 had been exploratory runs. Each in a different direction and each ending with his capture. He however had gained a lot of ground knowledge about the area around the facility and was learning what terrain was easier and what was harder for the Zet to track him in. Either the Zet knew exactly what he was doing and allowed this game to go on or he was just a few more steps away from getting out of this luxury prison.
((Itech’eman Facility - Vital Treatment Technicians Office Location Unknown))
The Zet had lengthy names for everything and the ‘Vital Treatment Technicians Office’ was no different. The Vital Treatment Technician was just a doctor. Why couldn’t they just say Doctor’s Office? Jack grinned at the thought as the Vital Treatment Technician stood before him looking over data on the equivalent to a Starfleet PADD. Weekly he had been subject to having to come into the Zet doctors office and get scanned, discuss how he was physically feeling and asked the same mind numbing questions over and over again.
The Zet never did anything invasive except on his first day here when they implanted something in the back of his neck. It was small and placed near the spine. They told him it was to prevent him from escaping but so far it had done nothing to prevent his attempts. It caused no pain and for all intent and purposes went unnoticed. Until today. Today he realized the device was tracking some form of neuro pathways. A slight reflection of the PADD screen in the monitor on the wall behind the Vital Treatment Technician gave away clear, well almost clear neural pathway readings. So he was being studied in some way. ::I guess its better than the alien probes I read about in all those horror books::, again he chuckled to himself.
Kessler: ::seated on a bio bed of sorts:: So Doc what's the prognosis? Did this last run hurt me at all?
Grindlhva: There are no physical wounds.
The zet physician sniffed slightly as she reviewed the the chart and tapped at the screen to input her findings and observations on the man’s condition. She couldn’t understand the purpose of all this, but she was merely a Vital Treatment Technician. Such activities were not for her to question. No, she was merely to treat any and all injuries and ailments of those sent to her.
Her fees, of course, assured her of a comfortable life, and that was another reason not to question. If she did, Grindlhva might find herself no longer in that position and subject to the drudgery that many other physicians found themselves in, scraping the bottom of the barrel by attending to others who could barely afford to pay any zimahl. She would not subjugate herself to such a situation, and so did her diligence, made sure every iota of filework was filled out and properly assessed her fees. This one, however, required special treatment and that meant a higher than normal income, so while she could not understand the intent and purpose, she honestly didn’t care.
Grindlhva: In most aspects you are fine, but according to my records, your heartrate is higher than your baseline.
Kessler: Well, jumping off a two-hundred meter cliff does tend to get the blood pumping a little bit.
Grindlhva: And why did you decide to take that jump? You could have very well gotten killed.
Kessler: ::laughing lighty:: Well, I was fully expecting you guys to keep me from hitting the bottom but it was a gamble I had to take.
Grindlhva’s eyes all levelled themselves at the strange human. She could not understand the desire to risk life and limb for no purpose. Putting him back together would have certainly bee a costly endeavour, though she wouldn’t have complained about the extra income.
Grindlhva: I suppose if you feel you must, but I will file a report and increase my fee appropriately considering the extra care such scare tactics require.
Kessler: ::grinning:: Oh I would charge them as much as you can, I mean I am an unusual specimen and you should get more out of everyone you can. ::sitting more upright:: Am I ready to go?
Grindlhva sighed heavily and shook her head. She would have thought the man had learned by now that his little trips to the infirmary required more than a simple look over. Instead, she turned the tablet in her fingers, then offered it to him.
Grindlhva: First, you need to sign Document 1456b83-8hnmb8493-3 acknowledging that you received experienced and phenomenal treatment with a certified Vital Treatment Technician.
Kessler: Again? ::taking the tablet:: Don’t you have enough of these signatures?
Taking the tablet back, Grindlhva deftly tapped upon the screen once again, but it didn’t take long for her to navigate to the next session required. Once more, Kessler received the device and she pointed to the indicated information.
Grindlhva: Next you need to sign form 934u843993-4jfe493r-8389afne84-1 and agree to pay in full any fees accrued that are not covered by your sponsor.
Jack chuckled at the word sponsor.
Kessler: ::signing the tablet ‘Jack Ripper’ as he had done since day one:: Should I have my attorney look these over for accuracy?
Grindlhva: You may, but you will need to fill out form 484bni48k38-h in order for you to transmit a message to your attorney. Then he or she will have to fill out form 3438adf34a8df and request an audience, which will give you fifteen minutes of time to talk, and you’ll have to file form yo43dn9erc9r-hhnre1 to gain permission to talk to your attorney. If you wish for more, you’ll have to file 788ed3-b for an extended time, and of course form 3894hnch to acknowledge responsibility for any charges accrued during that time. Then your attorney will need to fill out form 5a in order to have permission to leave.
Kessler: Oh, one more thing…..
Jack trailed off as he thought of what he was about to say. A small grin slid up his lips as he wondered how the Zet would take the comment that was purely meant to get a reaction.
Grindlhva’s eyes blinked a couple of times as she stared at the strange creature before finally answering.
Grindlhva: Yes. And?
Kessler: You have unique and exquisite eyes.
Lieutenant Jack Kessler
Zet Prisoner
Itech'eman Facility
T239901JK1
Saagar
Ward 7 Security Chief
Itech'eman Facility
T239811VK2
Grindhlhva
Supreme Director of Correctional Health Management and Wellbeing: Sovereign Head of the Department for Detainee Health and Rehabilitation Oversight, Chief Incarcerated Health Oversight Officer, Principal Coordinator of Vital Treatment Technicians, Chief Supervisor of Medical and Wellness Services, Lead Administrator of Rehabilitation Programs, Head of the Bureau for Rehabilitation and Medical Services within the Department of Penal Health and Rehabilitation Services, Responsible for the Comprehensive Health and Wellness Administration, Including Disease Prevention and Treatment, Mental Health Support, and Substance Abuse Counseling, for Detained Populations under the Jurisdiction of the Governmental Authority
Itech'eman Facility
M239008AD0