>> Finally, she asked, "How much do you know about my abduction?"
>>
>> "Very little actually. I know that you were abducted, and that you
>> had a difficult time when you returned home. Not much else."
>
> She met his eyes, daring him to look away as she spoke. "I was visiting
> Starbase 17 for a conference. The conference went as scheduled. After the
> last meeting, I was returning to my room to pack when someone
> attacked me from
> behind. I never saw who, and no one knows how I was removed from the
> starbase.
> They do know that my absence was somehow undetected for a day until
> Lorin told
> the base commander he had been unable to reach me. They lost more time
> ascertaining that I had not boarded the transport back to Earth, though
> records
> had been altered to suggest that I had.
>
> "I awoke to a world of darkness and silence. I couldn't seen
> anything or hear
> anything, not even the sound of my own breathing. I couldn't sense my heart
> beating. I tried to speak. Nothing came. I tried to touch. There was
> nothing to touch, not even my own body. The sensory deprivation was
> complete.
>
> "You know, we train to withstand torture. That training helped. For
> a while.
> Plus, I had memories I had once shared with a Delta-quadrant entity named
> Hunter. I knew what it was like to exist as a being who called space home.
> But this was different. I was just there, neither dead nor alive. And
> I began
> to wonder... where was Lorin? Where was anyone to rescue me?
>
> "I needed an answer, and I finally got one."
>
> She took another sip of tea. Taking a deep breath, she continued.
> "It was my
> own voice. 'Did you really think they care?' I heard the question again.
> 'Did you really think they care?' Over and over. Over and... over.
>
> "Other voices joined in counterpoint to the recurring theme. Friends.
> Colleagues. Yours and Carrhae's, too. 'I don't. I don't.'"
>
> "When Lorin and my daughter joined the chorus, I couldn't take any
> more. It was
> like something that I had been holding onto with all my strength broke loose.
> The voices stopped abruptly, in mid phrase.
>
> "I heard a new voice. 'Let me help' he entreated. I refused. No one cared,
> wanted to help. He asked again. No one cared? When he asked for the third
> time, I accepted. I whispered, 'Please help me.'"
>
> "The records my captor kept of the sessions showed I screamed. After
> two days,
> I screamed.
>
> "It was easy after that. The plan was to completely turn me. I would be
> returned to Earth as originally scheduled. I would be there to perform any
> task they wanted. I was nearly ready when Lorin, with Hunter's help, tracked
> me down. My captor escaped, though. We still don't know who he was
> nor who he
> worded for.
>
> "I do know what he took from me. I couldn't trust anyone, even myself.
> When my
> daughter called to check on me, I refused to talk with her."
>
> Her voice broke. "I... couldn't stand for Lorin to touch me."
>
> Tears slid silently down Candance's cheeks. Still, though, she held Matt's
> gaze.
After a while, Bedru pushed away from the table. "Sorry, Matt, I can't
do it."
She stood and headed to the door.
"Candace, wait...", Matthew called after her. "Look if you can't go, that's
fine. There's no shame, no dishonor in that. No one would blame you.
However, it would be a shame for you to pass up a free lunch with such charming
company..." He hoped that she would change her mind. He hated to eat alone,
and didn't want to end their chat in this way.
{response}
Co-GM of the Spacedock Game
Characters:
Adm. Samuel Lasiter,
RAdm. Markus Garibaldi,
Emissary Marconis,
LCDR Donovan Black, and a host of others.
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