JL | Commo Tr'Bak, Capt Neyes - "The Sounds of Silence"

Posted on Wed Oct 29th, 2014 @ 8:31am by Commander Tristan Neyes PhD.

1,535 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: All Hallows’

=/\= Weeks ago... =/\=

Watching the Trill Captain had been a great privilege for Commodore Tr’Bak. Over the course of the last few months the man had exceeded set limits and expectations, setting new boundaries all of his own. They’d beaten him, stripped him naked, broken ribs and Tr’Bak had killed the guards that had done it simply because that hadn't been what he wanted. Watching the Trill’s eyes as those Romulan men had fallen dead had been benefit enough. It was easy to see the thought of killing one’s own crew was completely alien and painful. It had given the Commodore great pleasure to watch the hurt continue to fill the man’s expressive eyes at being told how he’d had Rochelle Ivanova killed and the Vindicator destroyed.

“I thought you might want to know that the woman you love is dead.” Tr’Bak had said, throwing a stack of photos at his feet. It had taken some time to have them doctored to the point of perfection, but it hadn’t been too hard given the surveillance of Notura that they’d done to ensure their needs were met. The broken, bloodied body of a certain redhead lay vibrant against the snow. “Your ship met the same fate a day later.” That was all he’d said, leaving the Trill to the room. The room.

The room Tr’Bak had thrown him in was a room of complete and perfect silence. It was devoid of all stimuli aside from a single chair that sat in the center. A very simple chair, grey like the rest of the room. The only light source was a single bulb from above that burnt down on the naked Captain hour after hour, day after day. At -9 decibels it was quiet enough for one to hear their own heart beating, blood circulating and hair growing. So quiet that Tr’Bak knew Landon could hear the heartbeat of the symbiont deep in his belly. Every half hour, on the half hour, the man was sprayed down with a torrent of water. Every four hours he was fed a decent meal. It wasn’t about killing him, it was about learning him. The longest anyone had been able to stay in that room without going stark raving mad was ten minutes… Landon had lasted several months.

A sick, salty taste had permeated sores in Landon's mouth, and with every breath he felt the painful sting of defeat ringing loudly in his ears. No... it wasn't a ringing anymore. Somewhere in this room the air was screaming at him. Air rushed through his lips and into his lungs, the sounds was as intense as anything he'd experienced before. The silence was deafening. His eyes were heavy, his eyelids swollen and cut. Blood would have been constantly trickling down his face, had it not been for the enveloping gush of water. Once the blood was dry, he'd know it was time for another shower. In a way it was his clock.

Landon had poised his mind to seal itself away from day one. You were never alone, in the presence of eleven other lifetimes. Commodore Tr'Bak had rarely touched Neyes himself, instead choosing to have others do the work for him. The Captain watched him, trying to size up the man; calculating his every motivation or move. When Tr'Bak was in the room, Neyes' steel blue eyes never once left Tr'Bak's. When they'd stuck needles up his fingernails, Landon had stared him down.

Speaking was for play now. The Captain looked to the ground, daring himself to look on the pictures of Rochelle. They weren't real, he'd told himself that a hundred times over the past few months. This wasn't the first time they'd told him his crew was dead, his ship ripped apart by some Romulan Strike force.

Neyes smiled, a broken smile bloodied and beaten.

"Bored. Now."

Tr'Bak smiled deviously, "Well I'm sorry the entertainment isn't to your liking." He replied ending yet another shark-like circle of Landon and his little chair. "I will say she did die... How do the Klingons say it..." He paused as if searching for the perfect phrase even though it sat poised and ready on his tongue. It gave him the chance to seize Landon's jaw in his hand, forcing his eyes upwards, "most honorably. Now..." He said, releasing the Trill roughly, "whether you choose to believe me or not, she is most definitely dead. Let me change the mood a bit for you, Captain. Enjoy." Tr'bak smirked and made a motion with one of his large green hands. The room went dark, the only light executed and quickly replaced with a wall sized depiction of the Vindicator being blown up in battle. The Commodore mouthed along with the accompanying soundtrack, "Landon! Please!" the strangled cry of Rochelle Ivanova combined with what sounded like the whipping of wind cycled over and over again. It was good to be Tal Shiar. So good.

"I didn't know...," every word tore into his broken face, his voice a faint shadow of what it had been, "you played movies here." He coughed harshly, blood managing to find its way out of a reopened wound. "You've been holding out on me."

Inside Neyes' heart collapsed at the sound of her voice. The Romulan had noticed the tiniest chink in Landon's defenses a month or so ago, and found the perfect ways to exploit Rochelle's place in Neyes' heart. Normally he could have resisted, because holding back a torrent of confusion and cacophony of endless noise was a struggle he was all too familiar with. This though... it was beginning to etch itself into the deepest parts of the man's essence. The faint hope that his crew had managed to escape unharmed slipped further out of his grasp every day, and now Ivanova was beginning to sound just like a memory.

Sliding into the void.

"Tell me, Neyes," Tr'Bak paused and turned on his heel painfully slowly, "what kind of man, or lack thereof, is unable to seal the deal with such a beautiful young thing like that?" He asked, his voice low and hazel eyes glittering as they honed back in on his quarry. "A man with as many lifetimes as you've lived, one would think you'd know how to accomplish such a task." he grinned, lasciviously, "Or do you simply lack the ability?" Crossing the room was a short order for the impressively sized Romulan and he did so with smooth style before crouching down to be eye to eye with Landon. "Had you performed your... duties... appropriately, the love of your life and your crew would still be alive." The smirk was back, shining even in his eyes as he leveled with the Captain as if he were an insolent, pouting child.

Landon spat the bloody contents of his mouth at Tr'Bak. He giggled churlishly, locking eyes with his captor. Landon could feel the involuntary tears beginning to stream at his face, but he pushed it aside to allow the fire in his gut to burn. He hated them. Every last Romulan on this ship would burn if they ever set him loose on their ship. He'd take them all into a fiery hell without a moment's hesitation. For all the rights he'd been taught as a child, all the wisdom afforded to him as Neyes, and all the nobility he'd aspired to as a Captain... he'd burn it all to kill Tr'Bak.

"You know... 'master'...," Landon whispered playfully, accentuating the motion of his lips, "... even dead, she wouldn't fuck you."

Tr'Bak stood and made his way to the door of the cell. "Well, unfortunately, it apparently took her death for her to want to fuck you." He'd won. Nerve hit, he'd sunk Landon Neyes' battleship. The laughter at his own joke and the Captain's tears was almost maniacal as he nodded to the guards and slipped from the door way. Hell would begin in just a few moments, but it wouldn't be the Hell Landon wished for.

Landon watched as Tr'Bak stood to leave, and he lunged forward. Knowing the forcefield was mere inches from the edge of the chair didn't stop him. Neyes jammed himself against the energy barrier, screaming out and filling the room with his fury. The green and blue electrified against Landon's forehead and hands, the Trill pounding against them with all the strength his shattered body could muster. Wetness poured from his eyes, mixing with the filth, sweat and blood. The terrible cries were punctuated with a sob as Landon roared in terrible rage, a string of the most vile profanities finally bursting from him as he knew it was all going to be over soon. The hallway still rang with the bellowing horror of Neyes as the interrogator walked away.

Tr'Bak would never see Landon Neyes again, moments after leaving the broken man in his own version of purgatory, the Commodore beamed back to his Valdor class ship.

---

Captain Landon Neyes
Former Commanding Officer
USS Vindicator

Commodore Vrith Tr'Bak
Commander, 3rd Tal Shiar Task Force
Romulan Star Empire

 

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