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Book was going to die. His ship was being chased through asteroid fields at speeds that really should have torn him apart a while ago if not for sheer force of determination and a quick prayer. Grudge sat unphased, only grumbling when she got knocked off her perch and had to find another one. He’d make it up to her later. Right now, Orions were bearing down on him and his cargo for the Empire’s ruler. He didn’t know what they wanted with her, but he’d be damned if he was going to let them take her without a fight.
~~~
Orions in hand? Check. The Breen tamed? Of course. Ni’Var subdued? That was the second thing they did after wrangling Osyraa. Adira was pleased by the progress of their New Empire, the station they found humming efficiently with a purely Terran workforce. They had the Ni’Var posted in several places in little orbiting stations across the edge of the quadrant, specifically checking for any Borg presence that could be considered a threat. Their president – Tina? Adira didn’t bother to remember the name – had foolishly protested against her people being used for such a suicidal mission, but then Adira reminded her that, technically speaking, only about two thirds of the population were ‘her people’. The quietly flustered outcry of the council had been silenced when Tina’s head hit the floor before her body. Ni’Var was Adira’s now, as Orion and the Breen Homeworld had been before it.
Kwejian was a different matter. The species had some connection with a large tree, and despite Adira threatening to chop the thing down, none of them had budged on their stance to not join the New Empire. So, chop the tree down they did. The population rebelled, annoyingly, and Adira had efficiently dispatched the Breen to get them dealt with. Most had cowed after that, obviously not wanting to exterminate their entire population, but there were still a few rebels that had escaped capture – the Orions were sent after the stragglers. Adira wanted them found for public execution. They especially wanted the one that had absconded with the telepathic worm; that worm was going to help them solidify their position as the only person that could control this quadrant and expand it further.
~~~
Alarms blared around Book, the lights blurry with how his head was spinning and the warnings were utterly incoherent, garbled ramblings of a scrambled computer (or was it his brain that was scrambled?) that would probably make more sense to Grudge than to him. He rolled over with a pained groan, blearily finding the cat sat just a few centimetres from him, her tail flicking idly next to her. Unbothered as always. He chuckled at her, then pushed himself off the floor to try and figure out what had hit him. Asteroids was his guess.
It wasn’t asteroids.
“Shit.” Book cursed under his breath, fumbling with his controls to shut his ship down as much as he could without getting himself killed in the process, and praying that he hadn’t been noticed. Through the viewscreen, a Borg cube loomed large in front of him, trails of green energy sliding across the surface and disappearing inside. Book had to hope that he was too small of a ship for the Borg to care, or that his hunters were a bigger concern. After all, the Orions were under the hand of the New Empire now, so perhaps whatever was left of the Borg Collective wanted to be ignored as well. The once feared hivemind was nothing more than another stain on the worn out tablecloth of history.
With his ship now drifting away from the cube, Book sat by his controls with bated breath, ready to start up the engines and speed off if necessary – well, as fast as you can go with only half the engine working. It didn’t seem to have noticed him, thankfully, the pulses of energy that flickered across the cube’s surface seeming lazy and sluggish compared to the stories of sharp efficiency he’d heard of. He waited long enough to be out of their shadow, and then he waited a bit longer before booting up his systems to fly out, scratching Grudge’s head with a grin – he’d managed to slip out of the Empire’s grasp. Or, so he thought, because suddenly his view screen was lit up by the glow of a tractor beam and his ship shut down entirely. Book sighed heavily, his head dropping to the dull control panel. At least he’d given them a good run around. He knew he wouldn’t be able to break out from an Empire tractor beam, so while he was in transit he picked up Grudge and went for a final wander through his ship with her.
~~~
Adira’s knee bounced impatiently as they sat staring at the main doors. They’d spruced the station up nicely, making sure it ran at peak efficiency while also looking aesthetically pleasing to their tastes. A message had come through from Vamek, the assigned leader of the Alpha Squadron, that he’d found the escapee with the telepathic worm and was bringing them back to the station. Adira had been pleased enough by this development that only two people were sent to the agoniser booths for disobedience.
The doors hissed open, and the Kwejian was escorted inside in handcuffs by Vamek and his second-in-command. A grin split across Adira’s face – they had him.
“Well well, hello Mister Booker.”
“Hey.” Book stood calmly, his posture loose and his expression calm with an easy smile. Vamek looked perturbed. He opened his mouth to speak, but Adira’s hand silenced him.
“How’s Grudge?” they asked, knowing that Book never went anywhere without the fluffy feline. Book shrugged, chuckling softly.
“Same as ever, you know how she is.”
Vamek spluttered beside Book. “E-Emperor, what is this?”
Adira’s gaze slid over to the Orion disapprovingly. “I’m catching up with a friend, Vamek, pay attention. This was a test of your skills. Now, release him, would you?” Their gaze sharpened into something which those headed for the agonisers were familiar with. Vamek unlocked the handcuffs. Book rolled his hands, rubbing at his wrists as if the cuffs had chafed, then he slipped his hand into his pocket – a second later and Grudge appeared next to him, safe and sound, purring as she rubbed against his legs and then she jumped up to sit with Adira. Book grinned widely.
“She still likes you more than me.”
“She has good taste,” replied Adira, scratching behind Grudge’s ears. The Queen purred louder. “So, what about that worm?” Vamek was quickly dismissed with a glance before he could think about protesting again. Adira sent a call out for someone to gut Vamek if they desired a quick promotion.
“Ah, she’s a bit sensitive right now, being pulled away from her family,” Book began, crossing the room to sit near Adira, Grudge between them, “but she’ll settle with some persuasion.”
“Good. How long do you estimate for her to settle?”
Book rolled the thought around his head. “Few hours?” he said, hedging his bets at how long would satisfy the Terran. Adira hummed thoughtfully.
“Make it two and I won’t have to send you to the booths this time.”
“Alright.” He let out a breath he hadn’t realised he was holding, inwardly relieved that he’d got away with it. Realistically, if he pushed, he could get the creature to comply in an hour, but that would be painful for the both of them and terrify her too much to be of much use to the Terran leader. Two hours he could do, and get a good pay out of it at the end.
“Your quarters have just been installed. I’ll get someone to escort you.” Adira’s hand was hovering over a button when Book sighed. They rolled their eyes. “What?”
“I was kinda hoping I could watch what happens when you find the others?” He sounded so disappointed. Adira chuckled to themself.
“I’ll call you when we have them, don’t worry.” The dark glint in their eyes was mirrored in Booker’s, the both of them eager to find the rebels and have them dealt with. Public executions were great for getting the masses to defer to the New Empire. One of the Klingons that Adira had working under them as servants appeared from a door, silent as a ghost, and they gestured for Book to go with them. He stood, ruffling their hair a little as he passed (and earning a cut across his hand for such insolence), then following the Klingon down the hall with Grudge resolutely beside him.