Starship Armstrong - Season 3

Part 31 - Family Ties (IX)

McAfree was dragged screaming into the gardens. Then someone hit her with a stun gun and the world went black.

She woke up lying on her side. Her head throbbed. She quickly realized her wrists were tied together behind her back. Beautiful. She wormed her way into a sitting up position.

She was in a decent sized plasteel-walled room with a low ceiling and no windows. Probably underground, McAfree reasoned. There was only one exit and it was shut with a pseudo-wood door.

A man and a woman sat at a table up against the wall furthest from McAfree, playing cards. Another man paced nervously around the room. He noticed McAfree awaken.

McAfree was scared. Scared was good. Scared would give her energy. She could work with scared.

"She's up," said the man who was pacing to the others. They both stood and walked over.

"Hi there," said McAfree, brightly so as to mask her fear, "I'm Ensign Yoshiko McAfree of the Huxley Foundation Starship Armstrong. We come in peace although I'm not sure to what extent that applies to any of you anymore."

"Hi Yoshiko," said the man who had been playing cards. "I'm Gar. This is Delili," he indicated the woman, "and Azar," he indicated the man.

"Don't tell her our names!" Azar virtually shouted.

"Gar!" said, Delili, exasperated.

"It doesn't really matter at this point," said McAfree. "You're all dead either way."

"You don't scare me little girl," said Azar.

"I don't have to try and scare you, your Queen is a clone of Lieutenant Commander Mitzner. So you already know what's she's capable of," said McAfree, smiling conspiratorially. "Well now there's two of her and they are both, as we speak, trying to figure out what the most stylish way of killing you all is. Maybe, possibly, if you let me go before they figure out what it is they won't use it on you. Although you should hurry because they work fast."

"They won't find you," sneered Azar. "We have been planning this for a long time, waiting for the perfect opportunity. We have seen to every contingency. Your only hope of ever seeing freedom again is the Queen meeting our demands."

"This location is untraceable," added Delili.

"Sure, as far as you know. I noticed you're using non-ionized particle weapons," McAfree laughed. "That means your civilization's technology is pre-Reunification War. Let me tell you: you picked the wrong war to be pre-. I wouldn't count on any technological advantage you may think you have with your cute little baby meme cannons and your 50-year-old guns."

McAfree pushed her back against the wall. Using the wall she was able to climb to her feet with her hands still bound.

"So what's this all about anyway? What's so important you're going to all commit suicide by kidnapping me in front of Lieutenant-Commander Mitzner? Do you have some kind of manifesto I could peruse?"

"Actually we do have a manifesto..." began Gar.

McAfree laughed.

"She can't read it!" snapped Azar.

"Why not?" asked Delili. "Isn't the point to get people to read it?"

"Yeah how is knowing all the deep truths in the manifesto going to help me escape?" asked McAfree.

"See? She wants to escape. And she's mocking the manifesto!"

"She can't be expected to understand how important the manifesto is until she's been given the chance to read it," said Delili. "That's not fair."