HALF-BREED: CH. 4 - "COMMMANDER (JIMMY)"

Summary: Autumn is punished by the Commander (Jimmy) for having sex with the Scientist (Erik).

The Commander stood there glaring at his new charge and his old scientist. Autumn was trembling as she looked around for her clothes, attempting to fight back the tears, trying not to show any weakness but it was too little too late. She knew that the Commander frowned upon inter-species breeding, but what of sexual relations? Did she just break some kind of archaic Wraith law? Why was Erik not coming to her defense? He did tell her to do whatever Erik told her to do, right? She quickly tried to think of something – anything – to say to diffuse the situation. She started to open her mouth, not even sure what she was going to say, but before she could even utter a single syllable, the Commander was already shutting her down.

“Silence! You will come with me....NOW!”

“Yes, sir,” she replied with a shaky voice. As she slid off the desk, Autumn noticed her shirt on the floor and bent over to pick it up. As she was about to grab it, she found herself pushed backward by a strong, unseen force – the Commander had done it with just a wave of his hand. She was knocked against the wall behind the desk before falling forward, coming to a stop on her knees....right at the Commander's feet. 

 

He glared down at her. “You won't be needing that where we are going!”

“Commander, please,” Erik finally interjected. “Is that really necessary? We have broken no laws. You left her in my care. She was only doing what I asked of her.”

“Of course she was,” the Commander caustically responded. “Just following orders you say. Erik, do you take me for a fool?!! You may be my most brilliant scientist but you allow your physical desires to cloud your professional judgment. We shall speak of this later!”

The Commander then pulled Autumn up by her hair until her feet were no longer touching the floor. She started screaming and tried grabbing at the powerful hand she was dangling from.

“Please please! Stop! Please put me down! I'm sorry! Why are you doing this? Please....please, oh-my-God!!!!....”

He leaned in close, his face almost touching hers but not quite, and hissed at her. “I am your God now, girl!” Then, noting her tears, he stuck his tongue out and licked one off her face. “Your defiance is sweet!” he roared at her. “I am going to have so much fun disciplining you, Half-Breed.”

His face made a weird, contorted sneer as he enunciated the last part. It was now clear to Autumn that whatever it is he thought she was or what she did, he did not approve of it. He then loosened his hold on her and she was standing again, albeit a bit wobbly. She wanted to run but she no longer had the energy, nor was there anywhere for her to run to. She looked back at Erik through tear-streaked eyes. He stared back at her, wishing there was something he could do or say to save her from the punishment he knew Jimmy was going to dole out to her, but the Commander out-ranked him.

“Please Commander, do not take it out on her. She....”

“Enough!” the Commander cut him off before he could even finish. “I will be back to speak to you about your test results later. Do not leave this lab until then, is that understood?”

“Yes Commander,” Erik replied diffidently. “I will have a full report ready for you.”

“Good.” The Commander then directed his gaze at Autumn. “Come Autumn, we are leaving.”

As he turned away, she quickly picked up the shirt and pulled it over her head. He was going to torture her anyway, she may as well try to get back a least a modicum of whatever dignity he had now stripped away from her.

As Erik watched them exit through the door, he heard Autumn's voice in his head.

“Please help me, Erik!!!! Please, don't let them kill me!”

When they were well out of sight, he turned around and picked up a set of empty glass vials and threw them across the room. “DAMMIT!” he muttered to himself, fearful that not even he could save Autumn now, even though he felt partly responsible for what was going to happen to her. He knew the Commander was a tyrannical despot who got off on the suffering of others who tried to challenge him. Inflicting pain was what excited him most. And unfortunately, Autumn was about to experience a whole new world of hurt.

Autumn trailed behind him as he marched through a darkened corridor. As they walked, she noticed that the cob-webbed walls around them were moving. Upon closer inspection, however, she realized it was not the walls moving – there were people cocooned within the webbing – and they were still alive. She could hear their anguished cries for help in her head and it broke her heart that there was nothing she could do about it. She was now fearing for her own survival. But if that was survival, she thought, she'd rather be dead.

Again, the Commander intruded on her thoughts. “You will beg for death by the time I am done with you!” he shouted into her mind. It wasn't enough for him to strip her of her propriety. She was never going to be allowed another private thought as long as she was stuck on this ship with him.

As they came to the end of another corridor, he waved his hand and an intricate cell “door” retracted into the doorway. He shoved Autumn in and she fell to the floor. He summoned two drone guard soldiers. “If she tries to escape, stun her, but do not kill her,” he said, waving the door sealed again. The faceless guards nodded and the Commander walked away. Autumn crawled into a corner and rolled herself up into a little ball, weeping.

For three days, the Commander left her to rot in the cell alone without food or water. By the third day, she was so thirsty she started licking her own tears but it was not enough to sustain her. Her eyes were red and raw from crying and finally weakened by dehydration and starvation, she could barely keep herself upright. With not an ounce of energy left, she drifted in and out of a hazy sleep-like state.

She thought she was dreaming when she felt herself being picked up and carried. She tried to open her eyes but they were so sore and dry, she could only squint. It was a drone guard soldier. But where was he taking her? Suddenly, the Commander's voice:

“There,” he said, pointing to a couch covered with moss. The drone gently laid her down and then dressed her in a plain white robe. “That will be all, thank you,” the Commander said as he waved the drone out of the room. He stood over her, looking down at her for a while. Then he knelt down and took her face into his hands.

“Human, wake up!”

She looked at him through the narrow slits of her eyes. He looked almost angelic, his skin was so pale and smooth, his hair so shiny and white. She reached out to touch it, her hand slowly making contact with his cheek. “So....soft....” she mumbled.

He covered her hand with his. Her hand was cold and dry. Suddenly she felt him putting something in her hand. It was soft and mushy and smelled like....

“Banana,” she whispered.

“Yes,” he answered. “I have brought you food. You earned it. Quite frankly, I didn't think you'd last this long.”

He'd taken the skin off. She slowly pulled her hand away from his and as she was bringing it to her mouth, the piece of banana fell out of her hand. She was too weak to even feed herself. He picked it up off the dirty floor and brought it up to her mouth.

“Open,” he said. She was too hungry and broken to care that it had just been on the floor and opened her mouth. Realizing he was going to have to help her, he pulled himself up from a kneeling position and sat on the couch next to her. She could barely hold her head up so he sat her upright – one arm around her and the other feeding her bananas and holding a glass of water up to her lips so she could drink. She leaned on his chest, resting her head on his shoulder as he fed her more little pieces of fruit and kept giving her water.

“Water....so...good...” she muttered.

He ran his fingers through her hair, trying to smooth out the matted pieces that had started sticking together. Despite the dirt and knots in it, her hair smelled like fresh rain. A few times he leaned in and stuck his nose right in it, the scent was almost intoxicating to him. Unlike the other human prisoners, she smelled good – like morning dew. Suddenly, he became aware of another strange sensation: Autumn was licking the banana residue off his fingers....and it felt good.

So he sat there for a few more minutes, looking down at her practically devouring his fingers.

“More?” he asked. She nodded and he started feeding her more pieces of the bananas he'd brought in on a plate. Her hunger seemed never-ending and he began to feel hungry for HER. But it wasn't her life-force he wanted right now. He was used to getting what he wanted. And when he wanted it, he just took it. Now he was going to take Autumn – whether she liked it or not.

Disclaimer:  The Wraith & Stargate Atlantis are owned by MGM.  Autumn Noxx is an original character.