Bound by Enemy Minds

[NightlordKrusnik]

Tizen hissed in frustration, the ship was HUGE. To make matters worse it was also crawling with Marines, which slowed his search considerably. But still he had to keep searching; the device had to be on the ship. It just HAD to be. All his searching, all his effort, pointed here. For months he had worked to find it, killing dozens and taking their forms, infiltrating and deceiving his way into company after company, until he found a Transport Log that listed the device in its itinerary. He would be free once he found it. No longer would the Nautilus Organization own him, Tizen would be his own once more.

But he’d searched a third of the damned ship already and still nothing! No, he wouldn’t lose his temper. He looked around the rest of the engine room, casually adjusting his helmet he stole to disguise himself as a lowly maintenance worker. A squad of marines had just entered and he busied himself with the Systems Board he was in front of. Luckily when he’d devoured the worker he was impersonating, he’d taken in most of the man’s knowledge as well. Also fortunate, he was pretty sure he hadn't been detected on the ship yet, and wanted to keep it that way. Humans had a way of letting their genetic inferiority translate to an increased brutality when dealing with so-called ‘alien races.’

[ChelseaCutie]

Captain Annabelle 'Belle' McTavish had spent most of her day in the lower levels of the ship in the training room. She was currently taking out her frustrations on the punching bag. No one would tell her where they were going or why, so she was left completely in the dark. With a grunt of effort, Belle launched a roundhouse kick at the bag in front of her. Pausing for a moment, she tried to catch her breath, her chest heaving. She wore a black sports bra and black shorts. Her long brown hair was pulled into messy bun, and several strands of hair had come loose, sticking to her sweat covered face. The rest of her body, glistened with a thin sheet of sweat. Her vibrant honey colored eyes stared the bag down, as if she was waiting for it to attack her.
Shaking her head, she grabbed a towel and dabbed her face with it. Tossing it back around her neck, she walked out of the training room and down the hall towards the engine room. Might as well check on the upgrades while she was down here. As the doors slid open, she was greeted with several workers. Hearing the doors open, they all turned and saluted the captain. Rolling her eyes, she held her hand up. "Stop that shit. Just came to see how the upgrades were coming along?"

[NightlordKrusnik]

"Stop that shit. Just came to see how the upgrades were coming along?"

Tizen looked up at the sharp command, just behind the squad of marines came their captain, Annabelle McTavish, if he remembered right from the logs. Standing there in nothing but a bra, shorts and a towel around her neck, she was quite attractive, for a human. The other workers seemed too stunned and intimidated to speak. With a sigh he pulled up a report on his screen and took off his cap to run a hand through his sweat-slick black hair. He hated this part of espionage, being thrust into the spotlight; this is where things had the largest potential to go wrong. After a minute Tizen looked back up, his emerald eyes locking into her honey ones, “Well, ma’am, we’re actually ahead of schedule. Looks like if we keep at it and nothing goes wrong, we’ll finish up two weeks early.”

The room went dead silent, the other workers looking at him with almost hilarious looks of mixed horror and rage. It seemed Tizen had just put everyone’s nose to the grinder by upping the timeline. The rage was short-lived however, as their intimidation at this sexy, scary marine stood there. With hardly a mutter they all went back to work. The shapeshifter was pleased with the result, with the rest of the maintenance crew working full tilt, they’d be less likely to notice his absence as he continued his search of the ship.

An idea struck Tizen, it was a small chance but definitely worth the risk. He made his way past the patrol marines and motioned the captain to follow him out the doors. “Any idea what we’re doing out here, ma’am?” he asked as she joined him, “Nobody seems to know what we’re doing or why, and these are pretty major upgrades to make on the engines. Doubly so, considering we’re making the upgrades on the go.”

[ChelseaCutie]

Belle stood and waited for someone to answer her. She brought her arms up and crossed them over her chest and sunk into her hip impatiently. Sure, she wasn't exactly in the most appropriate attire, but when you're CO asks a question, you answer it. Belle raised her eyebrows as her eyes scanned over the marines. Finally, someone answered her. Her eyes landed on him and she looked into his emerald eyes as he spoke. They were ahead of schedule and would finish faster than expected. "Excellent. Great work guys," she said with an excited smile. She let her eyes roam over the men again as they scurried back to their stations and set back to work. The higher ups would be pleased with the progress.
Belle was about to turn and leave, but the marine that had stepped up and answered her, motioned for her to follow him out into the hall. Once the doors closed behind her, she tilted her head curiously. He had asked if she knew why they were out there. Belle scoffed and threw her arms up. As they came back down, she let her hands slap against her thighs. She then crossed them again and made eye contact with the marine. "I know about as much as anyone else. No one wants to tell me anything, which means I can't tell my crew anything. We're left in the dark and have to do and go where they say without any information." She had started pacing, and her hands were now behind her back. "I'm getting sick of not knowing anything. You can bet your ass I will find out what we're doing out here and why they have us upgrading the ship." The situation irritated her everytime she thought about it, but it did no good to lose her temper. She would just have to contact them and see if she could get them to spill. Sighing heavily, Belle looked over at the marine and offered him a warm smile. She stepped up to him until she was next to him and placed her hand onto his shoulder. "Keep up the good work. Let me know if you need anything." With that, Belle walked away, towards the elevator down the hall and entered it. Time to get cleaned up and make herself more presentable.

[NightlordKrusnik]

“Keep up the good work. Let me know if you need anything.”

Tizen nearly grinned when she placed a hand on his shoulder, that little bit of contact was all it took. As she walked away he took a moment to admire the sway of her hips, muttering to himself as she entered the elevator, “But you already have.” He looked back at the doors behind him before bolting down the hallway. He made a quick stop by the training room and stole some women’s clothing. This would need to be done quickly, if he were to get away with it. He ducked inside a small unused room, locking the door behind him. He just wished this next part didn’t hurt quite so bad. Tizen grunted in pain as his skin began to bubble and shift, his hair shifting from black to brown, breasts began to form, his skeleton warped… within a minute a perfect image of Captain McTavish stood straight, save for eyes that stayed a shining emerald.

Tizen-Belle peeked ‘her’ head out the door, before hopping towards the secure decks. With the Captain’s DNA and fingerprints at his disposal, Tizen could expand his search. Within minutes he had accessed a computer it would have taken days to gain access to otherwise. He was smiling as he walked out of the computer room, clutching a data drive in his hand. This should have most of the cargo manifests for the ship on it, if nothing else eliminating large areas of the ship from his search. He nodded towards a pair of marines patrolling the level. One stopped and stared, “Uh, Captain? Didn’t we just see you in the living quarters? How’d you change and get down here so quick?”

Tizen froze, this was not good. He palmed a knife and pasted a smile on his stolen face, “What are you talking about? I haven’t been anywhere near quarters all day.” The second soldier had been studying his face the whole time, and raised his weapon slightly. “Captain, what’s wrong with your eyes?”

Shit.

The first marine seemed to notice the eyes for the first time and his own widened in surprise. Before either could make another move, the knife flashed out in two glittering arcs. The marines collapsed, their throats laid open, but Tizen was already on his way to another level. So much for remaining undetected. This time he didn’t bother finding an empty room, he shifted back to his other form inside the elevator, black hair, rough muscles, and broad shoulders. Luckily he still had the maintenance uniform in a small pack. Nothing like running around in short shorts to get a guy noticed…

[ChelseaCutie]

((Lol short shorts... that's hilarious!))

Belle had finally made it to the top floor, the Captains Quarters, after what seemed like an eternity. "All this advanced technology and the elevator is slow as a damn turtle," she ranted to herself as she made her way to the bathroom. She stripped down and got into the hot shower, letting the water wash the sweat and grime from her body. Being the captain, she couldn't stay in long, so she started washing up, from head to toe. Several minutes later, she emerged from the steam filled bathroom and headed for her closet.
"Uh, Captain McTavish? We have a serious problem," came a male voice from the ceiling. Without looking up, and continuing searching her closet, she replied, "What it is Danials?" She pulled out her ship casuals and tossed them onto the bed. Next came undergarments.
"Some crew found two dead patrol officers on the engine deck."
Belle's eyes widened and she looked up at the ceiling. "Alright, I'll be there soon as I can." With that, she quickly got dressed and towel dried her hair. Belle made her way back onto the elevator. As she waited, she tossed her damp hair into another messy bun. 'Who would kill two of my crew, and why?' She started chewing her lip, a nervous habit she had picked up years ago.
As the elevator finally came to a stop on the engine deck, she raced out and towards the crowd of people. "Alright, everyone get back to your stations, now." Belle came upon the dead bodes and stared down at them. Their throats had been sliced clean open and the two pools of blood had become one. "Danials?"
"Yes ma'am," came the voice from the ceiling.
"Call everyone to the CIC immediately."

[NightlordKrusnik]

{Thank you, I was quite proud of that part}

Tizen grimaced at the overhead comm unit as it crackled to life: "All personnel to CIC immediately, this is not a drill. All non-essential personnel are to report to the CIC in three minutes."

"Damn it," he muttered to himself. Now his job would be that much harder. The only reason everyone would be called to the CIC was if they had found the bodies, and he was sure they had by now. What to do, what to do? If he didn't show up he would be suspect, if he did... well he had no idea. When things went to hell around him they had a tendency to go WAY to hell... And that was why he was in his current situation. One rigged race and the Nautilus Organization owned him, and an group like that, they put his talents to frequent use. But the device would change that, it would give him a way out.

In the end, Tizen decided not showing up would be worse. Either they'd suspect him, or think him another victim, both eventualities would draw more attention to him. He sighed and looked into the lone mirror in his room. For just a moment, a ridge of grey-green scales lined his cheekbones and his pupils became slits in his emerald eyes, before he assumed his human face once more. "Very well," he told his reflection, "you've made your bed. Now you have to lay in it."

He pulled on some clean clothes, black pants and a loose grey shirt, and made his way to the CIC. Years of espionage had paid off in this, at least, his face betrayed nothing. In fact, the look of mild confusion was so perfectly placed on his face, it was as if he was truly innocent of any crimes. He picked out Belle from the crowd immediately, it was hard not to, and made his way over to her. "What's going on, Cap? Something happen?"

[ChelseaCutie]

Captain McTavish was waiting in the CIC for everyone to show up before she started speaking. How could something like this happen on her ship? Why? It irritated her to no end, and made her fear for her crew. While deep in thought, Tizen approached her, asking if something had happened. Her scrunched up face softened slightly as she turned her attention to the man. Pushing off of the wall and keeping her arms crossed over her chest, she looked over at him.
"Yes, something has happened. Two of my crew were found dead on the engine deck. Their throats cleanly slit." Belle's expression went from concern to suspicion. "You were down there right? Did you see anything or anyone suspicious?" Before Tizen could reply, one of the crew came up to Belle and stated that everyone was present. She nodded and looked back over at Tizen, dismissing herself with a nod. Making her way to the front of the ship, she stepped up onto a small platform and held her hand up to silence everyone.
"Listen up. There's been an incident on the ship. I want everyone to be cautious and on high alert. If you see anything out of the ordinary, you will report to me, and me only. Understood?" There were various 'Yes Ma'am's' and nods of understanding from the crew. The captain scanned the crowd before dismissing them back to their stations. She leaned against the railing and rubbed her eyes with her fingers. Nothing was ever easy. Ever.

[NightlordKrusnik]

Tizen was somewhat relieved. The meeting was short, simple. And he knew nobody else beside the two dead men had seen him. And they weren't going to say anything anymore. The rest of the crew was talking amongst themselves, their collective voices a low roar in the room, as they filed out of the room. Tizen turned to join them, when somebody caught his eye. Another crew member was pushing his way through the crowd, to where the Captain was standing. His eyes narrowed and he pressed against the wall, edging around the crowd closer to them. Over the rumble of voices it was hard to hear what they were saying, but he caught the last few words: "The killings were caught on the security camera, Captain."

Tizen stilled a moment, he forgot about hacking the security footage... He was slipping. Cautious now, he stepped up next to Captain McTavish with a nod and a grim look on his face to show he'd heard the last part. The other crewman was holding a large screen, split into four different bits of footage from different cameras. Belle was staring hard at the screen a look of shock on her face, "But, that's me? I was in my quarters... and i wasn't wearing that." The other crewman nodded, "I know Ma'am, see here the two marines notice something wrong..."

“Captain, what’s wrong with your eyes?” The marines began to raise their weapons, and the knife flicked out twice. There were two wet snapping sounds followed by gurgling grunts, and the two men thudded to the floor. The woman that looked like Belle Mctavish ran out of the room.

The crewman sighed and shut off the screen. "That's all we have, Captain," he told her apologetically, "The new cameras in the hall outside the Security Deck aren't functioning yet, so we don't know where she went."

Thanks for small miracles, Tizen thought to himself.

[ChelseaCutie]

What the hell was going on around here? This ship was turning into a damn madhouse. Belle could not believe what she had seen on the footage. It was her that had killed the two crewmen. But it wasn't! She had been in her quarters cleaning up. With a groan of frustration, she dismissed the man that had shown her the footage and turned back to Tizen. She was unsure of what to say or do at that point. "Excuse me." With that, she moved past him and made her way to the elevator. Back down to the engine deck.
Before she could make it to the elevator, she was stopped. "Captain, I can't believe what happened. Can you believe that?" It was the girl that kept up with the crew. The shrink if you would. "No, no I can't." There was a brief silence before Belle turned and looked at her, her brow furrowed. "Maghan, you know the crew, how they are, right?" The girl nodded with a smile. "That's right, ma'am." Belle bit her lip. "Has anyone come to you acting odd at all? Like they had any grudges or anything?" Maghan looked down, her brow furrowed in thought. After a moment of silence, she finally shook her head. "No, ma'am. I can't say that they have. Everyone seemed pretty normal as far as that goes." With a heavy sigh, Belle smiled weakly and nodded. "Thanks anyway." Maghan smiled brightly and shook her head. "No problem, ma'am." The elevator door finally opened to the engine deck, and Belle stepped out, heading towards the engine room.