"Here, eat this. We didn't have any Klingon cuisine in the database but I'm sure this will do."
He set the plate down on the floor in front of her and waited. She didn't move at all.
"Oh come now, you must be hungry; you haven't eaten in more then four days."
Still she remained motionless, huddled in the far corner of the Romulan holding cell.
"It's not poisoned you know. If you don't believe me..." He said, picking up a small food cube and placing it in his mouth. She stared intently as he ate the cube, looking for any sign of trickery.
"See, perfectly safe."
She couldn't resist any longer. Without warrior training the four days of deprivation had left her starving and willing to trust her Romulan captor.
He couldn't help but stare at her. The guards who originally captured her had striped her to ensure she was unarmed. For four days she had sat naked in a cold, barren, eight foot by eight foot cell with only a two foot by one inch slot in the door for the guards to make their occasional checks.
He watched with great enjoyment as she ate. She was much younger then him, he thought to himself. He was already 30 and she couldn't have been more then 20 if that. Her breasts were slightly smaller then average but appeared quite firm and he could tell from her muscle structure she was not a warrior.
"So," the Romulan man said as he scrolled through his data pad, "our sources say your name is DaKol and that you are a scientist on the research station in the Qur'on system. That's a long distance from Romulan space. What were you doing there."
"My navigation system broke. I didn't realize I was in Romulan space at the time." DaKol said, still stuffing food cubes into her mouth, fearing her intimidating captor may take them from her at any moment.
"Our engineers have picked apart your vessel and their report does confirm that your navigation system was nonfunctional. Still, that was a long way to be flying in the wrong direction. Are you sure you didn't sabotage it shortly before capture to give yourself an excuse?"
She didn't answer and continued to eat. Angered, the Romulan man kicked the plate away from her.
"You will answer when I speak to you!"
"I didn't do that. I didn't sabotage my own ship."
"I think you did."
"Oh and why should I care what you think?" DaKol asked, faking a sense of courage in her voice in an attempt to scare him off.
"Oh yes, we haven't been formally introduced. How impolite of me." He said in a sarcastic tone, "My name is Major Sumar of the Tal Shi'ar and you are my prisoner. Your fate is entirely in my hands."
"You won't get away with this. My people will come looking for me." She told him, her fear soaking through her false bravery.
"That they will, but we've already dealt with that. We disengaged your ships structural integrity grid and dropped it off at the edge of an asteroid field in Klingon Space. Your ship will be broken to pieces and finding that your navigation system was broken they will believe you drifted into it and were destroyed. That is, of course, unless you were sent to spy on us. I highly doubt that though. You don't seem capable of even the smallest degree of stealth or tact. Isn't that right?"
She stared silently at the Romulan Officers Boots, terrified by the fact that she had no hope of escape.
"I told you to speak when I ask you a question!" Sumar screamed as he put all his force into a slap to DaKol's face. The ring he wore on his finger left a large indent on her cheek of the Romulan Imperial symbol that he knew what bruise up quite badly later.
DaKol could barely keep from crying in front of Sumar. The moment he left the room and she heard the cell door seal she began to sob uncontrollably.
---------------------------------
Exactly 48 hours later Sumar returned to DaKol's cell. He knew no one else had entered the room since he left and no food had been delivered to her. Her hunger pains were so loud he swore he could hear them from out in the corridor.
When he entered the cell he saw DaKol sprawled out on the floor, her breathing very shallow and her mind clearly wondering. As soon as he entered the room though, her mind focused and she sat up, like a dog sensing that its owner had returned home to feed it.
"Oh my DaKol, you look famished. You must be starving."
For a moment Sumar stood motionless by the door holding the tray of food and water he brought just high enough that she couldn't see the food it contained. After a moment of teasing his captive, Sumar placed the food down in front of the starving Klingon. Unlike the previous visit, this time Sumar slid down next to DaKol.
DaKol's eyes lit up as soon as the tray was set down in front of her. With no water and only one meal in the past six day DaKol did not delay in ingesting the food and drink placed in front of her.
"Well, someone is a hungry little girl. I've never seen someone shovel food into their mouth as fast as you." Sumar said, running his hand through her hair slowly as one would pet a dog. Although he was confident upon entering the room he was more confident now that his first test had worked.