AUTHORIZED RECIPIENT VERIFIED. PLAYING MESSAGE.

“Regina. This is Rubina, love. The med staff told me you were starting to finally come around this morning, so if you’re hearing this, congratulations on not succumbing. We were worried sick.

Now, before I begin, Regina, I would like to clarify that your debriefing for this operation is absolutely to be kept confidential. The security of this team may be at stake.

I received a transmission from the position where we found you - I’ve marked it there on the display. See the little X, dear? There was your ship, derelict, with you inside. And only you.

We scoured the ship, and the entire surrounding sector, for any trace of Juli. There was none. But we found that one of the two escape pods on the ship had been jettisoned.

Analysis of the ship’s records indicated that you were attacked, Regina, and that Juli fled as your ship was overtaken by our rivals, the Helene Harpies.

I’m sorry to say this, but... There’s strong evidence to support that she may have sold you out, dear. The cargo was taken, Juli escaped without any sign of a struggle on her part in the ship records... and you were... well, I’m sure you already noticed the sudden new presence on your abdomen.

Yes, I’m afraid the Harpies have taken on a truly bizarre new method of making an example of their captured rivals. The med team can confirm if you have difficulty believing this, but, scans concluded that your stomach was treated for an increased elasticity by some drug administered to you by the Harpies. That drug muddled your senses and is the reason you’ve been unconscious for the past two days. And then they moved you to the mess and force-fed you - according to the logs, they continued to do so until the replicator was out of base material.

I’m sorry, Regina. It’s all rather bizarre and barbaric - typical Harpies. And... I know you and Juli were... a very potent team. Her absence will weigh heavily on me as well.

But for now, we need to find out how much information she’s smuggled to the Harpies. Remain with med team until the... situation in your stomach has been dealt with. When you’ve ‘recovered’ fully, I’ll need you to report directly to me.

I’ll see you soon, Regina. We have quite a lot of things to do together."

END PLAYBACK. MESSAGE DELETED.

Regina stared at the now-silent device sitting on the table beside her infirmary bed. She struggled to her feet, weak-kneed, using the table to brace herself until her legs could work on their own.

Juli wouldn’t do that.

Regina stared at herself in the mirror. Her thighs and hips were soft - from all of that still-digesting replicator food, the med team had explained. Her stomach, heavy but soft and malleable, jutted shockingly from her frame as she pawed at it curiously with both hands. She was dumbfounded. It was full alright, and the infirmary was filled with the constant droning churn of digestion.

Juli wouldn’t leave me. She wouldn’t sell me out.

She turned to consider the recording device on the table again, a hand resting on the plush surface of her overloaded belly. Rubina was obviously not telling Regina everything, but her memory was fuzzy... the drug? The med team told her there would be lingering effects, like an increase in appetite, and memory loss... But despite all that, that empty hole in her recollection of events was still terrifying.

Where did Juli really go? Did the Harpies abduct her? Did they ever even show up at the ship at all? Regina struggled to remember.

Juli is in danger somewhere. Rubina knows something.

Regina scowled into the mirror, resolved to find out what Rubina was hiding. Her stomach quietly burbled.

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