Burgers & Fries

Posted on Fri Jul 25th, 2014 @ 2:31am by Captain Li Hawke & Admiral Ricky Wegener

Mission: Breaking New Ground
Location: Saturnalia

* * * Main Docking Bay * * *

“We’ve docked, Captain. You’re free to disembark.” The shuttle’s pilot did one last check before turning away from the control panel and standing.

“Thank you Lt. Mayweather. And I enjoyed the story.” Li smiled to him, then took hold of her bag and stepped through the shuttle door as it swing open. She slung the bag’s strap to her shoulder, then tapped her comm badge at it chirped.

=^= Ensign Sarkozi to Captain Hawke =^=

“What is it, Kai?” Li slipped out of the line moving towards the check-in and entered her code in the senior officers’ door.

=^= Welcome back. Admiral Wegener asked me to track you down upon your arrival and request that you meet him at Saturnalia =^=

Li raised her eyebrows at the request. It was certainly off the beaten path. “Very well, Kai. I’ll drop off my bag and be there in a few minutes.” She closed the channel and moved on towards a turbolift.


* * * Saturnalia * * *

Rick sat alone in a secluded booth that he preferred when he was in. He liked it because he could see who was coming and going and had a good view of the other booths and the bar. As he saw Li walk in a large plate of chili cheese fries was placed in front of him along with a boilermaker. He was in the mood for beer and spirits, so why not both?

“Welcome back, Li,” he said, holding the server a moment. “Care for a drink?”

“Thank you.” She ordered a drink and a cheeseburger with fries. The server left and she slipped into the booth. “I was a little surprised at your choice of venue, but I have to admit, I’ve been wanting a burger since I left here. The ones on Solaria Gateway just aren’t the same.” Her drink arrived, a tall electric blue one and she had a sip.

“Run into any trouble?” he asked.

The question brought a laugh from Li. ‘You are aware of your latest detainee? Holbridge’s record is clear by the way. It was one big set-up. Things got just a little hairy. Thanks.” She smiled to the waitress as her food was placed before her.


He raised his large glass. “As always, Li, good work. I’m sure the rest of this will be settled soon. I haven’t spoken to this Kieran person, but I know I don’t like him very much. If I have any sway in his judicial proceedings, he’ll be locked away in the darkest, wettest pit for a long, long time.”

“I’m sure Lt. Benson would agree with you, and rest assured he won’t go easy on him.” She munched on a few fries before she continued. “Kieran learned a few valuable lessons as well, let’s hope he remembers them. Now then, what about here? I see nothing’s blown up. I take that as a good sign.”

“That’s always a good sign. So far, all is well.” He knocked on the wooden table. “Oh, I finally got an update on the away mission. They’re making progress on surveying the planetoid. Sakkath will likely begin construction on temporary quarters and a command center within the next week.”

“I look forward to the reports.” She smiled at Rick, pleased to hear mention of Sakkath, even if she didn’t let it show. “Speaking of construction, I have a name for you in that regard. I’d hoped to stay at Solaria long enough to cross paths, but he was delayed. According to Starfleet, one of the best design experts they have for colonies.” She caught the server’s attention and held up two fingers.

“Someone I might know? I’m sure Sakkath wouldn’t mind the help.”

“As long as you’ve been in the Fleet? Likely. I have the information in my quarters, I’ll send it along when I get back there. So what about here? Any trouble I need to know about?” Li finished her food and pushed the plate aside. “Please, tell me no.”

“Only one matter of note,” he said as he finished up his fries. “Drusilla Dupree, Dr. Swift’s aide, has been kidnapped. The suspect is a Cardassian formerly known to Nicolao from his days of captivity. Security is working on it but we haven’t found her yet.”

She stopped her glass halfway to her mouth. “Kidnapped? Cardassian?” Her eyes narrowed. “I expect Oz is driving them hard. What’s Nicolao had to say about all this?” She suspected, however, that as usual, he’s said precious little.

“I haven’t spoken to him, but I’m pretty sure he’s on his own hunt. And, yes, Oz is in slave-driver mode, which is good.” He pushed the empty plate away, sat back and crossed his arms across his chest. “Robin, however, is a hot mess. I’ve ordered him to reschedule his appointments or pawn them off on another counselor. He’s in no mood to work effectively. Hell, he may need some counseling of his own. He, of course, feels responsible for her.” Someone cleared the table for them as he continued. “I’ve ordered all outgoing vessels searched from stem to stern prior to leaving. Hands-on and scans. I’m not taking any chances, especially not with one of my own people.”

Li nodded. “I’ll go see Robin, and Oz too. I suspect that whoever’s handling this case is feeling a hell of a lot of pressure at the moment. Not to mention wondering what Nico’s up to as well. I’ll do what I can to help, of course.” She frowned for a moment. “If this Cardassian came prepared, though, it won’t be easy. They have the tools to make tracking, by computer or my kind, difficult.”

He nodded. “I’m sure Oz would like the help. As for Nico, he’s always been a loose cannon, but there’s no doubt in my mind that he’ll get results. He’ll just need to look out for security. They won’t take kindly to him heading up his own investigation into things, especially if he’s not sharing information.”

“That is my concern. I think that since he’s still technically Intel, that I want to put Dae on his trail. He’ll listen to Dae, at least I think so. Intel needs to keep track of him anyhow, this will just speed up the process. And let’s hope Nico doesn't cross Oz. If he does, I pity him.” Her smile finally returned.

“It may not hurt for you to find him and talk to him,” he said. “If he’s willing to work with her she may be more inclined to not pummel him.” He chuckled lightly. “Besides, more eyes are better than fewer and he has a particular set of skills that neither Oz nor her people have. He may be quite helpful to her.”

“I’ll see to it immediately, once I’ve spoken to Robin.” Li took one last drink from her glass as she looked over the bar. “Funny, Last time we were both here, it was undercover and we had a psycho on the loose. What a difference a few months make isn’t it?”

He stood and smiled. “Yeah. It’s funny how things like that happen to us. If we were other people, we could probably write stories about stuff like this.” Looking at the chronometer he winced. “Crap. I’m late. I forgot I was meeting El. Keep me updated.”

“Give her my best.” She waved as Rick hurried out, then took one more look around the bar. Asking any of Seyla’s girls about Nico would be useless, she knew. She’d have to find him herself, and soon. First, however, she needed to see Robin. Moments later, Li slipped out of Saturnalia as well, glad that the shadow that had lingered there for so long was gone.

***************
Admiral Ricky Wegener
Late For An Important Date

Captain Li Hawke
Back Into The Fire