A Snake In The Garden - Part I

Posted on Mon May 18th, 2015 @ 11:27pm by Captain Li Hawke & Suresh & Commander Oralia Zeferino & Lieutenant Commander Michael Darwin

Mission: Breaking New Ground
Location: Eden - Romulan Space

* * * Eden - Romulan Space * * *

"Hey, we're here, ladies," Darwin looked into the galley and saw Oz there, a mug in hand. "Li not in here?"

She nearly answered back sarcastically - there weren't any hidden spots in the room after all - but didn't. "Nope, but I think she probably heard your shout, thanks. Has Suresh arranged for us to dock?"

"Yeah. He was on the comm when I came down here."

"Good," she finished off whatever had been in the mug.

“Looking for me?” Li was suddenly there, on the stairs, as if she’d appeared from nowhere.

Darwin jumped, putting him more fully into the galley, and turned to shoot a glare at Li. "Great. You heard that we're at Eden? Suresh is getting past Romulan air control."

“He mentioned it, yes.” Li moved on down the stairs to take a seat on one of the stools. “Which brings us to our big point. We’ll need to set up a home base there. Once we get docked, I don’t think we’ll have any issue with moving around, as long as my eyes aren’t noticed too closely. This planet is a bit of a backwater.” She frowned slightly. “Once we’re down, I have no doubt that Suresh will leave us a trail.”

"We could replicate contacts for you, Li," Oz suggested.

"We'd better take our seats, too, we'll be docking shortly," Darwin said before skirting around Li and heading up the stairs, two at a time.

“Think I scared him?” Li waited till Darwin was gone. “As long as they are not violet. That’s just a little too creepy, Oz.Too much deja vu. Green’s not a good idea either, I don’t want to set off Suresh, the old one, unnecessarily. How about blue?”

"Yeah, green eyes, dark hair. We could be twins. That'd piss him off," Oz didn't sound particularly put off by that idea. "We could even just go with brown." She looked at Li closely. "Maybe wigs would even be in order. Blonde, blue-eyed twins?" She grinned wickedly.

“They itch.” Li laughed. “I don’t think that will fool him this time.” She stood and hugged Oz tight. “It’s time, my friend. You ready?”

Oz held her close. "Yeah."

“Let’s do this then. We’re landing.” She gave Oz a smile, then started up the stairs.

* * * An Inn Somewhere On Eden * * *

“Give us two rooms,” Suresh requested of the man behind the counter.

He didn’t elaborate as to who was staying with who. They haggled over the price a bit in Rihannsu, then the man handed over the keys. He looked both Oz and Li over, then made a comment and smiled widely. Suresh laughed and answered, giving the man a wink.

“This way.” Suresh continued to speak in Rihannsu as he led the way out of the lobby and along a corridor. “I requested rooms on the back side to keep us a bit more out of sight.”

"Are any of the beds extra long?" Darwin asked. "Cause if one is, I'm claiming it right now."

Oz looked at him and grinned, "Bit like calling shotgun, isn't it?"

"Hey, look, shorty, if you'd ever had the problems I've had fitting into a bed, you'd be doing the same," he shot back, smiling. All the while, they followed Suresh to the two rooms.

Li was smiling as they went along. “If either of you are curious, Suresh told the innkeeper to get his eyes off his wives.” She laughed as she said it. “That should keep his curiosity in check.”

“Absolutely. This backwater, as Li calls it, can be a little lawless. A ‘finders keepers’ mentality. He won’t bother you or I’ll poke his eyes out. He understands this so we’re good,” Suresh informed them. He handed Darwin an electronic key. “Good luck on the bed.”

"Wives? What you get two and...?" He paused and looked at the key card Suresh handed him. "This is just my card, right? Oz and Li are taking one room...?" He gave Suresh a hard look.

“I thought they might be safer if each of them has one of us close at hand.” Suresh smiled a moment, knowing that would irritate Darwin. “I don’t think anything is out of bounds with ‘him’ now that we are here.”

Suppressing a laugh, Oz very surprisingly agreed with Suresh. "Yeah, we'll split up. I'll room with Suresh, Darwin." Darwin's eyes briefly went wide, but he nodded.

“You have an issue with that Darwin?” The corners of Li’s mouth twitched. “Actually, I won’t put you in that position. I’ll stay with Suresh. I'm not his XO.”

"No, Li, that would put both security officers in one room and none in the other. You don't scare Darwin that much," Oz grinned at Darwin, "Right, Lieutenant?"

"Right. That wasn't what my look was about," he confirmed. "I'll happily bunk with you, Captain." He gave Li a jaunty, borderline flirtatious smile.

“I know exactly what your look was about,” Li answered, but she smiled up at him. “I’ll just overlook it, shall I?” She took the key from his hand and unlocked the door.

“Busted,” Suresh joked. He handed his key to Oz, then took her bag.

"That's a good husband, Suresh," Oz laughed and headed to the room.

Darwin picked up Li's bag and gestured to their room, "Ma'am, your room awaits."

Li entered and her first look was to the beds. “Sorry Dar, we may have to push a chair over to the end to give you a footrest.” She sat down on the other bed and bounced up and down. “Not bad. A hell of a lot better than those Klingon bunks. And I'm betting a real shower. Those aren't normally high on a warrior’s list of necessary amenities.”

"I'll let you take the shower first while I figure out my bed issue," he replied, having already set her bag on the dresser and his on the unoccupied bed.

“Thanks, you’re a peach. I don’t care what Gilroy says.” With a laugh, she hopped up and ran off to the shower.

To Be Continued…

*************

Captain Li Hawke
Commander Oralia Zeferino
Lt. Michael Darwin
Suresh