Intelligence Matters

Posted on Sun Aug 7th, 2011 @ 3:21pm by Commander Oralia Zeferino & Captain Li Hawke

Mission: In Our Time of Need
Location: The Wormhole
Timeline: Following 'Separated By Light Years'

* * The Wormhole * *

The hour had grown late and the Wormhole was even more crowded. Following Li's call to Sakkath, their quarters had seemed even more empty and prowling from room to room made it that much worse. She decided she needed to get out, go for a walk, be around people - unusual since crowds were something she liked to avoid unless working. Still, The Wormhole was a great place to get 'the dirt' as Nenita liked to call it. Li let her hair down, fluffed it a bit, then dressed in something suitable for the dark, seedy bar. A low-cut dress in deep red that left her shoulders bare would do nicely.

A bit later, she stepped into the bar and took a few minutes to let her eyes adjust. Tonight, no mental walls were erected and the vast array of emotions from the bar's inhabitants swirled in her mind. She moved forward, scanning the crowd as she aimed for the bar. And there, she spied a familiar, and welcome, face.

Barely smiling, Oralia met Li's eyes and nodded at her, slightly tipping her beer in Li's direction. Like Li, she was in the Wormhole gathering 'intelligence' on the goings on in the Starbase's underbelly. She'd dressed appropriately, in dark leather pants and a barely-there shirt under a black jacket; her long hair was plaited into a convoluted braid. Moving towards Li, she greeted her, "Hey, fancy running into you here."

"How've you been? I was thinking of you earlier, Jackson mentioned you'd been in to the Nexus." The bartender was looking at Li now and she nodded to him. Moments later, a bright blue drink was placed before her. "It's been crazy since our guests arrived and I've hardly had time to think, or I would've called."

"It's been a little insane for me, too. Taking over as a DH has been just a little stressful, little time consuming." Oz grinned tightly. "Add to that that I'm just starting to learn the Starbase and all of its little quirks."

"And there are plenty." Li sipped her drink and smiled. "I know a little spot that has a great view down near the bottom of the station if you want to get away and not be found for a little while. I'll show you when we have the time."

"I'd appreciate that. Might be a nice place to take Connor," Oz cut her comment short and instead asked, "How are you and Sakkath doing? He's off on the Takei, isn't he?"

"Yes, I spoke to him tonight actually. It's going to be a tough run for them. What they have to do is manage the impossible it sounds like. Why the Divitians waited so long to ask for help is a question we cannot answer but it would have made it much easier if they hadn't. Otherwise, he's fine but....too far away."

As a human, Oralia didn't even think of the telepathic ramifications of Sakkath's absence on the Betazoid; she knew, though, that if it were Connor who was away on the Takei, she'd miss him. "I take it you're here, then, because your quarters are too quiet without Sakkath?"

"Too quiet, too empty. Norval has been good about trying to keep me entertained." She shrugged. "But it was too quiet tonight and I had to get" out. Normally I avoid crowds but the idea held a certain appeal tonight."

Oz was just about to reply when a male walked past and touched her arm and back. She grimaced and gave the male the evil eye, which caused him to withdraw quickly. Looking at Li, she said, "Crowds rarely appeal to me. Too much, too many." She shuddered and smiled slightly.

"I could not agree more. Crowds can be a problem for me. I'm not blocking tonight as it's useful for gathering information and such but --" Li stopped, her hand tightening on her glass. She seemed to be listening to something and then began to casually scan the crowd.

"But can be a real conversation killer, huh?" Oz winked and sipped her drink even as she, too, took a turn at people-watching. There were a few who were watching the two women; more were watching their own drinks or cards or whatever business they were up to. Glancingly, she made eye contact with a male in the back corner; he was doing just as she'd hoped he would: gathering the information that she couldn't.

"He's here." Li's voice softened as she leaned closer to Oz. "A man who ran into Norval and I when we were out two nights ago. No idea who he is but I got the distinct impression that night that he expected Sakkath to be with me."

"Naughty Li, stepping out on Sakkath with his second in charge. Tsk," Oz teased. She shifted to be even closer to Li and asked, "Can you pick out who this 'he' is?"

A local male was rising from a table halfway across the bar and Li nodded slightly in that direction. "There. What has me curious is why he would know who my mate is or anything about us."

"Same reason why half the patrons in here know I'm the Security Chief: curiosity about the department heads," Oralia theorized.

"It felt to me that it was Sakkath he was looking for. I think it's time Nenita met some of the local wildlife." Li fell silent as the man began to move, waking purposely in their direction. "We are about to have company, Oz."

Oz had glanced towards the man when Li had nodded towards him. Now she looked into the mirror opposite them and watched the male approach.

He gave a slight bow as he reached the two ladies. He took a moment to look Oz over, appreciation registering on his face before he turned back to Li. His expression then grew thoughtful. Li watched him intently, her own expression guarded. They were both silent for several long moments, but Oz had the distinct impression that something was passing between them.

This was one of the reasons why Oz ordinarily didn't like telepaths: the whole silent conversation that she couldn't be a party to really irked her. Still, she remained silent, since she trusted Li. After another long moment passed, however, her patience ended and she interrupted, "Hey, hey... if you're going to come over and make eyes at my friend and me, at least buy us drinks."

"Of course, my apologies for interrupting." He signalled the bartender and requested that he open a tab for the ladies and charge it to him. Then with another bow, and a wink at Oz, he moved off through the crowd.

"Well...hell." Li did not curse often. She turned to order another drink.

"Did I interrupt too soon?"

"No. He said he wanted to make sure I was alright since he knocked me down when he dashed out the door. He's also lying. I couldn't see much more than that before he withdrew." She grumbled aloud. "But now you've seen his face, he'll bear watching."

"I'll have a few security crewmembers assigned," Oz said, already pulling out a small PADD, and tapped in a message to her assistant.

"Thanks. I want Nenita to work with you since he doesn't know her face as far as I know. Sakkath is somewhat vigilant after what happened on the Berkeley and has a monitoring program in our quarters. I'll have it report to you too if anything happens. Thanks Oz. But he's made a grave misjudgment if he really wants to tangle with either of us." Li smiled finally.

"Yes, yes, he has," Oz laughed quietly and cast one more glance in the direction the guy had gone. "Hey, change of subject to something much better... sort of: Connor moved in."

"He did? Well congratulations." Li raised her glass in a toast, then took a sip. "This is where I tell you I'm glad you took your time and made sure it was right. That's something coming from me, and a courtship of a few hours." More like a few seconds, Li thought, remembering her first meeting with Sakkath.

"Made sure it was right?" Oz scoffed and shook her head. "Time will tell on that. I mean... I think it's right, but," she shrugged one shoulder, "who knows." She smiled and, if Li happened to read her, her underlying emotions revealed it was right.

"I think, Oz, that we know if it's right or not no matter how long or short the time together is. And my line of work has convinced me that life is precious and may not always be there. We need to grab it while we have it, literally." She studied Oz a moment, then nodded. "As to your uncertainty, that's your head talking. Go with your heart. It knows he's what you want."

Ah, yeah, discussions with Betazoids. Oz smiled and nodded. "He does make me happy." Remembering what her brother had said, she asked, "Have you and Sakkath talked or thought about kids?"

Li blinked, caught off guard with the question. "Kids? Us? well, not exactly. I mean, my parents would be thrilled, and his family likely expects it but I don't exactly have the safest job in the universe. Not to be a downer but I could get picked off anytime, you know?"

"Aren't you the one who just talked about 'grabbing life'?" She chuckled. "I apologize. My brother is on the Starbase now, as one of the cadets, and he put thoughts in my head about kids. Grandkids, really, for our parents."

"It would also make my job very difficult. That sounds selfish, I know. And strangely, when the question arose, we were not on a starbase and settled. The likelihood of having to go undercover anytime soon and leaving the base is remote since so much happens here that I am needed to run the department."

Oralia held up a hand and shook her head, "No need to explain to me, Li, really. I'm not exactly beating down Connor's door to sign on for children. That'd be... um... irresponsible of me at this point." Irresponsible because she knew herself: she'd bolt from her relationship with Connor at the first sign that he was unhappy.

"It's funny, I never really minded being away from Rhys and as he reminded me when he arrived on the Berkeley, out of the previous twelve months, we had been together a total of about 45 days. Not even two months. Life changes, yes?"

"That it does, Li," Oralia lightly touched Li's forearm.

"And it all happens for a reason, though sometimes we wish it might be a little less...eventful. we both can appreciate that."

"Eh, if it takes almost being killed in order to find - or be with - someone who makes us happy..., who am I to complain?" Smiling, Oz drank the last of her beer.

"I suspect Sakkath would have preferred a much calmer chain of events but he never complained." Li laughed and shook her head. From across the bar, she caught a wave of a hand and nodded slightly.

Oz laughed as well. "Do Vulcans ever complain?" She caught the waved hand and Li's answering nod. "Time to go?"

"A friend, you might say. With any luck, I'll get something good to pass on to you."

"Okay." She set her glass on the table. "I'm headed home, to Connor. Be safe," she patted Li's arm and headed out.

"You too, Oz. We'll talk soon." Li lifted her glass for another sip, then strolled through the crowd towards the corner.

*********
Lt. Commander Li Hawke
Chief Intelligence Officer
Home Alone

Lt. Commander Oralia Zeferino
Chief Security Officer
Not Home Alone