Whereabouts Known And Unknown

Posted on Sat Jun 20th, 2015 @ 10:12pm by Lieutenant Commander Gaelan Tor & Lieutenant Tobin Ayo & Commander Adara Gunnar

Mission: Further Challenges
Location: USS Pasadena / Commander Gunnar's Quarters

Lt. Tobin Ayo stood at the portal in his quarters on the USS Pasadena, dressed in sweatpants and a tank top, his hands pressed to the bulkhead on either side, watching as they exited the wormhole. The entry had been a spectacular sight and the exit was no less impressive. Even now, the thrill of traversing the ‘new’ wormhole, the one that cut straight through to the Delta Quadrant was a thrill. What would have been a decades-long trip suddenly was a matter of four hours from the Beta Quadrant. Utterly remarkable. And now Tobin was joining the crew who would be building the first Federation colony in the Delta Quadrant. It was the true frontier. SB900 had opened the way and now they were moving beyond, establishing a foothold on what was now a Federation planet.

Now that they were out of the wormhole and in the Delta Quadrant, Tobin found himself restless and anxious to get to 900. He was also anxious on another front. All his requests to Starfleet had returned with a “request denied, information classified’ response. What was even stranger is that Fritz had received the same response and he hadn’t heard from Gaelan either. Worry had taken up residence within Tobin days ago and lingered, growing stronger by the day. There was one person who might know and while she claimed she had no idea where Gae was, Tobin knew better. He had a day left on the ship, it was worth a shot. He sat at his terminal and opened a channel to Adara.

“‘ello?” Adara appeared onscreen, definitely out of uniform. All Tobin would see on the screen was that her hair was mussed and her shoulders bare.

He raised his eyebrows in surprise. “Am I interrupting, ‘Dara?”

“..no!” She started to answer him but was interrupted by a flying body coming in for a landing, “Augh!”, she hollered and disappeared from the screen. “Cody! No! Stop it! Go chase this!” She appeared in the viewscreen again, trying to get her hair out of her face. “Tobin! Sorry about that. Cody’s a bit... a... energetic since his stasis wore off.” Finally, she looked somewhat together and smiled at him across the lightyears. “What causes you to call?”

“We just exited the wormhole, so I’ll be landing in approximately twenty hours. The Pasadena,” he informed her, then smiled. “Good to see Cody up and around. How’s the station?” He decided to take a roundabout route to the question he really wanted to ask. “I keep hearing from the crew here that it is enormous.”
“It is. And it has weirdness here that isn’t n... well, no, it is related to the crew here. There’s a giant spider on the Station that talks and goes on away missions. And it’s owned by the Chief of Security!” She shook her head, as if unable to believe it herself.

“So that means a dog likely won’t be a surprise to anyone,” he concluded. “Good. I suspect I’ll be much like Cody by the time I get off this ship. I'll try to resist tackling you, however.”

“Not only will I appreciate that, but I’m sure Isi would as well,” Adara laughed, winking at him. “But, yeah, having Cody here isn’t a problem.”

“Glad to hear it.” Tobin’s bright smile reappeared. “I need to see Isi once he gets in too. I’ve got some things to go over with him regarding Sickbay, but they can wait till he arrives. Dr. Sala said no rush on it.”

“He’ll be here in a week or so,” she told him, “or you can conference with him via comm.”

“I may do that once I land and have a day to unwind. I want some real food when I land. No offence to my hardworking replicator but steak’s just not the same.” He laughed and shook his head. “So, my fearless CO, will you be meeting me when my feet hit dry land?”

“Well... it isn’t dry land, but I’ll meet you when you dock at 900 and then we’ll find some food. So far, Dr. Sala has shown me a place called Cravings. Good food, definitely fresh. But there are lots of places here to eat. Makes me wonder how the crew here stays in shape,” she mused aloud. Silently, she wondered whether Tor would be at this dinner; she also wondered just when Tobin was going to ask about Tor.

“Well, as big as it is, I suspect that they keep walking it off.” He paused, watching her image in the screen. He knew she was waiting for him to ask and the thought made him smile. “So let’s hear it Adara. Where is she?”

“I could play the whole, “She who?” game, Tobin,” she laughed, “But I won’t, of course. Her location is classified, as you have been told. I don’t even know where she is right now.” Holding up her hands and shrugging, Adara looked apologetic. Cody horned in under one hand, making her pet him; he glanced at the screen but wasn’t curious about it.

“Classified, yes, so Starfleet keeps telling me.” Tobin sighed, frustrated, and brushed back his hair. “You know I love you Adara but if anyone knows where Gae is it’s you. Tell me this then...why did she leave without a word? Fritz has gone mental, I swear to you.”

“She had her reasons, I’m sure, Tobin. As for Fritz,” she shrugged a shoulder, “oh well. Once she comes around, you can ask... no, maybe you shouldn’t ask her anything. Just be glad she’s there. Could you do that?”

He pursed his lips before he spoke and when he did his voice was hushed. “You have no idea how glad I’d be, Adara. As long as she wasn’t hiding from me.” But her words worried him. It made him wonder if something hadn’t happened to Gaelan that he wasn’t being told about. “Maybe one of these days she’ll decide to find me.”

“Perhaps she will,” Adara nodded. She was feeling a bit lost as a matchmaker; maybe she shouldn’t have requested Tobin as her Chief Engineer. The whole thing could blow up on her. “I don’t think she’s hiding from you, Tobin.”

“That’s a relief at least,” he replied. That meant the issue lay elsewhere, either Fritz or the station. That train of thought was laid aside, however. “If you hear from her, give her my best. That’s all I ask. Well, that and a good steak once I land.”

“I will, Tobin. And I’ll find the best steakhouse on the Station before you get here,” she smiled. “Anything else from me right now?”

“No sir.” He smiled and saluted. “See you tomorrow.”

“Yes, you will,” she winked and closed the commlink. She then turned to Cody and, grabbing his head in her hands, playfully demanded, “Who’s a good boy? Oh! You’re a good boy! Yes you are!” He rewarded her with a wet tongue bath.

Tor emerged from the kitchen and tossed a towel to Adara. “How is he?”

“Going nuts,” she wiped dog slobber from her face. “He fears you’re hiding from him. You aren’t, are you?”

Gaelan dropped into a chair with a grumble. “I’m not hiding me from him, I guess….I guess I’m hiding all that from him. Which probably isn’t fair, is it? I just assumed how he would take it without giving him the chance to react.”

“He might have the same reaction I’ve had - that of wanting to kill Marsh, reverse time, or something.... to take your pain away.”

Gaelan nodded. “If he had known at the time, he’d probably be in prison right now.” That brought another, equally horrible fact to mind and she sucked in a breath. “Fritz is lucky he isn’t there now.” The last was said quietly. It was time Adara knew why she had wanted to disappear, why she had to get away….especially since Adara had been such a help in that disappearing.

“How so?” Adara rolled Cody’s ball down the corridor and he scrambled after it.

“This must never leave this room,” Tor began. “Two other people know this and that’s it, but….” she paused only a moment. She had to get it out now or she never would. “He is the reason Marsh is dead.”

“Marsh had a heart attack,” Adara asserted. She didn’t want to make any connections.

Tor shook her head. “No. Well, that may have been the end result, but it was not natural.” She stopped, watching Adara, waiting for the light to dawn.

The light dawned, making Adara wince and groan, “Ugh... by the gods. So Fritz is the one that got.... oh, I can see why you left, Gae.”

Tor nodded. “Now you know,” she said simply.

“Yeah.” She rubbed her temple. “I don’t think Tobin would react that poorly.”

“I won’t ever tell him that part. I’m already an accessory, technically speaking, no need making him one. Not that it will come out. I trust the other two people.” Tor shrugged. “So, tomorrow. What are you planning? I can see the wheels turning.”

“Tomorrow, the only plan I have is to go meet Tobin at the dock and take him out to dinner. Do you want to go with us? I think he might be thrilled... well, he might hate me, but he’d likely be thrilled to see you.”

Tor thought about it and finally nodded. “I think so, yes. It might be a good way to break the ice where things will stay neutral. Tobin’s always been very ‘touchy’ with me. This way, we’ll be out in public.” She nodded once more. “Definitely yes. Where are we going?”

“Touchy? As in feelings-wise or grabby-touchy?” Adara’s background in Security was kicking in.

“Hands on,” Tor answered. “Not in a bad way, of course, but after so many years, it’s just second nature for him where I’m concerned. I’ll deal with it.”

“Okay,” Adara backed off the subject. “We’re going to a steakhouse... which means I need to find a good one sometime tomorrow. Maybe I should let Cody hunt that down?” She laughed.

“And casual. He’d been traveling for weeks, I can tell you the last thing he'll want to do is dress up.” Tor picked up the ball Cody had returned and tossed it back down the hall. “It’s late and I am meeting with Commander Nalas in the morning about some rebels. So I’m going to drag my butt next door and get some sleep.”

“Okay, good night, Gae.” Adara waved to her friend as she left then caught Cody and whispered in his ear. The dog bounded up and down and hopped towards the door as Adara grabbed a jacket and found his boomerang. They were going back to the arboretum for a good run.

************
Commander Adara Gunnar
In a Quagmire

Lt. Tobin Ayo
In For A Surprise

Lt. Commander Gaelan Tor
One Secret Revealed