All Cloak, No Dagger (yet)

Posted on Sat Jul 11th, 2015 @ 1:50am by Lieutenant Bryce Kendrick & Ensign Six of Ten

Mission: Further Challenges
Location: Deck 52 - Six's Quarters

* Six’s Quarters - Deck 52 *

Six left Darwin behind at the Wormhole, then returned to Suresh’s quarters. Once her bodyguard had departed, she slipped out and took the lift back up to her old quarters. Moments later, she was inside and stood, looking around at what little she had to pack up. It was only a few minutes later that the chime sounded.

“Come in!” she called out.

Bryce opened the door and stepped in. “Hey, Six. Just thought I’d check in with you. How’s it going?”

She smiled at Bryce as he entered. “Been an up and down day and I still need to get my clothes packed. How’re you?” She motioned to the small fridge. “Have a beer and keep me company while I get this stuff together.”

He took a dark bottle from the fridge, opened the top and drank. Walking into her bedroom he saw her packing clothes into one of many bags and leaned on the door frame. “So, packing it all up, huh?”

“Yes.” She smiled a moment as she continued putting her clothes in the bags. “I told Tess this morning. He didn’t take it well. He thinks I’m wasting my life, among other things. Reva agrees, but they can only comment on what they see, right?”

“I guess you’re right,” he said. After watching a few more moments he had to ask, “So, do you think you’re up for this?”

She folded a shirt and dropped it in one of the bags and nodded. “I do. I know it’s not going to be a picnic, as you might say, but it’s vastly more interesting than sitting around translating stuff that the computer could do, for the most part. It was a token position and you know it. Now? I’m actually doing something that matters, Bryce. And getting the chance to prove I’m not still the evil Borg out to assimilate the station and kill everyone in the process.”

He laughed lightly. “Hell, I’ve known that for years. I just worry about you, you know? You can handle yourself, that’s for sure, but this is some pretty serious stuff. Real bad people will be involved and I probably won’t be able to come around as often or it could blow your cover.” He frowned. “I don’t really like that part, kid.”

“Well, I think it can be managed. Nothing says I can’t come up above the equator and if you are out of uniform, no one will be the wiser.” She looked over to Bryce and her expression softened. “It’ll work. As for the dangerous people, it might relieve you to know that I have one of Suresh’s men only a few feet behind me all the time. Well, all the time except right now. I ditched him to come up here and get my stuff. He thinks I’m safely at home watching a movie.”

“I guess that works. Is he in on this cloak and dagger thing as well or does he think Suresh is the real deal?”

“Oh everyone down there thinks he’s really who he appears to be. Your department and Intel are the only ones who know the truth,” she answered. “Which is why I couldn’t have him see me coming up here to an officers’ deck. The only issue I have is the alcove. I’d thought about getting a small room down below to hold it but maybe it should be in Intel. It will be safer there and away from curiosity seekers.”

“Why hide it? They know you’re former Borg and still need it. Who cares if they see it?”

“It could be one more weak spot, don’t you think? If someone wanted to hit me to get to Suresh, destroy that alcove or swipe it and before long, I’m down for the count.” She shrugged as she closed the first bag. “But maybe I worry too much? I don’t know.”

“Hmmm, I didn’t think about it that way,” he said as he lifted one of the finished bags from the bed and carried it out to the living room. “Intel might be your best bet, then, but how to explain to your shadow that you need to disappear for a while without him following you?”

“He’s only on duty when Suresh is not with me.” She grinned at Bryce as he returned to the bedroom. “So, if he thinks I’m covered, he’s not on the clock. At least not on my clock.” She pulled the last of her clothes from the closet, tossed them on the bed and then began to add them to the open bag. “Darwin warned me that I may catch a lot more grief before everyone gets over the idea that I’m giving up a career for a man. Can’t be any worse than my first year on Earth though.”

“If anyone gives you grief, send ‘em to me. I’ll set them straight,” he said, always the big brother. “But I’m not gonna’ lie, this whole thing makes me nervous. But I’m proud of you for doing it.”

“Just so you are aware, I will have my comm badge on me at all times, just hidden. It will also be set not to receive so it doesn’t go off at a bad time. It’s mainly in case I get in over my head and am desperate.” She closed the bag and glanced around the now-empty room. “That’s the last of it.”

Bryce picked up this bag as well and carried it out to the other one. “It sounds like you’ve got a handle on most of it,” he said as she joined him. “Just do me a favor? Keep me in the loop on how you’re doing. Anytime, anywhere, just don’t disappear on me, kid. And if you need help I’ll come running, Suresh and black ops be damned.”

Six followed him to the living room and stopped him with a hand on his arm. “I will, and we should set up a place to meet. Palaxia’s maybe? I don’t think it’s too popular with the below decks crowd. In case of emergency, or if I need to see you at a specific time, I’ll send a message. It may sound like a letter to my old aunt Ethel but you’ll figure it out. There’s always the Wormhole and our other favorite places too. You won’t be the first officer in plainclothes to slum it in Saturnalia. We’ll be fine.”

He regarded her for a moment or two, remember what she was like when he had first met her. She had grown as a person quite a bit since then and really was getting better at being “normal”, despite her upbringing. Slugging the last of the beer, he set the bottle on the table and grabbed her for a big bear hug. “Just be careful, kiddo,” he said as he thumped her back, probably harder than he should have. Letting go he added, “But my offer still stands. I’ll come running anytime.”

She hugged him back, being careful not to damage any ribs and laughed. “I may take you up on it. And it’s good to talk to someone today who’s not lecturing me about Suresh. Seriously. Let’s just hope I’m as good as this as they all seem to think I will be. Now….I need to get this stuff down to Suresh’s place, then you and I are going out for a drink. Meet me back at the Wormhole in a half hour? And request a transport for me directly to his quarters? Then I can make a show of leaving so what’s-his-name can follow like he is supposed to.”

Bryce decided it would be best if he kept any disparaging comments about Suresh to himself. She was a big girl and could make her own decisions. “I can do that,” he said. “Wormhole in half an hour.” Tapping his communicator he requested site-to-site transport for her and her luggage. Once she disappeared, he turned and looked around the empty room, sighed and walked out the door to his own quarters to change.

“I really hope you’re up for this, Six.,” he mumbled as he wandered down the corridor.

****************
Ensign Six of Ten
Packed And Moved

Lt. Bryce Kendrick
Overprotective ‘Til the End