Edwards, We Have A Problem - Part II

Posted on Sun Jul 12th, 2015 @ 8:34pm by Cadet Senior Grade Chance Conradi & Ignatius Reilly & Cadet Senior Grade Eli Ziyad
Edited on on Tue Dec 6th, 2022 @ 12:24pm

Mission: Further Challenges
Location: Enara Prime

Eli followed with Iggy riding on his shoulder. As they reached the door, it opened and Loran slipped out. Spying Eric’s weapon, he held up his hands.

“No need for that, Eric,” he said, keeping his voice level. “This doesn’t concern you. We don’t want Chance hurt, he’s not the problem.”

His words hit Eli like a sledge hammer. “We? What do you mean we? And if he’s not the problem then who…..” Realization his and Eli’s voice died away.

He is not of our persuasion, is he?, Iggy asked.

“No, Iggy, not in any way,” Eli answered. “What do you want, Loran?” His voice had taken on a sharp edge.

“You. Come with me, little brother and we’ll let him go. I promise. Then the rest of you can go home to 900 and we can all go about our lives.”

"Not my problem," Eric repeated with a laugh. "Loran, in what universe do you live where assaulting two Federation citizens and threatening a third would not be my problem," he asked, even as he depressed the trigger on his phaser, set to stun Eli's brother. After Bren, he had adopted something of a shoot first, ask questions later mentality. He had also resolved to carry more weapons, as his bag was now a testament.

Loran dodged just a moment too late and dropped to the ground, his body still for now. Eli looked up at the house and could sense people drawn by the noise and they were moving towards the front door. He turned to Eric and motioned to the back of the house.


“They’re moving to the front. We have to get Chance out now! Iggy, keep your head down.” Without waiting for an answer, he took off around the side of the house.

I always keep my head down, Iggy commented, then grabbed a tighter hold on Eli as he dashed away with her. Wooo! Gitty up!

"Eli, wait!" Eric called, before cursing under his breath. He made to dash after him, but not before rolling two more photon grenades down the hall, gifts for their visitors. He glanced at Loran's unmoving form but left him for the time being. Protecting Eli had to be his focus.

Eli reached the back door and yanked it open. Given the chaos, he chose to speak to Eric a little more directly. Back stairs! There’s someone with Chance but I think your first grenade knocked them out. They are the only ones up here. He bounded up the stairs, keeping one hand on Iggy.

Eric was quick to follow, but mildly perturbed that his charge was running headlong into danger.

Turn here and duck!, Iggy cried, pulling on Eli's hair as if it were a horse's reins. Augh! As Eli ducked, something whooshed over his head, missing Iggy by a margin of error she did not appreciate.

“Almost there. Sorry Iggs,” Eli panted. They reached the second floor and he dashed into the room where Chance was being held. A woman was stretched out on the floor unconscious, and Chance was restrained in a chair. “Eric!”

Iggy ordered Eli, Put me down!

Eli did as she ordered, then moved over to begin work on the restraints as he waited for Eric.

The spider hustled over to the woman and crawled atop her. This is the woman who tried to put me in a box.

The Lieutenant turned the corner into the room and surveyed it quickly, then poked his head back out into the corridor, wary for signs of pursuit. "Hurry and get him untied," he said, keeping his voice low, "and look for his comm badge."

“Iggy, use those eyes. You see his badge anywhere?” Eli worked feverishly, finally loosening the bonds. Chance, wake up…..you have to wake up so we can get you out of here. The thoughts he planted in Chance’s head were colored with desperation. “Okay, he’s loose. I’m trying to wake him up.”

"Wha..?" A groggy Chance started coming around. He groaned and reached for his head. "What the fuck was in that coffee?", he grumbled.

Iggy, meanwhile, had been looking around the room, tasting the air with her pedipalps and mouth. Ugh, she complained, Chance's commbadge is here, Eli. She had a leg under a bedside table.

Eli swept his hand under the table and his fingers closed around the badge. “Got it.” He stopped as the muffled sound of footsteps reached them. “We have to get out of here. Get on, Iggy.”

I can go out the window, she offered. That was sort of fun. Scary, but fun. when Eli said no, she latched onto him and crawled up to her usual riding spot.

"Where are we?" Chance asked, looking around the room. He saw the woman and followed up with, "Did I miss a party?"

“Later,” Eli answered. “Can you walk? We have to get out of here, they’re coming up the front stairs and it’s not to pat me on the back and tell me what a good boy I am.” He stood and pulled Chance to his feet.

"Yeah, I can walk," Chance stood with Eli's help. He wavered and would have folded back down, but Eli had a hold on him. "Whatever was in that coffee packs a whollop."

Might have been the stun grenade, too, Iggy suggested.

"Stun grenade! Who the --!" Chance started, but Eric cut him off.

"That would have been me," Eric said as he took the badge from Eli and unceremoniously slapped it to Chance's chest. He checked Iggy, then reached for his tricorder. A few commands later and he looked to the group.

"Energizing," he announced as he uplinked with the Lapidus's transporter and, in a swirl of blue, they were deposited in the living room of Eli's parents.

"It's not safe here after Loran." Eric was already in motion, heading up the stairs to gather his things. "Grab your gear. Eli, make sure you have your paperwork."

“Gotcha.” Eli deposited Iggy on the dining room table next to his surprised parents. “Explain it to them Iggy. We may have five minutes at most.” Then he was gone, dragging Chance with him up the stairs.

Iggy described her daring rescue of Chance, complete with a detailed account of her terrifying leap from a second floor window and how she had neutralized the woman by biting her (never mind the stun grenade Eric had lobbed through the window). Her animated tale continued with a description of her guiding Eli in a headlong rush up the stairs, where she averted Eli's head and made them narrowly miss being shot by something. And then we picked Chance up from the floor and came back here.

“Loran was there? He’s part of this?” Irina was having a difficult time processing the idea that her older son was part of some plot to lure in and capture her younger one.

Eric stormed back down the stairs, slamming his tricorder shut in frustration, just in time to hear Irina's complaint. He was cursing under his breath even as he slung his full duffel over his shoulder.

"I lost the uplink to Lapidus," he explained, loud enough to be overheard upstairs. Whether it was sabotage or a fluke, he couldn't be sure. "Looks like we're hoofing it. And I'm sorry," he added to Irina. "You've been nothing but hospitable and I shot your son. Only stun," he quickly added, "but I couldn't let anything happen to Eli."

"You shot Loran?" Maran stared at Eric, working to process that, along with the arachnid's story.

"It wasn't personal," Chance answered, "Trust me. Eric also bombed me with a stun grenade." He dropped a bag on the floor but held Iggy's box out to her.

No! Not the box! Iggy hid behind Irina's long skirt, holding the material so she could look out at Chance.

Irina had taken a quick run through Eli’s memories of the preceding two hours and shook her head. “I think you’d better, Iggy. You all need to move fast. If they are looking for you, you only have a few minutes left to get out.” She hugged Eli tight for just a moment. “Keep us informed.” Then she looked to Chance. “I’m sorry you are caught in all this. Keep your head down.” She squeezed his hand. “Take the catacombs. They open up outside town and you should be able to lose them there.”

"It wouldn't be a bad idea for the two of you to take an impromptu vacation, either," Eric suggested. "If they're looking for Eli, they will come here." He turned to regard Eli. "You know these catacombs well enough for us to get near the runabout?"

Eli nodded. “I do.” He looked from one parent to the other, then hugged Maran. “If Loran has a shred of decency, he will protect you two. I’ll send word as soon as I can.”

“Be careful, son.” Maran hugged Eli tightly before addressing Chance and Eric, “You two, protect him.” With that, he watched as Eli opened the back door and stepped out.

“Come on, Iggs,” Chance picked the spider up and gave her no choice about going into the box. She grumped about it, quietly for once. “Irina, Maran, we’ll be okay. And... thanks for the hospitality.” He laughed slightly and followed Eli.

"I promise to keep them safe," Eric reassured Maran, just before quietly slipping out after Chance. He hoped it was a promise he could keep.

************
Lt. Eric Edwards
Cadet Junior Class Eli Ziyad
Cadet Junior Class Chance Conradi
Ignatius J. Reilly
Loran Ziyad
Irina Ziyad
Maran Ziyad