A New Conspiracy

Posted on Mon Jul 13th, 2015 @ 9:52pm by Ensign Six of Ten & Suresh & Lieutenant Commander Michael Darwin & Seyla

Mission: Further Challenges
Location: Suresh's Quarters

* The Cherry Pit *

Suresh sat at his terminal, looking back at Six’s face in the viewscreen. She had finished relaying a report on Reva’s injuries and it was enough to turn Suresh’s stomach. Her next words, however, some measure of relief.

“Dr. Harding was able to repair everything and I got to go in and see her. She’s sleeping now but she looks like our normal Reva. Riley’s staying tonight and I’ll be here just a little longer while he goes to eat. Once he is back, I’ll be home.”

“I’ll wait up,” he answered with a smile. “See you soon.”

He closed the channel and ran his hand over his face. He knew this life wasn’t going to be easy on Six but this evening had taken a most unexpected turn. Reva’s presence in the Pit, and her dislike of him, had put him in a difficult position. Flexing his muscles against criminals in the process of maintaining his cover was expected. But what was he to do when a Fleet officer, and Six’s best friend, openly defied and insulted him? The old Suresh would have reacted without a thought but in this case, his hands were tied. He couldn’t rough up Reva, for so many reasons, and yet someone seemed to have done it on his behalf. Whoever attacked her had been serious - her injuries were not superficial and just for show. He suspected he knew who, too. That someone had to be convinced to keep Reva out of the Pit, both for her own safety and for this operation.

His musings were interrupted by the door chime. Rising from his chair, he crossed and opened the door to find Darwin standing there.

A livid Darwin advanced on Suresh, "If you had so much as a toenail involved in this, I will feed you to Ignatius myself. So 'fess up, Suresh, what happened?"

“Do come in.” Suresh closed the door behind Darwin and motioned to the sofa. “Have a seat unless you’d rather pace. As for ‘this’, I should hope by now you know me better than that? I was home with Six, at least until Patch arrived to give us the news that Reva had been beaten to a pulp and left by the turbolift.”

Darwin watched him closely. "That doesn't mean a thing. Suresh wouldn't have done this himself. He never got his hands dirty. You could have ordered it done." He paced now.

Suresh sat down on the sofa and watched him. “Seriously?” He shook his head. “Look, Darwin, if this operation is going to be successful, you are going to have to learn not to doubt your plant every other minute. You know me well enough by now to know I wouldn’t have this done either, for a whole host of reasons. She’s Fleet and that would be asking for trouble to start roughing up the people I'm working for. She’s also Six’s closest friend and Six would know in a second if I had this done. Plus, I’m not that kind of man and you know it.”

"I don't know that, Suresh," Darwin argued. "Reva took a dislike to you and has been pushing at you ever since," he stopped, realizing that almost the same could be said of Oz and Gilroy with him. Yet Surie hadn't done a thing to either of them. 'Course, they hadn't been poking at him in public. "Maybe not," he calmed down a notch. "Tell me your theory, Suresh. How and why."

“I’m so glad to see that despite everything I did for the officers here, the minute we get home, it’s all out the airlock and forgotten.” His tone was dry. “As for Reva, I was just thinking about her when you arrived and she is a serious problem down here. Earlier at Saturnalia, she ranted at me about Six, even going so far as to mention Six resigning from the Fleet, which wasn’t really known publicly. She dumped a drink on my head, which as you can understand, would have sent the old Suresh into a rage and he likely would have decked her on the spot. I can’t do that to her for obvious reasons and if I am to be believable, we’ve got to keep her away from here or people will wonder why I haven't just killed her by now.”

"Suresh would have done a lot more than just hit her. As for Six's resignation from the Fleet - it might not have been known down here yet, but it would have been. This is just a little sooner than we thought. In that way, her rant at you... makes Six's situation all the more believable." Darwin rubbed his face and paced. "Gods...," he sighed, "this... You have to take the credit on this, Suresh. Just like in the past, Suresh is untouchable by Security because there's no evidence linking him to the crime. I hated that then and I hate it just as much now."

“And will Security and the Intel folks know the truth? Because I’ll tell you, having the people who are supposed to be on my side starting to treat me like I AM the old Suresh is not making me happy.” Suresh sighed aloud. “Would you believe that I even have two of my men watching out for her ass? Whoever did this knew exactly where she would be and when and followed her.”

"She took a stroll through the night market, so she could have attracted attention from the wrong people. If you had someone watching out for her... where were they when this happened?"

“That is what I intend to find out. Do you know where she was before the attack?” Suresh frowned a moment. “About the only place they can’t really watch her is when she’s at Seyla’s place.”

"That's where she was. Then her stroll through the market. When she turned down the corridor for the turbolift, two guys came at her." Darwin knew where this pointed and he didn't like it. He'd never known Seyla to hurt one of her own... no, instead, Suresh had always done it. And now Suresh wasn't exactly the toughest guy on the block anymore. "I can't see Seyla ordering someone to beat Reva like this. She's been treating Reva like a daughter."

“Patch said there was a glass on the floor beside her, which would point to someone making a statement about her behavior in Saturnalia.” Suresh shook his head and his train of thought was moving in Seyla’s direction. “And who, besides me, had a vested interest in upholding my reputation?” He stood and smoothed his trousers. “I think we need to see Seyla. She may treat Reva like a daughter but if that ‘daughter’ is turning into a hazard to the business, guess which one wins?”

"I'm thinking with my humanity too much; Orions don't see their daughters and sons the same way, do they?" It was rhetorical; Darwin knew that Orions would sell their children in order to turn a profit.

“No, they don’t,” Suresh replied. “So, we find out the truth, then can you, as Security, ban Reva from coming down here? Lock her in her room? Something? She’s making this all a lot more difficult and dangerous, both to herself and us.”

"I just talked to her Chief. She'll be on house arrest for two weeks as punishment for ...getting attacked, basically. The official reason is conduct unbecoming. I'm fitting her with an anklet later today. She can go to work and go home. That's it. So she'll be safe for two weeks, at least. By then, hopefully someone will have distracted her from Seyla." Darwin didn't really think anyone would or could.

“Will that stick?” Suresh asked. “Granted, I’m glad she will be out of harm’s way but you know she’ll raise hell and claim she’s being persecuted for being the victim.” He smiled for a moment now. “At least she’ll be ranting at you for a change and not me.”

"It's actually for her actions at Saturnalia." Darwin shrugged. "It's harsh, but I convinced Jenkins that Reva's a wild one and needs some guidance. When a senior security officer takes an interest in another department's Ensign, the Chief takes notice, too."

“I see. Well, I’m glad she won’t be down here, though I’m sorry she had to learn the hard way what we’ve been telling her all along.” Suresh stopped by his terminal. “Do you want me to call Sey? Have her join us?”

"Yeah. Call her, get her to come here," Darwin agreed. He went over to Suresh's bar, motioned at it with a silent question to Suresh then poured himself a drink.

“Make it two, Dar. This long night is about to get longer I think.” He sent word to Seyla’s quarters. “Is she even home? I’ve heard she’s been scarce around here lately.”

Darwin grimaced, realizing that at this late hour, Seyla was likely asleep beside Doctor Harding. "Lemme try," he said, bumping Suresh from the terminal. He routed a comm line through Security and, then with a few verbal orders, soon had a spitting mad Orion in Suresh's living room. He smiled at her and passed her a throw from the back of Suresh's couch and commented, "Maybe you shouldn't sleep naked, Sey."

She slapped him, even as she took the blanket. "You sonofabitch, Darwin. What is so damned important you'd transport me without warning?"

"Funny thing, Sey... You didn't go see Reva tonight. Not worried about your little kitten having been hurt?", Darwin snidely asked her.

"I had other things to see to," she hissed at him. "It doesn't lessen my concern for her."

“Oh?” Suresh looked her over and, catching a faint whiff of her scent, made a mental note to replace that blanket once Seyla was done with it. He suddenly wished Six would get home. She’d be able to sense if Seyla was lying. “We’re all a little curious who would do such a thing to a foolish young girl. My own men knew nothing about it.”

"The ones you asked know nothing about it," she corrected him. She went to the replicator and traded the blanket for a dress. She had no modesty in front of these two, or anyone really, but wanted to be appropriately attired for the coming argument; she added her own scent to the dress. "But, no, Suresh, your men are quite clueless," she said harshly, "as are you. If someone hadn't taught the little Orion a lesson, talk would spread in the Pit that you're a toothless pansy. Obviously you weren't going to do it." She looked at Darwin, "So I did."

"Don't do that, Seyla," Darwin demanded as he closed the distance between them. "I'm already angry enough I feel like shooting you just because! Add that to the mix and you'll have me and Suresh trying to kill each other. It's all fun and games to you, isn't it? Your men could have permanently injured her!", he shouted at her, his hands curled into fists.

Suresh took hold of Darwin’s arm and led him back to the sofa. “He’s right, Seyla. Six said she almost lost her eye. Down here is a playground for you and Reva thinks it’s the same for her. She has no clue what down here is really all about, nor how to be careful. I’m not even the real danger to her but she refuses to see this is no place for her. That is the real problem here, Sey. You and I have a job to do down here but my hands are tied where Reva is concerned and you know it, which is why she is such a danger to us. She puts me in a position that the old Suresh would react to and I can’t without trouble with Security. Keep her away.”

Angrily, Seyla faced Suresh and hissed, "Had you told me before that she was causing an issue, I might have been able to prevent her from publicly humiliating you and revealing your impotence. Instead, I learned of her performance from her evening's paramour. I know what my Suresh would have done, and I knew she couldn't go unpunished. Do you think I wanted to have her hurt?" She shot looks at the two that said they were crazy if they thought that. "You two," she pointed at them, "have jobs to do down here. The only thing I have to do is help you look the part. I've done that. I've done it two-fold: everyone will know that Suresh took a pound of flesh from her; Reva learns that not every place on the Station is safe."

Darwin let out an inarticulate shout then shouted, "Dammit! And there's not a goddammned thing I can do about it!" He glared at Seyla. "I can't take you or your men in because that reveals that Suresh didn't order it." His ire only got worse as Seyla slyly grinned at him.

Suresh sighed aloud. “He’s right. And it’s not that I don’t appreciate what you did, Seyla. It’s just a twisted situation. If Reva stays away, and any sane person would after suffering what she did, we should be fine. Just so you know, my men think I used outside help on this one, given that it could turn into a real bonfire where the Fleet is concerned and I wanted to keep them clean.” Something Seyla said minutes ago suddenly struck him. “You mentioned her paramour for the evening? Not Riley? Six said he was at sickbay but had been at home when they called him.”

"Not Riley. I've met him. He's a bit ...staid, don't you think?" Seyla's nose wrinkled in distaste. "She was with some other fellow."

Darwin muttered, "Please tell me he wasn't...," he changed what he was going to say from 'paying her' to "...Fleet."

"No, not Fleet," she shook her head.

Suresh shrugged, then looked at Darwin. “You want to tell her where Reva will be the next two weeks?”

"Home or work, Seyla. Nowhere else."

"What!? But she'll be... Think of how bored she'll be!", Seyla protested. Two weeks without her influence? What would happen after that? "Can she have guests?"

"Oh, sure," Darwin nodded, "Unless I put the guest on a no-visit list. You're going to be at the top of it."

"You wouldn't!" Seyla said.

"I've considered having her 'home' be Riley's place and restricting all guests. But... Riley might need a break at some point." Darwin replied.

Suresh snorted at that. “I thought you wanted to punish her, not him.” He looked over to Seyla. “I think, Sey, that the boredom is part of the cure. She needs to learn that when he tells her to stay away from here, he means business.”

"Barbaric," Seyla spit, "Boredom is what brings her down here."

Darwin looked at Suresh and asked, "Seriously? Being locked in a room with her at night? I bet I could find more than a few guys who'd volunteer for that, Surie. He might just need medical attention after a couple of days."

“And it would work until her inhibitors ran out, she blasted him senseless and took off.” Suresh frowned and shook his head. “Sorry, she just strikes me so far as one who won’t listen to reason. But it’s not my call, nor yours Seyla. I sincerely hope this incident opens her eyes a little. Six did say that they are keeping her tonight and sending her home tomorrow.”

"Yup, she's in Piper at least till the morning. Riley's staying with her. Seyla, which two of your guys did this anyway?"

She shook her head, "Oh no, I'm not telling. You can't punish them."

Darwin swore. "Fine. Go away. Go back to Wil-- whoever or home."

Darwin’s slip caught Suresh’s attention, but he held his tongue until Seyla was gone. “Will?” he asked.

"Will I what?" Darwin looked at him, the picture of innocence.

“Go back to Will…” he quoted. “Spill it.”

"Not much to spill. You mentioned Seyla's been scarce around here lately. You think she has plans to always be making her money on her back?" Darwin shrugged and shook his head. "She's hitched herself to someone with enough clout to make others not mention what she does."

Suresh just shook his head and laughed. “Well, well. Wonders never cease, I guess. Are you really putting her on the no visit list?” As he finished the question, the doors opened and a tired Six wandered in.

"Yeah. It might be a short 'can visit' list instead," Darwin was thinking this up as he went. "Hey, Six."

“Hey Dar.” She settled on the sofa and Suresh wrapped an arm around her. “Hell of a night, huh? Ophelia made it clear it was some serious stuff.”

"Hand spanners are no joke," Darwin said. "Now that you're here to keep Suresh company, I'm heading out. Good night." He let himself out.

“Saying good night is an excellent idea, angel,” Suresh murmured. “It’s beyond late. I’ll catch you up in the morning.” He didn’t wait for an answer, but scooped her up and carried her off to bed.

*****************
Suresh
Lt. M. Darwin
Seyla
Ensign Six of Ten
Not Telling