A Twist Of The Knife - Part One

Posted on Tue Aug 18th, 2015 @ 8:24pm by Lieutenant Riley Sukotav & Ensign Six of Ten & Lieutenant Bryce Kendrick

Mission: Further Challenges
Location: Cravings/ The Arboretum

* Cravings - The Promenade *

The previous evening had been an emotional one for Six. First Riley at Saturnalia and his feelings over the breakup with Reva, then Vic at the Nexus. There were times when being an empath was a real pain and that had been one of them. She’d felt every broken hope in Vic as she delivered the news about Suresh’s proposal and hated herself for hurting him. Once home, she’d been flooded with Suresh’s joy over the upcoming wedding, joy that she shared. But it had all been rather exhausting and finally, they’d called it a night. She felt much better today as she strolled along the Promenade towards Cravings. She was a few minutes early so she could warn Bryce about the situation. She could see him now, seated on the patio and she waved to get his attention as she came closer.

“Hey, kiddo,” he said as he wiped his mouth of crumbs. He’d decided to have a bacon cheeseburger, fries and a malted shake but he was having a bit of a time hitting the mark today. “I know, I know. I look like a slob. It’s like my hand and my mouth are on the outs with each other or something.”

Six stepped onto the patio and wrapped her arms around Bryce’s large shoulders from behind. “Good to see you.” She pecked him on the cheek, knowing he’d mutter about it, and laughed. “It’s been too long. I have news!”

“It has been a while. Here,” he said as he pulled out a chair. “Have a seat and spill it. I’m all ears.” He managed to connect his burger with his mouth this time.

Six dropped into the chair and swiped a french fry from his plate. “First, Riley will be here soon. He broke up with Reva after they found him and brought him home, and he’s a little at loose ends. So, I offered to meet him so he can cry on our shoulders.” She finished off the fry and leaned in, speaking softly. “The other I have to tell you before he gets here. Suresh proposed.”

Bryce was mid suck on the straw of the malt and spewed most of what he’d started to draw in all over the table. Following that he coughed like a lung was coming up. It was several moments, and several very hard thuds to his back from Six, before he could catch his breath.

“Oh,” he finally managed to get out. “Are congratulations in order?” He set about gathering the now spoiled food and balling it up in the wrappers they had come in for recycling.

She eyed him warily, in case some other edible substance might come out at her answer. “Yes. I told him yes. Are you going to yell at me? Vic almost did. He wasn’t the least bit happy.”

Bryce sighed. “I can’t yell at you for anything, Six. You’re a grown woman fully capable of making your own decisions. But I would be a horrible friend, and a shitty stand-in brother, if I didn’t offer my congratulations.”

“Thank you for that, and for recognizing I’m not a kid. Vic went so far as to tell me I was too young to be doing this. Honestly.” She crossed her arms and grumped, but then she relaxed. “It’s obviously going to be done in secret, but such is life.” She fell silent as Riley appeared at the door of the patio and waved him over.

“Hi Six.” He smiled and leaned down to kiss her cheek. “Bryce, good to see you. We haven't done this in a while...well….us minus one.” He settled into the empty chair.

Bryce nodded at him and quickly tried to clean up the rest of his mess.
“So what happened?” Six asked. “I thought --”

“Things were fine?” Riley asked. “I guess...I guess I finally got tired of watching her sleeping around with several others. Niro stopping by her place while I was there was just the last straw.” Riley pursed his lips for a moment. “I finally reached the end of my patience. I hoped that maybe she would get past it but I suppose not. And then she was at Saturnalia, all cozied up with him the night after we broke up. Apparently she’s not missing me at all.” He looked from Six to Bryce. “Sorry, Bryce. I don’t mean to be a downer.”

Bryce put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed for a moment. “Don’t worry about it. Sometimes bad things happen to good people. It’s natural to talk about it and ask the big question: why.”

Riley nodded. “I’ve asked that a lot and don’t know that I’ll ever have an answer. Maybe Reva’s right and an Orion just isn’t good for me.” He shrugged. “But what’s done is done.” He reached for Six’s hand and held it tight. “I appreciate the kind ears though.”

“Sure thing, Riley.” Six smiled and squeezed his hand. “That’s what friends are for, you know? Sorry I was in such a hurry yesterday. I had to stop by home and then I had to drop off something at the Nexus. Maybe that’s what you need...a night out to get your mind off things. I can arrange it if you like. Suresh wouldn’t mind, if Bryce was there.”

Riley smiled. “To make sure I don’t try anything? What do you say, Bryce?”

“Well, I guess. I mean, I’m not really doing anything else.” He had kept his shake and slurped down the rest of it. “Sure. Why not? I’m a growing boy! I could eat something else and I haven’t actually dressed up in a while.” He then frowned as he looked at the wad of trash on the table. “I guess I didn’t actually get to eat what I had here, though...so, yeah. I’m in.”

“Good. I can round up a date to even things out a little.” Riley smiled at Six and squeezed her hand once more. “Nothing serious, mind you. Unless I can lure you away from Suresh?” He laughed. “I’m kidding. Look, I need to get going. I’ll make the reservations for tonight? 2000 hours?”

“Sure, that good for you Bryce?” Six looked to Bryce. She smiled, but there was uncertainty in her eyes.

“Uh...yeah?” Bryce replied, noticing Six’s look. “Yeah. Sure. 2000 hours.”

“Great. I’ll see you then.” He leaned over and hugged Six tight. “Thanks, sweets. Bryce, I’ll see you tonight.” He rose and soon he was off down the Promenade to the turbolift.

“Well, that was interesting,” Six observed. “He wasn’t kidding, by the way. He seems to be getting attached. Weird, but maybe it’s just a reaction to losing Reva.”

“I was going to ask about all the huggy-kissy stuff. That is a bit weird. Oh, and speaking of weird, what was that look for? Because of him being all over you or is there something else?”

“Yes. I hope it is just a reaction and not a throwback to the crush he had on the Evariste. Anyhow, he’s bringing a date, which is a good sign. He should call Ophelia. She’s lovely and Betazoid. And calm. They’d get along well.”

“Are you bringing Suresh?” he asked.

“Not for this, this is just the gang. Unless you think I should?”

“I only asked because I, well,” he chuckled, “I don’t really date, or have anyone to bring with me. If both you and Riley were going to bring someone I thought I might back out.”

“Oh no you don’t. This time, it’s you and me, kid.” She laughed and stood. “Let’s hit the Arboretum? Since you have some time off, I intend to fill it and the lake seems like a good spot.”

He laughed. “‘Kid’ just doesn’t do me justice, but I’ll let it slide this time,” he said with a wink. Standing and sending his trash off to be reclaimed, they walked off to see some flora.

* The Arboretum *

Bryce and Six reached the Arboretum and Six slipped off her sandals, leaving them under a bench along the perimeter. They strolled along beneath the trees and she sighed with contentment. “This grass feels wonderful on the feet.”

“I’ll take your word for it,” Bryce said, content in his own right by keeping his shoes on. “But I do like coming up here sometimes. It gets a bit...stale, I guess the word is, seeing the metal and other materials of the station all the time. It’s too bad the air and sunlight aren’t real as well. Although, I do admit to liking the new breeze creators, or whatever they’re called. That’s a nice touch.”

“I think so too. It makes it feel much more like the great outdoors. I envy the people going out to the colony. Maybe I’ll twist Suresh’s arm once it’s done and we can go out for a few days.” They passed into a small grove of trees and bushes and she slowed her pace. “We need a frisbee.”

“Or a football,” he said with a smile. Looking down he noticed his laces were untied on the shoes he wore. He’d had a hard time wearing anything even remotely like his uniform while off duty and found that an ancient style of tennis shoe, a Chuck Taylor--whoever that was, were very comfortable for just wandering around. “I need to re-tie this. Go on ahead. I’ll catch up.”

He knelt as Six kept walking toward the lake. As he looked up to find her he saw what looked like Riley in a tall bunch of bushes close to her. “What the hell--?” he said aloud, then stood, now finished with his laces.

Riley looked a bit strange standing in the bushes, obviously, but something about his posture and the way he seemed to be hiding from Six was very out of the ordinary.

“Rile--” he started to call, but noticed a knife in Riley’s hand and that he was now running toward Six. “Shit!” he hissed as he began sprinting to intercept.

Bryce was, by all accounts, a large and muscular man but he made sure he wasn’t some slow, lumbering blockhead just for instances like this that may require a burst of speed at a moment’s notice. He had closed the distance considerably but he was going to be too late.

“SIX!” he screamed as Riley’s blade slashed at her.

She was able to turn just in time but her turning may have made the attack worse. The five inch blade sunk deep into her back. But Bryce couldn’t stop. When he was less than three yards from Riley he launched his 6 foot 2 inch and 255 pound body at him, spearing him like a tackling dummy.

They both slid about ten feet on the grass before coming to a stop. The knife had fallen from Riley’s grasp but Bryce wasn’t taking any chances. He leapt back up at him and knocked him down again, this time turning him face down and pinning both of his arms behind him--hard.

Bryce pulled his communicator from his pocket and activated it. “Kendrick to Security, emergency in the Arboretum near the lake! Contact medical staff as well, we have a medical emergency!”

Riley was struggling but Bryce needed to see to Six. Closing his big fist, he turned Riley to the side and placed a well-aimed punch to the side of his head knocking him out. He would likely need medical assistance for that as well, but there were more pressing things to attend to.

“Six!” he called out, running over to her. He knelt beside her and pulled her up into his lap, careful not to dislodge the knife. “Oh, dammit, Six… Kid!” he yelled, trying to wake her. “Don’t you go out on me, kid!”

He held her head and could see she was breathing some, but each breath brought with it bright red froth. The knife was in her lung.

“Shit! Shit! Where is medical!” he yelled.

“Bryce?” Her voice was barely a whisper. “Wha….call...Su…”

Bryce’s yells had gotten the attention of a few that were close and now, an engineer he recognized stepped forward. “Beam her there, I’ll keep an eye on this guy till Security gets here.”

Bryce’s badge beeped then. “Lt. Kendrick, we can transport directly to Piper. How many?”

“Two!” he screamed, now noticing that she wasn’t breathing. “She’s not breathing. Hurry the hell up!”

A moment later, Six and Bryce vanished in a swirl of blue.

****************
Ensign Six of Ten
The Target

Lt. Bryce Kendrick
The Unprepared Protector

Lt. Riley Sukotav
The Unexpected Weapon