The Odd Couple

Posted on Thu Sep 17th, 2015 @ 11:36am by Lieutenant Commander Antos Lev & Lieutenant Bajun Julisa

Mission: Further Challenges
Location: Java - The Promenade

* Java *

Once he'd taken her out to dance on the Nexus' floor, Solis had easily made Julisa forget her encounter with Brother Antonio. He'd also helped her forget that she was meeting Antonio at ten at Java. As was her usual routine, Julisa strolled into Java at ten till ten, ordered an iced mocha-something and took a table in the corner to sip at the drink and read the case file on her padd.

When Antonio approached, her first response was a hard-eyed glare and a frown. She almost growled, "What do you want?", but eased up on her tone just a fraction, for politeness' sake.

“My apologies, Julisa, I am just a few minutes late. A last minute call came in that I had to attend to. May I?” Antonio indicated the empty chair across from her. He was relieved to see she was now in uniform, a high-necked uniform.

"Oh, Brother Antonio," she switched her demeanor, "I'm sorry, I forgot that we were meeting this morning. Please, join me." She gestured at the same chair he'd indicated.

“Thank you.” A server came to take his order and he ordered a Bajoran tea. “I was telling Spencer last night about running into you and you cannot imagine his surprise.” He smiled for a moment. “He sends his regards.” Spencer had done nothing of the sort but he had been surprised, mainly because Antonio had awakened him.

"Oh. I don't recall what he looked like," she said and recalled what had bothered her about Antonio last night. "I have to admit, you look as if you haven't aged a day since I was a kid."

He smiled briefly. “Good genes, as my mother always claimed. Since we’re trading compliments, I have to admit you have become a beautiful young woman. I am dismayed that enough years have passed that you are old enough to be married.”

“Happily at that,” Julisa smiled, knowing she was lucky with Solis. “It’s been... just about twenty years?” She didn’t quite buy the ‘good genes’ line, but she had no way of refuting it. “What did you say brought you to SB900?”

“The possibility of a move here. We would be the only ones of our kind here on the frontier. It’s a daunting prospect, but a thrilling one all the same,” Antonio answered. “And you, what do you do here with the Fleet?”

“I’m a JAG officer. Oh, I did want to ask you - you said your order is an Iconian order? Do you know anything about an Iconian stone with carvings on it?”

“A stone?” Antonio appeared to be deep in thought. “There has long been a legend in my order that such a stone might exist but it has largely been dismissed. If it existed, it would be unimaginably old, Julisa. Even if it had existed, it would likely be dust by now. Odd that you bring it up however.”

"Odd how?" She thought his comment about stone turning to dust odd. If the rock had been out of the elements, which this one apparently had been, ...she mentally shook herself back to the present conversation.

Antonio shrugged. “I just didn’t think many outside the order would’ve heard that old legend. It’s something like the Terran’s holy grail is it not? A fable that has lured treasure hunters over the millennia, all to no avail.”

"Hmm, perhaps. I just found it ...odd..., to use your word, that the stone is here and now, suddenly, so are you," she smiled slightly, her blue eyes pinned on him.

Antonio sat up straighter and leaned in to the table. “Here? You’re telling me it exists?”

She noticed his interest. "Our researchers have something Iconian, yes," she answered and shrugged. She found herself not wanting to tell him anything else; something about him was off. Her empathic sense showed up as intuition at times; this was one of those times. "I'm not sure exactly what they have."

“It could be any really, but that’s interesting. Perhaps they would agree to satisfy my curiosity at least.” He sat back in his chair and took a sip of the coffee that had arrived. “You’ll pardon my excitement. From the time I was small, living among the brothers, the story went around. You can imagine the effect it had on the imagination of a boy.”

"Of course." She nodded. "Where was that? Where did you grow up?"

"On the Yattho homeworld,” Antonio answered. “By the time I was of age, the Order seemed the logical choice. It was the only life I’d ever known.”

She'd heard of the planet and its natives - but only in the academy. If she was recalling Yattho correctly, the native species could predict the future with eerie accuracy. "You'll have to ask Lieutenant Darwin and Lieutenant Rutheridge about seeing the Iconian artifact."

“Thank you, I will.” He finished off his coffee and set the mug aside. “You should feel free to call on us if needed, Julisa. We will be here several more days before we leave to report in on the area. I’m sure Spencer would love to see you.” Especially in one of those low-cut dresses, he thought.

"Mmhmm," she nodded, catching a creepy vibe off of him. "The same for you and Spencer. Perhaps dinner with Solis, as well." Noting his empty mug, she added, gesturing at her padd, "I tend to work through lunch here and then go back to my office."

“Then I will leave you to it.” He stood and bowed slightly. “It has been a pleasure.”

"Yeah," she nodded and watched him leave, wondering about him and his Brotherhood.

************
Lt. Bajun Julisa
Mystified

Brother Antonio
Liar