Machinations At Play

Posted on Mon Dec 14th, 2015 @ 11:59pm by Suresh & IKS Ning'Tao

Mission: Further Challenges
Location: Saturnalia

* Saturnalia *

"Are you following me around?" Isaura Panossian glared at the Cardassian who'd just dropped into the seat next to her. "You are! You're acting like a lost puppy, sniffing after me. Go find your own fun!"

Drekkar smiled at her and twisted a lock of her long hair around his fingers. He paused to smell it. "Of course I'm sniffing after you; you smell divine."

She rolled her eyes and said to Jarad, "Can't you ditch him somewhere?"

Jarad shrugged. “I tried my best, just for you, my captain.” He winked at her. “The problem is he has a marvelous sense of direction, one that always seems to lead either to you or to our engineer.”

"Mm," she sent a hateful glare towards Drekkar. "I suppose it is better that he's here and not off trying to kill our engineer."

Feigning being wounded, Drekkar clutched at his chest. "Me? Harm that Neanderthal? He's no competition for me!" As he spoke, he pulled Isa closer, ignoring her attempt to push him away.

Mid-push, Isa froze and then ducked down slightly, obviously trying to hide from someone's view. Drekkar grinned and took advantage of that, holding her by his side. "Who are you avoiding?"

"Shh!" She shushed him and looked at Jarad. "It's Suresh!"

Jarad lowered his glass and looked to the front of the bar. “So it is. I had heard here and abouts that he was still skulking around the Delta Quadrant. Some bad pennies just keep turning up, don’t they?” His gaze slid to Drekkar. “We’ve seen that first hand. Do you and he have a problem, Isaura?”

She nodded, watching Suresh cross the room to a table. "Little bit. It's from several years ago; I skipped out with some of his goods."

“I see. So this should be an interesting trip. Two Cardassians, two Romulans who are on your side and one Romulan who is not. Good times.” Jarad laughed heartily. “Your friend over there does not seem to be in a good mood. Why not send Drekkar over to greet him? Might solve several problems at once.”

Drekkar scowled at Jarad. "You're supposed to be helping me out here, not throwing me to the wolves."

"If we're going to be here a couple of weeks," Isaura said, "perhaps I should make amends."

“Feeling brave are we?” Jarad smiled and raised his hand to order another round of drinks. “The patrons here are already watching us. I suppose the idea of a Bajoran drinking with two Cardassians is mind-blowing, even out here.” The doors opened again and a small, Romulan woman with long dark hair entered and began to move in their direction. “Go if you must. Kaeli is here if you run into trouble. A Romulan catfight might be fun at that.”

Isaura watched Kaeli approach then, pushing Drekkar's grasping tentacles off of her, stood. "Let's hope he's more forgiving these days," she said to three and strode off to approach Suresh at his table. When she got there, she took a seat without preamble. "Hello, Suresh. How is business lately?"

Suresh’s thoughts had been far away from Saturnalia and when the woman sat down across from him, he growled aloud before he even looked. When he did turn his attention to her face, his eyes narrowed. The face he recognized from his own time but he suspected that her ties to the old Suresh had been far different.

“Booming. What brings you here? It’s been a while.” That was true at least. She had not been on 900 since his arrival.

She sensed his hesitancy and smiled. "Thought I might come by and settle our outstanding business. My crew and I are here for leisure and I'd rather not have to worry about you. Do you recall what's due to you?"

“I never forget what I am owed, Isa. As you say, if you are here to relax, worrying about me is not what you need. So what do you have in mind?” Suresh waved Shelly away when she stopped to get his order. He wasn’t here to settle in for the evening.

"That we just forgive and forget and move on," she said, testing the waters. She wasn't yet aware of Patch and Farco coming up behind her. "Just let bygones be gone, that sort of thing."

Patch looked down at her as he came up to the table and started to sit. "Pano?" He looked shocked. "You've got some mettle to come around here." To Suresh, he said, "Is she why you called us?" He sounded hopeful.

“Not initially, no. She’s just a lucky coincidence.” Suresh smiled now. Patch’s reaction told him all he needed to know. “I am not exactly in a forgiving mood at the moment.” The harsh tone in his voice made that abundantly clear. “To be blunt, if you intend to take your vacation here, you’d be well-served in clearing up this issue before you get too settled. I’ve been more than generous in not pushing you thus far, don’t you think?”

She frowned and, under the table, pinched Patch's thigh, making him yelp. "Certainly. You seem like you're in a hurry, Suresh, so how about I settle up with Patch here? A couple bars of latinum should cover the cargo that was lost." The cargo she'd stolen and sold for several bars of latinum and fuel for the Ning'Tao and food for her crew.

“Make it three and done. I’m in something of a hurry today,” Suresh answered. An outburst of laughter not far off pulled Suresh’s attention to the table where Jarad, Drekkar, and Kaeli sat. “Interesting company you’re keeping, Isa. I’m surprised to see you slumming.”

“Fine, three,” she agreed pulling out the necessary latinum and laying it on the table. “Slumming? Me?” She pointedly looked from Suresh to Patch. “I’m not the only one, you know.” Patch glared at her.

“I was referring to the Romulan.” Suresh laughed for a moment. “When did you start running with assassins?” Suresh knew the woman’s face well enough from his own time and he suspected she hadn’t changed much here. “I’d watch your back if I were you.”

Isa glanced over at Kaeli. “Oh, her. Yeah. I know. But the Cardassian over there, the one looking this way like he wants to come over and either kill you or fuck me, possibly both, is one who also wants to kill me, or used to want to. I think he’s more likely to kill me than she is.” She looked back to Suresh. “Looks like we’re done here. Thanks ever so much, Surie!” Isa smiled and stood to hurry back to her “slum”.

Patch watched her go then said to Suresh, “That cargo she stole was worth at least twenty latinum bars!”

Suresh gave a low laugh. “Perhaps but this way her guard is down, Patch. She thinks I have bigger concerns than her while she is here. She also owes me whether she knows it or not.” He motioned Patch and Farco closer. “Right now I do have a bigger concern. I am going to be down on Archadia for a few days. Call anytime you need me but this is important. It’s a matter of restoring Six’s memory.”

Farco glanced at Patch and nodded. “Sure it is,” he winked as if this were code for something else.

The gesture made Patch stare at the grey Orion for a moment. “Does that mean that we get to take care of Isaura while you’re gone?”

Suresh frowned at Farco. “I was speaking literally. They are back from being dragged off to the past and Niro scrambled her memories. As for Isaura...yeah, good luck with that and have fun.”

“Niro.” Patch frowned. “Is he ours to do with as we please?”

“Not entirely. Right now he is in the brig but eventually he’ll be out and that’s when the fun begins. Lazan is going to deal with him eventually but you two can have a little fun first.” Suresh rose and looked down at the two men. “Wish me luck. If this doesn’t work? I may have to get creative.”

“Creativity is our strong suit,” Patch assured him. “Good luck with her.”

Back at Isaura’s table, Kaeli turned to watch Suresh leave, her attention lingering until he was out of sight. It was only Jarad’s voice that pulled her attention back to the group.

“Why so interested?” He’d leaned in close to speak at her ear and there was a hint of jealousy in his tone.

“I’m not,” Kaeli snapped back, then turned to Isa, ignoring Jarad. “How do you know him?”

“Old times,” Isa said, “When I was first running from ... um, Drekkar,” she cleared her throat even as the named Cardassian grinned and draped an arm around Isa, “I came through here and got tangled with the Security Chief at the time, guy named Victor. I also got tangled with Suresh; he doesn’t seem to recall what I did, though.” She glanced over at Patch, saw that he was watching her and smiled and waved at him. “Patch does, though.”

“Suresh was pre-occupied,” Kaeli informed her. “Extremely unhappy about something. But maybe that was a stroke of good luck for you?’

“For us all. I sort of stole the Ning’tao from him, along with all her cargo,” Isa chuckled. “Oh, she’s unrecognizable from what she was when he had her and I changed all of her identifiers. But, originally, she was one of his smugglers named the Eisn.”

“He won’t forget, he likely just wants you to think so,” Kaeli observed. “That way you won’t be looking when he stabs you in the back. Trust me I know that man, a little better than I like.”

Jarad’s eyes narrowed. “How well?”

Kaeli turned slowly to look him straight in the eye. She started to speak, then shook her head. “None of your business. Drekkar, why don’t you take him somewhere? Get him out of my hair so I can talk to Isa?”

Drekkar’s brow rose and he started to refuse but Isa turned towards him and sent him a message, Go on and I’ll owe you a favor. He grinned and got up, grabbing Jarad’s arm. “Come on, let’s go get a drink somewhere more interesting.”

As the two men left, Isa looked at Kaeli. “Well? Funny that our paths almost crossed via Suresh instead of Ro.”

“Yeah. Isa, have you ever been in what you think is a tight spot, but then it resolved in a way that seemed far too easy?” Kaeli asked. “You didn’t touch him did you?”

“Suresh? Just now? No, I didn’t.” She shook her head. “But I’ve been in that kind of position. A few times.”

“That’s every situation with him, as I recall.” A frown passed over Kaeli’s face. “I wasn’t aware he was still here. He doesn’t like me very much, but then, I once tried to kill him.” She shrugged. “Some people are so sensitive.”

In the midst of taking a sip, Isa snorted out a laugh. “Did you really? Were you paid to do it or was it a whim?”

“Job. Romulan politics, which would likely make no sense to an off-worlder. He’d become something similar to Jarad. They wanted a weapon with no morals and once they had it, they grew afraid of it. The zookeepers had become the exhibits.”

“Ah.” Kaeli was right, Isa didn’t get it. Not fully. She understood why Cardassians were afraid of Jarad - he was an amoral, sadistic butcher who loved his work - hell, it was his hobby.

“Just watch him, okay? I’ve gotten attached to you..well, I’m used to you. I’d hate to have to break in a new captain. I’d have to toss Drekkar out the hatch.” Kaeli smiled now. “That man has no idea how much he owes you does he? Drekkar I mean.”

“None of you know how much I owed Drekkar,” Isa said quietly. “There’s a reason why I have a hard time shoving him off. I know I need to - he’s like having a pet viper: fine so long as you keep an eye on him. Plus, Rafael.”

“A bad one to have as an enemy. Again, I mean Drekkar. It’s a tricky balancing act, Isa, and I don’t envy you your position. For what it’s worth, though, I’ve got your back. I’ll tell you this now though. If Jarad has to repair you one more time because Drekkar has lost his temper, I’ll take care of the situation for you.”

“I’ve had him as an enemy. That’s why I ended up out here in the Delta Quadrant. I was running from him when I met Suresh and convinced him to let me take his Eisn for a smuggling run.” She laughed. “Thanks for the back up, Kaeli. What about Jarad, though? Is he with you on that?”

Kaeli nodded. “Do you want to hear all he said after the last time? Odd I know, to have the Butcher bitch about a broken arm but he has his limits and that line is drawn at damaging someone you profess to love.”

“He damaged you,” Isa pointed out.

“It’s complicated. If he had not at the time, I’d be dead now. He had to prove to the Order that their accusations were wrong.” Kaeli reached for Jarad’s drink and downed it. “There may be a way to solve your problem though.”

“Which one?” Isa chuckled and sipped the drink in her hand. “I know, Drekkar, right? What’s your idea?”

“Well maybe Suresh if he gets testy.” Kaeli shrugged. “So far you’ve had no luck making Drekkar dislike you, have you?”

“No. He takes my refusals as feistiness but it’s not like I can be nice to him - he’ll just take that as being nice to him.”

“Is Seyla still on the station?” Kaeli raised her hand to flag down the waitress.

“Yes, she is. I called ahead and checked in on her before we got here. I haven’t seen her yet, though.” Isa paused as a server approached and they ordered a fresh round of drinks, “Oh, and some of those fried things...? The peppers with lime and salt? Sour cream and chips, too. Thanks.” She turned back to Kaeli, “Do you know Seyla? I already offered to get Drekkar a brunette through her, but he refused.”

Kaeli chuckled. “That’s because he knows she’s being paid. If he doesn’t know...you see where this is going?”

“Hire someone to seduce him? That has merit, but once he exercises some frustration on her, he’ll be right back at my door.”`

“We’ll see. At the least it will give you some leverage that might make him behave. You’re right though, we can’t just leave him. He talks too much. He’d find you anyway eventually.”

“Kaeli, I can’t kill him. I can’t order that or request it,” Isa said. She still loved him, as crazy as that was. “It’ll work out.”

Kaeli nodded. “Just be careful. All joking aside, Ro and I care about you. Jarad does too in his own warped way.”

“And Rafe loves me,” she nodded. “Speaking of, Rafe took our stowaway to get her some clothes that fit.”

“Good. Olivia’s clothes were a little too long for her. I’ll track her down when I leave here. Ro said he was going to see to a few things, then he’d be along.” The food arrived and Kaeli leaned in for a sniff. “Oh this smells good. We’d better eat up before Ro gets here.”

“We can always order more. Watch out, they’re spicy.” Isa scooped up a touch of sour cream and some of the fried peppers and stuffed them in her mouth. “So good....”

A hand reached over Isa’s shoulder and snatched one of the peppers off the plate. “Ohh good stuff.” The voice belonged to Ronin, Isa’s First Mate. He dropped down into the chair at her side and grinned at Kaeli. “Hey sis.”

“Ro,” Kaeli answered. “What’s had you so occupied?”

“Just looking up some old friends. One of them’s getting ready to take a little trip though.” He looked around, then back at the two women. “Alright, what did you do with the spoonheads?”

“Hey, you’ve been after me to get rid of them! You should be happy they’re gone,” Isa said.

“I am, I’m just surprised. Jarad’s gotten very complacent with his apron strings.” He grinned at Kaeli, who swatted him.

“Bite me,” she said. “You get our quarters arranged?”

“I did.” Ro nodded. “Jarad’s just a few doors down from you.”

Kaeli glared at him, checking to see if he was kidding. He wasn’t. “Oh for the love of--” She rose and dropped her napkin on the table. “I’ll find you Isa. I need to go straighten this out.” With another swat at her brother, Kaeli turned and stomped out.

Ro began to laugh until he had to grab Kaeli’s napkin to wipe his eyes. “Most fun I’ve had all day.”

“Dull day, huh?” Isa shook her head, smiling with his mirth. “You missed it here. My old pal, Suresh, was here. I paid him three latinum bars to settle our score.” When he gave her a look, she said, “I know, I know, he’ll still come after me for the rest; I’ll watch my back. After all, I’m already watching it thanks to Drekkar. Did you get him a guest room, too?”

“I did. One deck down from you and Rafael and about a half a kilometer away. That good enough?” Ronin took Kaeli’s drink and finished it off.

“Sure. Though I might sleep on the Ning. I’m a little uneasy leaving her unoccupied on the Station. What else were you off taking care of?” Sometimes, Isa had a twinge of mistrust about Ronin. Today was one of those days; it was never anything concrete that caused it - like now, it was simply that he’d been gone for longer than it would take to arrange guest quarters for them.

“If you must know, I went to sickbay. There’s this cute little nurse there at the front desk.” Ro grinned back at her. “Sorry it’s not a more juicy story.”

“Getting inoculated after spending so much time around the Cardassians?” she laughed. “Oo! That’s a spicy pepper. Have you been to this Station before?”

“Once or twice,” he answered. He considered her comment and though she was joking, when he answered he was not. “I still don’t get Kaeli and Jarad. I don’t think I really want to know what went on back then either. Ignorance is bliss I guess, since it’s clearly not some passing thing.”

“He was her torturer,” Isa said bluntly, watching him carefully. “And then he loved her and was found out. It’s not the only reason he’s on the run, but it is one of the reasons. Drekkar is another. Funny how the universe keeps putting us all back in the same place with each other.” She considered him a moment then asked, “Did you know that I’m the reason Drekkar was in Jarad’s chair? I caused his downfall in the Cardassian Order, landed him in a place to be tortured to death. Jarad faked that to help Drekkar escape. See? The great goddess of the universe has a fucked up sense of humor.”

“That she does,” Ronin agreed. “What do you have planned for tonight? Wanna ditch your fellows and go to dinner?”

“I can do that, happily! I wonder if Laos’ is still in business,” she said. She had some business to attend to as well, but was fairly certain it could be pushed off a little longer. “Come on, I’ll lead the way. That place used to have the best little steamed dumplings and this crazy good dipping sauce.” She scooted out of the booth and stood. She was halfway to the door when she looked back. “You comin’?”

“Yeah, right behind ya.” Ro stood and followed her out.

Two tables over, a lone figure sat, shadowed by the dim light in his corner booth. He’d been watching the group and now that they were gone, he slipped out of the booth and followed. Once he was outside, he rounded a corner and pulled a comm badge from his pocket.

“Farak to Zikar. We need to meet. I’ve just discovered something you’ll really want to hear about.”

**********************
Suresh
Patch
Farco

Isaura Panossian (Captain)
Ronin (First mate)
Jarad (Ship’s Doctor)
Kaeli (Muscle)
Drekkar (Jackass)
IKS Ning'Tao