Variations On A Theme

Posted on Wed Dec 16th, 2015 @ 10:53pm by Indra Nyyar & Lieutenant Commander Gilroy

Mission: Further Challenges
Location: Zikar's Guest Quarters

* Zikar’s Guest Quarters *

Zikar closed the channel and strolled across to the bar. He poured a glass of water and added a chunk of jumja fruit. The taste for jumja had been acquired during his years on Bajor and as he held up the glass, he smiled. It was also a favorite of Nyyar’s. When they had relocated to Cardassia, he’d had it brought in especially for her. It had always pleased her that he went to such trouble. It was such a small thing and he’d done it purely to make her happy, just as he’d done so many things over the years. The three weeks without her were beginning to wear on him, bringing loneliness and heartache that alternated with anger. He still had no idea why she had run away but he intended to find out. The more he thought about it, however, the more he was sure that the delay in finding her was something of a blessing. His anger had abated somewhat, meaning that when he did find her, he’d be much calmer in addressing the situation. All he wanted was to take her home and that meant being understanding, not enraged.

He sipped from the glass of water, savoring the trace of sweetness from the fruit. He was curious as to what Farak had discovered that was so important. He hoped it was Nyyar, but if that were the case, he would have said so. Zikar’s curiosity was piqued and when the door chime rang, he immediately called out.

“Come!”

The tall Cardassian entered the room and looked around. “These rooms... could they have managed to make them any more drab?” He went to Zikar’s bar and looked over the choices the man had made for stocking it. “Jumja?” He scoffed and shot a baleful glance at him. “Such a child’s drink, don’t you think?”

Zikar glared at him. “I don’t comment on your personal taste, or lack thereof.” Zikar settled on the sofa. “So tell me, what’s so urgent? You have discovered something already?” He looked up at Farak, his expression hopeful.

Farak was careful to hide his disdain from Zikar. Instead, he stayed at the bar, facing away from his putative boss and poured himself a snifter of a heavy port. When he finally turned to look at Zikar, he sipped at the liquid then said, “I have. It was easy enough. A Bajoran has already been to see the Chief Diplomat here; the same woman was moved from standard guest housing to VIP housing. There’s a security detail assigned to those quarters.”

Zikar sat forward on the sofa and now a smile spread over his face. “Is that so? I wonder why all the security? If it’s Nyyar, she has no need to be afraid of me. However, there’s a likely explanation.” Zikar reached for the padd on the table and passed it to Farak. “Our request to return my wife has, thus far, gone unanswered.”

“How rude of them,” Farak noted, barely glancing at the information on the padd. “Would you like to have someone remove the Security officers and give us access to the VIP suite? I’m sure that on a Station like this, we can find someone willing to do so for a price.”

Zikar shook his head. “No, the last thing we want to do is cause an incident. I know my wife and she will be curious. It won’t be long before she’s out and about the station, even if it’s with an escort. I want to see her, know where she goes, how she is. I’ll make my plans then. For now, it’s best to keep a low profile, as you’ve done. I’m pleased, Farak.”

“Oh, and I live to please you, Legate,” Farak said, raising his glass to him. “Shall we go out, see the Station?”

“Perhaps later. Anything else of interest I need to know about? This is you after all. You rarely come back without something I should know” Zikar reached for his glass and took a sip, then fished out the fruit and popped it into his mouth.

Farak had been hoping to pull Zikar out into the real world again, to remind him that there were other women in the universe; he should have known (and had) that Zikar would decline that. He sighed and said, “Yes, I do have more. Our beloved Darhe’el was the Butcher of Gallitep; do you recall the other butcher?”

“Of course. Jarad turned it into an art as I recall. Until that Romulan woman ruined him. Such a pity that was. I would have given anything to see him work on that Enaran.” Zikar frowned now. “Why do you ask?”

“He’s here. With one of his old friends, the one he was supposed to have killed: Drekkar.” Farak sat back to enjoy the myriad expressions crossing Zikar’s face.

“Well now, you just made this trip even more worthwhile. We take them home and there’s a promotion in it for you.” Zikar’s smile widened. “I’m curious though, why they are here. Then again, I suppose they never expected someone from their Order days to turn up on 900. It seems that Nyyar has done me an accidental favor.”

“Indeed,” he nodded. “Perhaps, though this is an awfully long way to go for a woman, even if it does garner us those two.” He was sour about being away from Cardassia, where he had his own small paradise carved out.

“She is my wife, Farak. Nowhere is too far, something you may understand some day,” He set the glass aside. “So, Jarad and Drekkar. Where were they? Who were they with? If they were out in the open, they are obviously not afraid of being tracked.”

“I don’t know that yet, but I have a few sources working on it,” Farak said. “I’m sure we’ll know more in a few hours. I would hazard the guess that on a station this large, they are confident of being lost in the unwashed masses.”

Zikar began to laugh, low at first, then louder. Finally he caught his breath and motioned to Farak. “Keep your eyes open. If those two are here, it’s my bet that you’ll find a Romulan and a Bajoran close by. Those two are the reasons that two of our best lost their minds.”

“Seems like a theme,” Farak muttered into his glass. Once he’d swallowed, he said, louder, “I will keep my eyes open, as you say. If those women are here, are we taking them back as well? It would be easy to take possession of them, then have Jarad and Drekkar behave to ensure their safety.”

“That depends. If you think we can take those two without them, then kill them. Otherwise, there is merit to your idea. We can always toss them out on the way home. Doesn’t matter to me one way or the other as long as we have Jarad and Drekkar.”

Thinking that he rather liked the idea of having the women on board - after all, it would benefit society, or someone, if he could determine just why loyal Cardassians had turned traitor for these women - Farak accepted Zikar’s statement. “Duly noted, Legate.”

“Good. Call me with any further developments. Otherwise, keep an eye on them. If you see Nyyar, call me immediately. Otherwise, I have a few things to see too, such as this request that has been ignored. I think it’s time I visited the Chief Diplomat.” Zikar rose and carried his glass back to the bar. “And have a little fun while you’re at it.”

“You as well,” Farak stood and went to the recycler, dropping his glass into it. “I’m going to dinner at an establishment called the Nexus. If anyone reports in to me, I will let you know.”

“Thank you Farak. Enjoy your evening.” Zikar rose and moved over to sit down at his terminal. He had a few messages to send. The computer might not be willing to tell him where Nyyar was, but it would certainly get a message to her. He just needed to use the right words and she would see reason.

Of course she would.

*******************
Legate Zikar
Seeing A Ray Of Hope

Glinn Farak
Seeing Crazy