Trading Favors

Posted on Wed Dec 30th, 2015 @ 10:35pm by Suresh & Lieutenant Commander Michael Darwin & IKS Ning'Tao

Mission: Further Challenges
Location: Saturnalia

* Saturnalia *

"She should be okay, then?" Darwin asked, confirming what Suresh had just told him: that Six was in her alcove, recharging, and should have her memories restored to normal once she was done. He was pleased; at least one thing was going right. He sipped his drink as Shelley brought another round for them.

Suresh nodded. “Eli confirmed that most of the missing memories were covered over or blocked, not removed, likely since Niro didn’t have much time to get rid of them. We can consider ourselves lucky for that. He removed all the blocks he found and said that the rest should be back quickly just from being home. Six is still really self-conscious about being so….you know….with Niro.” He couldn’t bring himself to mention specifically that the two had been so close while on Bajor.

Darwin nodded as he looked around the bar, trying to be nonchalant about what had happened. He could have rubbed it in, again, that he'd done what he could despite being injured, but decided silence was the better choice at the moment. Besides, he saw two women winding their way through the tables. As pretty as they were, he hoped they were heading towards him; that thought immediately earned him a mental kick as he thought of Edana, who would not appreciate his roving eye.

Even so, when the woman in the lead stopped at their table, Darwin turned on a charming smile and offered, "Looking to join us, ladies? Have a seat, please."

Kaeli looked him over from head to toe. “Who are you?” she asked.

Suresh looked up at her and Isa and muttered to himself.

Smiling at Suresh, Isa took a seat opposite Darwin (she had the feeling he was safer for her than Suresh was). "We're from the Ning'Tao. I'm Captain Panossian," she ignored Suresh's snort. "This is Kaeli, my...," she glanced at Kaeli, and gestured at the chair beside her, silently willing Kaeli to sit, "...um..., well, she's Kaeli. You are?"

Darwin's smile slid towards a disapproving glare. This was the woman Gilroy had asked him to watch after because she was his friend. Why did Gilroy's female friends have to be hot? He cleared his throat and said, "I'm Darwin, currently the acting Chief of Security on the Station. This is Suresh."

Almost automatically, Isa went into flirting mode. She flashed a smile at Darwin, "How nice to meet you, acting Chief of Security."

“We know who he is,” Kaeli answered, indicating Suresh. Finally she sat down and crossed her arms. “Though believe it or not, Suresh, we came looking for you.” She glanced to Darwin, then looked back at Suresh and raised an eyebrow. The question was clear to Suresh and he nodded. Kaeli wanted to know if the Acting Chief was safe to talk in front of.

Watching the Romulan female, Darwin grinned then turned his attention on Isaura. "Aww, is your Kaeli afraid to talk in front of me? Guess she doesn't have an inroad with the gossip mongers around here." He glanced at Suresh. "Go on, tell the ladies."

“He’s fine, one of mine, actually,” Suresh said, his voice low. His gaze shifted to Kaeli again. “I never thought I’d lay eyes on you again.” That much was true. He had no idea what interaction they’d had here but he could tell from her mannerisms that it had been a difficult one. In his own universe, she had been sent to kill his wife at the time and the two of them had ended up holding knives to each other’s throats.

“Me either.” Kaeli smiled briefly. “Good times then, huh?” she joked.

Suresh simply grunted and reached for his drink. “And you Isa, back for more? Be careful, I might change my mind on our earlier agreement.”

"Oh, come now, Surie," Isa smiled at him, "You don't have a reputation of reneging on prior agreements."

“Just be glad I’ve had some personal business that was more important and more distracting,” he answered.

Darwin glanced from her to Suresh to Kaeli. "What is it you two want?"

“A warning to begin with, and given who you are, Darwin, it might interest you.” Kaeli leaned in closer. “Specifically, a recent Cardassian invasion of sorts.”

"From what I understand, you ladies brought two of them with you. You might need to convince me not to arrest them, considering who they are," Darwin said, eyeing the two and making it clear what he meant by "convincing him".

“Considering who you are cozied up to,” Kaeli glanced to Suresh, “who they are would seem to be a lesser concern for you. The one I mean is a certain Legate who is visiting. If anyone is going to cause trouble, it’s him. He’s already threatened me. He and I go way back.”

Isa looked at Kaeli. Had she missed that statement when they were talking to all of their men or was this new? She wasn't sure, but had the feeling that Jarad would have grabbed Drekkar and hauled him off to confront Zikar if he knew Zikar had threatened Kaeli. Her attention went back to Darwin as he spoke, "Uh-huh. A good, upstanding Legate of the Cardassian nation threatened you?" He looked bored. "Sing it to someone else, sweetie. The Cardies with you two are public enemies and war criminals."

“Zikar was Obsidian Order back then. I was on Cardassia just like your Fleet Intel was, but got caught. I spent weeks in a cell shackled to the wall while Zikar tried his best to get at what I knew. He turned me over to Jarad when he was unsuccessful. Jarad...well...he’s the one who helped me escape and hit the trail with me. I was caught, tossed in a sack and dumped on a freighter headed for Romulus. Jarad never went back.” She glanced to Isa and nodded, having caught her curiosity. “No, I skipped over the threat. It would’ve made him do something stupid.”

Isa nodded, watching Darwin. She could read some of his thoughts, those on the very top of his mind, and she found them - and him - amusing. She smiled at him.

It was a smile that disconcerted Darwin for a moment. He locked eyes with Isa for a moment even as he opened his mouth to respond to Kaeli. He was delayed in actually saying anything but finally managed, "And that would be why he was labeled a traitor by the Order and on the list of most wanted Cardassians. Why am I not arresting all three, diplomacy be damned?"

“Drekkar and Jarad have been officially civilians for several years,” Kaeli answered. “As for Zikar, he’s still doing what he’s always done. He’s here now, though, to track down his wife who left him a few weeks ago. He doesn’t know I picked up that information when we talked, however. I just thought you might want to know, Suresh, since it was down here I met him.”

"He must know the types of places you like to hang out in," Darwin said, sneering slightly as he looked at Kaeli.

Kaeli laughed shortly. “This place looks like the Nexus compared to the places I’m used to,” she answered. “I just wanted to save you all from a huge incident if Zikar gets bored and decides to go after our men. I will take it very personally if he lays a finger on Jarad... or Drekkar for that matter.”

Darwin's brow rose slightly, cynically. "Amazing what rescuing a girl will do for a guy," he deadpanned, speaking to Suresh. "You of a kind to help them? Not that they've actually asked for help. This must be a Southern Belle request, Romulan-style."

Kaeli’s eyes narrowed at Darwin. “Are you this big an ass with your beloved Orion?” she snapped. “We don’t need your help. We were trying to do a good turn and make Suresh aware of a potential problem. That was a decent gesture, considering our past.” She crossed her arms and shot a warning glare at Isa.

Darwin laughed then pointed at himself, "Station Security, sweetie." He reversed his gesture, pointing at her and Isa, "Space rats. Space rats who aren't giving me what my beloved Orion gives me." Sometimes, he loved being an ass; this was one of those times when he just got to have fun at someone else's expense. He had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep his grin from being too big. "Make that sort of 'decent gesture' and maybe I'll be nicer. After all, I really don't need your help."

Suresh held up his hand to silence them. “Enough. I appreciate the heads up, actually. If it was some nobody, it would be easy enough to make them disappear. Someone of his stature will need more careful handling, and more discretion.” He smiled at Darwin.

Darwin rolled his eyes and looked away to scan the room. Isaura spoke up, "Thank you, Surie. Zikar will need more discretion... Perhaps kids' gloves, as the humans say."

"Kid gloves. Kid, as in baby goat, not kid as in child," Darwin, the only human at the table and, possibly, in Saturnalia at the moment, corrected her.

"That's a relief. I was thinking gloves made of kids," Isa shuddered, but she was hiding a smirk and just barely holding back on calling him out as an ass, like Kaeli already had. "Surie, do you have kid gloves? I'm betting Darwin here doesn't. He seems more like a hammer, thinking that everyone around him needs to be nailed."

Kaeli burst out laughing and reached over to pat Isa on the back. “Good one, Isa.”

Suresh smothered a laugh. “Got it covered. If Zikar shows down here, I have plenty to keep an eye on him. Anything else ladies?”

Smiling at Darwin, whose cheeks had shaded red ever so slightly, Isa winked before shaking her head. "Just the heads' up, Surie."

“Thanks. It’s worth letting the rest go I suppose, Isa.” Suresh turned his attention to Kaeli now. “You and I still have a few things to clear up, but it can wait.”

Kaeli nodded. “I’ll be around. Ready to go Isa?”

Thrilled that Suresh was letting her skate on her theft of the Ning'tao, Isa nodded. "Yup! See you around, unless I see you first," she said, this last at Darwin moreso than Suresh. She stood and she and Kaeli left Saturnalia.

Suresh waited till they were away, then turned back to Darwin. “You realize what they just gave us is worth a lot? In Isa’s case it’s worth letting her remain in one piece, even though she once swiped one of my small ships and an entire cargo?” He smiled, waiting for Darwin to ask about the Romulan.

In a low voice, Darwin said, “You mean the old Suresh’s ship and cargo. I’m surprised she survived that; she’s lucky you’re the one here.” He sipped his drink then asked, “What about the Romulan? Did you know her?”

“She is lucky, and Zikar’s presence here was a convenient excuse.” Suresh reached for his drink and nodded. “I did there, yes. Romulan Intel, and from what she said, I gather she was the same here. My version was sent to kill Xerena. A pity she didn’t succeed. I happened in at the wrong time and we ended up almost slitting each other’s throats instead of Xerena’s.”

“Romulan intel. Strange that she’s on a ship with Isaura. Isa is a friend of Gilroy’s; he asked me to watch out for her while she’s here. I have the feeling I’m going to have to watch over both of those women. If Jarad feels about her the way she does about him, Zikar just needs to grab her.” Darwin did not look happy about that.

“Well, if Jarad and she are what you think they are, that explains why she may no longer be Romulan Intel. Sounds to me like they have two targets on their backs. Though if those two are avoiding the Cardassian government, out here’s about the best place to do it.” He frowned as he lowered his glass. “You have a good point. I have a man I’d like to see about this. If anyone is keeping up with the Cardassians, it’s him.”

“There’re too many of them around lately. Too many of a lot of people who are willing to ignore the Federation’s laws.” Darwin frowned. He liked having things run simply and smoothly, but, then, who didn’t? He thought of Lazan and Robart, Patch and Farco. “Wonder if any of the other Pit denizens are going to get involved.”

“Not if we are lucky. I’d like to keep this among us and keep it from blowing up,” Suresh answered. “But what she said about his wife….that has me curious. Have you heard anything about that?”

“The diplomats have that matter. The wife, who is Bajoran by the way, requested asylum. Kha’li’s handling that. I read the report earlier today but... obviously not closely enough since I can’t say why the wife ran away from the Legate, other than: Cardassian. Who wouldn’t run from one of them?”

“Bajoran.” Suresh chewed on that for a few, then shook his head. “This story gets weirder by the second doesn’t it? And I thought my life was strange. Maybe you’re right. I’ll have Eldren see what he can find out. I’ll also alert the men to keep a closer eye down here, just in case.”

“I wonder what sort of shitstorm we’d start if Patch and Farco beat the crap out of Zikar,” Darwin idly pondered that. Probably too much to make it worth it.

“Do you really want Li and the Admiral wringing our necks?” Suresh asked. “Hmm...I wonder how much she knows about this. Might be worth bending her ear a little too.”

“She’s aware of the asylum request,” Darwin said. “And I’m pretty sure she’s aware of the Legate being here. I should get back to Oz’s office; I don’t like this whole acting chief thing, you know,” he frowned.

“Command is a heavy thing,” Suresh agreed. “Edana’s upstairs while Six is regenerating but after that she has the night off. Have fun.”

“Ah.. Thanks? And don’t let Six be too rambunctious.” He chuckled and headed out.

Suresh suspected that after her Bajor adventure, rambunctious was something she would avoid for a while and he intended to help her do just that. He went back to his drink until Shelly arrived and lingered to catch him up on the gossip from the past two days.

Across the room, a man in the shadows of a booth had been watching ever since Kaeli’s laugh had drawn his attention. Farak was careful not to be seen but he observed as Kaeli and Isaura talked to the man he had learned was the local crime lord, and another that he assumed belonged with the two women. He finished his drink and rose to depart. He had plenty to tell Zikar.

****************
Lt. Michael Darwin
Suresh
Isaura Panossian
Kaeli
The Neighborhood Watch