Old Tricks, Old Dogs

Posted on Mon Jan 25th, 2016 @ 11:36pm by Suresh & Lieutenant Commander Michael Darwin & IKS Ning'Tao

Mission: Further Challenges
Location: Civilian Quarters - The Cherry Pit

Drekkar had gotten up to return her empty glass to the replicator when the door chime rang. He glanced back to Isa and frowned. “Expecting someone?”

“Ah, other than Zikar? No.” Isa shook her head and got up to answer the door. As it slid open, she recognized who was calling. “Wow, this is completely unexpected! Suresh. Um... should I invite you in or should I scream and have the three very capable men in here protect me from you?”

“Invite me in. No, I am not a vampire who requires an invitation, contrary to popular belief, I just have some manners.” He smiled for a moment. “Well?”

“Please, come in,” Isaura smiled and gestured him in. “Suresh, this is Drekkar; Drekkar, Suresh, the crime boss on the station.” She went over and knocked on the bedroom door. “We have company, guys.”

“Drekkar.” Suresh nodded, then had a seat. “I’m glad to see you are in one piece Isa. Where’s Kaeli? My men informed me that you were seen leaving Saturnalia with a Cardassian and that Kaeli seemed to vanish into thin air.”

“Yes, I did leave with a Cardassian, not this one. Kaeli is in the bedroom, sleeping. She was wounded, but is patched up. Zikar had us for a bit and then lost all of us. Long story, suffice to say we’re good.” She smiled.

“Nice to meet you, Suresh,” Drekkar, too, took a seat and sized up the Romulan. “Why is any of this your business?” His Alpha-maleness was taking center stage.

“Well my first order of business was to make sure my associates were alive and well,” Suresh answered. “Then it relates to Zikar. Last night, his wife was seen in the Pit, being chased by a Cardassian, who proceeded to bang on doors of some who work for me. They are still roaming the Pit. I gather things have taken a turn for the worse and he’s given up the wooing idea in favor of grabbing her and doing whatever he wants. Sound familiar Isa?” He looked up as two men entered from the bedroom, then turned back to Isa.

“The story? Yup. Or do you mean the possessive, obsessive Cardassian part? Because that’s familiar, too.” She glanced, warmly, at Drekkar, who returned a smirk. “Zikar got notice of Nyyar’s divorce filing and believes he has captured Drekkar and Jarad. He’s ready to grab her, grab us - Kaeli and me - and head home.”

“I gathered as much,” Suresh answered. “This concerns me since he whisked you and Kaeli out of Saturnalia. That’s interfering in my business and I take a dim view of that. It’s crossing into my business in other ways too, that I really don’t like. Add in all the Cardassians roaming about down here, no offense gentlemen, but it’s getting out of hand.”

“None taken.” Jarad offered his hand. “I am Jarad.”

“Suresh. Good to meet you. How’s Kaeli?”

“Alive, which is more than I can say for the one who did this to her. He’s still walking around but not for long.”

“Understood.” Suresh then nodded to Ronin. “Long time.”

“Indeed.”

Suresh turned back to Isa. “So here’s the thing. This Pit is crawling with them right now. Consider this a courtesy call to stay out of sight. Let’s just say that I’ve heard from the horse’s mouth what happened last night regarding his wife. They’re looking for her and given what you’ve said, it’s not safe for any of you either.”

His interaction with Ronin made her curious and, like a cat, she never knew when to leave things alone. "Suresh, I'm thrilled you care," Isaura smiled as she touched his arm. She could pick up some thoughts without touching a person, but she had to focus. With a physical contact, she could glean things much more easily. What she found in Suresh's head surprised her; she didn't react to it, though. "We should be just fine here. Most of us aren't going anywhere."

“Good.” Suresh rose and moved towards the door. “I have some things to do. We’ll talk soon.” He opened the door and hurried off down the corridor.

“Well?” Ronin demanded. “What did you get from him Isa?”

She considered her answer carefully. For example, she didn't need to tell Ronin that she now knew what he'd been doing when he'd been off the Ning'Tao a while back. "Nyyar slept with some Station Bajoran last night and Suresh is getting the two of them off the Station for a bit, down to Archadia. Perhaps we should go to Archadia."

“You and Kaeli, yes,” Ronin agreed. “At least for a couple of days till she’s back up to full speed.”

“You can transport down once she’s awake but that will be several hours,” Jarad added. “Once you two are safe down there, we’ll take care of things up here, then stay out of sight.”

“Why not all of us?” Isa frowned. “Wait, Rafe and Joe could go with us, or do you need them here?” With Rafael, Joe, Kaeli and her, they’d have muscle, muscle, muscle and brains; it would work out well.

Ronin cast a look at Jarad who nodded, then he answered, “Sure take them along.” He bit back a smile at Drekkar’s sudden scowl.

“It would likely be best to keep your party small, Isa, to avoid undue attention,” Drekkar said, trying to sound as disinterested as possible.

Just barely keeping herself from laughing, Isa said, “Nice try, but the guys will go with us. I’ll make the arrangements. Are you three off to do something manly now?”

“Later,” Jarad answered. “We’ll wait till you all are situated down below.”

Ro pulled out his small pad and passed it to Isa. “There’s an address. A safe house where you can stay. The lock code is in there too. It’s two blocks from the palace.”

She took it from him. “Huh, swanky area.” Suddenly, she yawned. “Um... okay, I’m going to join Kaeli in the bedroom. Talk quietly amongst yourselves.”

“Do you want help getting settled?” Drekkar asked, knowing the answer would be no. It was and Isa disappeared, shaking her head. “All right, you two, what’s the plan?”

“I can go find him,” Ronin offered. “I got an image of the man out of Kae’s head. If he saw Zikar’s wife down below, chances are good he’s still down there prowling around trying to find her. He doesn’t know me. I’ll get him to my quarters down here and you two can take care of the rest. How’s that?”

Drekkar looked at Jarad before addressing Ronin, “That sounds like we’re leaving all the fun to you.”

“All I have to do is get the man to you. I don’t care what you do after that but if you like, come along. I don’t expect Zikar to be down here, do you?”

“Oh. Good point.” Drekkar had forgotten that he and Jarad needed to stay in the quarters. “Fine, go on. We’ll be here, watching the girls.”

“Alright. I’ll make contact once I’ve found him and once they are gone, get to my quarters.” Ronin patted his pockets, checking his weapons.

“Take this.” Jarad pulled another hypospray from his pocket and handed it to Ronin. “In case he needs a little convincing to accompany you.”

Ronin packed it away and smiled. “See you gentlemen soon.” He hurried out the door, leaving Jarad and Drekkar alone.

“Well?” Jarad turned to Drekkar. “Ready to get back to old habits, albeit briefly?”

Drekkar rubbed his hands together, “Oh, yes. I’m looking forward to this. To start, I’m going to find out whether Isa kept any clothes on.” He grinned.

“In there?” Jarad motioned towards the bedroom door, then shook his head. “I meant with this Linar. It will be interesting to see my old student once more and for him to see me. At least while he still has eyes.”

“I knew that’s what you meant,” he said, “and, really? His eyes?” He shuddered. “I’m glad you had pity on me.”

“It was a momentary weakness,” Jarad joked. “Don’t start with all that ‘you saved me so I owe you my life’ crap.”

“Don’t worry, I’m not feeling maudlin or insane. Now, step out of the way so I can go lie with Isa.”

”Umm, no, since she’s settled in next to Kae. How about a movie instead? We have a little time to kill.” Jarad moved over slightly, blocking the bedroom door.

“Hmm... fine. A movie.” Drekkar went over and flopped onto the couch.

********************
Isaura Panossian
Kaeli
Drekkar
Jarad
Ronin
Suresh