Needle In A Haystack

Posted on Thu Jan 28th, 2016 @ 1:58am by Indra Nyyar & Lieutenant JG Quentin Dobry

Mission: Further Challenges
Location: The Nexus Club / Diplomatic Offices

* The Nexus Club *

Crewman Slandala had assured Lt. Dobry that an exhaustive search was already getting underway. Dobry appreciated the update but he knew that on a station this size, finding one woman who had no comm badge on her was going to take a while. A needle in a haystack, he mused. No one had seen her leave. So how did she vanish into thin air? Dobry had first considered the bathroom, but they had looked in there and besides, there was no way out of it. Where would she go?

Security had already checked with Zikar. She was not in his quarters, or on his ship, and he hadn't seen her. Dobry knew this to be true since Security had been with him from the moment he began to shout on the dance floor. The only thing left was to assume she'd gone out a back door and now could be anywhere. His comm badge beeped and he pressed it.

"Dobry here."

=^= Quentin? Have you found her yet? =^= The voice belonged to Kh'ali and she didn't sound happy.

"As much as I hate to admit it, no Kh'ali. She ran off during Zikar's ruckus. Everyone was so concerned that he might take a swing at Nyyar that we were focused on getting him out. When I turned around, she was gone. Security is conducting a search and keeping me updated. The bright spot in this is that Zikar has no idea where she is either. I suspect she is somewhere safe and I hope she'll call soon. Get some sleep. I surely won't."

There was a long pause before Kh'ali answered. =^= Very well but wake me up the minute you know something. Kh'ali out. =^=

Dobry turned and moved towards the main bar. He needed coffee and now. It was going to be a long night.

* The Next Morning *

Dobry had spent the night prowling the station but with no success. Alpha shift was coming on when he finally entered the diplomatic offices. Kh'ali had a meeting out of the office but Aure'l was already at her desk. She took one look at him and fetched a mug of coffee, pressing it into his hands.

"Thanks, Aure'l, it was a long ni--"

Her terminal beeped and she turned to check it. "One of the public channels from down in the pit," she informed him.

"I'll take it in my office then." He hurried through the inner doors and settled at his desk. After another sip of coffee, he rubbed his eyes and opened the channel. It was audio only.

"Good morning Quentin."

It was Nyyar. Dobry sat up straighter immediately. "Nyyar? Are you alright? Where are you? Do you need me to come get you?"

"No, no, everything is fine. I'm okay. I'm sorry if I worried you. Of course I worried you and that's not good. I should have called you last night."

Dobry certainly agreed with that statement. "What happened?" He noticed she had sidestepped the question as to her whereabouts.

"When Zikar lost his temper in the Nexus, I knew I needed to get as far away from him as I could." She stopped to take a deep breath. "I've never seen him like that before. I was also afraid that in the state he was in, he might have us followed if I went home. I...I panicked and I ran. I ended up in the kitchen and they showed me out through the back door."

Dobry rubbed his eyes and resisted a grumble. He suspected that she'd bolted the instant Zikar began to yell and he couldn't blame her.

"What happened then?"

"I went to see a friend. Security is familiar with him. I knew he'd keep me safe and in a place no one would expect me to be....the Pit. One of Zikar's men spotted me but I managed to lose him and reached my friend's quarters unseen. I stayed there last night."

"The Pit??" He tried to keep his voice level. To hear she had gone there, and likely still was there, and had been chased by one of Zikar's men on top of that was almost more than he was ready for. "Tell me you're okay."

Nyyar laughed lightly at the question. "Never better."

Whatever that meant. Dobry pinched himself to make sure he hadn't dozed off at his desk and was dreaming all this. "So are you ready to come back to your quarters? I can have you picked up now if you like."

There was a pause and Dobry had a feeling he wasn't going to like what was coming.

"No. I think it's a good idea if I'm not on the station for a few days till he cools off," Nyyar replied. "I'm going down to Archadia. My friend here works with someone who has a place I can stay and be out of sight and out of reach of Zikar and his men."

"Who?" Dobry asked.

"The house belongs to a man named Suresh," she answered. "I only met him briefly and don't know him but my friend does and trusts him."

Dobry felt, for a moment, as if the floor had dropped out from beneath him. Somewhere, he suspected, the universe was having a good laugh at his expense. Now he wished he were dreaming.

"Nyyar, I don't think that's such a good --" He stopped mid-sentence, however. Thinking about it, it occurred to him that perhaps it was a perfect solution. If the house belonged to Suresh, Dobry had a good idea that it would be out of the way and unknown. He had one question, however.

"Who is the friend, Nyyar?"

"Someone from my old village who knew me before I was taken by the Cardassians," she answered. "I know this may be difficult for you and Kh'ali but you can trust him. I will call you as soon as I am situated down below."

"Very well. I can't believe I am saying this but I think Archadia is the best idea right now. Be very careful and call me as soon as you have arrived safely. Also, if you need me or Kh'ali, we'll be there in an instant.

"I know. We'll talk later today."

The channel closed, leaving Dobry sitting there wondering how all this had happened. He certainly was not looking forward to telling Kh'ali but he was sure that once he explained it, she would agree.He hoped. He had a little time before she returned from her meeting - time in which he could figure out how to tell her about Suresh's part in this and live.

**************
Lt. (jg) Quentin Dobry
Walking A Fine Line

Indra Nyyar
Friends In Low Places