Dae's Debts

Posted on Sat Mar 19th, 2016 @ 9:40pm by Lieutenant Commander Ophelia Payne & Commander Dae Nalas & Marla & Lieutenant Commander Earl Crane & Seyla

Mission: Further Challenges
Location: Piper Medical Center / Seyla's Quarters

* Piper Medical Center *

“Computer, lights af 50%,” Solis ordered. He stood by the biobed as Ophelia gently removed the bandages.

“Just about done, Dae,” she said, as she unwound the gauze that held the light-proof pads in place. “Close your eyes.” She moved the last of it and stepped back.

Solis moved his tricorder slowly over Dae’s face, then with a nod, turned it off. “Everything looks good. Open your eyes and let me know if there’s any blurriness or distortion.”

“Got it.” Dae opened his eyes and began to slowly look around the room. He hesitated a moment then ordered the lights up to normal level. As the room brightened, he looked from Solis to Ophelia and back, then gave a low whistle.

“There are no words to describe this,” he breathed. “It’s like before, my eyes were only barely functioning compared to now. Unreal.”

“Your visual acuity is vastly superior to what it was before. You can also shift to night vision as needed, an ability that Six has also. If you need any assistance in that area, you should call her. You know better than any of us how to reach her.” Solis smiled and patted Dae on the shoulder. “There may be a little adjustment, so if you develop headaches, come see me. Otherwise, you’re good to go. But I want to see you in two days, even if things seem fine.”

“Thanks, Doc, and you too Ophelia. I owe you everything.” Dae pulled her into a tight hug, then gripped Solis’ hand tight. “Without my vision, my career would be over.”

“Glad to be of service,” Solis answered. “You’re not washed up just yet. But take it easy for the next two days, your body has been through hell.”

“I’ll bring you some clothes,” Ophelia offered. “Casual or uniform?”

“Casual,” Solis answered for him. “He’s still off-duty till his check-up in two days.”

“Casual it is then.” Dae smiled back at Ophelia. He already knew where his first stop would be.

* The Cherry Pit - Seyla’s Quarters *

Seyla stared at the computer, not liking the numbers she saw. It frustrated her that she couldn’t put a finger on just why the sheets weren’t balancing, why the income was not keeping up with the outflow. Tapping a nail on the desk, she ran through the numbers again. The doorbell interrupted her. “Enter,” she called, without getting up from her desk.

The doors opened and Dae strode in. “Hello, Seyla. Long time no see.” He did not look happy in the least.

Grimacing, she snarked, “I should have asked who it was before letting you in. What do you want?”

“So nice to see you too.” His voice dripped sarcasm. He then glanced towards her closed bedroom doors before he answered her question. “Is Marla here?”

“No. If she hasn’t told you where she is, then I can’t either,” Seyla said. “Would you like to schedule a date with someone else?”

“No!” Dae frowned and ran his hand through his hair. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to snap, it’s just that things are all fucked up,” he admitted. “Marla came to see me in sickbay. She said she can’t live with being afraid I’ll come home dead every time I go on an away mission. Then...she said she was moving back down here. Tell me you had nothing to do with it.”

Sounding bored, Seyla sighed and parrotted back: “I had nothing to do with it.” She waited a beat then added, “Happy?”

He studied her with narrowed eyes, sensing she was telling mostly the truth. From this distance, his new eyes noted none of the usual signs of lying he was so well-trained to detect. “I see.” He dropped to the sofa with a huff. “So what can I do? She said she intends to start seeing clients again, too. I can’t let her do that.”

“Oh, well, that perhaps was my idea. I can’t have her just hanging out here, doing nothing.” She glanced at her books and thought that maybe, just maybe, Marla could make them balance or find the leak. Slyly, she watched Dae a moment then rose and sidled over to him. Taking a seat next to him, close enough that she could play with his hair with one hand; one breast pressed against his arm. “I could ease your angst, make you forget all about her.”

“I suspect so, with just one little whiff, huh? And how would I explain that to Marla after I begged her not to leave?” He turned his head just enough to study her face up close. He wasn’t sure whether he was tempted to take her up on her offer or strangle her.

“You wouldn’t care about explaining, dear. I have the feeling you want to take me up on my offer,” she purred and released a shot of pheromones as she leaned in to kiss him.

The pheromones wafted around him and his senses opened up, drawing them in and answered with a surge of desire. He even felt his body begin to give in, but he got a grip on himself. Taking hold of her shoulders, he pushed her back enough to separate them.

“Where...is...she?” His question came with effort. His grip on her shoulders tightened because he knew if he didn’t keep her away from him, he would give in.

Narrowing her eyes at him, she backed off. “So you really do love her?”

“Why do you think I badgered you and had Marabeth charge for my services to cover for Marla’s visits to me? Why I had friends help me arrange meetings? I moved her in with me for god’s sake, Sey! She knows I do.”

“Even after she’s attempted to cut ties with you? Admitted that she’d rather go back to servicing clients than live seeing you go off and get hurt?”

“That’s the problem now, isn’t it?” Dae frowned and shook his head. “What do I do? Gilroy suggested I simply hire her for the night, then keep her there and make my case but that sounded a little heavy-handed to me.”

“Just a little,” Seyla agreed. “Gilroy wasn’t serious, was he? I hope not.... Anyway, I need Marla for a bit, but just to take a look at my books. It seems that somewhere, somehow, there are credits missing. Perhaps we could help each other.”

“Explain.” Dae rose and crossed to the bar where he poured two drinks. He carried them back and gave one to Seyla. “How is this going to change her mind?”

Ballsy, she thought of him for pouring a drink from her bar; she took the glass he offered her. “I didn’t say anything about changing her mind. I said there are credits missing from the accounts; things aren’t adding up. I think someone is skimming funds off, but I can’t find where. Help me with that and then I’ll see about helping you.”

“So in other words, give her a little time here to sort your issue and don’t bug her...then you’ll do your thing?” he asked.

She frowned at him. “Or you could hunt down who’s doing the skimming. Perhaps work with Marla while you’re doing that.” She shrugged. “And then, maybe I’ll help things along.”

“Assuming she wants to see me.” Dae shrugged lightly. “You know it has to be someone with access to this place. You could just have everyone who does come in here and let me read them. Then let Suresh deal with whatever we find.” Typical intel man, Dae was thinking solution as opposed to Seyla’s more subtle process.

Again, Seyla frowned at him; he was taking the direct route. “Did you think I didn’t already consider that? I have Betazoids on my payroll; I could have one of them do that. It isn’t anyone coming in here - the funds are being skimmed from my Archadia endeavours. I’m considering sending Marla down there to do some poking around at the various locations. It might be good to have someone watching her back.”

“Agreed. Someone who is skimming won’t take well to being tracked and it could put her in a dangerous position.” He drained his glass, then looked at Seyla. “Assuming she wants to see me. I think it might be better if, at first, she doesn’t know I’m still off duty for several days so I have the time.”

“Everyone else from your group has time off; Oralia isn’t being allowed back to duty for at least a week,” Seyla demonstrated that her own intel network worked well. “Marla will likely know that you’re off duty. I’ll send her a message in a few minutes, asking her to go to Archadia. Once she goes, I’ll let you know where to find her.”

“Alright. “I’ll stay out of sight at first so I can see what’s going on. Whoever it is may be harder to spot if they see me hanging around her.”

Shrugging slightly, Seyla expressed her disinterest in how he went about what he was about with her body language. “Fine. I’m not hiring you, so what you do is up to you. I expect my problem to be solved, though.”

“Do you know where Marla is now?” he asked. “She’s already left my quarters, so I know she’s down here somewhere. I want to see her before you send her to Archadia.”

“On the Promenade, doing some shopping,” she answered. “She’s staying with Bella, otherwise.”

“Call her down here then,” Dae requested. “Please.” His tone softened as he asked for the favor. “I know you don’t much care for me and to be honest, it never made me lose sleep at night but this this means everything to me Seyla. I wouldn’t be here if it didn’t.”

“I know,” she smiled slightly, moving away from him to the comm, “This means you’ll owe me.” She made the call then refilled Dae’s drink so they could in congenial silence..

He nodded. “I suppose so.” He sipped his drink and they sat, knowing that since Seyla called, Marla wouldn’t take long to get there. The faint scent of pheromones still lingered, causing Dae to watch Seyla a little more closely. When he finished with Marla, it would be wise to make a quick retreat.

Well aware of Dae’s eyes on her, Seyla made sure that every move she made declared her sex appeal. When Marla arrived, she stood and sashayed to the door, putting a touch more swing in her hips than really necessary. “Marla, dear, I have something I need you to do,” she pulled Marla inside.

On seeing Dae, Marla frowned heavily. “Him? You want me to--”

“Hush, dear,” Seyla said. “He’s not what I want you to do, but he does want to talk to you. Don’t run off.” She nodded to Dae and strolled to her desk.

Dae turned to look at Marla, taking her in and, for a moment unable, to speak. Finally, he found his voice. “Marl, how are you?”

Unhappy that Seya would ambush her with Dae like this, Marla held onto her frown and mumbled, “Fine. You?”

“Better, now that I see you’re alright.” He smiled and pointed to his eyes. “I told you they would be fine. Solis is a wizard I think.” He could read her unease in an instant. “I’m okay, really.”

She glanced at Seyla then back to him and whispered, “What about next time? Or the time after that?”

Dae considered the question, then glanced at Seyla before turning back. Maybe we could discuss this away from Sey? After she finishes her business with you?

“We really don’t have anything else to discuss, Dae. Seyla, what business do you have with me?” Marla turned away from Dae, lest she start crying.

Looking from one to the other, Seyla said, “I have a monetary issue on Archadia. Someone, somewhere down there is skimming funds from our investments. You’re good with our books, you already know our system. I’m sending you there to find out who is doing this. Once you know, Suresh will handle the person.”

Marla knew that ‘Suresh’ in that statement was actually more likely to be Seyla herself. She didn’t take kindly to anyone mishandling her income. “Oh, okay. I was...,” she looked at Dae, “going to start taking clients.”

“Not yet. I’d rather you do this, Marla. You’ll leave tonight.”

Thank you, Dae passed to Seyla. Finally he spoke aloud to Marla. “If you run into trouble down there, call me. Take a comm badge with you.”

Marla turned a hard look on Dae. “Trouble? I’m going down there to do some accounting work. I won’t need help.” She headed for the door. “Seyla, I’ll start with Marsey’s in the southern region.”

Dae sighed inwardly as she turned to go. “Just be careful.” He didn’t take his eyes off her as she reached the door, though he really wanted to jump to his feet, carry her out and away from Seyla’s altogether.

Once Marla was gone, Seyla sighed at Dae. “There’s your answer, Commander Nalas.”

“To what? That there’s plenty she’s not saying? Denying the truth that I can read plain as day?” he asked. “Or are you saying I should just give up?”

“She just told you where she’ll be. She didn’t need to tell me where she was going to start. She wanted you to know.”

Dae nodded slowly. Indeed she had. It seemed that Marla wasn’t the only one hiding deep emotions. He had to look beyond that if he was going to be effective in watching her back. “Then I’ll give her an hour or so and go down there.” He should get out of these rooms at least but for the moment, didn’t move.

Waiting for him to get up, Seyla watched him. When he didn’t move, she said, “My offer was a one-time only offer, void as soon as Marla walked in the door. Or is there something else the high commander of intel needs from the Station’s most successful Madame?”

“Hardly,” Dae retorted. He stood finally and shook his head to clear it. “Exactly what will I owe you, Sey?”

“Let’s just leave that open for now,” she replied, smiling slightly. “It’ll be good having you owe me a favor. One never knows when I’ll need something smoothed over with the lovely Ms. Goody-two-shoes Oralia Zeferino.”

“We’ll see.” Dae gave her a nod and crossed to the doors. “I’ll call if something turns up on Archadia.” He opened the doors and stepped out into the corridor. The first thing he did was take a deep breath of the pheromone-free air.

***************
Ophelia Payne
Solis
Commander Dae Nalas

Seyla
Marla