An Entangled Getaway - Part I

Posted on Sat Apr 16th, 2016 @ 1:19pm by Indra Nyyar & Jarad & Kaeli & Isaura Panossian & Drekkar & Eldren Tohr
Edited on on Sat Apr 16th, 2016 @ 9:03pm

Mission: Further Challenges
Location: Cardassia

* Cardassia *

Nyyar entered the house she had shared with Zikar, along with two of Boroca’s men. She wasn't at all happy about their presence, but there was little she could do. Boroca was being somewhat over-protective and while she understood that, it complicated matters. All she could do now was hope Eldren’s abilities would serve him well and they would get out of here in one piece. She informed them she was going up to the main bedroom and that they should stay downstairs. They agreed and she climbed the stairs, then made her way slowly down the hall.

Being back here, in this room, unsettled her. It seemed a lifetime had passed since the day she ran away. That morning, Zikar had been his usual pleasant self, kissed her goodbye as always, then promised to see her in the afternoon. Then her world had split apart. She turned slowly, taking in the room, everything looking as if they had just stepped out. The pink stones were still scattered across the dresser. She counted them and noted that five were missing - the five he’d sent her on Starbase 900. It was a humbling moment, to look at what had been her world for over two decades and realize it was all a lie. A sob escaped her and she covered her mouth. It took a moment to get control of her runaway emotions, and then she moved to the closet.

* * *

As they approached Boroca’s door, Jarad stopped to smooth his new uniform tunic. “Seems strange to be wearing this again, doesn’t it?” He glanced at Drekkar and reached out to straighten his comm badge.”But good,” he added, in case anyone was listening.

“It feels wonderful,” Drekkar said, smiling. He cut a dapper figure in the uniform. “Of course, had we stayed in to begin with, we’d both be higher ranked than...,” he gestured a thumb at Boroca’s door.

“We made our choice at the time. Besides, if we’d stayed in, we’d have spent the past two years with Zikar. This one is much better.” Jarad smiled slowly. “He’s going to agree to our terms.”

“Right... one way or another, right?” Drekkar laughed and stopped quickly when the door opened. “And here we go.”

“Welcome gentlemen.” Boroca stood in the doorway. “It’s good to have you back. Come in.” He turned and led the way into his office, taking his seat at the desk once more. “Make yourselves comfortable.”

“Of course.” Jarad settled in one of the chairs before the desk. “It’s good to be back where I can be useful, shall we say?”

“Of course.” Boroca turned to Drekkar. “You are happy to be back as well, I assume? It’s been some time. “

“Absolutely, yes. Considering how I left... this is highly unexpected,” Drekkar admitted. “The years since have treated you well, Boroca.”

“Thank you, I appreciate that,” Boroca replied. “I recently married...a woman I’ve had my eye on for a very long time. Being happy gives one a lift, doesn’t it?” He smiled widely.

“Then I suppose congratulations are in order.” Jarad nodded to Boroca. “You are a lucky man.”

“Marriage is a lovely institution,” Drekkar said blandly. “Congratulations. Where is the woman now? Are we to meet her?”

“Right now, she is at her old house, gathering her things to bring to her new home.” Boroca’s smile lingered. “She is Zikar’s widow. I believe you know her rather well Jarad, through your association with him?”

Jarad nodded. “Lovely woman.” He glanced at Drekkar a moment. “There are many who would like to sweep her off her feet but I am glad she chose you. Besides, it will keep her knowledge within the family so to speak. You’ve met her haven't you Drekkar?”

“Ah...,” he looked at Jarad, mildly puzzled by the question, “She was on the ship with us for a short period. It would have taken some effort to avoid her, particularly since Farak was shepherding her. I suppose, since she’s now your wife,” Drekkar said, gesturing at Boroca, “I’ll meet her soon. Perhaps even today.”

“Perhaps so.” Boroca nodded. “At least you will tonight. There is a reception being held for us and I expect you two to be there. Now, on to business. I am assuming you have read your briefings? You will be here for a while but I want you to oversee things in the Delta Quadrant, and be ready to return here as needed.” He smiled slowly. “I also assume there are no encumbrances that might prevent that? LIke a certain Romulan? And a certain Bajoran?”

Jarad pressed his fingers together and leaned forward slightly. “There’s been an interesting development there.She was recently freed from her imprisonment on Romulus. We have crossed paths with her and Isaura recently.”

“What would any encumbrances with those two have to do with you, anyway?” Drekkar frowned and kept his gaze on Boroca.

“There was some question, as I recall, about what all you told her.” That was addressed to Jarad. “As for you Drekkar, that question was answered. I spoke with Isaura personally. Still, I would like my concerns eased.”

Drekkar felt his face freeze; Boroca had spoken with Isaura? His mind raced: when? Where? Isa had never even hinted at having been questioned by Boroca. How had she escaped then? “I see. Did she tell you what information she had?”

Boroca laughed softly. “I see that is a surprise for you. Not too forthcoming is she? At least for you. What she knew was of no consequence.” He shrugged. “As for Kaeli, Zikar did his best, as you know, then shipped her home. I understand she had a rough stay there.”

“That’s what she said.” Jarad was carefully circumspect. “I gather that her old colleagues made Zikar look like an amateur.”

“And you too, but then you never really did do anything to her, at least not anything...painful? What’s the situation now?”

“Funny you ask. Last I saw of her, she had rejoined the Tal Shiar and was sleeping with her old boss.” Jarad’s tone was nonchalant. “I suppose she hasn’t changed.”

His mind was still racing: Isa had talked to Boroca? What had she said? Nothing of consequence? What the hell? She’d been in his head and knew what he knew, or had known, back then. “No, she hasn’t. Neither has Isaura, for that matter.”

“So, what about Kaeli? She’s my real concern now.” Boroca’s gaze was intent.

“Well, I have a thought about that,” Jarad answered. “It would be wise to keep an eye on her don’t you think? Especially if she is back in the Tal Shiar’s good graces.” He flashed a smile at Drekkar. “Who better to do that than me?”

Drekkar’s return expression wasn’t a smile. “Oh, fun. You’ll need someone along to make sure you stick to the path.”

“No need to worry about that, though you’ll be handy to watch her. You both know she’d take me back in a nano-second. I’ll make it happen and then what she knows….we’ll know.”

Boroca considered the proposition and finally nodded. “Agreed but see that she doesn’t get under your skin like the last time.”

Jarad nodded. “No worries. That ship has sailed, to coin a phrase. I have other interests, shall we say?”

Drekkar bit his tongue to prevent himself from asking what other interests Jarad had. Far as he knew, Jarad was so thoroughly smitten with Kaeli that he’d do anything she asked. Fool. He nodded sagely. “I’ll be there as well, to remind him of his duties.”

“Good enough. Just make sure you don’t end up with a knife in your back,” Boroca warned.

“Eh, no problem. She’ll come running.” Jarad’s expression was smug.

“Now then, if there’s nothing more at the moment, I’m going to cut out early and go see if my lovely wife needs help at her old house.” Boroca rose. “I’ll see you two tonight at Irel’s estate.” He nodded and departed his office.

“Well... nothing like having the boss’s okay to chase after a woman,” Drekkar said morosely.

“So, we just got ordered to do what we wanted to do in the first place.” Jarad laughed aloud. “I told you he’d meet our terms. Did you know about him questioning Isa?”

“No. Yet another thing Isa has hidden from me. I’d like to know what she told him.” Drekkar contemplated that then looked appraisingly at Jarad. “You could probably get that out of her better than I could.”

“Me? Surely you are not suggesting I use my usual methods are you?” Jarad asked.

“No, of course not,” Drekkar assured him. That was exactly what he was suggesting, though. “Let’s go see to our quarters before this dinner.”

“Sure.” Jarad wasn’t fooled, however. He rose and then realization dawned. “Shit! Boroca’s going to the house where Nyyar is...and the girls! Call Isa!”

“They should have been in and out of there already,” Drekkar started to protest but knew: Isa sometimes drew things out. “Fine,” he rolled his eyes and pulled the Ning communicator out and warned Isaura.

* * *

Isa was nearly on the guy by the out building. She’d crept closer and closer, stalking him like a big cat - a big cat who would rather knock her prey out than hit him with a disruptor blast. She had a taser in hand and was closing in when her commbadge beeped and Drekkar’s voice announced that Boroca was on his way to the house.

Boroca’s man turned as Isa hurried her attack; he easily knocked her aside. The two grappled; he had the advantage, being larger and heavier, but Isa still had her taser in hand and managed to press it to his side. The shock hit her as well as him, rattling her. He started recovering faster than Isa - he had more muscle to absorb the shock - and reached for his alarm to notify Boroca of trouble. He hit it just as Isa reached over and zapped him again. “I’m going to thrash Drekkar for that,” she muttered.

Across the grounds, a breeze whispered through the trees, helping to hide Kaeli’s footsteps. She ducked down behind a rock and sat unmoving, watching the guard who was watching the house. She noted the disruptor attached to his belt and decided that staying out of sight was a grand idea. Reaching beneath her skirt, she freed the blade she carried from the band that held it. The guard stretched, then leaned against a tree, obviously bored. Taking careful aim, Kaeli sent the blade flying. It lodged in his side, just beneath his crossed arms. The guard gasped aloud and sank to his knees. Kaeli was instantly on the move. She pulled out the blade but he had fallen over with his hand near his comm badge. He pressed it, sounding an alarm.

“Dammit!” She kicked him hard in the side bearing the wound and the guard immediately passed out. Kaeli turned and took off for the house at a dead run. They were on comm silence and so the only way to get to Isa and Eldren was to….well...get to them.

* * *

Following Kaeli’s signal of ‘green light’ Eldren had quickly made his way to the house taking advantage of any cover he could until he was in front of the door. Testing the knob with a hand he’d found it open and stealthily entered the building.

For sure Zikar hadn’t been a stingy one about what pertained to furnishings of his home The practical and militaristic view of life typical of Cardassians seemed to be somewhat missing in the house as he took in the high quality fancy furniture and the many objects d’art that lined the walls and the corridors, most of them of Bajoran make. Surely pillaged or taken by force as was usual for that race of tormentors. It seemed evident to him that Nyyar had brought, more or less consciously, a great influence on the Cardassian.

The flurry of his thoughts was interrupted by a door opening in the other room and voices exchanging some joke followed by soft laughs.

Sticking to the wall Eldren took a quick peek through the doorway only to spot two armed Cardassians engaged in idle talk and admiring some of the pieces present in the house, one of them held a great vase and was commenting with the comrade the colored hues of its surface.

With a bit of luck Eldren could have reached the stairs to the upper floor at the end of the corridor passing unseen in front of the doorway.

“She sold it all to Zikar’s uncle, can you believe that? Gave up all of this for Boroca.” The sound of the vase being replaced reached Eldren as the voice continued, but the tone was softer, more conspiratorial. “That’s two of them now. What is it about her do you think?”

“He had to,” came the second voice. “As much as she knows? You think he wants her back within reach of the Fleet?”

“Yeah, good point. I think --” the first voice stopped suddenly and there was silence, as if he were listening.

Eldren froze keeping his breath as his hand clenched on the disruptor. All his senses focused to capture any sound revealing the Cardassians coming closer to the doorway. If their gods were watching on them they would have returned to their jokes and small talk, if not...

“Something wrong?” asked the second voice.

“Nah, just thought I heard something. Probably her moving around upstairs. Anyway…” The small talk continued inside the room, moving on to current politics and talk of a reception to be held that evening for Nyyar and Boroca to celebrate their marriage.

Marriage? What the Hell are they talking about?

Eldren felt a sudden surge of hate for the Cardassians which he barely held in check. Giving in to his impulses could have compromised everything and he had absolutely to find Nyyar first.

With a second quick peek and taking advantage of their distraction Eldren stepped beyond the doorway and into the corridor reaching the staircase which he silently climbed two steps at a time.

Carefully listening from the landing he hoped to catch any sound revealing Nyyar’s presence, for many a door were on sight and the clock was ticking too fast to check them all.

The sound of a drawer closing in the room at the end of the hall reached Eldren. Nyyar carried the jewelry case over and packed it into the bag that sat open on the bed. She paused by the nightstand and lifted a photo of her that Zikar kept there. It had been taken on one of their walks and she stood, barefoot, reaching up to hold back her hair as the wind caught it. He had captured the moment so well it seemed that if she looked long enough, her image in the photo would begin to move.

Eldren glided to the door and gently pushing it open enough to get a glance inside. Nyyar was there, standing close to the bed her back to the door. Feeling suddenly relieved he slipped inside the room.

“I’m here.” he whispered, closing the door behind him.

She yelped softly and dropped the photo to the ground. So absorbed had she been in the picture, and the moment it had been taken, that the whisper seemed to come from the past and Zikar. She whirled around and it took her a moment to register that it was Eldren. Her eyes widened and she moved across the room to throw her arms around him.

“You’re really here!” she whispered.

“I promised.” He replied with a soft smile as he held her tight, then taking her by the shoulder he regarded her “Are you fine?”

She nodded quickly. “I am.” That was enough for now, she decided.

As much as he would have wanted to spend more time talking with her he knew they were sorely tight with time. He walked to the bed to take hold of her bag and notice the picture on the floor. Kneeling to pick it up he cast a brief look at it “You want this too?” and without really waiting for the answer he threw it in the bag and closed it.

“We have to go. Quickly. Kaeli and Isa are outside probably already waiting for us.” He looked out of the window as he talked to her “Two guards are down in the living room. Is there any other exit we can use?”

“There is a back stairway down at the other end of this floor.” She reached out to open the door and listened briefly. Then she motioned to him. "Go left and at the end turn right. Once you’re out of sight I’ll come.” Before either of them moved, however, a sudden alarm sounded downstairs.

The two guards took a moment to respond, then one called up from the bottom of the stairs. “Nyyar? Are you alright up there?” His footsteps could be heard as he started up.

Nyyar grabbed Eldren’s arm and pointed to the closet. “In there!”

At first Tohr resisted, his instinct regarding how to deal with the guard of a far more deadly nature but then he allowed Nyyar to lead him into the closet.

She stood by the dresser and waited as the two guards rushed into the room, the very picture of calm. “I’m fine, why? What was the alarm?”

One of the men gave the room a cursory glance. Since they hadn’t seen anyone downstairs, he wasn’t too worried. “The alarm came in from the men outside. We haven’t seen anyone downstairs but wanted to check, just in case.”

She nodded. “Thank you, but everything’s fine up here. I should be done in another half hour or so. Do you need to check the grounds? If so I’ll be alright. No one’s in the house, obviously.”

“Might not be a bad idea.” The guard pulled out a spare badge and placed it on the dresser. “Call if you need us.”

“Thank you.” She opened a drawer, apparently getting back to work on the room and the two men hurried out. She listened as they went down the stairs and then moved to the window. Once she saw them outside, she hurried back to the closet. “The house is clear.”

“Good. Let’s go for for the rear exit. I go first and wait for you there as agreed. We must be extra-careful I don’t like that the alarm sounded. Something must have happened to our allies.”

That said he took a glance out of the room, just to be sure no Cardassian lay there in waiting, and vanished down the corridor.

She looked back over the room one last time, then hurried down the corridor after Eldren. Moments later, they were down the stairs and stepping through the rear door.

***********
Indra Nyyar
Drekkar
Jarad
Boroca
Eldren Tohr
Capt’n Isaura Panossian
Kaeli