Coming Full Circle

Posted on Mon Apr 25th, 2016 @ 10:25pm by Commander Dae Nalas & Lieutenant Raymond Benson & Marla
Edited on on Mon Apr 25th, 2016 @ 10:36pm

Mission: Further Challenges
Location: Archadia III

* Archadia *

He wasn’t sure where he was but he was sure of one thing - his head felt as if it would split open. He moved it slightly and knew in an instant that was a mistake. The pain intensified, pulling a low moan from Dae. He didn't try opening his eyes yet, and suddenly wondered if something had gone wrong with his ocular implants. It took a few minutes before he realized the pain was radiating from the back of his head, not his eyes. That was somewhat reassuring. Reaching out with his mind, he tried getting a read on his surroundings but there didn’t seem to be anyone close at hand. He knew he was on a bed and that the room was dark. It smelled….the realization of what that smell was hit him full force and now his eyes flew open.

Reaching out, he fumbled in the dark and found a lamp by the bed. A few more hits and it glowed to life, illuminating the room. His clothes were draped over a chair and a dress lay on the carpet as if it had just been dropped. One high-heeled shoe sat on the nightstand by the lamp and the other lay on its side under the chair.He breathed in and there was no mistaking the smell...it was death. He moved slightly and his foot brushed against something in the bed beside him, something that felt like a leg but was definitely not as warm as it should be. Finally he looked over and the lump under the sheet was definitely body-shaped. He had to know.

Reaching out once again, he pulled back the sheet and suddenly found it hard to breath. It was the bartender from Marsey’s and she was definitely dead. Already, the skin around her lips was blue and a faint hint of blood-tinged saliva had dried at the corner of her mouth.

Dae tried not to panic as he fought to recall what had happened before...here. He remembered leaving the bar, definitely not with this woman, but then….nothing.

Outside, several sirens could be heard, approaching the hotel. Someone had notified the Archadian security forces that a woman had been murdered. The vehicles pulled up and cut their sirens as several females exited them and headed inside.

The sound of the sirens reached Dae’s addled brain, jerking him to full awareness. They did nothing for his splitting headache but at least they got him moving. He leaped from the bed and then realized he was stark naked. Well...duh, he’d seen his clothes across the room. His brain tried to shift into intel mode but hearing the sirens stop just outside his window, he knew itwas now or never. Peering out from behind the curtains, he watched as the small shuttle emptied out and several guards moved to the hotel. He shifted to the window across from the door and released the lock. Grateful it was till dark, he pushed the window open and was halfway out when the door burst open.

“Hey!” The first officer in the door yelled and sprinted across the room to try to grab him; he was out the window before she reached him. “He’s running!”

Officers outside converged on the window, and Dae, shouting for him to freeze and get his hands in the air. When he did, one quipped, “At least we know he’s not armed.”

Dae stood still, waiting for them to make the next move. He actually found the guard’s joke funny and laughed but cut himself off before it turned hysterical. He had no idea what the hell was going on here but appearing crazy wasn’t going to help.

“I’m not going to run,” he finally said. His voice sounded reasonable, at least to him.

“Good thing,” an officer said as she drew near to cuff him. She had the decency to cuff him in front. “Could we get this guy a pair of pants?”, she called to one of the officers in the room.

A full investigation team was already inside, beginning their work on the scene. “Yeah, here,” a pair came through the window. They were handed over to Dae, with no small amount of leering and chuckling.

He managed to pull on the scrubs, realizing his own clothes would likely already be bagged to go to the lab. “Thanks.” He decided not to mention his name yet, so it wouldn’t reach the few bystanders who had wandered over. Better to keep that between him and the guards once they were in private. “Ready when you are.”

“Let’s go,” she took him by the arm and hauled him towards one of the vehicles. She pushed him into the back then sat with him and asked, “So, who are you?”

“Lt. Commander Dae Nalas, Chief of Intelligence, Starbase 900,” Dae answered. “Please call Lt. Ray Benson up on the station.”

“Figured you for a Fleetie,” she said. “We’ll contact Benson. In a little while. The woman in the room; who is she?”

“I don’t know her name,” Dae admitted. “I first laid eyes on her last night at Marsey’s. She was the bartender. She left while I was still at the bar.” He saw no need to elaborate on their little play at meeting up. The shuttle began to move and he lifted his hands to rub his eyes. “Thanks for the front cuff.”

“Don’t make me regret it,” she answered. “Why’d you kill her?”

“Kill her? I didn’t! I was alone when I left the bar. There’s been some irregularities with the books there and the owner sent one of hers down to check the books. I was there to keep an eye on Marla in case she ran into trouble. Which she did.”

“That’s Marla, in the bed?”

“No, Marla oversees operations for Seyla. Marla is also my...you know. “ Dae shrugged. “Marla left, she was going to the main house near the square. I followed because we were afraid that whoever’s embezzling the money might not like her snooping. As we were walking, I saw someone following her and we tangled. It was a woman. I left and went the back way, trying to catch up with Marla. I was watching her cross the square and...that’s all I remember until I woke up a few minutes ago.”

“Interesting. We’ll look into Marla’s whereabouts. Will she vouch for you?”

“Check at the main house. She...well...I hope so. She and I are having a bit of a disagreement at the moment. I want to know who was after her though and why. Well, and why someone killed the bartender and left her in my bed.” Dae sighed aloud. “Likely someone local. It wasn’t even my bed or my hotel room.”

“We’ll look into everything. For now, you’ll rest easy in a cell. We’ll call your Lieutenant Benson for you.” The vehicle stopped and the door opened; officers pulled Dae out. In short order, he was processed into the jail and given a jail uniform then put into a cell.

* Two Hours Later *

Ray had beamed directly down to the central prison and finally tracked down the officer who had called him. He approached and when she turned, he introduced himself. “Lt. Ray Benson. You have one of my officers here?”

“Yeah, Lieutenant Commander Dae Nalas. Looks like he killed a woman, though we aren’t sure what his motive is. He certainly didn’t have an escape plan,” she said. “I’ll take you to him.” She led the way through the main gate of the jail.

“He...killed a woman?” Ray was incredulous at that news and he hurried to catch up. “Are you sure about that? I find that just about impossible to believe, knowing him. What do you have on him?”

“He was naked in the room where we found the body. His DNA is all over her. He tried to run when we showed up,” she shrugged. “Open and shut case.”

Ray looked at her in disbelief. “Really? All that says to me is that someone wants him out of the way for whatever reason, knocked his ass out, then made use of him before he woke up. That doesn’t prove anything. How was she killed? And tell me this, if you woke up suddenly and found a dead body in bed with you, what would you do?”

“It’s unlikely I would wake up with a dead body next to me,” she said. She didn’t have much of an imagination. “It appears she was strangled.”

Ray frowned and shook his head. “Sorry but Dae is no murderer. Anything weird stand out about this to you? Anything he said I need to hear before I see him?”


“The whole thing is weird. He said that Seyla and Marla are having issues with an embezzler and that he followed Marla out of the bar last night.” She opened the door to Dae’s cell.

“Call Marla.” Ray turned his attention to Dae, taking in the scrubs and slippers he was wearing, and stepped in. Once the guard had closed the door and departed, he sat down by Dae on the bunk and spoke, keeping his voice low. “What the fuck happened Dae?”

“Best as I can puzzle out, I was set up. I left the bar to follow Marla and make sure she got to where she was going safely. She had someone else tailing her, too. Um... and then I woke up in bed with a dead woman.” He shook his head.

“Alright.” Ray nodded. “So first what’s the last thing you remember? Then I want to backtrack from there.”

Dae thought about his night. “I was watching the house Marla went into... and then I heard a noise and that was it. I woke up in the hotel room - which wasn’t even my hotel room.”

“Have they had a doctor in to check you over? You think your drinks were drugged? Or….” Ray motioned him to lean forward. Gently he ran his fingers over the back of Dae’s head. When he found a large, solid lump he cursed again. “Gimme a second.” He rose and crossed to the door to call the guard.

Eventually, a guard came along. “What?”

“I want a doctor in to check him over. He has a head wound where he’s been struck from behind. Might explain why he doesn’t recall much about last night,” Ray informed her.

The guard grunted then walked back out. An hour later, a doctor was there, looking Dae over. “Hmm... nice goose egg on the head here. That hurts?” She pressed the wound, making Dae hiss. “Apparently, yes.” As she spoke, a small device beeped, alerting her that it was done assessing Dae’s blood. She went over and looked at it then nodded, “Drugged alright. I’ll make note of this for the prosecutor.”

“Thank you.” Ray crossed his arms and said nothing more until the doctor departed. “So after you left the bar to follow Marla, who did you see? Anyone? You said the bartender left, tell me you weren’t seen following her out?”

“No, I didn’t follow her out. She was a little scary.” Dae rubbed the back of his head. At least the doctor had given him a painkiller. “Marla was being followed by a woman. I could sketch her, but I don’t have a name. Tall, broad shouldered, dark hair.” He laughed, “Which describes the majority of the Archadian population.”

“It does but I’ll arrange for them to come down and do a face. Any idea why she was following Marla?”

“None,” he shook his head.

“So now, in the immortal words of Sherlock Holmes, we need to cherchez la femme,” Ray replied. “Either her or someone has a problem with you and it could be they want you out of the way where Marla is concerned. It makes some sense, given you don’t really have any enemies down here. Do you?”

“It’d be strange if I do. No, more likely it has to do with Marla. Seyla sent her down her to ferret out a leak in their accounts. Maybe she got lucky and started at the house where the embezzler is. And maybe they didn’t like me following her.”

“That’s what I think too.” Ray frowned a moment. “Any other details I need to know? They will be in to question you in the morning and I will be here. Until then, you should sleep. How’s your head?”

“Better. Sleeping here will be... difficult,” Dae gestured at the open cell, surrounded by iron bars. “Not exactly any privacy. What if I snore?”

“I don’t think anyone will care. Do you?” Ray asked. “Snore I mean.”

“Not usually,” a voice answered. It was Marla.

Dae was on his feet in a flash. “Marla,” he smiled. “How are you?”

She looked from him to Ray and back. “Better than you are right now,” she answered.

“Alrighty then, I’ll just be going. But I’ll be here first thing in the morning, Dae. Call if anything comes up before then.” Ray was anxious to escape the sudden tension in the air. “Marla, nice to see you.” He waited as the guard opened the door, let Marla in, then he hurried out.

Marla was silent for a moment, but finally her expression softened. “Dae...what…..” She hesitated, then hurried across the cell to wrap her arms around him.

He hugged her tightly, thrilled that she was in his arms - even though the circumstances sucked. “I don’t know. I was looking out for you and then... woke up in bed with a dead body.”

“Looking out for me?” That part had startled her more than the dead body news, at least for now. “What do you mean? I was at Marsey’s and then I went to the main house, just like I have a thousand times.”

“Yeah... well, you also probably never had a follower before, either. This time, you did. I was protecting you from her.” He held her hands and drew her to the bunk. “Seyla was worried about sending you here alone.”

“I had...a follower…” she repeated slowly, then sat down beside him. “But why? Why would Seyla...ohh she sent you didn’t she? What’s going on Dae? Don’t keep me in the dark.” Despite her firm tone, it was obvious she was shaken at the news she’d been followed. That wasn’t something that happened in her world, that was Dae’s life which was why they were at the current impasse.

“You’re down here researching missing money, babe. That’s not the safest thing you could do; Seyla is aware that it’s dangerous, so she asked me to watch out for you. Last night highlights the danger. Someone followed you, someone koshed me on the head and drugged me and one of your employees is dead.”

“The dead body was one of ours?” Her voice rose an octave as an edge of hysteria crept in. “Who? And why them?” She knew this had nothing to do with Dae or his job this time. Suddenly, he seemed more protection than one likely to be in danger. The thought brought a hollow laugh and she covered her mouth. He was in jail, suspected of murder, after all.

“I’m sorry, Marla, I thought they would have told you, since she was your employee. It was the bartender - the one who left early last night. I stayed till you left, but someone who was there saw me with her and did this. Which means that you are in danger, Marla.” His grip on her hands tightened. “I’m worried about you.”

“This can’t be happening.” She shook her head. “This is what you do, not me. And if you’re in here, what do I do? It’s the perfect method of getting you out of the way so I am….yeah.” She looked from their joined hands to his eyes. “What Dae? Tell me!”

“That - that’s exactly what this is about: putting you in a vulnerable position. They knew I was protecting you, not threatening you. You need to go straight back to the Station, straight back to Jonah’s protection. Either that or find Gilroy and get him to put an officer on you - at my request. Will you do that? I want you to beam from here to the station.”

“If Gilroy does, the officer will stick out like a sore thumb in the Pit. Do you mind if...is it alright to go to your quarters?” Marla swallowed, her throat suddenly dry. “It might be easier to spot someone there who isn’t supposed to be on that deck.”

He smiled slightly, “Yes, that’s a great idea, go home. You’ll be safe there. If you need anything, call Gilroy.”

Marla bit her lip and nodded. She considered the situation for several seconds, then turned to face him. “I haven’t asked if you killed her because I know you. I know you’d never do that. I’ll make sure they know what kind of man you are.. I also --” She paused, not sure how to address what she was thinking. She hadn’t missed his instructions to go ‘home’. “Ray will fix this and we’ll get you out and….home.”

He’d easily read her train of thought. “I know. They’ll figure it out. I want you safe while they do, though. And then... if you and Seyla still need to figure out the missing money, I’ll be by your side while you do so.” He hugged her.

“Obviously, we do need to sort this out. Someone means serious business.” Her voice was muffled against his chest and she snuggled in closer. “I’m sorry.”

“You haven’t done anything wrong, love.” He rubbed her back and kissed her hair. “Maybe Ray is still here. You could go back with him if he is.”

“I meant about what I said up on the station. I took off when you needed me the most and even so, you came to watch out for me anyway. I just...seeing you there in sickbay, it was too much, and that was terrible of me.” She fell silent, not wanting to cry.

“Shh, Marla, it’s okay. I know it’s a lot and I know it scared you.” He just held her for a moment. “Don’t leave again. Not like that. I love you.”

“I didn’t want to leave that time but I just saw you so near death, and you were. They told me that. I had this vision of it happening over and over and I….I ran.” She pulled back and looked up at him. “I love you Dae, and that scares me too. I’ve never been a ‘real’ woman, just a fill-in.”

“You’re not a fill in for me. You are the one.” He smiled at her. “And nearly dying doesn’t happen so often. Of course, ending up in jail doesn’t happen very often either.”

“We’ll take care of this.” Just as she finished speaking, the guard reappeared.

“Visiting hours are over. Kiss her goodbye. She has to go.”

Dae kissed her. “You’ll be safe at home.”

“I’ll be home,” she agreed, “I’ll call Gilroy as soon as I am there.” She leaned in and kissed him once more. “We’ll talk tomorrow.”

“Good,” he watched her go then did his best to bed down on the bunk.
*******************
Lt. Commander Dae Nalas
Lt. Ray Benson
Marla