Hailing Frequencies Open
Posted on Fri May 20th, 2016 @ 7:01pm by Indra Nyyar & Rafael Hernandez & Kaeli & Isaura Panossian & Eldren Tohr
Mission:
Further Challenges
Location: Eldren Tohr's Quarters / RIS Opius
* Eldren’s Quarters *
Nyyar paced the living room in silence. Her steps carried her from one side to the other as she went over Suresh’s instructions. He’d been very specific and she knew what she needed to do but now that it was time, she realized she was avoiding the terminal. She had no real reason to worry, she knew. This was Boroca after all, and whatever else he may have done, she knew he cared for her. He would be relieved to hear from her and that would make this all much easier. She just had to put on a good act and get this over with. She just had to buy them some time until the rest of the plan could be accomplished. Then Boroca would think she was dead and get on with his life.
Simple.
Finally she sat down before the terminal and began the process of encrypting the channel and routing it through subspace. It took several minutes, and finally the blank screen was replaced with Boroca’s face. His eyes widened and he leaned closer.
“Nyyar! Oh thank goodness! Are you alright? What’s happening?”
She held up her hand to try and calm him. “I’m alright. No one has harmed me, my darling, at least so far.”
“Where are you? Are you on a ship or a station? There’s been no ransom request for you. I’m worried about you,” Boroca said.
“I know. I am on a ship at the moment.” She glanced past the screen, hoping to give him the impression that someone else was with her, listening, and out of sight. “I can’t say where. They haven’t mistreated me, however.” She paused and managed a smile. “I miss you.”
“I miss you as well. I’ll have this transmission traced, my dear, and locate you as quickly as possible. If they hurt you in any way, they will pay dearly.”
“You can’t trace it. But they want to talk to you. Kaeli, you know her she says.” Nyyar reached up to brush back her hair, the gesture genuinely a nervous one. “To….to make arrangements.”
He knew her all right. He sat up straighter and demanded, “Put her on right now. I’ll make arrangements. She’ll wish she was dead before I’m done with her.”
“She isn’t here. She said she will call soon, though. She has me, of course, and something else she says you might want. I don’t know what that is or what she wants from you. She promised that I’d be delivered safely if you cooperate, however. If not, she’ll take me to Romulus.” Nyyar stopped to draw in a breath. “But if you cooperate, I’ll be back home with you in a few days.”
“Romulus... so the Tal’shiar is involved,” he nodded. “Tell Kaeli that what she has had better be good.”
Nyyar blinked. “Well, I am part of that, my husband. Isn’t that enough?”
“Of course it is,” he said, backpedalling slightly. “I’ll still kill her.”
“She promised not to harm me and strangely I believe her. I’m not what she wants, really. That’s all I know.” She covered her mouth and closed her eyes and a tear fell. “I just want to get home, that’s all.”
“I have every resource at my command aimed at doing just that, my love. You’ll be home soon,” he assured her. “And the Tal’shiar will pay for their interference with us.”
Nyyar nodded. “I can’t wait to get back to you,” she whispered. “Then everything will be fine.”
“Indeed it will be. You’ll have free run of the fortress; we can schedule a gala with the ladies every once in awhile,” he said, smiling at her.
“I don’t care about them, just you. I --” She looked past the screen once more and nodded. “My time is up. I have to go. I should see you in a few days.”
“I’ll have your chambers waiting for you,” he said.
“Ours,” she whispered. “Be careful. I’ve lost one, I can’t lose you too.”
“Don’t worry, you won’t--”, he would have gone on, but someone closed the channel, cutting him off.
Nyyar breathed a sigh of relief, though his sudden exit made her curious. Still, she had planned to end the call the same way. She waited a few minutes, then opened another channel to the Opius. “Nyyar to Isaura.”
The comm opened, first showing just an empty chair; then there was a flurry of activity and a display of naked body, mostly breasts, and a bright green robe. After a second, the robe closed over the breasts and Isa greeted Nyyar, “Ah... hey, hi, hello. Who’s calling? Oh, Nyyar? Whew, I’m glad it’s you since... you know, naked here. Good thing you aren’t Boroca or Drekkar.” She grinned.
Nyyar had to laugh. “Just me. How are you dear? Everything quiet so far?”
“Yeah, oh yeah. I’m just spending our down time getting reacquainted with my human, Rafe. That’s also,” she pointed to her robe and herself, “the reason for the nakedness. I don’t usually answer calls this way. How’re things where you are?”
“So far so good. I just finished the call with Boroca. I told him Kae would be calling him to make arrangements to turn me back over to him and that she has something for him, just as Suresh instructed. He knows she wants to make an exchange but I swore I didn’t know what she wanted from him.” Nyyar smiled. “I made him promise me he would cooperate so I could just get back home to him.”
“Oh, good,” Isa nodded. “I think I’m the thing Kaeli has for Boroca. At least I’m sort of sure I’m it.” She shrugged and waved that thought away. “Glad you could face him and tell him a lie. Or three, as the case may be. I still have a hard time telling Drekkar lies.” She paused then laughed and shook her head, “Ah... I mean I have a hard time telling him the truth.” She looked impish.
Nyyar laughed once more. “You should be all set. He’s wound up tight though and swore to kill her if she harms me in any way. I assured him she wouldn’t. There’s just one thing….something cut off the call and he was mid-sentence. So, be aware, okay?”
“Someone cut it off? Was that someone Eldren by chance?”, she asked hopefully.
“No, it was on Boroca’s end. Eldren isn’t home at the moment. I thought it better if he didn’t have to overhear me sweet-talking Boroca. Kaeli may be able to see if anything is going on when she calls, but she needs to do it now.” Nyyar relaxed back in her chair. “He’s not expecting to hear from me until you reach Cardassia.”
“Okay, I’ll make sure Kaeli makes that call,” Isa nodded. “We’ll be all good here, don’t worry about us.”
“Good. Take care, all of you. Promise me that. We’ll see you when you get home. Enjoy your human.” Nyyar smiled and closed the channel.
* RIS Opius *
The beep of the comm was insistent and finally Kaeli awakened and crawled over Patch, out of the bunk and turned it on. “Isa….hey, what’s up?”
“Not just Rafe, I’d bet,” Isa laughed lasciviously, looking beyond Kaeli.
“He’s sleeping...at least he is now.” Kaeli leaned over to grab her shirt and pulled it on. “Any calls from you know who?”
“Not directly, happily, since it’s been clothing optional in here for the last few hours. And Jarad hasn’t called either. But Nyyar did and she said that you need to call Boroca asap. So, get dressed and make the call.” Isa smiled.
“Gotcha.” Kaeli smiled ear to ear. “This is going to be fun. I’ll let you know when I’m done.”
“Okay,” Isa nodded, smiling. She closed the channel and hurried back to Rafe.
Kaeli checked to make sure her upper body was covered, then opened a channel to Boroca using the frequency Nyyar had given to Suresh earlier. It took only a few seconds, as if Boroca were waiting anxiously by the terminal. When his face appeared, Kaeli greeted him shortly.
“Hello again Boroca.”
“I will kill you for this, Romulan!”, he hissed. “Tell what you want so that I can get Nyyar back.”
A slow smile spread over Kaeli’s face. “Are you curious what I have for you?”
He frowned at her. “Yes. I am. So tell me, what do you have for me other than my wife?”
“She’s a lovely woman, Boroca. Makes me wonder why she’s putting up with you. I hope you treat her as well as she should be.” Kaeli paused, knowing that insult would needle him. “What I have for you? How about I give you Isaura? So you can finish what you started.”
His eyes narrowed at the insult then widened as he realized what she was offering. “Isaura? Drekkar’s Bajoran?” His grin was feral and growing. “Obviously without his approval. What will you do when he finds out that you handed her to me?”
Kaeli resisted a laugh, seeing Boroca close to drooling at the thought of having Isa in hand. “Nothing. That’s where you come in. You want her and Nyyar? Kill Drekkar.”
He stared at her a moment. “I think the channel had an issue, Kaeli. Did you just ask me to kill Drekkar?”
“I did. He’s going to be a big problem for me going forward and if you have Isa and he is alive? He won’t stop until he has her back and you pay for it. See the problem?” she asked.
“Don’t tell him. Isaura never told him what she and I did together,” he smiled, already anticipating having Isa in his chair again. “Bring her and Nyyar and I will deal with Drekkar.”
“Your word? Because if she is there, he will find out.”
“My word. Drekkar will meet his end,” he nodded. “How soon will you have the girls here?”
“Three days,” Kaeli replied. “I want you to meet me out of the city. I don’t want any trouble getting away from Cardassia. I will contact you and tell you where once we are there.”
“Fine. I’ll be here,” he said.
“See you soon.” Kaeli closed the channel just as Patch began to stir. “Everything’s all set Hippie.”
“Goodgood, come here,” he mumbled and reached for her.
“We have three days, then……” She slipped back into the bunk and snuggled up close.
“Let’s not waste a moment,” he welcomed her in with a kiss.
* Eldren’s Quarters *
Nyyar rose from the desk, her part in the plot done. It occurred to her now that she had very likely just spoken to Boroca for the last time and the realization was a little overwhelming. She had never been part of the harsh world in which Zikar and Boroca operated, and now Eldren and Suresh, but Zikar and Boroca had forced her into it. They had kept it hidden but it had pulled her in anyway and left her no choice but to preserve herself. She felt that perhaps finally she was living her own life instead of the one forced on her so many years ago. They had forced her to take such steps to save herself.
The doors opened and Eldren stepped in. There was no one she wanted to see more than him at this moment. Hurrying across the room, she wrapped her arms around him.
“It’s done.”
He held her tight in silence for a moment, enjoying her warmth. He softly kissed her head as she leaned on his chest then the hint of a smile lined his lips, a sad one.
“I think we have just started.”
“Let’s just hope the girls are successful and get out unharmed,” Nyyar replied. “But you’re right. I couldn’t have foreseen such a life, if you had asked me a few weeks ago, but I seem to have a talent for it.”
“And you like it?”
“I don’t know,” she answered honestly. “But it’s your world and if I intend to be part of it...does that make me a hypocrite? I was so upset over Zikar’s activities. Your life here is nothing like that but still, it walks all over the legal line and now so have I.”
Tohr stood silent as he gently stroked her back, considering her words. He’d never cared much for himself... A ‘greater cause’ filling up all of his life. For a very long time he’d been a lost soul without any other purpose than wipe out all the names of the torturers present on his list, being ready to go any length to achieve that goal. He had to admit he’d done things for which the prophets would probably bar the way to the thereafter to him and still he didn’t care.
And now the one person he once thought forever lost seemed to be ready to share that life with him. Or part of that life. He should have been happy of that… But all he could get was a weird feeling, for some reason all of this seemed to him very wrong.
“You haven’t done anything yet, but defend yourself. And for this no one can point his finger on you. I’ll make sure things stay just like that.”
Nyyar understood his point and nodded. “It is as you say. I understand what you mean and if that is how you want it to be, I will stand by that. As long as you are here, that’s what matters. Soon, we won’t be looking over our shoulders, at least where my past is concerned.”
“It’s not about what I want…” he said moving away a little to make eye contact. “It’s about what is better for you. This is a thing never occurred to those Cardassian who laid claim on you… Craving for their precious toy.”
“All those years hiding their true selves from me and now I am the instrument of their undoing.” She smiled slightly. “They had it coming. Things have come full circle, back to the river bank and a young man in the trees watching a girl count the stars. I’ll be sure to thank Suresh.”
“It seems only fitting. But I would wait about thanking Suresh. Seldom, if never, he does something for free.”
“Are you saying I will owe him in a big way?” She frowned for a moment. “I don’t think I really have anything useful to him, do you?”
“We’ll owe him a favor, this is how these things work. Perhaps one day he’ll ask a favor in return, perhaps not. Still, if he does, it will not be a thing we can ignore.”
“Then I’ll take care of it. I don’t want you in a difficult position because of me,” Nyyar answered. “Make sure he knows that. But for now, all we can do is wait to hear from the girls.”
“Don’t worry about that, I’ll talk with him. I hope things will go smoothly for Isaura and Kaeli I’m in debt with them too and I’m not used to the part that just sits and waits for the outcome.”
“We could go out, do something to pass the time and --” She stopped as the terminal beeped. “I’ll get it.” Nyyar crossed back to the desk and tapped the console, then read the brief message. “It’s Suresh. He says he needs you immediately and come prepared to go down to Archadia,”
Tohr frowned with the news “It seems our jaunt we’ll have to wait.” He said as he moved close to Nyyar to read terminal with his own eyes. “Don’t worry. I’ll make this errand as short as possible and be back in no time. Promise me you’ll take care of yourself.”
“I will,” she assured him. “I might go check out the Promenade. Now don’t keep him waiting.”
Tohr nodded and kissed her on the lips.
“I’ll be back.”
That said he walked to the doors and left.
Once he’d gone, Nyyar returned to the terminal and sent a quick message, then strolled off to the kitchen for a cup of coffee.
*********
Cap’n Isaura Panossian
Kaeli
Rafael Hernandez
Patchouli, he of the hippie Cardassian parents
Indra Nyyar
Boroca
Eldren Tohr
