Growing Pains - Part I

Posted on Sat Jun 11th, 2016 @ 11:19pm by Lieutenant Commander Nicolao & Marla & Lieutenant Commander Gilroy & Seyla & Lieutenant JG Phoebe Chaelt

Mission: Further Challenges
Location: Intel Conference Room / The Cherry Pit

* Intel Conference Room *

Phoebe re-entered the conference room with two mugs of coffee for Marla and Gilroy. She placed them on the large table where they sat, her expression for Marla one of sympathy. The woman was still shaky and Phoebe rested her hand on Marla’s shoulder.

“It takes a little while to get over your first bomb. The shakes will go away in a bit, I promise.”

Marla shook her head, which only made her hand shake more as she reached for the mug. She stopped herself before picking it up. “First bomb?”

Gilroy grunted, almost in humor. “The Archadians like to blow things up.”

She paled. “But why? I mean... it’s just money...? What would killing me gain for them?”

“More money? Was that warehouse being used to hide a smuggling operation?”, Gilroy asked her.

“A lot of bad guys like to blow up things,” Phoebe stated. ”What matters is you’re out in one piece. What was the deal with the warehouse?”

“I don’t know; I didn’t know about the hidden passageway, let alone the connection to the warehouse,” Marla complained. “Far as I know, the shell company’s business is just the houses - the companions and liquor sales, maybe a bit of food, but nothing beyond that.”

Phoebe glanced to Gilroy curious about that but before she could respond, the doors opened to admit Nico.

“Commander Gilroy, Lt. Chaelt.” He reached the table and sat down. “Hi Marla. How are you?”

“In one piece,” Marla responded, her eyes shifting from Gilroy to Nico to Phoebe. “How long do I have to stay here? How long till Dae comes home?”

Gilroy looked at the others, hoping one of them had an answer better than his.

“Well, that’s the question of the moment,” Nico admitted. “Leto is on her way down there now and I suspect Admiral Hawke isn’t far behind, from what I sensed. I wouldn’t want to be on the receiving end of that.” He turned to Gilroy. “What do we have on the actual evidence?”

“On Dae?” Gilroy nodded. “Not much, really. Dae thinks he heard the voice of the woman who was tracking Marla. He thinks it’s one of the Archadian Guards, so we’re working to get voice exemplars from each guard so he can listen to them. Otherwise, we don’t have much to go on.”

“If one of them is involved, they have probably refused a telepathic interview?”

“Yeah, so far the higher ups have refused to allow that. Oz said she’ll talk to the Captain, see if she’ll order it.” Gilroy shrugged. “One way or another, Dae will be cleared. The autopsy of the bartender shows she was killed by poison, not strangulation, so Dae didn’t kill her.”

Nico nodded. “So, the question is, where did she go after she left the bar?” He turned now to Marla. “You saw her before she left?”

She nodded. “I essentially fired her just before she left. I assume she went home. If she didn’t, I haven’t a clue where she would have gone. She told me she was going to take a Fleetie home - basically, that she was taking business from the house, which is unacceptable. I think that Fleetie was Dae - he told me he didn’t leave the bar until I left the house. And then he followed me.”

“The security feeds should show that.” Nico frowned and looked at Gilroy. “So plans were made up here for Dae to go down and shadow Marla. No one down below had any reason to know ahead of time? So it was a spur of the moment plan or someone up here has loose lips. Why the bartender? Unless she was just a convenient method of getting Dae out of the way?”

Gilroy answered that: “She was convenient. I talked to Seyla; the plan for him to shadow Marla was a last minute thing. Only she and Dae knew; not even Marla knew. But if he made his interest in Marla evident, then... whomever wanted to get Marla out of the way knew to get rid of Dae first.”

“Who down there knows, Marla?” Nico asked. “Did you see him at all that night?”

“No, I didn’t,” Marla replied, shaking her head slightly. “I didn’t step out of the office until I was ready to leave and then I went out the back. My purpose at the houses was known: the managers of each were aware that I was looking for variances in the books. But they didn’t know about Dae, unless Seyla called to tell someone.”

Gilroy looked at Nico and Phoebe. “Maybe it’s time for a visit to Seyla.” Too bad Darwin’s not around; he knows how to work the madame.

Nico nodded, catching Dae’s thought. “I think we should. Are you going to your quarters here Marla or would you prefer one of the safe rooms for now?”

“I want to go to Dae’s quarters,” she said. “I’ll wait for him to come home there.”

Gilroy glanced at the others before nodding. “I’ll take her there. You two can see Seyla.”

“I’ll leave that to you Nico. I need to deal with a few things here that have come up on our other issue,” Phoebe informed him.

Nico smiled and looked at Gilroy. “Throwing me to the lion are you?”

“You have your own defenses, mind reader,” Gilroy laughed and stood. “Come on, Marla, let’s get you to Dae’s.”

She stood and she and Gilroy left the Intel offices.

Phoebe’s expression was, again, sympathetic. “Good luck. If you get in too deep, call for help.” She rose and left the room, trying hard to hide her smile.

* The Cherry Pit *

Nico reached Seyla’s door and hesitated. He knew Niro had often visited these quarters. Given that Nico had changed out of uniform so as not to be overly conspicuous in the Pit, he wondered what sort of reception he would receive. No time to waste though, so he rang the chime.

The door opened after a moment, revealing Seyla, in a black robe belted loosely at her waist. “Oh... I could almost think you’re Niro... but he’s in the Brig, or so Darwin has told me. So unless there was an escape, you’re Nico. It’s not often I get to compare brothers,” she smirked and stepped aside to let him in.

“Are you sure?” Nico asked. “Suresh used to be in prison too.” He stepped in, all senses on alert. “Am I interrupting? I hope?”

“Suresh didn’t escape. Well, not from this Brig, at least,” she smiled, letting her pheromones go to work on the man. “Even then, he needed my help. Something to drink?” She closed the door, locking it, and moved to her bar to mix herself a drink.

“Whatever you’re having is fine.” He watched her, not hesitating to read her as she strolled to the bar. The first hint of her pheromones didn’t escape him either. “Playing dirty already Sey?”

She brought him a drink, something green and oily. “Dirty? Oh, dear mind reader, I think you’re more likely to be the one playing unfairly. You’ve already read my mind, right? Why are you here?”

“Because there are some things I need to know if I’m going to keep Marla alive and prove that Dae is innocent. There’s too many coincidences in this mess and I don’t like coincidences.” He sipped the drink, paused to swallow, then drained the glass.

“Dae is innocent; how is there any question about that?” She smiled and went over to the bar to bring another drink to Nico. She settled in beside him, heavily perfuming the air. “I’ve already been told about Marla’s brush with explosives in a warehouse. Suresh and I use that warehouse to store old furniture, things from houses we’ve had to close for one reason or another, as well as shipments for renewable items such as alcohol, linens, etc. He and I knew about the passageway from the house to the warehouse; it’s one of the reasons we bought that property.”

“Thank you.” He took the glass and had a sip. “Nothing else? No smuggling? Whoever took Marla knew about that passage when Marla herself didn’t. What concerns me is that someone managed to come up with such a convenient trap for Dae when no one knew he was going to be on Archadia..except you. Something like that is difficult to execute on the spur of the moment.”

“Maybe that’s why it was botched,” she said. “Someone rushed to get the setup done and flubbed quite a bit from what I’ve heard. But, no, no smuggling,” she lied, “Suresh and I don’t need to do that to make money. As for the passageway, the manager of the house knew of it; some of the staff might have. Marla didn’t need to know.”

“I’m sure she’ll appreciate that. So….” He took another drink and realized he’d slipped closer to Seyla. For now, it served his purpose. “Who would want him out of the way? Somebody is frightened enough to get stupid, so I think there’s more to this than some doctored books.That would be easy enough to cover. It’s not something to kill for. Or do something as risky as snatching an Orion.”

“Snatching an Orion? Oh, dear Nir-co,” she chuckled, “Anyone who wants to kidnap me would have to go through Jonah and his staff. I’m quite safe, but I do so appreciate your concern.” She purred and eased closer to him.

“I didn’t mean you. I was referring to Edana. You know her? Tall? Green? Works for Suresh?”

“Hardly an Orion. She doesn’t have her pheromones,” Seyla sniffed derisively. “So she’s missing? Perhaps she’s who you should be looking at, conveniently going awol right now.”

“From what I understand, she was down there watching Marla, who just seemed to vanish. Perhaps if someone had been aware of that secret passage……” Nico smiled. His bones suddenly felt as if they had melted and it was a delicious feeling. “You know if they kill her, Suresh will be pissed at losing his extra hobby.”

“Extra hobby?” She frowned and moved back from him. “Suresh has enough hobbies without Edana being around.” Her tone revealed her irritation with the idea.

Nico laughed for a moment. “I’m not even down here that much and I hear the gossip. How’ve you missed that?” His connection to Seyla’s thoughts was getting a little fuzzy but what he could see dancing in her head would make a sailor blush. Then it occurred to Nico that the Fleeties were all technically sailors. The realization made him laugh some more. “Anyhow, she’s missing too, and someone wants too many people dead. What deep water did you jump into Sey?”

“Nothing I can’t swim in,” she said, slowing drawing her finger along his temple and jawline. “Remember that I’m the one that first brought up the missing funds. Why would I draw attention to something I was doing? Silly Intel man.”

“You may be able to but what about Marla? Someone seems to want her dead too. She’s still shaking….” His words drifted off at her touch. He was about to be the one in deep water, he realized, though he knew the risks in coming here.

“I imagine she is. Too bad she doesn’t have her Dae to calm her down. Why don’t you go and see to her? Calm her nerves?” She leaned in and kissed him slowly.

“She’s safe,” Nico murmured. “So who…..” The question died on his lips as they were taken over by Seyla. He resorted to speaking mentally, since it was easier. What do you want?

“Right now, I could do with you,” she replied and eased his tunic open. “Other than answers, what do you want?”

“I’m trying to save your ass...your business I mean.” Her hands on his bare skin were seriously distracting him. “And Dae...Marla...and…..” He forgot what else he wanted to say. Between the Romulan ale and the pheromones, his brain was mush and he was now underwater. He buried his hands in her long hair, mussing it completely, pressing her down into the deep sofa.

She had his tunic open and was starting on his pants when her door chime sounded. Huffing out an exasperated sigh, she kissed him and pushed him to the floor. “Stay here, lover,” she told him and eased away from him. The doorbell rang again before she managed to reach it and open the door. “What?”, she growled.

Gilroy laughed, taking in her appearance and demeanor. “I’m interrupting something, aren’t I? Did you already send Nic....” He looked over Seyla and saw Nico on the floor, sitting up. “Seyla!”, he scolded her and pushed past her to get to Nico. “You okay?”

“Never better.” He grinned at Gilroy. “Are you?”

“Yeah, come on, up off the floor,” Gilroy reached down to help pull Nico up.

Seyla, smugly smiling to herself, curled up on the couch. She knew that any moment now, the part Klingon would catch her pheromones and then she’d have a fun little Fleetie fight on her hands.

Nico got to his feet, his shirt still hanging open. Even addled, his brain recognized the danger. “You might wanna...get out of here….”

“Yeah, both of us,” Gilroy said, hauling him up and propelling him toward the door. “Seyla, you are one evil--”

“Oh, don’t flatter me so, Gilroy!”, Seyla laughed, interrupting him. “Go on, before your infamous Klingon rage rises to the occasion. You keep it under wraps all the time. Surely it’d feel good to let loose... particularly on a fellow like Niro.”

“Shut up, Seyla,” Gilroy pushed Nico through the door into fresh air.

Once out of Seyla’s quarters, Nico leaned back against the bulkhead and took in several deep breaths. “Better but I reek of it.”

“Cold shower time, then.” Gilroy kept an eye on him. “Maybe you should zip up.”

“What? Oh...dammit.” He zipped up his pants, then ran his hands through his long hair. “Shower first, then we’ll talk.”

“‘Kay. I have things I need to do in Security. You can come shower there or go home and meet me later,” Gilroy started to walk away.

Uhh, yeah.” Nico hurried after him. “Shower there. Dru understands my line of work, and doesn’t ask questions but still, I don’t think it wise to go home smelling like this.”

“Security it is, then.”

*************
Lt. (jg) Phoebe Chaelt
Lt. Commander Gilroy
Lt. Commander Nicolao
Marla
Seyla