Time To Go - Part I

Posted on Sun Oct 2nd, 2016 @ 1:47am by Rafael Hernandez & Kaeli & Isaura Panossian & Patch

Mission: Further Challenges
Location: The Wormhole / Archadia / Bubba's BBQ

* The Promenade *

Kaeli watched the main level of the Promenade taking care to stay out of sight of the flow of foot traffic passing by. She wasn’t so much hiding out from anyone as she was staying inconspicuous as she waited. She really needed to see her captain and discuss a few matters. As she thought over her call from Halloran, she realized that she was actually hoping to stay out of sight of one person - Jarad. At least until she’d seen Isa and had made some sense of their situation.

Finally, Isa and Raf appeared and before Kaeli could move, a tall blonde man approached them. She recognized Falon, the new engineer. They stood in conversation for a few minutes, then he and Rafael turned to depart. Rafael paused to lean down and kiss Isaura, then the two men stepped away. Once they were gone, Kaeli emerged from her hiding place, slipping through the crowd like water. She appeared at Isa’s side and fell in step with her.

“We have to talk.”

“Yep, we do. You talk first.” Isaura glanced sideways at Kaeli then added, “Once we get somewhere slightly more private. Ro and the others are at Iapetus.”

Kaeli nodded. “Yes they are. I got a message from Jarad when he left the ship with the others. I haven’t seen him since they left to take the new crew and that Fleet kid out.” Kaeli paused as they passed on down the Promenade and approached the Wormhole. “How about there?”

“Yup. Where’s Patch?” She asked it innocently enough as they entered the Wormhole and found a table they could hunch over. Isa tapped an order into the table top console.

“Laying low. His brother went down to Archadia with Suresh and he was going to go join them. We figured it was the best idea so he wasn’t around when Jarad got home.” Kaeli stopped and rubbed her eyes. “Ro called an hour or so ago to say they were home. Not that he reports in to me. I think it was more of a warning.”

“It was. He, at least, resolved his cricket problem... well, one of the problems. They scared the Fleetie and he hared back to his safe little cave.” She paused while their drinks were delivered. “Are you concerned about seeing him?”

“No, of course not.” Sarcasm laced Kaeli’s voice. “You better believe I am. He has to know what was going on. Plus there’s that whole chip thing to resolve now that we are face to face. I don’t see it going well.” She lifted her glass and drained it.

“Right. Kick him in the gonads for that one, for me, too.” Isa winced. “Have you heard any fallout from our trip?”

“Ro apparently has. He’s worried that Starfleet may be getting curious. You can’t really blame them but even if they do, it will be all but impossible for outsiders to dig up anything. The few who know aren’t really cozy with the Fleet.” Kaeli paused as another round of drinks arrived.

Isa looked at her two drinks and quickly finished off her first one. “No, they aren’t....” She toyed with her second glass for a moment, hesitant to ask her next question. “Kae... are you in the Tal Shiar for real or are you just playing along?”

Kaeli’s eyes widened at the question. “Halloran got hold of you, I take it?” She sipped her drink and lowered the glass. “If I really had rejoined the ranks, I would’ve told you.”

“Halloran did get to me. He’s demanding I cozy up to Drekkar again and keep tabs on him,” Isa said, morosely.

“No! Really? Halloran is a slug,” Kaeli muttered. “Let me guess...he’s holding all this over your head and threatening to throw you to the wolves if you don’t cooperate?”

Isa nodded. “Both of us.”

“Meaning...what? He’ll reveal you? You didn’t do anything on Romulus as far as he knows, or anyone else either. That was all me. He’s bullying you Isa.”

“He threatened our lives, Kae. There’s nothing to reveal of me - really, I’ve been fully exposed. In more ways than one. But, threatening our lives... that could be serious. I wanted to make sure you knew.”

“Did he tell you what he’s ordered me to do? As a ‘loyal’ agent?” Kaeli asked. “I had to tell Rekar that I was no longer involved with Jarad to save my own hide. Now Halloran has ordered that I kill him. He thinks it will be a nice show of power to frighten the Order.”

“He asked me whether you were seeing Jarad. We’re going to leave the Station for a while soon. Ronin and I talked about that this evening. We’ll head deeper into the quadrant. I want to get away from this place and the drama here.”

Kaeli started to answer and a realization hit her. “Meaning leaving Patch behind. How soon do you want to go?”

“Leave Patch, yes. Leave the Cardie, leave the Tal Shiar.” Isa nodded. “Just go do some straight up, fun, profitable pirating.”

“There’s one problem,” Kaeli countered. “Jarad is our doctor. We need him. You know this crew and the tight spots we get into.”

“Sorry, I meant the other Cardie: Drekkar. He’s the troublesome one.”

“Oh, yes, I agree there. But if we leave him, how will you make Halloran think you’re doing what he asked? Make up stuff?” The thought made Kaeli laugh. “That could be fun.”

“No, I’ll tell Halloran to stuff it,” Isa said. “But out that way... it’ll be tough for Halloran to reach us. We’ll just have to watch ourselves when we come back this way.”

“I can buy you some time with Halloran, don’t worry. Especially if I tell him we are off to hunt Jarad, he’ll be willing to wait a little on Drekkar.” Kaeli glanced around at the crowd around them before she continued. “We should be alright for a little while. Raf will be glad to leave Drekkar behind I bet.”

“Very much so. Which will make him easier to deal with. Maybe he’ll quit arguing with Zarv. We can hope.” She laughed.

Kaeli laughed too, and rolled her eyes. “You are such an optimist, Isa. Now, tell me what happened with Ro and that Fleet kid.”

“They got a day or so out from the Station when the stowaways,” Isa made air quotes on that word, “showed up and took Rhian as repayment for some debt Ronin owed. When the Fleetie wanted to go chase them down, Paz and Falon told him no - that it’s the way of pirates to let their own get taken.”

Kaeli snorted. “I bet that went over well. You realize now that there’s nothing stopping her on her quest….for Ro. We could have a lot of fun with this. Ro has it coming after all the grief he gave me over Jarad.”

“Oh, I know. He reacts so well, too. Plus, think of where he’ll be after a couple of months of Rhian being the only available female.” Isa shook her head. “Maybe we should hire another woman....”

“It’s not just that. I’ve read him, Isa. I think she really has his attention, he just won’t admit it. I think he’s afraid of the cramped quarters and what would happen if it all goes wrong like Olivia did. Geez, he is such an old man sometimes.”

“Hmm... I suppose. You and I have had it easy. Usually, we get along with our men just fine.”

The drink Kaeli had just sipped came right back out as she snorted at Isa’s statement. “You didn’t just say that. How many trips have you had to sickbay thanks to Drekkar? And wasn’t there a fight with Rafael that led to days of the silent treatment? Then...see my recent issue with a certain tracking chip. Yeah….”

Isa laughed. “Don’t forget the fight between Drekkar and Rafe that Zarv had to break up... Okay, so ‘easy’ is an overstatement. Maybe Marcus will want us to go after a competitor’s dilithium shipment...,” she mused, changing gears. “That’d be fun.” Marcus wasn’t the actual name of her Thanatoksian sponsor, but his real name was hard for her to pronounce, let alone keep straight in her head, so she just thought of him as “Marcus”. Made things easier.

“We at least can live with each other and we know that if things get rough the rest will step up. Okay, so we’ll do a run. When are we leaving? And by that I mean how much time do I have to deal with Patch and smooth the waters with Jarad?”

“A couple of days, at most. Maybe less. Depends on what Marcus wants, if he wants anything. Is that enough time?”

“It will have to do. If we’re leaving that soon, I need to go down to Archadia and see Patch. There will be plenty of time to deal with Jarad once we are underway.” Kaeli drained her drink. “I’m gonna go now. If I go straight to the public transporter up here I won’t see Jarad on the way.”

“Okay. I’m going to deny all knowledge of your whereabouts if anyone asks me,” Isa smiled.

“Thanks, you’re a jewel.” Kaeli patted Isaura’s hand, then rose and vanished into the crowd.

* Archadia - Main House *

Patch’s grey complexion was a touch rosy - thanks to the alcohol in his system, the broad grin on his face and the red feather boa wrapped around his neck. A spattering of pink sparkles lit up his cheeks. The boa and the sparkles were there courtesy of one of Seyla’s Archadian girls. She’d been trying to lure him away from his task for nearly an hour. Patch’s refusal to leave his task wasn’t due so much to his work ethic as it was to Suresh’s threats of bodily harm if he abandoned his post.

At the moment, the girl was at it again: she was in his lap, doing her best to give Patch a taste of what she could do. He was enjoying it, immensely, but was also watching the entrance to the back stairs.

His intent gaze on the back missed the entrance at the front of a potential problem. It wasn’t until Kaeli reached him and the woman, and tapped him on the shoulder, that she made her presence known.

“Am I interrupting?” Kaeli knew damn well she was.

Irritation crossed Patch’s face and he waved away the interruption without looking, “Yeah, go....” He looked up and nearly swallowed his tongue. “Kaeli! Ah... no, of course not.” He stood, dumping the Archadian to the floor. “What are you doing here?”

Kaeli did her best not to laugh as the woman hit the carpet. “First, I wasn’t followed, if you get my drift. Second, you and I need to talk. Can Suresh spare you for a few minutes?”

“Ah...,” he glanced around then took Kaeli’s arm and drew her towards the back stairs, his feather boa fluttering behind him. Halfway up them, he stopped and said, “This okay? I’m still watching the stairs, so Suresh can’t get mad.”

“For the moment, yes.” She paused, trying to figure out how to approach this. Finally, she decided to just get it out there and see what happened. “We’re leaving 900 in two days for a run. Mainly because people with rank are getting too curious about our trip.”

“Is this your way of inviting me along?” He grinned and got handsy with her, pulling her close to him. The feathers got in the way and he pulled the boa off.

That was the real question, she realized. “I...that might be good but what about Suresh? And what about my big complication?”

“Jarad? Is he going along with you? He’s a bigger consideration than Suresh. After all, Suresh might like having someone on the Ning’Tao, since it is his ship.”

“Was,” Kaeli corrected him. “He forgave that debt, remember?” She smiled up at Patch. “But I'm sure he wouldn’t mind keeping tabs on us. As for Jarad, yes, he’s the ship’s doctor. If there’s anyone we need it’s him.”

Frowning, Patch pushed her back a little. “In other words, you don’t need me along, complicating your life.”

“That is not what I said. I meant that we have to have a doctor, that’s all. How would we work this without getting you killed?” She reached out and pulled him back to her.

“Install me in your quarters and make Jarad know he’s been displaced?”

And there it was. The real question. “Jarad his his own quarters,” she answered automatically. “But Isa thinks Drekkar will stay behind so…..” She stopped, thinking it over, not quite believing she was really thinking about bringing Patch. “It wouldn’t be pleasant for the first few days.”

He frowned, thinking about the reputation Jarad had under the moniker “the Butcher”. “Would it be only a few days of unpleasantness? We are talking about the Butcher... Maybe we should keep our ...ah... dalliance to the Station and here?”

“We’ll be gone a few weeks if it’s like a normal run. We could use you, Patch, which will be what Isa wants to know.” she reached up to brush her fingers over his cheek. “How much longer are you on watch?”

“Couple of hours,” he answered. “Isa wants to know whether I’d be of use? As muscle, sure. As a quick patch-up medic, sure. But if Jarad puts his mind to it, he could kill me.”

“If you are part of the crew, he won’t dare or Isa would drop him off on some barren planet and leave him. Can you fly a Klingon ship? Paz could occasionally use a reliever when Joe is busy too.” Kaeli moved closer to Patch, pushing him back against the stair rail. “Two hours? Not sooner?”

“I could... I could ask Suresh,” he nodded. “I get to bunk with you, right?”

Kaeli considered that and finally nodded. “You’ll be safest there I think. Do you want me to talk to Suresh about giving you a few weeks off?”

“Nah, I’ll talk to him,” Patch kissed her cheek, leaving a smudge of pink sparkles. “I’ll make arrangements to have my stuff brought over.”

“I’ll talk to Isa,” Kaeli answered, briefly questioning her own sanity. “You have two hours, that’ll give me time to see her and get back here when you get off.”

“Sounds good.” Later, he’d question his intelligence and realize that he’d been thinking with the brain between his legs.

Kaeli kissed him soundly, then stepped back. “If it helps, tell Suresh I’ll owe him one.” She turned and hurried off down the stairs.

* Bubba’s BBQ *

Kaeli had called Ro in her effort to track down Isaura. It had been a call only, as she knew he was with Jarad and didn’t want to have that conversation yet. She finally entered Bubba’s and the aroma of the meat and sauce had her stomach growling. She decided to get enough to take back and share with Patch as she moved on through, finally arriving at Isa’s table.

“Hey you two.” When Isa looked up, Kaeli noticed barbecue sauce on her chin and tapped her own to let her know.

Swiping at her chin with the back of a hand, Isa grimaced at Kaeli. “Whaddyowant?” It was obvious Isa wasn’t quite thrilled to see Kaeli.

“First, you’ll say I’m crazy and I accept that. But I found us a reliever for Paz and someone to help out Joe. Given this quadrant, he and I could use another set of fists.”

Swallowing carefully, Isa glanced at Rafe, frowned and then looked back at Kaeli. “If you say Patchouli, I just might shoot you. Tell me instead that you found another woman, someone Paz and Falon can argue over?”

Kaeli looked instantly guilty. “Umm….it’s Patch.” She held up her hand to stop Rafael’s objection. “I know it will be difficult at first but I’ll deal with it.”

Isa could read what Rafe’s objection was. “It’s on you, then, to keep the peace between those two. We’re leaving Drekkar here, but Jarad... he’s our doctor. I’m not relying on just Patch as our field medic. Not again.”

Kaeli nodded. “We need Jarad and Patch is aware of that. I suppose now I have to go break the news to Jarad. Maybe I should have a last meal while I’m here.” She laughed, but it was a hollow one.

“Maybe you should just leave the conversation till it’s too late,” Isa muttered. “I haven’t even contacted Marcus yet; we don’t know what we’ll be doing or where we’ll be going. What if we’re gone for months? Is Suresh really okay with not having Patch around?”

“His brother is back so there’s that. We could combine our business and his, maybe. He may be interested in wherever we’re going and have Patch do some work for him while he’s away,” Kaeli suggested. “And keep tabs on us I bet.”

Frowning again, Isa put her food down, wiped her hands on a napkin and said, “I’m not really keen on that last bit. We have enough people watching us, Kae.” She shook her head and relented, “But, if this is what you want... fine.”

Kaeli nodded. “Thank you. As for the crazy part, I know I am. But, he could come in handy, and I’ll be the one who owes Suresh a favor when we get back. You won’t have to worry about it.”

Isa had heard that line before. She nodded. “Uh-huh. We’ll see you on the ship, then, Kae. ... Which reminds me: I need to make sure the galley is stocked. Any particular requests? Other than whipped cream?”

Kaeli rolled her eyes and grumbled. “That’s for Ro. Strawberry flavor. I’ll send Rhian to see to the stocking. Wish me luck.”

As Kaeli left them alone again, Isa looked at Rafe, who’d been silent the whole time, and asked, “Well? Are you getting the same bad feeling I am?”

Rafael rubbed his eyes and nodded. “Which one you think will come out alive? This is almost worse than Drekkar.”

“I hope it’ll be Jarad,” Isa said, sighing. “Sorry... I’m not sure I like or trust Patch. And that he’s Suresh’s guy just makes it worse.”

“Well, if it helps, maybe he’s afraid enough of Kaeli to stay in line.” Rafael pushed the basket of ribs closer to Isa. “We’ll see. Dig in.”

********

Isaura Panossian
Kaeli
Rafael Hernandez
Patch