Fancy Meeting You Here

Posted on Sun Jun 10th, 2012 @ 8:47pm by Admiral Ricky Wegener & Captain Li Hawke & Colonel Travis Harris

Mission: Sections of the Delta Quadrant
Location: Saturnalia - The Cherry Pit
Timeline: Current

* * * Saturnalia - The Cherry Pit * * *

Li leaned against the wall of the turbolift as it began it's descent to Deck 532. She was back undercover tonight, complete with long red hair, violet eyes, and a beaded dress in deep purple that was little more than a bra and long skirt slit up to her thigh. She wasn't looking forward to this trip. On top of worry over Sakkath, she had no illusions that tonight was going to go smoothly.

She had been completely out of touch with Suresh since the night he'd been arrested and taken to the brig...and had his head shaved. He was always so vain about his hair, that was a blow guaranteed to set his inner reactor to meltdown. He would be livid at her lack of communication too. But given that he'd be seriously craving the nice blissful state she could induce in him, he might be at least somewhat manageable. She hoped.

She'd have to watch him carefully and be ready to pull out in a second if necessary. She would simply enforce the no touching rule and that should do it. Reaching up to her hair, she slipped her fingers into it at the crown of her head. A quick press there activated the mini communicator hidden beneath the wig. It fed to a channel that Nenita was monitoring. She didn't normally take such measures but tonight she felt it necessary to have a safety net.

The lift finally stopped and she took a deep breath, mentally preparing herself and getting into ‘Isha’ mode, then stepped out. Lazan was as good as his word and was waiting to escort her to Saturnalia. He’d sent word that Suresh had requested he do so and Li suspected it had little to do with her safety and more to do with assuring she actually came to see Suresh. However, it gave her and Lazan a few minutes to catch up and for him to pass along his ‘weather report’. Cloudy and overcast, thunder rolling in, storm imminent. Peachy.

They arrived at the bar and before stepping in, Li let go of Lazan’s arm. When the doors slid open, she stepped in with him directly behind her. The patrons near the door looked up and many waved, recognizing her. She smiled and nodded as she passed through. Whereas the other girls would have plenty of hands taking swipes at them, not a one reached for Li. They all knew better. Lazan escorted her to Suresh’s corner table that gave a view of the main floor. Suresh sat waiting, dressed all in black as was usual. His expression was icy, his eyes unblinking as she reached the table.

She did not sit, but stood waiting until he chose to speak.

“Welcome back, Isha. I trust you have a good reason why you’d been out of touch? No word, no sign of you anywhere. Even Lazan couldn’t find you.”

If you only knew... Li thought.

“I’m waiting, darling.” Suresh tapped his fingers on the table.

His eyes swept over her and she studied him closely. He was jumpy as hell, and she could see his leg jiggling as well. The expression in his gaze was deeply hungry, bordering on desperate.
She would have to tread carefully here, keep control.

“I had things to do. Deal with it.”

He drew his breath in with a sharp hiss and jumped to his feet. “Isha...” His tone was a warning.

Li rested her hands on the table and leaned forward, getting in his face. “YOU got me arrested and put in the brig overnight, and they almost shaved my head. All because of your stupid obsession. You owe me, Suresh, and you’ve got a lot of making up to do. Fuck you and so help me, you lay a finger on me, you’ll regret it. Got it?”

His dark eyes blazed back at her with a mix of rage and desire. “That’s my Isha,” he whispered.

And without warning, he closed the gap between them, capturing her mouth with a kiss. It lasted all of a second before she pulled back. Lightning fast, her palm connected with his cheek, the slap audible even above the noise of the bar. Lazan merely stood by, watching as the little show played out.

Suresh was absolutely stunned. As he reached up to his cheek, his eyes glittered. His tone, however, was contrite. “I’ve missed you. I need you.”

Li shook her head. “Not right now, you don’t deserve me. Sit down.”

He did so immediately, not saying a word. Finally, she graced him with a smile and sat down beside him. His hand shifted towards her but the raise of her eyebrow stopped him in his tracks and he nodded. Li looked out over the bar and even as she surveyed the crowd, she could feel Suresh’s eyes glued on her, watching her every move. So far he was behaving, but barely. He would pay for that kiss later, and he wouldn’t be too happy, but it would be a very good lesson for him. A waiter appeared and left her a tall glass with a colorful drink that went from deep red in the bottom to yellow, to pink, then purple on top. She smiled her thanks as the door opened yet again and a tall man entered.

Rick hadn't had time to wander around the base as he normally did. With the wormhole, the away team dealing with Section 31, Rick's night of passion with Akima and then Aia damn near giving birth in his lobby--and someone had better have cleaned that mess up--he decided he needed a little time to mix and mingle. He decided it best to be out of uniform for the place he wanted to go.

He also decided this was a good time to get to know the marine CO on the base a bit better. Lt. Colonel Harris Travis was a very sturdy looking man, but he wasn't overly tall standing at around five-foot-ten. It was obvious, however, that the man could break you in two just by looking your direction, if he so chose. One didn't become CO of a Marine Expeditionary Force without being able to do so.

They walked into Saturnalia in civvies, Rick wearing a long, flowing silk button-up long sleeve shirt, dark red with tiny gold lines of gold running vertically up and down, and light tan long pants with sandals. Harris wore a grey button-up shirt with a dark blue vest and blue jeans with boots.

The two walked in and found a decent-sized table to accommodate Rick's height and Harris' girth. A server arrived almost immediately and took their orders--a large beer for Harris and a whisky, neat, for Rick.

"Ever been here?" he asked of the marine.

"Nossir," he said crisply. "Not had the pleasure--"

"Harris," Rick said, holding up his hand, "relax. We're off duty tonight. You can still call me sir, if you want, but otherwise you're gonna' have to relax."

"Sorry, sir. Old habits die hard," he said with a smile.

"I understand completely. I was a marine in a former life," Rick said, his words obviously shocking Harris. "I shit you not," he added. "Before I put on a fleet uniform I was a marine, back in 2271. Made it to sergeant before I figured out I was more suited for fleet life, commanding ships and the like, and not just being a passenger waiting for that kill order."

The server came back with their drinks. "Thank you," Rick said as she placed them in front of their new owners.

The waitress looked them over, her study of them blatant. “Sure thing, honey. You need another, just hold up two fingers. Any girl here knows what to do with a couple of fingers.” She smiled and moved away, her tray held up over her head.

The Colonel immediately held up two fingers, catching her double entendre but actually wanting another beer already.

“Easy, tiger,” Rick chuckled.

Another waitress appeared before he could lower his fingers. She leaned down and nipped at his fingertips. “Coming right up,” she purred, and moved away from the table with a slink that could shame a tiger.

"I do believe I just found my new favorite bar, sir."

At the corner table, Li’s attention was caught by the new arrivals, but her expression didn’t change. Suresh, however, watched them with some interest. He could smell power a mile away and it was coming to him in waves as Ricky and Harris got their first drinks.

“Interesting pair Isha,” he commented to Li.

She shrugged. “If you like that type, sure. Men built like that shorter one like it rough. The tall one? I suspect nothing short of pure class, or as close to it as your girls can get, would appeal to him.”

“My thoughts too. Send Marabeth over, but first, I want you to check out the tall one. If anyone can get his attention it’s you.” Suresh paused and leaned closer to Li, breathing in her scent. His fingers wrapped around her wrist, but before he got a good hold, she snatched her hand away.

“You know the rules.” She stood, looking down at him. “You don’t behave, you’re shit outta luck tonight.” Without a backwards glance, she left him cursing and made her way towards Ricky’s table. This should be...interesting.

The drink was wonderful. Ricky thought they must have either found his personal stores or what he had wasn't nearly as good as what this place was serving. He made a mental note to check with the server for the name on the label.

He noticed a slim woman with flaming red hair and a beautifully beaded purple dress standing across the table from both men. As he looked slowly up the dress past her waist and hips, her chest and neck, he wondered just what was under there--that is until he saw her face.

"Oh for fuck's sake..." he blurted out then whispered, "What the hell are you doing?" but with a smile on his face. She was obviously not the person she normally was while on duty while in here, so he tried to act like a regular customer just to make sure he didn't give anything away.

“Good evening, gentlemen. I see you’re enjoying yourselves. If there is anything I can do to make your time here more enjoyable, you have but to say the word. Suresh will see that you have anything you could possibly want.” She shot a glance to Harris, knowing his face, then turned back to Rick and moved closer. She rested her hand on his shoulder and leaned down to speak at his ear. “Run with it. What I’m getting down here is going to make you a very happy man. It’s just taking a little time.” As she spoke, she ran her fingertips along the back of his neck playfully. “My apologies Admiral. Appearances you know, and you are being watched.”

He nodded with a smile and, realizing he had essentially just undressed his Chief Intel officer with his eyes, thought as loudly as he could, "I am SO sorry about that...kind of caught me off guard." He then added, "If this Suresh is the owner of this fine establishment, I would rather enjoy finding out the label of this wonderful whisky. It seems to be much better than my own."

“He’s not the owner, he just does business here,” she purred at his ear. “He seems to be of the opinion that you may be worth my attention. Don’t worry, it won’t last long, he’s just curious. He won’t be able to stand the fact that I’m touching you, so you will get to meet him if you like.” She fell silent, and passed a thought to Ricky now.

Careful...there are some snoops here.

"If he wishes to meet me, I don't see what it would hurt," he said, still playing up his role. "As long as he doesn't know who I really am," he muttered for her ears only.

Harris, only now realizing something was amiss, and apparently not having recognized Li, spoke up. "Here now, what's this?"

"Not now, Travis," Rick said, his eyes flaring to hammer his point home. He then turned his attention back to Li, or whatever she was being called right now. "As I said, if Suresh would like to meet with lil' ol' me, I would be honored."

“Very well.” Li stood and smiled, knowing Suresh’s mood definitely wouldn’t have improved from watching. She spotted their waitress and held up two fingers. “I’ll be right back.”

Turning, she moved back through the crowd but she didn’t have to go all the way to Suresh’s table, he was coming to meet her.

“I wanted you to meet him, not lick him clean,” he hissed in her ear. He leaned in closer to Li. “Tell me.”

“‘Business men,” she answered. “I thought you might like to meet the one you sent me to see. Come.” She turned, keeping just out of his reach and returned to Ricky’s table.

"Play along," Ricky said to Travis before he stood. "You must be Suresh. I'm told that you are the man to see for, well, anything."

Suresh studied Ricky with his dark eyes, then finally shook his hand. “You could say that, depending on what you want.” His voice was silky smooth, deep, with an accent that was almost familiar but not quite. “And as you say, I am Suresh. Your name?”

Without skipping a beat he replied, "Jayne Cobb." He'd recalled the name from a series of shows he'd watched a long time ago. Of course, something more fitting would have been better but it was too late--he'd already blurted it out.

“Mr. Cobb. And your friend?” Suresh turned his eyes on Harris now.

With a deer-caught-in-the-headlights look, Harris stood there. "This is Lieutenant Colonel Harris Travis, the top Marine here on the base. When I got here I saw his name listed and couldn't resist the urge to take an old friend out for a good time."

Harris finally unfroze. "Yeah," he muttered with a half-smile.

“Colonel Travis. I am familiar with quite a few of your men, they visit often.” Suresh smiled for a moment, and again his gaze lingered on Li before he spoke. “If I may be of service, just leave word here. And if you are in need of ...entertainment, I can provide that as well. Isha can recommend someone to suit, I am sure.”

Li’s expression remained unreadable, she merely nodded.

"And what about this lovely young lady?" Ricky asked, nodding towards Li.

The effect on Suresh was immediate. He tensed as if he might spring on Ricky. “She is --”

“Flattered, Mr. Cobb. I am at your disposal anytime you wish.” She gave Ricky a bright smile, and took a moment to enjoy the rage that burned in Suresh.

Rick's eyes narrowed at Suresh's apparent change in attitude. And despite Harris' slackjawed expression earlier, Ricky noticed that he did move a bit closer to protect the Admiral if it came to it.

His jaw set, he turned from Suresh to Li and smiled deeply. He wasn't used to seeing her with red hair, but she did actually look quite lovely.

"Harris," Rick said, not taking his eyes off of Li, "think you can survive without me for, oh, a few hours?"

The Colonel was still sizing up Suresh, who was bigger than Harris, but not as obviously muscular. Rick figured Harris would probably get his ass handed to him, but it's a fight he would have liked to have seen.

"Of course, sir," Harris replied blankly without taking his eyes off of Suresh.

Li turned to Suresh. “I’ll be back a little later. Till then, I believe Lazan needed you.” As she spoke, she looked into Suresh’s eyes and touched his cheek, letting her fingers linger there.

He immediately relaxed, a happy smile settling on his face. “Of course, I’ll be in the back if I am needed. Gentlemen, a pleasure to meet you. Enjoy your stay.” His gaze lingered on Li once more, then he turned and strolled away.

Rick held up two more fingers and then pointed at Harris when he was noticed by one of the servers. "Drinks are on me, Colonel," he said as he jerked his head toward the exit for Li's benefit.

He followed her out and as they stood just outside the door he said, "Now what?"

Li took hold of his arm and pulled him a little ways from the door. “Well, you just bought me for the next few hours.” She laughed for a moment. “Don’t you dare tell my father, he’ll think we’re both mad as hatters.” Once her laughter subsided, though she got serious. “I doubt you’ll see him up above much, though he does like the Chinese restaurant. He has a regular table by the big aquarium, which doesn’t let him see the door. Just be aware if you go in there and skirt around it. You want to get to the bottom of the crime waves, he’s one of them but he is careful to keep his hands clean. Like the attack on Oz. He didn’t do it but the ones who did worked for him. Typical setup. What we are close to is who he uses off station. That’s where the big fish is.”

"Damn, and I like the Chinese place," he said, scowling. "I'm not exactly one of those guys that blends in, Li," he said. "I guess it would probably be best if I just stayed out of there for a while."

They were catching a few glances from people coming and going so he steered her towards an empty room nearby. "So, I didn't realize I'd be meeting a crime lord on my stroll tonight. Do you think I'll have to 'perform', he said, using air quotes, "any more after this or no?"

“No way to know.” She keyed in a code and when the door opened, she led Ricky inside, locking it behind them. “Part of the reason I wanted you to hire me for a bit was to make him angry. He’s never allowed to lay a hand on me unless I say so, so right now, you’re not his favorite person on this station. Which is good, it will make him not want to lay eyes on you for a while, if ever. But, you did get to see him face to face, which I’m glad of.”

Suddenly, something unnerving struck him. "You said there were snoops. Please tell me no one's listening to see if we're actually going to....uh, you know. Because that can't happen and I'm not a good faker."

“No, I meant telepaths in the bar. Something to keep in mind, and no that is not going to happen. If someone were listening, better they hear nothing. I think you’re a great man, but yeah.” She smiled for a moment, then a thought struck her. “Well, actually, someone is listening, but she’s on our side. I’m bugged.”

"Well, I meant more of your kind of listening," he said, tapping his head. "Didn't want Suresh with some other telepath honing in on my thoughts to see what was going on."

He actually grabbed her head, put it down in front of him like a big, flaming red microphone and said, "Hello, Ms. Quidley. Why do you let Li get into these situations?"

Allowing her to straighten back up, he added, "Who else would be listening? You two are nigh inseparable."

“See? There is a reason you run this station.” She didn’t bother to mention she wasn’t always bugged. It was a dangerous thing and could get her killed if it was found. “Since I have you here, there is one thing I wanted to address. Sakkath is in Sickbay. His vitals are stable, but he still is not awake. Norval thinks it’s a matter of his Vulcan mind taking some down time to get over everything, but we’re hoping he’s up and around soon. I wouldn’t be down here if Norval weren’t with him. And I’ve let this particular pot boil a little too long, it needed some attention.”

"I had gotten some preliminary information on him," he said. "We can allow him to take some time off, I'm sure."

He looked around the room and then back at Li. "Well, I have to ask again, now what? Site-to-site transport out of here? I'm sure you don't want to hang out in this room a few hours."

“I think you should, yes. I need to see my contact down here and make sure Suresh is sleeping it off, which he should be down in the next few minutes. Then I’ll get home, change, and go back to Sakkath’s room.”

He exhaled sharply through his nose and pursed his lips. "I know that I can speak for your father, and myself, when I say that you really should be careful down here. Seems this Suresh character could be bad news for you if you're not vigilant. I know it's your job, but having known you as long as I have it's kind of unnerving to see you playing this role." He took her hand and patted it. "Watch your back, okay? Lucius would flat out murder me if something happened to you."

“Before or after he killed me?” She smiled up at Ricky. “I am always careful. Besides, when you compare Suresh to my late fiance, Suresh is a pussy cat. Give my best to Akima when you get back up top?”

He grunted. "Yeah, that's probably true, and I'll tell her yo--Hey!" he said, knowing she probably had all sorts of details of his fling with Akima, but not really giving it any thought until now.

With a "Tsk" he tapped his communicator and requested a site-to-site transport to his own quarters. Before the transporter took complete hold on him, he winked at Li and smiled, then disappeared.

Once he was gone, she leaned back against the wall, closed her eyes and sighed aloud. Funny how she had not one father figure here, but two. She had to admit, it was a warm and welcome feeling. Even so, neither of them would hear about the mess in her head from the recent event on the Takei that had ended with Sakkath unresponsive in Sickbay. She and Sakkath would have to sort that out, and in the meantime, she had work to distract her. She waited a few more minutes, then unlocked the door and slipped out.

*********
Vice Admiral Ricky Wegener
&
Lt. Commander Li Hawke
&
Having An Unexpected Night Out