Old Haunts

Posted on Thu May 19th, 2011 @ 9:34am by Captain Li Hawke

Mission: The Ties That Bind
Location: SB900

* * Starbase 900 * *

The quarters assigned to Li and Sakkath were spacious and comfortable, the portal large. For all the good it did them. Neither had spent more than five minutes there since arriving, preferring instead to visit their respective departments to get the lay of the land. They were both lucky in that their right hand men (and women) had come along with them. It certainly eased the transition. Nenita and Nick were, even now, still in Intel getting to know the other staff following Li's general meeting.

She had departed when done, intending to start unpacking and make the living space feel more like home. That had lasted all of five minutes. She'd opened the crates with all good intentions and that's as far as she got. Being back on the station was a complete switch in realities for her. They'd been here such a short time ago, but her life had changed completely in those days.

She'd left here after a few days in Sickbay after the rescue of Oz and Connor, and the exhausting trip back that kept Connor alive. Rhys was there at her side almost every moment. It was before he...She stopped the thought, or tried to. Before he tried to kill me and almost succeeded. She survived, in a strange twist of irony, because of Connor's quick thinking. Rhys had not. And now, she was married, off the Berkeley and back on SB900. It was downright dizzying. She could've done without the attempt on her life, but where Sakkath was concerned, she wouldn't change one single thing.

Her restless steps carried her along the senior officers ring and eventually she stood before the doors of her old quarters. It was still vacant. In fact, both hers and Rhys' old quarters had been locked down by station security to be searched in light of the developments on the Berkeley. Given Starfleet Intel's evidence that Rhys' plans involved more than just himself, the investigation was ongoing. Her position on the Berkeley had kept her largely uninvolved, but now that she had taken over Intel on SB900, she'd be right smack in the middle of it. She had not shared that little detail with Sakkath as yet, but would once they had some time to discuss it.

She keyed in her bypass code and entered her previous quarters. It was empty, save a few odds and ends that Rhys had though unimportant when he'd packed up the last of her things. She remained just inside the door, looking it over only and not disturbing anything. Nick would be in later to do the scans and thoroughly search both quarters for any evidence. Across the living room, the arch that let to the bedroom showed little save a bare mattress. She hadn't really spent much time here but even so, the rooms seemed full of Rhys, crowded with the memories of when they'd been happy, when she still believed in him.

A large violet crystal resting on the coffee table drew her attention. In an instant, her last night here before joining the Berkeley flashed back into her mind, the joke she'd shared with Rhys over it bittersweet.

"It's a connection to you. Besides, I should probably tell you now, that block of crystal on the coffee table? We've grown...close. All those nights apart, the poor thing had to talk to someone, and it's fallen for me." He struggled to keep the laugh out of his voice, unsuccessfully.

Li joined in, her own laugh soft and relaxed. "I see how you are. One month gone and you're already looking to my crystal for company. I suppose I'll have to get used to it, but I can't blame you. That crystal is quite the conversationalist. I can see how it would turn a young man's head."

Li always liked that crystal. It came from a mission to Halii several years ago.They used them for boosting their telepathy, but it seemed inert to Li, and became merely a conversation piece, a treasured memento from a very interesting mission. She intended to retrieve it, once Nick had time to look it over. Making a mental note to tell him about it, she turned off the lights and departed to check Rhys' vacant quarters.

Behind her, in the empty living room, the shadows shifted and a faint blue glow split the darkness.

**************
Lt. Commander Li Hawke
Chief Intelligence Officer
Trouble Magnet