Scattered

Posted on Tue Mar 12th, 2013 @ 5:08pm by Commander Oralia Zeferino & Jackson Banning V & Vic

After what seemed like days, Oralia finally broke free of Gilroy, Darwin, Aliso, and the others who seemingly felt the irrepressible need to quiz her about the Hazari’s death. Darwin hadn’t even been on the Station when the incident happened, but he had wanted to be ‘briefed’ about it. She couldn’t blame them; it wasn’t exactly every day that the head of security killed a man, whether intentionally, unintentionally, in self-defense, out of sheer hatred or not.

Trying not to think about any of it, a trick Oralia had mastered in her teen years, she went through the paces of showering, drying her hair, pulling on a fresh dress and heading to the Nexus to see Jackson. There, she was barely aware that a new girl was at the hostess station; she knew Cass was gone but was incurious about this new person. Instead of engaging the woman in any sort of chitchat, she headed to the bar and to Vic. “Aren’t you supposed to be elsewhere, retrieving something?”, she didn’t even say hello.

“We leave first thing tomorrow, and I recruited Patrick Smith to fly us. I figured a fighter pilot would be a very good thing to have.” Vic placed a tall glass before her that held a drink that faded from a deep purple at the bottom to a light lavender at the top. “Drink. And how’re you doing? Eli told me what happened. I gotta say, that’s creepy as hell, Oz.”

Creepy?, she wondered which part he meant: that the Hazari had gone after Eli, again, and tried to convince the kid to go away with him or that she’d ended up killing him? In her book, both were creepy. “Smith is a good choice. You’ll get Edwards up to speed? Obviously he’s done with his investigation,” she smiled crookedly and tried the drink he’d placed in front of her. Whatever it was, it was sweet and tart and warming.

“I just sent Eric a message a few minutes ago, so as soon as I hear back from him, we’ll make plans and hit the road. Don’t worry, Oz, we’ll get her back.”

“I hope so, Vic. I’d hate for her to miss the wedding,” Oz answered. “Jackson? Is he in his office or wandering somewhere else?”

A pair of hands rested on her shoulders as she finished the question, then a warm pair of lips brushed the side of her throat. “He could be right here.”

Initially, Oz cringed; she hated to have random people touch her, but then she realized it was Jackson and relaxed into his touch. He could touch her as much as he wanted. “J,” she put a hand over his. Turning towards him slightly, she asked, “Do you have a few minutes?”

“For you always. We’ll be over at my table Vic.” Jackson offered his hand to Oz and helped her down from the stool, then led her to his reserved table. Once they were seated, he studied her face. “What’s up?”

“I killed him, J.” She didn’t sugarcoat it.

“I heard. But I also understand it was either take him out or let him carry off Eli. That couldn’t happen,” Jackson said matter-of-factly. “If he’d managed that, I woulda found him and killed him myself.”

“I saved you the hassle,” she said, managing to smile. “But I had him controlled, J. I didn’t need to kill him. He was down and I should have...,” she stopped, realizing that Jackson didn’t need to know, likely didn’t want to know. “Anyway, yeah, he’s dead and Eli and Chance are safe.”

“Finally. You know as well as I do that he wouldn’t stop. The question is, how’d he get loose in the first place?” Jackson raised his hand and when a waiter arrived, he ordered Oz’s favorite wine, then sent the man on his way.

"I have security feeds showing what happened. Those involved are... facing the consequences," she sighed. She hated having her own officers and NCOs in the brig and charged with crimes, but it was unavoidable. "Darwin and Gilroy picked a handful of their own to monitor Suresh. At least he won't escape."

“Good. I suspect they might be protecting him as well, since there’s some that wouldn’t mind poisonin’ his food or takin’ a shot at him. There was a time that I mighta been the one hired to do it by the powers that be.” He paused and grinned at Oz.

"I'm sort of a power that be. How about trying? And failing, hopefully," she smiled at him in return. "Failing, whether you succeed in getting to him or not."

“It’s temptin’, but I think that would be a bad idea all around. Even so, he won’t be around long. It’s an open and shut case. The prosecutor would have to show up dead to lose this one.”

She'd take her request to Intel; testing her own department would be interesting, to say the least. "Let's hope he doesn't turn up dead. I don't like him, but I'd hate to wish that on anyone."

Jackson raised his eyebrow at her, her meaning now sinking in. “You think there’s a mole as yet undiscovered that would help him?”

She nodded. "There's someone or several someones in Suresh's employ and mine, maybe even crossing the line between Suresh's organization and the prosecutor's office."

“I see.” Jackson frowned, then finally nodded. “I’ll get with Dae and make some plans. You need to meet him by the way. He’s the new CIO, at least for now.”

"It's my department, I'll meet with him," she said, sounding a touch affronted. Imagine him, thinking he could speak for her and they weren't even husband and wife yet. Would he get worse once they were married?

Surprise lite Jackson’s face. “I meant to do what you just asked me to do. He needs to be aware since I may need him while I’m down there.” He paused a moment, puzzled. “Everything okay Oz?”

"I'm fine," she answered, a touch too quickly. "I'll talk with Nalas about testing Security. No offense, my love, but it is my department."

He rubbed his forehead now thoroughly confused. “Didn’t you just ask me to do that?”

"I asked you to do it, not to talk to Intel about doing it," she said, a touch testy.

It was clear they were talking in circles now and Jackson knew well enough that pursuing it would go nowhere at the moment. He was concerned, however. It was unlike Oz to be so scattered and sharp with him and once again, he decided she needed some time to decompress after all the insanity. He refilled her wine glass, then smiled.

“Sure Oz. I need to get back to work.”

"Right, of course," she touched his hand. "With Vic leaving will you be able to take time off?"

“I will. We have the barback running the bar for him while he’s gone and one of the busboys is takin’ over for the barback. No worries.” He smiled, a hint of concern in his eyes. “I’ll be home the usual time.”

Smiling, she nodded, "I'll be there."

He stood, then leaned down for a kiss. “In the meantime, relax and enjoy yourself. And try the dinner special tonight, it’s one of your favorites.”

Watching him move away from her table, Oralia knew she loved the man. It made her happy and helped her do just what he'd told her to do. By the time she left the Nexus, she was calm, stuffed full and ready to crawl into bed.

**************

Lt. Commander Oralia Zeferino
In pieces

Vic
Reporting In

Jackson Banning V
Owner & Soothsayer
The Nexus Club