From: Jamie LeBlanc (plainsimplegarak_at_yahoo.com)
Date: Tue Jun 03 2008 - 23:44:25 PDT
"Strange Faces" (continued from "Found Them")
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Location: Penthax IV, an uninhabited planetoid in the
Gamma Quadrant
Stardate: 2.80604.0140
Scene: Shielded hideout, main room
Universe: Mirror
Time Index: Three weeks prior to current
~*~*~*~*~*~
Cade Foster flicked his gaze back and forth,
focusing on the corners of the ratty little hidey-hole
in a well-shielded cave. The underground leader of
the Terran Peace Initiative – a group of rebels,
freethinkers and freedom fighters, he felt himself
growing old under the dream of seeing a world free of
tyranny.
His dream had cost him much, but still they had
forged a few new colonies outside the Empire’s sphere
of influence. And now in order to protect those
colonies, he had sought out two longtime shady
associates, staring at two Andorians as they
contemplated his bargain.
Despite having had relations with the pirates for
several years, he still couldn’t help but feel
uncomfortable around the two blue brothers. Just
behind him one of his trusted lieutenants, Sylvia
Warren, reached out a hand and placed it on his
shoulder reassuringly. “If we can make headway
against the Bajorans in this sector, we can set up a
long term base. Move forward towards true Terran
freedom.” The older man spoke, a passionate strength
in his weary voice.
“True Terran freedom, always the same
humanitarian dream. You know, Cade, if you weren’t so
devoted you’d get rather droll rather quickly.” The
taller Andorian turned, brushing a shock of curly
white hair away from his face and grinning a rock-star
smile. He reached up and adjusted the small oval
sunglasses that were perched on the bridge of his
nose. “You can’t believe that a handful of insurgents
would really crush an Empire.”
“You have to believe to some degree.” Sylvia shot
back, eyeing the two pirates evenly. “Otherwise you
wouldn’t keep coming back to hear us out.”
The space-pirate turned, pondering one of the
glittering rings that adorned his fingers. “Oh I
believe, alright. I believe in the freedom of the
skies and the ability to fly where we wish and make as
much money as we can handle. Besides, you pay well,”
he turned, with a wink.
The younger of the two brothers walked forward,
the one Cade always found unnerving. Short and lean,
the younger was missing one antennae altogether. He
made use of the style, shaving that side of his head
completely bald, and adorning that ear with a myriad
of gold rings, while the other side bore a long unruly
shag of white hair. A shirt that exposed the opposite
side of his muscled chest, and a gold nipple ring
balanced the whole look. He slipped the pistol he had
been cleaning into its holster and grinned slyly at
the human. “The real question is: what do you want us
to do, Cade?”
“Well, you have the ship. I have the explosives.
You have the mercantile connections, I have a large
supply of fine Betazoid Brandy – which you know is
incredibly rare since we had that terrible falling out
and the Empire firebombed the entire surface of
Betazed. I need you to find a way to connect with
some of these ships.” Foster reasoned, pacing as he
did so.
“Lemme get this straight…” The younger Andorian
murmured, staring the humans down. “You want to use
us to get close to the Bajoran ships so you can blow
them up? That’s incredibly stupid.”
“Why?” Cade asked, deflating somewhat.
He shook his head, tilting the one antennae
forward. “Because any fool could track that back to
us. I won’t risk my ship…”
The elder held up a hand. “Now… I won’t say I
have any love for those damned Bajorans, but Aerdan
has a point. Particularly if we start making this a
chain.”
Cade shook his head. “No… Not an explosion
right away. Delayed. If we can get them all planted,
we can detonate them all at the same time. Boom!
Free skies.” He sucked in a breath. “Jos… I need the
ship.”
“Cade… you’re crazy. Looney, even.” The elder
shook his head. “It’s too dangerous, even for you.”
Sylvia turned to the older human, worry etching
across her features. “We have to act quickly, before
our operations are discovered.”
Cade flickered his gaze upwards. “You know as
well as I do that free trade routes are being closed
faster than you can spit at.”
The taller Andorian shook his head. “Not enough
reason for me to risk my ship.”
“I can pay you… very well.” The human added,
with a touch of desperation.
Arjan Jos shook his head. “Not good enough…”
The older human swallowed and looked up, laying
down his ace in the hole. “I confirmed that the first
target is the ship that bears Eish Kor…”
A guttural hissing came from both brothers as
they stopped and turned around. “Honorless pig.” The
younger swore, spitting on the ground.
Cade smiled slightly, knowing familial
connections meant a lot of Andorians, and for these
two, getting the chance to kill the woman who
mercilessly slaughtered their father was worth more
than money. They spent a few seconds whispering to
one another when finally Aerdan, the younger looked
up. “If you have enough money to pay us, you have
enough money to get a ship. We can’t risk ours… but
if we can cobble together something, we’ll fly, you
plot and together maybe we can reach an accord.”
Cade Foster and Sylvia Warren breathed a sigh of
relief as they sat down to hash out the details.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Universe: Mirror
Location: Shuttlecraft Landis
Scene: Docking bay
Time Index: One week prior to current
Aerdan Jos tensed, pulling a disruptor rifle at
the approach of their ‘guests.’ Staring down the
ramp, he glared at Cade Foster.
“Do you always posture to shoot first and ask
questions later?” the older human asked, tiredly.
“I thought it was just you and her,” he gestured
towards Sylvia and Cade. “Who’s the Nausicaan?”
“This is Jobila.” Cade gestured by way of
introduction. “I hired him”
The blue man’s relaxed from the trigger, but he
didn’t lower the rifle. “That’s obvious. Why?”
“You said it yourself, we would have a hard time
keeping the Captain of the SHIV distracted long enough
to get everything set after we dock, and take off
again without them thinking something was up.” Sylvia
explained. “Jobila is here to be a distraction.”
“What the hell kind of distraction? We can’t go
trashing their ship.” The Andorian hissed back.
Cade shook his head. “No, he’s rather more…
exotic.”
“Exotic?”
“Exotic.”
“Howso?”
“Sexually.” Cade gave a wan sigh.
Aerdan rolled his eyes and lowered the rifle.
“That disgusting.”
“I am not disgusting.” Jobila growled back.
He shook his half head of hair, his one antennae
tensing. “Not you… sleeping with that she-thing. Now
that’s disgusting.”
Jobila’s response was oddly mirthless. “I am
taking one for the team.”
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Time Index: Several hours later, after takeoff.
Arjan Jos strolled around the cramped cockpit
that served as a bridge for the rickety old shuttle.
“So we already set up the meeting with Captain Byrne.
Providing much needed provisions and diversions in
exchange for a short layover in their docking bay for
repairs.” He paused and rolled his sapphire eyes.
“You were right. She went for the Nausicaan, hook
line and sinker.”
“How long do we have?” Cade asked, looking around
the chamber.
“Three days to complete our ‘repairs’ though more
if we prove ourselves to be suitably entertaining.”
The younger brother replied. “And we intend to be
very entertaining.”
Cade nodded. “I have Sylvia set up to infiltrate
the crew as an engineer. She will be doing the bulk
of the sabotage on the SHIV. My face is,
unfortunately known. I have to stay as low as
possible.”
“I wonder why you even came on this trip. You
should have stayed in the New Earth colonies.” Arjan
chided, picking up a mug of brandy and swigging it.
“I’m not the leader of the organization. There
are better leaders out there than myself.” Cade
replied quietly. “I’m just the guy who gets the job
done.”
The older Andorian shook his head, finishing off
his mug. “Suit yourself. Just don’t get us all
thrown in the cells.”
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Universe: Ours
Location: GS2
Scene: Security Offices
Time Index: a few days ago
“What do you mean I can’t have it? You just said
you found it when you searched through Moorit’s
belongings.” Zel Rohan’s voice was quietly frustrated.
Trella swallowed evenly, trying to remain calm.
“Mr Zel, you do not have the proper permits to carry
that weapon on GS2.”
Zel waved his hands in the air a bit. “A mark 10
Cardassian disruptor is completely legal in the
Federation. Not to mention pretty mundane.”
The Vissian sighed a little. “I’m sorry, but it
still requires a permit.”
The little hybrid sulked. There were very few
things that he cared enough about to bring with him on
his travels and the old disruptor pistol was one of
them. A simple and not particularly powerful design,
it had gotten him out of more tight squeezes than he
could remember. “Where can I get the permit?”
“You’re going to have to see station operations
for one.” She replied calmly.
Rohan sighed. “They hate me up there.”
“Perhaps you should explain to them why your
criminal record keeps coming up to prevent your
permits from clearing.” The security chief offered,
quietly helpful.
“Maybe someone could explain to them that I spent
three days in jail for trying to stop a saboteur and
for helping rescue the Commander’s foster son, I get
accused of starting a pornography ring.” The
Cardassian shook his head. “Welcome to the
Federation, where no good deed goes unpunished.”
“It’s not like that…” Trella started and then
took in a breath. “Look… apply for the permit, and if
you can meet the application requirements I’ll sign
off on it, and it should clear by the end of the
week.”
Zel turned, watching her for a bit. “Are you
kidding?” he asked, incredulous.
She shook her head. “No, I’m not.”
He blinked, surprised at her offer. “Umm… thank
you.”
“Don’t mention it.”
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Universe: Ours
Location: GS2
Scene: Sickbay
Time Index: Current
Every single last doll gone and barely enough
money in his pocket to make the shuttle fare off the
station, and Zel had decided to take the money and
run. Yet something compelled him to bid his farewells
to the few people he really cared about on the
station. Anthony Giles wasn’t hard to find, Cade
Foster, Gavirosh and LJ were a bit more difficult. He
was surprised when the computer told him that all
three were in sickbay.
Zel knew casualties had come in from a destroyed
Starfleet vessel, and worse there has been some fairly
major disturbance on the Promenade which he had passed
blissfully unaware in the cargo bay. So now, stepping
into sickbay, Zel feared for the worst, breathing a
sigh of relief as he say Gavi and LJ sitting in the
waiting area, the younger swinging his legs boredly.
“You two OK?” the little shopkeep asked, walking
up to them.
Gavi snapped his head up immediately. “You
wouldn’t believe what just happened…” he started.
Zel sat down beside them, biting his lower lip.
“Well try me?”
“Those who speak know nothing, and find out to
their cost, like those who curse their luck in too
many places and those who fear are lost.” LJ murmured
It was followed immediately by “Cade insulted the
dark Lord and got turned into a mouse… or close
enough!”
The hybrid furrowed his brow ridges. “What?”
“He’s this tall!” Gavi put his hands out about
eight inches apart.
“He’s not…”
“He is.” The voice was even and feminine. Zel
turned around to see the Chief of Operations carrying
a miniature Doctor Foster, looking ever so much like
the dolls he had been selling. Zel felt his jaw drop
nearly to the floor. Kathryn MacNeill handed the
miniature doctor over to Gavi. “Until this Pnarran
reverses the magic there really isn’t anything sickbay
can do for him. Physically he’s fine.”
“You call this fine?!” Cade shook a tiny fist at
the Numion hybrid.
“Well, you’re body is working, isn’t it?” Kate
snapped back.
The older man rolled his eyes and put his hands
on his hips. “Yeah, in miniature scale.”
“Look on the bright side…” Zel started, with a
faintly apologetic smirk. “From your point of view
now every woman has gigantic breasts.”
Turning, Cade chuckled. “Good point. And being
this small it’s much easier to see up their skirts,
too.”
Kate looked from civilian to civilian. “You are
both disgusting.”
The Cardassian looked back at her and shrugged.
“Well, Doctor, if you were eight inches tall I would
try to find a bright side for you, too…” he offered
sweetly.
“It’s Commander, and I don’t think I’d want to
know what you would pick.” Turning to Gavirosh and LJ
she added, “Make sure he stays safe and keep near a
commlink so we can get him back here when its time to
get the magic reversed.” She shook her head, walking
back to sickbay.
A painful silence settled between the four males.
“What the hell happened?” the shopkeep asked,
finally.
“I told you… there was this Dark Lord and Cade
insulted him, and this happened.” Gavi repeated,
picking Cade up gently.
“Of course it’s all my fault and not the
fault of some rampaging ninny.” He groused, sitting
down in the boy’s palm to sulk.
“Dark Lord?” Zel chewed on his lower lip a bit.
“I suppose that’s why they said that all outgoing
shuttlecraft were stalled indefinitely.”
“Wait…” Gavi turned, forwing towards the
Bajoran. “You’re leaving the station.”
“As soon as they let me I am.”
“I see my red door and it has been painted black.
Maybe then Ill fade away and not have to face the
facts” LJ murmured, shaking his head at Foster first
and then Zel.
Zel’s brow ridges creased and he sighed a little.
“Well for now since I can’t leave, why don’t I stick
with you.”
Gavi smiled a little as LJ got to his feet.
Cade waved a hand in the air. “Whatever we do, lets
get out of here. Hey Rohan… did you ever take my
suggestion of anatomically correct dolls? I could
really use one of those little Commander Catwoman
figures right now…”
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
NRPG: Self-indulgent plotting. I figured that with
how Cardassians and Bajorans were set up, Zel probably
doesn’t have a counterpart, and if he somehow did the
Bajorans probably killed him off as an infant. So I
brought in some other characters to duplicate. I
loved Ken’s minor suggestion of Cade as a freedom
fighter since I think we all too often forget what a
*good* person he could be… and I couldn’t resist
bringing in a familiar face or three for Kate, Daisy
and Justin. I thought it fitting that the brothers
might be out hunting for the evil Eishnala. J
This assumes that they were on the SHIV, when it
jumped.
Kim: I saw the theatre reference. Yay! Nausicaan?
You know you want one…
Ran: Pirates?? Pirates!
-----
Songs:
Sting “Shape of My Heart”
Rolling Stones “Paint it Black”
~*~*~*~*~*~
Jamie LeBlanc
Civillian Zel Rohan
Grumpy and Unemployed
GS2
"Why do we fly? Because we have dreamt of it for so long that we must"
~Julian Beck
From HyperNews_at_youth.net
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