All True, Especially the Lies

Posted on Thu Dec 27, 2018 @ 4:43pm by Civilian Hydel Turvan & Civilian 'Arrival' Avis Larant Ms

2,245 words; about a 11 minute read

Mission: Doors of Perception
Location: Cardassian restaurant Zay'oul
Timeline: MD 6 1430
Tags: Hydel, Cardassia, Xi'Cadia, restaurant

[ON]

Hydel Turvan and Gul Denat Meran were taking a stroll along the Promenade on their way to enjoy a meal at the recently opened Cardassian restaurant, Zay'oul (the future). Hydel himself was excited about the opportunity. It had been ages since he had the opportunity to enjoy quality Cardassian cuisine. The swill that passed for sustenance at the station replimats was enough to make him rip his tongue out. Gul Meran, walking beside him, was not as enthused about taking the time to go enjoy the food, considering there was still much work to be done in concern with the Xi'Cadians and Cardassia's new base of operations within the Typhon Expanse.

As Hydel turned the corner and entered the establishment he noticed the form of a particularly attractive human female. While such a sight was not foreign to the Cardassian Ambassador, it was quite a surprise to see one within a traditionally Cardassian establishment.

"I'm assuming you are quite a risk-taker, m'dear?" Hydel said to the younger woman as he approached her. "Not too many Human women are braveenough to try their hand at the more refined delicacies of Cardassian cuisine." Hydel said with a flirtatious smile.

Avis had been hungry and also feeling a bit adventurous too so when she saw the Cardassian restaurant as she strolled the promenade she decided to at the very least check out their menu. As a rule most humans who tried Cardassian cuisine were less than impressed. But while at university, she had eaten one dish presented by a Cardassian exchange student. It was quite simple as far as ingredients, eggs but quite unlike chicken eggs in flavor. She had liked the unique taste but ever since then she had never had the chance to repeat that experience. Here might well be her chance. Entering the interior she paused to study the menu on the viewscreen, fortunately not just in Cardassian but also Federation. Yes! They had them and claimed they were fresh too. That convinced her.

The Cardassian maitre de seemed surprised to have himself a human customer but nodded compliance and stated he would find her a table for one. Just then a distinctive and smooth voice grabbed her attention as she turned then looked up to see this imposing Cardassian but then most of them were for the 5'5" petite human.

"I'm hardly an expert on your cuisine but I do like regova eggs. Oh and I also enjoy K'hava wine," she replied with a smile.

The idea of enticing this attractive creature with alcohol made Hydel smile even more. "Well, I'm sure I could use my considerable connections onboard the station to arrange such a delivery Ms. . ." he said, fishing for her name.

Avis almost chuckled at such an extravagant offer but kept a straight face as she responded, "Actually I was thinking of having a glass of it here, with my meal. Oh, it's Avis...Avis Larant. But thank you anyway....."

She didn't finish her sentence deliberately hoping he would understand and helpfully return the introduction with a name of his own.

"My name is Hydel Turvan, Ambassador to the Cardassian Empire." He said with a full smile. He loved every time he gave someone his complete title. "But you, m'dear, can simply call me Hydel." He said as he maintained eye-contact with her. Off to his side Gul Denat was trying his best to suppress a groan of discouragement.

"And what, might I ask, brings you to this station. You possess a personality, so you clearly aren't a Starfleet Officer." He joked.

An ambassador! Now he could certainly prove useful either as an interview or at the least a possible source of information. Avis instantly marked the Cardassian as someone worth cultivating. Her eyes met his and she flashed her best charming smile as she replied.

"Oh my, I thought you had the look of someone of some importance but an ambassador, fascinating. I am honored then to make your acquaintance...," Avis paused on purpose before finishing, "Hydel."

"And no, I am definitely not Starfleet material, I have far too an independent mind and cynical outlook to ever exist in such an organization," she assured him.

At this point Avis was reluctant to reveal her actual job, though it was certain someone like him could certainly easily access a complete file on her background if he wanted to bother. Still, she decided to keep her answer generic and even rather open to interpretation rather than lie.

"I am traveling a lot right now, I do a bit of contract work involving data access, fact checking, write up reports, things like that, usually pretty boring to be honest."

Hydel smiled as he gestured towards a table. "Then by all means, please join us. It would be criminal for you to be left to your own devices while experiencing Cardassian cuisine." He said as he made his way. Gul Meran on the other hand sighed wearily as he followed. He had watched this scene play itself out enough times with Hydel and the previous Ambassador Tharek. However, his job was to merely be the eyes and ears for the Cardassian Official, not to be his moral compass.

"Umm, alright, thanks for the invitation then," Avis wasn't about to decline what might turn out to be a news-gathering opportunity.

Just as the trio had gotten themselves situated a waiter appeared with a bottle of K'hava wine. Hydel smirked, evidently the owner of the restaurant had noticed the Ambassador and sent over a bottle without being prompted.

"This is K'hava wine." Hydel said as his glass was filled. "It has a. . .delicate flavor and is also called a drink of friendship." He said as he raised his glass. Gul Meran passed on the wine and prompted for something non-alcoholic. Hydel scoffed slightly, "I'm afraid my companion here is a bit of a. . .what is the Human term. . .teetotaler?" He laughed.

A part of her was a bit taken aback by the sudden appearance of the very drink she had mentioned just a moment before. But then perhaps the restaurant staff always served this Cardassian big shot this very drink?

"Oh I know what it is. To friendship then," Avis raised her glass once it was full in a toast.

She had not failed to notice the other Cardassian's ill-disguised disdain for this whole situation. Maybe he didn't like humans? Or, was he jealous of Hydel's interest in her? She honestly did not know much about Cardassian sexual preferences and mores.

"Well to each their own is another human saying," Avis nodded with a smile at the other Cardassian.

"I hope I am not interrupting anything? Business conversation? Or...a date?" she decided to ask the ambassador.

Gul Meran glared at the human in response. His body language shifted as he removed the glass from his mouth. "To the extent you must know," He said. "The Ambassador and I were conducting official Cardassian business. Not any kind of date." He said sternly.

Hydel gave into a hardy laugh as he watched the exchange. "You'll have to forgive my Garrison Commander, he can be a bit. . .inflexible." He said as he took a sip. "Actually, we were taking a break from a series of meetings that have been going on for the past several hours. There has been such a flurry of activity happening within the sector that this is really the first 'break' I've been able to find in days." Hydel said.

There! That was an opening, one she simply could not resist trying to take advantage of. She sipped the wine, it really was good. Then smiled first at the Garrison Commander, "I'm sorry, my mistake."

Then to the real object of her interest, she turned his way, "Oh really, what with my traveling, I am out of the loop news wise. What is going on anyhow? I know, I really should pay more attention to such things I suppose."

"That's a shame, m'dear, you should really be more mindful." Hydel said as he took a sip. "There is currently a humanitarian crisis taking place within the Typhon Expanse. The Xi'Cadian were the victims of a brutal attack at the hands of Romulan Extremists." Hydel said. "It resulted in the death of their President as well as countless other government officials." He continued. "The Cardassian Government immediately stepped in to offer assistance during this trying time." The Ambassador said with noted empathy. He had rehearsed the speech numerous times and had given it to countless other government officials to the point that the talking points merely rolled off his tongue.

Avis at least tried to look like she was swallowing everything he said hook, line, and sinker even if that was hardly the case, she simply nodded and let me go on.

Hydel ignored the piercing glare from Gul Meran and continued to impress and woo to the Human the extent of his knowledge and involvement in sector politics. "I've been coordinating with my staff on just how Cardassia can be of the utmost assistance to these brave individuals." He said passionately.

"Ahh, so just what does Cardassian assistance entail? Military intervention or occupation? I mean you mentioned this fine specimen of Cardassian male here is Garrison commander, that means military. So you're discussing military details," she calmly combined a couple questions with a comment.

"Just wondering.....the guilty parties in this attack, has it been proven beyond the shadow of a doubt that it was Romulan terrorists? Often times the first suspects turn out to not be the real ones at all," she countered but with a smile.

"Are you calling the Cardassian Government a liar?" Gul Meran asked sharply, locking eyes with the Human and staring as if his own eyeballs could launch transphasic torpedoes. "Neither the Ambassador, nor I, am in the business of explaining ourselves to non-authorized personnel, especially on matters of Cardassian foreign policy." He said through clenched teeth.

"Is there a fourth person at this table I can neither see nor hear because I certainly did NOT call Hydel any such thing. I merely asked a question," Avis wasn't the sort to back down by an intimdating anger. Besides he wouldn't dare...in public anyhow.

Hydel allowed the silence and the tension at the table to dissipate before he put down his glass and addressed the woman's original inquiry. "To be direct, the objective of our cooperation with the Xi'Cadian Galactic Union is to provide logistical support and to assist in several joint defense exercises with their Homeworld Defense Force." He said in a more official tone.

"As far as Gul Meran's role, he is the Garrison Commander for station security. A daunting task considering the Federation's tacit acceptance of terrorism and the subsequent attacks." Hydel said as his fingers gripped his glass. "I brought Gul Meran back to serve in that role because Cardassia needs strong and capable leadership to guide our forces both here and on the planet surface." He said earnestly.

"Well I do not know how strong and capable is his leadership but I definitely would say he is quite the hothead. Not a desirable attribute for anyone in a position of command. Fortunately he has to answer to you, the calm and competent diplomat," she managed to both feed the Cardassian's ego while deliberately trying to goad his flunky.

Gul Meran had reached the limit of his patience. "Who are you to question anything that I do?!" He said with rising anger. "You, a Human child that was still sucking on her mother's tit while I was defending my homeworld from the Federation and the Dominion." He said with an accusatory tone as he raised his finger towards her. "This harlot could be a Federation spy for all you know, Ambassador" He said, looking towards Ambassador Turvan and slowly rising to his feet.

"Harlot?" Avis raised one eyebrow and smirked. Oh yeah, she got a rise out of him alright.

"I'm sure there is a lot more we can learn from her after a thorough interro---" Gul Meran said in a steady tone, but stopped as his comm unit chirped.

"Just you try, that's totally illegal here on SB5, you don't have the authority," Avis held her ground.

=/\= "Glinn Mattan to Gul Meran and Ambassador Turvan, we're receiving a communique from the Pangea surface. There was some kind of incident." The Soldier reported.

The two Cardassians shared a glance with one another before the Ambassador rose to his feet. "Denat, let's go." Hydel said as he pushed himself away from the table.

"Ms. Larant, I'm sorry but we will need to cut this meeting unexpectedly short." He said. "Please, do not allow this to be our last time together." He said with a smile.

"Oh, I see. Thank you for the drink then. YOUR company was appreciated," the young woman returned his smooth as silk smile, "Yes, I would love to see you again. Feel free to let me know when it might be convenient for your busy schedule."

"But of course, m'dear." Hydel said as he reached for her hand and kissed it. "I look forward to it." He said with a smile as he nodded to Gul Meran and the two departed.

[OFF]

Hydel Turvan
Ambassador, Cardassian Empire

Denat Meran
Gul, Garrison Commander

Avis Larant
News Correspondent

 

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