Harbinger

Posted on Tue Mar 12, 2019 @ 7:10am by Commander Caleb Ryan & Civilian Aleczandra Naqiis-Ryan & Civilian 'Key Holder' Yolanthe Ibalin

1,957 words; about a 10 minute read

Mission: Doors of Perception
Location: Ryan quarters
Timeline: MD 05 0000

[ON]

The strange encounter in the loading dock had gnawed at Yolanthe. She wanted to ignore it, let the girl sink or swim on her own initiative. But first she had shown up looking for the EMH, and then this weird agent. It was becoming clear that the Ryan girl was in something, and possibly over her head. She sighed. She had been in that position herself. And it was the kindness of strangers that had been the only reason she had survived it. And maybe it might shake something loose about something more important. Ahjess. So at just past midnight, she was outside the quarters assigned to the stations XO and ringing the bell with pale green fingers.

It took a few presses of the chime before the door slid open. Caleb stood there, blinking against the sudden light from the corridor in the darkened quarters. He squinted, and there was the definite aroma of whiskey about him.

“Ibalin?” Caleb asked. “Sorry. Ms. Ibalin,” he said, more politely. “Do ya know what the hell time it is?” he asked. Caleb was dressed only in a pair of shorts, his lean, lithe physique rather impressive for a man his age as he stood there bathed in the harsh corridor lighting.

Even though it was late, and she was here on business, and he was almost old enough to be her father, she couldn't help taking in the view for a second, turning a delicate pink. Then she got her hormones under control. "I didn't want to wait, in case this is important? Is Aleczandra home?"

Caleb rubbed his unshaven chin and yawned a bit. “She’s in bed. It’s a school night.” He ran his hand through his mussed, dark hair. “Come on in.” He stepped out of the way to let her into the quarters. “Computer, lights, thirty percent.”

The lights came up slightly, enough to be able to see, and Caleb padded over to Aleczandra’s bedroom door. He knocked. “Zandy, someone to see you.”

Caleb looked back at Yolanthe. “Ya couldn’t go to Security with this?” he asked. “Ah don’t know if ya heard, but Ah’m suspended at the moment. There’s precious little Ah can help ya with. Can Ah get ya somethin’?” He gestured toward the kitchen.

Aleczandra’s door slid open and the teen emerged with a yawn, her rainbow hair in disarray. she wore a pair of shorts and a tank top that showed her midriff and the slight line across abdomen that indicated her pouch. She was a very pretty young woman, toned and fit from youth, good genes, and working out.

“Who--?” Aleczandra started, and then saw Yolanthe. “Oh, hell. What do you want?” she asked.

“Aleczandra Diawdra!” Caleb snapped. “There’s no call for rudeness.”

“It’s fucking midnight, Daddy,” Zandra said.

“Language, young lady!”

Aleczandra sighed and glared at Yolanthe, yet she didn’t mention how their last encounter had gotten physical, and Caleb didn’t appear to know.

Yolanthe followed him in carefully. With the lights that low, she couldn't see well. She walked to the centre of the living room and turned to Aleczandra. "I had a strange encounter earlier this evening. Someone from the Commerce Bureau asked me about you. She wanted to know things. Asked some funny questions. She had a picture of you. Taken with Ahjess."

Aleczandra scowled. “I told you I don’t know where your boy toy went!” she snapped at Yolanthe.

“Wait, what?” Caleb said, stepping forward again. “What boy toy? Who’s this Ahjess? And why would the Commerce Bureau be askin’ about Zandy?”

Zandra sighed and rubbed her eyes. “Computer, lights,” she said, turning them up fully now. She went to the replicator to get some water.

Yolanthe looked to Caleb. “One of my Dabo boys. He didnt go home after his shift a month ago and no one has seen him since. Except her, apparently." The bokkai turned back to Aleczandra. "Who's Hex?"

“What the hell are you doin’ hangin’ out with dabo boys?” Caleb demanded of Aleczandra.

“Hey! I’m not!” Zandra exclaimed. “I mean, he’s cute, but...I don’t know Ahjess. Or anyone named Hex.”

Zandra paused, thinking. Why did that name itch in her brain? “Wait, you said she had a picture of me and Ahjess? Okay, yeah, I ran into him on the Prom a couple days ago. He got a little...handsy and insistent he needed to talk to me for some reason, but I brushed him off,” she explained.

And then I lost another big chunk of time, Aleczandra thought to herself.

Yolanthe’s skin went sunflower yellow and she took two steps towards the smaller girl. "You saw him a couple of days ago and you didn't say anything?" Her voice vibrated with anger.

“BItch, back the fuck off!” Aleczandra said, instinctively shifting into a defensive stance.

“Aleczandra Diawdra!” Caleb snapped, stepping up to the two. “Ibalin,” he warned the larger woman. “Why would mah daughter know anything about this Ahjess anyway?” he asked. “She probably didn’t even know he was missin’.”

Aleczandra looked a bit guilty.

Yolanthe's own stance had loosened, ready for any dirty tricks. "Oh, she knew. Because I told her a couple of weeks ago, when I had it on good authority she and Ahjess went to the Lotus Lounge together the night he vanished."

Caleb stared, dumbfounded, at Yolanthe. “Aleczandra would never go to the Lotus Lounge,” he said. “Ah’ve told her ta stay away from that place.” He looked over to his daughter.

Aleczandra just looked down at the floor.

“Zandy?”

Aleczandra took a breath and shook her head. “No, I’ve never been to the Lotus Lounge, Daddy,” she said, looking up and staring right at Yolanthe. “With or without Ahjess. I don’t even know him.” It was half a truth. She was missing some time then. But the alternatives were too frightening to think about.

"Really?” Yolanthe’s colors paled another shade lighter. "After I help you out, no questions asked. After coming here to warn you, you’re still playing this. You sure you want to go down this road?"

Aleczandra stared at Yolanthe. “What the fuck are you talking about, you crazy bitch?” she asked. “You’ve done nothing but stalk and assault me!”

Caleb straightened up. “What?” he asked. “Assault you?”

“Yeah. She’s had this Ahjess bee up her--butt,” Zandra said, though it was clear she was going to use a much less appropriate word, “for weeks now. She dragged me into her office and practically kidnapped me to tell me where he was. Like how the hell should I know?” Aleczandra said. “I’m not his babysitter, much less his girlfriend!”

"And despite that you turn up at my bar with broken ribs, broken nose, and a shattered jaw, begging to use my EMH." Yolanthe ignored Caleb. "You are getting in over your head, and if you don't start playing straight you'll end up with a hell of a lot worse than that. Someone is after you, and I don't mean me."

“What, Aleczandra?” Caleb said, astonished. “What have you been doing?”

Zandra looked confused as well. “What are you talking about? I’ve never been hurt that bad.” She blinked, her mind spinning. She had certainly woken up sore before, but thought maybe that was just sleeping wrong.

“Okay, let’s just…” Caleb held up his hands. “Ms. Ibalin, what do you mean someone is after her?” he asked with concern.

"I don't think the Trill who talked to me earlier was a Commerce Bureau agent. She wasn't interested in my beer, only in Aleczandra." And others, but she wasn't about to mention Gev in front of an ex-security officer. "And don't tell me you haven't been hurt that bad when I’ve had to sluice your blood out of a holosuite."

“That’s just...crazy!” Aleczandra shot back. “I think I would know if I’d been hurt!”

Caleb held up his hand. “Ya said she was Trill? And what would a Commerce Bureau agent be wanting with a teenage girl? Damn it!” he cursed.

Aleczandra looked to her father. Then she paled a bit. “You don’t think it’s…”

Caleb nodded, starting to pace. Aleczandra just wrapped her arms around her abdomen, all the fire suddenly having gone out of her. She was actually shaking a little.

Yolanthe looked from one to the other and wondered what was going on. "I don't know what you think it is. But it looks like you've pulled my boy into it, so what are you going to do about it?"

“I’m going to find this woman and find out why she’s asking about my daughter,” Caleb said. He looked at Yolanthe. “Would you come down to Security in the morning so we can see if we can spot her on the Promenade cameras?” Yolanthe didn’t have any in her establishment, unfortunately.

"I didn't meet her on the Promenade. I met her in Cargo Bay 86," Yolanthe pointed out. "What time in the morning?"

“Cargo bay,” Caleb noted. “That makes it easier. What time works best for you?” Caleb asked Yolanthe, knowing her business kept her up late. “I have nothing but time right now,” he said with a bit of wry bitterness.

“I want to be there, too,” Aleczandra said.

“You have school.”

“I’ll play hookie. You can give me a note.”

Caleb frowned.

"Oh, she can come, say mid-day?." Yolanthe insisted. "Because when I've shown you that woman, I want you to tell me absolutely everything you know about what happened to Ahjess. No more lies."

Aleczandra rolled her eyes. “I’m not lying, you stupid bi--” She cut herself off at the look from her father. “Fine. I’m going back to bed.” Zandra glared at Yolanthe, yawned, and stalked off back to her room.

Yolanthe watched her go, the yellow of her skin darkening a little. She wasn't sure what else she could say, not to the second in command for the whole station. "I'll see you tomorrow. But she knows far more than you think. You should watch her."

“She’s my teenage daughter. Ah’m always watching,” Caleb said. “But the things you’re accusing her of, Ibalin...she would never do that. And right now she’s a little delicate. She just got dumped by her girlfriend.”

The yellow faded to pale gray. Men were so naive. "At her age..." She wasn't sure how to say this. "I had my first prize fight. I won too, just. But I came out of it with two broken ribs, missing teeth, broken nose, fractured jaw, and a shattered ankle. I don't know what she's up to," because I'm deliberately not asking those who do, "but I know what a beating looks like."

“Ah’ve made sure Zandy got self-defense training from the best,” Caleb said. “Given what Ah do, Ah’ve made enemies. She would have told me if someone attacked her. Where would she even go on this station to get into a fight?” He looked at Yolanthe pointedly.

She wasn't going to be drawn into that one. "Trouble is easy enough to find if you look. But based on tonight, I think you can look all you like. It won't matter if you refuse to see."

Caleb rubbed his eyes tiredly. “Thank ya for the warnin’, Ms. Ibalin,” he told her. “Ah’ll see ya tomorrow at Security. If ya hear anythin’ else, let me know.”

[OFF]

Yolanthe Ibalin
Owner, The Box of Delights

Cdr. Caleb Ryan
Executive Officer

Aleczandra Ryan
Civilian

 

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