New Pastures

Posted on Tue Oct 13, 2015 @ 11:47am by Lieutenant Liam Reynolds & Commander Caden Aldrex

1,529 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Pangaea (Wrap up)
Location: Promenade
Timeline: MD4 / 1500

[ON]

Cade Aldrex was sitting alone in a Klingon coffee shop called Suq qamDu', taking a quick break before he headed back up to Ops. He simply felt the need to get away for a few minutes or else he'd go stir crazy. A half-consumed mug of raktajino was in front of him. A few feet away a holo-imager was displaying the live feed from a Parrises Squares match on the other side of the quadrant. A quick look at the chronometer told him he'd better finish up soon.

"So, " a familiar voice rang in the Trill's ears. "What’s the score on the Day-storm quarter finals?"

Cade Aldrex smiled. He knew that voice behind him. "New Laurentia is winning, 68-60, but B'Xari Prime is hanging on." He stood and wrapped Liam Reynolds in a bear hug. "Damn, it's good to see you, Liam!" He stood back and examined the new CDO head to toe. "What happened? You look kind of thin."

Liam returned the hug and nodded after his friend let him go again. That weight he had always tried to get off was not an issue anymore. He took a seat opposite the Trill noting Cade still enjoyed the Klingon coffee. "Long story," the part betazoid wrinkled up his nose slightly then pinched it.

"What? Don't wanna talk about it?" Cade asked. He took his seat and motioned to the one next to him. Liam sat down too.

"You remember I left the Nimitz, when Haku did - we split that first time and I went back to earth for a while to deal with things as my half brother turned out to be a crazy deranged lunatic?" he asked. Cade knew all about Declan.

Cade's eyebrow went up slightly. "Yeah?" He wasn't sure where Liam was going with this. He remembered Haku Volkova well. She was the chief engineer on the Nimitz and a good friend. Her and Liam had become romantically involved while serving together. And although they were both wonderful people they simply couldn't work things out. It was complicated.

"Well what you probably don't know is a while later I ended up getting kidnapped."

That caused the executive officer's mouth to fall open. "Kidnapped? By whom?"

"By me. I got kidnapped by another me," he said seriously. He owed Cade the truth.

"What? What do you mean?"

"Ah," Liam said. "On the Nimitz - remember the mirror universe Hurin guy? He had a version of me working as a henchmen. Said he could do nasty things? Well the other me, managed to knock me out, grabbed me and took me back to their universe. Tried to model me into another him I guess for whatever evil plan. I didn't work and he ended up dead." he summed up. Cade didn't need the specifics he guessed. He wasn't sure he could fool Amia If he continued to have nightmares and needed some sleeping meds again, but he'd deal with that when it happened.

"How does Haku fit into all of this?"

"Haku and I. Well we were still kind of hooking up periodically. When I went missing she managed to work out what happened with my brother and she rescued me. Went in and posed as her mirror self. Intelligence suits her," he added wistfully. "Starfleet have sealed the file up. I'm not supposed to talk about it but ..... its you Cade."

"Right. I won't ask any more about it," Cade said. He took another drink from his mug.

"Anyway I messed things up good and proper with her afterwards," he added. Maybe he'd tell Cade about that another time, with a beer in him, "and went home to Betazed to lick my wounds. Kind of drifted into diplomacy after that, saw you needed someone and here I am."

"I requested you," Cade said. "They wanted to send someone with more experience but I insisted on you. You'll have plenty to keep you busy. No time to think about Haku."

"But you sir! You got married. I am sorry I missed it. Well I was another universe away," Liam added changing the subject. He really wished he could have been there. Seen two of his friend unite. When he left they were just starting something.

Cade smiled. "Yeah, we wanted you there, Liam, but it's alright. You're here now and I'm happy."

Just then the server, an older Klingon woman, interrupted. "What do you want?" she asked Liam.

"I'll have what he's having please," Liam indicated the Raktajino. As she nodded at him and wondered off something suddenly hit him. "Hang on. You requested me? Oh no Cade. Bad move. I am so new at this. Now I am going to be worrying about showing you up."

"You're gonna do great," Cade said, bringing his hand down on Liam's shoulder and flashing his grin. "Don't worry. You're probably the best person I know at helping people work through problems. Diplomacy is the same thing...more or less."

"Diplomacy is a game," Liam stated. "On Betazed its easy as everyone is open. In the case of that planet down there its going to get messy," he added darkly. "Possibly nasty."

"Agreed."

"What's Starfleet's stance on that then? We any clues where it came from, why its here?" Liam asked as the Klingon female dropped the cup of coffee in front of him. He picked it up and took a sip.

The XO looked around for any possible eavesdroppers. The coffee shop had several other customers at the moment, but they were all either locked in their own conversations or enthusiastically watching the game. He lowered his voice and answered, "Starfleet's stance is that we establish a presence on the planet while territorial rights are negotiated back home. It seems like nearly everyone wants a cut. As for where it came from, only the Fae know. They're the ones who brought it here and then left it." He sighed and shook his head. "I wish there could be a better spirit of cooperation in exploring the place, but I suppose it's not to be."

Liam kept his voice low mirroring his Commander and friend. "I haven't tried to get any of them talking yet," Liam stated. "You might get some cooperation. Most of them are on route. I think your big wigs in the Federation will at least outwardly talk. Toe the diplomatic line. What they do in closed quarters ......." He held his hands up. "Can we even try to stop them?" he mused.

"I'll give you a heads up though, I had one Mr Raddon drop by to inform us he wanted settlement rights and despite us asking him to be patient and that several parties would be involved in any such decisions, I suspect he's already people down to that planet. He's money motivated and has some issues around human supremacy too I think."

"People like Raddon are what's going to make this thing boil over if it does. Thanks for telling me about that, and let me know if any other information comes your way. As for stopping them, I know you're not a miracle worker, Liam. Just try to keep them from killing each other."

"Goes without saying that one," Liam said darkly. "So what will you do if you encounter Raddon down there? Or any other parties. I recon they will all try to do some recon or more. No one wants to listen to us tell them we need these questions answered first before its safe."

Cade Aldrex thought about that one for a second. While he did so the crowd in the cafe erupted as B'Xari Prime scored a goal on the holo-vid. Both he and Liam turned momentarily to see Auran Kz'Vida, the corner guard for B'Xari, running triumphantly across the field with all four arms in the air. His teammates flocked to congratulate him.

"Right now that planet belongs to nobody," Cade said. "So I can't stop Raddon from ignoring the travel advisory and going down there if he wants to. We'll only have a problem if he tries to plant a flag with a big 'R' on some piece of land."

Liam was distracted for a moment with the vid feed. "Did we just get into the quarter finals?" he queried. He hadn't really been following sports much on Betazed. He missed it and Cades delightful commentaries.

The game clock showed only 47 seconds left in the game. It would take a miracle for New Laurentia to get back on top. "Certainly looks good," the Trill answered. He checked the chronometer again. "I have to get back to Ops, though. This break has lasted longer than 15 minutes."

"Sorry mate," Liam said. He had to remember Cade was the XO now and his time valuable. "We'll have to have a proper catch up off duty? Maybe a beer?"

The Trill pushed his chair back and stood. "Sure, sounds good. Where are you off to now?"

"Recon I am going to explore a bit," Liam said simply.

"Come up to Ops later. I'll show you around."

[OFF]

Lt.Cmdr. Caden Aldrex
XO

LT JG Liam Reynolds
CDO

 

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