Settling Old Scores, Part 1
Posted on Wed Jan 21, 2015 @ 3:37pm by Commander Caleb Ryan & Civilian Aleczandra Naqiis-Ryan
1,475 words; about a 7 minute read
Mission:
Things Past
Location: Risa
Timeline: FLASHBACK: 2 years ago
The sun shone brightly over the white sand beach stretching along the perfect azure sea of the Risan resort. It was nice to get away from things on the Nemesis, spend some time with his family. Caleb walked back from the beach-side bar with a pair of icy umbrella drinks toward where a beach umbrella and lounge chairs were set up. His tall, muscled, but lean body was developing the nice tan this week that he’d lost by serving on a starship. Caleb approached the beautiful blonde beneath the umbrella, his eyes admiringly following the brown Trill spotting down her lush, full figure encased in a black bikini.
The woman looked up at him with a knowing smirk. “See something you like, cowboy?” she asked, reaching over and picking up the black Stetson from the chair beside her and slipping it over her long blonde hair.
“Always, Mika,” Caleb chuckled, setting the drinks down on the table between the chairs and leaning down to capture her full lips in a deep kiss.
“Mmm…that felt like you wanted to go back to the room for a bit,” Mika grinned, almost wickedly.
“Ah wouldn’t complain,” Caleb grinned, sitting down in his chair and stealing back his Stetson. “Where’s Zandy?” he asked, looking at the third – empty – lounge chair.
His blonde Trill wife nodded down the beach a bit. Caleb looked and blinked, seeing his fourteen-year-old blonde daughter talking to a pair of attractive Risan boys. Caleb immediately sat up until Mika reached out and put a hand on his arm.
“Ah told you she wasn’t old enough for that bikini,” Caleb grumbled. Aleczandra wore a modest pink bikini as she laughed and looked shyly down at the ground as she talked to the boys.
“Relax, Caleb,” Mika said. “She’s growing up.”
“Ah shoulda brought my phaser,” Caleb grumbled.
“They don’t allow weapons on the planet,” Mika reminded. “Come here. It’s time to reapply your sunscreen,” she told him, picking up the bottle. She shook it a bit and frowned. “Empty. Want to run to the canteen and get more?” she asked. “I’ll watch Zandy,” she promised.
Caleb looked over at her. “That’s my fear,” he said. “That all you’ll do is watch. They need to be drowned in the ocean.”
Mika gave him a reproving look and Caleb realized he might have overstepped. “Ah didn’t mean to imply… Sorry,” he apologized.
Mika smiled. “I know. I’ve had daughters before, too,” she reminded. “You think my past hosts didn’t have the same feelings?”
Caleb shook his head. “Sometimes Ah hate it when you’re so wise,” he said, leaning in to kiss her again.
Caleb headed up the beach toward the resort, ducking inside and sighing with a bit of relief at the cool air conditioning. Weaving through the light crowd in the lobby of the popular resort, Caleb headed toward the canteen until he bumped into someone.
“Ah, Lieutenant Commander Ryan…”
Caleb’s blood ran cold as he looked down at the grinning, snaggle-toothed Ferengi in a pair of garish Hawaiian print swim trunks. Unlike most Ferengi, he wasn’t scrawny, but rather broad and heavily muscled.
“Dys…” Caleb’s voice was almost a growl.
“That’s DAIMON Dys!” the piggy little eyes narrowed.
Caleb glanced up at the two females standing near him. One was a large, overly muscled Human woman and the other a Betazoid. Caleb instantly tapped his training, blanking his mind as best he could.
“Last Ah heard, a Daimon needed a ship, and Ah destroyed yours,” Caleb smiled coolly. “Aren’t ya supposed to be in a penal colony?”
Dys’ large fists clenched, but he maintained his cool. “Change of fortunes,” the Ferengi grinned. “It’s amazing what a few hundred strips of gold-pressed latinum will get you.”
“So Ah’ve heard,” Caleb said. “Well, I’d like to say it was good seeing you again, Dys, but Ah’d be lyin’.”
“Oh, the pleasure was all mine, I’m sure, Commander,” Dys grinned as Caleb turned to walk away. “Do say hello to your beautiful family for me.”
Caleb’s spine turned to ice. Not even the bright, tropical sun could warn him. He maintained his composure for about twenty meters before he broke into a run down the beach.
“Mika, get back to the room, pack everything up,” Caleb said, grabbing at his bag to find his communicator.
Mika sat up. “Caleb? What’s wrong?” she asked with worry, seeing the tight look on her husband’s face.
“Daimon Dys is here.”
Mike blinked. “Dys? The Ferengi arms dealer you put in prison last year?”
“Yes.” Caleb was already dialing on his comm as he headed over to retrieve his daughter. “Yes, this is Caleb Ryan, Suite 254. I need my shuttle prepped and on the pad in fifteen,” he told the concierge then hung up.
“Zandy!”
The young teen looked up and smiled at her father, then noticed the storm on his face.
“Daddy?” she asked. “We were just…talking,” she said.
“I know,” Caleb said, forcing himself to calm down, seeing the look on his daughter’s face. “I’m not mad at you.” He forced himself to pause and give her a hug, the Risan boys making a wise retreat. “When did you become interested in boys?” he said, his heart aching a bit at how fast she was growing up.
Zandy blushed. “Da-ddy!”
“C’mon, Zandy-bear, we have to go.”
“Go?” Zandy blinked her brilliant blue eyes up at him, pushing her golden hair back behind an ear. “We still have a week of vacation here! I don’t wanna go back to the Nemesis!” She so rarely got to go anywhere and Caleb knew she’d been getting a bit of cabin fever on the starship, looking forward to the family vacation.
“Ah know, Zandy,” Caleb said, kissing her forehead, “but something’s come up and we have to go.” He nudged her along. “Let’s get packed.”
They were checked out in twenty minutes, Caleb hurrying them across the landing pad toward the shuttle. Aleczandra had, by now, caught the undercurrent of fear and worry in her parents and wisely said nothing as they threw their bags into the shuttle. She took her seat in the back compartment while her parents took the two seats in the cockpit. Preflight went quickly since the shuttle had been warmed up for them and Caleb lifted it off the pad, angling for the skies above Risa, patching into the civilian control networks for a flight path out of the atmosphere.
“Caleb…” Mika said, looking at something on sensors. “There’s another shuttle slipping into our wake,” she said. “It’s a bit too close.”
Caleb frowned. Ignoring the voice on the other end of the radio giving him exit instructions, he pushed the throttle, hitting the edge of the atmosphere. The other ship kept pace.
“Daddy?” Zandy said, coming up to the door to the cockpit.
“Sit down, Bear, and strap in,” Caleb said.
“Caleb, I’m getting some strange readings from our plasma manifold,” Mika said.
“What?” Caleb flipped over to the engineering sensors and cursed. “Eject the core, Mika!” Caleb yelled.
Mika’s fingers moved rapidly over the controls. There was a lurch as the warp core ejected. The explosion sent the shuttle skidding. Zandy screamed, hitting her head hard against the bulkhead. Mika and Caleb were jostled hard as the shuttle tumbled end over end. Caleb fought against the gravitational forces of the fall as he struggled with the controls to right them. Mika made her way back to Zandy, checking on her daughter.
“Mika! Ya need to strap in!” Caleb yelled.
“Zandy’s hurt!”
“We can’t help her now! Ah’ve got maneuvering thrusters only! We’re going to crash!”
“But Zandy!”
“Strap her in! Hurry! Ah’ll see what Ah can do!”
Sweat stood out on Caleb’s brow as he fought the controls. Smoke filled the cabin and life support struggled to clear it. Caleb was vaguely aware of the other shuttle following them.
“Mayday!” Caleb yelled into the comm. “Emergency! We’re going to be making a crash landing!”
Caleb stared at the menacing warning flashing on the screen. SIGNAL JAMMED.
“Fuck! MIKA!”
“Coming!” Mika struggled toward the front as the shuttle slipped sideways, throwing her to the floor again.
“No time!” Trees came up rapidly, whipping at the sides of the shuttle. Caleb managed to keep the nose up, but barely. They slammed into the ground, Caleb’s head slammed into the console, and his world went black.
TBC
Lt. Cmdr. Caleb Ryan
Chief of Strategic Operations
USS Nemesis
Lt. Mika Naqiis
Science Officer
USS Nemesis
Aleczandra Ryan
Their daughter
Daimon Dys
Ferengi arms dealer
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