were you?”
“I went to get the skimmer. I didn’t want it getting stolen.”
Vain nodded. She could see the faint outline of the skimmer under a tarp in the back of the tractor. “I would have gone with you.”
“You’re in no shape to go traipsing around Hellsbitch.”
“Is that all you were doing?”
“Was there anything else I should be doing?” She hefted the multibarrel over her shoulder.
The Romulan withheld any expression.
The Human returned her gaze, then said, “Is the alarm still on?”
Vain caught her as she approached. She took the Humans hands and kissed the palms.
Seren smiled just a little. “Well?”
“You wash with very nice perfume.” She kissed each palm again. “I am glad you are home, love, so very glad.”
She hugged and kissed the Human, then allowed Seren to support her back inside. They discarded their breathers and coats. Together, they examined the small console which still indicated a cloaked ship in orbit.
“The programmer was probably just a hack,” Seren said, twiddling with some knobs. “Didn’t know what the hell she was doing.”
“I believe you programmed it.”
“Told you so. Four alarms since we made it. A Klingon vessel. A comet. A Ferengi freighter. And now this.” She tapped the console. “It’s not quite like the others.”
Seren turned away from the readouts to scrutinize the Romulan’s wounds. She adjusted the bandages gently, kissing places that appeared as though they could tolerate the touch.
Vain stroked the Human’s long hair. “Its past performance does not instill much confidence. Besides, even if it was working perfectly, it would only detect a bad attempt at cloaking. Let us wait and see.”
“You’re probably right. Klingons.” She sighed. “Do you think we should get ready to leave?”
“Even if they have somehow traced me here...”
“Us.”
“As you say. Then the probability of finding us here exactly is quite small. There are many Romulans in The DrearGyre. Even more Humans along with so many other races. Considering the size and nature of the nebula, they would take forever to complete a search.”
“How do you know they haven’t already been searching the rest of The DrearGyre? A Romulan and a Human traveling together? Tongues wag for the right amount of latinum. And those that won’t, can be made to wag.”
The Romulan gazed at the Human who scanned the readings of the console trying to force more information out of it through sheer ferocity. Another lifetime ago, she thought she had completely understood Humans. This one was entirely different. But then most of the Humans she had encountered were under duress. Usually caused by her. The beep of the communicator startled them both. They laughed at each other.
“You’d better stand off camera, love,” Seren said.
“You have much optimism to believe that the video will function.” Still, she moved where she could see the screen though remain off camera.
Seren took a deep breath then answered. “Sheriff. How are you today?”
“Not drunk enough that’s for sure.” He guffawed. The extremely poor video showed a fat, almost purple rather than blue hued Andorian. “How’re my two favorite sweeties doing?”
Seren smiled when Vain, irritated, pressed her lips together. “We’re doing fine, sheriff.”
“That’s good. Real good. Say, were you two in town today or last night or whatever?”
“I was just now,” Seren said. “Had to pick up a few things. This mining thing is new to us.”
“It’s new to everyone here no matter what the hell they’re telling you. Ain’t no place so crazy as The DrearGyre. You know what they say.” Seren did because he never missed a chance to repeat it. “The fools go in, the dead come out.”
“You’re here to keep us from coming out dead, right?”
He guffawed again. “Yeah, that’s my job alright.” He took a swig from a large jug of something, and stared off into space.
“Sheriff?”
“Huh? What do you want? Oh. Yeah.” He shook his head while the antennae on his head bobbled around. “Say, sweetie, you didn’t see anything too crazy while you were mucking about out there did you?”
“Everything’s too crazy for me, sheriff. Do you have anything particular in mind?”
“Eh.” He picked something off one of the antennas and examined it closely. The two fleshy antennas wobbled to and fro. Most Andorians were fastidious to the extreme about their antennas. The sheriff wasn’t. “Just wondering. Couple of Nausicaans ended up real dead like.”
“Nausicaans?” Seren raised her eyebrows. “You’re kidding. Those guys are pretty damned tough.”
“You got that right. Shotgun blasts right up close. And real personal too if you catch my drift. Think these two might’ve been the dicks griefing the whores too. I was just getting around to talking to them about that sometime or the other. Saved me the trouble that’s for sure. Who knows, maybe the whores’d had enough. Solved their own damned problem.”
“Maybe strangers did it? Anyone new in town?”
“We’re all damned strangers here, hon.” He wiped his fingers on his chest and started in on his nose. Vain hid her face in her hands. “And there’s some newbies coming in, landing all over the damned place, can’t keep track of ’em all. Some’ve ’em probably died already.”
“All kinds coming in I guess. Humans, Klingons, Romulans, Cardassians.”
“Yeah, you’re right there.” He excavated something out of his nostrils. Vain spun around to not watch. Seren tried to stare at something else. “This bunch is mostly Bajorans though. Newbies through and through. Bunch of bounty hunters as usual. Probably, the Nausicaans ran into someone they knew. And it wasn’t all hugs and kisses, know what I mean? Oh well. Gotta make sure people say I did my best. Yeah, I gotta make me a couple more calls. You two girls take care of each other okay? Enough nastiness out here for anyone’s fill.”
“We’ll be careful, sheriff. If you need any help looking over the Humans, then you can always give me a call.”
“Hmm.” The Andorian rolled something between his thumb and finger. “That’s not a bad idea. Maybe that sweetie of yours, what’s her name, Vain honeybunch? Yeah maybe she wouldn’t mind looking over any Romulans?”
“I’ll ask her but you’re probably not going to get too many here. But hey, you know where to find us if you want.”
“Yeah, right, thanks. Still, I’ll keep you girls in mind if any show up. Some talk around here that a cloaked ship was seen. Had to ask the obvious. If it was cloaked, how’d you see it? Haw haw haw! Anyways my guess is if it was anything it was Klingon. They’re the only ones dumb enough to bring in anything that big into The DrearGyre. It’s like hey dumbasses! Cloaks! They’re not working!”
They both laughed. “Stay out of their way, sheriff. You take care of yourself.”
“You sweeties too.”
They cut communications before he did anything with what he’d found in his nose.
“Well, Vain honeybunch.” The Romulan rolled her eyes to the Human’s smirk. “If there are any Romulans around, maybe that lazy lump of lard will give us a heads up.”
“Perhaps,” Vain said, looking over the console. She fiddled with the controls. “Unfortunate for those Nausicaans.”
Seren shrugged, peering over the Romulan’s shoulder. “The DrearGyre is a dangerous place.”
“As you say.”
“Anything?”
Vain shook her head. The little cobbled together sensor insisted that something was out there but wouldn’t say what it was.
A Human can betray you due to sheer stupidity or complete incompetence. Most Humans are stupid. The rest are incompetent -- Romulan proverb
The guards threw Kari into the cell. Fighting them was pointless. At a little over one point six meters and fifty-four kilos, she was no match for one let alone two. They stripped her of a
ll clothing and jewelry but did strap a plastic band around her wrist. A universal translator. At least she’d be able to understand and be understood. They left her quivering in the near dark. The uniform wasn’t much of a loss. It was stiff with the Romulan’s blood and smelled bad. She wondered if she’d ever see the charm bracelet that Thomas had given her again. That she would miss. At least the cell possessed a toilet and a small sink. Knowing they were probably watching didn’t stop her from relieving herself. Her desire to go outweighed most of her modesty. She washed her hands and face, and as much as of her body as she could. Then drank deeply. Her body ached. She told herself cold and hunger caused her trembling. Certainly not because of the panic shredding her insides.
Security had finally had enough and dragged her away from Tolan. He could’ve been dead. At the very least, he was near dead. No one moved to aid him. A part of her hoped he’d just go ahead and die. But she tried not to care. Wishing death on an injured enemy was neither Starfleet nor very professional, she told herself. Or kind. She curled up in a corner of the metal shelf that was the bed. She closed her eyes and thought she had just drifted off.
A clang startled her awake. Lights blazed on. The front of the cell was transparent. The two Romulan guards relaxed at a desk. They paid her no attention, chatting with each other. Until Syll burst into the room.
“The captain states the Tal Shiar have no standing here, Commander Syll” one said, as they rose.
“With all due respect,” the other one added.
“Respect of the Tal Shiar is all we ask,” she remarked.
“What can we do for