Unmasked (part 2)

Posted on Thu Oct 17th, 2019 @ 8:31am by Morticia & Captain Darius Cayne
Edited on on Thu Oct 17th, 2019 @ 8:33am

1,068 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Pirating Typhon resources

[CONTINUED]

[OLD]

Chaka growled, nodding his head, before looking to the security team behind him. "Advance." He said firmly as he tapped his claw like hand on the pad to unlock the shuttlebay doors.

[NEW]


The security team walked in quickly, keeping to a tight formation, before positioning themselves around the shuttle. Chaka followed Seth in and remained behind him, focused on the shuttle's main door.

"No one fires unless fired upon. She claims to be here to help and I would like to give her the benefit of the doubt. Lower your phasers until then." Seth ordered as he took a step toward the shuttle. "Hawthrone? My name is Commander Seth Reigns, the XO of the Arthurian, and I would like you to know we aren't going to harm you. We just have some questions we need answering. This is an Intel ship that was just attacked and left for someone else to pick up the pieces. You can imagine our reluctant to take on some help, especially help from someone who know nothing about, but I feel you aren't here to take advantage of us and are truly here to help us. Please step out so we can speak face to face. I promise you will not be harmed."

The shuttle door opened and Morticia walked out. "Where is he?" she asked.

Seth narrowed his eyes slightly and raised his hand to the security officers, signaling them to put away their weapons, before tilted his head and saying. "Funny... you seem to have lost your accent."

Chaka lowered his weapon as his tongue darted out of his mouth. Suddenly, he tilted his head, recognizing something but not being able to put his claw on it.

"First things first... how do you have Raven Adam's access codes to the Arthurian?" Seth asked calmly, showing her his weaponless hands, while trying to get a empathic read on her. Her concern was genuine. He could feel it and it was much stronger now that she was in person.

"Hello," Morticia said to the Gorn.

She wasn't going to let Seth get a read on her at this moment. There were too many other people here. "Send everyone but Chaka away."

Seth looked at her before gesturing to the other officers to leave. "The more you speak, Miss, the more questions I have." He said softly, narrowing his eyes. How did she know Chaka's name? He never spoke it aloud to her.

Chaka's tongue darted out several more times, before he finally put an end to it, by putting his weapon over his shoulder. He saw no need for it now. Not if, what he was picking up, was right.

Once the others left, Seth crossed his arms over his chest. "Now it's just us."

Morticia pulled her hair back and removed the prosthetic on her face. "Because I'm Morticia, the owner of the Hawthorne. What happened to Darius?"

"That explains it." Seth said softly, smiling a bit, as he approached her with an embrace.

Raven hugged him back, picking up on his emotions, which only added to her concern.

Chaka slammed his fist in his hand with an almost relieved growl as he approached. "I had a feeling." He said with a slight hiss before adding. "You smell like vanilla. It is a good smell."

Seth pulled away and looked at her. "Why the subterfuge?"

"Vanilla is a good scent," she said to Chaka, giving him a hug.

It took her a moment before she turned to Seth and responded. "I was a mercenary before I joined Starfleet. I mostly ran supplies, but sometimes I would carry weapons to freedom fighters." She shrugged. "It was safer to work as Morticia. When I joined Starfleet, I kept my ship, and my persona. I still help out from time to time, if I can. Morticia needs to stay separate from Raven. I was going to tell Darius, but I kept coming up with reasons to put it off. Until now, only two people knew who I was. Khiy Tal'ehrihn and I worked together, so he knows. And now N'alae. We were all mercenaries for the same organization. And now the two of you. I need you to help me keep my secret." She looked from Seth to Chaka. "Again, where's Darius?"

"Did you know that there is a file on the Hawthorne for Intelligence Officers to capture you and bring you in?" Seth said softly before letting out a sigh and smiling. "It's a good thing our records will show we never encountered your shuttle."

Chaka nodded his head. "I'll see to it."

"I've seen the file. I'm also careful not to be caught. They don't know that a Starfleet Intel officer is involved. They're also looking for a shuttle. My ship is a Raven-class."

"As for your last, and more pressing question, it requires more than just an answer." Seth said before adding. "It requires a trip." He looked to Chaka and nodded his head.

Chaka nodded back before looking to Raven and saying softly. "It's good to see you, Raven." Before walking away.

"Okay," she said, reattaching her prosthetic and smoothing her hair over her face to be Morticia again. "Let's go." Her voice was now deeper and had a very faint accent.

"Raven?" Seth said softly as he looked to her. "You're surrounded by friends and people whose job it is to keep secrets. You don't need to hide here. No one would ever reveal your secret. I promise." He said before straightening out her hair a bit before adding. "But if you feel more comfortable like this, that's fine, but its not necessary."

"I trust you, Darius, and Chaka, but give me a little time to trust the rest of your crew. There's a bounty on the Hawthorne that makes turning me in worth a bit of a risk." She hesitated a moment. "And old habits die hard, my friend."

Seth walked out of the shuttlebay with her toward the turbolift. She could see the damage done to the ship. It was bad, but fixable once they reached Athena shipyards. The question was if they would make it in their condition. They took a big hit during the attack.


(To be continued...)

Morticia
Independent Merchant
SS Hawthorne

Commander Seth Reigns
First Officer
USS Arthurian

Chaka
Chief Security Officer
USS Arthurian

Edgar
Computer Avatar
Typhon/Hawthorne

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