Sometimes Your Past Comes Back to Bite You

Posted on Wed Jan 27th, 2010 @ 9:18am by Commander Raven Adams & Khiy Tal'ehrihn

1,451 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: FORGING AHEAD
Timeline: current

ON

Raven was heading down to the lower decks of the Starbase to meet with some friends. As she was walking down a corridor she noticed a man with Romulan features.

A very familiar-looking man...

"Oh, crap," she said under her breath. He was someone she'd seen in her rebellious years when she worked as a merchant. Was he still in the business? Did he recognize her, too? Did she want him to?

Khiy was spending his first day on this station perusing the shops and getting a feel for the place. With the way business was going he thought it may be a good time to open up a permanent storefront. From the look of things, there was little competition for volume traffic of goods, let alone freight or cargo escorts on the station. For the most part the Typhon seemed like a layover for ships en-route to other destinations. ~Perfect~

He was starring at a wall map of the station when he caught a glimpse of something odd in its reflection. Khiy spun around and instantly understood what triggered the response. The face of a former work associate looked back at him with a hesitant look creasing her features. It wasn't the fact that he knew her, which surprised him; what was wrong with this picture was the uniform she wore. ~Very, very wrong~

"Morticia!" He started to walk towards her with a fake smile across his face. "I'm surprised to see you." He looked at her uniform "Very surprised."

Her face paled slightly before she got control of herself. He remembered. The smile bothered her. She hated that pseudo-smile that said he was not pleased to see her.

She walked up to him quickly and gave him a kiss on each cheek as she hissed. "Raven. My name is Raven." She stepped back and looked in his eyes, trying to gauge his true reaction.

Khiy had always been good at hiding his true feelings. He was the best of the best back then and she'd had quite a crush on him. But, since she rarely ran into him, he'd never found out about it.

"What brings you to Typhon?" she asked, putting a tight rein on her wayward thoughts.

Without moving his head, his eyes quickly scanned his peripheral vision to catch if anyone was keeping an eye on their conversation. She seemed slightly nervous and that coupled with her Starfleet uniform made him nervous. "I'm opening a store front." He said cheerfully, considering his apprehension "I'm running a legitimate operation now for cargo transportation services, among other things. This station very well may suit my needs as a central hub."

"Excellent," Raven said, her mind running through a myriad of possible reasons for him going legitimate. "This is a good place to set up shop. Lots of travelers." She paused for a moment, considering how to phrase her next statement. "I joined Starfleet a while back and went back to my real name. No one here knows about Morticia. Just like no one here knows about your former business." She hoped he got the hint. She would have no problem with him being here as long as he kept her past firmly in the past.

Khiy chuckled lightly at the words, fully understanding their intent. "I have nothing to gain by telling others about your past Morti...Raven." He corrected. "I have to say though, joining Starfleet surprises me. The self-appointed galaxy police. Knowing you and what you used to do... seems almost ironic." It wasn't meant to be an insult, merely a curiosity. Khiy was wondering what angle she was working by putting on this uniform.

She smiled her thanks, relieved. "Partly parental pressure -- at least at first. I find that I enjoy Intelligence. I've always liked gathering information. Now I do it professionally." She gave him a sideways glance. "And I can still keep some of my old friends." There was something about him that made her think he hadn't gone completely legitimate. He still seemed a little -- dangerous.

"Well that's good to hear." He moved closer to her and lowered his voice. "As a friend I feel I should mention something about your occupation and any future conversations we might have. Just know that I will NOT be handled. Starfleet 'intelligence' likes to push and threaten until they pry information from their informants. Something like that would end badly...for our friendship. I trust you understand." Despite the stern words, a smile never left his face.

Raven's expression never altered -- except for the spark of fire that ignited deep in her eyes. "Honey, if I decide to 'handle' you, you won't mind. You might even enjoy it." She grinned provocatively. "As for as how I run my department... let's just say that I don't need intimidation. I treat my friends very well. And they return the favor."

Khiy was pleased by the way she handled the comment, relaxed and in control. It reminded him of the way Morticia used to deal with others. The smile he was holding turned genuine, though it wouldn't look any different on the surface. "Ah, there she is! You had me worried for a minute. Thought you might have gone soft."

"Oh, Morticia is still around. She makes... private appearances these days," Raven admitted. He already knew a great deal about her -- far more than any of the Starfleet personnel -- it did no good to lie to him now. He was sure to find out anyway. "I haven't changed much. Intel isn't much of a stretch from what I used to do."

"I suppose not." He said, considering her words. The more he thought about Raven and her new occupation, the more he liked the idea of opening up shop on this station. There could be real potential here for growth if played right. "Say, I don't suppose you could afford the professional courtesy of telling me what the competition is like on this station?"

"I just got here myself, so I don't know much. Yet. But, knowing you, I don't think there'll be much of a problem with competition," she admitted.

He shrugged knowingly. "I had to ask anyways. I'm still a fan of knowing what I'm about to get into."

Raven gave him a long, slow appraisal. "So am I."

He smiled and shook his head, amused at the comment. "You know, not everything that looks good on the surface is a safe investment."

She smiled enigmatically. "Exactly." Raven trusted very few people. She wasn't even sure she could trust Khiy. She didn't know him well enough to trust him. "But some things that look good on the surface are better when you delve a little deeper." Let him think on that for a while. She didn't dare spend too much time bantering words with him. He was too clever by far. "I won't detain you any more. Maybe we can get together some time for dinner."

"Believe me when I say that I would never let myself be 'detained' unless it was by choice." He smiled slyly. He then reached inside his pocket and pulled out a shiny black business card with no markings aside from matte black diagonal lines running along it. In demonstration, he held the card in his right hand and with his left hand he quickly ran his thumb over its surface. Suddenly the TGT logo and a subspace frequency tag flashed forth in brilliant colour, only to fade away again a moment later when the surface cooled down again. “Preferred customers only.†The card was handed over to Raven. "Dinner sounds good; I look forwards to sampling the best of what this station has to offer."

Raven took the card with a nod. She unzipped her uniform jacket just enough to slip the card into an inside pocket.

"I'll be in touch. In the meantime, if you need anything, you know how to find me." She wasn't sure if this was a good idea, but she had a feeling it would be interesting. She gave Khiy an inscrutable smile. "Until our next meeting."

Khiy gave her a wink before turning and walking away. "'Till then." He said with his back turned to her.

Raven turned once to look back at him, then continued on her way.

Khiy smiled to himself over the chance meeting of Raven. The encounter resolved in his mind on his decision to come to this station for a new start. Going legitimate would be new territory for him; but right now, the future looked good.

OFF

Lieutenant Commander Raven Adams
Chief Intelligence Officer
Starbase Typhon

Khiy Tal'ehrihn
Trans Galactic Trading
Starbase Typhon

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