The Long Goodbye
Posted on Mon Dec 20th, 2021 @ 1:08am by Captain Rhenora Kaylen & Remal Kajun
Mission:
*CD*
Location: Bajor
There was a jumja stick and a farewell, Rhenora keeping a keen eye on their surroundings with the distinct impression they were being watched. She hoped Ikar would be okay and that he would deal with the trauma the recent explosion had uncovered for him. Remal had taught him well and he seemed to be coping.
“ We should go, the shuttle leaves shortly” She said quietly, not really wanting to leave but knowing that they had to.
Standing tall and proud in the entryway, Remal watched as Ikar entered from the terrace, brushing his hands as though he had just been working in the dirt. “It’s time.” Remal spoke quietly and extended his hand.
Ikar moved directly up to Remal, taking his hands in his own. “Until we meet again.” They were two men, born from war, learning to become much more than their previous lives could have ever imagined. Words became secondary to that sort of emotion. After a minute of silence they released their grip and Ikar turned to Rhenora. “It was good to finally meet Remal’s mate, uhh, Captain Rhenora Kaylen. My abode is yours.” He gave a head bow.
Rhenora responded in kind, bowed head as a sign of respect. “ The honour is mine Ikar, you have shown strength and grace, and we owe you more times over than I could repay”
“I have no need for money.” He looked questioningly at her, then eyed Remal before responding further, “But I will always accept your offering of burnt water.” He tacked on with a cringed look on his face.
Recognition flickered across her face before a
Flicker of embarrassment followed by laughter. “ Nooo… that was my best effort for coffee, now you know why Remal does the cooking” She tried.
A short time later they walked hand in hand back towards the village where the shuttle depot was located, keeping a cautious eye about. Rhenora had made a few minor cosmetic changes to her appearance, giving her greying blonde locks a tinge of auburn, and Remal was wearing a hat. Old school basic duck under the radar. Don’t change your whole self - just throw them off a little bit. Any ‘sightings’ could be confused by the altered description. That was the plan anyway.
Aus-leland was in Bajor’s frigid southern regions. A rugged climate of desolate frozen wasteland juxtapositioned by the odd towering peak covered in permanent snow where few could survive.
He squeezed her hand, feeling her uneasiness as they walked up the road in the evening air. So far nothing had gone right for them, though little by little they were garnering the scope of the bigger picture. He just hoped their next stop would be one of clarity.
In a calming tone he tried to reassure her and in doing so, himself. “Relax. Just before we left Ikar told me he would keep our enemies busy for us while we were gone. In fact he said, and I quote, ‘I shall keep them tied up until your return’. Which when you think about it, he doesn’t usually resort to metaphoric statements like that, so maybe he is trying to broaden his horizons.”
Ikar’s Villa:
Ikar pulled the straps tighter until the man in the chair let out a gasp for air and then began bawling from the pain. The other older man had already passed out without giving up any secrets but this younger man was weak. “I will not ask again. Why were you spying on my friends?” Ikar grunted menacingly.
“And speaking of Ikar.” He continued. “I didn’t want to talk about this while we were there, but, he mentioned in passing that he has communicated or rather been instructed, by the Prophets, to protect us.” It was difficult just to speak the words let alone to understand their weight, but Remal knew if anyone would get the situation, she would.
"So we were being followed, hopefully that gives us a head start before the next batch arrive to take their place" Rhenora grumbled as they walked at a pace that was brisk but not attention worthy. She mused silently to herself how the Prophets would have instructed a Jem Hadar to protect them, but then the prophets worked in mysterious ways, days even she couldn't understand and she had a deep connection to them. Head bowed she whispered a word of thanks for the being that had saved their lives recently before refocusing on the task ahead.
“I mean, he could have been joking, as far as Jem’Hadar and jokes go.” The doubt in his voice was thick. I am more curious about the girl he saw in his commune with the Celestial Beings. He emphasized the little girl as though she held some significance.” The depot was just ahead on the right. “Ever see a little girl in one of your visions?” He asked more from his heart than from his need for information.
She thought about that one carefully, she'd have many visions but many of them didn't make sense. "The only one I recall clearly is us on the beach near the cottage with two children, a boy and a girl. That was however one of the first, the more recent ones have had a darker message." Her tone sobered a little as she considered the macabre undertone of the recent visions, her own death particularly. Had the prophets changed their minds about her? Was their child to be the next Emissary, the shell of the mother cast aside like so much rubbish? Her mood darkened as the turmoil boiled beneath the surface, a simmering distrust of everything she had been shown so far.
He stopped and held the door for her, the setting sun splintering by the movement of the glass. He could feel the tone in her voice shift as she dredged up memories of a more violent series of emotions tied to visions and the Prophets. “I didn’t mean to bring up the darkness, only the idea that it seems we keep being helped along our path. Sometimes by the most unique of individuals. It seems no matter how hard I fight against their plan, their plan surrounds us. Don’t you find that a bit unnerving?”
“ You are right, as always” She admitted, shielding her eyes from the sun’s reflection for a moment. “ But it seems that the information we are provided is always… incomplete. There’s always uncertainty, always inaccuracy and change. Whether it surrounds us or not we seem to always be in the centre of some mortal danger. We can’t uncover the truth if we’re dead” Her tone was slightly bitter, tired even.
He pointed to an inconspicuous yet comfy place to sit and chat in the corner. “It’s almost as if they are watching all of the potential timelines at the same time and the best thing they can hope for is to pull a few tender strings.” He sighed with the realization that he was defending their practice of non-interference by suggesting an indirect path of subjugation. He sat down, “In any case, barring any strings, our shuttle should arrive in less than half an hour. Just enough time to tell me about Patin.”
Her mood changed a little, recalling the few times with the few remaining members of her resistance cell that were still alive. Patin was a firecracker back in the day, young, resourceful, and absolutely fearless” Rhenora started, her eyes glazing over a little as the memories came forward “ All you had to do was come up with an idea, and she’d sort the rest out and make it happen, and lead the mission herself half the time” She chuckled. “ We were close, but the war took its toll and now she’s a shadow of her former self - reclusive, distrustful, even resentful.”
He cocked his head in an understanding motion, “Well that may partially explain the choice to relocate in such a remote location. To choose the tundra over someplace like, well, like this.” He gestured to their surroundings. “It goes against most conventions. If she is as distrustful or resentful as you say, we may have a difficult time getting our foot in the door.”
“ If her mind is still mostly intact, getting in may not be the problem” Rhenora mused with a wry smile, recalling many a long night with home made brews in their hands “It may be the getting out afterwards, Patin had a certain affinity to alcoholic beverages. At the beginning it was a coping mechanism, I guess it either still is or it’s the crutch that keeps her somewhat functioning. Last I heard there were only a few living in the nearby village. The winter of last year proved too much for most.”
As they spoke quietly to themselves, a pair of characters walked in the door, looking around as though they were searching for something before setting sights on Rhenora and Remal. The glance lasted but a brief moment before they whispered quietly to one another and then moved off to the counter to purchase tickets. It would seem as though they were being followed after all.
TBC
