Joining the Raven's Flock

Posted on Sat Mar 28th, 2020 @ 1:24pm by Lieutenant Daisy Stanier & Colonel Sehan t'Varis
Edited on on Sun Dec 20th, 2020 @ 4:08am

1,092 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Prologue: Before the Inferno
Location: Somewhere near the neutral zone
Timeline: Some time in 2383

“And that’s everything unloaded.” Raven nodded as she received the report. “And a healthy pay day, too.” She threw the Ferengi a small pouch filled with latinum strips. “Go stock up on supplies.”

Standing by one of the windows of the ageing space station, she looked out at her ship. A rusty old freighter, nothing special - but at least it was capable of hauling heavy cargo. Still, she mused, an upgrade was in order, and soon. One of her contacts had pointed her to an old Romulan junkyard that had a nearly intact 22nd century Bird of Prey. That would be their next destination. But first, there was something else that needed to be taken care of.

After a quick glance over the crowd, she spotted the young human that her crew had collected from the escape pod a few days earlier, and made her way over to where she was standing. It appeared that she was talking to someone. Keeping the hood of her coat up, Raven blended into the shadows near her passenger, listening in to the conversation.

Daisy cradled Azalea as she went around trying to find someone who could potentially offer them both transport back to Earth. After finding a human who was loading a freighter she approached him and asked whether he would be able to transport them back home.

“Oh...excuse me. My sister and I were rescued by another freighter but they’re going somewhere else to where we need to go. I don’t suppose you have room for two extra passengers at all?” Daisy asked.

The man shrugged. “It depends where you’re going”

“Earth” Daisy replied.

The man shrugged again. “Sorry...we’re not going near Earth for a while yet”

“Oh come on please. I’m stuck on a freighter with some weird Orion guy who gives me the creeps. I don’t care how long it takes for you to get there - we just want to go home” Daisy responded.

The man sighed. “Look...I’m sorry...as much as I want to help you I can’t. My boss has already had a go at me for transporting passengers for free - if he catches me doing it again I could lose my job and I have a family to feed. I’m sorry...I really am...but they come first”

He then went aboard the freighter - leaving a furious Daisy stood there holding her sister.

Listening in, Raven suddenly received a message on the communicator she carried attached to her belt. Reading it, she could not help but curse out loud.

Daisy turned after hearing the person who had just sworn at their communicator. She had no idea who they were - and in any case she couldn’t see their face because they’d covered their head with a hood. Daisy then sighed before starting to walk around again in the hope of finding a ticket home.

“No luck so far, then?”, Raven suddenly asked just as Daisy walked away. She pulled back her hair, revealing her short, dark red hair, and looked at the young human with her piercing grey-green eyes. “You could stay with us if you want, you know. Could always use someone as confident with a phaser as you are.” She threw her the communicator. “And in case you are worried about the orion, don’t. Looks like that stupid oaf got himself into one too many fights and got himself killed. So now I need a new security officer for my crew, too.”

Daisy paused and turned - just about managing to catch the communicator. She was pleased to hear that the Orion was no longer a problem - but somewhat unsure about what was being offered to her. Sure she’d been taught how to use a phaser - but only for absolute emergencies - a security officer on a freighter was a totally different ball game. But perhaps it was one she could take on and find herself to be better at it than she thought she would be at the present time.

“You want me to be a security officer? Do you realise how old I am?” Daisy asked.

Raven laughed. “A teenage orphan with a baby sister to look after and take care of. I was in your shoes once, minus the baby sister part. Look, you can try as much as you want, I highly doubt you will find anyone here willing to take you anywhere near Earth. You can stay on with us, but you’ll need to earn your keep. And your sister’s. There’s a Romulan on my crew, Teli. She’s in charge of security, and now that Taza’s gone, she’ll want to get me a new bodyguard. Not that I need one.” She snorted with laughter. “Still, I think you would be a damn good match for the job. I don’t need a bumbling, intimidating oaf. That was Teli’s idea, too, actually. I prefer things a little more subtle.”

Smiling, Raven pulled her hood back up. “You know where we’re docked. We’re leaving in three hours. With or without you. Think it over, try to find a passage to Earth, your call. Now, I need to go find out who I need to bribe to make the mess with Taza go away. Any questions before I go?”

“I want you to promise me one thing” Daisy replied.

“What’s that?”

“You keep my sister safe - no matter what - if anything ever happens to me” Daisy responded.

Raven walked over to the teenager and placed her hand on her shoulder. “Of course I will. You haven’t even told me her name yet.”

“Azalea. My mum was a botanist so...we were named after flowers. As for my dad...well he lived for that bucket of bolts which was our home. He said it was older than him when he took command” Daisy confirmed.

“That’s a pretty name,” Raven said, looking wistfully at the baby. “I never had a family. Never even knew who my parents were. Grew up in the streets of some backwater colony world near the Federation-Romulan border. Managed to somehow get into Starfleet academy, but they kicked me out.” She shook her head. “It’s not going to be an easy life, or a safe life, with our crew. But I’ll make sure you’ll be okay. Both of you.”

Daisy nodded. “Thank you”

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