A Surprising Reunion

Posted on Sat Jul 17th, 2021 @ 7:14pm by Colonel Sehan t'Varis & Lieutenant Daisy Stanier & Ensign Skylar Southgate

2,203 words; about a 11 minute read

Mission: Chapter IV: Unravelling the Mystery
Location: Main Bar, Drozana Station
Timeline: 238702.20

Only moments after docking at Drozana, Raven had had word from the I.S.S. Amelia that the Terran vessel would reach the station the following day. Seeing as there were no urgent matters to be dealt with right on arrival, the Colonel had given the crew two days of shore leave.

On a whim, Raven had decided to check Gedak's old messages, surprised to find two responses to the recruitment advert that had been set the last time the Ourainavassa had been here. Both of them were very recent messages. One had come from a Trill scientist, whom she had contacted to arrange a meeting with later in the day. The other one, however, was somewhat confusing. It had not given a name, or any details - only a request to meet at the Main Bar. The message's time stamp indicated it had been sent the moment the Ourainavassa had docked.

Intrigued, the Colonel decided to check it out, and had made her way to the bar. Since deciding to cut all ties with the Tal Shiar, Raven had opted to wear her old German Bundeswehr officer's jacket - that of a Colonel, or Oberst - along with her usual white shirt, black tie, and black skirt. The black eyepatch over her destroyed left eye was still a little itchy but she had gotten used to it. Her Blazefire Sabre hung from the back of her belt. After all, especially on Drozana, it was never a good idea to go anywhere unarmed. Especially not to a meeting with an unknown person.

As she entered the main bar, she scanned the room. Nothing much had changed. It was still the same run-down hive of scum and villainy Raven and her crew had come to love during their time here. Sufficiently satisfied that there were no immediate threats, the Colonel picked a booth and took a seat, before ordering a pint of beer. A check of her chronometer confirmed that she was about three minutes early to the meeting. She took a sip from her beer and waited.

The meeting had been arranged through an intermediary, and now Daisy was making her way to the agreed meeting place, doing her best not to draw too much attention to herself. The journey there had been relatively trouble free, apart from a close call with a couple of patrol craft who appeared to have been fooled by the false warp signature the pilot had configured before they departed. Daisy was dressed in a navy blue jumpsuit, given to her by the people who had picked her and Azalea up and taken care of them. In one hand was one of Azalea's, the other, Azalea's backpack. After entering the bar, which could be described as grim at best, Daisy scanned the room for the person she was meeting before walking over to the table and sitting down.

"Hello Raven" Daisy said, before opening Azalea's backpack to retrieve her flask of juice and colouring book, handing them both to her.

Raven looked up at hearing her name, and frowned for a moment, before she recognised the girl who had called out to her. "Well, that is definitely a surprise. Didn't expect I'd ever see you again, not after your disappearing act on Zeotis. So you were the one that set up this meeting?"

She looked at Azalea and smiled. "Hey there, little one. Long time no see."

"Hello Raven. You look like a pirate" Azalea commented, looking up briefly before getting back to her colouring.

Daisy nodded. "That's why I'm here, after all you took us in in our hour of need, so I felt I owed you an explanation as to why I...we...never showed up. Something came up that I couldn't really turn my back on, someone who's also helped us to survive for as long as we have needed my help. I couldn't say no. They've been so good to us, back then and now too. However, I consider myself in your debt and I believe I can repay that by helping you acquire those weapons I believe you're looking for"

Raven grinned at Azalea's comment. "Some people would call me a space pirate, so it fits, doesn't it?"

She turned to Daisy and simply nodded. "You know, you could have just told me that. I was sat at the space port for almost the entire day before I ultimately had to leave. Can I get you a drink?"

Azalea shook her head, showing Raven her pink flask which had her name on it.

"Yeah I know and I'm sorry, that's why I'm here now. A drink sounds good...erm...a beer I guess? Please" Daisy said, almost tripping over her own words.

Raven smiled at Azalea, before waving over one of the attractive Orion server girls to order the drink for Daisy. Once she had returned with Daisy's beer, Raven continued the conversation. "So, you believe we are looking for weapons? What makes you think that?"

Daisy nodded as Raven placed the glass down in front of her.

"What mercenary isn't?" Daisy said, picking up the glass and taking a swig from it.

The Colonel chuckled. "Well, you have a point. You applying for a job as our quartermaster, then? We've not found someone to take over from Gedak yet." She paused when she realised that Daisy hadn't been with the crew then. "Oh, yeah. We had a run in with a nasty bitch claiming to be my mother. In person. Well, ship-to-ship. We lost quite a few good people. I lost my eye. Nearly died." She shrugged. "A lot has happened since we last met, that much is for certain."

"Yeah...a lot can happen in a short space of time. I know someone who could sort you out with a prosthetic eye, unless of course you prefer the intimidating look that comes with an eye patch" Daisy replied, taking a brief glance at the colouring-in her sister was doing.

Raven shook her head. "We've got schematics for replicable prosthetics, through the father of our Chief Science Officer and our pilot. But I'm not having anyone make me a damn cyborg. Besides, it's good to have a reminder," she added, lightly touching the eyepatch with her hand. "I've already decided that I'll rip one of Vulture's eyes out and have it transplanted. Preferably, I'll get to remove the eye before I kill her." She glanced at Azalea. "Still, not the kind of thing we should be talking about with the little one around to hear. So, you're wanting to rejoin the crew, or did you just want to have a catchup?"

Azalea didn't appear to have taken any notice of what Raven had said, still intently focused on her colouring.

"I'd say both but I'm not really sure you'd have a place for me...us. Besides, we're kind of settled where we are at the moment...but you never know, things could change. However, if you ever need a nurse that desperately, then maybe one day I can join your motley crew" Daisy responded, taking another sip of her beer.

The Colonel chuckled. "We could use a nurse now, in all honesty. Between Gable and Kaol, we're well-stocked in doctors, competent ones at that, but we don't have a nurse. Just never tell Kaol I actually acknowledge his competence. He keeps calling himself the best doctor in the quadrant, I can't imagine how much more arrogant he'd get if he found out people actually agree that he is good at what he is doing."

"No, Skylar is the best doctor in the galaxy" Azalea commented, not looking up from her drawing.

Daisy smiled. "Skylar is more of a scientist, sweetheart"

"She's the best scientist and doctor, then" Azalea countered.

"Who's this Skylar, then?" Raven asked with a raised eyebrow. "And Azalea, I'll have you know that one of the best scientists in the galaxy is on my crew at the moment. Again, don't tell her that I said that."

Daisy replied. "Oh, she's a scientist slash doctor we live with. She actually trained me up as a nurse before she decided to move on for another opportunity. She came back to the monastery in the hope she'd find me when the area she lives in had a shortage of nurses, so I didn't really want to say no to her"

Raven sighed. "And yet you had no problem turning your back on me. I see how it is." She glanced at her chronometer, a replica of a late twentieth century digital wristwatch. Her meeting with the Trill wasn't for another hour. "Well, it is good to see that you two are doing well. I do miss having you around. Back in the day, when it was just the Claw and a handful of people. Life seemed so much simpler then. Now we're all tangled up in conspiracies and conspiracies to hide conspiracies, and more conspiracies to thwart the other conspiracies. It makes my head hurt, all of this. And that's before all the time travel and the parallel universes factor into the equation."

"It isn't like anything, Raven. You told me it would be dangerous and taking your missing eye and dead crewmembers into account I think I made the right call. If I'd come with you, me and or my sister could be dead. I think the absolute world of you and I always will, but Azalea will come first for as long as I live. What on earth have parallel universes got to do with anything?" Daisy countered, taking another sip of her beer.

Raven pondered for a moment, before finally shaking their head. "Classified. Information not to be shared with those outside the crew. I'm sorry." She sighed. "Well, if you change your mind about rejoining us, I am pretty sure you still have my contact info."

"Well, if you think I'm in the habit of blabbing peoples' secrets then perhaps you don't know me as well as you think you do, Raven. If you can't trust me then there's no place for me on your ship, is there?" Daisy responded, taking hold of her beer again and beginning to drink it as quickly as possible.

"It's not a question of trusting you," Raven replied, with a glance around her. "It's a question of what may be overheard. It might sound paranoid, but with the kind of people we're up against, I wouldn't put it beyond them to have us tracked even here." Which, of course, was part of the plan to draw Vulture out into the open. But she was not going to give that away.

Daisy sighed, her glass now empty. "Well, if you want those weapons you know how to contact me. From what I've heard about your recent adventures, you're probably going to need them a lot more than you need a nurse..."

Then, as Daisy reached for Azalea's bag, the sister pointed out a woman waiting outside the bar.

"Look Daisy, there's Skylar waiting for us" Azalea said, tugging on one of Daisy's sleeves.

Raven shrugged. "You better go meet your friend, then. We do need a nurse, though. We've got plenty of weapons, but no nurse. Anyway, it has been nice to catch up."

"How about you show you trust me then, instead of all of this cloak and dagger...BS" Daisy said, watching as Skylar approached the booth behind theirs, then leaning over so Azalea could show the synth scientist the colouring-in she'd been doing.

"As I said, I can't do that here. Security, confidentiality, and all of that. If you want to talk in private, come to the ship later." Raven turned to the new arrival. "You must be this Skylar I've heard so much about. Colonel Seh.. eh, just call me Raven. It's what everyone does, anyway."

Daisy sighed, not wishing to argue anymore. She instructed Azalea to get her things together as they were about to leave to go to another establishment for their lunch. Azalea was disappointed the reunion with Raven was short, but she was looking forward to seeing the present which Ian promised he would buy for her at the bazaar.

"We don't have time to talk later, Raven. Come on Azalea, let's go and wait for Ian outside" Daisy replied, taking her sister by the hand and heading outside to wait for Skylar.

Skylar responded, sensing Daisy was displeased with Raven.

"Pleasure, Fraulein Oberst. If you'll excuse me, I promised Daisy, Azalea and my brother I'd take them for lunch before we head back home" Skylar replied, noticing that her long-haired, bespectacled brother had arrived outside the bar and was showing Azalea the present he'd bought for her.

Raven chuckled. "Noticed the uniform, did you? Well, I don't want to be keeping you. Besides, I have another meeting shortly, anyway. Well, tell Daisy, if she want to talk more, come by the ship. Just ping me a message beforehand, you know, to make sure I'm not in the middle of something else."

"I'll make sure to let her know" Skylar responded, before departing.

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