<USS Avalon> "Cakewalk" Part 2

Cakewalk

Part 2

By Lieutenant Second Class Elissabeth Marksbury

 

 

Instinct caused her to duck and by the time she looked up, Kaylee was gone.  
?Damnit?, she cursed under her breath, turning to see what had just happened.  
It looked as though Agents Tabios and Payne were in some sort of argument, 
Payne still holding the phaser in his hand.  She assumed he was the one to 
shoot.  The next thing she knew, Tabios hit Payne with a sucker punch, knocking 
him unconscious.

 

Lissi?s mind was reeling.  She was trying to put the pieces together and she 
didn?t like the picture.  Kaylee had spooked, saying ?he? was trying to kill 
her.  Lissi saw her looking at Tabios, but yet, that wasn?t concrete.  She also 
knew Payne was the one doing the shooting, apparently trying to stun Kaylee.  
But even then, that was overkill, Lissi thought.  

 

Who was the bad guy?  In less than a second, she had decided to deal with the 
agents later and took off sprinting towards Kaylee's last known whereabouts 
wanting to be the one to find her first.

 

Wait!  The command was spoken inside her mind and stopped her in her tracks.  
Turning, she saw Agent Tabios gazing at her intently.  Another telepath.  
Great. 

 

He tried to kill her.  

 

Lissi received an image in her head, from Tabios' viewpoint, of Payne taking 
aim at Kaylee.  In his hand, the phaser was set too high.  It would've been a 
killing shot.  

 

Narrowing her eyes, she walked back to where Tabios was standing and Payne was 
crumpled on the ground.  Kaylee was gone and, by this time, unless she wanted 
to be found, it was hopeless.  

 

Check the phaser.

 

Lissi picked it up and it was on setting four.  

 

"But why?" she said.

 

I don't know.  Only caught what Payne was doing at the last second and knocked 
his aim off.  I don't know what's going on. We have to find her.

 

"I know," Lissi sighed, "but unless she wants to be found..."

 

I can find her.

 

"And what about him?"

 

Still not speaking, Agent Tabios searched Payne's body for weapons and then 
hefted him over his shoulder, returning the unconscious agent to the skimmer.

 

The two began down the beach.

 

"Do you ever talk?"  Lissi asked.

 

"Seldom."  Takes me a lot of concentration to read people and shield my 
thoughts at the same time.  I can project my thoughts easier.  I don't know how 
Payne shielded his so well.  I had no idea what he was up to.  I'm sorry.

 

"Not your fault."  The two continued walking in silence.  Occasionally, Tabios 
steered them in a new direction until, suddenly, he stopped.  

 

She's there.  In the shadows behind that building.  Doesn't know we're this 
close yet, she's too upset to concentrate.  But she still trusts you.  You go.  
I'll cut off the other end of the alley.

 

Lissi nodded and walked the rest of the block to where Tabios had told her to 
go.

 

"Kaylee?" she asked softly.  Her senses were on edge, not trusting Tabios 
either.  The situation just screamed to her of a set-up.  But there was also 
the possibility Kaylee was there.  Alone and frightened.  She had to try.

 

Placing reassuring thoughts at the front of her mind, hoping to calm the child 
and salvage this mission, Lissi stepped around the corner, weapon drawn.

 

"I'm here," came a whispered reply.

 

Following the sound of Kaylee's voice, she found the girl sitting with her 
knees drawn to her chest and shaking.  Lissi's heart went out to her and 
immediately dropped to her knees pulling the child into her arms.

 

"He was gonna kill me," Kaylee said with a hollow ring to her voice, as though 
she were going into shock of some sort.

 

"Kaylee, I need you to stay with me, here, okay?  I need you to tell me what 
happened.  Exactly what you saw."

 

"He was gonna kill me."  That same frightened, hollow voice.

 

Let her be.  We'll sort it out when we get back.  Agent Tabios had come up 
behind them.

 

Lissi pulled Kaylee to her feet.  She wasn't responding to Tabios' presence and 
Lissi took that as a good sign.  The child wasn't afraid of him.  But then 
again, if he were shielding his thoughts strongly enough...

 

Her head spun from the possibilities of treachery.  There was no one to trust 
at this point.  All she knew was that Kaylee was her responsibility and she had 
to get her safely at Intel.  If Intel was even safe anymore...







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