[ussbansheec] Old Friends and New Places
- From: Andy Maluhia <CaptainAndy@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: ussbansheec@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sun, 18 Jan 2009 10:36:21 -0500
_Old Friends and New Places
_Adonis Kaartaren, Kestra Riker, & Lwaxana Troi
/We are keenly aware of the faults of our friends, but if they like us
enough it doesn't matter. ~Mignon McLaughlin, The Neurotic's Notebook,
1960/
It was the most amazing thing she'd ever witnessed. In a manner of hours
Mr. Xomn had managed to turn her little home office into a rather
comfortable looking bedroom that was completely tailored to her
grandmother's sense of style. It was warm and welcoming and yet still
managed to be kind of loud and brash. Kestra just shook her head and
smiled as she pulled out of the doorway and headed for where her desk
was now settled. Mr. Xomn had created a little work area in her living
room that blended in so it didn't come across as intrusive. The man was
a decorating genius. Easing in behind her desk, Kestra turned her
terminal on and checked her fellow fusion's location before putting in
the call to him. His location was listed as London, which meant he was
at home. Tapping in the code to his home unit, Kestra curled into her
chair, which was her custom when it came to personal calls, and then
tucked her hair behind her ears as she waited for her friend's face to
appear. She smiled again. She couldn't wait to see the look on his face
when she told him her news.
Adonis glared at the comm when it sounded. He was in the middle of
packing and simply didn't want to hear another word out of Nath. Ever.
"Kaartaren," he said tersely as he opened the connection. "I'm busy,
Nath. Leave me alone."
"The last time I checked the mirror I looked nothing like our CO,"
Kestra said with a bit of amusement in her voice. The amusement slowly
faded into concern when she realized her friend's tone hadn't been very
friendly. "Is this a bad time, Adonis?"
"Ah, it's you!" he said, a smile replacing the somewhat harried look
he'd worn lately. He dropped into the chair by the screen with a solid
oof and offered Kestra a smirk. "If you looked like Nath, I'd've shut
you off by now, Kestra. I've done it a good ten times in the past week
or so."
That caused Kestra to raise a brow in surprise. "You've been hanging up
on Nath all week? Did he cheat at dom-jot again?"
"No," he said drawing the syllable out slowly. "He fired me."
It took several seconds for that bit of news to sink into her thoughts.
It rattled around for a moment and then plunked down like a penny
hitting the bottom of a fountain. "He fired you!?"
He felt her shock as clearly as if she'd been in the same room. He
crossed his arms over his broad chest and shook his head. "Yeah, he did
and I walked out on him. I'm still waiting on the paperwork for
disobeying direct orders and insubordination," he said a snort. "My
association with the project was deemed inappropriate you know."
Adonis was one of their best counselors. People responded to him in a
very down to earth way, which allowed him to work in both the civilian
world and Starfleet. It was why they'd given him the Banshee assignment
in the first place. "What do you mean inappropriate?"
"My mother," he said simply, "and her obsession with Joshua Garrity."
He was disgusted, still, by the name and it showed on his face. "Nath
tried lying to me but I know where it came from. It was all the brass
and not any of the people I had contact with." He tapped his temple.
"Can't lie to a Kaartaren you know."
"You would think that people would have learned you can't lie to a
Betazed period," Kestra huffed. What was the brass thinking? She tried
to connect the dots, Banshee's families, Adonis' mother, and this Josh
Garrity who seemed to pop up in everything these days, but she just
couldn't find a reasonable reason that one would affect the others.
"Garrity had nothing to do with Banshee going missing. The geeks say it
was Daystrom project gone wrong. Has Nath lost his mind?"
"No doubt," he said acidly. He lifted a hand then dropped it in his
lap. "My dad's pissed off but I at least managed to make him promise
not to stare Nath into the ground. He'd do it, too." Adonis hmmphed
softly, a fond smirk on his face. "You just don't mess with his kids,
even when they're forty-two already."
"Well, you dad might have promised not to say anything but I haven't,"
Kestra replied. There was real anger in her black eyes. It simply made
no sense to take away a means of support that people have learned to
trust and rely on. "I'm sure he'll hear from the families as well. You
don't just take away the only link you have to any hope of finding out
what happened your loved ones."
Kestra had let her anger and annoyance cloud the reason she'd called.
She'd forgotten all about her grandmother until she felt the familiar
tingle in her mind.
~Darling One, what's the matter?~
The young woman rolled her eyes. ~Nothing Grandmama.~
"Kestra, please don't--" Adonis cut himself off mid-sentence then fixed
his eyes on his friend. "Oh no..." he groaned. "She's there, isn't she?"
She couldn't help herself, the look on his face was just priceless, she
laughed. "That's why I called. I figured I'd warn you and you could warn
your dad. Apparently I need to be looked after. Oh and I'm unable to
sort out my own love life."
~It doesn't feel like nothing.~ Lwaxana's voice replied. ~I'm coming
back. Mr. Xomn can finish at the market.~
~Grandmamma, I'm fine. You can't rush in every time I have an emotion.~
Kestra replied to her grandmother while grinning at her friend. "How
could you tell by the way?"
"Are you kidding?" Adonis outright laughed. "For one thing, you got the
same look on your face as I did whenever my grandmother would show up,
though yours is much more benevolent I must say. Then there's the sense
of her. I can feel her close by, especially when you think about her."
Kestra laughed. "I happen to love my grandmother, even if she is rather,
um, ya know I think Lwaxana should just be its own adjective. There
really isn't a way to describe her other then simply, Lwaxana." She
shook her head and smiled before sighing a little. "She does have that
powerful presence about her. Your dad probably felt her the moment she
landed." Her features softened a great deal then and she looked as tired
as she felt. "To be honest, I'm kind of glad she came. I've never had to
face so much pain before. The grief and anger is overwhelming."
"What's the matter?" he asked, his own irritation at Nath forgotten.
"Backwash from that damned ship blowing up?"
"I've never had to tell so many people their loved ones are dead,"
Kestra admitted. "And never that they were killed because someone else
wanted someone else dead."
Adonis shook his head then pinched the bridge of his nose. "What the
hell now?"
"The ship your mother was on," she began carefully. "The full report of
what happened came in. Apparently the daughter of Admiral Murgo smashed
a runabout into the ship's warp field. She wanted to kill her half
brother and didn't care who she took out along with him."
The breath came out slowly as fingers tapped on the desk in front of
him. "I would like to say I'm surprised but I'm not." He closed his
eyes as if he were seeing information on the back of his lids. "It'd be
the one named Francesca, right?"
Kestra nodded. "She was unstable, she'd been taken off flight status but
still managed to get the runabout off the station," she explained. Her
training and education told her all she needed to know about why
Francesca Murgo did what she did, but personally she just couldn't wrap
her mind around it. She couldn't imagine ever hating her brothers the
way Francesca hated hers. "It was just senseless, Adonis."
"I always thought that one was unstable, too," he grumbled. "It's
unprofessional of me but she gave me the creeps. You're right, though.
The whole thing is senseless; especially when it was over the same
damned fool my mother took off for. You can't let it rule you, Kestra.
If you do, you'll only end up like most of my life, in the shadow of
some man who's been dead for longer than we've been alive and shadows
are cold, lightless."
"His words are wise for one so young, darling one," Lwaxana said from
the doorway. She smiled lovingly at her granddaughter before looking at
the image on the comm. screen. "Well, well, it's the little Kaartaren.
How nice to see you again Adonis. You're looking well, must be the
pretty little thing in your thoughts that's given you such a warmth."
Kestra nodded. "And she started out so sincere and nice."
"Nice to see you again, Mrs. Troi," Adonis said with genuine warmth.
The woman irritated the hell out of his father but she wasn't malicious,
not at all. "Give the dear lady a break, Kestra," he added with a
chuckle. "I think she's right. It's either that or she likes my hair
cut, too."
That's when it hit the young woman. "Your hair's short! And what young
lady?"
Lwaxana laughed as she placed a hand on her granddaughter's shoulder.
"Maria, hmm, another mutant. Is this some kind of new trend?"
"You and Maria!?" Kestra asked, a bright smile appearing on her face,
one that looked a little smug. "About time."
The grin that crossed his face was only partially Maria-inspired. The
rest was simply the feel of good will from the two women. "Yes, it's
Maria, Kestra, and the hair was just another anti-Garrity move. My
mother always said the curls reminded her of that cursed thing." In a
fit of complete childishness, he made a face at his friend then offered
Lwaxana a devilish grin. "I've known Maria a lot less longer than
Kestra's known Dominic, Mrs. Troi. The lovely lady saw fit to give me a
second chance and I'm not screwing it up."
"Again," Kestra added with a smirk.
"See, darling one, it shouldn't take a man years and years to figure
out where he belongs," Lwaxana said brightly and very pointedly. "It's
good to see you happy, Adonis, and the new look suits you very well,
very handsome indeed."
Kestra groaned and rolled her eyes.
"Again? It was just once, Kestra, so stow it," he grumbled at her. He
couldn't stay irritated though. Mrs. Troi at a safe distance was
wonderful. "Thank you, Mrs. Troi. Maria liked it, too. I don't think
Kestra's met her but she's a wonderful woman, very sweet and demure.
Tolerates me."
"And whose fault is it that I haven't met her yet?" Kestra teased. She
liked the happy and content expression in her friend's eyes.
Lwaxana smiled as she threw her hands up in the air as she had what she
felt was a brilliant idea. "You and your young lady must join us for
dinner, Adonis. I'm sure Jean-Luc won't mind having a few more people
join us."
~Grandmamma! You can't just invite people to the vineyard!~ Kestra
replied telepathically.
Lwaxana waved her hand dismissively as she turned to glided over to her
things. ~It'll be fun, darling one. Trust me.~
~~I never trust anyone who says 'trust me'~~ Adonis snickered. Aloud,
though, he shook his head. "I have to ask Maria what her schedule is at
the school. She's still filling in for one of the teachers who's out at
DSVP. I don't think she much cares for teaching math but it gets the
man off the hook."
"If she agrees to come you may want to warn her about the eerie
resemblance her Professor has to my godfather," Kestra warned. "Dom
still finds that rather creepy."
Lwaxana huffed. "No one is like Jean-Luc, Kestra. He's one of a kind."
"Ah yeah I did notice that bit myself," Adonis mused. "Mrs. Troi, have
you ever heard the Human saying that everyone has a twin somewhere?
It's rather eerily so in this case. Maria's cousin thinks it's funny,
especially when they even sound alike."
"I think you'd find Professor Xavier interesting, Grandmamma," Kestra
said as she glanced over at her grandmother. "He's a human telepath."
Lwaxana raised a perfectly plucked brow. "I haven't had the pleasure of
meeting a full human telepath. I'd enjoy that." A flash appeared in her
granddaughter's mind and it made Lwaxana put her hands on her hips. "And
who is this Ms. Frost you're worried about me running into?"
At that, Adonis snorted rudely, the mental picture of an antimatter
explosion in his head. "That woman has no manners and less class. The
professor is a gentleman of the finest kind, though, ma'am. I know my
dad mentioned wanting to talk to him about the physical differences
between our type of telepathy and his."
"Then I will have to set up a gathering," Lwaxana mused as she already
began making plans. "I've always been very interested in other
telepathic races." She paused and looked pointedly at Kestra. "Doesn't
your young man's parents teach at this school Adonis' young woman
teaches at?"
"No," Kestra warned. "Grandmamma, leave the Rasputins alone."
"Then it's settled. Adonis will see to the arrangements with Xavier and
I'll give dear Jean-Luc a call," Lwaxana said as she breezed through the
room towards what was now her bedroom.
"Errr...sorry about that, Kestra, but it's nice seeing a grandmother
that acts like one," Adonis said with a not very apologetic chuckle. "I
can hear my dad now, though: you go right ahead, son. I'll take my
chances with the Marines."
Kestra shook her head and laughed as she looked at her friend. "I know
she means well and she just wants to take care of me. It's kind of
nice. Being an adult isn't all it's cracked up to be at times. With
Grandmamma here I get all the love and attention and none of the looks.
My mother is really good with looks."
"I have Gressa for that but her looks are generally a hint that the hand
is coming next. Dad's the only one she won't dare try that with," he
told her. "By the way, remember I said I didn't know where he was that
time when I tried to call? I found out."
"I thought that was kind of odd," she replied with a nod. "Your mom,
sure she'd take off, but you always knew where he was. Where was he?"
"Parris Island," he said casually. "The base housing." After a long
pause, he added, "With his girlfriend."
"Girlfriend?" Kestra asked with a hint of surprise. A slow smile
appeared on her face as that rattled around in her head and then she
added, "Good for him. Have you met her yet?"
"Kestra, he's been with her for over thirty years. Thirty years!" The
whole bombshell still had him in a daze at times. "I don't think I
could do it but Dad's as Betazoid as your grandmother and they are well
and truly capable of loving two people at the same time. He just didn't
think my mother would take that very well."
Her grandmother was known for her love affairs and Kestra hoped that
when she was her grandmother's age she'd still have that kind of drive
too. "No offence, Adonis, but your mother was, um, well, nuts. Honestly,
she scared me."
"None taken," he said dryly. "Dad and I had a good long talk. I'd have
to ask your grandmother but he said that if this were Betazed, things
could have been worked out for everyone involved but my mother was not
known for being reasonable. He didn't tell anyone, not even Gressa, for
gods' sake, because he was genuinely afraid Mother would cause them
harm. I always used to wonder why he came home in such a good frame of
mind and now I know." He hmmphed softly, running a hand over his head.
"Haven't met her yet or their son."
"Grandmamma says that most humanoids don't love as openly as Betazoids,"
Kestra agreed. A faint smirk appeared on her lips as she recalled her
university days and two certain someones she'd shared those early
adulthood moments with. Then she blinked. "Did you just say their son?
You have a brother?"
Adonis snorted outright at her surprise. It was only slightly milder
than his reaction. "Yeah, I did. Go figure. I think Dad would have
made a damned fine spy for having kept up the story for this long," he
said, shaking his head in amazement. "Like I said, I haven't met the
man but Dad says he's thirty and his name's Iefan. It's a bit weird
knowing there's a brother that's been walking around these last thirty
years. His mother's ElAurian."
"Like Guinan? Wow, an El Aurian and a Betazoid, that's a unique fusion,"
she mused as she smiled at her friend. "So how home you haven't tracked
him down yet? The curiosity almost rolls off you in waves."
Adonis laughed brightly at that then shook his head. "It's a matter of
respecting the man's privacy, Kestra," he explained. "My dad's too. I
don't know what they know or don't and I'm not putting Dad on the spot
like that."
"Well, I can understand that, but this man is your brother, he's your
family," she replied as she carefully schooled her thoughts. There was
no reason to give her grandmother any more reason to meddle in the lives
of her friends. She had enough to handle meddling in Kestra's life.
"With everything that's happened, I'd think bringing his remaining
family together would be important to your dad. He could be holding back
to spare your feelings the way you are his, if that's the case you'll
both just keep dancing around the subject."
"No, I don't think that's it at all," Adonis told her. "When he's not
shielding I can read my dad like a book. The lady's a Marine with some
sort of special detachment, special enough that she's in the Field
Marshal's staff. What that entails, I'm not exactly sure but I do
believe it'll be soon. I'm curious as hell as to what the woman looks
like, though. He's got some damned good luck with finding beautiful
women because Mika's mother was gorgeous."
Kestra smiled softly. She'd met Mika and she was beautiful so it wasn't
hard to believe her mother had been as well. "I don't see how you're
staying so calm, Adonis. If it were me and I'd just found out my father
had another family I'd be... well, I'd be pissed to be honest, but I'd
want to met them, to get to know them. Then again I'm a bit of a
Pollyanna and happen to think my family is rather perfect and can't
really see anything like this happening."
"Calm? Heh," he said with a soft huff. "I took it out on my dad a
little but I saved it for Nath mostly." He waved a hand at this
apartment behind him. "And any way me getting angry is never a good
thing. I break things if I get too pissed off so I'm putting my energy
into packing. It's infinitely more constructive."
"You're leaving London?" she asked with a raised brow. Her friend seemed
to have a knack for surprising her, which made her figure out how long
it had been since they'd talked. Between his work and hers, it had been
awhile. "Where are you going?"
"East coast somewhere," he said with a shrug. "Away from Rome, that's
for damned sure. Dad and I are of the same mind: can't live in the
house in Rome because it has too many bad vibes and echoes. He and his
lady are going to live in some cushy Fleet housing so closer would be
nice but also far away enough from that Frost woman."
Kestra laughed. "I liked Ms. Frost," she admitted with a shrug. "Then
again I'm kind of use to brash telepaths who help themselves to your
thoughts."
"So am I but your grandmother has class," he grumbled. "You know, the
only thing that really bothers me about getting fired from the project
is that I made a promise to a young friend of Maria's and I may not be
able to keep it. His brother's on Banshee and I told him I'd call him
first thing when there was word. If it had been Maria saying it,
he'd've believed it. Me? Not so much but I would hate to disappoint
the kid."
That made the young woman smile. "Ya know there are benefits to having a
father who's one of the top captains, a godfather who's an icon, and an
ambassador for a grandmother, not to mention my best friend's dating the
daughter of an admiral and who's also DSVP's Chief of Security. I could
always keep you up to date."
"If you could please? Maria's brother is right in the thick of it all
but the man's busy as hell. This friend of Maria's had, until meeting
me, never met an alien before." He offered a bemused chuckle. "I don't
think he was all that impressed but he was a sharp one and, like I said,
I promised."
Kestra nodded, "I'll call Bell and see if she'll get Gretchen to call me
as soon as she hears. She's on the front lines so she'll know before
anyone. The wife of the captain of the research ship, all five of her
children are on Banshee so I've taken more of active interest in the
ship myself."
"The McEntires," he said with a nod. "This kid, Maria tells me, is the
son of the ruler of some tiny island nation here. He apparently doesn't
tolerate fools gladly or at all."
She had to shift though a lot of information but she kind of remembered
Dominic talking about an island just for humans like him. "Genosha, I
remember Dom speaking of it once."
Adonis nodded. "That's the one. Ah but he was a nice kid though.
Sitting there in the park playing chess with a man old enough to be his
great-grandfather at the least. Maria thinks if he learns to control
his temper then he's got great potential."
"Bit of a hot head?" she asked with a soft chuckle.
"Apparently. If Maria says that then it's got to be so because she
never says an unkind thing about anyone. That and he's a teenager." He
offered an innocent look. "I personally was a lovely person at that
age. Gressa's favorite target."
Kestra laughed which ended in a snort. "Not me, I was brat, drove Mother
crazy."
"I told you a long time ago: I was not the evil twin," he hmmphed.
"And now we have the evidence to prove it," she agreed with bright smirk.
--
for without hope I cannot live, remember the past but do not dwell there, face the
future where all our hopes stand."_- Israel Kamakawiwo'ole
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