Romulan Rescue Metaphors

Posted on Sun Dec 12th, 2021 @ 7:20am by Executive Officer Jake Ford & Evahnae Kohl & Chief Helmsman Kalahaeia t'Leiya & Leiddem Kea (*) & Liha t'Ehhelih & Ka'see 'Cassie' Anderson (*) & Commander Kaleetha Sloan (*)

Mission: Mission 14: Holoworld
Location: SS Holoworld
Timeline: MD04 10:00
4013 words - 8 OF Standard Post Measure

It had taken a day but the crew had narrowed down places that the person could be to the armoury or the kitchen area. Neither had holo emitters and both were secure enough to keep someone safe if they needed to keep out the way. The kitchen was the more logical with food but teams had been sent to both.

“So the armoury was a bust from the message from Gregnol,” the man held up his PaDD so everyone could see. “But I would choose to hide in the kitchen. Food and water easier to get ahold off without having to carry it around.” Leiddem announced cheerily as the small group walked along the large corridor past anti grab trolleys and split over containers.

A halo of pale blue light illuminated the back of his head. "Maybe she's preparing something candlelit," Eva teased, wiggling her flashlight back and forth. Despite the fact it wasn't likely to be a useful tool, she'd insisted on carrying something when her request for a side-arm had been squashed.

"More likely the available food and water, but for anyone who knows how to fight a kitchen is nearly as good as an armory," Liha noted, looking around and nodding toward potential weapons. "Knives, cleavers, heavy pans, skewers, oil and butane torches."

“Smart cookie,” Leiddem commented ignoring the burning gaze that was on him. “What about you, Jake, have a choice?” He asked risking a look back at the group from his position at the wrong guiding the way via the map. Nothing had changed on the map so far so they would be inside the huge kitchen with one more turn on the corridor.

"The kitchen is the logical choice," he said, agreeing with Liha's logic. "It's tactically defensible, too."

Cassie let out a soft cry as her boot slipped on something sending her into the person in front. “Sorry. I was trying to be quieter than Kea.” She whispered.

Liha lowered the knife that had automatically whipped out at the noise but didn't resheath it. "If one of them is part Vulcan, they know someone's here."

"Fvadt..." Jake whispered, without even realising he'd said it. Shaking off the momentary confusion, he hand-signalled for the group to slow down, putting a finger to his lips to indicate they should stay quiet. Between himself, Liha and Leiddem, they should have enough tactical nous to approach this properly, but they still needed to be careful. Pointing at the other man, he made a circular motion to indicate he should circle around, similarly to how the Wild West group had approached the outlaws in the bank.

“Sorry,” Cassie whispered. She was normally the delicate one when things were needed to be quiet. Leiddem nodded and moved further down the room and walked down the edge of the compartment.

Having taken the time to read the expressions of every face in her group, Eva stared blankly at Cassie as the woman apologised, looking without actually seeing as several options presented themselves. In the absence of direct instruction, and also an adequate firearm, the brunette took several steps backwards and then moved around the edge, crouched, until she found a cupboard large enough to squeeze into.

Deeper back into the kitchen, in fact, where they were carefully concealed behind various counters and equipment, Kali was very aware of the presence of the group. Unfortunately being down to one arm meant she'd have to choose between the knife and the phaser if the newcomers turned out to be hostile; but for the moment she was reserving judgement on which, and just keeping her left hand in a position to be able to make a quick draw on either.

Kaleetha leant heavily on the wall as she looked across at Kali and nodded. It was the same people that she had seen the previous day when she had surveyed the scene. It had been foolish to reveal herself especially as they were both injured but she had wanted to check and see if they were good people or pirates. Kali was the less injured but neither of them was in a fighting fit condition to fight if they were pirates or worse.

"Just stay there," Kaleetha called stepping out as they knew she was there. The woman was dressed in a borrowed crew uniform.

Kali gave a sharp nod, frowning: There weren't really any good choices here as to who to put forward; but the very worst choice would have been to not hold someone in reserve, to tip their entire hand, damaged as it was, to the newcomers.

Jake indicated for Liha to remain hidden. Tactically, he needed her aim with a knife should anything go south, and he couldn't see Leiddem from their position in the room. Taking a deep breath, he rose very slowly, pointing a flashlight cautiously in the direction of the voice.

"Easy. We're not here to hurt anyone. We thought someone might be wounded, and have the facilities to provide medical assistance."

“Who are you? How many of you are there - you are not the one I saw the other day?” Kaleetha noticed the man was not the one she had seen the previous day nor overheard at any point when she had been observing.

"My name's Jake. There's a few of us here - we heard the distress call and came to see if we could help. If someone's injured, we have medical supplies." He kept his hands raised, but stepped slowly closer. He didn't have eyes on Liha anymore, so it was anyone's guess where she'd gone. "We're here to help."

Kali frowned further from her hiding spot: Multiple voices before, and a reference to a group, but only one man's voice now, and one man's footfalls. Where are the others? She pressed her back against the equipment she was hidden behind, and the vulcanoid equivalent of adrenaline flowing provided in this case exactly the same sort of assisting it might to a human; letting her now choose to thoroughly disregard the broken collarbone and cracked ribs, putting both arms temporarily back into play and silently drawing the phaser in one hand and the knife in the other., but making no move yet to reveal herself.

“You are not Starfleet. Civilians rarely help others.” Kaleetha said honesty as she surveyed the man over quickly. He was cute but not at all her type but the ship that they came from produced tough looking men, to say the least. Leiddem watched from the corner and saw the woman standing in the light for the first time. She was not wearing the dress he had seen her in the previous day that gave the impression of being a hologram at all but a light coloured top and it was enough for the man to see the blood on it. He stepped forward holding his hands up hoping enough that he would not get shot or stabbed.

“A lot of us are former Starfleet.” He said by way of greeting. “That looks like a nasty wound.” He indicated the mark on her stomach tossing across a tricorder to her.

If she thinks Starfleet helps others, she's clearly not even a little Romulan, Liha thought bitterly, but stayed down and quiet. She didn't intend to reveal herself, especially as she'd heard whispering before the woman stepped forward, so she assumed there was a hidden backup on the other side as well. Sadly Leiddem hadn't thought that far and the idiot also probably hadn't thought far enough to consider that the only 'survivors' of a crashed luxury ship were as likely people setting a trap for rescuers or salvage hunters as people actually needing rescue.

“I did what I could for it,” Kaleetha commented scanning herself with a decent tricorder and frowned at the results. “I will live.” She said with a shrug trying to not seem as worried as she was. The Starfleet Officer put the tricorder down.

“So can we help you and your friend back there or not?” Leiddem asked looking back at where he thought someone might be hiding.

“Friend?” Kaleetha asked.

“I heard the whispering. Was not subtle for even my Betazoid hearing. I would hate for this to become a fight. We really are here to help.” Leiddem commented holding his hands up in a peaceful gesture, his phaser was still hastened and secure. He was pretty sure no one was going to stab him without him putting up some sort of defence.

This time, the profanity was entirely inside Kali's own head as she finally stepped into view, making sure she kept herself in a defensible position where the unknown number of allies the men might have brought couldn't get behind or beside her easily: Neither of the voices, both male, now present were the female ones she had heard earlier.

"Then you won't mind showing the rest of your party, either," Kali said, trying to keep her voice level and bland but unable to help the edge in it as she carefully held the phaser at ready but not directly aimed at anyone yet, and the knife in her other hand. "Of which we are likewise aware there are more."

Still staying hidden, Liha peaked at the second woman, drawing a bead on her for good measure since she was still holding weapons. Curiouser and curiouser as humans said. The woman looked vulcanoid but did not sound at all Vulcan, which would normally lead one to assume Romulan, but she was ...tiny. Had her parents been some of the soft-hearted types that fled the Empire because they couldn't bear putting down defective offspring? Or was this a hybrid that got all the Romulan genes except for decent stature?

You don't need a firearm. We can't all be armed or we'll just spook them. The mocking tone in which Eva's silent recount of an earlier disagreement played out in her head was more responsible for the unimpressed deadpan of her features as she clambered out of her cupboard, cursing under her breath as a momentary hiccup left her with a strand of hair to untangle than being forced out of hiding. To the relief of at least a couple of people in the room, she said nothing, opting instead to jump up to sit on the counter and just flick her flashlight on and off several times as an indication she had nothing to threaten them with besides over-exposure.

At the sudden cacophony, instead of whirling towards the sound, Kali simply made sure she had an eye and a possible shot in the direction of the noise, well aware it could as easily be meant as a distraction vs the primary threat. The end outcome for the moment, however, was simply...bizarre.

"If you're trying to blind us, I assure you I have defences against bright lights to the face." As if in a demonstration to go with her dry-toned assessment, Kali's inner eyelids flicked over her eyes for a moment at one of the points Eva hit the "on" switch", only to just as quickly and involuntarily flick back into hiding once it went off. Suddenly, her eyes narrowed, considering. "....Say something."

Raised eyebrows at least cleansed the palate of Eva's expression. Then, though it was perhaps completely not appropriate for the situation, she snorted with laughter and grinned at the cagey woman. "That may be the first time I've ever been indirectly accused of not making enough noise."

“You were the one I met yesterday,” Kaleetha said simply.

Instead of any direct comment on this admission, Kali's eyes narrowed further, one ever-so-slightly rising, covering the room at large with her next statement. "....Yeah. Not the voice I heard earlier." She flicked her eyes in a split-second glance at Kaleetha, then back. "...Look, however the fvadt many of you there are; if you actually are interested in assisting us, bring them all out." It was the voice of someone perhaps rapidly losing patience with an individual, a situation, or possibly the universe in its entirety.

Cassie stepped out and offered a wave to the pair who looked like she had been through a trying time since the crash. “We are interested in helping. We just could not find you or even know if anyone was here. Maybe you had already escaped.” The hybrid explained in her light airy accent that just had a twang at the end. It had been crossing her mind the last day when it had been impossible to find more trace.

This was probably the voice she'd heard earlier, making it hard for Kali to come to a decision one way or another, unsure if the weird little tingle up the back of her neck was a true warning of danger; or just anxiety in what was a situation rife with reasons for it. "Screw it," she muttered under her breath, then glanced at Kaleetha for a moment again. "...What's your vote?"

“Not like we have much choice,” Kaleetha said back in the same whispered tone. There were outnumbered and outgunned even if no one was raising a weapon.

It was an accurate assessment of the situation, if one that left Kali feeling rather bitter at the hand they'd been dealt. "Alright." She did not for time being though yet move from her own position, nor to put away any of the weapons she was holding, merely lowering the phaser but not holstering it, and keeping a ready grip on the knife.

Kaleetha nodded once. “I want to speak to Starfleet using your ship please.” Kaleetha declared in the no nonsense attitude of a senior officer. It was the safest option, declare where she was even if it took ages to get through to a ship. “Your ship will be able to get through to a relay unlike this hunk of junk.”

"It will. We'll happily take you aboard - and get you checked by the doctor as well. Both of you." He glanced between the two of them. "I'm sure the Captain has some questions, too, if you don't mind?"

Kali holstered the phaser; it wouldn't do much good once they were in tight close range with the group, even if they ended up getting double-crossed; especially with enough potentially-flammable items around in the kitchen itself. Finally, she cautiously stepped forward out of her defensive nook, following Kaleetha, albeit a good bit behind, and with the better close-combat weapon still very much in her hand...Just in case.

Having begun working her way around to a flanking position during the distraction Eva provided, Liha was now in the perfect position as Kali moved into the open. It might appear to everyone else that conflict was over and suspicions could be laid aside, but Romulan recognized Romulan and Liha noted the little one was still grasping her knife. Rising, she trained her weapon on Kali, stating cooly, "You can sheath that knife too. I won't force you to surrender that knife, but you will hand over the phaser and any other weapons you're concealing."

Kali twitched, hard, like it was probably the equivalent response to 'jumping out of one's skin', yet also sighed in a way that pointed instead towards an acceptance or expectation of: 'There is often one more son of a bitch than you counted on'. She stared back at Liha with an equally penetrating gaze, and moved her hand back under her shirt slowly and deliberately, sliding the knife back into the hidden sheath and coming out with the phaser, safety conspicuously on; fairly certain her heart rate was well north of 300 as she slid the weapon across the deck; rapidly debating in her head if she could get away with keeping the Orion throwing knives hidden in custom sheaths built into her boots. They were entirely invisible at the moment, with no tell of their existence. No tell that is except for the obvious one of 'having only surrendered one weapon'. No one would believe you didn't at least have one backup weapon, at least no Romulan looking at another one. That she'd absorbed quite effectively during her brief if ill-fated time in Romulan space after getting booted from Starfleet only for SFI to have the audacity to send her there under contract. Finally, she reached down, again slowly and deliberately, and pulled three out of each boot, sliding them similarly across. There were actually four in each, for a total of eight; but the six provided should hopefully suffice to quell any further inquiries.

As she slide-kicked the weapons out of easy reach, Liha lifted a single eyebrow in a 'do I look like I was born yesterday?' expression. "Good. Now the rest of them," she stated firmly and with the absolute certainty of someone who would've tried the exact same rouse to keep a few extra concealed weapons. The woman in front of her might be a runt, but she apparently had Romulan sensibilities.

Kali managed to combine a momentary glare with an eye roll in response, a rather interesting look, and pulled out the last two throwing knives, similarly sliding them across. At the still-insistent look that greeted her afterwards, she spread her hands ever-so-slightly and shrugged her own eyebrows up and down. "That is it. Seriously. This was a cruise ship, not a smugglers den."

Kaleetha frowned at her friend and rolled her own eyes. Her own unspoken question of just how much were you carrying all the time going between them.

"The only difference in my arms for a smugglers den is that I'd carry three openly and two more poorly concealed to keep eyes on those," Liha stated, giving Kali a thorough assessing once over. Then she chuffed. "If there's more you'd do well to keep them hidden. Bear in mind that I let you keep the dagger because I know what that means, but if you try to use it on any of us, I will take it from you and melt it down in front of you. Right before I slit your throat."

“You sound like my aunt,” Kali grumbled; taking up a place near the woman with the flashlight who’d scrambled out of the cupboards earlier. Unspoken was, of course, the corollary to Liha’s statements: That if instead their rescuers betrayed Kaleetha and herself, she would be finding a way to make as many of them pay as possible before she died.

"To be fair, I think that actually counts as a point in your favour." Eva's tone was overly conversational, her disposition perhaps a little too relaxed for the person who had continually expressed displeasure with everyone else's failure to recognise the unnerving plot holes in their unfolding soap opera. "Quick and easy death, probably better than some of her more inventive options." The bar manager couldn't be sure, she didn't know Liha much beyond their holodeck cavorting, but it seemed a simple enough guess.

One corner of Kali's mouth turned up slightly in amusement at Eva's words--whether she knew it or not, the woman had just hit on a generally accurate assessment of where 'quickly slitting your opponent's throat' rated, to the point that she flicked her eyes over to her briefly to double-check there were not a set of subtle points on her ears like Kaleetha's.

"I'd prefer nobody dying, to be honest," Jake retorted, motioning for the two newcomers to follow.

"Cutting someone's throat does not sound like we really should go with you," Kaleetha commented on pausing in her joining the group. Even in her growing weak state, she did not like how that statement sounded. She might look Romulan but her words and actions were not that. Was it normal for them to act like that?

Kali sighed again. Explaining the behavior of humans and Romulans to one another and vice versa was something as familiar to her as a well-worn glove by now; but if half the time it ended in mutual understanding, the other half of the time such attempts ended with both sides looking at her like she was insane.

"She's putting me on notice that I shouldn't think I'm not being watched, just because she let me keep a weapon. Trust me, she already heard loud and clear the part I didn't say out loud back in reply--" Kali flicked a glance to Liha for a moment; then back at Kaleetha, spelling it out for everyone that hadn't grasped the subtext earlier. "--that I'm watching them too, still, and a first move by them against us ends with me trying to put that blade in as many of them as possible before they kill me. Basically, it's been made clear to all parties that anyone betraying anyone else will end badly; which unless someone is really determined and willing to pay the price laid out for it, makes it less likely anyone will." She shrugged, half with her good shoulder and half with her eyebrows up and down. "No one has shot us yet, which given that angle, they could have. And if they planned to, honestly, they wouldn't have bothered with that line. They would have just done it."

Kali searched her head for a good human-behavior-metaphor, or at least a half-assed one; aware the earlier situation had reversed and she was now actually closer to the rest of the group than Kaleetha was, as if the same things that had ever-so-slightly increased her own level of trust in the situation had dropped the taller woman's. "It's like...OK: A pair of humans would be busy trying to build trust by claiming they aren't a threat to one another right now, right? And probably looking for ways to try and prove it to one another, potentially. It's sort of like that, only instead, since we both already know neither of us is harmless, she makes it clear she's a threat to me if I threaten them, and I make it clear I'm a threat to her if they threaten us. In both cases the goal is, in part, to begin to lay the groundwork for a level of trust."

It was a good deal more complicated than that, really--for one thing, the concept of 'trust' itself was a good bit different on either side, and definitely the timeframes involved for it to develop-- but it was as close a comparison as Kali could come up with in the exhaustion at the moment, and she knew that any attempt to lay out the full range of said complicated interplays would probably leave them in the kitchen until the turn of the century, so she just flashed a brief if weary grin at Kaleetha, beckoning her forward.

Kaleetha looked between the two women not who she wanted to say what to or even what she wanted to say. The last ten days were trying and as usual, Romulans were being shifty and confusing as a complete concept. She sometimes how they could be so different, she was only two generations from being like them.

“How you all have survived as a species I have no idea.” The scientist commented with a roll of her eyes as she took the hint and started to move.

Liha smirked. "Believe me, we feel the same about you, Starfleet."

Kali said nothing, but considered that she had in fact spent a lifetime hearing that comment in both directions. In the end, the thing she was sometimes surprised had survived this long was herself, with a foot on either side of that line.