NPC H'aal - Have you seen me?
CPT Arianus
(( Lower Promenade, Kelara station ))
He stood hidden in the shadow of the Lower Promenade cafe alcove. He waited. He hoped. The information didn't come cheap, but the source had never let him down before...much. Leaning against the wall, his eyes seemed to be looking into the cargo administration PADD, as if he were going through a manifest or trying to find a crew for his cargo ship, but it was only a pretense. His eyes weren't looking at the screen; they were looking beyond.
He lowered his head as Security Officers passed by, hiding his searching eyes behind the hem of his hood since his face wasn't the most popular in these parts of the quadrant. Sometimes, less is more, as his father often said to his litter.
The ship he was waiting for had docked an hour ago, and its passengers were still going through customs, but the crowd that had started it was slowly fading into a few then and there going through that door.
That door which just opened, and what others might have mistaken for a normal couple walking by, oblivious to the few people still waiting for tourists and offering their services, caught his attention. He didn't recognize them at first, but a quick glance at his PADD screen and their holophotos, along with several others that alternated showing their appearance and age, confirmed his earlier suspicion. It was really them.
Kona. Cassie.
A few gold-pressed Latinum chips clinked against the table, and then he was gone. They didn’t pause for a moment—neither in the bustling toy store, filled with colorful displays and excited laughter, nor in the quaint souvenir shop, where trinkets whispered tales of a nearby planet, nor even at the accommodation office, a bland office with flickering lights. But they had one, the hotel they were heading for, and he almost had a sense of where they would be staying—if only that careless blunder hadn't thrown him off their trail.
As they reached a dimly lit lobby, Kona suddenly halted, a shiver of instinct coursing through him as if he sensed an unseen presence shadowing their steps. H'aal, however, didn't turn towards them. Instead, he maneuvered through the lobby to the reception with casual nonchalance, blending in with the other guests who meandered around the hotel. The muffled sounds of conversation and laughter faded behind him as he held his breath, counting the seconds, the adrenaline coursing through his veins. He turned and saw them entering the elevator. But before he could get close enough to board, the elevator door closed, and H'aal lost them again.
Frustration gnawed at him, yet a spark of hope flickered—he was closer than ever before. It wasn't ten sectors, or ten planets, nor ten cities. It was just ten possible rooms on floor thirty four. He smiled as he turned away from the elevator and sat down in a chair in the hotel lobby, with his PADD in hand.
Finally, he had good news for her.
(( Room 3408, Stardust Hotel, Kelara station ))
The console emitted a series of silent beeps.
Beep, beep, beep.
Then paused for a moment to remind itself with another series. H'aal settled into the chair in front of the screen and answered the call. He smiled, nodded to answer the question she had.
H’aal: I saw her, Alex.
Alex returned the nod, her expression changed in an instant; months and years of fear were gone, replaced by pure hope.
Storm: Cassie?
H’aal: Yes. She’s with Kona. I saw him too.
Her answer said a lot. She wanted her daughter, not her ex-husband; that much was clear from the answer she gave him.
Storm: How’s … how’s she look?
His fingers quickly danced across the console's keyboard, and the file swiftly reached its recipient as the holophoto he had managed to sneak appeared on Alex's screen.
H’aal: You can see for yourself.
He allowed her a moment to process the information before asking his question.
H’aal: How quickly can you reach Kelara? They are leaving the station tomorrow at noon.
Storm: Response
H’aal: I… I don't know where they are going yet, but I will find out. I'll let you know, don’t worry, Alex. I won’t let him slip away, not again.
Storm: Response
TAG/TBC
–
H'aal
“Friend”
As simmed by
Lieutenant JG Ollie Bergmen
Operations Officer
U.S.S. Artemis-A
A240009JC1