Serren Tan & Mikali sh'Shar - Andorian Blues: The Deal, Part I

[David Adams]

"He who has a why to live can bear almost any how." - Friedrich Nietzsche

Song for this part of Andorian Blues: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRHNi3QfFlE

(( Shuttlebay, USS Gorkon ))

Here. Mikali sh'Shar was coming here.

May the fire gods have mercy on them all.

His body aching from the triathlon, Serren waited in the shuttlebay until the USS Diane slipped through the semi-transparent forcefield with a brief blue shimmer, settling softly on the deck. The rear loading ramp slid open, revealing the passenger compartment and the small crowd of people within.

Immediately, Tan spotted two other familiar figures disembarking. A massive, familiar Klingon big enough to block out the entire light of the shuttle, a thickly stuffed duffel bag slung over her shoulder, her posture stooped and shy. Vaala. The enormous Klingon whose incredible height and bulk belied a nervous wreck of an interior. The biggest hint was her soft, mousy brown eyes, kind but unsure of herself.

And beside her, Safine. A dark-haired Trill with her classic ponytail. His previous host.

His eyes met hers, and in them found a strange, perplexing mishmash of emotions; some happy, some angry, some sad. Some... fierce. He wasn't sure what he felt either; it was like looking into a past life, another life, a possibility of who he could be. Who, for a time, he was.

Despite it all, he couldn't help but also look at her wheelchair. Thin and light, made of composite materials and with puffy padding, decked out with pouches and containers full of stuff. It looked fast, sleek, and comfortable.

But a comfortable prison was still a prison.

She wheeled down the ramp, holding onto the rims as brakes, then used her momentum to coast over toward him.

Rael: So it's true. You really are here. ::she smiled slightly:: Look at me, huh. Ain't I tall.

Serren raised an eyebrow. It was so odd to see his old body still kicking. Metaphorically. He'd seen pictures of Marlee and Alleran, along with Safine. But seeing a picture of someone you understood to be dead was substantially different than standing right in front of them. It weirded him out a bit.

Tan: I mean, look at you. Wow. You look great! ::he smiled warmly:: Welcome back to the Gorkon, Safine.

Rael: Thanks. It's good to be here. I...

She didn't finish that sentence, reaching back and flicking some hair out of her eyes.

Rael: I should get my stuff unpacked.

Tan: Me too. All my gear is on that shuttle. Lots of seeds and pots and soil samples and stuff, plus you know, everything else.

Rael: Right.

Vaala, on the other hand, seemed much less patient. She squealed gleefully when the pause in the conversation happened, bodily grabbing him and hoisting them into the air, crushing the air out of his lungs with a powerful, nearly-seven-foot-tall-Klingon hug.

Vaala: It's the slippery Trill! Mister Tan, it's so good to see you again! It really is soooooooo good! Oh, cupcakes and cauliflower, I have so much to tell you all about everything that's been happening! I have so much news!

He wheezed for air. Serren was not small, but Vaala dwarfed even him, twice as broad and almost a foot higher, possessed of a warrior's strength -- something she seemed to maintain without any effort at all. He'd never seen her in the gym.

The crushing power of her mighty arms squeezed his lungs shut.

Tan: oO Bones... breaking... Oo

Rael: Vaala, remember... air. Hugs are good, but people need air.

Vaala: Oops!

The massive Klingon hastily dropped him. Tan gasped down a lungful of the Gorkon's recycled atmosphere, sucking it down and filling his lungs once more.

Vaala eeked out a shy smile.

Vaala: S-sorry. Anyway, uhh, we'll talk. Later. Over some juice. Just like old times!

Rael: I'm not hugging you. Just so you know.

Tan: That's... ::wheeze:: that's okay.

The rest of the shuttle disembarked, and Serren clambered back up to his feet, waiting patiently with the two of them. There was one more person he was expecting. Yet she didn't arrive.

Tan: Where's Mikali?

Vaala: Um. Well... ::she fiddled nervously:: she's on-board.

Tan: Dammit. Is she... ::Serren made a bottle-drinking-motion.::

Vaala: Oh, no! Nothing like that! Um. There was an incident on Palanon, and she's... she needed to use the shower. She said she'd be right out. ::Vaala gave him a weird, hesitant look that went beyond whatever nervousness normally consumed her:: You... and her have a lot to talk about I think.

He had no idea what that was all about.

Safine smiled awkwardly, pushing off, adjusting her course to steer past him.

Rael: Look, no sense us hanging around here like ghosts. It's been a long trip. I'll leave you and her alone. We'll talk later.

Seemingly relieved, Vaala perked up instantly.

Vaala: Samesies!

Vaala waggled her fingers shyly, adjusting her duffel bag, and then the two of them made their way out of the shuttlebay into the ship.

How weird.

Putting that out of his head, he waited. For a moment Tan didn't think she would really be coming. Seconds turned into minutes as the shuttle's cargo was unloaded and basic post-flight checks performed. The only people left on board seemed to be the flight crew.

But then, right as he began to consider stepping up to the ship and checking the inside, an Andorian stepped into the back-light of the shuttle, her hair cropped short around her shoulders, twin antenna jutting out of her hair. She had a thrown-together look; black pants and a stylish orange shirt with one sleeve torn off. Was that neo-Romulan style?

She looked clean and healthy, with a freshly washed face and rich blue skin, a broad smile on her face, a black backpack slung over one shoulder, eyes searching the small crowd of people in the shuttlebay. Searching for him.

Serren called out to her.

Tan: Mikali? Mikali sh'Shar, is that really you?

--

Ensign Serren Tan

Security/Tactical

USS Gorkon

O238704AT0