Lieutenant JG John Kendrick - Wanderers (Part 2: The Wanderer)

[Jon Van Pelt]

((O’Callahan’s Pub, Lightside Station))

Captain Charles Hennessey of the cargo ship The Wanderer pulled out a Cuban cigar from its leather case and brought it up to his nose. As he smelled the tobacco, he closed his eyes, envisioning him somewhere on an exotic beach.

He opened his eyes again as he brought the cigar to his lips and lit it with his silver lighter. Slowly the smoke filled his mouth. He pursed his lips as he exhaled the smoke again. After taking a couple of puffs from his cigar, the cigar started to produce white smoke, indicating it was sufficiently lit to burn on its own.

As Hennessey leaned back in his chair, he laid the cigar case and silver lighter on the table in front of him. Now it was time to relax and enjoy a night out with his crew.

Hennessey: Never thought I’d find an Irish Pub in these godforsaken parts of the galaxy.

Sitting at the table with him are Moa Andersson and Tolena. Moa is a Human. Age late twenties, pixie cut hairstyle and tattooed dragons crawling up her neck. Let there be no doubt she is not the woman you want to mess with. Tolena is a young Bolian girl, barely scratching twenty. Unlike Moa, she still has an open mind to the wonders of the universe.

Clearly Moa isn’t impressed by the place. As she looks down at the mahogany colored drink in front of the Captain, she lets out a soft chuckle.

Moa: You mean you’d never thought to find a glass of bourbon in the Wilds, right?

The old Captain took another puff from his cigar and smiled.

Hennessey: The only thing I need is a starship, dilithium to drive her warp core and bourbon whiskey to calm this old man’s nerves.

The young Bolian girl brought a pint of Guinness beer to her lips and carefully took a sip.

Tolena: ::jokingly:: And let’s not forget a crew to boss around.

Hennessey: Ha! The day I start bossing around Moa, is the day she’ll throw me out of the airlock. Besides, ::waving his cigar up in the air:: I’ve never seen myself as your boss, ::thinking:: more like a father figure actually.  

Moa: Grandfather you mean?

Tolena almost choked on her beer as she burst out laughing.

The Captain picked up his glass of bourbon and finished it in one big gulp. They were right, he realized. And although he found it hard to admit, deep down he knew he was slowly losing his battle against time. If he was lucky enough, he’d have another five to ten good years before retiring to some exotic paradise planet like Risa or Casperia Prime.

As he took another puff from his cigar, he looked down over the railing as he saw a young man almost bumping into a waiter carrying a full plate of beer glasses. He smiled as the young man caught his eye.   

Hennessey: ::dryly:: Instead of you younglings rubbing salt in this old man’s wound, why don’t you order me another drink?

He turned back to the table as a deep male voice called out his name.

Brikane: Captain, the longshoremen have started to unload the cargo holds.

At their table stood Brikane, a Cardassian male - mid fifties, black hair with grey streaks.

Hennessey: Great! ::leaning forward:: Then may I ask what the hell you are doing here?

Brikane looks around the table, as if searching for an answer.

Moa: Don’t tell us you left the ship and cargo behind unguarded.

As the Cardassian’s face turned even a lighter shader of gray, it was pretty obvious to  everyone at the table that Brikane was starting to feel embarrassed at the thought of having done something stupid.

He straightened his back and tilted his head slightly upwards, trying to show confidence in his decision to leave the ship behind.

Brikane: They’d told me they could handle it. They said I could go out for a drink.

The Bolian girl, Tolena, took another sip of her beer as she shook her head.

Tolena: Oh boy Brik, for a Cardassian you can be quite gullible.

Just as Moa is about to get up from her chair, she notices a human - male, mid-twenties – walking over to their table. Before she’s able to say anything, the stranger politely taps Brikane on the shoulder.

Kendrick: Excuse me, Sir.

Startled, Brikane took a step sideways and as he turned around, found himself standing almost face to face with this human.

Brikane: ::irritated:: What?

The way the Cardassian reacted and exchanged looks with the other people sitting at the table, John was quick to discern a connection between the four of them.

Realizing they might be confused by this stranger suddenly showing up at their table, he gave them a friendly smile in an attempt to break the ice.

Kendrick: My apologies if I interrupted anything important. ::at Brikane:: But I was just surprised to see someone here at Lightside Station wearing a uniform of the Universal Trading Company.

Captain Hennessey leaned back in his chair and took another puff from his cigar.

Hennessey: And why would that surprise you, son?

John shrugged his shoulders.

Kendrick: It’s just that the Aavaro Wilds are lightyears away from the Company’s normal trading routes, that’s all.

Moa: ::scoffing:: And what would you know about our company and its trading routes?

He smiled as he raised his hands to apologize. These people didn’t know him. To them he was nothing more than a stranger putting his nose where it clearly didn’t belong.

Kendrick: Of course. How very impolite of me to not introduce myself first. My name is Kendrick. John Kendrick.

Their eyes widened as they heard him speak out his name – except those of Hennessey. The old Captain pointed his cigar at John.

Hennessey: I knew your face looked familiar. ::smiling:: Yes. You look a lot like that old man of yours.

John hadn’t spoken to his father in a very long time, something he was still struggling with. Now that someone he’d never met before compared him to his dad, the hurt suddenly felt very real again.

Kendrick: I guess I’ll take that as a compliment.

Tolena: So what is Bill Kendrick’s son doing out here in the Aavaro Wilds?

John turned to the Bolian girl who appeared genuinely friendly.

Kendrick: I’m a Starfleet officer. Currently serving on the USS Juneau.

Hennessey: Guess your old man wasn’t happy about that, was he?

The subject was something John preferred not to talk about.

Kendrick: No. Not exactly.

He looked down at the shoulder patch stitched onto the Cardassian’s jumpsuit.

Kendrick: ::reading:: The Wanderer. ::looking back up:: I remember my dad mentioned her a couple of times. ::turning to the older man:: Then you must be Captain Hennessey?

The Captain took another puff from his cigar.

Hennessey: The one and only.

He pointed his cigar at the three members of his crew as he introduced them to John.

Hennessey: This here is Moa, our pilot. The little blue bird over there is Tolena, our engineer and finally our Cardassian foot soldier turned nurse/cook: Brikane.

Moa got up from her chair, looking somewhat annoyed as she turned to Hennessey.

Moa: Cap’n, we’ve still got to deal with our cargo situation down at the docking bay.

Captain Hennessey put out his cigar and carefully slid it back inside its case and placed it back in the inside pocket of his jacket.

Hennessey: ::standing up:: You’re right. Tolena, you take care of our bill here. Me, Brikane and Moa will be heading back down to the docking bay. ::looking at Brikane:: Hoping our ship is still there in one piece. ::turning to John:: If you’d like, you can join us. I’d be more than honored to give Bill Kendrick’s son a tour of our little ship. She probably isn’t as pristine as your Juneau, but she’s the queen of our hearts.

Kendrick: ::nodding as he smiled:: It would be an honor, Sir.

Hennessey: ::smiling:: You don’t have to “Sir” me, son. As you’ve probably noticed we ain’t no Starfleet crew. ::tapping his knuckles on the table:: Now let’s go.

((timeskip))

((Docking Bay, Lightside Station))

Captain Hennessey with Moa, Brikane and John only a few steps behind him, walked into the Docking Bay. The area of the Bay reserved for The Wanderer’s cargo looked empty, immediately giving the Captain an eerie feeling. He stopped in his tracks and turned around, facing Brikane as he waved his hand at some of the longshoremen who were hauling cargo around.

Hennessey: ::worried:: Which one of these men told you, you could leave the ship behind?

Brikane looked around, but it was soon quite clear to everyone he didn’t recognize anyone.

The Captain turned around again and headed straight for one of the longshoremen driving an anti-grav forklift truck.

Kendrick: ::at Moa:: What does he think he’s doing?

As the Andorian driving the forklift truck managed to hit the brakes just in time, he leaned out of his truck.

Andorian: Hey, watch out where you’re going you dumbass!  

Hennessey: ::angry:: Don’t get your antennae in a twist, boy! I want to know who’s in charge here.

Andorian: I am!

The Andorian stepped out of the forklift truck. As he did, John saw that the Andorian was almost two heads taller than Hennessey and a whole lot fitter than the old man. Although it wasn’t any of his business, he decided to step over before things got out of hand.

Kendrick: My apologies for suddenly barging in here like this, I understand you guys are on a tight schedule. But one of your teams was supposed to unload our cargo of…

John turned to Hennessey, realizing he didn’t know exactly what The Wanderer had stocked in their cargo holds.

Hennessey: A large shipment of highly prized honey. From Butterfly City.

The Captain pointed in the direction of the area appointed to The Wanderer to unload their cargo.

The Andorian seemed to calm down.

Andorian: I don’t know anything about a shipment of honey. If you want to file a complaint, I suggest you contact the port authorities. ::stepping back in his truck:: Now if you’d excuse me, I’ve got a job to do.

As Hennessey and John took a few steps back, making room for the forklift truck, the Captain placed his hands on the back of his neck as he tilted his back. It was quite obvious the man was starting to feel desperate.

They were joined by Moa and Brikane – the latter looking like he carried the weight of the universe on his shoulders.

Moa: What are we going to do now, Cap’n?

Hennessey: ::shaking his head:: I don’t know Moa…

TBC in Part 3: Investigations

 

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Lieutenant JG John Kendrick

Security

USS Juneau, NX-99801

J239801JK3