Star Trek: Theurgy

[ Lt. Cross | Briefing Room | USS Endeavour | 1100hrs. ] Attn: @trevorvw

As Lieutenant Cross sat ridgidly in the chair in the briefing room aboard the USS Endeavour, hands clasped with fingers interlaced on the table in front of him, he felt a varied series of emotions.
Excitement, nervousness, anticipation, responsibility.
Maybe a bit of nausea.
His new posting as Chief Tactical Officer aboard the Endeavour seemed both a great opportunity, and a daunting responsibility. He could only hope he would be up to the challenge, hope he would prove himself worthy of the title. Of the uniform.
Cross looked around the table at the assembled officers, the vast majority of whom he did not have names to assign to their faces. At the head of the table the Captain's chair sat empty, Captain Amasov having yet to arrive. To the right of Amasov's chair sat the Endeavour's XO, whom Cross had been introduced to as Commander Ducote. That was the only name Cross knew in the room besides his own, having just arrived on the ship earlier that morning. Had any of the other officers been paying much attention to him, they might have noticed that the gaze of his blue eyes had a piercing quality to it, intensified by the fact that he appeared not to blink.
Cross' eyes were drawn to the doors as they hissed open, Captain Amasov having arrived. The Captain moved to his chair and , having taken a seat, looked around the table at the assembled officers.
"Good morning." Amasov began, "I'd like to begin today's briefing by introducing two new members of our crew. The first is Lieutenant Kai Akoni, our new Chief of Security," Cross watched as Amasov nodded towards a large man in the gold uniform of a security officer, "the second is Lieutenant Cross, Chief Tactical Officer." Cross watched impassively as Amasov nodded toward him.
Cross glanced at the other new arrival, feeling somewhat relieved that he wasn't the only new addition to the crew. The large human was likely to draw more attention than Cross himself would, which suited Cross just fine. His 7 years serving in Starfleet still hadn't rid him of his awkwardness during social interactions.
"Both men have served with distinction during their careers with Starfleet, and both served during the Dominion Wars." Amasov continued, "I expect them to continue to serve diligently aboard the Endeavour. Please join me in welcoming our new officers."
Cross gave a faint smile and nodded as he was briefly greeted by various members of the command staff, guessing proper introductions would no doubt follow after the briefing was finished.
The briefing continued much as one would expect a routine morning briefing to go, with daily reports, minor issues being addressed, and department assignments for the day.
Once the briefing had come to a close, Cross found himself shaking hands with each officer in turn, with introductions being made so rapidly that Cross doubted he would be able to keep any of the names straight, assuming he would be able to remember them at all.
The Caitian is R'Rori... the Romulan is Okhala... The Chief Engineer is... A color? Red? Blue? Shit... Cross had started losing names already.
At that point, Cross gave up on trying to remember the names. That would come with time.
For now, he had duties to attend to.

[Lt. Kai Akoni | Briefing Room | USS Endeavour | 1100hrs] Attn: @Fife

Kai had just stepped aboard the Endeavour earlier that morning. A mix of emotions had run through his head. Excitement, Nervousness, Duty, Honour. All of it. He was beyond excited to get started in his new posting as Chief of Security aboard the Endeavour. He hoped to make his crew, his previous commanders, and most of all, his parents, proud of him.

Kai sat in the chair of the briefing room. It was a tad on the small side for his ample frame, however he had become accustomed to it.  The briefing room itself was not dissimilar to any briefing room he had been in, in the past.  The doors to the room had slid open and Captain Amasov entered the room and made his way to the head of the table. He sat down in his chair and then began to speak.

"Good morning. I'd like to begin today's briefing by introducing two new members of our crew. The first is Lieutenant Kai Akoni, our new Chief of Security," Kai responded with a nod as the Captain nodded towards him, "the second is Lieutenant Cross, Chief Tactical Officer." Kai noted as the Captain nodded towards a man in a red uniform.

Wait...is that a Vulcan with Bajoran nose ridges...or a Bajoran with pointed ears? Kai thought to himself, as he raised his right eyebrow in contemplation. A habit he had, even if subconsciously doing it.

"Both men have served with distinction during their careers with Starfleet, and both served during the Dominion Wars." Amasov stated, as if reading from a script, "I expect them to continue to serve diligently aboard the Endeavour. Please join me in welcoming our new officers."

After the briefing had concluded, Kai was introduced to all of the senior staff and looked forward to working with each and every one of them. 

Following the meeting, Kai was introduced to his new Deputy Chief of Security who handed Kai all the PADDs full of information about Security aboard the Endeavour. These included duty rosters, patrol layouts, reports on previous incidents, etc. Kai looked at all the PADDs glancingly and wondered how many more of these there would be.

---

[Lt. Kai Akoni | Mess Hall | USS Endeavour | 1218hrs]

Kai walked into the mess hall, looking at 4 of the PADDs he had in his hands.

There's so much to go over Kai thought to himself as he walked over to the replicator.

"Pork Laulau" he said to the replicator as his dish materialized into existence. Kai knew this didn't taste as good as the real stuff did back on Earth, but it was a fair approximation. Laulau is just pork wrapped in Taro root leaves and cooked in an underground hot rock oven. Kai had the feeling there was no underground hot rock oven on the Endeavour.

Nevertheless, Kai picked up his tray from the replicator and turned around to look for a place to eat. It was pretty packed in the mess hall, however he did notice the new tactical officer sitting at a table by himself.

Kai, his four PADDs and his tray of food sauntered over to where Lt. Cross was sitting. He placed the tray of food on the table, dropped his PADDs on the table and sat down.

Lt. Cross just looked at Kai, seemingly unsure of what was happening.

Kai spoke first, "Us newbies have to stick together" as Kai winked at Cross "Did you ever think there'd be so much paperwork being a department head?"

[ Lt. Cross | Mess Hall | USS Endeavour | 1218hrs ] Attn: @trevorvw

Cross sat alone in the mess hall, the Captain having given him the day off regular duties so that he could familiarize himself with his new position. The Deputy Chief Tactical Officer, whose name Cross had failed to remember along with so many others, had given Cross PADDs with all the files he would need to brush up on. Personnel files, duty rosters, the ship's weapons and shields specifications, operational readiness reports.
Yes, Cross had a lot to go over.
And so it was that he had made his way to the mess hall, found a table, and had begun slogging through the sea of information. He'd taken a sip of his tea, shuffling between the 3 PADDs, when a massive shadow spread over the table. The shadow on the table was joined by 4 PADDS and a mess hall tray carrying some form of food, and then the figure of the ships' new Chief Security Officer dropped into view, into the chair across from Cross.
Cross stared blankly at the security officer, trying desperately to remember his name from the briefing. He was human, but his name had seemed strange to Cross.
Kan? No. Lai? No, that wasn't it either...
Cross was still racking his brain for the name when the Security Chief spoke.
"Us newbies have to stick together." the security chief said, giving Cross a wink. "Did you ever think there'd be so much paperwork being a department head?"
Kai... Kai Akoni! Cross smiled, pleased that he had actually remembered.
"Looks like you've got it worse that me," Cross agreed, "I've only got 3 PADDs to shuffle through, and that's already plenty!"
Cross' gaze dropped to the table, settling on Kai's food tray. The contributions of Cross' Vulcan half included the Vulcan sense of smell, and that sense was being assailed by the unfamiliar scent. "What are you eating?"

[Lt. Kai Akoni | Mess Hall | USS Endeavour | 1218hrs] Attn: @Fife

"What are you eating?" Lt. Cross had inquired. The look on his face being somwhere between utter disgust and morbid curiosity.

"Oh this? It's called Laulau. It's a traditional Hawaiian dish. It's made of pork and taro root leaves" Kai replied almost instantaneously and kept talking, "My maternal heritage is Hawaiian, so for me, this is more of a comfort food.". Even mentioning Hawaii made Kai think of home and his parents house right on the beach. The feel of the sun, the smell and sound of the water..and the SURFING. He thought about how much he missed the surfing.

I wonder if I can find more time to go surfing on the Endeavour

Kai found it odd when people mentioned Risa, as he had to questions wether they had ever been to Hawaii.

Cross didn't reply to his answer, seemingly formulating what to say in his head.

This is great. I bet if I talked to the bulkhead, I'd get more of a reply Kai thought to himself.

Kai sat studying the man sitting across the table from him. He looked closed off, almost a distant look in his eyes.

What did Dad call it? A thousand centimetre stare? No. A thousand yard stare! That was it!

Before Cross had replied, Kai added "So Lieutenant...tell me more about yourself"

[ Lt. Cross | Mess Hall | USS Endeavour ] @trevorvw

After hearing the word "pork" Cross had wrinkled his nise slightly. His reaction to meat wasn't as strong as it had once been, but he still held an aversion to it. A brief flash from his "childhood" entered his mind, and he quickly tried to put it out of his mind.

How do humans eat that?
He refrained from commenting on the dish.

Cross continued to look at Lt. Akoni as he mentioned Hawaii. The big man was obviously an outgoing person, and attempting to make friends aboard the Endeavour. Cross couldn't fault him for it, although he wondered why Akoni had picked him.
"So Lieutenant...tell me more about yourself." Kai had continued.

Well... that doesn't put me on the spot at all...

Cross considered the man in front of him for a moment with his pale blue eyes, a feature of his that many found disconcerting. The Captain had mentioned that Lt. Akoni had served during the Dominion War as well, which made Cross feel a little more at ease with the human than he did with the majority of people.

I suppose I may as well try to be friendly...

"Well, I went to Earth in 2366. To Scotland, to be precise. Then the Academy in San Francisco in 2371. Those are really the only places on Earth that I've been. I've never been to Hawaii." Cross paused, still staring at the human with seemingly unblinking eyes, "I was posted to the Hood fresh out of the Academy, and was immediately thrown into the war. I was a security officer back then, not tactical. I fought at DS9 and Chin'Toka. The first battle, not the second."

Cross paused again, tilting his head ever so slightly to the left, "I'm sorry Lieutenant, I seem to simply be giving you my Starfleet service record..." Cross gave a shy, embarrassed smile, "Forgive me, I've never really been good with small talk."

[Lt. Kai Akoni | Mess Hall | USS Endeavour ]  Attn: @Fife

"Well, I went to Earth in 2366. To Scotland, to be precise. Then the Academy in San Francisco in 2371. Those are really the only places on Earth that I've been. I've never been to Hawaii." Lt. Cross said, whilst staring unblinkingly at Kai "I was posted to the Hood fresh out of the Academy, and was immediately thrown into the war. I was a security officer back then, not tactical. I fought at DS9 and Chin'Toka. The first battle, not the second."

He's never been to Hawaii? Kai immediately thought, almost befuddled.

"I'm sorry Lieutenant, I seem to simply be giving you my Starfleet service record...Forgive me, I've never really been good with small talk."

Kai smirked at the fact that Lt. Cross wasn't good at small talk. That reminded Kai of himself during high school. He was never good at it back then. An ex-girlfriend helped with that, and ever since then, Kai turned into an extrovert and a ladies man.

Maybe I can help him out with that Kai thought about it for a split second Maybe I found a wingman?

Kai thought about it for a few seconds, looking at Lt. Cross' pale blue eyes, which was Kai found strange.

"Okay, I have a couple of questions. The first is, you've never been to Hawaii? Why not? It's paradise on Earth man!"

Kai then took a sip of his drink before blurting out the second question, "You're not good at small talk you say..." Kai pondered and rubbed his chin, "Want any help changing that?"

A million thoughts ran through Kai's head waiting for the reply.

Women...Dates...Fun...Surfing...The sky's the limit

The thought of all this made Kai smile and become quite intrigued at the possibility.

[ Lt. Cross | Mess Hall | USS Endeavour ] Attn: @trevorvw

Help... with small talk? Cross thought, puzzled for a moment, Is he... trying to adopt me?

Cross smiled at the human sitting across from him. The large man's equally large smile and outgoing nature had put Cross at ease for some reason.

"The only place that I've been that I could describe as paradise would be Risa. I visited it once while I had some leave."

His smile faded slightly. His gaze drifted down to the table, settling on his cup of tea, as he began to elaborate on his lack of travel.

"My time on Earth prior to entering the Academy wasn't really focused on leisure activity and travel. I spent most of the time in Scotland in rehabilitation, then trying to learn everything that someone around the age of 17 would have already learned at that point. I had a lot of catching up to do..."

Cross' smile had faded completely, his face having taken on a strange expression. His eyes had taken on a slightly sad look, with an underlying edge of anger. When he spoke again, his voice had taken on a different tone as well. Anger, albeit controlled, tined his words.

"You see, I was... raised.... in a Cardassian prison camp. I was born there, and I lived in the camp until Starfleet liberated it. I was around 17, but the damned Cardys destroyed most of their files, so there's no actual record of how old I am. When I was taken to Earth, I was little more than a feral animal. The Cardassians had conditioned me to be that way. I was their pet, their test subject, and their outlet for any anger or frustration they had. I felt constant rage, hatred and fear. I trusted no one. It took years for me to be rehabilitated."

Cross shook his head once, then looked back up. His slight smile was back, the anger gone from his voice and eyes.

"There was so much for the Starfleet officers in charge of my rehab to correct and work on, and so much for me to learn. It seems small talk was a lesson they overlooked!" Cross concluded with a soft chuckle.

Cross considered the man opposite him.

"As for your offer, I suppose it is something that would help me. Especially with talking to women..." A shy smile played across Cross' face this time, "Yet another lesson they overlooked."

[ Lt. Kai Akoni | Mess Hall | USS Endeavour ] Attn: @Fife

Kai felt awful for having just assumed that Lt. Cross' sheltered upbringing was a result of overprotective parents. Quite the opposite in fact.

Wow this guy has had a rough go of things Kai thought while wrestling with a million and one things going through his head.

"I..I..I'm sorry Lieutenant, I didn't know" Kai managed to say, but he decided to quickly change the subject before it brought any more bad memories up for Lt. Cross.

Now how can I help him with opening up? Kai pondered momentarily before he came up with the perfect solution...at least in his mind.

"I've got just the thing for you!" Kai said excitedly, "It may not be the real deal, but you're going to come to the holodeck with me tonight at 22:00 hours."

Kai felt Lt. Cross staring back at him, seemingly puzzled.

Kai continued to speak, "We're going to head out on the moana and and catch nalu. You're going to come surfing with me! You'll love it, it's peaceful and serene!"

Kai waited with baited breath to see what Lt. Cross' reply would be. Kai smirked internally at the fact that it didn't matter what the reply was.

 Lt. Cross really wasn't going to have a choice. Kai pondered in anticipation

---

OOC: Moana = Ocean, Nalu = Surf/Wave

[ Lt. Cross | Mess Hall | USS Endeavour ] Attn: @trevorvw

Cross got the impression he had made Lt. Akoni uncomfortable. This often happened when we mentioned his past, though Cross had no idea why people apologized when it happened. After all, it wasn't their fault. It seemed to be a predominantly human habit which his time on Earth had not brought him to understand.

Cross listened as Lt. Akoni continued, and found several of the words he used strange.

Moana? Nalu? What the hell is he talking about?

Cross had heard of surfing. He seemed to remember seeing a video of it at one point. Someone at Starfleet Academy had shown it to him, if he remembered correctly. The person in the video had appeared to be standing upright on the water, riding on a platform of some sort. The sight had intrigued Cross, but he'd put it out of his mind at the time, intent as he had been on his classes.

"Surfing, huh?" Cross mused, leaning back in his chair and taking a drink of his tea. Lt. Akoni was obviously making an effort to befriend him.

What the hell, I'm going to be on this ship for quite some time. I might as well make friends...

"That sounds like it could be interesting..." Cross considered Lt. Akoni for another moment, then smiled and continued, "I'm game, Lieutenant Akoni. Surfing, 22:00 hours. Do I need to replicate anything?"

---

[ Lt. Cross | Hallway outside the Holodeck | USS Endeavour | 21:50hrs ]

Cross was still getting used to the Endeavour and had arrived early to the holodeck, the walk from his quarters have taken much less time than he expected.

Lt. Akoni had told him to replicate a pair of Hawaiian board shorts which, as it turned out, were long swimming shorts with a drawstring at the waist. The replicator had asked him to select a primary and secondary colour, and he had selected black and orange, not knowing what to expect. The resulthad been the replicator producing shorts that were solid black with bright orange flowers all over it. A queary to the computer had informed him that they were, in fact, hibiscus flowers.

No bad... Cross had thought as he put them on.

Now he stood leaning against the bulkhead, arms crossed, being given strange looks by the various crew members who had walked passed him. Cross couldn't help but smile. He imagined he made a strange sight. A tall, lean officer wearing only board shorts, standing in the hallway of a starship. The criss-cross of scars that covered his torso, momentos from his time with the Cardassians, probably didn't help the situation appear any more normal. Or maybe they just weren't used to people walking around the ship half naked. Cross supposed that could be it as well.

Cross shrugged, shifted his weight from one foot to the other, and put it out of his mind as he continued to wait for Lt. Akoni.

[ Lt. Kai Akoni | Hallway outside the Holodeck | USS Endeavour | 21:58hrs ] Attn: @Fife

Kai strode the corridor on the Endeavour as he was headed towards the holodeck. He was wearing black board shorts and flip flops, and that was it. He turned the bend in the corridor and saw Lt. Cross leaning against the bulkhead. Cross was wearing black board shorts with orange hibiscus flowers on them.

Someone did his research...at least a little bit Kai thought amusingly to himself

Kai approached Cross, nodded and spoke "Hope you haven't been waiting long" and Kai didn't give Cross a chance to responded before Kai pressed a few buttons on the control pad and spoke to the computer "Computer..load program Akoni 4" After giving the computer his command, it chimed in acknowledgment and spoke

[Program complete. Enter when ready]

As the doors of the holodeck slid open to reveal a bright sunny day, with white sand beach and water as far as the eye could see.

Ah..home Kai thought to himself and he reminisced about all the good memories he had on this beach.

The two men entered the holodeck and felt the warm air with a slightly cool ocean breeze blowing against them.

"Welcome to the south shore of Oahu!" Kai said to Cross as he looked him up and down. Kai's surfboard had already been pre-loaded with the program, but Cross needed one. Kai figured that Cross was about 85kg. "Computer, fish surfboard, 226 centimetres in length". The computer once again did its acknowledgement chime and Cross' surfboard materialized next to Kai's.

"Let's just go out there and I can show you how to do it as we go" Kai mentioned as he looked to Cross for acknowledgment. The Vulcan/Bajoran nodded in apparent agreement.

The two men grabbed their surfboards and headed down the beach towards the beautiful and vibrant ocean in front of them.

[ Lt. Cross | Holodeck/Hawaii | USS Endeavour ] Attn: @trevorvw

“Welcome to the south shore of Oahu!” Kai had said as they stepped into the holodeck and found themselves stepping onto the beach.

Not just the beach… paradise… Cross thought as he took in their surroundings.

As Kai instructed the computer to generate him a board, Cross studied the holographic reproduction of Kai’s homeland. They were standing on a white sandy beach. Above them the sky was mostly clear, with just a few fluffy clouds breaking up the unending blue expanse. Before them the ocean extended as far as the eye could see, the dark blue color of the water fading to a tropical turquois color as it neared the shore. Large waves battered the shore and crashed over rocks down the beach to their right, though just in front of them the waves seemed to break farther out from the beach. To their left the brilliant white beach extended out of sight around a point of land, while behind them the land seemed to have leapt skyward. Mountains rose high above them, not sharp or jagged but rounded and beautiful, their slopes and peaks covered by lush vegetation of the most vibrant green that Cross had ever seen. The greenery swayed gently in the cool ocean breeze. The smell of that breeze filled Cross’ nose with the scent of the ocean.

This beats the hell out of Risa… Cross thought to himself before Kai turned to him and spoke.

“Let’s just go out there and I can show you how to do it as we go.” Kai suggested. Cross nodded in reply, and the two picked up their boards and made for the water. Cross had read up a little on surfing earlier that day to get a better idea of what he had gotten himself into, though reading and doing were two totally different things, as he had known they would be.

Cross followed Kai as they paddled out. From his reading, Cross knew they had to get past the impact zone, but the task seemed much more daunting now that he actually faced it. When they got to the impact zone Cross tried duck-diving, another thing he’d read about. While it took him a few tries, it worked pretty well once he got the hang of it. Now, floating in calm waters past the sandbar where the waves were breaking, Cross sat himself upright, legs straddling the board. He spread his arms wide and stretched his arms and back, basking in the warmth of the simulated sunlight. The relaxed stretch having ended, Cross looked at Kai and smiled.

“That was a bit of a workout on it’s own!” Cross laughed, smiling at Kai. “No wonder you’re so big! So what now?”

[ Lt. Kai Akoni | Corridor outside Holodeck | USS Endeavour ] Attn: @Fife

Kai and Cross had spent about an hour catching waves on the south shore of Oahu. The surfing, as it had always been, was quite taxing physically, however Kai found it both calming and relaxing all at the same time. Kai loved to go surfing, however it was mostly by himself as he enjoyed the alone time to relax and reflect. Today had been different though. New to the Endeavour and funnily enough, a new Chief Tactical Officer as well. He felt like it was hopena, or fate as they say.

Kai thought about their surfing on the holodeck and had a bemused smile spread across his face. Cross had looked equally joyed and terrified all at the same time.

I sure hope he wasn't scared off from it Kai thought as he strode the hallway away from the holodeck.

Almost immediately, Kai's thoughts turned sour as he had almost told Cross about what he did on Cardassia after the war and how he had beaten the Cardassian to a pulp.

It's weird he thought as he had felt at ease with Cross while out on the ocean. Not many people make Kai feel at ease as Cross did. Kai couldn't quite put his finger on it. Maybe it was the fact that they were both new to the Endeavour?

As Kai walked, he thought more about it. He eventually came to the conclusion that perhaps it was the fact that they were both new to the Endeavour and both had been promoted to Chief of their respective departments. This put them, no pun intended, in the same boat. Both would have a huge learning curve and Kai thought that they could rely on each other and help each other acclimatize to their new posts.

Plus...I have a new wingman Kai excitedly pondered and smiled to himself as he reached his quarters.

[ Lt. Cross | Personal Quarters | USS Endeavour ] @trevorvw

Cross leaned back in his chair, gazing around his quarters. He hadn’t spent much time in them since transferring to the Endeavour between briefings, getting acquainted with his new position and only an hour ago going surfing for the first time with Lt. Akoni. The quarters were more spacious than he was used to, a luxury afforded to department heads. Cross had little in the way of possessions, and the larger space looked somewhat barren. Aside from the meditation lamp which sat on the coffee table, and Cross’ two orchids which he had grown on his last ship and brought with him, there was next to no personal adornment to the room.

Cross rose from his chair and moved to the replicator on the wall, requesting a green tea. He watched the tea materialize into existence, steam drifting up from the hot liquid, as the grassy scent filled his nostrils. Cross took the tea in hand and moved to the window, gazing out at the stars. 7 years of serving on Starfleet vessels among the stars had done nothing to dull his fascination with the twinkling lights of distant stars. Cross had had little opportunity to see stars growing up, and contented himself now with many an hour spent gazing out at them while listening to music and enjoying a hot drink.

Cross allowed his eyes to drift among the lights dotting the blackness of space for several minutes, letting his thoughts wander. His thoughts settled on the events on the day, replaying them in his mind’s eye. The morning briefing. The Captain introducing both Cross and Lt. Akoni to the senior staff. His encounter with Lt. Akoni in the mess hall, and later his surfing lesson on the holodeck.

Cross smiled to himself, remembering the fear and exhilaration he had felt when he caught that first wave. The balance had taken him several tries to get used to, but once he’d got up on that fourth wave and kept his balance, the feeling was unbelievable. Several rides later, he knew he was hooked. There was something both extremely energizing and yet also calming about surfing, and Cross was glad he had let Lt. Akoni insist that he try it.

Cross’ expression became more serious for a moment as he remembered another detail of their surfing adventure. They had been floating on their boards, their feet dangling in the water, waiting for another set to approach the shore. They had been chatting about their careers, their posting to the Endeavour, and their experiences during the Dominion war. Both men had been vague at first on the last topic, with brief explanations of their experiences. But slowly they had begun to speak more openly about the war, and Lt. Akoni had looked like he was about to say something more while he spoke about his time on Cardassia after the war, when he had suddenly clammed up and hastily changed the subject. Cross wondered what it had been that Akoni was about to say, though he supposed it was not his place to ask such a question. Many people did not like talking about the war, Cross himself being one of them, so he couldn’t fault the Security Lieutenant for it.

Cross put the incident out of his mind and drained the last of his tea before finally turning away from the window and recycling the remnants of the beverage. That done, he decided to call it a night. It was almost midnight, and Cross could feel the fatigue settling into his muscles from the surfing. He had a lot to do tomorrow in his new role, and knew he’d be busy most of the day. He made a mental note to find time to talk to Lt. Akoni tomorrow and set another time to go surfing again.

And also to ask what Akoni meant about being his wingman…

[ Lt. Cross | Mess Hall | USS Endeavour ] @trevorvw

Cross could feel his limbs protesting as he walked down the corridor towards the mess hall, mentally making a list of what needed to be done today and praying it was nothing to physically demanding. He was still sore from surfing the night before. Cross had not expected it to be so physically tiring, and made a mental note to go to the gym more as he approached the mess hall doors. The doors opened with their usual hissing noise and Cross strode into the room, quickly scanning the room to assess how many people were inside and if there were any threats. He had been free from the prison camp and the Cardassinas for 15 years, but he still couldn’t shake the habit of constantly scanning his surroundings.

His eyes stopped when they fell on Lieutenant Akoni. The big man was sitting at a table looking at a PADD while eating his breakfast. Cross moved to the replicator, ordered his meal, and made his way to sit at the table Lt. Akoni currently occupied alone. Cross placed his tray on the table and winced slightly as he lowered himself into the seat opposite Akoni.

“When you said surfing was relaxing, you left out the part where I’d be sore and walking like an old man the next day.” Cross said with a mock-angry expression directed at the big man. He took a sip of his tea before he continued. “You were right though. Hawaii is paradise.” With this he finally smiled at the officer sitting across from him. “We should go again! In a few days.” He finished with a chuckle and took a bite of his muffin. After their surfing session on the holodeck Cross felt oddly at ease around Akoni. Suddenly a thought hit him and he looked up at Akoni.

“And what the hell is a wingman?” Cross blurted through a mouthful of muffin, showing crumbs down onto his lap.

[ Lt. Kai Akoni | Mess Hall | USS Endeavour] Attn: @Fife

Kai made his way to the mess hall for breakfast. He was feeling really good today, in fact he always did after a day of surfing. He passed a few crewmembers on the way to the mess hall and smiled at everyone.

It's going to be a wonderful day Kai thought to himself as he entered the mess hall.

Kai ordered his breakfast and made his way to a table and sat down. He was reading last night's security report, even though it was fairly short. On a day to day basis, not much happens on a Federation starship that requires security reports.

Kai's reading was interrupted when a metal food tray was set down on the table in front of him. Kai looked up to see Cross standing before him. Cross sat down across from him and Kai noticed that he sat down slightly gingerly.

He's sore... Kai thought to himself as a small smirk emerged from the right side of his mouth.

"When you said surfing was relaxing, you left out the part where I'd be sore and walking like an old man the next day. You were right though. Hawaii is paradise."

Cross finally smiled, which Kai still found oddly weird "We should go again! In a few days."

Hook. Line. Sinker...he's hooked! Kai theorized

"And what the hell is a wingman?"

The question caught Kai off guard...he was surprised that Cross didn't know what it was.

Kai had to ponder it before his reply.

"Well..you see, it's basically another person, a friend, that helps you out when flirting with people or trying to get dates"

Kai found it hard to try and describe it to someone. He had never been expected to try and explain it to anyone.

Kai chuckled to himself, "I don't know Cross...it's actually kind of hard to explain. We can try it out on the holodeck so you can see for yourself, before we move you on to the real thing if you'd like"

Kai raised his right eyebrow in anticipation of Cross' answer...

[ Lt. Cross | Mess Hall | USS Endeavour ] @trevorvw

Cross leaned back in his chair and popped the last piece of his muffin into his mouth, chewing slowly as he thought about what Lt. Akoni had just said. The idea of trying to help Akoni get dates, or that the charismatic Kai Akoni would have trouble getting dates in the first place, seemed ridiculous to Cross. He had seen a number of female crew members glancing at Akoni when he wasn’t looking. And one or two male crew members as well.

What could he possibly hope to gain by bringing me along?

“I’ll be honest with you, Akoni,” Cross began, “I’ve never been very… proficient… with flirting. Or dates.” Cross shrugged and shifted in his chair, feeling somewhat embarrassed about the confession, “Or women.” He shrugged again and looked up at Akoni, “You might be wise to find someone more charismatic than myself to be your… wingman.” Cross leaned forward and picked up his mug of green tea and took a sip, the grassy aroma and flavour seemed familiar and comforting after the uncomfortable admission to Lt. Akoni.

Cross again reflected on how quickly he had become comfortable around the bigger man, a rare occurrence for the normally very closed off hybrid. Cross looked up from his mug and saw Lt. Akoni’s eyebrow was arched, a peculiar habit Akoni had. Cross knew what the look was meant to convey. He sighed and lowered the mug on the table.

“Ok, fine. I’ll try it out on the holodeck if you want." Cross said, leaning back and raising his mug again, taking a sip. "But don’t blame me when you don’t get any dates!” Cross smiled at his friend and chuckled, “I’m not lying when I say I’m not good with women.”

[Lt. Kai Akoni | Holodeck 1 | USS Endeavour] @Fife

Kai stood outside of the holodeck after watching Cross attempt to flirt with the holographic characters for the past hour.

Cross had warned him that he wasn't good with women.

Understatement of the century Kai thought to himself. He knew everyone starts somewhere, but if he could break Cross out of his shell a bit more, it might turn out to be successful.

Cross was looking at Kai, seemingly looking for feedback. Kai had paused for a moment to gather his thoughts before he spoke.

"Well it wasn't....awful. The key to all of this is just putting yourself out there. You can't be worried about rejection because then you'll never be comfortable. The worst they'll say is no" Kai finished speaking as he slapped his hand on the left shoulder blade of the Bajoran/Vulcan hybrid.

Kai paused for another moment. "Do you have any interesting hobbies? Something that may give a common ground to strike up a conversation?"

Kai was determined to break Cross out of his shell. He could see them becoming good friends and getting into a lot of shenanigans together, just have to get through the damn shell first.

Kai looked at Cross as he patiently awaited his reply.

[ Lt. Cross | Holodeck 1 | USS Endeavour ] @trevorvw

Cross had started feeling more comfortable around Lieutenant Akoni, and had relaxed around the big man, talking less formally than he normally would around other people. However, that fact did little to change the fact that Akoni had just subjected Cross to over an hour of discomfort, embarrassment, and failure. Cross wondered if he had lost track of where he was, and if Akoni had begun to interrogate him by mistake. It reminded him of an old Earth police movie he had watched with his roommate at the Academy, minus the demands for information.

Just tell me what you want to know… Cross thought, I’ll tell you anything. Just don’t make me do that again… The man could go far in Starfleet Intelligence. Or maybe psychological warfare...

“That wasn’t aweful?” Cross repeated after Akoni had attempted to dislocate his shoulder with an open-hand strike. It appears we’ve entered the physical torture portion of our evening… “I suppose it wasn’t aweful. Atrocious might be a better word.” Cross gave the large man a self-mocking grin. “My roommate at the Academy regularly accused me of being guilty of the flirting equivalent of genocide. I think you’d agree, he wasn’t wrong.”

Cross chuckled and shook his head. “As for hobbies, I cook. I grow orchids. We go surfing.” Cross shrugged. “I don’t know what good any of those will do.” Cross looked up at Akoni again, his grin turning more mischievious. “I appreciate what you’re trying to do, Akoni. But I think we both know that I’m the Kobayashi Maru of flirting. Nobody survives.” With that, Cross patted Akoni’s arm, giving the big man a sympathetic grin. “Why don’t we go get a drink. I could use one after all that.” Cross said, starting to lead his friend down the corridor in the direction of a nice, strong alcoholic drink. “And I’ll try to explain the futility of trying to get an arachnophobic person to make out with a tarantula.”

---

OOC: Figured I'd give the coloured speech a try with Cross. Let me know if it's hard to read in that colour.

[ Lt. Kai Akoni | Mess Hall | USS Endeavour] Attn: @Fife

Cross and Kai had entered the mess hall and saw at least another two dozen people in there. Cross had seemed, at least to Kai, that he was bummed out to say the least. Their holodeck escapade wasn’t entirely a failure, but close enough.

Kai walked up to the replicator and pondered his drink choice. He knew Cross had mentioned he spent time in Scotland so he was going to order him a Scotch and Kai was going to order a Rye Whiskey. None of that synthehol crap, Kai had wanted the real thing.

”Scotch, 18 year single malt and a rye whiskey” Kai spoke to the replicator as the two drinks materialized into existence.

Kai grabbed the two glasses and proceeded to the table where Cross had taken a seat already. As Kai approached Cross, he could tell that the hybrid was visibly uncomfortable with the amount of people in the room. It was fairly busy for being later at night.

A little liquid courage should help Kai thought amusingly to himself and he had felt a smirk creep across his face.

He handed Cross his drink as Kai lowered his large frame into the chair directly across from him.

Kai took a sip of his drink and felt the cool liquid enter his mouth, he swallowed it and felt the familiar warm feeling follow the coolness down his esophagus.

”Ahhhh” Kai had made the sound unintentionally, but dammit the rye whiskey was delicious.

He smiled as Cross took a sip of his drink.

[ Lt. Kai Akoni | Mess Hall | USS Endeavour | 6 Drinks Later ]

They’d been in the mess hall for at least an hour, although Kai hadn’t checked a chronometer so it was all a best guess.

Kai had a slight buzz going on, but he could handle his alcohol fairly well. Always had been able to.

Cross on the other hand, surprised Kai. The stoic hybrid had started smiling and had even laughed at one point.

Kai kept talking with Cross and had noticed that Cross kept looking at a young blonde science Lieutenant sitting two tables over. She seemed to be working on something personal, as she wasn’t in uniform and seemed to be relaxed. Kai was also acutely aware that the young blonde kept looking over at Cross as well.

Kai formulated a plan in his head and figured like they say in temporal mechanics class...There’s no time like the present

Kai downed the rest of his drink, stood up and motioned to Cross to follow him without saying anything. Cross seemed to protest a little but Kai hadn’t paid attention. The two wandered over to the table which was about 8 metres away.

The blonde looked up as the two approached and slightly smiled.

”Hi! Have you met my friend Cross?” Kai spoke to the young lieutenant as he motioned to Cross and guided him by his shoulders to sit down in the chair across from the young lady. Kai patted both of Cross’ shoulders as he silently withdrew himself from the situation and headed back to his quarters with a smirk on his face the entire time.

[ Lt. Cross | Mess Hall | USS Endeavour ] @trevorvw

While Cross was not a big drinker, he had always enjoyed the occasional scotch. It was something Lt. MacDonald had introduced Cross to during his time in Scotland, and the drink always brought back fond memories of the man who had changed Cross’ life. That being said, Cross couldn’t remember the last time he had drank 6 glasses of scotch. At the Academy, maybe?

Cross was also fairly certain the last three drink Kai had given him had been double measures.

Sneaky bugger… Cross thought, a wry smile crossing his features. Cross stole another glance at the blonde woman sitting two tables away. He had been glancing at her periodically for a while now, and knew that was all he’d have the guts to do, especially after the gauntlet of holographic rejection Kai had subjected him to earlier that evening.

Cross was startled out of his reverie when Kai suddenly loomed over him, gesturing for him to get up. Cross was about to protest, but Kai had already moved off.

I wonder if people always just do as he expects them to… Cross thought absently as he rose and followed the big man.

As they approached the table where the blonde science officer sat, Cross saw her look up and give them a small smile. Cross managed a smile back, accompanied by a blush.

”Hi! Have you met my friend Cross?” Said Kai.

Oh fuck. Thought Cross.

Too late Cross realized what Kai had planned, and he was unable to escape before Kai had taken him by the shoulders and planted him in the chair across from the pretty woman. With a pat on both of Cross’ shoulders, Kai was gone.

You sneaky fucker…. Cross thought and he briefly glanced, eyes narrowed, at the broad back of the retreating man. Cross’ expression changed from accusation to uncertainty as he turned his attention back to the woman he now sat across from. Now that he was closer, he noticed her eyes were a very deep blue.

Yes, she had lovely eyes. And those lovely eyes were presently looking at him with a mixture of surprise and expectation.

Say something you idiot! Cross screamed inside his head.

”Uh… h-hello.” Cross managed to stammer, suddenly finding himself at a loss for words. ”I’m sorry, you’ll have to excuse my friend. He can be a bit…” Cross hesitated, realizing what he was about to say were harsher words than he should utter around someone he’d just met. ”Abrupt…” He finally finished.

The blonde woman giggled, which Cross took to mean she was amused either by what he had said, or by how incredibly awkward the Vulcan/Bajoran hybrid seated across from her was.

”That’s alright, Lieutenant Cross. You seem just as surprised as I am.” The science officer said with a smile, ”I take it this wasn’t part of your plan? I’ve seen you looking at me all night. I was wondering if you were going to come say hi.”

Oh, you’re a stealthy one Cross… He thought as he cleared his throat.

”Uh… yes,  well… I… sorry about that. I’m… eh… I’m not good at these sort of…” Cross hesitated as he desperately cast about with his mind, searching for the right word. ”Things… uh… I’m sorry, I didn’t get your name.”

The blonde woman giggled again. Definitely at the awkwardness. Cross thought with a mental sigh.

”Lieutenant Jillian Ford.” She said with a smile, holding out her hand.

”Lieutenant Cross.” Cross replied, shaking her hand.

”Cross? Do you have a first name?” Lt. Ford asked, her eyes taking on a slightly mischievous look.

”Actually, no. Just the one.” Cross replied with a broad grin, followed by a shrug. ”It’s a long story.”

”I’d love to hear it.” Lt. Ford said, leaning forward and resting her elbows on the table. She was staring into Cross’ eyes, eyes which he had been told on numerous occasions were cold and piercing. The description hadn’t been meant as a compliment. Cross wondered if the description would still be accurate, or if panicked would be a more apt term for their current impression. He didn’t have long to ponder the question before Lt. Ford spoke again. ”I was just finishing up a letter to my sister. I was gonna to head back to my room and curl up with a book and a glass of wine.” She hesitated, still  staring at Cross. ”I could forgo the reading, if you’d care to join me?”

Cross stared at the woman in surprise, then had to stifle a laugh. All that torture Kai had put him through on the holodeck trying to teach him how to flirt with women, and here he was being picked up by Lieutenant Ford.

”I’d like that.” Cross said, following her lead as she rose from the table. ”Lead on, Lieutenant Ford.”

Ford gave Cross another of her mischievous smiles and leaned in close to him. ”When a woman invited you to her room, you can usually call her by her first name, Cross.” She informed him, patting his chest with her right hand.

”Ah, right. Sorry.” Cross mumbled, looking down at the shorter woman. He couldn’t help but smile at her. ”After you, Jillian.”

As the two moved to exit the mess hall, Jillian slipped her arm though his and leaned closer once again. ”Are you always this shy and awkward around women, Cross?” She asked with a chuckle.

”Only when they’re female.” Cross chuckled in spite of himself as the they passed through the doors and out into the corridor.

[ Lt. Kai Akoni | Personal Quarters | USS Endeavour | The Next Morning ] @Fife

Despite having indulged in a little bit more alcohol last night than he had intended, Kai had awoke at 0430 hrs as usual. He had done his usual 5 kilometre run followed by his routine of strength training. Unless shit really hit the fan, this is usually how he started his mornings. He was a creature of habit after all, as most species are. Not only was it a habit for Kai, but it also was a great way to start the day.

The quite large man returned to his quarters dripping in sweat. He then proceeded to disrobe and take a quick sonic shower to wash away the sweat and grime from his workout and to start his day feeling fresh..a habit after all.

As Kai had finished in the sonic shower he took a sip of his coffee. The black liquid was a lifesaver, after a workout and a shower, it was the perfect thing to start the day with. He felt the hot liquid fill his mouth and as he swallowed, he felt the slight warmth of the coffee go down to his stomach. Not the warmth like the whiskey last night, but still delicious nonetheless.

As he sat sipping his coffee, Kai thought about last night and chuckled amusingly to himself. Cross hadn't stopped by, he hadn't called. Kai hadn't heard a peep from Cross, which he assumed was a good thing. That, or, the young science Lieutenant flushed Cross out of an airlock. Kai had quickly dismissed the airlock possibility as something she probably wouldn't have done. 

Probably

As Kai finished his coffee, the doorbell rang. Kai stood up from the seated position and walked over to the door and pressed the control pad to the right side of the door to open the door.

The doors swooshed open and there stood Cross staring at him. Kai smirked and opened his mouth.

"Oh hi Cross.."

[ Lt. Cross | Lieutenant Ford’s Quarters | USS Endeavour ] @trevorvw

Cross’ return to consciousness was a slow and rather painful process. He hadn’t opened his eyes yet, but that did nothing to deter the pounding in his head.

I’m never drinking with Kai again… Cross thought as he remained unmoving, lying on his back with his eyes closed and his head rolled to the right.

Cross took a deep breath in through his nose, and was greeted by an unfamiliar scent. If was a feminine scent, and Cross had no idea what it was doing in his quarters. Then he realized there was a weight on his right shoulder and something warm lying across his chest and legs. Cross opened his eyes and saw a tangle of blonde hair obscuring his vision. Still lying perfectly still, he directed his gaze down along his body, seeing the shoulder, arm and leg of the blonde woman resting on top of him.

Ah… right. Jillian. Things suddenly became clear, and Cross turned his head back to the woman as she shifted and raised her head, looking at him with those blue eyes and a sleepy expression.

”Morning...” Jillian mumbled sleepily, planting a kiss on the ridges of Cross’ nose.

---

[ Lt. Cross | Lieutenant Akoni’s Quarters | USS Endeavour ]

As the doors to Kai’s quarters hissed open, Cross regarded the large man through narrowed eyes.

”Oh hi Cross.” Kai said in greeting.

Cross stared at the Human for a moment before he spoke.

”While I appreciate what you were trying to do last night…” Cross began, speaking in a low voice. ”And while I can’t deny the fact that is succeeded…” A small smile manipulated Cross’ face for a moment, then he broke into a full grin and shook his head at the big man. ”I swear Akoni, if you ever pull that <fucking shit> again, I’ll shove your ass in a torpedo launcher and fire you into the nearest star.” Cross laughed and smiled up at the taller man. ”Any chance I could get some tea? I haven’t been hungover like this since the Academy.”

[ Lt. Kai Akoni | Personal Quarters | USS Endeavour] @Fife

"Any chance I could get some tea? I haven't been hungover like this since the Academy."

Kai chuckled at Cross' feigned annoyance at being 'thrown to the wolves' so to speak, however Kai had a giant smile spread across his face when Cross had admitted he was hungover.

Lightweight... Kai thought to himself as he stepped to the side of the door to let Cross into his quarters.

Cross had entered the tall man's quarters and proceeded directly to the replicator to order himself some tea, meanwhile Kai had sat back down at the small table and began looking at the PADDs he was toying with before Cross had shown himself.

He looked at the titles on the PADDs...Duty Roster and Security Report are the ones that he chose to focus on at the moment.

Kai chose to look at last night's security report and noted nothing of significance.

Not much happens aboard a Federation Starship usually He thought to himself, but decided to poke a little fun at Cross.

"Hmmm...seems like we had multiple complaints last night about a certain Chief Tactical Officer being drunk off his ass." Kai said to Cross whilst not being able to hold a straight face.

He looked at Cross and had a small grin, "In all seriousness though, I know I kind of threw you to the wolves there, but I figured 'sink or swim'...and clearly you swam." Kai paused for a second, "Any chance you could teach me to cook? I've never been able to get the hang of it. If it were possible, I'm sure I'd burn replicated food too"

[ Lt. Cross | Kai Akoni's Personal Quarters | USS Endeavour ] @trevorvw

Cross smiled and took a sip of his freshly replicated tea before turning and joining Kai at the table, chuckling to himself as Kai joked about recieving complaints about drunkeness.

Certainly not drunkeness. A few noise complaints maybe... He thought with a tired smile. As Kai apologized for "throwing him to the wolves", Cross shook his head at his friend.

"Don't apologize, Kai. I know you were just trying to help. And let's face it,,," Cross paused, grinning at the big man. "I needed all the help I could get!" His grin took on a more mischievious appearance as he continued. "If anything I suppose I should be thanking you. Jillian is quite a woman..." Cross trailed off, seemingly lost in thought for a moment.

He shook himself out of his reverie and smiled at Kai. "Teach you to cook? I don't see why not! Althought I don't know how to cook meat, which seems to be the only thing you humans eat." Cross teased, then laughed as he spoke again. "And let's face it. Your cooking can't be nearly as bad as my flirting! What kind of food did you have in mind?"

Cross narrowed his eyes at Kai for a moment. "I guess I can't return the favour and "throw you to the wolves", as you put it. If you're half as bad as you say, you might set fire to the whole <fucking> ship!"

Kai couldn't help but notice that the hybrid's demeanour had changed, and that Cross seemed much more at ease than he had the previous evening. He wasn't holding himself in a manner that suggested gloating or anything, he just lacked the tense awkwardness that he usually carried with him.

Cross' habit of staring with unblinking eyes hadn't changed though, and he watched Kai silently as he waited for the Security Chief to think of what kind of food he wanted to cook.

[ Lt. Kai Akoni | Personal Quarters | USS Endeavour ] @Fife

Kai had chuckled at the thought about him burning down the ship.

"I don't think I'd burn the ship down. Surely the fire suppression system would kick in first!" Kai said while winking at Cross.

Kai had noticed that Cross seemed more at ease and more relaxed. More emotional maybe... Although Cross still stared at Kai, almost burning a hole through him.

No wonder Cross is in Tactical. His staring and his phasers are pretty damn similar

"When I was young my mom always made chicken teriyaki and pineapple kebabs. They were so delicious and the replicators just don't do it justice."

Cross seemed both perplexed and intrigued. It almost seemed like he wasn't entirely sure about it, but Kai had worn him down and convinced him.

---

[ Lt. Kai Akoni | Mess Hall Kitchen Area | USS Endeavour ]

As Kai and Cross had just found their way to the mess hall, Cross mumbled something about humans and not knowing how to make their own food. Kai heard a sense of laughter buried in his mumbling, and decided to play along with it.

"I'll be good at making Earth food as soon as you get better at surfing," Kai said with a laugh. He knew that Cross was getting quite accustomed to holodeck surfing, but he couldn't help himself. He figured if Cross started it, he couldn't let him get away with it.

Kai and Cross found everything they needed, including some Tellurian spice that Cross pulled out. Kai gave Cross a very confused, suspicious look. "What the heck are you going to do with that?" Kai asked, inquisitively.

Cross explained it was an old trick he had picked up to use Tellurian spices to enhance the flavour of savoury dishes. Kai, being intrigued, decided to go with it. Kai began cubing the chicken as Cross handled the pineapple, sauce and spices. Cross added Yamok sauce, sugar, garlic, ginger and some ground up moon grass. He preferred the herbs foreign to most humans as they were more flavourful and robust than the simplistic herbs of Earth.

"Everything is starting to smell fantastic. Maybe even better than my mom used to make! It brings me back to the traditional luau's we would have back at home. The glistening ocean water painted under the beautiful, Hawaiian night sky just couldn't be beat!"

I can even smell the fresh pineapples and fresh, open breeze back home. I sure do miss that, Kai thought to himself.

They skewered the kebabs, alternating chicken and pineapple, with what was left. Cross kept eating all the pineapple, and Kai was thankful there was even some leftover for their meal. They placed them onto the grill and impatiently waited.

Some crew members had entered the Mess Hall to eat, when Kai, being giddy and excited about making the food excitedly exclaimed, "Do you smell what Kai Akoni is cookin'??". The crew members had giggled and not really responded, but Kai hadn't cared. He was too excited about learning to cook.

10 minutes later they were all cooked and ready to eat. "Let's dig in!" Kai announced excitedly. At first glance, they looked exactly like home. They were a perfect replica of what he remembered eating since he was a kid. The aroma was interesting, a smell of robust ingredients, homemade teriyaki sauce and something else.

"What else did you put in these?" Kai asked. Cross smiled, and told him to try them. Kai listened carefully, worried what his friend had done. He bit into his first kebab, which was a very pleasant surprise! It tasted like nothing else he had had before. It was even more fresh than the pineapple back home, with far more intense flavour. He dug into the second one before he realized he hadn't even thanked Cross. "I don't know how you did it, but these are the best kebabs I've ever had!" Kai then paused, curiously. "What else did you put in these?"Cross smiled a sheepish grin, and said nothing. Kai smiled back, knowing he would never tell.

[ Lt. Cross | Mess Hall Kitchen Area | USS Endeavour ] @trevorvw

Cross just smiled and shook his head as Kai barked at some passing crew members, asking if they could “smell what he was cookin”. Cross didn’t bother to comment, having grown accustomed to Mr. Akoni’s strange habits and boisterous outbursts.

When the food was finally ready they sat themselves at one of the tables in the Mess Hall, Kai with his Chicken Kebabs, and Cross with his meatless ones. Cross had been snacking on the pineapple as they cooked, a lingering habit of his from when he had to scavenge any morsel of food he could get his hands on. Now, savoring the taste of the skewers, Cross sighed contentedly, closing his eyes and enjoying the flavours. When Kai said they were the best kebabs he’d ever had, Cross felt a sense of relief, having had no idea if the meat was cooked or seasoned properly. The pineapple and vegetables were delicious, Cross could attest to that. Kai then asked him what else he had put in the seasoning, and Cross just smiled, taking another bite of pineapple and chewing slowly. Once he’d swallowed the mouthful, he spoke.

”How’s the chicken?” Cross asked, grinning and adding, ”carnivore…” in a good natured way. ”I have to say, I’m impressed! The fire suppression system didn’t go off once!” Cross chuckled, pushing his empty tray to the side and standing. ”I don’t know about you, but I could use a drink to wash that down. Can I get you anything while I’m up?”

Once Kai had told Cross what he wanted, he headed to the replicator, ordering Kai his drink and a glass of Kanar for himself. Lifting the drinks, he turned and made his way back to the table, seeing Lt. Ford enter the mess hall with several other females, two Humans and a Bolian. Cross gave Jillian a warm smile as he made his way back to the table where Kai still sat. As Cross sat opposite Kai, he grinned and slid Kai’s drink across the table to him.

”To an excellent meal.” Cross said, raising his glass in front of him and taking a sip of the thick liquid before placing the glass on the table and sighing contentedly. ”I think I’ll get the drinks tonight, my friend. I don’t need you trying to kill me with alcohol poisoning again!” Cross chuckled and shook his head, raising his glass to take another long sip of Kanar, savoring the thick alcoholic liquid as it burned its way down his throat.

[Lt. Kai Akoni | Mess Hall | USS Endeavour] @Fife

As Cross was getting their drinks, Kai noticed that four female officers had entered the Mess Hall. He recognized one of them as Lt. Ford, the lady that Kai had abandoned Cross with. He saw Cross notice her and smile.

Somebody is smitten... Kai thought to himself and smirked as Cross approached the table with their drinks.

Before Cross got to their table, Kai had noticed one of the engineering Lieutenants' with Lt. Ford. She wasn't someone that Kai had recognized, but he couldn't keep his eyes off of her. She was about 5'4" with medium length brown hair. All Kai knew was that she was cute and he wanted to meet her.

Suddenly Kai's thoughts were punctuated by the return of Cross and the sliding of the glass of whiskey across the table towards Kai.

He picked it up and smelt it before he sipped it. He felt the liquid enter his body cool at first, followed by a warmth. Kai always found it an intriguing feeling, but he loved it nonetheless.

He looked across the table at Cross and saw that he was drinking a thicker, dark liquid. Kai stared at Cross' glass for a few moments, confounded and then stopped what he was doing.

"Hold the fuck on....is that Kanar? Why are you drinking that shit? Especially after what the Cardie's did to you"

Cross had paused for a minute before answering Kai's questions. Kai hadn't really been paying attention to the answer however, since his eyes had wandered back to the young lady sitting at Lt. Ford's table. He noticed Cross had stopped talking, so Kai nodded to be polite and make it appear that he had been paying attention. Kai had just as quickly come clean though.

"Sorry Cross, I didn't hear a word you just said. I was distracted. Come on though, let's go over to that table and keep those ladies company"

As Kai finished speaking he immediately stood up, not giving Cross a say in the matter.

[ Lt. Cross | Mess Hall | USS Endeavour ] @trevorvw

”Hold the fuck on… is that Kanar? Why are you drinking that shit? Especially afterwhat the Cardies did to you!”

”When I was in the camp, they’d often leave my room unlocked and let me roam the lab. One of the security guards on the night shift was a drunk, and would drink Kanar every night. After he would pass out, I’d drink whatever was left in the bottle. He never reported me because I would wake him up before the next shift arrived, keeping him from being found out.” Cross shrugged, ”I know it’s a Cardi drink, but that Cardi was the nicest one I met, the only one in the camp who never beat or tortured me. I guess I got a taste for it since I associate it with him.”

As Cross explained how he had come to enjoy Kanar, he knew Kai wasn’t listening, and began to ramble a bit about random things that had nothing to do with the explaination.

”Anyway, after I sprouted wings and grew phasers out of my eyes, I flew up and laid waste to the camp. Then the sky began raining Kanar as a sign of my victory.” He said with a smirk, watching his friend nod like it made perfect sense.

The big man was obviously distracted, and Cross could tell he was staring at one of the women sitting at Jillian’s table. After a moment, Kai came clean.

”Sorry Cross, I didn’t hear a word you just said. I was distracted. Come on though, let’s go over to that table and keep those ladies company.”

And then the whirlwind that was Kai Akoni swept off towards the unsuspecting women at the other table, assuming Cross would follow. Cross chuckled to himself as he took another sip of his Kanar before rising and following, swept along by the wake of Hurricane Akoni.

I wonder what he would do if I didn’t follow him. Cross mused, It might put him into an existential crisis.

Cross saw that Kai had already reached the table, the outgoing man wasting no time before starting up a conversation. Kai had a voice which carried easily, and Cross could head the man introducing himself and asking their names. One of the women was giggling at Kai’s self assurance, the other looking at him with obvious interest.

Fuck, is it always so easy for him? Cross thought with a puzzled look as he approached the table. Then he saw Lieutenant Ford had risen and was walking towards him. A smile played across his features as the blonde woman drew close, and he had been about to speak, but rather than stopping the blonde Lieutenant simple kept moving towards him and kissed him. Cross tensed at first, still not used to people being in such close proximity to him, but quickly relaxed and returned the kiss briefly before pulling back, feeling embarrassed about the display of affection in front of so many people.

”Hey wrinkles!” Jillian giggled, poking the ridges on his nose with her index finger.

Wrinkles? Cross thought in puzzlement, reflecting on the fact that he might just have been given the worst nickname ever as Jillian continued speaking.

”Why don’t we go get me a drink, and you and your friend can join us?” She said with a smile. ”I’ll have whatever you’re having.”

”That might not be the best idea…” Cross told her, looking up to see Kai glance at him before the larger man turned back to the brunette engineer.

”Hold the fuck on… Is that Kanar?” Jillian asked, her voice holding a mix of surprise and disgust.

”Yeah, long story.” Cross said as they moved over to the table. ”Jill, why don’t you introduce us to your friends, and then we’ll go grab the drinks?” Cross suggested, noticing that Jillian’s friends seemed to be studying him, as though weighing him up.

”Sure thing, wrinkles.” Jillian teased.

Worse. Nickname. Ever. Cross thought sourly as Jillian began to make the introductions.

[ Lt. Kai Akoni | Mess Hall | USS Endeavour] @Fife

"Hi ladies, how are you doing this evening?" Kai asked the table in general as Jillian rose from the table to presumably intercept Cross for some quick time alone.

Kai had looked at the three fresh faces at the table. One was a Bolian, one was a human with short red hair and one was the brown haired woman Kai couldn't keep his eyes off of. He hadn't seen the first two before, but he had definitely seen this engineering lieutenant before.

Maybe fixing the brig forcefields last week? Kai thought for a split second before realizing it hadn't mattered.

"We're doing quite well, even though we just got here" The Bolian replied.

Kai smiled and nodded at the reply from the Bolian. "Is there anything else I can do to help you have an even better evening?"

The red head started giggling after Kai had asked the question, and Kai had noticed Cross and Jillian approach from behind.

"Jill, why don't you introduce us to your friends, and then we'll go grab the drinks?" Cross said almost nervously.

"Sure thing, wrinkles."  Jillian had said with a mischievous smirk on her face.

Kai started laughing upon hearing Jillian's nickname for Cross. A hearty belly laugh filled the room.

"WRINKLES!" Kai said as he slapped Cross' back which caused Cross to step forward slightly in order to re-establish his balance.

Kai found the nickname funny and he vowed to call Cross that whenever he got the chance.

Jillian had started to introduce her friends sitting at the table.

"Well, that over there is Nihara" Jillian gestured to the Bolian at the table, and then continued "This fiery red head here is Alyssa and this beautiful brunette is Annika" Jillian had finished introducing the trio at the table and then introduced the two men standing there, "Even though I'm sure he's introduced himself already, this is Kai, and this beautiful man is Cross"

Kai smiled and nodded at the trio of people sitting at the table and noticed Annika was staring at him and smiling.

"Can I get you ladies a drink?" Kai asked while looking at the group, but mainly focusing on Annika.

[ Lt. Cross | Mess Hall | USS Endeavour ] @trevorvw

As Kai bellowed out the ridiculous nickname and laughed, smacking him on the back, Cross considered trying out a nerve pinch on the big man, though he supposed leaving his friend slumped over the table when they were meeting new people might be considered rude. He enjoyed the mental image though.

Cross watched as Jillian made introductions, seeing that Kai was having trouble looking anywhere but at the brunette, who Jill had introduced as Annika. Cross winced as Jill referred to him as a beautiful man, giving her a quizzical look. He had been called many thing, but beautiful was never one of them. The blonde woman gave him a teasing wink in response to his glance, accompanied by a sly smile.

As Kai asked if he could get the ladies at the table a drink, Cross reached out and touched his shoulder.

”We’ll go grab drinks, Kai.” Cross said aloud, then leaned forward and muttered into the large man’s ear. ”You ever say the name Wrinkles out loud again, and I’ll nerve pinch you and leave you in Lieutenant Commander Tiran’s office, ass naked and surrounded by empty twinkie wrappers.”

With that, Cross straightened up and smiled at the others at the table. ”What’s everyone having?”

After getting the drink orders, Cross and Jillian headed off and left Kai alone with the three women. As they went, Cross gave Jillian a sidelong glance.

”Wrinkles?” He asked, his voice devoid of anything even hinting at amusement or enthusiasm. ”Really?”

”What?” Jillian giggled, flashing him one of her dazzling smiles. ”I like your nose wrinkles! They’re cute!”

”Cute is not something I get called much.” Cross muttered, growling softly under his breath.

”Well get used to it wrinkles. You’re stuck with me now!” Jillian giggled again as she nudged him in the ribs with her elbow. ”And the nickname!”

Cross couldn’t help but grin at her as they got the round of drink and headed back to the table. As they placed the drinks down, Cross spoke. ”So that’s a gin and tonic and two tulaberry wines for the ladies…” Cross said as he placed the drinks down. ”One whiskey for the big oaf…” he added, placing the tumbler in front of Kai. ”And a vodka lime for the lovely blonde.” He finished, smiling at Jillian.

”And another Kanar. What the hell?” Asked Jillian, wrinkling her nose at Cross’ drink choice.

”Like I said, long story.” Cross said in a non-committal way as he and Jillian sat down. He smiled at the three other women at the table. ”Has Kai been behaving himself?”

”Have you? Because Jillian told us stories…” Retorted Nihara. The Bolian narrowed her eyes and gave Cross a teasing look, causing him to glance at Jillian and blush slightly before clearing his throat awkwardly and taking a swig of his kanar.

[ Lt. Kai Akoni | Kai’s Quarters | USS Endeavour | 2 Weeks Later] @Fife

[The time is 0600 hours] The computer announced in Kai’s quarters.

Kai stirred in his bed, opening his eyes slowly. He slowly realized that he hadn’t got much sleep the night before, but what he did get was more than enough. He laid there blinking his eyes a bit more than usual so they could focus. Once his eyes were in focus enough, he turned his head to the left and saw Annika laying there still sleeping. Her body was covered in just a sheet which hugged every beautiful curve of her naked body.

”Morning sleepyhead” Kai whispered, to no avail.

He laid there for a moment before deciding how to proceed. He tapped her right shoulder a few times to see if that would rouse her from her deep sleep. It didn’t work.

I really must have worn her out last night Kai thought quite amusingly.

”Annika, it’s 0600” he said a little more louder.

Annika had been startled awake. She had been so startled that she was now standing beside the bed, even though Kai thought she wasn’t even full conscious.

”Wh..what time is it?” Annika asked groggily

”It’s 0600” Kai replied instantly

”Shhhhhiittt! I’m gonna be late, I have a briefing at 0610” Annika had exclaimed as she started stumbling around trying to get into her uniform. She got into her uniform about as quickly as Kai had ever seen. As she was putting her hair into a ponytail she spoke again.

”Don’t forget to ask Cross about tonight! She reminded Kai as she finished putting her hair up. 

Kai nodded in acknowledgement and Annika came back to the bed and kissed him before she turned and ran out the door on the way to her briefing.

---

[ Lt. Kai Akoni | Kai’s Quarters | USS Endeavour | 45 Minutes Later]

”Come in” Kai responded to the door chime indicating someone was at his door. This someone was presumably Cross as it had become their morning ritual for Cross to come to Kai’s quarters for tea in Cross’ case, and the beautiful dark hot beverage that Kai was addicted to: coffee.

”Morning Cross!” Kai announced to his friend before Cross had even fully crossed the threshold into Kai’s quarters.

Cross nodded in acknowledgment as Kai had handed over the usual green tea that Cross drinks in the morning.

”Before I forget, Annika wants to know if you and Jill are free for a double date tonight..I think it’ll be fun”

[ Lt. Cross | Kai Akoni’s Personal Quarters | USS Endeavour ] @trevorvw

Cross walked groggily through the corridors of the Endeavour, making his way to Kai’s room, as was their routine in the mornings. On some occasions he would get lost, usually when still half asleep and leaving Jill’s quarters, making wrong turns as though he were travelling to Kai’s quarters from his own. Thankfully Jill had slept at his place last night, so his sleepy stumble to his friend’s quarters was his usual, quite familiar route.

I hate mornings… Cross thought blearily as he walked past a pair of teal-clad Ensigns gossiping in the halls.

Cross finally found his way to Kai’s quarters and triggered the door chimes, hearing the big man call out ”Come in”.

The doors opened and Cross shuffled across the threshold. He nodded a bleary acknowledgement to Kai’s greeting as he accepted the hot mug of green tea, raising it and inhaling the vapors rising from the liquid’s surface. Cross heard Kai ask him a question, but took a long sip of his tea before answering his friend, hoping the tea would work it’s magic and bring him back to full wakefulness.

”A double date?” Cross asked, his mind still not working at full capacity. ”We’re both free. Jill was asking me this morning about what we were going to do tonight.” Cross took another sip of his tea, savouring the grassy flavour as his mind came into focus just a little more. He moved to the table and sat down, letting out a yawn as he placed the steaming mug on the tabletop.

”It’s not just Annika. Jill said something about a double date as well.” Cross said, glancing at his friend. ”I think they’re conspiring behind our backs, Kai.” Cross grinned as he spoke, ”They’re beautiful, but they plot like <fucking> Cardies…” Cross’ grin broadened on his face, though he hid his amusement behind the brim of his mug as he raised it and took another sip of tea.

As he lowered the mug back down to the table and swallowed the grassy liquid, feeling the warmth flow down into his chest, he spoke again. ”What did you have in mind for tonight?”

[ Lt. Kai Akoni | Personal Quarters | USS Endeavour ] @Fife

”What did you have in mind for tonight?”

Kai didn’t have to think long about it. He smiled and slid the PADD he already had in front of him across the table towards Cross.

Cross picked it up, rotated it 180 degrees so he could read it. Cross seemed to read it for only a few seconds, presumably the title, and then looked up from the PADD to Kai inquisitively.

”Trust me…it’ll be fun”

---

[ Lt. Kai Akoni | Holodeck 2 | USS Endeavour | 1900 hrs ]

Kai and Annika had arrived outside of Holodeck 2 a few minutes before the arranged meeting time with Cross and Jillian. Kai wondered if Cross had been having trouble with the period clothing that he had sent him specifications on.

Kai had replicated for himself to wear, a black frock coat along with a crisp white dress shirt, grey dress slacks and comfortable dress shoes. To top off the entire ensemble, Kai also had a top hat and a beautiful black walking cane.

Annika was dressed in a pink evening dress, which was adorned in lace trim and ruffles, complete with a corset, which Kai was acutely aware due to both Annika’s look and her complaining.

”This corset is uncomfortable, I can’t believe women used to wear this!

Kai nodded to Annika and was about to respond with the historical aspect of corsets, but then he saw Cross and Jillian come around the corner.

Cross was wearing a brown suit complete with waistcoat, pocket watch and a complementing bowler hat. Jillian had been dressed in an evening dress almost exactly like Annika’s, just in a light blue.

”Everyone ready?” Kai asked to the group and got nods from everyone there. Kai then pushed a couple of buttons on the computer control pad.

[Program Complete. You may enter when ready] Came the automated voice from the computer as the holodeck doors slid open.

The quartet walked into the holodeck and ready to start the holonovel that Kai and Cross had agreed to.

It was a black room which had gotten blacker after the holodeck doors closed and the doors were covered with the holomatrix.

A character from the novel had materialized in front of the group dressed in period clothing. The character was there to introduce the setting for the group before the novel started.

”Welcome to London, England. The year is 1889. You are the owners and main detectives of the Endeavouring Minds Detective Agency. Public trust in the Metropolitan Police is at an all time low. Your detective agency is tasked with investigating more and more crime across London.” as soon as the character had finished setting the scene, he had disappeared and the black room had been replaced by London in 1889. 

The group was astonished by how well it looked. From the cobblestone streets, to the gas lamps as street lights and the horse drawn carriages going down the cobblestone. Kai was impressed with how much effort had been put into the recreation of London, which so far was very accurate.

Before the group had finished looking around and caught their bearings, a young messenger boy ran up to the group and handed Kai a letter before the boy took off in another direction.

Kai opened the letter and read it aloud to the group, ”I request your agency’s presence at French Embassy here in London. I have had a theft take place and wish for your agency to investigate immediately. Sincerely, William Waddington; French Ambassador to the United Kingdom”

[ Lt. Cross | London Streets, 1889 | Holodeck 2 | USS Endeavour ] @trevorvw

Cross stood with his arms crossed over his chest and watched the messenger boy run off into the late evening gloom of old London, losing sight of him as he dodged out in front of a passing hansom cab.

That hardly seems like an effective form of communication… He thought, then was distracted as he glanced at Jillian in her light blue evening dress, admiring the way the corset accentuated her frame. The blonde woman caught him looking at her and smiled at him, nodding towards Kai as a way of telling him to pay attention. She gave him a sly wink before they both turned back to the big man, his height now amplified by the top hat he sported.

As Kai finished reading the letter that would send them off into the story of the holonovel, Cross smiled and uncrossed his arms, cracking his knuckles. ”Well, let’s get started, shall we?” He said, reaching up and tipping his bowler hat forward slightly. He found the hat odd, but enjoyed it nonetheless.

Jillian stepped forward to the curb, raising her hand to flag down a passing carriage. Cross would not have thought to do that, but he remembered Jillian telling him that she and a friend at the Academy had enjoyed Victorian era holonovels. As the carriage rolled to a stop at the curbside and the driver called out a greeting, the four “detectives” clamoured aboard, Kai calling out their destination to the driver as they did. Once they were all aboard and the door was closed Cross heard the driver give a call and a crack of the reigns causing the carriage lurched forward, it’s wheels grinding on the cobblestones.

Cross turned and looked at the others, sliding his left arm around Jill and giving her a gentle squeeze as he spoke. ”So we’re off to solve a mystery at the house of the French Ambassador. It’s a bit high-profile for our first case, isn’t it?” Cross grinned, patting his jacket underneath his left shoulder with his right hand. ”I added a little something to my outfit before we came, “Detective” Akoni.” Cross added the title with a teasing tone, giving his friend a mischievous smile. ”Computer, run Cross program addition zero-one.”

[Addition added]

”Don’t worry, it’s period appropriate.” He added, giving Kai a wink. ”I once read the Sherlock Holmes stories, and Watson was often armed. Thought it might come in handy.”

The carriage rumbled and bucked as the wheels rolled over the uneven cobbles of London’s Victorian streets. Cross saw Annika lean against Kai, and saw his friend glance down, admiring her evening dress.

”You know, if you like her in that dress so much, I could make her wear it as her duty uniform.” Cross teased, receiving a gentle elbow in the ribs from Jill in return.

”Be serious, Cross! It’s more fun if you act the part!” She said, though her tone told him she had thought the remark was funny despite her words.

”Yes ma’am.” Cross said, giving her a mockingly chastised look before turning to Kai. ”I think you should take the lead in our investigation. You’re probably the most familiar with Earth’s history.” Cross said as the carriage slowed and came to a stop in front of a large, three-storied house. The windows of the house glowed with the light of gas lamps, and shadows could be seen moving across the panes.

Cross stepped down from the carriage and gave Jill a hand down. As they stepped aside and let Kai and Annika disembark, Cross saw a man in the uniform of a Vicotrian-era British police officer approach.

“What the devil are you lot doing here?” Sneered the bobby, disgust plain on his face. “Out and about playing detective, are we?” The man spit on the sidewalk, a thin train a saliva clinging to his chin. “You lot should leave this to the professionals!”

[ Lt. Kai Akoni | London Streets, 1889 | Holodeck 2 | USS Endeavour ] @Fife

"What the devil are you lot doing here? Out and about playing detective, are we? You lot should leave this to the professionals!” The police officer said to the group disparagingly.

Kai kind of smiled to himself as this would have been an accurate representation of what life was like when a private a detective met a Metropolitan Police Constable in the late 19th Century. The lack of progress on the Whitechapel murders, perpetrated by the self named Jack the Ripper, caused a lot of distrust between the general public and the Metropolitan Police. The police naturally felt threatened by people that were trying to do their job.

Kai noticed Cross’ right arm moving into his jacket, to the pistol that Cross added to the simulation. Kai looked at Cross and shook his head.

”We are just invitees of the French Ambassador, we don’t want any trouble sir” Kai replied to the police Constable calmly.

The Constable mumbled under his breath and stared at the group for about 5 seconds longer before he resumed his previous foot patrol.

The group walked up to the main door of the massive property, it was the largest building in the neighbourhood which was near one of the entrances to Hyde Park. “Detective” Akoni knocked on the large wooden door which was immediately opened by one of the French servants.

“Bonsoir. Suis-moi s'il te plait” The servant said, immediately turned around 180 degrees and started walking deeper into the house.

Kai turned to the group he was with, looked at them and tilted his head to the right as if to indicate for them to follow the servant.

As the group followed the servant, Kai leaned in to whisper in Annika’s ear.

”You look really beautiful” This comment in turn, caused Annika to blush and grin from ear to ear. She didn’t reply, but Kai hadn’t needed her to.

After a relatively short walk they arrived at an office that the servant had already knocked at and opened the door. Standing up from the large desk in the room was a portly fellow, with grey hair and a large beard. This man appeared to be in his early 60s.

”Monsieur l’ambassadeur” Kai exclaimed as soon as he had recognized who the man was.

”You speak French? You never cease to amaze me” Annika exclaimed, almost swooningly.

Kai held up his right hand and held the pads of his thumb and forefinger about 2 millimetres apart, as to indicate he only knew a little.

”Ah detectives..merci for coming so quickly.” the elder statesman began. ”We’ve had a theft. My wife, Mary, has had her necklace stolen. It is important because it is the Diamant Panthère Rose which was a gift from Queen Victoria herself.” The man handed over a picture of the necklace which was a necklace with a large pink diamond in the middle, flanked by many smaller clear diamonds.

”When did this happen?” Annika asked the Ambassador.

”A few hours ago. I have not let anyone leave since it happened. Ze thief must still be here!”

”We understand Mr. Ambassador. We will get to the bottom of it.” Kai said to the holographic Ambassador before turning to his friends. ”Ok Cross, you and Jill take the bottom floor. Just observe people, see if anyone stands out to you. Annika and I will take the top floor. We’ll meet back here in about an hour”

Everyone nodded and Cross and Jill turned around and headed for the office door, but before they reached it, Kai had called out to Cross.

”And try not to shoot anyone Cross, okay?” Kai said winking at his friend before extending his arm so Annika could hold on to it for an escort before they started their search.

[ Lt. Cross | French Ambassador’s Residence, London, 1889 | Holodeck 2 | USS Endeavour ] @trevorvw

Cross smiled as Kai instructed him to try not to shoot anyone, responding with only a wink before he turned away and left the room with Jillian on his arm.

As they moved back into the hall, Cross glanced around, looking down the hallway in either direction. Seeing that the hallway stood empty aside from the servant who was moving back towards the front of the house, Cross turned and smiled and Jillian, slipping an arm around her waist and pulling her in close.

”You look wonderful in that dress.” He spoke softly before leaning in and kissing her. After a moment she pushed him back with a giggle, giving him a playful expression.

”You need to focus, mister!” Jill chuckled, giving him a suggestive look. ”If you’re good, maybe I’ll let you enjoy taking me out of it later.” She gave him a wink and placed her arm in his again, steering him down the hall. ”Right now, I think we should go meet the other party guests.”

”Lead the way.” Cross said as they strode down the hall, their footsteps muffled by the luxurious rugs. As they passed a set of double doors to their right, the doors opened and a male servant stepped out. Beyond the servant they had a brief view of dark wood-panelled walls with dozens of book-filled shelves before the servant closed the door behind him. Turning to face Cross and Jillian, he regarded them curiously.

“Ah, bonsoir, monsieur. Puis-je vous aider?” The servant asked pleasantly, though Cross had no idea what he had said.

”<Hello, I have no idea what you just fucking said.>” Cross spoke in Cardassian, earning himself another elbow in the ribs from Jill, who then turned to the now confused servant.

”The Ambassador asked us to come. Could you tell us where the other guests are?” Jillian said, smiling at the holographic servant. The servant appeared pleased by her smile, seeming to forget the strange language Cross had spoken.

“Qui, M’dame. The guests are assembled in the ballroom.” The servant said in heavily accented English, motioning for them to follow him. “If you will come with me, I will take you to them.” With that he was off, striding down the hallway with Cross and Jillian following. He rounded a corner and approached another set of double-doors, this time larger and more ornate. The servant pushed the doors open and ushered them into a large room which was mostly devoid of furniture, though the lack of furnishings was made up for by the number of people who currently occupied it. Cross estimated that there must be around 60 people milling about and talking to one another, all dressed in the fine eveningwear of the Victorian era.

Cross turned to the servant and spoke quietly. ”Have you seen anyone acting suspicious or unusual this evening? Anything that stands out to you?”

“Pardon, Monsieur, but the only thing strange that stands out to me is you.” The servant replied, glancing at Cross nasal ridges and ears in an obvious manner. The servant scurried out of the room when Cross growled at him, hastily closing the doors behind him.

”Smooth move, wrinkles.” Jillian laughed, squeezing his arm. Her laugh always made him smile, even when it was caused by something foolish which he had done. There was something melodious about it. Cross smiled sheepishly at Jillian. ”Maybe you should ask the questions…” He muttered, very much aware that he was out of his depth in the current circumstances.

---

Jillian and Cross had been circulating throughout the room, talking to various people without revealing their reason for being there. They had been at it for 40 minutes, and had only covered about half of the room’s occupants. Jillian had been doing most of the talking, with Cross observing the people in the room. Most of the women would have a hard time concealing the stolen diamond in the bodice of their dresses, but their ample skirts would make for an easy place of concealment. The majority of the men wore what Cross could only assume was the fashion of the time, namely trousers which were fairly tight, waistcoat, and tailcoats. The coats would be the only place they could attempt to hide the stolen jewel.

Jillian strolled casually up beside Cross and slid her arm into his. ”Enjoying looking at all the women, darling?” Jillian asked him, speaking in a passable British accent. Cross grinned as he looked down into the woman’s eyes.

”I am, yes. Why, are you jealous?”

The elbow in his ribs was answer enough, though he knew she wasn’t truly upset by the smile that spread across her face, causing her eyes to light up. She laughed softly as she shook her head at him. ”Are you sure you’re the same shy, awkward Cross that was shoved towards me in the mess hall?”

Cross laughed, knowing full well he was still awkward and shy. He gave her a wink as he smiled, then his face took on a more serious look. ”So did you learn anything?”

”I’ve learned I don’t like you looking at other women wearing corsets.” Jill teased before following Cross’ lead and turning the conversation to a serious note. ”Nothing definitive. The party’s full of a mix of people. Mostly diplomats and important men, and their wives. Most of them are rich, and many of them are greedy. Any of them could have taken the diamond.” Jillian sighed, shaking her head. ”According to gossip that's been passed along, there are a half-dozen guests who have had less than friendly dealings with the Ambassador. I haven’t learned anything that gets us any closer to finding the thief though.”

”With the clothes they’re wearing, there’s plenty of places to hide a stolen gem on their persons. Any of the guests could have it on them right now and we’d have no way of knowing short of patting them all down or strip searching them.” Cross muttered as his eyes scanned over the crowd again. ”Lets go meet up with Kai and Annika and see if they’ve managed to dig up more than we have.”

The two left the room, making their way back to the Ambassador’s study to regroup and plan their next move. They arrived to find the study door locked, and so decided to wait in the hallway outside the study for Kai and Annika to arrive.

[ Lt. Kai Akoni | French Embassy - 1889 | London, England ] @Fife

After Kai and Annika had bid the French Ambassador adieu, they proceeded to head up the massive staircase of the sprawling mansion in the heart of London. 28 stairs later, they reached the top of the staircase. Kai looked around to take in the surroundings. To the left was a long corridor with multiple doors on either side of it. To the right was a corridor with doorways on the left side of it and a railing on the right side of it about 10 metres down the corridor, overlooking the ballroom where presumably Cross and Jill were. Kai decided they’d go left to check the corridor with doorways on either side.

”Let’s go this way” Kai said putting his large hand on the small of Annika’s back to guide her gently to the left.

Kai wanted to take this opportunity to spend some more alone time with Annika getting to know her better. What time would be more perfect than the romantic heart of London, 1889? The sky was a beautiful blue twilight, shimmering with stars he could have sworn were made of diamonds.

As they walked, Kai rested his arm around Annika, and as she moved in closer, he felt her head nuzzled against his chest as her arm slid around the small of his back.

Kai turned to Annika, slowly so as not to startle her or have her move away.

“The evening’s beautiful, but nothing could be as beautiful as you.”

Kai saw Annika try to hide her rosy red cheeks, but she did a terrible job hiding them. He thought it was cute how her cheeks slowly turned to a blazing red, her lips slowly form a smile and her nose crinkle with it. He thought she was the cutest thing and was very happy he chose to take her out on a romantic walk down this seemingly empty corridor.

They walked along the corridor trying doors as they went along. Every single one they had tried was locked. They could have easily been broken down, but they both agreed that the Ambassador probably wouldn’t like that too much.

”Who do you think we are looking for?” Kai asked Annika as he tried to turn another doorknob that was once again; locked.

”I’m not sure about the holonovel, but I personally can’t keep my eyes off of you”

Kai chuckled and kissed her on the forehead. He found it sappy but he loved it nonetheless. Once they had reached the end of the corridor with all the doors being locked, they turned around and tried all the doors on the opposite end of the corridor. Those were all locked as well and this frustrated both Kai and Annika.

The two leaned up against the railing overlooking the ballroom and looked out on the guests below. A large group of people dressed in their very best. Kai imagined that these people were the wealth of London. Kai and Annika watched as Cross and Jill left the ballroom and Kai realized that time had gotten away from them and it must be time to meet to go over what they found.

”Well I guess we should go tell them what we found...and by what we found, I obviously...” Kai had been saying but had trailed off when he noticed a flash of a reflective pink color from down in the ballroom. He noticed the necklace had been exchanged between a man and a woman but couldn’t see their faces from his vantage point. Kai spun 90 degrees to his right, Annika lifted the bottom of her dress off the ground a few centimetres and they both started running for the staircase.

Kai barked out as loud as he could ”CROSS. BALLROOM. NOW!” as he finished, Kai and Annika had just reached the top of the massive staircase and saw Cross and Jill approaching the bottom of it seemingly wondering what the commotion was all about. 

[ Lt. Cross | French Ambassador’s Residence, London, 1889 | Holodeck 2 | USS Endeavour ] @trevorvw

Cross and Jillian had enjoyed a private moment and a stolen kiss while waiting for Kai and Annika to return to the Ambassador’s study. Cross loved staring into the deep blue Jillian’s eyes, though tonight he was having trouble keeping his eyes off her figure, accentuated as it was by the corset. Jillian was not helping the matter, moving in a way that she knew would flaunt her figure and entice him even more. After a short wait and a great deal of distraction, Jillian finally suggested they head to the stairs to look for Kai and Annika, suggesting they too might have gotten distracted from their current task.

As they approached the base of the stairs, Cross heard Kai’s voice booming from above.

”CROSS. BALLROOM. NOW!”

Without even a moment’s hesitation Cross was moving, speeding down the corridor as his right hand snaked into his jacket and withdrew the Webley Revolver from his shoulder holster.

”MOVE!” He roared at the obnoxious servant as he approached the ballroom doors. The servant, who had just come out and closed the doors behind him, jumped in alarm and squeaked in panic as he leapt aside. Cross dropped his shoulder as he approached the door and slammed into the joint where the double-doors met, causing them to give with some splintering at the latches and sending the doors bursting open. Cross stepped across the threshold and surveyed the room, the revolver held up near his head and aimed at the ceiling. His unblinking eyes scanning for any sight of trouble, his intense expression causing several of the guests inside to shrink away.

The servant had regained his feet, and scurried into the ballroom jabbering at Cross in French, though Cross didn’t understand a word he said. An angry glare silenced the man, who shrunk back several paces as Cross turned back to continue surveying the room and the people within. Seeing there was no commotion beyond what could be expected based on his entrance, Cross wondered what Kai had seen. Cross guessed Kai and Annika must have been on the balcony overlooking the ballroom and seen something.

”LISTEN UP!” Cross barked, his voice carrying over the hushed crowd. Once he had their full attention, he began giving instruction. ”Everyone stand against the walls. No one is to talk or move. Backs against the wall and hands where I can see them.” Several people moved to obey, but many just stood looking at him with confused expressions. Cross turned and jabbed a finger at the servant. ”You, translate for those that speak whatever garble you’re yammering in.” He growled before turning back to the crowd. ”MOVE!” he barked, sending the majority of the crowd scurrying to follow the instructions as the servant began explaining to the rest of those gathered. Once he was done speaking he turned to leave, but Cross grabbed his arm and shoved him into the room. ”Oh no you don’t! You line up too!”

Jill arrived a moment before Kai, with Annika following just behind. As they entered the ballroom, they found they whole crowd standing with their backs against the walls in a dead silence, with Cross prowling through the ballroom, casting his gaze over those assembled to ensure their continued “cooperation”. As he saw his three companions entering the room, he stalked over to them.

”What did you see?” He asked Kai, still keeping an eye on the people.

[ Lt. Kai Akoni | French Ambassador's Residence, London, 1889 | Holodeck 2 | USS Endeavour ] @Fife

"What did you see?" Cross had asked after he sauntered over to where Kai was standing.

"We saw an exchange of the necklace from a man to a woman. We just need to figure out which woman has it"

Cross looked around the room to all the women in there, while Annika looked perplexed and spoke up;

"You know which man handed it off?"

Kai had nodded to her as he walked towards the line of people that were both clearly unsure of what was happening and were afraid of the group of them that were there to solve the mystery.

As he approached the line up of people, Kai noticed that the people did look terrified...all except one man. He approached the man and put his large hand on his right shoulder.

"Excusez-moi monsieur, would you mind coming with us to answer some questions?"

"No, I don't think so" The man replied to Kai, not realizing he didn't actually have a choice.

Kai then nodded and pretended not to care as he turned to his left to see Cross there. Kai then tilted his head towards the un-terrified man as a nonverbal cue for Cross to go ahead. Cross then approached the man and drove the left side of his revolver into the left cheekbone of the now previously un-terrified man. Blood burst from the mans cheek where it had been hit and the man collapsed to his knees, clearly unable to process what had just happened.

"You actually didn't have a choice.." Kai said as he leaned over the smaller man on his knees, who posed no threat at the moment. Cross and Kai then proceeded to pick the man up, one on each side to drag him out of the ballroom to have a 'nice, friendly chat' in another room.

Not too close...don't want the other guests to hear our 'chat' Kai thought to himself and smirked.

"Annika and Jill, you stay here and keep an eye on these people...we'll be right back" Kai told the beautiful ladies as he winked at Annika and him and Cross kept dragging the man out of the ballroom.

[ Lt. Cross | French Ambassador’s Residence, London, 1889 | Holodeck 2 | USS Endeavour ] @trevorvw

Cross kept his left arm hooked under than staggering man’s as he and Kai dragged the suspect out of the ballroom, at the same time jabbing the muzzle of the revolver he held in his right hand into the suspect’s ribs. The threat of the revolver, on top of Kai dragging the man on his left and Cross on his right, resulted in the man putting up nothing in the way of resistance as he was escorted from the room.

As they dragged the man out of the doors, Cross glanced at the obnoxious servant from earlier, now looking fearful as he stood against the wall, and spoke.

”You. Come with us. We’ll need your keys.”

The servant looked alarmed as Cross spoke to him, but obeyed. He shuffled after them uncertainly as they swept the suspect from the room and down the hall.

”What’s your name?” Cross asked the servant, looking over his shoulder.

“Pierre, monsieur.” The servant, Pierre, replied in a tone that made it clear that he was both scared and curious.

”Ok, Pierre. We need a quiet room with only one entrance and a door that locks.”

“Qui, monsieur.” Pierre said, understanding what he Cross was suggesting. “I think perhaps the pantry off the kitchen would suit your purpose.”

”Good. Take us there.” Cross directed Pierre, slowing to allow the servant to move ahead them.

Several moments later found them dragging the dejected suspect through the delicious scents of the kitchen, much to the alarm of the various kitchen staff who were working in the room. Pierre opened a large door in the eastern wall and turned on the light to reveal a large, windowless room. The walls were lined with shelves containing numerous different foods and ingredients, with an ample space in the centre standing empty. The scent of a myriad of herbs, spices and other foodstuffs combined to create a powerful aroma within the confined space.

”Pierre, grab a chair and a coil of rope and bring them in here.” Cross instructed the man.

“Qui, monsieur” Pierre acknowledge, striding briskly out of the room.

After Pierre had returned with the chair and placed it in the centre of the room, Cross and Kai deposited their suspect in it. Cross instructed Pierre to wait outside and lock the door, and not to open it without his direction. As the door closed and the key could be heard turning in the lock, engaging the bolt, the suspect shuddered noticeable and seemed to deflate even further, the hopelessness of his predicament finally dawning on him. Cross moved to stand in front of their suspect while Kai moved behind him and bound him to the chair with the rope, securing his torso firmly to the wooden backing of the seat.

”Now, monnsewer” Cross said, mimicking what he had heard the others say to address the man but getting it horribly wrong. ”My associate here is going to ask you a few questions.” Cross lowered the revolver and placed the muzzle against the suspect’s left kneecap. ”I would suggest you cooperate and answer his questions. You wouldn’t want us to have to persuade you…” The look of fear that crossed the man’s face told Cross that the threat had been fully understood. With that he removed the end of the revolver from the man’s knee and moved back, leaning against the shelves and crossing his arms to watch as Kai began his interrogation.

[ Lt. Kai Akoni | French Embassy - 1889 | USS Endeavour] @Fife

As Cross leaned back against the shelving of the small pantry, Kai moved towards the man tied up in front of him.

"Parlez-vous Anglais?" he asked the man.

"Yes" the man replied sheepishly.

Kai nodded and responded almost immediately, "Good. This is how this is going to go...if you answer my questions, you'll be happy. If you don't, then I will let my associate here have some fun with you". Before Kai had finished speaking, the man was already looking at Cross with genuine fear in his eyes. The man nodded and turned his gaze back to Kai.

"Now..where's the necklace?"

The man answered almost immediately, "I do not know sir!"

Kai sighed after the response and rubbed his forehead, he then circled around the man on the chair and crouched down beside him.

"You're trying my patience my friend. I'm going to ask you one more time, where is the necklace?"

The man hesitated for a few moments before carefully wording his reply, "I could be  persuaded to tell you...for a price"

Kai stood up and nodded towards Cross. The hybrid unholstered his sidearm and put it against the restrained man's left knee. Cross then gave the character a few moments to answer. The character didn't answer, which caused Cross to pull the trigger resulting in a deafening boom that reverberated throughout the small pantry. This boom was almost immediately punctuated by the screaming of the man. The projectile had left the barrel of Cross' sidearm and driven its way through the holographic knee resulting in major trauma to the knee and leaving a fist sized hole on the back of the knee. Blood and bits of tissue sprayed from the wound.

Kai looked over to Cross and said with a slight chuckle "Huh..that was more bloody than I expected"

After a few moments of screaming, the man had admitted to knowing where the necklace was located. Kai didn't expect the person who had been implicated.

"The Ambassador's daughter in law..." was the last words out of the mans mouth before Cross and Kai turned on their heels and headed back to the ballroom.

[ Lt. Cross | French Ambassador’s Residence, London, 1889 | Holodeck 2 | USS Endeavour ] @trevorvw

After firing his Webley Revolver point blank into the knee of their prisoner, Cross straightened and stuck a finger into his left ear, wiggling the finger and making a noise with his mouth that sounded like he was saying “Mawp” to try and alleviate the ringing from the revolver’s rapport. Kai made a comment about the mess that used to be the man’s knee, though Cross didn’t hear over the tinnitus.

The man was talking now, or rather screaming, revealing the identity of person currently in possession of the necklace. Cross still couldn’t hear.

Kai said something and took off. sprinting from the room.

”Mawp” Cross sounded by way of an uncomprehending reply as he hefted his revolver and took off after his friend. Cross’ world was muted as he sprinted after Kai, the lack of noise made by his footfalls seeming eerie as the ran full tilt back down the hallway towards the ballroom. As they thundered through the kitchen, Pierre jumped in surprise and alarm and took off running after them. One of the scullery maids poked her head into the pantry and let out a shriek of panic at the gruesome scene left behind, though her horrified wail was unheard by Cross’ ears, having been drowned out by the ever-present ringing and another “Mawp”.

As they reached the ballrooms doors and went crashing through, many of the guests jumped in alarm and surprise, as did Jillian and Annika. Cross skidded to a halt as he crossed the threshold, looking around the room. He saw Kai’s mouth moving as he addressed the room, and Jillian’s mouth moving as she asked Cross something, though all he heard was a muted murmur, the ringing having died down but not to the point where his hearing was fully restored.

”Kai, who are we after?” Cross yelled, hardly able to hear his own words as he scanned the room for anyone who might be trying to run, holding his Webley at the ready.

[ Lt. Kai Akoni | French Ambassador's Residence, London, 1889 | Holodeck 2 | USS Endeavour ] @Fife


Once they burst into the ballroom, surprising the guests, Annika and Jillian, Kai quickly scanned the room and observed them closely. The French Ambassador had entered the room to see what the commotion was all about. Kai then addressed the room,

"Ladies and Gentlemen. Mr. Ambassador, we have determined who has taken the necklace. I will gladly let the thief come forward on their own, otherwise we will have no choice but to publicly expose you here in front of all these guests.

Kai stood there and waited for the thief to do the right thing. As he waited, he heard Jillian ask Cross if he was okay, to which she got no reply, followed by Cross yelling.

"Kai, who are we after?" Kai figured he must be a little deaf following the gunshot inside such cramped quarters. Cross' hearing is obviously more sensitive, so it takes more time for him to recover.

Kai turned to his friend and smiled at him and said "All in good time my friend" to which Kai didn't get a reply. 

He didn't hear a word I said Kai thought as he chuckled to himself, Poor Cross


The French Ambassador approached the group in a huff, "I demand you expose the thief immediately!

Kai nodded to the Ambassador and started walking towards the guests, as he got closer to the guests he started talking.

"You see Mr. Ambassador, the whole case of the missing necklace was perplexing. The thief had to know where it was, they also had to know how to retrieve it without being caught by your security." Kai spoke as he was nearing the thief, "Now the only people that would know both things, is someone who is intimately familiar with this residence"

Kai motioned for Annika and Jill to come over to assist him as he slowly maneuvered his large frame through the group of people towards his intended target.

"It was a simple process of elimination, but the thief is...your daughter-in-law!" Kai finished saying which was followed by an audible gasp from everyone present in the room, sans Cross. As people were gasping, Annika and Jillian grabbed the daughter-in-law, one on each arm. Jillian reached in between the woman's breasts and pulled out the rather large and expensive necklace.

"Well...what do we have here?" as Jillian handed over the necklace to the Ambassador.

As soon as she put the necklace in the Ambassador's hand, the computer beeped.

[Story Complete] Came the mechanical voice as the characters dissolved into nothingness, followed by their surroundings, leaving the familiar hologrid room around them.

"What do you ladies say we get some drinks to celebrate?"

Kai turned to look at his friend Cross as the hybrid had his finger in his ear trying to solve his hearing problems.

Kai chuckled and patted him on his right shoulder as the three of them headed for the holodeck doors with Cross lagging behind. [/color][/color]

[ Lt. Cross | French Ambassador’s Residence, London, 1889 | Holodeck 2 | USS Endeavour ] @trevorvw

As Cross passed through the double doors which materialized in front of the group, he inwardly celebrated the fact that he could hear the noise the doors made as they closed behind him, leaving the four of them standing in the corridors of the Endeavour once more.

”Well, that was fun! Though I only got to shoot one person.” Cross said, still speaking louder than normal, though he was no longer shouting. ”Those old Earth revolvers make one hell of a mess!” Cross added with a chuckle.

”I bet you loved it.” Jillian retorted, a knowing smile gracing her lips.

”Absolutely!” Cross said with a dark grin, giving her a wink. He slipped his arm around her waist as he turned to the other two. ”So what do you think? Should we go for a drink and celebrate?”

”As long as you aren’t drinking that nasty Cardassian sludge.” Jillian teased.

”Yeah, that stuff just looks disgusting!” Kai said, wrinkling his nose with a disgusted look.

”Don’t wrinkle your face too much, Kai. You’ll end up looking like Wrinkles here!” Jillian said with a giggle, giving Cross a squeeze with the arm she had slipped around him. The gesture failed to wipe the glower off the hybrid’s face as he directed the unappreciative look at each of them in turn.

”Just for that I’m going to have two glasses of Kanar” Cross grumbled as he set off down the corridor. The other three kept their jibes coming as they made their way to the mess hall, their Victorian attire earning them some curious glances from the crew they passed. As Cross passed one of his Tactical NCOs he tipped his bowler hat at her, earning a giggle from the Trill woman and an elbow in the ribs from Jill.

”Ow! What was that for?” Cross grumbled as they walked.

”Just a reminder that a good soldier keeps his eyes front, Wrinkles.”

Cross grumbled something under his breath, though not loud enough for anyone to make out what was said. Kai got the distinct feeling that, while the words had been directed at Jillian, what Cross has uttered was not something she would have appreciate. Kai couldn’t help but grin at his dour friend.

”PO Narelle is harmless.” Annika said to Jill. ”She’s always trying to make your grumpy hybrid smile. It doesn’t happen very often when you aren’t around!” She said with a soft chuckle, earning an appreciative look from Cross.

”Are you trying to get out of a night shift or something?” Jill asked the other woman, still pretending to be jealous. The effect was spoiled by the way she relaxed following Annika’s words and the way she snuggled back into Crosses side.

As they entered the mess hall, Cross glanced over his shoulder and spoke to the other three. ”I’ll get first round. Kanars for everyone?” He asked, a dark grin plastered across his features once again.

”Not on your life, Wrinkles!” Jillian uttered with her own dark expression. Kai shook his head as Cross looked at him. Cross moved his gaze to Annika, giving her a smile.

”What the hell, I’ll try it!” Annika said, giving Cross a grin and Jillian a wink.

”Now I know you’re trying to get out fo night shift.” Jillian grumbled, giving Annika a suspicious glance as she and Annika made their way to a table, leaving Cross and Kai to fetch the drinks.

[ Lt. Kai Akoni | Mess Hall | USS Endeavour] @Fife

Kai and Cross walked towards the replicator to fetch the drinks for their table. Kai was still confused with the thought that Annika wanted to try Kanar. Had she ever seen that vile swill? Kai had just assumed that she hadn’t seen it, otherwise she wouldn’t want to try it.

Kai had been around too much Kanar during his stint on Cardassia after the war. The smell, the look, everything about it just disgusted him. Not to mention it reminded him about the Cardassians. He really disliked the Cardassians. Kai had lost a lot of friends during the war, and some of the Cardassians had said it was too bad more Starfleet officers didn’t die…which affected him.

Kai was shook back to reality by Cross; apparently Kai had been having a flash back about Cardassia all thanks to that shit Kanar.

Kai grabbed his Whiskey and Jillian’s Mai Tai from the replicator pad. He let Cross grab the Kanars. As they walked back to the table, Kai mentioned to Cross that they should do another holonovel program again soon. Cross nodded in apparent agreement with Kai. The duo approached the table and Kai sat down Jill’s drink in front of her.

”Thanks Kai! Jillian said while simultaneously patting Kai’s right bicep twice. It was Jillian’s thing whenever Kai gave her anything, which Kai found slightly odd at first, but didn’t question it.

Cross had set down Annika’s Kanar in front of her just as Kai was sitting down in his chair at the table. Kai undid the top button of his dress shirt to relax a bit more before taking a sip of his whiskey.

”You sure you want to drink that crap?” Kai asked Annika as she stared at the glass that was set in front of her.

Annika looked up from the glass at Kai and didn’t say anything but had a look of concern on her face. Kai smiled back at his girlfriend as she was braver than he was, at least when it came to Kanar.

Annika lifted the glass and took a sip of the thick liquid that filled the glass. She had some of the Kanar in her mouth. She sat the glass back down in front of her; however it was obvious she hadn’t swallowed any as of it. Her face was expressionless right now, but it was slowly changing into a ‘what have I done’ look. She swallowed the thick liquid that filled her mouth and immediately looked like she was going to throw up.

”She’s turning green! Jillian announced to the table.

Annika covered her mouth and jumped up from the table faster than a Klingon chasing an escaping Targ. She bolted from the table and full out sprinted towards the head; hopefully without vomiting all over the mess hall.

Kai and Jillian were left laughing so much that they were crying.

[ Lt. Cross | Mess Hall | USS Endeavour ] @trevorvw

Cross took a long, appreciative sip of his kanar as he watched Annika. Kai’s girlfriend seemed to be experiencing discomfort, and while Cross didn’t see the green colour that Jillian had mentioned, Annika had certainly gone pale, he expression having changed to a blending of disgust and panic. A small smile spread over Cross’ face as Annika clasped her hands over her mouth and bolted from the table. He would have advised her against trying the drink if he’d known she had never had it before.

As Kai and Jillian burst into laughter Cross calmly placed his own glass on the table and reached over to retrieve Annika’s barely touched glass, slowly sliding if over to rest in front of him alongside his own. With that he raised his own glass once more and, raising the glass in salute to his remaining two companions, took another long draw of the thick liquid.

”Perhaps you should have advised her against trying kanar, Kai.” Cross said as he lowered his drink to the table, unable to hide the shit-eating grin that was taking over his features. ”I don’t think she liked it… Ow!” The addition at the end of his statement was prompted by Jillian slapping his arm while at the same time kicking his shin beneath the table. Cross adopted a victimized expression and rubbed his arm theatrically, giving Jillian a fearful look.

”Maybe her CO should have warned her about trying that horrible shit he likes to drink!” The blonde woman spoke in a scathing tone, but gave him a sly wink and a warm smile. ”Poor girl. I’ll go check on her.” With that, Jillian rose to her feet and moved off in the direction that Annika had so recently and speedily traveled.

With her departure, Cross turned to Kai and gave him a broad grin. ”Sorry I broke your woman. I’ll go get her another drink to get the taste out of her mouth.” He chuckled as he finished speaking, shaking his head slightly. ”Kanar has a tendency to linger…”

Cross rose and headed for the replicator, returning with a drink that Jillian had once told him about, something called a cosmo. Placing it in front of the seat which Annika had so hastily vacated, Cross sat once again and picked up one of the glasses, taking a long pull of the syrupy fluid before sighing contentedly and looking at Kai once again. ”So what sort of holonovel do you think we should try next time?” He asked, ”I vote something with more guns and less French people.”

[ Lt. Kai Akoni | Mess Hall | USS Endeavour] @Fife


"I vote something with more guns and less French people." Cross said with a shit eating grin on his face. Kai pondered his statement for a little while before coming to a realization for their next holonovel. Kai had gotten it from a friend of a friend before he transferred aboard the Endeavour, but still had yet to try it. He figured it met Cross' definition of more guns and less French people.

"Well I may have something that fits the bill" Kai said, followed by a sip of his Whiskey. "It's a spy thriller, basically we would try to stop someone's evil plot to destroy the world"

Cross looked intrigued and took another sip of his Kanar. Kai felt like he might have to sell it a little more for Cross to agree.

"I guarantee there will be more guns and less French people. This time, maybe don't fire your gun in such an enclosed space" Kai told Cross with a little wink at the end for good measure.

Their talk about the next holonovel was interrupted by Annika and Jillian coming back in to the Mess Hall. Annika looked a little worse for wear and seemed genuinely sick from the Kanar.

"I think I'm going to call it an evening" she managed to say even though it seemed hard for her to do.

Kai downed the remaining whiskey that was in his glass and stood up from the table in order to take Annika back to their quarters. Despite his outward appearance of a big, burly man; with Annika, he was a big softy. Kai walked over to Annika and put his arm around her to help her keep her balance. He smiled at Jillian and nodded as a thank you to Jill for taking care of Annika.

"Let's get you home honey" Kai said to Annika before turning his head towards Cross, "Holodeck 3 on Saturday at 1400". Kai didn't give Cross an opportunity to respond before him and Annika turned to the door and started to make their way to their newly shared quarters.

[ Lt. Cross | Mess Hall | USS Endeavour ]

Cross let a small smile play across his features as he heard Kai address Annika as “Honey”, which earned him another swat from Jillian. ”Don’t you dare make fun of them, Wrinkles!” Jillian warned him, giving him a stern look. Cross glared down at his drink at her use of the ridiculous pet name, taking a long drink of his kanar.

”What makes you think I would have said anything?” He asked as he lowered the glass, giving Jill a cheeky look.

”Because you’re the same asshole that let her drink that vile shit!” Jillian informed him in a cold tone. ”That poor girl. You could have at least warned her!” Jill shook her head at the hybrid who sat at the table with her. ”Part of me thinks you enjoyed that.”

”What would give you that idea?” Cross asked with feigned innocence, giving Jillian a bewildered look. ”How was I to know that she’d react so violently to a mere sip?”

”Because you’re the only person I know who can stomach that shit!” Jillian barked at him, swatting his arm again. ”Honestly!” Jill sighed and looked down to her own drink. She raised the glass and drained it’s contents before placing it back on the table and looking back up at Cross.

”Let’s get going. I’ve got an early shift tomorrow.” She said, rising to her feet. ”What was Kai saying about Saturday?”

”He wants us to try another holonovel. A spy thriller this time.”

”Sounds like fun!” Jillian said as they passed through the mess hall doors. ”If you’re lucky, maybe you’ll get to see me in a slinky cocktail dress!” She added teasingly, glancing at Cross over her shoulder as they walked.

I like this holonovel already! Cross thought as they headed off in the direction of his quarters.

[ Lt. Cross | Corridor outside Holodeck 3 | USS Endeavour ] @trevorvw

As the time neared 1400 hours, Cross strode down the corridors to meet Kai and the girls for their next holonovel program. He had once again dressed himself in the replicated garments which Kai had suggested. This time, rather than a brown suit from Earth’s Victorian era, he was dressed in a black tuxedo complete with bowtie. Kai had said they were going to be running a spy holonovel, and Cross found himself thinking that his current state of dress couldn’t possibly be practical attire in which to undertake covert operations.

As he rounded the final bend he saw Kai waiting outside the doors to Holodeck 3. Cross was relieved to find Kai in an almost identical, thought larger, tuxedo. A part of him had been worried that Kai had misled him as revenge for letting Annika try kanar the other day.

As Cross approached his friend he smiled, rolling his eyes as Kai theatrically tugged on the bowtie.

”Looking good, Kai.” Cross said as he came closer, giving his friend a nod. ”Though I don’t see what good these outfits will be while trying to commit espionage.”

”We’re gentlemen spies, Cross.” Kai informed him, ”We need to dress the part! The girls are already inside.”

With that, the two approached the holodeck, pausing as the doors slowly spread apart. They stepped across the threshold and found themselves entering a dimly lit lounge. The walls were done in dark colours, which combined with the dim lighting to create a cozy, secluded atmosphere. As their feet touched the floor, the sultry tones of a saxophone played around them, setting the mood of the room. Before them, Annika and Jillian sat at the lounge’s bar, Jillian clad in a sleek black cocktail dress that ended just above the knee, her bare legs cross as she sat on the stool, her free leg kicking slightly to the rhythm of the saxophone. Beside her Annika was similarly dressed, though the vibrant red of the brunette’s cocktail dress stood out much more than Jillian’s, adding a bright splash of colour to the otherwise dim and subdued interior of the lounge.

Cross could hardly tear his eyes away from Jillian as the two men approached the bar, the dress accentuating her form in a way that held Cross mesmerized. As they drew closer, he heard Kai whistle at the two women.

”You ladies look amazing!” Kai exclaimed, seating himself next to Annika.

”Hi.” Cross said awkwardly to Jill as he perched himself on the stool next to her.

”Hey Wrinkles! How do you like my slinky dress?” Jillian asked, giving her dumbstruck boyfriend a sly wink as she sipped at her cocktail. ”You look good in a tux! I may have to make you wear one more often!” Cross shifted uncomfortably under her scrutiny, eliciting a giggle from the blonde woman.

Cross cleared his throat and turned his gaze to Kai. ”So how do we begin?”

As if in answer to his question, the barman approached the four of them, bringing along some sort of machine attached to a long, thin cord.

“Telephone for you, sir.” The barman said in a heavy British accent, holding out what Cross could only assume was the receiver of the telephone. He had heard of the old Earth communication devices before, but had never seen one.

Kai took the proffered receiver and held it to his head, with one part held against his ear and the other suspended just in front of his mouth. He listened for a moment, nodding his head, and then uttered the words ”We’ll be there soon, sir.” before handing the receiver back to the barman, who retreated to replace the phone on the counter. The barman returned a moment later and asked if they wanted drinks before they left.

”Give Wrinkles an Old Fashion.” Jillian said before Cross had a chance to respond. Then, glancing over at him, she added, ”None of the kanar crap today.” With a wink and a smile, she leaned over and pecked Cross on the cheek. ”You need an era appropriate drink.”

The barman nodded at the order and moved on, coming to stand in front of Kai. “And for you, sir?”

[ Lt. Kai Akoni | Holodeck 3 | USS Endeavour] @Fife


“And for you, sir?” The bartender inquired as he came to a stop in front of Kai, separated by only about 50 centimetres of polished oak which the bar top was made of.

”Vodka Martini” responded matter of factly

“Excellent choice sir! Shaken or stirred?” The bartender asked to ensure that he got the large man’s order correct.

”Shaken, not stirred”

The bartender nodded and went off to make their drink orders. Kai turned his attention to the sultry brunette in the form fitting, red dress sitting next to him. He smiled at her as his eyes caught her brightly coloured green eyes.

”You look absolutely beautiful” Kai said unabashedly

”You clean up alright yourself” Annika replied even though she thought more than that. She didn’t want her comments to go and stroke Kai’s ego.

The bartender returned to deliver Kai and Cross’ drinks pretty promptly considering there were no replicators in this time period.

The quartet of people taking place in the holonovel spent the next 15 minutes just making small talk while finishing their drinks. Kai thought this was a nice introduction to the setting before they started the proper holonovel. 

Jillian was the first person to suggest that they actually start, ”Maybe we should start?” and as she finished her sentence, she stood up and the rest of the group followed suit.

They made their was out the door and on to the sidewalk outside of the bar. It was a warm summer evening, with the sun just beginning to set. Kai took a deep breath and smelt the beautiful fresh air which mixed with Annika’s perfume to make an intoxicating concoction. A man in a black suit opened the back door of a limousine and motioned for the group to enter it. The group all climbed aboard and the driver closed the door and proceeded forward to the driver’s seat. He then whisked the group through the streets of London for about 20 minutes until they entered an underground parking garage. The car parked and Kai opened the door and noticed a door which was flanked by two British soldiers with what appeared to be assault rifles. Kai helped Annika and Jillian out of the car and Cross was the last to disembark. 

Kai, Cross and the ladies went through the door and down a long hallway and up an elevator for what seemed like forever, before coming into a small office with a woman sitting at the desk. On the opposite side of the room from which they entered, there was another door which was closed. The nameplate on the woman’s desk said Margaret Pound. 



”He’s waiting for you sir” the woman said to Kai as he nodded and proceeded to open the closed door, unsure of who or what to expect on the other side.

[ Lt. Cross | Holodeck 3 | USS Endeavour ] @trevorvw

As the woman behind the desk informed Kai that someone was waiting for them, addressing Kai as “Sir”, Cross couldn’t help but wonder what they were going to be doing in this holonovel. Kai pushed open the door, which sported a nameplate engraved only with the letter W, and they strode into the office beyond.

They found themselves in a large, well appointed office. Oak panelling covered the walks, punctuated at intervals by tastefully selected artworks depicting old sailing warships and naval battles. The east wall of the office sported two tall windows which were framed by head brown curtains and which overlooked the Thames. Wall-mounted shaded lamps cast a warm yellowish light to the room, and the polished floorboards were covered in the centre of the room by a thick cream-coloured rug which sported a light red paisley pattern. Two small leather chairs sat closest to them, facing a large polished oak desk. Behind the desk sat a short woman in an impeccable black pant-suit with broad white shirt-collar and short-cropped white hair. The woman watched Kai and Cross enter with a stern expression which was visible over steepled fingers. The woman, presumably “W”, rose to her feet as Jillian and Annika crossed the threshold, leaning forward with her palms flat on the polished desktop. The stance gave her an imposing appearance despite her small stature.

“Good evening, everyone. Thank you for coming on such short notice.” W began, looking over each of them in turn. “There’s been a development, and I’m going to be sending you into the field right away.” She straightened, picked up a manila file folder, and walked around the desk. She approached Kai, and handed him the file folder before retreating and leaning back against the desk, half sitting on the edge. The four of them remained standing, as W had not invited them to sit.

“The governments  of the Western Allied nations have been working on a new type of weapon, an electromagnetic array they would be mounted on a satellite. It could potentially be used to wipe out the power grid of any major city on the planet, but more importantly, it could be used to disable both nuclear launch facilities and nuclear missiles that have already been launched. The satellite was launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida 3 days ago.” She paused and gave them a concerned look. “The ability to neutralize nuclear weapons could turn the tide of the stalemate that has kept the Cold War at a standstill. The Western Allies had planned to use this weapon to bring the Soviet Union to the negotiation table in the hopes of ending hostilities across the globe. Yesterday, three of the scientists who had designed the weapon went missing. It is our belief that the Soviets have taken them against their will, and are planning on forcing them to help hijack the satellite.” W cross her arms, her voice hardening. “I don’t need to tell you that, should the weapon fall into Soviet hands, the Soviets would not hesitate to use the weapon with the aim of furthering their goals and the spread of Communism around the globe.” W rose from her perched position on the edge of the desk and moved to look out the window, gazing down on the Thames as she continued to speak.

“I refuse to let that possibility become a reality. Your mission will be to locate and extract the capture scientists, retrieve the satellite access codes, and destroy any copies the Soviets have in their possession.” W turned from the window to face then. “In the event that extraction is not possible, you are authorized to terminate the scientists and use whatever means necessary to deny the Soviets the use of that satellite. They cannot be allowed to gain control of that weapon, do you understand?”

”Yes Ma’am.” Kai said, immediately echoed by the others.

“Good. That file also contained a dossier on one General Gloscovich. He is a high ranking member of the communist party, as well as being in charge of the Soviet’s space warfare program. Our intelligence has him currently travelling back to the Soviet Union from a visit to Cuba. He’ll be making a stop in Bern, Switzerland before making the final leg of his journey home. You will go to Bern, intercept Gloscovich, and ascertain the whereabouts of the abducted scientists.” W sighed before she continued. “As you know, Switzerland is a neutral country, and therefor off limits as far as we’re to be concerned. As such, you cannot afford any mistakes. If you are caught, you will be disavowed. The British Government will deny any knowledge of your existence, and you will most likely be handed over to the Soviets to be executed.”

W walked back around behind her desk and sat in her leather upholstered armchair, giving each of them a level stare.

“You have your orders. Go see Mr. Quincy. He’ll kit you out for the mission and give you your travel details. Good luck to you all. The fate of the free world rests with you.”

With that, W turned her attention to the papers before her on the desk, giving the four of them the impression that they had been dismissed. The four shuffled out of the room and paused in the waiting room once the door was closed.

”This one is a little more in depth than the Victorian holonovel was.” Cross stated, grinning as he looked at his three companions. ”I think this could be fun!”

”Get in character, Wrinkles.” Jillian chided him, ”We’ve got a job to do.”

”And a world to save!” Grinned Annika, looking up at Kai. ”Lead on, fearless leader! We’ve got spying to do!”

“Mr. Quincy is waiting for you the equipment stores in Sub-Basement 4.” Ms. Pound informed them, leaning across her desk to look up at Kai, giving him a sly smile. “Unless you’re finally ready to run off together?”

”Piss off, bitch!” Annika growled as she placed her hands against Kai’s broad back and pushed him towards the elevator. ”This one’s mine!”

Cross could hear Jillian laughing as she took his hand and led him towards the elevators, trailing after Kai and the fuming Annika. She gave his hand a squeeze as they doors opened and they stepped in. Cross hit the button labelled SB4 and they waited as the doors slide shut and the elevator lurched into motion. Cross could feel the sensation of moving downward as the elevator lowered them into the depths beneath the building’s foundation.

[ Lt. Kai Akoni | MI6 HQ | Holodeck 3 | USS Endeavour] @Fife

As the elevator descended towards the sub basement, Kai couldn’t help but think about what their mission was going to entail. It would obviously include ‘extracting information’ from the General in Bern, but also included getting into an enemy country undetected. He couldn’t help but wonder what Quincy would have for them.

As the elevator came to a halt at its desired destination floor, the doors slid open to reveal a large open space, bigger than the shuttlebay aboard the Endeavour. There were about 50 people working on different projects around the open floor plan. There were tanks, sports cars and numerous dummies in varying states of destruction. The quartet disembarked from the elevator and walked forward into the room in a state of awe. A young man with a lab coat on and thick glasses approached them and introduced himself.

”’ello! My name is Quincy and let’s get you all ready to save the world” he sounded chipper and ready to do his part as he lead the group to numerous gadgets and weapons on work benches in the middle of the room.

“As with every other mission, you’ll have access to all of her majesty’s aircraft. You’ll also have the usual firearms. The Walther PPK, silenced of course” he said picking up the black coloured pistol before setting it down and continuing, “AR-7 sniper rifle; BUT you’ll also have some gems I’ve been working on. This here? This looks like an ordinary woman’s necklace, but it contains a small EMP charge that can disable any electronics within 50 feet. Of course if you get into a real sticky situation, it can also double as an explosive charge” the relatively scrawny man said as he showed off a necklace which would be considered quite beautiful if the group hadn’t know it’s true purpose.

Kai glanced around the table and picked up a ring between his index finger and thumb, which caused the scrawny man to panic.

“BE CAREFUL! That can deliver an electric charge strong enough to leave a person unconscious for 30 minutes!” He quickly said before taking the ring from Kai. Kai looked at Annika and shrugged his shoulder as if to convey an ‘oops’.

”Maybe I can borrow that ring and go talk to that secretary upstairs” Annika said with her cute pretend angry face on. Jillian started laughing before she was interrupted by Quincy again.

“All the equipment will be loaded on to the plane for your trip to Bern. Speaking of which, your private plane is scheduled to depart Heathrow at 2330. You’re scheduled to land at 0440 which will give you a window of about 4 hours in which to extract the information from the Soviet General”

The group nodded in acknowledgment before Quincy showed them out of the large room towards a waiting limousine for the ride to Heathrow Airport.

[ Lt. Cross | Holodeck 3 | USS Endeavour ] @trevorvw

Cross was still chuckling at Annika’s comment as the four “agents” clambered into the limousine, Kai and Annika taking the rear-facing bench seat and Jill sitting herself in the forward-facing seat. Cross entered last, crouching in the small space of the passenger compartment and twisting to shut the door behind him, more accustomed to shuttles than automobiles. The driver wasted no time in hitting the accelerator as Cross pulled the door shut behind him, sending Cross sprawling onto the rear seat of the car, his head coming to rest face down in Jill’s lap.

”Down boy!” Jill chastised through a fit of laughter. ”There’ll be plenty of time for that later! We’ve got a General to torture!”

Cross cursed under his breath as he righted himself on the bench seat next to Jillian, his face betraying his embarrassment as it burned a furious shade of red. At that moment the driver began to lower the tinted divider that separated the driver from the passenger compartment, and Cross had to fight the urge to lunge through the gap and twist the driver’s head off.

“There’s a fully stocked bar back there, so feel free to help yourselves!” The driver informed them, looking over his shoulder at them as he spoke. “It’s all proper stuff! Top shelf and all!” The driver continued in a thick cockney accent, glancing back out the front windscreen just in time to swerve the vehicle to the right to avoid slamming into a parked lorry. The sudden motion caused Cross to once again topple into Jill, his hands flailing to find purchase on anything to stop his fall.

He managed to keep himself upright, though only just. As he got his bearings, he realized that while his right hand had managed to brace itself against the door on Jillian’s far side, his left hand was braced directly over Jillian’s right breast. His gaze slowly travelled up from the offending hand to meet Jillian’s amused gaze.

”Hey there, Wrinkles. You having fun down there?” Jillian asked as she fought with all her might might not to break down into uncontrolled laiughter. Cross could hear Kai and Annika howling with laughter across from them as he removed his hand from Jillian’s chest and righted himself on his seat once more. This time he twisted himself to that his back was against the side of the car, with his foot braced to stop him falling towards her once more.

”How did you <fucking> humans get around without inertial dampeners?” Cross growled, eliciting another round of laughter from his companions. The driver had turned his head to face them once again, continuing where he left off.

“As I was saying, it’s all proper stuff. I would recommend the gin, myself. Love the stuff! Never touch the stuff on the job mind you…”

Another shift in inertia sent Cross sprawling forward this time, the driver having glanced forward once again and slammed on the breaks at a red light. The red tinge of Cross’ face seemed to turn to a maroon colour as this time the unfortunate hybrid found himself sprawled on top of Annika.

”Well hello, sir!” Annika giggled with a mock salute as Cross quickly removed himself from his subordinate, casting a panic-sticken look at Kai as he regained his seat once again.

”I know she looks sexy in that dress, Wrinkles, but try and control yourself!” This time Jillian found herself unable to hold back the laughter as she spoke, her whole body shaking as she wiped tears of laughter from her eyes. ”Maybe next time we should just put you in the trunk!”

---

Another 30 minutes and several more inertial mishaps later, the limousine finally pulled up in front of a private hanger at Heathrow Airport. The driver opened his door and hopped out, striding jauntily around the vehicle and opening the door to allow the passengers to disembark. He made the mistake of choosing the door immediately next to Cross, who shakily stepped out of the vehicle and immediately grabbed the driver by his shirt collar. With a curse snarled in Cardassian, Cross began beating the driver’s head into the side of the limo, the banging of the poor man’s face against the side panels almost being drowned out by the laughter of the other three as they climbed out of the car.

”For God’s sake, Cross. Save it for the General!” Jillian said after a moment, having expended a great deal of effort in an attempt to contain her laughter. ”It’s not his fault you don’t know how to sit still!” The scowl Cross gave her only caused the laughter to begin anew, prompting Cross to allow the severely beaten man to fall unmoving to the ground as Cross himself stormed off into the private hanger, muttering under his breathe.

---

Another 45 minutes found them aboard the private plane as it raced down the runway. Cross sat stiffly in his chair, handing maintaining a death-grip on the armrests. His ridged posture was a result not a fear, but rather to ensure that he didn’t go sprawling into anyone as a result o the lack of inertial dampeners in the antiquated aircraft. He had been thrown, against his will, into extremely close encounters with all three of his fellow agents during the limousine ride and had no wish to repeat the experience. Cross still seethed with rage, his teeth grinding as he wished he had beaten the driver a little longer. He remained grimly silent as the others talked among themselves, sitting in a relaxed manner and sipping their drinks as the plane’s wheels lost contact with the earth and the craft soared upwards, banking slightly to correct it’s course.

A flight attendant walked calmly down the aisle, apparently unphased by the shifting of the cabin as the plane soared through the air.

“Are you sure you wouldn’t like something to drink, sir?” The flight attendant asked Cross in a sweet, sympathetic voice. “I know flying can be frightening, but it might help take the edge off your nerves.”

Cross let out a low growl and looked up at the holographic attendant, ordering an Old Fashioned in a voice that was almost strangled with anger and indignation before turning to the others.

”One word, and I’ll nerve-pinch the lot of you!” Cross snarled as he cast a furious glance at his three friends.

[ Lt. Kai Akoni | 30,000 feet above the English Channel | USS Endeavour] @Fife

After Cross' threat at nerve pinching Kai and the ladies caused uproarious laughter for a few minutes, Jillian thought they should get down to work and plan what they were going to do in Bern. 

"Maybe we should figure out what we're doing in Switzerland" Jillian offered up as a suggestion. The rest of the group nodded in silent agreement with that, as Kai pulled out the dossier on General Gloscovich and opened it up, reading the highlights aloud to the team.

"Seems the General served during World War 2 and was there at the Battle of Stalingrad. He was handpicked to be the Chief of the USSR's Space Warfare Program. Intelligence says he has ties to the KGB as well" Kai said as he was interrupted by Annika.

"So needless to say, he's seen some shit" Annika announced as Kai nodded his head.

"Yep. He's about as hardened as they come" Kai confirmed, followed by a sip of his Whiskey before continuing on, "Say here though he has a weakness, he's a bit of a ladies man and prefers brunettes" Kai said while turning his attention to Annika as did the rest of the group.

Annika protested for a few seconds, "Wh..Me? Why?" before she finally relented, "Okay fine...what do I have to do?".

The group then sat in the private plane as they went over the plan of what to do. There was laughter and seriousness sprinkled throughout the plan. They had all decided that this plan was going to be their best chance at capturing the General alive while also ditching his security team.

Kai thought that before they started to arm themselves with the enormous stockpile of weapons on the plane, that the men should change before they arrived in Bern. The women were dressed appropriately for their plan, but the men should go incognito.

Kai reached into a bag sitting on the seat next to him and pulled out two seemingly identical black turtlenecks. He handed one to Cross who took it from the large man and looked down at it, seemingly confused.

"I'm not saying I invented the turtleneck, but I am the first to recognize its potential as a tactical garment. The tactical turtleneck...the tactalneck" Kai finished to bursts of laughter out of the ladies, but the still bewildered look on Cross' face pierced Kai's soul.

"It's okay though Cross, I got you a different colour so it's easier to tell us apart"

"They're both black honey.." Annika pointed out to Kai as she looked at both of the tactical turtlenecks.

"Wha..? Are you kidding? Mine's black and Cross' is a slightly darker shade of black" Kai said matter of factly before thinking they should move on to something Cross and Annika would find much more interesting.

"How about we go arm ourselves?" Kai mentioned which caused a big smile to spread across Annika's face and a small smirk start to appear on Cross' face.

[ Lt. Cross | Holodeck 3 | USS Endeavour ] @trevorvw

Cross rose from his seat and strode several steps toward the rear of the plane, unbuttoning his jacket and shirt as he went. He doffed the garments and tossed them in a heap on one of the chairs before glancing dubiously at the “tactalneck” once again. As far as Cross could tell, it was black. He didn’t know where Kai got this “slightly darker” shade, but he was used to not questioning his friend at this point.

In Cross’ experience, questioning Kai was about as productive as arguing with a bulkhead.

”You know, Wrinkles, most people go somewhere private to get changed…” Jillian chided as he pulled the black turtleneck on over his head. Jillian’s half-joking reprimand brought Annika’s attention to the half-naked hybrid standing in the aisle, the sight of the myriad of scars which adorned his bare torso eliciting a ”Jesus!” from Kai’s paramore.

”Sorry.” Cross muttered, having put his arms through the sleeves of the tactalneck and pulled it to cover his body, tugging it here and there to adjust how it fit on him. ”I still forget that you humans are sensitive about these things. I didn’t really have a concept of modesty until I was liberated by Starfleet. You humans are so shy about bare flesh.” Cross had moved as he spoke, standing next to his seat and resting his left hand on the backrest.

”What the hell happened to your back?” Annika asked, eyes still wide with surprise.

”It’s a long story. Another time, maybe.” Cross replied neutrally before turning his gaze to Kai. ”Let’s crack open the armoury, shall we?”

With that, Cross turned and headed for the rear of the plane. Behind him he heard Kai’s footsteps tell him that the larger man was following. Near the rear of the plane the center aisle veered off to the left to accommodate a large, finely finished lavatory. Cross entered the lavatory, followed by Kai and the two women. Cross reached out and placed his index finger on the edge of the large wooden-framed mirror, sliding it down the edge of the frame until it felt an irregularity in the wood. Cross pressed his finger into the irregularity, depressing the button and causing the mirror to slide sideways into the wall.

As the mirror disappeared from view, the recess behind it was left open to their view. Inside was multiple racks mounted on the wall, supporting an assortment of firearms and equipment. Cross still had his Walther PPK in a holster in the small of his back, and now removed a silencer from it’s place in the weapons locker, along with a second pistol, a Colt 1911 this time, and a Skorpion vz. 61 machine pistol with two additional magazines. He pulled out a drawer below the mirror and extracted a single-point sling for the machine pistol and a shoulder holster for the Colt, then moved to the side to allow the others to access to the weapons locker as he shrugged into the holster and slid the Colt into it so that it was housed just under his left armpit.

”You know this is supposed to be a covert extraction, right? We’re not waging a ground war against the General’s bodyguards.” Jillian teased him, smiling as she shook her head.

”And if things don’t go as planned?” Cross asked as he clipped the sling to the Skorpion and positioned it so that the machine pistol hung down along his right side. ”Is Annika supposed to seduce the whole security detail?” Annika’s face reddened slightly as Cross grinned and squeezed out of the lavatory, moving to a small door which contained a variety of clothing further aft in the aircraft. Cross felt glad that he had done a bit of reading about the scenario’s kit selection as he selected a black overcoat and donned it, the coat covering him down to just above his knees and easily concealing the small arsenal of weapons he now carried. Cross slipped the spare magazines for the Skorpion into the coat’s right pocket, and deposited a spare mag for the Colt and two for the PPK in the left pocket.

”There.” Cross said as the other three filed out of the lavatory with their chosen equipment. ”Everything’s concealed. They’ll have no reason to suspect I’m carrying anything.”

”You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?” Annika asked, regarding her CO with a suspicious expression.

”Of course he is.” Jillian grinned, walking up to him and throwing her arms around his neck. She planted a playful kiss on Cross’ lips and then pulled her face back. She gave him a sly look and asked, ”Is that a gun or are you just happy to see me, Wrinkles?”.

Cross’ face took on a green colour at Jillian’s teasing as he blushed, causing the blonde to giggle as she pulled away.

”I think Annika should go unarmed on this leg of the operation.” Cross said, glancing between the other three members of the team. ”If she’s going to try and lure the General away with her… charms…” Cross’ cheeks coloured again, the hybrid still uncomfortable with anything pertaining to romance or intimacy despite his relationship with Jillian. ”We don’t want to General to discover any weapons if he has…” Cross paused again, the green tinge in his cheeks darkening. ”Wandering hands.”

At that moment the flight attendant approached the group. The holographic woman glanced at Kai with an alluring look, which in turn earned her a venomous glare from Annika.

“Can I ask you all to take your seats, please?” The hologram asked, her tone sweet but firm. “You have a license to kill, not to loiter in the aisle of my aircraft.”

”Ok, let’s go over the plan again.” Cross said as they took their seats once more. ”General Gloscovich will be checking into his room at the hotel near the airport 45 minutes after we land. He has an escort of four soldiers, as well as his personal assistant. It’s been arranged for us to be in the adjoining suite, where the three of us will wait.” Cross continued, looking at Kai and Jillian. He paused in his recap of their plan as the flight attendant returned, carrying a tray with new drinks for them. Once he had a fresh Old Fashioned in his hand and the stewardess was retreating, Cross continued. ”Annika will make contact with Gloscovich…”

”Yeah she will…” Jillian interjected as she gave Annika a cheeky grin. Annika in turn stuck her tongue out at Jillian before the two broke out in laughter. Cross simple rolled his eyes and took a long sip from his drink as he gave Kai a sidelong glance as if to say “I give up, you deal with them.”.

[ Lt. Kai Akoni | 34,000 feet above Besancon, France | USS Endeavour] @Fife

”You deal with them” Cross said in exasperation before returning to drinking his Old Fashioned. Kai in turn giggled about Cross’ frustration.

Kai picked up reiterating the plan after Cross gave up, ”Alright so Annika will make contact with the General pretending to be slightly drunk and looking for some ‘fun’”Kai said making air quotes with both hands before continuing, ”She’ll then try to bring him back to our hotel room. If she can’t bring him back to our room, she can go to his room. At most the General will have two guards stationed outside his room, with two more in the lobby downstairs and his handler in a separate room within the hotel.”

He looked over to Annika, ”Try to bring him back to our room though, that’s the primary plan” Kai finished and put his hand on her left knee, which in turn she put her hand on top of Kai’s. Kai smiled at Annika as she did it.

”Hopefully we can extract the information in a short amount of time” Jillian added, to which the group agreed that they hoped so as well.

The holographic flight attendant walked back to where the group was sitting when she put a hand on Kai’s right shoulder and rubbed it slightly before she announced, “The Captain asked me to let you know that we will begin our descent in a few minutes” after which she winked at Kai.

Annika was incensed at this and loudly proclaimed, ”Bitch, fuck off!” before taking Kai’s silenced Walther PPK from its shoulder holster and aiming it at the flight attendant’s head before pulling the trigger once. The 7.65 millimetre hollow point lead projectile left the muzzle of the pistol at 308 metres per second, entering the skull of the holographic flight attendant before Annika’s brain had registered that she had pulled the trigger. The holographic bullet entered the skull right between the eyes and exited from the skull just above the C1 vertebrae and logged itself in a seat on the other side of the plane before the holographic flight attendant’s body had even moved or reacted to the shot. There was none of the usual blood, bone or brain matter present as one would expect since the flight attendant wasn’t supposed to be shot, so it wasn’t written in as a parameter for this part of the program.

The group just stared at Annika after they processed what had happened, with their mouths agape.

”Woah.. Jillian said in disbelief while Kai slowly took the pistol back from Annika before putting it back in its holster.

”What? Everyone else gets guns, I just wanted to shoot something” Annika said.

”Is it out of your system now?” Kai said chuckling, which seemed to ease the tension in the plane, ”Now let’s get ready to get this done, oh and Annika, no more shooting flight attendants” Kai concluded and then felt the airplane start to descend from its cruising altitude.

[ Lt. Cross | Holodeck 3 | USS Endeavour ] @trevorvw

Due to the fact that the flight attendant was not programed to be shot, or react to being shot, she did not react in any way. The program registered that there was supposed to be a hole in her head from the holographic bullet, but that’s as far as it went.

Thus, Cross stared at the attendant with wide eyes as she calmly turned to him as though nothing had happened, finding it slightly unnerving that he would see the plane’s cabin wall through a tiny gap in the flight attendant’s face.

“Would you care for a refill of your drink, sir?” The attendant asked in a sweet tone and Cross gaped at her wide eyed.

”Uh…” Cross hesitated, staring at the hole in the woman’s head for another moment before turning his eyes down to his mostly empty glass. He returned his gaze to the hologram, his eyes widening once more as the damaged yet smiling face of the attendant came back into view. ”Y-yes please.” He stammered, still unsure of what to think of the situation. As the attendant asked the others if they would like refills and then headed off to get the requested drinks, Cross turned his uncertain gaze to the other three, and suddenly they were all laughing.

”That was… interesting.” Cross muttered as he took a sip of his fresh drink.

”Apparently Annika just shouldn’t have a weapon!” Jillian giggled. ”She’s unstable!”

”Back to the plan.” Cross said, shaking his head and fighting back a smile. ”Once we’ve got the General separated from his guards and handler, we’ll extract the location of the missing scientists. Once we’ve got what we need, we’ll dispose of the General and move on to the next phase of the plan.” Cross paused and shrugged. ”Though that will probably have to be another day. We’ve only got the holodeck for another two hours.”

”Way to ruin the magic, Wrinkles…” Jillian said, giving Cross a gentle elbow in the ribs.

[This is the Captain speaking.] Came a voice over the plane’s comm system. [We’re on our final approach and should be landing at Bern International Airport in the next 10 minutes.]

”Ok. So we need to get moving as soon as we land so we’re ready for when the General gets to the hotel.” Cross reiterated.

”Once we get to the hotel I’ll help slutty up Annika’s makeup.” Jillian said, giving her friend a cheeky grin at her friend. "Not that she needs much help."

”Bitch!” Annika fire back in response before both women broke into laughter.

Several minutes later the plane shook as the wheels once again made contact with the Earth, and everyone could feel the plane decelerate. The plane taxied to a private hanger at the far end of the airport, the door to the hanger already open to allow the plane inside. As the four disembarked and made for the waiting car, Annika and Jillian continued to chat while Cross and Kai trailed behind.

”All I’m going to say is I hope she never sees someone flirt with you on the Endeavour…” Cross said quietly so as not to be overheard by the women. ”We’d have members of the crew “going missing” out the airlock.”

[ Lt. Kai Akoni | Bern, Switzerland | Holodeck 3| USS Endeavour] @Fife

"All I'm going to say is I hope she never sees someone flirt with you on the Endeavour...we'd have members of the crew "going missing" out the airlock." Cross said quietly to Kai as they trailed the ladies on the way to the waiting car.

Kai returned Cross' comment with a slight smirk but didn't verbally admit that Cross was probably right, although Kai doubted that Annika would do something like that.

As the car made its way through the streets of Bern, the quartet went over their plans again. Even though it would have been easier for them to use a holographic representation of the hotel, due to being set in the late 1960s they had to make use of printed photographs and blueprints. After they went over the plan, Kai was confident that the plan to capture the General would be a success, however, he wasn't sure if they'd be able to extract the information from him in time. 

Kai thought for a moment and decided that Cross should be the one to interrogate the General as Cross was on the receiving end of some abuse whilst on Bajor before Starfleet liberated him.

"Once we have the General, you can interrogate him Cross...using any and all means necessary" Kai said to the hybrid and winked at the end of the statement.

Just as he finished his wink, the car turned down a darkened back alley and came to an abrupt stop at the rear of the hotel. A Swiss police officer opened the door of the car and assisted Annika and Jill out of the car before turning towards the two men just exiting the vehicle.

"Dein Zimmer ist 700 Herr" the officer said in what Kai was German.

"I'm sorry? I don't speak German" Kai responded almost immediately

"Your...room is on ze zeventh floor. Zeven Zero Zero" the officer replied in somewhat passable English.

"Danke" Kai spoke, saying Thanks in German, to which Annika gave a look as if to say 'I'm impressed'.

They made their way to room 700 and entered it. Jill immediately started to work on Annika's makeup in order to make it 'slutty' and the men checked their firearms and made sure they were loaded. Once that was all done, Kai reiterated the plan one more time before they put it into action.

"Okay, so Annika will run into the General in the hotel bar and pretend to be intoxicated and try to pick him up. Meanwhile Jill will be sitting at a table with Cross while they observe both Annika and the General. Once Annika and the General leave, Cross and Jill you haul ass back up to this room. I will be sitting in the lobby reading a newspaper and wait until Annika boards the elevator before I start to look for her. Make sense everyone?" Kai asked at the end to nods from everyone else present in the room. Kai made sure he had his electrocution ring on and turned to Annika.

"Good luck! Okay, let's go people" he said and the group left the room and started to put their plan in motion.

[ Lt. Cross | Holodeck 3 | USS Endeavour ] @trevorvw

”Jill and I will go down now and get a table. Annika, wait five minutes before you head down to the bar. It would be best if we arrive at different times.” Cross said and he finish checking his weapons, concealing the last of them back in it’s holster beneath his overcoat. ”If anything goes wrong, get down. We’ll have to do this the messy way if things goes south.”

”First you bury your face in her crotch in the car, not you’re talking about her getting down and going south? Should I be jealous, Wrinkles?” Jillian asked with a sly grin, giving Annika a wink as Cross’ face coloured a deep shade of green. Cross stalked out the hotel room door, the sound of the other three’s laughter trailing into the hallway after him. Down the hall he stalked, stopping only once he reached the elevator. His finger punched the button violently, the anger of the button’s depression failing to spur the elevator to a sense of urgency.

”Don’t be mad, Wrinkles!” Jillian cooed, sauntering up behind the hybrid and wrapping her arms around him from the back. ”I can’t help it! You’re just so cute when you turn green!”

”I’m not mad.”

”Yes you are. And it’s adorable.” The blonde retorted, moving around him so that she stood facing him. ”I’m sorry! It’s just so easy to tease you! And if I make you mad, it just means we get to make up later!” Jillian giggled, finally breaking the stony expression Cross had been wearing. ”Yeah, I know you like that idea.” Jillian teased, pressing herself against him and pecking him on the cheek. She pulled away as the elevator dinged, heralding it’s arrival. ”Oops! Time’s up! Off to work!”

Cross growled as he followed the blonde woman into the open elevator, unable to understand how someone could be so endearing and yet so annoying at the same time.

As they rode the elevator in silence, Jillian stood in front of him and leaned against him, resting her head back against his chest. Cross could smell her hair, the scent making him desire her, which only served to frustrate him more in his current foul mood.

I better get to shoot someone soon… Cross though bitterly, fighting the urge to reach his hand inside his jacket to caress the machine pistol’s grip. Then the elevator doors slid open with another ding and Jillian had pranced off into the lobby, smiling her dazzling smile over her shoulder at him. Cross felt his frown slacken again as he followed her path, catching up to her when she paused to wait for him at the entrance to the hotel bar.

”Don’t think you’re going to get me drunk, now!” Jillian teased, slipping her arm around Cross’ waist and smiling up at him. ”This isn’t that sort of holoprogram, your perv!”

Cross rolled his eyes at the blonde pain in the ass, even as a smile spread across his face. They strode through the bar’s entrance and headed for a table in the corner which commanded a full view fo the small establishment. They wouldn’t be able to hear what Annika and Gloscovich said at the bar, but they’d be able to keep a close eye on the woman. They seated themselves and ordered drinks when a waitress came by their table, then sat and sipped their drinks as they waited for the brunette to make her appearance. Cross could see a man at the bar that he recognized from the dossier picture. Gloscovich was sitting alone at the bar drinking vodka, apparently neat. Five minutes passed, and still no Annika.

”Maybe I sluttied her up too much… think they’re having a quickie before she head down?”

”Have you ever noticed you reference sex a lot?”

”Is that a complaint, Wrinkles?”

Cross paused for a long moment, looking at the beautiful woman that for some reason had taken a liking to him. ”No…” He finally admitted, his cheeks colouring again.

Jillian’s laugh rang through the whole bar just as Annika sauntered through the entrance, looking alluring and tipsy, drawing the eye of almost every man in the establishment, Gloscovich’s included.

”Game on.” Cross muttered over the rim of his glass before taking a sip.

”Sounds like my kind of sport. We’ll have to play a game later.” Jillian said, running her foot up Cross’ leg under the table. Cross tried desperately to keep his attention on Annika and Gloscovich out of the corner of his eye, though found it exceedingly difficult as he choked on his drink.

Annika was leaning heavily on the bar as though she required to support to remain upright. She flashed the bartender a smile and ordered a drink. As the bartender rushed off at an unnecessary pace to fulfill to order, Gloscovich edged up next to the apparently drunk bombshell.

”She’s in.”

”You keep talking dirty like that and you’ll be "in" later tonight, Wrinkles.” Jillian cooed, causing Cross to choke and sputter on his Old Fashioned for a second time in just a few minutes. He saw Gloscovich place a hand on Annika's thigh even as Annika's drink arrived, the scene unfolding to the sound of Jillian laughing at him.

[ Lt. Kai Akoni | Bern, Switzerland | Holodeck 3 | USS Endeavour] @Fife

Cross and Jill had just left the hotel room to head down to the hotel bar and wait for Annika to arrive and she was to flirt with the General.

Kai turned to Annika with a shit eating grin on his face and spoke, ”Soooo…we do have 5 minutes..” while raising his eyebrows suggestively.

Annika moved in closer to Kai and put her right hand on his left chest and moved it lower very slowly and very seductively.

”That’s true mister” Annika replied as she softly bit her lower lip as if she was conflicted. Annika then brushed her hand over Kai’s genitals, from the outside of his pants.

”Oops…how’d that happen?” She said looking up to look in Kai’s eyes. Kai was irresistibly attracted to Annika and after she had started being so seductive, he had to have her now. Kai went in to kiss Annika, but ended up kissing the palm of her hand instead. He pulled back slightly confused and looked at her.

”Tell you what, after we’re done in the holodeck, you can take me home and undress me. You can do anything to me” the petite brunette woman leaned in closer and whispered, ”and I do mean anything..” as she winked at Kai started to push him towards the door. 

”But 5 minutes isn’t up yet!” Kai protested, even though he knew Annika was right.

”Well if we don’t leave this room now, we aren’t going to be leaving at all” Annika started to laugh, even though it was hard to stop it from happening now. She sighed as she finally got Kai out the door.

Kai made his way down to the lobby where he was to read a newspaper while waiting for the rest of the plan to progress. As he walked through the main lobby to the sitting area, he passed the entrance to the bar and saw Jill and Cross sitting at a table. Kai noticed that Cross had a green tinge to his face, as he usually did when with Jill. Kai was happy for his friend as Jill brought out the best in Cross and was helping to bring him out of his shell. This gorgeous woman, for whatever reason, had fallen for Cross and he was too awkward to fully appreciate it.

Jill has the patience of a saint Kai thought to himself as he sat down in one of the large leather bound chairs and picked up a newspaper. Kai unfolded the newspaper to read it and noticed Annika walk by on her way to the bar.

Better late than never Kai pondered about what could have been, especially a few minutes ago in the hotel room.

From where Kai was, he couldn’t see what was exactly going on between Gloscovich and Annika, but he assumed that since Cross hadn’t opened fire on everybody, things must be going okay.

Just then, Kai noticed a man enter the front door of the hotel. The man stood about 180 centimetres, with dark brown hair with some greying on the temples. He looked familiar to Kai, but he couldn’t quite place his finger on it. Kai stared at the man and the newspaper and was trying desperately to figure out who he was. The man made his way quickly into the bar and as the man crossed the threshold to the bar, Kai had an epiphany about who the man was.

Gloscovich’s KGB handler

”Shhhittt..." Kai muttered under his breath and hoped to hell that the plan was still going to work.

[ Lt. Cross | Holodeck 3 | USS Endeavour ] @trevorvw

Cross had finally managed to get his breath back after choking at a third comment Jillian had made, this time involving choking noises, and was regarding the bar with a scowl as though to dare any of the oblivious patrons to laugh at his repeated difficulty in getting his drink down. That’s when he saw the man approaching Annika and Gloscovich.

Jillian jumped in surprise as Cross’ right hand darted into his coat and emerged again holding the Colt 1911, which immediately disappeared underneath a napkin that Cross placed in his lap. Jillian glanced in Annika’s direction out of the corner of her eye with a worried expression, leaning in towards Cross as though she was trying to seduce him.

”Who is that?” She asked, reaching out and placing her hand on Cross’ right wrist in an attempt to stay his hand and prevent him opening fire.

”His picture was in the dossier.” Cross replied without taking his eyes off the man. ”He’s Gloscovich’s handler from that Russian intelligence agency.”

”The KGB?”

”Yeah, that. Cross confirmed.

”Well stop staring at him! You’ll give us away!” Jillian hissed, reaching up with her hand and grabbing Cross’ face. She turned it to face her and locking her lips against his just as the KGB agent turned away from the General to survey the bar. Cross was caught by surprise, and found himself startled to inactivity, enjoying the taste of the Cosmo on the blonde science officer’s lips. When Jillian finally released him, Cross pulled his head back and stared at her for a moment with his unblinking eyes for a long minute.

Finally he forced himself to focus on the situation, and looked over just in time to see the KGB operative leaving the bar alone. Gloscovich was still at the bar and still focusing on Annika, though his hand had advanced several inches up her thigh.

”Looks like the plan is still on.” Cross muttered as he eased the Colt back into it’s holster.

”You don’t have to look so sad about it!” Jillian chastised with a smile as her grabbed the hand the Cross was in the process of removing from his coat. She interlocked her fingers with his and let their hands and entwined digits drop and come to rest on the table. ”We should take some leave sometime soon. Go somewhere nice like Risa.” Jillian suggested, looking at Cross and giving him a warm smile. ”Just the two of us. Wouldn’t that be great?”

Cross stared at Jillian for a moment, caught off guard by the sudden suggestion. ”It would be.” He finally replied, his expression warming as he squeezed her hand.

”And you can hold my hand all you want.” Jillian said with a wink. ”And anything else you want. But for now, you have a Russian to torture.” As she spoke, Jillian nodded her head to direct Cross’ attention to the door. Cross turned his head in time to see the General leaving the bar, guiding Annika through the doors with his hand on her behind.

”Kai may want to help with the interrogation after he sees that…” Cross mused with a chuckle as he and Jill rose from their seats and made their way out of the bar. They made their way through the hotel lobby and down the hallway towards the elevators. They passed General Gloscovich as he tried to help the “drunk” Annika keep her footing as she pretended to be having trouble with her heels in her intoxicated state. Cross and Jillian reached the elevators and rode it to the 7th floor and immediately went to their room. Once inside they went about drawing the blinds and turning off the lights, plunging the room into darkness. Then they concealed themselves in the bathroom and waited.

Several minutes passed before they heard the door to the room unlock. They could see light through the gap beneath the bathroom door, and beyond the door they could hear the drunken laughter of Annika and the General. Cross heard Annika excuse herself from the General for a moment, claiming the need to “powder her nose”. Cross and Jillian moved away from the door as Annika entered, closing the door behind her.

”He’s a fucking perv.” Annika hissed quietly with a scowl on her face. ”Give him hell, sir.”

At those words, Cross’ features broke out in a cold grin. He reached underneath his coat and extracted the Walther PPK while at the same time pulling the silencer from his coat pocket. Cross directed a wink in Jill’s direction as he screwed the silencer into place, then reached out and twisted the knob of the bathroom door.

”Where are you, my little duckling?” Came the heavily accented voice of the General. ”Should we have another drink while we get more comfortable?”

”Thanks.” Cross said as he strode out of the bathroom holding the PPK down by his side. ”But I'm not thirsty.” A cry of alarm escaped the General’s mouth as Cross levelled the pistol and fired once. The bullet took the General through the right knee, destroying bone, tendon and muscle alike as it made it’s way through the leg and buried itself in the sofa the General had been sitting on moments before. ”And I don’t think you’re going to be very comfortable over the next little while, General.”

The General let out an agonized cry and he collapsed to the floor, clutching his leg and looking in fear as the strangest looking man he had ever seen advanced on him.

---

Several minutes later the door to the room opened and Kai stepped quickly inside, closing the door behind him.

”Ah, Kai. Welcome.” Cross said with a pleasant voice and a warm smile that was somewhat spoiled by the blood spatter on his face. ”Meet General Gloscovich. He has informed me that he has no intention of telling us anything. I’ve been… explaining… to the good General that he has taken an unwise stance on the matter.” Cross stated as he stepped aside so Kai could see the General.

Gloscovich was tied to a chair in the middle of the room, stark naked besides a gag that was stuffed into his mouth. The man’s left knee was a bloody mess, and his nose was bent as an unnatural angle. His brow, nostril and lip had all split in the process of Cross “explaining” the General’s mistake, and blood ran down the bound man’s face and bare chest, making him appear pitiful and gruesome.

”You know Wrinkles, if you take the gag out before you beat him some more, he might actually be able to say something in between punches.”

”I’ll leave that decision up to our fearless leader.” Cross said as he cast a grin in Kai’s direction. ”He may have been trying to reveal the location of the scientists. It’s been hard to tell with the gag muffling his words.”

[ Lt. Kai Akoni | Room 700 | Bern, Switzerland | Holodeck 3 | USS Endeavour] @Fife

Kai was both surprised and not surprised by what he saw in the room with what Cross had done to Gloscovich. He saw that the General had been stripped naked, gagged and of course his knee was a hot mess of twisted tissue, blood and bone.

Cross sure likes shooting people in the knee Kai thought to himself, which in turn brought a smirk to his face.

"He may have been trying to reveal the location of the scientists. It's been hard to tell with the gag muffling his words.” Cross had said to Kai with a grin on his face. He seemed to be thoroughly enjoying this part of the holonovel.

Kai crouched down next to Gloscovich and removed the gag from his mouth. The general coughed and sputtered for a few seconds before finding his voice.

”You will pay for this!” he yelled in Kai’s face.

”I’m going to have to disagree with you General” Kai said in an extremely calm voice, ”If you tell us what we need to know, you will live. If you don’t tell us, then life will become unpleasant for you shortly. It’s your choice.”

The General didn’t even ponder it for a second before he spat in Kai’s face. Kai stood up from the crouched position and slowly wiped the spit off of his face.

”Wrong choice my friend” as he reached into a bag and pulled out two metal spikes, approximately 15 centimetres long and 3 centimetres in diameter. Kai took one in each hand, with the sharp point pointed down. He walked over to the General calmly and promptly and efficiently drove the spikes into each leg of Gloscovich just above the knees. The spikes promptly embedded themselves in the General’s femurs. This caused the Russian man to scream in pain and his body to violently shake as a reaction to what had just happened. The man fought against the restraints to no avail.

”Did that jog your memory?” Kai asked the man, to which he had received no response.

Kai moved one metre to his right and grabbed the lamp off the desk. He grasped the power cord at the base of the lamp with his right hand, while holding the lamp in his left hand. He pulled the power cord from the base of the lamp and sat the lamp down. Kai then separated the now bare end of the power cord into two distinct pieces, still attached to the plug in, in the wall. Kai touched the two ends of the wire together momentarily which produced a small spark. 

Kai moved the wires towards the spikes in the General’s legs. He touched one bare end of the wire to the spike in Gloscovich’s left leg. Before he touched the spike in his right leg, he gave the man another opportunity.

”Last chance…” the man still failed to reply.

Kai then touched the wire to the spike in the naked man’s right leg and completed the circuit. The man’s entire body started involuntarily spasming, the man tried to scream in pain, but the electricity now coursing through his body, prevented him from making any sound or even opening his mouth. Kai removed the wire from the right spike after 5 seconds, giving the man the opportunity to think about whether to tell them the info they required or not.

”Hey cool…smells like burning!” Jill said which caused Kai and Annika both to chuckle.

”How’s the memory General?” Kai asked the man.

”Go fuck yourselves!" the injured man screamed at the room, to no one in particular.

Kai then turned to Cross, ”What do you think Cross? More electricity or do you have something else up your sleeve?”

[ Lt. Cross | Holodeck 3 | USS Endeavour ] @trevorvw

Cross had retrieved a hand towel from the bathroom and had been wiping blood form his face and hands as he watched as Kai electrocuted the General. The Russian seemed tough. It would take some doing to get the information out of him. Cross turned to Annika before he answered Kai.

”What did the other man say to the General in the bar?”

”He said their flight had been moved up, and they would leave in two hours. We’ve probably got about an hour and a half before he’ll be missed.” Annika replied.

Cross grinned as he turned his attention back to the General. ”An hour and a half, General. That’s a long time before anyone comes looking for you.” Cross took several steps towards where the General was sitting, stopping just in front of him and leaning forward. ”They think you’re having a good time with a beautiful woman, General. They aren’t going to miss you for quite some time.” Cross punctuated the statement by driving his fist into the General’s face, sending blood from the General’s already damaged visage spattering across the carpet of the hotel room. Cross retrieved the gag from the floor where Kai and dropped it and stuffed it back into the General’s mouth. ”I don’t want you spitting, General. So I’m going to work for a little while before I remove the gag and we ask you again. Keep that in mind when you answer next time.” Cross glanced at Kai and gave his friend a dark grin. ”Perhaps you can give our friend here another jolt to make sure he’s awake. We wouldn’t want him to doze off.”

Cross stepped back as Kai moved forward. He watched as the General screamed and spasmed from the electrical current passing through his body, his eyes bulging and rolling back in his head. After a moment, Kai removed the wires form the metal spikes, and the General slumped forward in the chair, breathing heavily.

”You seem like you’re enjoying this.” Jillian said quietly beside Cross, leaning lightly against him.

”You know I have trouble controlling my emotions.” He replied softly, glancing at the blonde woman who for some reason cared for him. Jillian noticed a strange look in his eyes. ”Especially my anger. This is oddly… calming… for me.” Jillian saw that Cross had a strange look in his eyes, a cold look that made a shiver run up her spine.

”He’s all yours, Cross.” Kai informed him with a wink. Cross smiled and strode forward again, this time crouching in front of the General.

”It hurts, doesn’t it?” Cross said, placing his right hand on the General’s left as if making a comforting gesture. ”It will stop hurting if you tell us what we need to know. I’m not going to remove the gag yet. I want you to understand what will happen is you continue to be uncooperative.” As Cross finished speaking he shifted his hand that rested on the General’s, gripping the General’s index finger. A snapping noise could be heard as Cross wrenched the finger upwards, followed immediately by more muffled screams from the General. Cross looked up form the disfigured digit and into the General’s face, seeing the bulging eyes that were tearing up from the pain. The General began to scream again, seemed to be trying to say “No” over and over and Cross took hold of the middle finger of the same hand, wrenching that finger up with the same results as the first one. The General sobbed as Cross took hold of the hand’s ring finger, shaking his head and making muffled noises as though pleading for Cross to stop. The screams resumed once again following the third snapping noise.

”I’m going to remove your gag in a moment.” Cross informed the General once he had calmed down. ”I would suggest that you cooperate this time. If not, it wil be some time before I give you another chance to speak.” Cross reached up with his left hand as though he were about to remove the gag, then gripped the General’s pinky finger and repeated the wrenching motion, setting the unsuspecting General into a new bout of screaming and thrashing. When he had finally calmed, Cross looked into teh General's eyes and spoke again.


"You should be happy, General. This is child's play compared to what the Cardassians did to me." Cross informed the agonized Russian in a tone devoid of any emotion. "I think it would be a good idea to cooperate before we have to become more creative with out methods."

Cross finally pulled the gag from Gloscovich’s mouth and rose form his crouching position, stepping aside to allow Kai to address the General once again.

[ Lt. Kai Akoni | Bern, Switzerland | Holodeck 3 | USS Endeavour] @Fife

After Cross had taken the gag out of Gloscovich’s mouth, he stepped aside to let Kai address the man once again.

The naked and injured man looked both confused and in pain. He struggled to fully comprehend what was happening.

”Cardassians? What is that?” the man inquired, seemingly unable to process the situation. The man’s eyes darted around the room; searching for the answers he would never get.

”Just tell us what we need to know General, then this can all stop” Kai told the General.

The man resisted answering the question, to which Kai put his large hand around the man’s broken fingers and squeezed. Gloscovich writhed in pain and tried to pull away, but Kai had the upper hand; no pun intended.

Kai squeezed the man’s fingers for approximately 20 seconds when the Russian started to show signs of wanting to talk.

”Okay…okay…if I tell you what you want to know, you’ll let me go?”

”Of course we will…” Annika replied in her sweetest voice with the slight hint of her Dutch accent showing through.

The General looked at the four of them in the room as if to see if the brunette woman was telling the truth. The others had their poker faces on and they must have been good ones, because the General started to sing like a canary.

”Okay…i’ll tell you, but it won’t matter. You’ll never get close enough anyways. The scientists and satellite are at our space port in Zvezdograd."

Was the man lying? Kai didn’t think so. The dossier included possible locations for Soviet space launches, and Zvezdograd was on that list. It seemed like a genuine answer from the General. His eyes hadn’t dilated and his respirations didn’t seem to change. They would have if he had lied.

”Thank you General” Kai said as he turned away from the man, who appeared to have a wave of relief come over his face, ”Cross, free the man” he said before passing Cross who was simultaneously reaching into his jacket to pull out his firearm and levelled it at the man’s head.

Kai had his back to Cross and the General when it happened.

BOOM was the deafening sound that reverberated around the room.

[ Lt. Cross | Holodeck 3 | USS Endeavour ] @trevorvw

Cross watched the General spasm as the bullet tore through the bone and tissue of his chest. Blood poured out of the wound in the center of Gloscovich’s chest, sending a red cascade down the bare skin of the Russian’s torso.

”You… said…” Gloscovich choked out the words, most likely attempting to protest that Kai had said they’d let him live. Cross never found out if his guess was correct, however. Instead he silenced the General with another round from his Colt 1911, this time through the head. The General’s body continued to spasm as the chair fell backwards, slamming down on the floor.

Then the General was still. Cross stepped forward to look down at the General’s face, noting the look or surprise that was permanently etched on the dead hologram’s features. A pool of red blood spread slowly from beneath the General’s head, staining the carpet of the hotel room.

”Who needs counselors when you have holonovels?” Cross asked aloud, speaking to no one in particular. Then he took aim and fired a third round into the General’s body, the round entering the General’s head just below the role left by the second round.

”Jesus, Cross.” Jillian sighed, shaking her head at her boyfriend’s anger issues.

”I think you might want to stick with the counsellors, sir.” Annika giggled, then nudged Jill with her elbow. ”Your boyfriend’s a maniac! Call security!”

”Screw that. You deal with him.” Kai chuckled.

”You know I can hear you all talking, right?” Cross asked, looking up from the General’s body to give his friends a scowl.

”Oh, shut up and put the gun away, Wrinkles.” Jillian laughed, still shaking her head at the angry hybrid.

”So now we’re off to Zurblaghistan?” Annika asked, intentionally butchering the name that she didn’t remember or care to try and pronounce.

”Maybe we should leave a tip for the cleaners…” Cross said, looking down at the growing stain on the carpet. The comment received another round of chuckles from his friends, causing his face to take on it’s green tint once more.

”It’s a good thing you’re cute, Wrinkles.” Jillian laughed, giving Cross a wink.

”I don’t see how you think that…” Annika muttered, moving to stand next to Kai. ”Now this… this is a cute man.”

”Still here…” Cross growled.

”Hey, Wrinkles it totally cute! Is a scary, awkward sort of way! I mean, he’s…”

Jillian was cut off by the crack of three more gunshots. They all turned to see Cross lower the pistol which had again been fired into the General’s body.

”If everyone is finished debating my cuteness, I think our reservation on the holodeck is almost up.” Cross said, his voice calm and level but his cheeks burning a vivid green. ”I think we should end off here for today. I’m going to need a drink if I’m forced to listen to much more of this.”

”Aww, Wrinkles!” Jillian cooed, walking up and hugging him. ”Don’t be mad!” As she spoke, she pressed herself against him and nuzzled his neck. ”I’ll just have to make it up to you later.” Cross, aware that Kai and Annika were both still looking at him, turned a deeper shade of green and said nothing. Instead he pushed away from Jillian slightly and holstered the pistol her still held.

”Computer, save progress and end program.” Cross said aloud. The computer’s voice acknowledged his command and terminated the program, causing the scenery around them to disappear. The hotel room was replaced with black walls and floor, the floor covered in a grid of yellow lines. The doors were visible in the wall behind them, appearing in the same place the hotel room door had been.

”Well,” Jillian said, looking around the group as she moved closer to Cross once more. ”Should we all go for a drink to toast the General’s demise? Or are you two eager to call it a day and go enjoy how well I sluttied Annika up?” The question earned a chuckle from Cross, who was happy to find he was no longer the target of the jokes, and a friendly glower from Annika, who was all too aware how much Kai enjoyed how “sluttied up” she was at present.

[ Lt. Kai Akoni | Holodeck 3 | USS Endeavour] @Fife
"Should we all go for a drink to toast the General's demise? Or are you two eager to call it a day and go enjoy how well I sluttied Annika up?" Jill asked, which had caused a small chuckle from Cross. Annika gave Jill a mock angry face and Kai already knew the answer, which he didn't hesitate to offer quickly.

"Oh I think we all know the answer to that one! Kai said as he put his arm around the beautiful woman next to him; while simultaneously winking at the other couple in the room.

Kai's immediate response was enough to garner even more chuckles from both Cross and Jill.

"Ok you two..have fun!" Jill began as both her and Cross started walking towards the door, "Remember...no noise complaints" causing her to laugh as she left the doors of the holodeck.

"Any idea what you want to do mister?" Annika asked Kai while intertwining the fingers from her left hand with Kai's right hand.

"You?" Kai said/asked matter of factly.

This caused Annika to burst into laughter as she tried to cuddle into him and rested her head on his left bicep. The two left the holodeck and made their way to their quarters. It was a fairly short walk and Annika stayed as cuddled up to Kai as she could. Kai could smell the intoxicating aroma from Annika. It was a mixture of perfume and her pheromones. All he knew was it was his favourite smell.

They had arrived at their quarters and entered them. Annika said that she was going to put her shoes away and asked Kai to replicate her a drink. Kai went to the replicator and placed the usual order, for one whiskey and one Cosmo. He picked them up off the pad after they materialized and brought the whiskey up to his lips and took a sip before turning around. As he turned around he was surprised to see Annika standing there, naked. She smiled at him and playfully bit her lower lip. Kai smiled back at her and put the drinks down on the table next to him.

"well, I guess the drinks can wait" he playfully teased as he made his way over to her.

---

[ Lt. Kai Akoni | Security Office | USS Endeavour | 2 days later]

Kai sat at his desk going over the security reports from the previous night. Not much happened on night shift and Kai was happy about that. Him and Annika were due to meet Cross and Jill later that night for some more of the holonovel. He took a sip of his coffee and then sat the cup down on his desk. He glanced down at the PADD in his right hand and had just begun to read it when the door chime interrupted his thoughts.

"Come in" Kai said to the unknown visitor.

The doors swished open and in walked both Annika and Jill.

"What can I do for you ladies today? he asked the two women.

"A little birdie told me that the holodeck has another opening right before ours. It starts in an hour"

Kai was excited for this as it would give them more time to play the holonovel today.

He slapped his combadge, "Akoni to Cross"

[ Lt. Cross | Chief Tactical Officer’s Office | USS Endeavour ] @trevorvw

Cross was sitting alone in his office reading over duty reports that PO Narelle had brought him. He had a fresh cup of green tea sitting on the desk in front of him, which he picked up and sipped as his eyes ran over the report. He placed the cup back on the table and flicked the PADD away, sending it clattering onto the surface of the desk. His duty shift was technically done, but he was trying to keep on top of things.

I fucking hate paperwork. Cross thought, reaching up and rubbing the ridged bridge of his nose. He took up the teacup again, and was taking a long sip of green tea when his badge chirped and he heard Kai’s voice. Cross lowered the cup from his lips and tapped the badge with his free hand.

”Cross here.” He said, glad for the distraction. Anything to get away from the reports.

---

[ Lt. Cross | Holodeck 4 | USS Endeavour ]

Cross strode purposefully along the corridors, wearing the same outfit he had been wearing when the holoprogram had left off. He’d liked the overcoat, and had replicated one which he now wore over his tactalneck.

Where does Kai come up with these ideas? Cross thought to himself as he rounded a bend in the corridor and came into view of the other three, who were waiting outside the holodeck doors. The women were dressed in their slinky dresses, and Kai in his tactalneck.

The three watched the hybrid as he strode up to where they waited, and greetings were exchanged. That done, Kai turned towards the holodeck doors.

”Computer, resume program Kai zero-zero-seven.” Kai said aloud.

[Program loaded. You may proceed when ready.] The computer’s voice informed them.

They group stepped through the holodeck doors as they slid open, finding themselves in the hotel room they had interrogated the General in. Gloscovich’s body had rematerialized when the program restarted, still tied to the chair and lying toppled over on the floor in a growing pool of his own blood, his body riddled with bullet holes.

”You sure know how to make a mess, Cross.” Annika commented, looking at the blood pooling beneath the General’s corpse and spattered across the carpets and, in some places, the walls. ”Remind me never to piss you off.”

”You wouldn’t listen anyway.” Jillian joked, causing Annika to smile at her.

”So we’ve got the information.” Cross said, looking around the group. ”We should probably get moving before the General’s men realize he’s missing.”

”Cross is right.” Kai said. ”We need to get moving. Let’s pack everything up and head to the lobby. I’ll get in touch with our contact and have him meet us outside the hotel.”

Several minutes later found them exiting the elevator with their bags. The group strode across the lobby and out of the doors, finding a car waiting with the same Swiss police officer from their trip in standing outside. The officer simply nodded to them and opened the door of the car, handing the women into the vehicle before picking up the bags and placing them in the trunk. As Kai stooped and entered the vehicle, Cross glanced around and noticed the KGB agent from the bar standing next to a vehicle tow cars behind them. The KGB agent was looking angry and checking his watch. As Cross watched, one of the soldiers exited the hotel and approached the KGB man, looking confused and shrugging his shoulders as he spoke to the agent. Whatever he said made the agent looked even angrier, and Cross smiled as he lowered himself into the car.

”I think the General has been missed.” Cross said as he closed the door and the car pulled away. ”I wonder what they’ll think when they find him?” Cross chuckled, thinking of the mess they had left in the hotel room.

”I think they’ll be a little surprised when they find the General.” Jillian said.

”So now we need to figure out how we’re going to get to Zvezdograd.” Annika said, leaning against Kai as the car sped down the streets of Bern.

”Getting into the Soviet Union won’t be easy.” Jill added, her expression turning serious. ”I did a bit of reading on the Cold War over the last couple days. We won’t be able to just take a flight into Kazakhstan.”

---

OOC: We need to make a few edits. Apparently Baikonur was renamed by Yeltsin in 1995. It was called Zvezdograd during the Soviet era.

[ Lt. Kai Akoni | Switzerland | Holodeck 3 | USS Endeavour ] @Fife

”I did a bit of reading on the Cold War over the last couple days. We won’t be able to just take a flight into Kazakhstan.” Jillian said matter of factly. She was right though, there were no just commercial flights into the area and definitely no private planes allowed.

There was a solution to this problem though; ”We’ll do a HALO jump!” Kai said excitedly.

”Uh..a what now?” Annika asked.

”HALO. It’s an acronym for High Altitude Low Opening. Basically we jump out of a perfectly good airplane at forty thousand feet and we free fall for awhile at terminal velocity before opening the parachute at about one thousand feet. The combination of high downward speed, minimal forward airspeed, and the use of only small amounts of metal helps to defeat radar and reduces the amount of time a parachute might be visible to ground observers, enabling a stealthy insertion. Plus, it’ll be fun!” Kai said winking at Cross who had seemed unsure about the whole prospect whilst Kai was describing it.

As their car arrived at the airport and pulled up to the appropriate hangar, Jillian asked the obvious question. ”Where’s our nice jet with the comfy chairs?”.

”We’re taking this one, it’ll be do what we need it to do better” Kai said pointing at the massive airplane in front of him with a forty metre wingspan; the Lockheed C-130 ‘Hercules’. 

Annika whistled in astonishment, ”All that for the four of us?”

Kai nodded as he waved the group aboard the aircraft. The flight crew noticed they were boarding the aircraft and started the engines for immediate take off once they were aboard.

Once strapped into the less than ideal seats aboard the versatile airplane, their gear was stowed on a pallet in front of them.

”Once we reach cruising altitude, we’ll make sure it’s all there. Cross, would you mind going over the plan for us?”

[ Lt. Cross | Holodeck 4 | USS Endeavour ] @trevorvw

Cross listened to Kai as he explained the HALO jump, the whole thing sounding slightly insane to the hybrid. Was this really how humans went about things before they had transporters? Cross thought it seemed a bit excessive.

Then Kai was asking him to go over the plan. Cross looked over the file that had been handed to him as they entered the massive aircraft. It contained satellite photographs of the base at Zvezdograd, as well as profiles of the scientists and details on suspected enemy strengths stationed at the base. He looked over the photo analyst’s notes on the base, detailing the assumed use of each of the buildings. Launch site No. 1 was clearly labelled, with a correlating data entry detailing it as the site used to launch the first Soviet manner mission. There were several other launch pads labelled, though they were suspected of being ballistic missile launch sites. The intelligence available pointed at launch site No. 1 being the most likely launch site for the soviet satellite. The intelligence analysts also suspected that the kidnapped scientists and the weapons satellite would be held in one of the central facilities near launch site No. 1.

Cross passed the images to the others for them to look at as he spoke.

”Based on these images, the best place for us to drop is just south of the base.” Cross said, raising his voice to a yell to be heard over the drone of the aircraft’s engines. ”Once on the ground, we’ll proceed North, crossing the railway tracks and moving around Launch Pad Number One to the group of buildings just North of it. Intelligence points to those as the most likely location of both the kidnapped scientists and the weaponized satellite.”

A dark grin spread over Cross’ face as he continued.

”We’ve been authorized to use whatever force necessary to extract or eliminate the scientists, and destroy the satellite and any record of the related research.” Cross gave Kai a wink. The bright smile the hybrid wore gave Kai a slightly uneasy feeling. ”Basically, this is a smash and grab. If we find we can’t extract the scientists, we simply take them out.”

Cross turned his attention back to the file for a moment, looking over the details of the equipment they’d been provided.

”We’ve got a few weapons to choose from for this mission, besides which we’ll each be kitted out with infiltration suits, C-4 explosive charges, detonators, and radio transmitters. Once we have completed the mission, we’re to activate the transmitters and move to the RV in the field Northeast of the base for extraction.” Cross looked around at his friends. ”The mission profile calls for a quiet entry and stealthy execution of the mission. We’re to maintain as low a profile as possible, with active engagement of the enemy only as a last resort.” Cross wrinkled his nose as that piece of information, earning a laugh from Jill.

”Keep that up and you’ll get more wrinkles, Wrinkles!” Jillian yelled, laughing loudly enough for him to hear. Cross scowled as he rose from his seat, moving to the crates of equipment that sat on the pallet.

”The only thing giving me wrinkles is dealing with you humans…” Cross muttered as he moved, pulling off his overcoat and removing his shoulder holster and sling. He let the items clatter to the deck of the plane as he moved, stopping in front of the pallet and pulling the lid of the nearest crate open. Inside was a beautiful sight, a neat line of assorted black firearms. Cross moved to the next crate, opening it to find that it contained their infiltration suits, boots, gloves, and balaclavas. Cross pulled out his gear and moved out of the way, shedding his shoes, pants and tactalneck and pulling on the suit while the others moved to equip themselves with their own uniforms.

Once she had donned her gear, making sure the boys weren’t looking of course, Jillina pulled open another crate, revealing their HALO gear: Parachute systems, oxygen tanks, and face masks.

”Wow… that’s intimidating…” Jill said, loud enough for all of them to hear. ”Couldn’t we just cheat and beam down?”

---

Images of Baikanur I’m going off of: [Show/Hide]

[ Lt. Kai Akoni | Over Kazhakstan | Holodeck 3 | USS Endeavour ] @Fife

Jillian had asked if they could cheat and beam down, but Kai reassured her that it would be fun and the safeties were on. It had taken a few minutes of convincing, but she had reluctantly agreed to the plan.

Kai made sure that he was outfitted properly after ensuring Annika and Jill had been prepared properly. Kai put his helmet on and clipped the oxygen mask to the one side of his helmet. He then pushed the mask against his face and took a deep, hard breath to ensure he had good oxygen flow and a good seal. It all worked just as expected.

[“Feet dry, time to drop 3 minutes”] came the voice over the loudspeaker in the rear of the aircraft.

The other three stood up and made sure they were ready to jump; rather fall at terminal velocity. Kai figured after they left the aircraft, they’d accelerate for about 12 seconds before reaching terminal velocity, 58 metres per second. After they’d reached that speed, they’d fall for exactly 3 minutes and 35 seconds before reaching one thousand feet above ground level and they’d deploy their parachutes.

That’s if everything worked out

The group moved towards the rear of the aircraft in which there was a large loading ramp that would open allowing them to jump from it.

[“1 minute”] The voice over the loudspeaker came on again.

The 4 held on to the bulkhead near the ramp; when the ramp started opening and a red light shone beside their heads. Kai looked out as the ramp opened and saw nothing but blackness. They had not turned on the navigation strobes of the plane in order to keep as low a profile as possible. The wind coming into the plane was probably around -50 centigrade, but they were well insulated against the cold. Kai was glad they all had the oxygen on as there’d be very little at this altitude, definitely not enough for the human body to survive.

After the ramp had fully opened, they waited in anticipation for a few moments before the light beside their heads turned green. Kai tapped Annika on the right shoulder and she moved to the very edge of the ramp before just falling off the edge of it. Jillian still seemed apprehensive, however she slowly walked to the edge right beside Cross. They both jumped off the ramp at the same time.

Kai was the last one and maneuvered to the edge of the ramp and turned around to fall back first. He leaned back until he felt his feet leave the airplane and he watched it become smaller and smaller very quickly. About 10 seconds after leaving the airplane, he saw a long cylindrical object streak towards it. The object disappeared from view for about a second before the C-130 exploded in a large fireball, which caused Kai to try and shield his eyes from the pure brightness of the explosion. Unable to do so, he oriented himself to be belly down towards the Earth. He knew that they had to get on the ground before anyone decided to shoot at them.

Unfortunately, he had no way to communicate with his teammates.

[ Lt. Cross | Holodeck 4 | USS Endeavour ] @trevorvw

Jillian had slowly approached the edge of the plane’s ramp, moving up to stand next to Cross. Cross looked at her through the clear visor of his mask, his eyes meeting hers. He reached out and took her hand, silently giving her a wink. The way he saw her eyes change behind her own visor told him she was smiling.

He nodded, telling her he was ready to go whenever she was. She nodded. Cross moved closer to the edge, and felt Jill resist the advance towards oblivion. Cross knew she was scared, even if this was just the holodeck, so he decided to help her.

Cross jumped, dragging Jillian out of the plane behind him. Cross wasn’t sure, but he thought he might have heard her muffled scream even through their equipment and over the howling of the air tearing past them.

Cross’ hand hurt. Jillian’s right hand gripped his left as though she was trying to grind it to dust. Given the fact that he had just dragged her out of a plane at 40,000 feet, she very well might have been trying to. Now that they had fallen away from the drone of the massive plane’s engines, Cross could clearly hear the woman’s screaming. Cross couldn’t help himself.

He laughed. Loudly.

And then Jillian had used her vice-grip on his hand to pull him towards her, swinging her free hand to swat his arm again and again, all the while screaming the words “IT’S NOT FUNNY YOU ASSHOLE!”

And so they went, plummeting at terminal velocity through the empty blue sky as she continued to beat him; her feeble, half-panicked strikes only spurring him on to more laughter.

”YOU ARE NEVER GETTING LAID AGAIN, CROSS!”

Cross said nothing. He simply pulled her closer to him, placing his free hand on Jillian’s chest and giving it a gentle squeeze. The blonde continued to flail at him, but the blows were getting weaker as her shoulders began to shake. She was laughing now too.

”YOU ARE SUCH AN ASSHOLE!” She yelled, the laughter clear in her voice this time.

Cross looked through his visor at this woman who for some reason cared so deeply about him, aware of the fact even as she continued to beat him. His eyes met hers again, and he gave her another wink.

”SHUT UP AND LOOK AROUND YOU!” Cross yelled, gesturing with the hand that had been groping her just a moment before. He saw Jillian look around now, her assault finally coming to an end. Cross took the calm granted by the reprieve as an opportunity to look around as well.

In the distance the first slivers of the moon’s light could be seen peeking out from behind a large cloud bank, casting the closer clouds in pure shadow while at the same time casting a ghostly glow on the clouds beyond. All around and above them the stars twinkled, seeming somehow closer than when seen through the viewports of a starship. It almost looked like they might be able to touch the pinpricks of light if they reached out. North of them a shooting star streaked across the vast blackness of the universe, it’s brief trail of light flaring and dying in a matter of seconds.

Cross looked back at Jill when he felt her hand tighten around his, meeting her gaze again.

”I love you.” Jillian said, loud enough for him to hear, but not yelling this time.

Cross’ eyes widened in surprise, the words being new to his ears. It was the first time Jillian had said those words to him. The first time anyone had.

”I… love you too.” Cross said, knowing the hesitation made the unfamiliar words sound weak. Jillian seemed to understand, he hand squeezing his yet again. Cross stared at this remarkable woman for a moment longer, still amazed at the patience Jillian had with him, even now only having had a brief idea of his past. Finally, with a great deal of effort, Cross tore his gaze away form her and turned it to the altimeter strapped to his wrist.

10,000 feet.

”TEN THOUSAND.” Cross called to Jillian. She gave him a thumbs up in acknowledgment, then grabbed his right hand with her free hand, pulling him towards her. She dragged him close as they continued to barrel towards the Earth, pressing herself against him and wrapping her legs around his waist. She wrapped her left arm around his shoulders and hugged him tightly, her loud giggle easily heard now that her head was right next to his.

”I lied! You’re definitely getting laid tonight, mister!” Jillian informed him, causing a broad grin to spread across Cross’ face as they freefell through the open night sky.

---

View:  [Show/Hide]

[ Lt. Kai Akoni | Kazhakstan | Holodeck 4 | USS Endeavour ] @Fife

The other three had been on the ground already when Kai approached the ground underneath the open canopy of his parachute. He raised his legs slightly just a couple of metres above the ground. He gently landed on his feet and then immediately went down to his knees. He doffed the parachute rig from his body and made his way stealthily over to his friends in a low crouch-walk.

He approached them and whispered to Jillian, ”See? Told you it’d be fun!” Jill didn’t respond, but by the look on her face, Kai could tell that she did indeed have fun.

Kai looked around and surveyed his surroundings to take it all in. As best he could tell it looked similar to the photographs that Cross had showed them. Kai made sure his weapon was loaded and disengaged the safety. He turned to the group again and they formulated their plan.

”Annika, we’ll get you into that watch tower over there so you can provide overwatch for us. It should give you a fairly good view” he said as Annika patted the case carrying her silenced sniper rifle. ”Cross, you and Jill try to kill the power to the buildings where the satellite and the scientists should be. Okay let’s move people” Kai finished as the two groups went in different directions. 

After about 20 seconds, Kai keyed up his radio to ensure they had communication between everyone.

”Alpha team to Bravo Team”

[This is Bravo; go ahead] came the reply from the radio.

”Cross, try and remember no open engagements with the enemy unless you have to”

[I will try. Bravo out]

Kai turned towards Annika and whispered, ”He’s not going to try” as he giggled quietly.

”No way in hell he tries” Annika had replied trying to suppress her own laughter.

The two had reached the base of the watch tower and Kai brought his firearm up to a firing position. He looked back at Annika who had adopted a similar posture. Kai slowly opened the door and scanned the room. There was no other people in this room; just a set of stairs that wound their way up the tower. Kai motioned silently towards the stairs, and the two of them slowly and silently made their way up the stairs one by one. It took 6 minutes to reach the top due to their slow and methodical pace. Kai reached the top of the stairs first and saw that it opened up into a darkened flat roof. Only one guard was up here, smoking a cigarette with his back to the stairs. Kai slowly unsheathed his K-Bar and crouch walked up to behind the man. The guard had finished his cigarette and flicked the butt off of the rooftop. Kai stood up silently behind the man. He reached his left hand around the man’s head and firmly placed his large hand over the man’s mouth; simultaneously he took the knife with his right hand and moved into in a slicing motion across the guard’s neck. The one firm slice severed both carotid arteries, jugular veins and the trachea. The guard was unconscious before his body hit the floor and dead seconds later.

"Hey look, he's a human Pez dispenser!" Kai said to his girlfriend which had elicited a look of 'what the fuck' from her.

Kai motioned to Annika as to where the best place for her overwatch position would be. A few moments later, Annika had the rifle out of it’s case and set up.

Annika keyed her mic up, ”Bravo, this is Rifle One. Overwatch in place, Kai’s on his way to meet you”. She turned to Kai and kissed him passionately before sending him on his way to meet Cross and Jill.

[ Lt. Cross | Holodeck 4 | USS Endeavour ] @trevorvw

[Alpha team to Bravo team]

”This is Bravo; go ahead.” Cross acknowledge Kai’s radio transmission as he and Jill crept forward to through the darkness.

[Cross, try and remember no open engagements with the enemy unless you have to.]

”I will try. Bravo out.” Cross responded as he unscrewed the silencer from his H&K MP5A2 SMG, tucking the silencer into the cargo pocket of his uniform.

”Seriously?” Jill asked, a disbelieving look on her face. Cross gave her a wink, saying nothing. The two moved at a quick pace, covering the open ground between the insertion zone and the base. Cross held a hand up in a signal to stop, and the two lowered themselves to a crouch.

”There’s a guardhouse up ahead.” Cross whispered, gesturing ahead of them and slightly to the right. ”Let’s neutralize that before we proceed to the power station.”

”That isn’t the plan, Cross!” Jillian hissed, grabbing his uniform.

”If there’s one thing I learned in the Dominion War, it’s that plans rarely work anyway.” Cross replied. ”I also don’t want to be creeping through an enemy base with guard lurking behind me. We’ll take them out, and then kill the power.”

Cross moved off in the direction of the guard hut without waiting for her response, slinging his SMG and drawing the combat knife from the sheath at the small of his back. It wasn’t a fancy knife, just a 7 inch serrated blade with an unassuming wooden grip and a simple metal guard. He gripped the knife as he approached the guardhouse, not so much a house as a low concrete structure with a door and a wide opening which commanded a view of the surrounding field. The guard could be heard inside as he approached, talking in bored voices. There was the clink of glass, telling Cross they were probably drinking.

As Cross flattened himself against the side of the building he heard one of the guards speak, then the scraping of a chair. They door opened a moment later, casting a slash of light across the grass as the guard stepped out. The guard lifted a cigarette to his mouth and lit it, not looking around. Too much time in such an isolated place had made them complacent.

Cross ghosted away from the wall as the guard strolled past him, the man’s night vision obviously hadn’t had time to adjust yet, and it would prove fatal. Cross moved behind him and clapped a hand over the guard’s mouth, spreading his fingers at first to allow them to clamp around the cigarette as well.

Then he drove the blade of the knife into the man’s back, right through the right kidney. The man spasmed in pain for a moment, his whole body going ridged. Cross lowered the man to the ground as he spasmed again, then he felt the man go slack and removed his hand from the man’s mouth, the cigarette still clutched between his fingers.

As Cross pulled the knife free of the man’s back, he studied the small, smouldering white tube, smelling the harsh scent of the wafting smoke. He heard the other man inside the shack call out, looking for his friend. Cross put the cigarette in his mouth and sucked on it, then blew the smoke towards the door. The man inside complained, but Cross heard the creak of a chair as the man sat back down. Cross readied his knife again as he prepared to go in, hearing Jillian approaching form behind him.

---

Ten minutes later found them crouching behind a bush twenty meters away from the building that served as the base’s power station. A sound form behind them caused Cross to turn, bringing his weapon to bear on whoever was approaching them. The large form of Kai was unmistakable as he crept towards them, crouching down just in front of them.

”Cross, what the fuck is that?” Kai asked, staring at the large weapon the hybrid was now aiming at the ground.

”A machine gun. I found it in the guardhouse.”

”I tried to talk him out of it, Kai… Jillian said with a tone that dripped annoyance and resignation.

”Out of what?”

Cross reached into his pocket, extracted something from it and raised his hand to show Kai the detonator he now held.

”Lights out.” Cross said with a grin as he depressed the button with his thumb.

---

[ Lieutenant J.G. Annika Van Den Berg | Holodeck 4 | USS Endeavour ]

Annika scanned the base through the scope of her rifle, peering out from her perch in the watchtower. She hadn’t heard from the others for a while, and assumed that meant everything was going to plan.

She hadn’t heard any sounds of gunfire, and a part of her was beginning to believe the alien hybrid had actually listened to Kai’s instruction not to directly engage the enemy.

Then light bloomed in the blackness of the night, casting an orange glow across Annika’s face. A guardhouse on the perimeter of the base had just exploded, sending plumed of fire and smoke soaring into the night sky to the accompanying sound of a loud, thumping boom. Three other buildings inside the base had also gone up, basking the area in a ghostly glow as every light in the base died.

”Jesus, Cross!” Annika groaned as she realized exactly how much havoc the alien had wrought.

[ Lt. Kai Akoni | Kazhakstan | Holodeck 4 | USS Endeavour ] @Fife
The explosion had lit up the sky like the surface of the sun, which also producing a deafening boom along with a small shockwave. Kai slowly placed his palm against his face for a second before talking to Cross.

“What the fuck man? Did you miss the whole ‘silently as possible’ part of the mission plan?”

Cross had a large grin on his face and responded, ”Well technically, I haven’t directly engaged the enemy”

Cross was technically right. Even though the technicality was smaller than a single called organism. A guard appeared about 30 metres away from the trio, seemingly investigating the explosion. He was walking towards the group when his head exploded in a pink mist, leaving a headless corpse left to collapse to the ground.

[Might want to get moving, more guards coming] Annika announced over the radio. The three of them turned around and started sprinting for the building which was suspected to hold the Soviet satellite.

The group reached the large building very quickly, covering the distance in 20 seconds. Kai approached the entry door, with the right side of his body rubbing the outer wall of the hangar. Cross was right behind him, with Jill behind Cross. Kai silently opened the door and entered the building with the other two right behind him. Kai lowered his night vision goggles into place allowing him to see within the darkened building. Kai and Cross had noticed two guards in the room as soon as they engaged their night vision.

Kai aimed his silenced weapon at the guard on the left, while Cross aimed his new machine gun at the guard on the right.

Kai sent two silenced shots into the skull of the guard on the left, causing most of his head to disappear. Cross fired his machine gun at the guard on the right. Kai must have counted at least half a dozen rounds before the hybrid stopped firing. The loud rapport of the weapon reverberated throughout the room.

Kai walked over to the guard that Cross had taken out and kneeled down rooting the corpse for intelligence.

Might have been a little bit of overkill

After Kai found nothing on the body he stood up and noticed had some liquid on his pants. He tapped Cross on the shoulder and then pointed at the unknown liquid on his pants.

“Hey Cross, do you think this is blood or brain?”

[ Lt. Cross | Holodeck 4 | USS Endeavour ] @trevorvw

”Hey Cross, do you think this is blood or brain?”

Cross peered down at the mystery substance that now adorned Kai’s pantleg with a considering expression.

”Your guess is as good as mine.” Cross replied with a dark grin. ”You could taste it and see what you think?”

”Cross! That’s disgusting!” Jillian hissed from behind him.

”I guess it wouldn’t do you much good if you don’t know what brain tastes like.” Cross continued, ignoring Jillian’s disgusted tone. ”Scratch that idea then.” Cross shrugged before setting off towards a door at the far side of the room, moving carefully. His feet made no sound as he ghosted past the corpse of the man Kai had disposed of. As he drew near the door he heard a noise, sending him dropping to one knee. The handle of the door turned, and the door cracked open just as Cross unleashed a burst of machine-gun fire through the wooden door, firing ten rounds in total. A thud could be heard, then the door swung the rest of the way open as the body of the knob turner slumped forward, slapping onto the floor with a wet thud. Cross heard yelling from deeper in the building as Jillian cursed again, saying something about stealth.

Cross was having too much fun for stealth.

”No point now. They already know we’re here.” Cross said, turning his head to direct his shit-eating grin at his two companions.

He crept forward, uttering a curse as his foot slipped and almost caused his to fall as he stepped over the soldier’s body, the floor now slick with a spreading pool that appeared black through his night vision optics.

Cross turned his head to face Kai and Jill again, giving them a shrug. ”Slippery when wet. They should really put a sign down.”

”There’s something seriously wrong with you…” Jillian hissed as she shook her head.

”So I’ve been told.” Cross muttered as he proceeded forward. The yells were growing closer now as they moved through the door and down a short hallway, clearing two rooms as they went, one on either side of the hallway. The first room had been empty. In the second they found two soldiers crouching behind a desk, though they were dispatched quickly by Kai and Jillian's silenced weapons.

"You see, Cross? That's what doing things quietly sounds like." Jillian informed the hybrid with a glare as they moved out of the room and continued down the hall.

They came to a door at the end of the hallway and quietly pushed it open. They found themselves looking  out over a large room, the door they were looking through opening onto a catwalk on the second level of the room. The main floor of the room was set into the ground, and littered with various pieces of equipment and rocket components, as well as vehicles that were clearly designed to transport rockets to the launch sites. A large ramp sloped upwards as the far end of the massive room, ending at two large metal bay doors at ground level. Along the catwalk to their right was a set of stairs leaning up to a third level, a box-like structure that looked like it might house offices.

As Cross looked down at the enormous room, he saw a veritable anthill of activity, with soldiers running across the floor towards the stairs leading to the catwalk. Several bullets buried themselves in the wall beside Cross, causing him to duck back into the hallway.

”Problems.” Cross said, his joking tone from earlier now replaced with a serious one. ”We’ve got a lot of company headed our way. There’s an office or something one level up. The scientists might be there. You two go check it out. I’ll hold them at the stairs.”

Cross gave the other two a nod and stepped back through the door, after which the loud rapport of his machine gun could be heard. In the silence between machine gun bursts, shouts of surprise and panic could be heard form below as the soldiers on the main level of the hanger scrambled for cover under the hail of bullets.

[ Lt. Kai Akoni | Holodeck 4 | USS Endeavour ] @Fife

Cross had ordered, rather, suggested that Jillian and Kai head up to what looked like an office up the stairs from where they currently were. Cross nodded at the two and headed out the door to give them some suppressing fire for their, hopefully, quick trip up the stairs. The weapon Cross had sounded loudly and echoey in the large expanse as Kai and Jillian crouch ran up the stairs. Kai was the first to reach the top of the stairs and came to a door, which he realized he didn't have time to check to see if anyone was on the other side of it. The weapons fire that had been impacting the wall around them, saw to that. Kai had been moving as quick as he could when he lowered his right shoulder and impacted with the door just to the left of the door knob. The door mechanism couldn't withstand those forces and opened forcefully. The two saw a long hallway with a door at the end of it. They noticed light seeping out from under the door. As they crouch-walked towards the door at the end of the hall, Jillian started speaking about something that caught Kai off guard.

"I'm sure going to miss these holonovels with all of you"

Kai stopped in his tracks and turned to Jillian and gave her an arched eyebrow look in confusion.

"What?"

The woman shook her head at Kai as if to say, I'll tell you later. Kai respected Jillian's wishes as the two made their way towards the door. As they approached the door, Jillian pulled out a flashbang. Kai put his hand on the doorknob and turned it and opened the door slightly while Jillian simultaneously pulled the pin on the flashbang and tossed it into the room. As Kai watched the flashbang go into the room, he immediately closed the door.

After a second or so, there was a thunderous noise that came from the room; after which Kai had flung the door to the room and the two entered the room with their rifles up and ready to fire.

Kai went right and Jillian went left and they made sure there was no hostile threats in the room, which there were none.

"Clear"

"Clear" they said almost in unison as they approached the non threat they found in the middle of the room.

"Well....shit. That complicates things..."

"Yeah.." Jill said before keying her mic, "Cross, we have a problem."

The two looked at the bodies of three scientists all laying prone on the floor, with each having a gunshot wound in the back of the head.

[ Lt. Cross | Holodeck 4 | USS Endeavour ] @trevorvw

Cross thought he could hear his friends footfalls on the metal stairs as Kai and Jillian moved up towards the office, though it was hard to tell over the banging rapport of the machine gun he was firing. Below him, he could see some of the soldiers firing up towards the stairs, while another group was trying to fire at him. A third group was making a go for the stairs in an attempt to reach him.

Oh no you don’t… Cross thought, pivoting and sending a hail of machine gun fire down onto the group advancing up the stairs below him. There were seven of them, though the first four were cut down with his opening burst. Realizing their position was hopeless, two of the remaining Russians turned back to retreat down the stairs, and the third threw himself over the railing. Cross’ burst cut down the two retreating soldiers, the bullets tearing into the backs of the uniformed men. The man who had thrown himself over the railing had caught a bullet in the leg, and landed badly. Cross heard a sickening thumb which was accompanied by a snapping noise, and closely followed by agonized screaming.

Cross turned the weapon on the group which was firing at him, giving little thought to the bullets which stuck the wall around him. The soldiers below were panicked, their shots flying wide and inaccurate. Cross swept two bursts across the group of men, felling several and sending the rest scrambling for cover.

Cross had never before understood the phrase “shooting fish in a barrel”, but now the reference made sense to him. This was too easy.

Which was not to say that he wasn’t enjoying himself.

Cross brought the weapon to bear against the group of soldiers which were firing at Jill and Kai, raining death down upon them from his high vantage point. Three bursts saw most of the men on the ground, either dead or writhing in pain. Two soldiers broke cover in an attempt to help on of their comrades, and Cross carefully aimed his weapon before firing.

The burst swept low, taking both men in their legs and adding to the pile of men writhing on the floor and groaning. At the far end of the room, Cross saw the hanger doors begin to open, allowing more Russian soldiers to begin pouring into the massive room. There must have been dozens of them.

Bad news… Cross thought, just moments before he heard Jillian’s voice over the radio.

”Cross, we have a problem.”

”You’re not the only ones. We’ve got company.” Cross replied before continuing his tirade of machine gun fire into the ever-growing hoard of Russian soldiers streaming towards them.

Cross glanced down at the hanger floor, his eyes sweeping the area. Then he saw a single Russian soldier making a run for a truck. The truck was a large green military truck, and had a canvas covering over the bed. The fact that the man would risk running out in the middle of a firefight to reach that truck filled Cross with concern. The man reached the truck before Cross could turn his weapon to aim in the trucks direction, and Cross could do little but sweep the tires with bullets, blowing out both of the driver side tires. The soldier started the truck and began driving, sparks flying from the wheel rims as the soldier payed no heed to the fact that he had no tires. The truck headed for the hanger doors, careening back and forth as the driver fought to compensate for the drag of the missing wheels.

”We’ve got another problem, too. I think they’re moving the satellite.” Cross announced, pausing to watch as the swerving truck plowed through a group of other soldiers, running down at least ten men as it veered back and forth. ”Though that problem seems to be helping with our other problem…” Cross added as the truck plowed through another group of soldiers, their screams raising like the tones of a tortured church choir before the truck silenced them.

[ Lt. Kai Akoni | Holodeck 4 | USS Endeavour ] @Fife

"Though that problem seems to be helping with our other problem..." Cross had announced on the radio in reply to Jill and Kai finding the executed scientists.

He's always a little confusing... Kai had thought to himself before keying up his mic.

"Copy..we'll be with you in a few seconds" Kai said just as they finished searching the bodies of the dead scientists and finding nothing. The two of them sprinted back from the way they came and back down the stairs towards where Cross was.

They reunited in mere seconds and started making their way down to the lower level of the building, all the while hearing the screams of the soldiers being run over by one of their own vehicles. The three managed to shoot at the handful of soldiers that were left while running down the stairs as fast as they could. They know they needed to stop that truck, and despite Cross having shot out some tires, the truck was still trying to get away, albeit a little slower than normal. The three reached the bottom floor in no time and started sprinting after the truck. Cross took out the last remaining soldier that had been shooting at them, which left them nothing to worry about other than the running.

All of a sudden, sparks erupted from the right front side of the truck followed by a black liquid squirting out and onto the ground. The truck ground to a halt, to the surprise of the trio. The driver got out of the truck and brought his AK-47 up and ready to fire when all three opened fire on the driver, riddling his body with at least 10 bullets before the body hit the ground, dead.

"Nice shooting Annika!" Jill said over the radio, as Kai turned to Cross and asked,

"Ready to blow this shit up?"

---

[ Lt. (JG) Annika Van den Berg | Holodeck 4 | USS Endeavour ]

After the firefight had started up in the hangar, Annika decided she should reposition herself so she could see that large hangar doors in case she had been needed. It had taken only a moment to reposition so she'd have a better view of where all the action was taking place. She heard the radio traffic going on, how Kai and Jill had found the scientists executed, how Cross said they were moving the satellite.

The young woman looked through the scope of her sniper rifle as she hovered her aim over the now open doors of the hangar. She slowed her breathing down as she prepared to take a shot, any shot that she may need to.

All of a sudden, a truck appeared in her view, which seemed like it was leaning slightly to its left, and also going slower than it ought to be. She adjusted her aim so it was over where the engine of the vehicle should be.

All thanks to Kai's love of history, do I know anything about archaic vehicles, she pondered as she moved her finger to the trigger.

With the lightest touch, she gently squeezed the trigger until the firing pin ignited gunpowder propellant contained within the round in the chamber of her rifle. The 'business end' of her rifle sent the projectile towards the truck followed by some flames emitting from the muzzle. The bullet impacted with the truck exactly where she wanted it to go, as she looked through her scope and saw that sparks followed by the black liquid being spewed out of the new hole she had just made. The truck stopped in it's tracks.

She packed up her rifle and started to make her way to rendezvous with her friends as this mission was just about over.

[ Lt. Cross | Holodeck 4 | USS Endeavour ] @trevorvw

”Ready to blow this shit up?” Kai asked.

Cross nodded at his friend, but patted his bag that had held the C4 before.

”Ready, but I used all my C4 earlier.” Cross said with a wry grin, tossing down the now empty machine gun. ”We’ll have to use Jill’s.”

Jillian rolled her eyes at the hybrid as she pulled the bricks of composite explosive out of her own bag.

”I told you not to get carried away, Wrinkles!” Jillian teased as she tossed the bricks to Kai. Cross only glowered silently at the blonde woman, causing her to giggle.

As Kai primed the explosives, Cross moved to the back of the truck and climbed up on the back bumped. He drew aside the canvas top and peered inside, seeing the form of the satellite that was their target. ”This is what we came for.” Cross confirmed, turning to catch the primed bricks of C4 that Kai was now tossing up to him. Having caught the bricks, Cross stepped over the tailgate of the truck and moved closer to the satellite, fixing the bricks of C4 to the body of the space weapon. He turned to exit the back of the truck, but stumbled when his foot caught on one of the cables securing the satellite to the truck’s bed.

Hearing the loud thumb of someone falling in the bed of the truck, Jillian turned to look at the vehicle. ”Watch you step, sweetie!” Jillian called, sharing a shit-eating grin with Kai. An angry growl could be heard coming from the back of the truck, along with some words in what Jillian knew to be Cardassian, none of which sounded happy.

”C’mon Wrinkles. We don’t have all day!” Jillian called in a mock-impatient tone, chuckling along with Kai as a very angry looking Cross crawled out of the back of the truck. ”We’ve gotta get to the RV point and meet up with Annika so we can go get a drink!”

Cross jumped down to the ground and glowered daggers at the two humans who were both chuckling. Cross pulled out his pistol and got ready to head out, muttering more Cardassian under his breath.

”Now now, Wrinkles.” Jillian by way of chastisement, though the reprimand was ruined somewhat by the giggle that escaped her. ”That’s no way to be speaking with a lady present!”

”Yeah Wrinkles!” Kai chipped in, grinning at his friend.

Cross, for his part, was less than amused. The grumbling Vulcan stalking off into the night, followed by his two companions and the sound of giggles.

As they reached the RV, they found Annika waiting for them, still cradling her sniper rifle.

”Nice shooting, Van den Berg.” Cross acknowledge as they approached.

”Yeah, you’re a natural.” Jillian added. ”Now can we blow that thing up already?” Jillian pulled the detonator from her bag and tossed it to Annika. ”I think Annika should do the honours!”

As soon as the short brunette depressed the button, there was a loud boom heard in the distance, sounding like thunder in the night.

[Story complete] chimed the computer. A moment later, the holographic simulation dissolved around them, leaving them in the bare room of the holodeck. The four of them made for the door, which hissed open to allow them to exit into the hallway.

”So what now, gang?” Jillian asked. ”I vote we go get changed out of these outfits and reconvene in the mess hall for a celebratory drink!” Jillian hooked her arm around Cross’, leaning against him. ”Cross seconds the motion!” Cross glanced down at Jillian, his expression one of amusement. He was used to Jillian’s behavior at that point, and simply accepted it silently. ”All in favour?”

[ Lt. Kai Akoni | Kai’s Quarters | USS Endeavour ] @Fife

Kai, Cross, Annika and Jill had gone for drinks in the Mess the night previous after the successful completion of yet another holonovel. Kai stayed out later than he had hoped to, considering he had to be on shift in the morning. Although, good company and good drinks made him think otherwise at the time. 

He was regretting being out so late and drinking so much, however the shower had woken him up a bit. That, coupled with coffee helped wake him up and clear the grogginess from his brain. Kai picked up a PADD that he looked at most mornings and looked at both the duty roster for the day as well as yesterday’s security report.

Once again, not much happened yesterday.., he thought to himself as he took a sip of the delicious, black liquid that warmed him as it went down his esophagus. He slowly had been feeling more and more awake as the caffeine in the coffee had started to do its job. 

The large man had emptied his first cup of coffee and wandered over to the replicator in order to get a refill. Kai had even skipped his workout that morning, which usually helped him wake up. Coffee would have to do the trick today.

It’s going to be one of those days, he confirmed to himself as his thoughts were punctuated by the door chime.

”Come in!” he announced to the unknown visitor.

The doors to his quarters swished open and there stood Cross. It was their ritual to meet together in Kai’s quarters prior to their shifts for something to drink and hangout time before they reported for duty. Today Cross looked quite dishevelled, which was out of the ordinary for Cross. Kai wondered if he was hungover a bit too.

”Jesus man, you look like shit!” Kai jokingly said to the hybrid as he waved his friend into his quarters. Cross crossed the threshold of the room and let the doors close behind him without saying a word. 

Kai looked up from his coffee at his friend and saw something was different, ”What’s going on Cross?” he asked as he took a sip of his coffee. [/color]

[ Lt. Cross | Kai Akoni’s Personal Quarters | USS Endeavour ] @trevorvw

”What’s going on, Cross?” Kai asked, sipping his coffee.

Cross shuffled silently across the room to the replicator and ordered his usually green tea, the bleak tone in his voice giving his friend a further hint that something was off.

”Jillian’s leaving.” Cross finally said, his voice emotionless and empty as he turned to look at his friend with an equally blank, empty expression. ”She was offered a position on a research project on Earth. She’s shipping out next week.” The hybrid crossed the room and sat heavily in one of the chairs at Kai’s table, a small amount of tea sloshing out of the mug as it thudded heavily on the table’s surface. That lack of care, coupled with his dishevelled appearance, presented Kai with a very uncharacteristic manifestation of his friend. Cross’s gaze remained on the mug of tea, his eyes following a bead of the green tinted liquid as it ran down the side of the mug to settle on the table. Cross lifted the mug and swiped the spilt fluid off the table with his sleeve with a muttered ”Sorry”.

Cross set the mug back down on the now cleaner table and raised his gaze to regard his friend with eyes that seemed almost lifeless. ”I’m losing her, Kai…” Cross’ shoulders slumped even further, though that hadn’t previously seemed possible, as he returned his gaze to his untouched mug of tea.

”It’s amazing…” Cross spoke again, his tone of voice utterly devoid of amazement. Or of any emotion, for that matter. ”I’ve fought to keep control of my emotions all my life, especially the anger. But now that I’m losing her, I don’t feel any of it. The anger is gone, the happiness…” Cross paused, turning his seemingly dead eyes back to Kai. ”It’s like she’s taking it all with her, and all I’m left with is…” Cross paused, searching for the word.

”Loss.” Cross finally found the word, giving Kai a quizzical gaze as he spoke it aloud. ”I’ve never had anything to lose before…” Cross’ voice seemed to take on a pained note now, with just a hint of incredulity, as though he couldn’t believe what was happening. ”Does it always hurt like this?”

[ Lt. Kai Akoni | Kai’s Personal Quarters | USS Endeavour ] @Fife

”Does it always hurt like this?” Cross asked Kai. This was a loaded question for Kai, since his friend was hurting and he’d never seen him like this before. Kai had to think for a little while before answering his friend, as he didn’t want to say the wrong thing.

Kai sighed, ”That’s a tough one to answer my friend…Humans have a saying. ‘Time heals all wounds’” which made Kai pause for a second before realizing another saying, ”But..absence makes the heart grow fonder…I know this isn’t helping, but the short answer is yes, it does always hurt this much. Especially when you care about someone as much as you clearly do about Jillian. It just reaffirms your love for her.

Kai walked to where Cross was sitting and put his hand on the hybrid’s right shoulder, patted it twice and then offered up advice. ”You’re not really losing her though, just increasing the distance between you two. There’s still letters and visits to Earth. I’m sure you have enough shore leave saved up that you could take the next year off with time to spare”

Kai hated seeing his friend the way he was at the present and he felt even more awkward since his friend didn’t have, rather, express his emotions as most humanoids did.

He then left Cross’ side and made his way to the opposite side of the table and plopped down in the chair across from his friend. Kai felt helpless and unable to help his friend.

”I don’t know man…would you want to talk to Annika?”

[ Lt. Cross | Kai Akoni’s Personal Quarters | USS Endeavour ] @trevorvw

Cross shook his head as Kai asked if he wanted to talk to Annika about this.

”No.” The hybrid said, looking up at Kai. ”It feels strange enough talking to you about this, Kai. No offense.” Cross sighed, his shoulders slumping slightly. ”I’m… not used to talking about my feelings. I hardly deny them, like a Vulcan would, but…” Cross shrugged, unsure of how to explain. ”I don’t talk about them. They’ve always been a… difficult… matter for me. More like a constant battle.”

”As for shore leave…” Cross continued, looking across the table at his friend. ”She’s already said she doesn’t think long distance relationships work. She says she doesn’t want to hold me back from meeting someone new.” Cross let out a snort, accompanied by a sarcastic chuckle. ”I think we both know how likely that is. I only met her because you shoved me into a chair at her table.” He gave Kai a sad smile. ”You know as well as she does that I’m hardly a ladies man.”

Cross finally took a sip of his tea, closing his eyes as he tried to get a grip of himself. He took a second sip before placing the mug back on the table. ”I wouldn’t want to hold her back, anyway.” Cross admitted. ”It would hardly be fair for her to be tied down because of an emotionally stunted mongrel on the other side of the quadrant.” The words sounded bitter as he spoke them, and tasted the same. Cross knew the statement reeked of self-loathing, but couldn’t be bothered to try and hide it. ”I can hardly expect her to settle for a face on a vid screen when she could meet someone on Earth.”

Cross didn’t feel any animosity towards Jillian for taking the posting. It was an amazing opportunity for her, and he would never try and talk her out of advancing herself. Nor would he try and hold her back from finding someone else when he would be lightyears away. Cross was many things, but selfish was not one of them. He wanted Jillian to be happy. ”The opportunity is too good for her to pass up. I don’t want to be a problem in this new chapter in her life.”

[ Lt. Kai Akoni | Kai’s Personal Quarters | USS Endeavour ] @Fife

”The opportunity is too good for her to pass up. I don’t want to be a problem in this new chapter in her life.” Cross said, rather mopey for the hybrid which was still weirding Kai out since he’d never seen his friend like this.

”Well…shit. This sucks man, but I’m not going to try and convince you otherwise since it seems like your mind is made up. The only thing I’ll say is that you never know what the future holds” he said realizing that no matter what he said to Cross would change how he feels about Jillian. Just then, an old saying popped into his mind.

If you love something, set it free…, Kai couldn’t quite remember the whole saying but he remembered at least the gist of it.

He took a sip of his coffee and then sat the cup back down on the table in front of him. He fiddled with the cup, turning it and feel the metallic body of the cup as he let Cross to sit there and process all the information he had just absorbed about Jillian.

Kai then looked up at his friend and realized it broke his heart. His friend was hurting, and there wasn’t a damn thing he could do about it.

---

[ Lt. Kai Akoni | Shuttlebay One | USS Endeavour | One Week Later ]

Cross, Kai and Annika had walked with Jillian down to the Shuttlebay so she could begin her journey back to Earth and the start of her new life and new position. It had been a tough week since the news broke that Jillian was going to be leaving. Just the night prior, they had a going away party for Jillian. She was well liked aboard the Endeavour and even Captain Amasov and Commander Ducote had said some nice things at her going away party. Crewmembers leaving had always been tough, but due to the nature of Starfleet, was getting easier and easier to deal with.

The hard part to deal with is seeing Cross gutted by his girlfriend being transferred and Kai and Annika losing their good friend. Once in the Shuttlebay, it was just the four of them standing there while the shuttle pilot prepped the shuttle for departure.

Kai was the first to approach the blond woman and he hugged her and said ”Good luck on Earth! I know you’ll kick ass! as he stepped aside and let the crying Annika approach Jill.

The two hugged for about a minute before separating and Annika told Jillian that she was going to miss her, but wished her all the best.

Kai and Annika decided to walk a few metres away and turned their backs to Cross and Jill as they said their private goodbyes. Jill looked sad and Cross still had the same mopey posture that he had been displaying all week. In the worst timing possible, the shuttle pilot interrupted their final goodbye.

”Ma’am..we’re ready to depart” the young man said sheepishly.

Jillian turned to the pilot, ”Okay, I’m on my way”

Cross and Jill hugged for about half a minute more before separating and Jillian announced that she should get going. She picked her bag up off the floor of the bay and slung it over her shoulder. She leaned in and kissed Cross on the left cheek.

”Bye Wrinkles! I’ll never forget you” she said to Cross before walking up the rear ramp of the shuttle and turning around and telling Kai and Annika, ”You two take care of him for me!

Kai and Annika both nodded at Jillian’s final request as the rear ramp of the shuttle lifted, obscuring Jillian from view. Kai held Annika’s hand in his as they walked up to where Cross was standing. Kai placed his left hand on the hybrid’s shoulder lightly and the trio stood and watched Jillian’s shuttle depart.

-Fin