Date: Mon, 1 Mar 1999 23:05:09 -0400 From: Mia Sherman Subject: [USS CALYPSO] Lessons and Losses [Holodeck One] MT 5.1600 Ben gaped up at the Captain in unfeigned shock. "How could you not know how to swim? Doesn't everybody?" The Captain shook his head and smiled. "I never had the opportunity to learn when I was your age, and once I left Tahnekk it didn't seem necessary to." "Oh. Well, you have to learn sometime-- I'll teach you! Ma, the Captain doesn't know how to swim!" he cried as Shira followed a pair of the smaller children out of the water. She blinked in surprise, seeing the tall man standing on the beach, but smiled shyly and nodded. "Really? Why don't you teach him, then," she said, ruffling his wet hair and moving quickly past to the towels spread on the beach. Ben nodded and grabbed his hand again. "Well, that's that. But you can't go swimming in those-- don't you have a swim suit? You have to have a swim suit first. Come on," he said, dragging the Captain across the sand. "Computer, gimme the men's dressing room! You're very lucky, you know." "How's that?" Li asked as a small building revealed itself, hidden around a bend of the shore. "Because I know about clothes. 'Tannen says I have very good taste." After a few minutes they emerged, the man clad in a larger version of the boy's own garish outfit, and entered the gentle waves surrounded by the rest of the children. Tarilla gazed at the group for a moment, then walked up the beach towards Shira, holding her arms out. "He's cute," Nicole observed, following the girl across the sand and settling herself onto a towel. Shira blinked, pausing a moment in lacing Tarilla into her float vest. "The Captain?" she asked, still unable to call him Li except upon request. "I suppose," Nicole replied with a wry smile. "That is, if you like the tall, dark, and handsome type. But I was talking about your son." Shira sent the girl down the beach with a pat, and nodded. "He takes after his father that way. But Ben's a lot more . . . " she paused for a moment, thinking. "Understanding. He is also, I should mention, extraordinarily conniving and sneaky. And he doesn't always listen, either." "Then from what I've heard, he sounds like a typical kid. The crew certainly seems to like him, though." "Indeed." Shira replied, and then shook her head with a smile and a small sigh. "He makes friends very easily." Nicole grinned. "You don't sound too happy about that, Shira. I would think that a kid's having friends would be a good thing, wouldn't it?" "It's not that he has friends," the older woman replied, combing her hair out of its braid and spreading it over her shoulders to dry. "It's the friends he has. Would you want Sato from Stellar Cartography influencing your child? Or Buetannen Zahn coming over for dinner? Or anyone else, for that matter?" "That depends," Nicole said slyly, "On who was being invited. Zahn's not that bad, actually." Shira snorted. "You've never had to dance with him. "He's--" she paused, searching for a word, which Nicole supplied obligingly. "Fizzy?" --- (In the water) "You have to lay back and relax," Ben explained, demonstrating the float as he spoke. "Just let your arms and legs hang loose, you know? If you get all tense, you'll sink. Rala?" "We'll hold you," the girl said as she and Ben grasped each other's wrists behind the Captain. Seeing his skeptical look, she giggled. "Don't worry. You're a lot lighter in water than you are on land. And you're even lighter in salt water than in fresh. Trust us, we won't drop you. " Pellek shrugged inwardly and leaned back against their linked arms, lowering himself carefully into the water. "Like this?" "Exactly like that," Ben replied with a grin. "See? The water holds you up-- surface tension and that displacement-ratio thing. It's physics." "I understand, and now I wish I'd been able to do this sooner. It's-- O!" Abruptly, the supporting hands dissappeared and he stiffened in shock, plunging under the surface and barely clamping his mouth shut in time to avoid swallowing the water. Spluttering, he recovered his footing and re-emerged to find himself surrounded by a ring of giggling children. "Sorry about that," Ben said. "But it was pretty funny." "Yeah," Veena agreed. "You had the silliest look on your face. Want to try again?" "Will you tell me before you drop me?" "Cross my heart and hope to die," Ben replied solemnly, a mischevious twinkle in his eye. With that assurance, the exercise was repeated and presently everyone was floating on their own, bobbing easily on the surface of the sea. "You can move around if you kick your feet a little bit. Isn't this fun?" "Yes, it is," the Captain agreed after a few moments. "It's relaxing, in its own way." "I've done this ever since I was a kid. My father never swam with me. Most times it didn't matter, but sometimes I wish he'd at least have watched from the shore. You know what I mean?" "No," Li said hesitantly. "I can't say that I do. What do you mean?" Ben shrugged and folded his hands behind his head. "I dunno. Is it supposed to mean anything?" The Captain lifted an eyebrow and did not reply. Instead, he asked, "Tell me again, Ben, how do I move about?" ----- (Beach) "Fizzy?" "Are we talking about Zahn again?" This time, only Shira jumped as the Captain surprised the two women a second time. "Fizzy fits, I suppose." The pretty engineer smiled, and patted a somewhat sand-free space on the large towel. "You would rather we talk about you? How did you like your swimming lesson?" He chuckled, settling down on the towel. "It's fun, actually. Children are excellent teachers." "Teachers," Shira chided softly, "Whom you've left alone by the water. Excuse me," she said, rising with a quick smile for Nicole. "Someone should watch them," and she ran towards the water. ***** [The Port Hotel, Yrarier] "You *lost* Paul? Great mother of pearl!" Zahn exclaimed, nearly yanking his own hair out in frustration. Tarak tilted his head, looking mildly confused. "Who is Pearl?" "Nevermind that. Shira, have some water. You're pale. Look, Tarak, this is absolutely unacceptable. We have to find him. Where did you see him last?" "He suggested visiting the tavern, has I have told you. I went to visit the gentlemen's facilities, and when I returned the Captain was gone." "PAUL, damnit, not Captain. We'll start from there and work outward. And we can't do it by ourselves-- there isn't time. Single--" The mercenary pilot opened his eyes, battered boots propped on a rickety table. "Yes, oh Wanted One?" "If we get you a holo of Paul, do you have any contacts that could help find him? It's extremely important that we recover him before we leave Yrarier." Single shrugged. "Do I look like a private dick to you? You only hired me to take you to R'gnor V, remember?" "Hank . . . " Shira took a deep breath and opened her own eyes, fingers wrapped tightly around her waterglass. "Don't argue this time, okay? Just do it. We'll pay you extra." He grumbled and sat up. "It'll cost you folks a pretty penny," he warned. "And an ugly one too, no doubt," Zahn replied. "Money is no object, Single. What's the status on your ship?" "Just fine. We could leave today, if you wanted to." "That may be a possibility," Tarak broke in smoothly. "Mister Single, you and I will begin our search for Paul Fitzgerald. Mister Collins, Doctor, you will attempt to contact the ship and notify them of this development. We will all rendezvous back here later tonight. Good day." With a curt nod, the Vulcan turned on his heel and walked out. "I guess that means I should go too," Hank muttered, rising and stretching. "You know which account to credit," he said as he, too, exited the room. "I think," Shira said slowly, setting her glass down on Single's vacated table, "That they've got the easy part of the job." "Oh?" Zahn asked, looking up from the news he was scanning. "How so?" "Well," she began, "They only have to deal with the scum and criminals of the Yrarian underworld. *We* have to deal with the Captain . . . " ***** [Later] Shira picked at the frothy lace of her dress and sighed. "Tell me again what we're doing in these outfits?" "It's very simple. The Yrarian Merchants association is holding a reception for Li. We're going to crash it." Examining himself in the mirror, Zahn adjusted his own lace and nodded satisfactorily. "No one will recognize us, don't worry." "It's exactly that that I'm worried about. What if no one recognizes us? How will they know we're not impostors? Not that we aren't, but . . . " "Of course we belong there," Zahn replied, turning and putting on his hat. "We're Rich People. Besides, do you know everyone on our ship?" "Well, no, but . . . " Zahn grinned. "Then who's going to know?" Shira grimaced and spread her hands. "Looking like this? I doubt that anyone would. How are we supposed to talk to the Captain if he can't figure out who in the world we are?" "He's not stupid, Shira. He'll figure it out, eventually. And if he doesn't, well . . . " "Well what?" "You, at least, are eye candy," Zahn said with a grin and a leer, and then winced as she swung at him. "Ow. That's not becoming for a lady-- and we have a party to attend. Shall we?" "Should have picked out my own clothes," Shira muttered as they left the store. "And don't you dare look down my dress!" ***** [Cambueil Hall, Yrarier] "The market in this sector is absolutely abysmal, don't you know," Zahn said, waving his hands to emphasize his points. "It seems like these backwater colonists just aren't interested anything at all other than the same old boring nutritious stuff. Do you know how dreadful that is for people like us?" As Zahn chattered away about the relative merits of one thing or another, Shira scanned the large room. Hundreds of people surrounded them, moving and talking above the gentle sursurrus of silk and velvet. Most of the women, she saw, were wearing the same amount of fabric as she, and a very few wore even less. That fact, however, was far from comforting-- about as much as the fact that they were almost all taller. It was all she could do not to stand on tiptoe and attract attention. "See him yet?" Zahn whispered, having driven his audience away with his talk of whatever he'd been talking about. She started to shake her head no, then nodded quickly. "By that ugly tapestry, to your left. See?" "Yes. Let's go and introduce ourselves, shall we?" She nodded, and they wove their way through the crowd. "You must be Captain Pellek!" Zahn boomed, interrupting the current conversation and earning a curious look from the woman at the Captain's side. "How wonderful it is to finally meet you. I was talking to a colleague of mine, and he had nothing but the best of things to say about you, sir. We're all confident that Yrarier and the Federation both will benefit from this venture, don't you think?" "I think, sir," the Captain's companion cut in abruptly, "That I don't believe we've met." "Of course we haven't, how forgetful of me. My dear, why didn't you remind me?" Shira turned a vapid smile on Zahn and tried not to giggle too much as she heard the other woman mutter, "Because she couldn't get a word in edgewise?" to the Captain. Zahn shrugged. "No matter, my dear. Well. I'm Master Maenek, and this is Lady Verelan. We trade in agricultural commodities." "I see," Pellek replied, raising an eyebrow. "This is Lieutenant Walsh. What sort of, ah, agricultural commodities do you deal in, sir?" "Lots of different things," 'Maenek' said, making an all-encompassing gesture with his hands while 'Verelan' nodded in agreement. "Food products, spices, medicinals . . . " "Flowers?" Pellek asked, peering closely at them. "Oh, most definitely. That's Verelan's specialty, you know. Why, she was telling me just the other day about this new strain of-- what was that you called it, my dear?" "Tarillan orchid, dear," 'Verelan' said, bobbing her head at Pellek. "All the girls say it's the most beautiful little thing they've ever seen." "And there you have it, a Tarillan orchid. Found it in some out-of-the-way place, I don't quite remember where, but it promises to be quite popular. That is," 'Maenak' said with a significant look, "If we can find a market for it. As I was mentioning to my colleague just a few moments ago, folks in this sector can be so very-- drab-- in their tastes. Opening up to other markets would be most--" "The musicians appear to have returned from their break," Pellek interrupted apologetically. "Lady Verelan, do you dance?" "She dances most wonderfully, Captain. I can assure you that--" "Then if you would do me the honor . . . ?" he broke in again, taking her arm and leading her into the slowly growing mass of dancers. "I have no doubt he'll find someone else to talk to. What is it?" She looked up and blinked briefly, then tittered and beamed at him. "What is what, Captain?" He laughed. "You're looking at me, and I didn't even have to ask. I'm very proud of you, you know. What brought this on?" She blushed and glanced at her feet momentarily before catching herself. "I'm trying to stay in character. How'd you know?" Pellek smiled. "I put a few things together-- I have to confess that until Zahn started talking, I didn't recognize either of you. What are you doing here, anyway? I don't recall him mentioning merchanting in any of his former lives." "We needed to get in contact with you. We've-- something's come up." He raised an eyebrow. "Like what?" "Like--" she paused a moment, and then all the words came out in a nervous, hushed tumble. "Like we've got a ship and we're all ready to go, could have been gone already because everything's fine except that Tarak came back and said he didn't know where Paul was, no one does really and they're out looking for him except by the time we left to get here no one had found him yet but Hank said he'd get his friends to look only I don't think he's got that many anymore and--" "Shh," he said, touching a finger to her lips. "Back up a minute. Did you say you don't know where Paul is?" Shira nodded. "We lost him, sir. I'm sorry." "How?" "Tarak said that he-- that is, Tarak went to the restroom and when he went back, he-- that is, Paul, was gone!" "This isn't good. But we can't waste too much time-- if you can't find Paul soon, you'll have to go on without him. Keep me posted if you can." "Yes, sir. There's more details in your pocket-- Zahn put it there. Captain?" "Yes?" he replied absently. "Lieutenant Walsh?" He chuckled and shook his head. "She's a--" he paused for a moment before letting a slight frown cross his face again. "A reporter." "A reporter? What's she doing here?" "Damage control. Read the news when you get out of here. That was quite interesting, Lady Verelan. I know more now about orchids than I ever did before, thank you." As the set ended, they returned to join Zahn and Walsh by the ugly tapestry. "I will keep that all in mind, Lady. Thank you very much." She giggled and blushed. "No, sir, thank you. You dance divinely." "It was my pleasure, Lady. If you will excuse me? I see the Governor waiting to talk." With a bow and a nod for Shira and Zahn, he turned and walked off, Walsh at his heels. "Mission accomplished," Shira said softly. "Can we get out of here now?" "Certainly. I'm tired of merchants-- now I remember why I got into gunrunning in the first place." "I'm just tired of pulling up my neckline." Zahn grinned. ***** NRPG: Over to you guys. *********************************************** "Vae, puto deus fio." --Emperor Vespasian Mia Karen Sherman World Weavers Roster Keeper: http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/~roboman/rosters/ ICQ: 9660582 IM: CmdrMarit