Mementos of the Past - Part I

Posted on Fri Oct 18th, 2024 @ 10:26pm by Lieutenant JG Zai & Lieutenant Adrianna Baciami

1,572 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Stars Around the Well
Location: Lt. Zai Quarters & Engineering | USS Arcadia
Timeline: Current

ON:

Zai damned near ripped his hair out last night. His quarters were a mess. After he sent the file to Adrianna he went to check something as he always did and then found it to be missing. He tore his quarters apart. They looked like a Klingon battle ground. Desperation made him turn to the one person he wasn't sure he fully trusted.

He went to the computer and sent an SOS to Adrianna Baciami stating he needed her intel skills.

Adrianna soon showed up in civilian clothes. She'd been relaxing for the rest of the evening, although she had made a start on the file he had sent over, putting feelers out with a few sources, just in case. She'd hunt Vance down even if it killed her.

The door chime had Zai stumbling over downed furniture to open it. His hair, usually in a ponytail, sticking out in all directions the quarters shredded he grabbed her arm and pulled her inside. He motioned to the mess. "I need your help. You did intel, I need your help now, please."

"Well don't you look handsome," came the sarcastic response, noting back at how he had greeted her not too long ago. Her eyes looked around, widening a little at the bomb site. "Madonna! What happened in here?"

"It's gone! I can't find it. It never leaves my quarters." He grabbed her shoulders. "How did it grow legs Adrianna? There is no way that I misplaced it."

"Remember that time-- mere hours ago-- that I told you to drop the philosophy, deficiente," she replied, flinching a little at his hands on her, "what have you lost?"

He took a breath. "Okay, okay. Right. You wouldn't know. "It's a necklace. Carved. in the shape of a moon with a star in the middle. it's on a chain...." He held out his palm. "Fits in the palm. It's not tiny." He turned and came back with a wooden box. "It fit in this...I swear if I found who took it I will vent them out the airlock transport them back and vent them again!" He sighed. "The pendant is a deep green stone from Capella. The chain a black metal." He looked around. "I'm going to look again."

Adrianna held up her hand to pause him, "no, you're going to piece this place back together. If you don't find it in the process, then it is not here. I'll go and check the mess and engineering." She offered a small smile, "we'll find it."

He sighed as he leaned against the wall. "We have to find it. We have to. This cannot be lost."

Zai watched her leave and sighed. "Okay, it had to be here." He looked around at the mess and then decided to start with the easy part, putting the furniture right side up. When that was done he picked up the clothing and checked every pocket, every sock, every fold.

He replaced things in storage, cabinets, and lockers. He righted the desk and its drawers, replaced the mattress and checked the pillow case and when he stopped the quarters were spotless but his necklace and pendant were gone.

He had taken it to engineering once...when he was feeling particularly down and needed the memory of it and the feel of it next to his heart to get him through the day, had he remembered wrong? Had he dropped it? He hoped that Adri was having better luck then he was. If he lost this he would loose everything.

Adrianna made her way down to the mess, but it came up short, but she had heard whispers from an engineer about a prank on Zai being in progress. Curiosity for the lead held her and she made her way down to engineering. She was subtle and made it look like she was trying to find someone, even going as far as Zai's office, ransacking it, only to put it back together.

Johansen laughed. "He's probably loosing his mind."

Alvar sighed. "Listen I'm all for pranking the temp CEO but this is beyond all measure. You all know Lieutenant Lee has a similar box to this in his quarters. When we broken in to prank him Zai almost flipped out when you suggested taking the box. He said we can prank him a million ways but never touch the box. It's obviously something Capellan and religious or cultural or something. We shouldn't have taken it."

"It's a bloody necklace besides Zai and the Lieutenant are different. Lee is a stick in the mud, very...cold. Zai understands jokes and pranks."

Alvar sighed. He looked over at the Vulcan who passed by. By all rights the man should be high up not a Chief but he was enlisted. "What do you think Tolek?"

The Vulcan raised an eyebrow. "About what?"

Johansen held up the necklace. "Alvar..."

Tolek snatched it so quickly it shocked the other two and the other four gathered around. "You dare take this? Do you know that Zai will put you in an airlock and vent you. That is not an empty promise!" It was the only time they'd seen full emotion from a Vulcan. Tolek shoved it back at Johansen. "Take this back and don't let him see you had it. I have known Zai longer then any of you. Trust me when I tell you do not let him see you handling this."

Adrianna had overheard and when it became clear that the necklace was in a position as a joke. "That won't be necessary," Adrianna interrupted, seemingly out of nowhere, slamming Johansen against a wall, her arm across his throat, "hand it over." She held out her hand for him to place the necklace in it. Her eyes were dark, her tone cold and almost psychopathic.

Johansen held it out to her. He was having trouble breathing but he was able to get a few words out. "What's the big deal?"

Tolek sighed. "The big deal is that necklace has been Zai's life since he was very young. I don't know the origin but I know that he had it when during the Klingon war and when one of those idiots tried to lay hand on it rip it off Zai's neck well lets just say they lost seven that day to his rage. Do not touch it again." Tolek bowed to Adrianna. "It seems you knew of this necklace I am assuming Zai has spoken to you about it in some capacity?"

Adrianna closed her hand around the necklace and took a step back, allowing the engineer to catch his breath. She simply nodded to Tolek, "si, he sent his pet psychopath to go on a hunt for it, knowing that I enjoy making people cry and bleed."

She looked back to Johansen. She smiled sweetly to him, "don't worry, I'm not that person any more, but just remember that-- unlike Zai-- I like to toy with my prey before I kill it. I used to make a living from it whilst working in Intel. Now, as far as everyone in this room is concerned-- none of this happened. You simply found this on the floor and were returning it to his desk. Am I clear?"

Tolek scattered them all after they promised. He bowed again. "Thank you. I can trust you to return it to him. And thank you for ... not telling him about Johansen, he is a good engineer and Zai is just... learning how to integrate here. An air locking would not be good for his career path."

She nodded, "Zai has done me a favour in hours of late, I am merely repaying the favour. I can take blood on my hands-- it comes with the job. A mere engineer cannot. Plus, we're too many miles out for a replacement engineer." Adrianna paused for a moment, "Klingon war... Hm?" Something was dropping into her mind, placing a few pieces together.

"Yeah. We were all part of the Engineer Warriors...stupid name but it was what it was. We were engineers, warriors, and working in the same line of work you just mentioned you worked in the past. The only thing is Starfleet abandoned us ordered us abandoned. The only reason we all got out was Zai...I don't know how he did it but when we left the Klingons all but tossed us out. We also took one of their generals...the Telerites ended up rescuing us. Starfleet hailed us Heros..." He shrugged. "I thought for sure that Zai would leave the fleet but Fang would not so Zai stayed and frankly many of us stayed because of Zai. He's saved a lot of lives but I’d hate to be on his bad side." He shrugged. "Anyway he's going to be hyperventilating until he gets that back." The Vulcan allowed himself a smile. "You may just get free hooch for life for returning it."

"Let him sweat a little longer, he'll be fine." She offered a small smile. There it was. An opening. Adrianna had to phrase it carefully, to ensure that everything remained clean, "I'm sure that we may have crossed paths at some point. I worked around that area for a while. I'm sure it wasn't just a general that you took. Whether or not they lived-- different question."


To Be Continued...

 

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