So, I decided that this one needed a re-write. I love this story but when I re-read it I was disappointed to noticed how bad some of it is. I've rewritten sections, fixed a load of errors and added rather a lot into it. The story is essentially the same but I just feel it needs updating with some of my improvements.
Thanks
Lu
It was risky. If the guards discovered the crate had a false bottom and the cargo wasn't the few bottles of Vulcan Brandy but the highly illegal Romulan ale, they'd be in a world of trouble. Still, a job was a job and times weren't easy. The next ten minutes would be crucial. It didn't help that the Star Fleet uniforms they'd managed to acquire seemed to be a size too small, at least for Alhana. Getting rid of the merchandise and getting back aboard the Bird and away from Earth as soon as possible was her main priority. Unfortunately, there were three people in front of her, each with cargo to be checked and of course, each with some problem or another. This could take a while. She leaned a heavy hand on the trolleys handle and sighed.
It was too hot for this kind of work anyway; she wiped sweat from her forehead and flicked it away. Far better to be back in space and away from this place, away and finding the parts they needed. The guards waved through the first set of people and began questioning a pair of Romulans. Alhana listened as they explained they were visiting Earth for personal reasons. They faced some further questions, their bags were yanked open and she lost interest. A group of Orion's joined the line behind her, hemming her in. Their chatter was inane, babbling and utterly annoying. She patted the papers on the pocket, checking they were there for the hundredth time. The line moved up as the Romulans passed through. Please don't let the crew contact me now. It would be just like Kang to patch through a pointless message. She rated him for guts but not brains. If Tig had any sense, he's keep the entire ship under silence until she hailed them. A trail of sweat tickled down her back as the people in front of her were waved through. She swallowed hard, here goes nothing…
"Pass," the guard on the left demanded. Alhana handed over her papers and tried to keep the grin from her face. The guy on the right, who looked bored half to death, gave her cursory once over before turning his attention to the barely dressed Orion woman behind him.
"What's your purpose here?" The first guard asked. His tone told her he was as bored as his companion.
"Delivering these crates to my employer," she said. Damn, sounded sarcastic. She swallowed but remained silent. The guard on her right looked her up and down in a way that made her skin crawl, uniform was too snug for sure, she gave him a derisive look. As if a pathetic human like that would stand a chance!
"Alhana De Torres. It says here that you're a registered engineer." The first one said.
"That's right."
"So why are you delivering crates to a Hugo Rune, a bartender?" he asked checking the pass again, "And why're you wearing blue?"
Alhana rolled her eyes and pushed stray curls from her forehead, "That's an embarrassing point," she said with a sigh, it was a well-rehearsed lie, said so many times that even she was beginning to believe it. "I got into a fight a while back with my senior and I, well, I ran off. Life isn't so great out there that I had second thoughts. I took this job so I could make amends," she said. She wiped her palms on her thighs and did her best to smile. The guard on her right narrowed his eyes. Shit.
"Open the crate." He said. She did as he asked without hesitating. To do so now would be stupid. "Vulcan brandy?" he reached in and took out one of the bottles. The amber liquid sloshed as it was turned upright. "Good quality too."
"Where did you get this?"
"I don't question my employer; I just get the job done. I'm sure you boys can appreciate that."
"That all you got?"
She nodded. The guard on her right handed her pass back. The bottle was replaced and they waved her through. She hurried forward a few paces before putting the lid back on the crate. She eased the hover board forward and exited the building as quickly as she could. A wave of heat hit her as the air conditioned building was left behind. The sky above was clear and the bright sun was making a slow descent to the horizon, hopefully, the day would cool relatively soon. Alhana checked her watch; it was an hour before she was due to meet Hugo. A lot could happen between now and then.
Alhana hailed a cab and demanded it take her to the rendezvous point. The driver looked at her sideward but did her bidding without question. Getting there early wouldn't be a bad thing. Maybe get the whole affair done so she could go. The Credit's Hugo was paying them would get the plasma coils fixed on the Bird. It would mean a trip back home though and that was as risky as being here. The Empire hated having one of their own flying free and they'd not hesitate to bring the entire crew in, which would be a disaster.
London was thriving; the warm weather had brought people outside in droves. The urban scape was nothing compared to the extensive cities on Qo'nos but it had a sort of charm to it nonetheless. Large buildings reached skyward and there were plenty of hover vehicles clogging the lanes. The cab passed a park covered with groups of people eating lunch on the green grass. She shook her head, humans were so… human. What was it her mother had said? Something about humans having a deeper appreciation for the natural world? Whatever it was, it was lost to the depths of time and it wasn't like she could go and ask her. A colossal boom brought her back to the present. "What th-" the words died on her lips as a giant black smoke cloud rose steadily into the air.
"God!" whispered the cab driver. "Looks like something has gone wrong over there!"
"What's over there?" she asked keeping her eyes fixed on the growing cloud of thick black smoke. She hoped it wouldn't spell disaster for her and the mission she was on.
"Offices mainly, Star Fleet archives, few admin buildings."
"Not in the direction we're going?"
"No ma'am," he said with a sniff. Alhana snorted. If these people wanted to blow each other up, who was she to get in the way? The remainder of the journey went smoothly, it seemed to take forever to get across the city but most of the traffic seemed to be heading in the other direction. The com in the taxi reported that it has been the Archives that had been hit but who by was unknown.
Finally, they pulled up to her destination and she retrieved her crates and hover board. She gave the driver some credits before entering the street, pushing her cargo before her. The market area was busy but she wasn't interested in the stalls. The hubbub and stench of food from the stalls was overpowering and she fought the urge to hold her breath against it. She waited for the driver to leave before pushing her crates into the side street by the road.
Alhana passed under a grim covered archway and banged on a metal door that was the entrance to Hugo's establishment. The rust covered door was anything but welcoming and the word 'dive' sprung to mind as she waited. A slit opened and a pair of dark eyes looked her up and down. What was with humans and giving her the once over? "Can I help you?" a voice growled.
"Hugo's delivery," she barked back
"Alhana?"
She nodded. There was the deep clang of a bar sliding back, the door opened a fraction and she was waved in. Inside the establishment was dark; everything looked green for a moment as she stepped inside. She blinked and her eyes adjusted. "You've grown."
"Hugo," Alhana said with a smile that was genuine. He shut the door behind them before he wrapped her in a great hug. She patted him awkwardly on the back and he stepped backwards with a grin. He'd certainly grown as well, the last time she had seen him, he had been a slender man. Not anymore. He now had a rather impressive paunch and a red face to go with it.
"Tell me everything," he said inviting her to sit on a stool.
"Let's get business done first."
Hugo nodded, "Aye , good girl. Show me the goods."
"Right there," she replied indicating the crate. Hugo strode over and opened it up.
"Brandy?" he said. His top lip curled up as he spoke. She knew Vulcan Brandy was a pathetic attempt on that races part of brewing alcohol. It was weak, lacked body and had barely a bunch to it at all. It fetched a much lower price than the coveted Romulan ale, partly because it was weak and partly because it was actually legal.
"Underneath that," she said. She watched as he stacked the brandy onto the bar and fumbled with the hidden panel when she looked at it now, it seemed painfully obvious it was there, how the guards had missed it, she would never know! He found the catch within seconds and his eyes brightened as it lifted to reveal what was concealed.
"Perfect!"
"It was the only way we could get it in through the dock. Times are hard but not hard enough for me to want to spend time in a Federation cell." She said with a shrug. Hugo nodded.
"You'll want paying then." She nodded. Hugo went behind the bar and pulled out a bulging sack. He slid it to Alhana, "This should cover it." She opened the sack and looked at the contents. They weren't bright, certainly not shining but they were Credits and that was what they needed.
"Let me tell the crew everything's fine." She said. Hugo nodded. Alhana tapped her watch, the muffled voice of Tig came through, "We're good." She said.
"Good Captain," The harsh voice of her second in command was good to hear.
"I'll be in touch; I'm going to catch up with my uncle while I'm here, Alhana out." She turned her attention back to Hugo, who sat opposite her with a smile.
"Now will you tell me everything? How's you mother?"
"I don't know. I've not been home for years."
"Why not?" he asked. He poured her a large glass of some white fizzing liquid, the likes of which she'd not seen for a long time. He passed it to her before opening a bottle of beer for himself.
"Gorchek and I disagreed with some of my decisions. I wanted to fix things; he wanted me to join the defence force. This was six years ago, we haven't spoken since." She replied.
"I see. Your father was always insistent."
"Good job I got my mother's stubborn side," she replied
"Not to mention her looks."
"For what good that did me," Alhana said with a laugh. She ran a hand over her smooth forehead and shrugged. She took a swig of the lemon flavoured fizz and giggled. "Lemonade? I haven't had lemonade since-"
"Since you were last here as a child. You used to love this stuff." Hugo said. There was a warm smile on his face and she couldn't help return it.
"I'm surprised there's no icecream!"
"I have some out back if you want…" Hugo laughed. She shook her head and waved her hand as she stifled a laugh of her own.
"Where's Marsha?" Alhana said looking around. "Aunt Marsha?"
"She ran off with Joe about five years ago," Hugo said.
"Sorry to hear that.
"It's no bad thing, it wasn't great towards the end and looking back I should have seen it coming. They drop by now and again, no hard feelings."
Alhana shook her head but kept her mouth shut. How someone could put up with the slight to his honour was beyond her. If she'd been in Hugo's place, she'd have pulled the other man's guts out. The door opened and a couple of young lads walked in. Neither of them looked particularly savoury but she'd seen far worse than the likes of them. They sauntered up to the bar; Hugo already had their drinks poured by the time they arrived. He fumbled under the bar and moments later a news screen lit up. "Have you heard about this Hu?" one of the lads said indicating the screen.
All of them turned to look at the now flickering screen; it was a report about the explosion. The woman was prattling on about survivors and how many had been killed in the blast. The image of a Star Fleet officer appeared. He looked unremarkable in Alhana's except for an intense gaze and a serious demeanour. The news reader advised everyone that a manhunt was underway to find the wayward officer but not to approach him if he was seen. "I saw that explosion," Alhana said turning back to her lemonade.
"Yeah?"
"It was big, caused a lot of smoke."
"I bet," Hugo said. Her watch buzzed. She sighed and raised it to her face.
"Not now," she growled.
Kang barked back at her, completely ignoring her warning, "We've got co-ordinates for a pick up and it might be interesting. You're near the job." He spoke in gruff Klingon. The two bar patrons looked at her with wide eyes.
"Send me the link, Out." She replied in the same language. She looked across at the young lads, they returned to their drinks hurriedly. "I think that's my cue." She said draining the last of her lemonade.
"Don't feel like you have to rush," Hugo said, "It's been far too long since I saw you."
"I shouldn't stay much longer," she said indicating the two men. Hugo nodded. Her watch buzzed and she checked the pick up location. Alhana rolled her eyes, trust Kang to find a location the other side of the planet and call it 'near'.
"If I ever need anything off world I'll be in touch again," he said when she looked up.
"It was real good to see you again," she said. He gave her another one of those large embraces and she patted his back again. Her overly sensitive nose caught his scent and she grimaced. As soon as he released her, she bade her farewell and left without another word – she had a shuttle to catch.