Working Title: Disillusioned
Authors: SuperFreak – belanna67@hotmail.com & Freak – trekiefreak@hotmail.com
Rating: R for future chapters
Summary: The story of Naomi Wildman's future
Chapter 1
It All Begins…
With a small shudder, the small spacecraft called the Descent settled onto the landing pad on the desert planet Primus III and power was cut to the thrusters. The hatch opened, allowing for a long flight of stairs to lower to the dusty ground and three figures descended the stairs. The first was an elderly man, who headed in the direction of the small village a few klicks from the landing pad without looking back. A burly Klingon came second, hurrying down the ladder and disappearing into the sandy landscape.
The third figure stood at the top of the stairs for several seconds, not moving. A long dark red cloak was wrapped around the figure, making it difficult to determine a gender. The shape moved its arms suddenly, and pulled away the hood that covered its face. A young woman was revealed with long blond hair, three small horns that ran down her forehead and a pair of brilliant green eyes that sparkled in the sunlight. After a few seconds, she descended down the stairs and walked a few feet away from the landing pad. No sooner than she reached the edge of the pad, the thrusters on the Descent were fired up and the ship took off, leaving a large dust cloud as its replacement.
Naomi Wildman sighed as she watched the ship make its way into the atmosphere until she couldn't see it any longer. Lowering her eyes, the village drew her attention and she decided to walk. She didn't actually have a destination, but at the moment, she didn't really need one. As long as it had food and water, she wasn't going to complain.
Most villages Naomi had been in during her life had been full of bustling people, loud noises and vibrant colors. This one stood out among them all. It was quiet, except for the wind that whipped through the buildings, and there was no one in site. The entire village was a dry sand color, with the exception of a few splashes of color from where someone was drying their laundry. Naomi's eyebrows came together as she contemplated her next move. Surely Primus III had someplace cool to stay, or to eat.
A dull noise caught her attention and she turned towards it. It sounded like music, and it was coming from a small opening down a small flight of stairs. Moving forward, Naomi stopped in front of the door, and pushed on it gently. Creaking, the door swung open, exposing a small, dimly lit, yet cool bar with only three patrons and a bartender. The music she had heard was coming from a small computer sitting behind the bar.
Silence met her ears as she entered, and it took her a minute to realize all the members of the tavern were staring at her. The elderly female behind the counter put down a mug she was drying and quirked an eyebrow. "Can I help you?" She asked in a thick accent that Naomi knew was only heard in the Primus sector of space.
"I need some water." Naomi found herself answering, and moved towards a barstool off in the corner to take a seat. The bartender eyed her for a minute, then turned to the replicator on the wall behind her and ordered a glass of water. She set it before Naomi and watched while the young woman drank it all in one long swig.
"Never been to Primus?" She asked finally when Naomi lowered the cup. A smile appeared on her face when Naomi shook her head no. "The heat'll do that you here. You won't realize you're thirsty until you actually get something to drink, probably why most people who come here don't survive long."
A young male patron sitting a few feet away chuckled at the bartenders comment. "That's why the Fleet left this place alone during the war, despite its great military advantage of being the closest planet to the Cardassian system." He downed the rest of his ale and tossed the mug aside. "Couldn't stand the heat."
"Eto, hush." The woman snapped, moving away from Naomi. "You know the rules in here." Eto chuckled again and lowered his head, motioning to the bartender to get him another drink. She reluctantly obeyed.
"I wasn't aware we're that close to Cardassian space." Naomi spoke up, her blue eyes watching the bartender.
"Only two light years." Eto answered and the woman's eyes flashed.
"Eto-"
"Calm down, Kli." Another man from the corner called, leaning back in his chair and resting his feet on top of the table, swishing his drink around in his cup. "The war is over. We don't have to worry about that anymore."
Kli's glared at the elderly man before she turned and disappeared behind a large piece of blue cloth that separated the bar from the backroom. Once she was gone, Naomi slid her eyes over to look at the man who had just spoken. "What don't you have to worry about anymore?"
"You're a nosy one for a newcomer." He snapped back and Naomi shrugged.
"I like to know about the planets I visit."
The man watched her for a few seconds before throwing back his head and laughing. "You've got spirit, I'll give you that." He took a sip of his drink, watching her over the top of the glass. "I'm Noe, and the drunk over there is Eto. The barkeep is my wife, Kli. Who might you be?"
"Naomi." She responded, glancing in the direction of the third figure, who was hunched over, wearing a cloak similar to Naomi's. She couldn't make out his face due the darkness of the bar and the hood that was pulled all the way over his face. From the way that he didn't participate in the conversation, Naomi deducted that he probably wasn't a regular. She returned her attention to Noe. "You were saying?"
Noe's mouth twisted into a smile. "Primus III is about two light years from the Cardassian border. It's also rich in gallicite…which just happens to be what all those Fleeters are just nuts over. But they were a little scared to get near the place because of the closeness to the border and because they couldn't come up with a cure for the heat problem." The smile faded somewhat as Noe continued. "The Cardassians, however, decided this would be a perfect place to set up camp. Did you see the ruins of a base as you landed?" Naomi shook her head-she hadn't noticed anything except sand when the shuttle had landed. "Well, they're there, trust me. Needless to say, we've had our fair share of problems with the Cardassians…"
"Filthy spoonheads." Eto muttered under his breath so quietly that Naomi just barely heard him. She looked in his direction, but he was staring into his glass as if it were the most interesting thing in the galaxy.
"But we haven't had to deal with them since the Fleet ended the war." Noe finished up loudly, casting a glare in Eto's direction.
Naomi glanced down at her empty cup. It was true that the Dominion war had ended at least 10 years ago, but there were still some problems occurring all over the galaxy. Small skirmishes between Starfleet and the Cardassians had begun to get worse, almost borderline of all-out combat. While most people tried to ignore it, Naomi knew it couldn't last. The tension between the two cultures was growing, and she knew they couldn't hide from it forever. Eventually another war was going to occur, and there wasn't anything Naomi could do about it. Not that it mattered to her, anyway. It wasn't her battle, it wasn't her problem. At that moment, all she wanted to do was get as far away from Starfleet as she humanly could, no matter the consequences.
It was sad, really. The one empire that Naomi had once loved with all her heart and soul was now the one empire that she was striving so hard to get away from. At one point in her life, not so long ago, she would have given her life for Starfleet, and she would have done anything to get to be able to command a starship…but now…none of it mattered. She had left that world and was in no hurry to return.
"Just because they left when the war ended doesn't mean that they won't be back." Kli had returned from behind the curtain and her eyes glared in the direction of her husband. "They'll rebuild their fleet and make their way into our lands once again."
Noe snorted. "Haven't done it yet. The Federation has ensured that."
"The Federation." Eto sneered, finally lifting his head and Noami watched, interested. "What can they do? Anyone can make a treaty and draw lines. But it doesn't mean anything unless they can back it up with more than a few ships and some fancy words."
"You know I have no real love for the Federation," Noe told the younger man. "but I believe they'll keep the Cardassians at bay." It was Eto's turn to chuckle and he turned his head to look at Naomi.
"What do you think, stranger?"
Toying with the handle on her glass, Naomi finally replied, "My views on the subject are rather different than most peoples."
Eto and Noe glanced at each other, deciding without words that she wasn't going to go into details. Eto spoke first. "So how long do you plan on staying on Primus III?"
"Five years." Naomi replied instantly.
Both men blinked. "Five years?" Kli wanted to know. "What do you plan on doing here for five years? I've been here most my life and I still can't understand why anyone would want to stay longer than a day."
"I'm going to wait." Naomi held up her empty cup. "Do you know of anywhere around here that I could stay?"
"There's an Inn about a block away-due north." Eto told her after a short pause. "It's a little on the expensive side, but-"
"Money's not a problem." To prove her point, Naomi reached into her cloak and extracted a piece of gold pressed latinum and placed it on the bar in front of Kli. "For the water and conversation." Then she turned and hurried out of the bar.
The night had brought on cool air and Naomi took in a deep breath once outside. Her mouth went dry again, but she ignored it and began to head north, keeping her eyes open for the Inn. She had only moved a few steps, however, when she got the eerie feeling that there was someone behind her.
Quickening her pace, Naomi tried not to look behind her to see if she was being followed. Her objective was to find the Inn, and if Eto was right, then it shouldn't be far.
It was the laughter that froze Naomi in her tracks. It bounced off the buildings and echoed in the empty streets, making it seem like she was surrounded. She felt eyes on her and a shudder ran down her spine. She had no idea where the person or persons could be hiding, and she wasn't too anxious to find out.
Dark shadows surrounded her and she turned in a quick circle. It wasn't her imagination-she was surrounded. About seven youth, probably a few years younger than herself, were closing in on her, and she suspected that they were probably part of a gang of some kind. She felt like kicking herself-she knew better than flashing the latinum around like that. In a place like this, of course it was going to attract attention.
"What do you want?" Naomi asked the nearest kid, her voice coming out calm and steady, but her heart was racing. She had never actually been in a real fight before, though she had taken many classes about self-defense. The kid didn't respond, only grinned and stepped closer to her, his hand reaching for something sharp that hung around his waist.
It wasn't exactly the answer Naomi was looking for. The kid lunged forward suddenly, extracting the dagger and slashing it in front of Naomi's face. She jumped back, the blade missing her by just a few inches, and dove to the ground, rolling away from him. She bounced to her feet, her arms outstretched, ready to take them all on if she had to. Somewhere in the back of her head, she thanked her many teachers that had taught her self defense moves over the years.
Two of the gang members attacked at once from behind, which caught Naomi slightly off guard. She stumbled in the sandy ground, but managed to keep her balance. The thought of grabbing her phaser that she had hidden around her waist crossed her mind, but then she remembered that these were just kids she was fighting. She didn't have much time to reflect, though, because she suddenly found herself in the middle of a ring of gang members, each one holding a long, jagged blade.
Forget the teachers. Let's go with the Torres way of doing things. Naomi thought to herself and made a mad grab for her phaser.
A foot connected with her hand and she gritted her teeth, but her hand didn't obey the silent order to hang onto the weapon. It slipped from her fingers and flew out of her hand. The group began to laugh as one as they moved in around her, ready to finish her off…or rape her, which ever they felt like doing.
Phaser fire caught the head kid in the back and he pitched forward, never having time to scream. Naomi looked around wildly for the source of the fire, but couldn't see anyone. Two more of the gang members went down, and by now, the rest of them were yelling and motioning to each other as they retreated down the empty streets.
Diving for her phaser, Naomi snatched it up and turned in a circle, her arm outstretched, her eyes flashing. She caught site of a shadow against a building and she moved towards it. The shadow began to run in the opposite direction. "Wait!" Naomi shouted after it, but it didn't slow down. So she did the only thing she could-she ran after it.
She followed it through the empty alleys and out into the desert, where she held up her phaser and ordered the figure to turn around. To her surprise, it did.
Like her, the figure wore a long black cloak that covered its face and body, though from what she could see, Naomi determined that the figure was indeed male. What's more, she was surprised to see that it was same silent figure that had been sitting in the corner of the bar. She wanted to ask him who he was, but instead heard herself ask, "Why did you save me?"
The man shrugged and Naomi caught site of his eyes, which glittered with the reflection of the town's lights. She gazed at him for several seconds, then lowered her phaser. "Thank you." The man nodded, turned, and started to walk away. "Hey, wait!" Naomi yelled after him, but another voice from somewhere behind her caused her to momentarily turn her head.
Eto was running towards her, confusion on his face. "Hey, what happened?" He asked once he was within speaking distance. "I come out of the bar to see you chasing shadows-"
Naomi turned back to face the figure…and found nothing but desert staring back at her. "Did you see him?" She asked.
"See who?"
"The man…the one in the cloak…" She faltered, than sighed. "Never mind."
Eto reached out and gently placed a hand on her shoulder. "Why don't I walk you to the Inn tonight? I forgot to tell you about the gangs that sometimes come into town after a transport lands."
Naomi looked at him for several seconds, glanced back out to the desert, then nodded and followed Eto back into the town.