For a planet that was undergoing what could best be described as "aggressive urban development", it was unsurprising that quite a few bars and cafes had popped up almost out of thin air to fill the void of enjoyable places to eat, drink, relax, and generally be lazy as flowery ideas popped into ones head.

The coveted prime spots for such locals were located along what residents had informally dubbed Main Street; rather than use the overly symbolic, convoluted and far too long name the Romulan-Federation-Klingon committee had settled on. By the time the council had voted to approve Rhihhaanasylamannel, Main Street had already stuck, and only a few of the businesses had taken the gamble of changing their establishment's name in hopes of capitalizing on the new name.

On Main Street you could find anything from the after hours, bring your own bottle, hole in the wall; to the incredibly fancy and prohibitively exclusive restaurants sporting dress codes and personal chefs for each table; and everything in between.

For Sarah and Ellie their favorite was Chez Ardlon, a lovely little sidewalk cafe just about halfway down the avenue, just opposite a small fountain plaza. the name had something of an old world charm to it that Sarah couldn't place, and that Ellie insisted she had seen in extranet postings that suggested it was mostly related to 18th or was it 19th century France, with a sprinkling of Spanish, Italian, and Bolian influences. Mostly.

Sarah had managed to rebel against Ellie's efforts at getting her to have a set routine, and finally after some prolonged and tortuous negotiations they had settled to limit the predictability of their visits to the cafe to a weekly event.

As they walked over to their usual table a familiar figure caught Sarah's eye. The figure was sat down so she couldn't judge the woman's height, though she had something of a athletic build. She had red hair, though not the same shockingly red shade as Sarah's, her's was more modest, pulled back into a ponytail. Then there were the trill spots running down her neck in a familiar pattern. Something finally clicked and her mind made the connection: It had to be Siruzu.

Sarah and Ellie hadn't seen Siruzu in almost a month. Siruzu had quite literally dropped off the face of New Romulus. They probably could've found her if they'd wanted to, but Siruzu had been in a foul mood and frankly... being around her was dangerous, if the rumors of a vigilante in the mountains had any truth to them.

Siruzu looked like she hadn't slept in weeks. Dark shadows ran under her eyes and she leaned heavily on her forearms. The combat armor Siruzu had lived in was conspicuously MIA. The trill had opted instead for a dark jacket and matching pants. Both were wrinkled slightly, as if only recently coming out from storage.

The woman she was speaking with was a spitting image of Ellie, black hair, green skin, the difference was the clothing. Whereas Ellie seemed to prefer impossibly white outfits, this green skinned woman wore a black jumpsuit with a... wait a minute... was that a Guenidier fleet patch on the green woman's shoulder?

Naturally, Ellie grabbed Sarah's arm and began dragging her over to Siruzu before Sarah could protest.

"...we drop out of warp and Sean yells, 'surprise bitches!'" The Ellie look-alike was saying.

Sarah saw Siruzu crack a grin. "You're joking Talia... when was this?"

"A few months back." Talia quickly replied. "Had the whole fleet there. Probably one of the better assaults we've ever done. Even grabbed one of their prisoners, or so I heard."

"You heard right." Sarah finally managed to add in. "I'll probably never forget that comm message."

"Wait..." Siruzu looked up very abruptly. "... that was... oh... that was then." She leaned back in her chair, crossing her arms across her chest. "I may have played pickup for Sarah."

Talia glanced at Sarah and then to Ellie. "What is this... twins day?"

"You know... we do look alot alike." Ellie met Talia's gaze. "You're not photonic though."

"You're a hologram?"

Ellie nodded with a cheerful smile. "Pho-ton-ic life-form. It has wonderful perks."

Talia seemed a bit skeptical. "If you say so. I have to say I've personally not met many holograms that were actually lifeforms. More used to holodeck fantasy programs."

"That's where I came from!"

Siruzu groaned loudly. "Sit down before you make a scene you two."

Sarah grabbed a pair of chairs from one of the nearby tables and set them down. "You've still not introduced us Siz."

Siruzu groaned again. "Sarah and Ellie, meet Talia. Talia, meet Sarah and Ellie." Clearly Siruzu was still in a foul mood and Sarah was beginning to wonder if interrupting her conversation had been the right course of action. Not that she could've stopped Ellie, but still.

Talia however was much more friendly. She extended a hand. "A pleasure. I was just sharing some stories from home for Siruzu, given that she's not been back lately."

"Busy shooting Tal Shiar slobs," was Siruzu's blunt response. "The highlands are.. well were... infested."

"Hold on," Sarah interjected, "I must ask, are you the same Talia that's has been a known accomplice of a known prankster by the name of Siruzu?"

Talia gave Sarah a cat like grin. "I may or may not have known a young prankster by the name of Siruzu Omalee."

Sarah grinned, "I only ask because we haven't been able to find this notorious prankster Siruzu. She's dropped off the map and left a body double to shoot Tal Shiar."

"Well perhaps she just saw fit to quit while she was ahead after sabotaging the Admiral's replicator." Talia mused.

"Oh trust me, she did worse before she went into retirement." Sarah said, with Ellie nodding in agreement.

Siruzu's head hit the table with a dull thunk.

Talia shook her head at the sight, "I'll take your word on that."

"What brings you out here to New Romulus anyhow?"

"Sean asked me to meet with a few Romulan contacts over here, figured I could check up on Siruzu while I was here."

It took Sarah a moment to make the connection from the informal mention of Sean to Admiral Sean Cunningham who'd pulled her out of the prison months back. "How is the Admiral doing? He knocked over any more super secret prison facilities."

Talia laughed. "Super secret yes, prisons no. We think we're narrowing in on something big. Last place we raided gave us information that all of the previous places we hit might be connected."

"Find the source, shove a quantum torpedo down it." Siruzu added.

Talia shrugged. "Pretty much." The conversation very awkwardly died shortly thereafter. Talia broke it. She stood, revealing a modified phaser on her hip. "I better get moving, I've gotta meet with a certain senator at a certain time and a certain place... and try to avoid getting frisked by security."

Siruzu stood, walking around the table to Talia. "Thanks for stopping by, it was good to see you again."

Talia placed a hand on Siruzu's shoulder. "Try to get some rest Siruzu. Stop by later, you've got the address."

Siruzu nodded, said a brief goodbye, then left Ellie and Sarah behind.

"Siz looks very sad." Ellie said after what seemed to be an eternity.

Sarah could only nod. She'd been at a loss for how to help Siruzu for a long time and it was killing her to watch Siruzu drift further and further away. Of course, she knew it was causing Ellie no shortage of distress either. What could they possibly do though?