Chapter 2

Two Years Later

"Morning Noe."

Noe glanced up from the table he was cleaning and a smile crossed his face. "Starting early again, Naomi?"

"Something like that." Naomi smirked as she slid onto a barstool and tapped her fingers on the countertop. "Kli, you back there?"

The elderly woman appeared from behind the curtain a second later, a glass of Bailey's already in her hand. "It's a bad idea to let you keep doing this to yourself." She stated as she set the glass down in front of the half human.

"You're not my mother." Naomi muttered, lifting the cup to her lips and downing it in one long swallow.

Kli quirked an eyebrow. "Maybe not, but I sure feel like it sometimes."

"Trust me." Naomi's eyes glittered. "You're nothing like my mother." She motioned to the empty cup. "Another."

Sighing, Kli retreated to the back and Naomi watched her go.  In a lot of ways, Kli was like a mother to Naomi, thought the half human would never admit it.  During the past two years, Naomi had gotten to know a lot about the elderly woman and her husband, as well as other individuals living on Primus III.

Kli and Noe had known each other their entire lives, and had gotten married at a young age.  It was Kli who had inherited the bar from her father, being as she had been an only child, and the two had kept it up for the past 37 years.  The couple had never had any children, which was, Naomi determined, why they kept their eyes on her. 

As for the other individuals on Primus III, only two others played a large part on her life.  The first was Eto, which Naomi had been seeing on and off for the past two years.  Their relationship was a strange one, and one she could never fully explain.  She didn't know if her feelings went beyond friendship, but she spent time with him regardless. 

The second was Huii, the owner of the Inn that Naomi was staying at.  She had rented out one of the suites when she first arrived, and now, two years later, she was still there.  Huii didn't seem to mind, as long as she helped out with chores around the Inn and paid a monthly rent, which was fine with Naomi.  She was just glad to have somewhere to stay.

Naomi spent a lot of time at the bar, and quickly became a regular there.  She became addicted to Bailey's as well as a few others.  While Kli was insistent upon Naomi drinking only the sythenol, Naomi would have none of it.  She wanted the real stuff, not the fake. 

She never participated in the conversations about the Federation or the Cardassians.  When topics like that arose, she would sit on her barstool and stare into space.  When other patrons asked her for her opinion, she often answered with 'I don't really have an opinion on that'.  She never spoke about herself, so she had become somewhat of a mystery around the area.  No one knew where she came from, or why she was there, or who or what she was waiting for.  If someone asked, Naomi would just change the subject without giving any kinds of clues.

"You know," Naomi jumped at the sound of Noe's voice.  He had slipped onto the empty stool beside her and was watching her carefully. "I think that was the first time I've heard you talk about your mother since you came here."

"It's kind of a sore subject."

"You know…" Noe started and Naomi glanced at him, her eyebrow raised. "I've heard it said that sometimes you can get your problems sorted out if you talk about them with someone."

Naomi tilted her head and eyed her friend for a few seconds. "You've been trying for years to get me to talk about my past and you've never succeeded.  What makes you think it'll work now?"

Noe shrugged. "I don't, but it doesn't hurt to try."

Snorting, Naomi accepted the glass of Bailey's Kli had brought out to her. "Sorry, Noe, not this time."

"OK then." Noe got to his feet again. "Well, I guess I'll have to wait until I get you very drunk.  Then maybe I'll get some answers out of you."

"Doubtful.  You tried that last month."

"I did?"

Chuckling, the half Ktarian lifted the cup to her lips and took a long drink.  When she was younger, Naomi had been fascinated with her father's culture and spent every waking hour for two weeks studying whatever she could get her hands on.  Back then, it had been a hobby, but now that she was older, she realized there were some definite advantages to being half Ktarian.

For instance, Naomi could drink quite a lot before she actually became intoxicated.  To top it off, she had a mind like a steel trap, hindered only slightly because of her human physiology. 

Naomi was about to respond to Noe, but the door to the tavern opened and the three looked up.  In the doorway stood a tall figure, most likely male, dressed in a sand colored cloak.  The hood was pulled down over the face and only a chin was visible.  After a second of silence, Kli spoke, "Can we help you?"

While the figure didn't respond, he did lift his arms and draw back his hood. 

A stifled gasp escaped Naomi's lips when she saw the face. No way…! She thought wildly. Its-!

"Cardassian!" A clatter of a barstool caused Naomi to turn.  Noe had flung himself over the bar, scattering dishes and cleaning materials about in a wild dash to find the phasers he hid behind the bar.  Kli was backed against the far wall, her face deathly pale.

Naomi felt numb as she stared into the face of the Cardassian.  There was something about him…it took Naomi only a few seconds to realize that he didn't look right.  What caught her attention first off was the fact that this Cardassian wasn't repulsive looking…in fact…he was unusually handsome.  His skin lacked the gray tinge that most Cardassian's had, and his eyes were dark brown, but when he turned his head towards the light, they flashed a dark red.  His neck and forehead features were dulled and he had more hair than Naomi ever remembered seeing on a Cardassian.

Kli's shriek caused Naomi to jerk out of her trance.  Noe had grabbed a phaser and was pointing it straight at the Cardassian.  In return, he had extracted a strange looking device that Naomi didn't recognize but was certain was a weapon.

"Noe, stop!" Naomi jumped at the sound of her own voice and heads turned to look at her.

"Naomi, he's Cardassian!" Noe protested, his whole arm trembling.  By the way he was holding the phaser, Naomi was scared it would actually go off and kill someone.

"I don't care!" Naomi retorted. "Put the phaser down!" Her eyes flashed to look at the unknown Cardassian. "You too."

Maybe it was the force that she had in her tone, or the fact that they were willing to listen.  Either way, both men slowly lowered their weapons, but their glares never subsided as they watched each other carefully.  Taking charge, Naomi slowly approached the Caradassian. "Who are you?" She asked, surprised at the firmness in her voice. "What do you want here?  The Federation-"

"You're human?" His voice was low, yet in a strange way, comforting.  An accent Naomi had never heard before accompanied his voice.

Frankly, Naomi wasn't sure how he had managed to tell whether or not she was part human.  Most people mistook her for being full Ktarian because of the horns on her forehead, so she was a little confused. "Part, yes."

"Naomi-!" Kli hissed, voice trembling, moving slowly towards her husband.  The Cardassian lifted his weapon again and aimed it at Naomi's head.  Her eyes went wide and her breath came short.  "Naomi!  Oh god…" Kli moaned.

"Put the weapon down!" Noe ordered, moving closer with slow hesitant steps.

The Cardassian ignored him. "Tell me about Voyager."