Time Is Too Slow Chapter 2, a startrek: other fanfic

***Time Is Too Slow…***

~Chapter 2~

It wasn't hard to find the Hotel Columbia due to the fact that it seemed to be the only building taller than two stories in the capitol city of Griliton. They fit in perfectly with the disgruntled crowd outside of the Hotel. Unfortunately, this meant there was going to be no easy way for them to sneak into the hotel itself.

"Okay, disguise master, what have you got up your sleeve that can get us actually inside?" Sarah said very quietly to Katana.

"Well, what's your plan?"

"We obviously have to get inside and look like we belong there. Once we're inside we can find the talks and make sure whatever's supposed to happen does happen."

"Can we try to pass ourselves off as guests?"

"We could, but I think that would limit our access. I think we should go for something a little bit more... sneaky."

*****

Keei groaned when Katana appeared with more clothes in her hands. "Aren't these monstrosities enough torture?"

"One - You look good, and you know it. Two - These are different disguises. Better ones." Katana laid the clothes out as best she could on the old table they had found in the alley where they were hiding. "So, I asked the computer to match us all with jobs typically found in a hotel. I told it our skills, but I did NOT mess with it to my own ends. So don't even start to accuse me. I put in our sizes, and it popped out disguises."

Sarah picked up the first garment, a waiter's outfit. "Medium shirt, 28 X 30 pants."

"That would be me," Toru said as he stepped forward to collect his new clothes. He seemed relieved that he wasn't assigned some crazy job.

Like the next one. This one was a red one-piece bathing suit with shorts to go over it. It came complete with a towel, goggles, and a shiny whistle. "Size 8. The shorts say they're petite."

"Oo! Me! I get a shiny whistle!" Keei literally bounced over and caressed her whistle.

"Yes, Keei dear, you get a shiny whistle," Sarah said as she piled the other things in Keei's arms and pushed her away. The next disguise was A lovely red suit with a pill box hat. A bellboy. "Medium shirt, 30 x 34 pants."

"Me," said Sig. He didn't seem particularly pleased or displeased with his assignment.

"You're going to be the hunkiest bellhop ever!" Keei squealed as he approached where she was standing in the back.

Keei groaned when Katana appeared with more clothes in her hands. "Aren't these monstrosities enough torture?"

Sarah picked up the first garment, a waiter's outfit. "Medium shirt, 28 X 30 pants."

"That would be me," Toru said as he stepped forward to collect his new clothes. He seemed relieved that he wasn't assigned some crazy job.

Like the next one. This one was a red one-piece bathing suit with shorts to go over it. It came complete with a towel, goggles, and a shiny whistle. "Size 8. The shorts say they're petite."

"Oo! Me! I get a shiny whistle!" Keei literally bounced over and caressed her whistle.

"Me," said Sig. He didn't seem particularly pleased or displeased with his assignment.

"You're going to be the hunkiest bellhop ever!" Keei squealed as he approached where she was standing in the back.

The next outfit was a skirt suit in navy, the uniform of a concierge. "6?" Sarah said simply.

"Me." Aerial said as she came forward. "I get to watch the lobby, right?" Sarah nodded. "Cool."

There was a suit in black with sunglasses, and it looked very intimidating, like something a bodyguard would wear. "I suppose this must be yours, Cray, since you're the last man left. Sure you can handle it?"

"I think I can do security, ma'am," Cray said very seriously.

Katana nudged him. "That was a joke. You just missed it because Sarah's bad at jokes. I think it comes with the ears." Cray smiled in understanding. At first he had thought the Captain was doubting his abilities.

"I think that's enough out of you, Doctor," Sarah said as she pushed McCoy back to the end of the table. "Size 4 tall?" she asked as she held up a burgundy suit. It was similar to Aerial's, but not quite. A manager.

"I think that's me," Elenna said quietly. Once she had taken her disguise, Sarah surveyed the remaining outfits.

"A maid and a bartender. Hmm, I wonder which is which," Sarah said with just the slightest bit of sarcasm.

"Oh, c'mon, the computer made a good call. You can sneak in and eavesdrop on all those sneaky Romulans. And you know, people will tell their bartend things they'd never tell their doctor."

"You're starting to sound a lot like a doctor, bartender," Sarah said simply. "Everyone, please find a place to change and slowly assimilate yourself into the hotel. If anyone becomes suspicious, tell them you were just hired. Which is true. And please come up with a believable back story. Now, let's go." As they left the alleyway, their long shadows slowly disappeared as they walked down the golden streets in the twilight.

*****

Since it was getting late, Katana decided the first order of business was to get to her bar and make the other bartender... disappear. She sauntered into "The Stardust Lounge."

"What can I get you?" asked the current man behind the bar.

"JD, straight up."

"Coming right up." He turned around, and Katana took this opportunity to knock him unconscious.

"Oo, K.O. Please insert two more coins." She rounded the bar. The bottle of whiskey was unharmed, but the glass in his hand had spilled all over the floor. "You bad man, wasting alcohol like that. I think you deserve a special punishment."

*****

When the ex-bartender came to, he was very confused. "Wha?"

"You fainted. I don't think you should be tending bars anymore, sir."

"What? Why?"

"I'm afraid you have acute mylosis sychnosia."

"What is that?"

"It's something bartenders generally suffer from. Your liver will shut down soon, followed by your spleen. The first outward symptom is this green rash you have." The man stood and consulted the mirror plated back of the bar with horror. "You should probably go home, and put your affairs in order."

"But-- how do you know this?"

"I'm a doctor."

The man rushed out of the hotel, bumping into a few people on his way out.

Katana whistled as she pocketed her green marker. She disappeared behind the bar, only to reappear in her bartender's get up. "Like taking alcohol from a baby."

*****

It got very busy later that night. Katana was almost surprised since, as far as she could tell, it was a Thursday night. As 10 o'clock rolled around, however, she hadn't seen any Federation types nor any shifty Romulans. She was beginning to get a bit discouraged. They couldn't negotiate this late into the night, could they?

Perhaps they could, because at that moment in walked a set of pointy ears. Bingo. The young woman approached the bar and sat down. The funny thing, though, was that she was in Federation uniform, a Lieutenant. Maybe Katana had gotten a Vulcan, which was bad news for her, because Vulcans usually didn't spill much. She knew she was wrong, however, when she heard the order from the slumped form.

"Double shot of the strongest stuff you've got, straight."

"Gotcha." Katana pulled out what she had swiped from Sarah's room, something she doubted her dear friend had noticed. It was some green Romulan drink which, once Katana had tried it, she had never had again. She was of the opinion that this might me the only drink in the galaxy that could make even her drunk. Maybe.

The woman grunted thanks and knocked it back without even looking at it. She coughed as she slammed the glass back on the table. "What, are you trying to kill me? Never give someone a double shot of Cithm'nea!"

Katana shrugged. "You asked for my strongest stuff."

"But I wasn't expecting you to have this! It's illegal in parts of the Empire itself!"

"Hey, keep it down, would ya? I promise not to give you anymore shots o' death."

The woman definitely had a faint Romulan accent (Katana was familiar with them). Double bingo.

"So, why don't you tell me a little about yourself? Like, how a Romulan gets into Starfleet?"

The woman narrowed her eyes. Curse it all, Katana thought. I forgot how suspicious they all are. In an attempt at a save, Katana stuck out her hand. "I'm Katana, at your service."

"I'm Ocala'Dhael," she said slowly. As she took Katana's hand, the good Doctor inwardly grinned. Triple bingo.

*****

Ocala'Dhael looked up from behind her shot glass at the bartender as she took her hand. She was slightly surprised the bartender - what was her name? - Oh, right, Katana, was even able to get a hold of Cithm'nea. She had it once, during her half-sisters wedding on Romulus. Sure, it was illegal, but if you were up high enough in the government, anything could be smoothed over. Dropping Katana's hand, she clutched the shot glass again. Yet another long day of negotiations. Her father, Tremok, sat there the entire time, dressed up in his Senator's robes, eyeing her along with her Captain, Draconis Tempest, of the USS Deity. And the Captain had been all too worried about how this would turn out. Sure, she may be half Romulan – hell, she grew up with them – but she really didn't know how they thought, how that perverted mind ticked, even if she shared it. Downing her shot in one swift motion, she noticed Katana watching her, cleaning a glass with a rag at the same time.

"So, you never answered my question. How did you end up in Starfleet?" Katana seemed to be bouncing on her heels. Way too joyful. Ocala'Dhael never thought she would be able to get this woman to shut up.

"Get me another drink, and then you may get your answer." Katana reached behind the long counter, pulled up a larger glass, and filled it with a purplish liquid that seemed to match the violet of Ocala'Dhael's eyes. She set it down in front of her with a thud. Ocala'Dhael looked up at Katana, and then back at the drink. On any other day, she wouldn't have touched that much alcohol, but these negotiations were really starting to eat at her. Finally, she gave into temptation and pulled the glass forward, sipping the liquid. It seemed to have a trace of Romulan Ale in it, and she wouldn't have put it past this bartender, coming up with Cithm'nea and all. Regardless, Ocala'Dhael drank anyways, simply glad to be free of the negotiation rooms and rations: Romulan water, which is drained of minerals, and selk, a very crusty bread. Ocala'Dhael took a long drink out of the glass and set it down. Definitely had some Romulan Ale. It was already starting to give her that buzz right behind her pointed ears.

"So, you wanna know how I ended up in Starfleet." Katana nodded, once, twice, three times. "It's not hard. You apply, you get accepted. End of story." Ocala'Dhael shrugged. She would rather not reveal her past to this person. Sure, she looked human, but who knew? Plenty of Romulan officials could have dispatched her to find out who that Romulan was. And of the learned the truth, that she was the bastard child of one of their top-ranking officials, they would be able to knock him down. And the fact that she was half-human, and serving in Starfleet, well, that was icing on the cake. Not that she cared for her father, but she didn't feel like being the object of hatred on Romulus.

"Yeah, well, I heard that's how it works, but how did you end up on Earth? Romulans don't typically migrate there, and they don't marry humans, and they don't join Starfleet just because -" Katana kept going on and on.

"Shut up! OK, if I tell you, would you just, leave me alone? Forever?" Katana nodded, although it wasn't very convincing.

"Ever heard of the USS Destiny? It was taken by Romulans just under 30 years ago. My mother, Celina, was a commander on the ship, and she was taken as a prisoner. Eventually, she became impregnated, and got returned to Earth. I was born." Katana had placed another drink out on the table. This really wasn't good for her, but her judgment was already gone.

"So you never lived on Romulus, or knew your dad?" Katana leaned in, ready to hear what was next, just to be sure she had the right person. And normally, Ocala'Dhael wouldn't have shared any information with her, but that alcohol…

"Nah, I did live on Romulus, until I was 21 in fact. Served a year on a ship. Went to school there and everything. Majored in Computer Programming and was on my way to the top. But, I didn't like it. Decided to leave. Went to Earth, lived with Celina, graduated from the Academy, and got stuck back where I started…" Her speech was becoming slightly slurred, and she was practically laying her head on the counter. A second later, she slumped over against the table top, and her com badge went off.

*****

Keei slipped through the backdoor and snuck through the laundry rooms to the pool. the place was deserted. She grinned and plopped into the lifeguard's chair, snickering quietly to herself. It looked like she'd got the easy job. Now. . . If only she had a book . . .

These thoughts scattered as The HOTTEST guy she had seen, (Since meeting David Bowie on the holodeck) stalked in. He dived in, not noticing her, and apparently not caring he'd dived into the SHALLOW end of the pool. She coughed as he came up and the small noise drew his attention up to her.

The Science officer waved cheerily, braid hanging over her shoulder.

"You are old enough to know you're not supposed to dive there yes?" The man growled and nodded, obviously embarrassed.

Keei grinned. This was going to be Fuuuunn.

*****

Toru had rarely ever visited restaurants in civilian life, and never once had he gone anywhere but a bar in the military. So this was a bit of a first time on both ends.

He strolled over to a pair of Romulan women, both in government dress, one with a blue tunic and the other with red. From the looks on their faces and their voice tones it was obvious they were involved in a very heated argument. He bowed his head slightly and placed his hands behind his back.

"Erm, good evening-"

"Dammit, I SAW YOU go INTO THE ROOM with HIM!" the blue shirted woman shouted.

"ABSOLUTE TRIPE! Wait- YOU FOLLOWED ME?"

"Ahem, good evening-"

"STAY OUT OF THIS-" the red shirted woman glared at Toru.

"YES, WHO ARE YOU ANYWAY?"

"Erm, your... waiter?" Toru bit his lip, and tried very hard to recall the bit of Romulan he had learned from Sarah when she talked with the refugees. "I'm very sorry," he said in their native tongue.

"Oh? You speak our tongue?" one responded back.

"Erm, not that much," Toru switched back to basic. "A childhood friend of mine was Romulan."

"Oh?"

"Yes, but... Can I trouble you two ladies for your drink-" Then Toru stopped. Blue shirted one was fingering something.
A flash of light-
A silver darting shape.
A twist of the wrist, a flick, a grab.

Toru wrested it from her grip, and hook kicked her so that she slumped into the seat, unconscious. In her hand was a long, serrated dagger. Transparent Blade. Glass? No. Some sort of alloy though. He examined it closely.

A beautiful curving shape. Blue inlay.
But definitely not Romulan.
Maybe, maybe Terran. But he doubted it.
In fact, it was not like any blade he had ever seen. Not any system he had visited.

Why would a Romulan carry such a blade...?

It was just at this moment he noticed Red was staring at him intensely.

"I suppose she tried to take revenge for my dating her boyfriend."

"Oh?" Toru quietly slipped the dagger in his pocket.

"Yes, though he said nothing about her. I just hooked up with him the other week, when the delegation arrived."

Something in Toru's mind clicked. He resisted the urge to grin. "Was this woman with the Romulan delegation?"

Red frowned, "You know, now I come to think of it... I don't recall seeing her."

Toru nodded. "I'll tell the management. In the meantime may I recommend to you an alcoholic beverage of some type?"

Red smiled, "that would be most appreciated."

Toru nodded another bow and went back to Tana.

*****

*fweep* . . . *fweep* . . . *Fweeep*

"Will you stop that?" *fweep*

"Will you PLEASE stop that." *fweep*

"Will you please STOP THAT!" *fweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep*

Keei chuckled maliciously as the man growled. His red hair was soaked, making it look crimson instead of flame. But that was unimportant! Her shiny whistle was a weapon, and with it she would RULE THE WORLD! But first the man treading water in front of her was in need of more annoying.

*fwee-* the noise was cut off as water hit her face. She snarled at him doing her best to imitate "Tana's glare of Doom™."

"You, are SO going down."

*****

Toru tapped Tana on the back as she poured a tired looking Romulan woman some unrecognizable drink.

"Huh?" She spun around on her high heels.

He tossed the dagger to her lightly. She caught it spinning by the handle.

"I do not recognize the make of this dagger. Any ideas?"

Tana examined the blade of the dagger carefully. "It's not Terran, though I'd be tempted to say... I don't know. I've never seen anything like it. Where did you get it?"

"Two Romulan ladies were having a bit of a ... catfight. Luckily the one with the trigger happy complex is now unconscious."

Tana raised an eyebrow, "Wasn't this supposed to be undercover?"

"What? I was just supposed to stand by and let the woman die!"

"You may have interfered with the past and caused even more problems!" Tana crossed her arms, "What if that woman was supposed to die?"

"The woman who attacked her wasn't with the Romulan delegation, though she was wearing their dress. And her victim couldn't identify her."

"So?"

"What if she was what we were looking for?"

"And if she wasn't? Any Romulan woman could have simply replicated the clothing and the dagger."

"Tana, I KNOW that dagger didn't come from any system near here. I know very few things for certain, but I KNOW this."

"Toru..."

Toru sighed. "I suppose I've screwed up then?" He looked up at Tana.

"That's what you get for being a good samaritan."

"What should I do?"

"Not jump to conclusions. Why not research who the woman was?"

Toru nodded, "I'll get on it."

*****

Peering out from the leaves of a potted plant, Aerial observed the concierge desk for a few minutes. There was a young lady standing behind the counter waiting on a long string of customers. The way she kept looking at her watch convinced Aerial that she was waiting anxiously for something – probably the end of her shift. As Aerial knelt up to see more of the desk's top, her view was suddenly obstructed by a large set of matched luggage. Try as she could, she couldn't see over the suitcases without leaving the cover of her potted tree. Giving up, she decided instead to watch the owners of the baggage.

The man who'd set down the bags was small of stature with beady eyes. He appeared to be catering to a middle-aged woman, decked out from head to toe in what Aerial imagined were the newest styles. Her four-inch heels made her seem to tower over her companion, and her long thick overcoat practically doubled her already pudgy size. Her hairstyle was indescribable; suffice to say Aerial assumed she'd used a blender to create it. Glancing back to the suitcases, Aerial noticed the owner identification tag for the first time. The woman's name was "P'laxadi Arelliaka Ger'lanki", unpronounceable to Aerial, at least, and telling her that she couldn't use her real name here. She pulled a marker out of her pocket (one from the infamous Helm Craft Box) and copied in her neatest handwriting the woman's middle name onto her nametag. Phonetically pronouncing it, she decided the name would be close enough to her own that she could remember to answer to it. The man, who P'laxadi kept calling "Slpeeetak", walked straight to Aerial's tree to gather the luggage again. Aerial, terrified of getting caught, scurried quickly away. She looked for a dark corner to change in, but the entire lobby was brightly lit and she couldn't take her chances behind another tree. Praying against a surveillance system, she snuck over to the elevators. Fortunately, the area seemed deserted – so she pressed the button for an up elevator. When one arrived, she waited for twenty people with small children to amble off, then hurried on and shut the doors. She'd finished changing into the skirt (and stupid nylons) when the elevator slowed to a stop on the fifteenth floor. Here a couple and their small kid got on the same elevator – they had the little boy press the button for two floors up – and they quickly explained that they were picking up friends to head down to the pool. The parents were obviously having lots of fun on this trip – they pressed into a corner, kissing passionately. Aerial focused her attention on the child in an effort to avoid blushing. He walked over to her and looked up with curiosity, then shrugged and walked back over to the button panel and pressed the next six buttons. Aerial wanted to strangle him, or at least berate his parents for their inattention to him, but before she lost her temper, the elevator stopped again and they got off. Aggravated, she waited until floor twenty before she started changing again – expecting a few floors in between there and the next stop. She pulled off the neon top she'd been wearing and had just pulled on the second sleeve of the blouse when the doors opened again. Frantic, she looked up to find two young men and any attempt to keep from blushing was gone. The first young man averted his eyes, "Sorry!" while his buddy leered from behind him. Aerial, thinking quickly, spun to face the back, still glowing crimson.

"We'll wait for the next elevator." The first boy said, but the second had already pushed him into the car.

"It's--it's okay. My fault!" she stammered over her shoulder, buttoning her blouse as fast as she possibly could.

The first boy, starring at the doors, said "Not a problem. I don't mean to be rude, or anything and you don't have to answer, but why-"

"Were you stripping in the elevator?" His companion picked up the query, obviously eager to find out.

Even though she thought it was impossible, Aerial blushed even more at the stranger's accusation. "Oh, I-uh-I…I spilled something on my top and had to change it before I got to work."

"Ah!" the first boy said with a smile, while the second said "Oh!" with a twinge of disappointment. At the next floor, the elevator stopped to let a little old lady on, and Aerial slipped out. As the doors closed, the ruder of the two men yelled out "Nice Bra!" causing the little old lady to turn in surprise to both Aerial and the man. His buddy, the more polite one, looked up apologetically to Aerial, then to the old lady. Aerial stepped to the side of the elevator and sat down for a minute. Once she'd recovered from her mortification she picked herself up, straightened her uniform and proceeded to find the staircase.

Aerial was very self-conscious as she entered the lobby from the hotel's back door. She had the suit coat over her arm and a pleasant, though nervous, smile plastered on her face. She walked up to the concierge desk and slid behind it. The one young lady was still there, a stressed expression on her face and when she noticed Aerial, she sighed, "Please return to the other side of the counter and wait in line, before--" That was when she noticed Aerial's uniform matched her own.

"Are you…?"

"I've just been transferred here from headquarters, part of a new expansion plan. My name's Arelliaka."

"I haven't heard anything about an expansion plan…but I'll take all the help I can get."

*****

Katana was a little surprised, and more than a little impressed, considering she'd been giving Ocala'Dhael some of the strongest stuff (really, as per her request) for a good hour, and she wasn't completely unconscious yet.

"You know what?" Ocala mumbled over her fourth glass of the weird colored stuff. Tana quirked an eyebrow.

"What?" She replied, thinking vaguely that the last mixer had really capped it. Ocala leaned a little more forward, beckoning Katana closer, as she wobbled slightly on her stool.

"I wanna 'nother shot o' that-" She began, and promptly passed out. Katana looked skyward, and then as she quickly scrawled a sign that read, 'be back later', she muttered,

"Lord, protect me from the innocents, the loan sharks, and those who can't handle their liquor."

As Katana carried Ocala into the elevator, having already filched her room key, she sighed, and leaned against the wall. She suddenly became aware of the presence of a few more people in the elevator. She glared at the two guys.

"What?" she finally asked irritatedly, shortly before she got off on Ocala's floor. She shook her head and left the elevator.

The two men looked at each other, and one of them grinned.

"First that chick stripping in here, and now lesbians! I love this hotel!"

Katana, utilizing vast amounts of luck and talent, managed to continue to carry Ocala and open the door to her room. As she stepped in, she wasn't exactly sure if the room was exactly what she'd expected of Ocala. It seemed to keep in style with the decor of the hotel- vaguely out of the American Terran 1950's. However, there were clothes strewn about the room, as if she couldn't decide what she was going to wear in the morning, and in the evening didn't care where they landed.

And was that a pair of boxers? Katana shook her head. Surely they were hers... for sleeping in or something. So she hoped. She'd just met Ocala, and didn't want to know if she was bumping uglies with someone, anyone, really. Glancing around the room after lying Ocala carefully on the bed, she noted a few things of interest, including a bunch of documents on the dresser, which when looked through were, unfortunately enough, rather mundane, and what was perhaps the only neat area in the room, a box filled with ornate looking daggers of probably Romulan origin. Hrm.

Katana heard a knock on the door.

"Ocala? Are you in there?" Katana froze. She paused, and prayed to all higher deities that whatever man (perhaps the owner of those boxers?) stayed out there, and not in here.

"Ocala?" He called again, then Katana heard a distinct sigh, and footsteps leading away from the door, and she then quietly let out her own held breath.

"Woman of shame." Katana mumbled almost fondly in Ocala's direction, then sighed. She wasn't finding anything to expedite their search for well... fixability in time, and fun as being a bartender was, she was a little twitchy for some reason she couldn't fathom.

On the hotel stationery she wrote a quick note to Ocala, explaining she'd passed out, and Katana had taken her back up to her room, and after a quick glance out the door, she dashed out of the room, leaving the keys on the dresser. With an amused spring in her step, and a whistle on the air, she rode the elevator back down to her world of mixers, alcohol and swizzle sticks.

*****

Keei grinned in her Cheshire way and put on her goggles. The wave caught him smack in the chest as she jumped in bending her knees to absorb the shock then diving. Only to come up behind him.

"WEDGIE!" the man yelped in a very undignified manner and spun around. Keei smirked.

"You...you...Hellcat!" The shorter human bowed, bouncing on her toes slightly. he growled and splashed at her, she dodged expertly.

"Ha! You call that a splash?" A short burst of water hit him directly in the face. He spluttered and wiped his face only to be met by another compact amount of water.

"We Midoris are practically BORN in water!" he managed to get the water out of his eyes only to be met with empty pool. He glanced from side to side then screamed in a macho manner as a pair of hands yanked his swim trunks down to his knees from behind.

Scrambling to put them back on he didn't notice Keei get out of the pool, towel herself off a bit and climb back into her chair. She sat serenely as he muttered curses at her, the only evidence that she'd done anything at all were her wet swimsuit and shorts.

*fweep*

"grrrrr..."

*fweep*