A/N: Well it looks like my gym will not be participating in this tournament. I'm a little bummed, but on the bright side, now I can pig out on pumpkin pie and my daughter's Halloween candy! Haha. Also, more importantly, I can devote more time to writing. :-) Enjoy! I hope to get the next chapter out much sooner, sorry for the wait.
Troi lifted her hair from the back of her neck, draping it over one shoulder instead. Though she sat on the inn's shaded porch, a sheen of sweat covered her body. The sweltering heat was an uncomfortable change from the Enterprise's climate-controlled corridors. But soon, a purple moon would rise over the jungle. Darkness would bring cool breezes that smelled of night flowers, and a nocturnal chorus of creatures would serenade the stars above. Troi leaned back in her chair with a sigh, enjoying the thought of another evening in Almer. But then the creak of a wagon roused her from her thoughts.
"Greetings, Lady Deanna!" the driver called, pulling two massive, woolen creatures to a halt. Streaks of copper showed through his graying hair, which corded together like straw. He scratched at a long, wiry beard and then rested his elbows atop a generous girth. "I brought your husband back, just as promised."
Riker leapt down from the wagon, dressed in a long tunic and billowy trousers. His eyes had been changed to a speckled orange, as was more common among males of Vakrona, and several bands of colors tattooed his left arm. "Guess what we built?"
Troi stood up, peering into the back of the wagon. "You built that?" she asked incredulously. An emerald green dresser with four golden drawers laid on its side, surrounded by blankets to soften the jolt of the ride.
"Well, Mr. Adren here did most of the carving. And sanding. And painting. But it was a team effort overall."
Adren laughed good-naturedly. "I appreciate your help today, but when you folks reach Kitadara, I wouldn't recommend looking for work in the carpentry business."
"Don't worry." Troi smiled. "I'm sure we'll find something else. In the meantime, I really appreciate all you've done for us. Your inn is such a lovely place."
"Oh, don't mention it." The affable old man gave her a wink. "Besides, my wife is rather fond of your family. Especially this one." He gestured towards Riker and winked again. Troi giggled. His wife's crush was no secret; in fact, it served as a source of great amusement to the rest of them. "Anyways, I better head up and see if she needs help with dinner. Sure smells good, doesn't it?"
Riker agreed whole-heartedly, then thanked Adren and waved him goodbye. As the wagon rolled on, Riker made his way to the porch where Troi waited for him with open arms. He embraced her gratefully. "Any more news?" he whispered.
Troi's mind drifted back to the last communication she'd heard from Carmen. I thought I saw something. It may have been nothing-you know how the sun and shadows play tricks. But I should stay with Jora, just in case. I found her by the river, washing laundry.
"No, nothing new," Troi answered. "But I'm sure everything is fine. Carmen is just a little...distracted. You know what Jora is like."
A wry laugh burst from Riker. "Distracted? I think she would call it harassed." Troi laughed along with him. Being several years younger, Jora looked up to Carmen with a childish sort of zeal. Carmen's feelings, however, were less enthusiastic. The girl's chattiness wore her down, and if Jora was busy, then one of her brothers could be found trailing the ensign. Despite her austerity, the children stuck to her like little shadows. "I'll bet she can't wait to go home," Riker added.
"That what she thinks," Troi replied, leaning into him. "But Carmen has always struggled to accept that which she needs." Riker tilted his head towards her quizzically, waiting for her to explain. But Troi ran her hand over his back with a gentle, knowing sort of smile. "I think I needed this, too. This place...it reminds me of home. My first home. The jungle...the water…"
"The moonlight?" Riker leaned down to kiss the top of her pale shoulder. "Or rather-things we did under the moonlight." An alluring wave of emotions rolled from his mind. Troi bit down on her lip. The lack of privacy had also led to a lack of intimacy, and a single kiss was enough to remind her of that.
"You'd better go wash up," she said. "Or I might not let you leave."
Riker grinned. "Would that be such a terrible thing?"
"Yes. You know how hard Lorana's been working on this dinner."
"Alright, alright," he grumbled, pulling away. "What about you?"
"I'll wait here for Carmen."
"See you soon, then." He kissed her one more time, a brief peck on the lips, and then trudged off towards the main house. His footsteps receded across the courtyard, and eventually, the evening resumed its tranquility. Tantalizing smells wafted from a clay chimney over the kitchen. Stars chased the sun out of the sky. Evening drowsed into night.
At last, distant movement caught the counselor's attention. She saw Carmen making her way down the dirt road with a long pole slung across the top of her shoulders. A bucket swung from each end of this pole. Jora ambled along beside her while Silver pranced circles around her feet. Help, Carmen pleaded. She won't stop talking. Don't Vakronians need to breathe?
Troi waved, relieved to see both girls again. Well at least it's almost dinnertime. Did you find anything?
I didn't, but Jora did. Where's Will?
He went up to the main house already.
"Lady Deanna!" Jora cried. "Look what we've got!"
"Wow!" Troi exaggerated her surprise. "Did you find all those rivercrabs by yourselves?"
"Sure did!" she answered, beaming with pride. Then she turned her nose up and sniffed the air hungrily. "Kapi steak! My favorite! Come on Carmen-we have to get these crabs shelled in time for dinner!"
Carmen sent the counselor a doleful look. I miss the replicators. And having my own quarters.
Troi offered her a sympathetic smile as she stepped off the porch and followed them across the courtyard. One last sliver of light fell across the roof of the main house, which spread out like a mosaic of red and yellow shingles. Each wall, bright blue as the daytime sky, met in clean, straight lines. Vines covered the side that faced that the courtyard, winding their way up and over the eaves.
Suddenly, the muffled strains of a fight reached Troi's ears. Carmen paused, poised and alert. Carefully setting the buckets at her feet, she jogged ahead to investigate.
"Don't worry!" Jora assured, her voice bouncing in time with her feet. "They always do this." The two girls pushed open the heavy front door and disappeared inside. Troi wasn't far behind. Setting foot on an orange tiled floor, she discovered a battle waging in the middle of the room.
Five children swarmed a mountain of a man, who rose from their midst with a roar. Two boys hung from his arms while another latched onto his throat. The rest hurled themselves at his knees in an effort to bring him back down to their level.
"Boys! What in the name of all seven deities has gotten into you?" A large woman appeared, spatula in hand. Frizzy red hair poked out of the braids down her back. A single bead of sweat rolled from her temple. She dabbed it away with the corner of a well-worn apron and glared at them expectantly. "Well?"
The battle paused. Five guilty faces looked back at her. No-six guilty faces, Troi noted. Riker stood in the center of all the trouble, a sheepish grin on his face. "I'm afraid this is my fault," he apologized. "I put them up to the challenge."
"And the Perler family never backs down from a challenge!" declared the boy hanging from his neck. The others whooped in agreement and renewed their assault on the commander.
"Boys! Boys!" Lorana put two fingers in her mouth and blew out a shrill whistle. "Kindly get off of our guest and go wash up. Jora! Where have you been?" As the boys began to slink off one by one, their mother's exasperation turned on their sister.
"We were looking for rivercrabs, just like you asked-"
"Well get them into the kitchen or I won't have time to cook them! Mr. Will would be very disappointed if he didn't have any crabs to go with his steak." She shuffled forward and brushed the commander off, helping herself to an eyeful of bare chest beneath the low cut of his tunic.
"Yes, those rivercrabs are pretty delicious," Riker agreed.
"Mama thinks he's delicious," one of the boys snickered. Then he scurried off before his mother could seek retribution. Troi covered her mouth to hide a giggle.
Lorana tried to plant her hands on her hips in indignation, then realized she was still holding the spatula. "My gravy!" she cried, suddenly remembering. And then she, too, hurried out of the room.
Troi watched their host disappear down a long corridor. Oil lamps hung at intervals, each small flame throwing off dancing shadows. "I thought you were supposed to be washing up?" she teased her imzadi.
"Yeah, how come you get to have all the fun?" Carmen pitched in. The young woman stood with a scowl and her arms folded across her chest.
Riker shrugged. "Hey, I'm just taking one for the team."
Troi laughed in good stride, but Carmen wasn't in a humorous mood. "Well now that we're alone for a minute, there's something you should know…" She cast a cautious glance around the room. "Jora found his combadge-the missing doctor's combadge."
A sudden urgency gripped Troi's chest. "His combadge? How did she get it?"
"She found it somewhere across the river. She offered to show me, but we didn't have time today. And her chores will keep her busy tonight. Maybe you guys could think of something…a diversion..."
The commander's brow furrowed. "Carmen, I hope you're not thinking of going out there alone after dark."
"Yeah, well…I hope you're not hoping too hard."
"No." Riker shook his head. "We should wait-"
"Wait?" Carmen repeated furiously. "I thought you trusted me! I can take care of myself, remember?"
"Yes, you've said that once or twice," Riker retorted. "But-"
"We have a mission to accomplish. What if Gardener is injured? Or worse? He could really need us right now, and you want to wait?"
"I know, I know." The commander held up a hand. "But I don't like the idea of anyone going out there at night. We don't know the area well enough."
Carmen glanced at Troi for backup. "Sorry, Carmen," she said. "But I agree with him. It's too dangerous."
The young woman blew out an angry sigh. "You know how hard it is for me to do anything alone around here. Nighttime may be my only chan-"
A knock on the door startled them all into silence. They cast one another anxious glances, not daring to move. The knock rapped again, a polite and almost melodious sound.
"Coming!" Jora came racing down the corridor. Silver bounded after her with a flurry of barks.
"Jora, wait-" Carmen started to say, but Riker stopped her. He motioned for her to hang back and edged closer to the door.
Jora's hand was on the latch by now. She threw it aside and swung the door open. Curious-and sensing no malice-Troi drew herself up behind the girl.
A man stood upon the threshold. Slender and somewhat lanky, he looked handsome in a subtle sort of way. He brushed a lock of plain brown hair from his forehead and smiled amicably. "Hello again, Jora. Silver! Hey, boy!" The dog sniffed his hand, then turned and walked back inside.
"Hello, Mr. Elion," Jora said, equally unimpressed. Elion? Troi gave the man a second look. She wasn't sure what she had been expecting, but it wasn't this. He hardly came across as an imposing government agent.
"And who are you? I haven't seen you before," he said to the counselor. Though his smile remained a polite one, she could sense a surge of something much more primal from the man. His gaze turned into fawning admiration.
"She's my wife," Riker brusquely interjected, pulling her back towards him. "And we're only passing through."
"Ah. Staying at the inn then?"
"That's right." Riker held him in an even stare. Carmen came to his elbow, eyeing the stranger with a similar aloofness.
"Well if you'd like, I could get the lady of the house," Troi offered. "She's busy with dinner-"
"Dinner! Oh, I'm starving," he said, sidling into the room. "And I've heard that Lady Lorana's cooking is quite famous around here." He reached out to rumple Silver's ears, but the dog shirked away from his touch. Shrugging off the slight, Elion rubbed his hands together excitedly. "This way, I take it?"
"Here, I'll show you to the kitchen," Jora offered, her voice lacking its wonted ardor.
Carmen looked up at Riker, awaiting some kind of intervention. It's alright. Let him go, Troi said, touching her lightly on the arm.
But Keeling said to stay away from him!
Strange, don't you think? He seems pretty harmless. Still, this way we can dig around a little. See how much he knows.
I suppose so, Carmen reluctantly agreed. But I don't like the way he was looking at you.
Troi's laughter drifted towards the young woman's mind. Well don't worry-I can take care of myself too, you know.