Seleya
Private Freighter Vessel
Epsilon Ceti B
Nuvia City, Risa
T'Pol was on the flight deck, just ending the communication with the client. Pick up would occur tomorrow evening, right here at the dock.
Risian authorities were largely corrupt here, at least in regards to minor things like smuggling. That was convenient, not only because it made delivery such a simple matter but because a trade off in such a public venue was best for all. The likelihood of a possible double cross and the resulting requisite deadly shootout was greatly reduced.
She found herself tentatively confident that this transaction would go relatively smoothly.
She felt Trip coming before he breached the flight deck door. The transmission had ended and she was only mentally reassessing the coming transaction, attempting to discover anything she may have overlooked or forgotten. Looking ahead to be sure she expected everything that could be expected. So she was prepared when the door cycled and he poked his head in.
It was still simultaneously curious and humorous that he'd yet to adjust to communicating through the bond. He could easily have communicated what she clearly could sense he intended to communicate through the bond, rather than walking the entire length of the ship to do so personally. He could have met her in the lounge outside instead.
But there was a certain charm to his having done so, coming to fetch her personally in that way. So she didn't mind and found it amusing enough.
"Lunch, darlin'." He said, brightly. "Let's eat and go have a vacation."
"We still have to complete the transaction tomorrow." She said, turning to face him.
"Tomorrow?" Trip frowned. "Why aren't they coming today? What's the holdup?"
"We arrived too early, apparently." T'Pol, clearly finding that disagreeable.
Trip smirked.
"See? You're too efficient for this line of work." He chuckled.
"But it grants us a marketable reputation." She argued. "Higher paying, more professional clients seek us out for our reliability."
"Well, shake that reliability on out to the lounge with me." He said. "Lunch and then we're off to have fun, right?"
T'Pol hesitated.
"Trip," She said, uncomfortably. "I…realize you may have certain expectations…"
"Nope." Trip said, quickly. "Hopes and dreams. No expectations. Right now I expect the others are chewing at the bit and getting mad we're holding them up."
He jerked a thumb back behind him.
"So…you ready?" He asked, smirking just a little.
She nodded.
And she followed him out into the lounge, where Hoshi and Travis were indeed…'chewing at the bit' in there. Tense, even frowning, at the perceived delay.
She went straight to the dining table on the right side of the room, to stand before it.
"I have contacted the client." She announced. "The exchange will take place here, tomorrow afternoon…"
Travis immediately groaned.
She spared him an eyebrow for that.
"Captain…that means we can't even do anything." He complained. "Galartha takes at least a whole day to get out to and start climbing."
"And I wanted to see the crystal caves." Hoshi added. "And then I was going to take Travis to the beach."
"We will extend our 'vacation' for another day." She assured them. "As it happens, we arrived earlier than our client expected, so we can justify this."
"That's good!" Loya said, coming in from the aft doorway with a bottle of wine. Leading Malcolm in, his hands full with a huge serving tray.
Turning to start doling out the dishes once he grunted and struggled to get the tray over there without tipping it all over.
Trip snickered. Because Malcolm had his sleeveless shirt on. And everyone knew why.
So Loya could show off his arms, flexing under the weight of the serving tray.
She was in full Orion mode today, apparently.
"Oh, shut up." Malcolm grumped at him.
Which just set Trip and Travis snickering at him.
The dishes were passed out soon enough. And the glasses passed around, filled with wine.
"Wine and…egg sandwiches." Trip observed. "Interesting."
"Yes, I know!" Loya grinned. "It's very good."
Trip and Travis exchanged a grin and that. And Hoshi nudged him sharply on the sly, while Loya wasn't looking.
Loya didn't let them drink the wine until she could offer a toast, though. Having picked that up from who knows where. And she frowned at T'Pol until she stepped down out of captain mode long enough to relax a bit and sat down herself.
"So don't be mad." Loya said, once everyone was seated. "Because I stole some t'rarthra extract from the cargo bay. Put it in the wine."
Everyone's attention jerked there. Then back to Loya, astonished.
"Just enough!" She insisted, before anyone could object. "I measured it perfect. So it's supposed to make you live a whole day longer."
And she steeled herself, waiting for whoever was going to be angry first. So she could explain.
"Loya," T'Pol said carefully. "I'm surprised I have to explain to you…"
"I know." Loya fidgeted. "But it's important. Because that's a whole day that we don't have before. So…today is a free day. And that's…I wanted to give a nice gift. To pay all of you back for…taking me away from Kohl'ashkar."
Everyone stared. Not sure whether to be angry or worried…or touched at the gesture.
Ending up finally just looking to T'Pol, to see how she'd react.
T'Pol considered the glass critically.
Loya jumped to her own defense after the first tense second.
"It's not measured and it's just in plain bottles." She insisted. "They won't miss it."
T'Pol took a breath.
Raising her glass.
"Very well." She said. "I accept the free day you've offered, gratefully. But we will not make a habit of this, Loya."
Loya nodded vigorously, already grinning and relieved. Yes, of course. Not a habit.
Just on special occasions.
Loya raised her own glass, prompting everyone at the table to raise theirs as well.
"I…don't know how to make good toasts," She said, a little awkwardly. "But…I hope we all have fun and…make good sex today!"
Everyone at the table, with the exception of T'Pol and Malcolm, struggled to sniffle a snicker at that. And they largely succeeded.
Malcolm just looked a little embarrassed, even if that did bring a little bit of a wicked glimmer to his eyes.
T'Pol actually considered the toast, slightly nodded her begrudging acceptance and drank to the toast.
They all did. And they sat together to eat, chatting comfortably with one another. Amusing one another and sharing a good, happy moment together before they paired off or went their separate ways, to see what Risa had to offer them.
Not that they remembered anything beyond roughly ten minutes later.
T'Pol woke first, laying on the dusty wooden floor of the room. And it took her a moment to identify the comfortable, gently undulating pillow she rested her hand upon…was Trip.
Her head throbbed mildly and she was somewhat disoriented.
She felt…strange. So she took a moment to look around, barely raising her head to do so.
The room was largely constructed of wood of some type. No advanced materials readily notable. Windows set in the three walls she could see from where she lay, either made of glass or some form of clear plastic. All of them caked in old dirt around the borders. So that and the very uncomfortable amount of dust in the air and on the floor established the room had not been made use of or otherwise kept for a very long time.
Her Vulcan Guard jacket was gone. She wasn't wearing it. And Risa was a Minshara class planet, so she was just chilly enough to miss it.
That prompted her to finally sit up a bit, leaving the comfortable headrest she'd made of Trip's stomach. To look around and find it…because she could not tolerate losing it.
Travis and Hoshi were cuddled up nearby, Travis having wrapped his arms around her while they slept. His casual coat was gone, replaced by something…composed of rather garish colors and some form of silk. It looked rather ridiculous on him, but she recognized it as a style preferred by Risian royalty. Which…was curious.
Turning her head, still looking for her jacket, she found Malcolm laying on the floor in the other direction, Loya laying directly atop him with her hands poked almost completely through his shirt. One hand poking out of his collar to lay loosely at his neck. She snored slightly.
And Malcolm's face was…damaged. Lips split, one eye clearly blackened and more than one contusion in evidence. The one hand she could see from her position showed minor cuts and abrasions on his knuckles. He'd clearly been involved in some sort of violent altercation.
Loya was…barely dressed. In fact, less than barely dressed. That outfit likely only considered remotely appropriate on Risa and nowhere else.
She had no idea where they were, so she took the full half minute required to stagger unsteadily to her feet. Squinting at the bright light from outside…almost bright enough to trigger her inner eyelid to flick into place of its own accord.
Morning light, she recognized then.
Her jacket wasn't in evidence anywhere.
She fumbled at her right pants pocket, drawing the data unit from her pocket.
And she spotted Trip's hand then, where it lay at her feet. Specifically, the new addition to that hand.
She recognized that. A plain golden ring on his left hand.
A wedding ring.
She didn't need to glance at her own hand to know, but she did anyway to be sure.
There was no matching ring on her finger.
She flicked her data unit open with one thumb and peering unsteadily until her eyes focused enough to make out the time.
It was 0818. They only had a few hours before they were to meet with their client to make the exchange.
Almost twenty hours had passed since…she couldn't quite remember when last she knew precisely what time it was. But it had been roughly twenty hours.
They only had a few hours before they were to meet the client. And she had no idea where they were.
Or what had happened in the last twenty hours.
Or, most importantly, where her Vulcan Guard officer's jacket was.