Prologue: A Mercenary on the Margarita Road

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek: The Next Generation or Deep Space Nine. The characters of Lieutenant Commander Ashley Degler, Carl Allenby, Frank Udesky, Cooper, Nash and Bayless are all my creation.

Summary: Following the Dominion War of 2375 former Starfleet officer, Carl Allenby, rethinks matters after fifteen years on the mercenary path. Can a man truly return home?

"I call it the Margarita Road. It's the course your heart sets when you want to leave the past behind and start over someplace new and warm." - from Driftwood: Stories from the Margarita Road by Anthony Lee Head.

Risa
Carl Allenby and Ro Laren
10 November, 2375
Stardate 52858.8

The waves lapped upon the shoreline. The man sitting at the bar overlooking the shoreline took a sip of his drink, scanning the water.

Eyes locked on one wave roiling shoreward before breaking over a sandbar.

Another sip. The man closed his eyes. Warmth coursed through him.

'Sometimes I feel like I've got 250 grams of scar tissue where my heart used to be.' Eyes opened and now scanned the worn pages of a dog eared paperback.

'Papa Hemingway knows how to spin a damn good yarn…' His eyes scanned the cover of A Farewell to Arms.

Again the eyes shifted back to the shoreline as three seagulls skimmed above the water in a V-formation following the coast.

'Effective fighter formation…until a photon torpedo with a proximity sensor hits dead center.' The eyes blinked and the man took another drink.

His left hand shook. 'Too many…too many…for fifteen years too many.'

He sniffed the air and set his book down. "What do you want, Ro?"

"How'd you know it was me, Carl?" Ro Laren asked as she walked towards him.

Carl swiveled in his seat, leaning against the bar. "I can smell that perfume your boyfriend is fond of buying you 22 meters away."

"You really need your head examined," Ro quipped, lips quirked in a wry look.

"Tell me something I don't know," Carl deadpanned.

Ro chuckled as her eyes flickered to the drink in his hand.

"A margarita for the Margarita Road." Carl quipped and took another sip.

"The what?" Ro asked.

"It's from a 21st century Earth novel where the author left one prosperous nation known for the endless rat race to be an expatriate at a far more pleasant tropical location," Carl replied.

"Your and your constant Earth literature references. No wonder other mercs call you 'Poet'." Ro rolled her eyes.

Carl shrugged and took another sip from his drink.

"So what happened?" Ro asked.

"Can't a fellow go on vacation without Starfleet tracking him down?" Carl shrugged.

"I'm not with Starfleet." Ro's eyes narrowed.

"One could argue you are by association." Carl toothily grinned.

"My seeing a Starfleet officer doesn't mean I represent it," Ro shot back.

"Alright, then, what brings you here?" Carl raised an eyebrow.

"Can't I look in on an old friend?" Ro asked.

"Touché."

"You just disappeared two weeks ago. Not taking any jobs…" Ro began.

"So what? Even mercs take vacations," Carl replied.

"I'm not going to argue with you, Carl." Ro raised an eyebrow.

"Alright, what brings you here, then?" Carl squinted.

"Carl, I'm just looking in on a friend who chose to disappear for two weeks."

"That's fair enough," Carl evenly replied.

Ro sighed with frustration. "So what's good here?"

"Well their rum drinks are solid, as are their margaritas," Carl replied.

The bartender came over and Ro ordered her drink.

"So what's your plan?" Ro asked.

"Still thinking on that. For now I'll keep traveling down the Margarita Road." Carl shrugged.

"Something's on your mind." Ro concluded.

"How'd you guess?" Carl shot back.

"The way your eyes shift to the left and how you do that weight of the universe sigh…and try to cover it all with that casual shrug." Ro smirked.

Carl's eyes narrowed.

"You've done pro bono work for my Maquis Cell for nearly eight years. I know your quirks." Ro flatly replied.

"Anything to give those fucking Cardies a good ass kicking." Carl glowered.

"Are you sure you aren't part Bajoran?" Ro quipped as she leaned back a pace.

"Nope, as human as they come…Daytona Beach, FL." Carl sipped his drink and raised it to the sky.

"Anyway, what's on your mind?" Ro asked.

"Ever wonder if you can go home again? Or in fact where the Hell home even is?" Carl sighed before taking another drink.

"Can't say I have, but I know the Dominion War was a rough time for you," Ro replied.

"Hell it was a rough time for the Guilds!" Carl slammed his open palm onto the bar.

"Talk to me. What's going on?" Ro leaned forward.

"I've been thinking about the past lately. And a change…" Carl replied.

"Starfleet?" Ro asked.

"I'm thinking of applying to go back. If they'll have me…" Carl's voice trailed off.

"What brought this up?" Ro asked.

"I'm not sure. Could be working with the Starfleet contingent of Renegade Squadron during the war. Could be that assignment with Starfleet Intelligence near the end…" Carl ticked examples off on his fingers.

"Mind if I take wild guess?" Ro asked.

"It's a free galaxy." Carl shrugged.

The bartender returned with Ro's drink. She took a sip.

"Wow that's sweet! Almost like a jumja stick," Ro replied, eyes going wide.

"That's a Painkiller," Carl smirked.

"The bartender went too heavy on whatever spirits he put in," Ro winced.

Carl laughed. "Drinks should be just a tad strong."

"Sam says otherwise and frankly I agree with him. You should not taste the alcohol in a mixed drink." Ro coughed after she took another, deeper pull of her drink.

"How is Lieutenant Commander Sam Lavelle?" Carl asked.

"He's doing well, though his work with Starfleet Intelligence keeps him busy," Ro sighed.

"I take it Sam's tradecraft is how you found me?" Carl asked.

"I won't confirm or deny," Ro replied.

Carl finished his drink and ordered another.

"Now I'm curious about that wild guess you had." Carl raised an eyebrow.

"I wonder if it has something to do with a certain Starfleet science officer?" Ro asked.

Carl sighed through his nose. "Partially. I mean meeting her during the War got me thinking about Starfleet again."

"I see…" Ro replied.

"It's complicated. I mean early in the war I saved her life. Later in the war, she saved mine." Carl's eyes scanned the coast, watching waves crash onto the shore.

His mind moved back nearly two years earlier…

TBC