Can We Keep Him?

Posted on Wed Jun 24th, 2020 @ 2:56am by Commander Owen Nash & Lieutenant Commander Mindo & Terrekal
Edited on on Fri Jul 10th, 2020 @ 5:42pm

Mission: Death in Paradise
Location: Pandora's Box
Timeline: current

ON

"Wait a minute," said Terrekal with a grin. He pointed his fork, now holding a nice juicy piece of steak, at Mindo, who sat across from Terrekal twirling his spaghetti and meatballs. "You and that fine Deltan specimen over there?" He indicated the Box's resident chef, a beautiful Deltan woman named Huyo.

"I really shouldn't say," said Mindo.

"I saw the way she looked at you," said Terrekal. "Is it serious?"

Mindo smiled. "If it were, would she look at me like that?"

Terrekal grinned at popped the steak bit into his mouth.

"What about you?" said Mindo. "Anything keeping you busy all alone on your little ship?"

Terrekal chuckled. "I have a bed in every part of this Expanse. They just don't know about each other, if you catch my meaning."

"Of course," said Mindo. "Anyone on Paradise I should know about?"

Terrekal shrugged. "About once a year I meet this nice Bajoran trader here and she and I have some fun."

"Is my presence here... interrupting anything?" Mindo asked, cautiously.

"I'll let you know," said Terrekal. "But she's usually not here this time of year."

"Ah," said Mindo. "So I have you all to myself?"

"For a little longer," said Terrekal. "I'm leaving here pretty soon, and I'm sure once this murder business is wrapped up you will be as well."

"I wish we could stay longer. There's still a lot I don't know about you," said Mindo, wondering if this was a good time to bring up the note from "Uno." Terrekal said nothing and continued chewing, and for a moment the two were silent. Mindo caught a glimpse of a familiar face walking in and raised a hand to him.

Having completed his reports on the investigation, Owen had taken up Mindo's offer of meeting up for a meal and was glad to be out of the frying pan for a little while. He needed to calm down after the way Rochester has been towards him and he also needed to approach Cailus again, once he'd calmed down.

"We're over here, Owen!" he called. "He must be running a bit late," he said to Terrekal. "I told him to meet us here about fifteen minutes ago. He's been very busy with a lot of the goings-on around here. I figured he could use a break and a bite, and I asked him to come and meet you."

Terrekal smiled. "Sounds good! I'd love to meet more of your friends."

Owen made his way over to the table and noticed that Mindo had some company with him. "So I see you started the party without me then?" Owen asked.

"Can't stop a Fesarian and his appetite... let alone two of them," said Mindo.

"I apologise for being late, this whole investigation is taking up more time than I'd like it to. To be honest, I'm glad of the break. So who's your friend here?" Owen asked.

"Owen, meet Terrekal of Fesaria," said Mindo.

Terrekal reached out and shook Owen's hand. "It's good to meet you," said Terrekal. "Mindo here tells me you two have had some pretty exciting adventures together."

"Did he now?" Owen asked as he reacted with a little mock surprise. "Well, yes, we've had our fair share of adventures and run-ins with people that we'll probably shouldn't have, but it wouldn't be any fun if we didn't..." Owen replied.

"So, Terrekal of Fesaria, what brings you to Paradise Station and how do you know our good friend Mindo here?" he asked.

"I'm in the trade business," said Terrekal. "I'm often here at Paradise. Mindo and I met a few days ago and have been spending a lot of time together."

"It's been pretty great," said Mindo.

"Tell me," said Terrekal, "has there been any progress on the murder investigation? I understand if you can't tell me, but I get the feeling I may have been a suspect."

Owen calmly adjusted his position before answering. "Straight to the point, I like that," he said. "All I can really say is that the investigation is proceeding nicely with all avenues being investigated," Owen explained.

"Unfortunately I can't go into details as I'm sure you'll understand. Although may I ask what makes you think you are a suspect?" He asked in return.

Terrekal gave a small shrug. "Your security chief was very... stern in his interview with me. For some reason, I don't think he trusts me."

Mindo stayed quiet but was thinking of the strange "Uno" message and what it could mean. Could his closeness with Terrekal be clouding his judgment? If so, he could be a liability in all this... whatever it was.

"Don't take it on a personal level. He is a very thorough officer and incredibly good at his job," Owen reassured him. "He'll explore every possible avenue involved before making a report on his conclusions based on all of the evidence to hand."

Whilst he was confident in Cailus' ability, he could understand the questioning from a complete stranger.

"To be fair," added Mindo, "Cailus has investigated me on many matters. It's just his nature."

Terrekal nodded. "You've said before that you and Cailus are friends."

"We are," said Mindo, "kind of."

Terrekal turned back to Nash. "So I understand you two made first contact with another race while you've been out here."

Owen couldn't help but laugh when Terrekal mentioned one of their previous escapades. "Ah yes, the one were Mindo & I nearly died, trying to survive being on the edge of a black hole as we rescued the crew of a ship in distress..." He started.

"Yeah, that's one of the best ones the next chapter in the continuing adventures of Mindo and Nash!" he concluded.

"Though nothing beats the time when the entire bridge crew was gone and it was just Nash and me in command," said Mindo with a grin. He looked at Owen. "Still, you did a fine job as Commanding Officer."

Owen nodded as he raised a glass to Mindo. "Best XO I've had so far!" He exclaimed. "I was thinking, once we complete our business here at the station, we'll have to book out the Runabout again for another trip... You never know what we could come across..."

Owen hadn't forgotten their adventures on the Runabout and noticed that deep down he wouldn't mind another trip.

"Sounds like fun," said Mindo. "Maybe in the next black hole or spatial anomaly that we encounter? Or should we just get out there and see what happens?"

"What is it with you and going to investigate black holes or spatial anomalies? There's on so much that Runabout can take you know..." he began. "However, Runabouts are built to last rather well and that seems to be the best way to write the next chapter in the continuing adventures of Mindo and Nash!"

After taking a sip of his drink, Owen raised an eyebrow. "Maybe that's another adventure we could tell to Terrekal next time we're in the local area?" he offered.

"If we're ever back here," said Mindo.

"Um, that reminds me," Terrekal interjected. "My ship has been impounded by Paradise. It's rather complicated, but the short version is, I'm pretty much stuck on Paradise. Any chance I could be given a lift back to Federation space?"

Owen looked over at Terrekal cautiously for a moment. "May I ask why it was impounded?" he enquired slowly. Having just met this acquaintance of Mindo's, he wanted to be sure of him before offering a lift.

Terrekal smiled, and with a small chuckle said, "You may ask..." There was an awkward pause before he added, "That's a joke."

"This is news to me too," said Mindo, suddenly very curious, with an unsettling feeling. The message from Uno came back into his mind.

Terrekal stood on his chair and leaned down on the table, bringing his face closer to the two. In a conspiratorial tone, he said, "Paradise isn't exactly the place you think it is. The Alrakis Pact has had a huge influence on the well-being of this station and... well, let's just say it's currently under 'new management.' Management that doesn't want me to leave here."

Mindo couldn't stand it anymore. "Who is Uno?" he blurted.

"What?" said Terrekal, a confused look on his face.

"Who is Uno?" Mindo repeated. "I got a message."

"From Uno?" said Terrekal.

"From Uno," Mindo replied.

"Who is Uno?" said Terrekal.

"You tell me," said Mindo.

"I don't know!" said Terrekal.

Mindo closed his eyes as he rolled them up and took a breath. "Does the name Vice Admiral Bradford Chase mean anything to you?"

"No," said Terrekal. "Is that Uno?"

"I don't know, you tell me," said Mindo.

"Are you Uno?" Terrekal asked Mindo.

"Of course not," was Mindo's reply.

Terrekal looked at the Commander. "Are you Uno?" he asked. "What's an Uno?" he said to Mindo before Nash could answer.

"It's a stupid card game," Mindo replied. "I can replicate it if you want."

"You got a message from a card game?!" said Terrekal.

"Stop it," said Mindo.

"Ok, that's enough," Owen said. "Don't make me throw the pair of you in the Brig." He took a sip of his drink before continuing. "So, knowing that Paradise isn't the friendliest place to be right now, I'm going to need a damn good reason to give you passage out of here Terrekal...and I also want to know who Uno is before I warm a cell in the Brig..."

Owen had a gut feeling about this Terrekal and he wanted to make sure it was well founded before granting passage.

"I don't know anyone by the name of Uno," said Terrekal. "I don't even know what Uno's message said. If I did, I would certainly tell you before hitching a ride. I've done some crazy stuff in my time, but my business has never been illegal. I have no enemies or quarrel within the Federation or Starfleet. I may have ticked off a few Starfleet officers, but never anything serious." He turned to Mindo. "I've had such a great time with you the past few days, Mindo. There aren't many Fesarians in this part of space."

Mindo took Terrekal's hand. "You'd asked me to go with you," he said. "Leave Starfleet and travel around with you."

Terrekal nodded. "And now I'm asking to join you."

Mindo sighed. "I guess this decision is ultimately up to Captain Temple. But do I have your approval, Commander? I will take full responsibility of Terrekal while he is on this ship."

Owen could see there was a connection between both Mindo and Terrekal from the short time they had spent together. He didn't want to see his friend upset, but as XO, he also had a duty to make sure that he did the right thing by the ship and crew. He thought for a moment.

"Ok, I'll endorse the request, as long as you make sure that your useful on board and not causing a nuisance to the rest of the crew and civilians on board," he explained. "I will probably regret this but, if I do, I know who I'm coming to find..." He made his last remark clear as he looked specifically at Mindo.

"The Captain has the final say on this, so I'm putting myself out on a limb here," reminded Owen to the pair of them.

"Of course," said Mindo, prepared to take any responsibility if something were to happen.

"Thanks for sticking your neck out for us," said Terrekal. "I can tell you are a very good friend to Mindo. I hope you and I can be the same."

Owen smiled as he took a sip of his drink. "I hope so too. Mindo, if you submit the request to the Captain, I'll back it up," Owen said. He finished off his drink before standing up from the table.

"Well, its been a pleasure meeting you, Terrekal and Mindo, its always a pleasure catching up with you," he said. "I have a ton of reports that are overdue and need to get them submitted... I also have a Runabout to put on Standby," he said with a smile.

"I hope my own report isn't too dry," said Mindo, returning the smile. "I'll catch up on that runabout."

"Nice to meet you, Owen," said Terrekal.

"Its good to meet you too, Terrekal, I'll leave you both to enjoy the rest of your evening," he said as he made his way out Pandora's Box. With plenty on his mind, Owen made his way towards his office, knowing that he had a lot of work ahead of him.