BACKLOG | Capt Neyes, Cmdr Neyes - "Drawing Dust from Blood" Pt II

Posted on Fri Apr 17th, 2015 @ 8:42am by Captain Landon Neyes & Commander Tristan Neyes PhD.
Edited on on Fri Apr 17th, 2015 @ 8:45am

956 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: A Spot To Kill
Location: Trill Sector

=/\= In Deep Space, 2 days after Vindicator entered the Wormhole =/\=

Like steady beat of a powerful heart, Landon's boots met with the deck plates of the dark outward space station. The Horizon sat cooling her engines on the interior landing bay behind them, with Zed and Tristan trailing just behind the former Captain. His Starfleet uniform had been shed for something more civilian, which was not just a necessity, but a comfort. Gear straps and equipment lined a few of his edges, and a pair of armor bands came over his shoulders. Space was a dangerous place, especially now with the Commission in pursuit, and there was no place for his loose allegiance to the largely Human establishment.

There were places in the Alpha Quadrant where Starfleet rarely dared to poke around. The Trill homeworld was among those places, and until recently, he could see the terrible shadow of xenophobia plaguing his people. Neyes had always found other races to be interesting, but he was a purest in many ways. Spending too much time with the Humans and their exploits had proven somewhat problematic. Rochelle, of course, was the exception to the rule.

"Why are we here?" Tristan asked, almost nervously. He carried a case in one hand and Zed's up-raised fingers in the other.

Landon's smile was hidden as he walked ahead of them. "There's something I need here, something I left a long time ago, and now we're going to pick it up."

Tristan was still unable to tap many of Neyes' more obscure memories, and this station flicked around in his mind like a shadow in candlelight. Each time he thought he'd figured it out, the memory evaded him. There was something about this place though, aside from the plain bulkheads. It was rather unremarkable, really. In the wake of his parent's death, Tristan had been to several stations like this one while staying hidden from Ferengi mobsters. Zed hadn't been born yet, so he had been free to roam as he pleased, and staying hidden was his only baseline. He didn't care for those places then, and that particular feeling hadn't changed. Still... this place.

They reached a large, windowed door at the end of the docking corridor. On their approach, a red line appeared at the door's vertical seam, indicated it was locked. Tristan sighed, "Now what."

Landon said something aloud in Trill, and the light surrendered into a pleasant blue. A moment passed, and the doors unlocked while a pleasant sounding computerized male voice sounded above them, "Welcome, Sir. It has been eight years and 24 days since your last visit to this station. For a complete review of all systems and activities, please access your personal station. You have been granted access level five."

Tristan's eyes just looked around confused, while Zed giggled. "Does the computer know uncle Landon is a Captain?"

The younger Neyes brother simply squeezed his son's hand as he closed the distance between them and the older of the two. There was no mistaking security access when it presented itself. Landon had voice recognition protocols in place, for himself. He was either very good at breaking into a computer using only his words, or there was something else going on. The entire situation had felt wrong to Tristan from the first day they left the Vindicator. Not only was he taking his five year old son into deep space once again, running from an organization hell-bent on his annihilation... but now it seemed his brother was keeping some kind of secret.

"Relax, brother." Landon said aloud, as if he sensed Tristan's rising concern. "You are as safe here as you are on the Horizon."

Tristan made a face, "You'll forgive me if I don't find that terribly comforting."

As they strolled the empty corridors, something occurred to Tristan. It had escaped him so far because he couldn't get his head out of worrying about everything else. On a space station there were normally shops, ships, or... people. On this one there were none of those things. Not once had they passed another soul since they had arrived. He had expected to at least see some kind of security in place. Even space stations out in the middle of nowhere had people on them occasionally. This one was too clean and well-maintained to be abandoned. "Where is everyone? What is this place?"

"You ask questions when you really already know the answers. Think hard about it, and it'll come to you."

"Or you could just tell me." Tristan rebutted.

Landon turned over his shoulder and made a quick pouting face, "What fun would that be?" He smiled when Zed giggled in response. "See? The little one has the right idea. Just keep it cool for a few and we'll be in and out in no time. This place is locked up tight. There's no one here to get in the wa-"

He stopped, his boot sliding on the floor for a moment.

Tristan's eyes widened slightly, noticing the distinct difference between 'calm' Landon, and 'alert' Landon. His mouth opened to speak, but something told him to wait. Landon's attention had been drawn by a wall console outlining the layout of the small station, which consisted of about 20 small rooms and two large cargo bays. On the screen were three green dots together in a corridor, obviously representing the three of them. Those green icons appeared to be the only things of interest, until his sight grazed over a few other green icons across the far edge of the station.

"Is that-" Tristan started.

"Yeah. Someone else is here."

=/\= END LOG =/\=

Landon Neyes
Former Commanding Officer
USS Vindicator-E

Commander Tristan Neyes
Chief Counselor
USS Vindicator-E

 

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