Not the Average Night Out

Posted on Sun 25th Nov, 2012 @ 8:47am by Commander Brian Windsong & Lieutenant Samantha O'Dell

3,689 words; about a 18 minute read

Mission: http://sb109.sim-station.net/index.php/sim/missions/id/3
Location: Holodeck
Timeline: TBA

The holodeck was reserved. Samantha was in loose fitting clothing that she was comfortable in. She'd brought her sword with was folded up tucked away in a pouched on her back. It looked more like an old Earth shoulder rig with a really small backpack on it, but true be told it was invaluable and dangerous. She'd gotten a few years ago and dug up the specs to have the computer replicate one for Brian, her first gift to him was a sword case.

Anyways...

The holodeck was basic formations of Brians home, at least what Samantha had learned about it from the stations computer banks. The smells the people, the builds it was as real as she could possibly make it. The scene was a market place full of people and items, socially active, a hub of community.

Samantha hadn't told Brian what was going on when she invited him. That would ruin the intention of it all because programmed into the holodeck was Kale... from her memories and Brian's brother... well as much as Samantha knew of him. All of Kale was from memory... Brian's brother had been a little harder to construct in the computer so she'd done her level best based on what information she had. What Brian had told her, what the Intelligence had on him. Truth be told there wasn't much to go on. Still Sam knew that it was something Brian was going to have to face and Sam had told him she'd help even if that meant practicing facing them down so that they were both ready for when it actually happened.

The safeties were down to practically nothing, if they were hurt they were going to feel it. IF weapons fire was used and it hit, it wasn't going to kill but it would most likely end the simulation.

All Sam had to do was wait for Brian to show up. She'd left him a message hours ago to meet her in the holodeck after shift. So she figured he'd be there any moment.

Brian wasn't quite sure what to expect, Sam's note had been quite crypitc. She had mentioned a night he would never forget, but he wasn't quite sure if she meant a night like the one they had experienced a few days before or she had something else in mind. He was dressed in a pair of black jeans, a tradtional looe fitting Akadain tunic with an emboridered collar a pair of Terran cross-trainers and as always he carried his katana.

As per her instuctions he had left Wicker at home. He opened the door of the holo-deckand smelled a very familiar odor. The sea, an Akadain sea. He knew at once that she had either piggy-backed on his own program making it her own, or she was very careful indeed. Either way she was impressed. Still not fully comprehending what she had planned, but impressed nonetheless.

"How'd I do?" She asked as she saw him enter to room.

He paused a moment drinking in the voices of the traders, dogs barking, the faint sound of the docks, the odor coming from the sea that was ever so subtly different than that of Earths, the spices, fruits and dried meats that hung in the air.

"I'd ask if you were not telepathic and had read my mind if I did not know better," he praised, "I'd say you got about a 90% accuracy. Very very good. But what is the special occasision?"

Samantha was good at Intelligence when she wanted to be. "Cat and Mouse..." She said as she came over to him. "I had this made for you." She held it out in front of him for him to inspect with his hands. It was the shoulder rig like his. "It's designed to go over your shoulders and your weapon can rest on your back, easily accessible."

He took it in his hands, inspecting it quietly for several seconds, before slipping his sword into it and slinging it over his shoulder. He leaned forward to kiss her saying, "Thank you," as he did so.

She smirked. "You're welcome. I figured it might come in handy if you needed to hide it." As she spoke she saw Kale come through a crowd. His eyes were instantly glued to the two of them. She'd programmed the holodeck to every detail, so this Kale would remember even her and their fight. "Ok, so cat and mouse... we're the mice."

"There should be an alley just to our left, goes between two warehouses, is there?"

Samantha nodded her head. "Yeah." She offered. As Kale's voice thunderously bellowed across the open courtyard. Samantha smirked. "And there's a cat."

"Yeah, I know I could smell him," he said as he turned down the alley at a dead run, "About halfway down this alley is a fire esacpe, we take it up to the roof of the building."

Samantha ran with him, "You have a plan right?" She asked. She'd set up the situation but she had no plan, not that that was anything new for her.

"I am sure something will come to mind," he quipped as he grabbed for and missed the fire escape ladder, "You better do this, " he told her as they heard Kale and a pair of men round the corner headed in their direction.

Samantha squatted down and lept for the rung of the fire escape, pulling it down for them. "You first." She offered. "Brian, I added your brother in here too. FYI, I don't know where he's at but he's here somewhere. So if we get separated, be careful. The safeties are set as low as we like." She offered with genuine concern in her voice.

"I knew there was a reason I liked you," he quipped as he began climbing. When we get to the top we're going to need to jump to another building. I may need to use your eyes. I hope you're not scared of heights."

He could hear Samantha chuckle from below him as she climbed up behind him. Heights? No... no fear of heights for Samantha. Although the whole idea of using her eyes made her a bit nervous. She felt Kale grab hold of the fire escape ladder, and it actually scared her a bit. Ok, maybe she'd made him too realistic.

"Come here, girlie. I owe you a kick in the jaw." He growled at her swiping for her boot and just missing.

"Careful Kale, I don't have to touch you to hurt you, you know," Brian called down as he reached the top of the stairs and climbed out onto the building."

Samantha scrambled up the ladder as quickly as she could and got over the roof ledge. She was going to curse and then took a look around. "Wow, Brian..." She wish she could free the simulation the view was stunning. "You wanna use my eyes now? This is amazing."

"Yeah,"he said, but we don't really have time to admire the view, "tet' s get over to the other building." He took her hand and then could see through her eyes, "Come on, run !"

Samantha felt his mind connect with her was aware he could see through her eyes but had never let him before and had no clue if it would be draining on her or not. Still when he said run she ran... just as Kale got to the top of the roof. A disruptor blast went off missing their feet but centimeters as they leap from one roof top to another.

They landed together and Brian pointed towards a a 10x10 shack on top of the roof, almost in the center of the building. He pointed towards it, "There, the door is on the other side." As they began running another shot was fired, this one much closer. It hit within inches of them, scorching the roof of the building.

As they rounded the corner of the hut, Kale was leaping across the opening. Brian reached out with his mind and pushed. It had been sometime since he had tried to use his newly acquired gift and he wasn't even sure if it would work at all, much less how powerful it might be at this distance. Still, the only thing he could do was try.

Kale landed with some struggling and definitely off balance as he landed on his ass. Whether Brian was able to push him a lot or a little was undetermined. Still He was able to get up.

Sam skidded around the corner of the hut with Brian she was starting to feel the adrenaline of the situation and was becoming lost in the reality of it. There was a lock on the door... She looked at the lock and then at Brian... "Ok... BFC aside, where are we going?"

He raised his brow slightly not comprehending the BFC reference, "Going downstairs and into an alleyway that leads to the bazaar, there is enough of a maze in there that we should be able to lose them."

Samantha smirked. "Big Fucking Coward..." She saw the expression on his face to the acronym. "It's a security term." She retorted having heard it and used it a lot in the past. "So we're basically leading him back down the way we came..." Samantha looked at the lock on the door. "Ok. So then lets hack this off and keep going."

She looked around the hut to see if she could see Kale coming at them, She couldn't. In her limit line of sight he'd vanished. "Brian... I can't see Kale." She admitted. "Or his flunkies."

"That can't be good," he said, "And we can't really hack off the lock and don't have time to pick it." He leaned back and kicked the door. On he second try he was able to knock it off its hinges enough so they could squezze through one at a time. The hut had shelves stacked with pottery and other asorted goods, but the most imporant thing was a ladder leading down into the inerior of the building.

As Sam squeezed through the door she felt Kale grab ahold of her arm. She let out out a sound that wasn't entirely nice but not exactly voical either. Just a sound of discontent. She struggled wriggling, she felt her shirt sleeve threads giving and finally it tore Kales grasp slipped and she slide through the rest of the doorway. "I liked that shirt." She retorted looking at her sleeveless arm. Nevertheless she didn't hesitate as she followed Brian down the ladder.

They reached the bottom and found themselves in what looked like a closet and stepped through into a hallway, Brian still seeing through Sam's eyes. There was a faint musty smell that more than likely was coming from the rather threadbare carpet. There were doors every thrity feet or so on both sides. The building whatever it was, had at one time been opulent, but now the wallpaper was frayed and in some places peeling. The lights flickered on and off lending a slightly eerie feel to the scene.

They did't really have much time to contomplte the view however as Brian pointed about 40 feet down the hallway to a T intersection and they sprinted in that direction. They had just made it around the corner and to a door marked Exit when Kale showed up, hot on their six.

Samantha's lungs were starting to burn from the running, her adrenaline rush had finally kicked in and she was running on auto pilot instead of the mentality that this was just a program after them. Samantha was rushing to keep up with Brian, she'd pulled her weapon from it's case with one hand, there was a sching sound as it expanded and unfolded. Kale was right on their backs and he already had her sleeve. Plus Brian's brother was somewhere.

As they burst through the Exit doors they found a stairwell that was could best be described as rickety. They ran down four flights of stairs and through a final door out into the market, the sunlight was a bit much. Sam covered her eyes for a moment.

Brian would have blinked if he could, instead he broke the connection for the moment preferring to navigate by memory, touch and smell. He too was growing short of breath, but knew that if the could just make it another twenty feet they would be in maze of the bazaar and would be lost to Kale forever.

Then he heard the whisper of steel being drawn and heard an all too familiar voice.

"Still pretending to be a street urchin, big brother." His brother's sword came to rest against his skin between his neck and shoulder.

Samantha had her weapon out but her attention had to be divided between Kale and Brian's brother. They definitely looked like family.

Brian slowly raised his hands, "And I see you're still living out your delusions of grandeur playing the part of the Faux King. You know of course this won't have a good ending for you."

Kale caught up to them his weapon trained on Samantha. "Lower the sword." He ordered.

Samantha took one glance at Kale and then over her shoulder at Brian's brother. Brian's hands were already up in surrender although she was sure that this wouldn't be the end of things. Samantha lowered her weapons but did not drop it. She was not losing another sword in the holodeck.

Brian's brother smirked at him. "A human, they're so fragile. I will never understand what you see in them..." he laughed at his own words. "Well I guess you don't SEE much."

Samantha frowned, she didn't realize she'd programmed the system to be so hurtful. "Sorry." Sam murmured.

Brian slowly turned to face his brother, "No, thanks to you and your boy toy, I don't see much anymore. Its too bad you didn't have the balls to come after me yourself. Otherwise the outcome would have been much different. So what are you going to do now?"

He took a half step back so that he brushed against Sam. He had to keep his mind focused only on his brother and his anger towards him and just hoped that Sam would feel his knife and that she would be able to shield her thoughts just long enough

The brother only snickered and it wasn't a sound that was good in any way. "You came here to kill Kale and myself," He looked at Kale eyeing Samantha. "I think it's only fair you get the chance to finish what has already been started."

Samantha felt Brians harness hit her back.

Kale gestured. "Give me the sword, cutie."

"Over my deadbody." Samantha retorted.

Kale stepped towards her to and grabbed for the sword, as Samantha pulled Brian's from the sheath and brought it up against his neck. Kale's eyes were on fire with rage, but now she had him and Brian's brother had Brian. Samantha looked at Brian's brother, "you take my love, I'll take yours."

Brian's brother laughter at that threat. "Firey, isn't she."

"She is indeed," he replied, then without really thinking what he was saying added, "Just like Morgan." His eyes, glass though they were stared into his brother's. "Well Ricardro, looks like we have a bit of a Romulan standoff wouldn't you say?"

Ricardro still had that smirk about him. "Well we know how Morgan turned out." he smiled at Sam. "Did he tell you how his last "great" love died? Hmm?" He badged her some. "And how he's been sleeping with everyone that would lay down long enough to put up with him."

Samantha winced... at the verbal barages...she hadn't meant for the program to do any of this.

"You're just a piece of ass." The brothers bitter words hit a cord with Samantha.

Brian's face flushed green with anger, only in the back of his mind did he realize that this was nothing more than a holographic adventure. "Take that back you sick bastard. She is not a piece of ass to me. I really care about her and you're going to find that out, when I cut off your dick and stuff it down your throat. I know you're used to Kale's being there, small though it may be. Having your own there will be a new experience for you."

Samantha chuckled as Kale's face turned a few shades of color. "Brian..." Her voice was soft and soothing, it was a training exercise and she had to keep reminded herself of that.

Ricardro took a step back lowering his sword. "Point for you, big brother. You've committed no crimes here, yet. I can't turn you into the authorities."

Samantha lowered her sword but not before nicking Kale... He growled as she smirked. "We're far from even."

"Nor do I have the evidence to haul you off before the Council and I'll not commit fratricide, not here. So where do we go from here?"

Richardo looked at him and the Samantha and back to Brian. "Let's go talk somewhere quiet."

Brain was to say the least on his guard, yet at the same time his curiousity was aroused. "Okay, I'm assuming you want to avoid our resort. Why don't we go to Oliva's. Do they still have the tradtional Tapiaia that you like so much?"

He nodded his head. "They do, but the crowd has changed some." He offered. "Is that what has the happen to get you to come home?" He offered. He walked with Brian ahead of Kale and Samantha. "So why a human, brother?" He asked in a low voice.

"I dont know Ricardo, I guess you can't help who you fall in love with or who you become friends with. Why is my love life so important to you? And after what you did to me, I am surprised that you did not run me through when you got the chance."

Ricardo smirked as he walked with Brian. "Who was it who said know your enemy like your brother?" He offered. "You and I will fight to the death. Kale and your woman friend most likely will as well. But not in the public eye, not where my image is at risk."

"Your image? Is that what you're worried. I wouldin't be too concerned with that. A dead man has no image to worry about."

Ricardo chuckled. "Because you realize killing me, and you will never be welcome on Acaidia again, right?" He offered. "I'm an offical now, Brian. In the right or no, you'll never be allowed to return without facing charges."

"I see you point," he conceeded, "I am a well respected Star Fleet Officer and the one who helped persuade the Council to join the Federation. We'd both be in trouble if the other one died. So are you going to tell me why you started this? Why your hatred of me was so great that you would kill my best friend, a man who never did anyone any harm, that you would make me watch your goons cutting him into pieces and then blind me so it was the last sight I'd ever see? What did I do to you Ricardo to make you hate me so much?"

The holographic Ricardo walked in silence, due to the program not being able to answer him. Samantha had no clue. Ricardo finally turned around in the midst of the street. "Is there nothing in all your memories that you might think I would grown to despise of the years? Nothing that might eat me raw from the very depths of my bowels until my very heart was consumed by it." He grinned in a lack luster dark sort of way, "You came here to kill me, no doubt without approval from starfleet. Which means no one knows you're here. I can kill you." Ricardo stepped closer to his brother until his breath was hot on Brian's ear. "And I will... but you'll hear the girl scream in agony first. We'll see just how like Morgan she really is."

"I have friends that know where I am and what I've come to do. But if the fight is a fair one you're the one that is going to die. Tell me how many fights did you win when we were kid. Even when you cheated. And I've only gotten stronger and have picked up some rather new abilites since then. And Sam, well Sam is more of a warrior than Morgan was. I think she'll give Kale a run for his money."

"Reallllly?" Ricardo smirked. "Brian that is a fantastic idea. We'll let them fight it out, to the death."

Brian stopped in his tracks. He knew that this was nothing but a well exechted program, but it felt only too real and he acted accordingly. "You and me first, you're not going to use Kale to do his dirty work again. I'm not going to let you destroy any more lives. I don't care what it cost me, even if it's my freedom. Call off your lap dog or I swear to God I will cut you down like the dog that you are."

Samantha felt the anger coming off of Brian the fear and anger of the situation. "Computer, end program." She ordered. The streets the villians the builds all vanished in a blur back to the black and orange checkerboard of the holodeck. Sam felt like she'd created the program that was too off the top and too dark. "Brian, I'm sorry."

"No," he cried a bit louder than he ment to, his voice echoing in the now empty room. He turned towards her, "It's okay Sam. You're not going to be able to deacivate a program, or wave a magic wand when I confront him for real. I need this to run the cycle."

A joint post by:

Lt. Commander Brian Windsong
Chief Diplomatic Officer
SB Protector

Lt. Samantha O'dell
Chief Intel
SB Protector

 

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