By Lair Kellyn and Avery Breaux
80402.20
Following Bound and Chained
-=New York City, Earth=-
80402.20
Following Bound and Chained
-=New York City, Earth=-
Breaux was allowed to lead the way up the back stairwell of The Russian Tea Room and into what was a secondary storage area for the restaurant. As the group made it to the top of the stairwell, they heard activity at the front door of the restaurant and could only assume that O'Sullivan may have made it to their location.
Breaux quickly led them forward through a doorway which connected to another building. They made their way expeditiously down a stairwell and upon reaching the front door of that establishment, they checked outside and saw the usual throng of people, but no one who appeared to be a cause for concern.
Breaux looked at the two security guards and then to Lair..."If four of us travel-we'll get apprehended, if we split up, we'll make it-your call..."
"He's right. You two, you're dismissed." Kellyn announced.
"Commander Lair," The first security guard objected, "Our orders were,"
"I outrank you. You're dismissed." She looked at Avery sideways. "Doctor Breaux isn't going to harm me, or allow anyone else to." Her words had a tone both of hope and of warning- and also told Breaux that with the life she'd led, surely she knew a thing or two about taking care of herself, anyway and the two security officers who had accompanied her had been more of a formality than anything else.
"Go ahead of us and tell the Admiral we're on our way." She instructed.
Avery nodded.
"Let's go."
The route took the pair over the next couple of blocks to Central Park where the wide open paths led in several directions. They made their way quickly past the Simon Bolivar statue and then along a walking path that went past an immense pond.
They continued walking northbound and finally made a move across the park to the west. Within minutes they were jogging underneath the 65th Street Traverse and found their way to the Tavern on the Green restaurant.
Breaux turned to Lair once again, "Your call again-we duck in here and settle...wait it out for a bit...or we keep moving...the Grand Central Transporter Hub is too far this time of day, and...too obvious...if you don't like it here, I can get us to a place on Columbus Avenue.."
"In here." Kellyn agreed, wanting to get out of the fading daylight as quickly as possible.
Moving into the restaurant, they found that a large party was about to be ushered into The Crystal Room.
"The Helean/Yuu wedding ceremony is about to begin," A woman holding a PADD announced, and everyone began to form a line.
"Perfect." Kellyn smiled. She looked at Avery who was casually but smartly dressed, and nodded to him. "Just a second." She vanished, and a moment later returned with a proper jacket, 'borrowed' from the coat check room.
He quickly put it on, and she straightened the skirt of the formal dress she was wearing- having dressed for tea at the Russian.
They milled around, making a show of smiling and nodding to the guests politely, and finally they took seats in the back-most row for the ceremony.
"Friends of the bride or the groom?" Asked an older woman in a very large hat.
"Bride," Kellyn exclaimed.
"Groom." Avery announced.
Perplexed, the woman frowned.
"Both." Kellyn elaborated,"We were actually introduced by them," Kellyn put her arm around Avery, who smiled at her adoringly.
"Yes, quite the matchmaker, that one." He didn't know the name of the bride or the groom, so he let the 'one' hang in the air. Fortunately before the nosy second-cousin of the bride could ask any more questions- the bridal procession started.
Kellyn began to glance around the room nervously. Somehow, she still had a feeling that they were being watched.
As soon as the bride appeared and all eyes were fixed upon her, mint green lace dress and all, Kellyn tugged on Avery's arm, and jerked her head toward the exit.
The moment everyone's attention was directed to the couple at the front, they slipped from the room and exited.
"We can't stay in one place for too long," Kellyn insisted. "We have to get to Command. I feel like,"
As soon as she had spoken, Avery's eyes widened.
"What's the matter?"
"That man. I saw him earlier today." He looked at her sideways, "At the Bajoran shrine. . .in San Francisco."
She looked down the hallway and saw a plainly dressed Bajoran man arguing with a Tavern employee.
"I'm sorry, Sir," The employee insisted. "You are not dressed properly for this establishment, and you will have to change your clothing and prove you have an invitation to the wedding if you expect to be allowed to enter. . ."
The "Bajoran" and Kellyn locked eyes, she knew him- even if he didn't know her. It was Dane Cristiane- and he was definitely looking for Avery.
"Just keep smiling," she whispered. They hurried through the building. They entered The Terrace Room, where another wedding was in full swing- this one already far into the reception.
Avery reached for Kellyn's hand and darted forward; he had an idea.
"This way."
He led her toward the dance floor, and still holding her hand, pulled her into his arms and began to steer her into the middle of the crowd.
A band was playing lively Swing music from Earth's twentieth century, which faded into a much slower tempo as they got to the center of the dance floor.
Kellyn, eyes darting around the room to see if Dane had caught up to them, couldn't help but be awestruck by their surroundings.
"What are you thinking?" Avery asked her, curious as to her unreadable expression.
"That I never knew a place like this, so beautiful, could exist on any planet."
"You'll have to come back here sometime," he offered, sorry that she was seeing the Tavern under such circumstances. It was meant to be a magical place, not a place to hide.
"Yeah," she said softly. "Someday."
Avery looked at Kellyn, appreciating the irony of the lyrics as the singer crooned The Way You Look Tonight.
Kellyn felt incredible sadness sweep over her as she looked at her friend, and realized that no matter what happened now, the hardest part of his future would be reconciling his choices to himself.
A commotion began at the back of the room, and they had no doubt as to the cause.
As the band broke into a much more up-beat song, Kellyn tightened her hand around Breaux's, and catching Dane's eye as he tried to make it through the crowd, she spoke only one word.
"Run."
Sensing they were about to bolt Dane had already backed out of the room and headed for the nearest exit.
"Ethos to Aodhan, where are you?"
There was no response.
Not knowing whether Keiran was in the hands of Avery's Maquis friends or was unable to answer for another reason, he prepared to follow the code of conduct for this mission that O'Sullivan had drilled into him: "He who falls behind, is left behind."
He had to keep going in pursuit of the target- alone.
He hailed Dalca on the shuttle, explaining as he ran that he couldn't raise Keiran.
"I'll make it back to the ship on my own," he informed Dalca. "Those were my orders if we got separated. So I will follow them." He knew that Dalca would understand; that same order had never been given to him.
[I'll find him,] Dalca promised. [See you back home.]
*****
As they came to the back exit of the building and rounded the corner, a hand reached out and grabbed Avery. Before he could respond with force, Kellyn turned round, spun on the man and applied deftly placed fingers to his neck.
A moment later, Dane Cristiane was unconscious on the ground. Avery blinked repeatedly in surprise, and Kellyn shrugged.
"You can thank my better half later." She turned and saw that news of their scuffle had already spread through the crowded streets and local law enforcement was coming to investigate. "Come on!"
They continued running for a few blocks, and soon found that the crowds were so immense, they would draw less attention if they simply slowed, walked and fit in...Lincoln Center was now in their sights...Avery stopped in the middle of the sidewalk.
He turned to Lair, "We can take an inter city transport here, at this station. From here we can go anywhere. We have thrown enough twists into our trail, we should be safe."
Kellyn agreed and from there they made their way to the Staten Island hub.
Soon, they were at Starfleet Headquarters, standing in the lobby of Admiral Vox's office.
Avery, still acerbic over the entire situation offered to Lair, "And now, Vox will explain how my working for him is less barbaric than Cardassians, with Starfleet sanction, destroying the lives of countless colonists...with the requisite admonishment that the Maquis were only another distraction that had to be dealt with..." Avery paused, "Lair...this is going to take me some time...I'm not interested in anyone's forgiveness...I have an opportunity here, I understand that...I won't do anything stupid."
Kellyn was saddened by the statement.
She had hoped he might at least feel some remorse for having lied to everyone about the truth of his past. Or, more correctly, for having lied to her about it.
But then, she reminded herself- he had already saved her life.
He owed her nothing.
"Not interested in anyone's forgiveness." She shook her head gently. "I'm sorry to hear that." She paused for a moment, and when she continued she said something entirely different than he was expecting. "Because I was going to suggest that you start by forgiving yourself first." Exhausted and discouraged, she held her hands up in a hopeless gesture.
Avery rubbed his hands together, "I suppose I could examine my past and decide that I made a huge mistake...but...any of us that worked as Maquis gave it a great deal of thought before embarking on that journey. History can judge us I suppose. Deception was out of necessity...it doesn't mean we can't discern who is comrade and who isn't...it doesn't matter what side you're on."
"It matters to me." No one understood better than she did the plight of those colonists, or what the Cardassians had done and could do.
She had learned, though, from all she bore silent witness to growing up that anytime someone justified lying as a necessity that nothing good could come of it. That they would have to face up to the fallout, someday.
For Kellyn's parents and their beloved Kosst Kejal, that day of judgment came the day that her young sister perished because of their actions. For Avery Breaux, that day may be today, or it may be another day in the future. But she was certain that eventually, it would come.
"History," she whispered,"will judge us all."
Avery noticed suddenly that there was a sick, strained, and gasping sound to her breathing. His medical training kicked in, and he took a step closer to her. He remembered then that she had damage to her lungs from some accident when she was a teenager, but he did not know the specifics.
"Are you all right?"
Kellyn waved him off. She pulled a small canister of medicine from her pocket and inhaled some of its contents. "Happens, when I run too much," she explained. "I was lucky, when the bomb went off, I survived."
It was then he realized that her injury had come in the same disaster that had claimed her sister's life.
"But, Lair, are you all right?" He repeated the question with a different tone, and she believed he was now asking about more than her labored breathing.
"I will be."
She wished she could offer him more; something in the way of a better universe in which these issues had never been, nor would ever be. But she realized that the only place that any such a universe truly existed was in the trusting, imaginative minds of children.
Somehow as they grew into adults, all beings seemed to lose the ability to hold onto that dream, no matter how they tried.
The door to the Admiral's office opened, and Jonas Vox nodded to Breaux.
"Here's your chance. Make the most of it." Kellyn said, staring at the floor dejectedly.
He strode past her and the Admiral, and as the doors closed between them, Kellyn knew that whatever happened from here on, both she and Avery had begun this day as one person and were now changed, ending it as someone else.
"Admiral Vox thanks you for your help, Commander. He doesn't wish to detain you any longer, you can return to your family. He will contact you in a day or two and you can submit your final report via subspace."
Kellyn stared out of the window past the woman's shoulder, mutely.
"Would you like me to arrange transportation for you back to the Serendipity?"
"No, thank you." Kellyn murmured slowly at last, her mind far removed from her current location. "I can find my own way home."
Retreating, her footsteps led her toward the medical building, so she could have her appearance restored before returning to the Sera. She only wished that they could also give back to her the other, much less tangible thing she had lost on this mission.
If only she knew exactly what it was, perhaps she could ask them to try.
Commander Lair Kellyn
Director, Engineering Research
USS Serendipity NCC-2012
and
LT. Commander Avery Breaux
USS Serendipity NCC-2012
Director, Engineering Research
USS Serendipity NCC-2012
and
LT. Commander Avery Breaux
USS Serendipity NCC-2012