972: The Long Road Home: Two

by: Mellice Cem & Mellice Kij
91017.0930
After Part One

=/\=Aboard the USS Huntington=/\=


Admiral Harris couldn't stand waiting on the bridge as he then looked to his XO Captain Eden Steele.

"You have the bridge Number One, I'll be in my ready room."

The woman nodded her head once. "Aye sir. Helm stay on course. Ops, keep a sharp eye out for whatever ship, shuttle or transport Lieutenant Mellice may have commandeered. With his background it could be something as small as a shuttle or he may have stolen the Romulan flagship, so stay sharp and continue sensor scans. Tactical, keep scanning the frequency Mr. Mellice gave us for any signals." She said crisply, as the Admiral disappeared inside his ready room.

David Harris approached his desk and took a seat behind it. He picked up a picture of his daughter Kelly and looked at for the longest of times.

She’d grown into such a beautiful young woman. He couldn’t help but remember that she was not meant to be his only daughter, but was meant to have an identical twin sister.

Her twin was a child he would never get to hold while she was alive.

Sadly Kelly’s twin had been stillborn; and though they tried valiantly the doctors couldn't revive the infant girl.

The loss had left his wife heartbroken, burdened by the knowledge that one of their children had died so very young while the other survived.

He spoke softly to the image in the photograph. "I'm sorry I had to have this done, Princess, but it was the only way to keep you safe." He sighed, and finally set the frame back into place.

He knew what the Orion Syndicate was capable of doing; he'd seen first hand what could be done to a person in a powerful position such as his by those determined to exploit others. If she had been taken by them…

Just the very thought of what might have happened to her made him sick.

He knew that if she’d gone missing, he would never be the same man again. The loss would have worn on him, broken him down until the only thing he could think of was getting his child back. Even if it meant doing things he didn't want to do.

He found it sadly ironic that the only way to prevent that worst of all fears from happening had been by doing other things he didn’t want to do..

He still believed that Kelly was in good- if questionable- hands with Lieutenant Mellice acting as her bodyguard.

The longer time wore on, though, the more he could only hope he’d made the right decision.

=Aboard The Prophets Revenge=


As the lift came to a stop at deck three near guest quarters, the Mellice brothers stepped out.

Kij gestured toward the first door down the corridor. "I'll make sure nobody disturbs you and by the time you wake up we should be in Federation space. Get some rest, I know you've earned it, and I'll make sure Kelly has a guard with her at all times. In fact I just may have Be'Tok do it personally. Nothing more menacing than a Klingon for a bodyguard."

Cem knew his brother wouldn't let him down and nodded gratefully as he tried his best to stifle a yawn. He failed, yawning as if he hadn't slept in days.. The fact was, he hadn’t slept in days and was having a very hard time remaining vertical at this point.

"Thanks little bro, now if you don't mind…there's a bunk with my name on it.”

“Hey, wait a second, you never told me where I'm supposed to find this illustrious Admiral Harris and his ship anyway?” Kij asked..

“Wake me when we reach the Tovax system. That's where Ad..." He yawned again as he was trying to finish what he was saying. "Sorry, Admiral Harris is waiting for us." Without saying anything else, the older Mellice stepped through the door of his quarters and headed right for the bunk, where Kij heard his brother snoring before his body and head hit the bunk with a loud thunk.

Laughing, Kij turned and prepared to return to the bridge to fetch the Admiral’s daughter. As he approached the lift, he saw he wouldn’t need to.

Kelly and Joan were talking softly as the lift doors opened.

"So, whose got the bridge?" He asked his XO.

Joan looked at Kij with a brow raised. "Derek has the bridge until you return.. I'm taking Kelly to her suite so she can get a shower and some much needed sleep. How's your brother doing?"

"He's currently resting and trust me, he needed it. From the looks of him, I'd have to say he's gone days without sleep and for him that's never good." He didn't get into any details while Kelly was around on that subject; it was a topic best left for Joan's ears only once the pair got back into the lift.

Once Kelly was situated and Joan had gone over the shower and comm controls with her, she left the woman to get cleaned up and sleep.

If Kij's brother had gone so long without sleep then likely Kelly had as well.

=/\=Orbiting Tovax in the Omicron Delta Sector of Space=/\=


The USS Huntington parked itself in orbit over the planet as they waited for Lieutenant Mellice to find his way in joining them. As soon as he arrived, Harris would set about the work of clearing Mellice’s record of all wrong doing in the so-called 'kidnapping' of his daughter. He knew that with the legal matters to resolve, that Cem would need to be tucked away somewhere out of sight before he could be offered a new assignment, and for that, Harris already had a plan.

Harris remained in his ready room, deep in silent contemplation of his decision to have act Mellice as he had. In the end of his analysis, he'd come to the conclusion that he'd do it again without question.

The “Old Man”, as his crew has come to call him, knew the officer he'd chosen was one of Starfleet's best in guerrilla tactics and on the fly threat assessment in any situation he's been put into.

His record had proven it time and again, but it seemed as if the Bajoran just couldn't catch any kinds of breaks or get the recognition for his talents he so rightfully deserved.

Harris promised himself that if Mellice’s got out of this situation and brought Kelly back alive, he was going to make sure that changed.

=Aboard The Prophets Revenge=


As both Joan and Kij entered the lift and started for the bridge, they talked about what his older brother was doing. "He's a good man Kij. But Starfleet's going to hang him by his balls for this."

She spoke to him now not as her Captain, but as her longtime friend.

Kij ground his teeth. He wanted so much to just tell her the truth of what his brother’s real missions were, but he was bound by the promise he gave Cem not to do so. "I don't know, he may escape a second court-martial and continue his duties. Right now all we can do is wait and see once we rendezvous with the Huntington over Tovax."

She gave him a pointed look as if he'd lost his marbles altogether. "Tovax? That's just a dead rock in space! Even the Dominion bypassed it during the war. They didn't see that sector of space even worth trying to conquer. It held and still holds no strategic value to anyone, not even my own misguided family in the Orion Syndicate felt anyone in that system was worth trying to either kill, kidnap or sell in the slave trade. Its only purpose as far as I'm concerned is a spot for smugglers to hide."

What she said was common knowledge; many smugglers used Tovax as a hideout while they waited for the heat to die down.

"I'll give you that Joan, you do have a point because even we hid at Tovax during the war many times before being captured and the first Revenge was destroyed. Perhaps Harris thought that, given that they’d likely be returning in a stolen ship that was the safest place for Cem to go with Kelly. Since not even the Syndicate has use for it…"

They stepped off the lift and onto the bridge.

Derek got out of the captain’s chair and made his way back to Ops.

Joan smiled; she knew Kij also had a valid point.

"Helm,” Kij began, “set a course for the Omicron Delta system.. Maximum warp. Get going before the Romulans figure out we've picked up my brother." The helm officer only nodded his head once as the ship then rocketed through space for its meeting with the Huntington.

The kilometers ticked away while the Revenge tore through Romulan space, racing towards the Federation border.

Everyone with the exception of the 'Vulcan' J'ara was in high spirits as the helm officer announced that they would be entering the Neutral Zone in five minutes and that the Omicron Delta system would then only be a short, four hour run at warp five.

Mellice Kij smiled as he sat in the command chair of his ship. His first mate stood right beside him as the streaks of starlight zipped past them on the main view screen. "Once we get in touch with Admiral Harris and deliver his daughter and my brother back to Starfleet, I suspect he'll cut us loose so we can head for Starbase 654 and begin unloading our cargo. First order of business though is to turn in those decay detonators to the proper authorities so they can be destroyed."

“Understood.” Joan replied. “And what of our…guest in the brig?” She was speaking of course of their discovered Tal Shiar agent.

"I believe we'll let Admiral Harris decide what to do with Mister J’ara."

Joan's voiced dripped with venom as she spat out her next words. "I say we just hand over the detonators to Admiral Harris as well as our little spy." She then thought for a moment as a grin came to her lips. "Or we could just let the Klingon kill him and flush his dead carcass out an airlock. What do you say? Sound like fun?"

Kij laughed. "If I didn't know any better Joan, I'd say you actually want that to happen. Well, if he does try to escape, I don't see that as a problem. In fact, it'd be problem solved and the detonators we could still hand over to the Admiral to be rid of them and tell him we knew nothing of their existence on our cargo manifest. Which we didn't so we should be in the clear.."

Time flew past, and soon the ship crossed into Federation space.

The helmsman dropped them down to warp five so they'd be heeding Starfleet's speed regulations for max cruise within this sector of space. True, they should have been heeding that same law in Romulan space but where was the fun in that? Kij decided that if ever there was a time to risk getting caught speeding that was it.

"Helm, let me know when we reach Tovax."

"Aye sir." The Angosian replied.

Kij looked to Erika, who was now at the communications console.

"Erika, bring up the special frequency I use when I speak to my mother and open a channel."

Her reply was quick and simple. "Right away, sir."

*Like a well oiled machine.* Kij thought, as each person did their jobs to the letter while his blue gaze then moved to the cuffed Romulan.

"Should I ask the Romulan if he has any last words before we turn him and his cargo over to Admiral Harris?"

Joan smirked. "I don’t know, sir, according to Be’tok he’s still denying he’s Romulan at all.”

“Well for someone who claimed to be Vulcan, he sure hated to talk about logic. All the Vulcans I know mention it at least three to four times when you speak to them. This guy, on the other hand, has got to be the WORST actor I've ever met." She could tell that Kij was speaking the words as more of an insult than with his usual, good-natured humor.

=/\=Aboard the USS Huntington=/\=


The tactical officer suddenly stood a little taller, thrusting his shoulders back. He double-checked his data, and he was right. It really was there.

He’d picked up what appeared to be a signal of some kind on the frequency they’d been watching so closely, as he called for the Admiral to come to the bridge.

The old man slowly rose from his chair and grumbled lightly under his breath. "If this isn't the signal I've been waiting for someone's going to be a cadet again." He muttered to himself as he stepped through the door and back out onto the bridge. "What have you got Commander Page?" He moved as quickly as he could over to his tactical officer.

"We're picking up a faint signal and it appears to be getting closer to our location. It’s on the frequency you specified, Sir. It must be from Lieutenant Mellice."

The Admiral finally smiled for the first time in months as he retook his spot in the command chair. "By all means, open a channel and let 'em know we're waitin'."

Page opened a channel on the same frequency that Kij was transmitting from. "Channel open, sir."

Harris cleared his throat and then finally spoke. "It's about time you got in touch with us, Lieutenant. It's been nearly three months since your last communiqué. What kept you?"

[Sir, this is Mellice Kij, Captain of The Prophet’s Revenge. We have my brother and your daughter aboard our ship, and we're on course to meet up with you at Tovax. I know you must be anxious to speak to them personally but they’re exhausted, as you can imagine, from their…adventures. But I assure you they are both safe and in one piece. We'll see you in roughly two hours."

The Admiral sighed with relief at hearing this most welcome news; it was proof that indeed, he had chosen the right man for this very job.

"Thank you Mr. Mellice, if I may. What kind of ship are you in command of?" Kij smirked to the question asked as he then replied.

[A B'rel Class Bird Of Prey.]

Even Admiral Harris had heard of it. "The merchant ship? You must be good at what you do, Mellice. How come you didn't join Starfleet like your brother did? Bet you would have made a fine officer."

[Not my style sir. Once the Occupation ended, I took the original ship out to begin my life as a merchant and trader. As you can clearly tell, I've made some very powerful contacts in my time, even managed to get a few Starfleet Admirals to let me find them…difficult to locate merchandise if they needed them for some project or another.] He responded to the Admiral's query.

"We'll see you in two hours, Mellice. And thank you for informing me that both my daughter and your brother are safe."

Both men smiled as Kij then nodded his head once.

[See you in two, Admiral.]

Huntington out.”

As both screens went dead, Admiral Harris then began to relax a little. After so long and so much worry, he knew the journey was nearly over.

=/\=Two Hours Later=/\=


The two ships hung in space as they orbited Tovax.

Mellice Cem and Kelly Harris were standing on the transporter pad as they awaited the signal to beam over to the USS Huntington.

Cem raised a hand in thanks to his brother for all his help and Kij simply lowered his eyes in acknowledgment. After all that his older brother had done for him, Kij still felt he had so many debts of honor to repay.

Once the signal was given, Kelly spoke her thanks aloud just before she and Cem were transported onto the transporter pad of the Huntington.

Admiral Harris paced inside the transporter room as he waited for the cycle to finish.

The moment his daughter and Lieutenant Mellice were fully materialized on the pad and before they even stepped off it, Kelly was already starting her rant. "Daddy, I have no idea who Mr. Mellice thinks he is but he needs to be locked away on the penal colony of Antares 6. The man is as mad as an escaped loon from a Betazed psych hospital."

Mellice only shook his head at the young woman's rant about him while he moved over to the Admiral himself. "Lieutenant Junior Grade Mellice Cem, reporting as ordered, sir." He said, as he snapped to attention and saluted his superior officer.

"At ease, Lieutenant." The old man said gratefully, as he turned to his only daughter. "Kelly, sweetheart he really wasn't kidnapping you. He was keeping you safe from those who might have used you against the Federation to gain valuable information. I couldn't allow that to happen to my only daughter, so I arranged for Mr. Mellice here to beat the Orions to it and ordered him to keep you safe at all costs." The stunned look upon her face said it all as she couldn't believe what her own father was telling her..

"WHAT?! You mean to tell me he was my HIRED BODYGUARD?"

“Sir, if I might…” Cem interrupted. “I hate to intrude upon this tender reunion, but The Prophet’s Revenge is requesting permission to transfer to your security staff a spy that they just discovered had infiltrated their crew, as well as the Romulan decay detonators he smuggled aboard the ship as evidence against him.” Cem held up a PADD containing the details, and Harris’ eyes widened.

“Of course. I’ll have my security chief contact them immediately and see to the transfer. Thank you.”

“Daddy, you didn’t answer my question.” Kelly tapped her toe impatiently, and Harris reddened. It was clear to Cem that the man had a difficult time with the idea that his daughter could be angry with him. Again, Cem held up a hand to beg permission to interrupt.

Flustered, Harris’ eyes widened. “Go for it.” He muttered, hoping maybe Cem could do more to reason with her.

"That would be correct Ms. Harris, I was your bodyguard. Why do you think the Orions didn’t touch you? I told them I wanted the pleasure of breaking you and instead allowed you to do as you pleased while keeping you safe. Part two of my mission ended around the time we made our escape from the Orions and wound up with the Romulans for a very short stay. I apologize for that unintentional detour.”

“Kelly, I am anxious to spend some time with you. But I need to speak to Mellice alone a moment.” Harris gestured toward the door with his eyes, and she sighed.

At this point, she didn’t know whether to stay angry at her father or not; but she knew that she couldn’t really be angry with Cem for not telling her the truth after all he’d done for her. “All right.” She said at last, shrugging. She stopped after taking a step, reversing course and moving closer to Cem.

She didn’t say a word, she only stood on her tiptoes and gently kissed his cheek. She then squeezed her father’s shoulder once before exiting the room.

“Sir, I’m a bit...concerned…” Mellice began slowly.

“Don’t worry, Cem. You just need to lay low for a little while, out of sight while I take care of everything.”

“How low can a man lay to get out of something like this, Sir? The warrants all but demands my head on a large, pointy stick…”

“I know exactly where to send you.” Harris assured him with a grin. “And it’s not a long trip.”

Lieutenant (jg) Mellice Cem
Assistant Security/Tactical Chief
USS Revolution NCC-71605-A

&

Mellice Kij
Merchant Captain of The Prophets Revenge II
As Played By
Lieutenant (jg) Mellice Cem