Saving Mar

18 INTEL

Two of the allied ships eventually peeled off the Enterprise's course and went their own way. Erika received a distress call from a nearby Federation station under construction, and Morkal was pleased the perpetrators who'd attacked his station were dealt with, albeit not by him, and headed back to coordinate repairs on the appropriated slaver ship.

Given the situation, Jon didn't protest; he didn't know what awaited, and coming into someone's kingdom in force might be seen as an act of aggression.

Only Shran remained, claiming he was too curious to let them finish the mission on their own. Jon smiled to himself, knowing it was probably partially a lie to save face, as Shran—despite his own, frequent, words—had become a loyal friend, but the truth was that their trip had been nothing short of intriguing so far. They were also on their way to visit a very reclusive place no human or Andorian had seen before.

Shran handed over all intel his command had on the Pillars of Mahi, but the file was disappointingly small.

"We'd been spying on them for years, but every attempt at contact ended up in an unprovoked firefight," Shran confessed bitterly. "And given their ties to the Syndicate, I'd say it's pretty clear why they don't want us there: we might object to their slave trade."

"Another question is: do they know about us? And how much."

Shran shrugged and his antennae drooped a little.

"Your guess is as good as mine."

John sighed and stabbed his gaze into the bulkhead for a moment.

"Mar should be able to tell us a lot more," Shran suggested in a hopeful tone. "You said she's from there?"

Jon's head sank even lower.

"I could try," he said slowly, weighing the option. "But she insists on going down there alone. I get the feeling this hunt for her and her people is very, very personal to someone on Pharos. And I think she either doesn't want us to find out why, or knows it's reason enough to hurt us over it."

Shran listened grimly at first, but with Jon's last sentence his mouth stretched into a grin.

"Think she's as protective of you as you are of her?" his eyebrows wagged.

Jon just rolled his eyes, ignoring his question. "I might gently probe her for more intel and perhaps we can learn enough to build a solid play."

"Oh yes," Shran chuckled and nudged him in the ribs. "Be sure to probe gently, unless she asks otherwise, wink-wink!"

"Don't you have anything better to do?" Jon growled. He was already struggling hard enough, he didn't need a big mouth like him putting images in his head. "On Andoria, maybe?"

"No," Shran grinned. "I'm here to help, and... this is way too much fun."

.

"God, I'm so glad you didn't get taken with the others," Travis sighed, gently caressing his partner's face. "Can you imagine? We thought we'd have them by now, and then... I would be losing my mind."

"I know," Halwir smiled at him, taking his hand. They were sitting at a table in the mess hall, leaning over and just staring at each other, cherishing their good luck. "I can't stop thinking about them. I thought I knew what fate awaited them. Now I can only guess..."

"We're going to get them back," he squeezed her hand reassuringly. "They will be home soon."

"They don't really have a home, Travis," she reminded him softly. "But with Mar's help, they can choose where to make one."