Stefan Geiry and Damalis Inwood
by Warren OddsonBut Most Importantly, My Friend
by C. TurnerIt was a beautiful evening on Arcturus. The sun was slipping below the horizon, the sky the most incredible shade of golden red. There was a soft breeze in the park that made the leaves rustle, and the sound of small animals could be heard.
Even the world is conspiring against me, Damalis thought, to be so beautiful when I feel so dejected. Pulling her legs up under her chin, she wrapped her arms tightly around her knees. Shivering slightly, she pulled the sweater that had slipped off one shoulder back into place.
Tears rolled slowly down her face as she stared at the stars as they began to appear in the sky. The pain in her soul felt like a tangible live thing, threatening to overwhelm her as she remembered the words that Zac had spoken to her only days before, and how things had changed so suddenly.
She angrily brushed the tears away. It’s just not fair! she raged silently. After taking a deep, steadying breath, she rose. She pulled her sweater close around her, then made her way to the club she owned. Jody was probably wondering where she was.
****
Fraser Hatt had a score to settle. She sat slouched in the front seat of a small glider, parked in the lot beside the Rio Club. Sinking even lower into the seat as a patrol vehicle passed, she snagged her imported silk hose on a not-so-perfect fingernail. A single curse made its way through her red painted lips. She had managed to avoid the law thus far and had no intentions of getting caught now, but when she was tense she bit her fingernails and ruined her 100 credit manicure. She sighed and resumed scanning the myriads of people entering the club
She was rewarded when a slender brunette came into view. Damalis Inwood. A smile spread across Fraser’s perfectly made up face. The waiting had paid off once again. She’d already taken care of Zac Hutton, and now it wouldn’t be much longer before she got the rest of her revenge for what what had happened to her lover, Cass. The smile dissappeared. Yes, just as Zac had, Damalis would pay for what she had done.
****
Stefan Geiry and Butch’Daii were having an argument. This, in and of itself, was not an unusual occurrence. The two often had heated exchanges on topics about which they held divergent opinions. What was odd was that the medical scientist and the renegade Klingon were in agreement with one another and were arguing with several others. It was over the fairly typical bar room topic of politics. Several drunk Tellarties were vehemently disagreeing with certain Federation policies, and just to be an annoyance to someone other than Stefan for a change, Butch’Daii had taken the Federation point of view. Understandable, this incensed the Tellarites.
It was beginning to degenerate as the alcohol took effect on those consuming it. Stefan extricated himself from the fray. Though the bar was dimly lit and full of smoke, he’d caught a glimpse of a familiar face across the room.
Damalis looked his way as he approached, and gestured to the empty chair beside her. "Sit with me Stefan?" she invited.
"Thank you, don’t mind if I do," he replied. After a waitress came by and took his order, Stefan eyed Damalis critically. "You look like hell," he finally assessed.
Damilis smiled faintly, but it quickly faded back into the forlorn look she’d worn only moments earlier. "You’re observant as always, Stef. Has anyone ever mentioned your bedside manner is terrible?"
"Yes. You. Repeatedly," he retorted. Leaning forward, he placed a hand on hers. "Damalis, would you like to tell me what’s wrong?"
"How is it you always know when something’s wrong?" she asked him, taking his hand in hers and giving it and thankful squeeze.
He raised an eyebrow. "I’ve known you long enough to know that you don’t drink alone. And," he added as he reached out to wipe a black smudge from under her eye, "your mascara gives it away."
She half-smiled and wiped her eyes with a napkin.
"Better. So, what’s happening Damalis?"
She stared into her drink. "You think your life is finally coming together. You meet someone and decide to spend the rest if your life with that person. You invest time and energy and make a new start— and then one day, it blows up in your face. One day it’s just gone." Unconsciously, she began to rub her hands up and down her arms. She was cold… she just felt so damn cold.
Stefan's eyes widened. "What? I just check on Zac this morning while I was at the hospital, he’d stabilized before I left…" His voice trailed off as he took in the look on her face. It confirmed his worst fears. "Oh, Gods, Damalis… I’m so sorry. I didn’t know."
"How could you know, Stefan?" she asked quietly. "He only… died.. an hour ago. I feel like if I close my eyes and reach out, he’ll take my hand. I can’t believe he’s really dead." The pitch of her voice began to rise as she became agitated. "He can’t be dead, he can’t-- can’t--"
Stefan gathered her up into his arms as she began to cry inconsolably. They almost seemed to be wrapped in a cocoon, set apart from the raucous atmosphere around them. He just held her, rocked her, and let her grieve. As time passed, the sobs that wracked her body began to dissipate, eventually subsiding altogether. He lifted her chin with a finger, and stared into her eyes. "Are you okay?"
She nodded. "Thank you, Stefan. Thanks for listening when I needed to be listened to, and for giving me a shoulder to cry on. But, most importantly, thank you for being my friend. I don’t know how I would have gotten through the last few months without you."
He gazed at her, and the look they shared spoke of the things which could not be spoken aloud, communicated all they had shared, all they had given up. Through it all, their friendship had remained. He smiled at her. "Anytime, Damalis. Anytime." A boyish grin came to his lips as he added, "Just one thing... don’t tell Butch’Daii. It’ll ruin my reputation for being thoughtless and inconsiderate."
She laughed. "Oh Stefan, anyone who really knows you is already aware it’s just not true." She looked at him pensively. "Would you mind taking me home? I only came in to do the books, but they can wait till tomorrow. I really don’t want to stay, and Jody already said she can handle it for tonight. And, I really don’t want to be alone right now."
He stood and helped her to her feet, then offered his arm. "Shall we?"
*****
Fraser saw them as they left the club. She cursed softly to herself . She hadn’t planned to deal with two. After a moment she recognized Damalis’s companion, and she began to chuckle evily. Her revenge would be sweet indeed. It had been Geiry and his Klingon companion who had set up Cas Derringer, Head of the Arcturus Syndicate, for the fall, courtesy of the information supplied by Damalis. How convenient for her that they had decided to leave together.
They got into a glider and pulled out of the lot. As she went to follow them, a patron heading for the nightclub walked into her path. She swore and dumped delta-vee so quickly that the anti-gravs bucked in protest. The glider swerved and knocked the man over. Yelling a curse out the window, she whipped by him and sped up so as to not lose sight of her quarry.
*****
Butch’Daii was feeling no pain. the stock Klingon was happily arguing at tremendous volume with anyone who made the mistake of disagreeing with him. The present topic was females, and as males presently were in majority, the general opinion in the bar was negative. Once again, he took the opposing viewpoint for no other reason than to be contentious.
"No, you ghak-for-brained idiots! Some women are capable of holding positions of authority. A Klingon woman could wage and win a war against any of the likes of you! There are even some human women.." A look of part admiration, part desire came to his eyes. "Why I have great respect for a certain captain in Starfleet, one Captain Dryer. Now , there’s a woman!"
Males of at least three different hominoid species booed, hissed and generally disapproved. The Klingon remained undaunted. "There must be someone in this bar who… hey, you!" he pointed at the man who had just shuffled past. The man looked up, confused by the proceedings, and more than a little intimidated by the burly Klingon.
"You!" repeated Butch’Daii, walking up to the man and getting right in his face. "What is your opinion of women? Are they as competent as men in politics and positions of power?"
The man looked up at the Klingon nervously for a moment, then replied. "Uhm... if women in general are anything like the flame-haired bimbo in the Jag who just about ran me down outside, I don’t think they are competent to make up a grocery list, never mind run a planet!" Raucous laughter erupted throughout the bar. The man smiled nervously then turned to walk away. A strong grip on his arm prevented him from doing so.
Butch’Daii’s face was grave. "What colour was the Jag?"
"Errr... what, uhm, difference does it make?" he asked, trying desperately to free his arm. He winced as the grip became tighter.
"You will continue to live a pain free life as long as you tell me right now."
"It was black," the man stammered.
Butch’Daii abrupltly turned away and glanced around, looking for Stefan. After a few moments he realized his friend was no longer present. He walked over to Jody.
"Have you seen Stefan?" he asked in his brusque way. The willowy blond raised an eyebrow at him.
"Ask nice, Butchy," she teased.
He growled. "Jody it’s important! Fraser was spotted outside not very long ago. I must find Stefan. We need to warn Damalis."
Jody’s face went white. "Ohmigod.. Butch, they left togther about an hour ago. Stefan took her home, I don’t even know why she came in, but…" she trailed off. She was talking to empty space. The Klingon was gone.
*****
Fraser intently watched the two figures out on the patio of the house. She waited for what seemed like an eternity before they went in. They appeared to be having a pleasant, relaxing evening. Smiling a bitter smile, she thought of the fear and panic she would soon cause. Would they beg for mercy? She certainly hoped so.
In the back seat of the glider was a cloth satchel. She carefully removed a black case from the bag and opened it. The weapon in the case gleamed in the dull light of the twin moons. She curled her fingers around the handle and lifted the Klingon disrupter rifle to inspect it closely. It was fully charged and capable of doing a large amount of very painful damage before causing death.
Zac had used her to get close to Cas and helped Damalis set them up. Carefully, she held the pain close to her soul, nursed it like a live thing. Now, with this cruel weapon, she was going to inflict as much pain as she could in turn. The two people most responsible for reducing Cas from practically ruling the planet to a running fugitive shot down by Starfleet security were about to get their reward.
****
Butch’Daii shook his fist at yet another hover-cab driver who had sped by him. He was discovering how difficult it was for a Klingon to hail transportation. He swore again at his stupidity - he’d left his communicator in Stefan’s glider. He gave up on getting a ride and settled into a steady run in the direction of Damalis’s home.
****
Stefan lounged on the big recliner as Damalis stretched out in her sofa. As they sipped their coffee, they talked about the good times they had shared and some of the crazy things they had done.
Damalis told Stefan of the plans she and Zac had made, to finally get off-world, maybe even to Terra. How she would try to get a job in regular security, unlike her undercover work here on Arcturus. How Zac had been planning to go into law, and all about his lofty dreams to go out and make the Federation a better place, with justice for all. How he had wanted to go out and hunt down the Cas Derringers of the worlds and prove them guilty and have them all sent to rehab.
Stefan shared her laughter and pain. After a while, they ran out of words and just sat listening to quiet classical music and enjoyed each other’s company.
Damalis was beginning to doze off when Stefan suddenly stiffened and glanced sharply about the den. In response, she immediately became alert. "Stefan, what’s wrong?"
He ran a hand through his auburn hair, looking around, puzzled. "I was sure I heard something."
She glanced around the room as well. "Like what?"
Standing, Stefan turned his gaze to the hall. "I could have sworn I heard a noise in down there."
She relaxed a little. "It was probably the cat."
"It didn’t sound like a cat," he replied. Damalis sighed and got up to follow him as he walked down the hall towards the dinning area. "I don’t know," he continued. "It sounded kind of like-"
Damalis heard a resounding whack and saw Stefan’s head snap back as something sent him sprawling down the corridor. She stifled a yelp and grabbed for the heavy crystal vase on the desk. A disrupter bolt missed her head by mere centimeters and hit the wall behind her. She froze, her cheek hot from the proximity of the blast.
"Good girl, Damalis. Don’t move a muscle. Try anything and I’ll make you beg me to kill you quickly."
Damalis’s blood ran cold as she recognized the voice. "Fraser. What do you want?"
Fraser laughed. "Isn’t it obvious, dear? Revenge. But the question is how shall I kill you? Perhaps," she said, walking over to Stefan’s motionless form, "I’ll kill him first. Would you care for that?" Fraser stuck the business end of the disrupter rifle into the base of Stefan’s neck. He moaned.
Damalis saw a trickle of blood coming out from under his head. "Please stop, Fraser! You’re hurting him!"
Fraser jabbed him again. The moan was louder this time. She favoured Damalis with a chilling smiled. "Hurting him was rather the point. A broken jaw is the least of his worries right now." She whipped the rifle up and leveled it at Damalis. "Maybe I should take care of you first. Slowly. Say, with the rifle on a low disrupt setting, not kill." Slowly, she advanced towards Damalis, the coldness of her eyes matching that in her smile. "Klingons are masters at creating weapons that inflict great damage and agony before they kill."
"Fraser, think! This is crazy! What would killing us solve?" Damalis tried to reason with the disturbed woman before her, knowing it was futile, but unwilling to give up without a fight. "You know they will catch you, eventually. If you kill us, you’ll spend a lot of years in a rehab facility. Give up, Fraser! You were only an accomplice to Cass’ crimes. Things will go a lot easier for you if you just turn yourself in." She struggled to remain calm, to present a composed face instead of the abject terror that was threatening to consume her.
"You bitch!" Fraser shrieked, and Damalis’s world suddenly exploded in pain from the snap kick that knocked her backwards, ending with her in a heap on the floor. For a few moments everything was a black haze, all she was aware of was agony, and the taste of blood in her mouth. Gradually she became aware of Fraser standing directly over her.
"Damalis, Damalis, Damalis," the woman began, shaking her head. "You have to pay. Because of you, Cas is dead. Because of you, my life is ruined. You took what was mine. So I took what was yours." She leaned in a little closer, as if telling a confidential secret. "Oh, yes, I know Zac was doing quite well this morning.. isn’t it sad how lax hospital security is?" Damalis’s eyes widened as she struggled to comprehend what the woman was telling her. Her predatory smile widened as she saw Damalis come to understand the implications of her statement.
"You mean Zac was-"
"That’s right honey.. WAS. Past tense. Oh, they’ll find out tomorrow when they complete the autopsy and the toxicology report comes back way off." She straightened again, holding the disrupter directly over Damalis’s stomach. "Well, enough of the small talk. I’ve killed your boyfriend and I think it’s time for you to join him." Fraser’s finger tightened on the trigger.
There was a crash as Butch’Daii came through the front window. Fraser spun around, her finger pulling reflexively on the trigger, the disrupter bolt sweeping across half the room. He saw Damalis attempt to roll out of the way, but she was caught in the nimbus of the blast and collapsed. At the edge of his vision he could see Stefan’s prone from. He forced himself not to glance over to see if they both still lived, and dove behind the couch and fired his back at Fraser.
She ducked around the corner. "Give it up, Klingon! You and your friends die tonight!" Several disrupter blasts followed the declaration.
He laughed. "No simple human female will ever best Butch’Daii!"
She squeezed off another shot. This one came much too close for comfort. He judged the distance and took and running leap into the bedroom off the den. She shot at him again, and he felt it singe the hair on the back of neck, leaving a painful burn in its wake. At least she was focused on him, not the bodies on the floor. If he remembered correctly, he could go through the bedroom into the attached bathroom and exit via the hallway, right behind Fraser. He tried to goad her again, keep her off balance. "You’re a lousy shot, kuve!"
The string of obscenities and flurry of disrupter fire proved he’d succeeded. He quickly, silently made his way through the bedroom and bathroom, The hall door was closed. Sending a prayer up to his patron Elements, he kicked it open.
Fraser whirled around startled, but surprise was on Butch’Daii’s side. Before she could fire, he had lunged and knocked her into the living room. His own blaster went flying. They wrestled on the floor, struggling over the disrupter rifle. He was amazed at her strength and flexibility as she repeatedly avoided his grasp. He gasped as she brought her knees up hard into his groin. It was just enough for her to break free and regain control of the weapon.
"You were saying, you Klingon scum?" she boasted. A sneer came to her lips as she sighted the rifle. "Time to die."
The shot never came. Butch’Daii saw a red glow envelope her for a split second, then she vanished. He looked over to see Stefan, blood encrusting his face and chest, holding his blaster with unsteady hands. Stefan grinned, then winced as pain shot through his jaw.
"We saved each other’s asses, huh?" he spoke, his words somewhat garbled.
Butch’Daii nodded gruffly. "You alright Stefan?"
"Yeah, I think so. It’s not broken, but it’s gonna be very sore for a while. She caught me full in the face with the butt of that rifle." He dropped the blaster, and made his way over to Damalis. "Oh, god, is she-"
Even as he spoke, a groan issued forth. He hurried to her side. "Damalis, can you hear me?" he asked as he began to check her pulse and give her a quick once over. There was another groan that might have been an acknowledgment.
She finally opened her eyes and looked up at him, then attempted to sit up. She failed miserably. Stefan helped her into a sitting position. "Ooohhhhh.. god. I feel like the fourth day of a three day binge!"
"Can you feel this? Or this?" Stefan demanded as he poked and prodded her arms and legs. She clenched her teeth against the nausea brought on by the blast and nodded. Stefan sighed in relief. "Good. No permanent nerve damage then. It’ll take a few days, but you should recovery fully - but I still want to run a full battery of tests on you in the morning."
A new thought occurred to Stefan. He looked over at Butch’Daii. "How did you know?"
"I persuaded a man at the bar to tell me more about the woman who almost ran him down outside the establishment. I went looking for you and Jody told me where you’d gone."
"Well, you saved our lives. My life. I owe you - again."
Butch’Daii favored him with a peculiar look. "Stefan, we have had many differences, but you are my friend. There is no debt."
A bemused smile graced Stefan's lips as together they gathered up Damalis to take her to the hospital. The gruff Klingon he'd spent the last few months verbally sparring with had accorded him an honour not often given to humans. He was looking forward to see what the this friendship would bring.
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