S'Lyyna sat in Observation lounge 3 tapping her foot in impatience. Had her information source been wrong? Christine T'Nley had buzzed her twice in the past hour and S'Lvyna knew she could not continue to ignore the calls much longer.
Pulling her hair back over her pointed ear, she stood, ready to give up when she caught the image of the tiny ship approaching Governors Station, its shape unmistakable. She ran to the nearest arrival notice board hoping to see what docking bay the ship would take. Then realized the pilot would not be announcing his arrival so easily. Instead she looked for small Defense bays that had been reserved. Found one off to itself on deck 6 and acted on the hunch.
Her phone buzzed in her jacket pocket again as she ran for the turbo lift, "Give me a few more minutes will you please Christine!" she whispered to herself.
The doors parted on deck 6 and S'Lyyna found herself directly across from bay 3, and could see the winged Marquee fighter gently touching the docking clamps. It seemed to take forever before the bay doors parted and Marcus Dinn stepped out.
She took in his appearance, not sure of what she expected. He looked like he had been gone a decade, not a year. Marcus saw her as the doors closed and only nodded. Several crewmen were passing by and he motioned for her to follow him. She fell in step several feet behind him, trying to appear lost, which was not far from the truth. Marcus lead her down a side passage and came up to an unmarked door. It took S'Lyyna only a minute to catch up and slip thru as the doors closed behind her.
Marcus tossed a bag down on a chair and turned to her.
"You should not have met me here. I would have contacted you as soon as possible."
Her lip trembled, and her face flushed from the show of emotion. "I'm sorry Mr. Dinn. I ...I... it just that..."
Marcus came up to her and held her shoulders. "It's alright. I understand."
"Is...Is she alright?"
Marcus smiled for the first time. "The threat to your mother T'Yev has been neutralized."
S'Lyyna looked down to the floor struggling to regain her composure. "Thank you" she replied, the words seeming to break like glass.
Taking a cup of coffee from the replicator and sitting down in a chair Marcus sighed.
"You're welcome."
"You were gone so long and I ..I just could not imagine what was happening."
Sipping the hot liquid Marcus lost himself in thought. Almost a year had gone by. The pain of the loss of Veronica Harringer stung his heart as the memory of her death floated by. The self imposed seclusion he put himself in for months, and then the call for help from Christine T'Nley's reporter. Placing the care of RICKS and OZ in the hands of Xon and Cassandra he used the mission as an excuse to run away from this pain.
The trip to Vulcan was difficult, finding excuses to stay while he searched for and then eliminated the man threating to destroy the career, and life of T'Yev even more so.
One more family secret he would carry to his grave. He looked up from his reverie "yes, well, it took a bit more effort than I planned."
"I owe you so much."
"Yes..... you do. Remember that when I call upon you for information. And..... You can start by not saying anything about my return ....to anybody."
"Of course." She started for the door. "I assume you will be returning to RICK's?"
He dusted off his knee and without looking at her. "Yes I suppose so."
"What of Dexter Industries? Rumor has it you inherited Ms. Harringer controlling interest."
Marcus stared at the young Vulcan woman. "Christine has trained you well."
"That is not an answer."
"Be careful getting home S'Lyyna. We'll be in touch."
The reporter nodded and left Marcus alone in the tiny room.
It was a long time before he stood and picked up his bag and headed for Oz.
Marcus Dinn
Owner of RICKS and Oz
Phoenix Colony
Phoenix Federation
