"Bistro Theories and Headaches"

[Guest Laarell]

"Bistro Theories and Headaches"

April 09, 23--

Lt. j.g. James Eagle & Lt. Laarell Teykier

 

Laarell entered the Italian bistro, looking for a good table. It was rather busy that evening, and since there were other, more fashionable eateries, she assumed that the bistro must have had good service, good food, or well-kept surroundings. She was hoping for all of the above.

 

Eagle, hungover and rubbing his sore knuckles from the fight the previous night, sipped on a strong, alcohol-laced java. He was still waiting on his order of buffalo tongue, thinking of T'Linna and the twins.

 

Her gaze drifted to one of the few open seats in the house. Stepping over to the quiet corner, she smiled warmly. "This spot available, Lieutenant?"

 

He looked up, startled. "Sure, Lieutenant, have a seat. Sorry ... been a bit preoccupied. I have been thinking of my wife, the twins, what we are all facing, as well as recent events." He downed six asaprin, chasing them with the java.

 

She nodded slightly before scooting out the chair. "Understandable. After all we've been through, I have been thinking of my own family. Parents and siblings." Smiling, her eyes lit up for a moment. "My sister is expecting a child in June. A little boy. I'll be an aunt." Pride was evident in the Orion woman's voice.

 

He nodded and smiled. "Congratulations. At least you know and are in contact with them. T'Linna has not communicated with me by comm anyway in quite awhile, but I have been feeling and dreaming ... our link if you will."

 

I have been getting strange dreams all the while, all associated with our experience on Al-Ucard, then dreams of dragons and the enemy, then nightmares from our last battles. And of my wife and unborn children."

 

"Orions rarely dream," Teykier said. "It's not as much part of our sleep cycle as that of other species. However, I empathize." She motioned over a waiter as she spoke. "Your concerns for your wife and children are understandable, especially if you take into all that we've been through. I suppose that you've had even more exposure than I have.

 

Sipping his drink, he chewed the dinner and swallowed. "Yes, if that were but the case. Do you remember our research we conducted? I strongly believe that they and my visions are closely related. It is almost a sensory overload."

 

"How would they be related?"

 

"Well, as you know, my personal bio is full of information that makes me, shall we say, more than normally sensitive to thought and mental energies. Coupled with the effects from my bond with T'Linna, I am a bit more receptive to thought transmissions or telepathic communications if you will. My dreams are what my people call visions."

 

Laarell nodded. "I understand. Such episodes of telepathy are not uncommon among humanoids." Turning to the waiter, she forced a fake smile on her face. "Wine spritzer." Nice, light drink for just coming off duty. "Do you still think that this ties in with Al-Ucard, Lieutenant?"

 

He looked Laarell in the eyes. "You know damn well I do. Jesus ... we uncovered the evidence, and it can be verified. We are looking at destruction from an ancient evil or race whose sole purpose is to bend whatever races they encounter to their will or to feed upon them in what ever way they deem necessary or proper in their opinion."

 

The more cautious side of her kept her from agreeing with him outright. "It's a possibility. However, bear in mind that we could also be mixing apples with grapefruit. Different planets, a fairly great distance from each other. You could be making a stretch."

 

"Laarell... I know that. And you know all too well that you're spewing Starfleet B.S. Dammit -- a frog is a frog, not a duck! I believe the Al-Ucardians are agents of this race and have been serving their masters for quite some time; calm on the surface, gathering information for their masters. In return their masters arrange for their continued survival... even giving them other worlds to feed on." On that note, he slammed down his drink.

 

Nodding, she admitted, "I think that you have something there, Eagle. Hang on to that thought."

 

"Well, I can only think of T'Linna and our children right now. All of this filling my head is giving me quite a headache, literally all of the time."

 

"That's not good. Is it affecting your work? Can you take pain suppressers?" Pain. Never good.

 

"I have been through the pain rites and have been taking far too many pain suppressers. The visions and the pain are still here. As to my performance as a doctor, no effects. Yet ... it is stirring my instincts as a pilot; as a way to go and eliminate the problem."

 

Laarell nodded, standing as she finished the spritzer. "I hope this works out, Lieutenant, for your sake. For our sakes. But whatever this might be, Excalibur isn't going to have it easy..."