Rescueus StarDustus Interruptus

[Rochelle Riker 0]

Rescueus StarDustus Interruptus

SD 10305.06

 

There was no time to spare. On the heels of her father's transport, Rochelle started giving the orders that set the compound evacuation in motion. It was an emergency plan she and her father had worked out just before their temporary return to Federation space, in anticipation of just the kind of incursion by the "do-gooders" as was now forcing them to put their escape strategy to work. The most important thing was to get all of their 'guests' to their cloaked holding station on the other side of the Gateway.

 

The thought of the Gateway made Rochelle swear under her breath. Undoubtedly, this little temper tantrum of the Fleeters was going to result in Rochelle and Tom losing Zar Alces, that gorgeous, befuddled, sublimely brilliant and delightfully dry engineer... scientist... whatever. Rochelle pouted, although she did turn her attention to a transport manifest. She had been so looking forward to... enjoying Mr. Alces' company.

 

Well, perhaps he wouldn't be lost to them after all. Removing the spoils of the battle to the higher ground didn't mean that the war was over. Rochelle gave additional orders regarding the transport and storage of various of their guests, and then turned the operation over to the trustworthy Cabazon. "I have someone to look in on, personally," she announced, handing her padd over to the compound manager.

 

Cabazon smiled mildly. "Of course, my lady. And will your guest be... relocating, as well?"

 

"I'll take care of her. You just get everyone else out of here. We've got a ship-full of crazy do-gooders up there; how long do you think it'll be before a few more shiploads show up, riding their white horses, to restore liberty and justice for all?"

 

The disgust in Rochelle's voice made Cabazon's smile widen. "As you command, my lady," he inclined his head to her, holding back his admiring chuckle until she was safely out of earshot.

 

Rochelle strode purposefully toward the room Samantha was supposed to be in, entertaining a client. Rochelle had seen this particular client before; calling him a "gentleman" would definitely require a stretch of the imagination Coldly shrugging the being's image aside, she paused outside the room's door long enough to knock, and then entered.

 

The sight that greeted her was far more startling than simply the fat green Rhmadian's bulk. Ziggy StarDust was wrestling with the creature. A wave of fury swept over Rochelle; her body moving automatically, she stepped in to engage the lanky do-gooder.

 

The fight that ensued was brief but violent, uncomplicated by the Rhmadian, who, thanks to Rochelle's phaser, was oozing unconsciously in a pool by the door. Ziggy and Rochelle traded blows, her phaser having fallen beyond her reach after Ziggy's first attack. Eventually, connecting her sharply-heeled boot with his head, Rochelle brought Ziggy to the floor.

 

She was breathing heavily from the adrenaline, but she felt so alive! Her triumph was interrupted by something tickling inside her mind. Rochelle looked up and saw Samantha standing over her, phaser aimed at her heart.

 

Their eyes met, and for a moment neither of them so much as breathed. Rochelle recovered first. "You're not going to fire it," she said quietly to her double. "If you meant to, you would have by now."

 

Samantha gestured threateningly with the phaser. Keeping her eyes on Sam's, Rochelle came slowly to her feet; Sam dropped the phaser in defeat.

 

"You probably won't believe this, but I don't think less of you for not being able to shoot me," Rochelle admitted candidly. In response to Samantha's look, Rochelle laughed. "No, I wasn't being sarcastic, I meant that. Our resemblance really is uncanny. I imagine that hitting that button would feel oddly suicidal."

 

Still Samantha said nothing; Rochelle looked at her closely. "You haven't been damaged, have you? I know you can speak. Are you silent by choice these days?"

 

Samantha's eyes spoke volumes, chapters of anger, grief and curiosity. "I did that once, too," Rochelle nodded companionably. "Getting me to talk again became a kind of game, eventually won by a rather large Erikkan trader. You don't want to know how."

 

Samantha's eyes communicated her confusion, her mouth her struggle to understand. Rochelle meet the look with scorn. "You think I don't know what it's like? You think I don't know exactly what you're going through?" She laughed humorlessly. "You, my little cousin, are once again confusing empathy and compassion. I have enough of one to know how futile the other is. Has it ever occurred to you to wonder how I know so much about the slave trade? You could say, I was apprenticed. I learned the business inside out, from the inside"

 

The look of surprise on Samantha's face, and the compassion the poor fool seemed unable to contain, resounded in Rochelle's gut. For reasons she didn't take the time to question, Rochelle put aside thoughts of the evacuation and the two unconscious bodies at their feet, and decided to answer Samantha's unspoken question. And she told Samantha her story.

 

Rochelle Riker

Second-in-Command

on the planet beneath the orbit of the independent vessel Blue Note