Taking Liberties

[Tachyon 0]

"Taking Liberties"

Cdr. Tandaris Admiran

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Once upon a time, Tandaris Admiran had joined the crew of the Excalibur as an ensign--new but not inexperienced. He had risen to become the ship's chief engineer, and in so doing, he had come to know the Excalibur-B inside and out. When she had been decommissioned, Tandaris decided to retire from Starfleet and return to Trill. But Captain Corizon had persuaded him to meet a new Excalibur.

 

Now Captain Varen had persuaded Tandaris to forbear leaving the Excalibur for a second time. Corizon had said he needed Tandaris . . . Varen had said Tandaris needed him. How the times had changed, how the tables had turned. . . .

 

It wasn't fair to blame Corizon for not coming to Tandaris' aid. Only too recently had Tandaris been in Corizon's position, recuperating from a near-fatal injury in the Camelot medical centre. No, Corizon had abandoned Tandaris only owing to extenuating circumstances. And for that reason, Tandaris would not take revenge.

 

Much.

 

The Jeffries tube access hatch slid open, and Tandaris slid out of the tube into the junction. He had done this once before, but it had been a gambit with a strategic purpose behind it. This time, it was for pleasure and personal vindication. It had taken some time to locate Corizon's stash of 2355 Andorian brandy. After the last incident, Corizon had relocated it to a new, more secure hiding place. But there were only so many places on the ship one could hide one's alcohol--Tandaris could attest to this with certainty, as he during his search for the Andorian brandy, he had stumbled across all too many other caches. Those he had left undisturbed.

 

He was here for Corizon's brandy.

 

It took a few minutes to open the storage locker. It contained a dubiously large kit marked "engineering purposes only." Standard fare, except that the kit was much heavier than it should be. Tandaris opened it, assessed its contents, and smiled. "Hello, precious. It's been a long while, hasn't it? But you're coming with me now." Standing up, Tandaris secured the container. The ensign who had joined the Excalibur-B would never have considered exacting revenge, much less in this manner. But Tandaris was no longer that ensign--he had changed, and not always for the better. And now he had a thousand years of predation coursing through his veins, and he had no qualms at all about taking liberties.

 

He and Kersia would drink a toast tonight, one to new beginnings among old . . . friends. Tandaris wasn't the same person who had stepped aboard this ship's namesake all those years ago He wasn't the sort of person ready to take on Starfleet Intelligence and the Trill Symbiosis Commission. But just as time would tell if his friendships would fade or become all the stronger, Tandaris knew that change was ever in the winds. Times would change, tables would turn, and Tandaris would be ready.