Captain's Table_ Dujonian's Hoard Part 17

Flenarrh laughed suggestively. "But there was more than conversation, was there not?"

Picard hesitated.

"Well?" said Hompaq. "Flenarrh asked you a question."

Even the gecko seemed to want to know what had transpired.

Suddenly, a Bajoran youth seemed to appear out of nowhere. He was carrying a tray full of drinks with practiced ease.

"Refills," he said.

Picard didn't recall ordering one. Still, he was glad to see it arrive, as it brought him a respite from the other captains' questions.

Dravvin frowned. "What timing," he said dryly.

"The worst," Bo'tex grumbled.

The Bajoran looked at them. "Should I come back later?"

The captains exchanged glances around the table.

"Er ... perhaps not," said Robinson. "One never knows when one will suffer an awful thirst."

"That's true," Flenarrh confirmed.

"All right, then," said the youth. "Who had the bloodwine?"

"Here," Hompaq told him.

"And the Ferrin's Dark?"

"That would be me," said the Captain of the Kalliope.

"Romulan ale?"

"Mine," said Bo'tex.

The Bajoran picked up a long, thin gla.s.s and scrutinized it in the light. "Um ... some kind of green stuff?"

Robinson grinned in his beard. "You can set that one down here, lad."

And so it went.

Before long, the youth's tray was empty of its cargo. Only then did he seem to catch sight of the gecko sitting on the table.

"Uh ... where did that come from?" he asked.

"Beats me," said the Captain of the Kalliope.

"In case you were wondering," Robinson declared cheerfully, "it's a gecko."

"Tropical," said Dravvin.

"Eats insects," Hompaq noted.

"But, then," said Bo'tex, jerking a thumb at the Klingon, "so does she."

The Bajoran frowned. "Do you, uh ... want me to get rid of it?"

Flenarrh shook his head. "Don't do so on my account. I've gotten accustomed to the little fellow."

"Me, too," said the Captain of the Kalliope.

The lad considered the lizard for a moment. "Then, I guess I'll just leave it here."

"I guess you will," said Dravvin.

The Bajoran started off through the crowd. But before he could get very far, Hompaq reached out and pinched the youth's b.u.t.tocks.

Wincing with pain, he looked back over his shoulder at her at which point she leered at him. The Bajoran scurried off as if the devil himself were after him and perhaps she was.

The Klingon made a clucking sound with her tongue. "Too bad he's built so spa.r.s.ely even worse than the lizard there. I bet I'd enjoy making a warrior out of him."

Dravvin chuckled. "If you attempted it, you'd have to notify the poor lad's next of kin."

Everyone at the table took a sip of his or her drink except Hompaq, who downed half of it at a single gulp. Then they turned to Picard.

"I hope," Flenarrh said, "you didn't think we had forgotten about you."

Hompaq laughed. "He's not off the point of the bat'leth yet."

"So," said Bo'tex, "was there more than conversation? Between you and Red Abby, that is?"

Picard regarded him. "Let us a.s.sume, for the moment, that there was except it was you on whom Red Abby had bestowed her admiration. Would you recount it for us now, detail for detail?"

"d.a.m.ned right I would," Hompaq interjected. She pounded her powerful fist on the table, making it and the beverages on it shudder with the impact. "What's a conquest without a hearty song to commemorate it?"

Ignoring her, Picard fixed Flenarrh with his gaze. "Would you?" he asked his fellow captain.

Flennarh thought about it for a moment. Then he smiled. "Perhaps not. I see your point, my friend."

Hompaq heaved a sound of disgust. She folded her arms across her ample chest and leaned back in her chair. "I should have stayed in the Empire," she rumbled sourly.

"Then we're to hear nothing of your dalliance?" Dravvin asked.

"I didn't say there was a dalliance," Picard reminded him.

The Rythrian sighed. "But surely, something followed."

Picard reflected on the comment, but declined to respond to it directly. Instead, he took a circuitous route.

"What ultimately came to pa.s.s," he said, "was this: An alarm sounded through the warbird, summoning us to the bridge."

"Another instance of poor timing," Bo'tex noted.

Picard ignored him. "Red Abby and I took a lift and arrived on the bridge in a matter of moments only to find ourselves face-to-face with a viewscreen full of strange vessels."

The Tale THEY WERE PIRATES, like the ones we had encountered before. At least, the diversity of ships in their fleet seemed to indicate as much.

But this time, there were twice as many of them.

"Jaiya again?" I wondered out loud.

"No," said Abby appraisingly. "This isn't Jaiya's bunch. Unless I'm sorely mistaken, this one's a d.a.m.ned sight more aggressive."

I nodded. "Lovely."

We were seriously outnumbered. If it came to a battle, we would find ourselves at a marked disadvantage.

Abby turned to me. "Stand off to the side. You don't want anyone to see you." She glanced at Worf. "You, too."

As it happened, a.s.sad was on the bridge at the moment. Without waiting to be ordered, he took over at tactical. Thadoc simply remained where he was, at the helm.

As Worf and I moved to the periphery of the Romulan bridge, I considered the irony inherent in our situation. Not so long ago, my lieutenant and I had had to conceal our desire to remain anonymous. Now, Abby was more concerned with our anonymity than we were.

But then, she didn't want to lose us. And if we were recognized by the pirates, she might well have done so. After all, as I noted before, a pair of Starfleet birds-in-the-hand were worth a great deal on the open market perhaps even more than some fabled bird-in-the-bush.

Satisfied that we were out of sight, Abby turned to a.s.sad. "Hail them," she said, referring to the pirates.

a.s.sad complied. Less than a second later, the wrinkled, ratlike face of an Yridian filled the screen.

Abby seemed to know him. "Captain Dacrophus," she said, not bothering to conceal the antipathy in her voice.

The pirate captain seemed genuinely surprised at the sight of her. But then, when one hailed a Romulan vessel, one expected to find oneself conversing with a Romulan.

"It's good to see you," he said at last.

Abby frowned at Dacrophus. "I'd say that, too, if I were too stunned to think of anything else."

The Yridian shrugged. "Frankly, when I found the remains of your worthy ship, I thought you and your crew had been murdered. I'm glad to see my fears were groundless especially since I'd rather deal with someone I know than some stranger." He paused to inspect our bridge. "Funny," he said. "You don't look Romulan."

"But I'm in charge of this warbird nonetheless," Abby told him. "What the h.e.l.l do you and your people want from me now?"

Dacrophus smiled. "I know. It must appear that we're hounding your every step. But then, we have been ever since we discovered what you were after." His smile deepened. "That is, the h.o.a.rd of Dujonian. As you can imagine, we'd like to unearth that treasure ourselves."

Abby muttered a curse. "Even if we a.s.sume I know where it is, why would I tell anyone you especially?"

"Because if you don't," the Yridian warned her good-naturedly, "we'll blow you out of existence."

A compelling argument, I mused.

Dacrophus rubbed his hands together. "On the other hand," he said, "we pirates are not as greedy as people seem to think. If you're willing to be reasonable, we'd be perfectly happy with only half Dujonian's treasure. That way, no one has to go home empty-handed."

Abby frowned again. Dacrophus had cleverly given her an option she could live with a.s.suming, of course, she could trust him to honor it.

"All right," she said finally. "You can tag along if you like. But don't give me any reason to doubt your sincerity."

The Yridian chuckled. "I would never be so foolish," he told her. On that note, he cut off the communication, leaving us nothing to contemplate but a view of his fleet.

I moved to Abby's side. "I'm not sure that was wise," I said, in a low voice so no one else could hear it.

"Everything's under control," she a.s.sured me.

"I hope you're right."

Abby glanced at me sharply. "I said it's under control."

Something else occurred to me. "Tell me," I said, "how is it our friend the pirate seems to know you so well?"

"You sound suspicious," she replied.

"Merely curious," I told her.

Abby turned away from me and sighed. "All right. I suppose you have a right to know."

Know? I thought. What else had she concealed from me?

Abby's eyes seemed to glaze over as she stared at the Romulan viewscreen. "I was a pirate myself, once upon a time."

"You?" I asked, caught by surprise though in retrospect, I probably should not have been.

"Me," she said. "Mind you, it wasn't for very long. I doubt anyone except Dacrophus remembers. But it was long enough to offend some of my fellow pirates. The most important ones, apparently."

"And that's why you're not with them anymore?" I asked.

"That's why," she confirmed. "Actually, they did me a favor kicking me out when they did."

"Why is that?" I asked.

"Had I stayed any longer, I would've known too much. They would've been forced to kill me."

"Thoughtful of them," I agreed a bit sarcastically.

It reminded me of the story I'd made up about myself and the Maquis, when I was still masquerading as Hill. I said so.

Abby nodded. "Now that you mention it, you're right."