STC: Risan Holiday: Chapter 5

5

Risa
November 14, 2268

Since restarting his life among the stars, Garadun had discovered that the universe was an even weirder place than he’d imagined, and that was saying something. Ever since he was a boy he’d grown up on science fiction, so he had a vivid and open imagination. As far as he was concerned anything was possible. Anything.
    But tonight the needle had definitely spiked on the weirdometer.
    He was sitting in a theatre that was a mix of Risan and Human architectural styles on an alien planet almost ninety light-years from Earth and watching an Agatha Christie play that was over three hundred years old. The Mousetrap had had its debut in 1952 and became the longest-running play in all of Human history. By 2002 it had enjoyed its 50th anniversary and kept right on going.
    Now in the mid twenty-third century the classic mystery play had been revived. The West End Players were an acting troupe from London, England back on Earth who had taken their show on the road, going where no theatre company had gone before. Risa had proved to be an ideal location. The planet was a tourist mecca with visitors from all over the galaxy, which made it a perfect place to set up a theatre.
    Bums on seats, laddie. Bums on seats.
    The Earth expatriates had managed to recapture The Mousetrap’s historical success by the simple method of not changing anything. The entire plot, every line of dialogue and even the time period in which the play took place remained exactly the same as it’d been during the twentieth century. For visiting Humans it was a slice of their history and for the assorted alien races it was an exotic experience. Not only the setting but the play itself. Many alien cultures had never even conceived of theatre before.
    When Garadun had learned that The Mousetrap was actually playing on Risa he had scored himself a ticket as quickly as possible. He had seen the play twice before: once in his home city and once in the actual St. Martin’s Theatre in London. The chance to see it again on a distant, alien world was too good to pass up. The set for the play was extremely familiar because the designers had kept the 1940s British manor style, right down to an old suit of armour in one corner of the stage. Which of course is where the weirdness factor came in because sitting in the audience alongside him were numerous aliens. Something of a contrast to the Great Hall of Monkswell Manor up on stage to say the least. But the play was every bit as enjoyable as the previous occasions in which he’d seen it, the actors performing their roles fabulously. For Garadun it was like the Coridan InterStellar Hotel: a little piece of home.
    At the end of the first act the houselights came back on at half-strength and the West End Theatre’s manager walked on stage to announce it was time for the twenty-minute intermission. Refreshments were being served in the lobby.
    Garadun used the opportunity to first visit the washroom and then wandered into the theatre’s lobby, which was actually an open-air courtyard. Theatre-goers were standing around in groups, drinks in their hands and chatting happily. This too was a familiar experience and he got himself a glass of juice from the bar before wandering off to a quiet corner where he sat on a small wooden bench.
    This night out was needed alone-time. Over the course of his life he’d come to learn that he didn’t live with people very well. His valued his privacy quite highly and roommates invaded that personal space. Same thing with family, except worse. Working with people, hanging out with friends; that was fine. He enjoyed company as much as anyone. But living with other people, sharing an apartment or house? No, that didn’t work for him. The only roommates he liked were cats. Living aboard freighters as he’d done for the last few years had been especially challenging. You don’t get any closer quarters than aboard a spaceship. Having to share a cabin with another person made it that much harder, despite both roommates being friends. The first had been Jan Koor aboard the Nebula Chaser, the second Cera Rigel on Jack-A-Dandy. The latter situation had been something of an oddity to the crew because you didn’t see many co-ed roommates who weren’t romantically involved.
    Life aboard Calypso was a wonderful improvement. His quarters were very spacious and he didn’t have to share them with anyone but Magik. The little black kitten was his joy. She made life in space so much more bearable. She was a constant touch of Earth as well, to say nothing of her adorable cuteness and unconditional love.
    Garadun glanced up from his musings and saw a woman headed his way. To say she was gorgeous was an understatement. She was Orion, with fabulous green skin the same hue as Nessa’s and a waterfall of lush black hair to her rear, soft and straight. Her face was beautiful with wonderful green eyes and shapely lips. She had an amazing figure as well, which was clad in a tight, sleeveless knee-length dress that was black on one side and white on the other. Her shoes were white.
    It was rude to stare so he tried not to. Yet to his utter and overwhelming surprise she actually walked right up to him, drink in hand.
    “Good evening,” she said, her voice as lovely as the rest of her.
    Garadun immediately stood. “Uh, hi there.”
    “I saw you sitting over here all alone so I thought I’d come say hello,” she explained, then held out her hand. “I’m Sajeen.”
    “Nice to meet you. I’m Garadun,” he said, giving her slim hand a shake.
    Given the fact that she was a beautiful woman and he was who he was (a suspicious bastard) his first instinctive thought was that she was a working girl because beautiful women never chatted him up. But on Risa prostitution was utterly pointless because sex was so easy to get. Risans were innately sexual, as much as Deltans were. On the other hand she might be a con artist looking to fleece him.
    “I’m here alone as well,” Sajeen told him after a brief, awkward silence.
    “Now that I find hard to believe,” he remarked, kindly. He was trying to figure out what her motive was. Crime was rare on Risa but not unheard of.
    Sajeen smiled at the inherent compliment. “No, it’s true. My shipmates were supposed to come to the play with me. They cancelled at the last minute to go to some big party. But I really wanted to see it so I came on my own.”
    “Shipmates? Which ship are you on?”
    “The U.S.S. Cassini,” Sajeen supplied. “I’m with Starfleet.”
    That got his attention. The Cassini was the same ship Kalakona was from. It was in orbit, its crew coming down in shifts for shore leave. The possibility that Sajeen was some sort of con artist dropped off considerably in his mind because if she was one, claiming to be part of a Starfleet crew was a stupid move. It would be too easy to check. And Orions weren’t stupid, not when it came to running cons.
    “So what do you do on the ship?” he asked in her native tongue.
    “You speak Orion!” she said, delighted.
    “Not so well,” he admitted. “I out of practice. Accent is bad.”
    “I think you’re doing quite well,” she said, touching his arm. “I haven’t met many Humans who speak Orion. Where did you learn it?”
    “My friend Jan Koor. We serve together before. Now again.”
    “Aboard a starship?”
    Garadun nodded. “The ship is called Calypso. We on leave, too.”
    “Oh? For how long?”
    “Not sure. That up to captain. You?”
    “This is my last night,” said Sajeen, then switched back to English. “Everyone was given two days and two nights. I report back tomorrow morning.”
    “Damn. So what do you do aboard Cassini?”
    “I’m on the maintenance team,” Sajeen explained. “Shuttlecraft specialist. Well, just an assistant to be honest. I didn’t go to the Academy or anything.”
    “Shuttlecraft, eh?” he said with genuine interest. “I’m a shuttle pilot myself.”
    Sajeen brightened. “Really?”
    “My shuttle’s called Nautilus,” he replied. “She’s an old Class F, but she’s mine. Nice paint job, too. You should see her.”
    “I’d like that.” Sajeen glanced around when she noticed the crowd was beginning to return to the main hall. “Say, would you care to sit with me? We’re both here alone, and well… if you want to that is.”
    As unlikely as it seemed she appeared to be completely sincere. For Garadun there was a moment of true indecision. The burnt-out part of him was highly suspicious. Women did not make passes at him, not for real. He had been lied to, and deceived, and used in the past. It had left him more than a little cynical. On the other hand, the side of him that accepted women as friends (because that’s all they ever were to him) said Sajeen was on the level. They were getting along and having a nice conversation. She was alone tonight like he was. That had to be it. She simply wanted some company and nothing more. He could relax and enjoy himself. This was no different than the rest of his life.
    “I’d be honoured,” he told her with a smile and offered his arm. Sajeen matched his smile and slipped her arm through his, which sent an instinctive thrill through him. It was a hardwired biological reaction and since he couldn’t stop it, he tried to let it roll over him. As with Cera and Nessa and T’Prin, Sajeen was simply there.

                                                                          *****

Although he’d seen The Mousetrap twice before, it had been a long time ago and Garadun had forgotten how the play ended and whodunit. Which is a good thing with a murder mystery. The one bit he did remember was the very last, where one of the actors warns the audience not to reveal the ending or they might become the next victim…
    That went down very well and the whole troupe got a standing ovation when they filed out on stage to take their bows. Sajeen applauded quite enthusiastically; this had been her very first play.
    “Nice twist at the end, wasn’t it?” Garadun noted cheerfully.
    “I’ll say! I never saw that coming,” said Sajeen. “Are all plays like this?”
    “Well, this is a murder mystery. One of the fun things for the audience, or the reader if it’s a book, is to try and figure out who did it before you get to the end. The author of this play, Agatha Christie, is one of the most famous mystery writers in Human history. Not to mention one of the most popular.”
    “Have you ever met her?” Sajeen asked.
    Garadun chuckled. “No. She died three hundred years ago. But it says something that after all these centuries people still enjoy her work.”
    “I know I did.”
    “But no, not all plays are like this,” he supplied. “This was a murder mystery. There are comedies, tragedies, romances, tales of revenge. Just about any kind of story can be made into a play. It was nice to see The Mousetrap again.”
    “You’ve seen it before?” she said curiously.
    “Years ago, back on Earth. Once in the actual original theatre.”
    “Oh, you’re so lucky,” she said, touching his arm.
    “Yeah, I was.” He looked around. “Okay, the crowd’s finally thinning out. I guess we can try to get out of here now.”
    Sajeen nodded and they made their way along the row of seats to the aisle, and from there out of the theatre and into the open-air courtyard. Garadun was surprised when she hooked her arm through his again when they got past the row of seats, but he didn’t say anything. Simply enjoyed the moment.
    “So do you happen to have any other plans?” Sajeen asked.
    “For tonight? No,” he said. “Why?”
    “I was thinking a late dinner?” she suggested. “I don’t know about you, Garadun, but I’m hungry. Would you like to join me?”
    “I could definitely eat,” he replied affably.
    “Good. Let’s find a restaurant.”
    They wandered away from the West End Theatre amid their fellow theatre-goers and did so arm-in-arm. While Sajeen asked questions about the various plays he’d seen in his life, Garadun, in the back of his mind while he chatted, tried to figure out what the hell was going on. As far as he could tell, Sajeen seemed genuinely interested in him. The way she smiled, the way the conversation was going so well and the way she held his arm. Although he had a non-existent lovelife, he was very observant. Sajeen had been the one to approach him at intermission; she had suggested sitting together for the second act; and she had just asked him to dinner. Logically and as unbelievable as it was, they actually seemed to be on an actual date.
    Garadun glanced into the sky to see if the galaxy was blowing up.
    It wasn’t long before they found a nice restaurant that was still open and sat down. A waiter came by with menus and once they ordered, conversation resumed. He asked her about herself: about her job on Cassini, why she’d joined Starfleet, what she liked to do for fun, who her friends were; anything and everything.
    The conversation over dinner flowed easily and comfortably and they found they had a great deal in common. From Sajeen he learned that she’d been sold to pay off a family debt. But she had escaped her Nausicaan owner and joined Starfleet to stay free of him. She was enlisted personnel, not an officer, and had been on Cassini for three years after finishing her Starfleet training. Being a junior technician wasn’t the most exciting job around but she was grateful to have learned a marketable skill and was, for the time being, content to be in Starfleet.
    However, more important than that to Garadun was the fact that Sajeen was a wonderful person. She was beautiful and smart, had a good sense of humour and a great laugh, was eager to learn and experience new things, and enjoyed life. The loose bit rattling around in his brain was trying to grasp the idea that she seemed to like him. Women never liked him. Not as anything more than a friend anyway. A lifetime of being told to sod off had imprinted this constant fact of his life on him: they don’t like you so don’t ever expect them to. Especially not the beautiful ones.
    Yet here she was.
    He kept waiting for the other shoe to drop.

                                                                          *****

There’d been few occasions in Garadun’s life when he’d actually sat down and watched the sunrise. So few in fact that he couldn’t recall the last time he’d done it. Oh, there had been innumerable times when he’d gotten up while it was still dark and by the time he’d arrived at work it was light outside. But that wasn’t the same thing as sitting there watching the sun come up. Not remotely the same thing at all. The fact that this was a sunsrise made it all the more impressive. It was the very first time he’d ever seen two suns creep over the horizon, one after the other.
    What made it truly special was that Sajeen was sitting beside him.
    After dinner they had gone for a stroll to walk off the fine meal, chatting happily all the while, and had eventually wound up on the terrace of a late-night beachside café. The conversation had drifted from one topic to another and the time had flown by. When the café closed for the evening, they simply relocated to the beach where they walked and talked until the suns came up, often strolling barefoot through the surf along the edge of the water.
    It had easily been one of the best nights of Garadun’s entire life.
    Sajeen was no less content or happy. Her companion was one of the most interesting men she’d ever known, and unquestionably very unique. Although his Orion was far from perfect, she appreciated his efforts because he was genuinely trying his best. Most Humans couldn’t even be bothered to learn. Not to mention he’d actually been to Orion, understood some of her culture and had Orion friends. He could discuss just about anything and was open with his feelings. He didn’t try to be someone he wasn’t. He was funny and keen of mind, and was well and truly interested in her life. He treated her like a person, respected her. Over the course of the entire night he hadn’t once made a pass at her. Sajeen found this to be a really nice change from all the other men she had known who at best tried not to leer too much. Garadun on the other hand was honest, kind, thoughtful and sensitive.
    “Now that’s a first for me,” he remarked, shading his eyes. “Double sunrise.”
    “Me too.” Sajeen reached over and held his hand. “Thank you for sharing it with me, Gar. I had a fantastic time last night.”
    “Same here,” he said, squeezing her fingers. He met her eyes and smiled; then looked away, almost as if he were uncomfortable.
    “Are you all right?” she asked in concern.
    “Yeah, I’m fine.” He failed to stifle a yawn. “Sorry, just a bit tired.”
    Sajeen giggled. “Well, we have been up all night.”
    And I ain’t getting any younger, genetic engineering or no, he thought. Sajeen stood and stretched, and there was simply no way he couldn’t stare at her. She was one of the most beautiful women he’d ever seen and that took some saying. When she glanced down she caught him staring. He hastily looked away, embarrassed.
    “Sorry,” he mumbled.
    “Don’t be, please.” Sajeen knelt beside him. “I don’t mind you looking at me, I really don’t. You’ve been a perfect gentleman this whole time.”
    “You deserve no less,” he told her sincerely.
    Sajeen gazed at him fondly, then leaned in and caught him off-guard when she kissed him. Her lips were very soft and the kiss was light and gentle. He kissed back on instinct; yet even then he restrained himself. He left the ball in her court. It was the safest thing to do. He’d had an amazing night and he wasn’t about to risk fucking it up now. She broke the kiss and gave him the most wonderful smile he’d ever seen.
    “I like you, Garadun. So there are no doubts,” she told him as if she were reading his thoughts. Her eyes searched his. “Do you feel the same about me?”
    “Yeah, I do,” he admitted, and it cost him to say it. He’d only ever been in love once in his life and it hadn’t left him burned so much as scorched to cinders. He had never loved again and couldn’t even use up the fingers on one hand counting the number of women who had shown him the slightest bit of romantic interest since then. To lower his guard enough that he actually let himself feel something for a woman…
    The spell was broken by a sudden, insistent, electronic beeping.
    Sajeen cursed in Orion and fumbled at the slim gold chain around her wrist. It was home to a microcomputer and timepiece. She switched it off.
    “Alarm, eh? ” he remarked with an understanding smirk.
    “I’m afraid so,” said Sajeen, nodding. “I set it to wake me up so I wouldn’t be late. I have two hours to report back to the ship.”
    Garadun got up, brushed the sand off himself and offered his hand. Sajeen gladly took it and stood up again, also brushing sand off her fabulous legs. She picked up her shoes, holding them in one hand while clasping his hand with the other. She gestured down the beach with her shoes and they resumed walking. The reality of her having to report for duty was like a bucket of very cold water being dumped over them and they didn’t say much as they returned to her beachfront hotel.
    But the way Sajeen held his hand, interlacing their fingers together, and the looks and smiles she gave him spoke volumes. It took an hour or so to reach the hotel and as they walked through the lobby Garadun saw several Starfleet personnel moving about, many of the women making last-minute adjustments to their hair. He noticed that they were all enlisted personnel, not commissioned officers. Sajeen waved to a couple of them and led him to her room. It reminded him of his own.
    “Could you get some fruit for me, please?”
    “Glad to,” he said and she disappeared into the bedroom. While she was getting cleaned up and changed, he went into the tiny kitchen area and began slicing up several pieces of fruit, skinning them as well. He added some bread and a tall glass of juice, and got a glass of juice for himself. He washed his hands and face in the sink.
    When Sajeen returned some twenty minutes later, her long silken hair was drawn into a simple yet flattering knot at the base of her skull. She was wearing Starfleet’s standard red miniskirt uniform with its black nylons and knee-high boots. Given how beautiful Garadun already thought she was, she made the uniform damned sexy; despite the red being too Christmassy against her green skin. What Sajeen noticed was that he had made a real effort to lay out a proper breakfast for her with sliced fruit and bread and utensils and everything. She felt a swell of affection. He was so thoughtful.
    “Thank you.” She drew him in for another kiss and this time she put more passion into it. She let him go and sat down at the counter, spearing a slice of blue fruit with a two-pronged wooden fork and eating it.
    I wish you didn’t have to go, Garadun thought in honest selfishness. But he kept the thought to himself. She didn’t need a guilt trip. He let her eat in peace.
    “You all right?” she asked, noticing his silence.
    Garadun couldn’t lie to her. He sat down. “I’m going to miss you, Sajeen.”
    “I’m going to miss you too,” she told him earnestly and put the fork down. “Please, don’t for a moment think I won’t. You’re the most wonderful man I’ve ever met.”
    Garadun felt his chest constrict. “Really?”
    Sajeen stepped over, draped her arms over his shoulders, and kissed him. She kissed him for all she was worth, intertwining her tongue with his and then wrapping her arms around him, caressing his back with her hands. Garadun didn’t have the experience to match her skill, not even remotely, but he did put all his feelings into it. Eventually, minutes later, she let them come up for air.
    “Really,” she told him, her voice husky.
    Garadun swallowed. He was hard as a rock, his heart was going about a zillion beats a minute and he couldn’t breathe properly. Orion girls. Wow.
    “I’m not letting you go so easily,” she told him, her expression both affectionate and playful. “I’m going to write and call whenever possible.”
    “Same here,” he said and kissed her. She responded eagerly; the first woman to truly do so in thirty years or so. Then she reluctantly broke it off.
    “I have to get back to Cassini,” she said, touching her forehead to his.
    “I know. That sucks.” He ran his hands up and down her back and she hugged him tight. When he managed to work up the nerve he let his hands wander over her fabulous rear. She made an agreeable sound and kissed his neck.
    “No time for that,” she said with a sigh and let him go.
    “Sorry,” he said guiltily.
    “No, I want you to touch me,” she told him, almost whispering. “I spent the best night of my life with you, Garadun.” She gave him a soft kiss. “I want to be with you, I really do. But there’s just no time.”
    He let out a deep sigh. “I understand.”
    “Do you?”
    Garadun met her eyes. “Yes, I do. It sucks, but I understand.”
    Sajeen gave him a melancholy smile. “Like I said: the most wonderful man.”
    Garadun sighed again. It was time to man up. “I guess we should get you to your beam-out point. Don’t want you being late, right?”
    “No,” she said and that one word carried a lot of meaning for someone like Garadun who was always very observant. Her tone said that being late was a real no-no on the U.S.S. Cassini. Which meant the CO was a serious tightass. He hated people like that. No wonder Kalakona had jumped ship so quickly when he got the chance.
    Garadun helped Sajeen get her things together and, being a gentleman, carried her luggage for her. They stopped at the front desk where she checked out, and then went out onto a large open lawn studded with palm trees. Gathered there were many enlisted personnel who were being organised by a petty officer. A few of her friends waved to her and she waved back. He put her bags down. Right. It was now or never.
    “Look, I know we’ve only known each other for a day, but…”
    Sajeen touched his hand. “Yes?”
    “If you ever get tired of Starfleet,” Garadun blurted out, his heart pounding away like mad, “then you’ll have a place aboard Calypso. If you want it.”
    Sajeen stared at him in wonder.
    “I mean, we could certainly use a shuttle technician,” he added, lamely. But it seemed to be the right thing to say because Sajeen laughed and gave him a tight hug.
    “I just might take you up on that,” she told him, looking into his eyes. Then she gave him a last kiss before picking up her luggage and walking over to the petty officer. He checked her name on a data slate and she joined a group of five other people. They got into position and she looked over at him and gave a final wave before she was enveloped in the transporter beam and vanished.
    Garadun sighed. “Shit.”
    He felt cheated by the universe.
    Again.