Author Topic: Amaranthine Skyways  (Read 7584 times)

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Offline Malcolm Adeyemi

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Re: Amaranthine Skyways
« Reply #15 on: January 24, 2017, 07:21:09 pm »
[Enchanted Grotto]

Mahak's food arrived as well. The salad was bright green and so fresh it almost bounced across the plate. It was studded with slices of green apple, cranberries, croutons, and almonds. The dressing was a zesty fruit medley. He spooned it out over the assembled greens and ate a meditative bite.

"You don't say much, do you?" Rominau asked Mahak suddenly. "Thinks it makes you a big, stoic man?"

"I have nothing to add to the current conversation." The Vulcan replied evenly.

"Your girlfriend is about to lose her family fortune and you have nothing to add?" asked Wilde, joining in on the fun.

"Kali is unlike the two of you." Mahak was busy slicing up perfect little wedges of dark, artisanel bread. "She does not derive satisfaction from talking down to others or from wealth. I do not know what she was like before her successful career in Starfleet, but she is a valued member of it now. Your threats do not scare her."

"It isn't a threat, pointy-eared man, it's a damned promise." Wilde said. "Her company is mine."

"Her father's company," Mahak corrected. "And if I were you I would stop your baseless efforts to take it over. Kali is very protective of her family."

Offline Kali Reyes

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Re: Amaranthine Skyways
« Reply #16 on: January 24, 2017, 07:58:55 pm »
"It's not baseless," Wilde laughed and slid a PADD along the table. "Not at all. Check zero hour's racing circuit tonight. Do you see what's up for grabs, Kali?"

Kali gave up twirling at her spaghetti and decided to humor the irritating bastard. What she saw phased her for a moment. "Why are you putting up your twenty percent of RI's stock up for grabs?"

"It's not my stock," Wilde said with a smug tap of his fingers on the screen. The name made Kali drop her fork.

Grey Daniels.

Rominau went back to his drink again. "Maybe next time you'll put your father's company in better hands."

She couldn't believe it. Kali could only stare in disbelief. It couldn't have happened. Grey would have never put his stock up for grabs on a damned race track on Amaranthine.

Wilde gestured to him. "Rominau here just so generously offered his service to race on my behalf. Just to keep you around, of course. We are friends after all."

"Is he here?" Kali demanded.

"It was a remote transfer," Rominau replied. "But who knows. Maybe he'll be occupying a skybox. It'd be the first time in years since he's occupied the circuit. But then again - you're here."

Kali leveled a look at Mahak and one she was sure he wasn't going to like at all. Then she called for the Andorian. "Contact the circuit. I'm buying in."

Wilde and Rominau burst into a heavy fit of laughter.

Offline Malcolm Adeyemi

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Re: Amaranthine Skyways
« Reply #17 on: January 25, 2017, 01:41:18 pm »
[Enchanted Grotto]

"Excuse us, gentlemen," Mahak said with a politeness he did not feel he had to extend, but did anyway. Old habits die hard. He stood and ushered for Reyes to join him at the bar.

The old Andorian was wiping down the lacquered surface of the bar and saw them coming. Still wiping, he allowed centrifugal force to carry him well out of earshot. The headwaiter had class.

"Kali, you cannot compete in this death race," Mahak told her. "It is dangerous and unnecessary. Perhaps if you contacted some of your family they could halt the sale of the company through legal means."

His tone was neutral and flat. He had not seized his woman by the arm and berated her. He only wanted what was best for her, and the respectful way he spoke communicated that.

Offline Kali Reyes

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Re: Amaranthine Skyways
« Reply #18 on: January 25, 2017, 02:17:18 pm »
Kali was predictably pulled off to reconsider, but she had already set her mind on it when Mahak took her to the bar and gave her his grievances. "Noted," she said wryly. "It's only a death race when you make sure everyone else kicks the bucket except for you."

"Look, it's a pride issue, I admit that," Kali sighed angrily. "And I'm a little bit frazzled right now. I don't exactly have any family to channel through right now. That's why I gave my godfather the majority of my dad's company and now he's put it up for some greedy Ferengi to get his hands all over! I'm not gonna cow to that!"

Offline Malcolm Adeyemi

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Re: Amaranthine Skyways
« Reply #19 on: January 25, 2017, 03:07:25 pm »
[Enchanted Grotto]

Mahak reluctantly nodded. He had assumed as much, but he had still felt the need to bring it up. And like or not, Kali Reyes was hell on wheels, anti-grav, impulse, warp, or anything else that had an engine.

"Given the time constraints, I feel this may be our only logical solution." He found himself saying. "However, I feel that we must begin preparing immediately. I have an idea, Kali."

Offline Kali Reyes

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Re: Amaranthine Skyways
« Reply #20 on: January 25, 2017, 03:20:00 pm »
Kali tilted her head at him in confusion. "An idea?" She thought he would dig his heel into the ground and refuse. It wasn't exactly her brightest decision, and probably not the last.

She played with the bangles on her wrist. "Good. It's been awhile since I've worn some actual leather."

Offline Malcolm Adeyemi

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Re: Amaranthine Skyways
« Reply #21 on: January 25, 2017, 03:29:14 pm »
[Chief of the Boat's Quarters]

A room had proven easy to find. The Starbase Kuiper was cosmopolitan and large. Visiting Starfleet officers made extensive use of it to relax, get some work done, and probably to get away from their spouses for a while. Once it had become known that a Chief of the Boat had signed up to compete in tomorrow's race, plush quarters had been made available to them as befit Reyes's high rank.

Mahak had showered thoroughly. Dealing with Wilde and Rominau had left him feeling dirty, and he needed a few minutes to relax and clear his mind. He wore a soft white robe, the fabric feeling as fine as anything he had ever worn before. The Vulcan wasn't normally one for elegance or luxury, but even he had to admit that the accommodations for a senior enlisted chief were much, much better than he had anticipated.

Ordinarily, with some good food in him and the romantic settings they where sharing, Mahak would have taken Reyes into her bed. He always wanted to deepen their connection and an exchange of physical pleasure would be a logical way to do so. But now was not the time. They had a big day ahead of them tomorrow.

"Kali," Mahak called softly across the room. "I believe I am ready to share my plan."

Offline Kali Reyes

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Re: Amaranthine Skyways
« Reply #22 on: January 25, 2017, 03:52:44 pm »
[Quarters]

Mahak made a beeline for the shower, so Kali tested the bed. She flopped down on the plush comforter, ordered the lights on the ceiling to dim before she blew out her eyesight, and then slowly started to unstrap her heels.

Her entering fee just processed a half hour ago, but already the extranet was a buzz. It wasn't everyday a colonial tycoon's kid wholeheartedly wanted to join a race. You typically hired someone to do it for you.

But if Grey was around, if this was some kind of bait-

Kali shook the pins out of her hair and settled her twitchy nerves through heavy breathing when Mahak finally stopped hogging the shower. She probably looked like a mess of hair and tossed shoes. This usually happened near the end of a date.

It was all business, sadly. She slowly sat up and wiggled her aching toes before standing. "Are you gonna share the secrets of turbo boosting the engine with trilithium? Because we can totally head down quick into the Junction Market and find a dealer before nap time."

Offline Malcolm Adeyemi

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Re: Amaranthine Skyways
« Reply #23 on: January 26, 2017, 01:35:23 pm »
[Quarters]

Mahak sat on the edge of the bed. In his hands he held a PADD, a technical readout. He held it out for her.

"Detailed here is the inner core of the Kuiper's computer core," The Vulcan said with the air of a professor talking about a subject he did not enjoy, but was required to teach. "It is a heavily shielded, secure component of the starbase. Ordinarily, maintenance technicians are not briefed beforehand on the classified nature of its continents before working on it. The process to get inside of it is long, both with red tape and dismantling bulkheads and panels and so forth."

On the PADD the readout changed to an actual picture of the core: a thick metal spike housed in a tube of wires, memory drives, computer ports, and electronics.

"I believe that with some work and your skills with a transporter I can be beamed directly into it." Mahak said. He tapped a portion of the picture. "This will be a tight fit, but I am slender enough for it. I will have just enough room for a portable computer terminal and myself. I can log into the Kuiper's mainframe and control the track of the race to influence you to win."

Offline Kali Reyes

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Re: Amaranthine Skyways
« Reply #24 on: January 26, 2017, 07:01:49 pm »
Kali curiously took the PADD. In one glance, she already drew the schematics to memory. "Clever. And so are the Romulans and the Ferengi and the Nausicaans..." She leaned forward. "I'm surprised. I thought you'd want me to legit win this." Surprised, but definitely not disappointed. Cheating on Amaranthine was a sport all on its own. Inching the odds in their favor pretty much leveled the fairness with all the rigging.

She can do it, that was no problem. Give her duct tape and a couple of dead panels and she could build a distress beacon at a 20km radius. She was plenty curious what he'd achieve in the mainframe. Hopefully lots of explosions.

Offline Malcolm Adeyemi

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Re: Amaranthine Skyways
« Reply #25 on: January 26, 2017, 07:10:51 pm »
[Quarters]

"I have learned long ago that it is hopeless to dissuade you from talking you out of things," Mahak said with just a touch of ruefulness in his voice.

"Besides, this entire affair is illogical." He reasoned. "If we are going to undertake an illogical act we had best do so as logically as possible. The logical thing to do in this situation is to use every means at our disposal to make sure that you keep your family's company...and your life."

He reached for her unhesitatingly, brushed his rough hand against the soft skin of her face, traced the outline of one of her fine cheekbones with his thumb.

"It is not too late to call this off," Mahak said. "We can find another way to save the company, or learn to live without it. You have your health, your youth, and your career in Starfleet. And you have me. Maybe that is enough."

Offline Kali Reyes

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Re: Amaranthine Skyways
« Reply #26 on: January 26, 2017, 07:40:50 pm »
"Welcome to galactic corporate. Everything's illogical."

She'd raced before. On the runway bridge that stretched over the ocean on Risa, the velvet underground on Venice, and even the Alcatraz track in San Francisco. The last one put her in the hospital for weeks and what was left of her bike could fit into a matchbox. Amaranthine didn't play around - if you were above killing your way to the top, you were already dead before the starting line.

Kali diverted her gaze downward at his touch. "I'm not gonna lie and brag about how this is easy-peasy. It's not. But it's my dad's company. He'd be rolling in his grave if a Ferengi got his claws into a percent of his company - let alone thirty percent of it. And I'm personally invested in kicking Wilde's ass any chance I can get." People were counting on her to walk away. After all, Kali never had aspirations with her dad's company. His body wasn't even cold when Kali shelved enough of her own stock to Grey so she didn't have to deal with it.

It was her fault that things got so destabilized. She had to at least take back Grey's stock, if not for herself. "I never liked my dad," she continued quietly. "But it's his legacy. Risking my life on it seems like a good apology."

Offline Malcolm Adeyemi

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Re: Amaranthine Skyways
« Reply #27 on: January 26, 2017, 08:33:15 pm »
[Quarters]

"I will never understand the attachment that humans attribute to inanimate objects," Mahak said, but he was not being judgmental. "You did not like your father, or any of the men we were with tonight. You do not require the wealth. And yet you are considering risking your very life to save it."

But as the old saying went, in for a penny, in for a pound. If Reyes was going to do this Mahak was going to be at her side. His notion that she was risking herself needlessly was beyond his comprehension in more ways than one. Mahak did not have any children, he was not attached to his own father, and he was male. Daughters always protect their fathers, even the ones they did not like.

"If we are going to win this race tomorrow we need to rest." The Vulcan said. But he also studied her in the not overtly fond way that he always did, not betraying any emotions, but not blankly either.

Mahak laid down on the bed and opened the top of his robe. "You may very well die tomorrow, Kali. I do not believe you will but the possibility exists. This may be our last night together. I do not think we should waste it."

Offline Kali Reyes

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Re: Amaranthine Skyways
« Reply #28 on: January 26, 2017, 09:05:04 pm »
He was right, but she couldn't explain it. Maybe it was a human thing, or guilt from lack of proactive for something that, for all intents and purposes, her dad still gave to her. Fifty-one percent of the company was in her name after his death; maybe he had a smidge of respect left for his wayward daughter. Maybe it was his way of apologizing, she didn't know.

Dad's memory went straight into the tube when Mahak lost his robe and that wasn't very fair. Here she was trying to formulate what the hell she just suckered herself into and the weight of getting killed on the track to hell and Mahak's lounging like it was no big thing.

The parallel between Mahak and Grey ended right here. Because whereas Grey would have put an end to her shenanigans and forcefully stick her on a shuttle out, Mahak accepted her decision and opted to pull his own strings to get her where she needs to go. She smiled ruefully at him and then slowly climb after in knotted curls and a now wrinkled dress.

"I'll try to ruin you for anyone else on the way out," she growled sweetly. After all, there was no one who can boast a grander performance in the inter-species avant garde like she could.

[Amaranthine Skyways]

Panning down over the grand, holographic race way were a half-dozen cameras that zoomed about on its own accord for the viewers' pleasure. Everyone from the skytops to the underground were closely tuning in to the match, though Kali's last minute entry did cause a surge at every booking joint and independent booker throughout the day. Sunset was nearly settling down for a violet night, but Kali was too busy making sure no crafty Ferengi tried to play with her bike on its way off the Discovery.

Her scanner whirred along the engine when Rominau arrived in a leather jumpsuit that reflect her own, his helmet under his arm. "You're actually doing this? Seriously."

Kali popped her pre-flight jitter gum at him and briefly wondering why Mahak hasn't called in the past half hour. She seriously hoped she didn't accidentally send him into a tank. "Seriously. You don't mess with my company and expect me to lay down and take it."

"I thought that was your favorite position," he nastily teased.

Kali volleyed the insult back with a grin. "It is. Almost as much as how you like bending over." Rominau almost chucked his helmet at her. She laughed. "If you're gonna talk smack, at least make it hurt."

"Your tin can is an insult to all hoverbikes," he gestured with his helmet. "And your make up looks like a mugato did it for you."

"Say that to my face, you limp noodle!" Kali screeched as he walked away.

Offline Malcolm Adeyemi

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Re: Amaranthine Skyways
« Reply #29 on: January 26, 2017, 09:27:58 pm »
[Computer Core]

The transport had been successful, but it had not been comfortable.

Reyes's work with the transporter was on point. She'd set him down snugly in between the thin casing and the core itself. There was, as he'd said, just enough room to wiggle a portable computer and begin a datastream.

However, what never of them had anticipated was maintenance since the last time the technical readouts had been updated in the Kuiper's database. Between Mahak's legs, hard and insistent, was a metal support strut that felt as it was grinding into the bones of his pelvis. His groin was already tender from the night before.

He'd had some trouble with the communications uplink, but that was the least of his problems. His portable computer was still trying to find a way into the Kuiper mainframe. But the comm problem was solved.

"=/\=Kali,=/\=" He whispered. "=/\=Is your headset functioning?=/\="

 

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