Soukara Aftermath 3 - What Might Be

Posted on Thu Oct 17th, 2019 @ 12:43pm by Gunnery Sergeant Roderik Kos & Lieutenant Commander BaoJun Qiao

1,078 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: S1E3: Barbarians at the Gates
Location: Rodi's Quarters
Timeline: 3 Weeks after Soukara

Bao sighed as he made his way through Overwatch. The mission had been a disaster, personally, professionally, and politically. Nothing had gone right, and having to deal with Internal Affairs afterwards just cemented that assessment. He knew there was a person he needed to talk to, but the universe had seemed to conspire to delay that even further, and letting the problem fester. Now, finally, three weeks after they had returned from Soukara, it was finally time to stand while broken and go see Kos. He anticipated it being a very uncomfortable conversation, all things considered. It didn’t take a genius to see the marine had been affected, badly, by the mission, and had needed space.

The Lagashi squared his shoulders as he stood outside the Sergeant’s quarters. He owed the marine explanations and answers, so it was his place to take the initiative. He reached out and pressed the door chime.

"Enter." Rodi called. He glanced around his quarters from his chair. His living room and kitchen were meticulous in their cleanliness. There were two simple wooden arm chairs around a simple wooden table. On a side table were three traditional photos, one of his parents before his father's church smiling arm in arm, one of the Killarney National Park Rodi had made on one of his many hikes, and one of Luna from the front viewport of a shuttle. Above the entry door was a simple wooden crucifix with any adornment. A secure weapons locker stood by the door.

Bao stepped into the roam, eyes roaming around the space he had never been in before. Spartan was the first word that came to mind, followed by uninviting, which surprised the Lagashi man. The scientist part of him took a moment to register his confusion at the mismatch between this reality and the expectation he had imagined. Bao had always thought of Kos as one of the more approachable, and sane, members of the Theta team. Perhaps observer bias was getting in the way, and he had mistaken warmth for a cultural difference. He cleared it from his head as Sunny flashed a reminder across his eyes, telling him to get on with the reason for his visit before the silence became 'awkward.' He needed to have her initiative subroutines checked, as she had started to become positively cheeky. Still, she was right. He cleared his through. "Good evening, Kos-gong," he began, his speech slipping into the stilted elegant register as he bowed to the other man. "This unlearned one wishes to speak with you. If your honorable self will indulge this worthless commoner, he believes you are owed explanation of what happened on Lagash, and his connection to former intelligence operative Zhang XiaoLi."

For a long moment Rodi looked at Bao. Signs of confusion could be read in his eyes. "Sit down." Rodi finally said, nodding to the other chair while he rose and stepped to the replicator. A few presses on the display lead to the materialization of two cups of steaming, strong tea. The marine sat one down before Bao. The other he kept as he sat down again.

The tall man sat down in the chair and accepted the tea. That boded well. Being offered tea at least indicated he was not going to be summarily evicted. He waited for the marine to join him. Fortunately, he had not missed Rodi's confusion, and switched back to plainer speech. "Thank you," he said, still awkward as he wasn't sure how to really get to where he was trying to go. Honesty perhaps. "So, I guess, in honesty, I was hoping the name Zhan XiaoLi would never be uttered in this station. Call me naive for hoping that being abducted into the service posting that officially doesn't exist would absolve me of the need to deal with the disaster that surrounds that."

Rodi sipped his tea, and allowed himself a small nod in satisfaction of the flavour. "We can't run from the past, we can only confront it." His gaze met Bao. "Do you love this woman?"he asked after a long moment of silence.

Bao tried to stop himself. He really did. However, in the end he lost the battle with laughing at the question. "I do not," he said, once he managed to speak. "We used to be...friends...after a fashion, and our parents thought an engagement contract between us would be mutually beneficial, but I have no romantic feelings towards her, and unless something has changed, she does not possess romantic feelings a all. And that was before the recent...debacle," he continued. "If the evidence I needed to dissolve for cause wasn't a Federation state secret, that contract would no longer exist. I think I would make a terrible house husband for her and the inevitable future spouses anyway."

A nod was all that came from Rodi. He emptied his tea cup and placed it on the table before him. He studied the man before him, the black hair, his rounded chin, his strong build. Finally Rodi said "Thank you for explaining."

Bao emptied his own cup as well. "I am not sure you should thank me," he said mildly, though somewhat confused as to what the right response was. A fellow Lagashi would have wanted to know the terms of the contract and any limitations it placed on future spouses, but Bao did not think Rodi was remotely desirous of knowing that information. "I am the one with a prior contract, even if I have on desire to fulfull it, and no practical way to fulfill or terminate it," he said, even though he knew it was a rather unnecessary response. A helpful flashing red "quit while you are ahead" played across his occular implants. "I think, perhaps, I should go now. If you would like, I plan to visit the phaser range the day after tomorrow. The company of someone who can actually hit anything with them would be agreeable."

"Maybe another time." Rodi replied and stood. "I prefer my sollitude for now."

Bao frowned as he bowed, keeping his gaze down as he made for the door. "As you will," he said. "Should you change your mind, well, it is not like it is difficult to locate anyone here." He pressed the door button. "Until another time, or the Captain finds a new way to have us tortured, maimed, or killed."

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