Cerulean Stars - Chapter 124

Chapter 124

Stardate 48511.87 - July 6, 2371 - 19:58:52

Seven, that was the number of times Saya knew that she had met with her father in person. And two of those had happened while she was too young to actually remember it.

Oh they talked over the comm's of course, and she had received a number of presents over the years. But it had always felt like her dad treated her more like a little sister than an actual daughter.

“Ah, er, do you wanna come in?” She got out with only a little squeak in her voice.

“Wouldn't be here visiting if I didn't.” Jellaa offered confidently as she walked in.

It had been nearly four years since Saya had last met her dad in person, so it felt distinctly odd to not have to crane her neck to look up at the 173 centimeter tall woman. Though a little voice in the back of her head did a silent cheer at the fact that she was well on her way to at least matching the other side of her biological contributor.

“Your Saya's dad?” Jake suddenly asked, and Saya turned back to the kitchenette just in time to see him drag his eyes away from her dad's bare midriff.

“Huh, she kept the swords.” Jellaa murmured as she stared at the crossed weapons on the wall for a moment before turning to Jake with a grin. 

“That's me all right, Captain Jellaa Tendi. And you'd be what? The boyfriend?”

“Dad!” Saya shrieked, flushing in embarrassment at having the suggestion announced out loud like that.

Jake gave an awkward smile and shook his head. “No ma'am. We're just friends.”

“Ma'am?” Jellaa repeated with a slight tinge of annoyance in her voice. “Do I look like my mother? No. Call me Jellaa. Or if you're one of those types who can't get the stick out of their ass, I suppose Captain Tendi will do.”

Saya buried her head in her hands and let out a whine. “Dad, please.”

“So, um, Jellaa.” Jake began awkwardly. “You're Saya's dad?”

The urge to run off into her room and hide in the closet suddenly hit Saya, but she clamped down on it because that would likely just encourage her dad to get more creative with whatever answer she was about to give.

Jellaa grinned. “Not what you were expecting, I take it?”

Jake nodded. “Yes… I mean no… I mean, Saya mentioned that you were an Orion, I just always thought you would be… You know…” 

“The holder of an eight pack?” Jellaa offered slyly, only to roll her eyes when it became clear Jake didn't get it.

“I'm saying you thought I'd be male, kid.”

It was clear from the way Jake cringed that her dad had hit the matter on the nose. And Jellaa glanced over at Saya only to raise an eyebrow when she avoided her father’s gaze. “Kind of surprised Saya or Raine never mentioned how Asari work.”

“They did.” Jake quickly said, thankfully ignoring the violet blush now coloring Saya’s cheeks. “It’s just, they always said you were a pirate. And I just thought that meant…”

“That I was a guy?” Jellaa finished in a slightly judging tone. “Kid, I’m a Tendi, the only men you’ll find around our family are husbands, brothers, and those taking care of the lower end of things.”

Saya frowned slightly as a small niggling worry hit. “You’re not here to rob the station, are you?

“Na. It's your fourteenth birthday next week.” Jellaa offered as she began a lazy stroll around the room, stopping occasionally to examine the various knickknacks her mom had picked up on various missions. “That's a big birthday for us Orion's, so of course I'm here to see you for it.”

This was Saya's first time hearing anything about that, and it must have shown on her face because Jellaa grinned at her.

“I'll tell you more about it later.” She switched her gaze to Jake who practically froze at the sudden attention. “Maybe after your boytoy's done cooking us dinner.”

“He's not my boytoy either, dad!” Saya protested, her earlier embarrassment back with a vengeance.

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The main lounge was very standard in design, a large crescent shaped room with a bunch of widely spaced booths and tables facing the stage. Raine had been escorted to a table near the front of the stage by a Bajoran waitress wearing a tight golden bodysuit that left almost nothing to the imagination. 

Something the Asari appreciated on several levels, though like with Dabo girls, the feeling they exuded was firmly in the look but don’t touch category.

“Well, well, well. If it isn’t my sapphire star.” An almost instantly recognizable voice called out on approach to her table.

“Grand Nagus Zek.” Raine greeted the Ferengi with a cautious smile. “I didn’t expect to see you here.”

Oh, she had fully expected Quark to invite him of course since no Ferengi in good standing with the Ferengi Alliance would dare do otherwise. But that really should have been more of a perfunctory thing at Quark’s level of dealings. 

“How could I resist?” Zek exclaimed with a laugh as his manservant pulled out one of the empty chairs at Raine’s table for the Nagus to sit himself down in. “After all, Quark promised you would be here.”

Raine felt her eye twitch slightly, the free VIP ticket Quark had given her suddenly making a lot more sense.

“I’m mostly here for the drinks, dancers, and gambling.” She offered, doubting that would deter the man but giving it a try anyways.

“A girl after my own heart!” Zek laughed, slapping his knee in mirth as he glanced over at the stage. “Gotta admit, Quarks done some good work setting this place up. The bar was a good first step of course, but this, this is the type of place where fortunes can be made.”

“Or lost.” Raine added in, knowing the Ferengi wasn't just referring to the gambling that would be going on with his words.

“Of course.” Zek agreed with a toothy grin. “But the riskier the road, the greater the profit.”

Raine shook her head in bemusement. “You know, I never got that one. Wouldn't it be better to just cheat in a way that there is no risk?”

“Like your Trellium investments you mean.” Zek floated innocently. “I have to say, I was quite surprised at the sudden Federation rush to buy up available supplies.”

Raine shrugged. “I'm sorry to say that one was mostly personal interest mixed with dumb luck.”

She had originally made that particular investment as part of a vague long term plan to secure control of enough of the material to one day terraform an acceptable M-class planet towards general Asari standards. Bashir and O'Brien's work with Melora last year however had drawn Federation eyes to the material in a big way, and they'd pushed to trade for as much of it as they could get their hands on.

“I see.” Zek murmured in consideration. “Then it must be the pergium investments.”

“Eh.” Raine made a so-so motion with one of her hands. “I’d say that one’s more insider trading than cheating.”

Zek hummed to himself. “Nothing wrong with that.”

Raine grinned at him. “As a Starfleet officer, when dealing with other species economic systems I am required to respect those species laws and cultural practices so long as they aren’t in violation of existing Starfleet regulations.”

“And there are no Starfleet regulations about insider trading.” Zek chortled in clear understanding.

“Just like there are no Ferengi laws about insider trading.” Raine added in, still grinning despite the way the man was blatantly staring at her cleavage.

Zek sighed and shook his head. “It’s such a shame there aren’t more of your people around my dear, I think we’d get along splendidly.”

“Oh, you’d love them.” Raine admitted with a wry shake of her head. “There are entire planets owned by corporate interests where the only rule of law is how much currency you have to throw at a problem.”

“Ha!” Zek laughed. “You’re right, they sound like my kind of people. Though I doubt many hold even a slip of latinum to your beauty.”

The lights dimmed, saving Raine from having to reply to that particularly blatant attempt at flirting as she turned to see Quark walk onto the stage.

“Welcome everyone to the grand opening of Quark’s Treasure! The Bajoran sector's newest, and only, mobile casino. We have food, drinks, gambling, holosuites, overnight rooms, and of course live shows.”

“Bring out the Dancers!” Zek yelled, causing Quark to visibly wince.

Quark let out an uncomfortable laugh. “I suppose the crowd has spoken. In which case, please enjoy the show and remember, the fulfillment of any private show requests is at the sole discretion of the Simir family dancers themselves. And Quark Enterprises is not responsible for any unfortunate circumstances that might occur should you choose to ignore this.”

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“And that’s when she stabbed me.” Jellaa finished her story with a fond chuckle.

“She stabbed you?” Jake repeated clearly aghast at the thought.

“It happens.” Jellaa waved off before grinning across the coffee table at Saya. “Would have returned the favor, but your mom's remarkably hard to stab.”

“You don’t have to tell me.” Saya muttered in annoyed agreement, recalling her mom’s training sessions where it always seemed like the older Asari would just effortlessly dance around Saya’s attempts to hit her.

Jellaa offered Saya an understanding look as she reached down for her drink. “Don’t worry, you’ll get there eventually. Pirate Queen knows I didn’t get one over on your grandma till I was nearly twenty.”

“My grandma?” Saya asked in surprise since she couldn’t recall her dad ever mentioning her before.

“Yeah.” Jellaa nodded, grimacing slightly as she set her drink back down on the table. “She was a big color purest, would have absolutely hated you. But one of the few good things Shona did when took over was putting that group down, so you don’t have to worry about it.”

“What’s a Color purest?” Jake inquired with a frown.

“Old group that thought there should only be green Orions.” Jellaa explained with a dismissive wave. “

Jake blinked in clear surprise, mirroring Saya’s own feelings at the discovery. “Your people come in more than just green?”

“Green, blue, orange, yellow.” Jellaa listed off with a shrug. “Couldn’t tell you why, and you don’t really see a lot of the others out and about outside of the blue’s. But hey, they’re still Orions.”

“Huh. I never…” Jake muttered before letting out a yawn as he began to sway in place slightly. “That’s weird, why is the room–” He collapsed sideways before he could finish, leaving Saya to stare in muted shock as she sluggishly tried to work out what had just happened.

“Dont worry kiddo.” Jellaa offered consolingly, getting to her feet and pulling a communicator out of her pocket as the room began to waver for the younger Asari. “I'll explain everything when we're on the ship.”

Saya tried to stand only for the feeling to go out of her legs causing her to flop sideways onto the couch instead as a sudden feeling of tiredness seemed to overtake her completely.

“And hey, look on the bright side.” Jellaa's voice continued as her consciousness began to fade. “At least you'll get to spend some extra time with your boyfriend.”

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Author's Notes: Raine really should have paid more attention to that uptick in pirate activity in the area. But hey, now Jake's going to have a great story to tell all his friends about how he got to visit Orion.