The Pirate's Son A'rik S'rung Part 1

Posted on 241708.03 @ 7:39pm by Rear Admiral Sidra MacLaren

Mission: Reconciliation & Reconstruction [Fleet Plot]

~~Three Years Previously~~

The red sun on Bersalis was low in the sky, casting purple, pink and orange hues on the horizon the ombre pattern fading to a navy. The boy burst through the door, his hoverboard clattering on the tile at the porch. “Da!?” He called out with excitement in his eyes, spotting his mother, he rubbed the very slight ridges on his extended forehead.

Ubon grabbed him, smirking at his worried look. Her son’s face was starting to lose the boyish chubbiness, becoming less round, chisling itself with sharper, stronger lines as he was turning the corner to adulthood. His ridges were not as pronounced as hers, but he had a slight point to the tip of his ears like his father. He also inherited his father’s broad shoulders and strong, tapered trunk. His mixed heritage, like so many others in this region just added to his look.

Ubon beamed at her good looking son, “You know sometimes he is not always able to come when he says he will be here. I have not heard from him since he sent the message two days ago. We will see if he still comes tonight A’rik, but I wouldn’t wait up for him.”

She lifted his disappointed chin, though he was almost as tall as her now and it wouldn’t be long before she was looking up into his dark eyes. His mocha colored skin was smudged with dirt and dried sweat. “Go wash up, you smell like a taqnar. I’ll get your dinner ready.” Her teenage son sighed, pondered a protest and challenge as most teens did, but complied and went off to the bathroom. He was right on the verge, maybe a little behind his peers, of growing up. He still liked to run the neighborhood, playing games, but some of his friends had started to work discover the pleasures becoming more than friends. Ubon would let him play as long as he liked, she was in no hurry for her son to grow up.

The half Klingon mother glanced at the time as she started to spoon some stew into a bowl for her son. Vadik was a busy man and he did not always keep his promises. He did keep the two of them well cared for though and Ubon had no worries about their expenses. When his light shined on them, their world was like a warm summer day, but while he was gone, they just waited for that sunshine to return. It wasn’t a bad life, but she knew she was a kept woman and Vadik had many such women and children in various ports of call. One day soon, her son would know too, he was only a few years from being a man himself. Ubon wondered how long her star would shine with Vadik.

~~Four months ago~~

Shu Base, a merchant trading port, had a problem with their environmental system. There was no in between, it was either a sweat inducing heat or a teeth chattering cold. The air in the crowded outpost was stale and gritty. Corridors were lined with discarded rubbish and there was a layer of grime all over the aging infrastructure. It was not an ideal place to live. The fledgling adult scanned the crowd, his eyes trying to find those who did not belong here, were not aware of the activities on Shu base. This current crowd seemed to have their wits about them, no loose pockets, no bags open and ready for picking. His stomach growled fiercely and his mouth watered, protesting from the lack of substance the last day. He was getting weak from lack of food and his train of thought easily derailed, but if he was able to obtain anything today, it wasn’t going to him.

A’rik thought back to his life on Bersalis, his friends, his toys, his school and visits from his father. He was disgusted with himself for how foolish and ignorant a boy he was. Vadik never returned that warm summer night, the teenager had been thrust into reality, catapulted into an adult role that he had been unconsciously resisting with every last fiber of his boyhood. They received word a few days later that Vadik’s ship had been assaulted by a Starfleet vessel. Squeeky clean Starfleet said the ship was harboring stolen goods from a Federation merchant vessel. The only thing left of the once glorious Imperix was particles in space and accusations floating in the cold dark. A’rik could not find a justification in his mind for blowing the merchant vessel to bits. Stafleet said they were defending their own ship and the Imperix had fired on them first. Weren’t they all about justice? Where was Vadik’s trial? Starfleet the all great and powerful had determined his fate.

It only took a few weeks before Ubon and A’rik were thrown out of their place on Bersalis, the bill no longer paid, the household account was quickly drained and they left the planet with nothing. They had been bouncing around merchant ships and stations Ubon trying to find employment and failing, sleeping in corridors and common areas until they were ran off like vermin. With Starfleet’s presence in the sector now strong, nobody wanted to associate with one of Vadik’s former mistresses. The rage in the young man boiled and he clenched his hands, looking down at his feet. He’d grown six inches in the last few months and his pant hem, though torn and tattered, ended well above his ankles, revealing his tattered boots. He squeezed his hands until his arms shook, slowly releasing them, hissing the anger out through tightly closed teeth.

His obsidian eyes landed on a woman, looking around, trying to find her destination. He smirked at his target, well practiced at this art now. The shoulder bag she carried was open and loose and she started to move into a busy corridor. He pushed off the rail he’d been leaning against, his body movements fluid as he assimilated into the crowd, keeping an eye on the lady, making sure to stay obscure himself. It was crowded enough that he didn’t even need to pretend to bump her. He hoped that bag had enough, he just needed something he could flip for a meal, he was too pessimistic to think he would be lucky enough to get some straight credits.

Shoulders rubbed and A’rik slipped next to the woman, his hand stealthy as it went into the bag, pulling out what felt like a slim data padd and a pouch of some kind. He looked forward, moving with her instep for just a moment before pulling the objects out and slipping them right into the inside pocket of his jacket. He fell back and slowed down his gait and turned to head down another corridor, less crowded. He started to make his way to an inner ring of the station, wiping a bead of sweat from his brow. Today was one of the hot days. He got to a quiet area and inspected his earnings, a slight turn of his lips as the data pad, it would get him a decent price, and the pouch he opened just finding some dried fruit. A’rik sniffed at it, not recognizing it, but it seemed edible, he took a nibble of it, confirming it was sweet. His mouth flooded with saliva at the first taste of food in a day. He ate a whole piece and closed the pouch before his rumbling stomach tempted him to consume more.

The young man went to an electronics shop at the station, nodding to the merchant there and waiting until his customer had finished his business. He pretended to shop through the wares, his ear listening to their conversation, always tuned for picking up information. Sometimes he picked up a usual tidbit about an incoming ship, or outgoing shipment he might be able to skim off of.

The vendor finished his purchase and A’rik smiled, hopeful that Casak would be in need of his product. “What have you got this week boy?” They negotiated price, the data pad would need a lot of work to clear the locks on it, and A’rik didn’t get as much as he thought he would, but it was enough to put some food in them, maybe a bed for a few nights. He hoped all this would end soon. He’d be old enough to work in just a couple of weeks, he’d get a real job, no more scraping by, no more sleeping in dingy corridors, starved for scraps of food. There was not fresh meat available on the station, but he bought some dried cattle and a large loaf of bread from a vendor, proud of his spoils he headed down to the dark belly of the station, looking for Ubon.

Tucked between two ribs of the station bulkhead, the frail woman shook with chills and her cough echoed off the empty corridor walls. She saw him and tried to sit up, but was too weak and fell back onto the deck with a moan. A’rik had only been gone half a day, just half a day trying his best to get them scraps. The site before him tore into him, anguish at first, then rage. His fingers strained into the bread, breaking into it until the loaf splintered into two, pieces of bread stuck between his fingers as his dirty nails dug into his palm, the end tumbling onto the deck.

Forgetting the loaf of bread, his rage retreated enough to let the anguish take back over. The juvenile sank to his knees and scooped her up in his arms. Now a head taller than her, much stronger than the waif of a woman he lifted from the deck, he pulled her against him. Though the station was hot, her skin was cool and clammy, covered in a sheen of sweat, her breathing horribly ragged. “Ma… ma!” He started in a whine, reverting back to a small boy. He turned to plop his back against the bulkhead, examining her. When he’d last seen her awake she had been sick, had a persistant cough, but it had progressed dramatically in the short time he was gone. She must have been hiding how bad it was, trying to shield him again.

Ubon reached up to her son’s cheek, but her fingers shook from the effort and after just a quick brush the hand fell back into her lap. She tried to speak but her cough took over, ragging from deep in her lungs, her entire body clenching from the effort until blood spewed from her lips, covering her pointed teeth and splattering her dirty tunic. She was drowning in her own fluids and knew her fate.

The boy’s eyes welled hot with tears, but he kept them from falling. “I’ll get some medicine. I have some credits, we’ll get you some help.” She shook her head, and he continued his pleas and promises to help her until her hand found a last reserve of strength, clutching the lapel of his jacket to grab his attention back. She struggled to breath out, pulling him closer to her, “Be… strong…”

“No… we can fix this.” He raged, but her body went limp, the light slipped from her eyes and she had a last, serous exhalation. A’rik pulled her into his chest, clutching tight, his head turning towards the ceiling and a cry of pure rage escaped from his breast, echoing off the corridor as he evolved into a new beast.

A’rik S’rung
The Pirate's Son