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"Broken Loyalties" by Lady Rainbow
Rating: PG-13 Tragedy strikes the Mayweather family. Warning: Character Death(?) Six The tremor struck without warning. Travis was jolted out of his futon; he fell off the edge and onto the tatami floor, tangled in his blanket. He heard an annoyed yowl as Oneko became stuck within the blanket’s folds. “Dammit, Oneko, stay still a minute!” Travis yelled. The cat’s panicked thrashing only seemed to tighten the fabric around both of them. He felt her paws against his face, but her claws were sheathed. No wonder she couldn’t get out. Declawed? Finally, they managed to roll out of the blanket, burrito-style. Travis heard muttered oaths from the adjoining room. He slid the shoji to Bernhard’s room open to see the armory officer sitting on the floor, rubbing a bump on his head. At the sight of Travis and Oneko, he staggered to his feet and grabbed the earpiece from under his pillow. He swore again and threw it down onto the futon. “Comms are out,” he growled. “Something’s wrong.” They noticed the smell of burning coming from the balcony. They looked at each other in horror, then rushed out to the balcony. Travis saw it first and grabbed Bernhard’s arm. “Over there.” “I see it.” A plume of black smoke on the horizon, expanding into a cloud high in the sky. Travis squinted in the gray morning light, making calculations in his head, taking the wind and the angles in account...and his heart stopped. “That’s why I gotta go over to Aetosoka in the morning. There’s a huge delay in the loading of one of our shipments. Lady Tanaka wants me to see what’s wrong.” “Paul!” he shouted. He turned and ran off the balcony, through his room (nearly ripping the shoji on his way out) and down the corridor, leaving Bernhard and Oneko scrambling after him. Travis and Rhianna Mayweather stared at the smoking remains of the shuttle. The fire brigade had put the flames out long ago, but the aftershocks continued through Tanaka Enterprises. Investigative teams swarmed all over the wreckage. Malcolm and Bernhard were supervising a joint team of Armory and Engineering personnel from Enterprise, who’d come down at Archer’s insistence. “Damn, I’m sorry,” Trip Tucker said. He wiped sweat from his forehead, but grime slid down his cheeks. “Looks like something happened to the aft engine housing...we’re gonna have to analyze it further, but it happened pretty quickly.” Travis nodded, his heart numb, and his grip tightened around his mother. Rhianna shook with grief and sorrow, her face buried within Travis’s shoulder. “The faster we figure out what happened, the faster we can find who did this.” “We’ll do it,” Trip promised. He put a hand on Rhianna’s shoulder. “I won’t rest till we do.” “Thank you, Commander,” Rhianna said, with a weak smile. Trip walked away to join the rest of the team, but Captain Archer intercepted him on the way. A sudden noise made Rhianna flinch and Travis glanced down at her. “What is it, Mom?” He made his voice as gentle as he could. “Tanaka,” she said, her tone quiet but dangerous. “Come with me, Travis.” “Mom?” Rhianna broke away from Travis’s embrace and walked towards Sumiko Tanaka. The Consortium head appeared disheveled, her kimono wrinkled, her normally impeccable hair tangled at her waist. Tanaka’s jaw was set in an angry line as she listened to her forensics leader. Whatever he tried to tell her did not impress her the slightest. She said something in a low tone, and the forensics leader’s face turned pale. “Reed-san, Mueller-san,” she called. “I need your assistance.” Meters away, both Malcolm and Bernhard looked at her in surprise, but they started in her direction. Before they could reach her, though, Rhianna Mayweather got there first. Travis hurried to her side, as his mother glared down at Tanaka, her lips pressed tightly together. Tanaka only raised her own eyes to meet Rhianna’s, grief and anger in her deep brown eyes. Oh, crap, here it comes, Travis thought. Both Malcolm and Bernhard must have seen the expression on his face because the Armory Officers stood ready to separate the two women, if necessary. It wasn’t often that Malcolm Reed looked panicked; this was as close as Travis had ever seen him in six years. “My son is dead,” Rhianna said, her voice soft as steel. “He followed your orders, despite my request for him to stay for breakfast with me and his brother. You, who carries on about the importance of family, killed my son.” Tanaka didn’t respond at first, then she replied, “Your son put duty above everything else, Rhianna-sama. If he had told me about your request, I would have delayed his departure. He never said anything to me.” “You liar,” Rhianna hissed. “He told me that you insisted, that you won’t take no for an answer as long as business is concerned. I’ve kept silent because he enjoyed his new position, he was doing so well, and he found he had a purpose. But you’ve been playing us all for fools, Tanaka. I was willing to give you the benefit of the doubt. Well, no longer.” Rhianna took a step forward and Tanaka retreated a step at the horrible look on her face. “You can take the Vega estate and stuff it because I’m not staying here any longer. I’m going back to Earth so I can bury whatever is left of Paul next to his father. And there I’m going to stay.” A cold smile came over her lips. “But don’t think you can get rid of me that easily, Tanaka, because I am going to get compensation for my loss. I’m going to make sure you pay for Paul’s death.” The heavy silence hung over the entire compound. Even Tanaka’s minions cowed under Rhianna Mayweather’s wrath. She turned on her heel and strode away from Tanaka without a backward glance. Travis glared at Tanaka, then followed his mother. Rhianna approached Hoshi, who held out her hands to Paul’s mother. Rhianna took them and squeezed them tightly. “Hoshi, will you come with me to the old house? There are a few things I want to pick up before I leave.” “Of course, Missus Mayweather,” Hoshi said, her eyes brimming with tears. “I’ll help you however I can.” “Thank you, Hoshi. Captain, would you mind an extra passenger?” Rhianna blinked rapidly, trying to keep up her strong facade. “I want to get off this planet as quickly as possible.” Archer nodded, grief and compassion on his features. “Of course, Rhianna. We’ll be happy to have you on board. I’ll have guest quarters arranged for you. Ensign Mueller, will you accompany Rhianna and Hoshi?” “Of course, Captain,” Bernhard answered gruffly, his tone sounding deeper and more Germanic than usual. Archer’s implication was clear: the captain didn’t trust Tanaka or her Security forces with the women’s safety. “Mom,” Travis said in a low tone. “I’ll stay here and help with the investigation. Bernhard will keep you safe. I trust him with my life.” Rhianna nodded and put a hand on his cheek. “You’ll call me if you find anything.” “The minute.” He turned his face into Rhianna’s hand, and she passed her fingers over his forehead, like she did when he was a little child. She smiled at him and left with Bernhard and Hoshi in tow. Travis heard a rustle in the bushes and saw Oneko follow Bernhard, Hoshi and his mother. For good measure, he saw Malcolm whispering orders to two of his additional Security people, and they shadowed the trio as they walked out of sight. “I am truly sorry, Travis-san,” Tanaka whispered. “I cannot tell you how sorry I am.” He throttled down his anger and somehow managed to keep his tone even. “Then don’t tell me. Show me. Find out what happened.” “The negotiation talks?” Travis gritted his teeth and said nothing until he could do it without yelling at her. “They’re suspended for the meantime...I have to take care of my mother. I don’t know if Admiral Forrest will send someone to take my place. I’ll talk to him about that.” “Very well.” Tanaka narrowed her eyes at him. “I will show you, I will make sure, that your brother did not die in vain.” Then she turned and strode away. Travis didn’t hear Malcolm and Trip come up behind him until Trip said, “I’ll get T’Pol to help with the analysis, Travis. If there’s anything, we’ll find it.” He turned around and saw the look in Trip’s eyes. The engineer had lost his sister to the Xindi attack, another victim of treachery. In that moment, he was the only one who knew exactly how Travis was feeling. And Trip knew how strong the need for revenge was. “Whoever did this wanted to make sure the negotiations were disrupted,” Malcolm said, “and that Tanaka’s operations were suspended.” Travis nodded. “Whoever it was, they succeeded,” he agreed darkly. |
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