Sunbeam Hug Apology

Posted on Tue Aug 26, 2025 @ 2:49am by Commander Cara Letsul & Civilian Thavas Th'Omtala
Edited on on Sat Sep 20, 2025 @ 1:23am

2,120 words; about a 11 minute read

Mission: Time After Time
Location: Sartorial Splendor
Timeline: MD13 - morning

ON

Things had been so busy around the Station , and getting used to the improvements both on the planet below, Cara hadn't been able to go make her apologies to Thavas. She had the time now.

A stop at Red's Roast, Cara picked up a coffee named Sunbeam Hug. The froth of the coffee had sparkles in it. A beverage which made her smile.

The door to the shop opened and Cara stepped inside keeping to the area away from any cloth,

"Hello!" She sang out, literally and in tune. " Thavas, are you here? "

"It is lovely to see you again, Commander Letsul," came the voice of a young Andorian woman as Viza, apprentice to Thavas, appeared as if out of thin air, silent as a cat on the prowl. "Please, come this way and I will alert Master Thavas that you have arrived to visit." Viza led the way towards the back of the store towards the parlor.

"It is my pleasure, and it is lovely to see you as well." a genuinely pleasant smile.

Cara followed after the lithe Andorian woman, noting how she moved, like a dancer. The Sunbeam Hug was carried carefully as if were a precious treasure, not wanting it to be spilled. When they arried in the back Cara waited patiently for the arrival of Thavas.

"I do wish to apologize to you, Viza, when I was in last time, I was in a sour mood and I took it out on you and that wasn't something I normally do." Cara said wryly.

"Gratitude, Commander," said Viza, with a polite bow of her head, before looking up at Cara again. "Please, sit. I will let he who is my master know that you are here to see him. Honestly, he's probably already following his nose to the coffee you brought with you."

"Indeed I am," Thavas said, having entered the room silently and unnoticed. Viza almost hid her startlement, but not quite. Thavas chuckled. "Glad to know I've still got it."

Viza giggled. "Yes, Master," she said. "I will endeavor to improve my awareness. Commander Letsul is here to see you. If I am not mistaken, unless she is a two-fisted drinker, the Commander has brought you coffee to start your day."

Cara was quiet, she wasn't startled. He though was very quiet, it was the change in the air though that made her know he was around.

A smile of greeting as she slightly turned around in her seat. "Greetings, I have brought you something, plus an apology to you for my previous abrupt departure." color rose in Cara's cheeks, " Here in this cup is a delightful new coffee brand, Sumbeam Hug." lifting up the cup with the sparkly froth.

"Thank you," Thavas said taking cup and raising it to his nose. "It smells lovely." He took a sip. "Ah," he said. "That is very pleasant." He grinned. "Apology accepted. If I did something to offend you, that certainly was not my intent."

"I do understand, after the fact." Cara giving a little smile. "I will admit i was a bit sensitive, there had been a situation that made me hypersensitive. You are rather controlled," A twinkle in her eyes. "And I compliment you on your skill," a contemplative look in her eyes. "though perhaps you gave me that tell, in order to lure me here on my own?" a teasing smile towards Thavas.

"Let's go with that," Thavas said. "And thank you for the compliment. I do try. I do business with some truly frightening people. If my tells were easy to read, I wouldn't be here to be able to have this pleasant conversation."

"I am quite glad that you are around, you do interest me, and perhaps we can aid each other?" Cara raising an eyebrow, as she took a drink of her coffee, the sparkly foam stayed upon her lips until she removed it. "Are you interested?"

"Perhaps," Thavas said. "What are you offering? And what do you want from me?"

A working relationship with the first officer might be useful, though he already had one with the commodore and T'Lul and the beginnings of one with Tessaro. The more the merrier. His information brokerage was effectively common knowledge. There were no secrets to share as far as that went. Thavas' job was to make contacts and create a flow of information through himself and that was what he would do.

A contemplative expression showed, as Cara lowered her coffee cup. "You said you've been doing this for quite sometime?" she asked, "Just how long have you been in the information game? There is a reason why I am asking. And it is very important to me. Beisdes that, I also would like to get a set of clothing made by you, and I will pay for the outfit."

"Perfect," Thavas said. "To answer your question, I entered the weaving and tailoring trade just over four decades ago, after spending my childhood and teenage years learning the trade and then attending the Andorian Academy for the Arts. Shortly after my graduation, I was involved in a bit of unpleasantness over a duel. In order to settle matters to the satisfaction of a very interested party, I was forced to open a shop on Farius Prime. As I'm sure you know, Farius Prime in essentially a world full and run by criminals, pirates, and spies, near Bajor and the Cardassian Union and within reach of the Romulan Empire, the Klingon Empire, and the Breen. Later, of course, the Dominion set up a presence there. It's also home to operations run by the Orion Syndicate, the Vola Vrinia (Andorian Mafia), the Iotian Outfit, and other nefarious groups. I opened my shop there in the mid-2350s, in the middle of the Cardassian Border Wars and the high point of their occupation of Bajor. I did business with everyone there and quickly discovered that I had access to powerful people of all walks of life. I became a back channel between the groups, for a price, of course. I made myself useful and added to my net worth in the process."

Thavas left some information out of his story. It wouldn't do for the Cardassians to know that he sometimes, when he thought he could get away with it, he shared information with the Bajoran Resistance that they might not have wanted shared. He didn't need to do it that often. Usually, the Obsidian Order was perfectly happy to use him to pass information to the Bajorans, in the hope they would use it in a way that would embarrass or otherwise hurt the Order's enemies within the Cardassian Union.

Sometimes, during this period, Thavas provided information to Starfleet Intelligence. He was very clever when going about this. He usually manipulated someone else, someone whose death would be no great loss to the galaxy, into using him to pass the information to SFI in exchange for a favor from SFI. This situation became more precarious with the coming of the Dominion War, but Thavas perservered. By the time he joined a trading expedition traveling to the Gamma Quadrant at the end of the Dominion War, Thavas had survived two decades in hostile territory without angering anyone enough that they made any kind of serious attempt to have him killed.

"Not long after the end of the Dominion War," he continued. "After a brief time with a trading expedition to the Gamma Quadrant, I set up shop on Rigel II, the pleasure planet, and did business throughout the Rigel system. As you know, even though there are some Federation settlements in the Rigel System, most of the system is a den of gangsters, shady corporations, pirates, and spies. Ripe ground for someone like me."

"I must agree with you on that, a place ripe for gathering information." another contemplative look, "I knew someone who was an information broker. Not as pleasant as you are. I am wondering, have you heard of Lanford Boggs?"

"Worse," Thavas said. "I've actually met him, more's the pity. He did business on Farius Prime quite a long time ago."

Cara shuddered slightly. "I've met him and I've worked with him. And yes I am still alive, thank goodness."

"And what, pray tell, was your business with that foul creature?" Thavas asked.

"He utilized me as part of his information gathering, posing as a dancer or a dabo girl, a bar hop. One can pick up information just being part of the background." Cara giving a slight shrug, with her right shoulder.

"Yes," Thavas said. "One can. One can also pick up information by asking. For example: Why were you working for him? That sort of thing doesn't seem in your wheelhouse from what you seem to be at first blush."

Cara arched her eyebrows with a bit of a smile, "This is where you get a little bit of information about me, just a slight amount." raising one hand holding her finger and thumb up with a small space between.

She glanced towards his assistant, "Is she someone who knows discretion?"

"Of course I know Discretion, Commander," Viza interjected. "Why, I had lunch with her just the other day!"

Thavas, who was taking a sip of his coffee right that that moment, just barely stopped himself from spitting it out so he could laugh.

"Viza!" he said, trying and failing to sound as stern as he should have. He turned to Cara. "I assure you that my apprenitce is intimately acquainted with both the concept and the practice of discretion. Anything you say to me can be said in front of Viza, and anything to you say directly to her will be treated with that same discretion. You have my word and hers."

Cara gave out a laugh at Viza's answer, the assistant was rather smart and provided a good foil for Thavas.

Viza, for her part, smiled innocently at the two of them.

"Viza, nicely done." Cara giving a nod of approval, to the Andorian woman, then turned her attention back to Thavas.

"Well then, just to dance around the subject, we were a team, that worked with others from the shadows."

She didn't outright say it but, it was enough for Thavas to put things together.

"Oh," Thavas said. "I see." Thavas did see. There was, in fact, very little he didn't see. "I did at times compete with Mister Boggs for the attention and custom of various intelligence, security, and law enforcement services, as my other clients. Are you saying that he actually had someone from SFI on his payroll? Or that he was directly on theirs?"

Cara held up two fingers, indicating that was the answer to the second question Thavas asked.

"I need to find out if he has popped up, back in business, unless he has changed his name. Which is the usual thing for him. With your connections perhaps you can send some feelers out, to see if he can be tracked down. He has an eye for the ladies, especially dark haired ones. My height, my build-" she left that hanging in the air.

"My efforts don't come for free," Thavas said. "But I believe you can afford my price. A favor, in this case. An introduction to your Chief Intelligence Officer. In particular, I'd like you to extend an invititation for him to come to my shop. Tell him who I am and what I do. That's my price. As for the price of the person giving me the information, that will be an additional cost. That might be currency, goods, a favor, or information. For now, in exchange for keeping my ear to the ground for information on Boggs, you'll introduce me to your Chief Intelligence Officer. If I find something I have to trade for, I'll need something to trade. That will have to come from you."

"I never thought that this would be free, I don't work that way." Cara giving a nod. "An arrangement for you to meet the Chief Intelligence Officer, that can be worked out. I will see to that. Now though back to another piece of business. I wouu l would love to have an outfit or three, made by you. One requisite, the outfits do need pockets. One never knows when one needs what might be carried in said pockets."

"Excellent!" Thavas said. "Viza will take you into the fitting room and measure you and I will pull some color options for you."

"Right this way, Commander Letsul," Viza said.

OFF

Commander Cara Letsul
Executive Officer
Deep Space 5

Thavas Th'Omtala
Master Tailor/Master Weaver
Sartorial Splendor

Viz Zh'Omtala
Apprentice
Sartrorial Splendor

 

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