Shuttle Eaglet 2

“Candy corns?”  Izi offered a handful of the confections to Hok.

“No thanks.  They’re too sweet.  They make my eyes water.”  Hok pointed to his travel bag.  “Slug-o-Cola?  I brought extra.”

Izi wrinkled her nose.  “No, I’m good.”  The tips of her antennae wiggled.

The two looked at each other.

“Okay, Hok.  Time to talk.  What have I gotten myself into?”

Hok rolled his eyes upward, not making contact with Izi.

“Hok?”

Hok sighed.  “It’s been nine years, but there’s the possibility, a small one, we might run into the Orion Syndicate.”

Izi blinked in disbelief and drooped her head.  Letting out a long sigh, she glared at Hok.  He gulped.

“Well?”  Izi drummed her fingers on the armrest while her antennae leaned forward.

“My father and brother joined the Syndicate, but I wouldn’t do it.  I told them it was too dangerous, but they wouldn’t listen.”

Izi could see sadness forming on Hok’s face.

“For about six months, they were earning more profit than ever.  I still didn’t like it, but they seemed like they were doing well.”  Hok paused.  ”Then it happened.”

Hok’s expression of sorrow deepened.  Even without knowing the story, Izi could see he was still in much pain.

“I started noticing that my father and brother were abnormally agitated.  They wouldn’t talk about it, but I knew they did something wrong.  They were going to meet their Syndicate boss, but their shuttle crashed and they both….”

Izi thought Hok would begin weeping, but he held it in.

“A week after the death rituals, I was dragged into an alley by a very large man.  He demanded I return the item.  I had no idea what that was, but he told me things would get very bad if I didn’t return it.  A week after that, my mother became very ill and fell into a coma.  Doctors couldn’t explain it.”

Hok stopped to compose himself.  Izi could almost feel his grief.

“I was accused of improper business practices, which were false, and my business license was revoked.  I was being followed, so the only thing I could think of to do was leave Ferenginar.  I had some latinum hidden away, so I made sure my mother was provided for and I left.”

“You went to Earth,” said Izi.

“Yes.  I figured the Hewmon world and the center of the Federation would be the safest place.  It was until the Syndicate found me.  Desperate, I tried to enlist in Starfleet, but my test scores were high enough for the Academy.”  Hok chuckled.  “If you would have told me I’d end up being a Starfleet officer, I’d have laughed at you.”

Izi thought for a moment.  This was certainly an interesting tale, but she suspected there was more to it than his mother waking from a coma.

“You do realize this could be a set up, right?”

It seemed Hok didn’t want to answer at first.  “Yes.”

Izi nodded.  There wasn’t anything more that needed to be said.  She knew the backstory.  She would do whatever needed to be done.