Victor sat alone at his table, looking down into the arboretum and glancing nervously around at his surroundings. He hoped the good commander hadn't forgotten about their little "interrogation session". But in any case, he was prepared to enjoy a decent meal on her dime.

Exactly five minutes late, Jesa rushed through the doors of the restaurant, smoothing her uniform and coming to a dignified halt just as a waiter spotted her. "Callen." She said, and the man nodded, leading her up a few sets of steps to the opposite side of the restaurant, which was completely open as a side of the arboretum, so one could look on the rest of the observation dome around the place. Tyne was already seated, and looked slightly unsettled, like he was expecting interrogation of the unusual kind.

"I'm sorry for being late." Jesa said, matter-of-factly while she deftly slid into the opposite seat. The waiter placed menus in front of them and the woman nodded at him in acknowledgement. Jesa simply decided to seat herself in order to save Tyne the embarrassment of not being sure whether to stand as she arrived, being that she was the commanding officer.

Victor started to get up as she came in, but by the time he'd started to rise, Jesa was already seated and looking over the menu. So he just shrugged and gave her his best charming smile, trying to ignore the beads of sweat popping out on his forehead, and ordered himself a glass of wine.

After a minute of trying to think of an appropriate icebreaker, he gave up and said, "So, shall we begin the questioning now or eat first?"

The commander set the menu down and looked over at Victor, looking him over for a long moment before a smile crept into her face. Then she laughed, softly, shaking her head. She seemed to be trying to apologize, but the laughter kept coming. Then she stopped, and smiled slightly. "I'm sorry... I just had one hell of a morning and that struck me funny... Heck, one hell of a night too, and week, and... month, why don't we just make it lifetime, shall we?" She smiled and took a deep breath, apparently trying to let some of her stress out with it.

Victor raised an eyebrow, looking at Jesa curiously for a moment before slipping into a fit of laughter himself. "Well then, here's to one hell of a lifetime." He raised his glass to her and sipped, trying not to embarrass himself by laughing with a mouthful of wine. He wanted to present Jesa with the image of a captured dilettante, not a sloppy idiot. "So lunch first it is then." He waived a waiter over, glancing at Jesa. "Shall I order for the lady, or would that be assuming too much?" he said with a playful smirk.

She waved absently. "Be my guest... I can be adventurous," she said, smirking back; thinking to herself that if she couldn't, she certainly shouldn't be in her job. He smiled and stacked the menus, handing them to the waiter.

"How about some blackened Angosian sea bass, on a bed of fresh greens. And some more of this wonderful wine." The wine wasn't the best he'd ever tasted, but it wasn't replicated, and that was good enough for him at this point. A very small reminder of civilization in what was, for Victor, a rather savage culture. Never mind that it was the one he'd been first raised in. He drained the last in his glass and smiled at Jesa, looking for her approval. Jesa nodded, smiling. Then she waited for the waiter to leave.

Once he was gone, Jesa seemed to relax a little as she looked around, staring for a few moments over the veritable sea of plants that existed on the other side of the balcony. At that moment her mind seemed very far away, in a troubled sort of way. "Nice view," she said finally, rather under her breath. He followed her gaze out over the balcony.

"Yes it is. Rather reminds me of the arboretum on board the Zephyr..." He cursed himself inwardly for the slip, and hoped Jesa would take it for just that rather than analyzing it too deeply. "So... erm... what kind of vines are those...?"

Her blue-gray eyes quietly turned to his. "I don't know... I'm not a botanist." She paused a moment, contemplating a decision, then asked "Do you really think such change of subject would succeed to draw my attention away from your previous words?" she said, softly, trying to be serious, but non-threatening. Jesa sipped the wine, setting her glass down quietly.

He rolled the glass between his hands. "No, actually I didn't." He sighed softly and looked down. "I'm going to be very frank with you commander; I'm quite comfortable around you, and this scares me. I'm used to being in better control of my tongue."

Jesa thought for a moment, silently. "I figured... because getting this far with as many slips as you have made with me in the last twenty four hours I've known you... well, let's just say it's highly unlikely." She smiled, slightly wryly. "And do you think I have lunch in the officer's clubs with all my junior grade lieutenants?" she said, chuckling and taking another sip of her wine.

He set his glass down on the table. "Why are you having lunch with me Commander? I'm still trying to figure out if this is an interrogation or a social call, and trying to figure out which one frightens me more."

She leaned back in her chair slightly and folded her hands in her lap. "The information to be gleaned from a person is as important as the person's character..." she said with a slight sigh. "I'm... trying to get a feel for who you are, Mister Tyne. Because for myself to immediately have a trust for someone I've not met before... well, it is dangerous to say the least. And I want to know where I am putting my trust." She spoke frankly, looking back at him.

He stared at her for a little bit, offering a silent prayer when the waiter arrived with their meal, easing the tension somewhat. After another few minutes, several mouthfuls of fish, and a stammered excuse for his poor manners, Victor eased up a bit, deciding to just relax and let the scene play itself out. "So what do you think of me so far, Commander?"

Jesa also ate silently, nodding in approval at the taste of the fish. She normally didn't take such time to make anything worth tasting... then again; she normally didn't take time to eat period. She almost looked... prim, as she sat there with one hand in her lap and the other gracefully holding a utensil. She found his question interesting, and tilted her head slightly. "Do you want the polite version, or the brutally honest one?" she asked.

He plucked his glass up and took a long swallow. "Oh, I think the time for pleasantries is long over, commander. Whatever you have to say about me, I hope I can handle it."

She sat her fork down and put her other hand in her lap, sitting up slightly straighter. "I think you're quite talented, Victor, even beyond what I'm immediately seeing. I think there is much more to you than meets the eye, and from my impressions, you understand many of the same things I do. I think that you're searching for something, a home, a purpose, revenge maybe... I also think that you're so used to fighting everyone on all sides of you that you're having trouble with the mere concept that anyone could be on your side and want to help you," she ended, looking him straight in the eye.

Victor stared back at her, then broke into a silly grin. She was good, very good. It seemed he respected her more by the minute, but he was also becoming more and more wary of her. He couldn't afford to have anyone meddling in, or worse, unraveling any of his plans. "From your tone I thought you'd liken me to a castrated toad or something." He raised his glass to her again. "Here's to you, commander, for summing me up very nicely while still remaining a mystery yourself." He closed his eyes and drank deeply, savoring the taste of the wine.

Jesa smiled slightly, waiting until he was finished. "I also think that you're afraid... very afraid... which is something I can personally understand." The commander paused, looking at him "I suppose the biggest danger I see from you is that your trust is much weaker than your fear."

He opened his eyes and smiled charmingly, trying to keep his growing apprehension from showing. Something had struck a chord within him. It wasn't so much what she had said or thought, but more what he felt when she said it. "You got all this from sitting at a table with me for not more than fifteen minutes?"

The commander smiled slightly, wishing she could offer more words of comfort, something that could really mean something to him, that would be substantial, real... but the risk was too great; far too great. She breathed deeply and smiled back at him, with the same nature of hiding true feelings as he had in his eyes. "No, I got that from the mirror over many years... you're another, similar, reflection of it," she said, feeling herself teeter on the edge of saying too much. 'And I pray you never find out what that truly means...' she added to herself, silently.

"Hmm, interesting choice of words." He popped the last of his meal into his mouth. "So, now that you've finished telling me exactly what you think of me, I'm sure there's a hundred questions you're dying to ask SFC's least favorite person..." It was then that he finally realized that she never did offer any information about herself while questioning him. The thought ran through Victor's head that perhaps she had as much to conceal as he did; an idea which could open new and interesting avenues this conversation could be guided down. But he decided that now was not the time, and this was definitely not the place. The secrets you didn't know could kill you, yes, but the ones you did know definitely would.

She nodded. "Yes, there are quite a number... but before that, how did your job go yester--- last night?" Jesa asked, correcting herself mid-word.

He shrugged. "Johnson is a decent man and a capable leader, and the rest of the staff seems competent enough. We got along just fine."

"Good, good." She nodded. "Just wondered because someone was saying something about..." she began to trail off, pretending the Isannah grapevine had been quite busy that night. But then she flashed a grin over at him. "I'm sorry, that was cruel." She said, pausing just long enough for a change of subject to be feasible. "My first question is that do you know anyone who would want to stop me from finding out information about you?"

He frowned a little. "A better question would be who wouldn't want to stop you. Last I heard all of Starfleet's in- depth information on... us was doled out on a need-to-know basis to people who had to deal with us..." He sipped his wine. "But as I said before, any question you ask I will answer as truthfully as I can."

Jesa remained silent a moment, thinking about Drake, and wondering if that was the cause for his disappearance. She hoped he was alright, after all, one officer relieved and another dead didn't exactly look well on her record, but even though she used that mentally as an excuse... she really was concerned. She turned her attention back to Tyne. "Who is 'us'?"

He nodded softly and folded his hands on the table in front of him. "This is going to take some time to explain. I hope you don't mind a quick trip through Romulan history." She nodded, and he cleared his throat, lowering his voice so only she could hear him. "We are collectively known as the Khall'ianen."

"Seekers?" Jesa interrupted with a furrowed brow, causing Victor to smile a bit and nod.

"That's a more or less accurate translation." He replied, wondering how a Starfleet captain would know enough of the Romulan language to piece together a translation. She seemed to be full of surprises. "I don't know how the relationship between the Romulans and the Federation stands, but Romulan history as we know it has been plagued by insurgents and upstarts. Most get quashed by the local government before they ever get to make their mark. A few manage to catch a bit of public notice before they either break apart or are forced to break apart." He leaned back in his chair, watching Jesa as she assimilated this information. She only nodded, a thoughtful look on her face.

"I'll spare you the century-and-then-some history lesson. Suffice it to say that some of those upstarts a long time ago managed to snatch a colony ship, then decided it would be for the best if they separated themselves from the Empire---in every way possible. They put an empty hole in space between themselves and the Empire and found some worlds to colonize. Since then, those planets formed a loose confederation of sorts, built a somewhat stable infrastructure, and taken in refugees from just about everywhere. But for the last twenty years or so we've been busy fending off the Borg." He used his fork to point at her. "A problem that your people visited upon us, by the way. We don't really have the resources to do anything but defend right now. We rely mostly on good tactics and remote drones, and more than a little luck, though I'm ashamed to admit it."

A silence lingered for a few moments while she digested what he was saying. When he had recomposed himself, Jesa tilted her head and asked. "Then why does the Federation have a problem with the Khall'ianen, Tyne? It sounds like an innocent enough past, laudable by my standards at least."

Victor cleared his throat and did his best to look bashful. "The situation between the Federation and the Khall is similar to relations between two stubborn children. Early on, the Federation didn't want to have anything to do with the Romulans and the newly-formed Khalli government was happy being isolated. When the Borg attacked us for the first time, we tried to ask for help, but no one was willing to concede anything. So now the Federation refuses to admit the Khalli government is legitimate, and the Khalli government is too prideful to ask for help from what they consider to be a corrupt organization."

"And from misjudgment comes misunderstanding, and from misunderstanding mistrust, mistrust to hostility, hostility to enemies..." Jesa said. "If I don't have the situation too much off base."

He simply nodded. "A pretty fair description of the situation, all most of us really want is to be left alone, but so far your comrades have not obliged..."

"Hmm..." she nodded, "So where do you come into this story?"

"Well... like any other man I was young and idealistic... the Khall'ianen was out there, shining like some distant jewel, so a couple of us stole away to see if it was really true. And, well, here we are. A Starfleet Commander and a Khalli Arbiter sharing a bottle of wine."

Jesa looked at him, a thousand more questions forming in her mind, but one rose to the top of all the others. "Victor..." she began, looking at him questioningly, "Why do you tell me this... so freely?"

He folded his arms behind his head and stared at her. "What have I got to lose? I'm already dead." He picked up his glass and took a drink. "Besides, for some reason I'm comfortable around you."

She seemed distant for a moment. "One thing I learned... never to give up life until your last breath is drawn." Jesa shook her head, something else forcing its way into her consciousness.

He closed his eyes and sighed. "I've lost everyone I've ever loved, I've been a renegade and a traitor, and finally I got caught. As far as the universe is concerned, I'm dead."

Jesa reached across and touched his arm, looking at him with intensity as he opened his eyes in surprise. "Don't give up... I can't tell you why, or how, but I do understand what you're feeling right now."

He blinked, looking down at her hand and back up to her eyes, searching them for some clue of what was going on in her mind. "Tell me Commander, why do you care so much? You of all people should loathe me and delight in keeping me locked up. But you've been very... accommodating." He turned his head slightly to one side, watching her with one eye.

The commander stayed silent for a long time, trying to come up with some explanation that even sounded plausible to her own ears. She sipped the wine, and regarded him, not understanding herself. Somehow, for some reason, she identified with him, and she didn't understand why that was. "I don't... really know." then she looked up at him. Then she heard a faint buzzing, and tilted her head, freezing suddenly. "Do you hear that?" her voice was low, quiet and quite alerted. He saw her freeze and instantly followed suit, closing his eyes, just listening.

"Hmmmm......" He craned his neck, his voice suddenly dropping to a whisper. "What is that.........?"

Her eyes widened suddenly in recognition, "GET DOWN!" she yelled. Then without saying anything else she lunged at him and pulled him down onto the floor, landing on top of him just as something buzzed past them. It exploded into the far wall, throwing out a spray of shards into the nearby tables. Screams issued from the other customers, even those too far away to be injured.

Loaded: 05.14.2004