The Last Good Fight
Posted on Oct 14, 2014 @ 12:55pm by Ambassador Xana Bonviva
Edited on on Oct 14, 2014 @ 12:55pm
Mission: Absolute Power
“The Last Good Fight”
=/\=
Location: EARTH
Scene: Outside Papakura Stockade, New Zealand
SD: 2.141013.2347
TI: Day 1
Xana Bonviva stood outside the beige building that was protected by a force field bubble; outside that bubble (for good measure) some fairly obviously low-laying missiles aimed all around.
**It’s like they don’t want me to come,** she smirked to herself.
And just in case she mistook any of that for a welcome mat, the Marines charging up to her definitely were sealing the deal.
Some nameless grunt stepped forward. “State your business,” the Marine barked.
The Bolian/Human smiled her best smile, the same one that had charmed plenty of politicians in spite of themselves. “I’m here to see my husband.”
Clearly there was a new module in Marine boot camp that made all Marines immune to the charms of effervescent. “Denied,” the Marine barked.
In case she had suddenly lost the ability to understand Federation Standard, the azure woman noticed the weapons were being charged.
Inside of her mind a million thoughts flickered through from the practical -- (was her will up to date if this was her last moment?) -- to the mundane -- (if she was going to do an actual standoff in the middle of a muddy field in a New Zealand field in the middle of spring she should have picked more practical shoes than her black heels). Thankfully none of those thoughts actually made it out of her blue brain to her lips and instead she pointed out, “You know while I’m no longer the woman you need to salute--”
Xana ignored the sneers at that and continued on, “--I do feel the need to warn you that if you shoot me it will be on live comm.”
The Marines paused for the span of a few minutes, as if collectively absorbing this information. Suddenly the sea of bodies parted silently (weapons still charged) to let a Vulcan Marine through.
“The press won’t let you die, Ms. Bonviva. And you’re trespassing,” the Vulcan Marine told her. Unlike her, there was no color in his cheeks, despite the breeze that blew through the trees. “You will not see Commander Crichton. There is a process, and you are trying to circumvent it.”
She tilted her head as if said, “The press will let me die because it interferes with their story if they don’t. Now I don’t know what kind of coverage a has been politican will get but I figure it will get some, plus my kids being orphans because their father being held here without due process.” Xana paused for a moment. “Now. I want to see my husband.”
The Vulcan stared at her before saying. “You and what army?”
As Xana had never practiced Kolinahr, she had no need to repress to the smile. Folding her arms across her chest she said, “If it’s an army you want, then by Gods it’s an army you’ll get.”
=/\=
Scene: Colonel T’Prell’s office * Outside
TI: Day 2
“Sir.”
T’Prell looked up from the comm where he was filling out the requisite reports for the day. It was an activity that he took no pride nor pleasure in; it was merely another task to be done. “Enter,” he nodded at his subordinate.
The young Betazoid woman entered, her dark curls were all pulled back except for one that had become loose. Before T’Prell could lecture her on that, the young Marine announced, “Sir, you told us to let you know when…*she* comes back. We caught her on sensors. She’s leading a march here.”
Before T’Prell could ask a question, his superior hearing picked up something. Swiveling around in his chair he turned to the window behind him. He looked to the green hill behind Papakura Stockade and saw…
Tapping the comm he announced, “T’Prell to all Marines, we are on lockdown. Proceed to South Gate, meet the intruders, stand on Position 1 and wait for my order.”
By the time T’Prell made it out to the Marines who were coalesced just outside the south perimeter of the force field, the only sign of irritation from the Vulcan was the extra sharp breath through his nostrils. “Ms. Bonviva.”
“Colonel T’Prell,” the Bolian/Human said amiably. Ignoring the mass of humanity behind her she held up the box of pastries she said, “Biscotti? They’re homemade.”
“What is this?” he asked, through barely gritted teeth.
“My army. Although technically it only qualifies for a division I know with it only being a little over 12000 people but I figured for less than 24 hours notice that was pretty good,” Xana smiled. As the cameras whirled behind her she said, “Oh smile for the cameras, angry Vulcans are so cliche.”
“This is not legal,” T’Prell pointed out.
Xana passed back the box to John Hiram, who clearly anticipated this request and passed her a PADD. “According to the government of New Zealand we are allowed on the property outside of Papakura Stockades so long as we don’t interfere with your day-to-day activities. Additionally Secretary Martine said the same thing.”
From several rows back someone started a bonfire; then there were the hologram signs being displayed of “Freedom!” and “Due Process Now!” and “Give Peace A Chance”; in another section a chorus of an old peace song not heard for several decades began to begun to be sung.
“You’re interfering with day-to-day activities,” T’Prell replied.
“That’s your decision, not mine,” Xana replied. She hummed along to the song for the chorus before saying, “Then again I think you know what it would take to make me leave.”
T’Prell left without a word.
John Hiram passed back the box of biscotti. “Ma’am?”
“John.”
“When are you going to leave?”
Xana paused. “John, I’m an out of work politician with a large list of contacts and my family is fractured. I don’t have to leave for a long time.”
John sighed. “I was afraid of that.”
=/\=
Scene: Colonel T’Prell’s office
TI: Day 4
Bonviva’s army (as the press were now calling it) was growing in size. What started as her calling in every favor (and then some) was now truly becoming a movement --- from 12,000 it had more than quadrupled in size and was going day and night. She knew how to work the camera; the azure woman gave interviews, made sure her husband’s picture was prominently displayed.
“This is no longer about the CENTURY -- this is becoming about civil liberties!” Edgerton glared at T’Prell, “We can’t win if it’s about *that*.”
T’Prell could not just sit there; he was normally was not at liberty to receive calls from Command; certainly not at this level. It was just showing what kind of debacle this was. Standing at command he said, “Of course not, Admiral Edgerton.”
Edgerton paced the length of the room. Shaking his head he said, “It’s not you, T’Prell. I’ll deal with her. When does she get here?”
The Vulcan Colonel stiffened his spine at the implication he was out of his depth. “She gets here usually between 1000 and 1100.”
“Divert her,” Edgerton ordered him with a cold glare. “I’ll meet with her. One way or another I’ll settle this.”
=/\=
Scene: North Guard Tower - Papura Stockade
It was a tiny tower high above the ground that had two people normally not here. “Leave,” Edgerton ordered the guards. As the Marines left, the Admiral looked over at the azure woman. “What do you want?”
“I think my demands have been clear,” Xana Bonviva stated calmly. “I want my husband.”
“He’s guilty,” Edgerton smirked.
“He’s been denied his rights,” Xana shot back. “He shouldn’t still be sitting here.”
“And you’ve become a JAG?” Edgerton asked as he leaned on a console.
Placing her hands on her hips Xana stared down the Admiral. “You forget yourself; I know the rule of law. Hells, I helped write that rule of law. Don’t you dare tell me I don’t know what due process Jake is or isn’t entitled to.”
Edgerton was still implacably calm in the face of Bonviva’s overwhelming pride. “You’re very passionate about a man you were separated from for most of your marriage.”
The azure woman paused for a moment. “Yes well at first I was just looking for a six pack and a smile. Since we’re still together I might as well make the most of it,” she flippantly replied, not at all daring to reveal how much she loved her husband.
“Your drinking lead to your marriage?” Edgerton smirked.
Letting her violet eyes drift to the Admiral’s portly belly for an extended moment, she raised her eyes before saying, “Not the six pack I meant.” Giving Edgerton a look she said, “Then again, not all of us squirrel away our families.” Tilting her head to the side she asked, “So how is Alanna doing? And the baby?”
Edgerton heaved himself up at that. “Don’t you dare…”
“No I wouldn’t,” Xana said softly. “Because I don’t fuck with people’s families. Unlike others I have morals.” Glaring at him she said, “I also believe in rule of law.” Pointing out the window she said, “And so does that crowd. You want to come after me? Go ahead. But they’re not leaving until Jake does. Your boy wanted to know what army I had -- there you go, Richard. And I’ve got more coming. Now it’s your move.”
With that Xana Bonviva left the tower to go back to her army, leaving Edgerton to find “the other way” to remove Xana Bonviva.
=/\=
Location: Venice, Italy
Scene: Villa Bonviva -> Canals -> Public Parking
There is another option and you know it -- go see Michael Kane. He’d see you especially about Jake….
Xana tossed down the PADD and looked out the window. Despite her big talk to Edgerton, the azure woman knew she was stuck.
“What are you doing, Piccola?”
The woman looked up to find Erika standing in the doorway. “Reading a message from an old friend,” she admitted. “You all packed up for BAJOR?”
Erika nodded; her time on EARTH with Xana was coming to an end. Soon she’d be returning to BAJOR to the Bonviva/Davidson farm to go back to her mother. “I’m going to miss you all,” she admitted.
Opening up her arms, Xana enjoyed the rare hug from the teenager. “I’ll miss you too,” she whispered.
The teenager enjoyed the hug for the all of ten seconds, then used the opportunity to read the PADD that Xana had tossed aside. “Hey! This is about Jake. And Captain Kane,” she announced as she tried to read it.
“And now you’re spying,” Xana grinned as she tried to toss the PADD further away. Giving a look to Erika she said, “How do you know Kane? Oh that’s right you were on the ship when you all met up with Jake--”
“I knew Captain Kane before that,” Erika said. Then the teenager gave a long-winded explanation of her and her mother’s history. “How do you know Captain Kane?”
“Nothing like that,” Xana laughed. As she settled on the couch she admitted, “I was on the GATEWAY with him.”
“And Jake?” Erika asked.
“No, it was when I was married to Gene, Dahlia’s father,” Xana said. “I wasn’t--well I--you could say I wasn’t as kind as I could have been.”
“You were a butthead weren’t you?” Erika asked bluntly.
Gods love teenagers. “Watch your mouth. I was defending my husband,” Xana protested.
“Total butthead,” Erika declared.
“I can’t believe I’m having this conversation,” Xana muttered. “Go up and finish packing.”
Erika went upstairs, all the while singing “I’m right and you’re wrong”. Looking over at Angus, the azure woman asked, “I wasn’t a butthead was I?”
The dog sadly didn’t answer.
“You’re not helping,” Xana replied.
“Mom!” Dahlia called out. “My room is making strange sounds.”
Xana sighed and walked up the stairs, fully expecting to find her 9 year old protesting her bedtime. “Dahlia, I’m sure it’s fine,” she called out as Angus followed her up the stairs.
Walking down the hallway, past her own bedroom that she shared with Jake, past Ben’s room where the 4 year old was snoring into his shark blanket and past the room where Erika was currently haphazardly throwing shoes into a bag, Xana finally made it into Dahlia’s room. She found her daughter sitting up in her overly pink room (which Dahlia declared was in shades of “blush and amaranth” but all that meant even to Xana was that it hurt your eyes) and the targ was up (instead of snoring).
“Mom! The closet is popping,” Dahlia protested.
“The closet does not “pop”,” Xana sighed. “Just like last night the attic was not creaking.”
“It was,” Dahlia muttered.
Realizing the futility of this argument, the mother opened up the doors of the closet expecting to find a mountain of clothes. She found that as dresses and coats came tumbling out at her. “Really, couldn’t you hang up your things?” Xana asked.
“Mom!”
Xana paused. She didn’t hear anything but she smelled something. “Did you make popcorn tonight?”
Dahlia shook her head no before realizing her mistake. “No.”
“Erika didn’t,” Xana replied as she began to dig through the closet; Angus who was next to the mother began to do the same thing. Now with an abandon, the Bolian/Human began to throw things to find the burning smell.
As she lifted up last year’s pink coat, what had begun as a smoldering suddenly sparked up into a flame. “Dahlia! Run and get the others out of here!” Xana yelled.
Hearing her 9 year old scampering behind her to go down the hall, Xana called out, “Emergency protocols, authorization Bonviva theta seven epsilon two beta three six lambda,” the woman yelled out, silently grateful for all the emergency protections Jake had put in over the summer.
[[Authorization denied,]] the computer emotionlessly replied.
“What? On whose orders?” Bonviva yelled as she tried to smack out the fire.
[[Unknown.]]
“Fine. Bonviva to Venice Emergency Department,” she called out.
[[Authorization denied. No outgoing calls authorized,]] the computer replied.
Watching the flames jump up faster than she could beat them back, Xana turned and ran down the hall and down the stairs where she saw her kids who were huddled with the targ. “Take what you can, we’re leaving,” she ordered as she pushed them out the door.
Benito yawned, “But I’m tired --”
“Sleep on the way,” Xana said.
“Mom, why didn’t the suppression go off?” Dahlia asked as they went down the steps to the boat they kept in the back.
“I don’t know,” Xana replied as she got the kids in.
Erika was the last in the boat so she was responsible for hooking the boat. “Where are we going?”
“We need to check on Gavi and Nonno and Nana,” Xana said. “Let’s go.”
Once she realized the kids were confirmed, Xana took one last look at her childhood home, which now had flames coming out of what was her old bedroom -- now Dahlia’s room. The bright orange flames leapt out of the windows, causing the glass to shatter onto the fall grass and reach up into the night sky.
“Oh Gods,” Xana sighed. While they made their way late in the evening through the canals, Xana focused on the waterways in front of her, navigating the choppy waters and the sudden appearance of insane boat drivers.
“Piccola, I think there’s someone following us,” Erika called out.
Xana adjusted the rearview mirrors and noticed a slim white boat behind her. “Are you sure?”
Erika nodded. “They’ve been behind us for the last two turns.”
The mother had told the kids to bring what they could, but a quick feel under the seat indicated she hadn’t brought her own phaser. “Ok, I’m going to try and--”
Suddenly the unmistakable whooshing of phasers were heard in the air. “They’re shooting at us!” Dahlia yelled. “Mom! Why are they shooting at us?”
“Duck! For the love of the Gods don’t get up!” Xana yelled at her children.
“Mommy! They’re gonna hit you! You’re going to be deaded!” Benito yelled as he suddenly finally woke up and realized what was going on.
Coming out into the Laguna, Xana realized that she was more or less a sitting duck. Whirling the boat around 180 she stared at the slim boat; even with the bright lights of Venice she couldn’t fully make out the two figures except to say they both wore black and had dark hair. Gunning her boat at the same time they gunned theirs, it appeared as if the two motorboats would crash into each other in the middle of the water.
At the last minute, Xana swerved her boat to the right thereby avoiding a crash but then swerved again to the left. The sudden jerky movements caused the already rough Laguna to rock the water under the slim white boat even more, and it capsized. To drive in the point, the native Venetian circled her boat around the capsized boat and the overturned people to insure that they would stay under.
Then she kept driving into the night towards the public docking station. Once they got there, Xana killed the motor, tied up the boat to the nearest post. “Come on,” she said in a shaky voice to her kids. “We have a long way to run to the SOLSTICE,” she said referring to her personal craft.
The kids looked up and with dazed eyes they shook off the water and fear. “Mom, why are we running?” Dahlia asked. “Isn’t it over?”
“No, it’s not. I’m sorry,” Xana said softly.
“I didn’t bring shoes,” Benito pointed out.
Xana looked down at her son; he was still in his pajamas. “Ok, we’ll do our best but we still have to run.”
“I can do it, I”m super fast,” Benito promised.
“Bene,” she smiled, trying not to cry.
With that Xana , her children, the dog and targ went running through the streets; when it got too much for Benito, the mother scooped him up and they kept running past people who stared openly at the strange commotion. Finally when they made it to the public craft parking, Xana made it past Security to her purple and silver boomerang Bolian craft. Shuttling everyone in; she made sure everyone was in comfortably (or as much so as they were going to be) before opening up a comm line.
It was her father who got on first. {{Xana! We were worried about you. Are the kids ok?}}
“We’re leaving,” Xana said without preamble. “Please call the emergency department. The villa is on fire and my call wouldn’t go through. Send Gavi to the SOLSTICE.”
As Marcus Bonviva yelled for Yanthe to call the Emergency Department on another line, it took several more minutes before everyone ascertained that the minors with Xana was fine. Finally Gavi got on the line. {{Hey Mom,}} he said softly. {{I’m glad you’re ok.}}
“I’ll be better when you’re with me,” Xana said.
Gavi paused, rubbing the back of his neck. {{I can’t,}} he said. When Xana said nothing he said, {{I’ll be safe here. But I’ve never safe in space, and I can’t go back. Please don’t make me.}}
Tears formed in the corners of her eyes, and it was a struggle for a normally eloquent woman to form words. Silently she put her hand over her heart and then onto the screen while her son did the same.
After a few moments the screen blacked out and Xana started up the B-IX SOLSTICE.
[[THIS IS THE VENETIAN AIR AUTHORITY ON BEHALF OF EARTH. PLEASE ENTER IN YOUR DESTINATION.]]
Not trusting if she was being monitored she typed in: BARZAN II.
Erika, her little spy, was reading over shoulder, “What’s on BARZAN II?”
“Not a clue, but it’s not where we’re going either,” Xana replied once they got clearance. “I’ll update the flight log once we’re mid-flight.”
=/\=
Location: USS PHOENIX
Scene: Bridge
TI: Sixteen hours later
Commander Aerdan Jos was standing on the Bridge. Tonight was not going as anticipated - it was the second night of the PHOENIX and they were still dry-docked. On Starbase 3; going nowhere; still counting stardust near TELLAR PRIME.
It was less than exciting.
“We’re being hailed,” the comm officer said.
“Hailed?” Jos said. “By whom?” he asked his antennae almost twisting. They were still in *dry dock*.
“The readings of the craft are the B-IX SOLSTICE. Bolian craft, outfitted with Federation Ambassadorial and Government retrofittings. I’m reading 6 lifeforms - 4 Humanoid and 2 other,” the officer explained.
“We’re being hailed in dry dock,” Commander Jos muttered.
“I’m sure stranger things have happened,” the comm officer pointed out.
Jos barely resisted the urge to say “That’s my line”; instead he straightened out his tunic as he stood up. “Open the comm.”
A clearly harried azure woman with striking violet eyes stared back at him. “Secretary Bonviva,” Commander Jos exhaled clearly surprised.
Before Xana could reply a chorus of kids in the background could be heard saying:
[[I’ve got to use the potty!]]
[[Get off me! I don’t want your feet on me - they stink!]]
[[That’s my chair. I’m hungry, when are we eating?]]
Holding up a finger to the comm screen, Xana whirled around in her chair to the off-screen offspring, {{So help you all, I will turn this spacecraft around.}} Once the kids got settled, Xana Bonviva turned back to the screen, {{Hello, Commander Jos, I believe it is. May we please have permission to dock?}}
=/\=
NRPG: And here we are! Xana and her offspring (minus Gavi who will be staying on EARTH for the time being).
=/\=
Sarah Albertini-Bond
as
Xana Bonviva
