Guess Who's Coming to Dinner"
By: Gavin McBride , Chief of Intelligence , [NPC]
Teilani Dane, Chief Medical Officer, [PC]

Stardate: 58207.01 2200

In the distance it looked like a star was going nova, its brightlight highlighted teilani's face in the window. She was brushing her hair after having taken a long hot shower. The interrogation, that was what she called it and the subsequent talk with Hunter had her left with a dirty feeling.

Of course she had been wrong and no matter how long she took a shower, she could never wash it off.

She threw the brush on the couch and was ready to replicate some food when the door chime rang.

When Teilani opened the door, she saw one of her so called interrogators. It was the Chief of Intelligence. He stood there with a covered service cart. Mouthwatering smells filled the air.

"The name is Gavin McBride," he said.

The smell of roast beef, mashed potatoes, steamed veggies filled the air when the door had slided open. Teilani could feel her stomach protest, how long had it been since she had last eaten, 4 or 5 hours ago, although it seemed closely like 72 hours.

"Excuse me, what were you saying." she said a bit confuzzled looking at McBride.

"You asked me my name, I never told you," he said with a warm and seductive smile. "May I come in Doctor?"

Teilani took a step back, putting a strand of hair back behind her ear. "ummm yes sure."

McBride pushed the cart over to her table and unveiled it, "I brought dinner, if you care to...?"

Fooood her stomach was telling her. We want it now Lani nodded, "Sure." She cleared some padds and personal items from the table.

"Excellent," he said with a slight bow.

"Excuse me Sir," Lani said with a frown, but whats all this?

"I apologize for earlier, I was just doing my job," he said as laid out place mats on the table and then set two plates on them. "We had to be careful, of course."

He meticulously adjusted the position of the knife and fork next to the plates.

Next he set two stemmed glasses on the table. "You really have no idea what your Josh has been up to all these years, do you?" he said with a slight smile.

"Is this going to be another inquiry.? she asked.

"No," he said softly, "no..."

Teilani shook her head. "Like I said Sir, I haven't spoken to him in ages."

He set a candlestick in the center of the table and turned it on. A simulated flame flickered warmly. "I've come to shed some light on on the things you don't know."

She raised her eyebrows. "Oh?"

Next, McBride set a bottle of wine and several covered serving platters on the table. "You see, your brother has been a valuable asset to the Maquis for some time now."

"He has?" That made Lani even a bit more suspicious. It didn't sound like her brother. "I find that hard to believe Sir."

McBride removed the cork from the wine and filled the glasses. "...and you should know what has been going on." He handed her the glasss.

"Well.." she said as she pulled back a chair. "Then don't let me keep you from telling."

He lifted the cover off one of the dishes and passed it to Dane, "Are you familiar with the Mars underground?"

"I have heard rumours and read some on the newsbulletin but thats it."

"Well," he said raising an eyebrow as he took a sip of wine, "Your brother is a memeber of the underground... A link if you will, in chain of a vast network of people who help bring people out of the Federation, to safety."

"Sorry Mr McBride, but I find that hard to believe. Josh is the most cautious person I know. He would never ever be in the resistance."

"Please, call me Gavin," he said.

She nodded. "How do you know that then?"

"I am afraid I can't tell you everything yet," he said apologetically.

"But I can tell you this. About 3 months ago, he went dark, uhm, that means he dropped out of site," said Gavin trying to keep things in basic terms. "He has contacted us to reestablish, but there is a problem." McBride paused, "He wants to be contacted by someone he knows."

McBride paused to see if the Doctor were perceptive enough to see where this was going.

Teilani took a small morsel and put it in her mouth as she let McBride's words sink in. Having swallowed it, and darn it did taste good, she said. " So let me guess you were thinking of me?"

McBride stabbed a small vegetable with his fork and put it in his mouth. He put the fork down and smiled at Dane, dabbing the corner of his mouth with his napkin. "That's correct."

"I can't tell you any more specifics at this time," he added.

"How obvious." Teilani stated. "When will you be able to tell me more?"

"Soon," said McBride picking up the wine glass.

"How did you know that my brother was working for this railroad project?" She asked Gavin.

"Our office works closely with the incoming refugees. Unofficially, of course."

"Of course," Teilani replied. "However, I have 1 request."

McBride arched his brow inquisitively.

"Should I decide to accept I want you personally to destroy the surveillance tapes you have from me and any other evidence collected during your investigation."

He smiled and decided to humor her, "I'll see what I can do," he said with a wink.

She smiled. "You can not blame me for trying now can you?"

"Of course not." Said McBride putting the napkin on his empty plate.

Teilani smiled. "Coffee??

McBride replied with slight smirk, "Jamaican Blend, double strong double sweet?" Sure."