{Snip}
As Ryan watched he most definitely got the feeling that Tyrus was about to get
into trouble...
Ryan looked at the two men with the grocer and let his cortical chip scan them
to run their faces through Starfleet's facial recognition database.
Facial recognition was not helpful. They were not in the database. One, the
bigger of the two, was Ramesar. The smaller was Bajoran. The Ramesar was tall,
in incredible shape. He had a put together, squared away look that led Ryan to
believe he was elite military. Or at least was up until recently. He did not
have the smooth edges of an operator or a merc that was in the business for
very long. The Bajoran... was just a local thug for hire.
He moved slowly toward Mr. Naraal, keeping his eye on the grocer and the two
men with him, while trying to not look like he was keeping his eye on them.
"Looks like your grocer friend isn't worried about paying his bills," Ryan said
lightly, with an amused smile. "Patrick Ryan," he said, offering his hand to
Naraal. "I was just out on my morning run and noticed you running, too. Are you
done, or were you planning on running more? If you are, would you mind if I
tagged along? I don't know this area well and I'd hate to get lost."
"I would love to. Running with company is always better than running alone.
However, my friend Sal, sells the best fruit and would be great to end our run
with. It won't take but a minute to get the fruit, after these fellas bug
off.", Tyrus answered taking the hand that was offered. The hand shake was
firm, and lingered just barely a moment longer than was necessary. Tyrus was
unsure how to read Ryan's arrival.
Naraal was focused on Ryan, and did not see the Ramesar tense up or the Bajoran
put his right hand into his vest.
Ryan again moved to keep himself between Naraal and the two men. "Wouldn't it
be better to come back here later, then?" he asked, "rather than carry the
fruit with us? We'll come back by this way."
"It probably would, but I want to get first pick."
Another figure came around the corner about a block away. She was walking at a
slow, yet purposeful pace. Her path was from the east, so the morning sun made
it difficult if not impossible to tell anything about her
{response}
