"I must say, that's not exactly the sort of story I was expecting," said Vicki Vega. She was packing away the last of her recording equipment into a suitcase, and the expression on her face wasn't the happiest one in the world, but she did her best to maintain her polite smile. The illusionary surroundings had resumed their original log cabin appearance.
Garek shrugged. "Sorry the two of us aren't more depraved," he said, but the tone of his voice and the good-natured smile on his lips were completely unsympathetic to the tri-Dee reporter's disappointment. Kim walked up to stand beside her husband and he placed his arm around his wife's waist.
"Maybe you could try the Vedala," suggested Kim with a twinkle in her eye. "I hear they're real party animals."
Vicki Vega paused her packing just long enough to favor Kim with a thoroughly snide smirk. "Maybe I'll go look up Thomas Riker," she said. "He's been hiding long enough. The people of the Federation have a right to know what ever became of one of the Dominion War's most infamous names. Being locked up in a Cardassian death camp for years surrounded by murderers and god-knows-what-else has got to be worth a story or two." She picked up her suitcase and started for the front door.
Garek and Kim followed. "Well, I'm afraid we're going to have to disappoint you again, Miss Vega," said Garek. "You see, we would never have told you the story if Thomas Riker was still on Ba'ku. No, he left there some time ago. He's quite safe from unwanted intrusions. We did promise him, after all."
"Of course," replied Vicki Vega with a heavy sigh. "I guess I'm not really surprised. It's morals like yours that are going to put me out of business."
"Here's hoping," replied Garek brightly. He opened the front door for his guest. The fresh mountain ambiance poured in and assaulted their senses with an overload of sights, smells and sounds. "Well, goodbye."
"The least we can do is speed you home," interjected Kim. "It's two thousand miles back to Serenity City from our little pretend cabin in the mountains. Heckuva long flight." She snapped her fingers in Vicki Vega's face, and the star FNN reporter vanished in a brilliant flash of white light.
Garek closed the cabin's front door and turned to his wife. "You didn't really care about her long flight back home, did you." It was a statement of fact, not a question.
Kim smiled impishly. "I just wanted to get rid of her."
Garek considered his wife's face a moment, then said, "You didn't send her to Serenity City, did you?"
Kim's impish grin grew wider. "No."
Garek rolled his eyes and smiled. "I'm not even going to ask," he said.
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