Worth the Price, Part 1

Posted on Mon Jun 30th, 2025 @ 9:49pm by Ensign Dani Harper & Lieutenant Xalanth & Lieutenant Ryan Keel & Lieutenant JG Jean-Baptiste Dorsainvil & Lieutenant JG Thivi & Josef Forstinger & Lieutenant JG Fulvia & Civilian Tyson Miller
Edited on on Sat Jul 5th, 2025 @ 6:21am

1,671 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Bombs or Bombshells
Location: Outskirts of Nowhere, Freecloud
Timeline: MD 002: The day after Clue Hunting / In Too Deep, 1130 hours

---

The heat was the kind that clung.

Not the sticky, wet kind--no, this was dry and slow and mean, like a hand that never quite let go of the back of your neck. The rear lot behind the building was cracked wide open, old concrete splitting in a spiderweb of faded scorch marks and weeds that were too hearty and stubborn to just die. A chain-link fence leaned drunkenly in the distance. Somewhere nearby, a bird let out a hoarse, rattling cry--like it had flown too far and regretted it.

Zaygh stood with his back to the wall, one boot heel propped behind him, arms folded and eyes on the alley mouth. No shade. No breeze. His armour had started soaking in the heat like a piping hot griddle.

"You know, he's gonna be late," he muttered, not so much to anyone as to the open air, but loud enough for Raez and the boss to hear. "They're always late when they want you to sweat."

He let his gaze drift sideways--long enough to take in the line of Raez's back beneath the armour. She was watching all angles--checking their flank.

Zaygh studied her more closely. He loved how she moved like a soldier--sharp and clean--but there was something else there too, something in the way her hips shifted when she turned, in the length of her legs braced wide for balance. He wondered what she looked like under the gear, stripped of that hard-edged glare and the smell of ozone and sweat. He wasn't stupid, though. Their boss didn't tolerate mixing business with anything soft, and Raez wasn't the type to share her bed with someone who answered to the same orders. Still, a man could look. Carefully and quietly. Once in a while.

"You have to put it out of your mind," Raez said dryly. "You'll slow time down talking like that."

The boss stood a few meters off, bigger than either of them and twice as still. It was the kind of stillness that Zaygh attributed to snakes--a coiled patience, not peace.

The Nausicaan seller swallowed hard. The amount of drink he'd had last night and this heat was killing him. Still, hopefully, this whole mess would be over soon, and they'd be able to get off this rock

Across the way on one of the taller buildings in the area, lay Fulvia a Tr100 trained on the gang who were causing them such. Clad in one of the standard inel armoured jumpsuits, the Nova Roman had been there for hours already, keeping an overwatch on the gang. They weren't losing them a second time.

She swallowed. This heat was something. What she'd give for a cold drink and a dip in the pool with her sister wives and husband. All that can come later, she thought, steadying her aim.

* * *

Dani and Adoran arrived at the rendezvous point at precisely 1200 hours, materializing within view of the Nausicaan seller from the night before. Eden kept a close watch on the subdermal transponders from their shuttle nearby.

Dani's red hair was pulled up into a high and sleek ponytail, the leather detailing in her clothes not appropriate for the heat, but she gave no indication that she minded as she walked toward the Nausicaan with a newfound force. It was on her to pull this off today, if they didn't believe she and Adoran had money and power, this would sour quickly. She knew the mission had failed once before and she didn't want to let Starfleet down.

She narrowed her eyes as she looked at the Nausicaan shuttle and the two guards standing watch over it. Their scans told them there were four Nausicaans here in the immediate area, but they were known to be traveling in unmarked ships and in larger numbers.

"Where is everyone else?" Dani asked as she approached. She let her hand rest gently on the hilt of her sword. A stance that Fulvia had shown her to use to indicate that she was on her guard without being too aggressive.

From inside the shuttle, a gruff voice could be heard. "Where's my money?" While the speaker was not visible, the sound of the voice indicated that the individual was both in a foul mood, and not someone who should be trifled with.

"I've only heard rumors about how much this... package might be worth..." Dani turned to her Bolian counterpart, but in good faith, we've brought something to show you we are serious."

"Adoran?" Dani gestured with her head toward the case he was carrying.

Trass smiled and nodded, sticking to his boy-done good persona. Slowly, and carefully, he opened the case he was holding, and flipped it around to show the sweating, armoured crew opposite its contents. The gold-pressed latinum shone in the sun, it's unique luster enticing and almost refreshing in the heat.

'All in order, I presume,' Trass smiled, feeling the sweat begin to trickle down his back. It was uncomfortable, but thankfully wouldn't smell unpleasant to the humans around him.

"Yeah, it's all in order," the seller replied as he eyed the platinum greedily. "In fact, we also found a freebie to sweeten the deal."

Zaygh watched the latinum gleam like a distant oasis, his tongue running over his teeth behind the faceplate of his helmet. He felt a stab of something close to pride when the seller didn't flinch at the heat or the tension--only leaning forward slightly, his fingers twitching as though he might snatch the case and bolt if he thought he could outrun the pair. He probably couldn't.

"Why don't we move it inside, boss?" Zaygh snapped, gesturing toward the shuttle's lowered ramp. His voice was clipped, if a little bored, but his eyes stayed sharp on Dani's hand resting at her sword hilt.

The seller's gaze drifted toward Zaygh and he gave a sharp jerk of his chin to his own guards. They stepped back first, forming a tight half-circle at the ramp's apron. He tapped a control pad, causing the ramp to extend more fully and lock into place with a metallic hiss.

"Come on, then," the seller barked, his impatience curling around every word. He turned and lumbered up the ramp.

Inside, the air was marginally cooler, but stale. A single corridor split-off toward a broad cargo hold fitted with industrial shipping clamps and crates stacked haphazardly along the walls. At the center sat a single reinforced container--tall enough to hold a standing figure, its surface marked by scuffs and dented edges from rough handling.

Zaygh slipped in behind them, the heavy footfalls of his boots echoing in the hollow space. He fell into position near the container, one arm crossed over his chest, the other draped loosely by his side. His visor tilted slightly, betraying the flicker of curiosity even if his expression stayed hidden.

"That's it," the seller grunted, slapping the side of the container with his flat palm. "The prize. Take a good look."

He keyed in a short code on the panel embedded in the side, and with a low mechanical groan, the container's front slid open.

Dani recognized that it was a cryogenic chamber right away, though she would need to inspect it to know more, and crawling inside the shipping container seemed like a bad idea.

"Alright, now we're getting somewhere. But who - or should I say, what is in there that is going help me?" Dani challenged. "And you've got another thing coming, if you think I'm walking in there, while we're in your ship, outnumbered."

She waved her hand. "Bring it out. I want to scan it. That's acceptable, no?"

Zaygh's eyes darted to the boss, looking for approbation. He made note of Raez at the corridor entrance, quietly moving to cover and keeping her rifle lowered by ready.

The seller pointed at the crate. "Bring it out for them."

Zaygh rolled his shoulders once, a ripple of tension working its way through the armour plates.

He strode forward, heavy boots thumping against the metal deck, and set both gloved hands on the sides of the cryo container. It shifted under his grip with a reluctant groan.

"Easy now," he muttered in his own dialect, more to the container than to anyone else. With a small pivot of his hips, he maneuvered it clear of its clamps, the chamber sliding forward on recessed rollers.

As he inched it toward the open space near Dani and Trass, his helmet turned fractionally, tracking Raez near the corridor entrance. He didn't need to see her face to know she was ready--she always was.

Stopping just short of them, Zaygh set his boot behind the container, bracing it. His gloves hand came to rest on the top edge like he was steadying a restless farm animal.

"Here", he said, giving Dani a curt nod. "Close enough for your scan. Don't take all day."

Throwing a doubtful look in Dani's direction, the Bolian drew out a tricorder from a backpocket and flashed a smile at Zaygh as he set about what they agreed upon. Slapping the device a few times - it wasn't Starfleet spec after all - he ran the tricorder in front of the container, confirming the contents.

Uncertainty crept into the glance he flicked at Zaygh, before he turned back to Dani to show her what his tricorder was showing him. 'Mind confirming?' he asked in a low voice, not quite able to believe what he had read off.

Dani took a look at the readings and narrowed her eyes. Human. This was infinitely more complicated than than she had anticipated. Her mind began to work through potential options. Whatever happened, they could not let the Nausicaans leave with this person in their possession.

"I'm interested," Dani stated nodded slowly. "Now, you mentioned something about a freebie? I don't know if that's necessary, but we are curious."

Dam, what have these creeps gotten hold of Fulvia thought to herself from her position.

~tbc~

 

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