Reasonable Belief is in the Subtext (Part 13)

Posted on Sun Nov 2nd, 2025 @ 6:50pm by Lieutenant Jean-Baptiste Dorsainvil & Commander Irene Seya
Edited on on Sun Nov 2nd, 2025 @ 11:14pm

1,109 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: How to See in the Dark
Location: City of Lorna, Barisa Prime
Timeline: MD 02, 1730 Hours

He turned back to the screen, Brionna had vanished from the frame. The man in the silver shirt remained in the dining room, his hand resting on the table beside the black wafer. Kaurel had returned from escorting Zharia to her room and now lingered near the threshold, her expression unreadable. For a moment, JB thought she might look at their camera, but she didn't.

'Daddy' had removed a palm-sized, rectangular device from his inner breast pocket and leaned forward to scan the currency wafer. A bluish light was emitted from the bottom and flashed over the code on the wafer. it beeped three times.

"I don't carry hard currency," the man in the silver shirt said, still smirking. "But that chit is as good as latinum."

'Daddy' lifted his head, severe eyes looking from Kaurel and then back to the the buyer, his eyes full of suspicion. He lifted a hand and pointed a menacing finger at the silver-fringed stranger. "She's not yours until I verify those funds." He then stood and walked into the adjoining room--out of view.

JB returned his attention to the screen for a moment, seeing Kaurel's lips moving but no sound coming through the feed. With a note of disgust in his voice, he exclaimed, "Fout tonè!" ("Fucking shit!") He ran a hand through his close-cut black hair and turned back to the feed. "Ng, where is that audio?"

Shaking his head, the Asian security officer punched in a series of commands on the console, hoping to find a solution. "I'm sorry, JB," he said apologetically and with a half-shrug, "the audio signal is cutting out intermittently."

"Well, we need to know what she's saying."

The Bajoran officer behind them piped in, forcing both JB and Irene to turn. "There is another audio feed in the adjacent corridor. I might be able to boost the signal."

After a few hopeful moments, he snapped his fingers high above his head, hoping to grab Lieutenant Ng's attention. "Lieutenant," he said excitedly, "try line eleven. I've got a signal there."

Within seconds, they had patched through a distant audio feed from the corridor. The sensitivity was clearly cranked as high as it could go with the amount of static on the line. JB could make out voices but they were deep and full-throated, the words unclear.

"... if she's pure. I require assurances..." came the voice of the buyer.

"... never touched. We keep"--the audio feed became garbled with the sound of footsteps which sounded more like rolling thunder due to the sensitivity--"high value."

JB shook his head sadly. Even though he considered himself a former Intelligence analyst with no experience in law enforcement or counseling, he knew Kaurel and the buyer were engaged in a discussion about the girls' virginity and how the price would have been lower had they been previously... touched. It was disgusting and he found himself gripping the sides of his vest tightly.

Ng turned to them both. "I have the code on that wafer. It's a live transfer--six thousand credits. Routing through a merchant shell on Tandalux-Seven."

"Mark it," JB ordered, tightening the vest. "Lock the ID, bounce it to legal. Every hop, every name. If they get away, we need to know where to find them."

Turning back to his screen, Ng couldn't help but smile at his own persistence in identifying that code. "You've got it."

The comm opened.

[This is Starbase 773 operations control. We have received orders for three Starfighter elements to deploy.]

"Starbase 773, we have a covert operation, high priority. Expecting runners. I need them on standby for immediate departure. Sending you security protocols now." Irene casually stopped by a terminal to quickly pass along her clearance, and mission priority protocols without missing a beat.

The Klingon security officer turned to Irene. "Commander," he barked, "The seller has activated a communication device that is pinging to a storage facility on the north side of the city in the warehouse district. Someone there is receiving an encrypted transmission."

"Alright, let's get one of our elements to get some locks on what's in that facility," Irene nodded. "Do we have another SWAT ready to roll?"

Krin turned his head and gave the Vulcan hybrid a curt nod. "Alpha and Beta are on the premises and prepared for transport. Gamma Team is on standby but I'll have planetside operations deploy them to that facility, ma'am." Krin had come to know Irene over the past two days and had decided he'd rather remain on her good side.

"That storage facility," JB said, placing a hand on Ng's shoulder, "can we see what's inside?"

"It's going to take a few minutes to get out there, early read gives us lifesigns, but I can't say much more than that," Ng continued to navigate the controls furiously as he received more data. "We probably can't get eyes inside. Not if we're doing this tonight. Best we can do is sensor readings, I don't know if it will be enough for a warrant."

"We won't need one if we're operating under exigent circumstances. I have a reasonable belief that there is someone inside whose life might be in danger, and exigency certainly exists given what we know," Irene stated confidently. "We secure what we need to in order to make sure everyone inside is safe, we don't search any more thoroughly than that until after we're clear and there will be plenty of time for warrants."

"JB?" Irene looked at the junior officer to see if he had any objections.

"You're pushing against open doors," he replied calmly, not blinking. "If we're doing this, I'd like to be with Gamma Team at that storage facility."

"Alright, then go," Irene nodded. "Just try not to get your ass kicked this time. Watch your cover." The words came out protective, motherly even. It reminded JB that even though they looked roughly the same age, he was likely working with someone much older.

JB nodded his understanding and tapped his combadge. "Dorsainvil to Planetside Operations."

[Go ahead, Lieutenant,] came the voice of a woman.

"Please lock on to my signal and transport me to directly to Gamma Team's location, operational authorization through Commander Seya."

[Verified. Standby for transport.]

Jean-Baptiste's form shimmered away into nothingness leaving Irene and the surveillance team.

"I guess I'm staying here for now. Make sure someone is ready to greet those girls," Irene ordered. "I want them out of there as soon as SWAT is ready to take the warehouse. Sooner if we need to. I don't want them leaving that house unless it's with us."

~TBC~

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