The Auction House - Gate Crashers (Part 3)

Posted on 10/27/2020 @ 6:32pm by Captain Cian D'Anvers & Lieutenant JG Niun & Master Chief Petty Officer Henri Boudreaux & Lieutenant JG Larissa Syndel
Edited on on 10/27/2020 @ 6:32pm

Mission: S2E2: The Auction House
Location: Just Outside Sensor Range, Auction House Station
Timeline: Day 41 at 1600

Continued From The Auction House: Gate Crashers (Part 2)

[And Back to the Away Team Above]

Lieutenant Jodon Joral eased his way up behind Niun, the intelligence officer. He did not want to startle the man so he opted to gently alert him "Approaching from behind" he said in a hushed tone. Jodon had made note of the cargo lift. "Have you noticed anything of interest? Do you suspect we can take those down to the lower decks?" inquired the First Officer.

"The one on the right," Niun said softly. "They brought up several loads but no people. Its been quiet since. I'm guessing that we can take that down. From what's been coming up, that shielded area is where they are storing whatever it is they are selling." He turned toward the first officer as he added, "probably going to be guarded though."

"Selling what," replied Jodon. It was not a question so much as a pondering. "I'd wager it a possibility that slaves are on the items list. We need to get down to that shielded area" added the XO.

The First Officer looked at Niun. "Your expertise will come in handy" noted Jodon Joral. "Lae'Or and Gallagher, we are going to try to get down to the shielded areas, snoop around, and hopefully we will find something 'valuable' to merit more of a response."

Niun nodded. "It looks to be quiet now. As long as we're all dressed as civilians, we can take a shot at using the lift ... or maybe find a nearby Jeffries tube. Either way, its a risk since we don't know where a Jeffries tube would be."

Kiernan stood there, right hand embedded in his pocket, his left holding his tricorder. The scanning device was still doing passive scans of the area, collecting ongoing data that would be disseminated once they were back on board. The area around them was quiet, except for the hushed voices of the executive officer and the intelligence officer. He didn't have anything to add to the conversation - at least not yet - so he just stood by. He did, however, think the lift was the wisest of the two options. They had no idea where the jeffries tubes, or the equivalent, was for this station. Not to mention, they didn't have a reliable map of the place. A lift was going to either go up or down, left or right, and would not get lost so easily. Whereas, crawling around a jefferies tube could lead you to crawling around for hours, in circles.

Meanwhile, In the Vault - Henri

Henri had settled on the floor, sitting cross-legged in the center of the room, waiting and remembering. His Uncle's place on the bayou to celebrate his grandmere's birthday. A real fais do do with everyone bringing food. His favorite was the home-made Boudin though he and the cousins were all trying to sneak a sip of his uncle's brew. There were lights strung up with laughter and food all done to a Zydeco beat. All that teasing and bad jokes. One of the older cousins had been caught trying to sneak the home brew into the sweet tea and ended up peeling potatoes. Everyone danced and later, wrapped in a warm shawl, his Nanny had spoken of the old days, told stories under the stars.

I miss her, he thought. Didn't she die that winter? Alone in her little house? I remember how sad Ma was. Saying how awful it would be, to die alone like that. I couldn't imagine back then what it would be like to die and I'd never been alone in my whole eleven years of life. He watched the first of the mist seep out of the floor vents and automatically held his breath, not that it would do much good. The mist began to fill the room and he felt his eyes star to burn. You were right. It's a terrible way to die.

[And Back to the Away Team Above]

Lae'Or came up next, her other security people following like ducklings. They weren't holding themselves as stiffly now, but the atmosphere was still tense. She heard the Intel officer's words. "Wise... We should be good to go..." She eyed the area in front of them. "Lieutenant, I think I'd better take point. I... Liberated a similar facility when I was first out of the Academy."

Lieutenant Joral nodded. "Of course, Lieutenant," replied the XO a slight smile. "As Security Chief I would want you to take point in a potentially hostile situation. Proceed, Lieutenant," he gestured at her. Protocol was protocol and the Bajoran's experience would be useful.

Kiernan stood next to the executive officer, the other man only slightly taller than he. No doubt, to some the two looked like a pair of children who just happen to be Starfleet officers. He didn't have much to do but just listen and take in his surroundings. He didn't know these officers that well as of yet, none had really said more than two words to him in the few days he had been on board. Yet, he trusted them, and he trusted them because they wore the same uniform and represented the same ideals as he did.

[Meanwhile in the vaults - Larissa]

The door opened with a slight squeal and five men entered, everyone looked up at the men fearfully. One of them remained at the doorway while the others began to force the women to their feet and chain them up. Marja and Leani were first, they stood there silent and still, already feeling resigned to their fates, Tanni kicked and screamed as they pulled her up, it took three of them to hold her still enough to fasten the chains around her.

"Where are they taking us?" Larissa quietly asked Aydra.

One of the guards turned in their direction and Aydra shrugged and shook her head. Once they were properly chained, the guards led them out of the holding cell down a long corridor, past other, empty cells, to a brightly lit central area where there were several doors, all marked in Orion, with names, if one could understand, like 'preparation area - male' and 'preparation area - female'. The male guards remained at the door while female guards pushed them toward a oversized sonic shower.

Two female guards, armed and ready to fire, watched while a second pair of female guards unchained and stripped them all. Then all of the guards left, the door was locked, and the sonic shower turned on.

[And Back to the Away Team Above]

Tahlin gestured to her team. "Form up... Let's go... Quietly, now. Lieutenant,"--she turned to the Intelligence officer--"any idea how long we've got between transfers? How long do they take?"

"There were three transfers, spaced as long as it took to get the turbolift unloaded, and then nothing," Niun answered. "No guards present at the moment so my guess is, we've got a window. No idea how long it will be."

"Right... Lets get going." Tahlin tapped her commbadge. "Lae'Or to Mendyar... Be advised, we are proceeded down through the station. Stand by, ready with transport enhancer. Out."

She moved stealthily down the corridor and into the open area... Nothing... She gestured the others forward. Gaining the lift doors, she turned to the intelligence officer. "Mind cracking this open for us, preferably non-violently?"

If there was one thing that could be said of Niun, it was that he came prepared. Every bit of training he had had in his life had demanded that of him. He was the arrow launched from the bow and once launched, on his own to achieve his goal. It took him a minute to pop the panel, figure out the mechanism, and short circuit the rudimentary security. This was an old station, ancient by Federation standards, and rudimentary was about the best that could be expected.

Smiling approvingly at the work, Tahlin moved her team into the lift. It was functional, if a bit dim and dank. She wrinkled her nose. "Smells like a vole nest in here..." Turning to the control pannel, she said to Joral, "Looks like this is on a fixed run--what do you think, do we trigger it?"

"We are not going to learn anything by staying put and waiting," replied Jodon. "We trigger it and we prepare for what's to come" added the First Officer with a small nod. "It has a sort of farm scent to it."

Kiernan had smelt it as well. The odor was that you'd smell coming from a barn, but yet there was something slightly off about it. The smell had a rancid mixture to it and it made his stomach do a couple of flips. The fact that they were going to trigger this lift didn't phase him at all, he was a geologist, he had his fair share of near misses while getting samples. He didn't have a fear or heights or things that went fast -I'm on a starship that easily surpasses warp nine, with only articial gravity and inertial dampners keeping me from becoming a human stain on the bulkhead - he mused to himself.

Following the First Officer's lead, they entered the turbolift with Niun and Hughes in front. The lift shot down one floor and stopped, opening on a wide, T-shaped area with the lift on one end of the "T" and a corridor that led off down the other end to the North. To Niun's sensitive hearing, it was clear that there were beings here in distress. Feminine. Soft moans and rough coughs punctuated the quiet and ran in counterpoint to the occasional bursts of conversation. Orion from the sound of it.

They stepped out and to the sides, to allow the others to move. Niun crept forward to the edge of a short wall on the left and peered around the edge. Froze and signaled to the team. Two guards had opened a door at the end of a short corridor and a group of oddly dressed women, chained together were shuffling out, with a second set of guards at the rear. He closed his eyes, remembering the files he'd read on the colonists, picturing their faces in his mind, and nodded to himself then returned to the group and reported what he had seen in a low, fast whisper.

"Right..." Tahlin poked her head out around the corner, just long enough to get a sight. "Mac'Kensey, you and me... Stun the two guards at the rear... Williams, Lieutenant,"--she turned to the Intelligence chief--"You have the leaders... One, two... Now!"

Tahlin, Williams, Niun and Mac'Kensey fired, taking the guards down with stun bursts. Before they could move forward and secure the prisoners however, an alarm sounded, harsh and blatting.

'Typical', thought Tahlin. "Move, move!" she verbalized to the women. "We're Starfleet, here to help."

"Wait," Niun said, his habitual calm lost for a moment as he took a closer look at the Orion in the middle of the chain, "isn't she one of ours?" He found a key to the chains on one of the guards and began unhooking them so that they could move more freely. As they were freed, the women nodded their thanks though one kept tugging on the edge of her skimpy covering. Niun removed his jacket and handed to her and she pulled it on hastily. Not as good as actual clothes but it covered up more and she smiled her gratitude.

Larissa had jumped in surprise when the phaser fire took out the guards at both ends and the away team burst from cover. "Boy am to glad to see you." She told them as Niun undid her chains. "I told you my friends would be here." She said to the women.

Lieutenant Jodon Joral assessed the situation as he examined the woman with his eyes. "I am looking forward to hearing about this. This is going to make for an interesting mission report to the Captain" added the First Officer. "Thank you, Niun" J.J. said to the intelligence officer with a small nod.

"It certainly will be Lieutenant." Larissa told Jodon, "Chief Boudreaux is still here somewhere, we were separated."

Jodon breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm glad you got placed with Chief Boudreaux. He's fairly orthodox and has good wits about him. We have a better chance of finding than if you had been paired with someone more reckless and laissez-faire."

Kiernan allowed the briefest of smiles to cross his lips as he saw the Orion lieutenant. He was relieved she was okay and the quick glance down at his tricorder had confirmed in as much.

"Its good to see you're all right, Lieutenant Syndel... I hate to break up this happy reunion, but we need to get moving... If I know Orions, there's a good chance the chief won't be alive much longer if we don't hurry, much less the colonists." Tahlin was grimly determined. "Syndel, how good are you with a phaser?"

"Good enough." Larissa replied. She went to one of the stunned guards and stripped him of his shirt, she quickly put the long and baggy shirt over top of her poncho giving her a little more coverage, she'd have took more but Tahlin seems insistent on them moving out soon.

"Take this." The Bajoran tossed a spare phaser to her. "Get these colonists up that lift and over to Ensign Mendyar and the Counselor--they'll beam you out."

With the element of surprise now lost, Tahlin tapped her commbadge. "Lae'Or to Crazy Horse. We've found the colonists, at least some of them, and Lieutenant Syndel. I recommend any backup we've got coming to hurry--we've set off an alarm. We're proceeding--"

A long, shrill blast resounded down the corridor. Tahlin felt a flash of heat and something slam into her chest. She fell, crying out in pain. She fought through the pain, finding a hole just below her breastbone. "Prophets... Damn those Orion Pagh-wraith Cardassian-sucking scum!"

To Be Continued

A Post by

Lieutenant Jodon Joral
First Officer
USS Crazy Horse

Lieutenant JG Niun
Intelligence Officer
USS Crazy Horse

Lieutenant Kiernan Gallagher VII, Ph.D.
Chief Science Officer
USS Crazy Horse

MCPO Henri Boudreaux
Security Investigations Officer
USS Crazy Horse

Lieutenant JG Lae'Or Tahlin
Chief of Security
USS Crazy Horse

Lieutenant JG Larissa Syndel
Chief of Operations
USS Crazy Horse