In Pursuit of Pergium (Part 2)

Posted on 10/15/2020 @ 4:03pm by Master Chief Petty Officer Henri Boudreaux & Lieutenant JG Larissa Syndel
Edited on on 10/16/2020 @ 10:42am

Mission: S2E2: The Auction House
Location: Orion Freighter
Timeline: Day 41 at 1300

[Cockpit, the Orion Freighter]

"I think we should sell her." Makar said as he looked at the camera feed of their holding cell where the stunned form of Larissa lay. "She's looks real good, I reckon we could make a tidy profit off her. Especially if Argen is at the house."

Harrad, tall, muscular and never having been blessed with an overabundance of intelligence, nodded thoughtfully. He had a sort of street sense that kept him out of trouble for the most part and lead him, now and again, to interesting deals. Like that this one. "Sell the pair," he said, his voice, a deep rumble within a broad chest. "Them is Starfleet officers. And the pair will fetch a pretty price."

"The other one is a bit old," Makar motioned to Henri who lay beside Larissa equalley stunned. "might be better offering him to Mateo, he's always after more labourers."

"Maybe," Harrad said, he ran his thick fingers should a shock of dark hair, and slanted a look at Makar. "I'm thinking it would be best to take them in. Let the boss decide. He don't like it much when we get ... creative."

"Maybe, but this was our capture, we might get lucky and he'll let us do what we want with them." Makar grinned at the thought. "After hauling pergium for ages we could all use some fun."

"Maybe," Harrad offered up in a mournful tone, "we could get our hands on some Romulan Ale. Its been ages since we got that last batch."

Makar hummed. "I've a little saurian brandy left, not a lot but enough to toast a hopefully very profitable capture, what do you say?"

"Sounds good," Harrad said. He slid into the pilot's seat of the aging freighter. One of several available, it also happened to be his favorite. People looked at her and saw nothing special but then, that's the way she was built. Nothing special on the outside, power to spare on the inside. Worn in places and definitely showing her age, she was a ship that wouldn't let a guy down. Harrad's large hands on her controls showed the respect he felt as her pilot. "While you're doing that, I'll set course for the Auction."

[Back in the hold on the Orion Freighter]

Some time after the two men had left Larissa slowly came to her senses; the effects of a stun setting shot finally wearing off. Groggily she shuffled herself to the wall of the small room and sat herself up, seeing Henri laying nearby she shuffled along the wall till she could reach hm. "Chief," She called shaking him slightly. "Henri, you there?"

He'd been fighting when he took the full blast of the stun because he'd never be one to give up that easily. He dropped and hit something hard; evidence of that was the long, wicked gash on his head and the steady trickle of blood. Pain lanced through his head as she shook him and he found himself abandoning decorum in favor of a rough grunt. "Stop that, would you," he growled as he felt for his weapons, obvious and hidden, and his combadge. None of which were present. I hate smart bad guys, he thought as he attempted to sit up and fell back at once. Maybe rest a minute. He reached up to touch the edge of the pain and his hand came away, wet with blood. "Must have hit something on the way down."

"Sure looks like it. Anywhere else hurt?" Larissa asked, she shuffled closer and helped him sit up so she could look at the cut on his head.

He sat up slowly, feeling the room spin slightly before it settled again, and began moving. Tiny shifts and rotations that formed questions his body could answer by responding or protesting in pain. After a minute he said, "Just the head, I think." His gaze traveled the dimly lit space while his in drawn breath took in the somewhat industrial scents overlaying faint echoes of sweat. Beneath him, he could feel the pulse of the engine which meant that, since theirs was dead, they must be aboard the freighter. While the lighting was dim, it seemed large enough not to be a cell. "Cargo hold?"

"I'd say so, at least part of it. I can't see much beyond the containment field." She motioned towards the dull shimmer a few meters ahead of them, it looked like an older style of field projector but without any tools even an old field was hard to get through.

Wincing as he moved, Henri felt for the things he always carried with him and found them missing. "Took everything made of metal," he said, "even my rank insignia and ... my boots. Now, that's interesting. Speaks to some degree of experience in these matters. Shame. Stupid criminals are so much easier to hoodwink," he said. His crooked smile lit his face for a moment as he considered their situation.

"They even took my hair pin." Larissa sighed, "One of my favourite ones, they really don't want us getting out of here."

"There used to be this guy, once upon a time, called Houdini. Escape artist. He used to hide keys in his hair. Maybe they read the same article," Henri said. He resisted the impulse to run a hand through his hair and instead, concentrated on remaining upright with his back against the wall; the pain was manageable and mercifully, the blood flow was down to a trickle. He shook his head slightly and immediately regretted the action. "If we get a shot at it, let's make a point of getting it back, eh?"

"Assuming they haven't already got rid of it, can't sell a hairpin for much these days....." Larissa pondered, there were several potential outcomes; most of them bad. "They could get a decent price for its owner though."

"Let's not go there as yet," Henri said. "First, we have to figure out where we're headed. With any luck, its to that auction house which means we have a shot at meeting up with the ship. If not, well, we'll just have to rescue ourselves. Either way, you are not getting sold."

Larissa sighed slightly, Henri was right, no point speculating about all the bad things that could happen. "Hopefully they do go there, it makes sense. If one ship took the colonists another hauled the pergium to the Sheliak they would probably meet up again before heading off to whatever they have planned next."

"My Nanny," Henri said as he watched the containment field, waiting for some sign of movement on the other side, with a cold, watchful expression that belied the joking timbre of his voice, "was one strong woman. She knew the old ways, gris gris, you know? Tried to teach me but I never had the patience to learn. Shame too. Those couillions deserve that ... and worse." He turned and grinned at her, his dark eyes warming at once, "Maybe, I can get my aunt to do one. Fix them good, eh?"

"Can she do miracles?" Larissa asked after a few seconds on pondering what he was talking about. "We could certainly use one about now."

Henri laughed, a low chuckle rich with memories, "she certainly thought so. My Nanny was good at ... um ... theater, you know? Had a rough day at school? She was more than willing to curse that kid that was always giving you a hard time over a glass of milk and a pile of her beignets. Course, the kid was always there the next day, nasty as ever, and when you asked her about it, she'd say that bullies especially hide their pain so it didn't mean it didn't happen. As for miracles?"

Larissa looked up at the ceiling when a low sound rumbled across the cargo hold and a slight vibration shook the walls. "You feel that? I think we might have just dropped out of warp."

[Cockpit, the Orion Freighter]

As the freighter dropped out of warp, Harrad sent the signal that would identify themselves to their destination as staff rather than customer. After receiving the answering ping from the aging station, he set about guiding the ship toward the exterior port that was home when she wasn't out working. As he brought the ship in, his mind was split between finding something to eat and the conversation they would soon be having with their boss. Neither one of them were far enough up the food chain to be considered any form of management. But that was alright with him. Harrad knew his strengths and he knew his limitations.

He had performed this maneuver often enough that he could do it blindfolded but that didn't mean he wasn't careful. He was always careful. He learned a procedure and he did it the same way every time. No shortcuts. "Engaging docking clamps," he said as he began the shut down procedure so that the ship was receiving basic power from the station. "Want to check in with the boss," he asked Makar. Besides the two Fleeties, the freighter's hold had other interesting items though their value was not something he thought about particularly. A job was a job. He'd never been greedy that way. "I'll finish up here."

Makar nodded and grabbed a few things before turning towards the path that led to the airlock. "I'll go see him, get the others to get the stuff we're selling cleaned up and find something for the girl to wear. I want her looking real good."

Harrad shook his head as he went back to the checklist. Once complete, he contacted the station crew to begin unloading and requested a team to handle transport of the live cargo. With that done, he got himself a drink of water and then made his way down to the hold to see to the Fleeties. Just above the main hold, he stopped at the chest that held the typical outfits provided to 'merchandise' heading to the auction block. For the men, that meant a pair of drawstring pants. For the women, that meant a sort of poncho, an elongated rectangle that was passed over the head; in length, it reached about to mid thigh, and tied around the waist. Just wide enough to cover the essentials but left the female naked to view from either side.

The guards were ready when he arrived. They stood, weapons raised and watchful, as Harrad lowered the barrier long enough to toss the clothes in. "Get changed," he said. "If you aren't done in five minutes, we'll knock you out and then I'll have to dress you myself." Irritation showing plainly, he added, "I don't promise to be respectful if you make me go that route."

"You think I'm going to wear just that?" Larissa said boldy. While she didn't mind dressing skimpily it was only on her own terms.

"One way or the other," Harrad said and motioned to the guards to step forward. "Prepare to fire on my signal."

Larissa spared a glance to Henri then back at Harrad and the guards sizing up the situation, it didn't bode well, stunned she had no control over what happened, at least she had a little control right now. "Fine." She said after a few moments.

Henri changed quickly then moved to stand in front of her, facing the guards, arms folded across his chest. It wasn't much cover but it was the best he could provide given the situation. His expression flattened as he imagined what he would do to each of them given half a chance.

Stripping out of her uniform Larissa slipped the poncho over her head and tied the relatively flimsy garment around her waist. It wasn't exctly what she thought she was going to be forced into wearing. When she was done she stepped out from behind Henri. "You happy now?"

Harrad shrugged. "Happy got nothing to do with it," he said. "Rules is rules." He gave her a once over. "Remove the rest or they fire. You got about one second ..."

Larissa sighed slightly, 'the rest' only meant one thing. She slipped her hands under the poncho and unclipped her bra, slipped it off her shoulders and added it to the pile of clothes where they were joined a few seconds later by her underwear.

With that done, the rest went quickly enough. Ankles chained together with the chain running up to another around the waist and then another set on the wrists that also connected to the waist. Then chain the two together and they were ready to go. Sooner the better as far as Harrad was concerned. These long shifts were murder.

[The Boss's Office, Auction House]

Slowly passing through a series of security checkpoints Makar finally made it to his bosses office.

"Hey boss." Makar said happily, hoping his boss was in a good mood too. "We delivered the shipment to the Sheliak, we got the full payment." He slipped a bag off his shoulder and put it on the table nearby.

His boss; another Orion turned his chair around to face Makar, he looked at the bag then back at him. "Good."

"We had a bit of a surprise haul too, we captured two starfleet officers that were lurking nearby, a human male and a feisty looking Orion female."

The boss grumbled slightly. "Two starfleet officers. Do you think they are aware of the houses location?"

"Doesn't look like it." Makar said. "What do you want to do with them? I think we could get a decent price for the female."

"Put them in the auction with the colonists." The boss told him. "You and your crew can have the larger share for capturing them."

"Thank you Sir." Makar smiled. It wasn't his preferred outcome but a good share of money was always good.

A Post by:

MCPO Henri Boudreaux
Security Investigations Officer
USS Crazy Horse

and

LTjg Larissa Syndel
Chief Operations Officer
USS Crazy Horse