A Fish is Nibbling

Posted on Wed 21st Nov, 2018 @ 8:11pm by
Edited on on Wed 21st Nov, 2018 @ 8:14pm

967 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Oblivion
Location: Security, Lt. Perry's Office
Timeline: MD 20, 1115

th'Elex debated with himself for two days after a questionable deal was proposed to him. Almost certainly, it would be a money maker, but it went against Federation law. How bound was he to the Federation? His business was here and depended on citizens of the Federation ... and he had to admit that his home planet had thrown their lot in with the Terrans, Vulcans, Klingons, Romulans and many other odd species in this attempt at a self-governing and cooperative galaxy ... what they'd been able to unite of it so far.

Dithering wasn't part of his nature, but neither was turning down a sure thing for grabbing profit. In the end, he decided he was more principled than a Ferengi, and that there were some things where it paid to be on the straight and narrow in a small world like a starbase. Reputations were hard to build and easy to destroy. With that determined, he left his shop in the nearly capable hands of an assistant and headed toward the office of the Chief Security Officer, Isabella Perry. He hoped she was as good at her job as rumor said.

"One more report and then I'm done." The security chief said to herself while she stretched her arms above her head and gave a soft yawn. She looked over to the clock on the wall and realized she had been finishing up reports for the last three hours. Isabella hated being behind in her paperwork, but the way things had been happening on the station as of late, it couldn't be helped. She was hoping for a lull in the action to come so that she could spend some time with her brother Henry. Although he had been on the station for the last few months, he hadn't. He had been staying on Samurai while the repairs were being made.

Isabella turned to the computer terminal on her desk and submitted the last file she had been working on and opened the next. As she did, her door chime rang.

"And of course someone is at the door." She huffed as she closed out the recently opened file. "Enter." She said as she wondered who was behind the door.

Tieran came through the opening as the door snicked back into the wall, and he stopped in front of the desk. "Um, hello," he said. "I'm looking for someone in charge of smuggling, or what could be smuggling. I don't really know if it is, but it kind of sounded like it would be. I don't want -" he broke off and inched forward a little further, holding out his hand to shake.

"Oh, humans, right, I guess I should shake your hand and tell you I'm Tieran th'Elex, owner of Bits and Bytes, over in the Promenade." He felt more confident as he talked about his business. "I deal in technological advances, entertainment, research, or the occasional Starfleet application. All strictly legal and above the table, you understand."

The Chief studied Tieran before taking his hand into hers. "Isabella Perry," she said as she shook his hand and offered him the free seat in front of hers. "So... all strictly legal and above the table, huh?" She said with a sly grin flashing across her face.

The Andorian shrugged. "You won't find my name in any of your records of suspicious characters, Lieutenant. I doubt I'm even on your watch list. I've done business with Starfleet and others in the Federation for a long time, long before I came to 109."

He took the seat in front of her desk, hiding his lowered anxiety with the action. "I've come with good intentions, but if you aren't the one I should speak with, please tell me who is."

Isabella continued sitting in her chair looking at Tieran. She could tell that he was a little nervous, but he knew how to hide it. She didn't want to make an enemy of him by coming off as too hard. So, as she had done so many time before while working undercover, she played it another way,

"Please, I meant no offense." She offered him a pleasant smile. "In my line of work, if someone tells you they are above board, they are usually not. But you are right, I haven't heard of you until now, and you wouldn't be here unless something was wrong. How can I help you?"

"Well, it's like this," he said, leaning forward, resting his forearms on her desk. "A couple of days ago, this fella comes into the shop, looking around, not asking questions, turning away help. There wasn't anything overtly sketchy about him, but like you," he grinned at the woman, "I've learned a thing or two and have a sense about people. I didn't trust him."

He reached into his sleeve pocket. "Here," he pushed a small clear case across the desk toward her, "I've copied all the footage of him on this crystalline storage matrix for you. If you don't have the proper equipment to read it, I could sell it to you." He grinned again, and his antenna came forward, trying to sense if she had any humor in her.

Isabella chuckled at Tieran. "Well, I hope it would be for a fair price at least. Like free?" She said as she sat back in her chair smiling.

"Oh, you want to dicker then?" th'Elex said. "I don't think I can go quite that low, but I could send one up for a trial run, for say ... a week? If you don't use it, send it back, no harm. If you find it useful, we'll talk price, and I guarantee it will be a good one. Besides, you'll probably find a way to get Starfleet to pay anyway."

 

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