"My Ally, My Enemy", Lt. M'rrett "Kansas" JoN's, TAC Officer Options

[Kansas_Jones]

Jan. 11, 2006 (2397)
USS Agincourt NCC-81762
“My Ally, My Enemy”

Kansas stalked out of her shared quarters with the Major. Within the last ten minutes, Major Korix, her “ally”, had fired a disruptor at the floor near her feet to prove the finer points of persuasion when dealing with smugglers, called her “Dear” and a ‘House Cait”, and offered to find her a mouse. These all constituted things you just did not do with a Cait. Thank the gods Major Korix did not bring yarn into the mix, then things would have gotten really ugly. She had dealt with the cat jokes most of her adult life, but it was the way certain people did it, and the Major was a total pain in the ass with the cat references.

A memory popped unbidden into her head. In her mid teens, she had gone to a human cultural exhibit centering on a form of entertainment once known as “comic strips”. One collection involved a human boy and his imaginary friend, Hobbes, a stuffed tiger, who would come alive and pounce him out of nowhere. Yes, Calvin…rather, the good Major, was due a pouncing. Not today, not tomorrow, and of course, not anything life threatening. His status as superior officer was a minor detail. All bets were now off.

Here is the part where you hang onto your temper. Come back to your center of calm. He’s just getting you revved up, probably to make you all surly and have more of a smuggler attitude. He has a handle on the situation, she needed to go with his expertise, and she’d give him that. For now.

She did focus. Kansas, per Korix’s orders, would meet with another contact, the Tellarite Larian. The delivery would now be disruptors. In the process, she would try and get some names of any higher ups within the smuggling ring. Then, the Major would move in later and speak with Larian regarding more business, and his propensity to cut and run with his merchandise as soon as he spotted a Federation ship. In the process, hopefully Kansas and Korix would then show up with greater intensity on the radar of the ring as they rooted around among the players in the game.

She rented a hover car from a seedy hover dealer under an assumed name, with some false ID made especially for her and Korix. She removed the cars identification plate and threw it in the rear storage compartment. She drove to a gritty part of the Arkanis colony, and located the Tellarites residence. She observed for two hours the various comings and goings. Then, the Caitian sensed her opening, and took it. She gathered the travel cylinders containing the twelve disruptors and headed to the store front.

Exiting the vehicle, she strode up to the door to the residence. A sensor registered her presence, and she was aware of a small camera on an overhang swiveling toward where she stood.

Looking right into the camera, the Caitian said, “Plomeek T’Pizza delivery” in a sarcastic tone.

Gods! It worked. Korix had peeved her off to the point that she still sounded surly.

A green light flashed on the camera, and a gruff voice came through a hidden speaker, “JoNs?”

“Yes. Now can I please come in before some of the more enterprising gangs realize what it is I am carrying?”

The door swished open. The Caitian hesitated and then stepped through the doorway.

Larian, their new contact, was a medium sized Tellarite. He stood behind a counter with display stands of various engineering and computer tools. The Tellar apparently operated under the guise of a hardware and general merchant dealer. She noticed two larger Tellars standing protectively nearby.

That’s it. I am five foot three, one hundred twenty pounds, and keep being sent on these jobs that seem to have a lot of large body guards around. I’m asking Korix for a pay raise.

Larian regarded the Caitian. “Okay, let’s get this exchange done.” He motioned to the counter top. Kansas placed the two cylinders on top of the surface as one of the bodyguards opened the cylinders and began to check the merchandise. The second guard hung back to keep an eye on her.

“You are fortunate that I am here today Larian.”

A snort escaped through his earth-pig like snout. “Because…”

Kansas continued. “My associate and I have heard through various contacts and rumors that you like to leave jobs uncompleted, dump your merchandise and run at the first sign of any Fed activity.”

Larian glowered at her, clearly getting annoyed. “A little bold aren’t you Caitian?” He did not deny the claim, she noticed, and he was starting to perspire. She also noticed his arm move slightly. A weapon under the counter, probably pointed right at her.

“Not really. If we, as the new blood in town, heard that all the way down at this level of the action, then that means the upper echelon is aware of it also. If you screw up again, then I’m sure that there will be consequences. Then, it would make it very easy for my partner and I to move in on your turf, now wouldn’t it?”

With that last statement, Kansas showed some fang. Use them if you have them.

Trying to keep him tactically off balance, she jumped back to the business at hand. “In addition to the payment for the disruptors, I will require some names. Off the record.”

That pushed him over the edge. “Who in Hell do you think you are!” He bellowed as his guards started to spring into action.

Kansas calmly held up three of her stripped down medical hypos. The remaining four remained in her belt pouch.

Whether it was for drug use, a doctor of questionable schooling, militant groups, rebel groups, or colony worlds not affiliated with any government, medical hypos were highly sought after on the black market. Hypos that still contained any kind of medicine even more so.

You could have heard a pin drop, during a sandstorm, in the middle of East Vulcan BumbleFrag. She definitely had Larians attention.

Kansas smiled. “Pure tranquilizer, undiluted, with no secondary medications. Very nice price on the black market I would think.” She tossed one of the hypos to Larian. He scooped it out of the air and examined it. He placed it on the counter. “Terms?”

“Three hypos for three names of any main operators on Arkanis.”

“Varel, T’Lexen, Kavol. I’ll also put out the word that you were interested in them.”

Kansas smiled. “I’m sure you will.” She tossed the remaining two hypos to the Tellarite.

Larian motioned to the first guard, who handed the cylinders back to Kansas, which now contained the latinum payment.

Kansas nodded to the Tellar smuggler. “Nice doing business. My partner will be stopping by later to discuss more options, and to make sure you are taking steps to get our disruptors to the proper customers…rather then dumping them at the first sign of trouble. Good day.”

Larian nodded in turn, his eyes flashing a combination of annoyance and fear, and then snorted.

Kansas exited the store, got to the hover car without getting mugged or anything, and drove out of the neighborhood, heading back to the temporary quarters. She’d return the hover car to the dealer after hours. It wasn’t a good idea to be seen using the same car for a long period of time anyway.

As she drove, the Caitian reflected on the afternoon dealings. The universe is a strange place. Today, that Tellar had been a business ally. Yet, a few short hours ago (or was it days?), she would have considered him an enemy as well as a security breach.

Her conclusion was that in this underworld, allies are also the enemy, and she would do well not to ever forget that.

Lt. M’rrett “Kansas” JoN’s
Chief Tactical Officer