"Articus's Worst Nightmare:He Had it Coming"

[Kansas_Jones 0]

05.28.06 (2397)

USS Agincourt NCC-81762

 

Current Location: Away Team deployment on Travae; primary mission to procure an antidote.

Joint Log Authors: Colonel Harper (as Articus), Marine Captain Rieve, Lieutenant JoN’s, Petty Officer Condacin.

 

“Articus’s Worst Nightmare: He Had It Coming”

 

After a few seconds of silence among the group, JoNs’s paw suddenly shot out to grab Articus by the back of the neck. She roughly drew the man toward her, and proceeded to plant a kiss directly on his lips. She pulled away and looked him right in the eye. "It is a deal. I haven’t had any action in months, lucky for you...and our people who are sick. And by the way it’s Caitian, not “the cat”. Is there somewhere we can go more private?"

 

Rieve looked on and nonchalantly said "Have fun, sis. We'll see you after you hit a high note," and gave one of those "wink, wink, nudge, nudge" types of faces, hoping that JoNs would understand.

 

Articus looked stunned for a moment, and then an oily grin spread across his face. "Caitian. I like it." He draped an arm across her shoulders. "Of course we'll need some place private -- will my place do?" He was already turning her in that direction.

 

Allowing herself to be led by the dealer, JoNs turned toward Rieve, "Oh have no fear...I will see you later after the high note…" and acknowledged the unspoken plan passing between the two. To Articus she said "Your place sounds fine" as a feral grin, equally matching his oily one, spread across her face.

 

"We expect the goods in full," Rieve said to Articus, as the others stood back, letting Articus and Kansas gain some distance and get "lost" in the crowd.

 

After a few moments, the "couple" came to a shabby looking one floor dwelling. Kansas flipped an ear back, attempting to track the away team members she knew to be following at a distance.

 

Condacin glanced at Rieve as the two slowly made their way through the crowded marketplace. "Think she'll be able to manage that slime bag?" Rieve concentrated on tracking Kansas. The small tricorder could barely isolate her life sign, even though it was almost unique on the planet. "She'll handle him. At least until we get there."

 

Articus took Kansas in the back way, where a tiny set of living quarters connected to the shop in front. The bedroom was small but neat in the way of a room that does not get much use. Completely deadpan, the Caitian said "Cozy."

 

"It serves." Articus was distracted by the feel of her fur under his hand. "I'm not here much... business, you know." He graced her with a broad wink. Trying not to visibly stiffen at the mans hand caressing her the way it did, Kansas turned and faced him, placing her left paw on his shoulder and tracing a claw down his chest with her right paw "I understand how business gets in the way of pleasure...."

 

He smiled broadly. "I thought you might, pretty puss." He took a step backwards, towards the bed, beckoning her towards him.

 

Finally, Condacin, Lt. Col. Day and Rieve arrived near Articus's den. In the reflection from the dirty window across the street, they could see that Articus was not alone in his house. Rieve said to Condacin, "we have to dispose of that..." pointing to the burly thug who stood guard just inside the house's main entrance.

 

Odile grinned. "Shouldn't be too hard. All muscle and no brains." Day volunteered to keep watch on the perimeter while the others moved in, guaranteeing that there would be no surprises.

 

Allowing herself to be led toward the bed, Kansas tried to stay as calm and focused as possible. It was all about the antidote...the antidote...the antidote was needed.

 

Rieve walked up to the door. No better way in than the front entrance. It was least likely to set off an alarm. The 5'7" Marine in civvies walked over and knocked on the door. Blinking, the guard stomped over to her. "You want something?" In the most flirtatious voice that could come out of her, she said "I'm lost and I saw you in the window there. I was hoping you could help me."

 

She pulled the tourist map she had obtained at the kiosk in the center of town out of her bosom. Right under it was the switchblade she had put there before leaving on the away team. He stared at her as if he didn't quite understand. Grunting, "You're lost, and you need my help?" He grinned. "Anything you want, little lady. Let's see, where do you need to go?" She drew the tourist map towards the burly man in her left hand, "I'm here... and I want to get here... right?" She pointed towards a point on the map that was on the other side of town.

 

Meanwhile, in the back bedroom of the dwelling, things began to heat up, the drug dealer completely unaware of his guard’s distraction in the form of the other away team members.

 

Leaning in again for a deep French kiss, Kansas purred, belying the predatory emotions truly roiling in her. Her left paw caressed the mans neck, and then moved down the length of his body. Articus grinned broadly, reaching up to stroke the Caitian's ears and brush a hand down her mane, clearly fascinated. One hand slipped inside her shirt, teasingly. Withdrawing from the kiss, the Caitian quickly took a step back, her right paw doing a sudden open handed palm hit to his solar plexus.

 

He went down with an "oof!" of exhaled breath, collapsing onto the bed. At least it was a soft landing. Groggily he shook his head, looking up at Kansas in confusion.

 

Rieve tried to get the man to pay close attention to the map. He squinted at the map, moving his eyes to follow her fingers. "You're on the wrong side of town." But while he was following the fingers of the left hand, the right hand struck, sending the switchblade hurling through his throat, so he couldn't set off the alarm system to call in reinforcements.

 

Even though Articus outweighed the five foot three Caitian by a few pounds, it was amazing how well ticked off outrage could be funneled and used. She grabbed the man by the front of his shirt, bringing him forward as her knee connected squarely with his groin. Groaning, Articus fumbled for a grip on the Caitian, for balance, for a weapon... for anything that would help him survive the next few seconds, because he was convinced his death had arrived in the form of a demonic cat.

 

Standing over the groggy and in pain drug dealer, Kansas looked right at him as she let loose with a snarled howl that would have made any one of her plains roaming ancestors proud, alerting her team mates that were no doubt lurking nearby. She hoped.

 

At virtually the same instant that Articus went down, so did his hired thug. He stumbled backwards, slamming into the wall as he fell to the ground. Odile smirked at Rieve as they entered the house, giving another look at Thug boy. "See, just like I said. No grey matter." Rieve looked at her bloody work. Not quite Federation, but very Marine. Just then, the tricorder beeped. It had detected the sound waves of the Caitian’s howled signal. "Let's go."

 

The dynamic duo rushed in, Condacin glancing over at Rieve's scanner. She motioned towards the only room with a Caitian biosign. "In there, I should think." Rieve drew her phaser, and quickly made her way to the back of the shop. She stopped at the door, phaser ready, and motioned Odile to kick in the door.

 

Her adrenaline still running high from fear and anger, Kansas picked Articus up again by the front of the shirt and heaved him toward a wall. "You think you can just barter with beings like that.....? SNARL!”

 

Articus spread his hands, babbling something apologetic mixed with compliments for the Caitian. He wasn't sure exactly what had just happened, but flattery never hurt.

 

Odile's foot slammed forwards, her weight balanced well enough to compensate as the wooden door crashed inward. Rieve rushed in and pointed her phaser into the doorway. She quickly acquired her target... the only hostile in the room was Articus, who didn't appear to be in a very hostile mood.

 

Kansas remained where she was, one arm pressed against the mans throat, keeping him pinned to the wall. Her tail was puffed, as was the fur on the back of her neck, her ears were back. "Glad you are here" she said to Rieve and Condacin as she backed off from the drug dealer.

 

Rieve quickly took stock of the situation. "Nice job, Kansas. The guard in the front is down too, and it doesn't look like an alarm was tripped, so we have a few minutes. Is he feeling like talking?" she said, as she pointed the phaser right at Articus. "Where is it?"

 

"Please!" Articus gasped, staring into Rieve's phaser. "You want the antidote? I'll give it to you! Just... just get her away from me!"

 

The Xenexian moved in, branching off in the opposite direction as Rieve. Grinning, she nodded to JoNs. "Looks like you have everything well in paw here."

 

Kansas spoke to her teammates in general. "I am glad you both are here. I would not have been able to have kept manhandling him for long. Once the adrenaline wears off..." she braced herself against the far wall.

 

"It's in the front room. I'll show you, please..." Gathering his legs beneath him, Articus made to stand. Rieve kept the phaser pointed firmly pointed at the dealer, "Slowly. If you try anything stupid, you're toast."

 

Holding his hands up, Articus nodded. "Nothing stupid, right." He sidled toward the front room, keeping one eye on the phaser and one eye on the cat.

 

Odile raised her own weapon to further the point. "Not just toast. Molecules that have been systematically torn apart to ensure the most agonizing, complete death than can be assured a human being." She glanced at Kansas. "Or is something that perfect too good for scum like him?"

 

Recovering, using the wall for support, Kansas favored the slinking drug dealer as he started moving with a baleful look.

 

Rieve motioned Odile to precede Articus through the door. She smiled slightly at Articus as she stepped in front of him. "Remember. Complete. Death."

 

Rieve and Odile kept Articus surrounded on two sides as they went into the front shop, where the guard lay dead. He swallowed, following Odile numbly. Glancing back over his shoulder, he appealed to Rieve, who seemed to be the most level-headed of the group. "I'll get it for you, just..." He looked ahead and spotted the body of the guard, and his voice died.

 

Rieve was all business... "The antidote..." Condacin kept smiling at him. "Keep moving or you'll be working for the Great Drug Baron in the sky along with your worthless guard. Moving will give you a chance at delaying that fate a few years."

 

"Sure, sure," Articus said. "Easy, now. We can get through this without more violence, right?" He stepped over to a counter, keying an access code into a small panel, and with a hiss of cracking seals, a drawer slid open. Rieve watched his every move carefully, ready to pull the trigger at any moment.

 

"Take 'em out, nice and slow," Odile instructed. "Nice and slow."

 

He reached into the drawer with both hands, saying, "This is what you want, in here." A box slowly rose into view as he drew his arms back. The translucent green plastic showed a rack of vials within. Suddenly Articus grinned, and one hand shot out. The small phaser he'd palmed fired at Odile, even as he dove towards the front door.

 

The phaser fire grazed the scientist's left arm, but instead of having its desired effect of incapacitating her, it just infuriated her. "Son of a..." Odile lunged after him, fully intending to rip off his limbs one at a time. In fact, a more painful death than the one promised earlier.

 

Upon hearing the shot, even before it fully registered, Rieve fired her weapon right at Articus, almost by instinct.

 

As her depleted strength slowly started to come back, Kansas called out to the other room in a weak, husky voice "Are we good.........?" Her ears pricked up at the sound of phaser fire and she quickly lurched away from the wall and bolted towards the front of the dwelling...she reached the connecting doorway just in time to see the second fracas break out between Condacin, Rieve and scuzzboy Articus.

 

Clipped by the phaser blast, Articus crumpled to the ground mere centimeters from the doorway. The box of antidote flew into the air with the force of his fall.

 

"You all right, Condacin?" Rieve asked as she moved for the antidote, hoping that the valuable vials were real and were not damaged.

 

Balling her experienced hands into fists, she dove after him, clobbering him. "Never better, you?"

 

Rieve scanned the vials. "I can't tell if it's the real thing or not. Most of the vials are broken. But, some of it's still intact. Let's get out of here..." She gave Articus one last kick, turning him over like he was some kind of man-shaped football in the process. Sighing, Odile stood, giving him one last blow to the nose as she listened for that satisfying crackling sound. "That should hold him." Kansas merely walked passed the crumpled man, not even sparing him a glance as Rieve and Condacin further worked him over.

 

Rieve took the leaking vials in hand, and then hit her sub dermal transceiver. "Rieve to Agincourt. Four to beam up."

Edited May 29, 2006 by Kansas_Jones