All aboard...

[Xandra 0]

Most of the time, the wall panel between the improvised liquor cabinet and the teak rocking chair looked like any of the other wall panels in Commander's Mench quarters. It was nearly impossible to tell from inside his quarters that a series of hinges near the floor allowed the panel to swing downward. All it took was the release of a lever in the cabinet's lower right cubby, concealed behind several bottles of course. Once swung out of the way, the panel revealed one of the secrets of Commander's Mench's quarters -- the cockpit of a simple, two-man yacht.

 

The vehicle was taken from a Ferengi merchant ship raided almost eight months prior. It was small enough that Commander Mench figured he could squeeze it inside the hull beside his quarters without any lumps visible from outside the ship. A bit of stripping out of hull materials by Lieutenant Pike and a quick green paint job allowed Mench to keep an escape chute for himself. Mench was sure he could keep the vehicle a secret by assuring Lieutenant Pike that the second spot on the seat would be reserved for her if he ever chose to bolt. This secret was now blown, but it was no big deal -- he figured the Goldrock would be his ultimate ticket off QoB, and he was already scheming how to use the armored car to make his getaway once payment was received.

 

Bekks Collins and Smokey watched as several bottles of brandy rolled out of the yacht's cockpit, followed by a case of cigars and a stack of false ID's. Commander Mench was crouched in front of the long seat, clearing out his 'emergency supplies' from underneath. It wouldn't do for the Starbase 215 crew to discover this stuff on an escape pod that had supposedly been used by two slaves to escape a Klingon pirate ship.

 

Mench crawled out of the concealed space and looked at his two officers. Xandra -and- K'mLak had done a fine job of making Fox look like he'd been beaten senseless and beyond recognition. His inability to identify himself and the difficulty of getting a match on his face would make it difficult for the station's crew to locate him on Starfleet's Wanted list. Xandra looked like she'd taken a few scrapes as well, but Starfleet only recognized her as being missing, not outlawed.

 

"Good to know where you keep the good stuff," Xandra said, looking down at the brandy bottles.

 

"You never know when you have to go on a really long trip at short notice. Get in," Mench stepped aside and waited for the two officers to squeeze into the yacht. He looked at Xandra. "I hope you know what you're doing. They're going to be skeptical of anything you say, so you'll need to have good answers to anything they ask ... including where this came from." He tapped the seat of the yacht.

 

"Commander, I'm almost offended," Xandra replied. "Haven't you noticed by now that I have answers to everything?" She shrugged and quietly added, "Or maybe I've just been overestimating you. Oh well." She leaned back comfortably in her seat, looking almost blase.

 

"Careful, Ms. Collins," Mench warned before looking over at Fox. "Smokey, as soon as you've got a chance to slip away, do your thing as quickly as you can. Your number one priority is to knock out their external sensors so we can get our second team over without revealing the ship, but feel free to knock out anything else if it will help you -- security systems, for instance."

 

The grisly-looking Fox nodded and Mench continued to Xandra, "Maintain your cover as long as it's useful, but look out for ways to cause a distraction. Their security will start looking for Smokey as soon as he's unaccounted for, and you'll need to help him any way you can."

 

Xandra nodded. She was already playing out potential scenarios in her head and felt no need to add anything. Mench leaned down and grabbed the hatch of the yacht. "I'm sure you two can figure out how to fly this thing. If you can keep it in one piece and we manage to retrieve it, you'll be in line for a bonus."

 

Smokey was already scanning the yacht's controls and working out their functions. Xandra glanced at him, then grinned at Mench as he lifted the hatch. "I think we can handle it from here. We'll be seeing you shortly about that bonus, Commander."