Nickel Quest

[Pher 0]

How to walk? What was the message she wanted to portray as she strode into the Vice Zone?

 

Nothing really that much different, tonight. Neither she nor the Zone had changed that much. She belonged as much tonight as on any of her previous visits, even if she wasn’t out tonight to scratch The Itch. She was known well enough from her Pharmall days as sweet sweet trouble.

 

Did the guys change that any? She thought not. Rosetto needed some scruff before he belonged here. He might be seen as prey if folks were out hunting tonight. Fewer would be, of course. The big boys were playing. Most would be laying low. There would be some who might be tempted to prowl while the Guardians were looking elsewhere, but what could one do?

 

And Shane would more than cancel out any notion that the group would be easy meat. The arm alone, let alone the attitude that went with it, declared he had anger resolution problems. She’d eventually have to find out what lay behind the wall, but that wasn’t tonight’s job. Tonight she’d just have to hope he wanted the job enough to play along.

 

So she would walk like she belonged, not looking for trouble, but promising trouble should anyone insist on it…

 

“Guys, I’m going to assume to start that Baldie is real trouble, and she’s with the Rainmakers. Best to assume the worst until proven otherwise. We have one real clue. She dropped the name of that rent by the hour dive. We’ve got to go through the motions of checking the one real clue.

 

“But the clue was a gift from the Rainmakers, and the Rainmakers like bombs. Unless one of you guys is damn good at disarming stuff, we walk careful. Unless we see life forms that promise Nickles and Baldie are inside, I’m not that eager to look through Baldy’s bedroom.

 

“If the gift clue turns sour, the Nickel Quest is apt to turn tedious. One approach is chase by tricorder. We can look for Deltan life forms and sniff for Deltan pheromones. There aren’t that many ODRIs floating around. We can scan for Nickles’. Thing is, there’s lots of walls and lots of interference. We’d have to stumble real close to them for that to work.

 

“I do have friends in the Zone. I prowled here a bit when I was working here before I joined the QoB, and know a few people. One of them might know something about Baldie.

 

“Those two approaches aren’t mutually exclusive. I can wave Audrey around in between asking questions.

 

“But it’s a big city. If Baldie is playing it smart, we haven’t got a good hand.

 

“Anyway, if either of you have another approach, I’d like to hear it. I’d also like to know if either of you is armed, and if you are armed whether you are any good.”

[rosetto 0]

'Armed? Alarmed maybe', Sal thought to himself hoping that he wasn't thinking too loudly. He struggle for the right words. Sal hadn't picked up a weapon in ten years and had not even thought to bring one to a job interview. What a thought that was, he mused. 'Gimme the job or I'll change you from a rooster to a hen!' He was no marksman by any stretch of the imagination but he had managed when it was necessary. And he did think to bring one, albiet a small hand-held phaser. It was packed in a suitcase back at the hotel. It wasn't that powerful; more or less for home defense which was actually ludicrous for K'Normia. Harse words usually worked for chasing the local teens back to their mothers. Sal chose his words.

 

"I'm light. It's back at my hotel. I'm really in the dark here. Do you really think that Deltan could be lethal?"

[Pher 0]

Had he been listening? "I think she may very well be a Rainmaker, or working with them. If she's a Rainmaker, she's lethal. Did you hear that boom? Question is, do you know how to shoot and when to shoot? If you're a rookie who has just killed a bunch of targets, it might not be worth the time and trouble to double back to your hotel."

[rosetto 0]

((rosetto/shane joint log))

 

Reaching into his black leather trench coat with his real arm, Shane pulled out large, but sleek Gauss pistol as he walked at a steady pace in front of the group. After a quick check of the power and ammo level, he flicked a switch on the side with his thumb. The weapon whined at a high pitched tone as the magnetic accelerator primed itself and fell silent when ready. Shane slipped it back in his shoulder holster and continued to move forward, "You say who to shoot and I'll hit 'em."

 

Sal didn't know how to take Pher's comments. He wasn't offended by them but he was also concerned of the unnecessary violence that may ensue in his near future. This can sometimes be a necessary evil when there is definitely a cause worth standing behind. Political or financial gains were very low on Sal's list of worthy causes. That was why he left Star Fleet. They had resorted to violence in an attempt to resolve their internal issues. Obviously, that plan didn't work out for the Federation.

 

If the XO's life was in danger then that would be a different story. Still, he had no evidence to conclude that he was in danger, only the words of an Orion woman. Sure, she seemed to know what she was doing but on the same note, he did not know her at all. He knew more about the Rainmakers which wasn't saying much but if they were truly behind this terrorist act then they would soon be feeling the wrath of more than the Guardians on their backsides. Sal knew that the Federation would never support such an organization.

 

Sal thought long before he responded,

 

"Well, Pher. I don't think it's worth going back to my hotel for a pop-gun. However, if either of you have a spare weapon and we need to resort to using them then, I'm all in."

 

There was confusion, conflict in the logic and one thing that Sal was good at was isolating and deriving the truth from scattered bits of data. Before the captain had approached her, Pher was of a mind to wait and let the kidnappers make the first move. Sal was in agreement with this. It made the most sense. But now they were making the move. Why? He did not know. He was confused. This was not the right move to make. He could feel it. But if it was the move that they were to make then what was the smartest approach. They had no idea the number of Minos’ men they would be facing, if any. If the XO’s was kidnapped then it was their job to get him out unharmed. Since negotiation was not an option then the only means that Sal could see would be deception. If the men who were holding Nickles were distracted in some way then they would have opportunity to recover him.

 

This was just the way that Sal’s mind worked. He was an analyst, a puzzle solver. Everything was just another jig-saw for him to reassemble. It was through planning and ingenuity he had built his business in Southgate. There was a workable solution to this as well. Step one had to be to determine where they had taken Nickles. This was probably best done by following their trail and asking questions along the way. If Pher was known by them then having her along would not be beneficial. No. These questions should be asked by Shane and Sal. And they should be questions of misdirection, having little to do specifically with Nickles.

 

Once they determined where the next logical step was how. Sal focused on the mindset of the kidnappers, the ones who actually guarded Nickles. What would they be like? What would distract them from their task? He looked at Pher and she strutted confidently ahead of him. Women. That’s what they needed. Sal decided that he would suggest this when the stopped at Redera’s hotel. Pher may be taken back by Sal’s approach but he’d hoped that she would also see the logic of his reasoning.

 

Edited July 30, 2010 by rosetto

[Pher 0]

"Well, Pher,” Sal said, “I don't think it's worth going back to my hotel for a pop-gun. However, if either of you have a spare weapon and we need to resort to using them then, I'm all in."

 

“Would you mind using a little girlie gun?” Pher asked. Just for practice, she did her little slight of hand trick, making the the gun appear in her hand without it being clear where it had come from. It was a tiny pretty little thing, decorated by the same jeweler that had done her pain stick, with predominantly blue enamel work, gold trim, and few semi-precious gems complementing the piece.

 

“Stunner only,” she told Sal, then worked her way through the controls. “Safety here, power setting there, angle of cone here, and of course, the trigger. Trigger is a bit sensitive. If you pull the trigger hard when you are on low power, the power goes up. I keep it set at wide beam heavy stun. I’m better with my sex toy here than the girlie gun.” She patted a holster at her side, which contained some sort of rod. “I have to close in to use the pain stick, of course. If we do get into trouble, just spray em, keep their heads down, make em duck, which ought to give me a chance to close the range. Try not to tag me, if you please. It’s small. The power supply isn’t the deepest, but it’ll get you through a quick fight and I’ve a few spare power packs.”

 

She handed it to him. It was heavier than he expected, and obviously solid and well made. It might look like a girlie gun, but if the quality of the inner workings at all matched the quality of the decoration…

 

Pher turned to Shane. “We’re not exactly on the Guardian’s list of favorite people,” she said. “We can’t leave too many bodies lying in pools of blood. If you can look mean and deadly enough that they decide to avoid trouble, that’s great. You look like you might be good at that. If you can be enough of a threat and distraction that we can settle things with stun weapons, that’s good too. Try to avoid going lethal if we don’t have to. Still, if they pull lethal weapons, do what you have to do. Don’t wait on me to tell you to open up.”

 

She glanced back and forth to both of them. “And, anyway, we’re looking for Nickels, not trouble. If we can avoid pulling weapons entirely, that would be best all around.

 

“Either of you have problems with this? Suggestions?”

[rosetto 0]

Being a quick study, he had the jest of the weapon down from her brief. It wasn’t much more than the pop-gun he had which was also ‘stun-only’. Sal took the girlie-gun and then smiled at Pher’s added commentary. He was glad to hear that she was not in favor of going in guns blazing. After all, they did not even know where they were ‘going’. While he walked Sal looked curiously at the weapon in his hand trying to stuff it in different pockets. It didn’t have a holster. He finally opted for his inside vest pocket, easily accessible while keeping the weapon concealed at the same time. Trying not to look too foolish, he mocked pulling it out as he walked to see if this was the best place to carry it. It seemed to be. Still, he was at a loss because he really did not fully appreciate the situation they were in.

 

The Klingons were brutal in their application of civil diplomacy but one could see the logic of their culture and how it worked for them. They didn’t have the same value structure as humans. Life was precious but carried a different and less personal meaning to them. Minos, however, at Sal’s best guess, was not Klingon. He was pro-fed and most likely human. Had the circumstances been different Sal realized that he could just as easily have been defending a Minos asset or recovering one of his men. Until this terrorist act had occurred, the lines were very grey for Sal.

 

“I have one…. actually, a question and suggestion,” He retorted taking longer strides to catch up and raising his right index finger in query. “Let’s say that Nickles ‘is’ being held by Minos’ men. My question would obviously be, why?

 

“Like I have said, I am pretty much working in the dark here and I’m really not certain as to what you and-or the captain expect a job-applicant to do to become gainfully employed. Before I step into what may very well be a life-threatening environment, I guess I need to know why I’m here?

 

“I realize that there is the matter of trust, that you have relinquished some of your own personal security by bringing us along and of course, this.” He pointed to his chest and continued to talk, “but there seems to be more to this situation than what is being revealed.”

 

“My suggestion, for what it’s worth, is that we slow the pace here and collect the facts; determine if and where Nickles is being held and then figure out a way of getting him free. I thought we were in agreement back at the Maze that it would be best to let them make the first move? I am used to and know how to follow orders but am also used to those orders making sense. So, again there’s that hanging question, why?”

[Pher 0]

“I have one…. actually, a question and suggestion,” He retorted taking longer strides to catch up and raising his right index finger in query. “Let’s say that Nickles ‘is’ being held by Minos’ men. My question would obviously be, why?

 

“The obvious guess,” Pher responded, “is that they want off this rock, and we have one of the better ships to make a run for it. Can’t say for sure what Minos’ plan might be, though.”

 

“Like I have said, I am pretty much working in the dark here and I’m really not certain as to what you and-or the captain expect a job-applicant to do to become gainfully employed. Before I step into what may very well be a life-threatening environment, I guess I need to know why I’m here?

 

Pher shrugged. “This is a bigger mess than we generally get involved in, but, hey, we get into muddles like this. QoB was designed as a warship. We have more expenses and less cargo spaces than a lot of ships. To keep flying, we can’t stick with just milk runs. If you want a job, and you stick with us through this mess, it would be hard for the captain to not hire you. On the other hand, if this is too tough for you, the QoB might not be the right ship to hire on.

 

“I realize that there is the matter of trust, that you have relinquished some of your own personal security by bringing us along and of course, this.” He pointed to his chest and continued to talk, “but there seems to be more to this situation than what is being revealed.”

 

“Might be.” She considered. “Our piece of the problem, though, you know pretty much what I do… which is not much. I suspect the captain is doing something else entirely. I hope he is doing something else entirely. If he is talking to people that shouldn’t be talked to, he’ll likely keep it need to know. Didn’t tell me a thing about it. Minos didn’t either.”

 

“My suggestion, for what it’s worth, is that we slow the pace here and collect the facts; determine if and where Nickles is being held and then figure out a way of getting him free. I thought we were in agreement back at the Maze that it would be best to let them make the first move? I am used to and know how to follow orders but am also used to those orders making sense. So, again there’s that hanging question, why?”

 

“Not unreasonable suggestions,” Pher said after considering. “At first, I figured Nickles was kidnapped for leverage. I expected to be contacted right off. Thing is, the longer without a call, the less likely they are to call. Could be they want him for something else.” She thought it over. “Might be they think they have a crew that could fly the ship. Maybe they think they can break him, and they don’t need Captain Joe or the rest of us at all. If Baldie is really good, they might really be able to break him.” She shook her head. She had seen more than a little of what a Deltan could do back on New Risa.

 

“I think we have to leave the talking to the captain. I doubt the Guardians will let us board the ship to defend it, though that might be a good move. That leaves looking for Nickles as something to do other than sitting at a bar getting drunk. If Baldie knows her stuff, finding Nickles won’t be easy.

 

“I figure we have to chase down the hotel lead, though we have to treat it as poisoned. I know some people in the zone who are rather desperately into pheromones. If there is a new Deltan running around, they might have chased her. Worth asking about. Other than that, we can run around talking to folk and waving Audrey about.

 

“The more obvious we are about it, the more likely that they will find us before we find them. On the other hand, they are rather busy tonight. I’ll bet they haven’t got a lot of people sitting around looking for people asking questions about Deltans. Timing? I don’t know. Ideally, I’d like to find Nickles before this terrorist business gets out of hand.” She gave a wry smile. “Of course, one could argue it is already out of hand.”

 

She looked him in the eye. “So, I’ll be looking to talk to a few specific dust sniffers, while doing what I can with Audrey.” She held up her left wrist, flashing her ODRI. “Both might be long shots. In between my dust sniffers, how’d you like to play it?”

[rosetto 0]

Shane rolled his eyes and turned around abruptly near the end of the alleyway, almost causing the other two to run into him. "We're eliminating possibilities," he said in a low annoyed growl, locking his stony gaze onto Sal, "If our man is not at his or the Deltan's room, then we can easily assume that something is indeed up. If the Deltan lied about her quarters here or told anyone a different story than what she told the Captain, it indicates that she is up to something."

 

 

Turning back towards the end of the narrow walkway, he spoke over his shoulder as he pulled the wide brim of his hat to shadow his face, "Now either shut yer trap or pipe down, the place is just down the street. Orion, link your ODRI to commlink 552791 and I'll let y’all know what I see." Stepping from the shadows onto the busy street, he blended into the traffic of party goers and pleasure seekers unnoticed, stumbling a bit and mumbling under his breath. Within a few yards of the alleyway, he sat down in a heap with his back against the brick wall with his knees scrunched up to hide the communicator in his organic hand and his bionic arm tucked into his jacket across his lap. His head hung down as if he was falling into a drunken stupor and he observed the entrance to the pleasure hotel half a block down.

 

 

In the misty and almost non-existent rain that sprinkled the dimly lit street, Sal met her gaze and there was an instant and unspoken understanding between them. As for Muscle, who had chose to sit down against a wall, Sal knew that he was rough but that came with the territory. Sal was still very happy to have him with them. Pher was right. Timing was everything.

 

 

The picture was starting to become clearer to Sal. The QoB was most likely the only non-Guardian vessel with extended Warp speeds, those beyond Warp 5. If Minos needed a means to escape the system then the QoB would be a perfect choice. One thing that Sal knew was how fast and maneuverable the Klingon Bird of Prey were. He had chased far too many of them. That was why they had been in service for as many years as they had been. They were very versatile ships. And that was yet another piece of the puzzle, a bit of random data that Sal needed. It was one answer to why?

 

 

Enough talk and enough thought. He could appreciate Shane’s comment which basically indicated that actions were needed, not words. Sal stood in the street and tried not to be so long winded.

 

 

“First of all, Pher, you’re in charge. We’ll follow your lead.” He nodded to Shane and continued as Shane grunted. He chose his next words carefully because he was not too familiar with the capabilities of her implants, “I think that you and Audrey would get farther without our chaperone. That being said, I could start be looking for clues in Baldy’s room and I believe that Shane here could convince the manager to give us access to it. Shane?”

 

 

Standing up, as the option of pre-observation seemed to have been decided against by the others, Shane nodded to Sal, "He'll give us access, one way or another." Pher gave him a look and he assured her, "I know, I won't kill him." Peering back towards the hotel he said, "If we're splitting from you, Pher, then we should enter separately."

 

 

Pher looked at them and considered. Maybe she was wrong. She shouldn't underestimate their life experience. They were well travelled sentients of the galaxy. Maybe they did know more about talking to night managers of sleazy rent by the hour hotels than she did.

 

 

 

She'd give them the benefit of the doubt.

 

 

 

"Just watch out for the bomb on Baldie's door," she said. "Two blocks past the hotel, there's the Busted Flush. I'll be there in a bit. I've a few other bases to touch, and I'll walk Audrey some."

 

 

Edited August 1, 2010 by rosetto