Nausicaan Subterfuge

[Byblos 0]

Byblos did not like at all sitting in the back of the small cargo craft. There just wasn't enough room for someone his height and holding on to the stench the Klingon Spacesuit came with. The only good thing about what was going on was Pher was nearby..close.

 

Byblos slowly was taking a liking to Pher, perhaps more so than liking. She was his "Lifeguard" he was her "Swimmer." The terms implied in a way that Pher was here to save Byblos' neck. And the way things the mission was going, he was going to need his life guard.

 

Byblos admired Pher's intelligence. She saw things both ways in his opinion, pros and cons of decisions made by their employer Joe Manning. She was clearly skilled in the art of subterfuge. Getting things done without chaos. This mission so far must be a personal hell for her how sloppy the crew had been with creating as much noise via various mishaps to accomplish the mission. A mission Byblos thought was in serious jeopardy. He believed Pher thought likewise.

 

He had to wonder how many "quietly" done things Pher had accomplished before he met her in that stingy bar on Tranquility. Subterfuge was an art of assassins, thieves or smugglers. The better you were at it, the more jobs you would get. More jobs meant more pay. Byblos had to chuckle, Pher could get credits in other ways if she wanted to. She clearly preferred doing her work quietly and in the background.

 

Byblos was not a student of subterfuge. He was terrible at it, since he had joined this crew. He was not the sneaking around type. He preferred direct confrontation, action and violence. His past, unlike Pher dealt with terror. When a mopboy on his father's vessel the only subterfuge involved in pirating was finding an ambush point. From their it was Jam transmissions, blast the target vessels engines, tractor her in finally boarding her and seizing what they desired. Some times the poor folks would try to fight back, and they were killed. Other times when they simply surrendered it was the same result. No survivors, kill steal and run. Pher probably would be appalled at this part of his life if he had time to talk to her more.

 

On Tranquility as a member of the "Cycles of Death", subterfuge again was not in the Nausicaans game plan. Firefights with Guardians, slaughtering of civilians while performing a bank heist. Had he told Pher about the "infamous" Bank job at the First Bank of Feringinar in Tranquility's business district. Probably not. Their brutality in that heist helped put the Cycles of Death on the Marshall's most wanted terrorist group. It was a complete success. And had the reigning Marshall at the time utterly baffled how Five Nausicaans could do the job without so much as alerting his Guardian Pigs.

 

Byblos and Vargros planned that heist for weeks. It was mostly Vargros who prepared a means for the crew to pillage the Ferengi Bank. Byblos recalled constantly having to give Vargros more time to slice (Hack) the bank and surrounding systems. Deth was not certain of Vargros' purported skills with computers that Byblos testified to him about. After the heist Deth doubted Vargros no more. The rest of the Cycles were in awe of how Four Nausicaans got to have fun slaughtering bankers, hired security and clients without getting caught. Leaving the Gang's symbol in blood behind the three Ferengi Bankers corpses who were holding their own heads in their laps, was a great touch Deth complimented Byblos with.

 

But Byblos was no Space Pirate anymore, and not a Cycle Gang member either. He was with a crew led by a man who trusted people Byblos would not Joe Manning was allowing someone other than a crew member watch his most important asset..his ship for Qoh's sake. And poor Pher was having to cope with his attempts to follow her lead in doing business quietly..but was still failing. How long would Pher put up with him. Did Joe Manning Space Crew members for poor performance. Maybe in the past, but not now. His crew was far to small for him to kill anyone. He needed replacements first. Pher probably wouldn't mind replacement crew members who could easily embrace the art of subterfuge that Byblos was struggling with.

 

But something about the Orion female made him want to try. Despite all the Nausicaan blood rage in him, he wanted to work for her. Why? He had never worked with a female superior before. Was he mistaken about Nausicaans being immune to Orion Phermones? Or did he just admire her style of work. It couldn't be the other thing...Nausicaans were rarely chosen for mates by other species. He knew he was an unattractive individual, but perhaps Pher had had to deal with worse.

 

If Byblos was indeed developing feelings for Pher ...he was in trouble, for again Nausicaans were not aces of subterfuge and tended to act first before thinking. Yes It could be said that Nausicaan Subterfuge was a joke. But he had to adapt to follow Pher's methods of doing business and learn to be a more pleasing being to her...perhaps.