6: Profit and Liis

Profit and Liis
(As told by Vedek Jariel)
71202.16
Just following "Going All In"
-Current Location Unknown-

"How long does it take to replicate a lobster tail? Chop chop!!! And don't forget the butter again!" Zanh Liis clapped her hands together in frustration.

The Ferengi had been moving her around about once every two days, and she wasn't sure where she was now, but she knew she wasn't on Ferenginar anymore.

"Enjoy this while you can Bah-Jor-Ahn. Your time with us will be coming to an end shortly."

"That's a damn shame because this has turned into the best vacation I've had in a while. Now get a move on, Speeg."

Liis turned her attention back to the video game console she had been playing for the last few days.

Hechka, the teenaged daughter of the first house she'd been sequestered in, had gotten her hooked on an insidious game of matching like colored jewels in rows of three, four or five to score points.

She hadn't quite made a million yet but she was going to before she was sold into slavery if it killed her.

She laid back in the divan in her fuzzy robe, controller in hand and bare feet dangling over the edge. The Ferengi had pampered her since her arrival, not wanting anything to happen to the true prize of their upcoming auction.

Indeed, after years of following orders and being just a breath away from death on missions time and again, Zanh Liis was enjoying having her every whim catered to. The only thing this place lacked, was Jariel Camen.

That is why she had tried time and again to modify any piece of electronics she had gotten her hands on to try and send a signal to Starfleet. Unfortunately, she had been foiled by the Ferengi each time. It had begun with the young Hechka's music player, then Speeg's market network access card, but she was especially proud of the modifications to the tooth sharpener.

********Flashback*********

Zanh Liis looked around the room, once again she was alone. The Ferengi, tired of her escape attempts, had removed every scrap of computer technology from the room. Speeg had not realized however that his tooth sharpener had fallen from his pocket as he tried to hoist the computer console from the room where Liis was being held.

She picked up the device by the end of the handle, not wanting to touch the grinding end because she knew EXACTLY where it had been. On the wall was the connection port to the communications network. Liis tore the cover off the wall, exposing the transmitter circuits behind.
She removed the casing of the tooth sharpener to expose the power source, and began splicing together the wires with those from the comm network. It was a shot in the dark but if she could transmit her name in dash-dot code by turning the sharpener on and off, someone may pick up on the transmission if they were looking. she got through Z and A, before....

"Stop what you are doing!" Speeg entered the room, dropping her croissant and fresh squeezed Bajoran Grape Juice on the floor, creating a nasty stain, as he drew his disruptor.

"Hmmm, what? I don't know, its crazy, this thing fell off the wall and..."

"Oh, my best sharpener! We are lucky we have a no refund policy. Whoever buys you is going to go mad with your constant escape attempts! This is a fourth generation sharpener! My great grandfather passed this on to my grandfather and...."

"Eww, ok, I get the point." Liis returned to her divan. "I'm not eating that food off the floor, get me another."


*********End Flashback*********

Speeg entered the room with her lobster tail, and melted butter, precisely as ordered.

"Set it down on the table. I'm at 900,000 points." Out of the corner of her eye Liis saw Speeg's wife in the doorway.

"It's him." Liis didn't know who "him" was, but she knew she was most likely out of time.

"Finally!" Said Speeg with relief. He hurried into his bedroom, where the computer currently was. There, on the screen, was his partner Gleen. "Do we have a buyer?"

"I've been contacted by the Tal Shiar. I'm meeting one of their people in a few minutes. I trust the merchandise is still in order?"

"Yes, I've met her every request just as you asked, but it has not been easy. She is quite demanding."

"Let her enjoy her last few moments of freedom, the Romulans will not be so kind to that lovely face. Its a shame." Gleen grinned from ear to ear. "The auction starts at one-hundred hours in two days. Do not arrive more then five minutes before that. I don't want her on the planet if anyone shows up that was not invited. No slaves, no evidence."

"Five minutes before hand, see you in two days." Speeg closed the channel and returned to Zanh Liis. "Two days Bah-Jor-An."

"Shhhhhhhh I'm over a million!"

"Aren't you worried?" Speeg leaned close to her ear, hissing the words to her, no doubt glad that after having been treated like a slave the last week, his work was coming to an end, and his share of the profits would arrive shortly.

"Not really. Damn! One point three million. I could have got more if you didn't distract me!"

"Why not? Speeg asked.

"Because, my tiny lobed friend, I know people. People who serve under me, and care for me, and would gladly give their own lives to protect mine. And they are looking for me, and at some point they are going to figure out where I am, who you are, and what you are doing."
Zanh Liis stood up, towering over Speeg, even in her bare feet. She lowered her voice and poked her finger against Speeg's chest.
"When that happens, you are going to find yourself surrounded out of thin air by a dozen Starfleet officers with phasers bigger then your pathetic bank account, and before you can even reach for your weapon they are going to bore a hole through your chest big enough to fly a Borg cube through. Until then I am perfectly content to just bide my time and wait from them to kick down the door, or for you to come to your senses and release me before they have the chance to bring a swift end to your miserable little existence. You have no idea who you are messing with, little boy."

Speeg continued to lean farther and farther back and Liis leaned forward into him, till he fell onto the floor, trembling. Liis returned to her divan and began another game.

"That's why I'm not worried." Now all Zanh Liis had to do was hope that Starfleet really was looking for her, or Speeg wasn't going to call her bluff.

Vedek Jariel Camen
(telling Zanh's tale)
Ship's Chaplain
USS Serendipity NCC-2012