Selling Souls Part One
Ensign Dane Cristiane
80105.1
Following Rude Awakening------------------------------------------
Ensign Dane Cristiane
80105.1
Following Rude Awakening------------------------------------------
Temporal Investigations Agent Zanh Liis had been working undercover the day Dane Cristiane first crossed her path.
She'd walked into that spa, rather, brothel of Vaudri Kar's on the station, with that newly enhanced head of long blonde hair, the clingy red dress and high heels.
He'd done as his employer, Kar, had instructed. He'd gone into the 'massage therapy' room and made their customer the standard offer.
--=Flashback; two years ago, aboard Deep Space 23=--
When he first saw her, she was laying before him face down on the massage table, naked sans a thin robe over her lower regions, which left nothing to the imagination. But within seconds, he had realized that something about her was very odd.
She rejected his advances, or to put it in plainer terms, turned down his business proposition, and that amused him.
Did she find him unattractive? That was doubtful, women rarely did. But this one... she asked his name.
They never asked his name.
There were some strange people on the station, that was certain. Strangest he'd seen in his nineteen years. But this woman really intrigued him.
Her accent was as phony as the boss's hair color. Perhaps she knew, as he did, that there was much more going on at the spa than met the eye. Perhaps she was looking to sell some wares of her own.
Yes, she was definitely hiding something. What was she really after?
"Are you certain that you don't desire companionship?" He asked her again, but she flipped that mane of bleached hair at him and turned up her nose, which struck him as a remarkably Bajoran thing to do. He was amazed she was ridge-less.
He would find out later that was only due to crafty use of a dermal regenerator.
"Go away, little boy. I want to be alone," she growled.
He began gently massaging the back of her neck slowly.
"No one really wants to be alone," he whispered. Suddenly she sat up and held his arms in a vice grip at the wrist.
"I told you, I am not interested in buying what you're selling. Leave."
He grinned at her. He couldn't help it. She was such a spunky thing.
"Tell me, my dear, what is it that you're selling here?"
A fleeting moment of surprise fluttered across her crystal blue orbs, but she blinked it away.
"I'm not selling anything. I am insulted that you would dare to suggest that-"
"That you're involved in the seedy, perverted underground that dwells barely below the surface in this place? That I suggest that you know that a hell of a lot more is traded here than bath oil and sex? I think that you are very aware that there is more to Vaudri Kar than meets the average eye, and I expect that she would find it very interesting to know that you,"
"That won't be necessary," she said. Suddenly her accent was gone. She had pulled on her clothing and was getting ready to leave.
He was actually sorry to see their cat and mouse game come to an end so quickly.
"Leaving so soon?"
"Yes, and if you let me go quietly, I won't have to kill you."
"Hurt me?" He said with a laugh. "You think you could?"
That was when he met reality with a resounding thud. She had his arms pinned behind him and his face flat against the wall before he even saw her move.
"Now that you put it that way... but why leave before you get what you were looking for?" It occurred to him that there may still be money to be made here.
Vaudri was underpaying him. Especially for his information gathering services. Perhaps it was time he took on a second job for a little extra income.
"How do you know that I didn't?"
"If you had, you'd be gone already. So what is it? Weapons? Tactical data? You want to take a hit out on someone?"
"Why should I tell you? So you can go tell your boss?"
"My boss doesn't pay me nearly enough to inspire that kind of loyalty," he replied. "If you have a need, I may be able to fill it."
"For a price," She said with a laugh.
"Hey, you get what you pay for. As you'd have discovered if you'd taken me up on my first offer this evening."
"What if I arrange to stop back past this way, the next time I'm in the neighborhood? Perhaps you could listen a little, provide me with information I'm seeking."
"Anything is possible at Epicure," he whispered.
She finally let go of him. "Fine. You listen, and I will pay you according to the value of the information you provide me."
"Any specific topic?"
"I want you to listen for the names Sacul and Salvek."
"The captain of the station," he replied knowingly. But the second name, he did not recognize.
"I will contact you in three days and see if you are of any use to me," she said finally.
"We didn't discuss my price."
"Don't worry about money. The people I work for could buy and sell this station a thousand times over," she replied. "Count on it."
He bowed gallantly, just to totally piss her off. It worked. She sighed and headed toward the door.
"And if you tell anyone that this conversation happened, well, let's just say you won't be able to tell anyone anything else after that."
He understood. "We have an accord.".
"Good." She slipped him a bar of gold pressed latinum. "Your first job is to help me make an exit."
Then without warning or waiting, she hauled off and slapped him loudly. Then she started shouting what he could only imagine were obscenities, in some exotic tongue.
She stomped out of the room, threw some more latinum in Vaudri's general direction as she continued screaming about 'this place being a dive' and then she was gone.
---End Flashback---
"Come on, glamour boy, I don't have all day."
The clearly irritated voice of Lt. O'Sullivan warned Dane he'd better not drag his feet any longer. "Get into that uniform, you don't want to keep the Admiral waiting."
"Admiral?" Dane felt apprehension for the first time in a very long time. "Which Admiral?"
"Which one do you think, Temporal Investigations? Jonas Vox, who else?" O'Sullivan replied with a satisfied smile, as Dane went another shade paler than he'd been before. "He's got a few things he wants to say to you."
Dane bent down and fastened his boot, yanking the zipper up with one swift, angry tug. As he repeated the same exercise with his second boot, he muttered one word under his breath.
"Shit."
As he walked with O'Sullivan right on his heels out of the holding area and to the transporter room, his mind flashed again, this time back to the exact day he had signed on for what he thought was a fresh start, but would turn out to be so much more than he bargained for.
She'd walked into that spa, rather, brothel of Vaudri Kar's on the station, with that newly enhanced head of long blonde hair, the clingy red dress and high heels.
He'd done as his employer, Kar, had instructed. He'd gone into the 'massage therapy' room and made their customer the standard offer.
--=Flashback; two years ago, aboard Deep Space 23=--
When he first saw her, she was laying before him face down on the massage table, naked sans a thin robe over her lower regions, which left nothing to the imagination. But within seconds, he had realized that something about her was very odd.
She rejected his advances, or to put it in plainer terms, turned down his business proposition, and that amused him.
Did she find him unattractive? That was doubtful, women rarely did. But this one... she asked his name.
They never asked his name.
There were some strange people on the station, that was certain. Strangest he'd seen in his nineteen years. But this woman really intrigued him.
Her accent was as phony as the boss's hair color. Perhaps she knew, as he did, that there was much more going on at the spa than met the eye. Perhaps she was looking to sell some wares of her own.
Yes, she was definitely hiding something. What was she really after?
"Are you certain that you don't desire companionship?" He asked her again, but she flipped that mane of bleached hair at him and turned up her nose, which struck him as a remarkably Bajoran thing to do. He was amazed she was ridge-less.
He would find out later that was only due to crafty use of a dermal regenerator.
"Go away, little boy. I want to be alone," she growled.
He began gently massaging the back of her neck slowly.
"No one really wants to be alone," he whispered. Suddenly she sat up and held his arms in a vice grip at the wrist.
"I told you, I am not interested in buying what you're selling. Leave."
He grinned at her. He couldn't help it. She was such a spunky thing.
"Tell me, my dear, what is it that you're selling here?"
A fleeting moment of surprise fluttered across her crystal blue orbs, but she blinked it away.
"I'm not selling anything. I am insulted that you would dare to suggest that-"
"That you're involved in the seedy, perverted underground that dwells barely below the surface in this place? That I suggest that you know that a hell of a lot more is traded here than bath oil and sex? I think that you are very aware that there is more to Vaudri Kar than meets the average eye, and I expect that she would find it very interesting to know that you,"
"That won't be necessary," she said. Suddenly her accent was gone. She had pulled on her clothing and was getting ready to leave.
He was actually sorry to see their cat and mouse game come to an end so quickly.
"Leaving so soon?"
"Yes, and if you let me go quietly, I won't have to kill you."
"Hurt me?" He said with a laugh. "You think you could?"
That was when he met reality with a resounding thud. She had his arms pinned behind him and his face flat against the wall before he even saw her move.
"Now that you put it that way... but why leave before you get what you were looking for?" It occurred to him that there may still be money to be made here.
Vaudri was underpaying him. Especially for his information gathering services. Perhaps it was time he took on a second job for a little extra income.
"How do you know that I didn't?"
"If you had, you'd be gone already. So what is it? Weapons? Tactical data? You want to take a hit out on someone?"
"Why should I tell you? So you can go tell your boss?"
"My boss doesn't pay me nearly enough to inspire that kind of loyalty," he replied. "If you have a need, I may be able to fill it."
"For a price," She said with a laugh.
"Hey, you get what you pay for. As you'd have discovered if you'd taken me up on my first offer this evening."
"What if I arrange to stop back past this way, the next time I'm in the neighborhood? Perhaps you could listen a little, provide me with information I'm seeking."
"Anything is possible at Epicure," he whispered.
She finally let go of him. "Fine. You listen, and I will pay you according to the value of the information you provide me."
"Any specific topic?"
"I want you to listen for the names Sacul and Salvek."
"The captain of the station," he replied knowingly. But the second name, he did not recognize.
"I will contact you in three days and see if you are of any use to me," she said finally.
"We didn't discuss my price."
"Don't worry about money. The people I work for could buy and sell this station a thousand times over," she replied. "Count on it."
He bowed gallantly, just to totally piss her off. It worked. She sighed and headed toward the door.
"And if you tell anyone that this conversation happened, well, let's just say you won't be able to tell anyone anything else after that."
He understood. "We have an accord.".
"Good." She slipped him a bar of gold pressed latinum. "Your first job is to help me make an exit."
Then without warning or waiting, she hauled off and slapped him loudly. Then she started shouting what he could only imagine were obscenities, in some exotic tongue.
She stomped out of the room, threw some more latinum in Vaudri's general direction as she continued screaming about 'this place being a dive' and then she was gone.
---End Flashback---
"Come on, glamour boy, I don't have all day."
The clearly irritated voice of Lt. O'Sullivan warned Dane he'd better not drag his feet any longer. "Get into that uniform, you don't want to keep the Admiral waiting."
"Admiral?" Dane felt apprehension for the first time in a very long time. "Which Admiral?"
"Which one do you think, Temporal Investigations? Jonas Vox, who else?" O'Sullivan replied with a satisfied smile, as Dane went another shade paler than he'd been before. "He's got a few things he wants to say to you."
Dane bent down and fastened his boot, yanking the zipper up with one swift, angry tug. As he repeated the same exercise with his second boot, he muttered one word under his breath.
"Shit."
As he walked with O'Sullivan right on his heels out of the holding area and to the transporter room, his mind flashed again, this time back to the exact day he had signed on for what he thought was a fresh start, but would turn out to be so much more than he bargained for.
---------------------------
Ensign Dane Cristiane
Apprentice TI Agent
In a Lot of Trouble
On Earth
Ensign Dane Cristiane
Apprentice TI Agent
In a Lot of Trouble
On Earth