by -=/\=- Zanh Liis
80525.15
Following Part One
-=The Captain's Dining Hall, USS Serendipity=-
80525.15
Following Part One
-=The Captain's Dining Hall, USS Serendipity=-
"What did Blik do to Vol Tryst?" Zanh demanded.
[[Liis?!]] Jariel signed, shocked she would make such a blatant accusation out of the blue.
"You must know, you arrested him for it. Surely you wouldn't place a man under arrest unless you had proof of his guilt, would you Captain?"
"I have proof enough." Zanh closed the space between her and Lank in two swift strides, and the man actually picked up the chair he'd been sitting in and placed it between them as a physical barrier, still cowering.
"If you lay a hand on me, your whole crew will be finished! I will own this ship and I will own you! I will see you hanging from the-"
"Oh, knock it off." Zanh waved her hand. "I'm not going to touch you. At least not yet," She added just enough of a menacing glare to further unnerve him. "I am a Starfleet Captain. There are, unfortunately, rules that I must obey, so I will obey them. And you will honor the good-faith agreement that your world has as a trade ally with the Federation and you will tell me the truth of what is going on down there on your planet."
"Whatever do you mean?" Lank examined his fingernails, the air of arrogance reappearing the moment he felt the threat of imminent physical injury had passed.
"I mean, you're hiding something down there and are so desperate to keep whatever it is that has really happened to cause this power cascade a secret that you are willing to inflict injury on my people to do so, as well as suffering on your own."
Jariel sighed, and for a moment, held his head in his hand. *This is not diplomacy,* he thought to himself, and he raised his hand a moment to get Liis' attention. She tried to ignore him, but he finally tapped her on the shoulder, and held his finger up toward Lank begging a moment's pause.
"What!" Liis turned on Jariel sharply, then she cringed. "Apologies." She whispered. "What?" she asked, much more calmly. Jariel began to sign to her furiously, and she nodded.
"I know, I know." She replied. She sighed, squared his shoulders and stepped back two paces. "Of course. Go right ahead."
Jariel began to sign, and Liis translated his questions for the Overseer.
"Why are you so afraid of letting our teams actually go to work down on the planet? Isn't there some sort of agreement we can come to for the benefit of everyone? Then we can finish as quickly as possible, and we will take our leave of your world. Which appears to be what you would prefer." Liis translated aloud.
"Yes, I would prefer that. Truthfully, it would have been better if you had never come."
"It was you," Jariel reminded Lank through Zanh, "who sent the distress call."
"Indeed." Lank's shoulders sank and he sat heavily down onto the chair before him. "None of this was ever supposed to happen."
"What wasn't supposed to happen?" Liis asked the question before Jariel could sign it.
"You have to understand, Captain, we are a species who have based our entire livelihood, our entire economy, on being one of the top suppliers of technology to other worlds. We must keep our trade secrets, well, secret. If technologies we have under development were leaked from our facilities to other worlds, don't you understand what will happen to us?"
Liis was almost amused, thinking that this guy was worried that they, of all crews in Starfleet, would be interested in stealing their technology. The Strasa had no idea of the goldmine of future technology that he was literally standing above. The Alchemy, the Gateway, all the secrets of advanced technology that the Sera and her crew reigned over. . .things so beyond what the Strasa had provided to the Federation in the past that his head would spin if he only knew.
"I assure you, Overseer, we have no interest in spying on your projects in development. Our aim is to help you restore power to your city, to your people, and then, to be blunt, to get the hell out of here. We were on another assignment when your distress call came in, and to be frank this has been nothing but an inconvenience for me since the get-go." Zanh informed him bluntly.
"Now, however, it has turned into something worse. You are obviously hiding much more down there than next year's tech toys. My teams have been refused admission to the weather net, putting your people as well as mine at great risk and tying my hands. I can do my job much better and we can shake hands and part company much more quickly if I can use my transporters. But I can't do that without a stable atmosphere to beam my people in and out of. So until we can secure the weather net and put it into a stable stand-by mode, locked down, here we are."
"Then it would be best if you gathered your teams and left my planet, immediately." Lank insisted, heading for the door.
"What about the charges against Blik?"
"You can have Blik." Lank said dismissively. "If you do, in fact, have any proof against him I assure you that you will never be able to tie it in any way back to me, or any of the others here tonight."
*That bastard,* Zanh thought. *He gave Blik the order to take Vol out and now he's going to throw him under the bus and leave.* Jariel got Liis' attention again and signed. She sighed.
"I know that we cannot hold your entire delegation without cause, and therefore I will do just what you ask, Overseer. I will beam you and the rest back to your ship, I will recall my Away Teams," Zanh's eyes locked on Lank's, "And when it comes to restoring power to your city before your inhabitants overrun the capitol to get to water and food," Zanh turned away. "Good luck with that."
[[I'll see that he rejoins the others,]] Jariel signed to her, following Lank out the door.
Liis called out, seeking the Betazoid/Human bartender. "London," She called. "Where the hell are you? You're going with me."
"Where are we going?" Trick asked, reappearing from behind the doors.
"Sickbay."
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-=/\=-Zanh Liis
Commanding Officer
USS Serendipity NCC-2012
-=/\=-Zanh Liis
Commanding Officer
USS Serendipity NCC-2012