Star Trek: Theurgy

Bila sipped his infusion loudly and leaned comfortably against the back of his chair. It was a drink of clearly unpalatable quality but it was obviously the best that that neighborhood could offer him. It was one of the most impoverished quarters of Aldea Prime far from the areas where pure-blood Aldeans, Klingons, and the myriad of alien visitors to the system frequented. This district was populated primarily by Gestalts, Orions, and people who were obviously not experiencing their finest hour. The hybrid knew from experience the face of the misery, poverty, and the questionable deals one engages in when life is at stake and there is little to lose. He recognized the elusive glances, the way people leaned forward pretending not to be interested in other people, the stares over one's shoulder looking for someone who could follow their footsteps. It was all too familiar, too close to his past experience... and it made the scales that ran down the sides of his neck bristle a bit.

The hybrid took one last gulp of the unsavory beverage, placed the cup on the table, and settled a small mountain of Stars beside it. Barely enough to cover the cost of the tea and a meager tip. As much as he wanted to throw money at all passers-by, at the owner of the little cafe and at his too-thin waitress, he couldn't draw attention to himself by showing himself to be too generous. That would only break his alibi as a Cardassian. And possibly attract unnecessary interest upon him. Still, it pained him ethically. But there was nothing he could do for these people. At least not that day.

So he just reached the rendezvous spot, where his sidekick just showed up. He called her by the name she had chosen as her alibi, and she greeted him with the name he had chosen for himself. He remained silent for a while, observing her in earnest, clad in his sinister Cardassian attire. He knew that it made him look more solemn and decadent, almost menacing. A brief smile flashed between the sparse beard on his face before he embraced again the mask of severity he should adopt during the negotiation. Business was business and Bila (now Jahak) knew when a smile was counterproductive. And under his new persona, a smile could only mean danger. "Are you ready?" he inquired with the authority and command that he should display, but which he did not truly feel.

Zeph was the picture of the Aldean woman as she did her shopping.  Looking around the small shop full of old antiques, mostly junk, and heavy collections of dust.  It made her want to sneeze at the sheer volume of the dust particles in the building but she was here to do a job.  Not here, persay but it wold look odd if a woman had only just appeared on the streets in nice Aldean robes and had just gone to meet with a Cardassian.  So Zeph had taken her time working her way to the rendezvous spot.  She had visited a bakery and purchased a small loaf filled with fish and some kind of sauce that was actually quite taste.  The crust just crisp, the pastry well done, and the filling just warm enough to be plesant but not hot enough to burn one's tongue.

Leaving there, she had stepped into the small antique store and found that it was useless junk that was what most people wished to get rid of when they were cleaning out their homes.  But, here, it also seemed to be collections of broken things.  There were small pieces of pottery here and there that had been broken and piled up in a ceramic bowl.  Likely for crafting, jewelry crafting, or something like that.  She didn't know what they could all be used for, but she was merely enjoying looking around.  There was a case with old lockets and jewelry in them but Zeph didn't know enough to know if they were a good price or a nice thing so she left them and stepped back out.

The chronometer on her wrist told her it was time to head over and meet with Bila.  So she began to walk that way depositing the paper from the pastry of earlier in a recycler.  Her robes were a crisp and lovely green color with a slight golden yellow trim.  She had opted for no embroidery or anything of the sort because that would call too much attention, she had left the finer fabrics behind as well, opting for something just low-middle-class instead of anything too fine.  She would call enough attention to herself.  When she met with Bila he was the ever present show of a Cardassian.  He offered her a hidden smile and she offered him one back as they met up on the corner.

“Of course, lets go.”  Together, they turned, her robes flaring slightly as she stepped in time with him.  Her face was serious, and a bit troubled, because she wanted to put forth the picture that she was not exactly thrilled to be walking around with a Cardassian to help her do her work.  As they walked, the area around them grew less market place and more shadows and dilapidated buildings.  Some of them leaned slightly, they were on the outskirts of the city.  It reminded her of the things that happened with Ravon and she really didn't want that to go down again.  As they turned a corner down an alley way, there at the back were three Orions with a case sitting carefully to the side so that no one could bump it, but it was also currently chained to one of the walls, a large iron looking ring had been hammered into the stone there ages ago, and they were using it now.  Zeph was already checking it out without trying to be obvious.  It didn't look as though the ring was likely very supportive anymore, it was likely more of a deterrent than an actual theft prevention situation.

The three looked up at the Cardassian and the 'Human' as they stepped up.  “Greetings.” Zeph said and the eyebrow of one of the Orion shifted upwards before his eyes slid to the Cardassian and she determined it was best to let Bila speak first.

She was playing her role beautifully, looking disgusted and upset about being involved in shady business for money with a Cardassian. Of course Bila knew it was just a character, but somehow it was painfully close to home. That it affected him so much was just nonsense, which made his expression grow even more bitter, and which, on the other hand, was perfect with his disguise. He was displaying a perfect example of an evil Cardassian. The very thought made him unhappy.

The urban landscape shifted gradually as they moved into the more neglected part of the suburbs, an environment that Bila knew all too well. Soon they found the group they had agreed to meet, three misfitting male orions who seemed to be protecting a briefcase chained to the wall. Oh boy, did they really think they were that kind of fools?

Zephyr spoke first, which elicited some distrust in the Orions. "Tèsený da si'múý!" he barked in kardasi before he turned to face the Orions, sour-faced. "You insult me, do you think I'm so gullible to trust that you have anything so valuable in plain sight here, where anyone can spot it? Don't offend my intelligence." He snarled with a heavy kardasi accent and a face twisted into a disdainful expression. "Take us to your leader, I don't have time to waste with nonsense" he said with an elegant hand gesture, an exact copy of what Parnak used when interacting with him. The Orions debated in their own language for a short time and, despite the fact that the
translator pinned to his lapel snitched on the content of the conversation, Jahak leaned
towards Zephyr, as if he was looking for a translation of the discussion or, at least,
confirmation of the translation he was receiving. After a couple more sentences, the one who
seemed to be the leader of the group turned his back on them and went into the ruins. One
of the other minions took the case and tore it from the chain to which it had never been
attached. The last green man stood behind them, looking around uncomfortably.
Bila stepped forward behind the leader with the confidence of one who is well aware of his
command and the rigid movements of one who cannot hide a military past.

It seemed this was not the case, and she was glad that Bila had been able to catch that.  She had never really been big on shady back alley deals but here she was at her first.  She probably looked like a newbie too, but she was trying to portray the bored confidence as much as possible.  Bila told them to take them to their leader, it sounded like a line right out of old si-fi movies but she wasn't too worried about it, she just needed him to be the Cardassian that he was and let her be the person that she was.

The Orions began to speak in their own language, and Zephyr was both trying to get a feel for them mentally as well as trying to hear the translation of the languages that she was getting from him.  Bila leaned in closely, and she looked up at him but she knew that he was putting on a show.  So she moved her lips as though she was translating properly since she wanted to keep up the front, and her low whispers were just basically turning what she was getting from the device they were both wearing into what they could both understand, Standard. 

Finally, they seemed to have decided what was going to happen, and Bila stepped forward as the bolt in the wall fell out and the case was left dangling from the arm of one of the Orion.  None of these men were the leader, none of them had any of the clout that would come with being someone that would hold the kind of materials they were after.  No, but going away with them was a dangerous road that she wasn't willing to walk down.  That would end up in some really bad situations and she didn't really want to be rescued again.  One of the men disappeared into the ruins and she assumed that meant they were getting the actual leader so they could get this deal done.

Zeph remained quiet as she watched everyone, reading their body languages as much as their mental noise that was filtering over.  Zeph had met enough Orion in her time, they weren't that hard to read, she just hoped that they kept their pheromones on that side of the conversation and didn't try to use them.  Though, she found that stigma was something of an over exaggeration for the most part and not always utilized in the way that some people believed.  She truly believed that it was something much more similar to the fact like her own abilities, just because she could use them on everyone didn't mean she did.  Most Orion would likely be that way; though these weren't exactly the Orion you met in the market place.

The group of Orions led them to an area even more sordid than the ruins where they had been found so far. The place seemed to have been forsaken to the elements for decades. Piles of rubbish were piling up in the rubble. At one point the chemist thought he could spot a large, shaggy predator in the shadows of a building. The animal gnawed at a vaguely humanoid carcass. He made a real effort to keep his face consistent with the role he had chosen. While Bila the hybrid had begun to panic, Jahak Preloc considered that this was just an ordinary Tuesday.


After a trip that seemed to take forever to the scientist, they arrived at a structure that looked like it was precariously standing, just by the seer force of leaning against the ruined walls of two other adjacent buildings. The way it tilted its walls made it look like a boozer resting on a colleague. In the centre of one of the walls there was a slanted lintel of a gate, flanked by what appeared to be a couple of filthy homeless men.


Bila was not fooled by surface appearances.


He had lived in or near destitution for some time, and he knew well that hunger and hardships prevented anyone from maintaining the bulky mass of muscle that those thugs in rags exhibited. Nor that watchful and dangerous stare. In addition, a quick study of the duo revealed how some of the tattered rags and shreds of fabric were actually strategically placed to conceal weapons.
The (apparently) full-blooded Cardassian felt a chill run down his scaly spine. They where getting into the lair of the beast, and although it was something they were actively looking for, it was still uncomfortable.


The Orions, for their part, exchanged a few gestures with the doorkeepers and, after a few faint whispers, pushed aside the mended piece of cloth that served as door and stepped inside the building. Bila and his companion followed them shortly thereafter. The group went down several flights of stairs in almost complete darkness, the tense silence broken only by the dripping of something in one of the corners and a dull murmur coming from the foundations of the building. After a descent which seemed to go on for an eternity the staircase ended in a small circular room carved out of the rock, completely empty except for a reinforced door and the roughneck which protected it. Neither the gate nor the Orion guard were disguised on this occasion.


Their guides exchanged some elaborate hand gestures with the guardian and a few more quiet whispers, and the gate opened in front of them. The music, light, and smells coming from the other side of the lintel almost overwhelmed Bila.


The place was a nightclub. Lights of innumerable hues flashed to the beat of music that was just too loud. Almost a hundred people of different species danced and interacted in the illegal pub. As they made their way through the crowd, Bila thought he could make out at least a dozen synthetic drugs being used here and there. The air oozed of alcohol, narcotic fumes, chemicals and pheromones. There were several dancers of both sexes perched on tall platforms, so sparsely clothed that the chemist had to make an effort to suppress the blush that threatened to ascend to his cheeks. Some of the sweaty dancers descended from time to time from their high stands to accompany a client to the darkest part of the hall. There was no doubt that the services they offered had little to do with dancing. Overall, it was one of the best (or worst) examples of decadent establishments in which Bila had been.


Their guides led them to a private booth and asked them to wait there with few words. Bila had no hesitation and dropped into one of the velvety couches that nearly filled the small space. He patted the seat next to him, inviting Zephyr to join him. "Are you ready?" he asked her. "Now comes the tricky part: the negotiation."

The place was much higher tech than it looked on the outside.  As Bila motioned for her to sit beside him, patting the seat there, she lowered herself down and did her best to look as comfortable as possible.  Bila asked if she was ready and she wasn't sure if he was just really nervous or if he was the sort that just was excited about what was to come.  They had finally made it into the lair of the unknown and in the hopes of getting what they actually needed to help defeat the parasites.  She wondered if it would have been wise to bring the Chief Engineer, but probably not.  With her mouth, her penchant for saying the wrong things at the worst times, and the fact that she told them to let her know when they had workable shit.. well it was best to let her do whatever it was she did best.  Something .. greasy.

“Sure, why not, this is totally normal.” she shrugged as though she did this daily.  She could tell he was nervous, and she was too, but someone had to have a level head on their shoulders and apparently the world had elected Zeph.

It was clear they were actually speaking to the big guy when the Orion stepped into the room blanked by no fewer than five body guards.  He was a big guy himself, by Orion standards, his green skin stretched taught over muscles and hidden underneath a very nice suit.  One that Zeph figured probably said a lot more about the kind of money that flowed through the establishment.  Each of the men behind him wore nice clothing as well and how they achieved the level of muscle on their person and were still able to bend down to tie their shoes was all together a new mystery. 

The leader sat down in front of the two and leaned back.  He pulled out some kind of black stick and lit it on fire beginning to inhale the fumes.  Another of the men brought out some kind of glass dish that the golden embers could be dropped into when they got too heavy for the stick to carry.  Zeph continued to sit there waiting for the man to speak first.  At first it seemed that it was going to be a game of chicken before he finally took a break making his large shoulders move as he looked over at the two of them.

“You're not what I expected.”

Zeph shrugged.  “I like keeping it that way, keeps people on their toes.”

The man smiled.  “You're cheeky.  I like it.”

“Well great, we're friends, can we make a sale now?” 

His smile widened as he sucked more of whatever poison was in the stick into his lungs.  If it wasn't on fire she would have maybe been able to decide what was in it but right now she could only smell burning plant life.  

“Did you bring the sum?”

“We wouldn't be here if we hadn't.” Zeph shot back quickly.

“You would be surprised.” he chuckled taking another drag on his stick.

“Look we are here to make a deal.  We have the money.  You have the goods.  This is a quick thing.  So can we get to it already?”

The man looked over at Bila.  “And you quiet man, you let a woman talk for you?”