Star Trek: Outwardly Mobile

Old Times
by
Jay P Hailey


"Hey there, Green."

Li'ira smiled with an edge to it. "Greetings, Yellow."

The man laughed with a deep voice. "What brings you out this way?"

"The usual." Li'ira demurred. "Business."

"You still hanging out with that crazy human, the one with the eyes?" He waved his hands meaningfully across his face.

"No." Li'ira said. "Business went badly for him."

The man smiled "Good."

"I didn't think you were the spiteful type." Li'ira said.

"I'm not, when there's no profit in it." He grinned. "But since you're free of that maniac maybe we could get together and discuss some … other business."

Li'ira's smile was wry. "I'm not in that business anymore."

"Hey, hey, hey." The trader held his hands open to Li'ira "I didn't mean to bring up bad times. I meant like maybe we could be friends."

She looked at him carefully. "Really?"

"Really." He lied through his teeth.

Li'ira shook her head. "What are you running today?"

He shrugged eloquently. "Whatever pays the anti-matter."

"Well, I might know someone who is interested in moving some information." Li'ira lied. She was curious and wanted to see how far she could push her old friend.

"You still going by Xaj?" She asked.

"Why not?" Xaj asked with exaggerated dignity. "It's the name my mother gave me."

"Sure it is." Li'ira said.

He smiled "Not the only one. Actually I'm here to meet some people. I may get a load, it may pay me some."

"Not a bad thing," Li'ira said.

"So, what about you?" Xaj asked.

Li'ira thought about it. The best way to lie was to tell the truth. "I'm looking for someone."

Xaj looked impressed. "You're a detective, huh?"

Li'ira smiled "Something like that."

"So, who are you looking for?" Xaj asked.

"I'm not going to stay in business long that way, am I?" Li'ira asked.

Xaj shrugged. "I never thought of a Green being a detective before."

Li'ira quirked an eyebrow at him, "You'd be surprised at what people let slip around a Green."

Xaj shook his head. "Oh, no I wouldn't."

Three men came into the bar. One was another Golden Orion man, his skin a coppery color. One was a Nausicaan, huge and brutal looking. The third was a Denobulan man, looking very dapper and business like.

"Looks like my customers." Xaj said, said standing up.

Before he finished standing up, the trio saw him and moved towards the table.

"Gentlemen, May I present, Kzara?" Xaj introduced Li'ira.

"Leave, slut." The Golden Orion man said.

"Now, now, now." The Denobulan said "There no need to be rude."

"It's not rudeness to them. They're not smart enough." The Golden Orion man said in a surly tone. "They get the message when you punch 'em a few times, though."

The Nausicaan laughed an ugly laugh.

The Denobulan man grew cross. "Vemk, I'll not have this sort of behavior in public. We are respectable business men and we shall act like it."

Vemk's expression grew sour.

"Don't make me remind you again." The Denobulan said. His cheerfully bustling tone carried an undertone of menace.

What made that scary was how the Orion and the Nausicaan stopped and looked at the Denobulan.

"Take it easy, Rito. We're cool." Venk said.

"See that you remain that way." Rito said. He turned to Li'ira and was sunny again, like throwing a switch. "May I get you something, my dear? How about you Xaj?"

"I'm fine," Li'ira said.

"Lunch would be nice." Xaj said.

"Then please order." Rito said.

"I have to be going now." Li'ira said getting ready to stand.

"Please stay with us, Miss Kzara." Rito said. He smiled genuinely at her. "I'd be glad of your company."

Li'ira looked at him carefully. Something wasn't right here. That's why she stayed. She wanted to see what it was. She added a touch of ditzy to her voice. "Okay. Lunch doesn't sound too bad."

Li'ira placed an order intended to be in character for Kzara. It wasn't easy. Li'ira had no time to reconstruct who Kzara might be and why she might be a detective on the frontier. On the other hand it wasn't hard. It was really easy to over think food. Li'ira ordered a Kinchja, a form of Orion fast food sandwich that she happened to like. It was Fish wrapped in a bread stick and then baked with seasonings and cheeses. The cheeses were an addition from Earth Pop Culture. Li'ira decided to try her Kinchja with cheese.

The three men across the table also ordered. Rito ordered a live cooked meal, an extravagance but one the place they were in was ready to provide.

As the meal was placed before them, Rito tucked into his food with obvious joy. Vemk attacked his food methodically. The Nausicaan massacred his order messily with but evident pleasure.

"Tell me of your ship, Xaj." Rito said.

"She's a beauty, " Xaj enthused. "An Orion scout, built around 2340. I recently did an upgrade on the warp control computer and overhauled the intermix core. She has some zip to her."

Rito smiled while Vemk sneered. "How many hours are on your warp coils?" Rito asked.

"Well, they're a little on the old side but still efficient. They'll do the trick." Xaj said.

"I'm certain that they will, but I want to know exactly how many hours are on them." Rito insisted.

Xaj smiled a little sadly. At least he'd gotten lunch out of the meeting. "Eighty thousand hours."

Venk rolled his eyes and sat back.

But Rito didn't even slow down. "Is the vessel's history clean?"

Xaj smiled "I cleaned her myself on Botchok eighteen months ago. And no one's gotten a scan of me doing anything illegal since then."

Li'ira knew that to clean a ship in this context meant to remove any identifying marks, purchase a new identity, papers and IFF module for the ship. An overhaul of the warp drives usually changed the warp signature enough so that subsequent scans from a distance couldn't identify the ship as her former self. This was done when a ship was clearly scanned in an act of piracy or crime. Or when the Captain felt like it. It wasn't that expensive.

Rito smiled "excellent."

The discussion got more technical from there. Rito queried Xaj on every detail of his ship.

"Does she have a cloaking device?"

"She sure does. I have to warn you, though, that it's not the latest model. That ship out there could find me if she was motivated." Xaj said.

Li'ira cast a disinterested glance over he shoulder to the USS Cincinnatus. Ho hum, another Federation starship. She didn't mention that she commanded the ship. It would have put a chill on the conversation.

Li'ira kept focused on the conversation. When necessary, she'd be able to repeat every detail. She was a very well trained observer.

Garan Draxil, Tandala McBier, Crystara Acnapma, Claw and Ralli, one of the Green Gang from the Cincinnatus came into the bar.

Draxil Tandala, and Ralli caught sight of the Captain, and her position. Draxil smiled beautifically and began talking about booze, looking further into the bar.

Tandala's reaction was no less swift, suddenly finding whatever Draxil was talking about very interesting, while grabbing Crystara's arm.

Li'ira sat on a smile. Claw's eyes were huge compound orbs covering the top third of his head. He didn't have a lot of expression there. The lower half of his face looked puzzled, and then started to grin. Of course the captain was making new friends. Then she'd introduce Claw and her crew and then everyone would be friends.

Claw's thought process was interrupted by Ralli who interposed herself roughly between Li'ira's table and Claw and began whispering to him.

Claw's expression was bemused and puzzled as Ralli led him away with Draxil, Crystara and Tandala.

Fortunately, Rito didn't see this while he was engaged on the conversation.

Venk and the Nausicaan did. Venk hissed and said "Great Bird, they'll let anyone into Starfleet these days. Frellin' animals."

The Nausican just looked brutal. He'd enjoy hurting the Starfleet officers of he could.

Rito looked over his shoulder at Li'ira's crew people and saw them heading for an unrelated corner of the bar. "See?" he said, "We're businessmen."

Li'ira took a sip of her Dr Pepper.

Xaj looked at her carefully. He'd made out that something was up. His face was expressionless. His eyes said "Are you going to rat me out to your friends?" but he didn't have time to wait for an answer.

After another twenty minutes of detailed questioning about Xaj's ship, The Summertime Flush, Rito nodded to himself. "I believe we can do business, Xaj. Let's take a tour of your ship shall we?"

"Sure." Xaj nodded. "Kzara, nice to meet you once again." He stood.

"And you." Li'ira smiled her best dazzling smile at Xaj.

"Don't you want to take a tour of Xaj's ship?" Rito asked.

"Sadly, I don't have the time." Li'ira said. "I have business of my own."

"Once again, I'd appreciate your company." Rito said, with a kind entreaty.

"I'm sorry." Li'ira said. "Perhaps next time."

"I'm afraid I'm going to have to insist, young lady." Rito crefully took a phaser out of it's holster and slid it under the table.

Li'ira blinked. "Look, it doesn't have to be this way."

"I'm quite afraid it does." Rito smiled. "Come along, or else I'll be forced to shoot you."

Li'ira looked into his eyes. "You'd shoot me in a bar full of witnesses?"

"No." Rito said. "We'd shoot you in a bar full of your fellow murder victims."

Li'ira drew a breath. He was dead serious.

Vemk smiled nastily. "You don't think I'm following this guy for his charming conversation, do you?"

The Nausicaan laughed again. "I am."

Li'ira carefully didn't put her hand in her pocket. It had her commbadge in it. If Rito saw the move, he'd look. If he saw the Comm badge it would seriously advance the "Bar full of murder victims" agenda.

Li'ira smiled "Alright. Let' go tour the ship."

Xaj blinked slowly. "Look this is just business. There's no need to go crazy, here."

Rito chuckled. "Not at all. I just happen to enjoy it, that's all."

Xaj tried to think it through. "But if you start a phaser fight…"

Rito finished the thought for him hurriedly. "Yes, yes, yes. I'll be caught or killed. But if you start a scene here, it's very likely I'll be caught or killed. In fact most anything you can do at this point besides cooperating quickly and smoothly with me can get me captured or killed. So what do I loose? If I am in the position of spending my last five minutes as a free man, I might as well enjoy them, wouldn't you say?"

Xaj blinked a little more. "Oh. You make being a whacko sound so reasonable."

"It is, really, from the proper perspective." Rito smiled. "Let's go."

Li'ira stood up, and flanked by Vemk the Golden Orion and the unnamed Nausicaan, walked towards the exit.

Garan Draxil came over smiling broadly. "Hey Gents! How much for a night with the Lady?"

"Twenty strips." Venk said roughly. "But you can't have her tonight. It'll have to be tomorrow."

"Whoa. Tomorrow? Bummer." Draxil said.

Li'ira laughed her best bimbo laugh, swayed her hips and slinked over to Draxil. "See you tomorrow, lover." She cooed in her best Bimbo voice.

Draxil didn't have to act very much. "Ohh, yeeeaaaah."

Then he shrugged "Okay Gentlemen. See ya tomorrow."

Rito turned and quickly continued, followed by his thugs and his unwanted guests.


-*-



They were walking along a corridor in the starbase. Rito held both Li'ira and Xaj in front of him with his small phaser in his pocket.

"I don't get it." Xaj said. "We had the deal cut and dried. Why'd you have to turn it into this?"

"She knows too much." Rito explained shortly "And you let her."

"So?" Xaj asked.

"You Orions may fall for that Bimbo act, but she is a fully sentient being and fully capable of testifying in court." Rito said. "I am smart enough not to take unnecessary risks."

Li'ira didn't know whether to grumble or be flattered.

They turned into an isolated corridor heading down one of the radial arms of the station towards the Docking port that the Summer Flush inhabited.

As soon they were good and isolated from the view of passers by, the bugs under the skin feeling of transport started.

"Don't fire!" Li'ira said intently. But she was already fading away. As the grayness overwhelmed her vision she saw the flare of a phaser beam next to her.


-*-



As she rematerialized, Li'ira felt a sliding and settling feeling in her skin and in her breasts. Her clothes were not transported. The feeling of being naked and defenseless was unpleasant.

Li'ira found herself in a standard brig cell. Several security officers she didn't know were gaping at her in surprise.

Li'ira said "Computer, opaque the force field." In a short clipped tone. The force field closing the brig door became black.

Li'ira quickly replicated and donned a generic jumpsuit from the replicator in the brig cell. Fortunately this was on its list of allowed items to replicate.

"Uh, Miss, let us know when you're dressed, please." A voice came through the force field door. It didn't block sound at all.

"Okay." Li'ira said. "Give me two minutes, please."

"Alright. We do have scanner on you. If you have any devices and power them on, we'll know about it instantly." The Security officer said.

Li'ira gritted her teeth. The Sensor reading was not showing a corrected version of her. They couldn't see her nudeness. But they could see a bizarrely colored infrared image of her. Li'ira sighed, replicated underwear and redressed more comfortably anyway. She didn't know how long she'd be stuck. When that was done she unblackened the force field.

"I should have shot you when I had the chance." Rito said conversationally.

Li'ira took a deep breath. "Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda."

"Indeed. I look forward to our next meeting."

Xaj yelled at the guards, "Hey! I am a victim here. This maniac and his two goons kidnapped us! Kzara and I were just trying to conduct some legitimate business."

The Security officers looked at each other uncertainly.

Garan Draxil came in to the brig area. "Hey, Dudes."

"Lieutenant." A security Lieutenant nodded at him.

Draxil held out his hand. "Garan Draxil, Cincinnatus. Listen, my Captain requests that you let that Green girly there loose into my custody."

The Security Lieutenant shook Draxil's hand. "Busby. Sorry, I'll need orders from Captain Cornell."

Li'ira sighed. "Computer, Identify."

The Computer's precise tones informed every "Li'ira Mary O'Keefe, Captain, USS Cincinnatus."

The Starbase Security people looked at her stunned.

"I'm not Cornell, but I'm a Captain. Will I do?" Li'ira said.

"I believe I shall regret not shooting you for the rest of my life." Rito said.

"There is just no way. No way at all." Venk said. "A GREEN CAPTAIN!?"

"The food here sucks." The Nausicaan complained.

Lt. Busby dropped the force field and released Li'ira.

Li'ira stepped out of her cell. "Thank you for your timely rescue, people." She said gravely.

Li'ira nodded towards Xaj's cell. "He was also a captive of the Denobulan, Rito, the Orion, Vemk and the Nausiacaan, who's name I don't know."

"George." The Nausicaan said with a mouthful of replicated potato chips.

"Emm… George." Li'ira finished dubiously.

"My Ma was an idiot." George explained. "Hey, I'll testify against those two for some booze. How about it?"

Li'ira said "Please let Xaj out."

Lt. Busby looked uncomfortable "He, ahh, he was armed when we transported him in, Captain."

"I am Orion and I was armed as well." Li'ira pointed out. "What's your point?"

Busby dropped the force field.

Xaj stepped out of the cell, Naked. Li'ira looked appraisingly. Not too bad. "Get some clothes and put them on, Xaj."

Xaj started. "Oh. Oh yeah."

As he was doing so, Captain Cornell arrived.

Lt Busby introduced Li'ira to Cornell.

"Looks like everything is well in hand, here. Captain. Shall we discuss this in more appropriate surroundings?" Cornell asked

"Thank you Captain Cornell. I'll retrieve my clothes and be right with you. I'll be ready to swear out a deposition for your JAG officer." Li'ira said.

Cornell nodded. "Alright. I look forward to finding out just what was going on!"



-*-



In the corridor outside the brig, Crystara was waiting with Li'ira's clothes and possessions.

"Where are mine?" Xaj asked.

"Security has them." Crystara said.

"Xaj." Li'ira said.

He looked at her. "Captain, Huh?"

She quirked a smile at him. "Yes."

He shook his head, stunned.

She looked at him carefully "You owe me one, Xaj."

He winced. "Oh boy."

Li'ira nodded "That's right."

He shrugged. "I guess so."

She smiled "Remember who your friends are." And left the brig.

 

-end-

Disclaimer: Paramount owns all things Trek. I claim original characters and situations in this story for me.

This story posted by permission of the author. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.

Jay P. Hailey

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June 19, 2005