Things Past – Tip of the Iceberg: Part 7 - The informant
by Arrival Kaia
Post Details
ON:
He didn't hear the first two rings.
"Dude, John... your console."
The third ring (and his mumbling bunkmate) roused him, he sat up in his bunk.
"Jennings, answer your damn console."
Jennings hadn't had a decent night's sleep in some time, and being woken up in the middle of it by a random call was annoying to say the least, to the others trying to sleep in the barracks even more so. He got up and drowsily sat down at his terminal, he tapped the screen, opening the channel.
A Ferengi appeared on screen "What do you want, hewman?"
Jennings pried his eyes open as he tried to wake up, and twisted his face in annoyance. "What do *I* want? What the heck? Who are you? What do you mean what do I want? YOU called ME."
"Because you wanted me to."
Jennings eyes shot open and his situational awareness clicked on as he realized who he was talking to. His voice immediately took an apologetic tone as he realized this was not a conversation he should be having over an unsecured line in a common room. "OH! I ah... yeah... I... I did... My apologies. I'm... I'm not in a position to talk right at-"
"Well I am, and this is the only time I'm talking." The Ferengi interrupted.
~Damnit damnit damnit~ Jennings thought to himself as he quickly tried to think. "Can I at least put you on hold til I can secure the line? Thanks" He suspended the call without waiting for a response.
~don'thangupdon'thangupdon'thangupdon'thangup~ He spun around, dashing to his bunk to throw on some clothes and ran as fast as he could to the private comm terminals the crewmen of DS5 were given access to for private calls. ~pleeeeaaaase don't hang up~ Upon reaching a private terminal, he routed his call. The Ferengi reappeared, looking angry. John breathed a sigh of relief.
"What was the point of that, hewman?" The Ferengi barked. "You're wasting my time."
"You know as well as I do," Jennings responded, trying to catch his breath from his sudden run. "What we, what I, would like to discuss shouldn't be done in public."
"You hewmans might care about such things, but I don't." The Ferengi folded his arms. "Now I ask again, what do you want. There are better things I could be doing."
Jennings held up a hand, gesturing defensively. "It's not my intention to upset you. I know what happened on Alpha Mensae."
"Either that's true, and there is no information you need from me, or it's false, and there is nothing I need from you," The Ferengi called his bluff. He continued, "But you seem awfully willing to pay for something you don't need. Why?"
Jennings exhaled, feeling picked apart. "Okay. I don't know what happened at Alpha Mensae, but I do know OF it, and I want to know what happened."
"No you don't. You know nothing for being so arrogant, hewman. This conversation is over..."
"WAIT WAIT WAIT!" The crewman grabbed the sides of the console, desperate not to let his only lead hang up on him. "Please, believe me. I'm trying to find information on someone who may have been involved. The Federation and Romulans have covered everything up. You're the only person I've been able to find who was there."
The Ferengi sneered in amusement at something Jenning said, though it was unclear what. "I told you, you don't want to know."
"I"m telling you I do."
The Ferengi stopped staring at him and started staring past him. The tone of the Ferengi's voice became a bit more airy, less angry, more sullen. "Do you listen with those small ears of yours, hewman? I"m telling you that you don't."
"Try me."
"Would you even recognize the truth if it came up and grabbed you by the lobes? Would you kow what to do with it?"
"I've learned enough about what happened to seek you out. A lot of people have gone missing in the process. If something happened to them I don't want it to have been in vain."
"How noble. You Federation types are always all about that, aren't you-"
Jennings cut him off. "I also know that if you tell me the truth, I'm probably the first person who would believe you..."
The Ferengi was quiet for a long time, snapping the focus of his gaze to Jennings and glaring at him through the monitor.
After the Ferengi failed to respond, Jennings continued. "So really, what do you have to lose by telling me what you saw, Telk-"
"DON'T SAY IT." The Ferengi interrupted, the reactive tone in his voice having the slightest hint of panic. "NEVER SAY IT. She's always listening. I don't know how, but she's always listening."
The Ferengi's change in tone concerned the crewman. "Who?"
"The Trill." the Ferengi answered. "Never caught her name, but she was the one in charge. She was the one who disappeared."
"Who? In charge of what?" The mention of a Trill turned on a few lights, but Jennings was having trouble following the Ferengi's train of thought.
"First, you need to understand something hewman. If any credible information about the event got out, it might mean war. The Federation broke a treaty, and the Romulans were caught with their pants down. Nobody who knows what happened wants to admit it, and nobody who wants to know what happened believes it. You're not getting anything more from me than my word. Not for Latinum, not for Credits, not for favors. If you want to live, don't dare record any of this."
"Just start from the beginning."
"Years back, I was in the employ of Daimon Raeno. He had some contact in the Romuan Navy willing to sell him cloaks on the cheap. Paranoid as anyone I've seen, but with good reason. My teams part of the job was to scout ahead and make sure that the rendezvous point was safe. Yeah, we were bait, but the profit was good, too good to pass up. That should have been a clue."
The Ferengi looked away from the screen as he continued his story. "I'm in orbit, taking scans, the ground crew gives the all clear, I give the all clear and the Daimon came into the system. Next thing I know The Daimon and a Romulan Warbird are firing upon another Romulan Warbird, and I'm trying my best to stay away from the commotion. My sensors pick up some kitbashed shuttle fleeing the planet at max impulse and there's an explosion planetside. Everything in orbit but me is gone. Vanished. No debris, nothing. Poof. Next moment, my controls lock up and some commando team beams onto my shuttle from Exchequer knows where. They shoot me in the back, hijack my shuttle and fly towards Federation space."
Jennings spoke up. "How do you know where they were going if they stunned you?"
"Don't take me for a fool." the Ferengi replied. "A Trill, a Romulan, a Human, and a Bajoran. You're going to try and convince me a group like that WASN'T Federation?"
Jennings had to concede the point. Few political powers were as diverse as the Federation. "But how do you know they weren't mercs?"
"I've worked with mercenaries hewman, have you?" the Ferengi reorted. "Mercs aren't that organized. Not to mention after a few days, they got all panicky and suddenly we were all transported to the interior of a Federation ship. Hard to fake an architecture as sterile as yours. That, and the fact that you love to put your registrations all over everything."
"You know what ship you were on then?"
"Hard to forget when it's practically the only reading material you have for a couple weeks." The Ferengi replied, snidely. "USS Cerberus, NCC-77919"
Jennings scrambled for something to write down the . The Ferengi's paranoia seemed to match, if not surpass, his own. He didn't want to just type that name into a PADD anymore. Ultimately, John rolled up his sleeve and pinched his arm with his fingernails. Hopefully he'd be able to decipher the welts later. "What did they want? Why did they hold you for so long?"
"How should I know? I've told you everything I told them. Didn't see much through the sensors of my shuttle, and sure didn't see anything after being ambushed." he continued. "They tried a few soft interrogations, asking me what I'd seen, what I was doing there. once they figured I didn't know anything worthwhile they dropped me like a bankrupt business partner. Just left me on a station with a public transit ticket to find my way back to Ferenginar."
"Why would they have held you at all?"
"Wasn't in a position to ask." the Ferengi snapped. "I'm surprised they didn't just kill me. Some days, I wish they would ha- would... wouuuuuauauaaaaghh-"
The crewman's eye went wide as the Ferengi vaporized in a flash of light. In a panic, Jennings severed the comm connection and bolted from the private terminal. Alone in the corridor, perspiring from fear and adrenaline, he leaned against a bulkhead and broke down. He took several minutes to let the emotion wash over him and compose himself.
The Ferengi's last moments began playing and replaying through his mind. The flash resembled a transporter beam more than a phaser or disruptor. The surprise and pain in the Ferengi's last moments indicated that something was very, very wrong. He had likely just seen firsthand the fate of his missing contacts, which meant their killer was that much closer. John looked down at the welts he had put on his arm to remind himself of the ship name and designation that the Ferengi had told him. He had to warn his uncle.
OFF:
NPC's played by
Kaia
Civilian
Owner of Xenogy Survey Services
Deep Space 5
"No plan, no technology, is so perfect as to truly be idiot proof."
by Arrival Kaia
Post Details
| Title | Tip of the Iceberg: Part 7 - The informant | |
| Mission | Things Past | |
| Author(s) | Arrival Kaia | |
| Posted | Mon May 23, 2011 @ 7:46pm | |
| Location | Enlisted Crew Barracks | |
| Timeline | Backpost (Interlude) |
He didn't hear the first two rings.
"Dude, John... your console."
The third ring (and his mumbling bunkmate) roused him, he sat up in his bunk.
"Jennings, answer your damn console."
Jennings hadn't had a decent night's sleep in some time, and being woken up in the middle of it by a random call was annoying to say the least, to the others trying to sleep in the barracks even more so. He got up and drowsily sat down at his terminal, he tapped the screen, opening the channel.
A Ferengi appeared on screen "What do you want, hewman?"
Jennings pried his eyes open as he tried to wake up, and twisted his face in annoyance. "What do *I* want? What the heck? Who are you? What do you mean what do I want? YOU called ME."
"Because you wanted me to."
Jennings eyes shot open and his situational awareness clicked on as he realized who he was talking to. His voice immediately took an apologetic tone as he realized this was not a conversation he should be having over an unsecured line in a common room. "OH! I ah... yeah... I... I did... My apologies. I'm... I'm not in a position to talk right at-"
"Well I am, and this is the only time I'm talking." The Ferengi interrupted.
~Damnit damnit damnit~ Jennings thought to himself as he quickly tried to think. "Can I at least put you on hold til I can secure the line? Thanks" He suspended the call without waiting for a response.
~don'thangupdon'thangupdon'thangupdon'thangup~ He spun around, dashing to his bunk to throw on some clothes and ran as fast as he could to the private comm terminals the crewmen of DS5 were given access to for private calls. ~pleeeeaaaase don't hang up~ Upon reaching a private terminal, he routed his call. The Ferengi reappeared, looking angry. John breathed a sigh of relief.
"What was the point of that, hewman?" The Ferengi barked. "You're wasting my time."
"You know as well as I do," Jennings responded, trying to catch his breath from his sudden run. "What we, what I, would like to discuss shouldn't be done in public."
"You hewmans might care about such things, but I don't." The Ferengi folded his arms. "Now I ask again, what do you want. There are better things I could be doing."
Jennings held up a hand, gesturing defensively. "It's not my intention to upset you. I know what happened on Alpha Mensae."
"Either that's true, and there is no information you need from me, or it's false, and there is nothing I need from you," The Ferengi called his bluff. He continued, "But you seem awfully willing to pay for something you don't need. Why?"
Jennings exhaled, feeling picked apart. "Okay. I don't know what happened at Alpha Mensae, but I do know OF it, and I want to know what happened."
"No you don't. You know nothing for being so arrogant, hewman. This conversation is over..."
"WAIT WAIT WAIT!" The crewman grabbed the sides of the console, desperate not to let his only lead hang up on him. "Please, believe me. I'm trying to find information on someone who may have been involved. The Federation and Romulans have covered everything up. You're the only person I've been able to find who was there."
The Ferengi sneered in amusement at something Jenning said, though it was unclear what. "I told you, you don't want to know."
"I"m telling you I do."
The Ferengi stopped staring at him and started staring past him. The tone of the Ferengi's voice became a bit more airy, less angry, more sullen. "Do you listen with those small ears of yours, hewman? I"m telling you that you don't."
"Try me."
"Would you even recognize the truth if it came up and grabbed you by the lobes? Would you kow what to do with it?"
"I've learned enough about what happened to seek you out. A lot of people have gone missing in the process. If something happened to them I don't want it to have been in vain."
"How noble. You Federation types are always all about that, aren't you-"
Jennings cut him off. "I also know that if you tell me the truth, I'm probably the first person who would believe you..."
The Ferengi was quiet for a long time, snapping the focus of his gaze to Jennings and glaring at him through the monitor.
After the Ferengi failed to respond, Jennings continued. "So really, what do you have to lose by telling me what you saw, Telk-"
"DON'T SAY IT." The Ferengi interrupted, the reactive tone in his voice having the slightest hint of panic. "NEVER SAY IT. She's always listening. I don't know how, but she's always listening."
The Ferengi's change in tone concerned the crewman. "Who?"
"The Trill." the Ferengi answered. "Never caught her name, but she was the one in charge. She was the one who disappeared."
"Who? In charge of what?" The mention of a Trill turned on a few lights, but Jennings was having trouble following the Ferengi's train of thought.
"First, you need to understand something hewman. If any credible information about the event got out, it might mean war. The Federation broke a treaty, and the Romulans were caught with their pants down. Nobody who knows what happened wants to admit it, and nobody who wants to know what happened believes it. You're not getting anything more from me than my word. Not for Latinum, not for Credits, not for favors. If you want to live, don't dare record any of this."
"Just start from the beginning."
"Years back, I was in the employ of Daimon Raeno. He had some contact in the Romuan Navy willing to sell him cloaks on the cheap. Paranoid as anyone I've seen, but with good reason. My teams part of the job was to scout ahead and make sure that the rendezvous point was safe. Yeah, we were bait, but the profit was good, too good to pass up. That should have been a clue."
The Ferengi looked away from the screen as he continued his story. "I'm in orbit, taking scans, the ground crew gives the all clear, I give the all clear and the Daimon came into the system. Next thing I know The Daimon and a Romulan Warbird are firing upon another Romulan Warbird, and I'm trying my best to stay away from the commotion. My sensors pick up some kitbashed shuttle fleeing the planet at max impulse and there's an explosion planetside. Everything in orbit but me is gone. Vanished. No debris, nothing. Poof. Next moment, my controls lock up and some commando team beams onto my shuttle from Exchequer knows where. They shoot me in the back, hijack my shuttle and fly towards Federation space."
Jennings spoke up. "How do you know where they were going if they stunned you?"
"Don't take me for a fool." the Ferengi replied. "A Trill, a Romulan, a Human, and a Bajoran. You're going to try and convince me a group like that WASN'T Federation?"
Jennings had to concede the point. Few political powers were as diverse as the Federation. "But how do you know they weren't mercs?"
"I've worked with mercenaries hewman, have you?" the Ferengi reorted. "Mercs aren't that organized. Not to mention after a few days, they got all panicky and suddenly we were all transported to the interior of a Federation ship. Hard to fake an architecture as sterile as yours. That, and the fact that you love to put your registrations all over everything."
"You know what ship you were on then?"
"Hard to forget when it's practically the only reading material you have for a couple weeks." The Ferengi replied, snidely. "USS Cerberus, NCC-77919"
Jennings scrambled for something to write down the . The Ferengi's paranoia seemed to match, if not surpass, his own. He didn't want to just type that name into a PADD anymore. Ultimately, John rolled up his sleeve and pinched his arm with his fingernails. Hopefully he'd be able to decipher the welts later. "What did they want? Why did they hold you for so long?"
"How should I know? I've told you everything I told them. Didn't see much through the sensors of my shuttle, and sure didn't see anything after being ambushed." he continued. "They tried a few soft interrogations, asking me what I'd seen, what I was doing there. once they figured I didn't know anything worthwhile they dropped me like a bankrupt business partner. Just left me on a station with a public transit ticket to find my way back to Ferenginar."
"Why would they have held you at all?"
"Wasn't in a position to ask." the Ferengi snapped. "I'm surprised they didn't just kill me. Some days, I wish they would ha- would... wouuuuuauauaaaaghh-"
The crewman's eye went wide as the Ferengi vaporized in a flash of light. In a panic, Jennings severed the comm connection and bolted from the private terminal. Alone in the corridor, perspiring from fear and adrenaline, he leaned against a bulkhead and broke down. He took several minutes to let the emotion wash over him and compose himself.
The Ferengi's last moments began playing and replaying through his mind. The flash resembled a transporter beam more than a phaser or disruptor. The surprise and pain in the Ferengi's last moments indicated that something was very, very wrong. He had likely just seen firsthand the fate of his missing contacts, which meant their killer was that much closer. John looked down at the welts he had put on his arm to remind himself of the ship name and designation that the Ferengi had told him. He had to warn his uncle.
OFF:
NPC's played by
Kaia
Civilian
Owner of Xenogy Survey Services
Deep Space 5
"No plan, no technology, is so perfect as to truly be idiot proof."