"Name your price..." he told her

Posted on Tue Oct 13, 2015 @ 6:38am by Civilian Melvyn Raddon & Civilian 'Key Holder' Dorian Gabriel

2,856 words; about a 14 minute read

Mission: Fallout
Location: SS Mathias - Conference Room
Timeline: (BACKPOST)

[ON]

[Civilian Light Transport NI Jentara]

The tall Nausicaan was squeezed into the pilot's seat of the craft, the woman sat behind, the silver collar on her neck and the leash coiled on the seat beside her.

She was humanoid, short, dark eyed and with her dark hair cut in a simple bob. She was beautiful, with pale skin that had almost a greenish tinge. Sore a simple light gray sleeve-less dress, cut high on her thighs and low in the front, displaying her cleavage. She wore simple sandals on her feet.

Behind her were fifty stacked cases. Made of a dark gray plastic, each was forty inches long, twenty four inches wide and fifteen inches tall.

The ship dropped from warp at the agreed rendezvous point and approached the larger vessel.

The Matthias

"Captain, the Niberite Industry vessel is requesting permission to dock." Conn Officer Aloshia reported from her station.

Captain Dante Hanks took a sip from his mug as he glanced at the panel to his left. ~8 minutes late. . .~ He thought, not amused by the disruption in the schedule.

"Have our guests brought to Conference Room 3" The Captain said as he set the mug down and proceeded towards the turbolift. The meeting was already starting off on a bad foot and he hadn't even met the other side yet.

~To be early is to be on time, to be on time is to be late, and to be late is unforgivable. . .~ Dante recalled his Drill Instructor yelling at him during his days as a young Enlisted 'fleeter. Ever since Melvyn Raddon had hired him to Captain this vessel he had run things in a stern, but fair manner. Thankfully, Mr. Raddon knew how to obtain true talent, so it wasn't that difficult to Captain a crew of trained professionals.

As Captain Hanks entered the conference room he noticed his employer sitting casually at the head of the conference table with a glass in his hand. In front of him was a large holographic display, undoubtedly of the details that he planned on discussing with the visitors. Mr. Raddon smiled to the Captain and gestured to one of the nearby chairs.

"Have a seat Dante," Raddon said as he took a sip from his glass. "Please, relax and have a drink." As Mr. Raddon said it the table responded a glass materialized before Captain Hanks.

One of the perks of a state-of-the art civilian vessel was it's replication technology. On the civilian side, there was no need to worry about the fleet-wide prohibition on alcohol or other types of restrictions. All one had to do was simply input the commands at a potent drink would be prepared almost instantaneously.

"Yes, sir!" Captain Hanks said eagerly as he accepted the glass and took a generous sip from the glass as he reclined back into his chair and waited for his Security Team to escort their visitors to the large conference room.

[Docking Bay]

Security Officer Jefferies, along with his assistant security officer, stood outside the Bay doors as the connecting vessel finished its docking procedures and its passengers began to disembark. His orders were simple: escort the guests to their meeting with Captain Hanks in the conference room and secure the "cargo" that they were bringing onboard. Beyond that, he had no clue what else to expect.

With soft whirring the outer hatch of the NI Jentara swung open. The Nausicaan was standing in the doorway, he was big even for one of his species. A jagged scar ran down one cheek, across the side of his neck and disappeared under his jacket. A thick belt around his waist had a holster containing a large hand weapon on the right and a wicked looking dagger on the left. Over his right shoulder was a dark leather bag.

Behind him stood the woman. One pace back, on his left hand side, her head was down and the chain from her collar was held firmly in the Nausican's left hand.

Jefferies, the shorter of the two responded first. "We've been instructed to escort you to the conference room. Mr. Raddon will be with you shortly." He said directly.

The Nausicaan looked at the two crewman, then nodded and ducked through the hatch, the woman obediently followed along behind.

They accompanied the crewman through the ship, the Nausican did not speak and the woman kept her head down, eyes on the floor as she trailed along.

[Conference Room]

They were shown into Raddon's presence, the Nausicaan approached the table then turned and stared at their escorts until they left the room. The woman stood behind him, her head still bowed.

As soon as the door shut and they were alone with Raddon her head snapped up. "Remove it and give me my wrap" she ordered

"Yes Mistress" the Nausciaan turned and dropped to one knee before her, she turned around while he unlocked and removed the silver collar from her neck. She remained turned away until the Nausican opened the bag at his shoulder and removed a long luxurious pashmina stole. She wrapped it over her shoulders, covering herself. Only then did she turn back and moved to one of the chairs opposite Raddon.

"Wait there" She pointed to a spot by her chair and the Nausicaan obediently stood where he was told too. His arms folded over his chest.

Svetlana DeAngelo was three quarter's Human, one quarter Orion and one hundred percent tough bitch. A generic quirk had given her a full share of her grandmother's Orion feminine wiles while retaining a virtually normal human appearance. Using those abilities ruthlessly she had built a very successful and secret commercial operation. Of which Niberite Industries was only a small part.

The Nausicaan, Gratar-Ulvin, was her bodyguard and the public front-man of a part of her business. Svetlana had no problem playing the slave-girl, it kept her under the radar and allowed her a surprising amount of freedom to manage her business. Few of her business associates expected the scantily clad kneeling slave to be the brains and mistress of the operation. She always imagined her grandmother would be proud of her twist on the Orion feminine superiority.

With a few trusted business partners she revealed her true self, Raddon was one of them.

"Melvyn" She breathed softly "How nice to see you again" and held out her hand for him to kiss.

The Elder Businessman rose swiftly and embraced her hand and gently placed his lips upon her fingers. "Madam Svetlana, it's been too long." He said casually. "I hope your trek here was not too taxing." He said as he pulled her seat out for her.

"Not at all Melvyn" She replied with a coy smile "And I have the pleasure of seeing you"

"This is Dante Hanks, Captain of this vessel The Matthias," Melvyn said as he gestured around himself to the massive vessel itself. "This vessel is the shining glory of not just the Raddon Corporation, but Humanity's dedication to its never-ending goal of excellence." Mr. Raddon said proudly. He walked to the head of the table and took a seat while gesturing for his guest to do the same.

"It is also where the Raddon Corp. has witnessed its latest breakthru in Research & Design regarding gene-therapy." He said as he brought up a holo-recording of his prior meeting with Dr. Lance Murdoch several years prior.*** Mr. Raddon had enlisted the services of Dr. Murdoch to assist in his goal of re-creating the physiological element that allowed a Jem'Hadar soldier to live without being addicted to the chemical White.

DeAngelo took a chair and turned to watch the screen. "Jem'Hadar unbound from the Dominion? You've been busy Melvyn" She said softly when the recording ended, she retained her composure but her mind raced wondering at the possibilities of genetically altered super-soldiers. "So what is your next step darling?"

Melvyn smiled as he took one last drink from his glass and placed it back onto the table. After several moments the glass began to swirl as it was dematerialized by the conference room's automated replicator.

"I have spent years, and an unimaginable amount of resources in making my dream a reality." he began. "Imagine a skilled soldier bred to fight for a singular purpose, but without the debilitating addiction to Ketracel White." Melvyn said, recognizing that attempts to even synthesize the drug was outlawed and throughout the Alpha Quadrant. "You can overcome that obstacle by avoiding it altogether."

"It is also a method of control as well though Melvyn" DeAngelo noted "So how do you retain control of your clones without it?"

"My plan is not to clone a Jem'Hadar, but to create a completely new form of warrior: A female Jem'Hadar." He said as he looked into DeAngelo's eyes.

"A female?" DeAngelo was not easy surprised Raddon had managed it with that remark "You mean a Jem'Hadar who can reproduce?"

"Of course not!" Melvyn replied quickly. "I'm creating warriors without any form of weakness, what greater weakness could one think of but that of their own offspring." He said as he walked around the table towards the head of the table. He made several hand motions and a holographic display presented itself.

"My scientists have determined that the key to creating a natural independence from 'White' hinges on creating a Jem'Hadar that was never born with the dependency in the first place." He said as he swiped to a different display. "As you can see here, the Ketracel begins its binding as a result of Jem'Hadar's extraordinary production of testosterone." Melvyn said as he turned to face DeAngelo.

"Therefore, by breeding female Jem'Hadars, you instantly overcome a biological hurdle." He added as he changed the display of the Jem'Hadar DNA sequence. "The Jem'Hadar's greatest weakness was its short lifespan. They were bred to merely be canon fodder. Every death was the loss of countless tactical engagements." Melvyn continued.

"Imagine if that memory was transferrable to every new iteration of Jem'Hadar." He said as he imposed a display of Goran'Agar. "By relying upon mitochondrial DNA re-sequencing, we can transfer the sum of knowledge from him into every female Jem'Hadar thus allowing them to gain experience by birth without having to waste their lives on fruitless engagements!" Melvyn said enthusiastically.

"Genetic-memory you mean?" DeAngleo asked, not sure if such a thing was possible in a higher-species "But, that would mean that you would need to use living Jem'Hadar, who had survived combat, as the basis for the next generation, correct?"

"You catch on quickly, ma'dear..." Melvyn said knowingly. He was aware of what his employees had gone through to secure the vital cargo that now within his control. It was nearly impossible to locate a still-functioning Dominion cloning facility without running into Starfleet. To find one that was still in-tact and containing a vegetative Jem'Hadar specimen was a once-in-a-lifetime find. Melvyn was willing to risk every person under his employ to accomplish this dream.

"How would you screen what was passed on?" Not an expert on such matters DeAngelo was still highly intelligent and could turn her mind to many concepts. "What if there were negative traits which developed, that would be problematic and could mean destroying whole generations to stop the spread...."

Melvyn turned around to face the woman. He paused momentarily as if thinking of something significant. He nodded to Captain Hanks as he turned and walked to a nearby wall-console.

"The Founders were smart in their method of controlling their forces. They knew that one rogue Vorta was much more dangerous than an entire platoon of Jem'Hadar in withdrawal. They knew that if left unchecked, the Jem'Hadar would die or kill themselves as their bodies continued to degrade without White." Captain Hanks said as he switched the viewer.

"That's why we'll take the best of both worlds: We learned that the Vorta had a neurological defect within their brain-stem that, when activated, creates a brain aneurysm. Death was instantaneous. It took us years of studying and research to learn just how the Vorta were able to control their autonomic nervous system with such precision." Hanks added.

"We've learned how to replicate that, except we will also control the ability to simply 'reset' one or possibly all of the female Jem'Hadars or. . . Jem'Yadars as they will be called." Captain Hanks said as Melvyn returned to the table with a lit cigar in his hand.

"I'm not sure the nanny-state Federation would approve of your plan Melvyn darling" DeAngelo said "How would you keep their prying noses out of it?"

"Ma'dear, I've learned long ago that the best way to hide anything from anyone is to put it in plain sight." He said as he took a savoring drag from his cigar. He allowed the smoke to sit in his mouth for several moments before blowing it out through his lips. "There are many, and I do mean many Patriots within the Federation and Starfleet in particular who recognize that the freedom provided by the Federation is not free by any stretch of the imagination." Melvyn said as his face took on a more serious cover.

"Why do you believe that I've spent so much time working with those within the Federation hierarchy. It is no co-incidence that Federation Envoy, Hilliard Braxton visited the station and spent a 'considerable' amount of time touring Raddon Corporation facilities both on and off this station." He said as he took another appreciative drag from his cigar.

"Within the Federation, I've made enough friends, allies, and everything else in-between to keep my business out of the prying eyes of Starfleet until the time is right." He said with another pull from the cigar.

DeAngelo wasn't quite sure Raddon could achieve all he claimed but he was certainly powerful enough to be most of the way there, which led to her next question "So Melyvn, darling, where do I fit in?"

Melvyn paused for several moments in between drags on his cigar. "You, ma'dear shall be the linchpin to this brave new world." He said calmly.

"We've learned through painful experience the difficulties in transporting the necessary materials needed to complete this project." Captain Hanks interjected. "We are one of the largest corporations residing in this station. Everything we do is under a significant amount of scrutiny. There is only such much we can keep out of the focusing eye of Starfleet before the wrong people begin asking questions." The vessel's Captain said directly.

"You have the resources to assist us in transporting material and staff to facilitate this significant undertaking." Captain Hanks said.

"You've already demonstrated your tenacity and guile through today's shipment." Melvyn interjected, referring to the 50 cases of bio-memetic gel that were in the process of being unloaded and brought on board the Matthias. "I can assure you that this will definitely be worth the . . .slight aggravation." Melvyn said warmly.

"Darling Melvyn, flattery will get you a long way" DeAngelo replied with a seductive smile "But cold hard latinum and straight talking will get you further, come to the point"

Gone were the days where people would serve for the mere benefit of service itself. Nonetheless, Melvyn expected there to be some negotiation required.

"A monthly stipend of 70 bars of gold pressed latinum." Melvyn said as he tapped his cigar, knocking the ashes into a nearby tray. "Plus, whatever incidentals that may arise." he added.

"And twenty five years in a Federation Reformatory Colonyif I get caught with some of your new playmates on board" DeAngelo replied "I'm not going to live in a grubby damp fly infested tent and spend my days digging drainage ditches, on some nasty little frontier world for seventy bars a month darling! I simply won't! And I think its perfectly beastly of your to offer such a pittance!"

Melvyn sighed deeply as he leaned back in his chair. He took a drag from his cigar and blew a strong gust of smoke into the air as his eyes remained unfocused. He slowly reclined himself upward and looked towards the captivating woman again. Melvyn had spent a lifetime negotiating both in the private sector as well as on behalf of the Federation. He knew how to work the angles to his benefit. He also recognized that DeAngelo would not be taken for a fool.

But he needed this to work. . .

"Name your price..." He said as he eyes remained fixed directly on the woman across from him.

"Two hundred and fifty bars darling" DeAngelo said levelly "And you know I'm worth it"

Before Raddon could reply a comm link buzzed and a crewmans voice said "I'm very sorry to interrupt sir, but we've received a sector wide distress call from Deep Space Five. They are abandoning the station!"


***

Melvyn Raddon
CEO
Raddon Corps

Dante Hanks
Captain
SS Matthias
NPC

 

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