Bolians in the night - I

Posted on Mon Jan 19, 2015 @ 5:27am by Civilian 'Key Holder' Yolanthe Ibalin
Edited on on Tue Feb 10, 2015 @ 1:38am

1,968 words; about a 10 minute read

Mission: https://ds5.sim-station.net/index.php/sim/missions/id/5
Location: FMS Precinct & the Box of Delights
Timeline: EOTB MD01 0115

[ON]

[FMS Precinct]

After grabbing a couple of hours nap in his quarters Steiner returned to work at midnight and found his young Vulcan Deputy ready and waiting to go.

Steiner was pleasantly surprised, Tu-Selok was dressed in cargo pants, a t-shirt and a faded and patched crew work-jacket. She also sported a blue knitted cap which she had pulled down to cover her Vulcan ears.

She looked like off duty civilian crew, which matched well with Steiner's own jeans, polo shirt, battered leather jacket and baseball cap. The pair of them would look like they were on shore leave from a merchant ship.

Tevlet had not bothered even attempting to conceal his Andorian features and instead wore a some kind of Andorian business suit, complete with a cravat. He looked like an average businessman, many of whom were seen about the Promenade.

"Okay, so we'll go to the Box first, hang out and see if we can spot our Bolians, if and when they show up." Steiner explained the plan

"Then Tevlet will take over, we'll leave and head to the Q'uits. When the Bolians leave, Tevlet will signal us and tail them to be sure they're heading our way. Then break off and monitor from here"

Steiner, a veteran of many surveillance missions knew that people concerned about being followed tended to be less suspicious of people already at a location, than people who came in shortly after them. By being at Q'uits bar first he hoped that he and Tu Selok would not be noticed.

"Any questions?"

"Are we intending to apprehend the suspects Chief?" Tu Selok asked

"I don't think so, this is more of an intelligence gathering op. Lets see what they're up to and who they're meeting with. Then we can start tracking movements and go from there.

Hopefully they will lead us to bigger fish! Alright, badges, weapons, cuffs and comms check..."

They all had their MFS badges, service phasers and handcuffs concealed in their clothing and disguised communicators as well. Steiner also had his secondary weapon, an old style Type 1 phaser in his boot and his investigators tricorder in a jacket pocket.

As they were about to leave the door opened and Sven-Erik Axsdahl entered. "Sven-Erik, you look awful!" Steiner greeted him "You're still sick! Why arn't you in bed?!"

"'Cos sick or not, I'm not laying in bed while you three go on surveillance!" The big Norwegian rumbled, then held up his hands before Steiner could protest

"I'm gonna stay here and monitor ok? I'll run comms from Tevlet's room and call Security if anything goes down"

"Alright" Steiner agreed, it would be good for them to have some backup "As long as you're up to it"

"And don't sneeze all over my stuff!" Tevlet warned with a mock-serious expression and waved his antenna at Axsdahls.

"Me? Nahhhhh" Axsdahl replied "I'm getting better!" then rummaged around for a tissue as he began sneezing and coughing.

"Sure you are Sven-Erik, sure you are" Steiner commented as the three of them departed.


[Promenade]

Fifteen minutes later the three of them parted ways. Steiner and Tu-Selok heading for the Box of Delights, while Tevlet went to wander the Promenade decks for a while, until he got the signal the Bolians had arrived at the bar.

As they walked Steiner gave his newest Deputy some final instructions "So, we're just a couple of work buddies out for a late night drink. We keep a low profile, we watch, we listen and we learn, just like in training, ok?"

"Understood Chief " The Vulcan nodded, her voice was level and unemotional but Steiner thought he detected just the slightest waver there. Not surprising He though It's her first real operation out of the academy

They walked along, passing one of the numerous park areas in the Square Mile of civilian habitation decks, Steiner was casually looking around and from the corner of his eye noticed a couple walking in the park. They were walking along a pathway, going away from himself and Tu-Selok, both appeared humanoid, both were tall and slim and what drew his attention was their clothing.

The woman appeared to be wearing some kind of multi-coloured billowing silk ensemble that wafted around her as she walked, like it was blowing in a breeze, but the air was still.

The Male was wearing some kind of leather pants and tunic and had a long blond ponytail that nearly reached his waist. He had a series of metal rings on his upper arms.

Attractive looking couple Steiner mused as he walked, his attention drawn to the pair Wonder what species...

They turned a corner and he glanced in a store window, there was a reflection of the park in the glass. It showed the grass, trees and the pathway but the couple were not there in the reflection.

He turned back to look over his shoulder but they had gone. Huh... perhaps they ducked into the bushes for a cuddle

He was about to look further when Tu-Selok asked him a question. "Sorry, what?" he replied, not hearing her as he scanned the park

"I said, is this them Chief?" She repeated

Steiner looked ahead, they were approaching the Box of Delights there were two Bolians entering the door. Both were heavyset and dressed in similar, but scruffy, para-military style uniforms. "Could be, let's go in and see" He dragged his attention back to the mission in hand.

They entered the Box a few moments later, it was one fifteen in the morning. The Bolians were already seated in a booth on the far side of the room, they were with a human female and a Nausican male.

Steiner angled for a couple of seats at a table nearer the bar. From there they could watch the occupants of the booth and the entrance.

He and Tu-Selok sat at the table and waited for a server to come over, when she arrived Steiner ordered a tall beer, the girl looked to Tu-Selok who began to say "Just Water..."

Steiner nudged her under the table and she seamlessly changed it to "Just what... beers do you have?"

The server rattled off a list and Tu-Selok chose one at random. "You want the lime and shot chaser with that?" the Server asked

Tu-Selok looked momentarily baffled and Steiner stepped in "Yeah, and bring me one too"

Once the server had gone to get their drinks Steiner asked "Don't drink much huh?"

"No, not much" Tu-Selok said looking down "Alcohol can impair logical thinking"

"This is true" he agreed "So we won't over do it"

"Understood"

Steiner glanced around and saw Ibalin with some other customers at the bar, he waited to catch her eye. When she saw him, he flicked his eyes at the Bolians in the booth and then back to her, arching his brows in a question That them?

Seeing the marshal and his deputy arrive, Yolanthe shifted to a dirty yellow. She had secretly hoped he wouldn't come back. When Vedra arrived to pick up the two beers, she pulled the risian close. "You tell the two on table four to not get comfy. You can tell them I don't think they should stay long." She hoped the Marshal was smart enough to figure out that he had correctly eyeballed the two bolians and to not make a scene. The two hadn't ordered big drinks, small bolian brandies with a fruit juice chaser. Things that could sit for a long while, but be drunk fast if needed. She wasn't expecting the two blue skinned aliens to stay long. Vedra nodded, and sashayed back to Steiner, putting the bottles down and repeating the message, somewhat apologetically.

Steiner smiled at the waitress, unfazed by the owner's message "Well you can tell Yolanthe Thanks for the welcome and we'll be leaving after we've enjoyed our drinks" he gave her a wink, a large tip and then ignored her as she returned to Ibalin.

He knew the lady of the hourse was probably nervous having him around undercover, he'd already provoked one fight in her bar. He didn't want to cause her unnecessary concern by hanging around longer than he needed to. "How's you beer?" he asked Tu-Selok taking a pull of his lager.

"I do not know, it's the first one I've had" the Vulcan replied and proceeded to drink half of the beer in one go. "I did not really attend a lot of the social events at the Service Academy"

Steiner's eyes opened wide "Whoa, easy does it" he said with a grin,"You sink the shots fast and the tall drinks slow"

'Oh, I did not realize I was doing it incorrectly" Tu-Selok then picked up the shot glass, which contained some dark smokey liquor Steiner had never heard off and drank that down.

"Damn" he chuckled, "You really didn't party much did you"

He tried a sip of his shot and winced "Ouch, that's strong stuff!"

"What do I do with the lime?" Tu-Selok asked

"Put it in your mouth, bite down and suck out the juice" Steiner replied "I think maybe one drink is going to be enough" he knew Vulcan's had a strong metabolism but if she was new to alcohol swinging it down in quantity was not going to be a good idea.

"That has a sharp taste!" Tu-Selok said chomping on her lime "Although it does add to the flavour of the drink. I can see why many species do this. Shall we order another?"

"Yeahhhh, no!. So let's just slow down and relax, give it five minutes and we'll head out and let Tevlet take over" Steiner said, wondering if his new deputy was getting hammered on her first drink.

"Oh yes, you are correct Chief" Tu-Selok replied, returning to her usual cool self "I am sorry, this was my first time, I may have got a little... in to the role"

"Right..."

"Chief, why does the Nausican have that woman on a leash?" she asked

Steiner took a sideways look at the booth with the Bolians. He hadn't noticed it before but the woman was indeed wearing soem kind of collar and a leash ran from it to the Nauscian's hand.

"Slavery is illegal" Tu-Selok said "Should we consider freeing her?"

Steiner watched the group, the woman did indeed seem to be some kind of servant to the Nausican. But watching further he noticed she was the one doing a lot of the talking, even though she was not making eye contact with the Bolians.

"I'm not sure she's the subservient one over there" Steiner replied "Well, get Tevlet to watch further, we're leaving"

He raised his beer to take another drink as Tu-Selok drained the rest of hers "That was not unpleasant" She said, then burped and looked momentarily surprised.

"Right, cmon you, before you start ordering cocktails!" Steiner stood up and watched as Tu-Selok got to her feet

"I appear to be experiencing some difficulty in coordination" she announced as she stood. She closed her eyes for a moment and he saw her jaw tense. When her eyes opened, she was calm and focused.

"That's better, let's go and hang out at Q'uits" Steiner said "Where I'm buying you a club soda!"

They made their way out of the bar. Steiner caught sight of Ibalin watching them leave, he didn't acknowledge her, no point letting others see they knew each other.


::OFF::


Chief Deputy Wolfgang Steiner
Deputy Tu-Selok
FMS


Yolanthe Ibalin
Owner, The Box of Delights

 

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