And The Devil to Pay

Posted on Wed Jan 20, 2016 @ 4:58pm by Civilian 'Key Holder' Yolanthe Ibalin & Civilian Ricardo Draxx

2,347 words; about a 12 minute read

Mission: Pangaea (Wrap up)
Location: Torm's Estate
Timeline: MD10 1430

::ON::

They materialised on the lawn, some way back from a large veranda that overlooked the mountains in the distance. Yolanthe had to grab on to Draxx to stop the usual urge she had to throw up after being disassembled on a quantum level, turned into light particles and reassembled. She could never shake the feeling the was reassembled wrong.

On the veranda, Torm Malakmar was taking a meal. His huge rolls of fat spilt over the edges of his chair, and he couldn't get close enough to the table to sit properly. Despite the mildness of the day, he had a sheen of sweat upon him, and his skin looked stretched and too shiny and pink. He looked up from the plate of tiny eggs he was eating to slowly raise a hand in greeting then dab the swat from his fat, bald, head, wincing as he did so.

"Glad you could make it, Draxx." he called out, and then gestured to a pair of guards at the bottom of the veranda steps.

They moved forward, and stopped in front of the human. "Going to check you for weapons. Arms out." said the first, a boslic man like Torm, only much much fitter. The other was Andorian. He didn't take his eyes from Draxx, and left his hand on the handle of his disruptor.

Draxx had been somewhat caught off hand when Yolanthe grabbed onto him, however he steadied her quickly and stepped forward confidently. "Ahh Jetsam and Pollux," he indicated the guards as they approached him and did a sweep. "Always a pleasure," he jested as their instruments came up nothing as always.

They gave him flat, unimpressed stares before standing aside to let Drax approach their employer.

"Torm," he grinned at the guards before yanking Yolanthe by the arm after him. "Why is it always eggs?" he asked plonking himself down in the chair opposite.

"Why is it always questions?" Torm popped another egg between his cracked and swollen lips.

"Just wondering," he stated. This man was always eating, he thought. He could not actually think of a time he had NOT seen the alien eating.

"Anyway I have brought you something sweeter. More exotic," he ran his hand over and through Yolanthe's hair and down to her shoulder which he then patted forcing her forward and into his full view. "I assume Orson has been in touch?"

Torm looked at Yolanthe and her green hued skin. "This is her? Looks like an orion to me."

"Oh," Draxx said with a grin. "She ain't no Orion." He looked at her and nodded expecting her to shift colours. And she didn't. So instead Draxx stood up again and slapped her on the arse, perhaps enjoying it more than and executing it harder than he needed too but she had kicked him in the happy sacks earlier. It was not forgotten.

"Come on honey. Lets see that rainbow skin. She's Bokkai," he told the man stuffing yet another egg in his mouth.

When the slap landed she turned the colour of pineapples and gave him a look that promised dire retribution.

Torm raised a non-existent eyebrow, and the movement looked difficult, the skin too tight, ate another egg and said with his mouth full, "She's damaged." He flicked a sauce covered finger at the black bruise on her cheek they'd forgotten to sort out.

"Some Klingon/Orion hybrid at the market decided to be a total twat. Got a hit in before we could deal with him when we dropped by Orson looking for work," Draxx shrugged, blasting himself internally for forgetting that detail. Also the smell of the eggs was just disgusting.

"Ain't nothing a dermal regenerator won't fix up," he slapped on a smile.

Torm grunted and surveyed Yolanthe, watching as she slowly settled back to a a chartreuse colour. "She's on the large side. I'll give you a hundred bricks for her."

Draxx had to use every ounce of his self control not to laugh at the statement that Yolanthe was on the large size. Personally he found her size fine, more than fine. However the irony that Torm had just made that statement certainly wasn't lost.

He took a breath. Okay he had to try. "I was kinda hoping to make a bit of a trade," he addressed Torm as soon as he felt able to move past the weight comment. "I was fancying an Orion. Orson said you picked one up not so long back. Any chance of negotiating a lady and some bricks," he tried. He had promised after all. "She's quite the prize. Takes practically a life time to travel to her back-end planet and get one. Very rare. There's a few other buyers interested but of course, in terms of our professional relationship I had to come to you first."

At the mention of her size she turned a dirty ochre colour. But she was the tallest person on the veranda. She couldn't deny it.

Torm chewed thoughtfully. "I have to admit that the orion is not for sale. I have a couple of others if you want a trade. Or I can offer you other goods in kind."

Well that backfired Draxx thought. He chanced a glance at Yolanthe trying to convey, he had tried. Of course it wouldn't have been that easy would it??? He chided himself.

"Ah well. I did want an Orion. I'll take the hundred and just have to save up some more. I'm sure you can keep me in work to help with that goal," he said gamely. Draxx held out his hand to shake with the mobster feeling awful but if he tried to push things Torm would know something was up and they potentially blow their position. They would have to cook up a plan B to get Yolanthe and this Klia back now at another time.

The green in Yolanthe's skin drained sharply to lemon yellow, and she twisted the fabric of her dress into her hands to keep from saying anything. Docile thoughts. Docile thoughts. Docile thoughts

Torm looked at the change in colour, then back to Draxx. "how do you control her? I don't see a neurolytic restraint." There was definite suspicion in his voice.

"Ahhh well the skin colours is linked to her emotions. That's why she's such a rare prize" Draxx answered laying on the charm. "Bokkai is the only race I know that change colour with emotions. She's like a live mood stone. A party trick that you could manipulate. Of course I haven't, .... you know," he looked her up and down greedily and whistled, "but I would love to know what colour she goes when she comes."

"You could of course use a chemical compound I suppose to keep her a certain colour in a certain emotional state but why stunt her exoticness??? You might as well just buy a different species if you want the same colour. But in terms of "controlling her", she's no different from any of your other women. You'll have no problem there, Torm."

Yolanthe didn't react to the lewd suggestion Draxx had made. She'd heard that question a thousand times and in every form from polite inquiry through to drunken demand.

Torm was frowning, looking doubtful. "I don't really have time to housebreak a new pet. But if you're happy to do some work for me ill take her off your hands and you can pick up the orion on your way back. If the little bitch is still alive by then, you'll be welcome to her.

The Bokkai went primrose pale then, center of gravity shifting as she made to go for the greasy fat slug of a boslic

Draxx caught her quickly before she was able to get anywhere closer. Unfortunately it wasn't lost on Torm. The human glared at Yolanthe. "I'll housebreak her too if you like?" he tried but he knew it was probably too late.

Torm leaned back from the table. "Valak?" he asked his Denobulan Major D'omo

"Sir?"

"How many of those Isolytic Burst torpedo's are still in the SAM launcher from yesterday?"

"Four sir."

"Be a good chap and point them at Draxx's ship and bring me the launch button."

The Denobulan nodded and scurried off.

"Really," Draxx stated not letting go of Yolanthe or batting an eyelid. He was used to this man acting irrationally as much as seeing him put away scary amounts of food. "After all my years of ferrying your weapons around. I'm the best smuggler you have got. You know that. I'm the only one who knows how to navigate the Harceessis Nebula and get stuff to Rox."

"I am many things, Draxx, but I'm not an idiot. You come in here with an expensive new toy, and are prepared to accept half at most what she's worth without much argument. What's really going on? Is she stolen? Am I going to have friends and business associates making angry demands to me to have their property back?"

"Hell no," Draxx stated taking a seat again and pulling Yolanthe onto his lap with a look that said ~Do not argue~. "I don't deal in stolen goods. Well only yours ....... ".

Torm didn't look amused at that. "Then why so keen to sell?"

Draxx laughed. "I was willing to accept a hundred because I stupidly trusted Orson's estimates and you just said she was too big!!!!! But now you just made me aware she's worth more then I want to renegotiate. Look we both know your not going to blow up my ship. I make it a point of keeping an eye on my competition. Rogers got blown up, the Rolz'ox brothers just screwed you over and disappeared with a shit load of your stock - although give me 6 months I reckon I can find them for you, that blond bird that had some "potential" you decided to add her to your collection and Gelliti ..... well nuff said. None of your other guys put much stock in intelligence do they???? Rox who we both know does a lot of business with you, I think he's likely to be pissed off if you cut off his only ferrier."

"I think you value your crew more than I value your services." Valak reappeared with a padd and handed it to Torm who murmured something in reply. "Now Valak here is going to get your money. When it arrives I'm going to set the time on this to five minutes. You'll be out of my system by then, or you'll get a torpedo up that rustbucket's rear end. If I find out you are running a scam on me, the other three will follow very shortly after."

"I'll be out of your system in four," Draxx said cheerfully.

Out of sight of Torm, Yolanthe did the only she could to express her rising sense of dread that this was all going very wrong. As her skin grew grayer she dug her fingers into Draxx's waist, trying to convey with that desperate gesture that he do ...something...anything.

"Well," he said just as cheerful knowing he was no doubt pushing his luck but they had already established Torm wasn't going to kill him there and then, "she's going to need her clothes. Each girl still gets to keep 3 items yes?" he stated. Torm was already starting on a new plate of something that had just materialised. He merely waved his hand, bored now it seemed so Draxx pressed his communicator. "Biggs beam down the Bokkai's stuff."

His first mate must have planned it perfectly. The bag appeared just far enough away for Draxx to drag her over to it so they couldn't be heard properly if they lowered their voices.

"You get three. Choose three and the rest I'm selling on," he said loudly for show turning his back to Torm and his heavies. Yolanthe was still in full view.

"I tried pumpkin," he whispered as she bent down to the bag."I'm sorry. I'm really sorry. We will work out a plan B. Hang in there."

"I hate you with a fiery passion you can only dream of." He told him, but without heat, and as she stared into her bag her skin became faintly blue.

Draxx snorted and came down to her level near the bag, "Yet you want me to dream of you. Keep hold of that fiery passion princess. I'm sure you will be begging me to help extinguish it for you one day."

She ignored him and looked in her bag. They'd packed her stuff up neatly and she sorted through it quickly, hoping for her cats claw, but they hadn't bothered to pack the weapons. She sighed. That would have been too easy. So picked out her leather pants and then grabbed her sports bra and stared at her sneakers for a long moment. She dismissed them in the end. Should would be pushing her luck with the rest and a pair of practical shoes would give the game up completely.

Instead she chose a loose fitting silk shirt and wrapped everything else in it, then hugged it close to her belly. "Let's get this over with."

As they went back to the veranda, Valak appeared with a large bag of his own on a hover cart. "Your cash." He gestured to Valak. "Take her up to the blue room and get the face seen to. I'll be up later."

"A pleasure, Torm, as always," Draxx said moving next to the cart. "Best get 5 minutes on the clock," he grinned pressing a button on his wrist and him and the bricks disappeared.

Yolanthe watched him shimmer out of existence and swore inwardly. She was alone, with no help and no plan. Her body greyed until her skin was the colour of charcoal and her hair was black, and let the Denobulan lead her inside, desperately trying to think of a way out.

::OFF::

Ricardo Draxx
Privateer

&

Yolanthe Ibalin
Owner, The Box of Delights
DS5

 

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