I don't make threats, I make promises
Posted on Wed Oct 26, 2016 @ 3:19am by Civilian 'Key Holder' Yolanthe Ibalin & Civilian 'Key Holder' Dorian Gabriel
1,283 words; about a 6 minute read
Mission:
Rumours
Location: Turbolift junction
Timeline: MD 03 - 0300hrs
[ON]
Another night over, Yolanthe pushed the button to lock down the shutters on The Box Of Delights and headed for the turbo lifts, thinking of nothing but rolling into bed and staying there for at least eight hours. The promenade was deserted. Only the last straggling revelers or store and bar/restaurant staff staying late would be around now. She was alone at the turbo lift stack, an area even two hours qgo would have been queuing three deep. She reached out absently and pressed the call button.
"Hey Yolanthe, fancy meeting you here." Dorian said casually as he leaned against the wall on the other side of the panel.
"Dorian." Yolanthe acknowledged. The last time she'd seen him had been when Pangaea had emerged and they'd been trapped under the promenade together. "How is your friend? Rene wasn't it? Did he make it?"
Dorian quickly recalled his colleague and the condition he was in when he and Mr. Raddon last stopped by to visit him. It still rattled him whenever he thought about the long recovery process that Rene was still undergoing. Despite the advancement in medical technology, the human body was still fragile and it would take time for the catastrophic injuries to heal and for Rene to be back on his feet.
However, Dorian wasn't here to wax poetically about those matters. He shifted his focus back to the woman in front of him.
"Having...a bit of a problem with the lift?" Dorian asked with smile as he raised his hand showing a small cylindrical device inside of it. The small device had several small lights that appeared to be on, indicating that it was causing some effect to the lift nearby.
"Yeah, I hear that can be a real problem. . ." He said as he continued to lean against the wall.
She sighed, her skin and hair turning shades of mustard. "Dorian, it's late. I'm too tired for dumb pranks."
"What's the rush? I figured that we all could have a nice friendly chat." Dorian said in a more serious tone as his eyes cast over Yolanthe's shoulder towards the two individuals that had just stepped from around the corner and stood by the exit of the junction.
The bokkai turned to follow his gaze. "Talk?" She asked, her scepticism obvious. She was no stranger to a shakedown and this was beginning to look like one. She took a step back from the lift doors, to make sure she had room, just in case. "Sure. We can talk. What do you want to talk about?"
"I'm sure your friends within Security Department rushed over as soon as they could to give you the great news about their investigation into the death of Jel'ron" Dorian began. He noticed Yolanthe's reaction to the presence of the other two humans who, for the time being, were merely observing the conversation.
"You must've made one hell of a cocktail for Caleb for him to have turned such an obvious blind eye to what happened." Dorian said.
Oh, so this was what this was about. "It was an accident, Dorian." she insisted, her skin turning to peach. "They didn't turn a blind eye to anything. but it was still an accident."
"Cut the bullshit, Yolanthe. You murdered that boy, you're no better than any of the other scum that haunts this station and feeds on the vulnerable. You have just about the entire Security department eating out of the palm of your hand, and that's when they're not actually eating in your bar . " He said in a more hostile tone as he took a step off of the wall and took a step towards the alien.
Yolanthe was two inches taller than him, and didn't willingly back down to any one with a Y chromosome. She held her ground and looked down at him, blank white eyes cold. "Listen, kitten." her tone could have frozen vodka. "It was pitch dark, and someone came at me. I defended myself. I didn't murder anyone. He fell over a balcony eight feet away from me, because when he ran, in the dark, he fell. If you can't deal with that, then the counselors are on deck fifty five."
Dorian stared directly into her eyes. "Go see the counselor, huh? That's how much you value the life of a human child?" He asked rhetorically. "What does it matter to you, just as long as they're paying you their hard-earned money, you couldn't care less if their body was found beaten and bloody right on the steps of your bar, huh?" He asked coldly.
Her body flushed back and forth between and shades of yellow and orange as her anger at Dorian's delusion and her own guilt at what happened warred for control of her emotions. "I care about people ending up dead in my bar. I don't care about their species. You're the racist here, Dorian. You're the one harping on about species. You need help."
"I can't even say that you are alone in how low of an opinion you have for human lives. The alien command-staff of the station, Commander Ryan, hell, even the Ambassadors know that they can completely discount the value and sanctity of human life and absolutely nothing will happen to them, right?" Dorian said, moreso to the two Humans behind Yolanthe than to the Bokkai.
"It's as if we just don't exist on this station." He said callously. "I wonder...I really and truly wonder what will it take to get everyone's attention..." Dorian said as he returned his cold gaze to the Bokkai in front of him.
"Are you threatening me, pussy cat?" If Dorian wanted to play to the peanut gallery, she could do that too . "is that how you get your rocks off now that Starfleet cut them off?" She laughed. "Get over yourself Dorian, Whatever you tell yourself, you're not the only person in the galaxy who's been stripped of their position, their prestige. You're not the only one who's had a loved one murdered. You're not the only one who's been betrayed. You're not the only one who's had everything they were stolen from them. You're not special Dorian. You're a fucking victim. You're pathetic. Not because you're human. But because you're a useless cock."
Dorian's jaw visibly tightened as the Bokkai harangued him. He particularly bit down when she brought up the loss of his fiance' at the hands of the Romulan Scientist and his Nausicaan bodyguard.
"I'm disappointed in you Yolanthe, I had hoped that you would know me better than that by now. I had hoped that you would know that I don't make threats, but instead I make promises." He said as he carefully chose his next words.
"...and I'll promise you this: no human being will ever be a victim on this station again." He said with stone-cold seriousness. He held her gaze for several moments before he decided to walk past her in the direction of the junction's exit.
"Let's get out of here before the Engineering department starts to wonder why the senors aren't recording this hallway and the turbolift is out." He said as he pressed a button on his device, re-activating the turbolift for that junction.
Yolanthe pinched the bridge of her nose, "Get help, Dorian. Or spit out what you want. Life is too short for posturing and paranoid delusions."
Dorian laughed to himself as he and the other two men walked away. "I'm sure she'll regret that soon enough..."
[OFF]
Dorian Gabriel
Security Consultant
Raddon Corporation
Yolanthe Ibalin
owner, The Box of Delights
DS5
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