Don't Judge On Appearances.

Posted on Sat Feb 4th, 2023 @ 11:32pm by Lieutenant Batsheva Olmert & Sublieutenant Shira Ben Asher & Captain Freya Mannerheim

1,872 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Chapter VI: Racing the Storm
Location: Drozana Station

"Potential recruits." The message, addressed to Raven, had Freya curious. It had come from someone who was listed as a past member of the Ourainavassa's crew, one Daisy Stanier - apparently a close friend of Raven's. With the time to begin the final evacuation runs from Romulus drawing ever nearer, the crew could use all the hand they could get, but, of course, they needed to be trustworthy. After Mila had brought on a random person she had met on Drozana, Captain Mannerheim and Subcommander Kaiae had had a long, frank discussion about recruitment, and how anyone they would even consider the crew would have to have some form of reference, something they could base trustworthiness on. A recommendation from a former crew member certainly fit that requirement, and so Freya had agreed to meet the "potential recruits" in Raven's stead. She did not, however, tell Daisy that her friend had gone missing.

So, Freya had picked out her most mercenary-like outfit, the black miniskirt with a dark blue line on the side from her old uniform from her days on the USS Poseidon combined with a simple, white blouse and a black leather jacket she had taken from Raven's quarters, with her Captain's pips pinned to the collar and the oval-shaped silver combadge of Ourainavassa on her left breast pocket. Since this was still Drozana, she had also opted to carry a phaser pistol on her belt, as well as her katana, which she had slung onto her back. She had also swapped out her usual, slightly tinted glasses for mirrored aviator-style sunglasses. With her short black hair and the mercenary getup, she looked like some old action movie hero, she mused, as she looked at her reflection in the window of the club where she was supposed to meet with the two recruits. With a smirk, she rolled down the top of her left boot a little, revealing the matte grey metal of her prosthetic leg. She nodded to herself as she looked herself over one last time, before entering the club.

The club was pretty ordinary fare for Drozana, Freya observed as she slowly moved through the place towards the bar. Not quite as upscale as the Black Pearl, and hopefully not quite as ridiculously expensive. Still, she thought, looking at the patrons, she was glad she wasn't wearing her Terran Starfleet uniform. A security guard approached her, a burly Orion hybrid, judging from his appearance, and pointed at the sword on her back. "No blades!", he shouted over the noise of the music. "I'll have to confiscate that!"

Freya grinned, and reached for the katana, partly drawing it out of its scabbard. "Come get it, then." The Orion shook his head and walked off. Far more bark than bite, as usual for Drozana. And Orions. Shaking her head, the Captain leaned on the bar. "Romulan ale, your finest. Leave the bottle." That was the order that she had agreed with Daisy would identify her to the two people she was supposed to meet.

The club was the one Batsheva and Shira met Daisy in just the day before.

"The usual please." asked Batsheva, stood at the bar. Shira scanned for the woman they were meeting.

Shira was sceptical of the whole thing. A group of freelancers, somehow, stole the Romulans' best ship. Now they were flying around space in it? No. It seemed to good to be true. But, Batsheva had convinced her to come to this meeting. Maybe she could be convinced, if the money was as good as Daisy said.

"Over there. That looks like her."

The bill paid, Batsheva picked up one cocktail, giving it to Shira. Then, she picked the other one up. Batsheva looked over at where Shira pointed.

"Yes. Okay, you know the drill." Batsheva said, walking over to the woman. Shira nodded.

The woman was small, five feet. Black hair. Well armed. Just like she and Shira were. Batsheva sat first, Shira next to her on the bench.

Batsheva spoke first. "I'm Olmert, this here is Ben Asher."

The Captain simply nodded. "Batsheva Olmert. Shira Ben Asher. Pleasure." She looked the two young women over. They were quite a bit taller than her, but she was used to that. Younger than she had expected, but from the amount of weaponry, they seemed to know exactly what kind of place Drozana was. "Your friend Stanier isn't the worst at describing people. Could almost recognise you two from the description she gave. She said you're looking for a place to go, and I'm looking for good people that can be trusted. Highly sensitive operation. So." She pulled down her sunglasses and looked at the two young women in front of her again. "Are you trustworthy?"

"We've worked for some high profile clients who've paid us well. We've worked for some who are less high profile, paid us shit money. Our answer to your question depends which category you fall into. If you look after us, we'll keep our mouths shut." replied Batsheva. She then picked up her drink, taking a sip.

The Captain nodded. "Not an unexpected answer. Next question. Have you ever had any dealings with the Tal Shiar?"

Batsheva put her glass down, Shira keeping hold of her pistol under the table. "We know the Tal Shiar. Next question."

Freya shook her head. "You didn't answer my question. Many people in this part of the galaxy will know who the Tal Shiar are. But have you ever had any direct contact with them in any way, be it as enemies or working for them?"

"Okay. Yes, they paid us half of what was promised." Batsheva said. Their contract with the Tal Shiar seemed too good to be true, and it was. "We won't be doing it again. And no, we're not telling you what they hired us to do. Client confidentiality."

The Captain sighed. Just the kind of answer she had been afraid of. "Well, that makes things more difficult. Like I said, our operation is highly sensitive. And one of the things we cannot, under any circumstances, allow, is any form of Tal Shiar involvement. And that is exactly the amount I will be able to tell you, until you give me a reason to believe that you are not in their employ right now."

Shira's distrust of the Romulans came from that contract. She wasn't planning on working for them again. Neither was Batsheva. Breaking with their usual routine, Shira spoke.

"Like she said, they ripped us off. We don't work for clients who don't pay us what was agreed." said Shira, her pistol still squarely aimed at Freya under the table. Of course, she probably knew that.

Freya stroked her chin in thought for a moment. They certainly seemed like they knew what they were doing, although their attempt at sneakily pointing a weapon at her under the table was almost amateurish in how obvious it was. Which was definitely not the Tal Shiar's style. No, she thought, if they wanted to insert an agent into the operation, they'd have already done it. She smirked. "Well, you seem to be genuine enough. And no Tal Shiar operative, hired or not, would point an antique like yours at the person they're negotiating with. What, you think I'm an amateur?" She chuckled. She had served in both Federation and Terran Starfleets, as well as Section 31 - an amateur she was certainly not. "So, besides confidence and weaponry, what do you have to offer us?"

Antique? Batsheva gave Shira a look. She knew exactly what it meant. Moving the pistol to one side, Shira pulled the trigger, blasting a hole in the bench next to Freya. Aliyah Colony believed in tried and trusted, with improvements. A modern equivalent of the M1911.

"We aren't offering anything until you tell us what you can offer us, Ms Mannerheim." Batsheva said.

Freya shook her head. Definitely not Tal Shiar. Far too easy to provoke. "I don't think the owners of this establishment will be particularly appreciative of that particular display of foolishness," she remarked, casually nodding her heads towards the burly Orion approaching the table. "As for what my associates and I can offer you, that entirely depends on what you will be able to contribute to the operation. The helmsman and the chief medical officer don't get the same pay, I'm sure you'll understand. What I can say, however, is that our operation is very well funded."

As if to illustrate the point, she reached into her pocket and pulled out a handful of latinum just as the Orion reached them. Before he could say anything, she held the money out to him. "There. Take it and piss off." The bouncer, clearly still remembering how she had responded to his comment about her katana, simply grunted, took the latinum, and walked away.

"In that case, I suggest you don't criticise our weapons based on their appearance. I won't miss next time." said Shira, not caring about the ruined seat. Or Freya having to pay for the damage.

"Okay. You want security? Shira here is the one you want." Batsheva looked at Shira, then Freya. "I can point weapons at a starship, I don't miss. That's what we can offer you. If you're looking for both of those, we'll discuss terms. We work together, so it's both of us, or this meeting is over."

"That's not an issue at all." Freya looked at the two young women, and nodded. "And I think both of those skillsets will come in useful. As for working out the actual deal, that's not my place to decide on for myself. So, I'll need a way of contacting you, so that I can set up another meeting with one of my associates, and there we'll finalise the deal." She reached into her pocket and took out a small PADD. "This has our standard rates on our payscale. We're using Romulan fleet rank to indicate seniority, and, more importantly, paygrade. I think you'll find the rates more than adequate."

The PADD was accepted by Batsheva, who looked through it. She then gave it to Shira, who passed it back to her lover. Satisfied, they decided to take things forward. Shira holstered her pistol, Batsheva handed the PADD back to Freya.

"Okay." said Batsheva, pausing. "It turns out Daisy wasn't wrong when she said Raven pays well. Not as much as we'd like for the kind of work we'd be doing, but it'll do, provided it's permanent. We're staying on Kestrel, it's in the main hangar bay. You can send us a message there."

Shira was still sceptical, but less than before. "Don't fuck us around, either. We leave in 24 hours, on your ship or ours."

Freya made a note on her PADD and nodded. "If you get the job, you'll be on the crew as long as you do your jobs properly and don't piss the people in charge off. It's that simple. I'll get back to you as soon as I've spoken to my associates to set up the meeting." She downed her drink and stood. "I'll speak to you two later."

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