Dinner and a Favor, part 2

Posted on Thu Feb 11th, 2010 @ 8:38am by Commander Raven Adams & Khiy Tal'ehrihn

1,720 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: FORGING AHEAD
Location: Raven's quarters
Timeline: current

[OLD]

Khiy smirked at the intended bump and lifted the front two feet off the ground further in response. "Well I can tell you a few things about this operation right off the bat."

[NEW]

Raven finished putting dinner away and cleaning up. "Oh?" she asked, walking back into the room. "What can you tell me?"

"Well for starters, a 20 percent tilt is utterly ridiculous. A good smuggler would never break five percent, and that’s only if it was a rush hull. The fact that it's that high on a relatively consistent basis tells me a lot about the type of people you are dealing with here. These are amateurs at best when it comes to this. They obviously don’t have the technology or know how to mask the numbers, they dump the full count. When it comes to amateurs there are two types; the legitimate idiots who act nothing more than a fish out of water, and then there are the brutes. Brutes aren't people you want to deal with, they either have nothing to lose by getting caught or they have an ace in the hole. Those guys are legitimately dangerous; they are the reason for all the horror stories about smugglers."

She curled up on the sofa while she listened to him. "Yes. Either way, he's causing a lot of trouble for..." ~the rest of us,~ she finished "Legitimate businesses."

She watched Khiy for a minute. "What we need to do is figure out what he's doing and take legal action."

"For that to work you will need to take both the buyer and the seller, catch them in the act. The good news is that there isn't any middleman involved in the transactions. Those guys are paid very good money to make sure everything goes quietly with cargo transfers; 20 percent on the books is not quiet. Since there won't be a buffer between the buyer and these guys," He shook the PADD in his hand for emphasis "it should be a clean burn."

Raven's smile grew as he spoke. "So, what are we going to do about it?"

Khiy's chair thumped roughly down on the floor. An incredulous look was displayed on his face as he looked at Raven. "I'm sorry, we?"

"I would like your help, Khiy," Raven replied quietly. "However, if your help is only what I'm being given now, then I thank you for that and I will find a way to get the information I need on my own. I may not be in your league, but I know what I'm doing and I still have a few tricks up my sleeve." She had Morticia, and she had the Hawthorne. She would appreciate having help from someone with Khiy's experience, but she could do it without him.

He looked away from Raven for a moment and looked at the PADD in his hand once again. He hadn't even officially moved into the station and already he was being asked to help Starfleet break up a smuggling ring. He knew he was under no obligation to help them; however, it would be a way to incur some favours and at the same time establish his credibility on the station. With a sigh he leaned back on his chair again. "Okay, I’m in. I can guess you aren't going to let me do this MY way, so that leaves us to force a confrontation. Whoever the buyer is, it's obvious that they are desperate for whatever it is that they are transporting. They have already shown a lack of concern for their methods." He looked at the PADD again and pulled up a number of pages. "The ships are on a one month rotation, well, the ones that are questionable. It looks like it takes a week's travel time for their freighters to pick up the legitimate cargo. That gives us a three-week window from the time that they pick up the questionable materials and then have them transported. It would be hard to pin them down from the number of stops they make. We can change that window if we delay the freighters here at the station for, say, a week. I'm willing to bet that the 20 percent of dirty cargo is worth more than the 80% legitimate. They will be forced to alter the schedule to accommodate a now anxious client and we record the alteration in flight path."

"That 20% has to be worth a lot for them to risk so much. Or there has to be a great demand for the product," Raven replied. "High risk has to equal high yield. Otherwise, why risk getting caught?" She stood up and began to pace. "I could have Morticia's cousin get a job with OreCo..." She looked at Khiy. "Or would it be better to work from the buyer's end?"

"Buyer is still a wild card. We know nothing about them aside for their strong desire to get their hands on...something. I could ask some people what's making waves on the black market lately, but it could still take time. Best off to go with what we know. I should mention that this will likely have little repercussions to OreCo. At best you would likely catch only the buyer and whoever the freighter Captain is. Likely OreCo will disavow any knowledge of the transactions, and since there is no proof to the contrary, they won't be handed any charges. But, you CAN hold that freighter for as long as the case takes to go to court as material evidence. It could potentially hurt their business enough that they have to take on risky ventures."

"I like the way you think," she chuckled.

Khiy smirked as he put the PADD down on the table. "Hey, it's a hard business to make it in. Fierce competition is taken to a whole new level when dealing with other smugglers." Though the expression on his face remained, inside he was truly angry. This company was potentially hurting his revenue stream by being either ignorant or intentionally provoking the stations port authority. If he had it his way, he would find a much quicker method of dealing with them...

Raven watched his face, listening with her ears and her mind. On the outside he looked calm, but she could feel the anger emanating from him. She couldn't blame him. He was hoping to start a business here. "That's why I'm asking you for help."

He nodded in understanding. Inside of him, just like turning off a switch, the anger immediately dissipated and left him empty once more. Time to do some business. "So, I’ve agreed to help you with this little problem. Now it's time for me to ask you for a little help with a problem I’m having." He flashed his classic smile.

He was good. She'd been waiting for him to ask. His timing was, as usual, excellent. It was one of the things that made him the best of the best. She was, however, surprised at how quickly his anger dissipated. It was quite remarkable. "What favor would that be?" she asked calmly.

"Nothing too extraordinary actually. The process for getting approval to open up a store on a station this size could take weeks; even months depending on how many applications are submitted. I have chosen VERY carefully where I would like my quarters, store front and storage space. I have no illusion that by the time my application is even looked at, those areas will be snapped up. All I ask is that my submission form, which is already making it's way through the proper channels, is bumped up the list a bit."

"How large a space are you asking for?"

"At least 10,000 square feet of storage space on an exterior access dock. In addition I requested 10 permanently residences, specifications are in my requisition. Finally, office space with a view of the stations interior, that way I can observe my freighters as they come in. Storefront doesn't need to be anything too special. Average size and well lit." He paused for a moment to remove a small card. "I'm not asking it to be given to me for free here, I will happily pay for the costs incurred. I just want to be sure to get my pick of location. This card has my account information; I'm good for the money." He placed the card down on the table beside the PADD.

"I think I can do that, as long as you are willing to work with me. And you're up front." She walked up to him and smiled. "I don't like being lied to, Khiy. Not then and not now. However, I can be quite reasonable."

Khiy drummed his fingers on the table weighing his options. He could say yes to her and lie anyways, it certainly wouldn't be the first time he had gone back on his word with others. Lying is just good business. However she was being upfront with him and he thought that perhaps part of going into the legitimate business was changing his outlook on the agreements he made.

He nodded a couple of times. "I feel I should be straight with you on this. I can work with you. I’ll even be honest. When it comes to my business, however, I cannot make that promise. I won't lie to you if you can accept that at times I simply will not give you an answer."

"Oh, I can accept that. As long as you can accept that I may have to use... alternate methods... to getting at the truth," she said with a cool smile.

"And I know you are very good at getting information from people...Sometimes." He matched her smile. "I look forwards to working with you again Raven." ~And around you~ He made sure the words were very clear in his mind.

She once again leaned in close. She was enjoying this game they'd started. ~You can always try...~ Not even Khiy knew everything she could do. Nor would he, unless she got to the point where she could trust him implicitly. Right now, she knew he couldn't be trusted with much.

(To be continued...)

Lieutenant Commander Raven Adams
Chief Intelligence Officer

Khiy Tal'ehrihn
Trans Galactic Trading

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