Cashing In
Posted on Mon Mar 9th, 2020 @ 11:58pm by Zulg & Ensign Dana Wakefield & Mr Tumnus
Edited on on Tue Mar 10th, 2020 @ 12:31am
1,307 words; about a 7 minute read
Mission:
Episode 9 - Empok's End
Location: Dana's Quarters - Deck 3 - USS Pioneer
Timeline: MD004 2200 hrs
Dana slowly stroked Mr Tumnus as he lay on her lap, she had no idea how he kept getting into her quarters, it was as though he could sense when she needed company or was feeling down. She had been working extra hard recently, picking up extra shifts and tasks, trying her best to stay on the straight and narrow. After all, Dana had a lot to prove to her fellow crewmates. Mr Tumnus gave out a soft purr as she stroked the back of his head, she had thought about getting a cat once herself but as a Department head a lot of her time was spent on the bridge or in her office, but now she had been busted to an Ensign, maybe that wasn’t such a bad idea.
“Would you like a playmate?” she asked out loud, gently stroking the cat. “I bet you would.” But no answer came, he was content laying on her lap been stroked and fussed, before suddenly the computer interrupted the quietness.
“Ensign Wakefield, you have an incoming subspace transmission, origin unknown.”
Dana gently lifted the cat from her lap and placed it on the sofa next to her; its head looked up with an expression that implied ‘You’ve stopped.’ as it gave out a gentle meow.
“Aww good boy, I’ll be back in a minute.” She said as she gently got to her feet, giving him one final stroke. But more importantly, she was focused on who was trying to contact her, especially from an unknown origin.
“Display the message on my desk terminal.” She said as the computer made it’s usual confirmation tone before the screen flickered into life. The image was dark, but a familiar face that she owed a debt to slowly immerged from the shadows.
“I guess you’ll be wanting that favour returned then.” She said pausing; it had been so long, she had almost forgotten, However, a contract was a contract after all.
Mr Tumnus quite like it on this two legs lap. Nice and warm. He encountered this two legged female not so long ago. His senses told him there was a lot about her. He looked over where she was seated. She was talking to someone on that big box. That was also a magic box, only it was different from the other magic box that gave him food. He looked around the room to see if there was such a box. He licked his paw a moment and continued his search. He finally found it. He jumped off the couch and walked to it. He looked at it and then sat down. He gave out a meow. Human, I am hungry! He said, he knew the two legs didn't understand him but he would try none the less.
Zulg had managed to get a secure line off the Tianglong and to the Pioneer. It was not too hard, just a simple matter of bribery to the right people. Desperate times called for desperate measures. He thought as he keyed in the codes to contact the one person who owed him big time. When the screen showed the Ensign he smiled. "My dear Ensign Wakefield. It seems that the time has come for a margin call."
Her expression changed, what on Earth was Zulg wanting, with everything that had happened over the last few months, now really was not the time, she was already walking a tight rope, any more infractions were certainly going to get her kicked off the ship. "Just get right to the point." she said bluntly, she certainly wasn't in the mood to entertain the Ferengi.
"Very well... I am just as eager to close this deal. The rumour around these parts is that the Pioneer is going to be making the punch through to Emok Nor. You need to get on that station and go to my bar. Under the bar is a hatch, you will have to key in the security code. Once in you will find a Ferengi data pad which contains a number of important contracts. I need those contracts taken from the station and brought back to my possession. You do this and your debt to me is paid in full." Zulg spoke as he tented his fingers. Like most Ferengi, he concealed what this was really about. If those contracts were destroyed they would cease to be binding. He not only wanted them he needed them.
"That's some favour," she said, pondering on how earth she was going to pull it off. "And if I can't pull it off?" she asked wanting to weigh the potential pros and cons.
"If you can't do it then you will still owe me a rather large favour. This will square our deal and do it quickly..." Zulg squinted as he thought whether he should sweeten the deal or not. He needed that datapad so the deal needed sweetening was his decision. "There is a contract on that pad that is signed by a certain Admiral that you know very well. Perhaps you will want to know about that..." Zulg leaned forward toward the screen as he spoke for emphasis.
Dana knew fine well what he was hinting at, and she understood perfectly well. "This won't be an easy task, well above the favour you did for me, so if I manage to pull this off, I expect that that contract by a certain admiral will be paid as well, otherwise I might not be able to manage it and well..." she paused leaning in herself "Wouldn't that be such a shame to lose all those contracts, I can only imagine their worth, may even break you...so....." she finished leaving him a moment to mull over the decision.
Having a Starfleet Admiral in your pocket was a mighty good ace in the hole and Zulg knew it. However, he needed the datapad to make good on the rest of the contracts. There was a pause of silence as he mulled over the two ways this could go. "Very well... You complete this task and I will consider your debt and his debt paid in full. I am not sure why you would want to square his debt, but it will be done."
Seemingly this two legs with yellow fur seemed not to pay attention to Tumnus. This was not something he was used to. Now he started to meow louder walked up to the two legs female and started rubbing his head against her legs. He hoped she would react to that. His next step would jump on her lap.
"Then you have a deal, I'll ensure you get that datapad, I'll be in touch," she said hitting a button on the console, cutting the channel off. This was certainly making her stomach churn, she had no choice after all this would clear her and her father from his debt, but then that got her wondering, what on earth did Zulg have on her farther, what deal had they come up with, it would certainly be her next question when she spoke to him. Shaking her head, she turned her attention back to Mr Tumnus, she had felt him rub against her leg and a gentle meow, she smiled and knelt down.
"Now who's a good boy." she said stroking his head "How about we both get something to eat, how about some chicken?" she asked smiling.
A Joint Post By
Ensign Dana Wakefield
Operations Officer, USS Pioneer
Zulg
Owner/Bartender "Zulg's", Empok Nor
Mr Tumnus
Ship's Cat, USS Pioneer
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