Currency

Posted on Sat Aug 16th, 2014 @ 10:06pm by Lieutenant JG Rhett Beaumont & Staff Warrant Officer Nexi

Mission: Something Amiss
Location: Jefferies Tube 7, Junction Baker

It was common knowledge around the ship that Engineering was a bit understaffed lately. There had been a bad case of a flu going around. This had allowed Rhett to opportunity to burrow some extra hands from around the Hera. However, one his selections was quite personal and personally driven.

As he climbed and crawled about the insides of the starship, the young baby face Chief Engineer came to junction Baker in Jefferies Tube 7 where he arrived as planned. It was where Nexi, whom he had personally asked to replace an electrical conduit that had recently short circuited.

The Ensign found the woman at work albeit begrudgingly. "Oh you look as though you are thoroughly enjoying yourself" joked the Chief Engineer as he crawled towards the woman. "I'd apologize for pulling you away from whatever the hell it is that you do... but I'm not sorry. It is entertaining watching you get all hot and sweaty in here with me."

"You do realize you have actual engineers to do this sort of thing," Nexi said as she haphazardly removed the shorted conduit with no regard for safety procedures. Even though she did most of her ship's maintenance herself, it would be charitable to call her a mechanic. She could take something apart, maybe rig or sabotage equipment, but putting it all back together was something else entirely. "So, you just gonna work your trap or are you gonna help me?" she asked.

"I'm the Chief Engineer of this starship" said Rhett with a playful tone. "I watch others work and run my trap. Yes, I do have plenty of engineers but a good chunk of them are out sick and I am short handed. Also, I was hoping to get to know you better."

"Get in line," Nexi said with a grunt as she tossed the faulty conduit aside and tried to fit the replacement into place.

"I don't do lines" countered Ensign Beaumont with a sigh. "I do not wait. Back home, I could do anything I wanted and whenever I wanted. No lines and no waiting. I had status in the Orion Sydicate and our family wealth could get us anything we ever needed" boasted Rhett. "I overheard the Captain and First Officer on the Bridge. You are not Starfleet... they are paying you. Why? Who are you? What are they paying you, Nexi?"

If the Orion man thought boasting about his status with the Syndicate would impress Nexi, then he was sorely mistaken. Looking at him, Nexi saw him as a spoiled little rich kid who got whatever he wanted because his daddy was in a seat of power and Nexi had no interest at all in someone like that. "How do you know I'm not Starfleet," Nexi said, just to mess with him. "How do you know I ain't deep undercover?"

"Because, a Starfleet officer intelligence or otherwise, undercover or not would not be caught dead looking like you" replied Rhett with a smirk. "Your hair is scruffy and is just a mess. No offense, but there is no way you are Starfleet. The Captain said something about you being a bounty hunter or something... So, what's the deal?"

"Maybe I am, maybe I'm not..." Nexi said with a lopsided grin. "But do you really think I would tell someone like you just what it is that I do?"

"Nope" he said swiftly. "I did not anticipate you to be that stupid. That is also why I know that you are not Starfleet. I've noticed that many of them are rather stupid, myself of course not included" added Rhett. "You don't have to tell me anything. All you have to do is give me a moment of your time. I would like to outbid your current employer... the Captain of whoever is handling your payment."

"Ain't happening, kid," Nexi said as she finished installing the new conduit and closed up the access panel. the repair probably wasn't up to Starfleet standards, but she wasn't getting paid for her engineering skills. "I've never taken a higher bid before and I don't intend to start now. Doing that kind of shit, I'd be asking for trouble." Anyway, there was no way she would endanger this mission with something as stupid as switching loyalties. Besides, she and the captain hadn't even hashed out any form of payment yet. Nexi was more or less doing this job for free until she could talk to Enalia about her fees.

Rhett shrugged "Can't blame an Orion for trying" he said as he looked over her work. "Hey, not bad.... not bad at all. You may make a good Engineer's mate" joked the Chief Engineer. "If you do not want to take a higher bid, that's fine. However, my offer still stands. You can walk away now but if you ever come back to the table, I'll bring the money."

Nexi leaned against the bulkhead of the Jefferies junction and fixed him with a strange gaze. "What is it you want exactly?" she asked him suspiciously. "You don't know what it is I'm doing, why I'm here, who I'm working for outside of the Captain... If you're trying to outbid my price, what is it you hope to achieve by doing this?"

The Chief Engineer rolled his eyes and let out a small sigh. "The Hera as you know is part of Task Force 93. I have a personal investment with the operations of the Task Force. The normal area of operations for the Task Force often flirts with two regions of space known as Pirate's Heaven and Smuggler's Cove..." began Rhett.

He did not want to give his life's story or say too much. He was careful about how much he told her. "My father was recently killed during a Starfleet Intelligence operation. Needless to say, I inherited everything as his male heir. This includes all my father's business affairs. If I could get my hands on 93 intel beforehand... it would help me protect my family's wealth."

"Forget trying to outbid me, it ain't gonna work," Nexi told him flat out. "But that don't mean I can't pick up extra contracts on the side. Get what information you have available ready for me, I'll meet you at your quarters to discuss price." Not like Nexi was going to turn down a decent paying job. So long as there was no conflict of interest, what was the harm?

"No" said Rhett flatly. "Sorry, but the last thing I want is to been seen associating with you. I'll get whatever information I have and my offer of payment. I will ensure that you receive said information in a timely manner through an uninformed third party. I do not want any trail."

"So you do know how this works..." Nexi mused with a crooked smile. "Do your homework well on this third party, I won't risk my reputation on some pretty 'Fleeter who ain't gonna do this right."

Rhett scoffed. "Don't worry about it. When I said uniformed, I meant it. They will be one my crewmen from Engineering. They won't ask questions if I tell them to take a PADD to you. In fact, they most likely will just think that I am a posh, lazy, spoiled asshole who does not do anything for himself.... and they would be correct."

"You're a piece of work, you know that," Nexi said with a laugh. If nothing else, he amused her. "The tractor beam used on my ship fried my cloaking device and shorted out some conduits. Not to mention, 'Star is well overdue for some regular maintenance. I'll put in a request for some repairs, that will give you a valid reason to be sending me a PADD, you're just updating me on the status of repairs. It also gives the information a cover in case your lackey accidentally looks at it."

"I'll know if they look at it" countered the Chief Engineer. "I will ensure that the file is sealed. If anyone other than myself or you attempts to open it, the data will scramble and become a bunch of nonsense" explained Rhett Beaumont. "Something that I learned from the Romulans" added Rhett.

He liked her cover idea. "Actually, I would not mind taking a look at your ship myself anyways."

Nexi shrugged. Her ship was just a decommissioned runabout, but it was Starfleet make, an Orion-class well suited for stealthy one-man missions, and Starfleet hadn't produced many in that model. After the War was over, there wasn't an abundance of need for them like there had before. "Go ahead, look around, but I'll know if you touch something you shouldn't, so watch where you and your people go. I don't often let people into my home." And that was the reason she did most of the maintenance on her ship herself, it was necessity because she didn't like strangers on her ship. It was her home, her sanctuary.

"I asked nicely, be grateful that I have done that much" said Ensign Rhett Beaumont. "You know as well as I do that you are obviously not trusted. Your every move aboard this starship is being watched... Security and Intelligence are no doubt ensuring that you do not have anything up your sleeves" added Rhett sharply.

He looked at her and shook his head. "I asked for you to let me check out your ship. Regardless of what you want, I will take a look at it. The choice you have is whether or not you will comply and generously permit me to examine it inside and out or... I could simply report to the Security Chief or Chief Intelligence Officer that I want to ensure that there is no threat to the Hera and gain access to your ship by those means."

"Do that and you risk compromising my cooperation in this operation. I could make the op go sideways so fast and then you would all be shit out of luck. You can go onto my ship to do what you need to do, all I'm asking is that you don't poke around unnecessarily. Anyway, if you hope to go snooping and find something incriminating, you won't, there's nothing to find. I don't keep records or logs on my ship and the only internal sensor logs are those pertaining to the functionality of my ship." Nexi collected her tools and rose to leave. The repair was done and their business was more or less concluded, it would draw suspicion if either of them stayed here any longer. "Mind yourself and your crew on my ship. For all intents and purposes, I'm still a guest and I expect to be treated as such."

"Do whatever the hell you want on the mission" said Rhett with a small chuckle. "By all means, please do. It would be in my best interest if this mission had a few hiccups and mishaps."

"And it's in my best interest to inform my employer, your Captain, of your less that favorable views," Nexi replied. "But I won't, not at this time anyway. Get the information, I'll be waiting for your offer."

Rhett looked at Nexi and smirked. "Nexi, my views are always favorable... just not to everyone. You will have my offer soon enough."