From: Shawn _ (alamo_nate_at_yahoo.com)
Date: Tue Jan 15 2008 - 22:59:18 PST
=A Cast of Thousands=
(cont'd from "Grief")
LOCATION: Registered Bounty-Hunter Vessel BAD WOLF
SCENE: Cockpit
STARDATE: [2.8]0115.2249
Raxl Dreyton, Bounty Hunter extraordinaire, excellent drinking-buddy, and all around good-guy, punched a few final commands into his navigational console before leaning back and sighing contentedly, his arms folded behind his head and his eyes half-closed. After a moment, he leaned forward, fished a tiny flask out from his inside-vest pocket, and took a sip of a very fine Telosian brandy, savoring the taste.
"Aaaah," he said, with a nod of approval. Then, remembering that he had company and not wanting to be a poor host, he spun his chair around and held the flask out for his "guest" to take. "Want a sip, U'krah?"
Behind him, tied firmly to a passengers chair by several lengths of exteremely-durable fibrowire, was a large, musclebound Klingon and suspected-murderer, U'krah, who stared daggers back at Raxl.
"Of course," U'krah growled. "Why not untie one of my arms so that I might take it myself?"
"Now now," Raxl said with a slightly-scolding tone, like a schoolteacher admonishing a young student, "..we tried that already. I was all-set to let you go the whole ride just wearing wrist-binders, but then you wiggled your way out of them and tried to cut my throat with that knife you had concealed in your boot."
"Nonsense," U'krah said, flashing a toothy, terrifying grin. "I had only noticed you missed a spot when shaving this morning. I was only trying to help."
"You know why I like you, U'krah?" Raxl chuckled before finishing the contents of the flask and returning it to his pocket. "It's that great sense of humor of yours."
For a moment, the large Klingon's attention shifted to a small object outside the port-side window.
"We're passing Deep Space Nine," U'krah commented. "I thought you were going to turn me in."
"Oh, I am," Raxl nodded. "But I'm in kind of a scenic-route mood today. And it's such good company I'm in, too."
"What's the matter, Rax?" U'krah chuckled. "You owe somebody money on DS9?"
"I don't see how that's any of your business," Raxl said defensively. "And anyway, it's a perfectly explainable misunderstanding-"
U'krah began to laugh then, a deep, hearty, Klingon laugh that sounded more like a series of loud, sharp barks.
"Alright, alright," Raxl said, rolling his eyes. "Laugh it up, big fella'. Come days end, you're still the one who's going to be looking at me from the wrong side of a security forcefield."
"Where are you taking me, then?" U'krah asked. "Through the wormhole? To GATEWAY Station? Even *you* aren't crazy enough to hole-up on the front line of a warzone."
"Aw, come on," Raxl grinned. "Where's your sense of adventure?"
"You can't be serious," U'krah said. "GATEWAY Station is an official hot-zone. The Federation can't guarantee the safety of *any* ships-"
"Can't be any more dangerous than the hornet's nest I dragged *you* out of," Raxl shrugged. "Or should I say 'rat's nest'? That's a bit more of an accurate description of the company you were keeping, I think."
"Hmph," U'krah said, rolling his eyes.
"What's the problem?"
"At least I won't need to endure the dishonor of captivity," U'krah muttered. "I'm likely to die before we ever make it to GATEWAY Station."
"No such luck," Raxl said, shaking his head. "See, I fancy myself a big-time hero of the modern-era. Getting picked-off by Dominion patrols while bringing in such a low-grade bounty like you is *hardly* a dramatic-enough end for the drama that is my life."
"Please," U'krah chuckled. "The deeds of U'krah the Merciless will live on far longer than any of *your* paltry accomplishments."
"Maybe," Raxl allowed. "Or, on the other hand, *you'll* end up as a footnote in *my* life-story. Guess we'll just have to wait and see, won't we?"
------------------------------------------------------------------------
LOCATION: GATEWAY Station
SCENE: ExO's Office
Lt. Cmdr. Eish'nala Kor glanced up from the duty-roster she was working on when the doors to her office swished open. A young ensign stood before her, looking somewhat confused.
"Commander Kor," the ensign reported. "We... uhm.. there's someone here to see you."
"Who is it?" Kor asked.
"He's a bounty hunter, ma'am," the ensign said. "He's even registered with the Federation. He's claiming the bounty on a wanted Klingon-criminal, known as U'krah the Merciless, wanted in suspicion for several murders in Federation border-colonies."
"A bounty hunter?" Kor asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I doublechecked Federation regulations, ma'am," the ensign shrugged. "Technically, it *is* still a legal practice, though it remains highly regulated. There are only about 150 registered bounty-hunters throughout all of Federation space."
"I see," Kor said. "Well, send him in, I suppose."
The ensign nodded, then shuffled out. A moment later, the door parted again. A large Klingon, bound at the wrists and ankles, hopped into the room, followed by a human male, looking about thirty years-old, holding a disruptor pointed towards the Klingon's back.
"You're the ExO?" the human asked.
"I am Lt. Commander Eish'nala Kor, First Officer of GATEWAY Station," Kor said with a slight nod. "And you are?"
"Raxl Dreyton," the man said, flashing her a friendly smile. "Pleased to meet you. I'd shake hands, but then I'd have to take my gun off of 'chuckles' here, and he isn't the sort you want to be dropping your guard around."
"Understandable," Kor nodded. "I must admit, Mr. Dreyton, I'm not accustomed to processing... 'bounties'. Most criminals are captured and arrested by registered Federation law-enforcement."
"I admit, we're a dying breed," Raxl shrugged. "At least, those of us who prefer to remain legitimate. You Federation types have been making it harder and harder to do our jobs each passing year. But some of us are just too damn good to let you outlaw us completely."
"Such as yourself, I presume," Kor said skeptically.
"If you run this dirtbag's records," Raxl continued, ignoring Kor's tone, "..I think you'll find that there's a posted bounty of 10,000 credits on his head. In addition, I think you'll also find that the latest update to his record indicates that I have been specifically commissioned by the Okawa-7 Colony Council to apprehend him. Everything's well within current Federation regulations, I assure you."
"We will, of course, verify all that information," Kor nodded. "I must ask- why bring this criminal to GATEWAY Station?"
"*Alleged* criminal," U'krah grumbled.
"Be nice," Raxl said, shoving the point of his disruptor into U'krah's back. "To answer your question, ma'am, I caught Big Ugly here aboard a privately-owned transport vessel about a sector away from Deep Space Nine. It's more convenient for me to turn him in here than to head all the way back out to the Okawa Border Colonies."
"But why didn't you take him to DS9?" Kor asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I... ah... let's just say there's folks there that I'd rather not see right now."
"Ah. I take it you have a debt of some kind?" Kor asked.
"A purely private and completely legitimate debt, I assure you," Raxl said quickly. "Trouble is that my debt is to some less-than legitimate people... the types I'd rather not bump into again until I have the money to pay them back, you know what I mean?"
"Hmph," U'krah chuckled. "Face it, Dreyton. You're scum just as much as me."
"Hey," Raxl said with a frown, digging the barrel of his disruptor deeper into U'krah's back, "I prefer 'high-societally challenged'."
"I think that will be enough," Kor cut in suddenly, taking U'krah by the arm. "We will hold Mr. U'krah in the brig until we can verify your claim to the... 'bounty' on his head. In the meantime, I'm sure we can find you accommodations aboard GATEWAY."
"That will be fine," Raxl said with a smile. "He's all yours."
=============================================================
NRPG: Just doing some more NPC-development.
Shawn
a.k.a.
Jake Crichton, Lieutenant
Chief of Engineering
GATEWAY Station, GS-2
---------------------------------
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This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.5 : Sat Oct 11 2008 - 03:10:45 PDT