S:5 E:11 - He Who Dies Pays All Debts

[Robert Fisher]

[Lieutenant Commander Nira Said | Bink's Suite | Near the Thieves Quarter | Fereng | Ferenginar]

LATER...

Nira was the last to arrive when the team arrived back. She took off her helmet as she joined Mister Fisher when he collected her, at least when his ride was away from prying eyes as much as possible. It was almost time to meet Dokan.

She looked at Nurse Davies, she having been put in charge of setting up the medical scanner. Then around at the rest of her team.

"Okay, everybody," she said. "We're expecting a very special guest today. Be sure to keep concealed, but be close at hand just in case. Phasers on strong stun."

Bink shifted a little. He wanted to explain to Nira that phasers won't likely work on Dokan, not if he could shrug off four disruptor bolts from what he was informed, but he had no time to inform her thus; Nira was cutting it close in coming back and Dokan could be here at any moment.

"Nurse Davies?" she said. "How is the medical scanner working?"

[Ensign Robert Fisher | Bink's Suite | Near the Thieves Quarter | Fereng | Ferenginar]

The Thieve's Quarter and surrounding areas offered more of the same; congestion, humidity, and a potent mix of odours that would definitely take days to clear from his pores. He'd been planetside for only a short period by the time he set out to pick up the Lieutenant, but Robert was certain that this would be his one and only visit to the Ferengi homeworld.

He waited as patiently and inconspicuously as he could for Nira to appear, a sense of quiet relief washing over him as they returned to the suite without pursuit. Identifying Dohan seemed straightforward enough; cornering the individual on the other hand seemed like a risk""no doubt in part due to his unfamiliarity with their target's reputation.

With his earlier transgression still fresh in his mind, Robert checked the settings on his concealed phaser twice and then another once for luck, ensuring that he could easily access the weapon if or when needed.

[Buehler]

Kina moved over to Dolan and decided to take a look for herself. It didn't seem possible that he was shot that many times and didn't seem to be bothered. When Buehler moved back over to his seat, she followed and sat down next to him. She looked over at him, her face confused at the entire situation. "œIt's strange. I don't really know how he is still able to stand like nothing happened. Those shots would have taken down a Klingon easily."

She looked around at the rest of the room. Some still remained, bidding for whatever secrets that he was willing to sell. Kina leaned over to Buehler, trying to keep everything as conspicuous as possible. "œDo you think we should find the captain? Maybe he could use our help."

[Auction Pavilion]

"œThis whole thing is starting to give me a headache," Evan muttered as the ensign sat down, still trying to wrack his brain as to how anyone could receive four shots and appear totally unperturbed. It wasn't like there was some personal force field that deflected the blasts; the shots definitely hit. So what other explanation could there be? "œConsulting the captain is never a bad idea," he added quietly. "œThree heads are certainly better than two."

"Chief Sec/Tac Officer's Log, supplemental. The first day of the auction has finished. Plenty of Romulans desperate to get their secrets back managed to buy them back, but some couldn't match other bids. Before the auction finished, five more assassins have been caught, but fortunately, some haven't opened fire, but those weren't the only assassination attempts. Once, as the auction was ending, an unknown assassin tried to gas Dokan in a confined force field area, and seeing him not going down, dispensed enough poisoned gas in the area that a dozen-meter radius confined within a force field became more poisonous than Venus' atmosphere, and even Dokan walked out of that. Fortunately, the stage was mostly empty and if it wasn't for the force field that had been deployed by some cohors that circled the stage before exiting, the poison would've spread to the Sacred Marketplace and maybe spread into Ferenginar's atmosphere.

[Bock's Office]

In the safety and privacy of the Ferrengi's office, Evan dragged his hands down the sides of his cheeks in frustration. Attempt after attempt was made on the "œRomulan's" life, and yet the man continued to walk away unscathed. "œI'm beginning to wonder if Dokan's even alive," Evan said after awhile. "œAfter all, many among the crowd seemed surprised to see him. Maybe he's some kind of android."

[ShranLahr ch'Verret]

CPO ShranLahr ch'Verret
[Ferenginar - Thieves' Quarter - Warehouse - Backroom]

[Deej Cloten | Backrooms | Quarter Warehouse | Thieves Quarter | Fereng | Ferenginar]

Some of the thugs had to laugh at Lahr's price offer for the replicator program, but it was Visa who broached the explanation.

"Five bricks for the replicator program? Five bricks can fetch the whole replicator. Maybe an industrial replicator if enough haggling was done. You certainly must be new in the whole mercantile side of things, are you not, ch'Verret?"

Cloten raised an eyebrow and looked at the "Breen." "Hubs" could see that somebody was getting suspicious; in any case, he spoke up.

"I suppose it does make sense for it to be assembled into a suitcase," "Hubs" commented. "Of course, anybody who's not strong will need to make sure the suitcase has wheels or has hover capability."

"In other words," Gath commented, "anybody with brawn could hoist a pack on his or her back, and everybody else can drag it along."

As they continued to haggle, and while newer weapons were being shown, inside the suit, Nira wondered what was going on. She had hoped that later, when they met at Bink's again, they'd discuss what to do before Dokan showed up, and hopefully if they can confer with Captain Galloway when he had a chance.

Cloten continued to study the "Breen." This distraction was fine, but he was confident that there was going to be a way he was going to find Dokan. Very confident.

Lahr worked the haggling like a pro.  Years of listening to his parents do so had given him an ear to knowing when a clients 'final offer' was actually final.

[Lieutenant Commander Nira Said | Bink's Suite | Near the Thieves Quarter | Fereng | Ferenginar]

LATER...

Nira was the last to arrive when the team arrived back. She took off her helmet as she joined Mister Fisher when he collected her, at least when his ride was away from prying eyes as much as possible. It was almost time to meet Dokan.

She looked at Nurse Davies, she having been put in charge of setting up the medical scanner. Then around at the rest of her team.

"Okay, everybody," she said. "We're expecting a very special guest today. Be sure to keep concealed, but be close at hand just in case. Phasers on strong stun."

Bink shifted a little. He wanted to explain to Nira that phasers won't likely work on Dokan, not if he could shrug off four disruptor bolts from what he was informed, but he had no time to inform her thus; Nira was cutting it close in coming back and Dokan could be here at any moment.

"Nurse Davies?" she said. "How is the medical scanner working?"

Chloe glanced over when she heard her name.   She smiled reassuringly.   "Everything is all set."

"The scanner probe itself in the door frame, so he'll have to pass by it when he walks in the door."  The nurse explained.  "If for some reason, he just appears in the middle of the room.... well then, you're gonna have to figure a way to get him into that doorway to scan him."

She then gathered two PADDs and handed one to Nira.   "I have the readings being sent to these PADDs."

[Ensign Robert Fisher | Bink's Suite | Near the Thieves Quarter | Fereng | Ferenginar]

The Thieve's Quarter and surrounding areas offered more of the same; congestion, humidity, and a potent mix of odours that would definitely take days to clear from his pores. He'd been planetside for only a short period by the time he set out to pick up the Lieutenant, but Robert was certain that this would be his one and only visit to the Ferengi homeworld.

He waited as patiently and inconspicuously as he could for Nira to appear, a sense of quiet relief washing over him as they returned to the suite without pursuit. Identifying Dohan seemed straightforward enough; cornering the individual on the other hand seemed like a risk""no doubt in part due to his unfamiliarity with their target's reputation.

With his earlier transgression still fresh in his mind, Robert checked the settings on his concealed phaser twice and then another once for luck, ensuring that he could easily access the weapon if or when needed.

After handing over to PADD to Nira, Chloe asked the Commander where she wanted her and the rest of the team to wait.

[Kina Nural]

[Lieutenant Commander T'Kel/Ambassador T'tahl | Auction Pavilion | Sacred Marketplace | Fereng | Ferenginar]

T'Kel kept on looking upward, despite looking ahead. In spite of the flashes and the indications of ships in the skies, no debris was falling...not yet. And she kept on watching keenly. Nonetheless, she nodded in agreement.

***

"Chief Sec/Tac Officer's Log, supplemental. The first day of the auction has finished. Plenty of Romulans desperate to get their secrets back managed to buy them back, but some couldn't match other bids. Before the auction finished, five more assassins have been caught, but fortunately, some haven't opened fire, but those weren't the only assassination attempts. Once, as the auction was ending, an unknown assassin tried to gas Dokan in a confined force field area, and seeing him not going down, dispensed enough poisoned gas in the area that a dozen-meter radius confined within a force field became more poisonous than Venus' atmosphere, and even Dokan walked out of that. Fortunately, the stage was mostly empty and if it wasn't for the force field that had been deployed by some cohors that circled the stage before exiting, the poison would've spread to the Sacred Marketplace and maybe spread into Ferenginar's atmosphere.

"The most attempts on Dokan's life, however, came mostly from orbit. Most of the factions seemed to have elected to launch orbital strikes, but the Ferengi fleet, with help of the Starfleet task force, put a stop to that. Some Ferengi ships chased Romulan ships into the clouds while others intercepted Romulan-launched torpedoes. The Starfleet ships, as it turned out, mostly impeded any further incurring vessels either by getting into their paths or halting them with tractor beams. The ships of the Free State kept out of the affair, out of respect to the Federation backing.

"Nonetheless, after so many attempts on Dokan's life on such a level of escalation, the Ferengi authorities are considering stopping the auction. The profit the auction is earning is becoming less and less appealing...unfortunately, they did bring it upon themselves to allow the auction to happen."

[Lieutenant Commander T'Kel | Bock's Office | Tower of Commerce | Fereng | Ferenginar]

Summoned to Bock's office after the auction, the team arrived to see Bock hovering between panic and anticipation.

"I know, I know you're going to shay that holding the aucshun ish a bad idea," said Bock impatiently. "But it'sh becoming more and more likely to me that we cannot allow the auction to continue. The othersh...well, they're torn between canshelling the aucshun and making a profit.

"However, there ish shum good nuush," Bock added, becoming more upbeat. "Eliminator Bink hash informed me that there'sh going to be a meeting with Dokan in hish shweet. Chanshesh are, your firsht offisher ish going to get more about Dokan...I don't know how they will do it, but maybe there will be anshersh to what Dokan really ish...beshishdes the obvioush that he shurvived four dishrupter boltsh and a gash attack."

"I concur, Liquidator," said T'Kel. "A couple of your fellow Liquidators and your main Daimons passed on reports to us regarding the various Romulan ships that tried to launch orbital strikes. I'm surprised there's no declaration of war from the Nagus."

"Oh, come, dishregarding or denying involvement of shending ashashinsh is a typical move to avert a war caushed by ashashinashun," Bock said. "In any cayshe, Bink will signal me to let me know when Dokan hash arrived...and then, if you wish, Captain and all, you'll be able to catch up, shurround Dokan. I've got a path open to you. Jusht take care for any potential tailsh. Ash for Romulansh, the only facshunsh I'm worried about are the Tal Shiar, Zshat Vash or otherwhysh, and the Conshulate of Cradol. You'll never know if they'll fly out of nowhere. We're fortunate the Circle of Ethnarchs and even the Dynasht and the rest of the Cradol head-honchoes aren't involved."

T'Kel nodded, and the way Bock mentioned the Cradol leaders nervously, perhaps these Ethnarchs and the Cradol Dynast, whoever it was sounded dangerous. But it did bring up something else...

"What of a Romulan faction involving Praetors?"

"There'sh shum kind of group of facshuns called the Praetorian Triumvirate," Bock said, "but we've heard nothing from them. Not yet, anyway."

"Bear in mind an alliance, even a small one," said T'Kel. "We only know one of that group, a part-Reman named Nakir."

"We've sheen no Nakir," said Bock with a shrug, "but that'll mean we're lucky sho far. The Praetoriansh are about ash shecretive ash the Tal Shiar and the Conshulate."

He sat back and looked around at the team, sure about any potential questions they may have for him.

[Liquidator Bock's office/Tower of Commerce/Ferenginar]

Kina couldn't help it. This was something of a nervous tick, and she felt an uncontrollable urge to perform it. She paced. She took roughly 12 steps in one direction before turning around and repeating the action all over again. She always got this way when she was stumped on something, when something really made her have to think. Her father often joked that given a hard enough problem, she would pace a hole straight through a plate of duranium.

There were so many unknowns in this. She was more akin to medicine than science, but she was decent with numbers. Given the number of assassination attempts on Dokan, and factoring I'm not just the randomness of the attacks, but the methods as well, theoretically speaking, Dokan should be dead. And yet he still stands, as if it were just a typical Tuesday afternoon.

Kina paced and paced, muttering to her herself as she moved. "œA hologram would make sense. Given the attacks executed and the frequency, it would be the best answer. But he can hold things, physical mass. With everything going on, holo-emitters would have shown some form of disruption, which there is not. A portable holo-imager then makes sense, but it would also have been destroyed by now."

Kina stopped on step 8 and looked at Bock and the captain. "œA sample. There has to be a way to get a sample from Dokan. Enough to confirm he's either synthetic or compare his DNA. It's not possible that all of these attempts had no effect to Dokan unless it's explicitly for show. But if that were the case, it would have been over after the first couple of attacks."

[Ian Galloway]

[Lieutenant Commander T'Kel/Ambassador T'tahl | Auction Pavilion | Sacred Marketplace | Fereng | Ferenginar]

T'Kel kept on looking upward, despite looking ahead. In spite of the flashes and the indications of ships in the skies, no debris was falling...not yet. And she kept on watching keenly. Nonetheless, she nodded in agreement.

***

"Chief Sec/Tac Officer's Log, supplemental. The first day of the auction has finished. Plenty of Romulans desperate to get their secrets back managed to buy them back, but some couldn't match other bids. Before the auction finished, five more assassins have been caught, but fortunately, some haven't opened fire, but those weren't the only assassination attempts. Once, as the auction was ending, an unknown assassin tried to gas Dokan in a confined force field area, and seeing him not going down, dispensed enough poisoned gas in the area that a dozen-meter radius confined within a force field became more poisonous than Venus' atmosphere, and even Dokan walked out of that. Fortunately, the stage was mostly empty and if it wasn't for the force field that had been deployed by some cohors that circled the stage before exiting, the poison would've spread to the Sacred Marketplace and maybe spread into Ferenginar's atmosphere.

"The most attempts on Dokan's life, however, came mostly from orbit. Most of the factions seemed to have elected to launch orbital strikes, but the Ferengi fleet, with help of the Starfleet task force, put a stop to that. Some Ferengi ships chased Romulan ships into the clouds while others intercepted Romulan-launched torpedoes. The Starfleet ships, as it turned out, mostly impeded any further incurring vessels either by getting into their paths or halting them with tractor beams. The ships of the Free State kept out of the affair, out of respect to the Federation backing.

"Nonetheless, after so many attempts on Dokan's life on such a level of escalation, the Ferengi authorities are considering stopping the auction. The profit the auction is earning is becoming less and less appealing...unfortunately, they did bring it upon themselves to allow the auction to happen."

[Lieutenant Commander T'Kel | Bock's Office | Tower of Commerce | Fereng | Ferenginar]

Summoned to Bock's office after the auction, the team arrived to see Bock hovering between panic and anticipation.

"I know, I know you're going to shay that holding the aucshun ish a bad idea," said Bock impatiently. "But it'sh becoming more and more likely to me that we cannot allow the auction to continue. The othersh...well, they're torn between canshelling the aucshun and making a profit.

"However, there ish shum good nuush," Bock added, becoming more upbeat. "Eliminator Bink hash informed me that there'sh going to be a meeting with Dokan in hish shweet. Chanshesh are, your firsht offisher ish going to get more about Dokan...I don't know how they will do it, but maybe there will be anshersh to what Dokan really ish...beshishdes the obvioush that he shurvived four dishrupter boltsh and a gash attack."

"I concur, Liquidator," said T'Kel. "A couple of your fellow Liquidators and your main Daimons passed on reports to us regarding the various Romulan ships that tried to launch orbital strikes. I'm surprised there's no declaration of war from the Nagus."

"Oh, come, dishregarding or denying involvement of shending ashashinsh is a typical move to avert a war caushed by ashashinashun," Bock said. "In any cayshe, Bink will signal me to let me know when Dokan hash arrived...and then, if you wish, Captain and all, you'll be able to catch up, shurround Dokan. I've got a path open to you. Jusht take care for any potential tailsh. Ash for Romulansh, the only facshunsh I'm worried about are the Tal Shiar, Zshat Vash or otherwhysh, and the Conshulate of Cradol. You'll never know if they'll fly out of nowhere. We're fortunate the Circle of Ethnarchs and even the Dynasht and the rest of the Cradol head-honchoes aren't involved."

T'Kel nodded, and the way Bock mentioned the Cradol leaders nervously, perhaps these Ethnarchs and the Cradol Dynast, whoever it was sounded dangerous. But it did bring up something else...

"What of a Romulan faction involving Praetors?"

"There'sh shum kind of group of facshuns called the Praetorian Triumvirate," Bock said, "but we've heard nothing from them. Not yet, anyway."

"Bear in mind an alliance, even a small one," said T'Kel. "We only know one of that group, a part-Reman named Nakir."

"We've sheen no Nakir," said Bock with a shrug, "but that'll mean we're lucky sho far. The Praetoriansh are about ash shecretive ash the Tal Shiar and the Conshulate."

He sat back and looked around at the team, sure about any potential questions they may have for him.

[Auction Pavilion]

"œThis whole thing is starting to give me a headache," Evan muttered as the ensign sat down, still trying to wrack his brain as to how anyone could receive four shots and appear totally unperturbed. It wasn't like there was some personal force field that deflected the blasts; the shots definitely hit. So what other explanation could there be? "œConsulting the captain is never a bad idea," he added quietly. "œThree heads are certainly better than two."
[Bock's Office]

In the safety and privacy of the Ferrengi's office, Evan dragged his hands down the sides of his cheeks in frustration. Attempt after attempt was made on the "œRomulan's" life, and yet the man continued to walk away unscathed. "œI'm beginning to wonder if Dokan's even alive," Evan said after awhile. "œAfter all, many among the crowd seemed surprised to see him. Maybe he's some kind of android."

[Liquidator Bock's office/Tower of Commerce/Ferenginar]

Kina couldn't help it. This was something of a nervous tick, and she felt an uncontrollable urge to perform it. She paced. She took roughly 12 steps in one direction before turning around and repeating the action all over again. She always got this way when she was stumped on something, when something really made her have to think. Her father often joked that given a hard enough problem, she would pace a hole straight through a plate of duranium.

There were so many unknowns in this. She was more akin to medicine than science, but she was decent with numbers. Given the number of assassination attempts on Dokan, and factoring I'm not just the randomness of the attacks, but the methods as well, theoretically speaking, Dokan should be dead. And yet he still stands, as if it were just a typical Tuesday afternoon.

Kina paced and paced, muttering to her herself as she moved. "œA hologram would make sense. Given the attacks executed and the frequency, it would be the best answer. But he can hold things, physical mass. With everything going on, holo-emitters would have shown some form of disruption, which there is not. A portable holo-imager then makes sense, but it would also have been destroyed by now."

Kina stopped on step 8 and looked at Bock and the captain. "œA sample. There has to be a way to get a sample from Dokan. Enough to confirm he's either synthetic or compare his DNA. It's not possible that all of these attempts had no effect to Dokan unless it's explicitly for show. But if that were the case, it would have been over after the first couple of attacks."

[Liquidator Bock's office - Tower of Commerce - Ferenginar]

Ian listened to the options being bandied about and was impressed at how unconventional the away team's thinking proved to be. He'd have never thought of an android or a hologram. He mulled the options over for a bit before replying.

"If'n we are dealin' with either of those options, this is technology beyond what the Federation kens. As you are well aware, when we arrived, we split the away team. The other half of our group is attemptin' ta get more information on this Dokan. If'n they are successful, we'll have more answers and will be able ta make better decisions. As much as it galls me, we have ta wait until we see if'n they succeed.

"In the interim Liquidator, I have ta suggest, in the strongest possible terms, that you end this auction. I ken the amount of profits ta be made would make the Blessed Exchequer blush, but ta quote the 188th Rule of Acquisition, 'Never bet on a race you haven't fixed'. Your homeworld had come under bombardment, the risks here now far exceed the profits. So far, your fleet and the Federation task force has kept any of that damage from hittin' the planet, sooner or later, someone is bound ta get lucky and summat is goin' ta get through."

[Zhukdrashar Mrekrerhas]

[Lieutenant Junior Grade Zhukdra'shar Mrekrerhas / Mercenary T'Riss | Ishtar Bazaar, Ferenginar Branch | Thieves Quarter | Ferenginar]

CPO ShranLahr ch'Verret
[Ferenginar - Thieves' Quarter - Warehouse - Backroom]

Lahr held up his hands to calm razzing.   "Easy fellas... he ain't asking for two units.  He's saying he's got two questions..."    The Andorian then turned to the Caitian.    "Well, I'm glad you asked.  First off, you can purchase the replicator program for a mere 5 bricks of latinum.  What a steal, right?!"  Lahr knew he was serious overpricing the unit but figured the haggle down could draw this out quite a while.

"And to answer your second question:  this baby will work on as little as a regular Phaser rifle powerpack.. but it's range and it's destructiveness increases with the more power you give her.   With a powerpack she'd just like a regular phaser but fires in pulses instead of the steady beam.  Attached her to a say an ATV power source, and her range and destructive radius triples.  Have her feeding from the warp engines of a shuttle craft and you are laughing when that unsuspecting Federation Starship tries to pull you over for not declaring your custom goods."  The Andorian grinned.  "Just saying... the potential of this beauty, is near limitless."

When Cloten brought up the portability of the weapon, Lahr gave a nod.  "Hell yeah it's portable, wouldn't call it such unless it was.."   His sales pitch however faded off as even his attention was drawn by the noise and he too paused to check out the 'fireworks'.

When Zhuk called on him to continue, Lahr nodded and gave a whistle to return everyone's attention back to him.

"Now where was I?  Oh yes, the portability!  Now I'm not saying it's gonna be easily hidden, but the weapon does break down into three pieces and the case to carry it around is about the size of a large suitcase, which can come with wheels or hover option.  The power source however to make it more than just a fancy pulsing hand-phaser should be at least the size of backpack, which I can sell to you at a great combo price."

[Deej Cloten | Backrooms | Quarter Warehouse | Thieves Quarter | Fereng | Ferenginar]

Some of the thugs had to laugh at Lahr's price offer for the replicator program, but it was Visa who broached the explanation.

"Five bricks for the replicator program? Five bricks can fetch the whole replicator. Maybe an industrial replicator if enough haggling was done. You certainly must be new in the whole mercantile side of things, are you not, ch'Verret?"

Cloten raised an eyebrow and looked at the "Breen." "Hubs" could see that somebody was getting suspicious; in any case, he spoke up.

"I suppose it does make sense for it to be assembled into a suitcase," "Hubs" commented. "Of course, anybody who's not strong will need to make sure the suitcase has wheels or has hover capability."

"In other words," Gath commented, "anybody with brawn could hoist a pack on his or her back, and everybody else can drag it along."

As they continued to haggle, and while newer weapons were being shown, inside the suit, Nira wondered what was going on. She had hoped that later, when they met at Bink's again, they'd discuss what to do before Dokan showed up, and hopefully if they can confer with Captain Galloway when he had a chance.

Cloten continued to study the "Breen." This distraction was fine, but he was confident that there was going to be a way he was going to find Dokan. Very confident.

[Lieutenant Commander Nira Said | Bink's Suite | Near the Thieves Quarter | Fereng | Ferenginar]

"FIVE BRICKS?!" Came the answer from an incredibly surprised 'T'Riss', playing into what the other thugs were saying, before he began to laugh. He proceeded to shake his head soon after. "Ah, am sure ch'Verret here wans to make us haggle, ey?" He glanced to look at him, hoping that he had indeed caught the avenue where Lahr wanted to take things. If not, he would be treated as a fool, but at least people wouldn't suspect as much from his Andorian friend. Either way, they ended up winning, he supposed...

The haggling continued for a while...

[Deej Cloten | Backrooms | Quarter Warehouse | Thieves Quarter | Fereng | Ferenginar]

LATER...

Nira was the last to arrive when the team arrived back. She took off her helmet as she joined Mister Fisher when he collected her, at least when his ride was away from prying eyes as much as possible. It was almost time to meet Dokan.

She looked at Nurse Davies, she having been put in charge of setting up the medical scanner. Then around at the rest of her team.

"Okay, everybody," she said. "We're expecting a very special guest today. Be sure to keep concealed, but be close at hand just in case. Phasers on strong stun."

Bink shifted a little. He wanted to explain to Nira that phasers won't likely work on Dokan, not if he could shrug off four disruptor bolts from what he was informed, but he had no time to inform her thus; Nira was cutting it close in coming back and Dokan could be here at any moment.

"Nurse Davies?" she said. "How is the medical scanner working?"

CPO ShranLahr ch'Verret
[Ferenginar - Thieves' Quarter - Warehouse - Backroom]

Lahr worked the haggling like a pro.  Years of listening to his parents do so had given him an ear to knowing when a clients 'final offer' was actually final.

Chloe glanced over when she heard her name.   She smiled reassuringly.   "Everything is all set."

"The scanner probe itself in the door frame, so he'll have to pass by it when he walks in the door."  The nurse explained.  "If for some reason, he just appears in the middle of the room.... well then, you're gonna have to figure a way to get him into that doorway to scan him."

She then gathered two PADDs and handed one to Nira.   "I have the readings being sent to these PADDs."

After handing over to PADD to Nira, Chloe asked the Commander where she wanted her and the rest of the team to wait.

[Lieutenant Junior Grade Zhukdra'shar Mrekrerhas / Mercenary T'Riss | Bink's Suite | Near the Thieves Quarter | Ferenginar]

Eventually, things settled down and he returned to Bink's office, doing his best to do so inconspicuously. So far, it seemed, the tactic had worked. He had not followed. He stood around for a while, doing small talk with Chloe while she set the scanners. It soon changed to Lahr, where he praised his acting and told him that he had done a spectacular as an arms merchant, in his humble opinion.

Finally, came the Lieutenant Commander, who asked Chloe if all was set. She responded with an affirmative, and explained how the system would work. Zhuk made sure to pay attention, curious about how would the process be like. Once that was done, he made sure to adjust his chosen Cardassian phaser pistol to the 'strong stun' setting that was required.

"Done. I am prepared. Let us greet our guest with outmost pleasure~" He commented, offering a grin to Lahr and Chloe, preparing to move wherever Nira told him to go.

[Nira Said]

Chloe glanced over when she heard her name.   She smiled reassuringly.   "Everything is all set."

"The scanner probe itself in the door frame, so he'll have to pass by it when he walks in the door."  The nurse explained.  "If for some reason, he just appears in the middle of the room.... well then, you're gonna have to figure a way to get him into that doorway to scan him."

She then gathered two PADDs and handed one to Nira.   "I have the readings being sent to these PADDs."

After handing over to PADD to Nira, Chloe asked the Commander where she wanted her and the rest of the team to wait.

[Lieutenant Junior Grade Zhukdra'shar Mrekrerhas / Mercenary T'Riss | Ishtar Bazaar, Ferenginar Branch | Thieves Quarter | Ferenginar]

"FIVE BRICKS?!" Came the answer from an incredibly surprised 'T'Riss', playing into what the other thugs were saying, before he began to laugh. He proceeded to shake his head soon after. "Ah, am sure ch'Verret here wans to make us haggle, ey?" He glanced to look at him, hoping that he had indeed caught the avenue where Lahr wanted to take things. If not, he would be treated as a fool, but at least people wouldn't suspect as much from his Andorian friend. Either way, they ended up winning, he supposed...

The haggling continued for a while...

[Lieutenant Junior Grade Zhukdra'shar Mrekrerhas / Mercenary T'Riss | Bink's Suite | Near the Thieves Quarter | Ferenginar]

Eventually, things settled down and he returned to Bink's office, doing his best to do so inconspicuously. So far, it seemed, the tactic had worked. He had not followed. He stood around for a while, doing small talk with Chloe while she set the scanners. It soon changed to Lahr, where he praised his acting and told him that he had done a spectacular as an arms merchant, in his humble opinion.

Finally, came the Lieutenant Commander, who asked Chloe if all was set. She responded with an affirmative, and explained how the system would work. Zhuk made sure to pay attention, curious about how would the process be like. Once that was done, he made sure to adjust his chosen Cardassian phaser pistol to the 'strong stun' setting that was required.

"Done. I am prepared. Let us greet our guest with outmost pleasure~" He commented, offering a grin to Lahr and Chloe, preparing to move wherever Nira told him to go.

[Lieutenant Commander Nira Said | Bink's Suite | Near the Thieves Quarter | Fereng | Ferenginar]

Nira looked up at Zhuk and said, "Oh, Zhuk, stand guard over me; you are, after all, my 'bodyguard.'"

"I'll be on hand as well," Bink said. "It is still a Ferengi matter."

Bink's guards nodded in agreement. Nira could see they were determined..."In a way, it is," said Nira. "Very well."

Zhuk stayed above while Nira waited, hiding her PADD on her lap as she sat at a desk. One of Bink's guards left, and as he did so, Nira gestured for the rest of the team to hide, then said, "Oh, and one last thing: Transmit whatever findings are picked up to the Captain and Doctors Beuhler and Nural when the scan finishes; they'll want to know what he really is."

A moment later, Dokan entered the room. The medical scanner, hidden from sight, began its work.

"So, Miss Sahmed," said Dokan. "I see you wish to be privy to Mister Bink's invitation."

"Oh, we've been on good terms," said Nira. "Besides, from my understanding, you have a huge mark on you, from what I can understand."

"Indeed," said Dokan. "And are you here to collect as well."

"Please, if I was out for your mark, would we be here talking, especially among Eliminators?" said Nira. "As for Mister T'Riss, he's only here to ensure my protection."

"Then what are you wishing to offer, in conjunction with the Ferengi government?"

"Just that, on behalf of the V'Lashi, we can offer you a great deal more protection than here on Ferenginar," said Nira, recalling the V'Lashi Crime Syndicate led by the Vulcan Krinn; the fact that there was a Vulcan crime syndicate certainly grabbed Nira's attention in her reviews of the Starfleet criminal database.

"And what makes you think a crime syndicate can protect me with my mark?" asked Dokan.

"I have good standing with the inner circle of the V'Lashi," said Nira. "I am...shall we say, close...in an intimate way to one of the head honchos," she added with a deep purr.

"Surely you're not so unlucky to be on the recieving end of Krinn's Pon Farr?"

"Oh, no, I'm not that ambitious. Just with one of his lieutenants," said Nira. "Besides, Krinn could provide connections to the Reunification Movement, they're always in need of more learning of pacifism in learning the ways of Surak..."

"The Reunification Movement is an option," Dokan said, "but unlikely, given their level of zeal since Ambassador Spock's disappearance."

"True..."

All while she kept talking, her leg crossed, Nira kept a good subtle eye down at the PADD under the desk, getting a good look at what the scanner was picking up so far. The first of the results were coming in, and it took so much willpower to keep Nira from reacting, let alone breaking character.

Because, according to the first of the scanning results, Dokan's skin was twenty years old, in spite of the fact that he looked middle-aged, although while he looked to be in his late fifties in most humanoid standards, in regards to Vulcans and Romulans, middle-aged would mean he'd be more or less a hundred years old.

Well, isn't that interesting? Nira thought to herself.

[Nira Said]

[Auction Pavilion]

"œThis whole thing is starting to give me a headache," Evan muttered as the ensign sat down, still trying to wrack his brain as to how anyone could receive four shots and appear totally unperturbed. It wasn't like there was some personal force field that deflected the blasts; the shots definitely hit. So what other explanation could there be? "œConsulting the captain is never a bad idea," he added quietly. "œThree heads are certainly better than two."
[Bock's Office]

In the safety and privacy of the Ferrengi's office, Evan dragged his hands down the sides of his cheeks in frustration. Attempt after attempt was made on the "œRomulan's" life, and yet the man continued to walk away unscathed. "œI'm beginning to wonder if Dokan's even alive," Evan said after awhile. "œAfter all, many among the crowd seemed surprised to see him. Maybe he's some kind of android."

[Liquidator Bock's office/Tower of Commerce/Ferenginar]

Kina couldn't help it. This was something of a nervous tick, and she felt an uncontrollable urge to perform it. She paced. She took roughly 12 steps in one direction before turning around and repeating the action all over again. She always got this way when she was stumped on something, when something really made her have to think. Her father often joked that given a hard enough problem, she would pace a hole straight through a plate of duranium.

There were so many unknowns in this. She was more akin to medicine than science, but she was decent with numbers. Given the number of assassination attempts on Dokan, and factoring I'm not just the randomness of the attacks, but the methods as well, theoretically speaking, Dokan should be dead. And yet he still stands, as if it were just a typical Tuesday afternoon.

Kina paced and paced, muttering to her herself as she moved. "œA hologram would make sense. Given the attacks executed and the frequency, it would be the best answer. But he can hold things, physical mass. With everything going on, holo-emitters would have shown some form of disruption, which there is not. A portable holo-imager then makes sense, but it would also have been destroyed by now."

Kina stopped on step 8 and looked at Bock and the captain. "œA sample. There has to be a way to get a sample from Dokan. Enough to confirm he's either synthetic or compare his DNA. It's not possible that all of these attempts had no effect to Dokan unless it's explicitly for show. But if that were the case, it would have been over after the first couple of attacks."

[Liquidator Bock's office - Tower of Commerce - Ferenginar]

Ian listened to the options being bandied about and was impressed at how unconventional the away team's thinking proved to be. He'd have never thought of an android or a hologram. He mulled the options over for a bit before replying.

"If'n we are dealin' with either of those options, this is technology beyond what the Federation kens. As you are well aware, when we arrived, we split the away team. The other half of our group is attemptin' ta get more information on this Dokan. If'n they are successful, we'll have more answers and will be able ta make better decisions. As much as it galls me, we have ta wait until we see if'n they succeed.

"In the interim Liquidator, I have ta suggest, in the strongest possible terms, that you end this auction. I ken the amount of profits ta be made would make the Blessed Exchequer blush, but ta quote the 188th Rule of Acquisition, 'Never bet on a race you haven't fixed'. Your homeworld had come under bombardment, the risks here now far exceed the profits. So far, your fleet and the Federation task force has kept any of that damage from hittin' the planet, sooner or later, someone is bound ta get lucky and summat is goin' ta get through."

[Lieutenant Commander T'Kel | Bock's Office >- Memorial Hall | Tower of Commerce | Fereng | Ferenginar]

T'Kel could see Bock pondering the doctors' words, and then paying rapt attention to the Captain's words, and especially the use of the 188th Rule of Acquisition. Bock sighed and looked down guiltily.

"Yesh, you're right," Bock said wearily. "And the Rulesh of Acqushishun...very blunt...perhapsh...pleashe walk with me, all."

T'Kel raised an eyebrow and she and the rest of the team followed him down to a new place in the tower, a kind of memorial hallway complete with statues of what were apparently prominent Ferengi.

"I can't imagine...but yesh, the shafety of our homeworld ish shertainly at shtake," he said. "He would've shaid the shame thing..."

As he spoke, he stopped in front of prominent statue. This one was particularly different. The figure set in stone was as short as other Ferengi, but he was short enough that if he lost a few more inches, he'd qualify as a dwarf. He had a permanently boyish face on him, never seeming to change as he aged...and what was more, it was the only statue showing a Ferengi in a Starfleet uniform. Naturally, T'Kel recognized him instantly. Anybody who heard about the first Ferengi in Starfleet would know:

Captain Nog.

"I come here a great deal," said Bock. "Nog ish an eshpeshally unique Ferengi. He...impresshesh me at timesh, deshpite hish choishesh. And yet it ish becaushe of him there are plenty of Ferengi who want to know more about hyoomaans. And Nog will forever be imprinted in the mindsh of Ferengi ash a bridge to connect our relashunsh with the Federashun and the Ferengi Commersh, both for hish prominensh in the Federashun and ash a shun of a Nagush..."

Staring at the statue of Captain Nog, T'Kel could see Bock's resolve steeling...he had decided...

"You're right, Captain," he said. "I'll shpeak with the other Liquidatorsh and even the Grand Nagush to canshel the aucshun. And I'll be shore to remind them that the safety of Ferenginar ish at shtake."

[General Vellel | Outside the Consulate vessel Killem | Mount Tubatuba | Ferenginar]

General Vellel - specifically Khre'Riov Vellel - scowled as she waited, the small task force, sent by the Dynast Praetor Ratheen all the way from what may be the other side of the Beta Quadrant, lying landed and cloaked in waiting. Keeping to Mount Tubatuba was a risk in and of itself, being so close to a volcano, but it provided excellent cover, especially with the not-so-subtle responses from the other factions in the past few hours.

A withered old woman as she was, she might as well have spent a quarter of her life so far wandering, negotiating different sides of the old Star Empire before the break-up caused the faction she pledged loyalty to seek the darkest corner of the quadrant. She was a loyal soldier and was more the military officer, rather than take on the more zealous behaviors in the religious circles of Cradol, among other things attached. She and the rest of the Consulate military felt certainly more dignified than the Ethnarchs and the Dynast rulers...and especially now that the Dynast is adopting the title Praetor...

A transmission arrived and Khre'Riov Vellel pulled up a young girl perched high up.

"Erei'Arrain Catan," the general said to the Sub-Centurion at the other end. "Report."

"Still no sign of the humans, the so-called Romulan ambassador and the Cardassian," the young Catan replied. "They haven't yet emerged from the Tower."

Vellel curled her lips. Yes, the Skytroopers were rivaled in their stealth only by the Tal Shiar...and the Jem'Hadar when it came to Shrouds, yet their capability for being automatically invisibly unseen when they wanted to, trusting in the fact that not a lot of people think to simply look up...nobody else has yet the capabilities to fly by mechanical means besides out in the vacuums of space.

"Keep me informed and keep out of sight, child," Vellel said. "They'll have to come out sooner or later. It's clear that bunch is in with the greedy little beggars about something."

[ShranLahr ch'Verret]

CPO ShranLahr ch'Verret
[Ferenginar - Thieves' Quarter - Warehouse - Backroom]

[Lieutenant Junior Grade Zhukdra'shar Mrekrerhas / Mercenary T'Riss | Ishtar Bazaar, Ferenginar Branch | Thieves Quarter | Ferenginar]

"FIVE BRICKS?!" Came the answer from an incredibly surprised 'T'Riss', playing into what the other thugs were saying, before he began to laugh. He proceeded to shake his head soon after. "Ah, am sure ch'Verret here wans to make us haggle, ey?" He glanced to look at him, hoping that he had indeed caught the avenue where Lahr wanted to take things. If not, he would be treated as a fool, but at least people wouldn't suspect as much from his Andorian friend. Either way, they ended up winning, he supposed...

The haggling continued for a while...

The wonderful thing about haggling was that it was a unique thing between buyer and purchaser.   T'Riss had made the first offer to buy, so Lahr made all the others wait while he haggled one on one with the Caitian, only after the two had agreed upon a price, did Lahr then look to the others gathered around to.

"So with my first sale complete, I now have an obligation to my buyer, Mr. T'Riss, to keep his purchase as an amazing deal; so for today, I will offer up only one more replicator program and it will be sold by auction to the highest bidder among the rest of you.  The beginning price will be what Mr. T'Riss just paid for his unit.  So who will pay 3 bricks, 2 bars and 6 slips... to be the 2nd person to be able to bring this baby home with you?  Will it be you Mr. Cloten?  Or you, Miss Sahmed?"

CPO ShranLahr ch'Verret
NPC Lt JG Chloe Davies
[Ferenginar - Fereng - Bink' Hotel Suite]

[Lieutenant Junior Grade Zhukdra'shar Mrekrerhas / Mercenary T'Riss | Bink's Suite | Near the Thieves Quarter | Ferenginar]

Eventually, things settled down and he returned to Bink's office, doing his best to do so inconspicuously. So far, it seemed, the tactic had worked. He had not followed. He stood around for a while, doing small talk with Chloe while she set the scanners. It soon changed to Lahr, where he praised his acting and told him that he had done a spectacular as an arms merchant, in his humble opinion.

Finally, came the Lieutenant Commander, who asked Chloe if all was set. She responded with an affirmative, and explained how the system would work. Zhuk made sure to pay attention, curious about how would the process be like. Once that was done, he made sure to adjust his chosen Cardassian phaser pistol to the 'strong stun' setting that was required.

"Done. I am prepared. Let us greet our guest with outmost pleasure~" He commented, offering a grin to Lahr and Chloe, preparing to move wherever Nira told him to go.

[Lieutenant Commander Nira Said | Bink's Suite | Near the Thieves Quarter | Fereng | Ferenginar]

Nira looked up at Zhuk and said, "Oh, Zhuk, stand guard over me; you are, after all, my 'bodyguard.'"

"I'll be on hand as well," Bink said. "It is still a Ferengi matter."

Bink's guards nodded in agreement. Nira could see they were determined..."In a way, it is," said Nira. "Very well."

Zhuk stayed above while Nira waited, hiding her PADD on her lap as she sat at a desk. One of Bink's guards left, and as he did so, Nira gestured for the rest of the team to hide, then said, "Oh, and one last thing: Transmit whatever findings are picked up to the Captain and Doctors Beuhler and Nural when the scan finishes; they'll want to know what he really is."

Chloe nodded at the orders "Yes ma'am".   The nurse then looked to Robert and Lahr - who'd been oddly quiet since arriving, and directed them to hide and listen in with her from the adjoining bedroom. "Let's go, you two."

Lahr, having celebrated his 'sales' with a few of his assassin clients after the auction, waggled his antenna when they first entered the room, looking about the room appreciatively.

The hotel bedroom held a round bed draped with sheer curtains with a mirrored ceiling that made Chloe cringe.  Ugh, why hadn't she opted for the hallway closet?

Lahr grinned and opened his mouth to comment, but a death glare from Chloe shut him Andorian up.

The nurse stayed close to the partially open doorway, listening and watching her PADD closely.

Lahr, conversely, decided that lounging on the furred monstrosity of a bed was a fine thing to do.  He folded his hands beneath his head as he grinned up at his own reflection.  He'd played his part; it was time to let the others do their thing.

A moment later, Dokan entered the room. The medical scanner, hidden from sight, began its work.

"So, Miss Sahmed," said Dokan. "I see you wish to be privy to Mister Bink's invitation."

"Oh, we've been on good terms," said Nira. "Besides, from my understanding, you have a huge mark on you, from what I can understand."

"Indeed," said Dokan. "And are you here to collect as well."

"Please, if I was out for your mark, would we be here talking, especially among Eliminators?" said Nira. "As for Mister T'Riss, he's only here to ensure my protection."

"Then what are you wishing to offer, in conjunction with the Ferengi government?"

"Just that, on behalf of the V'Lashi, we can offer you a great deal more protection than here on Ferenginar," said Nira, recalling the V'Lashi Crime Syndicate led by the Vulcan Krinn; the fact that there was a Vulcan crime syndicate certainly grabbed Nira's attention in her reviews of the Starfleet criminal database.

"And what makes you think a crime syndicate can protect me with my mark?" asked Dokan.

"I have good standing with the inner circle of the V'Lashi," said Nira. "I am...shall we say, close...in an intimate way to one of the head honchos," she added with a deep purr.

"Surely you're not so unlucky to be on the receiving end of Krinn's Pon Farr?"

In the bedroom, Lahr's keen Andorian hearing was able to follow the conversation well enough that when the Romulan made comment on Krinn's pon farr, the engineer had stifle his near burst of laughter, given Nira's current romantic interest.

Chloe, listening at the door with her normal human hearing, turned to the Andorian at his muffled noise and raised a fist to him threateningly.

"Oh, no, I'm not that ambitious. Just with one of his lieutenants," said Nira. "Besides, Krinn could provide connections to the Reunification Movement, they're always in need of more learning of pacifism in learning the ways of Surak..."

"The Reunification Movement is an option," Dokan said, "but unlikely, given their level of zeal since Ambassador Spock's disappearance."

"True..."

All while she kept talking, her leg crossed, Nira kept a good subtle eye down at the PADD under the desk, getting a good look at what the scanner was picking up so far. The first of the results were coming in, and it took so much willpower to keep Nira from reacting, let alone breaking character.

Because, according to the first of the scanning results, Dokan's skin was twenty years old, in spite of the fact that he looked middle-aged, although while he looked to be in his late fifties in most humanoid standards, in regards to Vulcans and Romulans, middle-aged would mean he'd be more or less a hundred years old.

Well, isn't that interesting? Nira thought to herself.

With Lahr quiet once more, Chloe watched the medical readout and was puzzled at first.  She wished she had the sensor probe in hand to fine tune its readings, to be completely certain of what it was showing.

But as it was, it seemed like the Romulan's skin was the only biological component of him - and even that was mostly synthetic.

Recalling that the Commander had ordered the readouts to be sent along to the Captain, and the medical away team members, so that is what Chloe did.  Unfortunately, in her haste to do so, she neglected to put her PADD on silent mode and the chime of a successful message sent sounded from her PADD.  Oh frek!  The sound was unique to Starfleet PADDs there was little chance of claiming it was an incoming message to a Ferengi tablet.

Chloe looked to Robert nearby and then Lahr for some clue as to how to fix this. 

[Ian Galloway]

[Lieutenant Commander T'Kel | Bock's Office >- Memorial Hall | Tower of Commerce | Fereng | Ferenginar]

T'Kel could see Bock pondering the doctors' words, and then paying rapt attention to the Captain's words, and especially the use of the 188th Rule of Acquisition. Bock sighed and looked down guiltily.

"Yesh, you're right," Bock said wearily. "And the Rulesh of Acqushishun...very blunt...perhapsh...pleashe walk with me, all."

T'Kel raised an eyebrow and she and the rest of the team followed him down to a new place in the tower, a kind of memorial hallway complete with statues of what were apparently prominent Ferengi.

"I can't imagine...but yesh, the shafety of our homeworld ish shertainly at shtake," he said. "He would've shaid the shame thing..."

As he spoke, he stopped in front of prominent statue. This one was particularly different. The figure set in stone was as short as other Ferengi, but he was short enough that if he lost a few more inches, he'd qualify as a dwarf. He had a permanently boyish face on him, never seeming to change as he aged...and what was more, it was the only statue showing a Ferengi in a Starfleet uniform. Naturally, T'Kel recognized him instantly. Anybody who heard about the first Ferengi in Starfleet would know:

Captain Nog.

"I come here a great deal," said Bock. "Nog ish an eshpeshally unique Ferengi. He...impresshesh me at timesh, deshpite hish choishesh. And yet it ish becaushe of him there are plenty of Ferengi who want to know more about hyoomaans. And Nog will forever be imprinted in the mindsh of Ferengi ash a bridge to connect our relashunsh with the Federashun and the Ferengi Commersh, both for hish prominensh in the Federashun and ash a shun of a Nagush..."

Staring at the statue of Captain Nog, T'Kel could see Bock's resolve steeling...he had decided...

"You're right, Captain," he said. "I'll shpeak with the other Liquidatorsh and even the Grand Nagush to canshel the aucshun. And I'll be shore to remind them that the safety of Ferenginar ish at shtake."

[Bock's Office >- Memorial Hall - Tower of Commerce - Ferenginar]

Ian sighed internally to hear that Bock had listened and would cancel the auction. As there was no need to bid or observe an auction, it was time to return to the ship as the situation in orbit was clearly deteriorating and he needed situational awareness of the tactical situation.

"Thank you Liquidator Bock for listening to reason. I still nae ken what is goin' on here, but whatever it is, it is way more complicated than it seems and it seems bloody complicated. My part of the away team will return ta the Challenger. Commander Said will continue ta operate undercover in the Thieves' Quarter ta get as much information on this Dokan as possible."

CPO ShranLahr ch'Verret
NPC Lt JG Chloe Davies
[Ferenginar - Fereng - Bink' Hotel Suite]

Chloe nodded at the orders "Yes ma'am".   The nurse then looked to Robert and Lahr - who'd been oddly quiet since arriving, and directed them to hide and listen in with her from the adjoining bedroom. "Let's go, you two."

Lahr, having celebrated his 'sales' with a few of his assassin clients after the auction, waggled his antenna when they first entered the room, looking about the room appreciatively.

The hotel bedroom held a round bed draped with sheer curtains with a mirrored ceiling that made Chloe cringe.  Ugh, why hadn't she opted for the hallway closet?

Lahr grinned and opened his mouth to comment, but a death glare from Chloe shut him Andorian up.

The nurse stayed close to the partially open doorway, listening and watching her PADD closely.

Lahr, conversely, decided that lounging on the furred monstrosity of a bed was a fine thing to do.  He folded his hands beneath his head as he grinned up at his own reflection.  He'd played his part; it was time to let the others do their thing.

In the bedroom, Lahr's keen Andorian hearing was able to follow the conversation well enough that when the Romulan made comment on Krinn's pon farr, the engineer had stifle his near burst of laughter, given Nira's current romantic interest.

Chloe, listening at the door with her normal human hearing, turned to the Andorian at his muffled noise and raised a fist to him threateningly.

With Lahr quiet once more, Chloe watched the medical readout and was puzzled at first.  She wished she had the sensor probe in hand to fine tune its readings, to be completely certain of what it was showing.

But as it was, it seemed like the Romulan's skin was the only biological component of him - and even that was mostly synthetic.

Recalling that the Commander had ordered the readouts to be sent along to the Captain, and the medical away team members, so that is what Chloe did.  Unfortunately, in her haste to do so, she neglected to put her PADD on silent mode and the chime of a successful message sent sounded from her PADD.  Oh frek!  The sound was unique to Starfleet PADDs there was little chance of claiming it was an incoming message to a Ferengi tablet.

Chloe looked to Robert nearby and then Lahr for some clue as to how to fix this.

It was at that moment that Ian's PADD pinged and he looked at the file he'd been sent, his jaw dropped in surprise and he looked at Bock with a strained expression.

"Commander Said's group has succeeded in gettin' a scan of Dokan... he's an android! That leaves so many questions that I'm nae sure I can think of all of them. First, is this android under someone's control or is it autonomous? In either case, what is the end game of all this? Gah, I hate bein' so far in the bloody dark.

"Liquidator, I will take leave of you now, perhaps Captain Nog will provide you some inspiration on what ta do next."

Ian turned to the rest of the away team, Lieutenant Buehler, Ensign Nural, and Lieutenant McNair.

"We need ta hot foot it ta the Harmsway and get back ta the Challenger immediately."

Ian gave one last nod to Liquidator Bock and started walking as fast as his long legs would carry him. Fortunately, they'd been given a landing platform not that far from the Tower of Commerce and they would be at the shuttle in just a few minutes.

[Buehler]

[Bock's Office >- Memorial Hall - Tower of Commerce - Ferenginar]

Ian sighed internally to hear that Bock had listened and would cancel the auction. As there was no need to bid or observe an auction, it was time to return to the ship as the situation in orbit was clearly deteriorating and he needed situational awareness of the tactical situation.

"Thank you Liquidator Bock for listening to reason. I still nae ken what is goin' on here, but whatever it is, it is way more complicated than it seems and it seems bloody complicated. My part of the away team will return ta the Challenger. Commander Said will continue ta operate undercover in the Thieves' Quarter ta get as much information on this Dokan as possible."

It was at that moment that Ian's PADD pinged and he looked at the file he'd been sent, his jaw dropped in surprise and he looked at Bock with a strained expression.

"Commander Said's group has succeeded in gettin' a scan of Dokan... he's an android! That leaves so many questions that I'm nae sure I can think of all of them. First, is this android under someone's control or is it autonomous? In either case, what is the end game of all this? Gah, I hate bein' so far in the bloody dark.

"Liquidator, I will take leave of you now, perhaps Captain Nog will provide you some inspiration on what ta do next."

Ian turned to the rest of the away team, Lieutenant Buehler, Ensign Nural, and Lieutenant McNair.

"We need ta hot foot it ta the Harmsway and get back ta the Challenger immediately."

Ian gave one last nod to Liquidator Bock and started walking as fast as his long legs would carry him. Fortunately, they'd been given a landing platform not that far from the Tower of Commerce and they would be at the shuttle in just a few minutes.

[Brock's Office]

Evan felt a bristle of pleasure radiate down his spine upon hearing that his intuition was correct, that they were indeed dealing with an android. As to who was controlling it? The whole thing still had a Ferrengi stench to it, but if that was something they were even capable of engineering something like that was beyond his immediate knowledge. Perhaps the ship's computers would know.

"I feel so naked without my equipment," Evan said, adding to the Captain's comment about being in the dark. He wasn't even permitted to bring down a simple medkit. Not to mention it was incredibly difficult to process what was going on in such a foreign environment. "Los geht's!"

[Buck McNair]

[Bock's Office >- Memorial Hall - Tower of Commerce - Ferenginar]

Ian sighed internally to hear that Bock had listened and would cancel the auction. As there was no need to bid or observe an auction, it was time to return to the ship as the situation in orbit was clearly deteriorating and he needed situational awareness of the tactical situation.

"Thank you Liquidator Bock for listening to reason. I still nae ken what is goin' on here, but whatever it is, it is way more complicated than it seems and it seems bloody complicated. My part of the away team will return ta the Challenger. Commander Said will continue ta operate undercover in the Thieves' Quarter ta get as much information on this Dokan as possible."

It was at that moment that Ian's PADD pinged and he looked at the file he'd been sent, his jaw dropped in surprise and he looked at Bock with a strained expression.

"Commander Said's group has succeeded in gettin' a scan of Dokan... he's an android! That leaves so many questions that I'm nae sure I can think of all of them. First, is this android under someone's control or is it autonomous? In either case, what is the end game of all this? Gah, I hate bein' so far in the bloody dark.

"Liquidator, I will take leave of you now, perhaps Captain Nog will provide you some inspiration on what ta do next."

Ian turned to the rest of the away team, Lieutenant Buehler, Ensign Nural, and Lieutenant McNair.

"We need ta hot foot it ta the Harmsway and get back ta the Challenger immediately."

Ian gave one last nod to Liquidator Bock and started walking as fast as his long legs would carry him. Fortunately, they'd been given a landing platform not that far from the Tower of Commerce and they would be at the shuttle in just a few minutes.

[Tower of Commerce > Harmsway]

It was the surprise revelation that Dokan was an android and that revelation seemed to power through the rest of the conversation as the Captain had turned to them and announced that they all would be making a rather hasty exit from the planet to return to the Challenger. He spared a final glance and an acknowledging thanking nod in the direction of the Liquidator before following suit and doing his best to keep up with the rapid speed their captain had taken off at.

Their environment would have flashed by, their intentions to return to their shuttle with all persons present and accounted for before anything else could kick off. It seemed the mystery they had landed upon was only growing and they would need to do something before it overwhelmed all of them. He hated being so out of the loop that Buck could only imagine how out of their depth the captain was, a man so usually in control and with a plan for the plans ahead.

"What's the plan for when we get back aboard, cap?"

[Zhukdrashar Mrekrerhas]

[Lieutenant Junior Grade Zhukdra'shar Mrekrerhas / Mercenary T'Riss | Ishtar Bazaar, Ferenginar Branch | Thieves Quarter | Ferenginar]

CPO ShranLahr ch'Verret
[Ferenginar - Thieves' Quarter - Warehouse - Backroom]

The wonderful thing about haggling was that it was a unique thing between buyer and purchaser.   T'Riss had made the first offer to buy, so Lahr made all the others wait while he haggled one on one with the Caitian, only after the two had agreed upon a price, did Lahr then look to the others gathered around to.

"So with my first sale complete, I now have an obligation to my buyer, Mr. T'Riss, to keep his purchase as an amazing deal; so for today, I will offer up only one more replicator program and it will be sold by auction to the highest bidder among the rest of you.  The beginning price will be what Mr. T'Riss just paid for his unit.  So who will pay 3 bricks, 2 bars and 6 slips... to be the 2nd person to be able to bring this baby home with you?  Will it be you Mr. Cloten?  Or you, Miss Sahmed?"

A big grin came upon 'T'Riss' as he managed to get a nice deal upon his cannon after an intense bout of haggling with the Andorian weapon vendor. He rubbed his two hands together as he managed to get the price down substantially, playing more into the sleazy kinda guy that he wanted to portray. A good day's work, indeed, keeping a potentially deadly weapon out of the way of dangerous individuals.

And helping Lahr with his stage play. Perfect.

[Lieutenant Commander Nira Said | Bink's Suite | Near the Thieves Quarter | Fereng | Ferenginar]

Nira looked up at Zhuk and said, "Oh, Zhuk, stand guard over me; you are, after all, my 'bodyguard.'"

"I'll be on hand as well," Bink said. "It is still a Ferengi matter."

Bink's guards nodded in agreement. Nira could see they were determined..."In a way, it is," said Nira. "Very well."

Zhuk stayed above while Nira waited, hiding her PADD on her lap as she sat at a desk. One of Bink's guards left, and as he did so, Nira gestured for the rest of the team to hide, then said, "Oh, and one last thing: Transmit whatever findings are picked up to the Captain and Doctors Beuhler and Nural when the scan finishes; they'll want to know what he really is."

A moment later, Dokan entered the room. The medical scanner, hidden from sight, began its work.

"So, Miss Sahmed," said Dokan. "I see you wish to be privy to Mister Bink's invitation."

"Oh, we've been on good terms," said Nira. "Besides, from my understanding, you have a huge mark on you, from what I can understand."

"Indeed," said Dokan. "And are you here to collect as well."

"Please, if I was out for your mark, would we be here talking, especially among Eliminators?" said Nira. "As for Mister T'Riss, he's only here to ensure my protection."

"Then what are you wishing to offer, in conjunction with the Ferengi government?"

"Just that, on behalf of the V'Lashi, we can offer you a great deal more protection than here on Ferenginar," said Nira, recalling the V'Lashi Crime Syndicate led by the Vulcan Krinn; the fact that there was a Vulcan crime syndicate certainly grabbed Nira's attention in her reviews of the Starfleet criminal database.

"And what makes you think a crime syndicate can protect me with my mark?" asked Dokan.

"I have good standing with the inner circle of the V'Lashi," said Nira. "I am...shall we say, close...in an intimate way to one of the head honchos," she added with a deep purr.

"Surely you're not so unlucky to be on the recieving end of Krinn's Pon Farr?"

"Oh, no, I'm not that ambitious. Just with one of his lieutenants," said Nira. "Besides, Krinn could provide connections to the Reunification Movement, they're always in need of more learning of pacifism in learning the ways of Surak..."

"The Reunification Movement is an option," Dokan said, "but unlikely, given their level of zeal since Ambassador Spock's disappearance."

"True..."

All while she kept talking, her leg crossed, Nira kept a good subtle eye down at the PADD under the desk, getting a good look at what the scanner was picking up so far. The first of the results were coming in, and it took so much willpower to keep Nira from reacting, let alone breaking character.

Because, according to the first of the scanning results, Dokan's skin was twenty years old, in spite of the fact that he looked middle-aged, although while he looked to be in his late fifties in most humanoid standards, in regards to Vulcans and Romulans, middle-aged would mean he'd be more or less a hundred years old.

Well, isn't that interesting? Nira thought to herself.

[Lieutenant Junior Grade Zhukdra'shar Mrekrerhas / Mercenary T'Riss | Bink's Suite | Near the Thieves Quarter | Ferenginar]

At Nira's request to continue serving as his bodyguard, he nodded, standing close by, as they prepared for the meeting with Dokan. Seconds felt like hours for Zhuk, as he did his best to hide his anticipation to the arrival of the mysterious man, until he finally entered into the room. He eyed him closely, scanning him with his device hidden underneath his eyepatch, making sure to offer an unfriendly face to discourage him from trying to do anything to the disguised Lieutenant Commander.

When he was mentioned, he only proceeded to give a nod. Otherwise, he remained as silent and as motionless as a gargoyle, only every once in a while shifting ever so slightly, or flicking his ear. He was unaware of the find that 'Sahmed' had made, though he fought the urge to not raise an eyebrow at the mention of the "V'lashi". He hadn't heard of such a term before, even as he fought to recall it. Not a clue. Didn't matter, in the end, as long as it got the job done.

At least, he was successful on remaining unreadable.

[Kina Nural]

[Bock's Office >- Memorial Hall - Tower of Commerce - Ferenginar]

Ian sighed internally to hear that Bock had listened and would cancel the auction. As there was no need to bid or observe an auction, it was time to return to the ship as the situation in orbit was clearly deteriorating and he needed situational awareness of the tactical situation.

"Thank you Liquidator Bock for listening to reason. I still nae ken what is goin' on here, but whatever it is, it is way more complicated than it seems and it seems bloody complicated. My part of the away team will return ta the Challenger. Commander Said will continue ta operate undercover in the Thieves' Quarter ta get as much information on this Dokan as possible."

It was at that moment that Ian's PADD pinged and he looked at the file he'd been sent, his jaw dropped in surprise and he looked at Bock with a strained expression.

"Commander Said's group has succeeded in gettin' a scan of Dokan... he's an android! That leaves so many questions that I'm nae sure I can think of all of them. First, is this android under someone's control or is it autonomous? In either case, what is the end game of all this? Gah, I hate bein' so far in the bloody dark.

"Liquidator, I will take leave of you now, perhaps Captain Nog will provide you some inspiration on what ta do next."

Ian turned to the rest of the away team, Lieutenant Buehler, Ensign Nural, and Lieutenant McNair.

"We need ta hot foot it ta the Harmsway and get back ta the Challenger immediately."

Ian gave one last nod to Liquidator Bock and started walking as fast as his long legs would carry him. Fortunately, they'd been given a landing platform not that far from the Tower of Commerce and they would be at the shuttle in just a few minutes.

[Liquidator Bock's office/Tower of Commerce/Ferenginar]

So much of this mission was odd and strange. An android selling Romulan secrets, but the question was who was the master behind the puppet? When the captain ordered that they would be returning to Challenger, Kina let out a sigh of relief. It would be nice to get back to the ship and resume her normal duties. She had a lifetime of playing spy just on this mission.

She looked at Liquidator Bock and gave him a friendly nod before moving off to join the rest of the away team. She stayed near Lieutenant Buehler, keeping to her military place slightly behind him. "œIt will be nice to be back on the ship. I didn't expect this to be so"¦"¦intense. My father would not believe all that has happened to me in just these last few days."

[Nira Said]

CPO ShranLahr ch'Verret
[Ferenginar - Thieves' Quarter - Warehouse - Backroom]

The wonderful thing about haggling was that it was a unique thing between buyer and purchaser.   T'Riss had made the first offer to buy, so Lahr made all the others wait while he haggled one on one with the Caitian, only after the two had agreed upon a price, did Lahr then look to the others gathered around to.

"So with my first sale complete, I now have an obligation to my buyer, Mr. T'Riss, to keep his purchase as an amazing deal; so for today, I will offer up only one more replicator program and it will be sold by auction to the highest bidder among the rest of you.  The beginning price will be what Mr. T'Riss just paid for his unit.  So who will pay 3 bricks, 2 bars and 6 slips... to be the 2nd person to be able to bring this baby home with you?  Will it be you Mr. Cloten?  Or you, Miss Sahmed?"

CPO ShranLahr ch'Verret
NPC Lt JG Chloe Davies
[Ferenginar - Fereng - Bink' Hotel Suite]

Chloe nodded at the orders "Yes ma'am".   The nurse then looked to Robert and Lahr - who'd been oddly quiet since arriving, and directed them to hide and listen in with her from the adjoining bedroom. "Let's go, you two."

Lahr, having celebrated his 'sales' with a few of his assassin clients after the auction, waggled his antenna when they first entered the room, looking about the room appreciatively.

The hotel bedroom held a round bed draped with sheer curtains with a mirrored ceiling that made Chloe cringe.  Ugh, why hadn't she opted for the hallway closet?

Lahr grinned and opened his mouth to comment, but a death glare from Chloe shut him Andorian up.

The nurse stayed close to the partially open doorway, listening and watching her PADD closely.

Lahr, conversely, decided that lounging on the furred monstrosity of a bed was a fine thing to do.  He folded his hands beneath his head as he grinned up at his own reflection.  He'd played his part; it was time to let the others do their thing.

In the bedroom, Lahr's keen Andorian hearing was able to follow the conversation well enough that when the Romulan made comment on Krinn's pon farr, the engineer had stifle his near burst of laughter, given Nira's current romantic interest.

Chloe, listening at the door with her normal human hearing, turned to the Andorian at his muffled noise and raised a fist to him threateningly.

With Lahr quiet once more, Chloe watched the medical readout and was puzzled at first.  She wished she had the sensor probe in hand to fine tune its readings, to be completely certain of what it was showing.

But as it was, it seemed like the Romulan's skin was the only biological component of him - and even that was mostly synthetic.

Recalling that the Commander had ordered the readouts to be sent along to the Captain, and the medical away team members, so that is what Chloe did.  Unfortunately, in her haste to do so, she neglected to put her PADD on silent mode and the chime of a successful message sent sounded from her PADD.  Oh frek!  The sound was unique to Starfleet PADDs there was little chance of claiming it was an incoming message to a Ferengi tablet.

Chloe looked to Robert nearby and then Lahr for some clue as to how to fix this.

[Lieutenant Junior Grade Zhukdra'shar Mrekrerhas / Mercenary T'Riss | Ishtar Bazaar, Ferenginar Branch | Thieves Quarter | Ferenginar]

A big grin came upon 'T'Riss' as he managed to get a nice deal upon his cannon after an intense bout of haggling with the Andorian weapon vendor. He rubbed his two hands together as he managed to get the price down substantially, playing more into the sleazy kinda guy that he wanted to portray. A good day's work, indeed, keeping a potentially deadly weapon out of the way of dangerous individuals.

And helping Lahr with his stage play. Perfect.

[Lieutenant Junior Grade Zhukdra'shar Mrekrerhas / Mercenary T'Riss | Bink's Suite | Near the Thieves Quarter | Ferenginar]

At Nira's request to continue serving as his bodyguard, he nodded, standing close by, as they prepared for the meeting with Dokan. Seconds felt like hours for Zhuk, as he did his best to hide his anticipation to the arrival of the mysterious man, until he finally entered into the room. He eyed him closely, scanning him with his device hidden underneath his eyepatch, making sure to offer an unfriendly face to discourage him from trying to do anything to the disguised Lieutenant Commander.

When he was mentioned, he only proceeded to give a nod. Otherwise, he remained as silent and as motionless as a gargoyle, only every once in a while shifting ever so slightly, or flicking his ear. He was unaware of the find that 'Sahmed' had made, though he fought the urge to not raise an eyebrow at the mention of the "V'lashi". He hadn't heard of such a term before, even as he fought to recall it. Not a clue. Didn't matter, in the end, as long as it got the job done.

At least, he was successful on remaining unreadable.

[Deej Cloten | Backrooms | Quarter Warehouse | Thieves Quarter | Fereng | Ferenginar]

Previously...

"Ms. Sahmed is technically not here," said Cloten. "However, I believe Hubs could have an interest."

"That is correct," Hubs pointed out. "I'm ready for the next product."

"Let's see if you can match, Breen," growled Gath with a sneer.

[Lieutenant Commander Nira Said | Bink's Suite | Near the Thieves Quarter | Fereng | Ferenginar]

More than a dozen minutes of "negotiations" have passed, and Nira was keeping up her talk, all while keeping an eye on the scanner results, which produced more particulars of what Dokan really was inside. Nira had already come to the conclusion that Dokan was an android, although with the twentyish year old skin, otherwise, he could've been a Son'a, or had some work done by a Son'a. But the scanner's results showed a definite indication that Dokan was an android, except one of extremely unusual make.

It was true that he had an artificial skeleton and a posnitronic matrix, but a lot of him showed just how artificially organic he was. The tissue, like the skin, was synthetic, though the sensors had trouble determining how specifically organic it was. The skin pores seemed to emit nanites of some sort, distributed around the skin and designed to change the skin pigmentation. Even the hair was artificial and had nanites within each strand of hair, so it can lengthen or shorten enough to make baldness.

He could breath like an organic lifeform, and he had blood of some kind flowing from his heart, but the heart and the lungs were in the wrong place. In fact, he had too few organs, even if they were synthetic, for a Romulan and they were all in the wrong places organs were supposed to go. The heart and lungs were positioned lower, where the stomach and kidneys ought to go, and in some way, it was connected to the stomach via an intestine (no large or small, just wrapping slightly around lengthily like a large intestine, but too short for a small intestine), which was positioned too high, positioned where the heart and lungs are supposed to go. According to the scanner, "Dokan" could eat or drink something, but while digestion breaks down food in the stomach and has it distributed through the rest of the body as a fuel, the food and/or drink is broken down in this android and arranged in a way so it literally becomes fuel, which was what the scanner determined: That the blood was more of a fuel than actual blood.

Somehow, inside his body, his posnitronic matrix helped to keep the heart pumping while distributing the fuel. The lungs also came with some kind of blocking system, which meant he can withstand harmful aerosols. Finally, his overall body temperature was sixty degrees lower than normal, and, as if the scanner was baffled by what it detected, it added that an organic lifeform with such a body temperature would be dead.

Nira must've paused slightly too long, pondering more and more on the scanner's results and missing Dokan talking, because Dokan adopted a slightly harder tone of voice.

"Alright, how long do you intend to continue with this?" he snapped.

Nira tilted her head. "I beg your pardon?"

"You're just stalling, right now," Dokan said. "I can tell. Who is it you're really working for? Perhaps your a Starfleet Intelligence operative? If you intended to lay a trap for me, I'm afraid that the trap will only snare you."

"Don't think it occurred to me to come helpless," said Nira. She tapped her comm badge and ordered the rest of her team in the room, phasers trained.

Dokan never even bothered to turn around.

"So...all you really wanted was to determine what I really was?" he asked. "Perhaps Federation technology is more proficient after all...Commander Said."

"So you know who I am," said Nira.

"Oh, the Tal Shiar has quite the file on you, with a slight update recently," Dokan said.

Nira raised an eyebrow. "Still connected to all Romulan databases, aren't you?" she asked.

"Every. Single. One."

"And what about the real Dokan? And who's the puppet master I'm addressing?"

"How do you know I am a puppet?"

"An android out for a profit?" said Nira. "Somebody is working behind you, pulling your strings. And for a blackmail and extortion of this level means that the puppet master has to be a Ferengi."

"Well, it has to be," Bink snarled, rapt with attention as Nira and Dokan spoke.

"Then I am afraid that you won't have the chance to find out, least of all you, Eliminator," said Dokan. "And...what are you doing, woman?"

Nira whirled around, noticing one of Bink's guards, a female Ferengi, was tapping specifically on a small box...and she realized she was contacting somebody through a form of Morse Code. Looking up quickly, she pulled down the front of her skirt, showing a device Nira recognized immediately, and faster than anybody could blink, she detonated the device to trigger an electromagnetic pulse.

A shockwave blew from it and caused an instant blackout, and "Dokan" became stiff and stumbled rigidly to the floor. Then the guard pulled out a communication device and, as she approached the disabled Dokan, spoke in a low purr that wouldn't be heard on a Ferengi woman.

"I have him. Lock onto my coordinates and transport."

She knelt and lifted up Dokan. Knowing what would happen next, Nira acted.

"No you don't!" she shouted. "Stop her!"

She leapt onto the guard as she had propped Dokan up, and was surprised by the dogpile of mixed Starfleet and Ferengi officers which all ended up getting caught up in a transporter beam...

[Lieutenant Commander Nira Said | Bridge | Deck One | S.S. Abandon-All-Hope]

The next thing the dogpile knew, they were pried apart, and Nira was hauled to her feet and made to look into the green venomous face of Visa the Animal Woman. She looked around and was surprised to see they were in an old-style Starfleet bridge, but then she saw the backstabbing furball on the chair and realized where she was. She had snuck aboard this ship before...

...It's Cloten's ship. A Strider-class scoutship with heavy modifications and plastered with graffiti that might as well be plastered "A Psychotic Scumbag Flies In This."

"What the hell...?" asked Nira.

"You beat me by a second," said Cloten with a sneer. "And Malis, I thought you specified your coordinates."

"It's your damn transporter systems," the backstabbing Ferengi guard growled, and to Nira's surprise, she changed into an exotic-looking woman who would've looked right at home in the Middle East if it wasn't for the yellow eyes. "They tend to still pick stuff up..."

"You're not a Ferengi at all!" said Nira. "You're...!"

"Please don't insult me by calling me a Changeling," Malis sneered. "Do I look like sentient liquid on the inside? I'm a Chameloid...Commander...and you all aren't realizing you're being had?"

Nira looked around and could see the assassins she had met under a Breen suit earlier were all looming around Cloten, all scowling.

"Why are you...? And how...?"

"Malis is very handy when it comes to staying under the radar," Cloten said. "She was very much in among Bink's Eliminators. Of course, once she found out what Dokan really is...well, it was a good thing she came prepared."

"You're collaborating with the Tal Shiar," Nira said accusedly, remembering a similar mobile device the agent Nirreen wore the last time they met. "An agent had that device disguised as a belt."

"Please, we're not in cahoots with any Romulan," chuckled Cloten. "That device is just one of many popular items in the black market. You'd be surprised by how much Romulan crap comes wholesale."

"Cloten figured Dokan would emerge before Mister Bink," Visa said coolly. "We have Malis to thank for that. And we get more than we bargained for...Commander."

"Starfleet," growled Gath. "With you and an Eliminator, that makes my head spin."

"Well, you found Dokan, and you killed him," said Nira.

"That's not even a person," snapped Calud. "However, we can repair him."

"Yes," Cloten growled. "But we know how dangerous he is...he's going to be fun."

Nira looked around at the group who had been beamed up in the dogpile with her. Bock was so stunned by the treason and surprise, he couldn't talk. She looked back over, seeing the bridge decorated with Cloten's trophies, among other illicit crap, and glared at Cloten, the backstabbing furball.