The Horseshoe - Part 2

Posted on Sun May 4th, 2014 @ 10:03am by Lieutenant JG Rami Miral & Commander Rylie Cattmor & Petty Officer 3rd Class Sehra Vahn

1,259 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Landreah
Location: Landreah

Excerpt from The Horseshoe - Part 1

Now, out of breath and nearly doubled-over from the exertion of her escape, the young petty officer stared up at the sign above the door, relief flooding her features as she realised it was the right building. Marshaling her composure, she looked both ways up and down the street and, rather than go inside, took a step around the corner and leaned against the wall. With focused precision, the telepath reached her mind out for a singular source and, having located it inside, sent Cattmoor a simple message.

We've got trouble.


ON:

Cattmor tried desperately to let the surprise not show on her face as she took another gulp of her drink. She wasn't really expecting Sehra to show up quite so soon and not to speak directly to her mind. It was a we




lcom




e introduction though; Rylie was beginning to get majorly nervous about about the possible consequences of sending Sehra off on her own to find the rest of the security teams, and she was relieved to hear her thoughts that she was still okay before the panicked feelings tugged on her heartstrings too, Sehra, where are the others?

As much as she was sure she hadn't been followed, Sehra was becoming increasingly aware that the marketplace just wasn't far enough away for a telepath with heightened sensitivity towards non-telepathic minds. It took focus to weed out Cattmor's projection from the tumult of background emotion, escalated as it was, and the Betazoid became increasingly aware that her position wasn't exactly defensive if the need arose. Having caught her breath and, attempting not to appear out of place, Sehra moved back into the open and several buildings down before slipping into a much narrower alleyway that wasn't blocked at the other end. She leaned flat against the wall.

Security seems to have encountered some....opposition. Someone's accused McCreevy of theft, the local authorities have stepped in. Lieutenant Dean stayed behind to monitor the situation but it seems likely some arrests will be made.

Oh my... Cattmor thought, unwittingly sending it out as well. You'd better join us in here, Rami and I can't do squat for you while you're out there on your own. In fact stay where you are, I'm coming for you.

By now, the actual sounds of the unhappy crowd were starting to filter down the now quite inquisitive street. Even from her secluded vantage point, Sehra could see people slowly turning their attention to the marketplace, with some even making the move to wander down.

It's chaos down there, there seems to be some local unrest about standards of security and protection. Craning forward, Sehra tried to get a better look without giving herself away. Tension is running pretty high, a lot of the stallholders seem to think that the authorities are turning a blind eye to more than they should.

Rylie quietly responded to Miral's questioning glances, "Sehra's outside, but so's trouble. I'm going to pick her up round the corner, just in case she was seen; strength in numbers and all that stuff." Rami just nodded, and Rylie got up to leave. No sooner had she got to the door however, another stocky male figure came through the other way, one with dark hair and a scar going down and across the length of his nose. Rami, it's Tan. she shot back with a thought to Miral still sitting holding their table, Cattmor recognising the man from the visual cue she picked up at the bar earlier.

Sehra, hold tight a second, we have trouble in here now as well. Cattmor sent outside before checking her pocket for something she knew not what, but still knew it was never there, and without waiting for a reply, headed back to the table.

Jensa Tan didn't waste any time getting to his business joining a group at the bar, and started discussing - or thinking, given the distance between the groups - about the job and the payment for picking up the targets. Their tasks not quite being over since they still had to gain access to the security grid on the second turret before everything was in place and they could finally go public.

As Cattmor got back to the table, she reached across it to feign picking something up and put her hand in her jacket pocket, "There it is, thanks."

Rami took a drink and adjusted her earring to take several images of the men at the bar. "Sure. And don't forget, if we could just get that information through, we could send it to the boss. He'll pay us a nice, fat bonus for getting it in under deadline." That was in case anyone was eavesdropping on them like they were trying to eavesdrop on the group at the bar.

"Well I think the opportunity for that is almost under our noses; I won't be long."

"I think I need another drink anyway," she announced, standing and walking towards to bar.

Cattmor saw the thought of what Miral was planning on doing and called after her as loudly as she dared without raising attention, "Rami, don't you think this is a little too public?" she more exclaimed than asked, but Miral apparently didn't hear her. It was too late now, for everything. Miral was already halfway to the bar and the group by Tan, and Sehra was still outside, and alone, with hell ten steps away. Never rains, she thought to herself as she left the Horseshoe, and passed the block to where Sehra was waiting - Rami woudl have to be on her own for the time being.

Up until a few months ago, Sehra had never fired a phaser. Now, the concealed weapon seemed to burn as it pressed against her hip, taunting her to take note of the potential necessity of its appearance. Thankfully, though the telepathic deluge had significantly increased, she picked up Cattmor's presence just shy of the other woman completely scaring the hell out of her. Other than being a little pink-cheeked, Sehra was mostly unscathed and not too disheveled, though her expressive brown eyes did little to mask her concern.

"Lieutenant Dean sent me to find you," she explained, her voice hushed. "We didn't see the incident that sparked it all but there are definitely sparks flying. A lot of the locals seem really unhappy about the state of things here."

"I think it's a global concept," Rylie said motioning to the young brunette that they needed to get moving back to the Horseshoe, "especially given that we were sent here. Do you think the others will be alright?"

"When I left, the argument seemed to have diverted attention away from McCreevy. At first, it wasn't looking so good but from what I was picking up, the security force here doesn't take too kindly to being publicly challenged." Sehra smiled ruefully, shrugging as if to indicate that there was nothing unusual about that reaction. "They were busy arresting a couple of the stallholders who got a little rough and I think the others had managed to melt back into the crowd after the initial warning. The Lieutenant said he'd circle around and meet up with them before heading back here."

(To be continued...)

Lieutenant Commander Rylie Cattmor
Executive Officer

Petty Officer 3rd Class Sehra Vahn
Training Division

Lieutenant JG Rami Miral
Intelligence Officer

 

RSS Feed