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"Ktarian Distractions"
(previous post "Mission Compromised")
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_______________________
Stardate: 60321.1000
Setting: TANGIERS ORBITAL
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Prav left the breakfast with one task and that was to find Ensign Summers. He was relived when Sabrina volunteered to go find Enaii. After the incident with the two Romulans, Prav didn't trust her and he didn't care that Koneki had released her back to duty. There was no excuse big enough to cover that betrayal and he didn't need an official accounting of events answer his questions, he knew what he knew and that was what formed his opinions.

Summers on the other hand was another ‘kettle of fish.' He had always liked that EARTH colloquialism, maybe it was the rhythm of the words or maybe it was the visual he got every time he said it, either way he liked it. She definitely was another kettle of fish. He hadn't quite figured her out but he was beginning to get beyond the Lea Summers #1 he met so long ago; the Lea Summers who referred to him and his men as apes. Maybe she really had changed, he would wait and see but for now, he needed to find her. He headed for the turbolift to level 5 to go sniff around her quarters and hopefully come up with something relevant. Just his luck she had found some nice, passive guy last night and was holed up in his room and this was all just a wild goose chase.

So far his sojourn at the casino had yielded little money and even less intelligence. He hadn't seen the Ktarian or the Vori since they arrived and now he was on a babysitting assignment to find the CMO. As he approached the door to her room he spotted one of the housekeeping employees.

"Excuse me," he said to the woman who looked tired and annoyed. She put a phony smile on when she saw him move toward her.

"Yes? What can I do to help you?" she said with a rehearsed response.

Prav did his best to blush and look self-conscious. "I um, I left something in there last night," he said pointing back at Lea's door.

"And where's the room's occupant?" she asked, sounding like she had heard this song and dance before.

Taking on the Rixx persona, Prav grinned. "I don't know," he said shrugging his shoulders and tilting his head. "I don't even know her name, but I left some clothes in there and I'd really be appreciative if you could let me retrieve them."

The maid shook her head in annoyance. "What's it to me?" she said as she moved toward Lea's doorway.

"I'm so grateful for your understanding," he said as he disappeared into the room.

"Nothing better come up missing," she said as the door closed. "I never forget a face, especially one that cute."

Prav sighed as he entered and looked around. Everything had been as it was when he brought the inebriated CMO to her quarters the night before. The bed looked as if it had been slept in but the clothes Lea had on the night before were no where to be found. True she could have tossed them but there was no reason to. Everything seemed normal in her room, items where they should be, no obvious signs of struggle which should eliminate foul play. It looked as if she left under her own power and in her own time. The only strange thing seemed to be that she was still in the same clothes as last night.

Prav headed for the door and then remembered the housekeeper. He had no idea if she was still out there but he decided not to take a chance. He looked in Lea's closet and grabbed one of her blouses. He looked at the billowy, shiny garment and shook his head. The sad thing was it fit right in with Rixx's wardrobe.

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Setting: Roulette Room Level One
Stardate: 60321.1245
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Prav entered the loud, crowded atmosphere of the casino looking for a needle in a haystack, correction, a needle in a pile of needles. He had seen her here yesterday and had hoped that she was back at the roulette wheel losing more of Starfleet's money but so far his luck was just as bad as it had been the night before at the games of chance. He had attracted the attention of a few players and was hesitant about whether to keep with his cover or ignore the come hither looks of the three females and their male companion. Concern about Lea overrode his urge to play his cover. Shaking his head and walking away from the attractive group he moved into a room he hadn't been to the night before.

This room was loud, with people shouting and crowding around tables. He moved through the dense crowd finding that either people were incredibly careless or he was the victim of several cheap feels. It was becoming uncomfortably clear that he wasn't going to be able to find himself in this crowd let alone the small CMO. Making a move for the door he found himself once again at the end of some strangers' hands making their way across his ass. As he turned to confront the molester she grabbed him around the shoulders.

"There you are," the Ktarian named Ner said as Prav got his wits about him. "Why didn't you come up to see me, I'm almost insulted."

Realizing telling this woman that he had carried another woman up to her room last night would not be the prudent thing, Prav whipped up some story about too much Hakarian wine and an early night.

She smile knowingly and touched his chin. "It's sweet of you to lie for me," she said, grabbing him by the arm. "Come, be my lucky charm. They won't hold my seat for long."

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Setting: Iapwog Room Level 1
Stardate: 60321.1300
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She led him through the room until they reached a crowed corner. "Excuse me," she said as she barreled through the crowd not waiting for people to move. There was an empty seat at the Iapwog table. As she took her seat, Prav stepped in behind her and the dealer began distributing the tiles.

It was a game Prav wasn't familiar with and it was quite confusing. "Here," she said placing his hand on her shoulder, "everyone knows that your kind is lucky."

Whether or not it was because of his presence, Ner the Ktarian did fantastic at the Iapwog table. As she gathered her winning credit markers she gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Don't worry, I have a far better reward for you then that," she said smiling, her feline features becoming quite prominent. "Let's go, my husband is in a meeting that should go all day," she said pulling him away from the table.

Being away from the crowds would make it easier for Prav to find out more about her husbands business here but it would also make it impossible to continue looking for Lea. Hoping that Sabrina had found Enaii and that the two of them had also began looking for Lea, Prav made the decision to go with the Ktarian and find out if her husbands' business really was of interest. They walked through the roulette room and Prav used the opportunity to look for Lea there once more.

"What are you looking for?" Ner asked the distracted Edo.

Realizing that when he was with this woman he better have his attention solely on her he fabricated a quick excuse for his visual wandering. "I was just wondering, how does the casino prevent the telepaths from cheating?" The question was an honest one. He had wondered that since they first arrived. It seemed to him that telepaths would have a marked advantage in a place like this.

Ner smiled, amused at his question, finding his curiosity endearing. "*They* keep the telepaths in line," she said pointing over to two large males with a distinctive eyebrow and forehead ridge. Prav gasped and quickly averted his eyes, as if by looking at them he would attract their attention.

Ner looked at the Edo next to her, taken back by his reaction. "Are you okay?" she asked, real concern in her voice. "Do you know them?" Confusion now replaced the concern.

There really was no reason for an Edo to know anything about the Devore let alone have such a response. Still shaken by the presence of the Devore, Prav tried to cover for his reaction and gave a half hearted smile. "I think maybe it was something I ate," he lied.

Prav wasn't afraid of many things, but the Devore sent fear through even the strongest Endaran. Stories of what they did to telepaths that entered their space were the stuff that gave Prav nightmares as a child. "How do they keep them in line?" Prav asked as he tried to get the Ktarian to keep moving, away from the Devore.

"They have a device that registers telepathic activity," she said nonchalantly.

They exited the roulette room and headed for a turbolift as Prav breathe a bit easier.

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Setting: Turbolift
Stardate: 60321.1600
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As they entered the turbolift, Prav's head reeled with more and more questions. "What kind of device?" he asked as the lift began to ascend.

They were alone in the lift, something that Ner was quite pleased with. She backed him into the wall and brought her lips close to his. "I haven't decided if these questions are annoying or if I find your curiosity delightful."

"I…I just haven't ever heard of any kind of device like that," he said, hoping she was finding the curiosity charming.

She stepped back and cast a very serious look at him. "Of course you haven't," she said, gallingly patronizing. "And trust me, it isn't very interesting. When my husband and his team created it, that's all he talked about. It wasn't very interesting then and it certainly isn't very interesting now." She moved in on him again and placed her hands on his shoulders, pushing him back against the wall. "Now I expect to see that same intense curiosity when we arrive at my room," she purred.

The doors to turbolift opened and the walked out arm in arm. As they approached her doorway he asked one more question, "Do they monitor the entire Orbital?"

She laughed as she pushed him through the door, "Only the casino floors." Her laugh spilled out into the corridor as the door shut behind them.

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Matt Kelly {downwitmal@yahoo.com}

Writing for:

2nd Lt. Pravat
MCO
USS ANUBIS

2005 post #207

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