Five Years

Posted on Thu Jan 20th, 2011 @ 2:01am by Rh'sul i'Kihai
Edited on on Thu Jan 20th, 2011 @ 2:02am

Mission: Hippocratic Hijacking
Location: Various
Timeline: Concurrent with the SS North Star Investigation

There was silence in the small 'hotel' room outside the major part of the city. Rh'sul barely slept the night before, her dark ebony eyes turning hatefully to the shades of the room that barely kept out the bright Braken sun. Between her heightened anxiety and her impending headache, she could barely get out of the hard twin-sized bed.

"Why is it so damned bright this early in the morning...?" Muttering the rhetorical question only heightened her irritation.

Her head was pounding. No, throbbing. The hammers of Erebus were striking the inside of her skull. She was sure of it.

Rh'sul dragged herself up and rubbed her eyes. She pulled a black nondescript duffle bag to the side of the bed and opened the seal, drawing the bag up for closer inspection. She grabbed the credit chip from the small table besides the bed and threw the chip inside with an old black flight suit. Rh'sul carefully opened the drawer of the table to reveal two small arms weapons. Without a second thought, Rh'sul tossed them into the bag on top of the chip and she rose, briskly heading to the door after a quick adjustment of her dark hair.

Rh'sul stopped at the door and took one last look at her room. Almost 25 years of her career were lost in this room. 25 years of research, hard work... everything was gone the moment she accepted the credit chip and gave the nameless weapons dealer her Tal'Shiar Veron T-Thalarion power source research.

Rh'sul's large eyes narrowed and without a further thought, she went through the wood door and walked into the bright Braken morning.

Location: Braken Market, near Colonial Headquarters, 0900

Rh'sul lifted her dark hood, hiding her sharp ears and allowing the shadow to hide her Romulan crests. Rh'sul held the duffle with a vice-like grip, her eyes calmly taking in each visitor to the market.

'I need medicine just to get to the next Starbase...' Rh'sul sighed as she thought to herself, feeling more disparate by the second. She knew many of the villagers had fallen to a 'mysterious' plague. She was unsure if Romulans were immune, but something in the way she felt told her she too was susceptible.

Rh'sul felt a moment of pure hatred towards Braken. It was bad enough she had to let go of her career in such a quiet and boring way, but to have to let it go in such a DUMP...

Suddenly, a flash of a familiar enemy color went through her path about 15 meters ahead of her on the outside of the market. Rh'sul stopped, her hand instinctively pulling the duffle closer as she remembered her long-range weapons. But that wasn't her style. While one hand reached for the duffle, another reached for the long stylish Romulan dagger she kept hidden in a knife belt on her waist.

In an instant, Rh'sul decided to pursue. She may have forsaken her Tal'Shiar brethren, but she wouldn't let the chance to end a vulnerable enemy pass her by. She was, after all, just one day removed from her 25 year Tal'shiar career.

Location: Colonial Headquarters, Braken, 0907

Rh'sul gripped her knife through her long cloak, her eyes following the obviously Starfleet uniform. A handsome but extremely dirty male walked with purpose to the Colonial Headquarters, Rh'sul hot on his trail. She stayed a good 20 meters back, using the shadowy sunlight and narrow alleyways to her advantage.

Rh'sul watched the young man and frowned when she realized she missed her chance. He was too close to the headquarter's building, too "in the open". Rh'sul positioned herself on a nearby hill to the side, away from the foot traffic, and she watched the man vanish into the unimpressive headquarters.

Rh'sul carefully considered her circumstance. If the Starfleet officer saw her, a Romulan on a distant Braken colony, a Romulan who was clearly NOT part of the Braken scenery... it would cause too much suspicion. She had to leave, as soon as possible. Her entire get-away plan would be sacrificed if her presence became known to any powerful organized group. The last thing she needed was the embedded Starfleet Tal'Shiar agents to find out she had gone rogue.

Suddenly Rh'sul remembered her contact within the Braken government. The lowly administrative assistant who had given her a stolen clearance badge that allowed her small transport to enter the colony without notice. Rh'sul rose from her hidden position and in an instant realized just how ill she'd become. The world immediately spun around in a kaleidoscope of Braken colors and sunlight.

Rh'sul knew she didn't have much time. Rh'sul staggered a few feet, regained her composure and decided to retreat to the coffee shop she'd originally ate at the first night she'd been there. She knew the assistant passed it on her way home and the nearby alley would give her the chance to conduct her dark business in private.

Location: Braken Bar/Coffeehouse, 1315

Rh'sul sat at the bar, nursing a small glass of juice. Her headache was not getting better and she knew ale would only heighten the inflammation within her skull.

"Ye feeling down today, Miss?" the comely bar attendant walked over to her and motioned to her glass. Rh'sul pretended to continue reading her PaDD, glancing up only momentarily.

Rh'sul made very brief eye contact, remembering she refused to tell him her name. "I'm just a traveler. I'm fine."

"Ye not looking so grand..."

"I'm fine."

"Why don't you have some fine Brakken ale? It's got honey and a fruit we call trasinec... it's what Earthens call a pomegranate. But it's grown from much drier conditions here..."

Rh'sul stopped reading and put the small PaDD down. She crossed her fingers, slowing her slight annoyance. "Do you ask all your visitors so many questions?"

"Well... no. But you're new here and yeh seem quite right to stay here for a bit."

"Actually... yes," Rh'sul smiled, tucking her hood around her a bit more. She lied. "I am staying here for quite a while actually. Can I open a tab?"

"Why sure ye can!"

For a moment, Rh'sul wondered if the bar manager had an alien fetish. She was not accustomed to such welcome glances... which meant one of two things: Either he wanted to hump her, or he knew who she was and wanted to kill her. Rh'sul watched the bar manager with careful eyes, and when he vanished into the back of the bar, she shook her head to herself and continued scouting her location.

Location: Outside alleyway next to bar, 1715 hours

"Please... I swear I didn't tell anyone..."

Rh'sul held her curved blade to the young woman's neck. She snarled at her and had thrown her hood back back over her head. The young administrative assistant trembled in Rh'sul's strong hand, firmly squeezing the curve of her neck in such a way that it completely disabled her.

"You tell me who you've talked to about me, or I'll snap your pretty little neck..." Rh'sul glared down at the woman.

The woman trembled and took a deep breath, her long blond hair tossing behind her. "I didn't.... I didn't talk to anyone! I swear!"

"Shut up," Rh'sul roughly shoved the small female to the ground. "I saw the Starfleet officer walk into your building. Did YOU tell Starfleet I was here?"

"No! No I swear I didn't! Please let me go!" the woman raised her arms and stumbled back on the ground. "I... he just showed up. He was here earlier. He's from some ship. Please! I know nothing! He knows nothing!"

Quick as a cat, Rh'sul shoved the woman's shoulders and pressed her knee into her abdomen, pinning her before she could run. Rh'sul snarled, "If I find out YOU had anything to do with Starfleet presence in this area during MY meeting with my dealer, I swear... Just get out of my sight. I never want to see you or this hellhole again."

Rh'sul roughly shoved the woman back, her powerful Romulan muscles overwhelming the small human's attempts to rise. Smaller and leaner than most women, Rh'sul had physical power that one would not expect. The woman stumbled back, her small body bouncing against the ground violently. Then in a split second, the woman rose and stumbled off in a near run distraught with panic.

Rh'sul watched the woman run. She glanced down at her blade and placed it back into her holster. Another wave of vertigo passed through her vision and she moaned. She was not herself... She glanced at the time. Only 6 more hours until the small transport arrived while the village slept and she could finally leave this place.