Second Mission, Part I

Posted on Jul 16, 2017 @ 12:29am by Chloe Nielsen
Edited on on Jul 16, 2017 @ 12:29am

Mission: Section 31

“Second Mission, Part I”

Location: West City, BETA-525
SD: [2.17] 0626.0012
Scene: Transport ->Street -> Hotel lobby

The journey was long and tedious in the operative’s view, having to switch transports at the midway part of the trip – apparently no decent or legitimate vessel would venture into the The Triangle. So for the last leg of her journey, Chloe was stuck, taking an Yridian trade ship to her final destination, the planet Beta-525, a passage she had to pay a sizable fee and one she would be happy to forget, especially replicated food and beverages, which were even a lower standard than that of a Starfleet vessel. So imagine the relief the agent felt, when she finally set foot on the planet’s surface.

The Yridians dropped her at the spaceport in West City and as its name indicated, was the westernmost city of the planet’s only continent. The planet comprised of just one supercontinent and a massive single ocean surrounding it. Beyond the city was uninhabited land and further beyond was the ocean. West City was the only one amongst all the cities, independent from Orion Syndicate control, which was a relief for Nielsen as the last thing she needed was dealing with elements from the Syndicate. But the city was going through political upheaval with different factions all vying for control and it was only a matter of time before the powerful forces of the Syndicate took control. So, in other words, Chloe was on a bit of a time crunch to complete her mission because the last thing she needed was to be stuck, dealing with the Syndicate.

As she travelled in a train…yes an actual train with speeds, faster than a bullet, Chloe gazed through the window, studying the changes in conditions as the train moved further away from the spaceport. The agent noticed, the deeper one went inside the city, the worse it got. Luckily for the Canadian, her destination wasn’t in the most destitute part of the city, not that where she was going was a walk in the park. She sat up, her face against the glass, where a skirmish, likely between different factions, erupted outside in an alley between two rows of worn down buildings. The agent turned away, the train speeding past, not a care for the anger radiating from that part of town.
No joke. The tension in West City was like a volcano, waiting to erupt and one didn’t want to be there, when that happened. Chloe sighed, leaning against the seat, heavily disguised, wearing sunglasses and a white hat, where her hair was tucked under it. She took a seat on the far right corner, so as to not draw attention – good thing the car was sparsely populated with just an elderly Rigelian couple and a Cardassian woman with two young children, seated a couple of rows away from her.

Eventually, the train stopped at her station, an area in a so-so part of the city – not the worst place yet not the best either. After Chloe got off the train, hauling off her light luggage, she left the station, taking a turn into a narrow road, apparently less used. Within a few minutes, the blonde stopped at a clean, yet slightly worn down building that wasn’t as tall as the two others beside it. Her hotel or Section 31 designated safe house in this city and a moment later, after the glass doors parted to let her through to the lobby, she’d find out why.

For such a mediocre hotel, the lobby seemed quite opulent - marble floor with little cracks on its surface, gold plated walls and was a bit flashy with the light in the room, a bright fluorescent green that was a little grating on the eyes. Something caught her attention. There was no reception area and no staff anywhere. Frowning, the Canadian woman pulled out a thin, pen-like device and waved it around. Sighing, she returned the device back into her pocket. Good, there were no sensors or visual cams in the room that could in any way record her presence – that would really defeat the purpose of the ‘Anonymous Hotels’ concept.

Spotting a large, slot-machine like structure, lining the wall a few feet ahead, Chloe made her way towards it. The agent then opened her bag, pulling out a few strips of latinum and inserted them into an empty slot on the console before her. She tapped on a button next to the slot and a moment later, a screen was raised, requesting her to enter a key code that would be used to access her room. Chloe inputted the code by tapping a few buttons on the console. After the computer accepted the code, it spat out a message, indicating for her to enjoy her stay. Shaking her head, the agent headed to her room, hoping her stay wouldn’t be long. This hotel was quite a shady place, especially when it didn’t require its guests to provide their identities – perfect for criminals, persons running from the law or organized crime lord or…a person having an illicit and forbidden affair and didn’t want anyone knowing about it like maybe the significant other.

-----------------
Scene: Hotel room

Dropping her luggage by the door, comprising of a suitcase and two small bags, the agent made her way across the room, carrying one of the bags and placed it on a crescent shaped king sized bed with bright blue pillows, white bedsheet and dark blue blanket, neatly folded at the bottom. Pulling open the bag, she reached for a prism shaped metallic purple case, light and small. Leaving the bag lying around on the bed, the blonde activated the case, which was a holographic projector – compliments of the Section 31 tech department.

Displayed before her was a holographic projection of two humanoid males, where a Rigelian, an individual with a stocky build and short, black hair with features, similar to a Vulcan or Romulan, handing a package, to a tall and thin El Aurian with black hair, tied behind in a long pony tail. The package, as the agent knew, was the black metallic case, containing the stolen artifact. She didn’t initially have much information provided, other than this image and the one of the artifact itself. During her long journey from Earth, the Canadian woman did some digging, accessing not just Section 31 databases but Starfleet Intelligence and Security and found some information on the culprits behind the theft. They were a group, who conducted heists at large-scale, targeting institutes like research labs, museums or banks. However, they were not the one the agent was currently interested in targeting as their part in handing the artifact over to the El Aurian, likely a broker for another organization, was done.

Chloe zoomed in on the El Aurian man, paying particular attention to his surroundings. She spotted some trees, a park maybe but then there was a building with a large sign behind him, so maybe a resort or a private residence with a large garden. Her first clue. It was a rainbow coloured logo, well minus the violet and green in the shape of some sort of local bird or an amphibian head. Hard to tell. Time to do some cross referencing with the city’s databases, hoping they were up to date, with all the problems happening there. Luckily the city still had a decent traffic system so it would enable her to access any holocam.

------------------
Scene: Resort, eastern part of the city
TI: Three days later

As it turned out, the exchange of the artifact took place at a resort, located in a secluded neighbourhood with lots of greenery in the eastern section of the city. It was the only place that sported the particular logo, making it easier for the agent to then find the place. For two days, she scouted the resort and conducted a recon mission to gather information on the whereabouts of the individual in question like was the meeting just a one-time visit or was the man a regular at the establishment. Well, he was a regular and for the last two days, the El Aurian visited the resort at 1500hrs sharp and was inside for two hours.

On the previous day, Chloe had paid a visit to the reception and of course after bribing a member of staff with 20 strips of latinum, the agent was given valuable information. The staff member, after accepting a generous bribe, was more than happy to gab to her about the El Aurian, even though it was against company policy to divulge details about their guests. The El Aurian, who went by the name, Nborn, wasn’t alone in his private bath – an Orion slave girl, whom he paid for, always joined him. The same one, every day for the past month. It was then a plan to get to Nborn formulated in the agent’s mind and that particular slave girl was to play a role in it.

Here she was now, the plan set in motion. The agent waited, leaning against a tree, her gaze fixed on the building facing her. Sporting casual wear in the form of a blue, lightweight running jacket and black tights, the blonde was every bit the visitor to a resort, where she desired to escape the hustle and bustle of a decrepitude city. To any onlooker, she was just a young woman with slightly short hair with bangs in front, dyed a fluorescent blue – well the agent was a little cheeky with the hair colour due to her hotel’s obsession with anything bright and fluorescent. Over her natural blue-grey eyes, she adorned a flashy, blue tinted sunglasses. In fact, the past two days, her hair colours were a fluorescent green and pink, subsequently to avoid suspicions from others.

Time to move. She spotted Nborn making his way to the building.

------------------------------
Scene: Private bath

Chloe frowned, hiding behind a wall, beside the doors as she tugged at her collar. The agent thought with irritation that perhaps they should call the place a boiler room. The temperature was too high for her liking and she could spot the steam coming out from the water in the large, square shaped pool. Perhaps the pool setting was a hot spring and her target likely enjoyed steam rooms a lot. Speaking of target, Chloe’s gaze moved to the other side of the room, where a lone figure, sat, leaning against the wall with everything except the face and neck above water. One positive thing about steam, it was creating a fog that blocked his view of her.

Then the Orion slave girl arrived through another door, dancing her way to the man, her slim and flexible body twisting and turning, her hands on swaying hips and long, black curly hair waving around, all to provide pleasure to the male. Any moment, the green skinned woman would be releasing pheromones. While the pheromones put a male, except Vulcans and maybe Romulans, under a spell, they also caused headaches for humanoid females, making them rather irritable – something that would distract from the task at hand and Chloe didn’t want that. So prior to coming here, the agent had inoculated herself against the effects of the pheromones. It puzzled the agent as to how much the El Aurian enjoyed going under the spell of the slave girl as apparently he spent time with her every day – must be something akin to a drug addiction. She wouldn’t be surprised if he was unaware whether the Orion stole anything from him like latinum or information and sold it to another. In fact, Chloe didn’t have to do much work to get her plan in motion. All she needed to do was pay the slave girl to ask some questions as Nborn had already paid for the Orion’s regular services.

She heard the Orion inquire in a thick, husky voice. “How was your day, my big strong one?” Such was the hunger for sexual pleasure for him that he got so easily roped into answering. Chloe shook her head in mild amusement. And they called women, the weaker sex, might want to rethink that view.

“Wonderful, life is wonderful,” Nborn said in a jubilant tone. “I’m now richer than ever. A few more successful deals and I will be able to afford my own private island on RISA.”

Chloe rolled her eyes, shaking her head. This obsession with private islands or villas with a harem full of young, beautiful women – yes, the emphasis on young and beautiful, on RISA by all these criminals was quite amusing to the blonde. Sad actually, when life really had more to offer than just lounging around on a beach, sipping drinks with a tiny fruit hanging over the glass. Even sadder was when they had to lead a criminal life with the goal of a pleasure planet in mind for a lot of them.

“Did that handsome Rigelian…” the green woman corrected, “Not as handsome as you, my big strong one, make you rich?”

“Rigelian?” There was brief confusion in his tone.

“The one who sold you that beautiful artifact, so beautiful that I wanted to take it for myself.” She bent forward, her hands caressing his shoulder and her face, mere inches from his head, taking in the scent of his hair.

“Ah yes.” He chuckled, a smile forming. “That was one of my best scores, which greatly pleased by client, who wanted me to obtain the artifact for any price.”

Client. Chloe raised an eyebrow, her interest peaked. Now they were going somewhere. The Canadian ran through potential suspects – criminal organizations, the syndicate or any of the major powers like Klingons, Romulans. Whoever it was, couldn’t be good for the Federation.

“Why do they want the artifact? Is it because it’s pretty?”

“Oh, it’s more than just the aesthetics,” the man replied, getting a little more excited – good that meant he was now totally under the influence of the pheromones. “You see, the artifact is of immense monetary value and will fetch a great price, maybe even enough to buy an entire planet.” Long, green hands began massaging his back and shoulders. Nborn grabbed one of her hands - increased aggression an effect of the pheromones. But then he just held it as he continued talking. “However, my client told me, his organization is interested in trading it for something.”

This was getting interesting. The mysterious organization wanted to trade the artifact, instead of selling it. What exactly did they want in exchange? She inched a little closer and quietly. So far, Nborn didn’t seem to have noticed her presence in the room.

“What do they want in exchange, my big strong one?”

“I wasn’t given much details,” he replied, letting out a soft moan, still clutching the slave girl’s arm. “What I can tell you is that they have something terrible planned for Earth.” At the mention of Earth, Chloe’s expression blanched and her fists clenched but she listened calmly. “My client hinted at the trade leading to Earth’s ruin. I think they plan on trading the artifact for a weapon.”

“Weapon? But could it be something else? Maybe the plan is to not destroy Earth,” the Orion questioned, making the agent nearly swear under her breath. The green skinned woman was getting ahead of herself and shouldn’t be pushing the line of questioning too much. Just stick to the talking points.

“I don’t have all the facts, my dear.” He laughed, grabbing her other arm. Chloe sighed, getting a little anxious, the Orion needed to ask the most important question now. To her relief, the green skinned woman freed herself and slapped him, followed by a giggle.

“So this client you talk so highly of,” the Orion said, amidst giggles. “Who are they? They hate humans so are they Romulans or they work with the Syndicate?”

“Neither. They are an independent organization of crazy humans.” Humans. Chloe sported a concerned expression. Humans hating their own homeworld – this was nuts. There might be more to the story. Maybe like the Orion said, the group wasn’t interested in trading the artifact for a weapon but something else entirely – either way this was bad for not just Earth but the Federation.

“What do they call themselves?” She began sniffing his long, wet hair.

“Can’t recall the name. Will need to check my data crystal for information.” Data crystal. Now that was progress.

“Where did you keep this data crystal? I want to know more about them, my big strong one,” she purred. “The Madam has been pressuring me to get more clients.” Madam, yes the head of the local prostitution guild, the agent thought with disgust.

“Oh my dear, it is quite safe. In my private dressing room with the other belongings.” He chuckled. “I take it with me everywhere I go. It contains detailed records of all my clients.”

Private dressing room was her next stop, Nielsen decided. She turned around and left the room.

--------------------
Scene: Resort, outside
TI: An hour later

The trip to Nborn’s dressing room went smoothly for the agent – well it was a simple extraction job, something she could do it in her sleep. With the help of a mobile dataport, Chloe managed to link Nborn’s data crystal and had the data copied to her own crystal. The process took barely a minute and finding the El Aurian’s data crystal didn’t pose a challenge – luckily it was the only one he had. Eyeing the data crystal, containing the copied data, in her hand, Chloe sighed, having to wait for the Orion woman to come outside. She should be done with Nborn by now.

Speaking of which, the agent spotted the lithe figure of the green woman, heading her way and fully dressed. The slave girl didn’t waste much time, when she extended her hand towards the blonde, palm facing upwards and a smug facial expression. “I did what you asked,” she said. “Now hand me the payment. You promised that if I got Nborn to answer the questions I asked for you, then you’d pay me and help me get off this planet.”

“Of course, a deal is a deal,” the Canadian said in a flat tone. “Here is your payment.” She rummaged through her satchel and brought up a few metal bars, which she promptly handed to the other woman. The agent almost rolled her eyes, watching the Orion grab the bars of gold pressed latinum, producing a feral smile, greed shone in her dark eyes. But then to Chloe’s chagrin, the woman then scowled.

“Why only three bars of gold pressed latinum?”

Chloe gave her a cold stare, trying to keep the irritation out of her voice. “It was what we agreed plus a safe passage off this world.”

“Well, I demand you give me two more bars.” The Orion’s voice took on a rather cheeky tone as she smirked at the Section 31 agent. “Otherwise, I will tell Nborn about you.” She tried to look menacing, hoping to intimidate the blonde but all she did was pose like one of those mean girls at high school, who attempted to bully the timid new girl. Well, mean girls usually left the Canadian woman unimpressed.

The agent stepped closer to the other woman, her gaze and voice, cold as ice. “Is it before or after I tell your big strong one about how you tricked him into revealing confidential information with another present and then all those times with him, when you stole his jewellery and latinum?” No response. “He’d kill you along with me.”

“He won’t as he will be under the effects of my pheromones.”

With a quick move, Chloe took one of the Orion’s wrists, pressing on a pressure point. The slave girl let out a yelp, reeling from the sudden pain but then gritted her teeth so as to not scream – wouldn’t want to draw attention. In a low, harsh whisper, meeting the other woman’s gaze, the agent said, “You will take the payment as agreed upon and go straight to the spaceport, where a contact of mine will find you and take you to the transport, which will depart before the day’s end.” She pressed her wrist again, the other woman gasped. “Am I making myself clear?”

The other woman nodded. “Yes, I will leave now.”

“Good.” Chloe let go of her wrist. “You’re a free woman now as long as you leave now. I doubt your madam will be pleased to hear one of her girls reneged on her contract and will send her henchmen to hunt you down.” She watched the Orion nod, the latter knowing full well that her slavers would kill her if they caught her running away. “Go now,” Chloe urged, waving her ahead. To the agent’s relief, the Orion took off, running in the direction of the train station as fast as her feet could carry. Watching the other woman’s retreating back, the Canadian closed her eyes, hoping she’d make it out safely.

-------------------------
Scene: ‘Anonymous’ hotel room
TI: Several hours later

Chloe’s contact at the spaceport got in touch with her earlier and reported that the Orion girl was safe and sound in her transport. That was good to hear. As annoying as the green woman was, Nielsen was relieved she was safely away from the planet. A madam of a small-time guild wouldn’t likely spend too much effort in hunting her, not if the woman entered Federation space. And Chloe got what she wanted out of this excursion – information and it was worth it after having gone through the files.

After many hours spent poring over the information on Nborn’s various clients, along with taking the time to change her hair back to its natural colour and length, the agent uncovered information that could alter the scope of the mission. Now it wasn’t just about finding and retrieving the artifact, there was a nefarious plot brewing, one with Earth involved. Nborn wasn’t kidding – this organization consisted of nuts…correction, psychopaths. She had already sent her first regularly scheduled report, which was encrypted, back to HQ on a highly secure channel, used and accessed only by Section 31 personnel.

There was a flashing on her portable console, catching the blonde’s attention. She turned to the screen and received a coded message from HQ, which she didn’t take long to decipher. The message was from Selyara herself, who had given her as expected, the altered mission objective – in addition to retrieving the artifact, she was to stop the trade at all costs. It didn’t matter what the group wanted in return for the artifact, be it a weapon or something else, their intentions were to harm Earth and in turn the Federation– that was all the reason needed.

A plan had already begun formulating in the agent’s head as she was still analyzing the information and even prior to sending her report to HQ. She glanced at the screen, studying the details, written in the Orion language – the Canadian not bothering to get the computer to translate the information into Federation standard. She let out a sigh of exasperation, reading the contents of the file again. This organization of crazy humans, repeating Nborn’s words, was set up for humans with xenophobic attitudes, well to translate, hating aliens and who were dissatisfied with the current state of the Federation.

Chloe rolled her eyes – honestly the blonde was fed up of this hatred of non-humans and how aliens were ruining their lives, how Earth no longer felt like home because they let too many non-humans settle there. But that was not what surprised her about the group. The organization, who called themselves Humanity’s Hope, which drew out a dry chuckle from the agent, didn’t approve of the Neo-Essentialists’ ways, believed Edgerton to be a mad man who’d bring about the ruination of the human race, despite sharing the same xenophobic beliefs.

This was the really humorous part, which made Chloe briefly wonder if she was reading a satire. The group’s aim was to build a sanctuary on a habitable world outside Federation space, where they would live in isolation from other species and return to the old ways, a time when there were no aliens on Earth. The Triangle made sense – an area that belonged to no one. But Beta-525, that choice puzzled her – the planet was soon going to fall under the control of the Orion Syndicate, hardly a suitable place for a ‘human sanctuary’. Unless, they were still searching for a world.

“But why intend to ruin Earth?” She asked herself, her gaze fixed on the Orion lettering. “Why go to all this effort to obtain a stolen artifact and trade it for something that will harm Earth?” The blonde sighed, frustration evident from her tense demeanor. “If you want to live in isolation on another world, no one’s really stopping you and why ruin Earth in the process.” She narrowed her eyes. “Something’s not adding up here.” She leaned back in her chair. There was more to it than met the eye.


*************************************************************************************
NRPG: Part 1 of Second Mission. Stay tuned, there is more to this story ;) And nothing is as it seemed :)



~*~
Ranjani S.
Writing for

Chloe Nielsen
Section 31 Agent