SIMULATION HISTORY
2364 | 2367 | 2375 | 2378 | 2378b
Maec eyed the rest of his infiltration squad wearily. Having been in the service of the Tal-Shiar for over twenty eight years, he has never known failure on this scale. Actually, Maec has never known failure which made this day one he doubted he would survive regardless of the outcome of their mission. His team of six was now down to two operatives. Maec's comrades continued to regard him well enough. They have predictably found themselves on the only path of thought their training would allow them about their situation… denial. They resolutely believed hat it was simply the mistakes of their compatriots and chance that had led them to their precarious situation. Maec knew better.
Standing in the darkness of their seedy apartment on Alteron III, Maec began to wax philosophical about the entire affair. "In all my days in the service of the Romulan Empire I have always regarded Humans as the lowliest and most inept of creatures who merely survive due to an unfortunate joke the Universe is playing on us. Today is… sadly… not one of those days."
Maec's operatives' stared at him in surprise. If their morale was low before, his somber mood was not going to help things. Llaiir, Maec's second in command, stiffened and now stood ramrod straight. "He was lucky, there is no other explanation. We captured the other smuggler he was working with. He can lead us to the Human." He stared at her as if she were the daughter he left behind on Romulus. Coldly. "Llaiir the Human's business lies in the trade of information. To survive his life is one of secrets. He found a way to gather top secret data on our manufacture of heavy weapons and has successfully found a buyer for this information all under the noses of the Tal-Shiar. We only caught wind of his dealings by mere happenstance and one drunken Orion. He has eluded the capture of an entire team of skilled Tal-Shiar operatives." Maec's voice was now dripping with sarcasm as he continued "Oh… and let's not forget that he has managed to kill most of us. Do you honestly believe, after accomplishing all that he has accomplished that he would simply pass along vital information on his whereabouts to that" Maec shifted his gaze to the room next door and back to Llaiir "Ferengi trash."
Llaiir's confidence was shaken at this point but she soldiered on. "Until we have reason to believe otherwise, we should interrogate the Ferengi as soon as reasonably possib..." Maec waved his hand dismissively and turned his back on Llaiir. "Do as you feel is necessary. Advise me if you find anything of import." Llaiir smiled, a cold fury burning in her eyes, she walked towards the next room and nodded to the other operative to follow her.
The room itself was sparse. There were some communications equipment arrayed around the room and a single table and chair in the center. The chair was currently occupied by their Ferengi prisoner. Llaiir grabbed an attaché case off the wall to her right and began to approach the Ferengi. She opened the attaché case on the table and displayed the assortment of devices the case contained. A series of brutally sharp and invasive devices were arranged neatly within the case. Had the Ferengi actually been awake it would have no doubt caused him to reveal any and all information he knew about the Human the Romulans sought. He also would have probably given them his personal code to all his accounts on Ferenginar if they promised to let him go unharmed. Fortunately, the Ferengi was still unconscious from the rather rude middle of the night kidnapping that led him to this sad state of affairs. Unfortunately, the hypospray that was just injected into the Ferengi's neck would take him away from that blissful oblivion.
As the Ferengi returned to consciousness, his eyes quickly caught hold of the instruments that he knew would lead to his demise. Llaiir stared at the Ferengi with sickening anticipation. "You will tell us everything about the Human you were attempting to buy information from. The quicker you tell us. The quicker your pain will end. Personally, I'm hoping you try to be brave, that would be very unlike your species and so I am resigned to a certain degree of disappointment." Her hands moved so quickly the Ferengi never saw the sharp instrument that was plunged into the major nerve cluster in his chest. He wasn't even given the chance to make a deal. This is where the screaming begins.
****
The Farian male guarding the third floor entryway into the Ziborian, a Syndicate run bar, never saw the dagger that plunged so neatly in his throat. Llaiir moved quickly up the ramp and retrieved her dagger from the now dead Farian and pushed him over the railing. She didn't like skulking around the back entrance but with the death of most of her team she had little choice in the matter. Maec had entered through the front door of the establishment nearly an hour ago, posing as a patron, and their sole remaining operative was on station 1000 meters away with a sniper rifle pointed at the main exit. The plan was to capture the smuggler but if he eluded their grasp again they would kill him to avoid any further troubles. Before they vaporized him, the Ferengi informed them that the Human was apparently a frequent guest of this establishment and had a room in the VIP section.
Llaiir made her way into what passed for the ladies dressing room. There was an assortment of exotic females in varied states of dress around the room. Orions, Alterons, Farians, Caitians, Bajorans, and a few species she did not recognize. While Llaiir walked into an enclosed area and changed into something more suitable for the environment, she made a mental note to research the species she was not familiar with. No one gave her as much as a second glance as she made her way out of the dressing room and into the dark hallway leading into the VIP area. At the doors to the VIP area she was stopped by a large Orion bouncer. "I have never seen you before. What are you doing here?"
"I just started working here tonight." Llaiir said in her most seductive tone and placed a hand on the Orion's chest "Is there a problem? I was told I would have a shot at some of the high rollers in the VIP area."
The Orion moved her hand away from his chest and rolled his eyes. "No. New girls go down to the bar. I have been told nothing about no exceptions for any girls so you can't come in here."
"I would be very very generous to you if you bent the rules just this once." She tried caressing the Orion's biceps but he rudely pushed her away and spat. "I do not like girls. No offense. After working here for so long you're just not interesting. That's why they put me in charge of you."
Llaiir weighed her options. Seducing him wouldn't work. Killing the Orion would cause a stir that may make her target flee. She decided to seek another method of entry into the VIP area and began to storm off. It was at that moment that a Human male crashed through the doorway of the VIP area into the hallway. He reeked of alcohol and grabbed at the Orion bouncer's shirt in an attempt to keep from falling.
The Orion sighed. "Over here!' he shouted. "You wanted a shot at one of the VIPs take this one to his room. He may like Romulans." The Orion threw the Human male into Llaiir's arms. As she focused on him she quickly realized that it was the smuggler they were seeking. Llaiir was typically guarded about her emotions but couldn't help but smile at her good fortune. Thinking her enthusiasm was because she had a VIP to solicit, the Orion shouted at her "I expect a cut of your earnings for doing this for you! His room is 317. I expect you will take excellent care of him. He makes a lot of people money here." Llaiir simply smiled at the Orion and helped carry the smuggler to room 317.
As they entered the room, Llaiir pushed the Human towards the bed face first and closed the door. He turned over and looked at her appraisingly. "You're pretty. Never been with a Romulan before." He jumped up, grabbed her forcefully, and kissed her deeply. Llaiir could taste whatever alcohol the Human had imbibed, and, in spite of her disgust, she kissed him back. She then pushed him onto the bed and smiled. "In a moment you'll feel something you've never felt before." As Llaiir grabbed at the back of her outfit, seemingly to disrobe, she instead was unsheathing the dagger she carried. The Human laughed and was now staring drunkenly at some fixed point in the ceiling blissfully ignorant of the torment Llaiir intended to unleash.
****
Llaiir stood, with her hands on her dagger, staring at the smuggler. He killed most of her team with brutal efficiency. Yet, he now lay before her on the bed, drunk and barely hanging onto consciousness. She began to step closer to the human as he continued to drunkenly stare at the ceiling. Her chest was burning with anticipation at the thought of plunging her dagger into the smuggler. She was now standing directly over him. She unsheathed the dagger and prepared to plunge it into the human. Suddenly, she froze. Her arms stiffened, her chest was burning as if on fire, and her throat seized up. Llaiir stumbled backward gasping for air. She ungracefully slammed against the wall on the right side of the room. The smuggler stopped staring at the ceiling and turned to directly face Llaiir. His green eyes were blazing with a focus and intensity that seemed impossible just a few seconds ago. He sat up, looked appraisingly at Llaiir and smiled.
"73 percent. That's your chance. It was difficult making a poison that would have no effect on me but would be lethal to you when ingested." His smiled widened. "73 percent was the best I could do on such short notice. I hope that kiss I gave you was worth it."
Llaiir writhed in pain and attempted to will her body to attack the smuggler. He turned away from her and changed his poison drenched shirt for a clean one. "Normally, I'd be interested to see if my little concoction worked but there is still more work to be done." He looked down at her and shook his head. "It should be interesting if you somehow manage to survive the next 36 hours of pain, burning, and dehydration. I've ordered the guard to seal this room after I leave and to let no one enter for another two cycles." He leaned down next to her trembling body, looked her in the eyes, and winked. "You'll let me know, won't you?" He gave her a last kiss, got up, and began walking towards the door.
Llaiir screamed and through Herculean effort stood and attempted to lodge her dagger into the Smuggler's back. He turned before she got within a meter of him and fired his Ferengi phaser at Llaiir's shoulder, effectively severing it from the rest of her body. Llaiir screamed in pain and then collapsed on the floor unconscious. The smuggler simply shook his head, closed the door to his room, and headed towards the back door.
Maec was angry. He did not feel the same confidence about this mission that Llaiir did, but agreed to go along with it. Maec felt that she was underestimating the smuggler. After recent events you'd think that might have changed her perspective. Sadly, the Romulan propaganda machine had done its job too well.
Maec was getting annoyed, feeling as if he was waiting for nothing, when he heard a great deal of static over his concealed earpiece. "We have him!" cried a voice from within Maec's ear. Maec's eyes went wide. "How? I assure you, he did not pass me. Was Llaiir successful?" There was some further static and a short pause. "I have not heard from Llaiir. I shifted positions to cover the back door when she did not check in as scheduled. He was attempting to leave from the back door and I shot him in both of his legs to immobilize him. He collapsed and than I brought him behind the shrubbery on the south side of the Ziborian." Maec sighed with relief and got up from the table. "I'll be right there."
Maec exited the building and sprinted towards his operative's location. As he approached the scene he spotted a trail of blood and a body lying face down in the grass. The problem was that this blood was green, not the typical Human red. Maec stopped and grabbed his disrupter. It was instantly shot out of his hand. Maec heard someone approaching him from behind and froze.
"Don't bother running, I've got you and you know it. You Romulans aren't half bad. This should teach you to stay out of my business."
Maec slowly turned and stared at the Human in disbelief. "Business… hmmm… I know when I have been beaten. I will not resist you. However, I can not return to the Romulan Empire. With my failure to catch you and my team dead, they will assume I have betrayed the Empire and I will die… slowly." Maec now smiled. "However, you are no fool. We could come to some sort of business arrangement. There are any number of organizations that would pay top dollar for inside information on the Tal Sh…"
The smuggler shook his head and cut off Maec. "You think I give a damn. That's cute." He fired his phaser and blew a hole in Maec's chest. Maec collapsed to the floor and began to cough up copious amounts of blood. He managed to stammer out one word. "Human…" The smuggler looked at Maec with unbridled curiosity and shrugged. "Whoever said I was Human?" Those were the last words Maec ever heard as the smuggler again fired his phaser directly at Maec's head. Turning away from the corpse, the smuggler pocketed his phaser and took out a small device. The smuggler sighed as he appraised his work. He clicked a device hidden under his shirt. A moment later the smuggler's body dissolved in a swirling yellow light taking him away from Alteron III.