Sarek sat in a large faux leather chair amongst neatly stacked and arranged paperwork. Currently, the man was not occupied with the work strewn about his pristine, oak desk but was instead leaning forward ever so slightly on said desk and staring at his hands which were steepled in contemplation. Had the Vulcan been sitting anywhere else, it would be easy to mistake his rigid, perfect posture with a statue; the plaque at the end of the desk reading 'Ambassador Sarek of Vulcan' seemed more like a display description than the title of the stoic man.
The small metal box with a large black speaker placed near Sarek's nameplate suddenly began wailing. A crisp, unaccented, female voice calmly told him, "Ambassador Sarek, sir, your 10 o'clock has arrived. Shall I buzz him in?"
Sarek's calculating, brown eyes flicked towards the voice and, after a moment, he inclined his head despite his secretary's inability to see the action. "Yes, thank you Darleen." He intoned, casting a hand back to quickly smooth his unruly – for a Vulcan – black hair into place.
About a minute later a human came waltzing in like he owned the place. He had unkempt blonde hair that stuck up in odd places and striking blue eyes as light as the sky and as challenging as storm clouds. He wore a heavy black and gold battle suit common to spacers and mercenaries but there was little doubt he was from the latter group if his empty weapon holsters were any indication. Sarek raised an eyebrow but did not comment, quietly pleased that this merc had enough sense not to challenge his no weapons while conferring rule, and indicated the chair placed across from his desk. The mercenary caught his eye and nodded his assent; he was across the room and sitting in the chair in two quick strides. He didn't move his head, but Sarek knew by the way his striking blue eyes cast about the room that he was taking in his surroundings. No doubt making sure there wasn't an ambush waiting in the wide, spacious room. After a moment he seemed to relax in the chair provided for him, satisfied that no one would come bursting through the large window wall behind Sarek, or popping up from behind his desk with a gun in hand.
The blonde shifted and regarded the Vulcan before him, "Jim Kirk at your service, Ambassador." He said the title with relish, like he was pleased to have such a high profile client and yet not at all surprised to have snagged one. He obviously held himself in high regard. "I must say, sir, few clients of mine go higher than the first petty rungs of the political ladder. Even fewer are Vulcans." He let loose a crooked smile, "I'd be lying if I said I didn't at first think, still think, that this is some kind of joke."
Sarek propped his arms on his desk and folded his hands to give himself a chin rest. While this was obviously a casual posture, the ridged perfection still managed to unnerve Kirk slightly. "I assure you Mr. Kirk I do not…" He paused, as if the word he were about to utter was not one he'd choose for himself, "…'joke'; this is a legitimate inquiry on my behalf. I indeed have an assignment should I choose you are the correct candidate."
"Hm… I saw that." Kirk pulled a small data P.A.D.D. from what seemed like thin air and read something off it, "Says here that you wanted an interview for a job that would be discussed if I passed a test?" He looked up at the Vulcan from beneath thick lashes, "Look, I've dealt with shady and weird dealings before but this? I know Vulcans are secretive but…" He cast a quick hand through his hair and leveled Sarek with a no bullshit look, "I'll tell you right now that if it wasn't for the credit amount you're offering I wouldn't have even bothered to see you."
"I do not understand." Sarek's eyebrow quirked up quickly but his face remained impassive and unreadable. "Several of your… "Again Sarek chose his words carefully, yet the pause only added to the elegance of his speech, "...colleges have declined to meet with me precisely because I have not offered enough credits."
Kirk suddenly let loose a laugh, startling Sarek yet the only indication he was surprised shown by another quirked brow. "That's because my 'colleges'" he air quoted the word 'colleges' and said it with derision, "are goddamn morons. Hell I bet you're offering enough to retire off of."
"Please explain Mr. Kirk." Sarek inclined his head and made a sweeping gesture with his hands, that only made Jim's smile widen, showing his sharp, pearly white teeth.
Bingo. Kirk had figured as much. So this was the test. He crossed his arms and went on with no small amount of arrogance. "A thousand credits? That's chump change – and for the Vulcan Ambassador? Well, you could drop a fifty times that and not even blink. So I got thinking, no… professional such as myself is going to waste the time for you to give us a bullshit interview and test for a measly thousand credits and everybody knows it, especially your type. Cold, calculating… hell you and I both know you'd have to drop a 100k just to keep the media from this story, even if it was complete bullshit like helping you find your lost Sehlat." He sat back, crossing his arms and leveling the Vulcan with his gaze, "So I got to thinking, what if it's a consultation fee? What if, like the job, the price is only going to be discussed with the person who gets it? Makes sense, can't have the media know you're willing to shell out big bucks to the unsavory types like myself for some mystery job. Whatever this is, it's big. You're up to something Ambassador. Hell it's not my job to pry, and whatever it is I really don't want to know. All I know is you're offering big bucks for this," He leaned forward, conspiratorially, "And I know I want in."
Jim could have sworn he saw Sarek's lip twitch but it was probably just a trick of the light. Vulcans don't smile. Never-the-less, the Ambassador stood gracefully with a pleased air about him. He adjusted the hem of his black, gold lined robe; custom of all Vulcan diplomats and proceeded towards the door. "Follow me." He said calmly before passing through the door, not bothering to check if his guest would follow, he knew he would.
Jim held his tongue longer than Sarek believed he would, allowing them to exit the embassy and enter Sarek's hovercraft, before he finally asked, "Alright, so where are we going?"
"I know of a private restaurant where we would be more suited to discuss this topic at length; you have yet to engage in your afternoon nourishment, correct?"
"Lunch?!" The human balked, "You're taking me to lunch? What for?"
"Correct and I believe you already know the answer to your inquiry but I shall reiterate if you so wish."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa wait. You mean I passed? I got the job?"
Sarek glanced at him with his peripherals, "If you choose to accept, yes."
Jim was practically ready to scream with joy, of course he'd accept. It didn't matter what the job was, he knew in his gut it would pay better than any job he'd ever had and if he did good he could almost count on word getting out to the other diplomats. This was the big leagues. But he couldn't seem too eager; he had to play it cool. "Ok, so say I do accept. What's the job in a nutshell? Pay range?"
"I wish for you to relocate someone from the gamma quadrant to Vulcan. Flat rate is five hundred; double that if you persuade them to agree to an offer of mine."
"Thousand?" Jim asked trying not to let his disappointment show. 500,000 credits was nothing to sneeze at, especially for the cakewalk a kidnapping usually is, but he'd be lying if he weren't expecting something more.
"Million." Sarek clarified primly, turning his head slightly to signal and change lanes. Kirk couldn't have been more grateful that the Vulcan had to look away at that moment – he doubted the slack jaw, wide-eyed expression he was no doubt sporting would've been very professional.
"I see…" He said rather lamely, and tried to clear his throat. "Like I said. I want in."
"Good." The Ambassador replied, turning into a parking lot, "Considering we have arrived."
I've been dying to write an AU with Mercenary!Kirk in forever! :D Super excited to write about the new 'Enterprise' and her crew lol Anyway R&R if you liked or if you have any suggestions (seriously O.O)