XI.
"Actually, he seemed pretty confused."
"Excuse me. I'm looking for a man."
"Oh, really?" Said a tall Karemma male, his deep voice dripping with delight, "I think I might be able to help you."
Anna frowned immediately. Her question had not come out the way she meant it to. She cleared her throat, "I mean, I'm looking for a man you may have seen. A friend of mine who's gone missing."
The Karemma wrinkled his large, ridged nose and grinned down at her. He had a bright, well maintained smile that he was clearly proud of. "You can see hundreds of people a day here, my dear."
"He would have looked very strange to you." Anna continued, choosing to ignore the leering way in which he ran his eyes up and down her frame, "He has white skin and gold eyes, but his features appear human."
"Mmm…possibly. But he doesn't sound very interesting to me. Perhaps you should be looking for male company elsewhere. Say...right here?"
Anna took a short step back, but not enough to dismiss him. He appeared to know something, and she and others had had very little luck so far. This bar was one of the last places they had yet to visit. Seeing that the man wanted something for his information, she reached into her pocket and removed some of the latinum Lore had given her. They had all made sure to keep a fair amount, knowing that information didn't come free.
She held it up, "Look, I'm willing to pay you for your trouble. Have you seen anyone like I described? Was he here?"
"Money?" The man chuckled as set his drink down on the high table next to him, "I have half a dozen ways of making money, but you are a unique little treasure. I'll tell you what you want to know, but…" Here, he reached out and ran his finger along Anna's collar bone, "but, not for money."
Anna's eyes widened and she swallowed hard, but not out of fear. Oh, no. She had nothing to fear. She took a slight step back, "Just tell me or don't."
"Don't be like that, my dear. I know whores with half your beauty who cost a fortune. How could I pass up such an opportunity?" He took another step forward and touched Anna's neck again.
Her eyes darted over the man's shoulder, and she cringed. Oh, God…. "Look, pal, if you know what's good for you, you'll step away from me."
"Oh, I think this is good for me." He continued.
Anna groaned under her breath and shook her head, "I'm serious, don't touch me. You don't want to do that."
"I think I know what I want." He crooned.
Anna looked over his shoulder one last time and sighed, "I did warn you…."
"Argh!" The man barely let out a gasp as Lore grabbed him by the back of his collar and slammed his head down on the top of the high table. A collection of empty glasses bounced and toppled over with a crash.
"Trouble?" Lore said with a smirk. The man was already struggling, but getting nowhere for his efforts.
"A little." Anna admitted. She knew she shouldn't be finding amusement in this, but damned if she couldn't help it. How many women had this jerk harassed or insulted before her, she wondered?
The other patrons nearby, for the bar was very crowded, looked on the little display with either indifference or amusement. Apparently public displays of violence were common to them.
Lore pulled the man up by his collar and resisted the urge to hurt him in some serious way. Just the sight of him running his filthy fingers against Anna's neck had nearly cost him his temper, which was on edge already.
"Let's try this again." He said, "Have you seen me before?"
The Karemma narrowed his eyes angrily at Lore, but did actually appear to be taking in his features. He frowned, "I…yes. I saw someone like you."
"When?" Anna said, stepping forward.
He struggled a little more, but seeing that it was fruitless he slumped his shoulders and said, "Day before last! He was in here for… I don't know…an hour or two."
Lore frowned almost immediately, and gave Anna a questioning look. Why would B-4 and Data be here, of all places, and why for so long? What could possibly have kept him in a bar for two hours?
"Why was he here?" Lore demanded, "What was he doing?"
"I don't know!" The man hissed. He gave Anna a nasty look, as if his current predicament was all her fault, "He was just standing next to the bar the whole time, like he was waiting for something. I didn't care enough to watch him!"
"So much for the carrot approach." Came a wry voice. Picard and Worf approached through the crowd and stopped behind Anna. Picard looked on the struggling Karemma and gave Lore a bemused frown, "Is this the stick method?"
Lore rolled his eyes and pulled the Karemma up roughly. He released him by shoving him in Worf's direction, "If he doesn't leave immediately, it will be."
The Karemma pulled his jacket straight, issued Anna a final nasty glare, and shoved his way into the crowd.
"Do you have something?" Picard ask.
Lore nodded and made another quick glance of the room. The four of them blended in rather well, as far as clothing was concerned. Picard, Worf, and Anna had changed into dark civilian clothes before they transported down, but Lore and Worf were still managing to garner disproportionate attention from their looks alone.
"They were here." Lore said, "I don't think the Karemma was lying. He said B-4 was at the bar for more than an hour."
"At the bar?" Picard looked over his shoulder, "Doing what?"
"If I knew I would tell you." Lore muttered. His attention was already on the bar. He ran possible scenarios through his mind, wondering what possible reason B-4 and Data could have to be there.
"He said B-4 was standing there, like he was waiting for something, but he didn't know any more." Anna clarified.
"The bartender." Lore said, "He would have noticed."
The others nodded and began to make their way through the crowd. Lore stayed close to Anna. She reached back and touched his hand, giving him a coy smile.
"What?" He whispered.
"Nothing." She shrugged, though her smile definitely said something.
"Whaaat?" He whispered again as he laced his fingers through hers.
"I think I'll go out of my way to talk to misogynistic jerks from now on." She replied, though her cheeks pinked under a guilty smile, "Is it horrible that I enjoyed that a little?"
"Yes."
Her smiled faltered, "Really?"
"Yes." He leaned in closer and said, "You should have enjoyed it a lot."
Anna rolled her eyes and squeezed his hand a final time before they reached the bar. A bartender approached them almost right away, but stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Lore.
"You again!" The man's purple hair swished as he twisted his head to the side and looked down the length of the bar, "Look, I was told not to talk to you, so just—."
"Listen, this man isn't the one you saw before." Picard said, leaning his elbows on the bar, "He just looks the same. We need to find this other man you saw, he's a friend of ours. Can you tell us what he was doing here?"
The man shook his head vehemently, "Is this a trick? Some kind of test? Look, I don't want any involvement with the Dominion, so just shove off."
"Dominion?" Worf belted, "You are mistaken."
"Yes." Picard continued, "This doesn't have anything to do with the Dominion. We're just looking for our friend. Can you tell us what he was doing here or where he may have gone? Did you talk to him?"
"This doesn't involve the Dominion?" The man sneered skeptically, "I may be new around here, but I'm not such a fool. He was with that Romulan slave, so don't tell me he has nothing to do with the Dominion—."
"Romulan slave?" Lore said, his eyes widening, "What are you talking about? He was with someone?"
"I'm not saying anything else." The bartender insisted, "Hell, I almost told that Tasker what she was, and do you have any idea what would happen to me if the Dominion found out about that? If they lost one of their slaves because of me? I don't want any part of it."
Lore gripped the edge of the bar and was about to reach over it and grab the bartender by his throat. Lore had absolutely no idea what was going on, and he was not someone accustomed to being confused. It was frustrating him. Romulans weren't slaves anywhere, and what the hell was a 'tasker'?
"We need this information, and we're willing to make it worth your while. Just tell us if you know where he went. Is he still here on the settlement?" Picard pressed. He reached into his pocket and pulled out all the latinum he had. He placed it on the bar in a neat pile.
Anna added the contents of her pocket to the pile.
The man's eyes fell on the money and he shot a nervous, shifty glance down the length of the bar. Lore was near the edge of his patience, but the man's internal struggle seemed to be leaning toward the money. He stepped forward and pretended to take their drink orders as he spoke.
"You promise you're not with the Dominion?"
And Lore smiled. Anyone willing to take a promise on something like that was an idiot, and an idiot was exactly what they needed at the moment. The bartender slid the money to the edge of the bar and let it fall into the front pocket of his apron. He leaned forward.
"He was traveling with a Dominion Tasker, a Romulan woman. She comes here twice a year on assignments from the Dominion. One of my coworkers told me about it. She did what she came to do and they left. That was two days ago."
"Where did they go?" Lore demanded. He resisted the urge to ask further questions about the Romulan woman.
"I don't know." The bartender said.
"Then return the money." Lore said ominously.
"Whoa, whoa." He said, "I don't know where they went, but I heard she travels in a unique vessel. A tiny transport, designed for one or two occupants at most, but it's capable of more than warp nine."
"That's it?" Lore said. He was leaning over the bar now and felt his frustration rising. They were just so damn close and so much was riding on everything. His brothers' lives were at stake! "Did you speak to him at all? Did he say anything?"
The man shrugged, nearly sending Lore's temper over the edge, before he stopped suddenly. He nodded a few times and said, "Actually, he seemed pretty confused."
"Confused?" Picard said, "How so?"
"For one, he didn't seem to know the woman he was with was a Tasker. He didn't seem to know what a Tasker was."
Neither do I, Lore thought bitterly.
"Thank you." Picard said, summarily ending the discussion. He stepped back from the bar and indicated for the others to join him.
"Mr. Worf, please tell me you can shed some light on this, because I'm rather at a loss." Picard said.
Since Worf had been stationed on Deep Space Nine for years, his knowledge of the Dominion was more intimate than any of theirs. He looked at the floor thoughtfully.
"I recall rumors of the Dominion utilizing skilled labor outside of the Vorta and the Jem'Hadar."
"Slaves?" Lore said. He was interested, and yet at the same time utterly uninterested. He wanted to find B-4 and Data, but he could do without the lesson in Dominion labor relations.
"Yes, but they are usually taken from races already under Dominion dominance, or those which the Founders are attempting to genetically alter. I would find the idea of a Romulan trasker…difficult."
Picard cringed, while Lore looked on in eye rolling irritation. He knew next to nothing about the Dominion because he had never planned to visit the Gamma Quadrant and the subject held very little interest for him. He would have to learn to stop avoiding subjects that bored him, since such knowledge would have been a boon at the moment.
"It doesn't matter." Lore said finally, "The bartender could have been mistaken in anything he told us. Maybe this woman wasn't actually a Romulan. Maybe she is a Romulan be she isn't one of these taskers at all. Who care? We just need to get back on the ship and see if we can locate a residual warp trail matching the vessel he described."
"It's all very thin." Picard sighed. He closed his eyes for a moment and his jaw tensed. Lore would never admit it openly, but he could see that Picard was just as worried about finding them as he was he.
"But it's all we have." Lore said, "We need to go, but if what he told us is true, at least we have more to go on."
"How is that?" Anna asked.
Lore put on a bitter smile, "The only thing guaranteed to be more noticeable than my brother is my brother and a Romulan."
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"Are you all right, Lin?"
"Why do you keep asking me that?" Lin barked. She was at the rear of the small cabin, leaning over a storage container in the floor. She had just finished rolling up a thin sleeping mat and blanket, which she was now shoving back into the storage space from which she had taken them.
Data frowned and wondered how he should answer that question. Should he cite the nervous energy she had demonstrated since they left the last settlement, or perhaps the fact that her complexion had grown noticeably greyer in the last day? Or, perhaps he should mention the fitful way in which she had slept the last six hours—on the floor, mind you, since her vessel did not appear to have a sleeping berth—and the unsettling sounds her stomach had made the entire time.
"I am fine. I just…I just don't feel very well. It's nothing." She said, closing the floor crate and easing her way to her feet. Data watched her with unwavering focus. As she stood, he saw a rush of color pass over her cheeks and a quick sheen of clammy sweat move across her brow. Lin crossed the cabin quickly and fell into her control chair.
"You are not fine." Data said, standing. "You are ill."
"I am not ill." Lin sighed. She rubbed her forehead with the back of her sleeve. Her breathing was shallow and fast, "We just need to get to my next assignment on time. My next allowance of rations will be waiting for me there."
Data's jaw fell open a bit as he looked around the room. He had already dedicated every inch of her vessel to memory, but he had not previously given any of it much investigative thought, and he was surprised he had noticed it before. There was no replicator. He had seen Lin drink water from pre-packaged ration bags several times, but he had not, as yet, seen her eat anything.
"You have not eaten." Data said. He stood, and his entire demeanor was almost accusatory, "I have been in your presence almost the entire time since the crash. I have not seen you eat at all."
"So?" Lin said. She was hovering over her console in a shaky sort of way, and the irritated glances she kept shooting at him did not appear to be helping her, "So what? Why do you care?"
Data regarded her response with genuine confusion, and a little hurt. "Why would I not care?" He replied, "You have not eaten in more than three days. You are posing a substantial risk to your health."
"If I had food, don't you think I would eat it?" She countered wearily, "It's my own fault. I was greedy. Over the last few months, sometimes I…I ate more than I was supposed to, and this is the price I have to pay. I've run out of rations before my scheduled pickup."
The price she has to pay? Something in her terminology troubled Data immensely, especially her willingness to chastise herself. While Data knew nothing of her eating habits or of the rations she typically had, Lin's slim build made him doubt that 'greedy' was an adequate term to describe them.
"Why did you not acquire food at the last settlement? It was readily available."
Lin laughed bitterly and gave him an incredulous look, "Readily available for money. I have no money, and I'm not going to steal. My Directors would be furious if I caused trouble with their collaborators because I was caught stealing from them. And…and it would mean they couldn't trust me."
"You would not have to consider stealing if your Directors had given you more food." He said flatly. He knew as he spoke that he was treading on dangerous ground, for Lin had spoken of her so-called Directors with nothing short of respect…and at times, outright awe. The miserable look she shot him was more than enough to tell him that his comment was unappreciated.
"My Directors provide me with everything I need." She insisted, "I have food, I have shelter. It's my fault if I can't manage to space out my rations in a more responsible manner. Jem'Hadar soldiers can go for nearly two weeks without eating."
"You are not a Jem'Hadar soldier." Data muttered. He was not certain why this was bothering him so much, but he also saw no reason to analyze that. It felt natural to be concerned about another person, even if Lin appeared to be motivated primarily by self interest.
He had a suspicion, however, that she only seemed that way.
"I slept too long before." Lin muttered to herself as she looked over the console's readouts. "I should have been doing to program setups for the next assignment."
Data actually sighed in response to this, "You only slept for six point two hours."
"Exactly." Lin replied. She shook her head in a chastising kind of way, "I slated myself for five hours, as usual, and now I'll have to spend extra time going over the program updates before I can install them." She twisted around in her seat and faced him, "We'll be at the next scheduled location in just under half an hour."
"Good. You will be able to eat." Data replied. He was actually surprised at his own tone, for he sounded remarkably cross. And…and should he not? While Data acknowledge that he knew nothing about the Dominion or these Directors, he found himself harboring rather unfavorable thoughts about them. Why would they provide Lin with so little food, and then provide her with no means to acquire more should she need it? He had also not forgotten the few statements she had made about them since first meeting her. She had once suggested that she would be punished if she arrived at one of her schedules locations late, and she said the Directors did not like squandering resources.
And that man called her a slave….
Data stepped behind Lin's chair and opened his mouth, but something stopped him. The look on her face when the proprietor at the last outpost had confronted her, and the way she had twisted her fingers through the scarf covering her necklace….
She was ill, and the subject obviously distressed her. Data returned to the bench and table at the back of the cabin and sat. While he watched her work over the console with slow, weak movements, he decided that he was going to mention it. As soon as she felt better, as soon as they were on their way to the next outpost.
Slavery was unacceptable.
