The Silken Path
Nuvia City, Risa

Sticking around the Lover's Rest to call the client and touch base with him would of course have been a very bad idea. It was rather a no brainer that when you got into shootouts and threw people off balconies that you didn't then stick around and make comm calls. What you did, instead of anything like that, is got the hell out of there before the authorities showed up.

So Trip was just finished loading up the truck with Malcolm, slamming the rear door shut and turning away to make his way around to climb in himself. Along with everyone else, who'd been waiting for them to finish that so they could load up and get out of there too. Drive away, off somewhere decidedly not here, so that T'Pol could make that call.

Make the call, get things back on track. At least make the exchange, if nothing else. Have that much done before things got any weirder than they already were.

He was thinking about Du'kar then of course, and thinking about that great big fancy house the guy lived in.

And then realizing he'd never been to that house so how did he know that?

Except that he had of course, he just didn't remember it.

Except that he apparently did remember it since he had an opinion about it…

And so his mind naturally made another dutiful pass at finding those memories it had locked away somewhere, having forgotten where exactly it had put them, in order to try to make some sense out of all that for him. Surprisingly…stumbling right across those memories. And having done that, eagerly presenting them to him straight away.

Hence Trip staggering to a stop right in the middle of the alleyway.

Mind rather profoundly blown by what he'd suddenly almost remembered.

Almost remembered. Not quite and not to any degree of clarity at all. The general idea was there, sort of a summary of things. The highlights, so to speak, and the overall point of the matter…

That being that he and T'Pol had apparently gotten their freak on in Du'kar's bedroom. On the man's bed, in point of fact.

And there were some very provocative images associated with that general idea, to sort of illustrate that very important point. Some sensory impressions, general emotional reactions…that sort of thing. Such as how her neck tasted a little like cinnamon when she got really hot and how absolutely amazing that was. That sort of thing.

A billion little things like that were suddenly running hog wild through his mind at the moment, all of them competing for his attention to try to get him to bring them into focus. So that he could fully appreciate them.

So he didn't notice T'Pol staring at him for a few seconds.

And the moment he did…

"What?" T'Pol demanded.

That got everyone else's attention. Not that they both didn't have that already. Having come to an abrupt halt, rather than getting into the truck like everyone was so keen on doing, that was enough to get everyone else to stop and be a little curious about what was going on.

Trip…had no idea what he was supposed to do here. He couldn't exactly answer the question in any kind of satisfactory way while everyone was standing there. T'Pol would absolutely freak out if he so much as hinted at what he'd just remembered. Out loud, where people could hear that.

Absolutely freak out. In the sense that she'd go so cold and hard that it'd probably take her a month to thaw out. Trip knew, right down in his bones, that this topic was so completely not open for public discussion that even the topic of whether it was open for discussion was, itself, not open for discussion. Any and all matters even tangentially related to the general topic weren't even open for public discussion.

You just plain did not talk about things like that where other people could hear. It was as simple as that.

So, no. He wasn't about to answer that question.

But he'd learned a few things in the last twenty-four hours that he hadn't known before. Things he now realized T'Pol should have already told him about, should have taught him about. Quite a few of those things learned on the fly in Du'kar's bedroom, and so things that he now remembered.

Sort of remembered.

One in particular, that might be helpful right now.

"You remembered something." T'Pol said, prompting him. "Something profound. What was it?"

Everyone was watching. Malcolm, Travis, Hoshi, Loya…all of them watching. All very eager to learn what he'd remembered.

But he'd remembered picking up on a few things last night, though.

Like how that 'nudge' thing they were suddenly doing so well recently…not just calling each other from one part of the ship to the other anymore, but now actually sending general impressions and information and whatnot…how that was nothing compared to what they could do with actual physical contact.

So he just stared back at her, letting his face remain perfectly blank and calm now, sending a little nudge to let her know to tread very carefully here…

And presented his hand to her. Two fingers extended and rigidly locked. The ozh'esta, the Vulcan kiss, which he shouldn't know about yet because she hadn't introduced him to that yet. Except that she had, last night. And he shouldn't know that you could use that to communicate, if you wanted to do so in a really, really intimate manner…even if you happened to be in public. Except that he did know that. Because they had, last night. All over the place.

T'Pol twitched a little at seeing that. Recognizing all the implications the instant he made the gesture.

And she was a real smart lady, no one could ever deny that. So she put two and two together and had the whole general idea in about two seconds. He could see that in her eyes easily enough, never mind the wave of shocked realization that suddenly flowed across their bond…before she viciously wrangled it and suppressed the heck out of it.

But once she was ready…she reached out her hand to kiss him, with that particularly Vulcan kiss. Letting the comfort inherent in that contact flow through them both before zeroing in on the memories he offered for examination.

It only took her a few more seconds to work through all of it, hitting all the highlights as she went through it all. Categorizing and proper labeling everything, making a nice long list of things in order of their relevance and importance so that they could all be addressed…at the appropriate time.

Then tucking it all away and locking it up tight until it could be reviewed then. Rather than now, standing in a dirty alleyway where the rest of the crew was looking on so curiously.

And then she broke contact.

"I see." She said, stiffly. "We will discuss that later."

"Right." Trip agreed quickly. "Sure. No problem."

She hesitated. Then…

"Discuss it in detail." She added, making that point firmly.

So…whatever else could be said about him, he was Trip. He was who he was and he knew quite well that T'Pol appreciated certain things about him that she'd never in a billion years admit to appreciating about him…

So he smirked at her. Pretty brazenly and suggestively.

"Count on it, darlin'." He said, huskily. Smirking.

With a light, warm little nudge thrown in there on top of that, designed and intended to make her stomach flutter a little.

Which it did.

So she promptly wheeled about and started heading right back over to the truck before he could do anything worse than that right here where people were being curious…

They drove halfway across the city to the public park there. Came to a stop and piled out to gather at the rear of the truck, out of the way of passersby. And there made the call to assess their current standing with Du'kar and whether the exchange they'd come to Risa to make in the first place was still as solid as it had been before.

It took a while before anyone answered and that was T'Pol's first clue that things had taken a turn for the worse. Du'kar's communications suite was certainly sophisticated enough, and those that he employed to monitor that well trained enough, that her identity could be expected to have been established almost immediately. So the delay suggested hasty preparations were being made.

Boskin eventually answered, and he smiled warmly when he saw her on the other end.

"T'Pol, I'm glad you called." He smiled.

So, yes. The situation had destabilized somewhat overnight. Not entirely unexpected but discouraging nevertheless.

"Du'kar." She nodded properly. "I hope I haven't disturbed you. I'm only checking in to be sure there are no last minute changes to the particulars of our transaction later today. As a courtesy."

"That's greatly appreciated, T'Pol." Du'kar soothed. "And, as I said, I'm glad you called. Something has come up after all, so I'm afraid I'll have to postpone yet again."

"That is very unfortunate." T'Pol said.

"I could of course arrange for Palos to make the exchange…but I assume that you would prefer to deal only with me. That, yes unfortunately, will not be possible today."

"Palos would be able to participate in your stead?" T'Pol questioned, with just the appropriate measure of curious interest. "With your authority, that is?"

"Absolutely. Our agreement is already in place and everything is prepared…but are you certain you would be comfortable with that? I know you don't care for that sort of thing and I can't say I blame you…"

"No, that will be quite sufficient." T'Pol assured. "If he has your trust and can act on your authority, then I am prepared to extend my trust and recognize that authority as well. After the…discomforts we've visited on you recently, concluding our business quickly and comfortably seems the least we can do."

"Oh, think nothing of that." Boskin smiled, waving that away as meaningless. "We're all friends here and I can overlook a little…discomfort. Consider that matter already forgotten. But I do appreciate you putting forth the extra effort here, T'Pol. I find your reputation, at least in matters of business, is well deserved so far."

"I measure my success by my client's satisfaction, of course." T'Pol nodded. "Thirteen hundred hours, at the docks? As previously agreed?"

"Ah." Boskin frowned, immediately. "I see I wasn't clear. Entirely my own failing, of course. I assumed you were aware…but, of course, how could you be? Please forgive my oversight. No, I'm afraid Palos won't be able to meet you there. A little…overreaction to a perfectly minor disagreement with dock security officials…you understand, I'm sure. Would you mind the Sunset Gardens? I understand you have a cargo vehicle aboard your ship that can transport the merchandise there? Palos could oversee the exchange personally and conclude our business on site."

T'Pol nodded, agreeably.

"That would be acceptable. If you will allow an additional hour, so that we can make the necessary preparations?"

"Most certainly." Boskin smiled. "I'll see to the final arrangements myself. "

"Very well. Good day to you, Du'kar, and continued health to your family."

"And to you and yours, T'Pol."

T'Pol nodded, tapped the data unit and ended the call.

And verbalized then what everyone else overhearing the conversation already knew.

"I believe Boskin intends to take action against us." She said, curiously.

Loya frowned. "Not to kill. He would already be doing that."

"He wants to take us in hand." Malcolm nodded. "Sunset Gardens is technically public…but it's the sort of place you can snatch a few people up without drawing a lot of attention."

"Right, he wants us alive." Trip said, frowning. "Or at least most of us. Maybe just you, T'Pol. And if that's what he wants, then he wants information."

Hoshi was looking back and forth between everyone, already having gotten the gist of it but just now fully catching up to things.

"Well…what do we know?" She asked. "That he wants to know, I mean."

"The most obvious and likely answer to that," T'Pol said. "Would be the trade certificates. He is aware of them somehow and intends to secure them for himself."

"So how'd he find out about that?" Trip wondered. "You think we were running our mouths all over town about it last night? I can't figure any other way he could know."

"I find our behavior last night may not render that quite as unthinkable as it would normally be." T'Pol said, regretfully.

"Trouble." Loya said, reminding everyone. "I said the certificates was big trouble."

The troubling and unfortunate turn of events had been recognized, verbalized and acknowledged. So the crew waited patiently for their captain to decide what to do about that.

She considered the matter carefully before coming to a decision.

"We will make the exchange." She said.

And she waited for the inevitable questioning of her authority.

"Captain," Travis said, frowning. "If you don't mind me saying…"

"Du'kar is a rare and very profitable contact." T'Pol explained. "One best kept, if at all possible. So we will extend him this courtesy, making the exchange and responding appropriately to the attempt to abduct us."

"That's…one heck of a courtesy we're extending, T'Pol." Trip pointed out, concerned.

"It is." She acknowledged. "But as I've said, he is a contact we cannot afford to let slip away. Better that we remain true to the agreements already in place, doing precisely as we have agreed to do. We will allow him to break trust instead, which will have the added benefit of granting us a superior bargaining position immediately thereafter."

"Assuming we don't all get killed." Loya grumped.

"We will of course takes steps to minimize that possibility." T'Pol assured.

She turned and stepped over to the rear of the truck, opening the door wide once she was there. Reaching in to grab and drag the half-naked Risian bound and gagged in the back, until she had him pulled up, out and sitting on the rear bumper. Still bound with his hands behind his back. Still gagged. And quite obviously concerned.

She folded her hands comfortably at her back and watched the man, until she was sure he'd blinked enough to adjust to the sunlight. And adjusted himself enough to the situation that he would not draw undo attention to himself once the gag was removed.

At least, no more attention that a half-naked Risian bound and gagged on the side of the street was likely to draw attention in Nuvia city.

She nodded to Malcolm then and he removed the gag.

The man didn't make a fuss. He just waited, glancing and jerking his paranoia at every subtle move he perceived.

"J'Mar," T'Pol said. "I trust you've had time to realize and embrace your good fortune. You've suffered little more than bruises from having been thrown from the balcony. And all the more, the people who have taken you captive have yet to kill you, despite having many good reasons to do so. The most compelling reason being to take the opportunity to kill you in a particularly horrific and creative manner, in order to send a specific message to your employer."

J'Mar just blinked nervously at that.

"You do realize your good fortune, do you not?" T'Pol pressed.

J'Mar…hesitated. But soon enough decided to take his chances.

"I guess…"

"Shaddap!" Trip snapped, snarling.

So J'Mar shaddaped.

"I have a proposition for you." T'Pol said. "You will deliver a message to your boss for me. In exchange for this service, I will have the British beat you until you require extensive facial reconstructive surgery the next time we meet. Rather than burying you to your neck in the sand at the edge of the ocean at low tide and leaving you there. So that you slowly drown over the course of the following six hours when the tide comes in again, as I would find more preferable. Would you happen to find yourself interested in making such an arrangement?"

J'Mar blinked nervously a bit more at that.

"You are free to refuse, of course. But I understand the tide goes out in approximately one hour…"

"Okay, yeah. Sure, I can…"

Malcolm smacked him one upside the head.

"Tripper said to shut it." He growled.

"Very good." T'Pol said, as if none of that had just occurred. "Inform your boss that we are willing to make a deal concerning the trade certificates. As is customary in such situations, we will return half the certificates as a gesture of good faith and retain the remainder ourselves. It is also customary to negotiate on that point, I realize, but circumstances simply do not allow for that, so I'm afraid I must stand firm. Deliver that message to him and inform him that we will be available to make the exchange at fourteen hundred hours today, at Sunset Gardens."