Contraband

Posted on Fri Sep 23rd, 2022 @ 2:04pm by Richard Hale & Chief Helmsman Kalahaeia t'Leiya

Mission: Mission 16: Hysperia
Location: SS Mary Rose
Timeline: Pre-Festival Dates
1772 words - 3.5 OF Standard Post Measure

Working 'customs' duty wouldn't have been Rick's first choice of assignment anywhere he might have been posted in a previous job. However, being the 'new' guy meant beggars couldn't be choosers, and he'd have to work his way up to being able to negotiate around the duty roster. Arguably a man with his record was wasted monitoring the personnel entry from the docks to the ship, but he tried to look on the bright side: perhaps it would help him start to get to know people. Or at least their faces.

Approaching from the dock side, a shortish-looking vulcanoid was approaching. From her stance and gait he sensed probably not Vulcan and more likely a Romulan cousin. It was in the stride and in the eyes, he'd learned over the years. Vulcans were a lot less concerned about being taken off-guard, so their posture was far more relaxed. The shoulders were a giveaway.

"Good morning," he noted simply, giving a little nod of greeting. "I'm supposed to ask if you have anything to declare..." he motioned to the bag she had tossed over one shoulder, as though suggesting she might share its contents.

"I suppose that depends on what you consider worth or necessary of declaring." Kali ever-so-slightly raised one eyebrow, but shrugged the duffel off her shoulder onto a nearby surface and unsealed it, revealing a few jars of preserved fruits; several silky gowns or tunics; and a couple of Hysperian knives, the first of the variety of knives, swords, and other assorted sharp objects she'd commissioned from the local swordsmiths, the rest still being completed. Finally, out came a bottle of high-proof 'dragon fire nectar' and custom-built leather belt and weapons harness from the planetary leatherworkers guild, currently lacking anything in it; and a couple of pouches of the local currency, rather fatter than they had been when she'd gone down to the planet, despite her purchases: It was inevitable she would have found the local games of chance or skill to wager on. "Don't worry." She joked. "I'm not one of the idiots trying to smuggle dragon eggs on board. I know perfectly well fire and ships mix badly." An observant man might have noticed that while Kali seemed willing to bare the contents of the bag, by doing so herself she avoided having anyone else - so far - touch them.

"Not a bad haul," he commented, taking it in with a hawkish eye. Had he been running some of the operations back in the core worlds his supervisor would have had a field day on the blades alone, but out here the rules were a little more like 'guidelines' and even then he'd been given a fairly wide remit. Or rather, something vague about not letting someone steal from the ship. With all that in mind, something about the woman's attitude and confidence suggested this was fairly normal - or even tame - for her. "Don't let that stuff near the Betazoids. Fire nectar is like twice the alcohol content to them," he explained. After a beat he added, "I assume the knife hidden on your back-left hip is for, ah - personal use only as well?"

Now, the eyebrow went higher: You'd find at least one blade on every Romulan over 7; and Kali had found there were three kinds of people in the galaxy when it came to humans: The ones clueless of that fact entirely; the ones knowledgeable enough to spot it and yet clueless enough demand its surrender; and finally, the ones - like Burnie - knowledgeable enough to know that while they might demand someone surrender most of their weapons, they should stop asking anyone with pertly pointed ears to hand over what she recalled him referring to once as 'the fancy one'; the blade with more ceremonial and cultural significance that the rest. That this man had actually spotted it, and mentioned it...Well. She wasn't going completely to all efforts to conceal it to extremes like she might have in some places; but she was behaving appropriately for everyday carry, which is to say, concealed from anyone but the most skilled at spotting it. No one on Hysperia had so far, for example; and the only person on Rosie she was fairly sure had figured it was Liha, but then again, she'd looked the other woman over with that same appraising eye in return. Interesting.

"Very personal use." There was a very subtle edge to Kali's voice now; not so much aggression as a warning that someone was starting to get dangerously close to inquiries to things that outsiders didn't have a say in. That exactly who the hell 'outsiders' even were was...complicated...when it came to Kali herself didn't stop the reflexive response. She was definitely moving the blade back to the better concealed if harder to access spot she used to put it on Earth, though. If one man could find it, so could someone else, and this was a conversation that would get wearying if she had to have it over and over again. "I already told the captain I'd put those - " she waved a hand at the new additions on the table, with far less sentiment to them, " - in the armory, though."

He made a clear point of showing both of his empty hands while displaying a gentle expression. "No judgement. I'm actually surprised you didn't mention the utility knife I'm wearing at my ankle," he said. His head cocked just slightly. "Assuming you actually did notice..." he left a twinkle in his eye, knowing that such a challenge would attract a response. She'd either noticed and ignored, or, possibly more shamefully, she hadn't. Not that he was setting out to embarrass her. On the contrary: he expected a certain amount of repartee with someone of her ilk.

"Ankles are kind of just assumed." Kali grinned; considering the set of throwing knives she used to keep in the custom sheaths in her boots - the ones currently in the armory already that Delaney had taken a fancy to. "As are weapons on security personnel...." Shoulders and brows shrugged up and down in unison. "...Like the phaser in your shoulder holster."

He tapped his underarm, affably matching the grin. "Oh absolutely. Just assumed," he agreed. "Frankly I'd be disappointed if you had fewer weapons tucked away than I did," he added. "Though...you certainly have me beaten in the alcohol stakes," he noted, motioning to the duffel. "Can't say I had quite so much luck bringing anything quite so potent with me through customs. Don't suppose you'd be in the mood to share?"

There were a couple of ways to interpret that remark, really: Said by another Romulan, or some other species like an Orion, it could be a warning, or a negotiation, or both rolled into one: A suggestion that one might wish to say yes if they wanted to actually successfully get the item in question through. Or not. The uncertainty in it was part of the point in that case, after all. Humans...humans did sometimes go there; but not nearly as often. The fact that it was, in fact, hard for her to tell how he meant it - innocently, or with purpose - was more unusual in a human, though, regardless of which side of the coin was actually the true one.

"Don't see why not. Though, not right now." Kali waved a hand at the setup around them. "Booze and sentry duty are a bad mix after all." The eyebrow rose up again slightly. "I'd have to be able to find you later, though, to do so. Afraid I didn't catch your name...?" She started shoveling the rest of the stuff back into the bag, having not been given any indications otherwise.

"Richard. But friends call me Rick." He left the slightest pause there to let her make that assessment for herself. Leaning back and giving her enough of a berth that she felt a bit less guarded, he folded his arms and relaxed into a more neutral posture. "Later, then. Save me some. I'm sure you'd get much enjoyment out of easily drinking me under the table."

Once again 'interesting' potentially; the 'but my friends call me...': A perfectly normal sort of statement from one human to another. Very much not a statement that was normal from one Romulan to another, though; you would learn what one was called by their inner circle if and only if and when you later - generally much later - became part of it...And even if you somehow overheard or learned of it before then, using it then or even considering doing so was not done. For some reason, Kali had the odd feeling that where most humans who'd ever given her the 'my name is X but my friends call me Y' spiel had meant it without consideration or usually even knowledge of that complication, this man might have meant it very deliberately...though to what end she had no idea, or for that matter, much of any idea why she felt that way. Something about him that she couldn't quite put her finger on. It didn't read 'danger' to her though necessarily, the way some people did, just...an odd almost-familiarity even, that she wasn't sure where it came from, or why. Almost like picking out another pilot across the bar during the war, in the resonance of it, but not quite.

"I'm Kali." Unlike Richard, she didn't append any qualifiers to it; and she stuck with the 'developed for human use' nickname. "As for drinking people under the table...Yeah; do have to admit I tend to find it pretty hilarious." She grinned up at the additional ten inches the man had on her as she finished shoveling things back into the bag, re-sealed it, and slung it back over her shoulder. "We can meet up in the bar maybe and see who's better at darts, too."

Another opportunity for her to try to one-up him, he noted with a silent smile. "Darts. Pool. You name the game, I'll do my best to put up a good fight." He stepped back. "You're clear. I won't confiscate any of your goodies this time."

The only response was an ever-so-slight rise of the eyebrow again as Kali finished making her way towards the interior of the ship.