Capt. Lia Rouiancet: Distance Runner

[Tony Colella]

(( Vays Mystai, The Promenade, Deep Space 14 ))

Rouiancet: Well, then. Maybe it's a mystery?

One that they might be well-placed to solve, she meant. After all, they'd found the note, and who knew how long it had been waiting in that pocket? Certainly they could turn it over to the shop's proprietor (and hope that they were more invested than this sales person) or station security -- but, well, there were a group of curious Starfleet officers who might well take the case.

Salesperson: (back still turned) Are you going to buy it or not?

S'vyak: (hushed) Perhaps it was from the clerk?

If it was, they were doing a very good job of hiding their interest. Still, they were the only person present who wasn't, well, this group of officers, so Lia shared the feeling behind JoNz's shrug. They might as well try.

Nis/Any: Responses

S’vyak: I’d like to purchase these, would that be alright?

The salesperson still wasn't interested in interacting with them, it seemed, but there seemed a greater rigidity to the way they were standing now. And their breathing seemed shallower, if Lia was any judge. 

JoNz: (quiet) Something is not right here.

Rouiancet: (quiet) No, it isn't.

Nis/Salesperson/Any: Responses

S’vyak: It would be appropriate to offer our assistance, would it not?

JoNz: (to all) I’m going to walk the perimeter outside, to see if I can see anything.

That got Lia's attention. Did she think things were that serious -- so serious, that was, that they might need a perimeter? But, Lia supposed, better to be safe than sorry. 

S’vyak: Very well.

Meanwhile, the salesperson...

Rouiancet: Excuse me, are you feeling well? Some of us are physicians, and we were concerned...

She left it open as to what those concerns were and just how far-reaching they might be, and looked to Jania for suggestions.

Nis/Any: Responses

Salesperson: I don't need any help.

But Lia had never heard that series of words spoken with less conviction. She consulted again with the other officers in a low voice.

Rouiancet: They're still breathing shallowly. We either need to do something or call for backup.

Even as she said so, she recognized that she had no real authority, either in the show or on the station, especially since she was dressed in her civvies. This wasn't the Butler, and if this person was rebuffing their attempts to assist, well, that was their right.

Nis/S'vyak/Salesperson/Any: Responses

Rouiancet: There's another issue. (nodding outside) I think JoNz just took off in pursuit of someone else. (a little more loudly; to the salesperson) Are you certain we can't help?

Nis/S'vyak/Salesperson/Any: Responses

As much as Lia felt the call of her once-profession to render aid, even if the person whom she might render it to was working against their own interests, she felt an even stronger (and more recent, thanks to her command experience) call not to let one of her officers go alone into a potentially dangerous situation.

Rouiancet: We could put a call in to station medical or security before we go.

Nis/S'vyak/Salesperson/Any: Responses

Tags! and TBC!

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Captain Lia Rouiancet

Commanding Officer 

USS Octavia E. Butler

V238208LV0
she/her/hers (this character)