Lt. Commander Ross - Where did we park?!

[Hannah S]

((Temurian Settlement - Kiro's Lab))

The circles they were drawing around the topic became closer. It was time to get down to business. 

Ross: If this is about payment, we have the resources. But in addition to the product we'd be open to invest in some of your... expertise.

He threw Lyra a short glance. 

Voss: We can do this together, Kiro. You’ve studied these cores for
longer than we have, and we need your help. If we can figure out a way
to stabilize them, your clan will have a technology the rest of the
quadrant would sell an arm and a leg for. And even if we can’t… you
know this isn’t sustainable. Clan Gespara is the face of these cores.
When the rest of the sector realizes how dangerous they are, who are
they going to come for? Certainly not your mysterious backers. They’ve
shielded themselves. They’ll come for you.

Kiro: You speak as though I control what happens beyond this room.

For a small moment, A'Mayri turned around just enough to hide her face from Kiro. Suddenly, she looked as though she had a terrible toothache - Ross narrowed his eyes slightly while trying to make out what she was trying to say. Was she in pain?

Either way, it was time to get her out of the spotlight. With a deep breath, he pushed himself away from the console and straightened up, walking through the room and over to Kiro while consciously raising his voice, as if on cue. 

Ross: Let's say we acquire five of these power cores. As a first... working sample.

Voss: ::nodding:: Enough of a sample size to put them through their
paces, but few enough that we have containment space for them all if
anything were to go wrong.

Kiro: And if something does go wrong?

Ross tilted his head slightly. The Temurian seemed worried about the word they would carry into the world - but they had no intention of leaving with it.

Ross: It wouldn't make any sense to take them back to our
headquarters. The journey alone would be a waste of resources.
::beat:: We all want the same thing. Figure out what's going on with
these things - and optimise for safety. Why not work together?

The Temurian fell quiet.

Voss: We can sweeten the deal if that’s what it takes.

A’Mayri: ?

Ross: We brought some high level-equipment that might be of help. We
can pay a bonus. Let's say as... rent for your lab and your expertise
in this matter. Let's run some experiments. If nothing turns up -
great, we have ourselves a deal. If something does turn up - no need
to upset the apple cart. No pointing fingers. We'll figure a way out
to fix this. Together.

He fixed his gaze on Kiro. It wasn't the first time he negotiated his way out of a crooked deal like this - and numerous times he had been in the Temurian's shoes, trying to sell rotten goods he had no power over. In the end, they were all just trying to get by - he felt no reproach for the trader.

Voss: We’ll show you our lab too - compare notes. See if there’s
anything we’ve discovered that you haven’t and vice versa.

A’Mayri: ?

Ross: Believe me, either way it's the better deal for you than sending
us on our way with a danger neither of us understand. God knows, we
might be selling these things to a primary school next week.

The joke didn't really land. Ross was facing a tough crowd - Kiro hadn't said a single word in a while now. It seemed it was time for the grand finale. Ross straightened back up, throwing Lyra a short glance - it was time to close the deal. The stage was hers.

And she took it with a bang.

Voss: I know you love Leda, but you don’t trust her anymore. And you
shouldn’t. How closely is she working with the Orions? How much is she
keeping from you?

The Temurian stayed silent, but Ross was pretty sure that Lyra had plenty to work with from his thoughts.

Kiro: oO So it is already known. Or guessed. Or seen. Oo

Voss: You suspected me already. Cards on the table. And we’re not
bleeding heart altruists either - these cores are a hop, skip, and a
jump away from being tiny Romulan singularity drives. If we can help
you figure out a way to get them to work safely, we’ll be sitting on a
latinum mine so big, whatever profit-share we work out will hardly
even matter. Lurtz has the resources, we have the manpower, and we
aren’t here to hold anyone’s feet to the fire, which is a damn sight
more than you can say about the Orions. We want to be partners. It’s
worth a shot, isn’t it?

Subconsciously, Ross held his breath. Despite her resistance, Lyra owned the role of the business-woman perfectly. She would have convinced him with no problem that this was just an average Tuesday for her. 

Kiro: You are asking for trust in a situation built on instability. ::a pause:: That is… not a small request.

A’Mayri: ?

Ross: You need some sort of insurance? We can pay in advance. Half now, half later.

Voss: ::trying to hold back a tiny bit of her palpable relief:: That’s
a reasonable condition. Anything else you’d like us to consider?

Kiro: I want containment data shared immediately if anomalies increase.

Ross gave a curt nod. A simple a reasonable request.

Kiro: And no core leaves this system without my authorization.

Ross: Fair enough.

A'Mayri: ? 

Lyra smiled, but Ross could see the relief in her eyes. 

Voss: Well then, I think we’ve got ourselves a deal, Mr. Kiro! Let’s package some of these cores, grab your data readouts, and then we’ll introduce you to our laboratory and get to work. 

The process didn’t take very long. Each core went into a small, portable containment unit, which was packed tightly and securely into a chest, and then loaded onto a hover dolly. The longest part of the journey was navigating the dolly back through the twisting corridors and back up to the surface again. They eventually hit the frosted air and stepped out onto the asteroid’s cold, dusty regolith.

((Outside Temurian Settlement))

The cold sank its claws mercilessly into Ross’s cheeks once again. Without thinking, he stepped beside A’Mayri, as if that might prevent the Vulcan from suffering the same fate - he was too preoccupied with the sudden drop in temperature to immediately realize why Lyra had suddenly stopped in her tracks. 

Voss: Um… where the hell is our ship?

Kiro looked at the empty bay longer than necessary - and only now Ross realised: Their ship was gone. 

Kiro: ::quietly:: That… is not supposed to happen.

Ross: Wait... didn't we park here?!

His gaze snapped towards A'Mayri, automatically assuming she had the best brain for remembering coordinates. 

A’Mayri: ?

Suddenly, his heartbeat started rushing. This couldn't be good. If the ship was gone, so was the rest of the crew. They would never leave without them if there hadn't been an emergency. Without even saying goodbye?! 

Ross: I'll reach out to ::short pause, keeping himself from pulling rank:: - Mr. Foster. They can't be far, right? 

Voss/A'Mayri/Kiro: ? 

Ross pulled his communicator - old school, unbranded - and tried to reach the MTF.

Ross: =/\= Ross to Foster. What's going on? We... ::he threw an awkward side-glance at the rest of the group:: ...we kinda need our lab back. =/\= 

Voss/A’Mayri/Kiro: =/\= (If any?)

Foster: =/\=You need a what?=/\=

He didn't hear much, but what he could make out didn't sound good. It sounded like chaos. Stress. A lot of emergency alarms. 

Ross: =/\= Listen, if now is a bad time - but... we're kinda onto something here. I could use some of the instruments aboard if you don't mind. =/\=

Voss/A’Mayri/Kiro: =/\= (If any?)

Foster: =/\= We’re kind of in a fight right now, protecting the Pidgeon and trying not to get blown apart… can you hang on for a few minutes?=/\=

Ross exchanged another glance with the others. A fight?! That wasn't a thing normal unsuspecting traders got involved in just like that. Who the heck were they fighting anyways?! And why was the Pigeon out? He had countless questions but decided to go for none of them.

Ross: =/\= ...sure. Just... - call me back. =/\= 

The commline closed and he turned back around towards A'Mayri, Lyra and Kiro. He shrugged.

Ross: Well... sounds like we're gonna have to work with what we have. At least for now. 

Voss/A’Mayri/Kiro: ? 

Ross: Why don't we start with our most recent findings? The energy spikes? 

Truth be told - noting could have sparked less interest in him right now. He had no idea what was going on - and he hated that feeling. But as long as they partnered with Kiro, they simply had to pretend this was nothing but usual business. He gestured at Lyra and A'Mayri, encouraging them to step forward with their findings - at the same time he slipped out of his jacket and offered it to the Vulcan, although he was freezing already. No frozen limbs on his watch. 

Voss/A’Mayri/Kiro: ?

--

***

Lt. Commander Evan Ross
Intelligence Officer
StarBase 118 Ops
O240009ER2