Your Trousers Are Talking
Posted on Sat Aug 25th, 2018 @ 3:33pm by
Edited on on Tue Aug 28th, 2018 @ 4:35pm
2,398 words; about a 12 minute read
Mission:
Episode 4 - The Sum of Our Parts
Location: Peldaran IV
Timeline: MD001 - 1500hrs
"I'm sure", Vanidha grinned. "I have plenty of witnesses, after all."
Moore took the paper and bowed his head slightly, "Then I am in ye's debt, thank ye," he replied honestly, "I'll get meself some proper attire and meet ye at the pub?" he asked.
"I'll be at Redstone Keep", she pointed at the castle above the town, red from the iron oxides in the stone used for its construction, hence the unimaginative name. "Good luck, and buy a helmet."
May 28 2394 1500 hrs (relative time)
Andrew had gone and purchased new clothes and a wrist watch that he could examine closer and see if it was honest development or if this magician and the Empress were from the same time he was. Now he was strolling up the road casually, whistling as he walked enjoying the spring air, something he didn't get much of being on ship. As he walked he heard footsteps behind him, clumsily trying to be quiet, but he didn't turn. Instead he he stopped and stretched then pulled his leather, sewn jacket off. Before he knew it he had a knife pointed at his back and side of his throat. "Give us everything ye have," a voice growled.
Moore chuckled, "Put yer hand near me arse and gimme a second," he said with a smirk, "cuz that's all ye be getting from me, laddies," he added with a sickly sweet smile.
One of the thugs pressed the knife in his back harder, "Don't screw with us, richie," he growled.
Andrew shook his head, "I would never, ye ain't my types... but, lemme give ya some advice?" he asked then in one smooth move stepped forward and spun, bringing one hand up to grab the wrist of the thug that had a knife at his neck and using his other hand to wrap the leather of his jacket over the knife that had been at his back just as it was thrust toward his belly.
He yanked the two thugs' arms together, plunging the knife that had been at his neck into the other thug's forearm and yanked his jacket away, pulling the other knife out of the second thug's hand, "Never put yer weapon against yer opponents body, else ye end up like this," he said and took a few steps back to pick up the knife he'd pulled away while the thug with the knife in his arm screamed, "Now, it's one on one, care to try yer luck?" he asked.
The uninjured thug looked at Moore before grabbing his friend and running off, "That's wha' I thought," he said to himself and chuckled before turning and starting back toward the keep.
"I still think you should get a helmet", Vanidha called from a window several metres up. She'd watched the fight, and her conclusion was that whoever had robbed him in the woods must have gotten a good first blow in, and that a helmet and some body armour could have prevented that. And the only thing that had saved him now was the thugs' unwillingness to spill blood first and take the spoils second. A risk-taker, she wasn't sure she liked that. All the same, his fighting skills were good, for her line of work. "Come on up, you can watch the ceremony."
Moore smiled and gave a quick nod before walking in. He stopped and looked around, giving an impressed nod at the huge interior. He spotted a staircase and hurried up to the floor he saw Vanidha at and knocked on the door.
"Come in!" Vanidha called. She was no longer clad in armour but dressed in fine clothes instead, wearing the insignia of the Empire. She looked more feminine, smelled better than on the voyage as well. Gone was the travelling knight, she was in full ambassadorial robes. The most striking transformation was her long black curls unfolding down her back. On a table rested a device that looked strikingly like a PADD, though its design was slightly different from what Starfleet was using.
Moore quirked an eyebrow as he looked around, taking note of the PADD but not letting his eyes linger on it, "Nice," he said then his eyes stopped on the woman in front of him, "Very nice indeed," he added, trying to push the memory of his wife back, knowing he had to keep every option open, including Kirking it.
"Can't show up for the audience in armour", she explained. "It would likely be seen as a hostile act, or an accusation of ill will." She smiled at him and said, "You fight well, but you take a lot of risks. Are you not concerned with preserving your own life?"
Andrew smiled, "I heard 'em followin' me for about half a click, Imma pretty sure the two year old with the family behind 'em woulda been quieter," he said with a chuckle, "only risk with them woulda been if they had half a brain between 'em," he added and leaned back against the stone wall, "oh, before I forget," he said and reached in his pocket to pull out the paper she'd given him earlier, "I only spent what I needed, I wanted to give ye the rest and I'll make up what I spent when I can sell me trinket."
Vanidha took the money back and put it on the table next to the PADD. "If I had tried to rob you, I'd have stabbed you, slit your throat or bashed your head in first. You're not wearing a helmet, or even gambeson, which is excellent against knives. This isn't the Empire, you should not be this confident that people will think twice about killing in these parts." She picked up the PADD, then moved towards the door. "But if you're brave, and it appears you are, I might have a job for you later."
"Hmmm, I think I can handle any job you give me," Andrew replied with a smirk, "and if it had been ye trying to rob meh I woulda' confronted ya in town when I picked ya out as a tail so I could get the jump on ya, ye strike meh like a nightshade flower, beautiful but can be instantly deadly if one is nay careful," he added with a wink.
Vanidha smirked. "Then luckily for you, I am not a violent person." She left the room and they were immediately joined by two of her personal guard, including the man Andrew had ridden in with. They made for the hall, one of the rooms higher up in the castle.
The hall was decorated with colourful carpets that hung from the walls, as well as a number of elongated, triangular flags with a variety of differently coloured symbols on them, very obviously heraldic in nature. The room was often used for banquets and was well-lit through a number of stained-glass windows projecting geometric patterns of gay colours onto the floor which were distorted and changed hue as the planet's surface spun into and out of the sunlight, though that effect would only be visible to a long-term observer.
The tables were cleared and bare, and several men and women were seated on either side of the room, all decorated with their corresponding heraldic symbol on their chests, in much the same way as Vanidha was wearing the symbol of Empire. At the head of the table sat the ruler, wearing a crest of fine jewellery which looked almost like a crown, but was much thinner and lighter. He was a middle-aged man with a long, reddish-brown beard and piercing blue eyes. Behind him was a large mechanical clock, elaborately decorated. This man valued the display of wealth and power. "Approach", he said as she saw Vanidha and company enter.
Vanidha stepped forward while Andrew's travelling companion put a hand on his shoulder so he'd know to stay back. Vanidha walked into the U-shaped table arrangement and stood opposite the king, with his nobles off to either side. She made a polite bow and presented to him the PADD she had brought. "King Vulthrad, I bring you a gift from the Empress. It is a magic artefact which will allow you to communicate with the Imperial Capital, exchange knowledge and even speak to the Empress directly." She pulled out a stick from the back of it, thus creating a tripod on which it could stand, facing the king.
The face of the Empress appeared on the PADD's screen as soon as it was set down, and the king was so impressed he bent forward a bit in astonishment, breaking his regal pose and neutral expression. "I am Rina Meridhia", the Empress said. Clad all in red with jagged, black shapes, wearing an amulet version of the Imperial symbol, a square standing on point with knobbly bits decorating the sides, on a simple silver necklace, her voice filled the room in stereo.
It was that which startled Vanidha. While King Vulthrad responded in a slightly less superior tone of voice, she turned around and looked at Andrew. "I think your trousers are talking."
Moore thrust his hand into his pocket and grabbed the communicator he still had with him, squeezing it in a fist to try and muffle it as he looked at Vanidha, "I'm sorry, lassi?" he asked, tilting his head quizzically to the side, keeping the fact that his heart was beating out of his chest out of his features.
The Empress's voice stopped, then came back with. "Who is that? Vanidha, report."
"There is a man here who I found in the woods, robbed. He was concealing a magic amulet of sorts. It is interfering", Vanidha explained.
"Bring him!" Vulthrad intoned, and two guards stepped forward and brought Andrew into the U, Vanidha following behind them. "What is your purpose, with this?!"
"I dunnae know what yer talkin' about lass," Andrew replied, having tapped the communicator with his thumb to close the channel and stuck it to the inside of his sleeve, now holding out his empty hand, "I havenae' got any...magic devices...."
"Search him", the king ordered.
"King Vulthrad, please allow me", Vanidha asked. The king nodded. She turned to Andrew and demanded, "Hand it over now. I need to make sure it is not dangerous."
"Fine, but, I showed this to ye already," Moore replied and pulled out his hand with his rank pip then slowly pulled up his sleeves, glad for the communicator's adhesive, "see, nothin' else," he said and held out his palms, hoping that was the only signal that came through right then. He paused for a moment, however and slowly reached up his sleeve with his fore and middle fingers, "alright, lass, Ima only doin' this cuz I trust ye and I want ye's trust," he said then handed both items over, keeping his eyes locked with hers.
Vanidha looked at the amulet. It was unevenly shaped, which wasn't unusual for decorative items, but responded to pressure from her fingers by making a chirping noise. "Aha. What is it?"
"It is a communications amulet, voice only", the Empress explained through the connection that was still open. "It is one he should not have. King Vulthrad, the man you have apprehended is of interest to me, he has taken something that does not belong to him. If you could release him to my agents, you would have my gratitude."
"I will entertain no thief in my court", Vulhrad responded. "You shall have him."
"Thank you", the Empress replied. "Vanidha, you can give the amulet back to him for now."
Vanidha looked puzzled. "I, uhm, yes..." She returned his communicator with a bedazzled look on her face. "Don't go away."
Andrew took the device and bowed his head, "Thank ye," he replied simply and put it back in his pocket, "may I get me gold piece as well," he asked, glad he'd paid attention in his high school history classes about knights code of ethics, if he'd kept up the lie he'd likely be in chains or worse, not traveling back to the Empress, and the Prime Directive had pretty much been destroyed already, so, revealing the compin didn't hurt anything.
Vanidha didn't figure it could hurt, especially since he had been willing to part with it earlier, and so she agreed and handed it over.
"Now, do not be alarmed", the Empress said. "I will take him now. As he has the device, I can do this." And to the amazement of everybody around him, Vanidha included, he vanished, transported away to the Imperial palace, a spacious room that smacked far less of ceremony and a lot more of administration, with a desk on the far side and the Empress seated behind it. "There is more than one kind of portal that can be opened, if you know how", she explained. "King Vulthrad, I apologise for the inconvenience. I have left my ambassador with all the information she will need to conclude our deals in my name, personally and more conveniently. I will contact you again soon."
The king, dumbstruck by the sudden display of power that went far beyond anything he had imagined possible, simply assented. He would have to reconsider his idea of carving out a greater domain for himself at the expense of an empire that suddenly didn't look quite so weak any more, no matter the mere handful of soldiers it was sending on its missions.
After Andrew re-materialized he walked over to the desk and dropped his compin on it, "Alright, Lieutenant, what the hell is this?" he growled, having seen one Lieutenant j.g. Sophia Meridiha listed in Counseling reports from Empok Nor, "You've got some some explaining to do and you'd better do it quick.'
A Joint Post By
Chief Petty Officer Andrew "Chaos" Moore
Behavioral Health Specialist, USS Pioneer
Lieutenant Junior Grade Sophia Meridhia
Chief Counselor, Empok Nor
PNPC Niall
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