Work Text:
"I want to sell my ship, La Sirena, and I hear you're the person who can help me with that," Rios said to the holo of Raffi in front of him.
"Yeah, I suppose I am. Sara said you needed help with this sale? What exactly do you need my help with?" she responded.
"I want to sell her to a Ferengi named Kuz."
"That's nice," Raffi scoffed. "Should I send you a gift basket and a bottle of champagne?"
Rios chuckled. "Kuz'll never buy from a former Starfleet officer. 'Too reputable', as if that makes any sense. Besides, I don't want him to know it's me. I need a facer, and Sara says you're good at it."
"Damn right I'm good at it. I'm curious - why don't you want him to know it's you?"
"Can I trust you? Sara says I can trust you."
"You definitely cannot trust me, you just met me," Raffi exclaimed.
"I'm running a long con, you see..." Rios began.
"Wait, you know what, I don't want to know, forget I asked. So you want me to sell La Sirena to some Ferengi? What's my cut?"
"7% of the sale price."
"7%, you say?" Raffi was pleased. "That's a bit above a normal commission."
"This isn't a normal sale."
"Fair enough," she conceded.
Raffi looked at the specs Rios sent her and thought it over. It seemed like easy money, and starships fetched a pretty high price - especially an unregistered, warp-capable Kaplan F17 Speed Freighter. It was well above the normal goods she'd been helping to move on Freecloud. She didn't want to know why it was unregistered, or why Rios valued his privacy. It smelled a little fishy, but the less she knew, the better.
Raffi stared at the holo of Rios for a few moments. This seemed straightforward, and money was money.
"Alright, I'm in. Send me La Sirena's specs and the contact info for Kuz. I'll transport over for a walkthrough of the vessel, and then I'll arrange a meeting with Kuz."
"Actually, it's the Tln TongDuj," Rios interjected.
"The what again?"
"Tln TongDuj. The ship - her name is Tln TongDuj."
"I thought you said her name was La Sirena?"
"I did. But Kuz thinks it's the Tln TongDuj."
"Okay..." Raffi trailed off.
"Also, he thinks I'm Karzan, a former Klingon officer."
Raffi stared at Rios's holo projection.
The transporter pad activated, and when it disengaged, Raffi was standing on the pad.
"OK, here's the story," Rios began, motioning for Raffi to follow so he could show her the ship. "Karzan acquired this ship during a raid on a mining outpost. He retrofitted it to Klingon standards, which is actually pretty close to the truth, since that's what I'm doing right now. He thought he might keep it, but decided he had better things to focus on. So he's selling it now."
"Alright, so you've got some elaborate ruse about how some Klingon got this ship and now wants to pawn it off on the Ferengi. That's great, but I don't care."
"I mean, you kind of do," Rios said, shrugging. "If Kuz asks why any of the systems aren't Klingon, we need a cover story."
"Ohhhh, there's no we in this, captain. You've got some elementary-school Klingon... male Mary Sue fantasy going on here. I've got no part in this."
"Fair enough," Rios smirked. "The lighting here is Klingon standard, but it's easy to replace with something more appealing to Ferengi eyes. Kinda sad to see those tapestries go, I put a lot of hard work into replicating them." Rios stared wistfully at the Klingon battle art.
Raffi rolled her eyes. "OK, I have to ask - why all the theatrics? Why not just sell the ship as-is? Don't Ferengi love commerce?"
"I'm not selling La Sirena to the Ferengi, I'm selling it to a Ferengi. Kuz in particular."
"And why Kuz in particular?"
"You see, Kuz is married to-"
"Actually, no, I changed my mind. I don't want to know."
They continued the tour. After a few minutes, Raffi interrupted Rios. "What's that?"
"Oh, don't mind the mess, I'm going to patch up this compartment before the sale. You won't even know it's here."
"I won't even know it's here? Is that a... hidden... compartment...?" Raffi looked to Rios, but he was showing his teeth in a grimace and was not returning her glance. "Is that class-4 tritanium plating? Doesn't that shield against scanning?"
"Yeah, it does. I'm going to put a 'CAUTION' sign on it too. You know, just in case the shielding doesn't work."
"And you're putting it under the warp core. That is the warp core, you realize. The most powerful and volatile device on any starship. The device that if it doesn't operate perfectly turns into a really big explosion. Didn't ANY ENGINEER EVER tell you not to fiddle with the warp core??"
"It's the last place anyone will look," Rios shrugged noncommittally.
"OK, I have to ask, why are you installing a hidden unscannable compartment underneath the warp core on a ship you're selling to the Ferengi? Wait, I don't want to know. No, don't tell me. That's only going to make selling this ship harder. I'm just going to pretend I didn't see that."
Several hours later, the transporter activated and Raffi set foot on La Sirena. She headed towards the aft of the ship and found Rios putting the finishing touches on the secret compartment.
"OK, well, the ship is sold," she said with a bit of finality.
"That's good."
"Glad you're giving me a bigger cut, because honestly Kuz came out ahead here."
"Yeah, I'm not surprised," Rios said, more nonchalantly than she was expecting.
"So... I guess we're all done here."
"Looks that way."
"So... we should be headed off, yes?"
"That we should."
They stared at each other for a few moments.
"OK, now, seriously, tell me what the hell is going on here," Raffi said eventually.
"Well, it's a bit of a long story."
"We don't have time for a long story, we've got less than an hour until we've got to be off this vessel."
"I'm not leaving."
Raffi looked him over. "Yeah, I gathered that. I want to know why. I sold the ship. I'm in the clear. Tell me why. Hit me."
Rios started to grin. "What's the species-independent term for 'human trafficking?'"
"The what?!"
"You know, it doesn't sound right to call it 'human trafficking' if I'm not trafficking humans. 'Ferengi trafficking'? That doesn't have the same ring to it. 'Sentient trafficking', maybe?"
Raffi stiffened and gave him a long, hard stare. "Look, we're out here in Freecloud. Starfleet isn't around to enforce law and order. But a girl has to draw a line somewhere..." Raffi began backing up to the transporter pad.
Rios put up his hands in a diffusing gesture. "I do too, chica. I do too. This particular Ferengi, well she wants to be trafficked. Look, I don't have time to get into the story. There's a Ferengi who needs to get out, and I'm getting her out."
"With this ship?"
"Aye, chica."
"Don't call me chica."
"Aye, lass."
Raffi gave Rios a hard stare.
"Look, we don't have much time. Kuz'll be wanting his ship, and I need to finish up a few things. So if there's anything else you want?" Rios continued.
"You're going to stowaway under the warp core, aren't you?" Raffi said, realization dawning on her.
Rios didn't answer.
"You're going to steal back your ship, aren't you?"
"Well... it's more like a short-term loan, if you think about it..."
"This is ridiculous. You're going to get caught."
"Me? Never. This ship is fast. They're not going to catch me," Rios boasted.
"I don't mean in a chase, idiot. They're going to put out a bulletin for you. Kuz is going to have every bounty hunter in the sector out looking for you. I know some of them. They're good at what they do."
Rios opened his mouth, then closed it. "Oh, I..."
"You're going to get a bounty, and unless you got somewhere to hole up and hide this ship, I give you a week, tops."
"Yeah, well..."
"Look, kid," Raffi started.
"Don't call me kid."
"- you seem noble and all -"
"Don't call me noble, either."
"- but this is a bad plan," Raffi finished, enunciating the last few words carefully.
"No it isn't! I have a plan for getting Pim back to Freecloud." Rios paused. "After that..." he trailed off, grabbing the back of his neck and grasping for words.
"You didn't think very far ahead, did you?"
"Look, I don't need your criticism."
"What you need is help."
"I don't need your help."
"Yes, you do! You do need my help! That Ferengi is going to be here in 40 minutes and your plan is going to get you dead!"
Rios muttered something that Raffi didn't catch.
"You need my help," she stated firmly.
Rios grumbled.
"C'mon, you can say it."
"I don't really..."
"Just ask it. Ask for my help."
More muttering.
"You can do it."
Rios sighed. Something seemed to click inside him, as if he were making up his mind. "Can you help me, Raffi?"
"Ah! There you go, sweetie. See, that wasn't so hard? Yes, I can help you, Rios. But my cut is going up to 10%."
"Fine by me."
Raffi's triumphant grin quickly disappeared. "Look, we don't have a lot of time. And planning something like this, it's going to take time."
"How about - you talk and think, and I'm going to finish up the shielding on this compartment?"
"So, you're going to steal the ship. Kuz is going to notice it's gone. Not a whole lot we can do about that."
"There is not," Rios agreed.
"And your retrofit job here is... let's just say I'm surprised it fooled Kuz in the first place. I don't care if it's unregistered - they're going to ID La Sirena pretty quickly."
"These don't sound like solutions, Raffi. I'm hiring you for solutions."
"I'm getting there! This is part of my process! And good solutions take time, and you're not giving me a lot of time."
"That's what I'm paying you for."
Raffi scoffed. "So you need to walk out there with this ship, and there's no keeping it a secret. You're essentially going to be telling the whole galaxy you stole Kuz's ship." Raffi's eyes widened. "That's it. That's how we do it."
"And how is that?"
"We tell the whole galaxy you're taking the ship. We forge a resale. Kuz bought the ship from Karzan, and then sells it to Cristóbal Rios."
"...that's bold," Rios admitted.
"We'd need to do this quick - right before you steal the ship, so he doesn't have time to notice. Before he tries to report it as stolen. I gotta warn you though - even if the sale looks legal... well, Kuz is going to want revenge. On Cristóbal Rios."
"Can't you sell it to an intermediary? Cover the trail?"
"I could, Rios! If you gave me time to plan this, I could! But we don't have time for that, and if you want to walk away with this ship, it needs to be in your name."
"How are we going to forge a resale? Won't we need his credentials?"
"That's the rub. If you'd given me a month, I could probably forge something that'd trick the authorities. Maybe even under court scrutiny. But 30 minutes? I'm good, Rios, but you're asking the impossible."
"So you're saying we need his credentials."
"I don't see any way of doing this fast without using his credentials to sign the resale, Rios."
"Alright. Then come with me."
There was a long pause. "You're kidding me. Seriously, you're kidding. You are actually insane."
"I'm not. I've got a man on the inside, as it were - someone with access to Kuz's credentials. But if we're going to do this - and do it fast - we're not going to have time to set up an untraceable remote connection. It’s radio silence from here on out. We need to do it from inside his network."
"Rios, this is crazy. It's too dangerous. There's so much that could go wrong here."
"I'll up your share to, say, 15%? Consider it hazard pay."
Raffi was dumbstruck. If Sara hadn't vouched for Rios, she'd have been out the door the moment this job started sounding fishy. Which was immediately. And the money... Raffi ached for her account. Starship money wasn't something you just walked away from, and Rios was offering her twice what she was originally going to get paid. Ever since JL had hung her out to dry... she hadn't exactly been rolling in the job opportunities.
"Rios, I don't know..."
"I need you, Raffi. Come with me. You don't have to leave the ship. Get into Kuz's network from La Sirena, put in the resale, and then you're golden. If this goes south... I'll beam you off-ship. You'll be on Ferenginar, but you can buy passage back to Freecloud, or Earth."
This whole plan sounded like a train wreck waiting to happen. But something about Rios made her consider it anyway. Why had his original plan been so bad? He seemed to be otherwise fairly competent - it didn't add up. Why was he so willing to up her share? That was obvious - he wasn't doing it for the money. He was getting someone off Ferenginar. He said he wasn't being noble, but she could practically smell the ex-Starfleet coming off of him. It was risky... but getting paid? To do a good thing? Life hadn't been kind to Raffi lately, and that tugged at her heartstrings. Doing a good thing might help her sleep better at night. Maybe that was the ex-Starfleet in her, too.
"Well, I've been meaning to get off Freecloud anyway."
Rios shouted in delight.
"You're doing me a solid here, Raffi. I'd say I own you one, but I'm kinda paying you for this, so I don't."
"Yeah yeah, don't let it get to your head."
"Alright, go signal Kuz that you and Karzan are beaming off the ship momentarily, and send him La Sire- I mean, Tln TongDuj's- access codes." Rios paused for a moment, thinking. "I only have one, though... hmm."
"One... what? What are we talking about, Rios?"
"No time. We'll just have to improvise."
Raffi's voice chimed over the comms. "Tln TongDj to Freecloud, one Klingon and one facer guild member to beam over."
The transporter pad activated, glowing momentarily as two forms materialized. The operator peered at the pad in confusion, then approached for a closer look. A sealed cylindrical container sat on the pad, with hazard warnings and a "Klingon fecal matter" label on the side. Next to the container was a large house plant with a name tag attached to it that read, "Hello, my name is FACER GUILD MEMBER."
"Is that really going to work?" Raffi asked.
"Well, the Klingon biomass is going to work. The monstera? It'll make some botanist happy. Let's just hope they don't check the transporter logs too closely."
"I should have asked, how long is the trip to Ferenginar?"
"A day or two. Assuming Kuz doesn't take any detours."
"A day or two. Stuck in that tiny-ass compartment. Not even large enough to call a closet. This was not a good idea. How will we know when we're there? What are we supposed to eat? Is there even a bathroom in there?"
"Looks like we're going to have to get cozy, chica."
Raffi gave him a death stare.
"It's made for two people. We'll be fine."
"Wait, it's made for two people? Why is it made for two people, Rios?"
"Well, yeah - we’re smuggling two Ferengi, Pim and her son."
"TWO Ferengi!?" Raffi touched her fingers to her forehead and sighed. "Why did I agree to this..."
The two of them climbed into the cramped compartment. There was enough room for them to sit, but even then they had to maneuver around the bottom of the warp core. The quarters were tight. After closing the panel behind them, Rios pulled out a handheld pad and watched it for several tense minutes.
"Alright, Kuz has transported aboard," Rios reported.
A few minutes later the warp core powered up suddenly. Raffi stiffened in a sharp panic. She had been aboard starships going to warp - too many times to count. She had even been in Engineering when a ship went to warp - multiple times. But she had never straddled a warp core as it activated before, and the sheer power of the device that was just inches from her was... intimidating.
"You're, uh, you're sure this thing is safe? Like, from radiation?" Raffi asked hesitantly.
"Yeah. Sure. Probably."
Raffi let out an exasperated sigh. He was antagonizing her on purpose, now. She knew it.
The two settled into a comfortable silence. Rios hummed some melody, while Raffi spent time rethinking her impulsive choice to come along.
"So, this woman we're trafficking," Raffi eventually offered.
"Her name is Pim. She's married to Kuz, actually. I'm helping her escape."
"How'd you meet?" she inquired.
"We've never actually met. Let's just say there are some message boards I frequent, and we were put in touch."
"That's quite a leap, to go from chatting over subspace to breaking her out of... space prison."
Rios rolled his eyes. "She's not in space prison. In Ferengi culture, women are property, and so she's trapped in this marriage. It didn't sit right with me."
Raffi raised an eyebrow. "Did you develop feelings for this woman?"
"No, I didn't develop feelings for her." Raffi could practically hear Rios rolling his eyes. "Well, I mean I did, but not romantic feelings. Compassion feelings, I guess? Look, she needed help, and I had a ship. It's simple," he finished with a bit of a huff.
It wasn't simple, but Raffi didn't press him on it any further. It was going to be a long trip, and she didn't want to make it feel any longer.
"What happens after this?"
"Well, the original plan had been to leave when Kuz was asleep, then take Pim back to Freecloud."
"So your original plan had been to get arrested, right?"
Rios grumbled and Raffi apologized immediately. "Sorry. So we get this Pim back to Freecloud?"
"There's a group of Ferengi expats that'll take care of her once she's off-world. Ferengi divorce is complicated and not something I want to get involved with."
"So you're doing this out of the goodness of your heart?"
Rios scowled. "Don't you dare call me noble again."
Raffi put her hands up in a gesture of defeat, but couldn't hide her grin.
"I'm acquainted with Kuz from my Starfleet days," Rios responded after a few moments of silence. "I was not a fan of that man. And after hearing the way he treated his wives... I had to intervene."
Raffi was silent for a while. That was pretty damn noble, but Rios didn't want to admit it. Rather than press him further, she decided to change the subject. "So, what do you have for entertainment on this vessel?"
"Eh, not much. You're not going to like it," Rios responded, offering her his handheld pad.
Raffi took it and scrolled through the options. "This is... this is all Klingon opera. Why do you have so much Klingon opera on this ship?"
"I wanted it to look authentic."
The warp core powered down, and Raffi felt some tension leave her body. It hadn't killed her, so that was a plus.
Rios turned on his handheld pad and looked through the readings. After a few minutes of waiting, the pad chimed. "OK, Kuz has beamed off-ship. It'll be a few hours before Pim makes contact with the ship."
"Can I get out and stretch yet?"
"No, not yet. We don't know if Kuz will return. Pim will contact us as soon as he's asleep."
"C'mon, Rios, I've been cramped in this damn compartment for 2 days. Let me get out and move around a bit."
"A few more hours won't hurt you. I would have thought Starfleet would have trained you to be tougher."
Raffi felt her stomach drop. She'd never told Rios she'd been in Starfleet. Had Sara?
"Oh, relax. Your secret's safe with me. I can see it in the way you hold yourself around a ship. Your comment about engineers - that's something an officer would say. Judging by the way you move around the facer guilds, I'd say, Starfleet Intelligence? You know a lot more than you let on."
"I'd tell you, but that's classified."
"Why'd you leave?"
Raffi looked him over. She wasn't sure what to make of Rios, or why he was asking. "That's classified. You?"
Rios shrugged. "Also classified."
Raffi spoke after a few moments. "It hurt, you know. Leaving. I had dedicated my life to Starfleet. I gave years of my life to the Federation in service. I believed in what we were doing. But when the time came to make the hard call - to help an enemy that desperately needed our help - Starfleet let us down, and my old admiral hung me out to dry. That's been, what, 6 years now? Still hurts like it was yesterday."
"Some wounds never heal," Rios conceded. "They stay with you. The world - it's not fair. Some of us get the short straw, through no fault of our own."
Raffi gave a small smile. "The old admiral had a saying he was fond of - 'It is possible to commit no mistakes and still lose. That is not a weakness. That is life.' Ain't that the truth. Why'd you leave?"
Rios was quiet for several moments. "That wound is still too fresh, unfortunately." He looked away, and Raffi left him to his thoughts.
Rio's pad chimed. "It's Pim. Let's make this quick." He opened the hatch to the compartment they'd been cooped up in, and Raffi felt momentarily light-headed as she stretched. "Go connect to the local commerce net and get started on the resale," Rios continued. "I'll get you Kuz's credentials. Once Pim's on board, it's straight to Freecloud."
"I've got to say," Raffi mused to herself, "I've never been the buyer, seller, and facer in a transaction before. I'm going to put this one on my résumé."
Raffi worked intently for several minutes. The commerce net was not unlike what they used out in Freecloud, and she found her way around it pretty easily.
"I've got the credentials," Rios called out.
"Great, send them to my console. Send me yours, too. I'll get this resale finalized."
Rios gave her a look that had weight.
"Oh, stop that. I'm not going to steal your identity. Who would want to be you, anyway?"
That made Rios chuckle. He finished what he was doing and went to the transporter pad. It activated, and a Ferengi woman and her son beamed aboard.
"As soon as the sale is in, take us to Freecloud, OK? I'm going to get these two settled in."
"Alright, captain," Raffi said with as much irony as she could muster.
A few more minutes on the commerce net and the sale was complete. "...and that should do it!" Raffi exclaimed to herself. "You're the proud owner of a new starship, Rios!" she shouted.
"Great!" came the reply.
"And coordinates laid in... OK, ship, take us to Freecloud!"
"Access denied."
"Uhh, that's not right. Maybe if I use the navigation console?" Raffi hopped to another seat and tried again.
"Access denied."
"Right. Let's try again with Rios's credentials - S-C-8-5-0-7-0-5."
"Access denied."
"With Kuz's credentials...?"
"Access denied."
"Uhh, Rios honey, I kind of need you on the briiiidge," Raffi shouted.
Rios came jogging over. "What's up?"
"Kuz changed the access codes. The ship won't move."
"That slimy bastard. Already?"
"Looks like it. His commerce credentials don't work, either. We're dead in the water, as it were."
Rios took a seat in the captain's chair. He cleared his throat, and then began to sing softly. "Arroz con leche se quiere casar..."
"Rios, this is no time for lullabies. We're in serious trouble here."
"...con una viudita de la capital..."
"Rios! We have a problem! We're stuck! If Kuz sees the sale's gone through, it's game over!"
"...que sepa tejer, que sepa bordar..."
"Have you gone mad? He's gone mad. God, we're in so much trouble."
"...que ponga la aguja en su campanal."
"Access codes restored," chimed the computer.
Raffi's eyes widened. She turned and looked at Rios, who sat with a smug grin on his face. "You put in a backdoor..." Raffi said breathlessly.
"I put in a backdoor," Rios confirmed, still grinning. "How about we get on our way to Freecloud, then?"
"You sneaky son of a bitch."
Raffi and Rios said their goodbyes to Pim and her son, who thanked them profusely for their assistance. Truth be told, the gratitude made Raffi uncomfortable, since she had come along for the ride because of the money. The two Ferengi beamed off ship, and Raffi and Rios turned to each other.
"Well, time to start taking down these Klingon decorations. I'm glad Kuz never got a chance to install any Ferengi decor - I'm not sure I could bear to see La Sirena be mistreated that way."
Raffi chuckled. "What are you going to do with your share of the sale? From the original sale, I mean?"
"Actually, I gave my cut to Pim. To help her start a new life, you know? She's going to need it."
Rios's comment stung. He'd been noble, and she'd been greedy. She shifted uncomfortably. "Maybe I should do the same?" she ventured. Even saying it hurt.
Rios tilted his head and gave a noncommittal shrug she couldn't quite understand. "It couldn't hurt."
Raffi groaned. "Ugh. Having a conscience hurts sometimes, you know?"
"That I do, Raffi, that I do."
"I do have one question for you, Rios, if you don't mind me asking. Your original plan - to grab Pim and deliver her to Freecloud - you weren't ever intending to walk away from it, were you? You were going to go out guns blazing?" she asked softly.
Rios cleared his throat, and when he spoke Raffi could hear the tears in his voice. "Some wounds you never heal from, Raffi."
"Some wounds you never heal from," she conceded. "All you can do is learn how to carry them."
They stood for a moment in silence.
"I hope you learn how to carry yours, Rios."