Trouble Is Her Middle Name

Posted on Tue Feb 7th, 2023 @ 2:13am by Petty Officer 3rd Class Fulvia Benvenuto

Mission: Trade And Tribulations
Location: Trarim Market

Fulvia Benvenuto had an assignment of her own while on Trarim. One of the ship’s stellar cartographers, the junior Petty Officer was tasked with finding as up-to-date a map as possible among the denizens of the commerce centre.

No easy task.

The part of the open air market where she and her companion, an Ops navigator from Earth whose name she never bothered to learn, was barely organized. She had grabbed a handful of Iotian coins from her personal stash before coming down and was handing them out like candies for any bit of information, much to the discomfort of her companion. It was working though. Every tip was met with a new clue, which brought them eventually to a booth being operated by an alien that looked like an Andorian messed around with a Tellarite on a high gravity planet. She could only see his face through a small screen in a pressure suit. She expected he smelled terrible in there.

“These fine people say you’re the man to see for maps,” she said confidently, leaning on the booth’s main table. “Don’t tell me all of these fine people are liars.”

“If you want maps, then Haggack Twilightbelly’s Map Emporium is where you want to shop,” he said, looking up to the customer. “And I, Haggack Twilightbelly, am the man to speak to!”

“Well, I represent a consortium of likeminded traders and exploiters,” Fulvia said, checking her fingernails as she spoke. “We’re new to this part of space and we need what you have, see?”

“Ms. Benvenuto,” said the navigator companion, “I don’t think—“

“Quiet, sweetie,” she replied dismissively. “Professionals are talking business. Why don’t you go buy yourself something nice?” She tossed him a coin and waved him away.

It was a minor miracle that the navigator in gold caught it, but he did, and he shuffled away to look at the goods on a nearby table, within eyeshot if not earshot.

“The Federation is new in town and we’re looking to carve out a piece of the action for ourselves,” she explained to Haggack Twilightbelly. “I hear there's money to be made out here. Money, power, a name for yourself. Imagine the benefits you'll get from this. When the Federation has taken what it wants, and is the new big player in town, you'll be able to proudly say that you helped us get there. And we remember our friends, Mister Twilightbelly."

The map vendor stood still, arms crossed, unmoved by the young woman's pitch.

"We also remember our enemies, Mister Twilightbelly," she added. "You don't want to be known as the one that denied us access to these precious maps. Especially when we want to be paying customers. Loyal customers. You'd betray your loyal customers, Mister Twilightbelly? That's not what a friend does. It's what an enemy does." She leaned forward, well into the map vendor's personal space. "Do you want to be my enemy?"

That's when she saw it out of the corner of her eye. A man, easily a head taller than her, face like it had been burned clean off, brandishing what could only be described as a piece. A gat. A tommy. A boomstick.

She dived across the shop counter and pinned the map vendor to the ground.

And then heard the telltale sound of a weapon being cocked.

"Ah, crud."