[TheNoir] "The Price of a Slice of Bread."

  • From: MaureenENicks@xxxxxxx
  • To: thenoir@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Date: Tue, 23 Nov 2004 14:11:33 EST

 
 
"The Price of a Slice of Bread." 
By M.E. Nicks and Anita Tessasohn 
The corridors were certainly bright. Anita wasn't use to that, and it looked  
new, or well- almost new. It made her not trust whoever was piloting this 
ship.  Or the rest of the people. Not that she'd care about trust. She accessed 
a 
 terminal, and found that she was close to the bridge. Heading for the 
turbolift,  she turned the corner and found the galley. Perking an eyebrow she 
entered it-  killing someone had sparked an unexpected appetite. 
Cervin had done a damn good job restocking the galley and it made M.E. smile  
to see that he’d even picked up some chocolate. She was just about to help  
herself when she heard the doors open and the sounds of footfalls on the  deck. 
She wouldn’t have given it a second thought, figuring it to be one of her  
crewmen, but Goo didn’t hiss and spit at her crewmen, not even Wagner. M.E.  
pressed herself against the wall and pulled her pistol from it’s holster on 
her  
hip. 
Anita looked around, the cabinets were certainly was full of food, it nearly  
sickened her if she wasn't hungry. What was this ship? She shook her head and 
 took the bread, like she was taking someone's severed arm and examining it.  
"Hmm," Anita said nonchalantly as she took the bread out. 
M.E. came out of her corner slowly, watching as the young woman took the  
bread out of the cabinet, she knew better then to get with any attacking  
distance so she stayed just where she was out of reach; but she had a clean  
shot. 
"You have five seconds to get your hands were I can see them, tell me who  the 
hell you are and what the hell your doing on my ship before your brains are  
added to the decor."  
"Colorful, and here I thought I was the only one that appreciated a nice  
kill," Anita gave a crooked smiled as she stared down at the bread. She turned  
her head, her eyebrows went down and her eyes desolved into... something. She  
raised her hands up, not putting much effort in the woman’s threat. "The 
name's  Anita as far as you're concerned. You really going to shoot me for a 
slice 
of  bread?" 
Anita noticed the... thing hanging around the woman. She wanted to laugh at  
the pathetic creature that hissed repeatedly. "As for my being on your ship, I 
 just need passage. I don't see any harm.. lest of course you want harm."  
"Of course I wouldn’t shoot you over a slice of bread." M.E. said coolly, her 
 aim on the woman never faltering. "I’d drop you where you stood for stealing 
 away on my ship. There are better ways of gaining passage ya know." M.E. 
looked  the woman up and down, head to toe, her steely gaze finally remaining 
on 
the  woman’s face. Something in the back of M.E.’s brain prickled. 
Something 
about  this woman was setting of an alarm. 
"Of course," Anita gave a bored smile as she lowered her hands slowly. "I was 
 in a rush, there was no time for.. formalities. So, can I take this slice? 
Or  will I end up sizzling before I can get that far?" 
M.E. was really going to have to have a ‘talk’ with Harrison about his  ‘
security’ of the ship. How the fuck did people keep getting on without 
setting  
off alarms? "How’d you get on my ship?" She asked ignoring the woman’s 
smart 
ass  remarks. 
Anita gave a bubbly chuckle, "you dont really expect me to tell you all my  
secrets just because you have a weapon pointed at me do you?" Anita shook her  
head and took the slice. The texture felt too hard, too rough, but so 
delicate.  Like a guy in her control. That brought out a sudden laugh but she 
just 
turned  her head back to the woman, attention coming back. 
Reaching for her comm with her free hand M.E. sent a message to Cervin to  
report to the mess hall armed, while sending a telepathic message to Alex for  
her and Harrison to secure the ship and look for others. All the while her  
weapon aimed at the woman and her mind scanning her surface thoughts and daring 
 
to delve deeper. "How were you able to beam on to my ship with out rising  
alarms?" The surface thoughts were easy but this woman wasn’t a novice around 
 
telepaths. 
She gave a frustrated sigh, "your shields were down, everything else is  
elementary especially if you were trained for it." 
M.E. was giving herself a headache trying to access the woman’s mind. The  
more she weeded thought the nonsense any low lever pee-on was trained to use to 
 
block telepathy the more she had a feeling this one was trouble, trouble that 
 felt familiar to her. "You’d better enjoy your snack cause your ass is about 
to  get the fuck off my ship." 
"Ah, yes, space is always fun for the meek.. outside the airlock. I don't  
suppose you heard of Thirty One?" She rolled her eyes and shrugged, "not that 
in 
 matters." 
The laugh that slipped past M.E.’s lips was sudden and so was the sudden  
blaze in her eyes. If this woman was thirty one she wouldn’t make it past the 
 
doors. The last thing she needed was to have people know where Alex and 
Harrison 
 were. "Who hasn’t heard of it. Doesn’t exist, thirty one is just one of 
those  stories that mommies tell their naughty kids about to scare the shit out 
of  them."  
"Of course, and the Tal Shiar bears gifts for it's children. I'm not  
thirty-one. Or did you not listen to what I had to say? I need passage, and Im  
willing to pay for it, if it's money you want."  
M.E. eyed her as she wondered where the hell Cervin was. She was pretty sure  
John wasn’t up to be screwin’ around yet so he should have been here by 
now. 
 "Your running from thirty one?"  
John entered the galley, Cervin's pistol in hand. He looked up to see M.E.  
and another. M.E. didn’t know he was awake, but didn’t distract herself for 
the  small lost in details. Her attention was fixed on the blonde haired woman, 
and  John caught the woman staring at him just for a moment. 
She reeked with darkness and when Anita glanced his way, she laughed, "aww,  
two people to take care of me, Im all misty-eyed," she glared at M.E., "I'm 
not  running from- or with- thirty one. Never was, they found me.. shall we 
say...  different." An instant frown formed and disappeared into that smile she 
was fond  of giving. 
It was just the smallest of moments but M.E. was about to something. "They  
wanted you but then changed their minds. You must be really fucked up if they  
discarded you." 
"You say tomatoe, I say tamatoe. Whatever. Now," Anita felt her patience  
thinning out, "either you shoot me. Or I eat, decide. One way or the other, I  
still rather not be held at gun point." She frizzled her hair with her free 
hand 
 before shaking off the anger. It wasn't working. 
M.E. laughed again. "Your trespassing on my ship and your pissed off? You got 
 some goddamn nerve." 
"Gotta have some fun," she gave a cynical smile, and took a step forward, "so 
 either shoot me, or you let me eat. Oh, and I hear- or rather- I found out  
through some discreet searching that you're hiring."  
For the smallest, briefest, of moments M.E. thought about what kinda fun she  
could have with this woman, but it passed quickly. Clearly the woman had 
skills,  but it was also just as clear that she couldn’t be trusted. "And 
what if 
I am?"  
"Well, I'm always in need of cash. Just thought maybe one more person might  
be handy to you. Or don't you trust me?" Anita looked over to the man, "you're 
 one for sore eyes, dont you have something better to do than stand there?" 
John looked at M.E., who shook her head telling him he needed to stay until  
she thought it was safe. He stared back and shrugged, "don't need you 
attempting  anything." 
"Yeah, right. And I'm dangerous right now," she looked at M.E. and took one  
more step forward, "so how about it, Dear? You scratch my back, I'll try not 
to  stab yours." 
M.E. tossed about a couple of ideas in her head. Then she smiled sickly. "You 
 want passage? I can do that." She then looked at John. "Throw her in the 
brig."  Then she looked at the woman. "As for the job. I’ll think about it. 
Oh 
and enjoy  the snack.. Dear..?"  
Anita laughed dropped the slice of bread. Appetite gone, "you're  
intriguing... Captain. Wished the circumstances were different when we met.  
Here, if 
this will help convince you I won’t try anything," Anita took her wrist  
knives, 
the knives at her boots, and the small palm phaser she carried at the  small 
of her back; and settled all of it on the table, "I'll want those back.  Oh, 
and maybe you'll want to walk too.. men don't last long with me." 
John perked an eyebrow as M.E. gestured for them to go. Anita smiled,  
flashing teeth in a near psychotic grimace and brushed past  M.E.

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