PLOT - JL | Lieutenant Si'a Dai'xun & Shadows | "Like A Light"

Posted on Tue Mar 13th, 2018 @ 2:04am by Captain Aine DiAgessi

Mission: Lacuna

It was bliss, the chance to be and feel and know that life was once more surging through veins that had once come to terms with its impending cessation and exodus. Si’a was a free spirit once more, basking in the glory of all that was and choosing to truly enjoy everything that came along with it. Sights, smells, sounds, the promenade of Cold Station Theta has a whole was so full of them. She wanted to know each one by its given name. A bag of exotic spices rested under one of her arms, a bundle of sweets in the coordinating hand. The intent was easy to see; share them with Ananxar and take the time to savor each sensory experience with him. Prove to him that there were better ways to enjoy life than by sight alone. The night before had been one of those. Words and voices held more meaning, little touches gave way to big smiles, dances held more sway. She knew now that she was truly his and, of course, he was hers. Leaving was out of the question. Instead of prepping for a departure she left for a dinner meeting that was a heartbeat away. With a toss of her head, shimmer of her hair, and a little flourish in her stride that gave her a little extra boost of speed, Si’a made her way back towards the lifts and stairs leading to the lower promenade decks and the little restaurant that they’d agreed to.

Of course that meant shadows, but for a child of the stars that glowed and stood waiting for the lift with the tune of a song on her lips, they were inconsequential. Nothing more than an absence of otherwise artificial light, an element that hardly frightened her.

It should have.

At this time of day, when the promenade was so crowded with people who were all eager to see and to be seen, others who lacked that urge often sought the safety or the obscurity of the corridors and access tubes which ran behind the restaurants and shops. In the mornings, those areas were used to transport goods to the shops and restaurants, in the afternoon they were quiet. In the evening and nights they were best to be avoided. Most people who did not belong there did discover that in time. Some did not.

Si'a had been walking through the promenade decks, mostly. But those secundary corridors were close, intersected them often enough, and while she had been wandering around from shop to market stall, it hadn't only been the kind and friendly people on Cold Station Theta who had been watching her progress.

Two persons had been tracking her for the last half hour now. Predators looking for easy prey. Shady merchants looking to make some money. They were looking for specific targets. And here was one. Beautiful, exotic, and extremely rare. She was walking alone, which made matters even easier to arrange. As soon as the men had seen her, they had looked at each other and nodded without a sound. Nothing needed to be said.

Her?

Yes. Her.

As she waited for the lift to arrive, two strong arms sneaked out of the shadows, grabbed and pulled with a single, practiced motion. One arm pressing her mouth shut, a piece of cloth already folded in the palm of his hand, the other ready to catch her when she sagged to the ground. That was the idea. A quick smash and grab. They'd done it dozens of times before.

She hadn't even the time to scream, the time to fight. The quick intake of breath needed to fill her lungs for that cry was quickly muffled and shut out by the clapping of the hand over her mouth. Worse, it forced the ether, soaked deep in the bit of cloth, deep into her lungs. She may have jerked, tried feebly to grab an arm as her parcels fell to the deck plates below, or she may not. Her mind was beyond categorizing movement or consciousness in mere seconds as it worked to flood her body and senses with the calm that such a form of anesthesia brought almost instantaneously.

The moment her feeble body went limp, another set of arms captured her and kept her head (the long, thick ocean of turquoise hair and all) from hitting the deck near her spices and the little satchel of tamarind and other assorted sweets that had landed beside them. Best of all, those arms managed to be just enough to support her weight so that the sudden motion of her body losing the ability to hold itself didn't accidentally snap her slender, delicate neck as it weighed against the awkward hold of the hands still clamped tightly over her mouth and nose. Forced to continue to inhale and exhale nothing more than atmosphere tainted by the ether and the essence of old leather gloves, Si'a vaguely remembered not being surprised at all as her sea-hued eyes fluttered closed. When they did, she was sent sinking into a darkness where sounds warbled beneath thousands of fathoms and she continued to sink, unable to fight to the surface of consciousness necessary to resurrect and save herself.

The first one twitched his arm and glanced at the readings on the device strapped to his wrist. "Aaaaand she's out," he whispered. The air barely trembled, but the two men were so attuned at each other that his companion immediately understood. With practiced ease, they hoisted Si'a between them. One of the men deftly wrapped a hideous green gown around her, which had the added benefit of hiding most of her hair. A purple hat with yellow flowers and a wide brim was planted on her head by the other, and some drops of alcohol were sprinkled on her throat. There. One woman with a leetle too much to drink being gallantly helped to her quarters or vessel by two nice-looking gentlemen. Oh, they had their roles down pat.

They entered the lift, exited at the lower promenade deck and turned a corner – and for all practical purposes, vanished from the station. From that moment on, no camera had tracked them, nobody who was willing to talk had seen them, and those who weren't willing to talk clammed up and didn't say anything at all, not about any subject. Good latinum had been paid to ensure this would continue to be the case. And in some cases, additional pressure had been applied.

Simple, smooth and without any hassle. One down.

One to go.

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Lieutenant Si'a Dai'xun
Stellar Cartographer
USS VINDICATOR, NX 78213-F

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Shadows (APB SHA'MER)