Diving In
Posted on Wed Jan 28th, 2015 @ 6:12pm by Dahleya & Samanthia Akiashiro
Mission:
The Art of the Hunt [Incomplete]
Location: "The Dive"
The Dive certainly seemed to have earned its name. Compared to the glitz and glamor the more high scaled bars and clubs on the upper Promenade, this one had the look that it had always seen better days. The clientele were a bit more rough and tumble than in the upper decks, though it wasn't like Dahleya really minded. These were her type of people. Well, they were sort of her people. Dahleya certainly enjoyed the finer things in life when she could get them, but hole in the wall places like this tended to cater to the lowest denominator. And the lowest denominator was where she made her money.
She strolled into the place like she owned it, her long coat trailing behind her. There were a couple of glances her way, probably because not many Denobulans made it this far away from the Federation core, but she had no doubt that the visible phasers strapped to her thigh had something to do with it too. On her way to the bar, Dahleya took a look around. She was hoping that she would run into Vendenje, but she knew the odds of that were slim. She just hoped that he hadn't received word of her presence yet. She flagged down the bartender with a wave and a smile. "Hi there. I'm new to these parts. Do you have any local specialties?"
The bar tender, Zebadiah, 'Zeb' to those that he's well acquainted with, was human in appearance, but that was all that was human about him. Looking like a down on his luck spacer tramp that seen and experienced many things. Grey hairs perfectly blended into a fast fading dark brown hair that was kept trimmed into a flattop crew cut. Baby faced where it came to facial hair. Humor wrinkles graced the corners of his sharp unearthly electric arch blue eyes that seamed to miss nothing. He smirked at the 'I'm new here' part. Even though she looked different, there was the tell-tale mannerisms that gave away her lie. "Ritorian Jelly, three centimeter by two centimeter section of Latium." He responded after a lengthy pause while he polished a mug spotless and shiny before starting on another one fresh from the dishwasher that was built into the bar, but unseen from the customer's side of the bar. His quiet authoritive voice had a nice deep timbre to it.
His lean muscular physique had the touch of going soft from such a sedate position of being a bartender that left the heavy violence to the bouncers that were present, yet stayed 'invisible' the way that Bouncers perfected over weeks of employment as they mingled with the patrons. But then the Bouncer's jobs were to protect the stock and V.I.P's such as Samanthia, Employees and Friends of Samanthia's and several Crime Lords that haunt the stations such as these. Otherwise the patrons were on their own when it came to survivability of a violent encounters that happened here often, but not enough to drive away the clientele of regulars, those out looking for some fun and relief from pent up anger and stress. Tourist looking for a bit more than the more sedate bars on the promenade decks of the station.
"Ritorian Jelly," Dahleya replied with a little bit of shock. "I'm surprised that you're able to get any with all the trade restrictions. Don't worry, I won't ask about your source," she added with a smile. While she may have been working on the side of the Federation, she wasn't here to enforce embargoes. Besides, even if Kam was their source, alienating the local proprietors was not a good way to get her closer to her goal. She counted out the latinum and handed it over. The price was a little steep, but she figured that she had to spend money to make money. "I'm glad there's a place like this on the station. Most of those places on the Promenade are just too stuffy, you know?" she said, hoping to start up some sort of dialogue. Bartenders may not always be the loudest people, but it's amazing what they may have seen.
"These places always pop up. Some get shut down, others thrive like this place. Sometimes people need a little 'Physical' counseling that visiting the therapist doesn't help with their problems." Taking her money and headed off to retrieve the Ritorian Jelly with it's euphoric properties which can get quite addictive if consumed in large quantities. He returned and set the little platter with a small cube of brown transparent jelly with a spork (spoon with the tip cut into three points) before Dahleya. "Enjoy." He said pleasantly to her and stepped back to resume his duty. Polishing mugs between serving drinks.
The conversation level of noise rose again once the patrons had taken measure of Dahleya. Card games resumed, shady dealing in the darkened corners and edge of the room. Music still blared from he speakers that were hastily wired to the walls mingling in with various pictures of space senses, people and aliens alike.
The bounty hunter took the regional delicacy and started to eat as she scanned the room. The number of card games were of no surprise to the Denobulan. Her sources said that Nunk got into his little altercation during a card game with Kam and Raela. Maybe that was a place to start. She finished off the jelly and smiled at Zeb. "I heard rumors about a card game not too long ago that got a little rough. There were certainly a lot of punches thrown, and maybe even some gun fire. Were you around that night? I wouldn't think there would be that much trouble with those bouncers over there, so I'm sure it was a pretty big deal."
Zeb scowled at the mention of the fiasco. "Forced us to move and Mistress Akiashiro wasn't too pleased." Setting the newly polished mug on the shelf with the other polished mugs that gleamed in the soft backlighting of the shelf, with a bit of force. "I suggested in putting up energy dampening field to disrupt energy weapon. But half the patrons here pack heat." He spoke softly, using the same rag to polish the gleaming bar counter top as he leaned closer to Dahleya to impart his point of view. "But then there is one less Ferengi to worry about. Dirty little people." He scrubbed at an imaginary blemish on the highly shined counter top. "What brings such a pretty lady unescorted to this place and ask about an weeks old shoot-out? Meeting someone?" Figuring on the age old way of sharing information, in taking turns prying information out of each other.
Dahleya gave the bartender a wide, friendly smile as she leaned in closer. She ignored the comment about Ferengi, but given the way she tended to treat Nunk she didn't have a lot of room to talk. She also chose not to expand on his comment about the patrons packing heat. It's not like she wasn't armed. "Not exactly meeting someone so much as I'm looking to meet someone. I'm trying to find a woman, a Cardassian. I believe that she was involved in that fight. I don't know for sure that she's still on the station, but that doesn't mean that her trail does lead from here. Have you seen her, or know anything about her?"
"We get a lot of Cardies..." Zeb used the slang for Cardassians that people used to shorten their lengthy responses to others, "..here in this establishment. Unless you have a picture of the particular Cardy you're after. I can't be much of help." Even if it was a rare moment that a Cardassian did come to this place as they tended to stay where it was more active and less chance of being accused of wrong doings by being in the wrong spot at the wrong time. And when a Cardassian did show up in these type of places, all sorts of hell broke out and bodies were usually left behind.
Dahleya was a bit disappointed that he didn't know who she was talking about right away. There couldn't have been that many Cardassians involved in a bar fight. Then again, she didn't know how many bar fights took place around here. She dug into her satchel and pulled out a PADD. She typed in a few commands and handed it to the bartender. "It's not a very good picture, I'm afraid," Dahleya said, referring to the blurry image on the screen. "She can be a bit illusive. The night in question she was playing in a poker game with at least a Ferengi, a Nausican, and a Bajoran. That's a rare sight in nearly every bar I've ever been to."
Zeb took the PADD and looked it over with a very thoughtful expression. He fiddled with the PADD a bit. He had gotten the picture a little bit clearer, but not by much. He gave a chuckle, "An Andorian joined the group, then all hell broke out. It seamed that Cardassian woman just disappeared. Her name was..." Setting the PADD face down on the bar next Dahleya plate. "Raela... " sounding thoughtful as if he wasn't to sure of the name. It had been quite noisy that night. "And Kam, Tornigar, a Nausican that got himself shot over a Andorian woman. If the Bajoran hadn't stolen the Ferengi's phaser and shot the Nausican. I'd won a few latinum chunks. Raela, the Cardy, did the fade scene real quick once the violence broke out." The fight was coming back as he remembered the incident. It caused them to move after being shut down and hefty bribes given out to keep what stock (various imported liquors) was in the storage in The Dives Employees control. He gave a soft chuckle. "A Nausican, deputized to be a Marshal. How stupid can you get?"
Dahleya took the PADD back. "I happen to know the Marshal that deputized him, and you're right, he's not the brightest. So you don't have any idea where she might have gone when she left? Have you seen her since? What about the others in the fight, the Andorian or the Bajoran? Have heard from them? They might help me find this Raela." Dahleya was trying to hold back her excitement. Depending on what the bartender knew, she might even get to skip going after Raela, and go straight to Kam. It sounds like he was regular enough that he was known by name.
Zeb looked thoughtful, "hold on a sec." He scurried off to fill a bunch of orders from the waitresses and those like Dahleya at the bar. Letting her stew for several minutes as he filled orders and made change, slipped into the back room to bring out fresh stock to be opened and placed on the shelves behind the bar. Took a bunch of empty bottles along with the trash into the stockroom. He came back out with a case of good old fashion bottles beer, called Hieneken. He removed the bottles from the case and put them into the various coolers arrayed along the bar counter. He kept glancing in the direction of Dahleya to see if she was still there as he was busy catching up on bar business. Meaning to get back to her, yet was suddenly swamped with regulars coming off shift, the few odd tourist that managed to find their way into The Dive.
Dahleya was starting to get a little annoyed that the bartender had run off. She understood that he had other customers to get to, but she was still hoping to learn something else that might help her. There were always other bars, and they would likely be good sources of information as well, but she was hoping to get more information out of this one, especially since he was there for the fight. She decided to wait a bit longer, giving him a bit more time to respond before she slipped away.
Zeb came back after the rush. "Not to many people wanna work here." He spoke to her suddenly before her, placing a chilled bottle of Hienekan before her. "The Andorian, she's bad news. I don't know what Miss Akaishiro saw in her. But you gotta admit Sivity was a beauty and a spitfire of a Security Officer. Miss Akaishiro auctioned her off along with a bottle Tat-Pink, some Sol-3 French Champagne." He gave a soft masculine chuckle, "when she shows up here, you can feel the temperature rise. But then this is a place to have fun while letting off steam." Over in the corner a minor scuffle flared up and died, merely getting a glance from the patrons and those close to the fight, simply moved away, letting the two fight it out. "The Bajoran and Andorian slipped out together as Security rushed into the place to investigate the weapon's discharge. Seeing the Dead Nausican and a bloody Ferengi. Shut the place down. Held those too stupid to flee at the first sight of Security and us employees." He leaned back against the back counter that held the drinks, mugs, glasses and assorted snack foods on display after putting the soiled dishes in a nearby hidden dishwasher. "As for the Cardy...you might want to try Alexander's up on the Promenade levels."
He suddenly rolled his eyes, yelling over to several waitress's to keep their panties from bunching up. He turned his back to her and began fixing more drinks that they needed for customers. "Anyway.. "Glancing over his shoulder at Dahleya as he worked. "... Everyone comes through this place and or Alexander's."
"Good to know," the Denobulan replied. She dug out some slips of latinum, laid them on the table, and pushed them towards Zeb. "Here's for the beer, and a little extra for you. As busy as you seem to be, you ought to push for a raise. It already looks like you're running the place." She sampled the Earth drink, finding that it had an interesting taste. Not as good as some drinks from Denobula, but Dahleya still approved. "I appreciate your help. If I even need help finding anyone else around here, I know who to call." She raised the green-tinted bottle towards him before taking another drink. Dahleya might not have found Kam, but at least she might be on the trail of another piece of the puzzle.
Zeb seamed to grow a third arm, but he moved quickly to swipe the latinum off the bar before it disappeared into someone else's pocket. He nodded as he resumed with the prepping of the drinks. His attention more focused on his work and other patrons. Yet still kept her in mind if she wanted to order or continue to speak.
Dahleya
Bounty Hunter
Zebadiah [NPC by Akiashiro]
The Dive Bartender
