The Beginning Of The End

Posted on Apr 08, 2015 @ 12:15pm by Raxl Dreyton
Edited on on Apr 08, 2015 @ 12:15pm

Mission: Limbo

= The Beginning of the End =
(cont'd from "Back To Limbo")

LOCATION: LIMBO
SCENE: Fighting Pits
STARDATE: [2.15] 0403.2310

Raxl followed Aella into the Pit’s entrance area towards the arena proper. He wasn’t *chasing* her, but he’d gotten the idea that he didn’t want the woman out of his sight for very long if he could help it. Aella’s speech patterns weren’t enough by themselves to prove anything, but they supported what Raxl realized he’d suspected about her all along: that she was not who she said she was.

He was also pretty sure her ability to manipulate him went farther than just a pretty face; looking back on the time since they’d met, Rax could remember wanting to go along with each insane plan she hooked him into, but he couldn’t know remember quite *why* he’d been so eager. Now that he had some distance, he recognized how insane it was that he’d let Aella talk him into trying to bluff Harad-Sar, or to steal the Orion’s hidden data stores. But while he could remember being *aware* of the danger he was putting himself in, he also could remember that danger just not seeming very important at the time.

Rax had enjoyed a wild youth, and had picked up bad habits that had followed well into middle-age. He knew what it was like to be drugged, to have his perceptions altered or his decision-making compromised. That’s what this felt like. There was no heady after-effects, no distortions to his perception of time or gaps in his memory, nothing that suggested an obvious means of chemical compulsion… but he realized now that he wasn’t himself around Aella, and he had a feeling that was exactly what she wanted.

**So why are you so eager to catch up with her?** Rax thought to himself as he picked his way through the crowd. **Are you that eager to hand her the keys to your mind again, Dreyton?**

He considered that danger for a moment, then dismissed it. Whatever Aella was doing, Rax had a feeling that it wouldn’t work as well now that he was wise to the trick. So long as he was careful, patient, and professional, he thought he would be safe, and he might finally be able to figure out just who exactly Aella Navarron was.

**You already have your suspicions…** he thought, and a chill went down his spine. There were millions of people on LIMBO, there was no reason to think he’d stumbled across his quarry so early without realizing it, but Rax realized with some dismay that he couldn’t rule out the possibility that Aella was, in fact, Selyara Chen, the very woman Rax had come to capture. She was dangerous, and smart, certainly capable of pulling off… whatever it was Aella had done to Rax, and tricking the bounty hunter into working *with* her is exactly the kind of thing Selyara would try.

**Don’t jump to conclusions,** Rax thought. **But be careful.**

The crowd buzzed with activity all around him. The fights hadn’t officially started yet, but it sounded like the pre-show was well under way; Rax could hear the rise and fall of the crowd’s cheers through the large doors that led to the arena. Right now it would be small time stuff, debtors who’d missed too many payments or folks so hard up for money they were willing to subject themselves to serious bodily harm for the sake of a few credits. Death wasn’t necessarily a given in the arena, but its shadow loomed over all the proceedings, and the energy in the air told Rax that most of the people around him wouldn’t mind whetting their appetites for blood before the main event got underway.

Rax stepped out of the path of a drunk El’Aurian and into the main arena. It was a large bowl shape, with seating all around the upper level and the fighting area below. Two humans were in the bowl now, fighting barehanded. Rax could tell in an instant they were amateurs- probably debtors who’d chosen the arena as a way to wipe away their debt- and had a feeling this fight might go on for awhile. Expert fighters, people with real training, looked for ways to end the fight quickly, or at least prolong it in a way that kept the crowd entertained. Amateurs tended to just pound on one another until one of them dropped. Often, a fighter would hurt themselves as much as their opponent, and it was usually just sheer luck that left one of them standing instead of the other. Rax decided to ignore the combatants and scanned the crowd in the seats, looking for Aella. The stands were mostly empty, so he spotted her quickly.

Rax made his way over to her. Aella’s eyes were fixed on the fight below, and she made no movement or indication that she’d seen him, but as he approached Aella scooted automatically to the side to make room for Rax on the seat beside her. Rax noticed she was holding a drink, and there was another one waiting for him on his seat.

“There was a vendor selling these when I got here,” she said, taking a sip of the drink she held. “The drink’s on me. Call it a thank you for all the help you’ve given me.”

Rax picked up his drink, but he didn’t sample it. He sat down on the seat next to her, stared down at the two fighters in the pit without really seeing them, and tried to decide how to proceed. He considered just coming out with it and laying his accusation right at her feet, but decided that would largely be a waste of time. Aella would only deny it, after all.

**So what’s the plan, genius?** Rax thought to himself. **You just gonna jump her right here? Carry some kicking, screaming woman out of the pits and all the way back to your ship?**

**Why not?** he countered himself. **You’ve got the necessary paperwork. You’ve got a good faith belief that she’s Selyara Chen. LIMBO ain’t exactly known for its good Samaritans. Why should anyone stop you?**

**But she’s dangerous. Right now, your only advantage might be that she doesn’t know she’s been made.**

**She’ll figure it out quick when you make your move, no matter how careful you are. No sense in dragging it out.**

Rax seemed ready to sit there arguing with himself for the rest of the night, but he was shocked when Aella cut the knot for him and spoke up.

“You seem nervous,” she said, casually.

“No, uh, just… keeping an eye out,” Rax said.

“And you’re not drinking your drink,” Aella said, punctuating this observation by taking a sip of her own beverage.

“Uh,” Rax said.

Aella turned to look at him now, and her expression was cold and could have been carved from stone. Rax fought the urge to slide away from her on the seat they shared. He felt the weight of his sidearm still clipped to his belt and felt a little better, but not much.

“I suppose it couldn’t work forever,” she sighed. “It works best in small doses, I think. Less pieces for the victim to put together, less chance for them to figure it out.”

“What are you talking about?” Rax said. He put his drink down, hoping the movement would distract her, while he slowly reached for the butt of his phaser pistol with his other hand. Aella wasn’t fooled for a minute.

“Not here,” she cautioned. “People could get hurt. Including you, Mr. Dreyton.”

"Where's this coming from all of a sudden?" Rax asked, trying on one of his charming smiles. “You got something on your mind, darlin’?”

“Let’s drop the pretense,” Aella said. “I know you know who I am.”

Rax nodded slowly. “Say I do. What now?”

“There’s what I think *should* happen,” Aella (**Selyara,** Raxl mentally corrected himself) said, “…and what I suspect *will* happen.”

“All right. Lay it on me.”

“What *should* happen is you should finish your drink- it isn’t poisoned, whatever you might suspect- and then you should get up and leave,” Selyara said. Her gaze never wavered, her expression never changed. "And never come looking for me again."

“There’s a thought,” Rax said. He took her on her word and picked up his drink and took a sip. It was good.

“But you’re not going to do that, are you?” Selyara asked.

“I got a job to do,” Rax said. “I have a responsibility to my employer.”

"I see," Selyara said. "So here's what I suspect *will* happen: you're very shortly going to do something very stupid, force my hand, and wind up dead. Or at least in an awful lot of pain."

One of the fighters in the ring scored a solid hit, and the meaty sound of the blow was quickly lost against the cheers of the crowd. They could smell the blood in the air, and it seemed to have renewed their interest.

"Decisions, decisions," Rax said, smiling at her. "You mind if I finish my drink while I think it over?"

This prompted a slight smile from Selyara. Raxl couldn't tell if it was genuine; she'd said they were dropping the pretense, but Rax had a feeling she was the sort of person who never totally dropped the facade.

"Please do," she said. "It wasn't cheap."

Rax took another sip. Down in the pit, one of the fighters had knocked the other one off his feet, then mounted him quickly and was in the process of raining down a series of savage blows to the man's head. The crowd's jeers and shouts of encouragement rose with each subsequent attack.

"Tell me one thing," Selyara said. "How did you know?"

"Trade secret," said Rax.

"Oh please," Selyara said. "Don't ruin what might be your last chance to tell someone how smart you are."

"I think I liked you better as a Romulan," Rax said.

He threw his drink aside and grabbed for his phaser pistol even as Selyara started moving. Rax had a fast draw, but Selyara didn't need to bother with a weapon. Rax had almost brought his gun to bear when her fist slammed into his jaw. Rax fell backwards off the seat as Selyara pressed her advantage. She twisted his phaser out of his hand at the same moment she buried her knee in his stomach, driving all the wind out of him.

A kick came next, snapping hard across Raxl's chin and severing one of his last remaining links to consciousness. In the last corner of his mind that still had any lights on, Rax weighed the pros and cons of trying to get back to his feet. Selyara took the decision out of his hands by leveling his phaser at him and firing. A lance of orange light struck him in the chest, carrying Raxl Dreyton away into soupy unconsciousness.

=[/\]=

Selyara glanced around. The roar of the assembled crowd had covered most of the sounds of their scuffle, but a few patrons sitting nearby were staring at her, goggle-eyed. She fixed a few with a cold stare, and they quickly returned their attention to the fight still going on below.

Selyara pocketed the bounty hunter's weapon, and made her way towards an exit. The Shadow Market would be opening soon. Rawyvin Seth would be coming for her, and with any luck Tella Yavin would be coming for him. All she had to do was keep moving.

Behind her, Raxl Dreyton stirred.

=[/\]=

Shawn Putnam
a.k.a.
Jake Crichton
Chief Engineering Officer
USS PHOENIX

and sometimes

Raxl Dreyton
Bounty Hunter