𝘈𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘕𝘰𝘰𝘯, 𝘋𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 4.
"Put these boxes over here ! They need to be brought down to the storage rooms quickly, they contain spoilable goods." "Yes sir, but what about the other 3 that are still on board ?" "Just put them out for now, I will see to them later."
It was a busy day at space station "Deep Space Nine". A Vulcan freighter carrying goods from the planet to DS9 had just docked at the upper pylon 3 and everyone involved was busy carrying chests and bags around or managing and overseeing the beaming and loading process. Between all of that, no one seemed to notice the hooded figure quietly making their way out from behind a big box still on the transport pad and into the shadows on a wall in the back to get to the door on the further side of the docking bay. Staying in the shadows, they waited for the next opportunity to slip out of the door unnoticed. They hid for a good long while until the loading was almost done and only a few were still in the room, all of them busy with the Vulcans. Then finally, they saw their chance as a lonely security officer made their way outside, and dashed through the closing gate behind him, before immediately hiding behind the frame of the door, and releasing a breath they had been holding. Feeling safe in the dark corner, they pulled down their mask for just a few breaths of fresh air, and you could see their face under the hood for the first time. It was a female Bajoran as it seemed, as she had the typical nose grooves trailing almost up to her forehead. But she didn't have the typical, strong physique of the Bajorans, her features were slim and elegant. From what you could make out in the shadows, she had very pale skin and a few bruises and scratches adorned her face. The deep bags under her bright blue eyes betrayed her lack of sleep.
Sighing, she pulled the mask back up and quietly began to make her way down the long hallway, always on the lookout for other people that might come her way. Finally, she came into a more populated area of the station, now able to let her guard down just a little bit. She stood to the side for a little, looking around, seemingly not knowing were to go next. Luckily, a security officer, the one who she had followed out before, spotted her and came over. "Hello ma'am, can i help you ? You look a little lost." She jumped a bit in surprise because she hadn't seen him coming. Chuckling lightly, he apologized. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you like that." "Oh i...its ok. I was... just not looking at my surroundings correctly." she said awkwardly and pulled her hood down a little more. "A...also yes, I do require some help. I... i seem to have lost my directions. Could you please tell me were the... promenade deck is ?" "Oh yes, of course. Your not that far from it actually. Just go straight left from here, there is a crossing just a few meters ahead. Then go through the hallway to your left and at the end of it is the entrance to the promenade." The woman nodded and murmured a thanks, before walking off as quick as possible. "Your welcome !" the officer called after her, but she had already vanished in the crowd. Shaking his head, he just continued his patrol, not thinking further about the encounter.
In the meantime, the woman had already reached the crossing. Turning left, she maneuvered through the steady flow of people going to and from the promenade deck. Finally, she reached the gate and stepped through, into a mall-like Room with a high ceiling and two floors, that was buzzing with people and creatures of a colorful variety of different species. 'What I wouldn't give, for a place to be alone for a while' she thought to herself, and let her gaze wander around in search for the loneliest place she could find. The first thing her eyes settled on, was a bar with the big letters "Quark's" pinned above the entrance. She wandered over to it and stepped inside, only to be greeted by even more people, laughing, drinking, or gambling at the few game tables set up in the middle. Not finding this to be the right place to calm down, she walked off again, continuing her search and exploring the area.
Finally, she found something that looked relatively promising. A clothing shop on the farthest end of the upper floor. It was a little smaller and had only a few customers. Quickly slipping inside, she looked around for the most quiet place and found it to be a little seating area just beside the changing cabins. 'Perfect, just out of view from the entrance' she thought, and sat down on one of the benches. Closing her eyes, she leaned back and enjoyed the peace while it lasted.
At around the same time, in another part of the promenade deck, the chief of security, Constable Odo, was doing one of his patrol rounds, just to check on everything and to see that everyone behaved according to the rules. He had just come out of Quarks Bar were he had finished his daily spying on the Ferengi and his customers. He was now on his way to check the rest of the shops. Walking slowly with his hands behind his back, his eyes were watching like a hawk for anything or anyone that looked even a bit suspicious. He had just passed Garak's clothing shop when he suddenly stopped in his tracks and went back a few steps. From this position, he could see a hooded figure in the back of the shop, sitting on one of the benches in a small waiting area. What were they doing there ? They did not look like one of Garak's regular customers, and definitely not like someone who was there to shop for clothes. He decided to go over and investigate further. He slipped into the shop just out of the figures line of sight and morphed into a t-shirt on one of the clothing racks just next to the seating area. Then he observed and waited. The figure wore a heavy, black cloak with a big hood pulled deep into their face and also a dark brown mask to hide their face for whatever reason. They also wore finger less gloves and very warm clothing in general. Probably someone used to a warmer climate. They looked to be pretty tall, with long legs and arms and fragile looking body features. They sat there with their arms crossed in front of their chest, looking down on their shoes. They seemed to be nervous, switching between bouncing their leg and tapping their fingers on their arms. What could they possibly want here ?
Odo decided he should talk to them and ask about their suspicious behavior. Morphing back, he emerged from behind the clothing rack and leaned on the back of one of the benches, looking down at the person that had not noticed him yet. "Hello there sir. Or ma'am." He made himself known, and the person yelped in fright and shot up from their seat, turning around to face him, shoulders tensed up and breathing heavily. Yep, something was definitely up here. "O..oh hello s..sir, I...I'm sorry, d..id you want anything ?" a soft female voice stuttered and he wondered to himself how he did not notice she was female before. "Yes, actually. I was wondering what you were doing here just sitting there in a corner...all on your own...", he questioned with a stern tone and raised a nonexistent eyebrow. The woman seemed to shrink back in fear and started stuttering profusely, trying desperately to come up with a good answer. To be honest, this guy really scared her, especially because he was a security officer. Something about his whole being just felt... unsettling. There also was this sharp edge in his slightly raspy voice that told her that this was not one of the friendly Starfleet security officers she had met in the hallway earlier. After a lot of incoherent stuttering, he seemed to have enough and crossed his arms, looking down at her slightly, even though they were almost the same height. "Well, well, not able to find an answer to that ? How about you tell me your name and starfleet registration, so I can check if I find anything that might help you explain." She looked at him in an almost fearful manner. Just as she was about to open her mouth, an unexpected savior came to her aid. A Cardassian male emerged from the side, and casually leaned an arm around her, making her recoil in confusion, but he pressed her shoulder to tell her to just play along. "Hello dear Constable, what brings you into my shop on this lovely day ?" He greeted the shapeshifter and flashed one of his trademark smiles at him. Odo barely resisted the urge to roll his eyes at the shop owner. "I was just investigating this lady over here who still has no explanation for why she was sitting in the darkest corner of a shop, hiding." Garak laughed and pulled the woman closer in a friendly manner. "This is Minnaha a good friend of mine Constable. She was merely resting a little, she had a long way to get here and was exhausted." He lied from the top of his head and looked down to the woman, who seemed to have caught on to what he was doing and played along by nodding and putting her arm around the Cardassians back. "Aha I see. So you are a friend of Mister Garak. And what might you be doing here ? Buying clothes ?" "No...no. I am simply v...visiting an old friend." she said, still stuttering a little and tried a shaky smile, even tough no one could really see it under the mask. "As you see, there is nothing you need to terrorize her for Constable. And now I would appreciate it if you got out of my shop. You are scaring off the customers. And you surely have something better to do, don't you ?" The Constable grumbled under his breath quietly, but gave up eventually and turned his back on them, striding out of the shop and vanishing into the crowd.
The woman breathed out a sigh of relief and turned to the Cardassian with a thankful look. "Thank you so much Sir, but you didn't need to do that." "I know, but I did it nonetheless. You seem like a good person, and I don't have the biggest liking for the Constable either, so I just did what I felt was right." She nodded and gave him the tiniest of smiles under her mask, almost as though she did not know how to smile. "But still, I would also like to know what you are doing here. I did see you come in and just sit here earlier."
'Seems like I really need to work on my stealth...' she thought to herself before hesitantly answering. "Well you see...., I....don't really like crowds all that much, or people in general for that matter. Your shop seemed the calmest and most secluded and... well coziest and I...I though...." Her voice started to descend to a whisper towards the end of the sentence and she was sheepishly looking at her feet, feeling embarrassed at her own reasoning. But the Cardassian just smirked lightly and patted her shoulder. "Well, if it is just that. Hey, I'll make you an offer. How about you try some of these lovely clothes on ? Kind of as a repayment for me saving you ?" He looked exited at his offer, but the woman now seemed to shrink back into herself even more. "I...don't..really have any money...", she whispered, almost too quiet to hear and turned away, now fully ashamed of herself. Garaks expression changed from excitement to mild surprise and just the tiniest bit of pity. "Well, that is ok too. But at least help me pick out some designs for my new collection, alright ?" She timidly nodded and his face lit up again, before he led the way over to his designing studio. "You did not tell me your name yet.", he remembered and stopped at the door, looking at her questioningly. "Oh, its Z'ahala...", she answered and hoped he would not ask her last name. But he just smiled. "Well, here we go, make yourself at home dear Z'ahala.", he proudly announced and offered to take of her coat, but she politely declined and gripped onto the corners of her hood tighter. "Oh its ok. You don't have to take it off, I was just offering. But can you at least take the mask off ? So I can finally see the face of the beautiful lady I've been saving all day ?", he joked and was surprised when she actually nodded after some consideration. She tapped the sides of the mask and it made a slight hissing sound as it released from her skin. Setting it aside, she finally looked up at him with her full face visible, although cast in shadow. "Oh, so you are Bajoran ! Well, might I say I did not expect that. I thought all of you had a thing against us Cardassians ?" he asked, slightly amazed by the new revelation. "Huh, i guess don't really know myself.
Ive just never understood why we hate all off your species." she explained. Her voice sounded a lot stronger and more mature with the mask off, even through the nervous undertone and it radiated such pure emotion, that Garak thought he could read every single one of them without having to be a Betazoid. "Hmm, that is most curious. I knew we would get along great !" He chuckled and went over to his desk. "Now, shall we start ?"