He began to methodically shift through the maze and finally tracked the transponder to a large square container almost as tall as he was. Meesa had said she was in a “box.” The transponder pointed at the container even when he climbed over some barrels to circle it.
Rapping on the side, he listened for a response. It felt more solid than it looked. The tricorder indicated it was hermetically self‑contained, yet distorted Orion humanoid readings leaked through. Something in the sealant was interfering, but he could tell there was at least one Orion inside, maybe even two.
“Meesa,” he said into the communicator.
“Yes?”
“What is your master doing with you?”
“We are going away.”
Reoh gripped the communicator harder. That’s what he had figured. Meesa’s master was planning to smuggle her off‑world. They must have figured a way to get the container through the cargo gate without tripping the border sensors. Perhaps this was one of the “leaks” Keethzarn had spoken of.
Reoh was tempted to simply walk away and let the container go through as planned. Meanwhile he could get the transponder to Commander Keethzarn so he could track Meesa and destroy the smuggling chain.
Yet he knew he couldn’t do that. It would take almost an entire day to get to Starbase 3 and back, and Meesa could have been shipped out and sent into warp for parts unknown long before they returned. He could ask Keethzarn to send border security to the station, but that would take a few hours. The container could be gone by the time he got back, and the thought of Meesa trapped in the hold of a freighter was enough to make him act immediately.
“Hang on,” he said through the spindle. “I’m going to take you to my ship.”
An antigrav pallet was nearby, and it only took a few minutes to load the container. Even for a station that never sleeps, there was a lull in the activity in the middle of the third shift. Reoh got the container all the way to the cargo gate without attracting too much attention.
When one Pa’a official passed him, eyeing the large container, Reoh lamely offered, “Putting in a new bunk in my shuttle.”
“Double‑wide,” the Pa’a said with a wink, leaving Reoh completely red and embarrassed, knowing there wasa woman stashed inside the container.
Reoh overrode the gate sensors to get the container through without sounding an alert. Since it was a Starfleet gate, it wouldn’t be noticed until the beginning of the next shift, when the border patrols downloaded the logs. Hopefully by then he would be explaining to Commander Keethzarn, and everything would be all right.
He kept thinking to himself– it’s only one small Orion animal‑woman. What’s the harm? Even if he did get a reprimand on his record, or demoted, what was that worth compared to saving another sentient being’s life?
Sweat was pouring off him when he finally maneuvered the container through the corridors to the air lock bay in front of the Dilithium Node. Positioning the container so the opening faced the air lock, he took some time examining the locking system. No use in getting this far, only to alert Meesa’s master that his goods were being tampered with. Reoh knew he was leaving a trail a parsec wide, but he wasn’t expecting to get away with this.
“I’m hot,” Meesa said plaintively through the communicator.
“I’m opening the door now,” he replied.
After inserting a stasis bar into the sensor padd, Reoh cycled open the lock and slid back half the side of the container. “Meesa?” he called, peering in.
A face peeked out, but it wasn’t Meesa. A naked green woman, and another, shifted and blinked in the sudden light. Reoh squinted, looking deeper inside. “Meesa?”
“I’m here!” her breathy voice responded.
“Wait there,” Reoh told the startled, cringing women. He quickly opened his air lock and grabbed a blanket, trying to shield the bay from the corridor. “Hurry, get inside!” he ordered.
They hesitated for a moment, then several at once surged forward. Reoh stared and tried not to stare as one naked Orion animal‑woman after another emerged from the container and scurried into his shuttle. Meesa was one of the last ones, and he wrapped the blanket around her, frantically ushering them into his shuttle.
“Meesa, how long were you in that box?”
“Not so long. Master went to get the ship.”
Reoh cycled closed the air lock, figuring that eliminated the option of waiting for border security to show up. Meesa’s master could be looking for that container right now, and the Pa’a weren’t the type to let him get in their way.
He fought his way to the front and the controls, feeling heady already from the scent of so many Orion women in the tight quarters. There were so many green arms and legs crammed inside the Dilithium Nodethat he wondered how they had all fit into the container. This had suddenly turned from a minor infraction into a full‑scale smuggling operation in its own right. He just hoped he got to Commander Keethzarn before anyone else did.
Getting away from Station 14 was no problem. Reoh was supposed to leave that day anyway; he simply moved up his departure time and was cleared by the border computer. The Starfleet officers were on drudge duty, too, and they let him through without a hassle. They probably figured he wanted a few more hours R&R on Starbase 3.
Reoh was really sweating the short communications exchange with the border patrol. There was no way he could explain the Orion animal‑women without Commander Keethzarn to back him. He made Meesa sit in the auxiliary control seat to keep an eye on the other women crouched down on the floor, out of the line of sight. He couldn’t even look back there–Meesa was bad enough, with her bare shoulders exposed by the blanket. The others were completely naked.
By the time they got two sectors away from the Beltos system, he finally began to breathe easier, figuring he was home free. Maybe he wouldn’t be in too much trouble–
Then he received a hail. It was the Belle Star, Captain Jord’s transport ship.
Puzzled, Reoh opened the channel, voice‑only, just to be safe. “Captain Jord?”
“Thank you, Ensign Nev,” Jord said, sounding very pleased. “If you will please dock at my aft portal, I will take back my cargo. Now that you’ve gotten it through the border for me.”
“Pardon me?” he croaked.
Meesa was cowering down, looking up at the speakers from which Jord’s voice echoed down. “Master?” she asked.
Reoh glanced back at the other women. “Is Captain Jord your master?”
“Why not ask me?” Jord said over the speaker. “I arranged this whole transport, packed the girls up for you and everything.”
Reoh gave in to the inevitable and activated the viewscreen. Captain Jord was beaming at him, which was somehow worse than her scowl.
“What makes you think I’ll hand these women over to you?” he asked.
“Because it’s either that, or we disintegrate the shuttle.” Jord bared her teeth. “Behave yourself and you’ll be picked up in a few days, your shuttle adrift. Meanwhile I’ll be far from here, living the high life on the price I can get for my cargo.”
“They’re not cargo. They’re women–” Reoh protested.
“I’m not going to listen to another speech out of you, Starfleet. You have three seconds to drop shields so I can get a tractor‑lock on you, or I’m cutting my losses and getting out of here.” She glanced at the chrono. “One, two–”
“Okay! Don’t shoot,” Reoh protested. Slowly he dropped shields. The shuttle lurched as the tractor took hold.
As the maw of the Belle Star’sportal loomed closer, he turned reproachfully to Meesa. “Did you know about this?”
The confusion, guilt, and utter innocence in her eyes reassured him that she knew something, but not the complexities of her master’s game.
“It’s all right,” he told her, patting her arm through the blanket.