Temptation of the Engineer

Posted on Sun Jun 14th, 2015 @ 12:41pm by Ensign Reva Madhava & Seyla & Ensign Six of Ten

The issue of finding a high-caste Orion out here in the Delta Quadrant was one Seyla had continued pondering on long after her conversation with Marla. The easy solution would be to turn one of Starfleet's officers to her purpose. Not that she expected such a turning to be easy, but it would be easier than finding and bringing in an Orion from the Rigel system.

She entered a query into the computer then read the file that came back and laughed. This one would be perfect.

****
Snorting because she was laughing so hard, Reva shook her head and cried, "Oh! Stop! I can't breathe!" Her laughter, and that of her companions, kept going and the reason for the laughter told another joke.

Eventually, the jokes ran out and the laughter was brought under control. "Hey, look who's here," one of the engineers gestured towards the bar's doorway.

"Man, she's something," Thomas whistled just under his breath, earning him a narrow-eyed glare from Reva. Her glare intensified when he added, "You know what they say about Orions.... Flexible and always willing." Someone kicked him under the table. "Ow!"

"Jerk," she wasn't the only female at the table, but Reva was the only green face there. Until Seyla, the object of the men's dangling tongues, sidled up to the table.

"Reva Madhava," she grabbed the Ensign's attention verbally since her mere presence wasn't making Reva look at her.

"That's what I'm called," she answered, surly.

"I need a moment with you, my dear," Seyla wasn't accustomed to having to demand someone pay attention to her. When Reva didn't make a move, Seyla did it for her: "You boys, and ladies, clear out for a few minutes, please." Her pheromones drifted in the air. The ladies cleared out, not wanting the headaches that came from exposure to Orion musk. The boys cleared out after another moment and another order from Seyla.

"There, little Reva, your posse is gone." She slid into the booth with Reva....

...who scooted away from Seyla. "What do you want?", she demanded, suspicious of the Orion.

"I know of your mother. She has a thing for Earth, it seems, since she took the name Europa. And named you Cyllene," Seyla said.

Reva glared at the Orion and snapped, "That's a moon of Jupiter, same as Europa. It has nothing to do with Earth." She had had no idea her mother had named her Cyllene; how had Seyla known? Was she lying?

"Same sun shines on it," Seyla shrugged and paused before stating, "I'd like to be friends, Reva."

"And if I tell you to piss off?" Reva's glare was smoldering. "I don't need you to befriend me just because you think I'm some poor little part-Orion orphan. Leave me alone."

"No," Seyla growled. Grabbing Reva's thigh to keep her in place and making the young woman gasp in pain, she slid closer till their hips and shoulders pressed together. Dipping her head slightly, Seyla returned Reva's glare, their faces just inches apart, and her pheromones perfumed the air immediately around them. Viciously, she held Reva's thigh a little tighter as she warned Reva, "Keep telling me to piss off, little kitten, and you will piss me off. An offer of friendship is what I'm bringing you. Personally. I didn't send one of my people to deliver this message. I'll forgive you this time because you are unaware of what this means. Next time, I won't be so nice." She patted Reva's thigh where she'd had her fingers dug in.

Reva winced; part of her anger turned into fear. She had never encountered an Orion like Seyla and she had to admit that the woman's anger and intensity frightened her.

"I'm offering you something you haven't had: an education in what being an Orion means." Seyla eased up on her scare tactics. "For example, I doubt you know your mother is a Daughter of the Merchant D'ian's House; a D'ian currently rules the Syndicate. Your mother is a Shodar with a sizeable network of her own and keeps several fesins."

Despite herself, Reva was curious. She'd been raised on Betazed by her paternal grandmother; she had heard about her mother, but only in terms of the woman being a bloodthirsty pirate, a maniacal slave trader, a diseased, poxed whore, or a filthy Orion. Seyla made her mother sound almost like royalty. "What's a fesin?" She expected to hear it was a pet of some sort. "Or a Shodar?"

Seyla smiled and answered Reva's questions. "A fesin is a house of training for lodubyaln, slave girls, as you'd call them. A Shodar is a chief in the Syndicate - the highest ranking one can attain. Do you see what I could give you? I could teach you what your mother couldn't."

Slaves? Her mother really was a slave trader? She frowned and grumbled, "She couldn't teach me because she's in prison."

The buzz of the bar patrons quieted for just a moment as the doors opened. It was brief however, and the talk resumed as a figure stood looking over the room. Soon that figure reached the booth where Reva sat and slipped in across from her and Seyla.

“Hi Reva.” Six smiled at her, then looked over Seyla. The smile faded in an instant. “Hello.”

"Hi! Six!" Reva perked up like a flower getting water. Seyla, though, glared at the former Borg. "Ah, Six, this is Seyla."

"Kitten," Seyla ignored Six and made Reva face her by putting a finger under Reva's chin, "You know now what I can give you. Come see me when you want more." She slid out of the booth and stood, making what was normally an awkward move look graceful.

Six watched Seyla go until she was out of sight, then turned back to Reva. “Bad juju. What did she want?”

Reva, too, had watched Seyla leave, fighting an urge to go running after her and pepper her with questions. "To pick up on a little orphan Orion, that's all," she replied bitterly. "How are you doing?"

“I’m alright,” Six answered. She reached across the table to take Reva’s hand. “Be careful with her, she feels….shifty.”

"Tell me about it. She was touching me and I could read that she wants something big," Reva smiled at Six. "I couldn't read what it is, though. Anyway, I don't want what she's offering." That was a lie.

“Maybe Riley should meet her,” Six suggested. “All I get is emotions.” She shrugged. “Just be careful. I haven’t been here long and already I’ve heard stories about her.”

"Hmm," Reva nodded then looked confused. "Wait... How would her meeting Riley help anything? Jeez... With her magnetism, she'd seduce him right out from next to me." Especially since Riley was being patient and letting her turn him down after every date.

“He can read her. Though I suppose he might think it was an intrusion?” Six nodded. “And there is that too. Just keep an eye on her.” Six suddenly rolled her eyes. “I have a story for you.”

"What story? Do tell!" Reva brightened.

“Remember the other night at the Nexus? The man who choked on his drink?”

"Yeah, Raj. Did you run into him again?"

“Oh boy, yes. He’s my counselor!” Six exclaimed. “I went in for my first meeting and when I walked in the office...it was his office. I wanted to crawl under the carpet.”

"Oh man!" Reva laughed. "That's awkward, isn't it?"

“He seemed to find it funny, which is a good thing I guess.” A smile returned to Six’s face. “He’s really very nice and I felt like he understood everything, you know? We’re going to see a movie, something he says is both a cultural thing and a bit like my own story.”

"A movie? Is that part of his counseling method or a date? And wouldn't that be a conflict of interest if it's a date?"

“No, not a date, it’s part of my….reintegration, he called it. I guess they figure that now I’m out of the protected world of the Academy and in the deep end of the pool, I need advice on blending in.” Six waved at the server and when he appeared, she ordered just a glass of water. “No need wasting money on alcohol, it doesn’t work anyhow.”

"Your reintegration seems to be going just fine, babe. Some of us just don't blend, but that's not a bad thing."

“Good point.” Six’s water arrived and she took a drink. “I still have a lot to learn though, that you’ve known for years.”

"You don't have to learn it all right now. You have plenty of time to learn it," Reva said, toying with her glass. "What... What is the stuff you think you're behind on?"

“It would be faster to ask what I’m not behind on.” Reva’s nervous fingers caught Six’s attention. “Still thinking about that Orion?”

"Hmm? Seyla? Well..., yeah, I am," she admitted. "She knows a bunch of stuff about ...Orions. Go figure, right?"

“If she shares all this information, what’s she going to want in return?” Six was trying to be polite, given Reva was part Orion, but she knew very well the reputation that Orions carried.

Nodding, she agreed, "I've never heard of an Orion giving charity. I don't know. I suppose I could go talk to her, though. Hey, what about you and Vic? Are you two going out again?"

The question appeared to surprise Six. “I don’t know. I haven't seen him since dinner that night and with being back on duty, I haven’t had time to go to the Nexus. He’s worried about his age for some reason. I guess by the calendar I am still rather young, but I’ve seen more in my life than most ever will.”

"That you have. Folks probably forget that, though. They look at you and see youth, not experience." She shrugged. "If he can't get over that, it's his loss."

“I suppose so.” Six set her empty glass aside. “So, I have the afternoon off and need to do some shopping. Come help me pick out things?”

"Yay! Shopping! Let's go!" Reva scooted out of the booth, as gracelessly as Seyla had been graceful. "Clothing or general stuff? Please say clothing...."

“Absolutely.” Six hopped out of the booth behind Reva. “Is there anything else?” She grinned as they left for the Promenade.

*******
Ensign Reva Madhava
Tempted

Seyla
Temptor

Ensign Six
Interrupter