The station’s bar wasn’t overly crowded but after their run in, Solaris didn’t particularly want it to be. She pointed to a table near the back, where they could see most of the bar, and headed for it. She rubbed her chin where the brute from before had managed to connect a good hit. That was going to be sore in the morning.

“You should let me take a look at that, boss.” Kael commented, dropping into a chair. Sol just shook her head, settling into the corner chair, where she could see the rest of the bar. She let her eyes scan the room for a moment.

“I’ll be fine… just sore…” she stated.

“It would be wise to let the Doctor make that determination.” T’liss commented quietly. Sol sighed, then nodded. Kael leaned over inspecting her face for the moment. Without his medical tricorder he was limited to just a quick visual and tactile infection. He gently prodded where she had been struck, causing her to wince slightly. He released her and sat back, nodding.

“Probably be a pretty nice bruise… but I don’t see anything concerning.” he stated. Sol rolled her eyes, as if she couldn’t have predicted what he was going to say.

“Thanks…” she commented, laughing. She shook her head. “Well… only a few hours to wait now…” she added. T’liss nodded.

“What is our strategy?” she asked. The Doctor leaned in.

“Will we be purchasing this weapon outright, or something else?” he asked. Sol set her arms on the table.

“We have an account of latinum to bid with… but it isn’t much. Probably not as much as the other potentially interested parties can afford any way. So we’ll try to buy it outright… but if not we’ll have to get creative.” she explained. The pair with her nodded.

“We should try to get a better layout of the station…” T’liss suggested. Sol considered for a moment.

“Let’s wait for a little while… after that confrontation… I’d like to lay low for a bit… but I agree… we should get a layout of where the auction will happen… and ways back to the docking bay.” Solaris agreed, with a nod. She was about to speak again when a rather beautiful woman approached the table. She was carrying a tray and an expectant look.

“Aldebaran whiskey.” Sol said. The Doctor nodded the same while T’liss abstained. The woman departed leaving the trio alone again for the moment. Sol leaned back, sighing. She wanted to be done with this and be back on the ship. The woman returned and set their drinks on the table before retreating once again. Sol picked up the glass and raised it, before taking a sip.

To pass the time before the auction each of the team had set out into the station proper, with the intent to learn more about the layout. Sol had managed to discover where they would be holding the auction and was currently observing the large area from the shadows, as a couple of black marketeers milled about. It was a rather open space and she didn’t like the distance it was from the docking bay if things went south. She stepped back and snuck away from the area, retracing her steps back to the bar. She quickly checked her chrono, seeing there was only about half an hour left to wait. Entering the bar again, she found a place to sit, watching one of the Orion dancers sway to the music, waiting for the rest of her team to return. It only took a few minutes before both T’liss and Kael had rejoined her.

“So what did you both find?” she asked.

“The station has several overlapping security systems. Force fields, blast doors, automated sentry systems.” T’liss informed. “They may make getting to the docking bay difficult.” she added.

“While their security is strong… I’m not so sure about their environmental systems… much of the station’s ventilation is unsecured. We may be able to use those systems to get to the docking bay if we need to.” he said.

“That’s good to know… I found the location of the auction. Its in a large open room on the other side of the station… not much in the way of security in the room… but with how deep into the station it is… I’m not too surprised.” she explained, still watching the dancer.

“We should be ready for anything.” T’liss advised. Sol nodded.

“Oh definitely…” she agreed.

“I took the liberty to access the stations systems as well… we have limited control over some of the less secure ones. Lighting, doors, things of that nature.” T’liss commented. “No one will even know there was an intrusion.” she added. Sol looked over raising an eyebrow. She did like

When the time came, the trio made their way to the auction site. As they entered Sol gestured for the others to split off from here and take up other positions in the room. She moved toward the main group observing the other potential buyers. It was a veritable ‘who’s who?’ of players. Klingons, Romulans, Cardassians, a pair of Ferengi, other Orions. It was going to be tough to beat them all, which meant plan B was becoming more and more likely. She rested her hand on the butt of her disruptor, waiting for the auctioneer to step up to the platform.

“Ladies, gentlemen, and beings of more…exotic origins, welcome!” the auctioneer, a flamboyant Orion male dressed in an intricately embroidered jacket, exclaimed, opening his arms widely. “We have treasures from every corner of the quadrant—items Starfleet would kill to get their hands on. Shall we start with something tantalizing?” he continued, gesturing to a small platform behind him. The lights came up on a old style Klingon disruptor pistol. There was a quiet murmur in the crowd. No one seemed particularly interested.

“A Klingon disruptor, Type-4. Recently ‘liberated’ from a House that would rather not be named. Opening bid, two strips of latinum.”

Sol raised her hand.

“Two strips.” she called.

“I have two strips… do I hear three?” the auctioneer asked. Sol let her eyes scan the crowd as others started to bid, though the general atmosphere currently seemed less than enthused with the current item on offer. The Klingon upped the bid to five strips and that seemed to put a stop to the incoming bids. The Klingon approached the podium and put his thumbprint onto an offered PADD as the disruptor was taken off the platform. Solaris continued to crowd watch as other items made their way up onto the stage. She threw in a bid every now and then, just to keep her cover, but showed no real intent to purchase anything. Then the auctioneer paused, and gestured to the covered item that had been sitting on the stage with him the entire time.

“Now for our most anticipated item!” he called, reaching back. He pulled the covering off letting it drop to the ground. There were more murmurs through the crowd, several people clearly interested.

“A prototype Starfleet anti-matter disruptor, acquired by some enterprising individuals earlier this year. This is a one of a kind item, and will come with the specifications to create more of them.” the auctioneer announced. “Shall we start the bidding at five bars of latinum?” he asked, clearly intent on starting it there.

“Five!” someone called.

“Six!” another voice rang out. Sol crossed her arms.

“Seven!” she called. The bidding slowed, and the auctioneer looked quite unhappy.

“Perhaps seeing it in action will get you more interested?” he asked. He strolled over to the rifle and picked it up. To Starfleet credit it was rather sleek, having been based on an older compression phaser rifle. The only difference was the modest container of antimatter attached to the top of the rifle. A pair of assistants wheeled in a large crate setting it at the opposite end of the stage. It shimmered briefly, clearly protected by an energy shield of some kind.

“Unlike standard Starfleet weapons this device is based on disruptor technology.” the auctioneer explained, firing a beam at the crate. A green beam lanced out at it and hit the energy shield fizzling out. “But with one unique feature…” he continued toggling a switch on the rifle. “In this mode, the weapon infuses its shots with concentrated antimatter, which upon contact with an object will cause a chain reaction at the molecular level.” he said. He turned back to the crate and fired again. It took only a few moments before the energy shield was overwhelmed and the beam impacted the crate. That too didn’t last long, disintegrating along with whatever had been inside it. Sol’s eyes widened. Her question of ‘Why did Starfleet have something like this?’ seem more appropriate now than ever and the demonstration had accomplished what it needed to. Several voices rang out in unison each calling a bid.

“I hear one brick five! One brick, seven!” the auctioneer called out.

“Two bricks!” Sol called.

“Five bricks!” the Romulan called from her left. Sol looked over.

“Ten!” Sol called. Unfortunately that was her limit, but her face was passive. The Romulan too was considering his options.

“Ten… going once.” the auctioneer said, looking between them. The Romulan did not appear pleased.

“Going twice!” Sol leaned back slightly, crossing her arms. The auctioneer was about to call ‘sold’ when the station’s alarms blared.

“Starfleet vessel detected!” came over the comm system. Sol kept her face passive, but she knew there was only one Starfleet ship in the area. Hers. She eyed the Romulan, whose face had gone from anger to triumph. He raised his hand and pointed at her.

“She must be Starfleet!” he called. Sol couldn’t fault the man for making a play. He had no way to know he was right of course. Sol raised her hands in front of her.

“Don’t be a sore loser…” she chided. The auctioneer looked between them and the rest of the group, clearly unsure how to handle things at the moment. Sol’s eyes tracked to T’liss who had a small device in her hands. With a subtle nod Sol started to turn for the auctioneer. It took only moments but the lights soon dimmed before going out completely. She only had a few seconds to get to the auctioneer and relieve him of the rifle. She barreled into him and clawed at the rifle, tumbling into a heap with him on to the stage. The rest of the room was devolving into similar chaos as other auction goers scrambled to get out. Sol lashed out with a few strike at the man beneath her, before wresting the rifle from him.

“Let’s go!” she called. She couldn’t see T’liss or Kael in the dark, but had to assume they would follow as she took off for the door. She battered her way through auction goers, hoping they were smart enough to get out of this alive.