241407.xx ¦¦ JL Doctor Scarlet Rogers & Lieutenant Commander Tierney Rinehart ¦¦ Bounty

Posted on 241407.29 @ 6:01pm by Lieutenant Scarlet Rogers MD & Commander Tierney Rinehart

Doctor Rogers had managed to break free from the watch of the security officer, thankful of the awkward silence being depleted to the roaring sounds of the crowds in the market. Searching through the crowds and looking to the stalls she passed, fascinated by the colours and objects up for sale. She had already purchased some real alcohol that she had promised her lover on return. Smiling she saw Tierney in the distance and waved.

Being alone on the station was a risk. A massive one. Without Karim or Fabla or Tygelgor, especially Tygelgor, she was but a tiny ray of light in obfuscating darkness; easily swallowed up by the crowd -- and she knew it. She wasn't a fearful creature, if anything she liked to believe that she belonged with the strange races that wandered along the promenade even at that strange hour. She froze when she saw Scarlet alone. While Tierney was comfortable, even though the little morsel shouldn't have been, Scarlet was in danger. Unarmed and unguarded, the human doctor was a prime target and the Intel officer knew it. "Scarlet!" She called in greeting, moving against the tide of people to get to her friend.

"Found out anything of interest?" Scarlet asked as she waded through the crowds to Tierney.

"A few things." The shorter woman said, "A few shiny trinkets here and there. Karim and I were able to fill most of the Engineering order earlier." She grinned and shrugged, feeling a bit better when they were finally able to stand together. There was safety in numbers in such an extreme atmosphere, and she knew it. "How about you?"

"Medical supplies are all sorted and should be delivered within a day," she shrugged, "Finally picked up a real bottle of wine, so I'm happy, as I'm sure Thelin will be. He's been in need of some real alcohol lately."

"Perfect." Tierney chirped. Her tongue burned to tell her friend of the star charts and coordinates she had located for her uses. Being a 'spook' was difficult when one allowed themselves the comforts of friends, "I think he'll be happy with that."

"I should hope s-" Scarlet turned quite pale stopping mid word.

The intel officer's smile faded as her friend stiffened and blanched. She was quick to intercept as Scarlet slumped forward, catching her and cradling her body as she lowered the woman to the floor while liquid heat spread along Tierney's wrist and hand. Blood. Scarlet was bleeding. "Scarlet?!" She called, tugging her friend close, a crowd murmuring as they grew tight around them, watching, looking, concern lighting their faces as they watched the display. Her fingers examined the area around the wound and panic gripped the Star-child's heart as she realized what had happened. "Scarlet hang on!" She yelled to her friend, her free hand quickly hitting her combadge, "Rinehart to Enterprise, Doctor Rogers has been shot! Two to beam to sickbay!"

A hooded man ran away from the enclosing crowd, pushing people out the way quickly for an escape.

Scarlet coughed a little and breathed hard in pain, "You need to run."

"Nope." She responded, rocking the other redhead as she waited for the Enterprise to respond, "I'm not leaving you behind or running anywhere."

Scarlet closed her eyes a second as the pain increases and she began to feel quite cold.

Again, Tierney hit her combadge with shaking hands, leave a smear of Scarlet's blood across both it and her uniform, "Rinehart to Enterprise, medical emergency! Two to beam up from station promenade!" Her voice high and shrill as she shook her friend gently. "Scarlet..."

Another shot echoed around the market as the same hooded man had returned. A gun held pointed at Tierney as he walked forward.

The Star-child jumped at the sound and instinctly covered Scarlet as best she could with her tiny frame. Looking up towards the source of the sound, her eyes locked with the gunman. Human. Earth. The revolver was old fashioned. The information came pouring in as she set Scarlet down gently and got to her feet. "No." She said, holding her blood covered hands out to her sides, her head shaking, "You're not taking her." The people around them scattered behind random cases and stands, hiding from the onslaught that the tiny woman faced. The man was young, his hand shaking on the pistol as he advanced, her eyes darted between it and his face and back again. come on Enterprise! Tierney thought, her heart racing violently in her chest.

The man laughed slightly, "These bullets are not meant for her, quite frankly it was a waste of ammunition as far as I'm concerned. She's worthless to me. But there is, however, a price on your head Ms Rhinehart,"

The fine hairs on the back of her neck bristled as she listened to him, "You're a crap shot." She hissed, looking back over her shoulder towards Scarlet's fading form. Now was not the time to be stupid, still she stepped forward towards the gunman, her hands still out stretched. Tierney thought her heart was going to explode as it hammered and bucked away in her chest. "So there is." The woman sniffed, "May I ask how much?" Buying time, she continued forward, unwilling to let him go any closer to Scarlet.

"Enough," the man smirked clicking his gun back to load it, "You're going to buy me my life back."

"I may be worth more alive than dead, no?" She asked, turning her head to look at him side long. Another step wound her ever closer, the sound of the hammer being pulled back echoing in her ears. "Besides... You need to tell me how you found me."

"Little birdy," The mature man focused on the woman, his hood dropping to reveal a military shaved head and a scar down his left side intercepting his dark grey stubble, "Say goodbye Rhinehart."

Within feet, point blanc range, Tierney reached out to grab the man's wrist, closing her slender fingers around it and pushing upwards using the action as leverage to step forward and into his body. Terrified. That was the descriptive term to use as the Star-child twisted against him, pressing one blood soaked hand against his chest. She flinched as she felt her body react to the all out terror, tingling as it produced a bioelectric charge not unlike what certain species of ray did on Earth. The entire thing came to a crescendo, leaving her palm where it rested on his chest for leverage and around his wrist where she struggled for the gun, clinging to him and pushing for dear life -- to protect herself, to save Scarlet.

He fought hard back trying to grasp for freedom and to kill Rhinehart. He had so many plans for the bounty money. So many IOU's. A man's greed would only be escalated when there was an element of freedom to coincide with the objects, in this case money. He could be free in a matter of seconds. His hand weakened with his age and long term injuries and his armed hand began to turn to face up to his chin.

The voltage running through her body finally exited with a small popping noise, startling Tierney until she realized the noise was not that of gunfire, and dropping her assailant to his knees. The gun clattered uselessly to the deck below and the intel officer stumbled backwards, drained and shaking violently. "Enterprise! Please!" She yelped into her combadge as she kicked the gun away as hard as she good, the force of of the action taking her own legs out from under her and sending her crawling to Scarlet's side. An Insectoid quickly grabbed and held captive the coughing man as he began to recover.

"I need you," He screamed as he blinked regaining strength, "I need that money."

"And I need her." Tierney whimpered back, curling around Scarlet's nearly lifeless form. The whine of transporters drowned out anything that could have and would have come next, sending the two women into the shimmering ether, rescuing them from the promenade.

---End Log---

Dr Scarlet Rogers
Chief Medical Officer
USS Enterprise

&

Lieutenant Commander Tierney Rhinehart
Chief Intelligence Officer
USS Enterprise