Too much leather, Tanna thought to herself as she eyed herself in a mirror, but not too bad, otherwise. She stood musing over her pirate disguise, taking it all in. She adjusted the trench coat that made up the largest part of her outfit, feeling mildly self-conscious that her midriff was showing, and feeling strange that her familiar olive skin was the bright green colour of an Orion. She had black paint across her eyes, and her hair was cut short on the sides, and styled up into a mohawk. Her pants were tighter than she would have liked as well, dyed red like blood wine, with way more pockets and zippers than was necessary. She was wearing long black boots, into one of which was shoved a small, double edged knife,  and around her waist one of many belts and chains a black sheath held a long, curved knife.

She made her way through the market, weaving through pirates and black market traders, assessing wares and keeping an eye open for stolen Federation Tech, although she doubted she would find any out here. She stopped and bought some meat from the cafeteria, and leaned back against the wall, waiting her rendezvous with Shahr. Abigail would’ve liked this look, she thought to herself as she tore a bite of meat off the bone and chewed it slowly, She was way into this Blade the vampire hunter look. Tanna scanned the crowed for her friends as she finished her meat, rebuffing at least three offers of a carnal nature, and one knife throwing competition.

Ensign Shahr shrugged in irritation inside his civilian clothing. He’d opted for something stylish and form-fitting, with streaks of bright colors intertwined across his jacket. The only problem was, his outfit most certainly was not stylish here. If his blue skin and antennae didn’t make him stick out already, his clothing really took the cake. Maybe he should just buy something else. He was supposed to be undercover, not a beacon for attention.

Shahr had just about talked himself into buying a new outfit when he decided he was being foolish. Part of a cover identity is personality. He was here not as a Starfleet officer, but posing as a consumer. A buyer of goods not to be found elsewhere. He didn’t need to be stuffy about it. So, 3 steps before reaching the counter of a salesman hawking robes and sashes, he adjusted his stride to a swagger.

The salesman spotted him immediately and opened his mouth to speak, but Shahr cut him off. “What are you selling, used rags? For what, cleaning? Pff. Please. If I’d known the locals were dressed so poorly I might not have bothered to come here.”

“But sir, I-”

Shahr cut him off again. “No no, I didn’t ask. You clearly wouldn’t recognize fashion if it slapped you in the face. Which I might, if you speak to me again.” Shahr sniffed and eyed the salesman with disdain. “Charl is done with this exchange.” And with that, Shahr turned away.

Spotting a face he recognized, Shahr lazily strode into the meat market. He leered about at the outfits he saw, doing his best impression of “you’re-beneath-me-but-I’m-not-quite-bored-enough-to-say-it-out-loud.” He stopped in front of Ensign Irovin and broke out into a huge grin.

“You know, just when I thought I was the only one here with a sense of style, I found you! Charl is delighted to see you again!” Shahr went in for a hug.

Tanna caught Shahr’s hug and said, “Charl, you blue scoundrel, no one here dresses as well as you, you know that. Though I have to say I did try. I had to kill four people to find pants that would fit, that I thought you would like!” She let out a loud laugh and clapped him on the shoulder. “What brings you here?”

Stroyer had been hanging back for most of the conversation. She had chosen the role of Charl’s assistant – something that allowed her to blend into the background rather than stand in the spotlight, and keep an eye on things.

Charl gave Tanna’s outfit another once-over, then smiled approvingly. “I’m surprised it only took four. Excellent find! I fear too much time here will kill my sense of fashion and drain the blue right out of my face. Jennifer, clear your schedule: we have to cancel any and all plans we’ve ever made for this world.” Charl sniffed, curling his lip in disgust.

“And we should be going.”, she reminded him gently, almost hiding behind the PADD with notes she was carrying to make her already unexciting outfit complete.  She looked at Tanna “I’m Jennifer. His assistant. And we really should be heading towards our contact.”

“T’Evvi” Tanna replied playfully, leaning into her fabricated pirate persona “I’d shake your hand, but they both seem preoccupied.” She gave her crewmates a knowing look, and continued, “We must catch up, and this canteen has a table in the back that I’ve procured in the interest of a more discreet conversation.” With a wink and dramatic flourish, she turned on her heel and started towards the back of the cramped little canteen.

“Lead the way, darling. Charl hasn’t bothered to learn his way about the market. I’ll keep an eye out for anything of interest, but don’t get your hopes up. Honestly, if they can’t stock proper attire, I can’t imagine anyone has the technology we need for our operation.” Shahr gestured for either of his two shipmates to lead the way out of the market. Then he also gesticulated around wildly, as he wasn’t actually sure if they were leaving the market. Shahr silently chided himself for forgetting that detail. He was getting too caught up in the character. It was fun, for sure, but that wasn’t the purpose of being here. The team wasn’t on vacation, playing dress-up. They were tracking down  Federation technology that had no business in the hands of, well, anyone that might be here.

Once they were safely in the back room, Tanna shut and locked the door, then stood and waited a minute, her ear pressed against it, to make sure they weren’t followed or being spied upon. When she was satisfied, she turned around to the rest of her away team. “Okay, I think the coast is clear” she began, sitting down at the small table and motioning them to join her. She pulled a tricorder out of a small pocket hidden in her long coat and continued, “I’ve had this open in my pocket, hoping it would pick up traces of the stolen Photonics equipment, but I haven’t come up with anything yet. Have either of you?”

“I might have something. Photonics is my specialty, and I’m 95% certain I’ve spotted some trace residuals of an emitter when I walked through the market earlier. I don’t think I passed it-it would’ve been much more apparent-but it was almost certainly carried through the market today.” Shahr double-checked his tricorder. This was the first time his new Starfleet education had come up, and he couldn’t afford to muck it up.

“Yes” Shahr confirmed again. “Was here, isn’t now. Sorry.”

“Some good news,” Tanna spoke up again,  “I’ve arranged a meeting at 1700 with a dealer who claims to have Federation Tech, as well as a good deal of other Black Market goods, but their warehouse isn’t here in this market, it’s on a different ship, docked near the other end of this freighter, so we should probably get headed that direction. We wouldn’t want to keep the pirates waiting.”

“Not sure I like the idea of leaving the public area for a dealer’s private ship… I suppose there’s no getting around it, though.” Shahr commented. He placed his palm over the blade he kept hidden against his lower back, verifying it was there for the hundredth time. With any luck, he wouldn’t need it.

Naveah frowned. “I thought the point was that the auctions are held here on the freighter, and ships are outside of comms range… sir.”, she said quietly. Of course, there were always exceptions to any rules, but it didn’t sit right with her.

Shahr took another look around for anyone in earshot. “I think there’s a human expression… no plan survives first contact with the enemy? We aren’t in combat… yet… But it still applies. We have to adapt to our situation, or we’ll miss an opportunity. We just have to stick to our covers, and trust one another.” Shahr then added a shrug, and held up open palms. He hoped his companion understood.

“As you wish.”, she nodded, but got the hint. He wasn’t any happier with it than she was, but it was too late to simply disregard their objective just because it seemed to be getting a little more risky than anticipated.

“I think I trust you two” Tanna said with a smile and a wink.

Shahr looked again at his two companions. “Anything else we need to cover before we head out?”

Stroyer shook her head. They were, in her opinion, as ready as they’d ever be – and Tanna seemed to agree.