Viridian Expanse – Docked at Rator III Cargo Transfer station 

Keren was going through his traditional early evening routine, hastily eating with one hand while organizing a manifest in the other hand. In his line of work, it was difficult to take time for a leisurely meal. So many schedules to keep, deals to negotiate, crew squabbles to mediate, and all the other stuff an independent trader had to deal with. Well, the crew squabbles were rarer these days at least now that he’d hired on two hulking Gorn siblings as mechanics.  Throk and Grokka might not be the most charismatic or outwardly bright, but they new how to keep a ship running and keep order on the lower decks. Still, Keren had too much to do to take time out to eat properly.  Any interruption would be unwelcomed at this point. 

Just his luck he heard the door chime at exactly that moment. 

“Oy, boss. You have a visitor from the station.” The voice of his Reman first mate, Timek, came through the speaker. 

“I really don’t have time to deal with whatever lackey the station master sent over this time. You handle it.” Keren replied after a sigh. 

“I’m pretty sure the station master won’t hassle you if you let me in.” The voice responding wasn’t Timek’s but a rather familiar one. It took a moment to place it but then Keren shot out of his chair and brushed himself off and went to the door. 

Standing next to the slender form of Timek was a well-dressed female Romulan with a slight grin on his face. It was Senator Durana, an old friend of Keren’s family. Keren did his best tor return a smile, though his frantic evening and lack of preparation returned only a slight smirk. 

“Senator, what a pleasure to see you again.” Keren stammered out. “Apologies for the appearance of the ship and my quarters. I had no idea I’d be having guests.” 

The senator stepped into Keren’s room and looked around for a moment. “My office is worse sometimes. And I just happened to be on the station for an inspection behalf of the Trade Committee. When I heard you were docked here I just had to come for a visit. You are a hard person to get a hold of at times.”

Keren nodded and gestured to the one other uncluttered chair in his small cabin. “I do get around. Just got in from Bolarus with a load of textiles and other assorted goods.” 

“Let me guess, Bolian whiskey for Senator Korat.” Durana jovially interjected. 

Keren chuckled slightly before responding. “I won’t confirm nor deny any special requests I may or may not have fulfilled without proper law enforcement documentation. Besides, Admiral Terak is also a connoisseur of Bolian spirits.” 

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Durana sat down as Keren returned to his desk. “Where are you off to next?”

“Quick jump to Psi Valorum with some industrial replicators and spare parts then…” 

“Wait, industrial replicators?” Durana interrupted Keren’s reply. “I wasn’t aware of any shipping authorizations of additional industrial replicators to Psi Valorum. Normally that sort of thing would have to be cleared by my committee ” 

Keren arched an eyebrow and reached for the PADD he’d been reading. “I just got the manifest a few hours ago. Looking at this,” he scrolled through the pad for a moment, “this is a military authorization.” 

Durana shot up and reached for the PADD which Keren reluctantly handed over. After looking at the PADD for a moment, the Senator looked back to Keren. “When are you supposed to depart?” 

“Two or three hours, as soon as they’re done loading, why?” The hybrid captain responded.

“You mind developing some mechanical trouble? Slow things down a bit?” Durana inquired. 

Keren thought for a moment and then reached for his comm panel. “Throk, Grokka you down there?” 

First the sound of rumbling and banging came from the comm link to engineering and then a moment later a grunt and the raspy voice of the female reptilian mechanic Grokka came over the comm. “Yea boss, what’s up.” 

“Didn’t you say something about the port side plasma conduit needing some maintenance yesterday?” Keren asked. 

Grokka hesitated before replying. “Yes, but you told me to wait until after our next run.”   

“Changed my mind,” Keren responded.  “Do the repairs now. You said what, about eight hours?” 

“Yea boss,” replied the Gorn. 

“Good, get to work.” Keren ordered. The Gorn grunted in approval and Keren closed the comm. 

“Thank you, Keren.” Durana nodded with relief. “I’ll make sure you’re not penalized for any delays. Something about this makes me want to investigate further. I’ve been getting an odd feeling that something might be going on between the Senate and the military. It might be nothing, bureaucratic mistakes or something like that, but I’d rather be sure.“ 

“I can always appreciate a fair bit of caution,” Keren replied. “Things have been dicey all over the place since the homeworld fell. Here, the Federation, the Klingons, everywhere. In my line of work I hear many things and most of what I hear I don’t like.” 

“You’ll keep me informed if you hear anything I wouldn’t like I trust.” Durana asked. “I’m told you’ve built up quite the network. Well, you and your aunt.” 

Keren shot the senator a displeased look. “Jurel isn’t responsible for everything I know and hear. I’ve developed a fair number of my own connections. As for your request, I should trust you know I don’t work for free, even for the Senate. That said, if I come across information you’d be interested in, I’ll make sure you hear from me first. Probably throw in a discount.”

Durana scowled a bit. “Last time we met you were more interested in your pride and standing than compensation.” 

Keren smirked. “Last time we met I was just starting out. I’m still grateful for the consideration you gave me at the time. That contract was very useful in getting me noticed by the right people. When the time comes, I’ll give you the same consideration.” 

Durana nodded, apparently satisfied, and stood up to leave. “I have little doubt you will.”