Baela had sat at her desk going over the inventory to make sure things were set for the auction when she overheard Kodrak’s conversation with a Romulan woman. After he ended the channel she looked up at him. “What was that about?” Baela asked.

Kodrak looked over at her. “Nothing I can’t take care of.”

“Not what I heard,” Baela replied as she was annoyed that he wasn’t telling her the whole story. “Who is this Riheela person that she seemed to be afraid of?”

“Just a very influential Romulan woman from the Romulan Free State,” Kodrak replied, looking at Baela. “We dealt with her years ago, she is known to make people disappear who double-cross her,” Kodrak replied.

“She seems very interested in gathering information about me,” Baela commented. “What is she after?” She asked, crossing her leg over the other.

“She has come here as a buyer wanting to get her hands on that Borg technology just like every other buyer here,” Kodrak replied. “She came to see me earlier to see if I would let her see the merchandise. I told her that she would need to wait just like everyone else.” Kodrak replied, “though it seems she was after more than that.”

Baela sat back thinking for a moment. “Why not give her what she wants?” Baela asked, looking up at the ceiling. “I mean if she is as influential as you say she is, why not show her that what we have will be worth her while?”

“Are you sure that is wise?” Kodrak countered.

“I mean what harm does it do?” Baela asked. “Bring her to me,” she added.

“As you wish,” Kodrak said before leaving the room and heading out of Starflight Bar.

Baela began to wonder who this Riheela person was and why she was so important than any other buyer who was arriving for the auction. She stood up to prepare herself for when Riheela arrived as she would just find out when she got here.

“I have what you requested about Baela,” Chon’al said.

“What did you find?” Tilana asked as she sat up from lying on the bed waiting. The other two were in the room listening to what Chon’al found out about this Baela person.

“Baela is a middle-aged Orion woman who was reportedly assimilated by the Borg more than fifteen years ago.” Chon’al began. “She was one of the survivors of the Artifact.”

“There has to be more than just that, why would someone go from a survivor of the Artifact to selling Borg technology?” Ritru asked as things were not making sense to her. “There has to be more to this,” she added.

“From what we can gather is that when gangs started to pray on xBs she began to sell out fellow xBs to survive,” Chon’al replied. “This allowed her to grow in prestige, especially with the death of Bjayzl and the power rift that she had left behind.” He added.

“You think she is becoming desperate due to the shrinking of the black market over the last couple of years?” Tilana asked.

“It is a possibility,” Chon’al replied.

“How cold does she have to be? I mean to go from what she did during her time as a Borg drone to now selling out her fellow survivors.” Zhayva said over the earpiece.

“What could she have done to survive?” Nessi jumped in. “I don’t condone her for what she had done but I feel sorry for her. I believe that she is more of a victim than a killer,” she added.

This caused a bit of an uproar between a few of the members and Tilana had to jump in to stop things before they got worse. “Enough!” she almost yelled before they had stopped arguing and became silent. “I don’t care where each of you stand, the fact remains she still assisted with the murders of xBs and probably still doing so. We need to put a stop to this no matter what!” Tilana stated.

“Understood sir,” Nessi replied.

“Sorry sir,” Zhayva added.

Just then there was a knock at the door which caused the three of them to look at each other for a moment before Tilana stood up and walked closer to the door. “Who is it?” Tilana asked loud enough for the person to hear her.

“Kodrak,” came the voice from the other side.

She opened the door and smiled. “Oh, I wasn’t expecting you, my old friend,” Tilana asked as the two stood up from their chairs.

“I am not your friend,” Kodrak said with a scowl.

“Oh I thought we were either way, what do I owe this pleasure?” Tilana asked.

“You just don’t know when to quit, do you?” Kodrak asked, a bit annoyed that he had to even see her again.

“Don’t know what you are talking about,” Tilana replied with a grin.

“Riheela don’t be stupid, I know you are having your associates gather information on the auction,” Kodrak said with a bit of annoyance in his voice.

“Would you expect any less from me?” Tilana asked. “Did you expect me to just sit and wait? When I want something I will find it out one way or another. You could have just made things easier Kodrak,” Tilana added with a sternness in her voice.

“Either way Baela has requested your presence,” Kodrak replied. “If you will follow me I will take you to her.”

“Wonderful,” Tilana replied, motioning for the two to follow her as well. Kodrak was going to argue but decided there was no point as she would do what she pleased one way or another. They all walked out of the hotel together and headed down the street towards Starlight Bar.

Silence filled the air the whole way there, once they arrived Kodrak led them through another set of doors that led to below where the auction would be located. Unbeknownst to the group it was also where the technology was being kept as well as xBs that were currently still alive. They walked into a room that seemed to be a lounge where they saw a woman sitting in a chair facing the other way.

“Baela, I brought you your guests,” Kodrak spoke up.

“Thank you, you are dismissed,” Baela replied as Kodrak nodded before leaving them there. “So you are the famous Riheela I’ve been hearing so much about,” Baela said as she turned her chair around to face them.

“I hope it’s all good things,” Tilana said with a grin. “These are my associates Revan and Vakal,” Tilana added, introducing the two that accompanied her.

“A pleasure I am sure,” Baela replied. “So I hear you would like to see the merchandise?” Baela asked.

“Like I told Kodrak I want to make sure it’s worth my time,” Tilana began looking at the woman who was responsible for countless murders of xBs no matter what her circumstances were. “If they are, I am willing to pay top dollar for all the Borg technology,” she added.

Baela looked at them in silence as she thought for a moment. “Very well I will show you myself.” She said as she stood up from the chair she had been sitting at and began to walk to a door that would lead them to things they wished they hadn’t seen.

She first showed them a room with what seemed like over a hundred different pieces of Borg technology. “This is only half of what we have,” she replied as Tilana nodded before moving into the next room. What they would see in the next room would test their ability to keep a straight face and not want to react right then and there.

There were living xBs being caged up looking scared and bruised while others were too late. “The rest will be taken care of by the time of the auction,” Baela said as the three of them looked at each other for a moment. Tilana had to think of something to hopefully save them.

“You know I’d pay double for those live xBs, they will be more valuable to me than they would be dead.” Tilana said, which caused Baela to look at her, “It’s better to have live test subjects than just the technology that you can get out of them.” She said which caused Baela to think for a moment.

“All of them?” Baela asked.

“Indeed, all of them,” Tilana replied.

“Very well I will keep them alive, what about everything else you have seen, is it worth your time?” Baela asked.

“Yes, I am pleased with what I have seen, and will be of value to us,” Tilana replied as they walked out of the room and back into the room they were originally in.

“Then I will see you at the auction?” Baela asked.

“We will be there,” Tilana replied.

“Wonderful,” Baela said before she tapped a button on her desk. “Kodrak can you come back in here,” she said as the doors opened up to reveal Kodrak. “Can you show our guests out?” Baela asked.

“Of course,” Kodrak replied.

“Looking forward to doing business with you soon,” Baela said before Kodrak walked the group out.

Once they were outside of Starlight Bar she smiled at Kodrak, “I am sure I will see you soon enough.” Tilana said with a grin before they turned to leave, not giving Kodrak a chance to respond.

Upon arriving at their hotel room they entered and locked the door behind them. “We have a new problem,” Tilana said as she looked at the two.

“Chon’al did you encounter anything that would cause beaming down a problem?” Tilana asked.

“No everything seemed fine from our end,” Chon’al replied.

“Good, I need you to contact Triumph and have them begin to mask their warp core signature and start heading to Freecloud,” Tilana replied. “They will need to arrive just shortly after the start of the auction, I will send a signal when the time is right.” 

“Understood sir,” Chon’al replied. “May I ask why?” He asked.

“This is bigger than we can deal with, we need the Triumph here to assist with bringing down this operation,” Tilana replied. “There are also live xBs being held captive down there. I just hope she keeps to her word and lets them live as I said they would go for more profit than they would just for parts.” Tilana said as she felt almost sick to her stomach. They were no longer Borg and deserved to live just as anyone else did. There were gasps in her earpiece from others in the away team and onboard the ship. 

“What else do you want me to tell Commander Trol?” Chon’al asked.

“Tell her to proceed with what we had talked about before we departed,” Tilana replied.

“Aye sir,” Chon’al replied.

She looked at Torath and Ritru who were just as shocked at what they saw as she was. “Well we have two more days before things go down, do we have your crew’s assistance once the Triumph arrives?” Tilana asked Torath

“Of course,” Torath replied.

They would spend the next few hours going over their plan as execution would need to be precise or things can go wrong quickly. When they were all in agreement they would try to get some sleep as they had a few days to wait and prepare for what would need to come next. Tilana lay in bed staring up at the ceiling as she was having issues falling asleep, things were on her mind. After a few hours of laying there, she eventually fell asleep.