"Spies R us" © 2004 Kara Anne Kalel.

Please see chapter 1 for copyright and disclaimer notices.

I detested this uniform. I detested the woman wearing it, standing there, regarding me in the mirror. I glared at her, then closed the mirror (with a bit more force than required), and went to meet my security team.

"Commander, you'll need this."

I looked down at the phaser, then up at the duty lieutenant. He grinned at me crookedly, then added, "If I realized someone was trying to kidnap a friend of mine to return her to slavery, I might try something." He looked down at it, then back up at me. "Between you and me, I WOULD try something. You look like a good sort. Be gentle with them. This is bad duty."

A sour expression crossed my face, and I nodded, checking the charge, and thumbing for the phaser. Attaching it to my waist, I picked up the PADD. "This is the list of girls?" I asked.

He nodded. "Straight from the Captain." I took a breath, nodded, and walked out.

I stopped outside the first little cottage. A few hundred meters away, I could see people relaxing on the sand and in the water. I addressed the security team. "Beta squad, secure the perimeter. Alpha, you're with me to grab the girl. She's an Orion, the last three digits on her collar are 784. We'll stun her and anyone that resists, then bind the Orion girl and move on to the next. Everyone ready?" I waited for Beta to deploy, then opened in the door.

"Hello, skipper. Come down for some leave?" Jason asked.

I shook my head, then saw the girl. "Slave 784, you're being returned to your owners. Come along quietly."

"NO!" Jason charged me, but was dropped by someone in Alpha. The Orion girl had turned to run, and was dropped by another person, as were two Vulcan girls that had moved to shield her.

I knelt next to the Orion girl, and turned her to check her collar number. With a sigh, I started to search her before binding. "Great. That was nice shooting, people. Let's take the girl and go. I hope the rest of them won't be like this."

They were. Word got out, and people started to fight back, and to vanish. We eventually got all thirty-three girls on the list, although we had to rotate through two other squads of security people. Four were in sickbay.

"Computer, location of Captain Edward Jellico?"

"Captain Edward Jellico is at the Curves Casino in South Risa City." I raised my eyebrow, then checked my equipment, and left.

"Captain Jellico, sir!" I braced to attention before him.

He glanced up, then drawled absently, "I'm on leave, Commander. What is it? Taken care of that little problem?" He groped his companion's breast next to him, as she writhed in his arm. He shook the dice, then threw.

I answered a little louder than normal. "Sir, my orders were to report immediately upon completion. You were not aboard ship, sir. All thirty three slaves have been kidnapped and returned to their owner, Brakt the Klingon." I laid a PADD before him. "This is my report, the list of slaves, and Brakt's receipt, sir." I returned to ramrod attention, and Jellico glared at me. "Sir, do you acknowledge receipt?"

Jellico looked over the list. I waited, expressionless, standing at attention, the tips of my thumbs the regulation two centimeters above the hem of my skirt. Finally, he thumbed the PADD, and gave it back to me. "Everything looks in order, Commander. You're dismissed."

I saluted. "Yes, sir. Enjoy your leave." I said dryly. I glanced at the naked girl in his arms, and met her eyes as she glanced at my collar. I braced, then right-faced and marched off.

I made a couple of calls from my quarters on the _Enterprise_, packed a bag, then left my communicator on my PADD, with a note for Alyssa. I hated to do this to her, but I didn't see a choice.

I worried a bit about Five, but she had gotten closer to Jason, who had taken Five under her wing as a 'little sister'. I wasn't surprised, they had both been through involuntary, and rather traumatic body modifications, Five by the Collective, Jason by Qon.

With Fek'leh and K'Chel, I had given my recommendations to Admiral Moore. Birta had expressed a desire to study at the Vulcan Academy of Medicine, which I had endorsed. I grimaced. These people were family, but I had to let them go. I looked over my note again, then picked up my bag, and walked out of the cabin, without looking back.

I rang the call for Brakt's quarters. With a snarled, "Come!" I entered. "You! What do you want?" she snarled.

"A bit of business," I replied. I felt much more comfortable in my black jumpsuit, with the comforting weight of disrupters at my waist.

"Unless it involves getting us back to our proper bodies, I don't want to talk to you." She looked at me, then said, "You're out of uniform. Why?"

"Yesterday, I was under orders. Today, I'm not. I'm a private citizen, a businesswoman, just like you."

"Don't remind me. What do you want?"

"A bit of trade. Do you remember when you first saw me?" At Brakt's snarl, I said, "I was decorating one of Qon's walls when you barged into his office. What that means is, I heard what he said AFTER you were stunned. Interested?"

Brakt slammed her fist down, and stood, leaning over the table. I shrugged, then turned to walk out. I had only gone a couple meters, when I heard her say, "Wait." I turned, and arched an eyebrow. Brakt fought with herself, then asked, "What do you want?"

I replied calmly, "The slaves I delivered to you yesterday."

"Impossible. Those slaves are our only source of funds."

"I'm willing to pay market value for them, and I'll ask my friends in Starfleet to lift the 'health and safety' hold on your ship and crew." I pivoted, one foot just outside the door's sensor field.

"Not good enough. Triple market."

That would bankrupt me, I thought. I was paying for them from my meager savings. "You know you can't rejoin your House. Not wearing a slave collar."

"You p'tak! Of course we know that! Once that k'hesting Ferengi changed us, we could never go back! Even if we got the collars off!" Brakt snarled.

"So there is a way to remove them … " I mused.

"Of course, you fool! There is only one machine on Klinzhai, and the Chancellor must enter codes to use it. There is no way he would do it for us, so we are trapped like animals! Like the slaves we appear to be!"

"There are alternatives … " I mused.

Brakt looked at me warily. "What? We cannot go back to the Empire like this!"

I gave her a tight smile. "You have a well-armed ship, and a crew that is in a similar position. If they leave, they will be taken and sold as the slaves they look like. Trained female Klingon slaves are rare, and valuable."

Brakt snarled, but nodded. "We are no longer a fit match for a Warrior. How is that an advantage?"

"It gives your crew cohesion. If you are agreeable to my conditions, I know merchants with cargoes in need of a fast, well-armed ship and crew. I'm also willing to … loan … you some startup capital." I stood, arms crossed on my chest, and looked at her.

"And what would you require in exchange?"

"Your word of honor." I strode over, and looked her in the eye. "Despite your … political … problems in the Empire, your word is still good, isn't it?"

"Filthy Human! How DARE you besmirch my honor?" Brakt lunged at me, and I dodged her. It was a small cabin, with not much room to maneuver. I didn't want to draw a blade, keeping the fight 'friendly'. I moved into the center of the room, and Brakt swore at me, and threw an empty bloodwine bottle at me while she moved from behind her desk.

"Why, Brakt. I didn't know you cared." I grinned, and said, "Let's see. 'There once was an old man from Nantucket…'"

"You … " she screamed.

I ducked her next missile, grinned at her, and said, "What's the matter, love?"

"Love? What do you mean, human?" She blinked, then added, "K'hest, is that … Oh, Kahless," she sat back down, and put her head in her hands.

"Qon's programming is better than we knew." I admitted. "Here's something else I heard from Qon. The DNA changes he made in you and your crew goes deeper than the surface. Any children you have will be female, and look like you. It's apparently a recessive gene from a bioweapon in your planet's past."

"Kahless," she whispered. "My crew will not be pleased to hear this."

"Isn't it better that they know? Your word is enough for me. Do we have a deal?" I dropped into a chair.

Brakt glared at me. She snarled, then said, "Your conditions?"

"You will not trade in slaves or illegal drugs. I know better than to ask a Klingon to ignore the arms trade. Aside from that … " I shrugged. "Your business is your business. I'll give you a list of merchants and shipyards that I've found reliable, and loan you startup capital based on market value of each slave you'll free. I'll take care of them from then on."

"Not enough. Three times market for each slave, and who is loaning me the latinum? Starfleet? At what interest?"

"I am, out of personal funds. Starfleet has no interest in this; it's a private deal between us. I will give you a standard year to repay me, after that, it's at fifteen percent a standard year. I can go one and a half market per slave, and tell you what Qon told me about you," I replied.

"Twice market at ten percent, and Qon's information," she offered.

"Twice market at fifteen percent with Qon's information," I said. Brakt thought for a minute, then nodded. I extended my hand, and after a minute, she shook it. I extracted a chip from a pocket, and handed it to her. "That's the list of shipyards and cargoes I mentioned, and a list from the inspection teams of actual medical and engineering problems they found. If you want, I can have my ship's engineer and physician assist yours in solving them." She snarled, and I continued. "Once we get the slaves freed, we'll go down to Risa to transfer the funds to your ship's account. Are we agreed?" She nodded, and I added, "As a citizen of the Empire, it is perfectly legal for you to deal in slaves. However, as a Federation citizen, I cannot. Therefore, out of the goodness of your heart, you will free these slaves, while I will also make a charitable loan to you. It's sheer coincidence they just happen at the same time." Brakt snorted, and I added, "I'll make some calls, and meet you here again in … fifteen minutes to transfer the slaves," I stood, and strode out.

"You bitch! Why don't you … " Jason spat at me when I called her.

"Would you like to help those girls, or should I ask someone else?" I interrupted.

"What do you mean? You're the one that betrayed them!" she snapped.

"You should remember that not all orders we get are ones we like. Remember that, cadet. If it helps you to think it, then yes, I'm a lying, traitorous bitch. Answer the question," I snapped.

"Sure I want to help them." Jason blinked, then asked, "How?"

"Simple. In exchange for certain … items, Brakt will free them. You, as a member of Starfleet, will then handle their repatriation. There will be no legal claim on them, so you're free to help them."

"Why don't you do it?"

"I don't belong to Starfleet anymore. I'm a private citizen, in business with another private citizen, who is freeing them out of the goodness of her heart."

"You quit?" Jason blinked in surprise.

"Resigned my commission, but only after getting signoff on completion of my orders." I glared at Jason.

"Yes, ma'am. What do we do to get those girls?" she asked.

"Brakt will bring them down to the cabin you're staying in on Risa. They will be manumitted, at which time you take over and do what's necessary. I'll leave with Brakt to complete the transaction."

"Which is?"

"Nothing you need to know about. Nothing illegal, though. After that, we part ways, I'll wish you luck, and try to make my way back to Terra."

"Skipper, I … " Jason said.

"Don't worry about me. You've got about ten minutes before we meet. Go on, I'll see you shortly." I made shooing motions at her image.

Brakt and three other of her crew arrived with the slaves. Jason stood, in uniform along with Riker and Picard. Each slave was called forward, the agonizers in her collar deactivated and her database record updated to 'freed', and she was turned over to the Starfleet contingent. When it was over, the other three Klingons beamed up, Brakt and I left for the capital of Risa to finish our business. Jason had tried to speak to me, but I managed to dodge her, and left before she could free herself from Picard.

I entered the small, old flat I had taken in London. I hadn't been back to San Francisco. I closed the door, and switched on the light, then cursed softly when it failed to come on.

"Allow me," a girl's voice said. I swore, and grabbed for my dagger, when the voice said, "Don't bother." A soft light clicked on next to my chair. She was sidelit, her hand moving away from the light. "Maria Zambini?"

"That's right," I answered.

"You're a hard person to find." I didn't say anything. If I could reach the table a meter to my right … "By the way, I've had some time to look about, and found the little toys you've hidden here and there. Some of them were quite dangerous in the wrong hands."

"They're designed that way," I said. "What do you want?"

"To talk. By the way, you're quite fetching in your working clothes. Why don't you take off that bulky coat, and have a seat?"

"Do I have a choice?" I asked.

"Of course." She gave a low whistle at the flare of my short skirt when I turned to hang up my coat, then said, "Naughty. I've got a phaser, so kick the dagger over here with the side of your stilt, would you?" She touched the controls, which glowed in the predawn darkness. I grumbled and did so.

"I'm a simple barmaid, I don't have much money. Take it and go, please," I asked softly.

"A simple barmaid that carries a dagger? Especially a Klingon dagger?" she snorted, and added, "I think not. Pull the other one, why don't you?" She chuckled to herself, and said, "I just wanted to talk. Why don't you turn the other light on?"

I stood, and walked over, bending over to turn on the table lamp. I looked at my visitor, and said, "Jason! What are you doing here? How did you find me?"

"You hid pretty well, but working as a barmaid?" Her voice went soft, and she added, "I've missed you, skipper." She cleared her throat, and said, "Paying cash for everything, and using false papers hid you for a long time, but then you cleaned out your account, taking it through a branch of Barclays in this neighborhood. Why?"

I moved back to my chair. I said, "A friend at work needed the money. Her son's dog was hit by a lorry, and the vet bills … " I cleared my throat, and asked, "Why didn't you change back? To Jason, the big side of beef that ran me over?"

She sat up. "Couple of reasons, skipper. Qon didn't keep data on a person's initial settings, so I could have gone back to male, just not to Jason. Secondly, the collar would have been too small." She pulled down the turtleneck to show it, before readjusting it, and pulling down her sweater. "Third, after a truly glorious weekend, I realized that sex as a female is a hell of a lot better than as a male. I know that seems kind of shallow, but … "

"You didn't have anything … adjusted, I see," nodding at her bosom. "What about your family?"

"I told my sister, Chris. I went to see her as a counselor, so it's under doctor/patient confidentiality. For the rest of them, well, I'm still MIA, like a lot of my flight was." Jason cleared her throat, then said, "Skip, I'm here for two reasons."

"Those are?" I asked.

"First, I wanted to apologize. I was really horrible to you, I should have realized that, well, about those girls, you wouldn't … "

I waved it away. "I understand. You're forgiven, as long as you understand that not all orders you get will be … "

"Yeah. I heard about how you reported to Jellico. He was mad enough to spit nails at you."

"Strictly per orders, and by the book." I said, "Not a thing he could do."

"That brings up something else." Jason tossed me a chip. When I looked at her, she motioned to my terminal. "Go ahead. Read it, Alina. Please."

I gazed at her, then shrugged, and kicked off my stilts. With a sigh of relief, I padded over to the old library terminal, and dropped the chip in the right slot. After a second or two, the FIA logo appeared. I turned, and looked at Jason again. She motioned, and I logged in.

Alyssa Moore appeared, and with a grin, said, "Alina, if you're seeing this, it means that Jason was able to find you. Your leave (she finger quoted) is up when you see this. Please come back. We found our leak, but I can't tell you about it if you don't come back. Don't try to badger Jason, she doesn't know who it is, either."

Alyssa took a breath, then said, "Now, putting on my Admiral's hat, your orders are for the Academy. You will be taking command classes this next term, consistent with proper security procedures and regulations." She continued, "Quarters have been arranged in graduate housing for you." With a smile, she said, "Orders are attached to this chip. I expect to see you here the day before term starts, at 18:00 hours, O'Malley's pub. Moore, clear." My orders flashed by, then the chip ejected, and with a sizzle, it died.

Jason waited a minute, then asked, "What answer should I give Admiral Moore? I will have to tell her I found you, and delivered her message."

"Oh, damn it." I gazed at Jason. "It gets in your blood, you know."

"Missed it, haven't you?" I nodded, and Jason said, "One other thing, skipper. I'm not trying to pressure you, but if you decide soon, you can pay your last respects to a fellow in Australia."

I sat bolt upright. "I thought you would have already … "

Jason shook her head. "We did, a couple months ago. We got him back home, but I thought you'd like to pay your respects, skipper. After all, you gave your word to him. As far as when …" she looked at her chron, then said, "Eight hours ahead of London … Just enough time to get both of us in a proper uniform. However, I'm not pressuring you in any way, you understand."

"Of course." I gazed at her, then around the small flat. I stood, strode into the bedroom, where I slid my feet into some boots, then looked around one last time. I picked up a still photo, then came out to see Jason in her coat, holding mine.

"Anything you want to get, skipper?" Jason asked, holding out my coat.

"Got it." I shrugged into my coat.

London's Starfleet offices were just off Trafalgar Square. Not surprisingly, Jason had combadges and ID for both of us. A quick change, with Jason grousing about having to wear a skirt with the formal uniform, a transporter ride, and we had arrived on the other side of the planet, in Alice Springs.

I yawned. Midmorning in Australia, after putting in a full shift at work last night. I needed coffee. I managed to grab a cup while Jason signed for a ground car. I sat back while she drove to the cemetery.

I looked at the simple grave marker, and knelt before it, while Jason waited in the car. "Bill. I got your girls back. They're safe now. They don't have to go out any more." I cleared my throat, and added, "I'm sorry I wasn't here for your service, but I had some things to work through. You understand, I'm sure. I didn't think you'd mind waiting a bit, but I'm better, now." I grinned, and added, "Sometimes, this line of work can get to you, you know?" I laid the rose down, and pulled a weed from the edge of the marker. I blinked back tears, and rose to my feet. I brushed myself off, then added, "Thanks for listening, Bill, and goodbye." I took a step back, then said a quick prayer. Turning, I made my way down the hill toward the waiting car. Jason saw me, and started the engine. As I fastened the restraints, she silently handed me a handkerchief.