Round 4 PNPC Karen Harrigan, "The Burden of Truth"

[+ Saveron]

((Menthar Anchorage, A Seedy No Name Bar))

Harrigan: And what brings you to the Menthar Anchorage, Tobias Walker?

Walker: Oh, just taking in the sights...

::If 'the sights' meant the bottom of his glass then he was certainly speaking the truth. Karen was looking for some of those sights herself.::

Harrigan: Did you see Starfleet are aboard? I get the feeling they're here to ruin our day...

Walker: Yeah, I saw them come aboard, not one much for worrying about them, though.

::It was out of the corner of her eye that Karen saw movement on the floor. With a suspicious expression, she tried to get a clearer look, craning her neck to see over one of the intervening tables. She could see a tail disappearing out of sight.::

Harrigan: Ugh. Just what I need. This place is infested. You see that?

Walker: Yeah, I saw that too... Any idea what is was?

::The barman put her burger and a drink down on the table in front of her, and she immediately seized the beer bottle, downing half of it.::

Harrigan: It looked like a mouse or a rat. I don't know, whatever it was, it better not come near me. ::She looked at her fork, which looked sharp enough to drive into a rodent's skull.::

Walker: Yeah, I think I will go check it out...

::Walker stood, a strange chirp emanating from him, followed by a session of him fiddling with something that looked like it could be in the top pocket of his overcoat. Again, Karen found herself craning her neck to see what was going on.::

Walker: =/\= This is Walker, say again... =/\= ::No response:: =/\= Walker to the Mercury =/\= ::Still more silence:: =/\= Walker to the away team =/\=

::Away Team? Wait, he wasn't getting something from his pocket, he had a badge attached to his chest!::

Harrigan: ::Disbelieving:: You're Starfleet...

Walker: Yeah, did the com badge give it away?

Harrigan: You might as well have had that triangle thing you use as a symbol painted on your face. Away team? You got people sweeping the station?

Walker: I'm not here to ruin anyone's day, but rather just get on with mine and get in touch with my ship... Any idea what the hell is going on right now?

::Maybe it was her newly heightened suspicions about Walker, or just the fact that she'd had time for her natural thought process to work through the alcohol-induced fog, but the first things that flashed into her mind at that question was that tail, disappearing out of sight. It looked awfully familiar. Could it have been...?::

::No. Surely the Ferengi couldn't have been that stupid...::

Harrigan: I hope I don't, but I'm starting to thing we should go see the owners.

Walker: Something must be playing willy nilly with the power grid to keep a signal from coming through... Can you get a hold of your ship?

::She tapped at a button on her cuff.::

Harrigan: =/\= Harrigan to the Hornet, come in please. =/\=

::A quick answer came in the form of some sparks shooting from one of the bulkheads as the lights quickly dimmed. Karen leapt about a mile off her seat, partly through shock and partly through anger, as she saw another rat scurry frantically from one side of the bar to the other in plain sight.::

Harrigan: FRACK! Frack that stupid, witless, tangerine beach ball of a tube grub!!!

Walker: Response

::She locked eyes with Walker... sort of. She managed to hold his gaze for about a couple of seconds before having to blink herself back from dizziness.::

Harrigan: Oh no, no, no... you keep your Starfleet ears out of this. This ain't my fault. I just... ::she paused covering her mouth for a barely concealed burp.::

Walker: Response

::Turning towards the bar, Karen grabbed her half-empty beer bottle and yanked the burger off her plate, sending scratty pieces of salad flying in several directions. As one of the blackened onion rings toppled off the plate, a little furry visitor poked his face out from a gap between two of the panels on the bar and dragged it back inside, leaving only a greasy smear as evidence that it was ever there.::

Harrigan: Don't worry, Starfleet. I'm going to fix this. Fix it real good.

::She stormed a few paces towards the door before realising she was still ravenous, and so stopped to take a large bite from the burger.::

Walker: Response

Harrigan: I'm going to go and visit the fat slug who got me into all this, and I'm going to insert some of his merchandise where even the rains of Ferenginar won't be able to reach. ::She downed the rest of the beer and threw the bottle at the wall, hoping it would break. Instead, it just clattered to the floor with a loud chime, leaving her feeling distinctly disappointed.:: GOLT!

Walker: Response

Harrigan: Oh, you are more than welcome to tag along. Just do me a favour and make sure I don't kill him!

::Again, she was in motion, purposefully headed towards the exit. When she found herself instead bumping into one of the couches a few feet to the left of the door, she stopped, confused, and turned to plant a hand on Walker's shoulder.::

Harrigan: Maybe you could help me get to the top of the promenade?

Walker: Response

TAG/TBC

PNPC Karen Harrigan

Freighter Captain

SS Hornet

as SIMmed by

Captain Tallis Rhul

Commanding Officer

USS Mercury

NCC-99812