Nesert

3.22

Episode 10.15 "Bounty" (bold)

Netan kept a close eye on Nes at first, putting a guard at her door for a while, but she slowly gained his trust and he finally called her to the throne room one afternoon with a special task for her.

"I've begun to hear rumors that one of my Seconds, Trened, is spending a bit too much time getting drunk and speaking ill of his superiors."

"Well, that's rather unwise of him."

"It is. And I've lost my patience for that kind of behavior."

"So you would like his territories passed on to someone else?"

He smiled at her insinuation. "That's one way of putting it."

"How would you like it done? Do you want to claim it, send a message to the others? Or would you prefer to keep your involvement quiet?"

"What are your thoughts?"

Nes gave him a small smile, unsure if he was genuinely seeking her opinion or playing a slow game of winning her favor.

"You do not wish your subordinates to be so fearful that they mutiny. You already killed Gavos for questioning you. Perhaps it would be best for Trened to die a quieter death. The others won't know if it was you or one of the other Seconds and it will keep them from trusting one another enough to join together."

"You are more than just an assassin, my dear. You have a keen mind for strategy."

"People are easy enough to understand and predict."

"What was your life before this?"

"One that taught me all of the admirable skills you see before you."

Netan chuckled. "Very well. Deal with Trened quietly and then return."

"I have a few matters to attend to before I return."

"Such as?"

Nes crossed her arms and stood her ground.

"The mystery that was initially alluring is becoming more frustrating, Asra."

"I am not here to satisfy your curiosity. And I'll need a ship." She'd hidden her al'kesh before joining with Kefflin, not wanting to risk the beaming technology being discovered, but she could always retrieve it if she got any information that allowed her to track down Ba'al or his cloning facilities.

"Fine. I'll get you a ship." He looked back down at his desk and dismissed her with a wave of his hand.

Trened's planets were on the outskirts of Alliance space, which is likely why he felt safe enough to have a running public commentary on Netan's leadership whenever he'd had a bit too much to drink. He was easy enough to locate and easy enough to lure away from a bar and easy enough to kill. Nes didn't even bother waiting until he'd sobered, especially since she staged it as a simple robbery that no one would really believe.

She then made her way back to Kefflin's ship, which he usually kept in his own more central territories. The Second informed her that he had a meeting scheduled with his Ba'al contact for that next week so she hung around for a bit, annoyed with the lack of activity and purpose. After retrieving her al'kesh, she ended up spending a good portion of her time down on the planet, going for long runs in the fields and taking note of the kassa production. She'd already compiled quite a bit of information, but when she ran across a schedule of kassa shipments, she made her way to a planet with an unattended Stargate and dialed Earth to send the data through. She wished she could have delivered it personally, but there wasn't the time for that kind of trip.