"The Bottom" by Ardelle ~Dedicated to Charles Dickens and Theresa Nelson, who between their novels "Oliver Twist" and "The Beggars Ride" inspired this story, and to Krystle Armstrong and Elijah Wood for their inspiring portrayals of the Artful Dodger~ Part Two: "Now...see that young Shazani? Walking over there by hisself?" Flint, a young thief, pointed a grubby finger in the direction of a tiny green ball of soft, undulating tentacles "Yes, I see him," B'Elanna replied. "He's obviously the gullible sort. Give him this," she said, handing B'Elanna a cheap shiny trinket she'd lifted at a market stand. "Just _give_ it to him?" "No. Sell it to him. For a good price." "This thing isn't worth one coin," B'Elanna said, handling the little bracelet. "Exactly. It's called profit. You earn more than what you pay for it." "But I didn't pay for it." "Of course not! Look, tell him it's whatever he'd like. A valuable lost treasure from the seas of Nramboni." "The seas of what?" "It don't matter! He's in his stupidest stage! His mother probably wanted him to fetch a melon or something so he'll have some money. Do it!" B'Elanna felt bad about it, but knew it was necessary. As Flint had said so many times, "Ya wanna eat or not?" She put on the gray robes Flint had given her, carefully wrapping the hood around her prominent forehead, as she had done so much during her childhood. Without her dark hair or forehead she looked exactly like a Zelm. "Excuse me, little...boy." "What?" the young Shazani burbled. "You look like an intelligent boy, would you be interested in this?" B'Elanna flashed the silvery bracelet quickly past his faceted eyes. "What is it?" he asked, awed. "It is an ancient treasure, a bracelet from the...Mediterranean Sea!" "Whoooooooaaawww." B'Elanna assumed that noise to be one of wonderment. "Your mother would like it, I am sure." "My mother wants me to buy a melon." "Yes, but with this, you could buy your mother a hundred melons!" *Always keep the bracelet moving so it glimmers in the sun...it's more expensive-looking that way...* B'Elanna reminded herself. "And I would give it to you for the price of one," B'Elanna finished, smiling as charmingly as she could. "All right! Here!" The Shazani handed her a handful of metallic blue coins, and B'Elanna dropped this bracelet in awaiting tentacles, then quickly moved out. "Pretty good, huh?" B'Elanna said, showing of the coins to Flint in an alley many blocks from the score. "Okay for a beginner...a very amateur beginner..." Flint spoke out of the side of her mouth, leaning against the cool bricks with her eyes closed, hugging herself and chewing on a shred of mauve grass. "What do you mean?!" B'Elanna had done her very best, after all these weeks of teaching...! "You let too many people see you," Flint replied, not budging, not even opening her eyes. "You were right under the cops' noses, and they're looking out for things like that." "Things like what?" "Like some one wrapped up like their about to go on a desert trip talking to a baby Shazani. It doesn't happen often, you know." "Can't you give me a little credit?" Flint peered at her through one eye. "No. Can't. You've got to get it right. One slip up and you'll be joining loverboy." "Maybe that wouldn't be so bad!" cried B'Elanna. "I'm sick of this! No decent place to sleep, no decent bathrooms...do you realized I haven't showered in three weeks?! And I haven't had any sort of decent meal since this ordeal began! And you! You're so damn smug! Can't you see I'm working my ass off for this?!" B'Elanna stood there fuming at Flint, who was unfazed. "The people I care about are in trouble and all we're doing is stealing and cheating?! We're doing nothing for their lives! How can you be so greedy?! How can you be so cruel?!" "Look," said Flint, almost civil. "I don't know what kind of brick you got shoved up your ass, but this attitude has gotta stop." "Attitude? ME?!" "I ain't lived in the lap o'luxury, and I don't have any 'people I care about' so maybe I have a different view of the situation. But us street people have a motto: Survive to fight tomorrow. Now that you've proven yourself as at least a third-rate thief, I'll take you to our meetings." "Meetings." B'Elanna calmed down at the mention of this. "You talked of a rebellion before." "No more of this until after dark," Flint warned her. "Now, are you planning to spend those coins?" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "God forbid you ever had to walk a mile in her shoes 'Cos then you really might know what it's like to have to choose." -- Everlast, "What it's Like" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Now. Let's review the situation. So far as we know the entire crew has been taken into this jail..." Chakotay held a meeting of Tom, Seven, Harry and Tuvok. "Except B'Elanna," Tom pointed out. "Lieutenant Paris, it is very likely that B'Elanna has been singled out by now and also placed in captivity," replied Tuvok, ever logically. "We know the Captain is in another cell by the guards," continued Chakotay, ignoring them. "What's more important is what we _don't_ know. We don't know how many people are in this prison, and we don't know how long it will take for them to get to us." "I have overheard the guards saying it will be up to two years until we are...sacrificed." "Good work Seven." "There hasn't been any sign of the doctor here. I think he was probably deactivated when the ship was invaded. If we could get some one up there..." Harry trailed off. "If wishes were horses, beggars would ride," said Chakotay. "Huh?" "It's an old saying. We have to concentrate on what we have here." "A handful of ensigns. No weapons, nothing except for the clothes on our backs. They even took our comm badges and insignia pins. They're not taking any chances." Tom was overwhelmed by deja vu. "Harry, doesn't this remind you of the time we..." "Don't even go there, Tom," Harry said sullenly. The only thing that had kept them alive when they'd been imprisoned by aliens before was the dream of rescue. Who would rescue them now? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "What's the point in trying to dream anymore?" -- Alanis Morisette, "Mary Jane" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ B'Elanna did her best to stifle a yawn. *Why?* she asked herself, *Flint's been rude, why should I worry about my manners?* She realized it wasn't about manners. She didn't want Flint making a derogatory remark on how weak she was. *This is worse than the Day of Honor.* It was several hours after dark, when she had gotten used to falling asleep when darkness fell. Not much sleep, half listening for the sounds that might come. "Keep an ear open," Flint told her, "You're a heavy sleeper and the cops could probably haul you inter jail wit'out ya knowin' it." B'Elanna was sure she heard every noise in the night...and half of them made her jump. Yet she hadn't heard Flint leave to go to her meetings. "Where is this alleged meeting place?" she asked Flint in a stage whisper. "Just follow me." Flint led B'Elanna deeper and deeper into the recesses of the city. The walls of the alleys got higher, until B'Elanna began to think herself in catacombs, or the bottom of an endless crevasse. "How much longer?" Flint turned around sharply and gave her a mean look, jerkily signaling silence. They traveled through the narrow, coal black alleys until B'Elanna was sure she'd go insane. Quite abruptly, Flint stopped, leaning over a cellar door of an abandoned house. She knocked on the door. One long one, two short ones, three short ones, one long one. The door creaked open. "What's the password?" a ragged Delnr whispered. "For our freedom," Flint whispered back, and climbed in. As B'Elanna was about to follow, the door shut fast. She knocked on the door, trying to repeat the pattern. She felt the butt of a gun on her back. "Don't move," a cool voice whispered in her ear. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Maybe you've heard of that mystical place Called the Court of Miracles Hello, you're there! Where the lame can walk And the blind can see But the dead don't talk So you won't be around to reveal what you've found! We have a method for spies and intruders Rather like hornets protecting their hive Here in the Court of Miracles Where it's a miracle If you get out alive!" -- Clopin and the Gypsies, "Court of Miracles" from Disney's "The Hunchback of Notre Dame ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Firelight shone upon a face with no warmth. "Hiya Zelan, Fingers, Praniff, Greaser, Elwoan, Pei, Wires." Flint addressed a handful of Delnr, Shazani and Zelm, all as worn and dirty as she was, but none as harsh. Several were playing a came of throwing stones and others were comparing loot. They lacked association, they lacked a leader. "Where's Chopper?" "He's out keepin' watch," replied Wires, a Zelm boy, barely a child. He was tinkering with pulse cannon. "But since you came in he'll probably be in soon." Flint nodded. "Good. I wanted to introduce him to..." *Damn! Lost her!* "Well, well, look what the watch dragged in," commented Pei, an old, withered Shazani. Flint felt some one behind her. She jumped, turning ninety degrees at the same time. Before her stood a tall, handsome Zelm male, about Flint's age. His looks and grace were such that you didn't notice how dirty he was. He still seemed like a king. Right now his kingly face was damaged with a frown. He led B'Elanna, hands up in the air, by gun point. "Flint!" B'Elanna barked. "Explain to him!" Flint slapped her hand to her forehead. "B'Elanna...!" "You know her?" "Yes...She's from that starship. I've been teaching her the ropes. She's proved herself. An engineer could help us out big-time." Chopper immediately withdrew the gun. "I'm sorry," he said sincerely. It wasn't the acting sort of sincerity Flint often displayed, he really meant it. "Please sit down." "Good work, Flint. The more, the better." "Could somebody explain what's going on here?" asked B'Elanna. Chopper eyed a stately-looking Delnr. "Zelan?" "We have been meeting for quite some time. We are constructing a plan to storm the jail and break all of the prisoners out. With at least a million prisoners down there, it will form a great army. We will then start a revolution, hopefully to flip things around here. Face it. None of us here are here by choice. We will improve the quality of life for all, and let no religion blind us to the needs of others!" Everyone cheered. Even Flint. The meeting went on, and B'Elanna caught on to their plan. They had been stealing and constructing guns in secret for years, and they finally had enough to overwhelm the guards. In two days, they would attack. After the meeting was over the outlaws lingered in the warm room. Flint and Wires discussed possible ways to make their weapons stronger while the others continued their original activities. Chopper pulled B'Elanna aside. "Sorry again about that gun thing," he said. "I understand. I used to be part of a resistance once, too." Chopper nodded, staring past B'Elanna at Flint. "I'm sorry some one else didn't find you, too. Flint's got a heart of ice. She must be tough on you." "I can handle it." He smiled. "I'm sure you can. Still, don't go thinking you're as bad as she says you are. She treats everyone like that." "Even you?" "Especially me. She's lived her entire life being told she's nothing. In a way, I guess we all are. We're born anonymous, and if we don't attempt to pull this off, we'll die anonymous too. I think that makes her very angry, so she lashes out. But she won't let anyone in. We're all so much like a family...but her..." Chopper sighed. "She can't let herself know love. She's never known it and she doesn't want to, in fear she'll have to depend on it. In fear that some one would hurt her more than she already does." B'Elanna suddenly understood Flint a lot better. She reminded her a lot of a young half Klingon girl she had known long ago. "You love her, don't you?" Quietly Chopper said, "Yes." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Riffraff, street rat, I don't buy that If only they'd look closer Would they see a poor boy? No siree, they'd find out There's so much more to me." -- Aladdin, from Disney's "Aladdin" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Two days passed and Flint was as mouthy as ever. B'Elanna got ever better at pick pocketing, scamming and cheating. She'd picked her own spot to sleep. Still, she frequently thought of the attack. Surely they'd win...They _couldn't_ lose. They'd all suffer the system they were trying to stop of they lost. Disclaimer: I don't own Star Trek, it's characters, or any of the song lyrics I used. Everything else in the story is basically mine although somewhat based on the aforementioned novels(read them!). So, hopefully I won't get in trouble, because I mean no harm.