The
server leaned over the table filling her glass once more. Barbra could not
remember the last time that she had more than one glass of wine with dinner let
alone three. She glanced at the server, the woman was average height and
slender with a good figure. Something that couldn’t be missed as she was
wearing only a form fitting black cocktail dress that reveal most of her as it
had a low revealing neckline and the hem fell high on her thighs, with slits on
both sides. Her brown hair was wore loose and the only jewelry that she wore
was a metal anklet on her left ankle and a necklace with a letter ‘k’ pendant.
It
struck Barbra strange when she noticed that as well as that the woman wore no
rings and no wristwatch. But she did have gold hoop earrings. The woman also
didn’t say any more than was needed and then it was short and to the point
always ending with “Yes, Sir” or “Yes, Miss”. It was almost like she dared not
say anything more that needed to be said else she would be in trouble. But then
this wasn’t a public restaurant. She was seated across from Rudkar Cross in his
private dining room in Cross World Transit building overlooking Gotham Harbor. As
a rule, she didn’t accept invitations to private dinners from men that she didn’t
know. That was more that the Batgirl side of her being very cautious. She had
been around most of the wealthy playboys of Gotham society as the close friend
of billionaire Bruce Wayne and daughter of Police Commissioner James Gordon.
They had both been very helpful in pointing out the ones to be weary of.
But
it wasn’t a date, she was attempting to learn anything she could as Barbra
instead of Batgirl concerning a group of smugglers that had moved into Gotham
and working out of Gotham Harbor. They had been operating for months before she
even had a hint of their presences. Then it was only when she detected a
pattern that had formed. There had been a drastic drop off in criminal activity
in the Harbor District. The small time operators were still active. But the
larger organizations and criminal masterminds had avoided that district. She
had mentioned it in passing to her father, who had laughed and told her not to
look a gift horse in the mouth as it allowed the Department to shift resources
to other areas that had been stretched thin. She had mentioned it to Bruce and
Dick as well, but neither of them seemed overly concerned either. Bruce saying
to observe and monitor the area but not to spend a lot of time on it. That
there were too many other crises to deal with.
However,
Barbra could not just let it go as something told her that there was something
that they all were missing. What had happened that even the Joker was avoiding
that area. The Clown Prince of Crime was notorious for running them all over
Gotham. Only now everywhere but the harbor and docks. She has spent several
late nights on the web looking for anything. The only thing she had found was
that the trend started to form a couple months after Cross World Transit had established
their hub in Gotham.
Cross
World Transit was huge and a rising giant in the shipping industry. They had
established offices in every major seaport and shipping hub in the United
States as well as most of the rest of the world. While they had their fingers
in overland and air shipping, they predominately specialized in cargo ships.
One
thing that Barbra had noticed in her research on the corporation was that they
were not only not bothered by the criminal elements in Gotham. But their ships
were not harassed on the seas in areas known for pirate activities. One
possible reason could be the rumors that CWT ships carried extra crew and
weapons to ensure that they were only attacked once. There was legality about
this, however no weapons had been found when any of the searches had been
conducted. Nor had there been any witness’s come forward to make formal charges.
Although, there had also been some unrest in the regions where the pirate
activity was the worse. Several new leaders amongst the warlords had come to
power suddenly.
Very
thing that Barbra could find said that Rudkar Cross and Cross World Transit was
a clean as a whistle and everything they claimed to be. So why could she not
just leave it at that? Why did she feel the need to dig deeper? On the surface,
Rudkar Cross was no different from Bruce Wayne. Maybe he was a new and yet
unseen crime fighting superhero she laughed to herself.
“Was
something funny, Miss Gordon?” Rudkar Cross smiled a very charming and dashing
smile at her.
“No,
not really I suppose. Just a thought about how similar you seem to be to Bruce
Wayne.” She answered mostly honestly.
“Then
I will take that as a compliment, Miss Gordon. I have met Mr. Wayne a few times
and he seems to be a decent sort if not a little reserved at time.” He motioned
to the girl that the glasses needed refilled once more. Instantly, the server
appeared and topped off both of their wine glasses. Again, she was struck by
how beautiful and graceful the woman served their wine. But more than that she
was utterly submissive and obedient to her employers wishes. Rudkar smiled as
he watched her watching the girl as she walked away from the table. “She is
lovely isn’t she, Barbra.”
“Yes,
she is very beautiful,” she answered without thinking. She hadn’t noticed that
this time he had not addressed her as formally as he had before.
“I
am sure that with the proper training and conditioning I have no doubt that you
can be just as skilled and beautiful as Christa.” Rudkar leaned back in his
chair and smiled.
“What?”
she asked not sure that she had heard him right.
“I
was saying,” leaning in and sliding her glass of wine to her for her to drink.
“What can Cross Worlds Transit do for you, Barbra. “I may call you Barbra can’t
I” He smiled.
“What?
Of course you may.” Shaking it off.
“You
will have to forgive me. English is not my native tongue.” He let his eyes
linger over the curvature of her toned and trim body with an knowing and
appraising look. Then before she could pursue the subject, he moved on cutting
her off. “When I received your message I was curious as to what I could do for
the Gotham Municipal Library. Specifically, the Research and Documentation division
of the Library.” She must have failed to conceal her surprise with the
expression on her face that he knew exactly which part of the Library that
Barbra Gordon worked in. She has only given her name and that she was with the Library
and wished to speak with him.
“In
my line of work, Barbra is pays to know with whom one is talking to and dealing
with.” He went on, “Barbra Jean Gordon, only daughter of Police Commissioner
James Gordon and the late Barbra Kean Gordon. You have an Eidetic Memory, graduated
with a PhD in Library Sciences and a minor in Computer Science from an Ivy
League College, top of your class. You run the Research and Documentation
division of the Gotham Municipal Library. You live lone and have no pets. Did I
miss anything?” He smiled adding to himself her physical attributes that made
her very stunning and desirable. She would indeed look very nice assisting
Christa serving in the dining room as she normally did when there was no
outside guest.
“You
seem to have done your homework on me, Mr. Cross.” She said carefully so as not
to betray anything. She thought for an instant then ran the tip of her tongue
over her lips. “I thought it would be a good idea to get with you as form time
to time, the Library needs to have valuable and historic items shipped to and
from Gotham. They require special handling as well as very strict security.”
“As
I said before, I like to know who I am dealing with.” He smiled his best
disarming smiles. His eyes still continued to roam over her curves appraising
her. This one was a definitely a prime candidate for his list. But the fact
that she was the daughter of the Police Commissioner made for a messy
complication. If he was only here to collect and move on, then he would
seriously consider her. But he had spend a great deal of time and expense
sitting up operations here so the last thing he wished was unwanted attention.
“You checked out very well. And your credentials are most impressive. If you ever
get bored with the library. I am sure that I can find something for you to do around
here.” He smiled.
“That
is very flattering, but I am very happy with my work.” She smiled in return.
“Then
I will just have to settle for these informal working diners. And I can assure
you that CWT takes great pride in the most valuable and fragile cargo arrived
safely and undamaged.” He motioned to the server once more who approached and
refilled the wine glasses. “So, what do you think of the wine?”
“It
is very good,” Barbra sipped at her glass. It was extremely good wine. And she
had way too much of it. She forgot when the last time she had allowed herself
to have more than one or two glasses. “I don’t believe that I know the
vintage.”
“I
am not surprised. I am sure that you have never tasted anything like it before.
This bottle was made from grapes grown on villa and prepared a special way.”
“Where
is you villa?” She was asking out curiosity more than anything else.
“Aw,
we have a saying where I come from that curiosity in pretty girls such as you.”
Rudkar smiled. Then continued, “It is on a island far from here that is so
remote and small you have never heard of it. But it a place of great beauty.”
“The
way you talk of it, I think that I would like to see it sometime.” She smiled,
not sure if that was her being polite, or the wine talking.
“Oh,
trust me, my dear. If you were to be there and see it for yourself. You would
find it very difficult to leave.” Glancing over her shoulder to someone behind
her. “But if you will excuse me, I have to tend to something. Until next time,
Barbra.”
“It
was a pleasure to meet you, Rudkar. Thank you for diner and the excellent wine.
I look forward to working with you in the future.” Barbra stood just a little off
balance. But instantly she regained her composure and balance as the adrenaline
rush from her training kicked in to counter the effects of the wine. She will definitely
need to watch herself with the wine on future visits. She could tell that her senses
were dulled enough that she may walk with grace and composure, but melee
fighting would be out of the question.
“Yes,
I look forward very much to working with you, Barbra. My aid will get you a cab.
Good evening.” Rudkar smiled. As the aid appeared by her side to escort her
from the building. Barbra almost felt as if she had been just dismissed in the
same manner as he had the server in the dining room. As she exited the room,
out of the corner of her eyes she noticed the server Christa returning to the
table.
“She
was very pretty, Master.” Christa said softly as she knelt by the table. Then
softly giggled. “I thought Master was going to tell her that curiosity is not
becoming in a kajira.”
“Yes,”
Rudkar laughed, “I almost did.”
“I
am surprised that she was taken to the taxi stand downstairs and not to the
special ‘guest’ quarters to start her stay, Master. Is she to be added to the
list for the next shipment?”
“Christa,”
giving the kneeling girl a stern look. “What was just said about curiosity and
kajira?” Noting the girl’s instant dropping of her eyes and loss of her smile
after being corrected. “But you are right, she would make a beautiful slave.
And only her status as daughter of the Police Commissioner keeps her from
starting a new life right away.” He paused as he imagined Barbra Gordon
stripped in a slave collar serving his dinner and Kalana. “But if the right
circumstances present themselves, she will be.”
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