A friendly bit of advice.

Posted on Sun May 26, 2019 @ 11:53pm by Civilian 'Key Holder' Dorian Gabriel & Lieutenant Jason Haines

1,609 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Doors of Perception
Location: Below deck 1001
Timeline: MD 09 - 0030
Tags: Dorian, Raddon, Intelligence, fighting

[ON]

The crowd was wild, raucous, and loud like always. They had come to see passion and violence in its purest form. .Why would they sacrifice the time and money if they were looking for something polite and civilized. Within the large warehouse space a visitor could hear the blows already coming from the center where the ring was located. The blood had already begun to saturate the ground.

Jason looked about a bit for his contact. He shook his head. He was surprised that a fight club like this existed under Annora's nose. It reminded him of stories his dad use to talk about with his uncle when he was a kid and they didn't know he was listening.

Dorian made his way through the crowd and positioned himself beside the slightly confused Starfleet Officer.

"Christ. . .even in civilian attire you look like a damn 'fleeter." Dorian said to the Intelligence Officer over the den of the crowd as they watched a bout with a muscled Orion and a tall Nausicaan pounded on each other. This latest bout was being held in a currently unused bay for storing industrial equipment. The ring was an octagon of portable force fields about ten meters across. There were three pre-arranged bouts, and an open bout versus the standing champion.

"Lemme guess, you're waiting for someone, huh?" Dorian said mockingly. "Well, at least I know my message made it's way through the proper channels to get you here." He said to Lt. Haines.

"Nah, not really", Jason said. "Most of the people I know hang out in places a bit more challenging. So, how are you on this fine day, Mister Gabriel?"

"Me? Oh, I'm doing just perfectly fine." Dorian said as the fighters engaged one another. "Another day, another Starfleet investigation to deal with." He said dryly. "But I doubt I'm telling you anything new." He said to the younger officer as he looked back towards the fight.

"I can't tell you how many times I tried to convince Command to let me shut this place down." Dorian said wistfully. "And not just short-term like a raid or something, I mean really put the screws to the organizers of this shitshow." Dorian said with a noticable edge to his voice.

"It wasn't just Yolanthe who was pulling the strings here, but the spoonheads were involved, too. All the way up to the Ambassador she was banging, Tharek Getal." Dorian said. "I was this close to finally putting my plan into action right before Starfleet decided to throw me to the Romulans." He said bitterly.

"So now, here I am. . .hoping to spare you some of that same pain and disappointment." He said towards the younger man.

"I don't know", Jason said. "From looking at you and hearing people talk, I get the impression you might be one for placing bets at a place like this. But, that's not really relevant. I do say though, this place is a hot-bed of potential leads. Also, I can't even express how grateful I am that you are looking to impart your wisdom on me; very generous. So, just why might Starfleet throw you to the Romulans? Who did you piss off?"

Dorian sighed as he saw the larger Nausicaan drive in knee into the the bridge of the other combatant's nose. "I used to be like you, Jason." He said, ignoring his previous question. "Young, bright, full of zeal and ambition. Ready to follow whatever lead came my way in order to get to the bottom of things." He continued. "Whether it was as Chief of Security or even Chief of Intel, I felt that it was my very obligation to root out any conspiracy that posed a threat to this station." He added.

"But then I learned the value of keeping my nose out of the business of others." He said as he took a sip from the glass he had been holding this entire time. "And that's because you never know when someone might decide to stick their nose into some business of yours" Dorian said, still watching the fight continue. "Trust me when I say, you wouldn't enjoy that too much." He said as he took another sip.

Jason winced and then said, "If the Orion was smart, he'd hit the Nausican third rib down on the right. As to your wisdom, at least on a surface level, anything that could hurt people here is every Starfleet Officer's business. Unfortunately, many people get scared of bullies when they have to put skin in the game. The problem with that is that they only thing that keeps a bully in their place is knowing that people will stand up to them. For example, let's say I keep sticking my nose into a bully's business, because they think they own the place. They then dig into my business. Then we start the whole tit for tat dance. I might get my ass handed to me, but there will be others who will get to see the bully for what they truly are. Trust me, I know for every action there is a consequence and I get that you didn't decide to meet with me here because there were ring-side seats. Subtlety sometimes is too overrated. The symbolism here is not lost."

Dorian smiled as the Orion managed to force the Nausican on to one knee with a submission hold. The intelligence officer's last comment showed just how perceptive he was. It almost made Dorian respect him. . .almost.

"Ya'see, I told them that you were much more intelligent than they gave you credit for." Dorian said to Jason. "But you're not seeing the big picture. You think of us as bullies, when in reality we're protecting you from the real bullies on this station and throughout Humanities reach." Dorian said confidently.

"I could have easily used my power as Security Chief to raid these fights and shut it down. It'd piss off a lot of bad people and cost Yolanthe a helluva lot of money." Dorian said, gesturing to the ring. "But it wouldn't stop them. Slow down, yes, but not stop. They would just re-surface again elsewhere on the station and get that much better at evading my reach." Dorian said as he looked towards the younger man.

"Are you hearing what I'm telling you? You think you're fighting some noble cause, a scrappy David rising up against an oversized Goliath." Dorian said with a noticeable seriousness in his voice. "Your career can go much further with us as a friend as opposed to an enemy." He said. "You're Chief Intell now, in a couple of years you could be in Commander of your own division within the fleet. Just imagine how much more effective you could be with that kind of power behind you?" Dorian offered.

"But, it wouldn't be real power", Jason said. "because your boss would be holding the reigns and always be there to remind me who got me where I was, right or wrong. You assume a lot about me and you assume that we are both looking at the same picture or are even in the same gallery. I might be young, I might be a touch naïve, and rough around the edges and still have a lot to learn. I am not stupid however, despite all appearances."

Dorian was losing his patience with Jason's rose-colored view of the world. "Damnit Jason, I'm trying to help you, but you are making it real damn difficult." Dorian said, tossing his drink away indiscriminately. "I see potential in you, you think I'd be down here talking to some fucking spoonhead or jagged-tooth Klingon!?!" Dorian said forcefully poking Jason's chest to emphasis his point. "You're a Human, you have a responsibility to your own kind first, and that uniform second." Dorian said. "Or have you forgotten where you came from?" He said tersely.

"Wow", Jason replied. "Say that a bit louder and you can get us both killed. You assume that I want the kind of help that you are offering. My race doesn't define my loyalties. If it defines yours, then I feel sorry that you are living back in the 2100's. The only potential you see is a new intel officer to feed you information and keep the Commander off your boss' back. However, the people around your boss have been stupid and clumsy enough to bring him right under my boss' microscope. Sorry, but I really don't want to sign up to be a member of your boss' racist army."

Dorian locked eyes with the younger officer for several moments as the fervor of the crowd swept around them. "Fine, have it your way." Dorian spat. "I saw potential in you, I saw in you someone who understood the way the universe existed for Humanity and not just through the distorted lens of some pointy-ear, ridge-nosed, or scaled-neck bureaucrat." He said angrily.

"But I guess I was wrong. You've made it perfectly clear which way you want this story to progress." He said dismissively as he turned and began to walk away.

"You've got that last part right, you are wrong", Jason said. "About many things, you are just too blind to see it."

"Enjoy the rest of the fight, Jason." Dorian said in a low tone as he turned and made his way through the crowd and left as unnoticed as he had arrived.

[OFF]

---
Lt.(jg) Jason Haines
Chief Intelligence Officer
Deep Space 5

Dorian Gabriel
Security Consultant
Raddon Corporation

 

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