What Do We Do Now? (Part I of II)
Posted on Mon Jul 15, 2019 @ 7:22pm by Civilian 'Key Holder' Yolanthe Ibalin & Commander Caleb Ryan & Civilian Jason Haines
1,626 words; about a 8 minute read
Mission:
Doors of Perception
Location: Promenade
Timeline: MD09 2030
[ON]
Shavias Ch'Zath and his two closest confidants had finished a visit to the sick bay. Not only were the recently wounded improving, but the doctors seemed to think they could do something to reverse the brain damage caused to Narira when the Vulcans had burnt out her telepathy, leaving her blind as well as telepathically deaf and mute. Now they gathered in the public replimat, their security shadow lingering to one side to give them privacy.
The sight of different species, especially Vulcans and Andorians, intermingling and eating together was no longer as shocking as it had been the first time they explored. And the wonder had soon turned to crafty appreciation. You could find almost anything on this station. All manner of equipment. And what wasn’t to hand, almost anyone could replicate almost anything. Vulcans strictly controlled production in their "commonwealth". Keeping the masses hungry was keeping the masses too scared to rise.
So now they ate, and plotted, trying to decide who, what, and if, they should go home. Half way through the entree, Isilde Sh'vet put her hand on Thomas’ arm. "Don't move, don't look round. But I've just spotted Sovok's nasty sidekick on the other side of the level. Coming out the turbo lifts."
Thomas was not a quick man, so the fact that he actually didn't turn and look was a miracle. He let out a grunt.
"You sure?" he asked. "I ain't seen so many different species in one place before. Kind of throws things off for me. If it is them, you don't think the Commander here sold us out, do yah?"
Isilde shrugged. "He's got an escort too. And I don't think he's seen us. If we'd been sold out, surely he'd come straight here?"
"Then perhaps we should make ourselves scarce," Thomas said quietly. "And ditch our keeper. Don't need him leading them right too us."
He nodded briefly to the guard.
Shavias took a small glance in the direction Isilde indicated, since it wouldn’t require much effort. He scowled. “Or we take this opportunity,” he murmured to the others. “Follow him to Sovok. Though we will need to ditch the escort.” He cursed. “I can’t believe they followed us. This is bad timing. I have a meeting tonight with a Caitian about some weapons,” the eyepatched Andorian said. His missing antenna was growing back nicely.
"Alright," Isilde said, wiping her mouth and throwing the napkin on the plate of half eaten stew. Three days of proper meals had left her feeling invincible. "Let's do this. If we can't' shake the tail, we can always knock him over the head, let him sleep it off somewhere quiet."
"Well, I can give our escort a choice as to either follow me and go to the bathroom or to stay here with you," Thomas said, cracking his knuckles.
"I'll come too," Sh'vet decided. "He's more likely to follow two of us, and leave you alone," she told Shavias. She stood, and their shadow immediately tensed to follow her.
Thomas got up and looked at the guard and said, "Relax, we need to use the bathroom. Where is it?"
The security officer looked uncertain, and then pointed to doors in the back wall of the replimat. "Over there." He seemed uncertain as to whether he should go with them or wait here.
Thomas gave the man a thumbs up and then looked around like he was going to be up something and then headed to the bathroom.
Sh'vet gave him a second before heading off as well. The security officer moved to hover half way between the bathrooms and the table where Ch'zath still sat, gaze jumping back and forth between the two with paranoid speed.
Thomas went into the bathroom and waited, hoping no one besides their guard would come in. He had a plan.
Their escort watched the pair go in. After a few minutes, Sh'vet came out again and rejoined Ch'zath. When Thomas didn't reappear, the security officer then got really twitchy. After a moment he broke, and followed the Human into the bathroom.
Thomas stood there and waited for the guard. When he got in, Thomas immediately charged the guard hoping to slam him into the wall and knock him out.
The yellow shirt's head banged on a stall door with a sharp thud, and stumbled groggily up again.
Thomas mentally cursed as the man seemed to be tougher than most. He swung a punch at the man hoping connect solidly enough to make the man unconscious.
The blow landed like wrecking ball, throwing the security officer sideways and this time he didn't rise. Unconscious, he sprawled on the floor.
Thomas quickly grabbed the man's phaser and smashed his communicator under his boot heel. Securing the phaser in his belt, he pulled his shirt down over it and left the bathroom.
Shavias Ch’zath left their escort to Thomas. If there was one thing the Human was good at, it was being muscle. He could crush a Vulcan’s skull with the best of them. Shavias hoped he was smart enough to grab the man’s phaser after he beat the man senseless. The problem with this station was a distinct lack of weapons. Energy weapons weren’t allowed to civilians, and most of the aliens didn’t even carry anything to defend themselves, the helpless lambs. But a few of the alien cultures did.
“We need weapons, Sh’vet. Keep an eye out for the dark aliens with the ridged foreheads. They usually have something sharp on them,” he told his companion as they rose. They had basic civilian socials, so Thomas could get hold of them when he was done. “We will also need some burner comms. I wouldn’t doubt Starfleet could track the ones they gave us. If we do this right, we’ll need to lie low and get off this station. The Caitian might be able to help us.”
Shavias’ eyes never left Detective Sergeant Tarik as they moved across the crowded Promenade. A gaggle of children passed, on some kind of tour, led by a tall, dark-haired male Human in some sort of odd black hat. He had some kind of slow accent, as well.
“We’ll need a way to get our people out of Sickbay, quickly and quietly, preferably,” Shavias mused, keeping an eye on their target as well as scanning for one of the aliens he knew carried weapons.
"That shouldn't be too hard, They didn't have any security at all. Not so much a guard on the door. All we have to do is go get them. If we can get to a ship of some kind we could beam them out at a moments notice."
Tarik vanished into a store on the promenade called "Read, Drink, Talk, Think". It offered books, from potboiler holonovels to the latest literary fiction, including a small selection of genuine antiques, printed on paper. Inside was the "Ideas Cafe" where people could discuss their choices over a drink. It had been one of those things that had appeared completely normal to the natives of this dimension, and wildly seditious and rebellious to the visitors.
"He's going to get brain ache in there," Isilde said. "Maybe the outrage will make him less observant."
“We can hope.” Shavias was already working over plans in his mind. “The Caitian has a ship, but I have no idea if she will help us. We could take it,” he mused. He calculated how many they had in Sickbay and how long it would take to beam them all out as they entered the store. He looked to put eyes on Tarik again. Why wasn’t he going to Sovok?
Isilde went to the railing to get a better look through the windows of the store. Tarik was picking up books here and there, flipping through a few pages, and putting it back. "Maybe he's waiting for Sovok?"
Thomas came out of the bathroom and went to Shavias and said quietly, "I have a phaser. You should take it."
Shavias nodded, surreptitiously slipping the phaser into his waistband under his tunic. “Could be,” he replied to Isilde. “We’ll watch for a bit. We may have to settle for just Tarik. The security officer won’t stay unconscious forever.”
"No, he's on the move again." Isilde straightened up as Tarik came out again, strolling on to stare in windows as he worked his way back to the turbolifts. His escort seemed bored, but not inattentive. Tarik wasn't going to ditch his shadow the way they had.
"I'll go handle Tarik if you want," Thomas said, cracking his knuckles. "If he kills me, then I'm finally with my wife and kids again. If I kill him, I'll let the station security arrest me so you aren't arrested. You are more important than me. It doesn't matter if I die in one of their cells or back in our universe. If we can kill at least one of these bastards it will be worth it."
“I’m loathe to lose any more people,” Shavias replied. “What if we found a sniper position?” He looked around the Promenade for a good perch that would still be in range. Unfortunately he figured accuracy with one of these hand phasers would likely not be great unless up close.
Sh'vet looked around. "Too many people, not enough exits. And if we do him here, we won't find Sovok. They'll never let us get close to him. Let's follow him."
"I've got an idea," Thomas said.
To be continued...
Isilde Sh'vet
Andorian Rebel
Thomas Almet
Human Rebel
Shavias Ch’zath
Andorian Rebel Leader
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