Shoes Speak Louder Than Words

Posted on Thu Aug 27, 2020 @ 7:42am by Lieutenant Jason Haines

883 words; about a 4 minute read

Mission: Et In Arcadia Ego
Location: Jason's Quarters
Timeline: MD 7, 2200 Hours

It was getting late and Jason was still pacing around his quarters a bit. He hoped Alanna wasn’t too mad at him for not staying the night at her place, but his mind was only on the mission. He just wasn’t in the right frame of mind to pay her the attention she deserved for dealing with him lately. The door chime rang and he scowled. Who was it now?

He went to the door, opened it and snapped, “What?” before seeing it was his father holding a box.

“May I come in?” Rob asked.

Jason shook his head and moved out of the doorway and asked, “A drink?”

“Sure”, Rob replied. “I’m surprised you aren’t with Alanna.”

“My mind isn’t there”, Jason replied, handing Rob a drink and then sat down with his own. “So why are you here?”

“I come bearing gifts and advice”, Rob said and handed Jason the box.

Jason opened the box to see a pair of new boots. “I didn’t realize my choice of footwear didn’t live up to your expectations.”

Rob smirked and took a sip of his drink, “The singer Bette Midler said, ‘With the right footwear, one can rule the world.’ or something like that. They aren’t just any pair of boots”.

He showed him the inside.

“Of course, an inner knife sheath in both”, Rob continued. He then turned the boot over and showed Jason a small section of the boot, pressed on it and twisted and the heel opened.

Jason smiled at that and asked, “Does the other boot have one too?”

“Of, course”, Rob said. “There isn’t a lot of room in there. You can store some nutrient pellets, communicator parts, parts to a type I or older hold out phaser, but you can’t have the casing on it. Usually when you disassemble it to that point you are only going to get a couple shots. I’ve used that though to get out of a cell and stun a guard. The compartments are lined with a combination of Gallium, Beryllium, and some Cordierite, which makes it so sensors can’t detect things easily. Just make sure there is no open space in there or people will hear your boots rattling. I learned that from experience.”

Jason chuckled and took a drink.

“Now, the past part I am going to show you is only in the right boot”, Rob said. “You, will have to practice a little.”

He slammed the boot down hard and twisted the heel. A two-inch long blade snapped out of the boot toe. Rob smiled. Jason smiled back as if it were his birthday.

“That’s slick”, Jason said. “Thanks dad.”

“Well, I wanted to make sure you had every advantage that you could tomorrow”, Rob said. “I don’t like that you are playing bait, but that’s your choice. I just want to make sure you take Xeod down.”

Jason nodded.

“And when you take him down, you kill him”, Rob said with a fire in his eyes that Jason had never seen before.

“That’s a bit extreme isn’t it?”, Jason asked.

“No”, Rob growled. “Xeod’s not a man, he’s a monster. He is a stain on that uniform. The best part of him, ran down his mother’s leg.”

Jason was a bit shocked by his father’s ‘passionate’ phrasing.

“If you let him live, he will find a way to weasel out of any charges or get out of any prison Starfleet puts him in”, Rob said. “The Commodore and your Captain forget one thing. Xeod’s ring of influence doesn’t end at Federation borders. He has contacts with the Orions, Ferengi, Klingons, Romulans, Breen and who knows who else. I don’t care who gives you an order to do otherwise, if you get a chance, you put a shot between his eyes, stab him in the heart, or beat his head in with a stick. You might get your own jail term, but the galaxy, no, the universe will be a much safer place. Promise me.”

Jason looked at Rob with a look of concern and a slight bit of bewilderment. This went against everything he had been taught in Academy. Hell, it was against everything his mom taught him and he was actually more afraid of her than any Starfleet or Federation judge. She wasn’t in his life right now, but that would change, he knew it, so he had to remember her teachings.

Rob’s eyes showed a slight twang of guilt for what he was pressuring his son with. This was something he should have done long ago, but like many other problems that weren’t immediately in society’s face, this one was kicked down the road for another generation to deal with. And the time to deal with it unfortunately had come due.

“Promise me”, Rob said.

Jason thought a moment. He remembered his incarceration on Xeod’s ship. He remembered the fear in the eyes of the woman who released him. Although he didn’t want to admit it, he knew his father was right and he simply nodded his head.


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Jason Haines
Live Bait
Deep Space 5

 

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