MJHA - Don't I Know You From Somewhere? (Part 1)

Posted on Sun Feb 7, 2021 @ 11:26am by Lieutenant Jason Haines

1,879 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Things Past
Location: Pangaea
Timeline: MD 1 minus 3 days, 1400 Hours

[ON]

Jason paused and looked at the trees around him. He was about an hour away from the colony to give some dried fish to Torvan. This was his third trip back and he was actually enjoying being back around people again. Between his meditating, exercising, and various encounters, he was feeling much better mentally. Maybe soon he would be able to ‘rejoin society’.

At that moment he heard a loud roar and a scream for help. He ran towards the sound and when he came to a clearing with a tree in the middle, he didn’t like what he saw. A large cat like creature, around six feet long, before the tail, and almost three high, had two human boys treed. The kids looked familiar; he probably saw them at the colony. He wondered what they were doing this far from the safety of the compound.

Picking up a stick, Jason threw it at the cat and yelled, “Hey!”

Right after the stick hit the cat it turned to look at Jason and took a few steps towards him. Dropping his pack, he quickly brought his staff bear, extending it to its full length.

‘Didn’t quite think this one through did ya’, Jason said to himself as the cat started to approach in a prowling motion.

“You just move along kitty”, Jason said as he twirled his staff, hoping the beast might decide an easier snack could be found elsewhere.

There was no such luck. The cat charged at him. Jason was able to move quick enough to get to the side and hit the cat in the haunch. The creature growled loudly, not used to its food being armed. Jason moved so he was in between the cat and the tree.

“I got some nice fish right there with my pack”, Jason said as the cat started to prepare for its next move. “You can have it if you just let us scoot along.”

The cat was having none of that as its eyes said it was much more interested in making a meal of Jason. It started at him. Instead of a direct charge it suddenly pounced. Jason had not been expecting that and the cat hit him in the chest, knocking him over. It started to sink its claws into Jason’s shoulders, but Jason rolled and used his feet to push it off. Wincing in pain Jason rolled to his feet and swung his staff reflexively as the cat came again. It hit the cat smack in the face giving Jason some time to back up a few steps.

He briefly looked at his shoulders. They were bleeding rather good. One thing for sure, he couldn’t let that cat sink into him again or he would lose a lot more blood and perhaps parts as well. He heard one of the boys in the tree exclaim, “Woah.”

“Alright fluffy, just go away please”, Jason said to the cat, flicking some dirt and leaves at it with his staff, as it sized him up again.

Jason backed up some more to get close to the tree and said, “Hold on boys and keep your feet up.”

He heard them move but was watching the cat intently as it was beginning to start its next attack. Jason pressed the button on the staff that popped its blade out. The cat charged and pounced. Jason waited until the very last minute and swiveled out of the way and it smacked into the tree and fell to the ground.

Jason brought the staff up like a spear and was about to stab the blade down into it. He quickly spun the staff around, so its other end came down and Jason pressed the other button the staff that sent a jolt of electricity into it. The cat went unconscious.

He looked up to the boys as he retracted his staff. He extended his arm.

“Come on”, Jason said. “Let’s go before it wakes up.”

The older of the two boys asked, “Aren’t you going to kill it?”

“No”, Jason said as he helped the kid down. He pointed his finger to the cat which had swollen mammary glands. “See that?”

The kids nodded.

“It means she has cubs”, Jason said with a smile. “You guys either got too close to the babies or she was just hunting, and you looked like a tasty treat to her. No need to kill her for that.”

He got his pack and took the fish he was bringing to Torvan and left them for the cat. He motioned for the kids to follow.

“I’m Jas…”, he started to say.

“You’re the Fish-mon”, the youngest boy said giggling a bit. “That’s what dad called you.”

“I’m Kevin”, the older one said. “and that’s Trace.”

“Why do they call you Fish-mon?”, Trace asked. “It sounds weird.”

“We’ll it is just a nick name that a Ferengi friend gave me”, Jason replied.

The boy giggled a bit, and they left the area, only stopping once so Jason could heal his shoulders. Then Trace wanted to be carried, so Jason put him up on his shoulders.

When they got to the compound it wasn’t too long until a man and a woman came running up to them. Jason put Trace down.

“Where have you two been?”, the woman asked.

“We were exploring”, Kevin said. “and a big cat attacked us.”

“But Fish-mon saved us”, Trace said. “He whacked the cat good, but it was a mommy cat so we couldn’t kill it.”

The father gave Jason a nod of thanks and the mother looked at Jason, her eyes a little watery. She looked at her boys and said, “What have we told you about going off into the woods alone? Now, let’s get home.”

The boys nodded and then Trace looked at him and said, “Thanks Fish-mon.”

“No problem Trace”, Jason said giving the boy a thumbs up. “remember what your mom said about the woods.”

“We will”, both boys answered.

With that, the group separated, and Jason headed off to the bar where Torvan worked. As he walked along, the encounter with the defenseless cat made him think about his fight with the Vulcans.

He remembered looking down at Tarik when Ryan and company were covering Alanna and him when they were escaping. He remembered the man lying on the ground defenseless. He remembered that his own phaser was set way above stun. He remembered looking at the Vulcan and feeling absolute hatred and total lack of remorse as he pulled the trigger.

Did the man have a wife? Did he have kids? Was he just a toady following his superiors orders? Sovok was a cruel and evil person, so did Tarik obey so he and his family didn’t get killed, or worse? It wasn’t like Tarik could have deserted to one of the other sides. They would have only gotten all the info they could out of him and most likely killed him. He couldn’t have just run away from the Vulcans. Something told him that the man would have been hunted down and executed along with his family for deserting.

Did Tarik really deserve to die? Did Jason have to kill him? Couldn’t have he just stunned him again? Was the man that much of a threat that he warranted being executed in cold blood?

Jason was brought out of his pondering as he nearly ran into a Bolian. Jason muttered, “sorry” as he stepped into the bar. He briefly looked about and started to head towards the main bar. As he did, he caught the sight of a man and woman sitting in a booth. The woman, a human, he didn’t know. Although it took a second glance to jog his memory, he knew the man, a Romulan, Maiek S’Hei. He wasn’t sure if the Romulan would recognize him, but he pulled the brim of his camp hat down just to be sure.

Jason motioned to Torvan, “Sorry, no fish today. Give me a bottle of Andorian whiskey.”

Torvan reached under the bar and muttered, “Damn, I was really looking forward to the fish. I think I have someone who could be a regular customer. Glass with the whiskey or will I be picking you up off the floor later today or tonight?”

Jason smirked, slid two strips of latinum to Torvan, enough to have purchased at least three bottles, and said quietly, “Something like that, no glass needed. The booth on the left side, how long has the Romulan been there?”

Torvan smiled and said, “The woman got here about ten minutes ago and the Romulan soon after. They haven’t ordered anything and keep waving the waitress off.”

“Ok, thanks”, Jason replied taking the whiskey and started to head for the door. He opened it and drank some as he past the two he was watching just to make them think he was a local. He quietly slid into the booth behind them. He laid his head down on the table, so anyone looking would just think he had drunk too much.

“That is not enough”, Maiek quietly said with a slight hiss.

“Do you know how hard it is to get bio-mimetic gel?”, the woman asked equally as quiet.

“And do you know how hard it is to do what you are asking?”, Maiek asked in return. “You don’t just walk onto a Starbase and kill it’s commanding officer like you were buying a set of pants. Twenty liters.”

“I can get you ten right off”, the woman said. “It will take a month to get ten more without putting either of us in serious risk of being found out. A court will give us less time in a penal colony for killing the queen of the castle compared to being caught with the gel.”

“Very well”, Maiek said. “I will meet you on Golnar five in two days.”

Jason took a quick drink from the bottle as he knew the meeting was ending. He put the bottle down carefully and then went back to his ‘resting’ position.

The woman left before Maiek, seeming not to notice Jason. A few minutes later, Maiek got up and left, not paying attention to Jason either. Although he wanted to stop Maiek, Jason couldn’t move too quickly, otherwise he would spook Maiek. If he tried to do anything now, Jason would have no proof of what he was planning. After two minutes, Jason got up and left, bottle in hand. He wasn’t going to waste good whiskey after all.

When he stepped out of the bar, he could see that Maiek was heading towards the shuttle pad where the civilian shuttles to the station departed. Jason casually followed along and let Maiek get on the shuttle before trying to get a pass himself.

“Sorry, this one is full”, the attendant said.

“When’s the next one?”, Jason asked.

“Thirty minutes”, the attendant answered.

‘Damn’, Jason thought as the shuttle took off.

To Be Continued…

[OFF]


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Jason, “Fish-mon”, Haines
Resident Beach Bum
Deep Space 5

 

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