Ponera In Terra

Posted on Fri Apr 30, 2021 @ 7:36pm by Civilian 'Key Holder' Yolanthe Ibalin & Lieutenant Victor Morgan

2,415 words; about a 12 minute read

Mission: Si vis pacem, para bellum
Location: DS5, Box Of Delights
Timeline: MD05 1730
Tags: Yolanthe, Anyone on DS5

[ON]

Victor was dressed in civilian clothes. Black shoes, dark gray slacks, a lighter gray short-sleeved shirt and a dark brown leather jacket. He held a small, black duffel bag over his shoulder and he was jostled by a Tellarite female who rolled a small baggage cart past him into the large turbolift behind him just as he stepped out. Victor had short gray and sable hair though not too long ago it was a mix of blonde and brown. Well, maybe not such a short time ago he agreed. He wasn’t short nor overly tall at 6’2”. Not overly muscular, only hard and solid. The promenade opened up ahead of him with a tall ceiling and it was a mass of people of all races, sizes and genders. Not quite like a kicked anthill. There was a little scurrying by some but most were either going about their day or obviously headed somewhere with a purpose. It was the sound that bothered him. Thousands of people made a loud din of sound that reverberated through the promenade.

He did not wear his uniform nor did he have a weapon or a communicator. He did have some currency. He intended to remain here through the occupation and he knew the Cardassians were a curious and suspicious lot. He needed to blend in and be one of the masses. He had studied the schematic of the station. Deck by deck and in a rolling isometric view. He did not have an Eidetic memory but he wasn’t far from it. Even so seeing it from this point of view packed with people made it far more difficult to navigate. There were colorful, bright signs everywhere for this and that. Stores, shops and eateries mostly but specialty stores as well. He was looking for the Box of Delights. Specifically a Yolanthe Ibalin, a Bokkai woman. Likely hard to miss compared to just about everyone else. He located the large sign. And now that he saw it he wondered how he had not seen it before.

There was a very large Gorn in a black suit standing at the entrance. Victor glanced at him but didn’t focus on him as he stepped toward the entrance. He noticed his smell right away but his face did not change at all as he stepped inside under the watchful eye of the large creature that loomed above him. From the intel he knew there were several floors to the Box of Delights. He was on the first level and though it was fairly early yet...for a casino and bar he saw several patrons. Like the promenade, a mixed bag of people at the bar and at tables around the room. The din from the promenade was replaced by a different sort of ambiance inside. It wasn’t so open in here of course and sounds and voices sounded differently. To the left were gaming tables with an assortment of games complete with bells and whistles and the sounds of people winning and losing. To the right there was a stage and Victor could imagine a lot of things happening on it. Perhaps nothing too risque. Or maybe so now that he looked around the room. As he moved further inside he saw the bartender, Yolanthe Ibalin. Simply dressed and he assumed due to how long she’s been here, she was less like part of the entertainment and more like a fixture akin to the bar stand itself. Grand and ornate like the casino around it and the owner besides. As he approached though he was mistaken as the woman flipped bottles and spun cups in mid air with the flair of a seasoned swashbuckler of old. Instead of blades however she held glasses and bottles in which she poured and mixed drinks. Unconsciously he lightly licked his lips. He had had problems with alcohol in the past. Especially after the loss of his wife and son. And also after Section 31 was disbanded.

‘No...no, that was a long time ago’. He told himself as he moved around to the right where there were more seats at the bar available. A bit more privacy if that was even a thing in here. He would need to be careful and pick his moments. A mistake here could ruin everything. ‘A mistake period could’, he thought as he took a seat and intentionally placed his bag on the seat to his left. His eyes scanned the tower of bottles that rose up toward the ceiling in the center. Bright, flashy lighting infused the whole bar. The ornate gilt with the lighting gave the bar and the bottles filled with various alcohols a nice, soothing glow. Right away he saw Yolanthe glance at him. She was observant, likely from years of doing this. He only gave a slight movement of his hand, two fingers extended just over the bar top then waited as he looked straight ahead.

She handed a tray of completed drinks off to a waitress, a Risan with incredibly long shapely legs, and and rather short skirt, and then moved over to him. "What's your poison, sweetie?" She pulled a napkin from a stack below the bar top, and placed it in front of him. "We've got a full slate of hand crafted unreplicated drinks from across two quadrants, and a variety of handmade bar snacks from organic replicated ingredients likewise sourced from artisan producers on dozens of worlds."

"I'm a bit more old school I'm afraid. Any small batch, select Bourbon or Whiskey is fine...neat, if you please," Victor said as he took a look at the others nearby. "So I take it you're staying put? It seems you're not alone in that. I hope you have a supply of Kanar laying around somewhere," he said offhandedly as he looked for one in the bottle tower. There were too many and some might be on the other side where he could not see.

The tall woman reached back to the wall of bottles and took a step to reach the requested terran liquor. Then she put a tumbler in front of him. "No where else to go. Might as well make the best of it." She tipped two fingers in, pouring her measure by eye. "I've not seen you here before. Hell of a time to move out to the boonies."

Victor took a sip of his drink...it was good.

"I'm not much into holos so how was I to know Cardassians were taking the station? I had to pilot the shuttle I chartered myself because the pilot wouldn't do it," He said as he glanced around the room again. Victor did not know much about the Bokkai save for their flesh coloring being related to their moods. He wondered what her mood was right then. She was quite tall and well...built, he decided but didn't leer.

"I'm looking for work to be honest. Something low key that would allow me to see the station. I've never been here before and it appears there is alot to see. It doesn't matter if there are more human faces or Cardassian to me," He said casually. Inside however he felt a pang of irritation at saying that. He hated the Cardassians but he did not allow his strong emotions for them to bubble to the surface.

"Well," She gave him a frank once over. "You're a little old for a dabo boy."

Victor feigned pain on his face with a wince. "Ouch, you wound me my dear," he said and took another sip from his glass. "I'm more of a 'hands on' kind of guy," he said with a slight grin as he looked at her. He allowed his eyes to shift down a moment then up again back to her face. "Maintenance, preferably, Electrical would suit. And I prefer to earn my keep," he said. He used his off hand and he laid a slip of Gold-Pressed Latinum on the bar top in front of him and slid it away from him a few inches with a finger then tapped it twice before he moved his hand back.

The violet in here skin was suffused with cyan for a second. "And why does a man who can throw that much latinum around need a job?"

Victor chuckled. "It won't last forever and I plan to make a fresh start," he noticed her color changes but didn't quite know what they meant yet. "I was hoping you'd put in a good word for me. Let the right people know I'm lookin for honest work for honest pay...or maybe not all that honest," he said with a shrug. He took another sip of his drink as someone at the tables cried out happily. "It appears someone got lucky. Can't say I've had much of that lately myself," He said. "Well except for the Bourbon, of course," he said smoothly.

His eyes and ears were always on point. He was watchful by nature. "I am willing to bet that a lot of places lost some people and will likely lose more before this hostile takeover is done," He added.

"That's a tough call, right now can't say many people will want to see a new face. Especially with Xi'cadians around." Yolanthe assembled some more glasses and started to fill an order a waiter had sent in. "People are likely to be afraid of spies."

"That's why I'm here Yolanthe. I think you'd be able to spot a Xi'cadian easily. And how many have European accents?" He said. "You were referred to me and so I am here asking for your help," Victor said then took another sip of Bourbon then finished it. He looked at the crystal glass. He had left some lip prints and likely some saliva on the glass. "As you said, looks human on the outside...not, on the inside," Victor said and breathed his breath onto the glass and exposed the lip prints. He set the glass down onto the bartop and signaled her for another round.

The bottle hadn't been put back, so she pickd it up and poured with one hand, whilst squeezing a small pink citrus fruit into a ocktail shaker. "You're probably not going to find much, but there's two people who may be able to help. Lasuma, down on level four, and if you go to Sovreign Export on deck Four-forty-nine, ask for Mr Kemmick. He might have something. It won't be glamorous, but you never know."

"Lasuma...Oddly I think I recall that name," Victor said as he attempted to recall where. He retook his glass up into his hand and took another sip. "Could you arrange an introduction? That's all I'm asking," he said as he looked up at her. A hopeful look in his eye.


"Well, if you wondered around the promenade long enough you should have. Has a little cafe and boutique with a lot of exotica." She dropped ice into the shaker on top of the fruit juice. "I'll take a break in a bit, and let them know you're coming. Just drop in when they're open."

"Hmm, perhaps this Mr. Kemmick will have something. It doesn't have to be 'all' above board I guess," Victor said. He took another long sip of his drink and looked around the room again. He liked it here. the bar. Yolanthe and the warmth from the bourbon. He had missed this...getting out and the feel of open space around and above his head. Much different than on a ship. Though it could just be he felt it because the task ahead was not set. There were a thousand ways this could go wrong and only a few for it to go right. Baby steps. Small, controlled steps. That was the key here.

"449 you said?" He asked as he downed the last swallow in his glass then set the glass down. "Thanks," he said to Yolanthe and stood up. He retrieved his bag. "What about lodging? Who do I see about that?" He asked her as he paused to consider it.

"There's a couple of hotels on the square Mile, thats deck's 350 to 450. Don't know if the new management is allowing them to operate, but..." She let the words trail off, giver her cocktail a vigorous shake. "Failing that, I imagine there's quite a bit of free real estate going up on 155 at the moment. What with the staff all having moved out. "

---

Deck 155 was a mess. Piles of discarded luggage, clothes, knickknacks and other various things were strewn about the halls. People who hadn't left yet were in a rush to get to the shuttle. Those that had already gone did not bother with things they didn't really need. Victor found a room that had been recently vacated. Clothes were in a pile just outside the door. He noted the room number then headed back down the hall toward the residence manager for this deck though there did not appear to be one at the moment.

The manager's office too had been vacated in a hurry. There was a half cup of tea on a desk that still had liquid in it and a Starfleet jacket on the back of another chair. His biometrics still had high security clearances and he had high level access and access codes to most Starfleet based systems. He sat down at the main computer monitor and allowed it to scan him. The screen came to life as did the control panel and he leaned forward and got to work.

His first order of business was to find who leased the room. It was a woman. He set them up as if they had just been subletting for him and he had been the original resident for the past 6 months. Just for good measure he found a random person who had arrived around 6 months ago then replaced their biometric pattern with his own to make it seem as if he had really been on the station that long. The truth is in the details and if he was really there for 6 months. Than the Cardis won't dig as hard as they might otherwise. Now that he had a room and it was paid up for the next year, it was time to stow his things and find some work.

[OFF]

Victor Morgan
CIO
DS5

Yolanthe Ibalin
Owner
Deep Space Five

 

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