Stay out of trouble
Posted on Fri May 15, 2020 @ 10:43pm by Fleet Captain Rhea Kennit & Commander Cullen Walker & Lieutenant Commander Miguel Torres & Major Victor Crowe & Lieutenant Penelope Naroot & Lieutenant Arashi Tanaka Mr. & Lieutenant Nicole Anderson & Lieutenant AJ Taggart & Lieutenant JG Aergad Halvor & Lieutenant JG Camille Lévesque PhD & Lieutenant JG Ardal King & Senior Chief Petty Officer Samantha Summers
3,190 words; about a 16 minute read
Mission:
The Binary Suns
Location: Planet Teccapus
NOTICE
NO lightsabers
NO Jedi
NO Sith
9 days after the events in “The Binary Suns”
The moment the hatch cracked open with a hiss, a wave of heat rolled into the ship's small, narrow access way. Dry, hot air carrying a distinct dusty scent, mingled with the sharp, not unpleasant scent of the dried spices being off-loaded from the larger, blocky bulk of the cargo vessel resting on the adjacent landing pad. The first to step through the hatch, Kennit gave no sign of discomfort at the searing heat as she moved to meet the short, greenish colored creature currently flying toward her, his short leathery wings flapping with a dry raspy sound. Two short legs, looking far to thin to carry his wide torso and large head tangled beneath him. He settled to the ground, his wide feet spread to take his weight, revealing webbed toes tipped with dull, cracked claws.
The being cocked his head up at her; short was the operative word here. Kennit assessed that this being stood no more than .3 meters (roughly 4’ 5”). A thick, short trunk of a nose hung down over his mouth, short upper and lower tusks jutted out past his lips - the upper left tusk broken, its end apparently filed down to a semi-smooth rounded curve.
"Try not to eat him," Nicole said under her breath, coming up to the Captain's right side.
Two yellow colored eyes looked her over, looked up and to either side of the ship, swept over the crew disembarking behind her. Swiping at his nasal trunk, at last the being spoke. “Minmin Bey Oatto. Cipej Masho. Hapalapala valle prek?”
The universal translator, having been programmed with information gleaned from a week of intercepted transmissions and study clarified, “I am Oatto. Dock Master. You speak Basic?”
"Actually, I am pro--" Penny said coming up next to the Captain's left side, but stopped as the Captain cut her off.
Having completely irritated her Chief Medical Officer and utilized her Borg systems to assimilate the information programmed into their universal translators (only suffering a mild migraine headache, not the melting of her neural synapses as Dr. Anderson had prophesied) Kennit answered in the same tongue. “Aliha Sel Minmin mieno amehi, a etuci ne bruharo? De komprenevle Minmin Prek Bacaj. Kiom da al cipej mia cip Tehn." {{What do I look like, an uneducated herder? Of course I speak Basic. How much to dock my ship here.}}
The little being let out a startled grunt, eyes widening and his wings fluttered for a moment. Recovering himself, realizing he may not be able to fleece this strange newcomer to Eisley Mos after all, he rubbed his nasal trunk again for another assessing look at the sleek, dark grey ship behind this tall female biped. Finally, he answered. “Cip Ten gluet. Sep kil kretiho Fho unu sun ciclo, 6500 kretiho chia ciclo posha parho." {{Ship this size. Seven thousand credits for first solar cycle, 6500 credits each cycle after.}}
Kennit’s dark eyes grew darker still, an expression of annoyance crossing her face. She shook her head, aware that on this world no one agreed to the first price, everything was negotiable. “Kva kil unu ciclo, du kvi kil chia ciclo posha parho, Il Ten boj Bey sentanter. Ne trutulo”. {{Four thousand first cycle, two five thousand each cycled after, and this bay is secured. No intruders.}}
Oatto’s eyes widened in pained outrage, wings fluttering hard to lift his bulk up to stare into her eyes on her level of height. “Kva Il du kvi? Valle devas tromp mi?” {{Four and two five? You would cheat me!}}
That was as far as he got before she’d grabbed hold of him by the neck, right hand locked around his throat. With her left, she pointed at him as the Borg tubules in her arm snaked out to within 6 centimetres of his now very wide yellow eyes. In a voice soft and gentle as velvet, she answered “Mi tromp Valle? Ne. Ne... Li Bey Valle Hyon devas tromp mi. Tio spico porhant super eshas kva tempo Uhl amaso de mia cip, tamen Valle nur ahaceli ili kvi Il tri. Mia foriru de kva Il du kvi, de Uhl boj sentanter Bey malavar. Tio Il de komprenevle, Minmin devas ne morhili Valle, kie ni Bey nun dul'skal.” {{Me cheat you? No. It is you who would cheat me. That spice carrier over there is four times the mass of my ship, yet you only charge them five and three. My offer of four and two five, with the bay secured is generous. That and of course, I won’t kill you, as we are now friends.}}
Kennit released him then, and with a jerk of her head she had one of her crew (a security office named Jeff Guinness) stepped back into the altered Valkyrie and the returned to her with a worn looking leather sack which hand handed to the Captain. She opened it, stepping to the payment nook as Oatto fluttered behind, still nursing his injured pride. Counting out the deep reddish gold colored credit chips, she laid out enough for a 5 day stay. By this time, Oatto’s eyes were once more bulging. Rare for someone to have payment in full and clearly more in the sack.
Looking at the little Dock Master, she said “Oatto mia dul'skal. Al monhr Valle mia fid Ehin via honor, Il tio Minmin Sel ne ten Ihn plentcays konhray via Nyiad al far Ihn gaino. Minmin donac Valle Uhl apoli. {{Oatto my friend. To show you my faith in your honor, and that I do not hold a grievance against your need to make a profit. I gift you the rest.}}
His eyes grew even wider. She was still speaking “Minmin konfiti Valle devas honor nia konhrachi. Minmin las sentanterec Ohna mia cip. Se Minmin ahn Valle ne garti nia konhrachi, Minmin devas Bey profund maltoiili mia dul'skal. Profund maltoiili." {{I trust you will honor our contract. I leave security on my ship. If I find you have not kept our contract, I will be deeply saddened my friend. Deeply saddened.}}
Leaving there security officers, Sgt. Guinness among them once the last details of the dock contract had been signed and Oatto gone off to gleefully count and recount his credits, the Captain said, “All right. We came here to see what we can find out about this world and those who visit it. Remember: We are merely a transport ship, making a stop after too long in space. No mention of the Federation or the Alpha Quadrant. Our base is in sector 7196. (A point deep within the territory of the Terran Empire.). This is our first stop here. We just want to know if it’s worth adding to our regular business stops.”
She paused, fixed at sharp glare at Summers. “Do not start trouble. That’s for all of you. Check in with the ship every two hours. Get to work.”
She turned toward Miguel. He was dressed much as they all were, dark brown or black pants, shirt, weapons belt, boots, ankle length duster style coats which everyone here wore despite the heat. “Any preferences on where to go first?”
Miguel looked around, the heat or suns not appearing to effect him. "Honestly doesn't look like this place is going to give us much in terms of information." he told her as he pointed in a general direction. "Sensors showed a lot of the freighter crews going to what looked like a bar in that direction."
She smiled at him, “A bar? I suppose that’s as good a place as any to pick up on local information. Come along then, let’s go see what we can find. Just remember, you’re a hired body guard. Loyal. Unbreakable. Willing to do whatever I might ask of you..” she added.
"And how is that different from normal." he said with a chuckle.
“Watch it big boy, or you might bite off more than you can handle..” she told him as they began to walk down the hard packed, dirt street. As they walked, area realized the street wasn’t dirt at all, but a type of concrete so bleached and baked by the twin suns overhead that it had lost all color, if it ever had any. Dust, dirt and sand blown in from the desert covered everything. The air smelled dry, hot and..old. Mingled with the musty scents of an array of animals used as transportation. Great, massive hairy creatures with curling horns on the sides of their heads, giant slow moving reptiles with massive wide feet and long tails to help regulate their body heat. Weird little feathered / furry monkey looking creatures that watched everything and nothing, giving off odd, loud laughter like cries. “So where is this bar you were talking about?” she asked Miguel.
"I never bite off more than I can handle." he told her as he looked around. He then closed his eyes as if he was concentrating on something and then after a few moments he reopened them. "It's right there." he said pointing to the nearby door as he began walking in that direction.
“As good a place as any to see what local information we can learn..” she commented, walking beside him.
AJ nodded his affirmative, he was clothed in what could only be described as a loose-fitting brown tunic with the legs wrapped with a rough canvas to keep out the coarse sand that seemed to get everywhere here. On top of his head was a pair of darkened goggles that kept the sun from doing a number on his eyes. Under his long coat, he carried his customary small knife, a Type II Phaser on his belt, and a Cricket phaser stored in a hidden pocket of his boot. Adjusting the coat to deter any pesky onlookers, he walked off towards the center of the town.
Nicole Looked at Camille and shrugged. "I'm thinking of going into town, you?"
Camille nodded. Dressed similarly to the others, but with only a small holdout phaser for a sidearm and a tricorder in her sleeve, she was ready to explore. “So many amazing life forms here,” she said in awe. “And probably none of them native. Most don’t seem adapted for desert life. Did you see the tall one covered in white fur, with the proboscis?” She started walking aimlessly down the street into the town, looking closely at any alien she saw.
"As much as the males seem to want me to see their proboscis, they always get self-conscious when they catch me looking," Nicole quipped. Her hands were gloved and she wore a comfortable set of traders clothes. She had a few trinkets secreted about her person, but for the most part appeared unassuming, and tried to look like an innocent tourist.
"Have fun sniffing around the locals. I'm going to peek in the shops. Shall we meet up for a drink in a couple hours?" she smiled at Camille, who nodded back before going too far.
Before leaving the landing pad, the Captain held up one hand and said, “Remember. Check in every two hours and stay out of trouble!”
Penny looked around, deciding where she wanted to go. She followed AJ into the heart of town, but didn't want to get caught up looking for anything official. Her original orders had been to infiltrate a small town on Earth, as they were usually friendly and had a good sense of their home town, then work her way up. *Start at the bottom, and ascend,* she remembered Oscar 47 saying.
She saw a scrap yard in the distance and headed for it, curious what the lower caste lived like here.
Arashi rushed to catch up with Penny. "Say, you mind if I come with you?" He asked, a bit out of breath but fine otherwise.
Penny brightened immediately. "Not at all," she said. "Let's go snoop!"
"So what are we snooping for, Penny?" Arashi said. "Are we looking for something important?"
"Important is in the eye of the beholder, Arashi," Penny said. "I'll settle for fascinating."
Walker walked with the away team, his eyes watching everything.
Summers looked over at Walker. "Commander Walker, Sir. Hot enough for you?" She asked him with a slight grin.
Looking at her, "Not the hottest place I have been."
Summers looked back at Walker. " Not the coldest, either, I'd bet, ehh? " Summers then slightly smiled. " You don't talk much, Commander?"
Answering, Walker spoke, "In general, when the uniform is on, I am about work. In civvies, I am more personable." He was watching someone in the mirror. Someone had tailed them at every shop he had been to. He looked at the bartender. "House Special. Anything with meat." A few minutes later, that was a platter of what looked like brisket and fries in front of him.
Summers nodded. " Remind me to talk with you when you're more 'personable,' if that will be all right. " After saying that to Walker, she looked at the plate he'd been served, and grabbed the bartender and pointed at Walker's feast. " I'll have the same, please?" Upon receiving her plate, she dug right into it. During one bite, she whispered to Walker. " You *do* realize we're being tailed?"
Walker answered while cutting the brisket, "Yes, this is amazing." The first word was her answer. As soon as the bartender left, "Paramilitary training is blatant. 3 switching in an out to disguise the tail. I suspect at least one on overwatch. It is what I would do." As soon as the Bartender came back, "Any chance of getting a recipe?"
Summers nodded while looking at her plate. " 'Two for two?' " She asked, hoping that Walker would understand her lingo, i.e., 'Two 'badguys' piece...
IN ORBIT OF PLANET TECCAPUS
The gunabout slipped out of warp space and made a standard approach to the planet below. Under Jim Holbridge’s tight control, the USS Washita touched down on smooth sand several kilometers outside the main city after several minutes of scouting for a suitable landing site away from the inhabited area.
“Welcome to Teccapus, part of our Planets Of Hell Luxury Tour,” Jim said sarcastically as he shut down the gunabout’s engines. “During our short stay you can expect hostile local inhabitants, scorching sand that would scour the paint off a Galaxy-class starship, and a case of Montezuma’s Revenge guaranteed to simonize your colon for six months. We hope you enjoyed your flight with Helen Waite’s Guided Tours where if you don’t like how you got here you can go to Helen Waite for something better.”
Holbridge stood from his seat and stretched, then headed aft to the main cabin area. “Hey, dickhead! Stop your grinnin’ and drop your linen, time to go see what the skipper wants us to do!”
The port-side crew berth opened and Major Vic Crowe stepped out, dressed head to toe in desert scavenger mufti. “How do, bub! Figg’s my name. Anything you need, I can find it!” Vic said in a half-Cockney accent.
“You look like you’ve been milking targ’s on Qu’o’nos,” Jim remarked as he entered his berth area.
Vic shrugged, then picked up a clumsy looking walking stick and began rapidly twirling it across his chest, bringing the tip to a sudden stop just under a chair, which he flicked towards the wall. He set down the walking stick and adjusted his dust mask to better hide his features. “What do we know about this place?”
“This boil on the ass of the Delta Quadrant is waystation for nearly every non-registered ship in this sector. Our orders weren’t very specific but I can guess that the captain wants us in place as a backup in case things go south.” Jim said in a neutral voice.
Vic nodded, knowing his friend was better at planning then he was. Marines were usually the sharp end of Intel ops, anyway. “How about we hike into town and find a shady spot and remote pilot the gunabout if shit goes south?”
Jim nodded his head. “I saw a few magnetic field generators on the scope on the way down, and they’re powerful enough to mess up the ship’s transporters. We’ll need to avoid those things.”
Vic studied the layout of the town on the central screen. “Looks like there’s a local guard force on the ground, about a company’s worth, I’d say. Riflemen, maybe a couple sharpshooters in the bunch. HQ looks like it’s off to the west. No armored vehicles that I can see.”
“What do you bet they have local sources for transport?” Jim grinned. “You see anything that resembles a cantina or saloon on the main drag?”
Vic adjusted the holoviewer to live stream and nodded. “Watering hole a couple klicks from here…..wait….Jim, I’m reading Starfleet coms inside…at least two com signals.
“Okay, let’s get moving.” Jim emerged from his berthing area dressed in a black t-shirt, load-bearing vest, desert-camo trousers, black combat boots, and sunglasses. A 3p model hand phaser was hung under his right arm and a tricorder rested in a black pouch. Jim held up his left arm and entered a series of commands. “Ground transport is set.” Jim looked up n grinned. “Let’s go see what kind of mischief we can get into!”
MAIN SETTLEMENT
Jim and Vic slipped into the worship tower in town unnoticed and quickly climbed to the roof of the building. The pair flattened out on the roof and located the cantina where the Starfleet coms were coming from. Jim opened a pouch on his vest and pulled a robotic-looking insect out. “Recon drone.” Holbridge tossed the little thing up and it hummed to life, puttering off in the direction of the cantina. Jim shifted the view to his glasses while Vic set up a sniper watch.
“Wretched hive of scum and villainy!” Jim muttered.
“What?”
“Line from an old movie, Sir Alec Guinness said it.” Jim answered as he guided the drone along the street, taking in the sights.
“I wonder if that Alec guy was related to the family who made Guinness stout beer?” Vic asked quietly.
“Dunno,” Jim answered as he guided the drone into the cantina. Jim scanned the ceiling and quickly fired a piton that anchored the mini-drone in place. Now Jim could scan the cantina for trouble without anyone noticing. “Activating Starfleet coms frequency identification message, in case we have any other Intel pukes listening in.”
This message is for Starfleet personnel only. There are Intelligence officers at or near this location monitoring your situation. Should you need assistance, say ‘Kobayashi Maru’ as loud as you can and assistance will be forthcoming. , the drone transmitted in a loop.
“I’m set here, Jim,” Vic radioed.
“Okay, let’s wait,”
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