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Quod infernum sicut factum est (What The Hell Just Happened)

Posted on Tue Dec 7th, 2021 @ 8:40am by Jaas'rah & Lieutenant JG Sher'ra Verona

3,288 words; about a 16 minute read

Mission: Episode 4 - The Fires Of Hades
Location: Promenade - Central Core
Timeline: Mission Day 14 @ 1400 Hours

ON

Vincent got down from the ladder he was on, after having added a few more pieces of equipment to his place of business. the chains for the Heavy bags were now secured and ready for the bags themselves to be hung upon. Reaching the floor, Vincent stretched his back slightly to loosen up his muscles, and to work out the kinks in it. Wiping off his brow with the back of his hand, Vincent decided he needed to take a break. He felt a drink would be a good thing.

Vincent turned towards where he intended on putting his smoothie bar and sighed. He still had a bit to do still. Vincent decided to head out towards where Niska's place was. He knew Niska from the runabout when the kids were born. As he arrived, Vincent noticed that there was another place that was opening up or opened up right near Niska's. He paused and looked at both of them.

"Okay I need something cold to drink." the tall blonde well-fit Vince, remarked and went to see if Niska's was opened and if not there was the new place to check out.

Jaas'rah saw the athletic man walking past his space on the promenade, something Sher'ra had organized for him and he had to admit he could feel his freedom starting to take shape. She had found him a shop with an open front so he could start his produce stall, importing fresh fruit and vegetables from Ba'ku, Bajor, Vulcan, and many other locations across federation space. he waved at the man he had come to know as Vincent as he was putting the finishing touches to the open-air stall at the front of his trading space.

"Hello," Niska stopped at the alien. She knew he was her species. Or half of hers although he sensed just that bit different. "I'm Niska. I own the Ferryman and I was hoping I could talk to you about ordering some produce. My last place was fusion," she said dreamily for a moment, "But I'm thinking this one will be more seasonal. As in I would like to buy some of what you can get on board the station each week and work out a menu from there. How does that sound?"

"Of course... Commander Hern or Horn... That Vulcan Counsellor these Starfleet types have here took an interest in what I would need and agreed to arrange something with the Ba'ku on my behalf during his talks with them. I'm just waiting to hear the outcome. I have already discussed with Mr. Sinclair about his smoothie bar... I think that was what he called it, and we have also come to an agreement!"

Jaas'rah said, stopping for a moment to greet her properly and to wave at Vincent as he walked past. "Jaas'rah", he said by way of introducing himself.

"Hello, Jaas'rah" Vincent gave a smile. "I'm looking forward to that, and good to see you Niska." giving a nod. "I am a bit curious as to what we will find down on that planet below as well. Would there be some natural fresh fruits there? However, the produce from Ba'ku is wonderful as well."

“We shouldn’t rely on the Ba’ku for food, they may not always be able to produce enough to share” Sher’ra commented as she joined the group, “and as for the planet, how about we get this station running first before we worry about exploring”

Jaas'rah greeted Sher'ra warmly by leaning in and gently kissing her on the neck. Their awkward acquaintanceship had rapidly changed and grown into something a little closer, he had been teaching her what it was to be Orion and she had been teaching him what freedom actually was.

"Always the black cloud!" he said with a wry smile before turning back to his stall.

"Is there going to be an area on the station that will be allowed to grow our own vegetables? And why not talk about the planet below? There is definitely a lot of work here on the station, of which we are all pitching in." Vincent gave a slight frown. "I would like to find out when we will be able to go down to that planet. Real sunshine would be beneficial for everyone." Vince then shook his head. "Never mind that. I am in search of a smoothie or some refreshing drink. Something of a pick me up before I get back to work."

Mirae lifted the panel and rolled her eyes at the discussion. Was this really better than prison? She wasn't sure anymore. Listening to Fleeters bitch and complain, while others were struggling to survive was what she'd always wanted.

"Maybe you could get back to work and pick stuff up..." Mirae muttered under her breath

"I'm sure we can find somewhere for a hydroponics bay, it's a big enough station after all" Sher'ra said, looking around the promenade, "and I'm sure we'll get to the planet but we can't just let anyone go down there right now. We don't know what weird and wonderful creatures are down there"

"There will be a long wait and red tape," Niska commented. "On anything, they find down there. It was the same with the Aquil where I used to live. However, a hydroponics bay would be very useful to start cultivating some seeds that Liam brought with him. Actually, we were not sure why he had all those in the ship's inventory but I guess we know now the long-term plan is for your Federation to establish a colony down there. It has to be right? There were prefab buildings also." It was all making sense to Niska now.

Vincent raised an eyebrow towards Mirae. "Excuse me? Were you talking to me?" turning to face the woman. "I've been here working my behind off, anything wrong with my looking for a pick me up?" her comment was irking him. "The others here have been working rather hard as well." He was tired, and his muscles ached.

Hearing Vincent’s raised voice, Sher’ra moved to a position where she could watch in case things were about to escalate. But before she left, she walked over to Jaas’rah, grabbed hold of him, and pulled him in close, “You ever kiss me like that while I’m on duty, I’ll break your nose” she said before giving his ear a bit of a nibble and heading off to keep an eye on Vincent. She’d been surprised by how she was changing because of her relationship with Jaas’rah. Her more Klingon behaviors were becoming more prominent, she’d had to restrain herself from biting him several times in public. It wasn’t just that, she felt stronger and more confident in herself than she had for many years.

Mirae blinked and looked up from the piled debris toward Vincent. She sneered and pushed the pile of panels and debris to the side of the bulkhead. "I can see how an intellectually challenged person would make that mistake."

The Orion woman continued to stack the panels out of the way. "I was talking ABOUT you, not TO you. Is that clear now pretty boy? Now, how about you frig off and let those of us who don't have a choice, get back to work while you hunt for your smoothie..." Mirae rolled her eyes so hard it was almost audible.

"Hey, I wasn't impolite to you at all, and if you would take your attitude down a notch, I'd be willing to help you out with moving the debris," Vincent growled out, just feeling a bit more irked. "Besides a smoothie helps to provide healthy nutrients. Don't knock it before you try it."

"We don't have much by fruit in the Ferryman presently," Niska addressed the man, "But I can have chef try to whip you up something close if your willing." The other Orion was so rude. If that was how she treated people she wasn't going to be a success in the business on this promenade at all. But that suited Niska. More customers for her.

Mirae fought hard not to roll her eyes again. Instead, she stood up and wiped some of the grime off her hands and onto the prisoner coveralls she'd been issued. "Seriously? You want to help?"

She clicked her shoe against the tracking anklet around her other leg. "Then find a way out of this for me. Then I'll have one of your smoothies. Hell, I'll even say 'golly gee mister that sure was swell'."

"So if you're quite done bothering the 'help', I need to clear this section of the promenade so you all can have fun playing shopkeeper," Mirae growled in return.

Niska forced the sweetest of smiles on her face and disappeared for a few minutes. Returning back carrying two smoothies she handed one to Vincent telling him to enjoy it, and then her demeanor changed completely as she addressed the arrogant and rude female. "And one for you," she stated tossing it straight in her face. "Oops, I guess I'm just a clumsy woman playing shopkeeper. I'm sure you will find your own way out of your tracking anklet. After all, you were smart enough to find your way into it and with that dazzling and beautiful personality too. The mind boggles.

I'll clear this section of the promenade now," she told her with a hard look and a parting shot.

The truth was she could probably have her out of that in a millisecond. She had been incarcerated enough times and had plenty of lock picking skills but not if she was going to speak to Niska like that.

Mirae wiped the liquid from around her eyes and glared at Niska. Well, there it was. Mirae quickly rushed Niska and wrapped her arms tightly around the woman.

"Let's share this one dear," Mirae said, still dripping.

Niska stepped out of her arms. “You don’t get that sort of contact unless it’s a date.”

"Thanks, Niska" Then as Vincent got ready to take a drink he accidentally inhaled some as he watched the interplay between the two ladies, and began to cough as the drink went down the wrong way, his face going a bit purple. "Re" cough "Mind me" cough " to not breath in when drinking." he wheezed out.

"Nice to see we are surrounded by sane, sorted, and normal people!" Jaas'rah commented as he started to stock the storefront, watching with some amusement as the two women started to fight and Vincent started to choke on his drink.

Just then several people came walking through carrying more construction materials, there were some bundles of cloth, a man and a woman carrying some paint. A man carrying a plank of wood. And another one was carrying some spackling in a bucket to apply to various walls which needed some touch-up.

"Excuse me pardon me! I have a special delivery to make!" another person came racing up. It was a Bajoran female trying to keep hold of some food boxes she needed to deliver. "I need to make my delivery to Commander Tamaska and Captain Halstro!"

"Hey now watch where you are going!" one of the workers groused.

She almost got knocked down by the man carrying the plank, who barely moved out of the way to keep from hitting her. However, it hit Vincent in the back who was holding his drink and it sent him flying forward to where he and the drink hit Mirae, both of them falling to the floor.

The man with the plank realizing what he did, swung his burden around to apologize to Vincent whom he hit, and caught the delivery woman with the other end. sending her and the food flying. This pissed her off. She rose from the floor and went straight for the man with the plank. "Look what you did, now I have to go back to my father's ship and get the order remade!"

"You need to watch where you are going!" he spouted off.

The woman went over to where Jaas'rah was at grabbed something that resembled a tomato squished it into the plank man's face. He then dropped the plank it hitting the floor with a decidedly wooden clunk.

He was pissed. "Hey now!"

Seeing the incident, Sher’ra jumped into action and hurried over to the woman, “holt, station security, what’s going on here”

Mirae grunted as the air got knocked out of her when she hit the ground. She rolled over a bit, not really caring that she elbowed Vincent in the neck.

"Ugh... fleeters..." Mirae groaned as she attempted to pull herself free. "Can't believe I got caught by one of you boy scouts..."

Jaas'rah stopped what he was doing, placing the crate of fresh fruit back on the stack behind him before leaning on the stall itself to watch the antics before him.

"Well, this escalated quickly but nice to see it won't be short of entertainment living here!"

Leaning down, Sher’ra grabbed the two of them by their respective collars and yanked them to their feet, “alright that’s enough, this station is enough of a mess without the two of you trashing it further. Now start talking or I’ll slap you both in irons”

While Lieutenant Verona went to go to where Vincent and Mirae were, the food delivery woman seeing that the attention was taken from her, directed her attention towards the plank guy and slammed him in his stomach with her shoulder, knocking him backward.

He staggered backward stepping into something slick and his feet slipped out from underneath him. The food delivery girl raced towards where Jaas'rah's goods were kept, she was determined to give the plank guy another serving of vegetables, her hand reaching out for another squishy something.

Vincent had rolled off Mirae, and being grabbed by Sher'ra went to shrug her off. "Back off!" he growled, his demeanor was starting to sour even more!

Jaas'rah was still watching with a form of mild amusement, his new mate in the middle of the scuffle holding up two people while the chaos around her continued. Delivery operatives, random passers-by, other local traders, the bar owner all seemed to be having a whale of a time in what was now turning into a sizeable brawl on the promenade.

He was chuckling to himself when a scent assaulted him, as if something had died and rolled around in the waste reclamation reservoir. His eyes scanned around and seconds later he jumped back as a foot-long hairless, six-legged creature charged at his face from the top of the produce stall.

Niska watching on at the crazy scene unfolding jumped back and squeaked at the sight of the creature. "Chief this place has some sort of vermin." She felt disgusted but figured out she ought to try to help, hell she would like it if the situation were reversed that someone would pull the beast from her face. Grabbed it, one of her nails immediately chipped. It took a firm yank to get the alien back to breathing with no obstruction again. It was hissing and wriggling as she held it at arm's length, then felt one of its teeth sink into her.

The pain made her jump and she ended up tossing the beast which unfortunately landed in the direction of the other Orion female.

Brodie arrived and watched as the events began to unfold before his eyes. He tapped his combadge. "Computer connect my comm to the promenade PA system". He waited until he heard the chirp that let him know the computer had finished its task. "This is station Security, All combatants will cease or be subject to arrest!!". He set his Phaser on stun and held it near his combadge as to amplify the sound over the PA system and fired a three-second burst into the ceiling and then holstered the weapon. And he watched to see the effects of his action.

Everything dropped silent for a moment with the exception of muffled curse words as the scuffle between Niska, Jaas'rah, and the second rabid vole that had appeared continued just behind Brodie, the first vole barrelling back towards Niska.
"It's pulling my hair... Can you get it off me! NISKA!"

Brodie fired at the fleeing vole and hit it with the stunning setting and leaving it motionless on the floor. Brodie took a deep breath and bellowed out. " All persons will clear the area and return to your assigned areas!! Any further disruptions will result in immediate arrest!! " He continued to walk through the area keeping a sharp eye out for anyone who might start further trouble.

Niska shot the stunned vole a disgusted look and walked up to the human issuing orders. She flattened down his vole messed-up hair for him before smiling. "Yes sir."

Mirae wrenched herself free and glared at the pompous fleeter. Give her a phaser and she'd show that twit a thing or two. "This IS my assigned area. Now if you can do your job and keep these merchants from harassing me that'd be lovely!"


15 Minutes Later


"So explain it to me again Lieutenant... Someone hit someone around the head with some construction materials and then a fight ensued which drew in our entire population of promenade merchants to which two voles then entered the fray putting Mr. Jaas'rah in the infirmary and you looking pretty banged up?"
The disbelief in the Captain's voice as he surveyed the carnage in the faces of the twenty-odd merchants now in holding including Niska, Vincent, and two of the visiting Command Officers from the USS Genesis. "Can you also explain how Captain De'Vuor ended up in a holding cell?"

Sher'ra nodded, "What can I say, one thing led to another. I have no idea where the Voles came from but I assume as Deep Space 9 had problems with them originally the Cardassians must have kept them as pets of some sort. Though I'm sure we can get rid of them eventually. As for Captain De'Vuor, I have no idea how that happened"

Keiben glanced at the Starfleet Captain, she was nursing one hell of a shiner and all she did was shrug looking a little sheepish.
"Doctor?" he asked of his wife as she was tending to Sher'ra. He needed to make sure these voles hadn't been carrying anything that could cause them issues later down the line.

"Niska's been bitten. It released a substance I wasn't aware Cardassian Voles carried and it doesn't seem to like one side of her biology and it's causing an infection, I'm going to need to do some further tests there. Until that's concluded Captain as your fully Betaziod I would recommend you try not to encounter one of these things. I'm using a broad spectrum of antibiotics and antivirals to beat that one back down.

One of the security officers had one fly at his face. Luckily the same substance doesn't seem to have been injected into him and he had a few cuts and bruises which I've patched up," Mel said in answer to his question.

Niska held her finger up that had swollen and seemed to be a purple color for him to see.

"Right... Join Starfleet they said, you'll be exploring space and uncovering secrets and I end up babysitting!" the Captain muttered to himself. "Sher'ra, let them out and coordinate with Chief Stoun in eradicating these Voles!"

"Don't worry sir, I promise I won't cook them and feed them to the crew" Sher'ra said.

END

 

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