The Station - Part I

Posted on 28 Apr 2018 @ 9:29pm by Lieutenant Commander Joey Geisler & Commander Jayla Kij & Lieutenant Commander Camila Di Pasquale & Lieutenant Jennin Rhula & Ensign Quinn Mackie & Petty Officer 1st Class Allen Miller

3,769 words; about a 19 minute read

Mission: The Search Begins
Location: Vargass Station
Timeline: MD 2 || 0900 hours

Joey sat in the front of the runabout next to Camila while she took them toward the station. It wasn't until they began to get closer to the red station that an ominous feeling came over her. "Good feeling's gone," she muttered. That feeling stemmed from the fact that the Federation had never been in this part of space before, and thus, they were the first who would be encountering the people who called the place home. "Lieutenant Di Pasquale, hail them. Let's see if they'll grant us access."

She turned her head toward the others. "Final checks, everyone. Once we're on board, I doubt we'll be able to come back to the runabout for any reason until it's time to leave, so make sure you have everything you need."

"Aye, Lieutenant," Camila said as she looked a the red station floating in space in front of them. It had a seedy look to it from her perspective and she made a mental note to be extra vigilant while aboard it. "Hailing frequencies open," she said. "This is the Euphrates requesting clearance to dock," she said, omitting that they were from the United Federation of Planets which she doubted anyone on this side of the Zone even knew about.

The station didn't immediately reply. Instead, a sensor dish was focused on the approaching vessel.

"Lieutenant!" called out Quinn, who manned one of the side consoles. "We're being scanned."

Camila gave a nod to indicate she heard him, but it was Joey's call on what to do. She kept the shields up as they had been the entire flight from the Black Hawk but the weapons on the runabout weren't armed. "Shall I repeat the hail, Lieutenant Geisler?" she asked Joey.

"Repeat the hail," Joey instructed, but planned to keep the weapons offline for the moment. She didn't want them to be seen as a hostile force, but considering they weren't seen in this area of space before, that could happen anyway. Not only that, the weapons on the Euphrates didn't have anything on what the station was likely in possession of. "Hold position. We don't want to give them any reason to fire on us."

Camila repeated the hail and brought the runabout to a halt. "Aye, Lieutenant," she said. "Repeating hails." She kept her fingers on the console.

"Mister Mackie, run a passive scan and let me know what you pick up," the Intel Chief said, deciding that maybe communicating with the station might help. Whether they understood it or not was a different story. Hopefully, they'd get lucky and an Aketi would be present since that was one language the Universal Translator knew from this part of space. "This is Lieutenant Geisler of the Euphrates requesting permission to come aboard."

Quinn didn't get a chance to run that passive scan. Two blips showed up on his sensors, each one painting the runabout with their sensors. "We've got incoming! Shields aren't up, but one ship has charged weapons. Polaron-based, it appears."

"Lieutenant Di Pasquale, weapons on standby," Joey ordered as she gave a mental curse. This situation could get really bad really fast if she didn't attempt to diffuse it. Sadly, that all depended on who was on the receiving end. "I repeat... this is Lieutenant Geisler of the Euphrates. We mean you no harm." She hoped she was getting through to someone. "We wish to come aboard your station in hopes of learning more about where we are."

Camila armed the photon torpedoes, limited as they were on the Euphrates and brought the phasers online. "Weapons on standby, Lieutenant," she said as she kept an eye on the incoming ships. "Shall we hold station or go evasive?"

"Hold position," Joey said, knowing that evasive maneuvers would be much easier in a runabout than a starship. It was her hope that by not backing down, they'd be seen as someone with a backbone and would be granted entry.

Remembering the aliens that had come aboard their vessel and had had difficulty communicating with them, Jayla said, "maybe... maybe they don't understand us?"

Outside, two vessels about the runabout's size, came to a stop just in front of the runabout. Both vessels were identical in appearance and size, with the exception of scars and burns from unknown scuffles. One of the vessels shone a brilliant light directly into the forward viewport. At the same time, a voice came over the Euphrates' speakers thanks to the open frequency. "State your intentions, Euphrates. What is the nature of your business with Vargass Station?"

"Never mind," said Jayla with a slight grin, almost to herself.

Joey pressed one of the controls on the console in front of her, polarizing the viewport in front of them to protect them from the bright light. It made her wonder if that was some kind of tactic used in this part of space just before they attacked an enemy. Temporarily blinding their foe would certainly be effective. "We're here seeking information, nothing more," she replied. They stood out like a sore thumb, and it didn't matter what she said at this point. "As I'm sure you're aware, we aren't from around here, and wish to learn more about the area. It stands to reason that there is no better place to do that than on Vargass Station. We are prepared to trade for said information if it's necessary."

"And what of the cargo you possess?" demanded the voice. "Prepare to be boarded for an inspection."

What choice did they have? If they wanted to get on the station, and they did, that meant cooperating with them even if she didn't want to. Joey muted the channel quickly and looked toward the crew. "Be on your guard in the event they try anything. Otherwise, remain where you are and don't provoke them," she ordered, then unmuted the channel. "We are prepared to welcome whoever you wish to send over to inspect us."

"Very well. Lower your shields." The channel then clicked off, though the light from the other ship remained shining through the window.

"Lower the shields," Joey said to Camila, grateful that the light wasn't effecting them. She rose to her feet and waited for their guest(s) to make their appearance.

Camila grimaced and lowered the shields, one hand on the console and one moving to rest on her phaser. She looked at the other three Security personnel on the runabout and gave them nods, knowing that each of them would be ready should the aliens try anything. "Shields down," she said.

"At least all I brought was medicine and medical equipment," said Jayla. "Hopefully none of it is considered contraband or you may have to break me out of their brig."

"No one is going to anyone's brig," Joey said, hoping to reassure Jayla. "We don't have anything that should be seen as contraband." Then again, they were in possession of things that these individuals had likely never seen before, so who knew how they would perceive it? Of course, she wasn't going to say that out loud to anyone else.

Allen sat there quietly, his hand on his phaser. He didn't know what to expect, but he would be ready if things went south.

Three figures beamed into the runabout's main cabin, each one armed and ready to use their weapons if the need arose. One, the leader, was Aketi, and the other two were species none of the Starfleet crew had seen before. The Aketi eyed the group, from the dark-skinned, spotted woman, to the fragile blond male sitting at the controls, to the well-built man with a hand on a weapon, to the hollow blonde woman, and finally on the brunette with the swollen torso. It was an unusual bunch of lifeforms, especially since they all wore similar pajamas. "Who is in charge?" the Aketi asked. "We detected eleven lifeforms aboard, but I only see five."

"I'm in charge," Joey said, taking a step forward, but keeping enough distance between them that they wouldn't see her as being hostile. She did some quick mental math, then knew what he was referring to. "You are detecting a symbiont of one of our people along with my unborn children."

The Aketi withdrew a hand scanner to verify her claims. It did, indeed, detect two lifeforms inside the brunette's swollen abdomen, and the lifeform inside the spotted woman. And, while he could stand here and debate the finer points of a matriarchal society, he had a job to do and patrols to resume. "Very well," he gruffed. "Show me to your cargo."

Joey nodded her head and gestured for them to follow her toward the cargo hold of the Euphrates with a gloved hand. "This way," she said as she stepped forward to lead the way. It wasn't long before she was standing in the area that contained what she hoped would be useful to trade. If this was what it took to get them on the station, then her only choice was to allow it. "If you don't mind, I will remain here while you conduct your inspection." And even if they did mind, she would still stick around.

"Lesser minds would have left us alone," remarked the Aketi pulling out a scanner. "Manifest?" he asked, starting to scan the crates.

"You aren't dealing with a lesser mind," the Intel Chief stated, watching the Aketi like a hawk. If he so much as broke wind, she would know about it, and found herself really hoping that wasn't going to happen. "Metals, cloth, parts, medications and some other things you and your people might find useful. Of course, it's meant to be traded, not given freely."

The Aketi grunted, checking his scan against known pathogens in his database. "And how do you intend to pay your docking fee?" he asked her. "The materials in this ship, though inferior, are not among anything I've seen before."

Camila turned as if no longer interested in the conversation and drew her phaser discreetly and held it in her lap, ready to spin back around in a second. She brought up the internal sensors and marked the location of each of the aliens and waited for one of them to try anything stupid.

The other two Security personnel simply kept their focus on the aliens and watched them for the slightest wrong move.

Allen sat quietly. He kept an eye on the aliens as they started their inspection and his hand at the ready. Training had made him ready for lots of things, but this... An inspection by an alien species in an area of space that is unknown. And then the aliens, who knew how they were going to act.

Joey arched a brow. For those that knew her knew she wasn't the type to keep her mouth shut. Most of those present witness that first hand when they were aboard the station in the alternate universe, which earned her a punch to the mouth when she got a bit lippy. "And... how would you know they are inferior if they're not among anything you've ever seen before? You have contradicted yourself," the Intel Chief said, folding her arms beneath her expanding bust. "How often is it that you're able to come across items you've not seen before? If I had to guess, I would say... never. So, you're in no position to call anything in this vessel inferior. That being said... tell me more about this docking fee."

As they were in earshot of the Aketi leader, one of the escorts whipped around and drew his pistol. A soft whine could be heard in the corridor as the device declared its activity, but the escort did not fire. "I've seen it all," the Aketi snarled. "Insult my intelligence again, and you'll have to find a new place to sell your wares."

"No one is insulting your intelligence," Joey pointed out despite the fact there was an active weapon behind her as well as an angry Aketi in front of her. She raised her hands and shook her head. "If that's how you're perceiving things, I can't do anything to change that, yet, I can assure you that's not what was happening. I was simply basing what I said off of what you did. Now... why don't we all calm down and get back to the reason we're here in the first place?"

The Aketi eyed the swelling woman for a moment, her foul stench somehow sliding past his methane mask's filtration system. She certainly had spunk, and the crew of this surprisingly clean vessel were more than alert. "You're hiding something," he flat out told her. "A vessel this clean, and you have little to trade. Certainly, there must be more to your wealth than simple trinkets."

When the alien pulled the pistol out and activated it, Camila turned around with her phaser in her hand and gave a nod to the other two Security personnel who also had theirs out. "Let's not get jumpy here," she said in a level voice. "No need to be hostile. We're all here in good faith and what you see if what we have. What's the docking fee?"

The Intel Chief raised a hand toward Camila in a silent order to stand down. This situation was already tense enough, and she didn't need it getting worse. "You're scanning our cargo, and I would imagine other parts of our vessel. If we had anything to hide, you would have found it by now," she stated, making her way over to the replicator. She gave it an order, then removed three objects from it and moved back to the Aketi with her palm open where three shiny precious gems sat in the form of a ruby, sapphire and emerald. "Take these and let us be on our way."

The Aketi was amazed, seeing the gemstones materialize out of thin air. He'd never seen this sort of technology before. Keeping his scanner close, he picked up the sapphire and held it up to the light. His scans could not identify the stone, so there was no way for him to know if this were real, or if it were a facsimile. "Counterfeit?" he asked, glancing over to Joey.

"No," Joey told him with the shake of her head. Technically, it wasn't a lie since replicators made real things all the time, though, she didn't know what their true value would be worth. And honestly, could they really find someone who would be able to appraise them in this part of space? She seriously doubted it. "Now will you tell me what the docking fee is so we can move forward?"

"You're quite eager, aren't you?" the Aketi mused, still looking at the gemstone. After a moment of consideration, he replied, "The fee is simply a meager handful of credits. Seeing how you're new around here, I assume you have none. We shall, however, allow you and your magic machine to dock. Sell enough to cover the fee, and you'll be able to leave with your clean ship. Otherwise, I hope you'll enjoy indentured servitude."

Camila nodded to the other Security personnel and lowered her own phaser, but kept an eye on the Aketi and the other aliens.

The Intel Chief arched a brow at the mention of servitude. That didn't sit well with her, but somehow, she managed to keep her mouth shut. "We'll be able to pay the docking fee, I assure you, but you're mistaken if you think I'm going to let you keep those gems for nothing," she stated without any kind of hesitation in her voice. "While you're here, you can answer a few questions for us."

He grunted, turning off his scanner. The Aketi withdrew a small device from his belt and pressed a button. “Enjoy your stay,” he said before a transporter beam took him and his escorts away.

"Wasn't he a pleasure?" Camila asked sarcastically. "Replicate a few pouches of gold coins for everyone and see if they'll take those as payment."

"About as pleasant as a colonoscopy administered by Nausicaan," Joey muttered as she shook her head. If she could get her hands on that bastard... no... she didn't need to think along those lines. There were more important things that needed her focus right now. She moved back over to the replicator to take care of the gold coins and more gems, then handed them out among the crew. "Let's get moving. He already took up too much of her time."

"And that is the reason I'll start drinking again to get that out of my head," Camila said as she got the runabout back on course and headed to dock at the station.

Quinn raised an eyebrow at the items he was handed. They had crates of wares and goods in the cargo hold. He was forced to wonder if these items were necessary; alas, he was just an ensign and he was here to follow orders. Quinn did, for a moment, examine his uniform to see where he could put these trinkets. If only there were pockets in this thing...

A beep from his console brought him back to reality. "We've been cleared for docking in bay twenty-two," he reported, sending the coordinates to the helm.

"Received," Camila said after attaching one of the small bags of gold coins and gems to a free space on her tactical belt. She brought the runabout around on the heading and eased the Euphrates into docking bay twenty-two. "Docking secured," she said.

"These," Joey said, gesturing to the gold and gems. "are in case the other things don't work. Let's see what we can find out." With that, she took a deep breath, quickly checked her gear once more, and make her way off of the runabout.

Quinn secured his station before disembarking the runabout with his tricorder open and scanning. Thousands of lifeforms appeared on the display, as had hundreds of weapons, minerals, vegetables, and so much more. There was so much to see, so much to do, and they only lacked one thing. "What's the plan, Lieutenant?" Quinn asked, looking up at the pregnant woman.

As much as she didn't want to, Joey knew the only way to make this work would be to split up. "Miller and Kij, you're with me. Mackie and Rhula, you're with Di Pasquale," she said, waiting for the death glare to come from the Security Chief.

Allen had been quietly sitting and taking everything in. A few smartass remarks crossed his mind, but he held his tongue. He took the bag of gold coins and slipped it into an empty pouch on his belt. Allen then stood and rolled his shoulders backwards.

Camila instructed the other two Security personnel to stay with the runabout and not let anyone in unless it was the away team and they weren't being coerced. She set up a question and answer with them, then nodded for Jayla and Rhula to exit the runabout before she went last.

Rhula nodded his thanks for the Security Chief's politeness in let him alight. How unfortunate that I'm saddled with her, he thought, catching view of Kij. In his time on the Black Hawk, the Trill Chief Medical Officer had failed to prove anything more than a nuisance. Beyond being a Trill, with all the issues that brought, she was, at best, only a passable physician. At least, he thought, we're going in different directions.

It was a bit of a shame Jayla couldn't pester Rhula just by existing, but she supposed there were more important things to do. She followed the Bajoran off the shuttle and glanced around without really caring what she was seeing. It didn't really matter, anyway. It was all pointless drivel that didn't affect her at all so why should she care? She blinked, wondering where that very 'Belar Kij' thought had come from. Perhaps she was really under more stress than she had thought.

"Let's meet back here in a couple of hours. That should give us enough time to get something useful. If anything happens on either team, call, and we'll get the hell out of dodge faster. Understood?" Joey asked.

"Understood," Camila said as she motioned for Mackie and Rhula to come with her. "I'll have the Security personnel keep a transporter lock on us just in case," she added before she passed the message back to the guards in the runabout.

"Sounds like a plan," Allen said. He stepped out of the runabout and turned to Joey. "Been a while since we've been on a station as an away team. If I remember right, Ricardo nearly got himself into all kinds of uh oh."

"Good call," Joey said to Camila before she turned toward Allen with a grin. "I remember that. Are you volunteering to take on that role this time should it be needed?"

"Um, what?" Allen said. He paused for a few seconds before further replying. "Well, I suppose I could go for a tattoo for starters." He half grinned as he remembered that one. "Or something like that. But if it came down to it, hey, intel is intel, right, Chief Intelligence Officer? I mean, femme fatales aren't the only ones with skills." He stretched and flexed a bit before letting out a chuckle.

Quinn resisted the urge to roll his eyes at the Petty Officer. Not only did he wonder what this Ricardo had done, but now he felt like there was more to this security officer than met the eye.

While Quinn resisted the urge, Jayla did not hide her own eye roll. "Don't let him get a tattoo," she said flatly. "He'll only parade in front of us." Yes, she was definitely under more stress than she'd thought. She was being cynical and critical That was definitely a sign of stress as Jayla was never either of those things.

Allen looked over at the Doctor. "Oh yeah! You know it," replied Allen. "And I might get it right here...." He flexed his left bicep and pointed to it as he flexed his right.

"Focus, people," Joey said, glancing toward Camila and nodding her head. It was time. She only hoped the other away team was having luck finding anything out.

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