Night Life

Posted on Sun Nov 21st, 2021 @ 8:33am by Lieutenant Resigned

Mission: With Gleaming Eyes
Location: Colony Downtown
Timeline: MD - 2: 20.00hrs Local
4554 words - 9.1 OF Standard Post Measure

[ON]

[Master at Arms Quarters]

It was early evening by the time the Mine Team was cleared and allowed to return to the ship. Douglas had run herself through three cycles of the sonic shower, with the acoustic inverter settings at maximum. She still felt a weird feeling of being grubby, she was considering taking another shower when the door chime went. She padded over there wrapped in a bathrobe to find Bolingbroke and Jackson there, in civilian clothes.

"Get dressed Bondi, we're going for a drink" Bolingbroke smiled.

"We are? Where?" She asked

Jackson pointed a finger downwards.

"Planet-side? Back down there? I haven't written my report up yet." She protested, not really sure she wanted to go back down just yet. The mine, those sick and dying Metis had effected more than she expected. "What about the virus?"

"You can do the report in the morning" Bolingbroke held his hand up. "Word is Medical believes it is unlikely to infect full-species individuals, like Humans.

And this isn't just a social jaunt, this is work. We need to find out little bit more about what's going on, so we're going to wander around the colony downtown for a couple of hours and find out. You got five minutes, go get dressed!"

[Transporter Room One]

The three of them made their way to the Transporter Room, they gathered around the panel while the Technician found them somewhere to beam down to.

"Don't want to be near that Central Admin Building or anywhere official" Bolingbroke said looking at a display of the colony. "Find us somewhere with retail businesses, shops, restaurants, bars, whatever they have in the way of a shopping center, arcade or mall."

"How about here?" The Tech pointed out an area in the southwest suburbs. "It's away from the central area, there's a park, a kind of market and entertainment area, residential areas close by. I can put you down there, pointing to an alley between a couple of buildings"

"That works" Bolingbroke agreed and they stepped up to the pads.

Bolingbroke pulled the Cardassian communicator from his pocket and turned it on. "Kind of nice to get a couple of hours of shore leave huh. be nice to meet some of the locals, get a drink and something to eat" He announced then looked meaningfully at the other two.

"Oh yeah, can't wait to try the local beer" Jackson replied

"Boss buys the first round right" Douglas added.

Bolingbroke grinned and shoved the thing back in his pocket as they dematerialized.


[Entertainment District]

The trio reappeared in an alley way between two buildings. It was warm evening, not yet fully dark but from their right came light and noise. Moving to the end of the alley they looked out on a wide thoroughfarehe street stretched away right and left, a wide pavement on each side of a central planted area. Lamps dotted up out of the plants, giving off a soft yellow glow in the twilight.

It looked pretty much like any commercial area on a dozen planets. There were shops and stores, many with brightly illuminated signs and windows and music came from a bar or restaurant across from them. There were people moving around, a mix of Cardassian and Metis, some wearing facemasks.

Bolingbroke observed them, a Cardassian couple walked past deep in conversation, behind them trailed a Metis male carrying shopping bags. The couple entered a store, said something to the man, the Metis nodded politely and waited outside. He looked fit and healthy and waited patiently for what Bolingbroke presumed were his employers.

Further down the street a group of Metis were emptying a trash receptacle and sweeping the pavement, they wore coveralls and seemed to be supervised by another Metis, a female in a similar coverall.

A couple exited a shop, a Cardassian male and a Metis female, they were laughing and smiling and he Cardassian bent down to kiss the woman on the cheek. Bolingbroke was not sure if this was some Officer with his comfort woman, but the Cardassian wrapped an arm around the woman, she hugged him and they wandered off down the street. If it was that kind of master-servant relationship, then she appeared happy with the arrangement.

A family group appeared next, another Cardassian male, with a Metis woman, but this time accompanied by two teenage children, both of whom were clearly Cardassian-Metis hybrids, all four were wearing masks and the man stopped for a moment to adjust the one on his daughter, giving her cheek an affectionate pat.

Another group walked past, a Cardassian couple and a Metis couple, the two women were arm in arm chatting together, while the men were also talking and all four appeared to be treating each other as equals.

“Doesn’t look much like an Occupation” Douglas commented. “They all seem pretty well integrated”

Bolingbroke nodded “Cardassians have been here a hundred years or so, as you say, seems like some of them and the Metis have just got right into living together. Not the impression we got from the colony administration…”

He nodded to the bar restaurant across the street. “Let’s get a drink”

They entered the establishment. There was a bar along one side, Cardassians, Metis, Hybids and a couple of other Species were at the bar or standing around high tables in the middle of the room. Beyond that was a restaurant area with seated diners, again a mix of species, many sharing tables together

They moved over to the bar. A male Cardassian bartender took their order. “You’re from the Federation ship?” He asked in a friendly tone. “We don’t get too many Humans in here”

“Yeah, that’s right” Bolingbroke replied. “Got a couple of hours shore leave”

“Thank you for coming” The Barmen said sincerely. “This virus has our medical people baffled; they don’t know how to handle it. I hope you can help. It’s starting to scare people now, our trade is down, people are staying home and ”

“We’re here to try” Douglas replied

They ordered some local drinks and Bolingbroke asked about food. “We’ve a full menu in the restaurant or I can show you the appetizers we do here.”

He called down the bar to a female Cardassian-Metis Hybrid, she brought them some menus. “The food’s good, my wife did the menu and it’s her family recipes. Isn’t that right my love?” He gave the woman a hug.

She laughed and pushed him off. “Not in front of the customers! It is homestyle cooking though, my grandmother ran a restaurant on Cardassia and my dad was a chef here. We took their recipes and kind of blended them all together.”

Bolingbroke ordered them some snacks and they took their drinks to one of the high tables. A group of several younger Cardassians and Metis were laughing and joking together at a nearby one. They all appeared well dressed, several were wearing what looked like expensive jewelry. They got a bit boisterous, there was a cry of alarm and several drinks were accidently knocked off the table, a couple of glasses broke.

A couple of young Metis, a male and female, came out from behind the bar, they began picking up the pieces and mopping up the spilled drinks.

“Hey watch out!” A Metis girl shoved one of the Metis staff “You just slopped drink all, over my dress! You know how much this cost?! More than you make in a month!”

The girl was trying to make an apology but the other one kept berating her. “You menials are all the same! Lazy and incompetent. Go back to the fields and the mines where you belong!”

The bartender hurried over trying to appease his customers, he sent to the two Metis back to the bar. The Metis woman was getting into her stride now and turned her ire on him. “Why do you hire menials?! You should get proper staff! My friends and I don’t want to be waited on by peasants!”

The rest of the group, Metis and Cardassian alike, laughed and threw in their own jibes. “This isn’t a miners café!” “We spend good money here, get some decent staff not, farm laborers! And why arn’t they wearing masks?! You know it’s menials who are spreading the virus!”

The bartender managed to calm them down with a round of complimentary drinks. Once the group was served and quieter, he stopped by Bolingbroke’s table. “Sorry about that, some of these rich kids are not very charitable to the menial class. But our two are good workers, that was just a slip up.”

“Menial class?” Bolingbroke asked

“Oh, it’s an old term, from before Cardassia came here” The bartender explained. “The Metis used to have a sort of caste system, those in the bottom layers did most of the manual labor, they called them menials. The castes have mostly gone, although not amongst some of the wealthy Metis and the term kind of stuck, now it’s a term we use here for any Metis who still does service or industrial work.”

He left to get their food and Bolingbroke commented. “Society here is more complex that we thought. The Gul and Cardassians who are in charge; others who have mixed in with the population, first and second generation Cardassian-Metis families and then a hierarchy within Metis society, with a subservient Metis caste at the bottom”

“And it’s that group that appear to be suffering the worse effects of the virus judging by those in the mine” Douglas added.

Their food arrived, it was indeed good, Regovai eggs with a Metis herb dressing, local blue-veined runner beans with Yamok sauce and spicy Zabu kebabs.

An hour later they were back on the street. It was past nine o’clock; dark and quieter now. They wandered around a little reaching the park area at the far end of the commercial area. There were paths and ornamental gardens, and a large and impressive fountain of what they assumed to be Metis design.

On one side of the park they could see a residential area, brightly lit with street lamps, large houses with gardens, trees and outbuildings.

The other side of the park was not so well lit, only a few dim streetlights dotted around. The dwellings looked smaller, more tightly packed and there were several drab apartment buildings.

“Let’s take a look over there” Bolingbroke decided.

A five-minute walk brought them to a shabby square, this area was clearly much older than the commercial district. The buildings were all Metis architecture crowed around the small square, at the center was an overgrown garden with broken railings and littered with trash.

A couple of Metis were walking past, they were wearing the same overalls as the ones who had been cleaning the street earlier, they had their heads down. They gave the Humans a quick glance then averted their eyes as they trudged past.

“Guess this is where the menialslive” Jackson remarked

“Looks like it” Douglas agreed. “I’ve heard of wrong side of the tracks, this is wrong side of the park”

On one side of the square there was a flickering sign over a doorway, the door opened and a couple of Metis exited, before the door closed again the orange-lit interior could be seen, it was also a bar.

“Let’s have another drink” Bolingbroke suggested, nodding towards the door and starting off..

The door opened onto a smokey room, dim orange globes hung from the ceiling, leaving much of the space in dark shadows. There were booths around the edge, tables and chairs in the middle and a bar at the far end. To one side an entertainment screen was playing music and there was video playing of a Metis woman signing what sounded like a melancholy song.

The bar was quite busy, maybe thirty or thirty five Metis were there, many wearing what looked like working clothes, coveralls or uniforms. The smoke was coming from several hookah-like devices on the tables. There was a buzz of conversation that suddenly dropped as Bolingbroke, Douglas and Jackson entered, all eyes turned towards the three Humans.

“Good evening” Bolingbroke said, with a smile.

There was no reply from the room, just the singing from the music video but a middle aged Metis woman came out from behind bar and bustled over to them wiping her hands on her apron.

“Can I help you sir?” She asked, looking them over with a suspicious gaze.

“Hello, we are wondering if we could get a table and some drinks?” Bolingbroke replied.

“Who are you?” She asked, still wary.

“We’re from the USS Athena, the Federation ship. My name’s Edward” Bolingbroke replied

“The Federation ship? You’re here because of the virus?” She asked

“Yes that’s right, we’re here to try and help cure it” Douglas said “We got a couple of hours shore leave, we hoped to get a decent drink, that replicated syntha-hol gets old after a while”

“We’ve only got grain beer and some cactus spirits, we don’t have fancy off-world drinks” The woman replied

“If cactus spirits is anything like a drink called Tequila then that sounds good to me” Jackson chipped in

The woman looked the three of them over again, she seemed to be weighing the matter then smiled. “Huh… well I don’t know what Tequila is, but cactus spirits we got. C’mon I’ll find you table”

She led them over to a booth, wiped the table down with rag. “I’m Brekol, people call me Ma Brekol. This is my place. What can I get you?”

“Grain beer and three shots of cactus spirit” Bolingbroke replied

“Alright, I’ll bring you the seven year old, that’s a bit smoother. You want a hookah?”

“Sure, we’ll give it a try”

“Alright then” Ma nodded to them and went to fetch their order. “Well stop gawping at them then!” She admonished the other customers and bustled off to the bar. The people turned away and conversation gradually returned to its previous level, although there were several who watched the Humans, not all appeared friendly.

Ma returned with their drinks, tall glasses of a dark frothy beer and shorts glasses of dark green liquor. She set a hookah down, fussed over it adding three lines, some shredded leaves and then lighting it. “Give it a couple minutes to get going, then it should be ready. Oh and we use old fashioned fermented Chessa leaves, not those blended ones, so careful when you inhale”

Bolingbroke tried the beer. “That’s pretty good, like an old English stout”

Jackson went for the green liquor, taking a good sip, he ran it round his mouth and swallowed. “Damn!”

He exhaled, his eyes watering a little. “That’s strong, if this is the smooth version I’ll pass on the rough stuff!”

He tried another mouthful, a little more cautiously, smacking his lips. “Yanno it’s not bad, kind like a smoky Mezcal, just a bit fiery”

Ma returned and plonked down a container of what looked like mixed nuts and berries. “How’s the drinks?”

“I like the beer” Bolingbroke replied “And my friend likes the cactus spirits”

Jackson nodded and gave her a thumbs up. “You sell it by the bottle?” He asked.

“Sure do” Ma nodded. “So why aren’t you all up across the other side of the park?”

“We were earlier” Douglas explained “But it seems a bit…. snobby over there?”

“Snobby?” The woman tried the unfamiliar term “You mean all those high castes and Cardassians?”

“We don’t have that kind of social system in the Federation, we treat everyone as equal” Bolingbroke said. “We don’t believe people should be categorized because of where they grew up or live, or who their parents were. Everyone gets the same opportunities; we don’t limit people to certain work because of who they are”

Ma sat down. “That’s not the way it is here.” She said “Although it’s better now than in my grandmother’s day, before the Cardassians came. The caste system was really in force then, nobody could ever move up. Those high castes kept everyone in their place. Now, it’s possible, if you work hard, you can-“

“That’s nonsense Ma and you know it!” The interruption came from a man who had just entered, five or six others had followed him in. He was of average Metis high, but broad and stocky, large hands, calloused from work and he wore what looked like mining clothes, a tool belt around his waist. The others were similarly attired.

“Cardassians and high caste work together and grow fat of our labor!” He spat out, coming over to the table. He looked over Bolingbroke and the others. “Same as all off-worlders! All of you come here to take what we work for!”

“Now just you hush up Hecon!” Ma scolded him “These people are here to help with the virus”

“Pah!, they probably helped the Cardassians engineer it!”

There was a challenge in his eyes and Bolingbroke realized the man was spoiling for a fight. The room had gone quiet again, all eyes on their table. He stood up slowly, he was a good foot taller than the man, but the miner did not seem bothered by the size difference and flexed his fists.

“We’re from the Federation, not Cardassia” Bolingbroke said clearly, raising his voice so the others could hear. “Bio-weapons are illegal in the Federation, we don’t use them or help anyone who does. And we are here to help, we don’t have caste systems. We treat everyone equally.”

“But you’re helping the Cardassians!” One of Hecon’s group shouted. “All you Off-Worlders stick together!”

There were angry mutters and cries of support from other patrons.

“Yes, we are helping them, but only to try and find a cure for the virus” Bolingbroke replied. “We’re not here to help them oppress you or anyone else. If the virus is mainly affecting your people, why don’t you want us to help find a cure?”

“Because we don’t need any Off-Worlders help!” Hecon replied “You’re, just like the Cardassians when they came, they said they were here to help, all they did was take over from the high castes!”

Bolingbroke opened his mouth to reply when Hecon threw a punch. It came in low, aiming for Bolingbroke’s gut, aimed to wind him. Bolingbroke saw it coming and managed to twist his body taking it on the hip. He tried to back up but Hecon was on him swinging with both fists. He blocked one, caught another on his shoulder and grappled the miner.

Others of the group closed in, the table, drinks and hookah went flying as Douglas and Jackson leapt to their feet. Within seconds a brawl had broken out. Bolingbroke and Hecon were trading punches, while Douglas and Jackson had their backs to the wall fending off four of the other miners.

There was a Boom! and a wave of some kind of sonic energy slammed into the fighters. Bolingbroke’s ears were ringing and he felt like somebody had beaten him over the head with a pillow case filled with rubber balls. The brawl broke up as everyone staggered around dazed.

“That’s enough!” It was Brekol, she was standing in the middle of the melee holding what looked like some kind of short barreled-blunderbuss looking weapon. “That was level one! Don’t make me turn it up! Now back off all of you!”

Nobody moved, as both sides stared at each other. Tense seconds passed, then there was a shout from the door “Patrol’s coming!”

“Who?” Bolingbroke asked, his head still thick from whatever the weapon was.

“Your Cardassian friends, come to save you!” Hecon snarled

“We didn’t call them” Bolingbroke protested

“Of course, you didn’t! And you don’t want any off us dragged off to the penal center either!’

”No, we don’t!” Bolingbroke turned to Douglas and Jackson “Get the table up quick! Ma, get us some more drinks!”

Douglas and Jackson scrambled to right the table and chairs, Jackson kicked the glasses, nuts and berries into the back of the booth, Douglas retrieved the hookah and they both sat down. Bolingbroke joined them.

“Sit!” He hissed to Hecon.

The miner didn’t move, glaring at him.

“Sit down!” Bolingbroke grabbed Hecon’s arm and pulled him towards a seat. “Everyone sit down! Drink up! Act normally!”

The rest of the patrons retook their seats, Hecon’s group of miners moved over to the bar just as the door opened and six uniformed and armed Cardassians entered.

Ma returned with a tray of fresh drinks and set them down. Bolingbroke handed one to Hecon. “Drink and smile you angry bugger” He said under his breath. Taking his own beer and clinking the glass against Hecon’s

“Cheers!” He said loudly

Hecon slowly raised the glass to his own mouth, glaring at Bolingbroke over the rim.

“Drink and smile” Bolingbroke hissed, forming his own mouth into a wide grin as he caught the Cardassians coming over out of the corner of his eye.

“Just like a something called Newcastle Brown Ale” Bolingbroke said taking a swig of his beer. “Must be refreshing after a long shift in the mine huh?”

“Yeah…” Hecon replied and coughed “Yes, yes it is, gets dusty down there”

“Lieutenant Bolingbroke?” A Cardassian voice stated, not really asking a question.

Bolingbroke looked up, feigning surprise. “Er yes. Oh hello” He gave the Cardassian patrol leader a smile. “How can I help you?”

“What are you doing here Lieutenant?” The man replied, not returning the smile “This is a menial establishment”

“I don’t know what that is.” Bolingbroke replied “We had a couple of hours shore leave; we’re just here having a beer and meeting new people. That’s what we do in Starfleet, meet people, and make friends. You should try it sometime”

“A strange choice of people to meet though Viscount Edward” Came from the door as Glin Corak entered “And not really the sort one would have as friends…”

Hecon stiffened at the sound of Corak’s voice, Bolingbroke noticed.

Corak started to approach the table and Bolingbroke saw the muscles in his Hecon’s jaw tense, even though the miner did not turn around he got the sense Hecon knew exactly who Corak was.

Bolingbroke got to his feet, pushed past the Patrol Leader, “Excuse me” He smiled at the man as he elbowed him out of the way and went to meet Corak, extending his hand to break the Glin’s stride, so he had to stop and return the handshake. “Good evening Corak” He said amiably “Well, you know us Humans, we’ll talk with anyone if they have good beer. What are you doing here?”

“My patrol heard there was some kind of disturbance” Corak replied, looking around the bar. “They alerted me when they learned of your presence”

“A disturbance? Here?” Bolingbroke sounded surprised, not believing a word of the Glin’s story. ~ You’re lying. They only got here a minute before you did, you were already on the way before they even entered ~ He thought to himself. “I’m sorry, it seem’s you’ve had a wasted trip, there’s not been any disturbance while we’ve been here”

“Hmmm” Corak nodded and began walking slowly around the room. Many of the Metis turn their heads away and looked down as the Glin passed. He stopped by the group of Miners at the bar, giving them a long look, unlike the other customers they did not look away.

“Search these five and check their identifications” He snapped to the Patrol Leader and a couple of the squad hustled over to pat the miners down and record their identifications.

Corak continued his tour of the room returning to the table, where he looked down on Hecon. “Now here is a face I know” He said “One I know very well”

Hecon’s fists were clenched on the table top as he stared straight ahead. Douglas caught his eye, shaking her head slightly ~Whatever you’re thinking about doing, don’t do it! ~ she tried to communicate to the man

Corak paused for a moment, looking down on the miner, then turned and moved off back to Bolingbroke. “What a coincidence, Edward, you here making friends with Hecon, did you not see the family resemblance?”

“Resemblance?”” Bolingbroke asked, mystified by the Glin’s remark

“Indeed, you’ve already met his little sister” Corak smiled “You enjoyed her serving you tea”

“Glayna?” Bolingbroke said the girl’s name

“Yes, my dear Glayna. Is your new friend’s sister” Corak smiled again. “Well it’s nearly curfew time. I’m sure you’ll be wanting to return to your ship. The Patrol will see you safely back to your transport point. Goodnight Edward.”

Bolingbroke nodded and Corak moved off towards the door. “And goodnight Hecon. I’ll tell Glayna I saw you” he threw over his shoulder as he left.

The Patrol Leader gathered up his squad and stood over by the door waiting impatiently for Bolingbroke, Douglas and Jackson. Bolingbroke made a point of going back to the table to finish his beer.

“We’re are not like them Hecon” He said under his breath. “Whatever you think, we are not”

Hecon glared at him, hatred in his eyes, his mouth clamped shut.

“I’d like to pay him back for what he’s done to Glayna as much as you would” Bolingbroke whispered. He finished his beer and slammed the empty glass on the table “Trust me on that!”

Hecon’s glare faltered at that. He turned and watched the three Off-Worlders leave as the rest of his group joined him at the table.

“Off-Worlders! All the damn same!” One muttered. “Sooner they’re gone the better”

For the first time in his life Hecon was not so sure, why had the Human acted like that, if they were allies of the Cardassians, why had they not told the Patrol of the fight?

But then the man had been to Corak’s office and had his sister serve him tea…

What game was this Bolingbroke playing?

[Transporter Room]

“What was that all about?” Douglas asked as they stepped off the pads. “That Hecon is the brother of the Cardssian’s comfort woman?”

“It seems so” Bolingbroke nodded. “No wonder he and his friends don’t like Cardassians, or us, if he thinks we’re helping them”

“Seemed they had a thing about anyone non-Metis and they think the virus is a Cardassian bio-weapon?” Jackson added

“I hope that’s not true” Bolingbroke replied “Or we really are in a mess, nearly as much as their society is.”

[OFF]