Scum and Villainy

Posted on Tue Jun 23rd, 2020 @ 5:20am by Captain Nycolas Temple & Commander Mindo & Terrekal
Edited on on Fri Jul 10th, 2020 @ 5:31pm

Mission: Death in Paradise
Location: Paradise
Timeline: current

ON

After the meeting with the Irokari, and a brief stop back to Pandora, Nyx was keen to explore Paradise station on his own. There were far too many unknowns for his liking, too many intersecting issues and questions yet to be answered. Where were these so-called missing children? If Katya was just an honest station manager, why the excessive levels of surveillance and control? Who from the Pandora had been trying to contact someone on Paradise, and why? He felt like he was standing in the middle of a trap and just waiting for it to spring, unsure of which wrong step would be the trigger.

His head was filled with these thoughts as he stepped off the travel Cube and into the Entertainment level of Paradise Outpost. It was late at night for the Pandora crew, around midnight in ship-time, but Paradise was a 24/7 operation. The district was packed with people from all over the region, celebrating, drinking, eating, dancing. It was a constant party in this part of the station - where all the troubles and questions were lightyears away. Nyx was awash with the realisation that people didn't just come to Paradise to have fun, they came to forget who they were.

The Captain was deep in thought when he almost bumped into a familiar face, "Oh. Lieutenant! What a coincidence."

Mindo stopped short of running into Captain Temple and looked up. "Oh, hi Captain," he said. Next to him was another Fesarian, maybe an inch or two shorter than Mindo. "May I introduce Terrekal, a fellow Fesarian. He and I have been spending some time together the past couple of days while I'm off duty."

Terrekal extended his hand. "A pleasure. You are the Captain of the Pandora?"

"Yes, Captain Temple. It's nice to meet you." Nyx nodded with a smile. Before serving on the Pandora, Nyx had never met a single Fesarian, now he was in the couple of two. The mind boggled when contemplating the likelihood of this occurring. "Have you been on Paradise long?"

"Oh I'm a regular here," said Terrekal. "But I've been here for about three days. I have a number of clients who come through here looking for various items. My supply transport is docked close to your ship, which makes Mindo here quick and easy to find. I took a tour of your ship the other day. It's a very well-run ship. You must be proud."

"Oh." Nyx replied, giving the slightest of frowns as he glanced to Mindo. The Captain had been busy with the Irokari, Katya, and the mysterious events of late and hadn't been aware of visitors to the ship. He had hoped that proper protocols had been followed. "You have been visiting the Pandora? What did you think of our vessel?"

"It was very big," said Terrekal. "Of course I never saw the Bridge and I wasn't able to get a thorough look at Engineering, but your diplomatic officer, I think his name was Sandoval, did show me the observation lounge, holodecks, sickbay, and stellar cartography. We finished with Mindo's interesting recreational program, where Mindo caught up with us."

Mindo nodded and added, "Lieutenant Sandoval did give him a proper tour for an outsider, and while he handled most of the tour, I take responsibility for Terrekal's visit, which also included..." Mindo shot a look at Terrekal, who smiled. "...my quarters," Mindo finished. Mindo had left out the part of the anonymous warning the next day, which Mindo had at this point dismissed as some kind of prank, but nonetheless had kept a close eye on his fellow Fesarian. He had the full intention to mention this to Captain Temple, but rousing any kind of suspicion in front of Terrekal seemed like a bad idea to Mindo.

"Oh." The Captain said again, and immediately worried that he was coming across as monosyllabic to their guest, but the notion that this stranger had been accessing internal parts of the station without Griffin's security presence troubled him. Nyx knew, however, that he was being especially paranoid at the moment due to recent events, and would have to trust that Mindo or Sandoval had been with Terrekal the whole time. "So you've seen our Recreation Deck and Mindo's Arcade? I'm afraid it wouldn't compare the massive scale of Paradise's entertainment district, but it helps to keep us occupied during the long years in service."

"Speaking of service," said Mindo, "my shift starts in about an hour and I still haven't had anything to eat today. Who's up for a quick bite?"

"I may have time for something quick." Nyx answered noncommittally. He didn't want to intrude if Mindo and Terrekal were looking to be alone, but he also wanted to know more about their Fesarian guest. As they began to walk towards the dining district, Nyx asked casually, "So what do you do for a living, Terrekal?"

"I'm in the business of trade. Import, export... I get goods from one place to another," said Terrekal casually. "People need something, I can probably find it for them. I serve about twenty to thirty systems here in the Expanse and further out. Paradise Station is where I find my most lucrative deals. Take note, though. You'll never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. Except yours truly, of course." Terrekal quickly added the last part with a grin and a nod of the head. Mindo looked straight ahead, but his eyes widened.

"You're a man of resource and connection." Nyx said with a slight smile. "May I ask, has the formation of the Alrakis Pact effected your business at all? It seems they are wanting total control of the region."

Terrekal nodded. "That's always been a danger looming like a shadow over everything I've built here. But things have developed that will ensure security. I've just made a deal that will keep the Pact out of my hair forever." Terrekal pointed to a nearby establishment. "Let's eat there. Great food. Captain, we would be honored if you would join us..."

"Sure." Nyx replied with a polite nod. He had to wonder what 'deal' the Fesarian had made with the Pact, but didn't wish to question the man too hard just yet, lest he start to get defensive. Still, the Captain was starting to get a very bad feeling about this.

The trio were quickly seated in the small rustic cafe, a waiter coming past with a set of digital menus. Nyx glanced at the offerings and wasn't surprised to see very little human-based dishes. The station was still not completely accustomed to Federation visitors yet and some of the smaller establishments hadn't taken onboard the cultural database Mindo and the Pandora had supplied them. He found an entree dish resembling what he believed to be like fish and chose that.

"An excellent choice," said the blue-skinned Bolian waiter. "And for the little sirs?"

Mindo looked at Terrekal and shrugged. Terrekal smiled. "We'll both have fried horta, stuffed with zingo sauce and Altarian mushrooms. And we'd like an appetizer sampler platter too."

"Of course, little sir," said the waiter. "Little sir" didn't seem to bother Terrekal, but Mindo found it condescending.

Terrekal looked at Temple. "What kind of food tastes good to you, Captain?"

Mindo chimed in. "Sir, this was one of the places with which I visited and traded data. Perhaps they could replicate something from Earth?"

The waiter nodded. "We do have an extensive list of new dishes acquired from the little sir, though we have yet to update our menu."

The menu changed to the new selection and the Captain nodded. He didn't like the way the waiter was referring to his senior officer either but wanted to find a diplomatic way of addressing the disrespect shown. "Lieutenant Mindo is our Chief of Engineering, and he's done fantastic work in updating your database." He said pointedly to the Bolian waiter. "You will likely get more customers as a result. I'll have the chicken caesar salad, entree size. And purified water, if you don't mind."

"Of course, sir," said the waiter. With a bow of the head, he collected the menus and walked away.

"Little sir?" said Mindo once the waiter was out of earshot.

Terrekal shrugged. "It's not uncommon out here."

"You can tolerate it?" Nyx asked, cocking his head to the side. "Or is it just that you don't want anything to get in the way of business?"

"This isn't Federation space," said Terrekal. "He might be serving us our food, but that Bolian has every right to kick us out or ban us if he doesn't like the nose on your face."

"It's true," said Mindo. "I was kicked out of a bar for flirting with the wrong people. Had it not been for Lieutenant Sandoval, I would probably be in sickbay nursing several wounds."

Nyx raised an eyebrow, wondering if he should be surprised or not over this information. It certainly wasn't the first time Mindo's flirting had garnered a less-than-pleasant response, but Nyx also thought that kind of behaviour was long past them. In their present company, he chose to give a smile in response, "Well, I'm glad Sandoval was there to get you out of trouble. It seems Paradise can be a law unto itself at times, would that be correct?"

Terrekal grinned and shrugged, taking a drink. "Scum and villainy," he said. "But there's one thing I haven't quite gotten, Captain. What interest does a Federation starship have with a place like Paradise anyway?"

"We were completing an humanitarian mission to assist the Irokari recover from their recent wars." Nyx replied formally, "And we'd heard interesting things about Paradise and wanted to check it out for ourselves. I'm curious about your assessment of the station. 'Scum and villainy'? We are yet to see anything so untoward."

"Probably nothing violent," said Terrekal. "People manage to keep a cool head here. Not much violence, but plenty of corruption otherwise. And accidents have been known to happen to those who do not keep up their end of a deal. Paradise has quite a few skeletons in their very diverse closet. You just have to know where to look. And always watch your back."

Mindo had been listening to this exchange and it brought him back to the strange message he'd received just hours ago. "Terrekal," he said. "Does the name Uno mean anything to you?"

"I'm afraid not," Terrekal replied. Mindo nodded. He'd thought it was some strange prank, maybe Zo or Greep. But Mindo had yet to see anything particularly evil about Terrekal. Then again, it was possible Terrekal had a few skeletons of his own.

"If you don't mind, what do you think the people on Paradise think of the Federation being here?" Nyx asked, "We've had some distrust from the station staff, but that may just be Chief Katya's over-zealous security measures. Some also seem hostile to us, but that may be because of the Alrakis Pact."

"I can't really say what the general consensus is for the Federation," said Terrekal. "Starfleet has such little presence out here. Most of the merchants here have probably never even seen a Federation starship up close. I suppose it all comes down to the Alrakis Pact. If you're friendly, you shouldn't have any problems. But don't go sticking your nose into too many people's business. People respect each others privacy here, and everyone with a few brain cells respects the Pact."

"I'll keep that in mind." Nyx said with a smile, just as their food arrived. He looked at the attempt at caesar salad - a whole piece of cooked chicken breast, a small cob of lettuce, a dollop of dressing, a hard-boiled egg, and a block of cheese. Apparently he had to assemble the salad himself. He gave the meal a wry smile before looking to the others. "Well, Paradise sure does keep us guessing."

OFF