Over The Moon

Posted on Wed Jun 24th, 2020 @ 3:51am by Commander Owen Nash & Mauricio Arnaldo
Edited on on Fri Jul 10th, 2020 @ 6:02pm

Mission: The Evils Within
Location: Delavi System

ON:

It hadn't taken long for Mauricio's borrowed shuttle to make the trip to the Delavi System, thanks mostly due to the transport routes that were opened up to Nash and Arnaldo because of their association with Paradise Outpost. Katya had long-been held in high esteem by the Inconnu Expanse for running a safe and prosperous trading station, but her recent rebellion against the Breen and Alrakis Part had cemented her position as a de-facto hero for the region. As such, everyone was happy to help an envoy from Paradise, making the journey far quicker.

Their small craft arrived in the Delavi System and found it to be bursting with life and activity. Much like how Paradise had become a gathering point for the Expanse's many unaligned civilians, looking for a safe place to trade and live without Alrakis influence, the Delavi System had also seen an upsurge of business and visitors. Ships from all over the Alpha Quadrant were entering and exiting, hopping from one planet to another, enjoying the freedom. The system itself was made up of one binary star, four planets, seven moons, and three space stations, each one offering a different kind of trade or supply. But Nash and Arnaldo were not looking for goods, they were looking for information.

"There!" Mauricio pointed out the cockpit window. "The second moon of Delavi IV. It's an.... inexpensive spaceport with a well-known bar scene. I've heard people on Paradise talk about how every tourist goes there. I think it's a good place to start, yes?"

"Sounds like a good place to start with," said Owen as he agreed with his friend. Knowing that their mission was difficult enough to achieve already, having an edge in getting information that would help get some way to solving some of the mysteries surrounding Pandora's mission and also trying to understand why Starfleet upper brass was working in this way.

"Aye, aye, capitán," Mauricio replied with a smirk.

"Let's try and fit in with the rest of the traffic making its ways there, if we can make it look like we're just one of the tourist's private ships or just visiting for leisure then we have a good chance of being able to blend in," Owen added.

The marine tried his best to fly nonchalantly, but it was rough considering his general lack of flying experience - both in this craft and in general. He looked like a learner pilot, speeding up and slowing down, coming a little too close to other's flight path more than once. There were some choice words sent via comms to the shuttle from other angry visitors, some that Mauricio was glad not to have an intergalactic translator for. However, eventually and painfully, the craft was able to settle on a landing pad on the moon's station. A bubble shield closed around them and after a few minutes, artificial gravity and oxygen was supplied.

"Well...." Mauricio gave a lopsided shrug, turning to look at Commander Nash with a bashful grin. "We landed."

Once they were secure on the landing pad, Owen checked his PADD for the information they needed. During the journey, he had watched the video that Nyx had sent several times over to understand exactly what they were looking for. "Remember, once we're inside the port, we need to start looking for any traces of Francis. Where he's been, who he's met with, and even if there are some supply arrangements that he's made that we can trace," Owen explained.

"However, we need to be careful and quiet about it, where possible," he added. The last thing that the both of them needed was to be found out that once was a current serving Starfleet Officer and the other was a formerly being in Starfleet, especially being in the region that were in. "What we also need to do is find ourselves an information terminal."

"Got it." Mauricio nodded formerly. He was starting to miss the thrill and purpose of Starfleet life, even just a little.

The two exited the shuttle and walked along a shield corridor. The moon was busy with life, ships coming and going. It was clearly a hot spot for the region. This would likely help them blend in a little bit more. Nash and Arnaldo soon arrived at the airlock, a round metal door with a single view panel on the side. The screen popped to life as they approached, though it was pixelated and clearly old tech.

"Name and association?" Came a voice.

Owen turned around as he heard the voice to see a Security officer of some description asking who they were. With this in mind, he produced two lots of ID that he had brought with him. "Name and association? of course!" he said as he handed them over.

"I'm Raith Kolani and this is my colleague Salek Morano, we're with the Nyberrite Alliance," he explained. "We're on leave from our recent tour and we were told some good things about the bar on the second moon of Delavi IV by some fellow colleagues, thought that we'd pop along and see what all the positive vibes were about."

Owen watched as he saw the Security Officer look over both sets of IDs before him. He didn't want to have to take him out before they entered the spaceport, however, if needs be, he would.

The security officer gave a long and pointed silence. "Who?" He asked rudely.

Mauricio frowned then thought of something. "Oh! We've been recommended by Katya, from Paradise Outpost."

This caused the gruff alien to sit up a little straighter, "Queen Katya?! She knows of us?"

"Oh yes!" Mauricio smiled, giving Nash a nudge to agree as well, "Big fan."

Owen smiled. "That's right, as soon as we finished our tour, Katya was the one who recommended coming here and taking some time to enjoy the bare at least! She's been telling loads of people about this place and aid we needed to visit to see it and believe it!"

"Then come on in!" He replied, his hands possibly could not move any faster as he opened the airlock to allow Nash and Mauricio to enter.

"Thank you," Owen said as the two of them made their way out of the Docking area and into the main concourse. Once they had left behind their security friend, Owen stopped for a moment after they turned a corner.

"Nicely done, I'll let you work the cover story from now on, it seems I'm a little out of practice for now, " he said to Mauricio. "Now what we should do is sort out some quarters to work from whilst we're here... and of course, check out the bar..."

"Hey, you came up with those names and planet," Mauricio whispered conspiratorially. "Is the Nyber....whatever alliance a real thing?"

"So the aliases of Raith Kolani and Salek Morano are ones that I created back in the day, a long while ago when I was serving onboard another starship, long before the Pandora... they came in handy," he explained as they walked. "As for the Nyberrite Alliance, that's a real thing. It's an alliance that takes on officers who don't want to work for the major powers in the Alpha and Beta Quadrants... that one is real."

"I almost said my real name." Mauricio laughed, "I don't think I'm cut out for the world of espionage."

Owen laughed. "Don't worry, you'll fit in fine. You follow my lead and I'll follow yours."

As they walked across the Concorde, Owen noticed what seemed to be some sort of reception area and made his way towards it. Knowing that they would need a place to stay whilst they worked and also be able to make sure that the living space was secure would be an important part of their work during their stay.

"Over there." Arnaldo nodded towards an open desk in the reception area and they approached. A humanoid alien with red and yellow dotted skin tilted his head at the two expectantly, smiling without speaking. Mauricio smiled in reply, "Uh... greetings? We were looking to stay in a room?"

"We welcome you. We have our Lovers Suite available." He replied a grin on his yellow lips, two eyes darting between both men. "Once we're done cleaning it."

Mauricio looked to Nash with a slightly bemused smirk. "A suite, Raith."

Owen smiled and was already on pace. "We'll take the suite," he answered. "My husband and I are long overdue a honeymoon and this is the first chance we've had to take one since we got married...How long before the suite will be ready?" Owen asked, ignoring the shocked looks that Mauricio was giving him.

"They're hosing it down as we speak." The alien replied.

Mauricio was taken aback by how naturally the Commander lied, and he wondered if it was just a pre-requisite for Starfleet nowadays. But he couldn't understand why the receptionist was so presumptuous about their relationship; Arnaldo and Nash had made no romantic gestures towards each other and their cover story was that they were colleagues on leave. As he looked around, however, the former Marine started noticing something he hadn't before. All the people walking around; many of them were embracing, holding hands, talking intimately. There was a Klingon surrounded by 5 Ferengis at a bar. Two Cardassian soldiers clinking drinks while staring into each other's eyes. And he was pretty sure he just saw a Caitian pulling a Deltan into an elevator.

"Oooooh." Mauricio whispered, slowly and knowingly. "That's why this place is so popular. That's why every tourist comes here."

Owen smiled as he saw Mauricio suddenly realise why this place was so popular. "See sweetheart, I told you you'd love it as soon as you arrived. And you had all those worries on the way over," he said before turning back to the receptionist.

"Yes." The alien said, cocking his head to the side. "Every tourist comes here. It's our guarantee."

"That's fine, We'll wait for the room. Is there somewhere we can go and get refreshments before the room will be ready? its been a hell of a trip over here and I could use something to help me relax," Owen asked politely.

"What is your pleasure?" The receptionist replied, turning his gaze between the two, a second set of eyelids blinking closed and open.

Mauricio may have been slow to catch on, but he was now trying to catch up. "Well, what about something... human?"

"Hu-man?" The alien asked.

"I've always wanted to introduce a guest... to our evening." Mauricio tried to hide the smirk on his lips, and his disbelief he was having this conversation while standing next to the Executive Officer of the Pandora. He felt like he was about to receive a citation. He pressed on despite his discomfort and amusement, "And I'm looking for something familiar. Where would a human or Earth-like person hang out?"

Owen smiled as he looked at Mauricio and realized how quickly he was learning on the spot to get into the role he had created in front of him. "What can I say...two is company... three is much more fun..." before looking over at the alien. "Do you have any of our kind here that might be interested?"

The alien cocked his head back again, second eyelids blinking once more. "We don't get many of those kinds here." He leaned in closer, indicating a secret to be told. "But there is one gentleman. He mostly frequents Rak's Bar on the third level. Be warned though, he does not seem sociable."

Owen raised an eyebrow as it seemed they may have stumbled across a clue from their eager hosts. He wanted to pursue this further.

"Thank you, that's very interesting to know," he said. "Sweetie, I think we need to go and pay the nice man a visit and see if he likes the look of us both...who knows, maybe we could tempt him out of his shell a little?" Owen looked at Mauricio before giving an indication he wanted to leave.

Mauricio nodded, slowly at first but then quicker. "Yes. Right. Of course. Let's do that." He felt stumped for something to say. "I can't wait for all the fun to happen." He cringed, inwardly and outwardly, giving an embarrassed smile to the receptionist.

The alien merely blinked again, the yellow face of passive indifference. "We will see you back shortly."

Mauricio immediately turned on his heel and started walking away, knowing Nash would follow. "I hate that I said that. Don't make me say things in future."

Owen stopped for a moment. He looked Mauricio straight in the eye. "I'm sorry that we're having to wing this as we go and I wasn't expecting to come up with the cover of us being two lovers at a holiday resort," he explained. "Its all part of the mission, Mauricio, please remember that. For now, we have a lead and we need to follow it."

Whilst Mauricio wasn't finding this an easy fit, Owen was falling into the routine gladly and was happy to play along for now. His more immediate priority was that they may have found their lead, be it someone who knew where the real Francis was or be it the real Francis himself.

Either way, he wanted to get to the bottom of this and soon. Owen increased his pace as they made their way to the bar to seek out the "Gentleman who does not seem sociable."