Ens Chevalier - Little chemist in Downton Abbey
CPT Arianus
((
The Fifth Chalice - Oxeania Commercial District, Tharazad
Continent – Betazed ))
Commander took a sip of wine from
his glass, just to finish it as both answered and he could continue
with his questioning.
Dakora:
Is this either of your first times on Betazed?
Jaseb
nodded. For him, he saw a little. Elthari, Bayran, a couple planets
around the sector when he was at Academy aboard the SB118. He never
was in the heart of Federation, in the core worlds.
Chevalier:
Yes, sir. First visit for me. I believe you are local, sir. Any
places you would recommend to visit around? I saw just the leaflet
recommendations, so for the next time we will visit this wonderful
planet.
Z’Vahme:
Response?
Dakora
smiled with melancholy. His face was telling the story. Good and bad,
he was still in love with this place, with the planet.
Dakora:
Yes. I grew up in Medara.::He gestured broadly.:: It’s on the other
side of the planet from here. Coastal. It’s nice in the summer.
::He thought for a moment.:: The Mondana nature preserve is a
must-see. Kilometers and kilometers of untamed wilderness. If you’re
into that sort of thing.
Z’Vahme: Response?
Jaseb
followed that recommendation with a smile as well. Sounded good.
Sounded nice. Nature, especially on the livable planets – you know,
those with actual sun, warm environment, those simply better than
frozen, rocky, hopeless wasteland which was covering the underground
hive cities buried deep, those which Jaseb called to be a home –
was always welcoming change until started to actually annoy Jaseb
with life. Oh my, how Jaseb hated insects. Then, he would love to
cover that nature with nice, sterile, insect-less
concrete...
Chevalier: That sounds like a good recommendation! I will
definitely put it on my visitation list for our next visit of
Betazed. Thank you, sir.
As the commander took a breath to
answer, everyone's attention was caught by voices and events barely
visible out of
the corner of his eye. When the commander turned with the rest of the
table, they could witness the reveal of someone that Talos and a few
other members of the Artemis crew knew all too well.
Jaseb
frozen in pause. As if he struggled to compress the vast being of
events down into terms he would understand.
It didn't matter.
Commander could. He knew that person, that much could Jaseb see, as the commander tossed his precious wine.
Dakora: Well, shi-
SNAP
((
Unknown
Street - Medara - Betazed – ~2375 ))
Jaseb felt it. A world away the grip on his tightens. A
desperate drowning thing that pulled him from time and space and
pulled him down with it.
The Fifth Chalice dissolved into a
swirl of color and the scream of a voice in Jaseb's head, screaming
in the horror of his damnation, while the swirl spat him out into the
street of hopelessness.
Nothing
felt right. Time, place, uniforms. Jaseb suppressed the feeling of
confusion and the urge to vomit where he stood, and took a deep
breath. Savel, Dakora, Z'Vahme...him,
all of them were standing now and here. Father knows why...
Dakora:
Is everyone ok?
Savel: Physically,
I believe so Commander. Otherwise, that is still to be determined.
Chevalier:
Really sir? What is this abomination? Can you tell that whatever to
return us our uniforms? This war crime of fashion doesn't match my
hair shade of silver I wore for the celebration at all!
Z’Vahme:
Response?
Chevalier: Whatever...
Chevalier tossed his
head as if he were doing a shampoo commercial and twisted his loose
hair into a bun, which he tied with a rubber band he conjured from
only by Father knows where, before he took a good look at their
surroundings – winding streets in an already crumbling city. Air
smelled poisoned by pollution. Felt like home. But warmer and
without that annoying pins and needles on skin from byproducts of
tetryon radiation decay. Definitely an improvement...
Dakora:
That was CloQ. A rogue member of the Q continuum we’ve had the
displeasure of dealing with before. ::He sighed.:: I had really hoped
we’d seen the last of them.
OO Ok, Q-what? Oo
Jaseb
never heard about Q Continuum. What was that? Firstly lookalikes, now
some snapping time-space-reality changing nuts?
oO Oh no,
wait. Q. Yeeeesss... Oo
His mind finally produced information
on matter. He heard about Q. Exact sentences from the Academy were
still evading his trying to remember, but it probably didn't matter.
He knew one thing for sure. It was a very boring lecture and he slept
through it gladly.
Commander groaned
as he looked at his uniform and Jaseb kept his corner of the
mouth down from flying out in satisfaction. But it was
satisfying...
Dakora: They are obsessed with time and get a
sick sense of satisfaction out of sending us to history’s worst
moments. ::His eyes swept the horizon.:: Though this time seems
especially personal.
Savel: I suppose this CloQ doesn't care
if it is illogical to subject us to a personal vendetta. ::gesturing
to himself and the other Ensigns::
Chevalier: No, Mister
Savel, in vendetta, especially with personal ones, a logic is
always an assurance. I saw enough grudges in my life to know there is
always someone who wants to see you maimed and dead.
Z'Vahme:
Response?
Discussion time was over, as needed to move out of the
street. Whatever this reality was, standing unarmed, alone and not
knowing what's happening was always bad tactics. Commander obviously
knew where they were – in time and place, if not in reality as well
– as he started to introduce them all into what they fell
into.
Dakora: Right. This is Medara. And judging by our
uniforms and those Dominion patrol ships off in the distance, this is
the Occupation. ::He frowned.:: But this isn’t right. I was here. I
lived through this. It never got this bad. ::He pointed to the
smoke-spewing factories:: And those were never there.
Jaseb
breathed in a comment and a question, but never got time to say it out loud
either. Another voice got loud as a weirdo over six feet large lizard interrupted their discussion.
Wonderful creature of genetic manipulation, the perfection of flesh
and blood, something that Jaseb already knew very well from the
Academy, because he really paid attention to those particular lectures
and what's more, he also took notes...
Jem’Hadar Enforcer:
Stop right there!
What would Jaseb give for at least
railpistol from his homeworld. Or phaser, for that matter. But the only
thing he had was an impractical and uncomfortable ceremonial uniform
from the time when the wheel was a new discovery and bare hands. Even
with railpistol he would be thinking twice to resist. With bare hands
there was only a single answer. And the commander said it loudly
enough.
Dakora: Run!
Savel:
A wise plan.
Chevalier:
More leg work and less comments, Savel!
Z’Vahme:
Response?
All started to run, not knowing where they were
going. Everywhere just not here sounded just about right. As they
ran, they were trying to search for places to go. Anything was better
than staying in the open, especially with Jem'Hadars around. So when they
found a narrow alley that cut down the side of a couple of larger,
vacant buildings, they took it all in.
Savel: Down
here!
Dakora/Z'Vahme: Response?
As
they were changing their directions, and tried to get lost from their
pursuer, Jaseb started to feel their pursuer sooner than later will
come from the words to more persuading methods like his distruptor.
Alive they had a price, of course, but a hole or two in their backs
will not diminish it that much...
Jem'Hadar
Enforcer: I said stop now!
They didn't want to obey that
order, obviously and Savel got shortly lucky enough to find an open
door they could cover behind. And they had gone through the door
quite voluntarily at that moment.
As they got inside, Savel
slammed and locked the door behind them, which could give them a
moment or two to breathe. Not even Jaseb hoped for anything more, and
as it turned out, he was right. Jem'Hadar crashed into the door, giving
the people inside quite a sign that he knows where they are. He was
not that much successful, but also considering how much the plaster
had begun to peel off in the door frames and how the dust was
gathering, there was no doubt that the door alone would not stop
him.
Savel: I will need some assistance!
Jaseb turned
from the door to Savel, and saw him trying to push some storage
cabinet to barricade the door. That was quite a good idea. Additional
barrier will give them even little more time to actually start to
breathe, think and plan what next.
Chevalier: Good idea, Mr.
Savel, let's go move it!
Dakora/Z'Vahme: Response?
With
much needed help, the storage cabinet blocked the door. It was not something that would please the opposing side and an expected furious series of additional blows came as soon as the Jem'Hadar Enforcer tried to break
through with nothing but brute force.
Jem'Hadar
Enforcer: Arghhh!
Frustrated
alien continued for a while with his effort to crush the door and get
them captured, but even constantly drugged superstrengthen killing
machine could
get
tired as the pounding
went quiet after a while. As
far this was a good sign, it meant on other side that the option
Jem'Hadar will call for a back-up risen exponentially.
Jaseb
took this short resting chance as the opportunity to check what can
be useful for the group. Building was vacant, but that didn't
mean it was empty. Old chairs and tables, posters, the building was
previously inhabited. And then finally found something. Cleaning
supplies was usually something out of ordinary interest, but now,
only what Jaseb saw, was chemicals, and chemicals meant explosives,
flammables, acids, poisonous gases and many other funny things, which
mix somewhere, someone, for sure, banned a long time ago from being
used in the way Jaseb intended them to use.
But on other side
- same people banned this little things like a forced labor, summary
executions and genocide, and as history about Dominion War told us,
Dominion didn't get a memo.
Savel:
I recommend we find out where we are, I don't believe the Jem'Hadar
will be far behind us.
Chevalier:
Wait a second, Mr. Savel, I'm just in the middle of my shopping list.
And this should do the magic...
Jaseb dressed out from his
ceremonial yellow jacket and used it as a improvised bag on which he
started to lay multiple bottles of different chemicals from the
janitorial closet. His choice of products was quite 50/50. Half of
them looked like they could be usable in some way, another half had
just the right pictograms. And for some reason he even took some rugs
and powergoo.
Dakora/Z'Vahme:
Response?
Chevalier:
Alright, sir. I'm going now.
As
soon the commander confirmed to Vulcan they could continue with nod,
Vulcan opened the door to the hallway, which as all hoped, led somewhere
else, preferably without Jem'Hadar entourage. As they moved through
the hallway, it became more and more obvious that the building was
something similar to the community center or public meet&entertain
building. Leaflets around, message board, building layout... but
nothing really answered the most pressing questions. Like when
exactly they “appeared” and how they will get back.
Savel:
Commander, you said you lived through the Occupation. What is
different about where, or rather when, we are now?
oO
My thoughts, Mr. Savel. Oo
Jaseb stopped for a moment at
reception and quickly searched it, but to his dismay he found nothing
that would be a possible source of fire.
Dakora:
Response
TAG/TBC