Interlude – A Plague on Both Your Houses, part 1
by Alderman Yolanthe Ibalin & Commander Karen Villiers & Cardassian Vi'kar Gul Tharek Getal
Post Details
ON:
Yolanthe stared at the emptied wreckage of her bar, chairs and tables tipped, drinks spilled, glass smashed, and fought the urge to scream. from under a nest of cards where the tongo tables had been pushed over, another of the vicious little beasts scampered out and made a beeline for the promenade. Too tired and angry to make a grab for it, she let it go.
From above, she heard Klia swear; they’d got into something vital on the holodeck. Add that to the back of house power, the food storage units and chewed pipes on some of the taps at the bar, and you came up with shut down for at least 24 hours, maybe more. A nasty loss, and that was before you factored in the possibility of being sued by one of the many injured in the stampede.
She moved to the doors to lower the shutters, and stood for a moment watching and listening to the horrified reactions of others as the creatures got into other shops and bars. The PMA were going to be furious. Not to mention the Admins. She sighed. Time to get cleaning up.
"Cardassians!" A voice bellowed down the promenade. Getal, accompanied by four other Cardassian warriors, marched down the promenade. All of them clad in dark blatt armour, with disruptor rifles. Save for Tharek. He had a matte black shock-troopers armour, the only difference being a gold emblem on his heart. "Spread out!" He demanded, as he finally stopped at Yolanthe's feet.
The Bokkai had watched the Cardassians move across the promenade, turning increasingly from yellow to teal as Tharek approached. "Hello again," She leant forward and kissed him. Then she stood back and examined his attire. "Did I miss something? Is the station under siege again?" Another beast made a dash for the opening in the shutters. She stamped on it as it shot past. It gave a shriek as its spine snapped, and she kicked it out onto the promenade, her lip curling with distaste.
Tharek smiled as his cheek warmed with her lips touch. "The embassy caught wind of a rodent problem you have. We thought, seeing as they are Cardassian wildlife, we'd offer assistance."
"I'll take anything I can get. Stars alone knows where they all came from. And they've got everywhere - and they're now all over the promenade." She shook her head , slowly turning grey. "There was dozens of them. Admin is going to go spare!""
"They'll have to get through me." Tharek said, bulking himself up, and removing his Cardassian phaser from its holster. "ousighukum!" He bellowed to his men, and they immediately sprung into action, shooting at every Vole that dared show its ugly little head on the promenade.
In less than thirty seconds the area of promenade closest to the Box of Delights was filled with the smell of ozone and barbecued rodent. In response, the remaining voles panicked and scuttled for new hiding places, not just ducts and vents, but into pot plants, shop fronts and stalls.
Yolanthe watched the Cardassians hunting down the ugly little critters with a increasing sense of things getting out of control. As ever new one was spotted an executed without concern for property, bystanders or station structure, she turned to the ambassador. "Isn't that a little over the top?"
"You never know if a Vole is truly dead until it's disintegrated. Trust me. We had an infestation in our barracks on Raxus two, we were outnumbered by astounding odds. At least twenty Voles to every man. There was two hundred of my men."
"Twenty thousand voles? How long did they take to clear?" She wasn't sure she wanted to hear the answer.
"With me in charge? Hour, hour and a half." He said, as he pulled up his weapon and shot a Vole as it made a lightning fast dash for a broken window. "I'll be done in ten minutes here." He said arrogantly.
----
Angry did not go far to describe the emotion that was bubbling through Karen from the soles of her feet to the top of her scalp; furious, livid, incandescent - nothing went quite far enough - this sort of disturbance so soon after the Maquis issues and emanating from the same source as the riot that had occurred the last time: the Box of Delights.
The security team she had picked up on the way to the Promenade were having trouble keeping up with her though Karen appeared to be walking. "This stops NOW!" she ordered, her steady voice amplified by the station's systems as part of her team saw to the shocked looking bystanders and the doltishly curious rubberneckers who looked on.
Tharek turned from Yolanthe, and steadily hulked his way over to Karen. His men soon followed suit.
"This is the promenade not a Cardassian firing range," Karen said seeing their approach. "You've got one minute to explain what th ... is going on here before I start making calls," she said, the rest of her security team behind her.
"Make calls then." Tharek said, calling her bluff. "We're exterminating Voles. Stay out of the way."
Karen shrugged. "Not until everyone is safe in their quarters, shops, bars and embassies," Karen replied folding her arms. "Now start talking, Ambassador Getal, I'm sure it will make a fascinating story, but make it quick."
"You're asking me to answer a question that has no answer from me. Voles have come from somewhere and me and my men are lending a hand to the community." Tharek said, holstering his disruptor pistol.
Having spent three years in Cardassian space just after the Dominion War Karen knew just how destructive and voracious an infestation of voles could be. She dropped her arms before running one hand into her hair. "I don't know how you usually deal with vermin, but shooting them in the midst of the general populace is not the way to go about it!" she said with a stern glare. Karen slapped her comm badge. "Villiers to Ops, I want the Promenade shut down. Slow evacuation, no need for a general announcement, just send people who can talk to people and explain that we have a colony of Cardassian voles that are breeding at what seems to be an exponential rate. Begin the clearance in the 500 meters around the Box of Delights and work outwards. Villiers out."
"So you think that a handful of rodents is a good reason to strut around in the middle of a crowd of civilians whilst shooting at anything that moves?" Karen asked, they had to wait now whilst the phased evacuation began and what a 'lovely' way to pass the time.
Yolanthe stepped forward, a pale shade of tangerine. "I'm afraid it’s my fault. These things just started pouring out of my walls, and when Tharek offered to help I said yes."
Karen pursed her lips as she turned her attention to the Bokkai. "Two disturbances in less than a month," she said with a shake of her head. "Pouring out of the wall?" Karen's curiosity caught that point. "Not possible. Vacant premises are swept routinely and until you moved in, there were no problems with vermin," Karen said, "Tribbles could barely keep up with that breeding program."
"Well it happened. About nineish, they just appeared all over the bar, I saw some coming out the air ducts at the back. My bar is trashed, and I'm just glad no one was killed in the stampede," Yolanthe said. She ignored the comment about two disturbances. Better to not keep that fact in memory.
"Any evidence of vermin prior to that?" Karen asked in frustration as she waited for the call to alert her that the first perimeter was established. "So did that stampede you mention occur before or after this lot arrived?" she asked jerking her head toward the Cardassians - Getal was another factor in common with the last disturbance, something Karen noted for future reference.
"No, we didn't notice anything when we moved in." Long ingrained instinct made her get between Getal and the XO, "And the vermin caused the stampede when they popped up absolutely everywhere. The ambassador had nothing to do with it."
Karen's smile was very thin. "I never implied he did," she added a third common denominator to her list - the bar owner. "So you invited these clowns in to help clean up because they're Cardassian?" she asked pleasantly, "A crack Vole Elimination Squad?"
"Tharek offered to help and I said yes, that’s all. Nothing to do with his species."
"Did it occur to you, Miss Ibalin, that shooting up the Promenade is not an efficient way to deal with a nuisance?" Karen asked. "I can understand you wanting to protect your business, but extending your issues beyond the walls of your premises without authorisation doesn't hang around here," Karen told her, "And accepting help from your 'friends' that goes beyond your walls does not either. Like it or not you've causes us what could be a stationwide problem, and I've seen firsthand what these little buggers can do," she finished.
"I don't like your tone." Tharek interjected. "Yolanthe had nothing to do with my help, the actions are my own. Don't like it? Take it up with Central Command. If anyone would know firsthand about Cardassian Voles. It's a Cardassian."
"That figures," Karen replied, "But I really do care whether you like my tone or not. You have added to a problem by attacking something that could have been contained by quarantining this area. Instead you have escalated it into a potentially station-wide problem so you can chew on my tone and enjoy it, Ambassador, until the mess you and your friends have exacerbated is cleaned up. Questions?"
"Yeah. How far does diplomatic immunity extend?" He said. With his last word, all of the Cardassian men hulked up their weapons.
TBC....
by Alderman Yolanthe Ibalin & Commander Karen Villiers & Cardassian Vi'kar Gul Tharek Getal
Post Details
| Title | A Plague on Both Your Houses, part 1 | |
| Mission | Interlude | |
| Author(s) | Alderman Yolanthe Ibalin & Commander Karen Villiers & Cardassian Vi'kar Gul Tharek Getal | |
| Posted | Sun Aug 08, 2010 @ 10:59am | |
| Location | Promenade | |
| Timeline | After Little Box of Horrors |
Yolanthe stared at the emptied wreckage of her bar, chairs and tables tipped, drinks spilled, glass smashed, and fought the urge to scream. from under a nest of cards where the tongo tables had been pushed over, another of the vicious little beasts scampered out and made a beeline for the promenade. Too tired and angry to make a grab for it, she let it go.
From above, she heard Klia swear; they’d got into something vital on the holodeck. Add that to the back of house power, the food storage units and chewed pipes on some of the taps at the bar, and you came up with shut down for at least 24 hours, maybe more. A nasty loss, and that was before you factored in the possibility of being sued by one of the many injured in the stampede.
She moved to the doors to lower the shutters, and stood for a moment watching and listening to the horrified reactions of others as the creatures got into other shops and bars. The PMA were going to be furious. Not to mention the Admins. She sighed. Time to get cleaning up.
"Cardassians!" A voice bellowed down the promenade. Getal, accompanied by four other Cardassian warriors, marched down the promenade. All of them clad in dark blatt armour, with disruptor rifles. Save for Tharek. He had a matte black shock-troopers armour, the only difference being a gold emblem on his heart. "Spread out!" He demanded, as he finally stopped at Yolanthe's feet.
The Bokkai had watched the Cardassians move across the promenade, turning increasingly from yellow to teal as Tharek approached. "Hello again," She leant forward and kissed him. Then she stood back and examined his attire. "Did I miss something? Is the station under siege again?" Another beast made a dash for the opening in the shutters. She stamped on it as it shot past. It gave a shriek as its spine snapped, and she kicked it out onto the promenade, her lip curling with distaste.
Tharek smiled as his cheek warmed with her lips touch. "The embassy caught wind of a rodent problem you have. We thought, seeing as they are Cardassian wildlife, we'd offer assistance."
"I'll take anything I can get. Stars alone knows where they all came from. And they've got everywhere - and they're now all over the promenade." She shook her head , slowly turning grey. "There was dozens of them. Admin is going to go spare!""
"They'll have to get through me." Tharek said, bulking himself up, and removing his Cardassian phaser from its holster. "ousighukum!" He bellowed to his men, and they immediately sprung into action, shooting at every Vole that dared show its ugly little head on the promenade.
In less than thirty seconds the area of promenade closest to the Box of Delights was filled with the smell of ozone and barbecued rodent. In response, the remaining voles panicked and scuttled for new hiding places, not just ducts and vents, but into pot plants, shop fronts and stalls.
Yolanthe watched the Cardassians hunting down the ugly little critters with a increasing sense of things getting out of control. As ever new one was spotted an executed without concern for property, bystanders or station structure, she turned to the ambassador. "Isn't that a little over the top?"
"You never know if a Vole is truly dead until it's disintegrated. Trust me. We had an infestation in our barracks on Raxus two, we were outnumbered by astounding odds. At least twenty Voles to every man. There was two hundred of my men."
"Twenty thousand voles? How long did they take to clear?" She wasn't sure she wanted to hear the answer.
"With me in charge? Hour, hour and a half." He said, as he pulled up his weapon and shot a Vole as it made a lightning fast dash for a broken window. "I'll be done in ten minutes here." He said arrogantly.
----
Angry did not go far to describe the emotion that was bubbling through Karen from the soles of her feet to the top of her scalp; furious, livid, incandescent - nothing went quite far enough - this sort of disturbance so soon after the Maquis issues and emanating from the same source as the riot that had occurred the last time: the Box of Delights.
The security team she had picked up on the way to the Promenade were having trouble keeping up with her though Karen appeared to be walking. "This stops NOW!" she ordered, her steady voice amplified by the station's systems as part of her team saw to the shocked looking bystanders and the doltishly curious rubberneckers who looked on.
Tharek turned from Yolanthe, and steadily hulked his way over to Karen. His men soon followed suit.
"This is the promenade not a Cardassian firing range," Karen said seeing their approach. "You've got one minute to explain what th ... is going on here before I start making calls," she said, the rest of her security team behind her.
"Make calls then." Tharek said, calling her bluff. "We're exterminating Voles. Stay out of the way."
Karen shrugged. "Not until everyone is safe in their quarters, shops, bars and embassies," Karen replied folding her arms. "Now start talking, Ambassador Getal, I'm sure it will make a fascinating story, but make it quick."
"You're asking me to answer a question that has no answer from me. Voles have come from somewhere and me and my men are lending a hand to the community." Tharek said, holstering his disruptor pistol.
Having spent three years in Cardassian space just after the Dominion War Karen knew just how destructive and voracious an infestation of voles could be. She dropped her arms before running one hand into her hair. "I don't know how you usually deal with vermin, but shooting them in the midst of the general populace is not the way to go about it!" she said with a stern glare. Karen slapped her comm badge. "Villiers to Ops, I want the Promenade shut down. Slow evacuation, no need for a general announcement, just send people who can talk to people and explain that we have a colony of Cardassian voles that are breeding at what seems to be an exponential rate. Begin the clearance in the 500 meters around the Box of Delights and work outwards. Villiers out."
"So you think that a handful of rodents is a good reason to strut around in the middle of a crowd of civilians whilst shooting at anything that moves?" Karen asked, they had to wait now whilst the phased evacuation began and what a 'lovely' way to pass the time.
Yolanthe stepped forward, a pale shade of tangerine. "I'm afraid it’s my fault. These things just started pouring out of my walls, and when Tharek offered to help I said yes."
Karen pursed her lips as she turned her attention to the Bokkai. "Two disturbances in less than a month," she said with a shake of her head. "Pouring out of the wall?" Karen's curiosity caught that point. "Not possible. Vacant premises are swept routinely and until you moved in, there were no problems with vermin," Karen said, "Tribbles could barely keep up with that breeding program."
"Well it happened. About nineish, they just appeared all over the bar, I saw some coming out the air ducts at the back. My bar is trashed, and I'm just glad no one was killed in the stampede," Yolanthe said. She ignored the comment about two disturbances. Better to not keep that fact in memory.
"Any evidence of vermin prior to that?" Karen asked in frustration as she waited for the call to alert her that the first perimeter was established. "So did that stampede you mention occur before or after this lot arrived?" she asked jerking her head toward the Cardassians - Getal was another factor in common with the last disturbance, something Karen noted for future reference.
"No, we didn't notice anything when we moved in." Long ingrained instinct made her get between Getal and the XO, "And the vermin caused the stampede when they popped up absolutely everywhere. The ambassador had nothing to do with it."
Karen's smile was very thin. "I never implied he did," she added a third common denominator to her list - the bar owner. "So you invited these clowns in to help clean up because they're Cardassian?" she asked pleasantly, "A crack Vole Elimination Squad?"
"Tharek offered to help and I said yes, that’s all. Nothing to do with his species."
"Did it occur to you, Miss Ibalin, that shooting up the Promenade is not an efficient way to deal with a nuisance?" Karen asked. "I can understand you wanting to protect your business, but extending your issues beyond the walls of your premises without authorisation doesn't hang around here," Karen told her, "And accepting help from your 'friends' that goes beyond your walls does not either. Like it or not you've causes us what could be a stationwide problem, and I've seen firsthand what these little buggers can do," she finished.
"I don't like your tone." Tharek interjected. "Yolanthe had nothing to do with my help, the actions are my own. Don't like it? Take it up with Central Command. If anyone would know firsthand about Cardassian Voles. It's a Cardassian."
"That figures," Karen replied, "But I really do care whether you like my tone or not. You have added to a problem by attacking something that could have been contained by quarantining this area. Instead you have escalated it into a potentially station-wide problem so you can chew on my tone and enjoy it, Ambassador, until the mess you and your friends have exacerbated is cleaned up. Questions?"
"Yeah. How far does diplomatic immunity extend?" He said. With his last word, all of the Cardassian men hulked up their weapons.
TBC....