Game session: ?/2007

The trip back to DS9 takes forty-five minutes at impulse speeds. While She-Who-Swims patches him up from his dust-up with the Klingons, Tuvonn writes his after-action report, which contains a notation that while the high-speed transport worked, sending the Marines in blind could have backfired considerably in a real combat situation. Fal fiddles with the sensors while Daphne concentrates on flying the ship and playing with a rubix cube. Mel mans her station.

The Saber docks at Upper Pylon 1 at roughly 15:30 station time. Alberic decides to have the dinner at 18:00 and passes that to Saval. Saval mentions she'll tell Cidhela 17:30 hours, which translates into Cidhela getting dragged out of Engineering at 17:45. Alberic nods and leaves Saval in command as he disembarks and heads to Quark's. The senior officers have about two hours to kill, so Mel and Daphne disembark and head to the Promenade to "shop" – which is an excuse to hunt for men. Since they have obligations later, they'll settle for "window-shopping" – looking but no touching. They roam the Promenade and gossip, and skip getting jumja sticks. They end up mutually admiring a Bajoran militiaman, but their fantasies are dampened when Garak manages to innocently startle Daphne by appearing behind her and informing them that Jo, the Bajoran they're drooling over, is homosexual. Although Mel is rattled by the smiling Cardassian, Daphne chats with him and continues to man-shop. He points out a few prospects for them both before returning to his shop; Daphne admits the two of them have done this before, and she likes Garak. Mel finds that a little disturbing, but the pair continue their "shopping" until its time to go get ready.

Tuvonn finds Ganth and asks him to spruce up the courier ship to look like a former-Starfleet-officer-turned-rebel's ship; Ganth retorts that he'll just spice it up and that'll suffice. Tuvonn agrees to Ganth installing a Tellarite mudpit and a shiny ball, but draws the line on excessive "chintz." Ganth heads to Engineering to get holo-images of Cidhela's breasts for kill-markings, and Tuvonn shakes his head and then spends the next two hours crawling through the Jeffries tubes to memorize their layout.

Fal heads down to Engineering to offer his help in repairing the ship – and to catch a glimpse of Cidhela, who he is nursing a serious crush on. He gets to Engineering and is ushered into Cidhela's office, and offers his services – without tripping over his tongue too badly. Cidhela puts him on overseeing repair work on the lateral sensor array, which took a nasty hit from the Cardassian skirmish. Fal heads over to the relevant workstation and starts to check damage reports and the like. He spots Ganth as the Marine walks in and loiters near him. Ganth snaps a quick picture of Cidhela and then ambles out cheerfully. Another engineer asks Fal what just happened, and the Bajoran replies that apparently, Ganth was "conducting a physiological experiment on our Chief Engineer." Unfortunately for Fal, Cidhela overhears the last part and comes storming over, assuming he's here just to ogle her. He manages to stutter that one of the Marines came in, and that was who he was referring to, and Cidhela apologizes and returns to her office.

Alberic heads into Quark's and finds the proprietor cleaning a glass behind the bar. He explains his needs to Quark and the two haggle on a price to rent a banquet room and purchase food, services, and alcohol. In a rare moment of generosity, Quark provides one barrel of bloodwine gratis once he realizes Alberic is the captain of the Saber, since Alberic's defeat of the Klingons earned him a few strips of latinum in the betting pools. A small pool will be provided for She-Who-Swims, and having a Starfleet Marine and a Starfleet Security officer will offset the insurance costs of having eight potential intoxicated Klingons over for dinner. They finally agree on a price and Alberic presses his thumbprint to Quark's PADD to complete the transaction. After leaving Quark's, Alberic returns to the ship and researches Klingon dining customs to avoid giving offense.

The officers all shower and get dressed in fresh duty uniforms before congregating at the docking port and heading over to Upper Pylon 2, where the Klingon ship docked. On the way, Alberic lectures the officers about the proper customs he just learned, and stresses that the crew must not bring up the fact that the Klingons lost the exercise. Saval asks if she's in command if he's incapacitated tomorrow, and then explains that Captain Kla'vach will almost certainly proposition Alberic to save face when Alberic looks at her confused. Alberic blanches; he hadn't researched Klingon sexual customs! But he grudgingly agrees.

The crew meets the Klingons at Upper Pylon 2; there are four male and four female Klingons, and there is some forced civility from them. Captain Kla'vach is short, only 1.6 meters, but solidly built. Kla'vach greets Alberic and the two take the lead, although they have to slow a bit to compensate for She-Who-Swims' slower speed. Tuvonn shares a respectful nod from the Klingon who managed to take him down in Engineering and everyone lines up, one Starfleet and one Klingon, and they head to Quark's. Along the way, they pass a crowd of people, including Garak. Fal tenses when he sees the Cardassian and one of the Klingons mutters something derogatory, but Daphne waves a friendly greeting.

They reach Quark's and are escorted by Quark himself upstairs to a banquet room. Kla'vach and Alberic sit at the heads of the table, with one side having uncomfortable Klingon chairs and the other Federation standard seating and a small pool for She-Who-Swims. Everyone settles in and orders their meals; the Klingons are assured that the gagh is fresh and order that and rokeg blood pie and some stew. Alberic, Cidhela, Daphne, and Mel refrain completely from Klingon cuisine, while Saval, Tuvonn, and Fal order some to honor their Klingon companions and She-Who-Swims decides to order only Klingon food. Ferengi servers pour cups of bloodwine for everyone, and Kla'vach issues the first toast of the meal honoring her allies. Everyone drains their mug, although Mel winces as the bloodwine hits her hard.

Besides three barrels of bloodwine, there is a selection of other alcohols available, including Vulcan port, so Tuvonn and Saval share some of that. Fal takes a glass as well, and finds it a very dry liquor, but otherwise palatable. Saval and Tuvonn agree the quality is satisfactory. Kla'vach tries some, and nearly chokes on it before muttering it's as dry and uninspired as its people. The two Vulcans ignore the insult.

The food arrives and the diners dig in. A huge communal bowl of gagh is put down, and Fal nearly causes an incident when he reaches for it before Kla'vach does. However, things are smoothed over, and soon people are eating and talking. Saval and Tuvonn honor their Klingon allies by eating some meat before focusing on their salads. She-Who-Swims tries some of her gagh, and likes it immensely. She proceeds to down the rest of her portion and then eyes Tuvonn's remaining gagh, but the Vulcan finishes it himself. She makes some comment about not eating live food for a long time, which Alberic takes note of. There are a few social gaffes during the meal, but the Klingons do their best to ignore them. One faux pas comes from She-Who-Swims, but since she's matching the Klingons on gagh and bloodwine consumed, they can't really complain. Most of the Starfleet officers try the rokeg blood pie as well, except for Daphne who's a firm vegetarian, and find it a lot more palatable then live serpent worms. They learn the Klingon ship is named the Bloodied Talon, and is forty years old. Most of her career has been spent on the Romulan side of the Klingon Empire, and only in the past three years has she been on the Cardassian end of things. It's pretty obvious that the Klingons aboard are bored senseless with patrol duty and courier missions, so even their defeat was something to break the monotony.

Alberic leads the final toast of the evening, to the Klingons and to the first taste of battle for the Saber on her first official mission. Everyone manages to get the bloodwine down, but it proves to be too much for Cidhela, who slumps against Fal and mutters drunkenly that he's cute. She-Who Swims also feels the effects, but she consumed more then any single Klingon except for Kla'vach, who apparently isn't drunk at all. Kla'vach brings Alberic outside and belts him, thus continuing the Klingon mating rituals. They beam to the Bloodied Talon. The others stagger back to their ships, and two male Klingons eye Mel and Daphne. Mel manages to escape by claiming she needs to get "her drunken friend" home safely. Fal escorts Cidhela back to her quarters after getting a pointed glance from Saval that manages to sum up her promise of a slow, painful death if he takes advantage of Cidhela while she's drunk, without having to say a single word. Fal is a perfect gentleman, however, and gets Cidhela back to her room and leaves her tucked into bed. He then heads to "Marine Country" as Security's become known, and looks to spar with someone to work off sexual tension.

Mel and Daphne return to their room and sleep off the alcohol. Saval checks in with the Bridge and then takes a nap. Tuvonn returns to Marine Country and watches as Ganth learns Fal had a drunken Cidhela in his arms and did nothing, so the Tellarite happily volunteers to spar and beats Fal pretty badly; since the Bajoran has no skill at hand to hand combat. Cila rescues Fal and sends him to Sickbay, and then asks Tuvonn if he minds if she pursued something with the Bajoran. Tuvonn shrugs. She-Who-Swims is still a little tipsy, but after joking about how many noses Fal is supposed to have, she takes a detox supplement and repairs the damage from Ganth. Meanwhile, on the Bloodied Talon, very violent sex occurs several times throughout the night, with Kla'vach always on top.

The following morning the senior officers report to the Bridge. Alberic has not returned yet from the Bloodied Talon, and Tuvonn pages Saval and asks if she wants him to "extract" the Captain. Saval decides to give the Captain a few more minutes before having him "withdrawn," which earns a snicker from Mel. On the Bloodied Talon, Alberic's tricorder alarm goes off, and is promptly smashed into submission by Kla'vach. Alberic manages to perform a quickie and then extricate himself from her embrace. He realizes his uniform has been completely shredded, and reluctantly pages Saval for a replacement. She offers to have him beamed to his quarters instead, which he gratefully accepts.

Alberic rematerializes in his quarters and quickly changes and heads up to the Bridge. He reclaims the Captain's Chair from Saval and orders the ship to decouple from DS9 and head for the Badlands. At Saval's recommendation, he orders speed at Warp 3, which gives them two days until they reach the Badlands, thus giving them time to integrate the warp-masking system and put their ship through the paces. Saval then gently points out the blood on Alberic's cheek and shoos him to Sickbay. Alberic finds She-Who-Swims far more sober and she examines the damage inflicted by Klingon passion. She mutters that she'll need an autosuture to repair his shattered pelvis and gives him a pain suppressant. Alberic slips into blissful unconsciousness as She-Who-Swims starts her work.

The day passes quietly, as everyone busies themselves with their tasks. Alberic wakes up at midday, and finds he has no feeling from the waist down. She-Who-Swims is in her office, but she spots him trying to get up and quickly slithers over. She explains that she temporarily neutralized all sensation in his lower torso because of the extensive dermal regeneration she had to do and she wants it to heal before he moves much. Alberic accepts that and takes a proffered PADD to do some administrative work for another few hours after She-Who-Swims mentions Fal's dust-up with Ganth. She returns to her office to give Alberic privacy as he works. Alberic logs a formal reprimand for Fal for fighting without proper training, and finds Tuvonn has logged one on Ganth for excessive force against an untrained opponent. He buries himself in paperwork for a while.

Alpha shift ends and the senior officers go off-duty except for Saval, who pulls a double-shift. Tuvonn heads to a free holosuite to practice kata. Mel challenges Daphne to phaser drills, which prompts Saval to ask Mel to schedule phaser and hand-to-hand drill for the crew, starting with the senior officers. Mel happily agrees and she and Daphne head to the phaser range in Security to practice; Mel leaves a message with Biayoh to have Tuvonn come and find her when he returns from the holosuite. Fal heads down to Engineering again to try and coordinate a way to improve sensor efficiency in the Badlands, and to see Cidhela again. She's working on something, with her rump sticking out, when he walks in, so he gulps and finds another engineer who explains the sheer impossibility of designing such a system. Cidhela straightens up and calls Fal into her office. Once there, she thanks him for bringing her home safely and pressures him into telling her what she said while drunk. She has to resort to threatening him with "an iron maiden" before he hurriedly utters that she said he was cute. Embarrassed, he leaves quickly and heads to Marine Country for another sparring match – just not with Ganth. Before he can get in over his head again, Cila "rescues" him and drags him back to his quarters "to put that erection to its proper use."

Alberic is discharged from Sickbay and heads up to the Bridge to speak to Saval. He gets an update on what he missed, and then he asks her to show him any command systems that are unusual to the Saber-class. She shows him the unusual power distribution signature, as the Saber's design was inspired by Cardassian embedded warp engines as opposed to the traditional nacelles-on-pylons approach. She also explains the limitations of the warp-masking system, and how currently, it will limit their speed to Warp 3 when employed. Alberic accepts that and officially orders Saval to be in Engineering to baby-sit the system when its in use; the official order was to override any of Cidhela's protests about the extra body in Engineering. Saval nods and mentions the drills she asked Mel to do; Alberic decides to go first to set a positive example. They also decide to make the Saber look like a run-of-the-mill Terran cargo hauler, nothing that would attract attention.

Saval mentions the Orion Syndicate and when Alberic looks at her blankly she gives him a more detailed breakdown of what Starfleet Intelligence knows about the various criminal syndicates and the like; Alberic had no idea there was a black market, since he's spent his life and career in Earth space. She mentions that Cidhela is the resident expert on the Orion Syndicate and that they used her as a slave and prostitute for a decade. She heads to Engineering to speak to Cidhela directly about the mission while Alberic retires to his quarters.

Tuvonn returns from the holosuite and learns of Cila's "rescue" of Fal and Melva's request to see him. He walks into the phaser range and finds Mel beating Daphne's scores pretty heavily. They take a break, and she explains Saval's request and asks if he wants to help with the drills. He agrees, and they start making plans.

Alberic is in his quarters getting ready for bed when his door chime rings and Cidhela enters. She is clearly uncomfortable and wants to talk to the Captain off the record, so he remains in his robe and she removes her combadge. She then quietly explains that for ten years, she was kept as a slave and prostitute by the Orion syndicate at Kel Nor, and she knows how to get there. She's willing to guide them, as long as she receives cosmetic surgery to alter her appearance to prevent recognition. She also explains that a human from Starfleet Intelligence freed her over ten years ago – when he came and butchered twenty-three members of the Syndicate without mercy.

They work together and devise a plan – they'll mock up one of the cargo bays to look like a tramp freighter bridge, and conduct all transmissions from there. She will pose as his Orion slave girl/ business advisor and other members of the crew can pose as ne'er do wells of various sorts. As trading merchandise they decide to pretend to have salvaged medical supplies from a drifting Federation starship, and to prevent a physical inspection they'll ask She-Who-Swims to create batches of certain illegal drugs, like red ice. Cidhela will also try to modify a photon torpedo to pass all inspections but fail to detonate if the drugs don't work as a bribe. The compromises and decisions weigh heavily on Cidhela, so Alberic sends her to her quarters; they can continue this later.

Recap originally published on Livejournal.