First Opportunity

Posted on Thu Dec 8th, 2022 @ 11:28am by Captain Rueben Gregnol & Chief Operations Trades

Mission: Mission 16: Hysperia
Location: Spaceport
Timeline: MD 2 08:00
1366 words - 2.7 OF Standard Post Measure

Trades swore under his breath has he made is way forward. The news of possible Maquis in the area had shaken him and he wasn't able to focus much on any thing else.

If he was lucky he had enough to get some supplies and make his way off this planet. There were too many people on here anyway. Apparently most of them had moved from the market to the space port. No matter where he went there was just no peace to be had on his planet. And if there were Maquis here then no doubt there would be someone stationed at the port. Still he had to try.

Gregnol was pretty proud of himself for the work that he had put into the vacancy list for when the ship was back to operating standards after its drydock. He needed a chief security officer, an operations officer, someone to operate communications and most importantly he needed a chef to give everyone something other than grill cheese sandwiches and whatever Marie was trying to feed them. When they had a healthy ship again he needed a healthy crew and a complete crew.

Leiddem and Nollel had been working so hard but Nollel was not wanting to go into operations the way it was and Leiddem was not suitable due the conflict of interest in being his brother in law. At least in his mind it was a big thing even if Delaney did not see it. The man glanced down at the paper and smirked at the beautiful hand writing that his wife had as he pinned the vacancy list to the wall. He shook his head as piece of paper matched the whole decore of Hysperia. Trust Jeassaho. It would be a shame to leave the planet but they had to get back out into the universe.

The movement caught Trades eyes. He was on alert and was surprised only to find a Human putting up some sort of sign. He started to turn away when he noticed what the sign said. "I can do that," he said moving over to the sign and pointing to the security officer line. Well it was true, sort of. "I make weapons, good at that." Trades read the sign more, "This, I can do this as well, good at this too." His finger landed on the Operations role. "Experienced in ship Operations, worked for... demanding employer. Only accepted hard work."

Gregnol turned back as the man who passed him called him back and noticing what the sign said. It had to be too good to be true for him to find someone so quickly. The man seemed more confident in saying that he could be his operations chief which was perfect. He was still not sure whether security chief even need to be filled in with his brother-in-law really doing the job, or he could just man up and asked Delaney to do it, even if she was smarting from from the fact that he was reluctant to have Lieddem do the role. It was too much family drama, but the man has been doing such a good job. You just made everything more complicated. It was the same reason why his wife was not chief engineering. “Experience huh? What kind of experience do you have?”

"Um.. big ships, on the border, lots of crew." Trades wanted this job. It would get him off the planet but the last thing he wanted was to reveal he was part of the Cardassian Military during the war. History would show that didn't go over so well. "During the war, kept ship running in all sort of circumstances. Tough job, always on alert. Good at job."

Gregnol raised an eyebrow at the phrasing. “We all were on different sides of the war but the universe has changed.” If it had been war time or if he still held some beef over what has happened half his crew would not be there and he liked his crew. They were the best crew someone like him could hope for.

Trades pulled back his hood a little, enough to show the gray skin and part of his forehead. "The universe has changed. For Humans or those that won the war especially. It doesn't mean it's safe for everyone. It doesn't mean some don't have grudges or want revenge."

He pulled the hood back down. "I can do the job. I have a lot of skills. And not being out in the open would be better. "

There was no reaction from the former Starfleet officer in the slightest. “It has been nearly 25 years ago and I have had Cardassians on my crew before.” Gregnol was confused by the almost espionage of the situation. “You will not be able to hide on my crew and I’ve seen many Cardassians on this planet. Unless you have more to hide?”

It had been 25 years already? Trades was a little taken aback by this revelation. He had not been keeping track, just keeping his head down and kept moving.

"I don't have anything else to hide. I am just used to hiding." It was an honest answer, one that took him back a little by saying the words out loud. "I have heard of those who are still looking for vengeance, looking here.”

“Like who?” Gregnol asked intrigued. Hysperia was not the like most planets it was not easy to blend in as much as places like Freecloud or Earth. It took a lot of effort and even then it was easy to spot a local who spoke like they belong seven hundred years back on earth and someone who was pretending.

"Maquis, or former Maquis, Maquis suvivors? I don't know what people call them or what they call themselves. And the Klingons. Some families are still seeking vengeance for those lost to Dukat's policies." Trades sighed and sagged a bit. "So much blood, and none of it on my hands... but still."

"The only members that survived are in Federation prisons," Gregnol said confused that the man had been hiding for so long when the vast majority of the universe had moved on. "If that was the case no Cardassian's would be here in federation space. Most people believe you have suffered enough with the fact one billion Cardassians were killed in a few short hours and then how bad Cardassia was after."

Trades shock himself. "This is all well and good. Let's chalk it up to your life experience is different to mine. Can I get the job?"

Gregnol raised an eyebrow. “I need to know the specifics of where you served last and a few other things to confirm you have the skills for an old Constitution Class but I believe everything for now is in order.” Gregnol was more than willing to hire someone on terms where he learned how they ticked but he did need to know properly where they had worked as a basic. References were not necessary but he did to check that they were Fenris Rangers material.

"I learned on a Galor class, and worked on Legate class as well. I haven't spent a lot of time on Federation ships but the basics are the same no matter what ship you're on. I also have Master at Arms training and have spent the last few years manufacturing custom hand weapons for various collectors across the Alpha and Beta Quadrants."

“Well you have said you can do operations so we shall go with that for now and see how we work together.” Gregnol said raring off a strip from the poster he had pinned and making sure the rest of it was intact. He still have several positions that needed filling “That is our mooring spot. Tomorrow morning ten hundred hours I will make sure security and our current acting operations chief is there to meet you and give you a tour.”

"Thank you Captain I will be there." Trades nodded and turned away. In a strange way he was relieved. Not so much that he would have the chance to leave the planet, but as part of a crew again.