Time in a Carafe

Posted on 09 Jun 2020 @ 1:36pm by Ensign Kelly Khan & Ensign Quinn Mackie

6,535 words; about a 33 minute read

Mission: Sentience
Location: Various
Timeline: MD 2 || 1800 Hours

Kelly sat in her and Quinn's quarters and looked at a historical coffee pot that had caught her attention in the computer. It said it costed eighteen thousand dollars in the twenty-first century, but she didn't know the estimated value of the outdated currency. She figured it was expensive for that time period, but saw no practical purpose in having one. Still, she decided to have the computer replicate the parts and put some music on.

The coffee pot appeared and she gave a low whistle as she paused to admire it. It had a Baccarat crystal carafe, a green malachite base in light and dark tones, a smelted copper urn and coffee scoop, silver pipers and gold plating over the silver. She pulled up the instructions on how to make coffee using it while the song continued.

She replicated some coffee grounds and used the copper scoop to put into the crystal carafe and covered it with a gold plated silver cap. "Step one complete and it hasn't blown up yet," she said to herself.

She replicated water next and removed the top from the smelted copper urn and poured it in using a funnel she had to replicate. and placed the top back on.

Kelly raised the urn with the lever, then activated the heating element, then sat back to watch the water drain from the urn to the carafe where the grounds were, then flipped the lever again to watch it go back to the urn. She switched the heating element to low, grabbed a mug and turned the spigot to pour out a fresh cup of the hot coffoee in her mug.

She picked it up for a sip, then sighed as the lyrics to the song worked their way around her mind. She wanted every dream with Quinn to come true, but until he came to terms with what had happened to him, all she had were the memories.

* * *

At long last, Quinn's shift had finally come to an end. Between the damage, both simulated and real, it had taken Alpha and Beta Shifts more time than expected to complete the repairs and file the appropriate paperwork. He was still perplexed regarding the simulations, especially since his simulation hadn't felt like a simulation at all. Being stuck in the Operations center with others while it was decompressing was a rather sobering thought. He, like the other officers, had to fight for their lives. It then had to take another hour to restore air to the compartment and the surrounding sections.

Quinn counted himself lucky considering the other sections that had been decompressed. Other crewmembers were being treated for asphyxiation. Thankfully, no one had died, but they could have. It didn't make sense to him. The best he could figure was that the computer had malfunctioned, but there was nothing in the diagnostic logs to indicate such. That was now a problem for Gamma Shift.

He approached the door to his quarters, and he was able to enter freely. His nose caught a whiff of freshly brewed coffee. There was a certain distinction between a cup produced by a replicator and a cup produced in more simple manners, and there wasn't a single coffee drinker that wouldn't refuse simplicity. "That smells wonderful," he announced to the room, spotting Gizmo lazily curled on the unmade bed. He then looked to his left to spot Kelly. He kissed her head as he passed, starting to remove his uniform and trade it for civilian clothing.

Kelly smiled and looked up when he kissed her head. "Hey there, Tiger," she said. "Want a cup?" She glanced at the unmade bed and chaos of their small quarters, most of which was various craft projects, a stack of PADDs, a box with some type of black cloth in it and gave a sheepish grin. "Sorry the room's a mess."

"I'll take a cup," Quinn said with a smile, tossing his uniform jacket on top of one of the piles. "With some Irish cream if you've got it. It's been one hell of a day."

"I hear that," she said as she got up to go to the replicator. "Synthehol only, I'm afraid. I haven't stocked up lately on much of anything." She replicated the Irish Cream and came back to add a dash to his cup and then poured the coffee for him before taking it to him. "I had a ruptured spleen, collapsed lung, and then the shuttlebay tried to decompress on us."

"We'll have to grab some of the real stuff from Gamma Command the next time we dock there." Her response regarding her drill didn't phase Quinn much. Quinn accepted the coffee with both a smile and a kiss before turning to poke at the box with the black cloth inside of it. "Were those injuries real? Or was it just another drill?"

Kelly returned the kiss. "It was a drill, I guess. You know they don't tell us Ensigns anything. The holo avatar shishka whatever was there telling us how injured we were and stuff, then medical showed up. What do you say we take the Zambezi out for a trip to get away from this flying madhouse?"

"They might not tell us anything, but that didn't stop the computer from actually decompressing Operations." Quinn sipped his coffee and savored the taste for a moment. He then chuckled, realizing the humor in Kelly's remark. "We're just one day out of dock, and we're already back to calling the ship a madhouse. Sure, I'm up for a joyride, but the Zambezi? How are you going to pull that off?"

"It what?!" She asked in disbelief. "It tried to kill you? That's it. We definitely need away from here and for the record, I never stopped calling it a madhouse. I'll file a flight plan under Section Nineteen Alpha subparagraph twelve which allows new flight craft to be tested under various conditions."

Quinn wasn't surprised that Kelly had such a handy method handy for borrowing a spacecraft. In fact, he wondered if she'd done that before without telling him. "All right then," he confirmed. "What all do we need to pack? Which runabout did you say? Zam-be... something?"

"Zambezi," Kelly repeated, "Like....fo sheezy easy peazy. Go shower while I put this wonderful coffee in a thermos. We can grab whatever else we need while we're out. There's replicators on it if we get hungry until we can get somewhere."

"Yes, ma'am," Quinn said with a smile. Before disappearing into the bathroom, he stopped at the dresser and pulled out some clean clothing, which consisted of a pair of khakis, a white t-shirt, and undergarments. He closed the door behind him to keep Gizmo from wandering in and surprising him in the shower. That had happened once before, and the memory was still somewhat haunting.

She smiled and went to replicate a thermos for the coffee and filled it, then changed into a sleek black form fitting outfit that had no pockets, and grabbed her uniform jacket to put over it after checking to make sure HG was in place. She gave Gizmo a few pets, eliciting a discombobulated mew from the sleeping kitten which made her smile, then she waited for him to come out.

Quinn came out of the bathroom a few moments later, setting the remainder of his discarded uniform aside. "That's better..." he remarked before looking over at Kelly who was partially in uniform. He was surprised albeit for a moment, but he quickly reasoned that if one was to fly off in a runabout, they may as well do it in uniform, especially if in an official capacity. To that end, he grabbed a pair of black pants and changed into them. He then grabbed a fresh uniform jacket with the gold top and shoulder pads. A moment later, after transferring a rank pip and badge, he turned to face Kelly and Gizmo. "I think I'm ready," he announced as he put the khakis and a couple items into a small duffel.

Kelly put her boots on and gave Gizmo another scritch and checked to make sure he had fresh feline nutritional supplement and water, then grabbed her combadge and slapped it on. "Are you ready to be off to see the wizard?" she asked, having been on a pre-warp holonovel kick during the refit and could be heard making obscure quotes frequently.

"The wizard?" Quinn asked. "What does a wizard have to do with a runabout? Or is it named after a famous wizard?" He tossed the duffel bag's strap over his shoulder and led the way to the door.

"Neither," she said as she headed out with him. "It's from a holo called The Wizard of Oz. A girl gets knocked out and finds a scarecrow, a cowardly lion, and a tin man and they set out to find a wizard that can grant them what they want. I have no idea where the name of the runabout came from."

He chuckled, walking down the corridor to the turbolift. "Sounds like one heck of a venom trip. A scarecrow, a lion, and a wizard... it sounds like a really bad dad joke."

"Crap, hang on!" Kelly said before she darted back down the corridor and into their quarters. She came darting back out a second later with the bottle of Irish cream and handed it to him. "Put this in your duffel, please," she requested. "I have nowhere to hide it on me. My Papa never told me a joke like that. Do you know any?"

Quinn took the bottle, opened his duffel, and inserted it carefully inside. He took a moment to push items around the cream to ensure that it wouldn't fall over. "You don't want to stuff it under your shirt or anything?" Quinn chuckled, and added, "I've heard quite a few dad jokes in my day, but you can't just quote them without context. Those types of jokes are immediately relevant, but are often just really bad puns."

"Stuff it. Under my shirt." She looked at him, then down at the skin tight outfit she wore under her duty jacket. "Well, I mean I guess I could, but it may present some problems during the explanation." She paused. "What if you stuffed it down your pants instead?" she asked with a grin as she headed for the turbolift.

"If I stuffed it in my pants, it would probably spill." Quinn stopped in front of a set of doors and pressed the call button for the turbolift. "If your stuffed shirt causes problems, imagine what a pair of creamy pants would do."

"No comment," Kelly deadpanned but the mischief in her eyes spoke volumes about what she wanted to say. "Where do you want to go to?"

"The shuttlebay would be a great start." Behind the doors, the turbolift car slowed to a stop. The doors parted and Quinn entered first. "Oh, that is a dad joke."

"Remind me to throw something at you later," she mock grumbled as she got in with him. "If you ever become a Dad, I am officially banning those types of jokes here and now."

"If I become a dad?" Quinn asked before instructing the lift to take them to the shuttlebay. "The only way I'm becoming a dad is if you become a mom."

"Well, duh," Kelly said with a direct look at him. "How else would you become a dad?"

Quinn kept his smile. "So, you asked me where I wanted to go. Honestly, I don't even know where we are. Have you been able to check any charts later? I hear we're going wherever the Captain and Lieutenant McCullen want to go."

"McCullen..." she tried hard to repress a sneer and failed. "I can tell you roughly where we are, but it's nowhere near where we want to be, which is not here. The Zambezi can hit warp six point nine at a push, though."

He nodded. "Well, I guess we'll just have to look at the charts once we hit the shuttlebay. Since we're... loosely using regulations to our advantage, how long do we get to take this thing out for testing? A few hours? A day?"

"It's for no more than a duty shift, but I figure if we take it out for eight hours, we can cover a lot of distance and then take that long to come back," Kelly said. "Or go out for four and spend four coming back. Or go out for two to somewhere, spend four hours there and two back."

"Then we leave it to the charts," Quinn confirmed. The turbolift came to a stop, depositing them a short distance from the shuttlebay. "Which one is the Zambezi? Is that the Olga? Or is it that uprated Danube?"

She laughed as she stepped out of the turbolift. "You mean the Mogwai class? Or was it the Morava class? You're right, though. Let's go."

It did not take them long to arrive in the shuttlebay where the Zambezi had already been pulled out and prepared for launch. "Oh, right," Quinn said, seeing the runabout. "Morava. Looks a lot like the older Danubes."

"The future is a repeat of the past in twenty year cycles," Kelly said as she approached the shuttlebay manager. "Ensigns Khan and Mackie to take out the Zambezi under Section Nineteen Alpha subparagraph twelve," she requested.

"Flight plan?" the Lieutenant on duty asked.

"Well, according to Section Nineteen Alpha subparagraph twelve, that kind of defeats the purpose. We have an eight hour window to get the tests done and return, but we'll be within sensor range."

"Alright, but if you decide on a flight plan, Ensign, be sure to transmit it back to the ship."

"Of course, Lieutenant," Kelly oozed politeness which buried her sarcasm at the obviousness of the obvious.

"Then you're good to go," he said.

"Thanks!" Kelly turned to Quinn as she headed for the Zambezi. "See? Piece of cake."

Quinn smiled and climbed the steps in order to get into the cockpit. He whistled instantly as he took in the nice interior. Polished steel bulkheads, holographic consoles, blue padded chairs, and so many more features to look at. "You know, I don't think eight hours is going to be good enough. But, rules are rules."

He set his duffel bag down by the rear access hatch that would lead deeper into the runabout and then advanced to the front of the cockpit to assume to station beside the helm. "Running level five diagnostics on all systems... everything looks good." With a smile, he turned to face Kelly. "Orders, Captain?"

The tiny brunette got in behind him and went to check out the engines and stowed her duty jacket before she came back up to the cockpit in just her black suit. "We need to find an outpost off the charts and then make like locals for a bit," she declared as she started the pre-flight check.

Meanwhile, the Lieutenant entered the information and knew they were just going out for a joy ride, but regulations allowed it. He sighed and glanced at the chrono, realizing he had seven more hours to go. It was going to be a long shift.

Quinn smiled as he sat down beside her. “Is tha flight suit regulation or something?” He took a moment to unzip his jacket before starting to secure the moorings. “Find an outpost off the charts. How does that even work?”

"If you don't approve of the suit, I can always take it off," she offered as she powered up the runabout. "And the same way we've encountered everything else in the Gamma Quadrant. We point our nose in a direction we haven't been and engage."

“I never said I didn’t approve. It looks really good on you. Doesn’t leave much to the imagination, but I think we’re at the point where I need little imagination anymore.” Quinn smirked and reported, “Engines check out, and I’m powering them up now. Transferring power to primary systems.”

Kelly examined the readouts and gave a nod. "Primary systems check," she declared as she lifted the runabout off the deck smoothly and turned for the hangar bay doors which were opening, only the force field that allowed runabouts and shuttles in and out without decompressing the bay between them and space. "Yet, you didn't offer the same. I see how it is," she eyed him sideways with a grin.

“Offer what?” Quinn asked. “You know I often enjoy what you wear. Engines are at full power.” He tapped a few more controls. “Synchronizing star charts with the Black Hawk’s database.”

"Offer to take yours off," she said as the runabout exited the shuttlebay once clearance had been given. "Zambezi is free and clear, and the celestial starways are ours!"

"All right." Quinn tapped a few buttons and activated the holographic projectors. Behind them, in the open area, a map of the sector materialized. The Zambezi appeared as one blip in the middle of the map, the Black Hawk beside it to scale, and then several points of interest throughout the area. "Let's see... We should stick with a three hour radius, that way we can account for any trouble or any sightseeing. Looks like we've got a small outpost, an M-class moon, and an astral anomaly within range. Anything strike your fancy?"

"What can go wrong for two Ensigns at an outpost?" Kelly asked him with a twinkle in her eyes. "Could you pour us some more coffee, Tiger? We're going to need it. Also see if there's any phasers in the back."

"Oh I can see it now..." Quinn retrieved the duffel, opened it, and pulled out the thermos of coffee that Kelly had stuck in there. He brought it and the cream over to the replicator, produced two mugs, and prepared coffee for the both of them. "FNS will be running a story of a modern day Bonnie and Clyde, two poor Ensigns who got stuck on an outpost fighting off Orions to avoid the skin trade."

"Poor? Did you already blow your winnings from Vegas on cheap Orions and touches from Deltans?" she asked with mock accusation.

He handed her the first of the two mugs. "In this context, poor has nothing to do with latinum. Just everything to do with luck and fortune."

"I know and it wasn't latinum, it was credits," she said as she accepted the cup and took a sip. "And in that case, poor has little to do with fortune or luck. However, let fate decide."

"How do you suggest we do that?" Quinn asked. "There's three options on the map, and the unpopular fourth option, which is just taking a joy ride. We need like... a pair of dice, or a randomizer, or something."

"Let's hit the outpost," Kelly said. "Do we have anything useful to trade that's authorized?"

"I didn't pack anything..." Quinn said, looking inside the bag. "I really should start becoming more prepared for our adventures. I can go check the cargo hold and see if there's anything there."

"That and the replicator," she said after another drink of her coffee, then set the coordinates of the outpost into the navigation and engaged warp three.

Quinn returned from the cargo bay a minute later carrying a small box. "Not a lot to work with here. We've got some precious metals, Saurian brandy, and a few trinkets."

"Replicate some coffee beans," Kelly said. "It worked for that kid in the beanstalk story. He even got a goose that laid a gold egg or something. I don't know why anyone would want gold, though. We can introduce caffeine to their cultures."

"Oh yes," Quinn said with a laugh as he moved over to the replicators. "Introducing caffeine into unknown cultures would be like the Klingons introducing humanity to raktajino or Orion slave girls to most men. An eternal curse..."

"From Raktajino to Orion slave girls. Your mind is certainly wandering all over the place tonight," she said as she checked the controls for a moment. "Would you like me to eat some of that chocolate we got from DS 15 and dye my skin green, Tiger?"

"Might as well splice your DNA with that of a lizard while we're at it," Quinn joked. "It's been a hell of a day, but I'd certainly repeat it ten times before going through what we went through last year again. Besides... do you even have any of that chocolate left?"

"No, we don't," Kelly said. "As for splicing my DNA with anything, I'll pass. Looks like we have about half an hour left. Want to grab something to eat now or wait for alien cuisine?"

"I'm fine with waiting," Quinn said, returning to his forward station with a canister of coffee beans and a grinder. "If food there doesn't work out, then we've got a replicator for the way back. In the meantime... should we do a few things with the runabout? You know, to make sure that you have enough to report for your Section Nineteen Alpha?"

"Sounds good," she said before she programmed a series of complex maneuvers into the navigation, then took the runabout by the helm and began to execute them without warning him. Alerts went off immediately from the engines, the structural integrity field, and several others screaming about stress factors of what she was doing.

The inertial dampeners were also caught off guard. Quinn managed to catch the canister of coffee beans before it tipped over and popped the lid, but he failed to catch the coffee grinder. He held onto the canister tightly with one hand and then used the other to try and shift power to various systems. "This is a runabout!" he cried out. "Not a fighter!"

"It's fine," Kelly said as she slid from one side of her seat to the other, but her hands never left the console. "Some Engineer back wherever they made this thing put the alerts on so they could look like geniuses when they fixed the non-issues in 'record time'. I told you I already know the great Sandbagging Secret."

"Knowing isn't the same as assuming that it applies to everything," Quinn pointed out. "And some of those alerts are real." Tapping a couple buttons, he brought up a holographic display of the runabout schematics. "Looks like we've got some stress on the port nacelle, and the fusion reactor got a little jiggled. Probably some fresh welds will lock that down when we get back."

"Then the requirements for Section Nineteen Alpha subparagraph twelve have been met," she said satisfied and leveled the runabout out and resumed course for the station. "And of course it applies to everything or I wouldn't be flying."

Quinn chuckled at Kelly as he used his free hand to shift SIF power and frequencies to the necessary areas. "I'll run some level three diagnostics and collect them for the shuttlebay crew. And then... time to find the grinder."

"Check under the back of your chair," the petite pilot said. "I think I saw it fly somewhere. Station approaching in two minutes."

With the craft now stable, Quinn turned and looked under his chair. It wasn't there, nor was it anywhere near his station. He looked right and left, only to spot it against the wall under Kelly's station. "Excuse me," he said playfully as he crawled under her chair, knocking her feet out of the way.

"Hey! No catting around my ankles," Kelly chattered jokingly, referring to Gizmo's antics of going for their ankles at every opportunity, but specifically when their feet were under the blankets.

"If you say so." Quinn did, however, tug at her bootstraps, loosening them in one quick motion. He then grabbed the grinder and started to make his way out from under the console.

She reached down to give his ribs a playful poke when he came out. "I felt that, Tiger. Wait. Tiger. Cat. Crap! Bite my ankles while I'm sleeping and you'll find yourself sleeping alone."

"Ah!" he replied with a playful laugh. As he escaped the console and stood up, he added, "It's a good thing I don't eat ankles, even for a snack. No sleeping alone for me!"

"You win this time." she mock grumbled. "We're being hailed."

Quinn returned to his seat and set the grinder on the floor next to the canister of beans. "I feel like Jack coming to trade magic beans for a cow," he remarked.

"If you see a goose that lays eggs, grab it," Kelly said as she responded. "This Ensign Khan of the USS Zambezi, requesting clearance for docking."

The comm line was met with nothing but silence. Quinn glanced down at his controls to see if everything was all right with the transceiver, only to see a flag on the sensors. "We're being scanned," he calmly informed Kelly. "Nothing invasive."

"Yeah, buddy," she said as she made an adjustment to their flight path. "Scan away, friendly outpost. Scan away. Just let us dock and rock."

An alert sounded from Quinn's console. "The sensor sweep is consistent with Wadi technology and procedures. Probably a fair bet they're the ones in charge here."

"Should we turn around and nope out, or do you feel like moving along home?" Kelly asked him.

"Moving along home? Turning around and noping out? Aren't those the same thing?" Quinn shrugged. "We're just visitors. How bad can it be? But... you're the ranking officer here. Your call."

"One is sane, one isn't," she said as she waited for clearance from the outpost. "We can't go back now."

A new alert sounded, drawing Quinn's attention to the center keyboard. "Return signal coming through now." He tapped it to activate the transceiver.

"Vessel Zambezi, you are cleared for landing on pad four. Coordinates are being transmitted."

"Got them," Kelly said as she brought the runabout in a little faster than recommended and used the thrusters to do a reverse one hundred and eighty degree turn before docking smoothly. "Game time, Tiger!"

Quinn instinctively grabbed their wares and bartering beans as Kelly executed her maneuver. Thankfully this time he wouldn't have to go searching on the floor for anything, much less produce anything new from the replicator. "Game time? What was this? The practice round?"

"Pretty much, yeah," she said agreeably before doublechecking the seals were in tact and that the atmosphere was compatible with them. Finally, she gave a nod. "And away we go!"

After a combined sighed and chuckle, Quinn rose from his chair, tucked the wares in a satchel, and followed Kelly out of the starboard airlock. Outside, he used the control panel to securely lock the shuttle and programmed it to send them a message should its integrity be compromised. "After you, my vixen."

Kelly gave him a winning smile and exited the runabout and headed for what looked like the exit and glanced back at Quinn. "Don't drop those."

"Don't drop what?" Quinn replied with a grin as he followed her into the station. "So, what do we think this place will be like? Deep Space 15? Alpha Trios? Starbase 54?"

"All of the above, or none," she said as she looked around. It had a pretty similar layout to most stations, which she considered odd, but efficient. There were stores for supplies of every kind, aliens known and unknown walking in and out of them, and one large front had a lot of raucous people cheering, jeering and collecting bets over something. "I smell game," she said.

Quinn nodded, though Kelly couldn't see it. "Let's go check it out." His eyes instantly scanned the area, looking for anyone who could be considered sketchy. He didn't want to stand next to them with their limited wares. "Make sure to keep your badge secured," he added as he took his off, but slipped it around the other side of his shirt. He didn't trust anything in his pockets.

"Good idea," the petite brunette said as she plucked it off the front of her outfit and tucked it on an inside pocket. She reached for his free hand and gave a little squeeze, then sauntered to where the crowd was. She selected a member of a species she knew the Universal Translator worked for and got its attention. "Excuse me, what's the current game here?"

"Surchid," replied a three-eyed alien covered head-to-toe with pink pearlescent scales. "It is a variation of Chula with high stakes." It pointed to the crowd where a large board could be seen. "Three players compete to bring their chits home. The competitor with the most chits becomes Surchid."

Kelly looked at Quinn. "Whatcha think, Tiger? Up for a game?"

Quinn looked at the board and noticed its complicated nature, only to find himself wishing there was a domjat board or dabo table nearby instead. "Uh... sure..." he said, his voice trailing off as he noticed other games, ranging from holographics to cards, and even to something that bore a striking resemblance to human roulette.

She couldn't help but notice the hesitation in his voice and followed his gaze. "Maybe some cards to start and see how the big game goes?"

"Sure." Quinn turned to face her. "But we should find out if our coffee beans are worth anything, or if there's a latinum exchange around. One would think the Ferengi made it out this far by now."

"Good idea," Kelly agreed. "I should have thought of that first. C'mon. Follow the losers as they go to exchange more to play more."

"Or the winners who might be cashing out their winnings." Quinn scanned the room and spotted what appeared to be a cashier's station across the complex. "Let's start over there."

"By the Blessed Exchequer!" she exclaimed. "I think the drills today made me stupid. I swear, McCullen asked me to help him rescue me from the runabout today. It got worse from there."

Quinn chuckled. "It could have been worse. You could have had to rescue him from a runabout today. Or even the Captain." He started to walk over to the exchange station.

"Yeah, but you generally don't expect your department chief to ask you for help when he's trying to rescue you," Kelly said. "It makes me nervous. I already had one run in with him."

Quinn wasn't there, so he couldn't speak for Kelly's supervisor. He could, however, speak from his own experience. "We had an officer trapped behind a forcefield today, clinging to life thanks to a portable tank. Even still, we required him to have to do things in order to help him out of his prison."

They arrived at the exchange station which appeared to be mostly automated. Quinn tapped a few buttons on one of the consoles to see some familiar languages, including Ferengi and Orion. "Looks like the Alpha Quadrant's favorite friends have indeed made it out this far. Should've brought some of our latinum." Quinn reached into his bag and withdrew five strips that were inside. "I'll reimburse the ship's purse when we get back," he said and inserted them into a nearby slot.

The exchange station whirred and beeped, and popped up a dialog box, asking them if they wanted it on a single credit chip, or Wadi gaming chips, much akin to what humans carried in a casino. "What do you think?" he asked Kelly.

"Wadi," Kelly said immediately. "We can play once we get a feel for it. Or dive in head first. Whichever seems like a better idea when we get there."

"And worst case, I have to only replace what we've used. Best case, we'll have a currency we can't use anywhere else but here." Quinn entered the request into the station. A moment later, a door opened next to the interface with about two hundred chips of varying colors and denominations.

"Remind me to get half from stores to cover my part of the carnage," she said as she looked at the chips and began to divide them before she realized she hadn't put in anything for them. "Uh, here," she pushed them back to him.

Quinn had long ago accepted the fact that he was the carrier of things in this relationship. He accepted the tray of chips and looked around the room. "Well, between the two of us, you're the luckier one. What's up first?"

"Let's wade into Wadi," the tiny brunette suggested.

He led the way into the gaming center, through all of the various tables and machines. "How about this?" he said, gesturing to a table with four others, each holding six cards in the shape of hexagons.

"This looks like as good a place as any," Kelly said as she looked around the table and then down to see if there were any rules listed for the game on the table.

Sadly, there were no rules listed for them, but Quinn figured the game would be simple enough. Each of the hands featured cards with recognizable patterns. From what he could see of their hands, there were four different colors, and each of them featured different shapes, similar to circles, squares, and triangles. "Looks like it's some form of poker. Stud fashion."

"We're going to end up sold to the Orions," she said under her breath. "Let's do it!" she said brightly and stepped up to the table. "How much to be dealt in?"

"Ante is ten darlacs," said the Wadi dealer, looking up at the brunette. "Ah, humans. We haven't had any around here in a while. Ante is ten, raise limit per card is fifty, and no limit on the final card." The dealer collected the cards and began to shuffle. One of the other players, who had just lost his last chip, stood up and left, leaving behind two Paradan and a Rakhari.

Kelly looked at Quinn. "Twenty darlacs, Tiger," she said as she took the other players spot.

Quinn sat next to Kelly and set his satchel on the floor as he also deposited the chips on the table. He quickly divided them among him and Kelly, making sure that she had the majority and he enough to make a decent hand. He tossed one of her white chips and then one of his into the pot. "Done."

After a lot of Chula and Walk along home, Kelly was glad they had made it out and only wanted to get out. She looked a bit wild as she pressed against Quinn and eyed the table like it was going to bite her. "Let's make like shepherds and get the flock out of here," she said.

He smiled at her proximity and touch, grateful for something pleasant after losing all of his chips to the games. "Agreed," he said, reaching down to grab the bag. Except, he only grabbed air. "What?" he gasped, looking under the table. "It's gone."

"Wha..?" She looked confused, then followed where he was looking. "What monster would steal coffee?!" she exclaimed and looked around to see if anyone had the satchel.

"A monster who doesn't know he's stealing coffee," replied Quinn. He immediately rose from the table and started to visually scan the room. The satchel wasn't standard issue, but its khaki fabric was certainly unparalleled in the room and should be easy enough to spot.

Kelly grumbled and looked around, but didn't see it. "I hope they choke on a bean," she muttered. "Those were good beans, too!"

Quinn didn't reply, still looking around. "There!" he shouted, spotting a flash of khaki all the way across the room. The scaly alien carrying it was not one he recognized.

"I doubt they have security here," she said, but gave a shrug and started mentally reviewing her martial arts forms and what could take down something with scales. "Let's get him."

"We should split up," Quinn said. "You go left, I'll go right. We should be able to cut off the salamander before he or she can get out into the promenade."

"Got it," Kelly said as she searched for anything other than her combadge she could use as a potential weapon, then shrugged it off and started heading around the room from the left, casually looking over various games but keeping an eye on the scaly reptiloid.

The reptiloid didn't try to look back, or look anywhere that wasn't in front of it. That was the first rule of theft. Make it look like you belong and that nothing was wrong. It shifted the bag on its shoulder and kept walking.

She tapped her combadge. =^=Subject is on the move=^= she said, trying to sound authorative like she was Security. She closed the distance and looked over to where Quinn was.

"Copy." Quinn didn't say much else as he focused on the target. The reptiloid was almost to the exit now.

"Get it!" Kelly cried when the alien was almost free and charged. She didn't have a real plan, but she was reaching for the satchel as she closed the distance and getting ready to launch her right leg into the scaly side.

The sound surprised the alien, and it turned to see where it came from, only to see a small, hairy, pale-skinned woman charging for it. It hissed and turned to run, only to be broadsided by Quinn. The collision caused Quinn to fall and the reptile to merely stumble.

At the point, the petite brunette grabbed the satchel and gave a yank on it as hard as she could, then brought up her right leg and kicked the alien in the side.

The alien went down without a fight. It turned and hissed at the humans before scampering off into the crowd. The action caught the attention of several bystanders, all of whom looked at the humans. A moment later, they returned to their own business. Quinn got up and brushed off his clothes. "Well, between nearly being killed by a computer and a low-level thief, I think I've had enough action for one day."

"I agree with that completely and why are we still here?" Kelly said as she firmed up her grip on the satchel since no one reacted with alarm at the struggle and then seemed to have forgotten about it.

"Good question." Quinn gestured for her to follow him back to the docking port. "Let's get back to somewhere normal."

She didn't waste any time getting to him and checked him briefly before taking his hand with her free one. "Normal doesn't exist, but as long as it's away from here, I'll be happy."

He smiled, squeezing her hand lovingly. He planted a kiss on her cheek and started the trek back to the runabout. Despite the events of the day, he was certainly glad to be ending the day with his love.

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