Slumber Party

Posted on 05 Jun 2025 @ 5:12am by Story Teller & Lieutenant Commander Camila Di Pasquale & Lieutenant JG Sunni Wallace & Ensign Ronin Tetnel & Crewman Nicholas Foy

2,462 words; about a 12 minute read

Mission: Cover of Darkness
Location: Town Square
Timeline: July 2, 2390 || 2100 hours

It was staggering how quickly two hundred colonists had been rounded up by Confederation forces. There might had been only a small handful that invaded the Carter family home, but it was clear that there was at least one armed gunman for every three colonists. That ratio was quickly being adjusted as transporters continued to deposit both troops and laborers into the city's town square. Richard's body, still smoking from the disruptor blast that killed him, had been hung at the center of the square to remind everyone that this new D'rimo meant business.

The skies were at least clear, so there was no danger of an overnight rain to sicken the colonists, especially since there was not a tent to cover a soul. Blankets had been provided, which means they were forcibly removed from homes just like the colonists were. Guards were posted at all corners with rifles and repeaters. As the Confederation planted their flag, they would guarantee that anyone who tried to oppose them would not survive.

But for the crew of the Flotsam, what would prevail? A survivor's instinct? Federation policy and training? Or would the mission remain true?

Nick waited with Camila and the rest of the crew. He looked up at Camila and whispered, "So, do we have a plan yet or are we still working on that? Cause, it looks like we might be outnumbered before too long."

"I think it's safe to say that we are. There's more of them out there that we can't see," Sunni said, taking a look around them before she turned her attention to Nick. "Escape doesn't seem like a good idea, but that means our only option may be to wait this out."

Ronin walked with them, glad they and the Flotsam hadn't been searched.

Camila's head was spinning and she was struggling to maintain her cover, but she took a moment before she responded to Sunni and Nick as they headed away from the others. "We need to stick together and you two need to stop volunteering," she told Foy and Wallace. "Not only did that give him leverage over us, it made me look bad as a freighter captain and he might decide to space me."

"I've encountered him before, but not in this universe," the Security Chief explained quietly. "When the Black Hawk-A took an unexpected trip to another universe. He had a bounty out for the Harvey Geisler of that universe and it applied to our Harvey as well when we went to their Razmena. The Confederation is in control over there and now they found a way here."

"Enlighten me again. Was this some alternate universe stuff that happened before I joined up?" Nick asked, looking out the window for a moment before looking back at Camila.

"That was before my time, but I have heard stories," Sunni said only loud enough that their small group could hear. "I honestly didn't believe that until now. Do you think D'rimo recognized you? Do you think the Commodore is in danger?" She didn't feel the need to ask about their safety. The answer to that was clear when a severed head was placed on the dinner table just moments before Richard Carter was killed.

"They're like a combination of Ferengi and Klingons," Camila said quietly. "All powers are driven by commerce and trade, and whoever has the best economic empire controls the fate of the quadrant. They travel in fleets of large vessels, each ship roughly twice the size of a Galaxy-Class starship. Much of the ship is rigged as a cargo hold, able to store large quantities of material and supplies at a time. The Dominion and Jem'Hadar do not exist over there and they hold the power in their quadrant."

"It sounds almost like the Ferengi met the Breen and Dominion and had an evil child," Nick said as he looked out the window once more, trying to gather more info about these new people coming down to the planet. He wanted to keep an eye on their new guests without too much unwanted attention.

"Maybe even worse than that," Sunni muttered as she took another look around their surroundings, mostly to see if anyone wasgoing to try to escape. "If this is the same D'rimo, how in the hell did he get here?"

"Well, we've seen something similar happen before with Major Kira and Dr. Bashir after they went through the wormhole once and ended up in the mirror universe. Maybe they used a similar technique?" Nick replied, thinking back to his Federation History course he took as an elective.

Camila could only shrug. "Considering how hard it was for us to make it back, I'm sure they didn't use the same technique, so you could be right. The important thing right now is finding out how and getting it back to the ship."

"And hope like hell no one else gets killed in the process," the young security officer muttered.

"Ain't that the truth! One thing that we should do before we do anything else is to make sure that the place isn't bugged for anything. Don't want anyone listening in on our conversation," Nick said as he looked around at the group once more.

Camila looked over to where the remaining Carters were, and tried to avoid looking where Richard's smoking corpse had been displayed. "What I'm worried about the most right now is what's going to happen to these people. They were just trying to survive out here." She sighed. "We need to go along with what D'rimo has in store until we can find a way to break away from him and his group."

Ronin nodded. "I've been collecting data, but until we get back to the Flotsam and secured, there's no chance I'll be able to analyze it."

"What about these people? We can't leave them to suffer whatever fate he has in store for them," Sunni said softly. "He has already proven that the lives of others mean very little to him. Once they're no longer useful, he may kill them."

"Well, whatever it is that we need to do. Lord only knows what sort of timeline we're looking at here," Nick replied, wanting to know what kind of data that Ronin had collected.

The disadvantage all of them had in the middle of the town square was that there were enough voices to be heard, even in low murmurs. Plus, with all of the movement of a couple hundred colonists, it would have been difficult for anyone to realize that someone was approaching unless a member of the group glanced behind them.

Camila took a moment to scan the area around them and tried to place where all the guards were without seeming obvious. "I wonder if we'll get water."

"Ask and you shall receive," said a voice familiar to only two of the Flotsam crew. Behind the team was the town's bartender approaching with a cart. "Our new warden hasn't refused food and water. Something about needing us healthy before working us to death."

Sunni turned toward the voice. "I suppose we should be thankful for small miracles."

"We don't have any bottles," Arendelle said, handing out cups of various weights and size. "I hope you all don't mind drawing from the cistern here." She gestured to a large cooking pot half-filled with the clear liquid.

Ronin turned and recognized the woman as well. "I apologize for not being able to keep my promise from earlier, but extenuating circumstances popped up," he said with a subtle nod towards their captors as he took a cup and headed for the cistern.

Camila nodded to the bartender. "Any fare is good fare these days."

"Thank you. How is everyone holding up?" Sunni asked as she accepted a cup. Like Ronin, she was sorry as well, and hoped to get them out of this situation alive.

"It's a nightmare that we're being forced to relive," said the bartender. "Just two years ago, we were all imprisoned, forced to work for the Syndicate. And here we are again, forced to work for another. A bunch of us are already regretting not going with the Federation when they rescued us the last time."

"I'm sorry that you guys have had to go through all of this," Nick said, taking one of the glasses and taking a drink of the clear liquid.

"There's a rumor going around that D'rimo's been replaced by a counterpart from a different dimension," the bartender suggested. "We've seen a lot of different things, but I never saw our D'rimo surrounded by so many disruptors."

They're not rumors, Sunni thought to herself. She would never say such a think out loud for fear others might try to rise against their current adversary, which would only result in more unnecessary death. That was something she didn't want on her conscience. Or to let the colonists know that they weren't exactly who they claimed to be. "What else has been going around as far as rumors go?"

"That's it so far," Arendelle stated. "Well, that and it doesn't look like someone's going to rescue us this time. Sorry you all picked a terrible time to visit." Without any further discussion, the woman bartender took her water and moved onto the next group of locals to share the resource.

"Don't mind her too much," a familiar voice said, coming up beside Camila. Her face now dimly illuminated by the moonlight, Emily's sullen eyes looked tired and defiant. "This lot can't help but to be a bit cynical these days."

"It's understandable with all that appears to be going on these days," Nick said, pointing to D'rimo and his dream team outside.

"I'm sorry for what happened to your father," Camila said. "This won't go untouched." She added quietly.

Emily chuckled at the human Captain's response. "Spoken like someone who doesn't want to go down without a fight. Not one for forced servitude, I take it?"

"I don't know anyone that would like forced servitude," Sunni said, speaking just loud enough that the small group could hear her. "But, I don't see these guys taking an uprising lightly."

Emily agreed, indicating so by nodding her head. "And I've got the sinking feeling that there are at least ten more disruptors for each one that we can see. But at least we have one thing that they don't, and we need to let them use it until we can figure out how to leverage it."

"I have the same feeling," Camila said. "This was well planned and thought out. We have to find out how and seal their way in and out."

Ronin nodded. "I'm surprised they didn't search us," he added very quietly.

“The rumor is that they’ll want us to load up for the first shipment tomorrow. It won’t be that much of a problem since we were working on that anyway,” Emily looked at Francesca as she revealed that information. “If they need you to haul, then their group can’t be that big. We just have to find out what we’re working with.”

"I just hate waiting sometimes. I just want to get to the bottom of everything to see how D'rimo got swapped out and what his end game is," Nick offered up quietly, staying a bit in the background.

"Neither do I," Sunni said. She had to wonder how many of the group wouldn't live to see another day if they rebelled. "Maybe we'll get lucky and find out more information."

"Sometimes the best luck happens while you're waiting," Emily said to the crew as she recalled an experience of her own in the past. She looked back to Francesca. "In the morning, as you prepare to leave, let them know that you need me. The mineral, while strong, has unstable qualities while being transported, and you need an expert to make sure it stays stable."

"I will," Camila said, eyeing Emily and wondering how far she could trust her.

Emily nodded, glad that she didn't have to present and argue a case. "Great. We should all be near the quarry in the morning, and make your case closer to departure. Catch them last minute and then there shouldn't be much resistance."

Nick thought of something while Emily and Francesca were talking. Closing the gap between him and them, so that pesky easedroppers couldn't listen in, Nick asked the group, "What if that's D'rimo's plan? Use the unstable part of the mineral to destroy our vessel to make a show of force? I know that I've messed up a bit over the last few days and I'm sorry for that. But, I think we should triple check it, like Emily said, to make sure that it hasn't been tampered with. If it has been, we'll need options."

Sunni looked toward Nick. Maybe he was on to something with that, and in this instance, it was better to be safe than sorry. "It's a good idea. We need to check on it as soon as we're able to without drawing much attention."

"If he was going to do that, he would have already done it," Camila said. "However, I plan on going over every inch of it when we get back to it."

Ronin knew that the Flotsam had been stripped of everything Federation and made to look like a pirate freighter, but there was still underlying technology that he didn't want falling into D'Rimo's hands or anyone else's. "It should be good, but checking won't hurt."

"The mineral itself is rare," Emily suggested. "There's only two that I know of in the Gamma Quadrant that I know about, and one of them is deep in Dominion territory. We're an easier target. Tomorrow at sunrise the work begins. The next time I see you, I'll be on your ship. Good luck." With that, she nodded and stepped away, moving in the direction of a father and small child who was whimpering in the night.

Nick was just ready to see get back to the Flotsam and give it a good once over. Even if it wasn't meant to go up into smoke, lord only knew what D'rimo had planned for them.

Sunni nodded her head, anxious to get back to their vessel where she felt they might be able to relax even if it would only be for a minute or two.

"See you then,." Camila said as she looked around. It was more depressing here than it had been at the other colony, but here, it was because of the sudden attack and murder of Carter. "Let's hope she's right."

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