Recon

Posted on Jul 30, 2018 @ 12:57pm by Lieutenant Jasmine Yu
Edited on on Jul 30, 2018 @ 12:57pm

Mission: The Trouble With Triticale

“Recon”

(Contd from ‘Flare Up’)

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Location: Port Emily, SHERMAN’S PLANET
SD: [2.18] 0730.0000
Scene: City hall ->Street-> River bank

After Jasmine Yu, Kass Thytos, Sheriff Edwards and Deputy Hobbs finished making plans for their recon mission on the Klingon landing parties, they decided on the sections, each team would visit. The foursome made their out of the city hall to the street, which wasn’t exactly empty with some of the townfolk standing around, watching them with anticipation. They then split with Yu and Hobbs heading in one direction and Thytos and Edwards in the other.

Hobbs mentioned, the duo crossing the road, “The North-west section shouldn’t be too far. At should take about fifteen to twenty minutes to get there.”

“Lead the way.” Jasmine nodded, when the two women’s path was blocked by some townsfolk, comprised of two middle-aged women and a teenage girl, likely a daughter or niece or maybe even a cousin. The Asian woman studied their facial expressions and their eyes were widened, displaying fear and anxiety – well who could really blame them. As far as the colonists were concerned, they were invaded by a hostile force, whose intentions were to steal their grain. While some of the townsfolk looked on with a feeling of helplessness, others burnt with rage at the thought of outsiders invading their home.

One of the women laid a hand on Hobbs’ wrist and spoke in a low voice, “Deputy, are the Klingons gonna kill us all?”

“We won’t let that happen,” Treena assured, her mouth curling into a weak smile.

“How?” The other woman asked, her voice dripping with anger. “What’re ya gonna do about it? Ya’ll just seem to do nothing while those animals run around takin over our planet.”

Hobbs sighed and attempted to reassure the women again. “Look, Sheriff and ah’re workin with Starfleet to deal with the situation. Please, for yer own safety, just go back to yer homes and stay in.”

“But we wanna help.” This time it was the teenager, her fists clenched and the glint in her eyes, showing her determination.

Treena let out a sigh, placing her hand on the young girl’s shoulder. “Look honey, the Klingons’re trained warriors. Ya’ll be no match for them and only end up gettin killed. Please, let us handle them. Okay?”

The girl nodded, though her face was marred by a scowl, indicating her disappointment of not being allowed to do anything. Grumbling, she turned around, followed by the older women as they moved quickly down the road, though whether they heeded the deputy’s advice was another story.

Hobbs turned to Jasmine and waved forward. “Come on, there’s a short cut along the river bank. At’s quiet there right now so we shouldn’t run into anyone.”

Jasmine nodded. “Lead the way.” The duo made their way to the edge of the road, where they began heading down a small hill, navigating around rocks with jagged peaks until they reached a narrow path, surrounded by the hill on one side and the river on the other. As they walked down the path, Yu took a moment to watch the water flowing, which seemed to be downriver and the current was quite strong. A beautiful sight, when her eyes darted to the various boats, in different sizes, docked – empty and lifeless. She turned to the deputy sheriff and asked in a casual tone, “Ever gone on boat rides?”

The other woman smiled and then released a light hearted laugh. “Yeah, many times. Pam, ya remember her? Mah partner.” At the Asian’s nod, she continued, “Well, since she works in shipping, she knows how to pilot a boat and we’ve often gone boat ridin in the evenin.”

“That must be fun,” Jasmine said, returning the smile. They walked in silence for a while and so far they hadn’t run into anyone. “Do you believe Sompek and the Governor broadcasting to the people will work?”

Treena sighed, pondering for a moment before responding with a shrug. “Ah don’t know, Jasmine. Ah hope they convinces everyone to stay put but Ah’m skeptical.”

“In what way?” Yu raised an eyebrow.

“Well, see Ah know mah people.” She let out a sigh of frustration. “And Ah know we’ll do anythin to defend our home and loved ones from enemies. They ain’t gonna let the Klingons invade us and steal our grain, even if they end up dyin in the process.”

Jasmine sighed. “Well, let’s hope it doesn’t get to that and somehow Sompek and the Governor will find a way to get your people to not engage the Klingons and stay in their homes.”

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Scene: River bank-> Silos
TI: A couple of minutes later

“Here,” Hobbs announced as they stopped at the bottom of the hill. “This should lead us to the silos.” The two women began making their ascent up the small hill, ensuring their footsteps wouldn’t be heard by a Klingon patrolling nearby. Jasmine held onto the surface of a rock to avoid sliding off as the ground beneath her feet was rather wet and slippery. When they reached the top, the path opened up into a small clearing, surrounded by trees on all sides. They walked further into the clearing and halted behind a set of trees. Jasmine held her breath as they creeped forward until their bodies pressed against the trunk. Yu peered through the narrow opening between the trees to find out what they were up against. She looked beyond a shallow sloop of greenery to another clearing and beyond that stood the silos and…the Klingon landing party, already busy at work.

“There they are,” Jasmine said, lowering her voice to a whisper. She spotted one of the Klingons placing a device on the wall of the silo. “Just as we suspected, they are here to place transporter tags on the remaining silos.”

“So they only wanna steal the grain and not invade us?”

“It looks that way.” Yu nodded, her attention fixed downwards at the Klingons. “Let’s wait here a little longer and see if anything else happens.” They waited in silence behind the trees with nothing but the sound of their breathing heard. Jasmine then bolted upright, when loud shouting in Klingon was heard and her eyes darted to the left. She heard Hobbs gasp.

“No, they’ve got hostages,” Treena said, a little louder than a whisper.

Jasmine didn’t say anything as her eyes fixed on a Klingon male dragging along two human males, who were yelling expletives at their captive. The warrior dropped the men on the ground in front of another Klingon male whom Yu deduced to be the leader of this particular group. A female Klingon arrived, carrying a rifle and pitchfork in her hands and dropped them on the ground with a look of disgust.

“Can we get closer to hear what they’re sayin?” Hobbs asked.

Jasmine nodded. “Alright.” The two women left their spot and crept to the woods on their right. Using the trees as cover, they headed down the slope and stopped at the bottom. They were only a few feet from one of the silos. They crouched behind the trees, listening intently to the conversation, unfolding between the Klingons.

“Ah know them,” Treena whispered. “They’re farmers.”

Farmers, who decided to take matters into their hands. Jasmine shook her head, frowning. She watched as the Klingon warrior addressed his superior, pointing his disrupter at the two colonists.

“I found these two coming out from the shed nearby,” he spoke, letting out a low growl and jabbing at one of the farmers’ arm. “They were carrying weapons. What should we do with them?”

The leader ordered, “Lock them up in the shed and once we have completed our task, we will release them unharmed.”

“Understood.” The Klingon grabbed the farmers by their shoulders and pulled them up to a standing position. One of the colonists yelled and kicked his captor in the shin. The Klingon roared, raising his hand to respond to the attack but stopped when his leader commanded.

“No, don’t. Just lock them so they will be out of our way.”

It was obvious from the Klingon warrior’s dark expression that he wasn’t pleased with the decision but he escorted the prisoners away without protest.

Jasmine whispered, glancing briefly at Hobbs, “Well, we can confirm the Klingons are only here for the grain and don’t plan on hurting anyone unless they get in their way.”

“But they’re still stealing our grain,” the other woman said in dismay. They spotted a female Klingon arriving on the scene, carrying a disrupter in her hand. The narrowing of her eyes showed she seemed rather annoyed over something.

“We should kill the prisoners,” the Klingoness suggested, sending a chill down Yu’s spine and judging from the deputy’s muscles tensing, Jasmine knew Hobbs was also getting more nervous about the situation.

The leader snapped at her. “No. Our orders are to obtain the grain and nothing more.”

“It would serve as a warning to Starfleet to not interfere,” she pressed on.

“You have your orders.” The leader’s stern voice silenced her. “Do not dare to disobey.”

Hobbs turned around to face Yu, the former’s eyes filled with concern. “Ah don’t like this Jasmine. Ah understand our order are just to observe and not engage them but that didn’t account for hostages.”

“They don’t intend to harm the farmers as far as the leader’s concerned,” Yu reminded, though deep down she shared the deputy’s concern for the farmers’ well-being. She wasn’t keen on the idea of just leaving them locked up at the Klingons’ mercy and wondered if they should find a way to rescue them without alerting the Klingons to their presence.

“Ah know the leader doesn’t wanna harm them but that Klingon woman,” she said, eyeing the Klingoness with trepidation. “She wasn’t happy about his order to not kill them. Think she might try somethin.”

“Hmmm.” She pondered for a moment. “I find it hard to believe a Klingon warrior would go against their superior’s orders…if they’re still the Klingons we know.” A rescue would be difficult with the just the two of them against a party of well-trained warriors and the Captain’s orders were to leave at the first sign of trouble, rather than risking their lives fighting the Klingons. A decision needed to be made, one she didn’t like. “We’ll leave and report our findings to the Captain.”

“But what about the hostages?”

Jasmine sighed, swallowing a lump down her throat. “We’ll have to leave them for now and then return with backup.”

“Alright.” She agreed with reluctance. The two women went back up the slope to the clearing behind the trees and began making their descent down to the river bank, when they heard shouting ahead of them. “No, this can’t be happening.”

Hobbs informed, sighing with exasperation, “There’s a mob ahead,heading our way.”

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~*~
Ranjani S.
Writing for

Lieutenant Jasmine Yu
Chief of Security and Tactical
USS PHOENIX