Meeting With J'Hora

Posted on Jul 20, 2019 @ 6:17pm by Lieutenant Jasmine Yu
Edited on on Jul 20, 2019 @ 6:17pm

Mission: Last Days of Empire

“Meeting with J’hora”
(contd from ‘Party Favors’)

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Location: TX01-V A
SD: [2.19] 0720.0125
Scene: Marketplace -> Club


After leaving Yrglom’s Emporium, Lieutenant Jasmine Yu exhaled a huge sigh of relief – glad that their objective to get the invitation from the Yridian was met with success. She and Commander Jake Crichton were now making their way through the busy marketplace to the eastern section of the colony. Yu inhaled in a deep breath, thinking of how she and Jake had nearly walked into a trap. They were right to be cautious and thus came prepared for the ambush. It was obvious there was someone or a group who didn’t want them to meet J’hora.

“Now for the directions,” Jake murmured, turning the medallion back and forth. He pulled out his tricorder and hovered it over the item to translate the directions, where were written in Klingon. “Alright, Lieutenant, I’m forwarding the translated directions to your tricorder.”

“Understood.” Jasmine nodded, removing her tricorder from the belt and saw that she had already received the directions. “That ambush,” Yu brought up as they passed by a few more stalls with Crichton nearly bumping into an Efrosian. “Yrglom set us up at the behest of someone who, for some reason, doesn’t want us to see J’hora.”

“That was obvious.” The ExO shrugged. “It was a good thing we were prepared otherwise we’d have been dead.”

Jasmine glanced behind her shoulder and then forward. “So far, there doesn’t seem to be anyone following us or they may just be discreet.”

“Well, one thing I’m confident is that if they had sent a Gorn or Nausicaan henchman after us, then we’ll definitely know for sure.”

“True.” The Asian nodded. “Neither species are known for their discretion.” She took a quick glance around her surroundings, when she heard Jake’s comm badge chirp.

“Crichton here.”

[[What happened?]] It was Kane and there was concern in his voice. [[We lost your signal for a couple of minutes and when Lieutenant Byte tried to reach you both, all he got was static.]]

“We were checking out a lead that led us to this antiques shop, owned by an Yridian,” Jake replied. “Turns out it was an ambush.”

[[Ambush?]]

“Yes sir.” Jasmine nodded. “Apparently, it turns out someone is trying to prevent us from meeting J’hora and attempted to kill us.”

Crichton added, “He had signal scramblers set up around his shop to make sure we wouldn’t be able to contact the ship for assistance.”

[[Well, I am relieved to hear you made it out alive.]] They could hear the CO inhale in a deep breath. [[Did the Yridian offer up anything useful?]]

“He doesn’t have any information on the privateers,” Jake answered, careful not to mention Book’s name out loud or refer to the SATET in any shape or form just in case anyone was overhearing them. “But he did give us this invitation key to enter a private, exclusive club, where we were told by a bartender that it is a popular hangout spot for J’hora.”

[[Are you headed there now?]]

“Yes,” the ExO said.

[[We will be monitoring you from up here and Lieutenant Byte will be forwarding you a list of places and persons where the privateers may have stopped by for black market goods or any substantial information regarding their whereabouts,]] Kane informed. [[Phoenix out.]]

“Hopefully we won’t run into any trouble before reaching this club,” Jasmine muttered, taking another look around the area for anyone following them. She then froze, when an individual whose face was hidden under a grey hood, stood peeping out from an alley and when she blinked, the person had vanished in a flash. “Commander…”

“What is it, Lieutenant?” Noting her concerned expression, he frowned.

“Someone may be following us so I strongly recommend we pick up pace,” Jasmine urged.

“Understood.” Jake nodded and thus the two Starfleet officers stepped up their pace as they worked their way through the crowd.

Jasmine continued to move her gaze around for the person or persons who could be tailing them and needed to be prepared for possibly another ambush. They continued down the winding path in silence for the next twenty minutes. Yu raised an eyebrow, noticing the crowd thinning out as they ventured further east. Even the various shops and eateries seemed to be a little upscale. She observed there were no small kiosks or stalls, meaning customers didn’t come there to buy cheap products. Judging from the expensive attire adorned by the clientele, the Asian knew they had finally arrived in the eastern sector of the colony.

They turned left, entering a narrow alley, which was rather quiet with very few people around. The path through the alley made a slightly winding turn to the right, which led them towards the main pathway. As they exited the alley, Jasmine blinked, looking behind her shoulder and let out a sigh. There didn’t seem to be anyone following them but the young woman still had a rather uneasy feeling that she and Jake could be running into another trap.

“Shouldn’t be long,” Jake said. “It looks like we are getting close.”

Jasmine nodded, glancing at her tricorder. “Yes, just a few more blocks and we should be there.”

------------------------

TI: Ten minutes later


“So this is the place.” Jasmine raised an eyebrow, eyeing a large, worn out tent with skepticism. The wear and tear on the tent’s fabric indicated the place didn’t seem to be used for days, maybe even years. “Well, this does seem to be an ideal location for an exclusive club.”

“Let’s go inside.” Both Jake and Jasmine lifted the flap and entered the tent, which as expected, was empty except for a few broken pieces of bulkhead lying around. They began looking around for an entrance.

While Jasmine moved left, Jake went right and then a moment later, returned to the same spot. “Now, where is the entrance? There has to be a door somewhere.” She scanned the area with her tricorder, when she spotted a silver gleam at the back of the tent. “Wait, I see something.” The raven haired woman jogged towards the rear with the ExO following behind.

“What is it, Lieutenant?” He stopped beside her, raising his tricorder.

Jasmine reached out for the flap and pulled it aside to reveal a steel grey tritanium wall. “The door maybe.”

“One way to find out.” The ExO’s gaze moved upwards until it fixed on a small rectangular panel where a hole sat in its centre. “There.” He pointed at the hole and raised the medallion towards it.

“I guess that’s where we insert the key.” Jasmine furrowed her arm. “Wow, I didn’t expect it to be this easy and figured we’d be expected to say something like ‘open sesame’ in Klingon.”

Jake let out a chuckle. “Well, we may still have to.” He lifted the medallion and inserted it into the key hole and found it fit perfectly. “Now either this works or that Yridian tricked us.” They waited in tense silence, followed by a low rumbling as if engines were revving up and then the wall slid to the right to reveal an opening. “Looks like Yrglom didn’t trick us after all.” He waved at Yu. “Come on, Lieutenant.”

Jasmine inhaled in a deep breath, taking a quick glance around as she followed the ExO through the opening. The wall immediately slid back to its original position, making the same rumbling sound and suddenly the duo were standing in a dark passage, dimly lit by a reddish glow. They began moving and then went down a small flight of stairs. Upon reaching the bottom, they continued along the same passageway, when Yu’s ears picked up at the sound of music and loud chatter. Following the direction of the sound, they took a right turn and walked a few more feet till they reached another opening – the entrance to the club.

“This seems like an engine room of a starship, now converted to a club,” Jake commented as the pair stepped inside, finding the ambiance to be rather subdued, which one would expect from an upscale establishment. The music, playing in the background, was soft and mellow with a slow and melancholic tempo, containing no vocals. The club’s layout comprised of a bar with stools at one end and booths of various designs everywhere else.

Jasmine glanced around and observed the clientele to be wealthy or considered elite, judging from their expensive attire and apparently belonged to many different species. Some began looking in their direction and whispered. “I am guessing they aren’t used to seeing a lot of Starfleet officers here.”

“Let’s find us a booth.” They headed further inside, feeling the curious eyes on them until they found a booth at the far right corner of the room. They quickly slid inside and sat down on the seats opposite each other. The seats were covered in soft, red velvet cushions against hard black walls. “Now we wait for J’hora.”

A Bajoran waiter stopped by their table, a smile gracing his features. “Greetings, how may I be of assistance?”

“We are here to meet a Klingon woman, J’hora,” Jake answered. “I hear she frequents this establishment.”

The smile vanished, replace by a frown on the Bajoran’s face. “I see.” He glanced behind his shoulder. “Let me check something and will be right back.”

“We aren’t going anywhere,” the ExO quipped. He then sighed, leaning back on the wall.

Jasmine felt her heart and breathing rate increase, tightening her fists. The waiter seemed pleasant until Crichton mentioned the Klingon’s name and then it was like there was a drop in temperature. She began having an uneasy feeling – that Bajoran wasn’t too happy about them asking to meet J’hora.

The waiter returned, still sporting the frown. “Sorry but J’hora hasn’t arrived yet. I’ve been told she and her party will arrive sometime within the next half hour.”

“Thank you.” Jake nodded.

“What can I get for you both?” The waiter inquired before adding with a warning. “By the way, we do not permit loitering so unless you order something, then I will have to ask you to leave and considering your invitation is only valid for one visit, you may not be able to return again.”

Jasmine arched a brow. “Pardon me, but we were under the impression that the invitation was for life.”

“That is only reserved for a few elite members and we certainly don’t have anyone from Starfleet in that group.” the waiter sounded quite salty. “So will you order something or do I have to get you tossed out?”

“Alright, Aldeberan whiskey,” Jake replied, using a similar tone.

“And you?” The waiter turned to the security chief.

Jasmine pondered for a moment before grinning. “I’d like a glass of chocolate milkshake.”

“Milkshake?” The Bajoran’s expression was a mix of confusion and annoyance. “Ah yes, of course but that order will take a little longer.”

“I’m not leaving anytime soon.” Yu shrugged.

“You know, what,” Jake brought, grinning. “Change my order to hers.”

“Unusual orders.” The waiter scowled. “Fine. But you will need to wait a while.”

“No problem.” The ExO shrugged. They watched the Bajoran leave in a huff. “Well, so much for customer service,” he remarked dryly.

“This is one place I don’t plan on returning,” Yu said, sighing. For all the hoops required to go through to even obtain an invitation, in her view, this establishment didn’t seem worth it. “I’m getting the impression that Starfleet isn’t exactly welcome here.”

“It seems that way.” Crichton let out a sigh. “Let’s hope J’hora will arrive soon so we can get our information and be out of this place.”

Jasmine nodded, still feeling uneasy.

--------------
TI: 20 minutes later


A couple of minutes had passed since the waiter returned with their orders and Jasmine hadn’t yet touched the milkshake. “I don’t normally have milkshakes on a regular basis,” she said, not particularly to anyone. In fact, Yu recalled the only time she had milkshakes of different flavours, was when her friend, Lt. Commander Meera Song – currently chief engineer on the USS CAMELOT – had a rough day. So, in order to comfort her close friend, Jasmine had a milkshake with her, along with other fried snacks.

The music stopped and both officers sat up straight. Then a moment later, Klingon opera began blaring throughout the entire establishment. “Well, looks like she has arrived,” Jake announced.

Yu peeked out of the booth, tilting her head to the side and spotted a large entourage of Klingons marching across the room - all of them wearing armour with their weapons hanging off their backs and belts. She was unable to make out J’hora, who might have been likely surrounded by her band of warriors, seen making their way towards a raised dais at the other end of the room. Standing atop the dais was a large, half-circle booth with hard black walls and seats upholstered in red velvet cushions. “There she is,” Jasmine announced, watching the warriors part, permitting a Klingoness to step on the dais and then make her way to the centre of the booth. It was only when she sat down, the rest of the Klingons did so as well.

“Well,” Jake said, standing up. “Time to say hello.”

Jasmine followed suit. The pair made a bee line for the dais – apparently the only one in the club – passing by rows of booths, ignoring the attentions of the other patrons. At about five feet from the dais, two Klingon male warriors approached them and blocked their path.

“Where do you think you’re going, Starfleet?” One of the Klingons demanded, his hand hovering over the hilt of a daqtagh.

“We are here to see your mistress J’hora.”

“About what?” The Klingon snarled, not even budging an inch.

“We require information,” Jasmine said, sounding defiant and looking him straight in the eye.

“What kind of information…”

“Let them through,” came a deep female voice. At the command, the two Klingons stepped aside, allowing the Starfleet officers to move on.

As Jasmine and Jake stepped up on the dais, the Asian noticed J’hora had a lean build, packed with muscle like all Klingons and when she got up, the Klingoness stood nearly at the same height as the security chief. J’hora was adorned in a black and red ankle-length dress with black armour around her chest – both the dress and armour were made of leather. Her black hair with reddish brown highlights was let loose, reaching all the way down to the lower back. There was an authoritative and haughty air around the Klingon woman whose eyes radiated a sense of arrogance as they gazed on the Starfleet officers.

When she finally spoke, her voice was low and deep, filled with contempt. “Greetings, I am J’hora, founder of House J’hora – one of the many great houses in the Klingon Empire.”

“A pleasure to meet you, J’hora of House J’hora,” Jake responded politely. “Commander Jake Crichton and this is,” pointing at Yu, “Lieutenant Jasmine Yu. We are from…”

“You are from that large warship orbiting above this moon,” J’hora interjected, when a Risean waitress stopped by to place a couple of large jars filled with bloodwine and cups. “I am already well-aware of your presence.” She gestured at the empty chairs, added to the table. “Please have a seat.” As the duo sat down, opposite their Klingon hostess, the waitress placed cups down in front of them and began pouring blood wine into each cup. “Have some blood wine.”

“Thank you.” Jake nodded but neither of them touched their drinks. The same waitress then placed several plates filled with gagh, a Klingon delicacy made of worms. Each plate contained a different variety of gagh with some laced with spices or seasonings.

Jasmine swallowed a lump, having paled at the sight of the food – apparently served live and uncooked, which filled her with disgust. She inhaled in a deep breath and closed her eyes. But her reaction to the gagh wasn’t gone unnoticed by the Klingoness.

“Do you not like gagh?” J’hora fixed her gaze on the Asian woman.

“J’hora of House of J’hora,” Jasmine said politely, trying not to offend their hostess. “I am a vegetarian.”

“Oh a plant eater,” the Klingoness remarked, staring at her in disapproval. “So you don’t eat meat. A shame, no wonder you look so puny and weak.”

Yu bristled at the ‘puny’ and ‘weak’ comment but said nothing. Imagine J’hora’s reaction, when she ever found out the raven haired woman was capable of taking on Klingons in hand to hand combat. However, Jasmine wasn’t the type to boast.

“It’s just her preference,” Jake said using an acerbic tone, not pleased with J’hora’s remark about the security chief.

Another Klingon – a large burly male – chugged an entire jar of blood wine into his mouth and burst into laughter. “I have always found humans weak and small who break as easily as a twig.” The rest of the Klingon party joined him in a raucous laughter.

Crichton set his jaws. “Look, I’d love to join in your fun and all but we are short on time and need certain information that we believe you can provide.” At his harsh tone, the laughter died down and some of the Klingons sent him murderous looks like how dared he spoil their fun.

“Tell me something.” J’hora’s lips curled into a smile as she addressed the ExO. “Do you eat gagh or you not eat meat like your companion here?”

“I’d prefer my meat cooked.” Jake’s reply was sharp. “Now about the information.”

“Alright,” J’hora agreed. She then turned to the waitress. “Bring two plates of gagh but well-cooked and stewed for the two humans. Add Terran spices and seasonings to one plate and for the other plate, season the gagh with cinnamon and cover it with chocolate. I hear humans love this chocolate.”

“Understood.” The waitress nodded and left the area.

J’hora returned her attention to the Starfleet officers and her smile widened. “Perhaps you both will be willing to try the gagh now that it will be cooked to your tastes.”

Jasmine let out a sigh. **Chocolate covered strawberries is what comes to mind not gagh. **

“Tell me what is it you are looking for?”J’hora leaned back. “I must admit it intrigues me how two Starfleet officers jumped through all kinds of hoops to get to me, including surviving an assassination attempt in that Yridian’s shop. Oh and before you ask, I have eyes and ears all over this moon.”

“Well,” Crichton began. “We are looking for some privateers, described to be a human male who came here with a companion. These privateers are in possession of stolen Starfleet property and they were last sighted on this moon.”

“What kind of property did they steal from you?”

“A Starfleet vessel,” Yu replied. “It’s no longer active and was placed in a museum before the privateers stole it.”

“A ship. Must be worth a large fortune.” J’hora mused for a moment. “Describe these privateers.”

Jake quickly described Book’s features before adding, “We have however no clue who his companion was.”
“Did these individuals come see you for any reason?” Jasmine inquired.

J’hora nodded, a wicked smile forming at the corner of her mouth. “I remember now. Yes, this human man did come see me here at this very club and brought along his female companion – whom we found to be quite offensive.”

“What did he want from you?” Jake asked.

The Klingoness’ expression hardened. “Information is costly, Commander.” She sent him a cold stare. “What will you exchange for it?”

“What would you like?” Jake shrugged. “We can maybe offer Starfleet grade replicators but not anything that can generate weapons of any kind or…”

“I do not want any of these items,” J’hora cut in with a biting remark.

“Excuse me?” Crichton blinked, staring at her in disbelief.

“I require something that would please me immensely.” There was a gleam in her dark orbs.

“Like what?” Jake asked.

Jasmine set her jaws, not liking where this conversation was headed. If the Klingoness didn’t want replicators, then what did she want? And what if they couldn’t grant her request? The Asian began running through various escape plans in her head.

“By the way, don’t bother contacting your ship from here,” J’hora informed, narrowing her eyes. “The club has signal blockers set around its perimeter, preventing signals from being received or sent out.”

Well, that was expected. Jasmine sighed again, glancing around the area, looking for a way out in case the negotiations went south.

“What do you want from us?” Jake demanded.

“You have two options,” J’hora answered, pointing first at the food. “Either you both eat an entire plate of gagh of your choice or…” She shouted at one of the servers. “Change music to my favorite.” The music then changed to a much louder and more upbeat Klingon opera. “You can join us and sing.”

Jasmine’s gaze moved to the gagh and back forward, feeling the drumming of the music in her ears. She turned to the ExO. “Personally, I’ll take my chances with singing.” She didn’t know a single word of Klingon and was likely going to embarrass herself but it was a small price to pay.

Jake nodded before turning to their hostess. “Alright, we agree to sing with you.”

When the vocals began to first be heard in the opera, J’hora set off singing, her loud, deep voice reverberating across the room and soon the rest of the Klingons followed. At J’hora’s sharp look, the Starfleet officers finally joined in. Jasmine felt a tightening in her chest as she could listen to herself sing and bungle all the words. In fact, she didn’t even know what the opera was about and what she was actually singing. She wasn’t sure how Crichton was faring at it seemed the Klingons’ loud roars had drowned out everyone else’s voices. Jasmine didn’t even know if her ExO spoke or understood the Klingon language.

“Stop!” J’hora roared, giving the officers dark looks. The singing stopped and the music changed to something more low key. Then the Klingon woman’s eyes filled with amusement. “What did I just hear? Such bad Klingon.”

Jasmine swallowed a lump down her throat. She wasn’t sure if J’hora meant just her or both her and Jake. One of the other Klingons splashed an entire jar of wine in their direction, some of which landed on their uniforms.

“Alright.” Jake grit his teeth, picking up a cloth and wiping his uniform. “We did what you asked so now the information.”

J’hora took a few moments. “Very demanding, this human male. He and his companion wanted some information from me.”

“What kind of information?” Yu asked.

“He was looking to sell a priceless item worth a great fortune,” J’hora began. “Well, this man wanted information on a particular sector in space and whether it was safe to do some trading.”

“Where is this sector located?” Cricton inquired.

“Here’s the tricky part,” J’hora replied. “That sector is located in one of the regions under dispute between the Klingon Empire and the Orions. Hardly a place I recommend to conduct business but I now understand his interest in the region. He was interested in trading stolen Starfleet property.”

“Where are the privateers now? Are they still on this moon?” Jake asked.

“No, I’m afraid they had left a while back,” J’hora said.

“Do you know where they went next?” Jasmine questioned.

“Yes.” The Klingoness nodded. “In fact I can give you the coordinates of the sector, those privateers went to after leaving this moon.”

“That’s great.” Jake said, sounding a little pleased.

“Can you tell me more about his companion? And why you found her offensive?” Jasmine brought up. “And another thing, do you know why someone was trying to prevent us from meeting you?”

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NRPG: I will stop here with some questions :)


~*~
Ranjani S.
Writing for

Lieutenant Jasmine Yu
Chief of Security and Tactical
USS PHOENIX