Happy Anniversary part 1

Posted on Thu Mar 14th, 2019 @ 11:22pm by Maria Garabaldi

2,399 words; about a 12 minute read

Mission: Episode 97 - Cultural Exchange
Location: Cardassia Prime
Timeline: MD 3 Morning

There were two days on the calender Maria dreaded. The first was her wedding anniversary, the day she stood in Our Lady of Mount Carmel, before the altar, before God and pledged her love, her life to her husband, in vows that had only changed slightly in hundreds of years, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, forsaking all others.

For her there was no other, that black haired dorky looking guy with the shy crooked smile, who when she first met, he threw mud at her dress and she punched him in the nose, she was 6, he was 8.

This day was worst because 4 years ago, she had watched as debris flew out from a ship, there wasn’t much she remembered, but when she did recall Dr. T’Mea, the Vulcan woman who had been responsible for prenatal care had green blood on her face. IT was later the woman admitted she had punched her when she tried to drag her off the bridge. It took a nerve pinch to stop her.

4 years since she had held him, since she felt her strong hand on her belly, remembering the smile when he felt the flutter of their son.

What should have been the happiest day of their lives, the birth of their son, she was there, with her mother, a doctor, and a baby to raise on her own, who looked so much like his father it was hard to look at him for the first few days.

It was a hard slog, plus, 4 years since she’d been intimate with someone, and it wasn’t just sex, though that was nice, it was the little moments, like coffee made just how you like it, breakfast your eggs just as you like it, or when she had horrible morning sickness, he knew exactly what she’d need from a backrub to ginger tea, to crackers, to even making a beef broth when that was all she could keep down.

She shuffled to the replicator and snarled at it until id disgorged coffee. The caffeine crawled in to her brain and began to fire neurons, she scratched at her flat stomach, and then headed in to start some breakfast.

Jaca had been out pretty much all night as the most Interesting trade opportunities happened once the trade district closed for the day. She’d lost count how many bars, cantinas, and dives she’d been through chatting with the most Interesting People. She stumbled into the quarters she’d been assigned to with Maria, a clear scent of alcohol entering the room before she did and still singing some song with the chorus of ‘Drinking Kanaar with Damaar!”

Maria turned and stared at her friend, “did you even sleep?” there was still that underlying, something ain’t right, but she wasn’t going let her friend deal with her depression.

The still kinda tipsy Djabuul floomped into a chair and let out a rather kanaar smelling burp, “No time for sleep, working on opportunities for the shop.”, she said as she handed over a padd. There were several agreements made with traders, one short recording of a very drunk Jaca holding a pair of Cardassian Voles and the three of them crooning/yowling together, and a few orders placed for any Hebitian artifacts from the Historical Society.

“First of all, do you still have the voles?” She paused reading over the artifact orders. “Wow. I feel like I should have come along. Helped out.”

Jaca had to concentrate to sober up enough to think, and still she checked her bags, “I think we parted ways down an alley near a power substation, not sure though”. She stretched and her joined cracklepopped, “Well, when you were heading back here, you had things in your head and since they’re still there, don’t worry.”

Maria sighed, “4 years you think it would get easier. But no. Still sucks.” She finished her coffee, “I thought I was getting better.”

Jaca knew she really wasn’t the best with this sort of thing since she was still a work in progress when it came to understanding the full gamut of death with the offworlders. The permanence aspect of it still unnerved her. If anything she wished she could work some of the Djabuul gifts of old to fix things. “What is it you keep telling me, it takes time. If I could unchoose it for you, I would but I can’t.”

That got a rueful chuckle, “Fair enough Jaca, but if I stay in I get mopey, then I hit the minibar and Starfleet ain’t expensing out our booze. So let’s hit the market or do you need to sleep it off?”

“Nah, made myself metabolize it out already.”, Jaca said, “I’m ready to keep on going.”

“Good lord should take you to spring break on Argelius some time.” She had a half smile at that.

“We should.”, Jaca grinned, “I might finally find out what happened to my work smock I lost there during festival.”

Maria grumbled at her crazy ass friend as she went off to shower, to tame her dark tendrils.
==

They were in the market looking at some, what were dubbed Federation antiques, but it was just the type of stuff you’d find on a colony, a broken tricorder, looked a generation or two behind what was current, some assorted material, she usually looked for personal effects, those she had a habit of returning, but nothing today. She did put in an order for an old Earth Bowie knife, those were usually popular with Marines finishing training, and originals sold for a good price.

Jaca was in full form bounding around the stalls in the market place, more than a few shifty looking individuals gave her an appreciative wave, and more than a few spouses pulled thier husbands aside when they waved at the Djabuul they’d been drinking with the night before.

Maria shook her head at her friend’s shameless silliness, but she went back to browsing shops, examining some old books to see what would sell, especially with “bounty of war” sometimes you could find something very good, like a copy of Sun Tzu or that American war historian Tom Clancy. They always sold for good money. But she was focused a bit on a copy of a tale involving the secret wars against the Russians.

Jaca was heading over to Maria when the men silently watching made their move. The plan had been to capture the Djabuul, but seeing she was with someone else who could draw attention, the spur of the moment decision was made to take her too and figure it out later. They moved swiftly as if born to stealth. One scooped up Jaca while the other hustled Maria into a side alley. Before Maria could say anything, she felt a hypospray to the arm and then darkness.

==

The room Maria woke up in was spartan. A simple cot with a small curtained off area for a toilet. There was a window out the door she could look out of where she could somewhat see Jaca talking with two stern looking Cardassian men.

Maria looked confused, a little scared to be honest, if they needed Jaca, they would keep her alive, but her, she was surplus, extra. She could identify them, and it would be easier to kill her. In one way, finally, she could be reunited, in another way, and what was worse, Roberto would lose his mother and his father, he’d probably go home to grandpa and grandma. Sorry dad, I know you thought you were done. But one more?

Looking around she could find nothing that could be broken off, nothing that could make a knife or a club or an axe, but if she had to, she’d beat a dude to death with a chair, if they were going to kill her, she’d make them earn it.

Time seemed to pass like an eternity, but a pair of voices could heard approaching the door, one clearly younger and the other not.

“Now now, you did what you could. I’ll talk to her, I’m sure she’ll be reasonable.”, said the older one.

The door opened to admit what had to be the oldest Cardassian on the planet. He hobbled along with his walker and once the door was closed again, he tapped the side of his walker which popped out a seat and he sat down. “I wish the circumstances were different, but a pleasure to meet you Lieutenant Garabaldi.”, he said looking every bit the kindly great-grandfather.

She stared at him, tactically kick the walker run like hell, the man looked to be ancient, but outside she hadn’t seen guards. “Where am I?”

“Don’t worry, you’re still on Cardassia.”, the old man smiled, “We didn’t mean for this to turn out as it has, but we didn’t know when we would have the chance to have someone of your colleague's skills here.”

“Jaca?” Maria looked puzzled, “her smithing, you could have hired for a commission, our prices are very reasonable.”

“Trust me, my dear. If we could have, we would have.”, the old man said with a sigh, “But this matter required some...delicacy. I do assure you we will be compensating you generously for the service she’s rather happily agreed to.” He paused to glance towards the door, “Such energy I don’t think I had when I was a much younger man.”

There was a pause, “Yeah, when she gets working…..like a dog with bone. “ She looked around, “So I just stay here? What if I get hungry or have to go to the bathroom?”

“Well, that depends on you.”, he said, “The work your colleague is doing for us, is a matter of some delicacy.”

“No one would believe me if I did, I don’t believe it myself.” She admitted, if it turned out they were going to harm Earth or the Federation she could go back on it, but they wouldn’t keep her alive if that was the case.

He looked at her as if he was seeing through her, then nodded. “Very good.”, he said, “We will have to secure you here overnight if it comes to it.”

Maria nodded, “Ok. I’ll be here, not going anywhere.”

He motioned to the door and it opened. “Just have a seat wherever.”, he said as he slowly eased himself up.

The larger room was mostly as spartan as the room Maria woke up in. The pungent smell of incense was enough to penetrate the most stuffed up of sinuses. There were two tables, one that had something on it covered in a large cloth, a couple of chairs, and the strangest setup Maria had ever seen. Five pylons arranged in a circle dominated, each seemed to be molten silver bubbling up with a pulsing gem atop. Jaca was inside the circle, contentedly working away on what looked like a large lacquered cabinet that could easily fit a man inside. Next to her with a recorder and doing his best to take notes as she worked was a young Cardassian man who looked a mix of nervous and courting a growing ulcer. The only sound in the room was Jaca who sounded like she was chanting.

The only thing Maria said was “What the hell?” Then she watched her friend work, it looked like a large anvil setup, not her forge like she had back in the shop. Jaca seemed like she had grown a few meters and filled the room more.

She sat down and watched the process almost entranced.

If Jaca noticed Maria, she gave no indication as she was focussed on pulling out a metal inlay from inside the cabinet. If it was possible, the metal looked diseased with weeping cysts. She put the metal on the anvil and continued to chant as she gestured over it. The metal flared as if red hot and she gestured again, this time making the sickness rip from it to sizzle into an inky ooze on the floor. “Krautjua-Aa.”, she said.

The note-taking Cardassian repeated what she said before it registered and another Cardassian hurried over with a large pot filled with a thick red liquid. She plunged the glowing metal inside, making it boil as the metal itself seemed to scream like a living being.

No one would believe her, No one would believe her, Maria said to herself, this wasn’t what she had seen Jaca make in her home forge but this was shit that would look like some dark wizard forging some portal to hell box that unleashed horrors thing. The only thing keeping her from shrieking like some chick in a horror film was, ‘if they think I’ll draw attention killing me would be easy, so she kept her damn mouth shut.

One evening after she was rescued, a counselor tried to comfort her by saying “oh God has a plan, this is all part of his plan. Maria wondered if God’s plan was to be a massive asshole. However, this was just….wow…..damn….she couldn’t even put words to what she was seeing.

Jaca heated up the metal again with a gesture, now hammering it flat. With the burning metal in hand, she walked back to the cabinet, chanting again as she replaced it. The cabinet seemed to groan in pain as she did so. Another gesture inside the cabinet and what looked like slivers of glass poured out, sounding like nails on a chalkboard. She grabbed what looked like a leather bladder and blew into one side, misting some fluid inside. Once that was done, she reached into her apron for a greasy looking candle. She blew on the wick to light it and set it to hover inside, with a word that sounded impossible for vocal chords to produce, the candle flared and Jaca closed the door fast. In what was seconds, she opened the door to show the candle had completely melted away. Nodding in satisfaction, she turned to the note-taker, “See, even the tiniest scratch in the Chains of Backwards Blessing is enough to start the whole infection going.”

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