Good Decision, pt.2

Posted on 29 Nov 2022 @ 4:52pm by Moon-Young Chung

Mission: M3 - Into the Deep
Location: Sioux Falls, North America, Earth
Timeline: 2 weeks prior to MD01
1895 words - 3.8 OF Standard Post Measure

Dae-Jung, dragging a bulky, red and black hard-shell suitcase behind him, was desperately trying to match Moon’s pace as they raced into the Sioux Falls Spaceport from the shuttle pads outside. The huge building, a gleaming white-and-silver complex that looked like a layer of bubbles spreading out across the gently rolling Coteau de Prairies plateau, was one of the primary ports for North America. A hundred different species of people, all except the odd Andorian, bundled against the frigid temperatures milled around the doors waiting for their turn to board a shuttle.

Moon, barely breaking stride, weaved through the crowd; Dae-Jung, taking more care not to jostle and push, was a couple dozen yards behind her by the time he fell through the front doors into the interior, suitcase in toe. Stopping next to he took a deep breath, let go of the handle of the wheeled bag, and loosened his dark red scarf and brown overcoat. His daughter, had already stripped off her coat, revealing a loose-fitting turquoise, white, and black leisure wear outfit. With her free hand, she absent-mindedly checked that her raven black hair was still tied into its long ponytail.

Once his scarf fell loose around his neck, Dae-Jung took a moment to get his bearings. He’d never used Sioux Falls, normally opting for the spaceport outside Lille near Paris. Still this one was charming: the ceiling, a large holographic projection, swirled with what looked like blue, green, and white paint being manipulated by an invisible brush. Gleaming white floors embedded with long strips of white light stretched out before them, packed with people skirring to and fro.

“Gate 83,” Moon told him, looking over her shoulder. “Do you need me to get the bag?”

“No, I think – wait!”

Without waiting to listen to him explain that there were computerized self-propelled luggage carts available, Moon took off once more. Dae-Jung sighed, grabbed the handle of the suitcase, and followed.

It took nearly ten minutes of swift walking for them to arrive at the gate, ‘83’ emblazoned in large holographic numbers over the archway that led down a narrow tube. A short woman, hair snow white, but eyes a deep and vibrant green immediately caught sight of them. She waved, the billowing sleeve of her blood-red shirt falling nearly to her elbow.

“You made it,” Madeline de la Croix said as Moon and Dae-Jung approached. She gave Moon a quick hug and eyed Dae-Jung up and down. “So, this is the father.”

“Yeah, Madeline this is my father, Chung Dae-Jung. Dad this is –”

“Yes, I know,” he said as he smiled and shook her hand enthusiastically, “I saw you in the West End during your run as Alita and again in Paris in The Truth of Sainthood. Excellent performances, both times.”

“Thank you. Two of my favorites,” Madeline beamed. She enjoyed receiving praise. “So, Henri went to go talk to Captain Kalts. We should join them.”

For her age, Madeline turned out to be just as spry as his daughter, and again Dae-Jung found himself bringing up the rear as they walked down the long gate to the hatch that led onto the ship. He could see the ship, mottled brown and gray, through the transparent canopy that covered the walkway. It was shaped like an insect, with a large bulbous bow that tapered into a thin middle before expanding once more into a long, wide stern. Two nacelles jutted out like wings from the port and starboard sides of the middle, the big engines nearly a half again as long as the ship, and three protrusions that looked like squat mushrooms ringed the middle of the bow. Four black, round protrusions stuck ten or eleven feet out from the sides of the middle section.

Dae-Jung stopped walking and called out to Moon, who whirled around with confusion. Madeline stopped, too, a questioning look on her face.

“This is the ship?” Dae-Jung asked, skeptically.

“What’s wrong with it?” Madeline retorted. “Henri and I take this ship to Risa every year.”

“That’s Risa. Moon is taking it out to the Federation border next to a very unstable Romulan…well have your pick between the half dozen powers vying for supremacy. There are pirates, marauders, and mercenaries floating around out there. This thing doesn’t even look like it has any weapon systems.”

“Dad, we’ll be using a regular shipping lane. There are Starfleet patrols,” Moon said, as if she actually knew what any of it meant.

“You haven’t been off Earth since you were nine years old!”

“I was just on the moon last year,” she told him as if it was nothing more than a technicality.

Dae-Jung’s look swung between Madeline and Moon, anger growing. “Remind me again of the three of us who has more knowledge about the dangers of space? The person who was an ambassador to Cardassia or a costume designer and an actress?”

Madeline’s back straightened and she fixed Dae-Jung with a withering look, but he could see that it was due more pride than any indication that she believed him to be wrong. Moon, on the other hand, stared at her feet. Good. Maybe she was actually starting to think this through.

“Listen,” he said gently, “I know you want to do this grand romantic gesture in an attempt to start over with Maurice, but the more prudent move is to stay here. Your work is here. Have the conversations with him via holo-communicator and see if your relationship can move forward before embarking on this journey.”

Moon’s head shot up and a stubborn look Dae-Jung remembered well from her adolescence bloomed on her face, “Prudent isn’t what our relationship needs. Needed. It needed this. It needed him throwing caution to the wind and me doing the same thing. Now Rice did it. And the best part is, he didn’t do it to win me back or something stupid like that. So now I’m going to do it. What’s the worst thing that could happen?”

Dae-Jung began counting off on his fingers, “Space amoeba, a Crystalline Entity, causality loops –”

She groaned, “No, I meant to Rice and me. Worst case is that I get out there and we remain apart for good. Best case you get the son-in-law you always wanted. Well, I’m willing to take the chance.”

“Fine. Fine,” Dae-Jung began negotiating, “Then let me arrange transportation on a Starfleet ship. Yes, it’ll last a little longer –”

“Try three to five months. Starfleet isn’t a civilian transportation service. They’ll put her on a starship whenever they don’t have other priority cargo or passengers,” a new voice, firm in its knowledge, announced.

Dae-Jung turned toward the hatch and discovered a rather tall and imposing sallow-skinned Jelna Rigelian. He wore a loose-fitting sky-blue coat and tan pants, and his long black hair was strung with traditional Rigelian beads, clattering together as he walked. Two black triangular tattoos, mirrored on either side of his face, descended from his hairline to the corners of his mouth, which curved up in a friendly smile.

“Besides Federation starships aren’t exactly bastions of safety. Take the ibn Majid for instance.”

“The what?” Dae-Jung asked.

“Exactly. Madeline! It’s always a pleasure. Henri is just depositing that case in the safe.”

“Captain Kalts, thank you for swinging by Earth on short notice. This is my friend Chung Moon-Young and her father, Dae-Jung.” While Madeline’s introduction of Moon was full of emotional warmth, Dae-Jung’s was flat and lifeless.

“Malkis Kalts. A pleasure. And as luck would have it, we’d just delivered cargo to Vulcan, so stopping by Earth was no trouble. We’re actually bound for Nimbus. Loki Sector is on our way, so to speak.”
Dae-Jung face turned bright red. “No absolutely not. No,” he gestured to Kalts, “No one goes to Nimbus. Starfleet treads very carefully in that sector, so anyone who’s going there must be –”

“A smuggler, yes,” Kalts replied as if it was the most natural thing in the world. Dae-Jung’s face blanched and he was stunned into silence. “The good kind though. Nimbus is a strange world. It’s jointly run by the Federation, Klingons, and I suppose the Romulan Free State. But they don’t work well together and ever since the Star Empire broke apart it’s been even worse. So, my crew and I have taken it upon ourselves to interfere in a particularly nefarious local trade.”

“What local trade?” Moon asked knowing her father would want the information, but he was still trying to find the power of speech.

“Slavery,” Kalts replied, “I mean, nobody on Nimbus calls it that, but ‘a rose by any other name.’ We rescue slaves and take them somewhere where they can recover. Most of the time that’s Vulcan. Ironically, those pointy ears are fantastic at treating trauma. But greasing palms on Nimbus gets expensive, which is also why we take jobs transporting other cargo and the occasional passengers from time to time.”

Kalts took a step closer to Dae-Jung and rested a hand on his shoulder in a comforting gesture. The human’s face was slowly regaining its natural color. He couldn’t argue about the morality of smuggling people out of slavery.

“Because I know you’d ask, this is a defensive ship. The shields are top notch, even a Klingon battle cruiser would take twenty minutes to break them. By then we’d be long gone, because she’s a fast ship, very fast. We don’t fight, we run. That’s the rule. Weapons, as they are, are mostly there to distract,” Kalts said as he pointed to various points on the ship. Dae-Jung now understood the mushroom shapes to be the shield arrays, the pointed protrusions the weapon system.

“We know what we’re doing,” the ship’s captain told the father, “We really do. I served in Starfleet for ten years and my crew has lots of spacefaring experience.”

“How long have you been doing this?” Dae-Jung asked, slowly being worn down by the Rigelian, who did seem to know what he was talking about, and the growing look of confidence on his daughter’s face.

“A little over six years. We’ll get your daughter to Obsidian Command,” Kalts said.

“Good,” Madeline clapped her hands, declaring the conversation at an end. “Now that that’s all settled. I believe this is where we’ll say goodbye. Kalts has a schedule to keep and Moon has an adventure to start.”

Moon quickly gave Madeline a hug, mouthing ‘thank you,’ before turning to her father.

“I’ll be fine,” Moon said as she gave her father a hug.

“You better,” he said, squeezing her back. “Or your mother will kill me.”

Kalts reached out and took the suitcase from Dae-Jung. “Ms. Chung, welcome aboard the SS Erabaki Ona.”

Moon smiled, “I like that. What does it mean?”

“I like it, too. I bought the ship from a friend from the Basque II Colony. He named it in his language. It means ‘good decision,’” Kalts replied.

She chuckled and he turned around with a questioning look. “I think it might actually be this time.”