Another Fine Mess

Posted on Thu Feb 18th, 2016 @ 12:05am by James Holbridge
Edited on on Thu Feb 18th, 2016 @ 12:06am

RISA

It truly was a delightful place, and Jim had found a section of beach that was perfect. He found a comfortable position in the pristine white sand and sat down, adjusting his sunglasses as he did. It had been awhile since Jim had been on a beach as a single man, even though he still considered himself taken by his deceased wife. Still he knew that he needed some down time and had decided to be a lazy beach bum for a few days,

"I am truly sorry to disturb you again Mr. Holbridge," said a familiar nasal voice. Jim looked up and saw the bespectacled geeky face of Orion Paxx.

"I gave at the office! Go away!"

Paxx shook his head. Not until you have satisfactorily answered the question I asked you."

Jim lowered his sunglasses to stare at Paxx directly. "I told you 'no' before, dumbkopf, and it still holds! Get lost before I turn you inside out."

Paxx gestured into the air and two mountains of muscle appeared next to him. " I am afraid I must insist Mr. Holbridge. My employers greatly desire to meet with you......" Paxx stopped short as Sam Elliott lowered his book, a phaser pointing at one goon while Matt Collins covered the other.

Jim smiled evilly. "You're name is Paari Xal, and you are one of the last Bajorran collaborators wanted by the Council Of Vedeks for war crimes during the Cardassian Occupation of Bajor. Imagine the reward they will give me when I bring you in.."

"Paxx to Cir'Kena, activate confined transport now!" the smaller man shouted, and Jim found himselfnable to move. Moments later, he, Matt, and Sam were in three separate holding cells in what appeared to be a Cardassian prison transport. Paxx materialized next, along with a thin Cardassian with an eternal smirk on his grey face.

"Greetings, Holbridge, I am Gul Firona of the 6th Order. You and your compatriots are our guests for the time being." Turniing to Paxx, Firona smiled again. "Well done, Gul Paxx. Return to the bridge and take us to Cardassian space.

"At once!"

SEVERAL HOURS LATER:

Jim shook his head as he was slapped awake by Paxx. He was strapped to a chair, unable to move.After injecting him with a surgical nanoprobe, Paxx had taken vicious glee in causing Jim enormous amounts of pain. Jim howled, cursed, spat, even worked a fist loose once only to have a burly Cardassian guard strap it down again.

"Keep on yelling!" Paxx grinned evilly. "It does me good to hear you scream!"

"Nothing but a cowardly collaborator, eh Paxx?" Jim asked between gasps of pain.

"You call me a collaborator, human?" Paxx asked in a huff. "I call myself a patriot, a savior! Yes, I killed several hundred of my brethren, but I saved countless thousands because of my actions!"

"You butchered innocent women and children, non-combatants who couldn't fight back!" Jim spat a gob of blood and saliva at Paxx in contempt. "You trussed up prisoners weak from hunger and forced labor and made them do unspeakable things for scraps of food!"

"DON'T YOU JUDGE ME, HUMAN!!!" Paxx yelled, slapping Holbridge across his mouth hard enough to tilt the chair to the left. "Before the occupation I was a clerk for the local constabulary. I watched the endless parade of scum come through the halls of justice day after day. Some criminals came through three times in one day. When the Cardassians came, the asked me for the s of the worst criminals. I gave them 413 names and they rewarded me, a lowly clerk, by allowing me to mete out justice to them. I read about their crimes and punished each one accordingly! No lawyers bartering for lesser charges, no corrupt constables letting their friends go, just justice in her purest form, and I was her avatar." Paxx closed his eyes, savoring the memories. Big mistake.

During Paxx's harangue, Jim had worked his arms free and now lunged for the guard nearest Paxx. A solid left from Holbridge put the guard out, and Jim rolled to the right, grabbing the guard's phaser. Paxx squealed in terror and tried to activate the nano-probe, only to have the controls shot by Hobridge. A final blast from the wounded man free Matt Collins from his cell and Matt very quickly cold-cocked Paxx with a right hook, dropping him.

"Let's get you up, boss," Matt heaved the wounded Holbridge to his feet.

"Get over to the console and find the ship!"

"What ship?" Matt asked.

=/\= He means us, Matt!=/\= the voice of Maxim Kamarov said over the intercom.

"I should have known! Standing by for beamout."

"Negative," Jim said, wincing in pain. "I will stay aboard for now, but you and Sam need to get outta here. Max, I need you to get started on Plan B. Beam Matt and Sam up now!"

Matt started to protest, but the transporter cut off his angry curses. The door to the prison bay opened just as Matt and Sam vanished. Jim looked at the Cardassians and smiled. "I give up!" One Cardassian swung his rifle butt at Jim's head, knocking him unconscious.

SOME TIME LATER

Jim woke up with a thundering headache and a sore chest. He was all alone in a stark cell, a bunk and sink were the only comforts. Jim shuffled over to the sink and splashed some tepid water on his face. With Matt and Sam on the ship that had been secretly tailing Holbridge, Jim could gather some more intel before making his escape. This was what he did, and having his own private security company did have a few bennies.

The door to his cell opened and Paxx walked in. "Where are your two friends?" he demanded.

"They got invited to the Federation Presiden't house for high tea and had to pick out dresses." Jim dead-panned, then gasped in pain as Paxx activated the nanoprobe.

"Where are they?"Paxx demanded, not turning off the probe.

"In....your....Bajorran....ass!" Jim wheezed, then let out a pain-filled howl!

"That is enough!" a new voice shouted, causing Paxx to deactivate the probe.

"Who are you?" Paxx asked respectfully.

"I am Glin Vormak and I have come for the prisoner!" the round Cardassian said in a growling voice.

"I was just about to force him to tell me where his two friends vanished to when you came in, sir!"

"What two friends? There is only you and him, idiot!" Vormak shoved Paxx to the deck, taking the probe control from him. "Stupid Bajorran scum!"

Paxx jumped to his feet only to be backhanded by Vormak's fist upside his skull. The Bajorran collapsed in a heap.

"Beg pardon, fell, but I ain't going anywhere with you.."

"Hey, ugly human, remeber Plan B? This is it; now shut up!" Vormak, aka Max Kamarov tapped his hidden com-badge, "Kamarov to Dragon's Nest, beam us out!"

Jim soon found himself in an honest-to-goodness Federation Sickbay. "Where am I?" he asked weakly.

"Cardassian Outpost 65, this is a covert Starfleet duckblind..."

"Thanks for saving my ass. I can take it from here.." Jim smiled, only to be cut off by Kamarov.

"Nyet, Jim; we can't beam directly up to the ship without compromising this facility, and they are in a perfect place to shadow any force sent towards Federation space." Kamarov explained.

"How do we get out then?" Jim asked.

"Matt and Sam are working on that. In the meantime, we sit tight and try to figure out why Paxx wants you so badly." Kamarov had pulled the Cardassian prosthetics from his head, looking like a normal human again, save for the Cardassian battle armor.

"They want my shipbuilding operation, near as I can figure." Jim sighed, feeling the effects of the painkiller a corpsman had just given him. "What the hell is the 6th Order?" Jim asked aloud.

"The 6th Order is a new Cardassian Intelligence network that has sprung up in recent months. They always turn up days before a catastrophe or some killing, then vanish. The Cardassian government denies any knowledge of their existence," a nearby tech answered.

"That's some scary shit!" Jim exhaled in pain. "I don't like it at all."

"There have been dozens of Federation and other citizens that have disappeared in recent weeks, people with unique skills and skill-sets useful to intelligence work. You were on a list, Mr. Holbridge, but were unreachable in the Delta Quadrant."

"You need a vacation! It will be fun!" Jim said snidely. "How do I leave here?"

"Like I said, tovarisch, you need to rest. We can't go anywhere until Sam speaks with Ambassador Silok on Cardassia Prime. Also, I have a message from Starfleet Command, your reserve commission has been reactivated for the duration of our stay."

"Swell!" Jim grunted, closing his eyes.

**********************************************

Lt. Jim Holbridge
Wounded and Angry

&

Maxim Kamarov
Fake Cardassian