by Ensign Hok
81104.0100
Hours After The Secret Mission
-=Conference Room One, USS Serendipity=-
81104.0100
Hours After The Secret Mission
-=Conference Room One, USS Serendipity=-
Commander Salvek had summoned the senior staff for a mission briefing, and Hok had been included.
Sitting and waiting for the briefing to begin, Hok tried to not look as nervous as he felt. Being a junior officer, he wasn't normally included in staff meetings. However, since Lieutenant February Grace was on medical leave, Hok was now the Acting Senior Flight Controller.
Watching the senior staff as they prepared for the meeting, Hok knew he had to do the best job possible. These people had served together for a long time, and they trusted each other with their lives. They had a rapport and a relationship of which he had no part. He knew they probably had reservations about him. Heck, maybe they didn't trust him. Either way, he knew he had to earn their trust and respect.
Hok began to think about what lay ahead. With the captain away for a while, and with everyone feeling happy about her marriage, it was the perfect time to get the poker games going on the ship. Taking advantage of the opportunity of being on Earth, Hok had contact with an old connection.
-=Flashback: Three Days Ago=-
Wearing civilian clothes, Hok entered a bar he had frequented many times, while attending Starfleet Academy; Rico's Roundup. Though located in San Francisco, the place was designed like an old Texas honky-tonk, replete with a small bandstand, a dance floor, and a mechanical bull. On any given night, the bar was filled with people, drinks flowing, music blaring, and an abundance of laughing and cheering, as people tried to keep from being hurled off the mechanical bull. It was no different this night.
Meandering through the raucous crowd, Hok made it to the bar.
"Hello, Rico."
Rico, tending bar, turned to face the person that had addressed him. He was a Human of Hispanic descent, with short, dark hair. In his forties, he was a large man, with muscular arms, but also a chubby belly. He sported a mustache and goatee.
"Hok, you old weasel! How have you been? I heard you were dead."
"It's good to see you, too, and why did you think I was dead?"
Rico glanced around furtively, and leaned close to Hok, whispering. "You know, because of who was after you."
Hok made a face and sighed. "No need to worry about that. I have a business proposition for you. Interested?"
"You know I'm always interested in that," said Rico. "What's the scam?"
"No scam," said Hok. "It's a legitimate deal."
Rico laughed.
"Really. It is."
"Pfft! I know you better than that, Hok."
"I have a thing going on board the starship I'm assigned to. I need a quantity of some of your best alcohol. The real stuff. I need it as soon as you can get it."
"You got latinum?"
"Of course." Hok didn't have any of his own, so Trick London had to front him the money.
"Then step into my office and we'll talk. Carlson, watch the bar."
-=End Flashback=-
Commander Salvek called the meeting to order and got directly to it. Hok made sure he sat up straight, kept eye contact with the XO, and listened carefully to every word. He was glad he had been allowed to be part of the briefing, as he was in awe of what they were being ordered to do.
The Hugreti!
Everyone knew about the Hugreti, whether from school or from stories told. An ancient and legendary race, now extinct, that was said to have incredible and wondrous technology. They were said to have created a great civilization that rose and died, long before any of the currently advanced races, had grown beyond wooden spears and stone axes.
The problem was, their home world had never been found. Only ruined cities or colonies, with scant technology. It was as though they somehow knew to hide it before they died out.
Only the symbols and markings thought to be their language, identified the places as having been Hugreti. They wouldn't even have been of anything more than a blip in history, if it wasn't for a few documents that were found on an archaeological dig that gave a small account of their history. It was every archaeologists dream, and every Ferengi's as well, to find something valuable that could be shown to be Hugreti.
It was a shame Hok was going to the place where the Hugreti box was found, Lethus IV, as a Starfleet officer and not as a Ferengi. The Great Material Continuum could be so unkind!
Ensign Hok
Acting Senior Flight Controller
USS Serendipity NCC-2012
Acting Senior Flight Controller
USS Serendipity NCC-2012