Something Ventured, Something Gained

Posted on Sun 13th Jan, 2019 @ 1:42am by

1,403 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Oblivion
Location: Orchids & Jazz, Deck 600, Jade's Office
Timeline: MD 19, 1500

In her first assignment with Federation News, Caroline's nickname had been Bloodhound. She'd learned a lot of discretion in the years since then, but she still got excited when she was on the trail of a story. And if finding that plaque with Jade's name on it doesn't tell a story, then I have lost my news sense, she thought, walking into Orchids & Jazz with a wave toward Reon. She knew her way back to Lantz's office, and if the owner wasn't behind the bar at this hour, that's where she'd be.

Post looked around the dining room, seeing that it had scattered customers, and the loft was closed off for the moment. The lunch buffet had been cleared and put away, and one of the AI's was behind the bar. She didn't know them individually but called them the Cincinnati Six. No reason, she just liked the sound of it. Caroline waved at her, too, and went down the hall toward Jade's office, knocking before opening the door and poking her head inside. "Got a few?" she asked.

Since she liked the reporter, and since talking with her would put off the book work a little longer, Jade waved her in. "Sure, come on in. Anything I can get you? Did you have lunch?"

"In fact, I did. I had a little personal picnic down in the Gardens, and that's what led me here. I'm good, thanks." She dropped into the chair in front of the desk and held up her empty hands. "Lookie, lookie, nothing in my hands."

Somewhat bemused, Lantz agreed, "Looks clean from here. Why? What's up?"

Post leaned forward, crossing her arms on the edge of the desk front. "Something interesting happened while I was eating, and I wanted you to see that I am not recording anything. I'm checking this out off-record, but I'm sure there's a story, and I'm equally sure you don't want it public. I just want to know why."

"Ah, you're here as a reporter, not as my friend, you mean."

"No, that's not what I mean. I am here as your friend. Otherwise, I'd have my recorder on, and not be quite so up front about the fact that I have questions," Caroline said, seriously. "It's the reporter's instincts that made me question what I saw, though."

"You wouldn't happen to have been eating your lunch in the River View Park, would you? Perhaps in the wooded section?" Jade asked.

"As a matter of fact, I was," Caroline confirmed. "So you know about the plaque?"

With a sigh, the club owner nodded. "I know about it. I didn't want it, but I was overruled. So, ask your questions, and I'll do my best to answer them, but you are right. I don't really want anything published. Tivoli Gardens is thriving, and it's even more than I could ever have imagined."

"Well, the plaque says you created it. I quote, 'Thanks to Miss Jade Lantz, whose vision and foresight created Tivoli Gardens.' Now I was under the impression Disney created it. So what's the real story."

Jade thought for a minute, eyes downcast toward her lap. With a sigh, she finally spoke and looked Caroline in the eyes. "This is for your ears only. Promise me?"

Post used an index finger to mark an X on her heart. "Cross my heart."

Smiling, Lantz said, "I haven't seen anyone do that in years, but I'll trust it, because it's you. I didn't exactly create Tivoli Gardens. It really was Disney who came in and took over from the overworked Starfleet Engineers who were trying hard to build it. They were doing a heck of a job, too, but there weren't enough of them who could devote the hours required to make it happen. That's when Starfleet went over the Captain's head and brought in Disney."

"Captain Drake?" Caroline asked.

Jade shook her head. "No, the captain before him. When the base was first reopened, all the basic structure was here for what you know as the city today. Most of it was abandoned, even in the promenade. Embassies had gone home, entertainment had left, there were a few basics, but the times had hit the base hard, economically, during the years it wasn't run by us. Us being the Starfleet arm of the Federation. I wasn't here, of course, but I've heard about it and read about it. You, too, probably."

"First the Dominion War, and then Hobus exploding and the Klingons getting antsy?" Caroline asked. "Yeah. I've read all the news that made it out. The news offices were cleaned out when I arrived, so I had to go searching in the old databases to find anything. Pretty scary place, I think, out here on the edge of chaos."

"That's my take, too. It's no wonder no one came here who didn't have to. Without business, there wasn't much to do here. The Civil Defense people tried, but it was way beyond them, I think. Then the Federation came back. I was one of the first business people to show up, and maybe that's why we still have a strong loyal following among Starfleet personnel. We were better than the mess hall and the few other places around." She smiled, "Faint praise, indeed."

"Okay, so how did you move from Orchids & Jazz to becoming a creative force on the base?" Post prodded.

Shrugging her shoulders, Jade said, "I had a dream." Seeing the look on Caroline's face, she laughed. "No, I mean it, a real dream when I was asleep one night. I dreamed about a place, it was real, and it was in the past, but when I woke up, there was this idea in my head that we could bring it here, that we could make it happen again, even though this wasn't a planet. There were a lot of empty decks. There still are quite a few of them. I went to the captain and asked him if Starfleet would be interested in a way to attract tourists and even permanent residents, and he said he thought they would.

"Initially, he gave me three decks to plan, and then expanded it into five after I talked to the water reclamation people. So, I wouldn't say I created it. I had an initial idea, and then I talked to engineers about practical things, and to Starfleet officers about what they missed most from home and civilians about what they wished they could do with their families. It just kind of grew as a community project. I asked business leaders to join me in coming up with a plan. What we have today is so far outside that plan, I would never have imagined it. That's what Disney did."

There was silence in the office for a moment before Caroline broke it. "Do you ever resent it being taken away from you?"

Miss Lantz smiled gently at her. "No, not in the least. It wasn't taken away from me. I came up with an idea, and I couldn't build it myself. I had a lot of help from the beginning, but it was too much for the personnel here. Oh, we could eventually have built it all. The river and reclamation projects were about finished, and the condos. We'd already gotten a contract with Marriott for the Rock Falls Inn, and the fisheries and Zoo were on board.

"Honestly, though, it would have taken us many years to get where Disney got us in ... a little less than three years, I guess. It's still expanding, there's still room, but it's definitely a going concern. Military and business people both are starting to retire here. People are coming with families. SB109 is gaining a reputation as a good, safe place to live ... if these pirates don't blow that for us. And the entertainment has come back to the Promenade because there are enough people who want it and make it profitable, even for a Ferengi."

"Your perspective is interesting. I don't know that I could be so gracious. You really don't see it as your losing something, do you?" the reporter asked, marveling.

Lantz shook her head. "I didn't lose a thing. Look at all I gained, not the least of which is a lovely condo near a river ... with a bookstore close by."

 

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