Looking for a Lock-Box

Posted on Wed 19th Oct, 2016 @ 4:10am by
Edited on on Wed 19th Oct, 2016 @ 4:12am

1,095 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Cloak & Dagger
Location: Signs of the Prophets, Deck 641
Timeline: MD 2, 1045
Tags: penremeryret

The entrance of Signs of the Prophets was located between two large windows behind which hung wind chimes, small, delicate bells, and wall hangings in shades of russet and gold, picked out in the circular Bajoran 'sunburst' design that was their representation of the Celestial Temple. A light fragrance of spicewood and ginger tea floated throughout the shop.

On the shelves and display tables inside were racks of books, small figurines of historical religious figures and the B'halan Bantaca spire, prayer rugs, jewelry, altar cloths, figurines of the ten Orbs, and meditation music. The books were surprisingly low-tech, a holdover from the days of the Occupation. In addition to the Bajoran items were aisles of merchandise for broader tastes, such as Vulcan mint candies--er, sore throat lozenges--Galadian chocolates, and a wide variety of teas and tea supplies. Comfortable chairs and benches were positioned in open spaces for readers, and a round table near the center of the shop held a dispenser of hot ginger tea and disposable cups.

The lights in Signs of the Prophets flickered again, and Penre Meryret glanced up at them with an anxious sigh. Many of the other merchants and restaurant owners she knew were complaining of similar or even more serious malfunctions. Shop replicators going offline, or producing linen when cotton was ordered from the fabricators, or dubious beverages coming from the food replicators in the bars.... Some of the restaurants had switched to using only natural food, which had to be harvested from vegetable gardens and orchards in Tivoli Gardens, which meant that prices in those establishments were increasing.

Thank the Prophets I at least have a good supply of real tea, Meryret thought. Food can be gone without, but tea--never!

She peeked behind the cashier's console to check on her shop's security system. To Meryret's relief, it was still functioning normally--for now. I need to move that scroll to a more secure location, she told herself.

The ChEng No, on a starbase, it's Chief of Ops ... I don't suppose I can call him ChOps! she grinned at the thought. At any rate, her boss sent Quinn's team down to the Promenade to investigate problems reported on decks 640 through 642. It seemed there was hardly any shop without some kind of issue, so she and her team were stopping at each shop on every deck, as a preventative measure.

"Signs of the Prophets," she murmured. "Sounds Bajoran." She walked inside and spied a nice-looking woman with the distinctive nose crinkles Jin-Kyung associated with Bajoran natives. Yep, right on.

"Excuse me, Ma'am," she said. "Are you having any unusual failures of systems ... smoke or odd smells lingering in your shop?"

Meryret blinked at the Operations Petty Officer. She'd been about to greet her as a new customer and quickly shifted mental gears. "No odd smells," she said, "though I do burn incense in here and brew ginger tea, so that might mask a faint odor. Primarily, what I'm noticing are the lights and sometimes the card-reader malfunctioning. It has intermittent failures, just like the lights--flickering on and off. It pretty much just means I have to run a customer's card twice or three times. The problems have been so widespread on the station that my customers are more patient with it than I am."

"Ah, yes, I can imagine people are starting to get frustrated," Quinn said, making a note on her PADD. "So things here are intermittent? Would you like me to take a look at any of your systems? We've managed to fix a few things today, but the root of the problem ... that's still under investigation. I'd say, though, that it is likely to take more time, rather than less, to figure this out and get everything functioning properly."

"Yes, please do," Meryret said and gestured the Ops crewman deeper into her shop.

She took a look around the shop and noted that there were some items that probably sold for many credits or a lot of gold-pressed latinum ... whatever it was that the rich of many cultures used these days. She personally didn't have a lot of experience with that. "How's your security system holding up? Looks like you have some tempting items here if someone wanted to take advantage of the failures." Jin-Kyung looked back at the owner curiously.

Meryret let out a breath. "So far, no problems," she said, "but yes, I am concerned. There are some items I'm thinking of packing up and putting away in storage. But really, is anywhere on this station secure, given how widespread the problems are?"

"That's an excellent question ... and one I'm glad not too many people are asking. Honestly, I think a good old-fashioned safe might be a better place than the ones we have that depend on the gel-packs and electron locks." Quinn frowned. "There's one possibility. Have you ever met that old guy, the head gardener? What's his name - funny old-fashioned name, anyway, I believe he's quite a throw-back kind of guy, with everything except his gardens. That area is all the latest tech. It seems to me, though, that I did see a large old time-lock safe in his green-house once. Might be the person to ask about security."

Meryret brightened. "Oh! That would work. I left Bajor when I was in my twenties, but I remember life during the Occupation; we learned to make do. So I'm comfortable with lower-tech things." She paused. "but perhaps that wouldn't be fair to the other merchants. I'm sure they would like to be able to lock up their things, as well. But I really...There is one thing in particular that I must lock up. The rest of it's insured; I could lose the rest if I had to, but not this one thing." She let out a breath. "I will go see Mr....Block, isn't it?--this afternoon. Thank you so much for suggesting this, Petty Officer...?"

"Quinn. Jin-Kyung Quinn. I'm glad I remembered. I grew up on a colony world, and we had our share of 'old-tech'. Sometimes it still works better ... or at least doesn't break down as often," Jin-Kyung laughed. "If you need anything, ask for me when you call Ops. I'll be happy to come back and check anything, fix it if I can."

"Thank you. You're welcome to come here at any time," Meryret said. "Would you care for some tea before you go?"

OFF

Jade Lantz
Owner, Orchids & Jazz

Penre Meryret
Owner, Signs of the Prophets

 

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