Making Your Opponents Sweat

Posted on Mon 25th Dec, 2017 @ 3:35pm by Lieutenant Commander Lanis Dhuro MD & Captain Gunnar

1,523 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: A Phaser as Deadly as a Candlestick
Location: Gymnasium near Marine Decks
Timeline: MD-4

His duty shift over for the day, with no evening meetings scheduled, Dhuro Lanis made his way to the gym he preferred to exercise in. A lot of Starfleet Marines exercised there, and Lanis liked it because there was none of the nonsense here that he would have seen in a civilian gym--no vid-screens, no audible music, no one trying to show off their newest exercise outfits or chatting at the health food bar. Here, there was no health food bar, and everyone came in to do the work of keeping their bodies fit. Once they were done they left, just as Lanis planned to.

He was halfway around his first lap of the running track when the group of boys came in. He frowned to himself. First, this wasn't the sort of gym where teen-aged boys usually came, unless they were trying to join the SFMC. Second, this group seemed...truculent. A couple of them got on treadmills and weight machines, but Lanis had the distinct impression that they were waiting for something. He kept an eye on them and continued running.

He had just begun his third lap when the Caitian (?) came in. Lanis remembered him from his intake physical--a big, tall felinoid. Very furry. A bit grumpy. Didn't care for the Chief Counselor much. Big surprise there, Lanis thought, amused. No one wants to meet with the Counselor unless they really are troubled.

Lanis waved briefly to Captain Gunnar as he jogged past.

'Another human wishing for small talk' Gunnar said rolling his eyes as he took off his shirt, and began running around the track. His eyes darting back and forth as his instincts took hold as he noticed the group of younger men who entered prior to his arrival, they didn't have tattoos or any other markings to identify themselves as marines. Outside of a neck tat which seemed familiar to him somehow but could not place it.

By Lanis' fourth lap, the second group of teen-aged boys entered. This is not looking good, Lanis thought, noticing how both groups surreptitiously eyed each other.

Gunnar looked on as the boys seemed to be going to work out themselves when suddenly a disagreement broke out and a fight ensued. Gunnar, who watched all this happen, rushed forward to prevent further violence if he could.

Lanis swore to himself as he saw the first blow land. He sighed and tapped his combadge. "Dhuro to Security. Fist fight in Monroe's Gym. Two groups of several youths each. We'll see if we can break it up, but it might be a good idea to send a couple of people over."

Gunnar, he saw, was wading in to break up the fight. Lanis hurried to the gym office for the first-aid kit and then grabbed a couple of the boys by their shirts and hauled them away from the melee.

"Sit down and cool down, if you know what's good for you," he snapped and turned to grab another pair.

"They stole our game PADDs, man!"

"You can tell us all about it in a minute," Lanis replied.

One of the young men took this chance to slug the thief in the jaw but impacted the large looking Caitain in the stomache instead which caused Gunnar to shrug off the blow, and growled as he grabbed the young man by his pony tail and growled loudly in his face (Hulk style), which caused the young man to try to get away but couldn't as he found himself being jerked back by his own hair, causing him to trip backwards to the ground.

"What is this about Game PADDs?" Gunnar asked.

"They stole our ball game strategies. We were to play them next week and they figure they would get a advantage over us if they knew what plays we were going to use. When we told them 'No' they became violent and tried to kill us. We are just trying to play fair and they wanted to kill us over a game that was meant to be fun, sir." The young man said.

"Bullshit!, that's a flat-out lie!. They're cheating, and we wanted to set them straight on what happens to cheaters!" came the pony-tailed human.

"Got a truth serum? More painful the better, doc?" Gunnar asked curiously, giving the doc a wink, as the two groups began to look very worried.

Lanis was about to answer in the negative until a thought struck him. He chuckled as he looked back at Gunnar. "I do. But you won't like it."

"Hmmmm, maybe they will like it? I hear some humans actually get off on pain, I wonder if this boy is like that?" Gunnar said as he was toying with his prey.

"Oh please don't." came a whimper from one of the boys in the group. "Yes yes yes, we were cheating, but please arrest us. No torture!" came the reply again.

"Shut up! They're Starfleet, they have rules against torture and the likec" came the reply from the older boy who looked like the leader.

"Are you sure on that?" came the gruff reply from Gunnar who crouched down as if to pounce on his prey. "I am not wearing their uniform, I can do as I please with you. Though your lucky, I will give you a choice, fight me in a trial by combat or the doctor here will give you the most painful truth serum he has." Gunnar said giving him the choice.

"LAWYER!" came the leader's voice.

Slightly taken aback as he mentioned a 'Lawyer' Gunnar looked back at the doctor curious what the meaning of this word was that it was so powerful in its meaning.

Lanis arched an eyebrow at Gunnar, knowing that, in or out of uniform, the felinoid would still be held responsible for what he did to other people. But hey, these youths didn't need to know that. And there was a saying by a Cardassian military philosopher that, if you could end a conflict without fighting, that was more efficient and less wasteful of soldiers than actual combat. Bajoran philosophers had a similar saying.

He gave the assembled youths a slow, considering look and then drawled, "Son, I have personally killed my share of Cardassians, and I assure you, I never let the presence or absence of lawyers stop me."

Gunnar could only assume 'Lawyer' was some sort of keyword for some defense but the young youth didnt even make a morsel to be eaten. "Trial by combat?. Is this what a Lawyer is?" Gunnar asked as he asked for clarification of the word?. "If thats the case I will be happy to kill you slow and painfully and maybe let you live to regret your actions in the present." Gunnar said as he grinned as he played with the youths limbs as he squirmed to get away.

"A lawyer is someone who defends you in a court of law," Lanis said under his breath to Gunnar. "I suppose you could say they do trial by combat, but their weapons are words, evidence, and emotional manipulation."

"Hmmmm, Evidence, pfft. I say we just put these two in a cement circle, with me in it and see how long they last. If they live they go free, if they don't, well it's another form of freedom. But this is your call, this is the era of LAWS! instead of down, dirty, brute force." Gunnar said giving a half smile, missing the old days."

Lanis shot Gunnar a glance, wondering just how far he intended to take their bit of play-acting. He looked at the youths. "Well, lads? Which is it to be? You settle your difference like men, or we settle them for you?"

The ringleader looked from Lanis to Gunnar. "We'll, uh, settle our own differences."

"No," Lanis said. "That's what you were trying to do here. We don't mean for you to simply find another place to pummel each other. We mean for you to resolve this now. Or we will resolve it for you. Clear?" He glanced at the one boy. "You're old enough to know better than to cheat. All cheating does is piss people off and make them think less of you for doing it." Lanis looked at the other boys. "You're all old enough to know better than to steal things. All that's going to do is land you in the brig and then get you mandatory sessions with the counselors, as well as criminal records. Who wants that?"

The boys all made faces.

"Yeah, that's what we think of counseling, too, for this sort of thing," Lanis said. "Don't store your game strategies on devices that can be stolen and hacked. Keep them up here," he said and tapped his forehead. "Force your opponents to do work to get your strategies. Force them to go to the LCARS; it'll make them worthier opponents. Besides, it's fun watching your opponents sweat."

Captain Gunnar
Marine CO

Lt. Dhuro Lanis, MD (NPC)
Chief of Surgery

 

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