Good Ol’ fashioned baked beans

Posted on Sun 9th Mar, 2025 @ 11:49am by Exo-Comp EXQT & Renato Solis & Tannis 77-AE & Jaka Moorse & Kya Adtanis & Captain Gordon Francis & Commander Paul Graves PsyD & Chief Petty Officer Larry Kersenboom (Ret.) & Sundae & Mozatholm Zaldekulmu & Criswell Sandbags & Qaraq & Jaroth Dieklin & Gary Thirteen

2,237 words; about a 11 minute read

Mission: The Phoenix Gamble
Location: Brown Sector- Garden District
Tags:

-Start-

{CRC- Banquet Hall}

The Banquet Hall had only just been built. Lacquer on real wood was drying, the ribbons tied only seconds ago to adorn the brocaded entry. One large ribbon crossed the main entry, as anticipation built for the grand reveal. Brown Sector had already seen many feasts, parades, and more than a few “Festivale Babies” were born from the Bacchanalia thrown here.

“Welcome everyone!”

Kya had never been the one to cut the ribbon, but the Citizens Resource Center had been her idea. Renato had been the supportive partner she needed but the mayor of this little town was always destined to be her. Section B, Row 2- unit 21 was a large room meant once for oversize gear. They had built a bungalow capable of housing eighty. The pawn shop to their left, and the junk repair shop to their right had joined forces to become the procurement and maintenance wings of her charitable outreach. Food, friendly faces, legal aid, a simple space to call your own, was all refugees needed to get their bearings and get started over. Kya offered that and more.

“To see so many people here is a wonderful gift from a community already so giving!”

The CRC had grown to cover most of Row 2 and 3 in Section B. Renato’s office, vacant for nearly a year now stayed in honor of his one day return. The four thousand refugees on board all had a place to live, to receive mail, and make a plan under careful guidance. The Souk, a portion of Brown Sector once regarded as the equivalent to a Moroccan Ren Faire had merged with the Zodiac’s sprawl, to create a sector of shopping, commerce, entertainment and lively community.

“And thank you for our Starfleet hosts, who have invested into a project with their civilian population to uplift the needy among us. We stand in the proof of that very concept now.”

Kya stood proudly with her friends from Starfleet and the core group who had become her comrades in arms. She pronounced in full voice, to the hundreds listening in the crowds,

“The CRC has hosted many meals in the past, let this inaugural meal usher in the next era of community and wholesome feasting. Thank you all so much, please tour our facilities, see the new and improved Souk, ride the glass elevators up the Zodiac, enjoy our parades and dancers, they are all residents volunteering to offer their culture and cuisine. Go, Enjoy!”

Kya cut the ribbon, and the Banquet hall was open. Food from two quadrants spilled over the tables' edges once inside, a buffet to end all others.

"Wow, this is bigger than Thanksgiving," Ignatius Collins said to his wife, Purulence, as they filed into the line of other guests and entered the Community Resource Center.

"Oh, my God; I can feel the pounds coming back onto me even now," Purulence said with a faint moan. She took after her father, Pubert Addams, and had struggled with the need to lose weight all her life. "Just tie me to the mast and blindfold me, okay?"

Ignatius grinned. "Sorry--no mast here, my love; you'll just have to exercise good old-fashioned self-control."

"Self-control?! They have Ktarian chocolate puffs. I'm doomed!"

"Looks like a nice spread," Larry Kersenboom said behind her. He and the other Sludgebusters were clumped in a small group in line behind the Collinses. He sniffed the air. "I smell Trill sabrebeast and hasperat--which is a weird combination."

His friend Karen pointed to a tall, stainless steel pot that someone was ladling soup from. "Is that plomeek soup or some godawful Ferengi concoction?"

Larry leaned over and made a face. "It's got a whole bunch of greens floating around in it. I'm guessing plomeek. Yech."

"You never like vegetables," Karen said, rolling her eyes.

"You never chop them finely enough for me to not be able to taste them," Larry protested. He patted his stomach. "This is a sacred temple dedicated to Meat and Potatoes."

"Then you're in luck!" said someone with an odd-sounding voice, as if he were excited and ashamed at the same time. The voice belonged to Criswell Sandbags, the ever-present, never-seen-until-too-late secretary of Qaraq. Criswell's eyes were animated. "Qaraq is debuting his new gumbo from Orchids and Jazz, and it has plenty of meat and potatoes, among lots of Earth vegetables, spicy peppers and herbs, and a very spicy-hot tomato sauce rich in the finest seasoning you'll find on the station!"

"As you can see," Qaraq said behind Criswell, standing by a table stirring a steaming pot, "Mr. Sandbags has memorized Orchids and Jazz's new menu descriptions."

"Oh!" Criswell exclaimed. "I wrote them myself!"

"Criswell has a lot of restaurant experience," Qaraq boomed with pride over his protege. "He's been a great help at Orchids and Jazz!"

"I'll have to visit Orchids & Jazz and try out that gumbo," Larry said. "I love spicy peppers and hot sauce."

"Better you than me," Karen said. She looked at Qaraq. "Do you still serve Death By Chocolate there?""

TAG - Qaraq

BUMP QARAQ!






Meanwhile, just a hundred feet across the sprawling table, Lexy chased Haskin in a game with other kids, many of them refugees still in limbo. The laughter was appealing to all, a merry din around the table cast the whole affair in cheer. She saw Mozatholm, a boy just two years older than her and made sure he saw her, asking "You wanna be it?"

Mozatholm sighed. "No, I'm not. Find someone else to play with, Lexy."

Lexy tried not to look devastated but failed. She stuck out her tongue at him and ran after her little brother.

{Brown Sector- Garden District}

One deck down, Jaka Moorse had size issues, being the equivalent to a walking Mastodon. For this party he had chosen to inhabit the Garden District of Brown Sector, half a level of grass and dirt, open farmland and simulated sky. Over a hundred others walked the paths, some just to take in the smell of earth and living produce. They tried not to look at the elephant in a metal Tutu floating precariously over the fields but it was a sight. The space was vast, comprising five levels in total, interior deck plating removed with catwalks across to maintain foot traffic. The Zodiac now had a view of a field eight hundred acres wide. The simulated Earth environment was essentially a park, though Tivoli and Perry Gardens were the prettier, the farm aspect was a selling point to many who came here now.

There were even simulated environments and domes for training future colonists of developing worlds. A refugee looking to leave could always find a place in a new colony, and the work was hard. Training for it meant their candidates could succeed more and charge more for their labor, but Jaka had found his home here. His gravity belt let him hover, so he enjoyed buzzing the gardens' open acreage along with the insects that fertilized. This whole area had once been open-air ramshackle hovels built in a hurry by amateurs. Those structures had been rebuilt into a far more efficient living space, and the once littered and grim space was now experiencing a gorgeous sunset.

His trunk snatched a plump-looking watermelon as he floated over it, dipping ever so slightly as the device accommodated additional weight. It was delectably sweet and full of water, quenching thirst and a sweet tooth all at once.

On the deck, below Jaka, at least one person was not trying to pointedly avoid staring at him. "It's a floating elephant," Miranda Callas whispered to her friend, Menali. "Why is there a humongous floating elephant here?"

"Don't be rude," Menali whispered back. "I'm guessing he lives here."

"Not being rude, just pointing out the elephant in the room," Miranda said.

Menali glared at her and raised her eyes to the heavens. "You really went there?"

"The door was wide open!" Miranda said.

{Brown Sector- "Midnight" Neighborhood 2245 Section C to O}

The Varam on 2245, was an amazing strip of shops in Brown Sector, the incoming refugees who had means to shop or exchange for barter/credits could do so here. They comprised Deck 2245, sharing with a residential zone like a pinwheel around the station central hub designated by letters. Sections A and B, with a residential zone from C to O had a love for darker lights, and once sabotaged lights, but were eventually allowed to self-govern their residential zones. Historically, the station had allowed Brown Sector self governance, but the section M through S was where the criminal elements had found a place to exist unseen. Over 2500 people lived on 2245, and from M to S, buried farthest away from the Turbolift was this quaint community of ne'er-do-wells.

The secret amongst the locals was the bar known as Jolly's. If you wanted a well mixed drink and friendly staff, the Orchid and Jazz could seat you anytime. People who came to Jolly's were looking for something, or had that thing to sell, either way, everyone looked over their shoulder, because everyone knew they were there for no good.

Entaaro was new to the station, and in his scholar robes, very much looked the part of resident. The first level of the bar was a pool hall with card tables and dancing folks on the bars, but he stared ahead, figuring his opponent out through their eyes. They had checked their cards too many times, making sure the good ones were still there. However it occurred to him this was possibly a bluff. It also occurred to him he wasn't very good at Poker.

"Three of a kind!"

Entaaro felt immediate dismay, his two pair were face cards which gave him a false confidence. The small Ktarian raked in the winnings from the table and the Klingon bade farewell. He didnt need to look for something to do, once freed from the blood lust of gambling, he smelled the BBQ and felt the decisions made for him fall into line. He smelled wings, and cheese, and ranch dip. What was losing a credit stipend in a moneyless economy after all?

{CRC}

The opening of the new Community Resource Department was a success beyond all measure, but Kya knew there was one thing more she would have given anything to have. She so keenly missed Renato's presence that when the grand affair had begun to taper to a close she missed the flurry of children running to the door. Such bedlam had gone on all day, how was she to know the difference.

It was the breezed from the open door which caught her attention. Most folks walked through and kept walking, but someone was standing there.... getting mobbed by happy kids...

Her heart leapt in joy, could it be?

"Kya, this place is amazing look at what you have done here!"

Renato stood in his usual place, a bag of candy being ripped to finality by the gleeful monsters nipping away. He still had the look of a man put through the hard times, but his joy was apparent to be home. She had no words but simply ran to hug him.

He lifted her off the ground in a brotherly hug of love and embrace, before saying to her, "Hey freckles, I'd like you to meet-"

Kya knew her, and looked at the young woman one step behind him, "Celia, you are my sister too... Welcome this place is as much him as all of us."

Celia looked scared but resilient, a natural emotional state, "Thank you, Renato has told me so much about you, that you've been the family he needed. Thank you!"

Renato shook his head, "It's always been you Kya, I'm astounded... I was holding you back clearly."

Her stomach fell into a pit, her recent success might surely come across that way but how could he even think that? She blinked, "no, Captain Francis has been a, I mean it wasn't you leaving, I just had to...-"

Renato knew her well enough, "You didn't want to lose ground by being idle, so you kept the march going. Look at all of this, there had to be thousands of people here, and you're still sending food away. The CRC we built is a seed compared to this mighty tree you've grown."

She was happy to recount their mutual success, "We have storage rooms, classrooms, tech training, colonial registration drives- "

Celia added, "Killer lawn parties too."

Renato laughed a rich and genuine chuckle, "Speaking of, with such a long flight... I cant think of anything I'd like more than to sit with you and catch up over a pile of berry cobbler. Celia, I'm telling you..."

Kya waved to Lexy, who saw Renato and came running, she jumped into his arms and both Celia and Kya saw the wince in effort.

"Renato, it's time for some home cooking ok?"

As folks filtered through the outer wards, the internal most sanctum of the Community Resource Pavilion was still in the center. Formerly a bunk bed with a kitchen, it had started everything else. Within the halls was an office with a shingle out front.

For years folks of Brown Sector had come to trust the sign. The name wasn't as important as the message underneath,

"Renato's... Find Help Here."

-End-

 

RSS Feed