Posted by Lieutenant Commander Maxwell Wynter (Chief Engineer / 2nd Officer) in Mundai Colony - A need to get away

Posted by Lieutenant Jasmine Wynter (Chief Medical Officer) in Mundai Colony - A need to get away

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Maxwell Wynter (Chief Engineer / 2nd Officer) in Mundai Colony - A need to get away

Original Post - https://www.star-fleet.com/core/stf1/manhattan/notes/43195/

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Somewhere on Mundai Prime
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Jasmine pulled off her surgical gloves and the mask down from her face. Approaching the glass that separated them Jasmine banged on it with her fist. “Hello,” she called out more than annoyed. Her head hurt and she felt like she was going to throw up. Whatever they gave her to knock her out was taking a long time to leave her body. She was in no shape to do surgery but the man was either going to die if she didn’t. “Is someone going to tell me what is going on,” she banged on the window hard enough to hurt her hand. Not getting an answer she moved to the cabinet that housed numerous bottles and tablets. Flipping through several of them she found what she needed and loaded a hypo. Depressing it to her neck, the pneumatic hiss of the medication being delivered was followed by the instant rush of it working. The nausea was vanishing along with the headache that had plagued her since she woke up.

“You can not stop stealing you filthy little whoman can you,” the Ferengi from earlier entered the room.

“What is going on,” she demanded slamming the hypo on the counter. “Is Lauren backing this,” she demanded waving her hands about. Jasmine had always felt Lauren’s mission in life was noble but her methods at times seemed a bit rogue. How she had gone from helping women and children with vaccinations and basic first aid to apparently running a hospital was more than Jasmine wanted to be involved in.

“Who is this Laur wren,” the Ferengi studied her intently. It was clear from his expression that the man was just as confused as she was in this second.

“You know what, forget it,” she waved her hand before running it through her hair. “Let me walk out of here and you can keep the meds and whatever else you are doing. I came here to drop off supplies. What you do with them is your own business.” There was no way Jasmine was going to let this end but he didn’t need to know that.

“Yes and you need to understand that whatever you use will result in longer to pay off your bill,” he said pulling out his PaDD. “That drug is seventy five credits and the other one is fifty so you owe me one hundred and twenty five credits,” he stated proudly. This deal was going to be lucrative. Once he added her food and lodging to the daily bill this doctor would never be able to buy her freedom.

“Bill me,” Jasmine looked at him shooting him a hostile glare. “I will give you my MasterCard if that will get me out of here.” The sickening twinge in her belly told Jasmine it was not going to be as easy as signing Mrs. Maxwell Wynter on a data chit to get home but Ferengi did do strange things for money.

“Oh we will but for now you need to get to work,” he grabbed her arm pulling her towards a door. As they journeyed down the hall, the building became less and less hospitable. The tiled floors blended to concrete stone and eventually slabs of solid surfaces. The wall of the hallways were much the same with the technology to light them and the control to operate the doors they passed moving like a time warp to less and less modern. Reaching a large metal door, all Jasmine could think was she was about to enter a bunker of some sort. The reality on the other side of the door was far more bleak than she could imagine.

As the thick heavy doors slid back with a clunk followed by a grinding sound as they traveled along a track of metal, her eyes opened wide as a prayer slipped from her mouth. The room on the other side was a warehouse complete with glass paneled ceilings and what looked like tin walls. Sickly yellow mute rays shone down on the floor giving the room a hazy glow that made you feel like you were in an abandoned place. The problem was that the warehouse was not empty or abandoned. Rows up rows of metal beds reminiscent of those used during Earth’s world I and II stood like soldiers lining up for deployment. People moved among the beds dressed in white. It looked like the triage tents from a war zone or natural disaster yet, nothing recent Jasmine had heard of would account for the scene before her.

Jasmine Wynter

The Ferengi, Rag, pushed Jasmine into the room and stepped through allowing the metal door to slide closed behind them. It closed with an audible click of a lock slamming into place. He stopped and looked around, then inhaled deeply. The warehouse had a strong medical odor to it, but not that of unwashed bodies or dirt. “Do you smell that, Hooman?” Rag asked her, then began to walk forwards among the beds.

“Bleacher and antiseptic,” Jasmine shot back sarcastically. She was scared but she was also getting tired of this game being played by the Ferengi. If they wanted her for ransom, they would not be showing her around the joint. If they wanted to kill her, they would never have woken her up. That meant whatever they wanted Jasmine for, she had some leverage.

“That smells like profit, a nice large profit that you are going to make for me. I know you don’t remember me but you owe me, Lootenant Jasmine Wynter. You owe me for a lot of money that you lost me, and now you are going to work it off.”

“Max gets paid every two weeks. He is lousy with the finances though. If I didn’t have him on an allowance I would own like three F-boxes so there was one in each room of our quarters. So depending on the cost we can take out payment plans,” she suggested. Jasmine was still on edge. The flippant tone was to hide how nervous she was. At least this guy was talking to her. When people started talking they started to give you information. Jasmine had to keep him talking. She might be safe but the other people here didn’t seem to have the luxury of the options she did. Thinking about what she saw on the warehouse floor a revelation occurred. There were no cells. In fact, the room seemed to be like one huge triage area. So if the people weren’t trying to get out or mulling about why were they just lying around on the beds.

“So hostage-taking must be lucrative based on all the people you have down in that warehouse. Tell me do you have like a coupon day or,” she left the words hanging in the air. She had no smart ass comment because she had no idea what was going on yet. This Ferengi was chatty boarding on boastful. People like this guy always would tell you what you wanted to know via evil villain monologue if you gave them enough time and incentive.

Rag stopped and looked at Jasmine, and grinned. It was an evil, lecherous grin but his eyes showed a malignant intelligence and confidence that he always got his way. “Why would you think I am holding these people here against their will?” Rag waved his hand over a bed beside him where a young and underfed looking woman lay looking at them, she had a drip connected to her and a bulge in her chest that the people either side of her did not have. She wasn’t human, Jasmine had never seen her species before and it was likely native to this quadrant of space.

“Oh my god,” Jasmine moved to the woman’s side taking her hand. “What are you doing to her? I swear when I get out of here I will,” she glared at him only long enough to make sure he knew how angry she was before turning her attention to the patient. Without any tricorder on her, Jasmine would have to do this old school. “I’m Doctor Wynter. Can you hear me,” Jasmine began to take her pulse. Lifting her eyelid with her free hand Jasmine looked at her pupils. They were dilated and fixed indicating she was under some form of anesthesia. “I am going to take care of you okay,” she said running a hand over the woman’s forehead and back in a gesture all associated with the touch of a mother or someone that cared for you. Looking at the woman for a long moment she wondered what was going on. The man she had treated was suffering from kidney failure. This woman seemed to not have any outward injury like phaser shot, stabbing, or puncture wound so the damage had to be internal. Moving the blanket from off her body, Jasmine didn’t see any bruising so where was the injury?

“They all signed contracts willingly, and they are free to leave at any time. Of course, if they do, they have to pay me out for the food, clothing, rent of the bed and medical procedures we have already done plus taxes and interest, but no one will stop them leaving. I am a businessman, Hooman, not a monster.”

“What did you do to her,” Jasmine stormed around the table. She no longer cared about what was going to happen to her. The reality was starting to set in. “What is this some some some sort of hospital?” None of this made sense but so far she had been asked to treat two individuals. One seemed to be in for some cosmetic procedure may be and the other needed a full-on organ transplant. “Hey I am talking to you,” she yelled at the Ferengi who seemed to be completely dismissing her. “Fine I will get my own answers,” she responded heading towards the door she entered. Touching the controls nothing happened. Slapping the frame hard with her hand she yelled out several things in the hope to grab someone’s attention but no one came. Thinking back to the Ferengi’s last sentence to her, Jasmine turned to face her captor. “What did you mean you are a businessman,” she started trying to piece together a vision of what was happening here. “Are you paying people to give up healthy organs,” she said. The idea was outlandish but this situation was out of the realm of normalcy. When he said nothing Jasmine stopped and stared at the Ferengi. “I am leaving. Try to stop me,” she announced for the fourth time in probably an hour. This was the first time she meant it even if she had to physically fight her way out.

Rag turned and kept walking, “No, you are most certainly not free to leave, you are not one of these fine, upstanding citizens. You are a liar and a cheat, a charlatan that owes me. Despite that, I will let you work off your debt. I decided that was a better use of you, and your skills, than just removing you from my ledger entirely.”

“What debt,” she yelled coming up behind him. “What are you talking about? I owe you nothing. You are a criminal. I will not help you. I will not do anything for you,” she ranted feeling a sickening knot forming in her stomach. This man wasn’t listening to her which meant she could not push him over the edge.

Rag reached a small desk and counter and pulled out a PaDD, notably, all communications out of the building from it were blocked. “This PaDD will tell you everything you need to know about these people, your job is to harvest the extra organs we have grown inside them, put them in the stasis containers and then my people will distribute them to the people I have waiting with the money to buy them.”

Jasmine recoiled hearing the words. Transplanting black market organs was bad enough but to harvest them and then sell for profit. This was the worst form of indentured servitude. This was not only ethically wrong but morally against everything Jasmine stood for as a person and a physician. She stepped back as if creating distance between the Ferengi and her would release her from this nightmare. Her head spun as the situation became clearer in her mind. “No,” she said finally finding words. “You…you don’t have to do this. The federation can replicate organs for free. I won’t help you,” she pushed the PaDD back as if it were hot to the touch. “If they die they die. That is not on me.” The venom in Jasmine’s voice was palpable. Doing this would destroy her. For a brief moment Jasmine understood Shan more than she ever had. While her juvenile records were sealed, Lauren told everyone she asked for an errand why she was asking them to help and what she had gone through. Lauren Shan’s story was tragic but not unique. Jasmine never realized however how someone could be faced with an impossible choice much like Lauren had been given.

“Don’t even think about trying to damage my goods, the last doctor I had tried that and ran up a debt he could never hope to pay off. Unfortunately, the Hooman anatomy is nothing like these Carcharias people from the planet Taurus in this quadrant. They have the ability to grow extra redundant organs inside them with the right medical kick starter, Hoomans, do not. He was removed from my ledger.” He pushed the PaDD into her hands and then waved at a man a short distance away who was taking the vitals of one of the patients, the man put the old clipboard he was holding onto a clip at the end of the bed, then approached them.

“This is Cade,” Rag introduced him, “He is a Carcharian, like them and will be assisting you. He knows what to do when you have harvested the organs, you can start with her,” he pointed to the woman they had paused beside earlier, “she is ready for harvesting, and Cade can inject her with the next growth hormone for the next organ and pay her for this one.”

“I can’t do this,” Jasmine moaned clenching her fists. “I can’t use these people as incubators or or or living factories,” she started to stutter feeling the walls closing in on her.

“Oh yes Hooman, you will do this. It is the only chance you have of getting out of here and paying off your debt if you want to see your Husband again. You didn’t even tell him where you were going, did you? Imagine how much he is going to worry and miss you, think you are gone, just left him perhaps. If I can make a suggestion, get to work. The faster you work and more you do, the faster you will pay off your debt. Just don’t eat more than you need to, food is expensive, you know.”

Rag started to walk away, and then turned back to her. “Don’t bother looking for an operating room. You don’t need one, do it there, on the bed. If we move them to an operating room it will take time and money, neither you or they can afford that. Do it right there, cut her open, take out the organs and sew her back up. See how efficient that is? Get to work whooman.” With that Rag turned and nodded at Cade, then didn’t look back as he walked down the aisle towards the exit, he didn’t look either side to the people in the beds either.

“Hi,” Cade said to Jasmine, and notably without a smile or any kind of friendly demeanor. “So I take it you are our new Doctor? Rag seems to like you, he hinted that you might be able to leave at some point without owing him your children for the next three generations.” The man was the same species as those around them, he was tall and looked much like a human, except his eyes were a solid gold with no Iris and it looked like he had gold stripes over his skin running in a pattern where they could be seen.

Lt Cmdr Wynter, CE

“What is this place,” she looked at Cade confused, “and are you a doctor?” Jasmine had so many questions but those were the first too.

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Spaceport on Mundai Prime
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“Greetings and salutations from Mundai Prime” a computerized voice greeted the passengers as they debarked the shuttle.

The customs area of the spaceport was nothing like the colony spaceport. The floors and walls glistened with white marble like brilliance. Colorful purple and gold flags hung from the ceiling displaying a strange symbol. The base image was a sword. Two halves of a circle wrapped around the blade from its hilt to just below the point. Around that was asemi circle on each side that seemed to wrap around the whole image like an open sheath. If one looked this symbol was everywhere. It was just most prominently displayed on the flags.

Large glass windows lined the wall giving you a spectacular view of the sky. Floating cities like this were rare in the Federation especially one of this size. Looking out to the right was a gleaming city like any other its size but to the left was nothing but sky and clouds. The sky was not blue as with most worlds. It was more of the soft yellow pink like one saw at sunset. The best way to describe the site was heaven-like.

The main room of the spaceport was filled with sculptures and other types of art giving it a museum like quality.

“We are pleased to have you among us. Please check in at the fort available kiosk so that we can make your stay here pleasant.” The voice paused for a few minutes before starting its speech again.

“Wow I don’t know if we should ask for an art guide or a cab,” Bob asked letting out a whistle. “If Jasmine was going to sneak out for a weekend without you at least she has good taste.”

“May I help you,” a soft and very feminine voice replied slightly behind and to the right of Max’s shoulder.

Seeing the man from the front brought a shy smile to the woman’s face. He was easily one of the most handsome men she had seen. His dirty blonde hair and ice blue eyes seemed to make you melt even when they weren’t looking at you that way. His.broad shoulders Hinted at a well built body under the layers of clothes Max was wearing. “My name is Ella. How may I serve…help,” she snapped out of her daydream like stare, “how may I help you? You look lost,” she quickly caught herself straying off topic.

Wynter. CMO