Posted by Lieutenant Commander Faye Calloway (Chief Intelligence Officer) in Elsewhere- A Honeymoon

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Daggum Hammor (Chief Operations Officer) in Elsewhere- A Honeymoon

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Faye Calloway (Chief Intelligence Officer) in Elsewhere- A Honeymoon
Posted by… suppressed (2) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snip)

“My guess is that it’s been fifteen years since regular use based on the rust buildup. Rates of oxygenation and all that,” she said, letting her hand slip out of his. Moving off, Faye searched on the ground and after a moment stooped to pick up a tiny piece of metal.

Gazing at her husband, Faye studied Daggum at length before seeming to decide something and walking to the doors. Those dented doors chained to keep people out.

Crouching on one knee, she found the little lock partly hidden by the chain and studied it. Sticking the metal in, she used delicate motions to open it, slipped the lock off and tossed it and the metal pin to the side. Rising she gave Daggum the most loving look she could. You go in, or you don’t. And if you go in, you leave. All of your own accord. Your choice, Star Man. Either way, I’m with you.”

~Faye

Daggum took a breath and then said “In for a penny, in for a pound.” and then he grinned. “Another Paul-ism. No idea where he gets them from.” and he moved forward and pushed the doors open. Inside was dark, and there was no movement to be seen or sensed. Wordlessly, Daggum led them forward and soon they walked onto an abandoned promenade that was open to the sky. “This place was wall to wall vendors. Food, drink, fight memorabilia… anything, really. Black market operated pretty freely here.” He looked up and pointed to a row of broken windows a few stories above them. “Thats where the bookies and the fight managers would work. Place your bets, buy or sell a fighter.” and he shook his head. They wandered through the space, littered with trash and pools of standing water for a few quiet minutes. Once they were on the far side of the promenade, they came to a set of metal double doors. Daggum stopped and stared for a moment before walking up to them and pulling on one. It didn’t move, but gave a slight squeak. Daggum’s jaw clenched and he put both hands on the large handle and yanked it back, the door flying open and screaming in protest. As the door opened, old lights lining a flight of stairs going down and turning slightly left came on. Daggum stared down the stairs for a long time. Finally, he reached back and took Faye’s hand and led her down without a word.

She squeezed his hand and followed, breathing deeply so she could be the support he needed her to be. Faye was taking in all the details, just as he had when they had been at Kodell’s. And a part of her wanted to prove to herself she could handle it, whatever was thrown her way.

The stairs spiraled down for a long time, finally opening into a hallway that stretched off to either side. The walls were bars… and everywhere that the dim illumination showed were cages. They were in various sizes, ranging from very large to very small in no particular order. Rusted drains in the floor of each and stained rock were all that seemed to be in the cells. “This is where we lived.” Daggum said softly.

Daggum

Eyes tracing the cages, Faye hands flew to her pendant, opening it but it didn’t quite work fast enough…

Cam was gazing down at her, terror in his light brown eyes.

Pushing herself to a sitting position, her earlier guess about the Orion woman and her crew was reframed into a much clearer light.

Around them were people packed into what she could only describe as a cage. Around them, similar cages held all sorts of beings, many of whom were yelling or screaming. Some rather burly looking Orions patrolled the aisles between the cages with disruptor rifles that Faye had no doubt lacked a stun setting. While not dark, the light was dim and the smell was rather noxious. Then again so many stressed bodies in one cavernous space were bound to create a stench.

“What are we going to do?” Cam said, crouching beside her.
“Stay calm, for one,” Faye said, taking in too many details to process at the moment but ones she knew might be vital later if they wanted to survive.
“Well your father was definitely right. We have to keep our identity a secret.”
Faye shook her head. “Too late. They already know, Cam.”

Daggum had felt her grasp loosen and he looked back and saw her eyes glassy and distant. He didn’t speak, just turned to her and took her other hand and looked at her.

The scene shifted slightly as the smell permeated her mind and suddenly her mind slipped back to the present. She wasn’t gone long, but still it bothered her. But Faye was honestly just surprised it hadn’t happened yet. “I’m so sorry,” she whispered as her eyes took in the setting again. “I’m glad he got you out of here,” she said, referring to Paul.

~Faye

Daggum didn’t reply for a moment, he just asked “Are you ok?”

“Yeah,” she said idly. Okay was relative and here right now her being present again was as sure as she was going to get.

Turning his attention back to the prison… because that’s what it was… he said “Paul got me out of Orion. I got me out of here. C’mon… I’ll show you.”

He led her around the place until they came to a section where the cages were larger than the rest. These cages had the remains of cots and various bits of detritus that could have been primitive utensils or such. These dozen or so cages were also set on either side of a large ramp that led up and into darkness.

Her hand tightened around his and Faye took audible deep breaths as she gazed up the ramp.

“This is where the prized fighters were kept. We’d eat, sleep, and exercise in the cages. They’d take us out for training or-” and he pointed up the ramp, “- up the ramp to the Pit for a fight.” He led her to the left of the ramp and pointed at a cage. “That was mine.” He looked at the cage for a long time, and then slowly turned and looked at one of the stine pillars near it. He ran his fingers down it, and then froze for a moment. “Here.” and he indicated a spot where the stone had been broken away. “Thats where I smashed the Keeper’s head into the pillar. Killed him. Took his keys and opened every door in this place. They caught most of us, but I got out. Paul found me a few years later. Thats when my real life started.” He looked around and slowly shook his head.

“This… all of this… this was just the nightmare before I woke up.”

Daggum

Bile touched the back of her throat as her stomach churned. But Faye fought the sensation. Not here, not now. What she also wanted to do was cry, and cry hard. Her her, for him, for the others. She wanted to say something, but there were no words as she stood there. This was different than his holodeck program. This was the visceral reality.

“I’m glad you did,” she finally whispered. “Because I have you with me, even if this place makes me want to vomit.”

~Faye

Daggum chuckled and said “You would certainly not be the first.” It was then that a tentative voice was heard from the direction of the stairs. It spoke Orion, and it seemed… hesitant.

“Hello? Whose there? You aren’t allowed in here, you know! Come on out where I can see you! Um… please.” Daggum looked at Faye and shrugged and started leading her, slowly, towards the voice.

“Uh, hi! Sorry! Didn’t think anyone was around! Just looking, we aren’t taking anything.” Daggum called out. They stepped into the light near the stairs and saw an elderly Orion male. White, bushy eyebrows and wrinkled skin showed many years, and he moved with a distinct limp.

“Nothin’ to take. Place’s been closed for… what… a decade now? Two? I dunno. Now come here so I can see who… whoa. You’re a biggun, ain’t ya?” he said as his eyes fell on Hammor. Daggum shrugged and said “Yeah, that’s what they say. Again, apologies. Didnt mean to intrude.” The figure held up a hand and said “Yeah yeah, whatever. You aren’t kids looking for a creepy place to do it. And you aren’t gladiator groupies looking for old mementos… so what are you doing here? And down here of all places? Nobody cones down here. Haven’t in years.”

Daggum looked at Faye and took a breath. “Just… spent a lot of time here as kid… watching the fights and stuff. Been gone for a while, thought I’d revist it. Didnt know it had… had…” “Gone to shit?” the old Orion said and cackled. “Yeah. This used ta be the premier gladiatorial arena and trying college anywhere, did you know that? Yessir… only the best were here. And we had everything. Man versus man, man versus beast, team death matches… all of it. Every night, every single night, this place was filled from the toilets to the penthouses. We’d have twenty, thirty-six matches a night, yessir. And the money flowed like water.” Daggum looked around and then at the man. “So what happened?”

The man spit and said “Aw, most will it was when they started building new arenas, stat of the art monstrosities that had holographic interfaces and automated deth traps in the Pits. Gods-be-damned garbage is what they are. Places like this… the schools that had existed for hundreds of years? Just kinda faded away. Me? I think it was before that. It was the Break Out that started it. One of the fighters up and killed the Caretaker, tried to make the others run. After that? The fighters were never manageable again. Spent more time stopping the escapes than we did training. That meant the quality if fighters dropped. Matches got ugly and lopsided and boring. Peolle stopped coming. Last fight here was… oh.. fifteen years ago?”

Daggum grinned. “You don’t say? Who was the one that tried to get the fighters to leave? You know them?” The man’s eyes opens slightly and he smiled. “Not many wanna hear about those days. You must be a real fan! C’mon, let’s go up stairs first. This place gives me the creeps.”

They made their way upstairs and back onto the Promenade. They followed the old Orion for a while until they came to a flight of stairs up. At the top, a door was propped open. They walked into one of the boxes, the private viewing boxes the wealthy would use to watch the fights so far below. The furniture was old, but obviously expensive in its day. The old Orion motioned for them to sit.

“So the Break Out…” he began. “You have to understand something first. In all the entire history of this place, we had three undefeated fighters. Three over almost three hundred years. And of those three, this kid was by far the best. Oh man! He was like lighting and thunder all in one! He would take that big body of his, massive for his age, and just move like water. Oh, he’d get hit.. but no matter the damage this kid took, he dished out more. Why, one time I remember… they put this one kid up against six grown Klingons. That boy ate them for breakfast!!” and he threw his head back and laughed as Hammor stiffened.

“Anyway, the other fighters… even the older ones… they respected this kid. And one day… I told those morons it was a mistake. The owners decide that this kid should fight the next best fighter… his best friend. I told them not to! But they were adamant. ‘Gonna be the fight of the year!’ they said. Yeah right. It lasted less than ten seconds. And the kid? The one I was talking about? He just leaves the Pit, picks up the Caretaker and swings him headfirst into a pillar, takes his keys and let’s everybody out. Then… he just up and dissapears. People talked about it for a loooong time. Few said they’d seen him working for the Syndicate. Few said he was a merc.” and he laughed. “One guy I know even said he was in Star Fleet!!” and he howled with laughter. “Like he’d manage that…” and he laughed again. Daggum leaned close to Faye and whispered “I think I did ok…” and grinned.

“Anyway… thats when it started getting put of hand. Nothing was the same after that. And when they finally shut this place down, well… that was that. Now if you want a good fight you gotta go to Medsil or Hyvania. Fights in this city are just spectacle. They have no heart.”

The Old Orion