Surefoot 20: One Man's Eden...

"And so someone has arranged to abduct your friend and the Kalandan artefacts and deliver them to the Cardassians?"

"No, Most Respected Counselor," Kit corrected. "It was not an abduction. It was an arrangement, made with Piri's cooperation. She lied to me, first about the origin of the artefacts, and then about her meeting on Earth, and then about reporting the artefacts to the Council. I daresay there was hardly anything truthful she said to me."

Kami looked at him sympathetically. "I'm sorry, Kit. We can talk about this later."

"Thank you, Most Respected Counselor, but I will not be here." Kit faced Hrelle, standing at attention. "Most Respected Captain, I am formally tendering my resignation from Starfleet."

Hrelle frowned. "Why?"

"I have failed in my duty. Once I realised that the artefacts were Kalandan, I should have reported this immediately to my superiors. Instead, I chose to wallow in inebriation and self-pity. I do not deserve to remain here."

Hrelle leaned back in his chair, folding his hands onto his belly as he regarded the cadet, before finally replying, "Resignation refused."

Kit blinked. "Excuse me, Sir?"

"I said it's refused. You don't just walk away because you made a mistake. You think you're the only one who's messed up? I have plenty of examples of that in my life, and I'm still here - though I'm sure there's a few in Starfleet who think I shouldn't be. And the same goes for the Counselor. And if Commander T'Varik ever made a mistake, I would expect her to follow our lead."

The Vulcan turned to Kit. "The Captain's attempt at humour aside, no one is infallible, Cadet. It would not be logical to discard your considerable efforts to date towards becoming a Starfleet officer because of a relatively minor error on your part."

"Kit, you're young and lacking experience," Kami reminded him, smiling. "You're supposed to be making mistakes, and we're supposed to be teaching you. We can't do that if you leave, can we?"

He looked at each of them in turn, the emotion in his expression strong and mixed. "Thank you. All of you."

They were interrupted by a call from the Bridge. "Captain, we've received word from the Starsong; they have changed course and will rendezvous with us in 6.8 hours."

"Send my thanks to Captain Weynik, and promise him he won't be riding my tail this time. Hrelle out." He looked at T'Varik's expression. "What?"

The Vulcan almost gave in to her curiosity to enquire further, before changing her mind. "Captain, you don't think that calling on the Starsong for assistance is premature, as we have not yet confirmed your suspicions?"

"No." He began twiddling his thumbs. "In fact, I expect to be called any time... now..."

A second later, C'Rash's voice filled the air. "We think we've found it, Sir!"

"Acknowledged, Lieutenant. Have Mr Lowell and the other principals summoned, and make sure to have multiple recordings on your Security tricorders for evidence. Hrelle out." He smiled at T'Varik. "Told you."

His First Officer's brow furrowed. "Captain... how did you contrive that?"

The Captain grinned. "I have excellent timing."

"He does," Kami confirmed, smirking.

*

SS Valley Forge, Aft Cargo Bay 8:

"Tell Herbert It's No Go! Tell Herbert It's No Go!"

Hrelle and T'Varik drew up to the group sitting on the floor, led, of course, by Laura Lowell. "Well, I'm glad to see you've recovered enough to once more be a pain in my toches." He glanced around at C'Rash, her Security team, Captain Bakunin - and Lowell, as requested. "Not joining in with your daughter and her friends, Freeman?"

Their representative had an expression of outrage - and anxiety, the latter of which he tried to hide. "I have to agree with them for once, Captain. You can't disturb our shipments of heptatriticale! They're critical to confirm our resettlement on New Eden!"

"And normally I wouldn't give two balls of roasted snow about grain, Mr Lowell. But we're not talking about grain, are we?" He looked to Bakunin. "Captain, please confirm for the record that Mr Lowell requested that the barrels in this Bay be security-deadlocked to his own biometric signature."

The bearded man, looking confused, nodded. "Yes. But it's not uncommon for clients to want to have additional security, Captain-"

"Did he ask for the same level of security on the other cargo bays with his people's grain?"

"...No," Bakunin admitted, glancing at Lowell now.

Hrelle looked at Lowell now. "This particular bay is adjacent to Biodome 2, the one where your daughter and her friends almost died. The Surefoot couldn't beam them to safety because of transporter inhibitor technology nearby."

"What?" Bakunin exclaimed. "We don't have anything like that onboard!"

"It came with the barrels in Cargo Bay 8. Additional anti-theft security, as well as shielding from any scanning devices. Open the door."

"No!" Lowell looked to Bakunin. "If you do that, you'll be in breach of contract! We'll sue!"

"Starfleet Security Regulation 14.1," T'Varik interrupted. "Authorises a Starfleet vessel to search any civilian vessel when contraband is suspected to be concealed onboard. I believe Captain Bakunin will confirm this."

He did - by moving to the door and overriding Lowell's private seal. As the door opened, C'Rash signalled to her team to move inside, some of them shifting one of the black barrels out, while others remained inside, scanning with their tricorders. "Looks like every one of them has an inhibitor, Lieutenant."

"Thank you, Mr Gorman." C'Rash began unlocking the lid of the barrel. When Lowell made a move towards her, she shot a warning finger at his face, without even looking up at him, before continuing.

Finally she lifted up the lid and set it aside, revealing... auburn grain.

"You see?" Lowell sneered. "Now please, close the lid, it's moisture-sensitive-"

C'Rash dove her hand into the grain, fished around, and withdrew a foot-sized plastic package of a cobalt-blue powder.

Laura and the other young people rose to their feet, their collective confusion expressed through Laura asking, "What is that?"

"Vraxoin," Hrelle replied darkly. "An addictive organic narcotic sadly found on many worlds of late, and responsible for much death and suffering. Some of you young people on Eden take a milder version of it based on a local fungus, but what you see here is a more refined, concentrated version. Very valuable to certain organisations, who are willing to fund a colony resettlement if they can transport the drug for eventual distribution in a settled area like Arcturus Prime."

An astonished Laura looked to her father. "Is this true?"

The older man swallowed, feeling the eyes of everyone on him. "You- You have to understand... I tried to use our heptatriticale to trade for passage for us, for the biodomes. But no one wanted it! Then the Bel-Zon contacted us-"

"The Bel-Zon?" Hrelle spat, his face taut. For some time, he had picked up clues that the criminal organisation, once considered defunct, was back in operation.

"Our world was dying! Polluted beyond hope because of Baby Killers like him!" He stabbed a finger in Hrelle's direction. "We had to preserve what natural beauty remained - and our own lives!"

"Have you seen victims of Vraxoin addiction?" C'Rash snarled, dropping the package onto the top of the barrel. "Of overdoses? Their twisted bodies, the unendurable pain? The anguish of their loved ones? Is your precious nature worth all their pain?"

"There's an old saying," Hrelle muttered. "'One man's Eden is usually attained at the cost of another man's'."

"They choose to take the drug!" Lowell snapped defiantly. "No one forces them! I accept no responsibility for that!"

"Captain Bakunin," Hrelle growled, not taking his eyes off of Lowell. "The USS Starsong will be here in about six and a half hours. They will take Mr Lowell, his associates and the Vraxoin into custody. They will also require formal statements from yourselves and your crew. You will offer them your full cooperation, of course."

"Of course, Captain, but..." Bakunin nodded to Laura and the other young people. "What about them? What will become of them?"

"Yes," Laura echoed, not able to take her eyes off of her father. "What about us?"

"She didn't know," Lowell offered faintly. "None of them did. I wanted them to stay pure-"

"How noble of you. Lieutenant, secure him somewhere." Hrelle watched C'Rash take Lowell by the arm and lead him away. Then he looked back at the colonists again, before returning to Bakunin. "You were paid upfront, Captain. Once you're cleared to leave, I see no reason why you can't continue on your journey with them to Arcturus Prime."

Laura blinked, not certain she was hearing correctly. "You're... you're letting us go free?"

"Of course. Unless you want to be conscripted into our Death Armies of Baby Killers?" He drew closer. "Your people are going to need a new leader, or representative, or whatever you want to call yourself; you seem loud and opinionated enough to fit the role."

"I- I-" She paled, as the enormity of what he was suggesting sank into her. "I don't know if I- I-"

"If you can do it? That's good; you should always have some doubt in there somewhere. But you'll have a little under 115 days before you get to your new home to learn a few things."

Laura's jaw dropped, and she looked at her friends again.

Hrelle smirked. "Well, it shut you up, so it can't be all bad."

*

USS Surefoot, Corridor 4:

Kit stopped outside his quarters, breathing sharply, trying to control his racing hearts.

"Why are you hesitating?"

He looked back at the Counselor, who was leaning against a wall, arms folded across her chest, watching him. He swallowed. "They will be unforgiving of my recent behaviour."

"I doubt that."

"I vomited onto Good Friend Sasha."

Kami smirked. "Well, you can always offer to let her do the same to you someday."

He breathed out, staring at the floor. "But what if-"

"Kit, if I stand here any longer, I'll pee myself, and it'll be on your head. So to speak. Now get in there."

He nodded and stepped forward, expecting a sea of angry, accusing faces-

-And instead seeing his friends lounging about, talking and laughing, drinks and snacks around them, all pointed towards the entertainment screen on the far wall. Sasha, reclining on the couch against Eydiir, smiled up at him. "About time you got here! Another five minutes and we would have started without you!"

"Started? I- I do not understand-"

Sitting on the floor beside Neraxis, Jonas smiled. "Movie Marathon! I've picked out some classic trash! We have spaceships, aliens, robots-"

Eydiir nursed her beer. "We have all these things already, in abundance."

"These are how Twentieth Century filmmakers saw such things! Invasion of the Saucer Men, Queen of Outer Space, Beginning of the End, Robot Monster-" He nudged Neraxis. "If you get scared, Ner-Ner, just hold onto me."

The Bolian belched loudly and grabbed a handful of extra spicy Crunchicles. "Yeah, right, Scrappy."

Rrori sat in the single chair, cradling an icepack in his lap. "I hope that there will be nothing too sexually explicit in these? There's been far too much of that lately for my liking."

Kit looked to each of them in turn, thoroughly confused, but decided to press on. "Good Friends, I must-"

"You must sit down," Sasha finished, pointing at the spot on Jonas' free side. "We've got drinks and snacks already waiting, and the rest of the night to spend together. After all, who knows how many of these we'll have. Right?"

Kit flushed red with pleasure, before nodding and taking the place on the carpet, lifting up the bowl he found and hissing with delight. "Mixed Honey Roasted Insects! Thank you, my friends, this will be a treat!"

"Yeah," Neraxis chuckled. "Throw me over the ones you don't like."

He examined the assorted contents. "I think the only ones I will not like are the bees." He wheezed, knowing what was to come. "They... give me hives."

The others groaned.

He wheezed again, unrepentant.

THE ADVENTURES OF THE SUREFOOT WILL CONTINUE IN... SPACE ODDITY