A Steak in the Game

Posted on Thu 29th Jan, 2026 @ 9:45am by Captain Gordon Francis & Commander Mindo & Sundae & Qaraq & Commander Heriah Rex
Edited on on Tue 10th Feb, 2026 @ 4:02pm

2,623 words; about a 13 minute read

Mission: [TIE-IN] Time Afoot
Location: Qaraq's Casino
Timeline: Current

ON

-Qaraq's Casino-

Rex and Mindo made their way up the spiral staircase leading to the upper deck of Qaraq's Casino, which had been tailored to be more "child friendly." There was a coffee bar/cafe that served non-alcoholic drinks, a free arcade, several tables, large screens showing various sporting events, and even a classroom installed by Qaraq to provide free education for the less fortunate children of Garden District. It was one of the many ways Qaraq gave back to the community, and while his reputation as a casino owner remained questionable, the citizens of Garden District were warming up to him.

Mindo's face lit up upon emerging to the second level. He had always been a retro game enthusiast, and had even owned his own barcade on the USS Pandora at one time, but it had been a while since he'd taken in a floor like this. The arcade in Qaraq's place was impressive, a massive open space containing several game cabinets, pinball tables, and features like skee-ball, foosball, and air hockey, all overlooking the casino floor. Even this second level had a lot to take in!

"Sweet shades of Balok! This is amazing!" he exclaimed.

Those words registered in Heriah's ears as no more than muffled sound with barely an echo to speak of. She felt a strong squirm in her gut and was then flooded with thoughts, images, sounds, on top of a sense of dreaded anxiety. The sounds from the arcade cabinets, the lights flashing and strobing about, the people walking about; it had all turned into the sights and sounds of a Borg vessel.

With eyes wide, Heriah looked about and saw only Borg drones. Their aiming lights flittered about the place. The sounds of whirring and tearing and grinding. The voices of the patrons all mingled into once collective voice. A passing drone bumped into her and that was all the awareness Heriah needed to reach into her gym bag.

Her hands felt cold and clammy yet sweaty. She felt sweat popping to the surface of her skin across her back and neck, under her gym outfit. And, with a hand shaking ever so slightly, Heriah pulled a hypospray from her gym bag. She did not even look at the dosage. Nor did she attempt to set it to any dosage. Just a hit was all she wanted in that moment.

Heriah pressed the hypospray to her neck and sent a dosage forth. And, dropping the hypospray back into her bag, she massaged feverishly at her neck, bending it from side to side as a means to work the medication forth. The lights and sounds and drones of a Borg vessel all wafted away slowly leaving behind the arcade, the joyful noises and sights, and the people enjoying themselves. All the while Mindo was still taking in the place.

As the anxiety subsided, her skin returning to normal temperature, and the sweatiness dissipating, Heriah managed a smile. "This...is quite a place. I've only heard about it." She did not know what, if anything, Mindo has noticed.

Mindo had walked into the center of the room when he turned back around to Rex. "Have you ever been to..." he started, then noticed her still standing at the top of the stairs. He'd heard her words, but her rigid posture told a different story, and Mindo knew a fake smile when he saw one. Mindo activated his boots, hovering over to her at face height.

"Should we start with Donkey Kong?" he asked in a slightly playful tone. "Or we could ditch and goof off somewhere else. I must admit, it can be a bit stressful for me to face off against a giant barrel-throwing monkey after a hard workout." His smile and tone remained playful, and he sounded sincere, presenting the option as his own idea, even turning it into a joke. Truth be told, he was more interested in socializing with her than playing Donkey Kong anyway. But more than that, he wanted her to be comfortable.

Heriah recalled, through symbiontic memory, how Davmorda had been informed with how playful and sometime childish Mindo could be, though he would be disciplined and professional when he needed to be. And that was all she was getting from Rex at the moment. The benzocyatizine from her hypospray was doing its job well.

"Before I face off against anyone else," she said as she unshouldered her gym bag to switch shoulders, "I would rather face off against a steak."

Upon Criswell's suggestion, the two headed to Orchids & Jazz for some rest and relaxation. There was a live band playing soft jazz and the atmosphere was calm and quiet, the virtual opposite of where they'd just been.

Heriah felt a little out of place in the establishment as she was still in her gym outfit. Though Rex was not being obnoxious at the moment, since her medication was still in full force, she knew he would want her to not care in the least. And she did just that; not care.

Mindo had not been there yet, and was pleased to find the mushroom and swiss omelet on the menu's "Specialty Page," which he ordered, adding a vodka martini to go with it. It was technically still morning, which was probably why the waiter gave him a strange look. Mindo was accustomed to this.

"He is wondering if you are of age," Heriah said looking over her menu at Mindo. "Trust me," she said to the waiter without looking at him, "he is. I will have the steak of the Trill Sabrebeast," she said as she spotted it under the 'Command Staff Special' which was a subsection on the Specialty Page. Someone must have let the owner know of her tastes. "Bow-hunted preferred but if phaser-hunted is what you have that is fine. A bowl of sour cream and garden peas. And..." she flipped to the beverages. "Water. No ice." She held her menu up for the waiter to take. He did with a nod and was off.

"Good thing I took the day off," Heriah said looking around and taking the place in. "Looks like we may be here a bit. To be honest," she looked at herself, "I was not sure they would allow me in here dressed like this. Whatever, I'm hungry. Also, I guess I could have ordered my way in if I had to."

"I'm not exactly dressed for this atmosphere either," Mindo said, looking around. He noticed someone heading their way. Another waiter? Mindo wondered.

It was the manager, or at least someone of authority in the restaurant. The man glanced at Mindo with clear scrutiny, then addressed Rex. "Excuse me ma'am, but there is an eighteen-year age limit for consumption of alcoholic beverages here. While my colleague tells me he believes your child is of age, I'm afraid I need to see some ID before I can prepare the drink."

'Your child?'

"My child?" she said after a brief second of being frozen in disbelief.

'Oh there is so much fun we can have with this.'

Heriah was actually thankful for being dressed as she was. A sports bra and workout shorts did not hide the number of spots running across her brow, down both side of her neck, down her chest and disappearing beneath her sports bra, reappearing lower and stretching down to her shorts, dissappearing and reappearing again as the spots trekked on down her thighs and legs down to her ankles. Heriah moved her hair to display the spots running down the spine of her back. "Sir, have a look at me please. You are free to count my spots if you want. Compare that with the spots my...company...has, which is zero. He is certainly not my child. He is also certainly of age. If you do not want to take my word for it, then know that I am the Commander of this Starbase, second in command only to Captain Gordon Francis. You will prepare Mindo's beverage as directed. If you wish to file a complaint to the senior staff, please do so. And do mention me by name; Commander Heriah Khatain Rex. I look forward to reading it in my inbox once I return to Ops."

Mindo tried not to laugh as he exclaimed, "I'm adopted! Don't listen to her!"

Given their current state of dress, Rex in a bra and Mindo sporting a tank top, swim trunks and towel - and now this ordeal - several patrons sat amused at the situation. An off-duty maintenance officer was having a great time as he held up a PADD to film the calamity. He gasped just then when a walking pile of boulders entered the room. When he spoke it sent a large tremor through the air.

"Who dares to disturb the vibe here?" It was Qaraq, his face a shining bright purple of horns and rage. He scared the hell out of everyone, especially the idiot "manager." Qaraq looked down at the patrons in question and recognized both. "Ms. Rex, Mr. Mindo, what seems to be the issue?"

'This one called you Rex. Definitely a keeper. And a good ally to have in a tight spot too.'

"Well," she started, "the Commander...here," she leaned forward toward Mindo as a means of reminding him of his rank, "ordered an alcoholic beverage and his age is being called into question. And now he is claiming to be adopted."

'Just imagine the uses this scheme can have.'

"Later," she outwardly said in response to Rex's thought, and then added to it with, "may be a good time for shenanigans. And since you," she turned to the Broot, "appeared to know Mindo by name, perhaps you can shed some light on his eligibility to order."

Now understanding the situation, Qaraq's face went from a luminescent purple to a softer blue. "My knowledge of Mindo is merely reputation, Commander. And I'm well aware of your position as First Officer of the station. You both are welcome in all of my establishments in whatever form of dress you see fit. As for my employees, I believe they know by now who you are and will obey your every request." He glared at his puzzled and now embarrassed staff and added, "Do I make myself clear to you?" They nodded, very nervously. Qaraq grinned. "Excellent." He looked at Rex and Mindo again. "If there's any further issues, please come to me. Otherwise, enjoy the rest of your date."

"Not a date," she said almost embarrassed.

'Play it up as a date. Live a little.'

"We are just catching up," Heriah finished. "And thank you," she regarded the Broot as well as the waiter. "Everyone is doing their jobs well."

Within minutes, Mindo had an omelet on his plate the size of a small moon, and Rex's Sabrebeast, indeed bow-hunted, was delivered with the sour cream and peas. The two, now starving from their workout, didn't speak for a few minutes as they gobbled their meal.

"So," Mindo said at last, "What should we do after this? I'm pretty new to the station. There are plenty of places I haven't yet seen. The canal, the Arts Museum, Sea Planet, your quarters, the Bajoran carnival..."

'Your quarters? You hear that? Some things never change. How about we take him up on...'

"Ah! Good. I have both of you here," interrupted Captain Francis, who had just entered the restaurant, his banjo case in tow. "I'm about to perform with the band, but since you're here we can talk business first."

Mindo's eyebrows went up. "Uh, sure Captain. Have a seat." Mindo flashed a look at Heriah and shrugged.

"Thank you." Francis pulled up a chair and sat down. "Rex, how much do you know about the body found in a frozen storage unit a few days ago?"

"Only what is in the report, sir," she said. Heriah was sawing at the next bit of steak with her knife. "I am awaiting Soulless' next report. That, and an update from Sick Bay. I hear our resident Medical Engineer(?)," she said as she looked at Mindo knowing he had a career in Engineering, "Nurse Breidinger, has been vigilantly at work on it as well."

Mindo nodded. "Tachyon radiation residue was found on the body, which suggests time travel. Detective Solis has a guess, but he won't tell me and I'm not about to waste my breath trying further. I think it's someone he knows in Brown Sector, but not sure."

Just then, Rex felt something furry rub itself against her legs. It looked to be a calico cat. Upon being noticed, the cat jumped into the seat across from the First Officer, looking at her and swishing her tail from side-to-side.

Heriah looked at a cat and the two made eye contact. Heriah gave it a slow blink and the cat did the same in return.

'Time travel? Makes my brain hurt.'

"Time travel," Heriah said the looked to both Frances and Mindo. "That makes my head hurt. And if Soulless is not being up front and transparent with his findings, then he must be onto something and waiting for the right time." She picked up her glass of water. "I say we let him continue as he sees fit. He is the sleuth here. Let him sleuth." She took a greedy gulp of her water. "Unless, of course, if he wants the assistance of others." She looked to Frank,. "Or if we are ordered to investigate other leads."

The Captain sighed. "The body was found in a storage unit for Starfleet use only. It looks bad on all of us if we don't launch some kind of investigation, and I don't want a civilian taking all the credit. Normally I would pair Mindo with Severide, but she's already got a full plate and I don't want to add to it. Sorry, Rex, but you're involved now whether you like it or not. I'll give your regular duties to Commander Graves for the time being."

'Graves,' came the thought from Rex.

Even Heriah cringed, inwardly, at the thought. She could not help but to ponder him at her station in Central Ops, possibly looking up her search history, digging into her past. She had spent much of the time aboard 109 attempting to avoid the counselor as best as she could. Now he was going to work from her station.

"Sounds good, captain," she said with a smile. "Looks like you found your girl."

Mindo nodded. "I'm up for the challenge."

"Good," Francis replied as he stood. "I suggest you finish your meal first, and you might want to get into a uniform."

"Yes sir," Mindo said.

"Meow," said Sundae.

"Sir," Heriah said, regarding Frank as he got up to carry on with his business. With the music instrument shaped case he was carrying, she needed no time deducing what his business was. Heriah forked a greedy portion of her cream and peas then went back to sawing at her steak.

'Looks like we have out work cut out.'

"Looks like we have out work cut out," Heriah said.

'He did suggest going back to our quarters.'

"Once we are done here, once I am ready, I will meet you at your quarters. I suggest we start our own investigation. I hear reading Soulless's reports is something out of Sherlock Holmes...whoever that is."

"Sure Lock Homes?" Mindo asked. "Sounds like a Ferengi home security service."

OFF

 

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