[USS Tempest] Old Grudges

Old Grudges 
By Roberta â??Pimlicoâ?? Van der Pol, Ofelian â??Reynardâ?? Tren, and Jord
 
 
 
This space station was obviously much different then the previous one Jord had 
served on. Aside from the fact that there was more then just Starfleet 
uniforms, the racial make-up was much more diverse, a good and a bad thing. 
Jord had taken the liberty of keeping his cloak with him, continuing to wear 
his Starfleet uniform underneath it. No reason to sport the uniform, or his 
race for that matter. Finding his way to Quark's bar, he sat down and looked 
around, waiting for someone to come serve him, his ears paying careful 
attention to everything around him.
"Oh man, did you see the look on his face when I told him who my father is?" 
Pim giggled wickedly as she slapped Rey across his shoulder. "I swear if I 
could have had a picture of that moment, it would go down as one of the all 
time classics." Waving at the Ferengi, she called for the same as they'd had 
the night before.
"Of course, let me just serve this gentleman first," he said as he turned his 
attention to Jord. "What can I get you?"
Ferengi, wonderful. Why did it not surprise him that the sneakiest and dirtiest 
race ran the drinking establishments on international stations. "Do you have 
any Q'lava juice?" Jord smiled to himself, an old favorite of his former clone. 
Considering how close this station was to the wormhole, it could be possible.
With a shrug, Quark poured a glass from a clay jar. He had stopped wondering at 
the weird tastes of his customers years ago. Handing it over, he took the 
correct money and then turned his attention to the two fighter operatives. "Two 
tequila sunrises coming up."
"About bloody time," Pim said as she took a long swig of her drink. She turned 
to face the cloaked man beside them. "That's a Dominion drink, what are you 
drinking something from those fuckers for?"
Jord turned and looked this human. South African from the accent and the black 
hair, and didnâ??t seem to lose a touch of the personality. The face looked 
familiar too, flight operations. Jord had spent enough time with the crew 
manifest, since managing quarters and such was part of his job. No reason to 
get this one riled up and no reason to take any aggressive action. "I find it 
to actually be a rather soothing drink, if your looking for something... 
non-alcoholic that is." He smiled through his hood.
"Yeah but those pointy-eared, sycophants drank it. The ones that were so far up 
the Founders' rear-ends that they could see out their ears." Passing her drink 
over, she said, "Try something with a bit more of a kick to it."
Well, she did have a point about some of the Vorta, worshipping the Founders 
and such. But that never meant that it didn't bother Jord either. Regardless he 
took the drink and had a sip before going into a little coughing fit which 
knocked back his hood. Alcohol never did go well with his system, a weird 
defect probably. "My body and alcohol never seem to get along." He smiled as he 
put the drink on the bar.
Pim's eyes widened as she began to recognize the species of the man she'd 
offered her drink to. "Rey," she whispered as she slowly stood and backed away, 
"call Security, that's a Vorta."
Well fuck. Why couldnâ??t he just remember that human depressants just were not 
good for his system? Jord put his hood back up and smiled at Pim. "Ensign Van 
der Pol you need to relax. There is no reason to call security, the war ended 
eight years ago." He said as calmly as he could be, noting the multiple 
whispers coming throughout the bar area. He would need to leave soon. 
 
"Go to hell, duiwel," she spat.  "Have you come back to start again?  Still a 
little bloodthirsty are you?"
 
"Pim," Rey reached over to take her hand, his eyes lifting into the violet of 
the Vorta's, "let the man drink in peace."
 
Shaking him off, Pim took a clear step toward Jord, her fist raised.  "Evil," 
she growled.  "Fok jou!" 
 
Inside Jord chuckled to himself. Well at least he knew that most humans were 
all the same in some respects, that being their hatred for his race. "I hope 
you won't be treating all the Gamma Quadrant races you run into like this, it 
won't be good impressions for the Federation or for your species as a whole." 
Jord smiled again at Pim, obviously not caring about her threats or tirades. I 
need to calm her down sooner rather then later, she is on my crew list after 
all. 
 
Before Rey could stop her, she took a swipe at Jord, the ball of her fist 
landing clearly on his jaw.  Within seconds, Rey was there, pulling back the 
hissing, spitting ball of fury.
 
"Calm the fuck down!"  Fear pumped through him as he dragged her back.  Fuck, 
the man was wearing a 'Fleet uniform. 
 
Jord slowly got up from the ground and replaced the barstool where it had 
fallen. Cleaning back up his uniform and replacing his cloak, Jord put down a 
certain amount of money on the bar in front of Quark. "Sorry for the trouble 
barkeep." He said very simply as he turned to Pim and Rey. "I have no real 
reason to fight you, but once you calm down you should think about a few 
things, possibly considering all options before acting out of incident being 
the main one. The others I'm sure will come, but I will undoubtedly be seeing 
both of you again, so goodbye for now." Jord smiled and bowed slightly before 
slowly walking out of the bar, hood on. 
 
"Let go of me!"  Her scream of rage echoed around the now silent bar.  "He 
deserves to die, all Dominion fuckers deserve to die!"
 
"Pim," Rey cooed, "it was a long time ago, we were both very young, let it go."
 
Slumping against his strong grip, quiet tears of frustration bit at her eyes.  
"I lost my grandparents in that war."
 
"And I lost my wife and children, but we must move on or we will suffocate and 
die on our grief."  Taking a deep, shaky breath, he continued, "He's one of us 
now, means he isn't responsible for anyone's deaths, in fact he probably caused 
more casualties for the other side than ours."  He rubbed his hands up and down 
her arms.  "Just breathe and relax, he's gone now."  But I've a funny feeling 
he's right, we'll be seeing him again. 
 
From the opposite side of the promenade Jord leaned against a post and listened 
to Pim and Rey's conversation. The girl's scream could probably be heard 
through the wormhole, but the Trill spoke quietly enough so that only a few 
could hear, or just those with very good hearing. Brilliant people though 
Trill. A mixture between wisdom with age and youth with a new host. Most 
interesting to say the least. "I just hope she isnâ??t an example of what the 
majority of the crew believes, otherwise this mission will be a very and 
dangerous one." Jord said quietly to himself as he walked off towards the 
Tempest docking bay.

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