It Started so well.
Posted on Sun Jul 4th, 2021 @ 5:20pm by Warrant Officer Michael Joustra
Mission:
Side Stories
Location: Kennemer IV
Timeline: 2371
Michael sat down at his table at the fringe of the city market square. Kennemer IV was a new colony in the federation. The colony has been created by the colonist's over 240 years ago when a bunch of Dutch settlers left earth. It had endured for the first few hundred years till discovered by Starfleet, and it had quickly joined the federation.
It was a weird feeling hundreds of light years from Earth, yet this colony made Michael feel homesick. It was a typical Dutch city, it had small canals and the city was built like a Dutch city. Also, the streetnames where Dutch. Most of the colonists spoke in Dutch, even the non-humans.
So here he was sitting on a ''terrasje' waiting for crappy service looking over the city square.
"En wat mag het zijn, Schipper?" the server interrupted him.
'Schipper? Oh yeah, Schipper, Dutch rank for chief petty officer or above' he quickly reminded himself. "Biertje en een kopstoot. "he answered back.
The server blinked noted it on his padd. He had expected a starfleet NCO who didn't speak Dutch. "Okay, komt er aan."
Michael chuckled and sat back. It felt like home, yet the two moons in the sky told him it wasn't.
His drinks arrived. and he nodded to the server. asking for some nuts to be brought to his table. An middle aged Starfleet officer approached his table.
" Chief Joustra?" The man said taking a seat.
"Commander Exeter, I presume?" Joustra said as he took a nip of his Jenever.
"You can stomach that stuff, Chief?" Exeter said.
"Like Mother's milk, it's replicated, but has that juniper kick from home,sir." As he took a sip of his beer. " Now, this stuff is real Dutch pilsener."
Exeter shook his head. "So you captured that Maquis and added five more kills to the record. What is it 156 or 157,chief?"
" No idea. And they weren't killed, I have a stun setting. They also got arrested and now on their way to some penal system. " As the server placed the nuts on his table. Joustra quickly point at his orders and then to Exeter's part of the table.
"When in Rome, commander, well... Rome, more like Hoorn or Schagen."
"Yeah, I'll survive. So, reason why I'm at this arse end of space. I'm here to recruit you for a joint venture between Security, Command and Intelligence. We are recruiting certain people with certain experience and skills to clean house and do other stuff. You with almost 20 years in the fleet and capabilities makes you an excellent candidate. And I wish I could say you could volunteer, but we have no volunteers in this program." Exeter took the Dutch gin and drank it in one gulp and started on the beer.
"So if I refuse, I spend the next twenty years teaching cadets the right end of a phaser. Or at some dead end station as master at arms. Or I just retire, and you recall me under some bullshit clause. " Joustra looked at Exeter.
" And here I was thinking you security grunts weren't that smart. Meet me tomorrow at the Starfleet compound, Chief." Exeter gave a dashing smile. "Excellent beer though, the gin is not my thing." The man quickly walked across the Square.
Joustra sighed.......... 'yeah, I got just screwed into wetwork for the next 20 years.' he thought to himself.
Chief Petty Officer Michael Joustra
Security Officer, Starfleet Arrest Team,3rd fleet
