Dancin' and Fightin'

Posted on Fri Feb 16th, 2024 @ 4:58pm by Lieutenant Tracey Walker Jr & Commander Kevin Lance

Mission: Guilty Pleasures
Location: Risa
Timeline: Current

on:
{The Explorer's Saloon}

The dances were traditionally Risan which meant that they would have been considered provocative on any other planet. If Nim felt any embarrassment about the moves that she was making she didn’t show it. Trace, on the other hand, was quite reserved in his dancing and touching of Nim. It was clear from his body language that the Lieutenant had no desire to tangle with a woman that had to be close to half his age, but he also didn't blow her off entirely.

Kevin watched Nim as the two officers proceeded through the dance. She was carefree, vivacious, ongoing, and expressive. Everything that a young woman should be. Kevin brooded that he wished that Mira was more like her. Of course if she was, he would be liable to spin a cocoon and die of intimidation.

He needed find his courage and talk to Mira about what was going on between them. Two drunken kisses did not a relationship make but his previous attempt to engage with her had quickly devolved into an emotionless discussion of official duties that did little other than highlight their differing leadership styles. Story of my life, he groused to himself.

The third song of the set was a slow dance and as Nim and Trace moved closer together, a tall Ferengi approached to two and after a brief and amicable exchange, he took Nim into his arms. Trace returned to the bar and said, “You missed your chance, kid.”

“She’s not the one I’m after,” Kevin shrugged, “Besides it would be unseemly for the Second Officer to use his position to coerce a relationship from a subordinate.”

Trace chuckled. "I doubt you could coerce that woman to do anything. If you ever want to talk about Mira, I'm here." He said awkwardly. "I know we're not particularly close but, I've been around, and have some experience in that area."

He turned back to where Nim was dancing with the Ferengi and he commented, "Is it me or is that Ferengi huge?" The interaction between the girl an the interloper seemed to be turning from a friendly exchange into a rougher one.

“Huge is a relative term. He’s, what, five-foot-ten?” Kevin estimated, “Large for a Ferengi. What’s written on his shirt?”

“Um…Ferenginar Wrestling Cooperative…no…Team,” Trace translated.

“Get your hands off me, you filthy beast!” Nim’s sudden exclamation was followed by a sharp slap.

Kevin looked up quickly to observe the scene. Nim was just beyond arm’s length of the Ferengi, who was holding his left lobe where a red mark was starting to form. Oh, Zefram, Kevin thought, now what? The argument between Nim and her dance partner was becoming more animated with wildly gesticulating hands on both sides. More concerning was the advance of two tall Ferengi from the table where three others sat.

“Will you back my move?” Kevin asked as he stood from the bar stool.

Trace stood up to his full height, cracked his neck, and tried to recall some ancient words of wisdom from Earth. "I ain't as good as I once was...my how the years have flown. But there was a time, back in my prime when I could really hold my own. If you want to fight tonight, I guess them boys don't look all that tough. I ain't as good as I once was, but I'm as good once
as I ever was," he told the Commander.

“What seems to be the problem here?” Kevin approached and asked with a smile.

“I innocently suggested engaging in jamaharon and this female assaults me!”

“Innocently?” Nim cried incredulously, “Touchy McFeely over there had his hands all over my butt!”

Kevin held a hand up for quiet. “Clearly the young woman isn’t interested. You’ve had your dance. Now, perhaps, you should rejoin your comrades for a drink.” Kevin thought that the situation would deescalate. And then.

“Yeah,” Nim interjected, “Scurry away before my dad and cousin kick your ass!”

Kevin winced. The downside of being outgoing and vivacious.

The Ferengi rounded on Nim. “You dance like that with your father?” he asked in disgust.

“No, he is my cousin,” Nim said pointing at Trace. Which would make me her dad, Kevin thought.

“So, you going to protect your little girl, daddy?” the Ferengi shoved Kevin hard. It was only partially effective as the Ferengi was a good three inches shorter but it forced Kevin to take a step back to maintain his balance.

Release me, the voice deep inside of Kevin demanded. Shut up, Kevin replied in his mind.

“Six of them, three of us,” Kevin reasoned as he thought that he could take out three, “Its doable.”

“Two of you,” Nim corrected. Kevin and Trace turned their heads to look at her. “I took an oath to do no harm,” she replied matter of factly. Kevin shook his head. Of all the times.

Two other tall Ferengi, all sporting the same shirt rose from their seats and joined the fray. Trace squared off with one, ducking a wide swing and coming up inside the arc with two quick kidney jabs, which sent the Ferengi to his knees. When he tried to rise, Trace grabbed his left lobe and shook his head. "Stay down." He said, then reeled as something slammed into the back of his head.

Following Trace’s lead, Kevin swung his right fist towards the Ferengi that had accosted Nim catching him square on the jaw. To his surprise, the shorter male neither collapsed nor returned the blow. Instead, he stepped back as his compatriot shouldered Kevin in the abdomen lifting him off of his feet but driving the Lieutenant Commander on the floor. The unexpected double impact knocked the breath out of him and he struggled to get a lung full of air as the Ferengi reached to pin an arm down.

Trace recovered from the blow quickly, perhaps due to decades of being hit by errant rubble in ancient tombs, and tackled his assailant around the waist, driving him into a wall and knocking him cold. He spun around to see Kevin on the floor with a bulky Ferengi on top of him.

Kevin strained to free his arm, but the weight on it suddenly vanished when a boot met with the side of his assailant's head. Trace stood over him, a triumphant look on his face when he suddenly toppled over, as the one he had kidney punched swept his feet out from under him.

Kevin quickly scrambled to his feet and grabbed the Ferengi that had sucker punched Trace by both lobes. The male’s screams were high-pitched shrieks as Kevin spun him around causing the two advancing Ferengi to pause. Kevin kept spinning until he felt the assailant go limp and the shrieks stop. He released the Ferengi towards his comrades in the hopes of bowling them over. He was disappointed as the limp body collapsed before making contact and Trace staggered to his feet.

“I am Hans,” a thick Ferengi almost as tall as Kevin approached.

“I am Franz,” a second Ferengi taller and thicker than the first.

Then in unison they clapped once, pointed at Kevin and recited, “Und vee are here to fock you opp!”

Zef! Kevin thought, they’re like a vaudeville duo. Then the two Ferengi descended upon him and Trace.

The larger Ferengi grabbed Trace by the front of his shirt and planted him, face up, on the counter of the bar then proceeded to push him down the length. Glasses and bottles broke against his head as the Lieutenant was slid down the bar but somehow managed to keep his hat on his head.

He was nearing the edge and a good five foot drop to the floor when he managed to snag a bottle on the way by and smash it into the Ferengi's head. He skidded to a stop inches short as the beast went down and released him. He rolled off the bar onto his feet to find him out cold. With a surprised expression on his face he looked at the bottle in his hand and then nodded appreciatively at its heft and weight.

Kevin effectively block several punches of the smaller one and even threw a couple himself that missed their mark. The Ferengi feinted with his right and successfully landed a blow on Kevin’s mouth, splitting his lip. The blow knocked him off of his feet and into a seated position on the floor.

“NO ONE DOES THAT TO MY DAD!” Nim shouted and jumped onto the back of the tall Ferengi, pummeling him about the head with blows that were more enthusiastic than effective. Still, it distracted him enough to let Kevin regain his feet.

His own attacker taken care of for the moment, Trace walked over to where the commander was squaring off with the last one. "Might want to rethink your strategy." He said to the Ferengi as he resettled his hat on his head.

Three down. Three to go.

Kevin stepped forward to engage the Ferengi that Nim was assaulting. You certainly had to admire the young women’s pluck. The Feregni was too distracted by the Ensign to acknowledge Trace’s comment or do anything to protect himself from the blows that Kevin began to deliver.

“Helicopter!” one of the two remaining Ferengi announced. His partner lifted him upon his shoulders horizontally and began spinning.

“ARRRRGHHHHH!” the Ferengi being spun shouted as he flailed with his fists and feet at Trace. The Chief Engineer was forced to duck lest he get pummeled by the whirling Ferengi dervishes.

Trace, due to his unique past, was a seasoned brawler. The art wasn't a disciplined one, like martial arts study, but it did give him an advantage in combat in that he could keep a cool head when most would panic. He quickly reasoned that the one on top was inconsequential, now that he was out of the path of swinging legs, and promptly delivered a right cross to the one on the bottom, stunning him. He dropped his companion as he stumbled back and Trace followed up with an uppercut that laid the Ferengi out.

His partner groaned as he tried to rise from the ground but Trace's boot pushed him back down. "Stay Down." He ordered. The Ferengi looked like he might resist, but seeing the rest of his brethren down, he just nodded.

Kevin continued to punch his Ferengi in the abdomen while Nim wrapped her arm around his neck is a fair approximation of a sleeper hold. He started to waver under the dual assault and restricted blood flow to his brain. Kevin pulled his fist back and took careful aim. He did not want to hit Nim by accident.

Finally, as the Ferengi clawed at the arm around his neck, Kevin let loose with a roundhouse punch to his opponent’s jaw. The impact sent him spinning and the moment flung Nim to the floor between Kevin and Trace. The Ferengi collapsed, unconscious on a table near the dance floor.

“We did it!” Nim cheered as Kevin and Trace helped her to her feet, “WE DID IT!”

The saloon had emptied of patrons. Kevin turned to the bar and ordered more whiskey. A trembling hand appeared from underneath the bar to place a bottle and three shot glasses on the counter before disappearing again. Trace pour whiskey into all three glasses and the officers each took one. They clinked the glasses together in a silent toast.

“Well, that was fun,” Kevin said without much conviction as he tossed back his drink.

“HANDS UP!” a voice shouted from behind.

“Here we go,” Kevin muttered as he raised his hands with the shot glass still in one.

“You are under detention for disrupting the peace”

Off:

R.I.P. Toby Keith

Lieutenant Tracey "Trace" Walker
Chief Engineer
USS Chuck Norris

and

Lieutenant Commander Kevin Lance
Chief Flight Control Officer
USS Chuck Norris