Spooky Shenanigans at Ye Olde Castle, Part 3

Posted on Sun Dec 10th, 2023 @ 7:41pm by Commander Chalan Kendri & Lieutenant Commander Johanna Lyngstad & Lieutenant JG Naltar Jerane & Ensign Dramin & Ensign Sar
Edited on on Sun Dec 10th, 2023 @ 8:45pm

1,892 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Mission Zeta: An Eerie Evening
Location: Holodeck 3
Timeline: Halloween 2396, 1948 hours, After Part 2

Naltar took Rachel's hand and they walked in together, quickly finding the bar and ordering drinks. It was nice for the pair to enjoy time outside of work together, considering their shifts, it was hard to at times other than when they were essentially mandated time off. He lifted a glass of kanar and she brought up a shot of tequila. Why she drank such a terrible alcohol, the Cardassian never could understand. "To us" he said.

As everyone else filtered in, V'lal followed and got herself a simple vodka cranberry and turned around to observe everyone else. Part of her wondered if there was going to be any dancing, and she did keep an eye on Sar, considering her past experience with Vulcan's that followed logic. But as long as she was left alone, she wouldn't cause any sort of conflict.

Well, at least this part of the party seemed normal. Dramin ordered a glass of mango juice and sipped from it, if only to try and look a little more like he belonged there. He glanced sideways at V'lal for a second before turning his attention back to the rest of the scene. It reminded him vaguely of some of the medieval parties he'd seen in holoprograms as a child, with the setting of it. "Um. Pardon me-" He ventured, "-are you supposed to be... what was the name of that character- Catwoman? From Earth fiction?"

She smiled as she turned towards Dramin "A cat yes, I do like the sound of that. For tonight, I'm catwoman. I'm V'lal by the way, a pilot in the flight group. Shuttles mostly." She made note of the red on his uniform but was unsure what his section was. "Where are you assigned to?"

"Oh, I'm a junior attorney of the Judge Advocate General. It's... it's nothing big at all." Dramin replied meekly. "I forgot to choose a costume to wear - my work can sometimes be so demanding I forget a few things." Such as to eat or drink. It'd happened far too often by now. Dramin declined to mention that, of course.

"What made you choose this costume? N- Not that it doesn't look good, mind..." Dramin asked.

"I think it's cute" V'lal said "And it was also the same type of costume I wore my first Halloween on Earth. So I thought it fitting to wear it my first one on board. I can definitely understand being busy, the amount of maintenance we've had to cover lately has been ridiculous, but we have to keep things in top shape if we want them to work properly." She took sip of her drink before continuing "I wonder what all will be in store inside the castle. Maybe a spooky path deeper inside. I can't wait."

"I don't understand why humans associate this festival with horror." Dramin replied as a pair of children dressed as Frankenstein ran past them. "Isn't this festival one of welcoming? To receive the summer harvest with joy? Why has its meaning changed so?" The questions were mostly posed to himself, really, as he sipped from his glass. "I would not be opposed to exploring, however."

"Oh it certainly is, however it's also part of one facing their fears, dressing up as something to help scare away the bad. It helps us to feel better I suppose. Sometimes it's easier to chase things away as someone else we envision ourselves as instead." V'lal took another drink before lifting hers to Dramin "To chasing away the bad."

"To... cheering away the bad." Dramin seemed equally as confused as at the start of this conversation still, but he clinked his glass to hers and took a long, slow sip from it before looking back into the castle. "Well. I suppose we ought to go exploring." He suggested, somewhat nervously. "We- I mean, if you'd like to come."

"By all means, we are here after all to enjoy the company of others. Lead the way" V'lal said to her newfound companion.

Dramin did, in fact, lead the way, albeit much more hesitantly than might've been optimal. He plucked his way through the halls of the castle with the Vulcan hybrid at his side. As much as his ganglia squirmed and writhed in his head at the atmosphere the decorations and lighting created. Someone had put a lot of effort into designing this place, and it showed.

The Vulcan hybrid followed in tow, curious to see where Dramin would take them...

Barely had the two taken a few steps into the castle before the ground in front of Dramin rumbled and cracked open, from which emerged a holographic zombie with one eyeball dangling out, rotten teeth and sickly mottled pale flesh. Dramin squeaked in terror and, without thinking, lashed out with a kick - the next thing he knew, the holographic construct was flying into the opposite wall, which it smacked into and dematerialized rather unexcitingly without further fuss. "Well. These- these simulations are really quite realistic!" Dramin cleared his throat and glanced back at his walking companion.

Kas entered the holodeck with Feeva beside him- they'd dropped the girl off at their sitters. He was told Keena could come but she'd wanted to watch scary movies. Kas was grateful that she had decided to stay behind, he loved his daughter, but, he was looking forward to getting to know his crewmates. Especially Lieutenant Drylo, they seemed to have a lot in common. He smiled down at his friend in the mermaid costume. "Do you know anything about this holiday?"

Fee smiled. "You don't have to look down all the time. The weather down here is perfect," she joked. "I do. My late husband was human. They dressed in costumes and went door-to-door to people's houses to collect candy. It is actually an ancient tradition, some of their original tribes used it to ward off evil spirits and celebrate the end of their harvest seasons. On past postings, it was really just for the children, so it's nice to get involved," she said. "Do you want a drink?" She asked.

"That sounds good Feeva," Kas smiled. "I wonder what they are serving."

"Something strong, I hope," she said. She was still worn out from chasing Leena around all day-she hoped that Leena wouldn't be too much for the Turners' today-she was high on sugar, though Feeva had done her best to limit the candy after 1700. Some had certainly gotten through, she imagined.

"Let's go see," Kas said. His nostrils flared slightly, "Smell like they're serving some sort of fermented cider. "I've had it on earth, I wouldn't call it strong... but I am half Klingon."

Feeva considered a moment. "It's from apples, right? It shouldn't be too much..." she said. "Maybe just one." She chuckled a little. "Vissians aren't made like Klingons, or even Bajorans. We're a smaller race-even my father is small." She said. "So real alcohol goes through us quicker," she explained. They approached the bar. "Can I have one of the apple drinks? Um...Cider..." she said.

"I'll have to same as the lady," Kas smiled.

Feeva took her drink from the holo-tender. "Where should we start?" She asked Kas.

Kas thought for a moment since he'd had a free night without Keena and even longer with an attractive companion. "I say we enjoy our drinks, listen to the music, and if the muse takes us dance."

Kas's smile was genuine as he sincerely articulated his thoughts to his good friend.

Fee smiled. "That sounds good!" She said. "Do you want to go inside the castle a bit more or?" She trailed off. She was fine milling around the bar area but she could take the tour, too. She wasn't the type that shied away from "haunted" houses and things. She enjoyed a light, fun thrill every once in a while.

"We can certainly explore the castle," Kas smiled.

Unlike most of the Federation's personnel, Kas was superstitious. There were things he didn't speak of and symbols he was wary of. However, the things humans considered scary he usually found amusing.

Fee nodded. "Alright, lead the way," she said. "I am excited. I haven't had an outing without Leena like this in...awhile," she said. "I promise to try and not talk about her all night," she said, as he led her deeper into the haunted castle. The first sign that they were entering the more "serious" parts of the holoprogram was that the lights had dimmed to nearly pitch black.

Kas was a little on edge when the lights went down, he put his dominant hand on the hilt of the sword on his belt out of instinct and offered his other arm to Feeva

Feeva took a small inward breath, nearly audible (but likely very much so to her companion) when the lights went down. Her vision adjusted quickly, though. They were in a hallway. She felt Kas hold out his arm, and she took it. They took a step forward, and a ghostly figure appeared. One of the "haunted castle" residents, she figured out. She giggled a little.

The ghost moved as though it was going to it was going to step through them. Kas quickly dodged the specter and used the arm Feeva was holding to guide her out of the way as well. The hybrid shielded the small woman with his body. Kas took a breath to calm himself, he could not let a wraith touch him even a hologram. He gave Fee a sheepish look.

"Sorry, I people have certain beliefs about..." Kas chuckled nervously. " Well... We don't let spirits touch us... I know it's nonsense..."

Fee chuckled softly, realizing he was...afraid. It didn't take an empath, and besides, she was trained to read body language. "It'll be ok," she said, softly. "Don't worry, it's all fake," she said. "But I can lead us, if you'd like. I have a penlight, if you'd like," she offered. She kept on her person, in case. His secrets were safe with her, at any rate.

Kas's confident smile returned, "We can use the light, I'm okay to continue."

Feeva nodded. From the pocket she'd sewn into her costume-a necessary thing for any person who was a parent, in her opinion-she withdrew the penlight. She'd packed it that day to ensure that Leena had had enough light on the haunted trail so as not to be too scared. She handed it to the man. "Here you go," she said. She took the arm he offered. In the dark, he might not see her blush.

Kas tucked the light into one of the leather straps on his chest to keep his hands free as he moved forward.

>> To Part Four >>

Captain Rhyl th'Zheles
Commanding Officer
USS Columbia

Commander Chalan Kendri
First Officer
USS Columbia

Lt. Commander Paisley F'Rar
Chief Engineer
USS Columbia

Lt. Commander Razka Kas
Chief Flight Control Officer
USS Columbia

Lt. Commander Johanna Lyngstad
Chief Science Officer
USS Columbia

Lieutenant Jason Elliot
Chief Intelligence Officer
USS Columbia

Lieutenant J.R. McEntyre M.D.
Assistant Chief Medical Officer
USS Columbia

Lieutenant Rachel Soros
Chief Operations Officer
USS Columbia

Lieutenant J.G. Feeva Drylo
Counselor
USS Columbia

Ensign Sar
Engineering Officer
USS Columbia

Ensign Sarah bet Ira
Operations Officer
USS Columbia

Ensign Dramin
JAG Officer
USS Columbia

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