A Day Of Servitude

Posted on Mon Mar 6th, 2023 @ 8:53pm by Petty Officer 3rd Class Fulvia Benvenuto & Captain Calypso Skyie

Mission: Trade And Tribulations
Location: Trarim Arena

Calypso and Fulvia had arrived back on the planet early that morning, dressed in what the Captain had deemed appropriate. She herself was in more of a civilian outfit, a variation on the outfit the Governor had actually gifted her the day before. She enjoyed the silky texture of the deep blue dress she wore, which only slightly offset the lighter blue of the tunic and pants that Fulvia had been given to indicate her status as an indentured servant. "Remember, Fulvia, stay a step behind to to the side of me unless I gesture to you to come up. I know this is going to be humiliating, but it's very important we show the Dashians and the others here that we will play by their rules and follow their laws, all right?"

"Yes, Captain," Fulvia said, keeping her eyes down. She knew the game. She knew what had to happen. She'd been in similar situations back on Iotia, but usually as part of a scheme, not to placate and get along. "Just tell me when it's over."

"Just for today." Cally did give Fulvia a slight smile, then they were off with a single Dashian Security escort. Having been forewarned about this measure, she knew that it was due to her status as the Governor's guest, not that they (or Fulvia) were under watch. The walk to the Arena was far quicker than the day before because they weren't just ambling along with someone showing the place off. Of course, and as expected, the Governor met them at the same entrance they'd used the day before, his arms wide open in welcome.

"Welcome back, Captain Skyie!" He boomed cheerfully, with a wave to the escort to dismiss them, "I wasn't a hundred percent certain that you'd return after yesterday's events. You were saying, after all, that games like these aren't a normal staple of Federation entertainment."

Calypso made a slight bashful smile towards the ground while shaking her head, "Not at all, Governor Torresh, but every world has its own customs and we aim to respect them all."

"Such the diplomat." He remarked, glancing behind her, "And who is your companion today? I don't believe they and I have met, although.. I heard there was a disturbance down at a particular shop yesterday."

"This is Fulvia, she's one of the Non-Commissioned Officers aboard my ship and she's making restitution as my Indentured Servant today as I've contracted for her services and registered them with the Judiciary." Calypso managed to say it with a straight face, given the terms of the 'contract' she'd signed. Of course, she wasn't about to say where she'd come up with the fine, but that wasn't necessary.

"I heard about that and that particular loophole will be closed." He gave her a knowing smile, then looked around the Captain to where the younger woman was, then gestured to her to come forward, "Please, Fulvia, there's no need to be shy, in fact, I've got several questions for you if you don't mind?" He offered his arm for her to take as the doors behind him swung open.

The instructions Fulvia had been given, both from her Captain and from the judiciary here on Trarim, had been clear. Behind and to the side, defer to others, head down, except when specifically requested or summoned. She was also to be pleasant and diplomatic, neither of which suited her personality, but failure meant a lot worse punishment. "Of course, sir," she said, meeting his eye and taking his arm. "I'm happy to answer whatever questions I can, assuming my Captain is okay with it of course."

“By all means.” Cally laughed with a smirk, having been the one to ‘suggest’ it to the Governor after having seen Fulvia’s discomfort around Dashians. She needed her crew to become used to being around arrange new peoples, so this would be a learning experience.

“Thank you, Calypso.. Besides, once we reach the balcony, I’ve arranged for the controlling interests and parties of the champions for the finale today to view the games from there. You were interested in the fighter from yesterday, I remember? They are a race claiming to be from a world named Tial.” He smiled, sharp teeth visible, “They look so much like you and yours, but the world is unknown to us. Perhaps you will be so kind as to relay anything you learn to my office?”

Cally inclined her head, “Of course, Governor. And my appreciation for the opportunity.”

He laughed a belly laugh, then turned his attention back to Fulvia, “Please, tell me a bit about your own world, Fulvia, and why it made you think that my Judiciary was trying to kill you and the shopkeeper? And perhaps why he may have been summoned in the first place? I find that other cultures are intriguing, and certainly there must have been something cultural that caused the problem.”

Though the appearance of the Governor and his kind still put her off, Fulvia buried her discomfort and tried her best. He was asking good questions, after all, and telling others about her world was a perk of the job.

“It’s hard to explain, Sir, but maybe…my world is a society of lawful unlawfulness, if that makes sense. Does that make sense?” She shook her head, and hair that was normally kept tightly wound in a bun but today was loose and brushed straight to better fill the role of a pretty indentured servant flew in every direction. “Centuries ago, my leadership came upon a book about organized crime on Earth, and for some reason they took it as a guide on which to model their society. So it’s run by crime families, all working on the basis of agreed upon codes of conduct. It’s like this, see—” She stopped and recomposed herself, looking back to the floor. “Pardon, Sir, but I get passionate when talking about home. If it pleases you, may I continue, with permission to speak frankly, and less formally?”

"Please, Fulvia, I'm intrigued by the idea that you've brought up." He leaned in towards her, "Besides, I don't think that your Captain truly is intended this as a punishment, merely as a warning. A little informality won't endanger that, would it?"

“I suppose not,” she said with a smile, pointedly not including the ‘sir’. “Take my family for example. The Benvenutos were a minor family, associated by marriage to one of the bigger ones. My Ma was the youngest daughter of Tony Valvano, who ran the Lower East, and he gave my Pa a chance to make something of himself. We did a lot of smuggling, mostly, but on a world where it’s all organized crime, who are you smuggling against? Other families, mostly.” She then leaned in close and whispered to the Governor. “And sometimes Starfleet too.” She giggled and held a finger to her lips.

“You always need to watch your back on Sigma Iotia II,” she continued. “Business is done with a kind word or with force, and when someone walks into a room with a visible piece, you know somethin’s gonna go down and it won’t be pretty.” She then looked away and smiled sheepishly. “And so I may have been pressuring the map vendor, and may have thought the constable was going to kill us. Oops.”

"That does explain that, then." He remarked as the hallway they were walking down came to an end in a set of large double doors, "It really does beg the question of how you know whether someone is making a fair deal or not? Does the presence of a weapon automatically indicate impending violence, or could it be purely for self defense? Some of our merchants do hold some very valuable items and other merchandise, as such they tend to carry their own modes of defending themselves and protecting their property."

"Oh, I'd be surprised if anyone engaging in business wasn't carrying!" Fulvia agreed adamantly. "You never know if the mook you're dealing with is gonna change the terms of the deal, if you know what I mean. But for appearances' sake you keep 'em hidden, right? Sure you know that I might shoot ya, but it says something that I'm not actively preparing to. Someone with a piece in hand up in the air like Handsome Johnny had, that's someone who might actually use it."

The doors slid open in front of them and bright light from an arena to rival the coliseum flowed in, the murmur of a crowd filled to capacity suddenly audible with the sound-dampening of the doors no longer blocking it, "A hidden weapon is an empty threat." Torresh reminded her, "Or an assassination attempt. Here on Trarim, we see a hidden weapon meant for actual use as an aggressive act and in the history of this free world, more than one Governor has been assassinated. The punishment for that, of course, tends to prevent others from that offense for a century or two. We keep the footage on file to provide an example. We are truly an open world, so as to cater to all cultures that arrive." He gestured to the arena as they reached the balcony edge where several seats were, "And this is the prize of our justice system."

"No kiddin'," Fulvia remarked, looking around at the space they were in, and at the gladiatorial arena below. "On Iotia you just assume the person you're dealing with is armed. And in that way, is it really a hidden weapon if you know it's there and are ready for it? Mutually Assured Destruction. Not a concept the old mobsters had but the people who wrote the Good Book talked about it plenty." She made a show of patting down her chest, waist, hips, and thighs. "I promise you though I got nothin', governor. Even my sister, Francesca Two-Knife couldn't fit her trademark two knives under an outfit like this, plus I think O Captain My Captain would throw me to the wolves if I broke the rules now. You're welcome to check though. It was made clear to me that being touched was a possibility."

The Governor raised his eyebrows at that point, "I wasn't aware that she'd added prostitution to the contract, I assume you read it before you signed it?" He waved that comment away, "Either way, you'll not be molested, I've made that perfectly clear to all of my security personnel. As for the arena, everyone that goes in there is there voluntarily, unless they've committed capital crimes and are there in lieu of execution."

"What is the punishment for assassinating a governor anyways?" Fulvia continued. "Seems like it's probably something that requires more than decades servicing streets or years servicing genitals."

"Oh, execution." Torresh waved it away, "No possibility of servitude, and it's slow... An example must be made of them, and flaying them slowly, dismemberment, all under the watchful eye of a medical team to ensure that death doesn't come too quickly." He gave a slim smile to Fulvia, "The last person to successfully kill a Governor took eighteen days to die, in public, on display the entire time."

“Yikes,” Fulvia said quietly. “I guess crime doesn’t pay here.” She looked over at her Captain, suddenly wanting to be a bit further away from the person who seemed amused by such cruelty.

He sat himself into a large chair that was obviously meant for him, then patted the arm of the chair next to him, "Your Captain will be back shortly, she was saying something about placing a wager before and I have an idea of what it may be about. Besides, if you believe that I'd do anything to offend the Federation, you'd think wrongly. I'm certain that the Hegemony and the Federation will get along, because we are both in the same business: Law and Order."

She left me here. Fulvia tried to hide her discomfort, mostly by doubling down on the Iotian angle, which seemed to amuse the Governor. She sat on offered chair.

“The Federation is all about law and order!” she exclaimed. “How my people ever got involved with them is anyone’s guess! The line separating lawful conduct and being a bunch of goody narcs is pretty thin!” she said with a laugh. “My family does have some good sources for things you might enjoy here. Legal things,” she was quick to add. “Sometimes permits get lost, but most of the stuff they purvey don’t hurt nobody! Maybe some of the more commerce minded people of the Federation can visit Trarim. They get a piece of the action, you get a piece of their action. No laws broken, and everyone profits!”

"Indeed!" He leaned over in interest again, "Then perhaps you and I should do some business together, Fulvia Benvenuto, mutual profit assured."

"I think that sounds just right, governor," Fulvia said with a grin, unhappy to be in the situation, but pleased that she could profit from it.