Crowd Control

Posted on May 12, 2015 @ 7:22pm by Commander Jacob Crichton
Edited on on May 12, 2015 @ 7:23pm

Mission: The Lights of Hyperion

= Crowd Control =

(cont'd from "Steps Forward")



LOCATION: USS PHOENIX
SCENE: Marine Barracks

STARDATE: [2.15] 0512.1344



TIME INDEX: Just before Eve arrives at the barracks in "Steps Forward"



Jake had managed to pull himself away from Main Engineering long enough to meet with Kass in the marine barracks to discuss security preparations for the refugee area, which had picked up the nickname "Shanty Town" among the refugees and was starting to catch on among the ship's crew. Jake didn't like the name, it reminded him too much of what living conditions had been like for many of the people on LIMBO, but he had to admit it fit the place pretty well.



Sylvia Warren had accompanied him. She was going over plans for food stations with Gunnery Sergeant Horatio Bellecotte, another one of the new faces who had come aboard at LIMBO and apparently an old friend of Kass. Warren and Bellecotte were standing at a terminal, arguing over where to place temporary replicators that the Engineering team was preparing to move in.



Jake realized he hadn't had the chance to talk to Kass since she'd gotten out of Sickbay, and took the opportunity to ask her how she was feeling.



"Not you too," the marine grumbled. "I swear, that's the only thing people say to me anymore."



"You almost died, Major," Jake said. "And now you're back up on your feet like nothing happened."



"Not nothing," Kass shrugged. "I bump into a lot more stuff now. The road to recovery is long and winding and full of coffee tables, just ask my shins."



"It's my fault you were in there with that Kalenda," Jake said.



"Your fault?" Kass asked. "How do you figure?"



"She's the one Russ and I stole that latinum from," said Jake. "We're the ones who pissed her off, and you paid for it."



"If it wasn't her, it would have been someone else," Kass said. "Don't worry about it, Jake. It was a close call, but I'm fine."



Jake nodded. "Good thing that Barnes guy was there."


"Yeah, guess he's my very own guardian angel," Kass said.



"What do we know about him?" Jake asked. He was remembering seeing Barnes in the docking bay before they'd left LIMBO. Something about the big man had struck him as odd, and it wasn't just his size. There was something familiar about him, though Jake couldn't be sure what it was. He was quite sure he'd never met the man before, and yet...

"Not much, but I trust him," Kass said. "He's been helping coordinate the safe zones and working with me to police the Shanty Town. We haven't had any major incidents yet, but that place is a powder keg just waiting to explode, and Barnes was the first one to realize it."



"Why's he being so helpful?"



"Self-interest?" Kass shrugged. "He's got to live down there too, especially since Kane's not letting the refugees out of the cargo bays. I ain't asking too many questions 'cause we ain't in a position to turn down the help, and Barnes knows what he's doing."



"So he's had training?" Jake asked.



"Or experience," said Kass. "Or both. Why so curious, Jake?"



"No reason," Jake said. "Just keeping an eye on the refugees, that's all."



The marine barracks doors opened, and Eve Dalziel entered. Kass looked up at the counselor as she approached them.



"That you, kid?" she asked.



=[/\]=



SCENE: Shanty Town



TIME INDEX: After "Steps Forward"



Bellecotte and Private Kuenzi were doing their best to keep the crowd back and give Jake and Sylvia time to work. Installation of the replicator network for the Shanty Town was going more slowly than expected, and in the meantime the people were hungry. They'd distributed some rations, and had done their best to ensure everyone was getting fed, but with the manpower they had available it was simply impossible to enforce a fair and equal distribution of the available food.



"Everyone please remain calm!" Bellecotte was saying, shouting to make himself heard over the din of the crowd. "Our engineering team needs time and space to work. The sooner they get that, the sooner we can get these replicators online and get all of you what you need."



"We need food *now*!" someone from the crowd shouted.



"We need more rations!" someone else cried.



"More rations will be distributed at the appropriate time," Bellecotte said, doing his best to keep his patience and sound reasonable." You must understand, we have to closely control how they are distributed, our reserves are not limitless!"



For his part, Jake was doing his best to do the work quickly. He felt very self conscious, trying to work with all these angry, hungry, desperate people staring at him, willing him to go faster, but he pushed it out of his mind.



"You can't keep us locked up in here like animals!" someone was yelling. The crowd was getting agitated. Someone shoved Kuenzi, who nearly lost his footing.



"Hold on!" Bellecotte yelled. "Hold it!"



Kuenzi was back on his feet, shouting into his comm-badge for backup. There were too many people here, and Bellecotte and Kuenzi weren't going to be enough to hold them back. Jake and Sylvia looked up from their work and exchanged an uneasy glance with each other.



The crowd swelled, threatened to sweep over Bellecotte and Kuenzi, but then Jake spotted the big man, slicing his way effortlessly through the crowd. Even the angriest refugees seemed to lose their fire and step aside as he approached. He eventually made his way up to where Bellecotte and Kuenzi were standing. The two marines didn't look worried; they opened a spot in their ranks, which the big man stepped into. He turned and faced the crowd.



"Everyone, back off now!" Jacen Barnes shouted. His voice carried over the din of the crowd, which by Jake's estimates had swelled to almost 500 angry people just crowded around the replicator station, with probably another several hundred looking angrily on from farther back in the cargo bay. The crowd didn't quiet, but the pushing and shoving calmed down a bit; it seemed nobody wanted to be the one to accidentally get shoved into Barnes.



"We need to eat!" someone yelled.



"I understand that," Barnes said. "And that's why these people are working so hard to feed you. Pushing, shoving, screaming at them while they try to do their work... none of that is helping anyone!"



"My kids haven't eaten since before we left the station!" came another desperate yell. "Those rations they passed out all wound up in the same hands!"



"They need to protect us!" someone else yelled.



"Let us out!" came a third, angry cry.



"We're doing the very best we can," Bellecotte said, stepping up beside Barnes. "When we get these stations operational, the food shortages will be eased! Now please disperse and let us work!"



"You heard him!" Barnes said. "Everyone move along! If anyone tries to stir up any trouble, they're going to be dealing with me!"



The crowd didn't disappear altogether, but it started to thin out. The agitation had subsided, and while Jake could still see dozens of people staring at him with quiet desperation, it no longer felt like they were a hair's breadth away from a riot. Barnes nodded to Bellecotte and Kuenzi, and moved back into the crowd. Jake noticed some people crowded around him, and it sounded like they were making reports, keeping tabs on activity throughout the Shanty Town.



"I see why Major Thytos was so thankful for his help," Warren said. "Mr. Barnes seems to have the respect of most of the refugees."

"He's comfortable taking charge," Jake said. "I'll give him that."



"He's not acting on his own," Warren said. "We've been working with one of the other refugees, Arthur Embry. He's acting as the unofficial liaison between Shanty Town and the rest of the ship."



"Is Barnes working with Embry?"



"Haven't heard," Warren shrugged. "If not, we should introduce them. If we don't get this place organized, we're not going to make it to Elandipole."



Jake took another moment to stare after Jacen Barnes. It seemed like the big man wanted to help, even if he was just acting out of self-interest. But Jake still couldn't shake that odd sense of familiarity, like trying to remember a name that was right on the tip your tongue but wouldn't quite come out. But, of course, there was work to be done, and so Jake returned his attention to the replicator station.



=[/\]=



Shawn Putnam

a.k.a.

Jake Crichton

Chief Engineering Officer

USS PHOENIX