The Sheriff and her Deputies

Posted on Tue Jan 27th, 2026 @ 3:21am by Technical Sergeant Decker & Warrant Officer Loren Baro & Sergeant Benjamin "Ben" Hall

1,228 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: A New Dawn
Location: Security

On:

In the tight little security space the Ada Lovelace called an office, Ben sat in a corner with a new deck of cards. He thumbed through the stack, feeling the crisp edges, and began practicing the overhand shuffle the way Jaime had taught him. The motion still felt a little unnatural; too light for his hands, too soft compared to the work he was used to, but he kept at it, letting the rhythm settle in.

He was halfway through another shuffle when a faint vibration ran through the deck. Ben paused, his fingers stilling just enough for him to catch it: footsteps, steady and unmistakable, were heading toward the security area.

The older security deputy was the first to arrive. His eyes were sharp, but also tired. "Ben, um, what's going on?" he asked, stepping into the small office.

Ben paused mid-shuffle as Decker stepped into the small office. “…What do you mean?” he asked, genuinely puzzled. The cards were still loose between his hands, paused mid-shuffle.

Nothing in the room looked unusual.

Nothing felt unusual.

But Decker’s tone said otherwise.

Decker was now also confused, "got a call to come down here, and well, I assumed the boss would be here," Decker said.

Ben frowned slightly, lowering the cards to his lap. "A call?" he echoed. Decker wasn't a man who made mistakes on shift, at least he didn't use to be, which meant something had pinged the system, or someone had decided they needed both of them here without saying why.

"I didn’t put anything through," he added, glancing toward the wall console as if it might offer answers. Nothing was lit, nothing was flagged. Just the same quiet little office with its scuffed deck plating and mismatched chairs. He shifted forward in his seat, setting the cards aside. "Maybe it was a mis—"

Footsteps again. Lighter ones.

Loren walked in and saw her two deputies, "Great, you're both here. The scavenger squad pounced on me." She said by way of apology, using a term for the engineering/operations people. She still wore her comfortable civilian clothes, with her mother's old Bajoran lieutenant's rank on her chest, for good luck. She went to lean on the small desk nearby, and around the corner was a small part of the room that held extra weapons, etc. There was a metal plaque nearby that said 'Toy Chest'.

Decker looked up when he heard footsteps. "All good, boss, everything is all good with fleet ops, and engineers?"

"Weirdly enough, yes." She replied a little bemused, "After so long with tape and a shoestring, having resources..." She shrugged, not complaining, just not used to it. "Oh, that reminds me." She pulled out a small padd and tapped a few keys, "You should have updates on what's going on on your padds. The best part is they are..." She tried to remember the word the human engineer used, "An engineer called it Tetris. Anyway, they are looking at revamping storage as well, including for weapons."

"Ship weaponary, or small arms?" Decker asked, and it was a bit of a shock, seeing as they were still in this odd limbo between not being Maquis and not being the defense force.

Loren leaned against the small, all-purpose desk, crossing her arms and still holding the small PADD. "They seem to be focusing on improving what we have, so retooling current ship weapons up to spec, restocking torpedoes, and restocking our small arms with 'new' Bajoran weapons." She put a little stress on the word 'new' because most of their equipment was second-, third-, or whatever-hand. Her own sidearm was a gift from her. "They will also give us new defensive equipment, basic armor, nothing fancy, but it's solid." She shook her head, bemused, "I know it's weird not to be seen as the bad guy of the universe. All of a sudden, we're a different underdog. One worthy of support." She managed to keep most of the bitterness out of her voice.

"Luckily, I still have my kit back from my....either way, those weapons are gonna need to be tested, and as well as our aim," Decker added, not wanting to get into a firefight, and learning that the weapons didn't work, or worse deputies having crap aim, which he didn't think any of these deputies had.

Loren nodded, noting the verbal pivot but letting it go. Decker wouldn't be the first to come to the Maquis with secrets. People shared or didn't in their own time, as long as he could be relied on, she wasn't going to push. "That was my thought, I'd like to do it while we're at the station so we can use their training areas." It was here, why not ask was her thought. "I wanted to run the idea by the Skipper of getting everyone a little range time as well, if we can manage it. Whoever hasn't scattered yet." She gave a brief smile at the last. Not that they always lacked for experience, but the chance to use a first-rate facility was tempting. A small crew like theirs needed every edge.

"Agreed. I think that is a smart play. We are a small crew, and we only have so many deputies. We need to make sure that everyone can defend themselves if necessary," Decker added with a nod.

"Yes, fortunately, everyone tends to be used to pulling double and triple duty, so shouldn't be too much grumbling." A thought occurred, and she continued, "Great news for sensors, though, more testing needed, of course, but looks like we're getting upgraded sensors for targeting, scanning ships, anomalies, and things like that. With internal tweaks to improve detection of what we don't want here." She looked at Decker, "You want to shepherd the personal weapons training or run the sensor drills?"

"I can do that," Decker said with a simple nod. Hell, it was part of his SpecOps training and duties to train militias.

At some point, the deck of cards had ended up forgotten on the desk. Ben’s focus was on his PADD now, scrolling through the updates as Loren spoke.

"I can run checks on the small arms before they hit the range," he offered, tone calm. “Make sure tolerances match what we’re used to. Bajoran kits tend to be solid… but they’re not always standardized."

A brief pause. "No one wants surprises once we start shooting."

"Agreed, I can also help with that, as well as target training, and clearing corridors, and rooms, as well as CQB (close quarter combat)," Decker added.

Loren nodded. She appreciated how they worked together. "I love it when a plan comes together." She said, pleased, "You two focus on personal weapons aspects, and I'll run the ship changes through the wringer. We can touch base as needed."

Ben glanced once at Decker and then gave a small nod. "Understood. I’ll start with the inventory and baseline checks as soon as the shipment clears. We’ll have a report before anyone steps onto the range."

Loren looked at her entire security and tactical department with a grin, they may not always be the most spit and polish but they had the knowledge where it counted. "Right then, best be about it so future us doesn't rail against current us."

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