Station Security - Promenade Evacuation
Posted on Sun Nov 29th, 2015 @ 7:14pm by Lieutenant Marc Madigan
Mission:
By Dawn's Early Light
Location: Promenade
Timeline: 1045hrs.
[Promenade Section]
Marc Madigan was starting to envy the other section chiefs. He would never want to give up his beat for another section of the station. The Promenade section was always going to be the most happening section of the station. Between the shops, the restaurants, the bars, the clubs, and countless other gathering places, there was always something happening. But if anyone thought that people were defensive when told to leave their quarters they were downright territorial when it came to leaving their businesses behind.
On one hand, Marc argued that safety was far more important than any material property. But on the other hand, many of these owners had put their entire lives into their businesses. It wasn’t just material property. It was sweat, blood, and tears. It was life savings. Being told to evacuate to safe areas with the threat of attack did not sit well with some of them. For every nine businesses that willingly closed up shop, there was one that fought tooth and nail to stay behind. Madigan was flagged down by one of his officers to address one of these incidents.
The store was a small jewelry boutique. The owner, an Archan named Oren Nar, was arguing loudly with a security officer. “I told you, I’m not leaving! You can’t make me! I know my rights! This is my property!”
The security officer was trying desperately to calm the man down, to no avail. “What seems to be the problem?” Madigan asked as he approached them.
“What seems to be the problem?” Nar asked indignantly. “I’ll tell you what the problem is. You Starfleet types are all the same! You move in here and start telling me what to do, telling me to leave my store and march off an internment camp! I’m not going to have it! I am an Archan citizen! I know my rights!”
Madigan remained calm while the man ranted. Matching anger with anger was not going to solve the problem, and would most likely only make it worse. “Mr. Nar, this is a Starfleet station. You do have rights, but you were aware of the risks when you set up shop here. We’re not taking you to an internment camp. We’re simply asking you to evacuate to a shelter for the duration of the emergency.”
“And what’s the big emergency? Starfleet aggression? You can’t just walk in here with your gold collars and boss us around. There is not martial law on this station!”
“There is when the Captain declares a state of emergency, Mr. Nar. We are evacuating you for your own safety. There’s no reason to keep your shop open. There won’t be anyone around to sell anything too. Unless you think the Sojourners are going to be looking to buy a new necklace. You’re going to be far safer in the shelters.”
Oren was not about to back down. His arms flailed wildly as he talked. “What about my boutique? How do expect me to protect my wares if I’m locked up in a shelter? Huh? Did you think of that one Starfleet?”
Madigan wasn’t deterred. “I would assume the same way you protect your wares when you close down at night. We’re not asking you to leave your door unlocked and your security systems offline. We’re just asking for you to get yourself and anything you need to safety. We’ll still patrol the promenade while you’re in the shelter. Your boutique will still be here when this is over.”
“And what if it’s not? What if something happens to my business in the fighting, or if something happens to the station? What then, Mr. Starfleet? What then?”
The section chief stared him down. “Mr. Nar, if something were to happen to the station, I think we all have bigger problems than the state of your store. Don’t you?”
Nar was seething and sucking air through his teeth. He knew the security officer had a point, but he wasn’t happy about losing the argument. “You better just make sure my store is safe!”
“Mr. Nar, your safety is my biggest concern,” Madigan replied. He could tell that Nar was still upset, so he tried to make it better. “But we’ll do what we can to keep your business, as well as everyone else’s, safe. You have my word.” Marc looked to his officer. “Can you take care of things from here?” The petty officer nodded in the affirmative. “Good. We’re sorry for the disruption, Mr. Nar. I certainly hope that the rest of your day is much better, for all our sakes.”
Marc wandered away from the argument. It had been one of those days, and it didn’t look like it was going to get any better. He just hoped that his wife Arlean was having a better day than he was.
Lieutenant Marc Madigan [NPC: Von]
Section Chief - Promenade
