A/N: It's a common plot device; the holodeck/holosuite safety protocols are turned off somehow due to equipment error, damage or interference. I understand the use, because it helps move the plot along to have the characters in peril. But I was thinking...
I'm sure I've got some technical errors here. I enjoy the series a great deal, but I even spelled "O'Brian" wrong in the first draft and I always seem to get ranks mixed up. This short is in two chapters.
Playing It Safe
18:05 hours
"Quark, are the holosuites available yet?" Miles O'Brien asked as he ducked into the bar for the fourth time in two hours.
"Just went online a few minutes ago Chief. You better hurry, they're filling up fast." The fact was that they weren't filling up because the news hadn't spread yet; it was just good business to occasionally overstate demand for the purpose of generating greater demand.
And at Quark's, the holosuites were good business. Although used for official Starfleet training occasionally, the majority of the time they were used for entertainment purposes. The entertainment varied, and Quark made sure to keep up with the latest trends and requests whenever possible.
One of those requests was the reason the holosuites had been offline for several days now. Starfleet had requested that the safety protocols be strengthened after several incidents elsewhere involving failures of the protocols to protect the users. Not wanting to lose a source of income, Quark had obtained an upgrade for the programming from a connection who knew someone that worked for someone that was related to a person that lived next door to one of the designers. He had installed the program module himself, which due to some hard-coding wouldn't activate until 1900 hours that evening. But time was profit, and that left nearly an hour before the modules kicked in. Until then the users would just have to be as careful as they normally were; the waivers they signed should take care of the occasional bruised leg or broken finger.
18:30 hours
O'Brien returned wearing a wet suit, followed by a similarly clad Julian Bashir. "Miles, I'm still not particularly thrilled with the idea of plummeting down a river while in the process of drowning" he said as they made their way over to the bar.
"I've told you Julian," assured O'Brien "you're not plummeting…you're floating. Just remember to stay right side up and away from any waterfalls." The Chief caught Quark's attention. "Suite #3 please, Quark."
"Sorry Chief, #3 is still down. We used it as a regular room for a bachelor party last night and it hasn't been cleaned up yet. Let me see…Jadzia is using #1, #2 is reserved, the Commander is in #4…looks like you get lucky #5." Quark handed O'Brien a data rod for the holosuite.
"Lucky? I always get hurt in #5. Last time I ended up with a dislocated shoulder. I'd wait for #3, but I'm going to be tied up on some projects over the next few days. I've got Julian, so we'll probably take it easy."
"Probably?" asked Bashir with just a slight hint of worry. "Waterfalls?"
...
In holosuite #1 Jadzia wasn't wearing a wet suit, just her normal Starfleet uniform. It was like a second skin to her; comfortable and protective at the same time. But then again no one around her was wearing a wet suit either. There were uniforms to be sure, but they varied greatly in color and markings. Most bore names associated with commercially sold products long gone for centuries.
Dax had tried to explain it to Kira before. "Torias loved speed; it's what drew him to be a pilot. He found a small group of people that would hold races in vehicles that would only travel on the ground. The cost of the vehicles was offset by companies that would advertise their products or services on the vehicles and the suits worn by the drivers."
"Why did they race? To get from Point A to Point B faster than anyone else?"
"Oh no. They usually raced around a circuit that led back to itself in something called a 'lap'. A race would have a designated number of laps and the first one to complete them was the winner."
"So you went as fast as you could to get back to where you started, competing against other people doing the exact same thing. Sorry, I still don't see the appeal."
"Oh it's great fun! You strap into your vehicle and race against the others. It takes great skill to find the fastest way around the track and get around the other racers; it's not unusual for contact to occur."
"Any accidents?"
"Oh, when I knock them into the wall it's no accident. But only if I have to do it" Jadzia said with a grin. "Besides, next time the other holographic drivers might do it to me; They're quite good."
Jadzia was putting on her special protective headgear ("I don't like the name 'crash helmet' very much" said Kira) when the voice over the loudspeaker said "Drivers, to your vehicles." It was race time.
...
In holosuite #4 Benjamin Cisco looked up from the work space he was standing at. At the front of the class stood a man dressed completely in white, including chef's hat. He was speaking with a slight Italian accent; not difficult to understand if you were paying attention, but the captain had been distracted looking over his equipment for the cooking tutorial. Various ladles, spoons, knives and tongs along with assorted measuring containers were arranged around him to allow as many items as possible within an arm's reach.
"Computer, freeze program; resume at time index 03:23.00"
The program backed up and the chef repeated his comments about food degradation issues with heat selection of the gas burners used on the cookers. Cisco was trying something out of his comfort zone, and wanted to practice before springing the food on Jake and a captain he had just met by the name of Kasidy. He had tried preparing and serving a new dish for the first time to guests before, with the results being haphazard at best.
If there were going to be any problems, he wanted them to happen here.
...
Nog stood outside of a sorority house in holosuite #6. His uncle thought he was using the program for the usual reasons that patrons did, and he was right. He hadn't had much success with women on the station; they considered him too young, too poor or just too short. He needed a confidence boost and this program always helped; what better place to be accepted by women than at the Alpha Quad Gamma Quad Sorority and Comfort Society.
With a grin on his face he walked up to the front door with his pizza box; even this program had to start off somehow. Knocking, he called out "Pizza delivery!"
...
Major Kira watched over Ops from her console. It was evening and things were quieting down from the usual busy day schedule. With most of the senor personnel gone for the day, she was the lone commander on duty. No maintenance issues of any importance, no fights on the Promenade, not even any damaged ships trying to limp to the station. It was quiet.
Really quiet.
Too quiet thought Nerys. She was bored, and wished something would come up that require her attention. An incoming communication sounded, and she quickly directed it to herself for the chance to do something.
"Deep Space Nine, this is the Envoy from Bajor. Kai Wynn is traveling aboard and would like to speak to the Emissary on a matter of some importance. Please have him available when we dock in one hour." The communication closed abruptly.
The Kai? I'd was better off bored, though Nerys. Looking at the clock she calculated how long before the Kai arrived; just after Commander Cisco was due to end his holoprogram, one which he asked not to be disturbed unless necessary. She decided to wait.
18:55 hours
It was lap six in suite #1, and Jadzia had worked her way up to third place with a comfortable margin over fourth. Her attentions, however, were focused ahead on the second place vehicle of "Flame" Thrammer. His red car, red suit and red helmet was perfectly matched in the winners' circle photos by his bright red hair. Through the tight corners of the backside of the track she drove, slowly gaining ground until she was able to slip in behind on the long front stretch. It was the perfect setup for a pass at the end before a sharp right hand corner.
...
"Remember to keep a steady rhythm when you paddle" O'Brien said as he raised his voice to be heard over the water. "If you think you're too near a rock, use your oar to push off and go around. Try it on this one up on the left."
Bashir eased over to go near the rock and, as he was gliding past, pushed with his oar to get a little more distance from it. He almost lost his grip on the oar before making a quick grab. "That wasn't too bad, I could get the hang of this."
"Now up around the bend it starts to get fast and you'll see a lot more rocks."
"What do you mean STARTS to get fast?" Bashir looked wistfully to shore.
...
"Timing is very critical during this stage" the cooking instructor continued. "Turn up the gas jets on your cookers to full, quickly slice the zucchini into thin strips and toss them into the pan, searing them only until the outer edges begin to brown." Cisco mentally gathered up his thoughts, grabbed the knife and turned up the gas jet. The chef insisted that preparing this portion of the meal required gas and not the typical heating plates used elsewhere.
Ready, set, go! he told himself.
...
The girls giggled as they surrounded Nog. A few whistles and other sounds mixed with teases like "However will we pay you" and "You're a lot handsomer than the last guy" assailed him, much to his delight. Even more girls were coming down the staircase to see what was going on.
This might just be too much of a good thing thought Nog. If such a thing is possible.
...
In the reserved holosuite #2, Quark was running his own special program. Named 'Tycoon', it was a game in which the object was to bankrupt the other players by buying and selling futures and businesses. One was declared the winner when he owned all the other players' assets.
His game board automatically tracked all wealth in the game, giving current players' market positions, most recent transaction, shares, holdings and total wealth. Quark looked on happily as his market percentage inched up a little higher and his wealth counter ticked upward. I love this game, he thought.
19:00 hours
All the holosuites in use shimmered as a voice announced "Maximum safety protocol initiated."
In suite #1, Jadzia had just dived to the inside of the turn to make the pass when her surroundings shimmered and she was in an entirely different place. There were a lot of bells and buzzers, lights and...
She was rammed from behind. Turning around, she saw a young boy with red hair grinning as he moved away from her to go after another driver. She observed that they were all in small open-cockpit vehicles that seemed to be colliding with each other incessantly around a large flat, walled area. A large sign on one side of the floor on which they drove read 'Bumper Car Madness'. She was the only driver that wasn't a child.
...
In suite #2, Quark set his next moves and waited for the results when the office setting shimmered. Looking at his board, he saw for the moment that the players' market shares were remaining stable. His wealth counter, however, was starting to climb much faster that before while the other players were making fewer moves. His counter's rate of increase continued to climb.
I'll just buy everyone out in a little bit if this keeps up, he thought to himself.
...
In suite #4, Cisco placed his knife against the carefully arranged group of zucchini. The room shimmered, and he put pressure on the knife as he drew it against the group to make his initial slice.
The rubber knife bent back without even scratching the waiting vegetables.
...
In suite #5, O'Brien was slightly ahead of Bashir as the water began to form a few whitecaps when the sky shimmered. They suddenly found themselves in the middle of a lake. The nearest shore appeared to be a few kilometers away, the water was perfectly still and smooth as glass, and they were sitting together on a rectangular wooden raft.
"From what you said I thought it was going to get harder" said Bashir.
...
In suite #6, Nog could now see nothing but the taller girls standing around him. Somehow he had lost the pizza box as some of the pieces were being passed around. The girl who was marginally nearest was named Mary and had just finished her slice of pizza. "Would you like to go somewhere and get better acquainted Mary?" asked Nog with a grin.
"We couldn't do that" answered Mary. "We might develop a reputation for improper behavior. Besides, you're such a nice guy I consider you more a friend than anything."
That wasn't supposed to happen.