CAPTAIN'S LOG: STARDATE 7588.473
"I'm still having trouble acclimating to the fact that The Excalibur, along with the crew, is stuck in hell. Sometimes… I feel like I'm stuck watching a bad dream I never wake up from. I'm still wondering if this place is actually hell, but Rolf's information proves me otherwise. Even though it's been a day since we've arrived, I can't help but feel like we've been here for years. Kylkuc has devised a plan of telling the crew that we're in hell, but I'm worried that it still won't be good enough to prevent a full-scale riot. Anyways, Alastair thinks that we'll have power in the warp core from having the ship smashing into the city for now, which puts my mind at somewhat ease. Atathia is also working on trying to understand what's so special about Alastor and why he was on our sensors. But I would be lying if I said that I would ever trust him; something about him seems off. Gonna have to keep my eye on him, just in case. On the subject of demons, Ms. Morningstar seems, at this point, the only demon in this hellhole I can trust. Wonder how I'm going to get this in my report… if I'm going to be able to make one, that is. Maybe I should just go to the gym to put my mind at ease."
The gymnasium of the Excalibur, much like those on the other Constitution Classes that were in service at the time, was more comprehensive compared to earlier starship classes. The Gym was about as big as a basketball court, with half of one on one side and a gymnastic bar next to the left wall. On the other half was a bench press, exercise bike, treadmill, a few dumbbells, a leg lift, and a lift pulley. The gymnasium on starships were seen as essential to starship life, which provided the crew with exercise and training on sometimes year-long treks throughout the cosmos of the great expanse of the unknown.
Edison Hendrix, Captain of the only Federation ship that was in hell, was on the bench press in the gym of his starship. He was currently wearing a thin red long sleeve top with black slacks and the Starfleet delta sewn onto his chest. He always tried to keep himself in shape while on service during his career in Starfleet, and it would carry on with his ascension of him gaining command of his father's ship. He struggled to lift the 185-pound barbell as his Andorian first officer, wearing marron gym clothing with matching color's to Edison's, stood just over him.
"You know…" Edison said as he struggled to speak out as he lifted the barbell over his head. "I didn't know you were into this…."
"Learned it from my father." Atathia said, laying her hands under the barbels that her superior was lifting. "He always wanted me to be athletic, or something like that."
"Wait a minute, Isn't your father a councilman on the Federation Council?" Edison asked as he started to acclimate to the weights on his hands. "Why would he want you to be athletic? Wouldn't he want you to be a politician or something like that?"
"I'll leave the work of politics to the Tellarites. And besides, there's no harm in getting a little active right? Plus, in Andoria, everybody is Athletic. Trust me." Atathia said nonchalantly before she looked on the clock on the wall that was parallel to her and the captain. They've been doing this for long enough, she thought to herself as she clapped her hands to get the Captain's attention. "Alright, we're done." She said, helping the Captain put the barbel on the ledge. Edison sat on the bench and took and deep long breath.
"Captain, can I ask you a question?" Atathia asked as she drank a water bottle she placed near the barbel.
"Please, just call me Edison. And yeah, go ahead, what is it, Number One?" Edison responded.
"With this clinic with the demons, how do you expect it to help us?"
Edison sighed as he put his hand through his brown hair. "To be honest, I don't know yet. But they're the only people here that can help us, or at least want to help us. We're gonna have to take that chance, even if that means us helping them with their redemption hotel."
"That reminds me, actually. Do you think that Ms. Morningstar's idea of redemption would actually work?"
"If it actually works? It's only a short-term solution at best. But…I don't think it's possible. However, the charity aspect of it, I believe it can thrive in a place like this as a start before pursuing systemic changes." Edison said, standing up from the bench he was standing on. "I have to change. I'll see you during the briefing." Edison said, departing from the gym as he grabbed a blue duffel bag he left by the door.
Afterward, Edison arrived at his quarters as laid his duffel bag onto the bed as he opened it to reveal his Maroon Captain's uniform,
neatly folded in the duffel bag in order to not cause any creases. As he started to change into his uniform, he began to look around his room, taking note of many of the items from his past, or things that he just liked in general. On his nightstand was a lamp, his PADD, and what was of most note to Edison, a framed picture of himself and a red-haired women. Picking up it, he observed it closer; they were on a beach, most likely Suraya Bay on Risa with its distinctive villas and beauty. However, what the Captain saw the most was that he and his women were… happy. Edison groaned as he put the frame back, this time facing down so that he couldn't see the picture. As he got his white turtleneck and his black uniform slacks back on, he saw another thing that caught his awareness; it was on his desk and was plated with gold and was as small enough to fit comfortably on a man's palm. Edison grinned as he hastily put on his black boots and his red overcoat over his shoulders as he began to walk to his desk as he put his arms through the sleeve holes. As he picked it up, his smile increased as he picked it up; it was his old Starfleet badge when he first got onto his first ship, the USS Cassidy, an old Walker-class that was being held together by nothing but hopes and dreams. It certainly had its ups and downs; it was too big for its own weight, the computer systems had trouble with the old mainframes, and lateral vector transporters that were as obsolete as spatial torpedoes or Polarized hull plating used on the old NX Classes. But it did have its charm of being old, archaic, and aged, something that Edison missed extensively. He put the Starfleet Delta back onto the desk as he began to walk back to the door where he came in from, looking around his quarters as he walked through the open doors, which closed behind him.
As he was walking through the deck of the Excalibur, a high pitched noise was exerted from his communicator, he opened it with a flick as he continued to walk.
"Captain Here." He said, talking into the communicator.
"Hello Captain, this is Kylkuc." The Vulcan said, with calmness and confidence in his voice.
"What is it, Commander?"
"I am currently with Ms. Morningstar and Mr. Alastor in the observation deck. They wish to speak with you."
"Me? Couldn't we do it for another time? I was about to-" Edison said, distracted by his surroundings as he walked through the halls. But as he was fixated on the conservation at hand, a black cloud surrounded him, obscuring his view from the outside world.
"-make the announ…" Lasting for only a short moment, before he suddenly found himself in front of the Chief Medical Officer, Charlie and Alastor. He turned to look around his surroundings in shock before turning to the demons.
"What the fuck was that!?" Edison yelled in surprise as he stumbled across the Observation deck.
"Ed! Learn some manners, That's not a good way to talk to a new partner!"
"Di-did you teleport me here?!" Edison Grumbled.
"Why of course my dear fellow, it sure makes things go faster am I right? I figured you would be used to that sensation by now given how you found a way to create an equivalent means of transportation."
"You did it without my consent! What if your voodoo powers interfered with the shielding and turned me into a blob? What then!"
"Oh come now captain, have a little faith in my abilities. Trust is needed between partners for a relationship to be stable. And building relations is what Starfleet is all about isn't it."
Edison was, without lack of a better word, pissed at Alastor. He had heard about omnipotent life forms toying with life forms, but this demon especially got on Edison's nerves.
"Why did I of all people have to be the Captain to be sent to hell? Why couldn't it be a ship like the Enterprise, this stuff happens to them on a daily basis!" Edison thought as he tried to compose himself.
"Typical Emotional Behavior. Fascinating." The Vulcan Medical officer thought as he sat in silence.
Charlie seemed irritated as well and voiced her displeasure. "That's enough Al, it wasn't a rush to get him up here."
Twirling his microphone Alastor adopted a carefree shiteating look. "Charlie..Charlie…Clarile, where's that sense of fun we all know you for?"
Ignoring him Charlie turned to Edison, "I'm sorry to bother you but it's been a while since you agreed to help us and I was hoping you had an update on things."
Edison nodded his head as he tried to hide his frustrations about Alastor. "Rome wasn't built in a day, Ms. Morningstar. I was about to make an announcement to the crew about our current situation. Well, I was until your friend thought otherwise."
"Now, now Ed, it's not fair to fault my business partner for being cautious in a place like this." Alastor started with a finger wave.
"Fine. I guess you make a point." Edison said begrudgingly. "But let's not get side tracked. So you just need an update right?"
Nodding eagerly, Charlie said yes.
"Alright, well we've taken into account our inventory and current energy capabilities. We should be able to supply you with food and medical supplies for some time. However, in the future, we should find the resources so that it won't affect our needs as much." He responded, rubbing his forehead as he spoke.
"Where could we find the things we need down the future?" Charlie asked.
"I have a few ideas, mostly revolving around some manipulations of Hell's Stock Market and a few other computer related strategies." Edison said before he turned to Kylkuc, who was visually intrigued by Edison's remark about stocks. "Been studying Ferengi commerce. Thought it would be useful here." Edison remarked.
"Power wise, maybe making a fusion reactor would work. Medicine is the most difficult but I believe we could set aside a hydroponics farm for some of the ingredients needed." Edison said before speaking again.
"Just one more thing. Know anything yet about getting us out here?"
"What about your tests?" Charlie asked.
"Oh, they're not done yet. We've only just started. So we're um…" Edison said as he tried to find the best words. "Blind in the dark basically."
"There is the option where I could include my father into this, but we're not on best terms right now and I…don't know how he would react to you." Charlie stated and she took on a pensive look.
"Yeah, making a deal with the devil. That'll be a first." Edison said sarcastically before clapping his hands.
"Well then, I think I should head to the bridge now. You know, tell my crew that we're in hell." Edison said before realizing what he said out loud. "Oh god, how am I going to do this?" Edison under his voice.
"Good idea!" Alastor said, standing up. "Let's all go!"
"Wait, I didn't mean tha-" Edison said before Alastor snapped his fingers, with a black aura surrounding the occupants in the room with red signs around them. Immediately afterwards, they found themselves in the hustle and bustle of the bridge, with officers and crewmen operating it's consoles, before they all turned to see the people who had appeared out of nowhere in the middle of the bridge.
Edison nearly fell as he exited from the Voodoo magic. "Oh my god! Stopping doing that, please!"
"I would have to agree with the Captain…" Kylkuc said as he got from the floor, as he was sitting down from before.
"Hmm, you Vulcans really do take your devotion to logic to the extreme." Alastor said with a chin scratch.
"Captain? What are you-?" She'rl asked Edison before she was cut off.
"You don't want to know. Number one, Xehrarv, are the security officers in place?" Edison said to She'rl, before turning his direction to Xehrarv and his first officer, who was sitting in his chair as he began to walk to them.
"They're ready for anything, Captain." Xehrarv said before Atathia got up from the chair and joined Edison.
"Weren't you supposed to be here a few minutes ago?" She asked.
"I was, until I got hold up by someone," Edison said as he made a quick glance at the radio demon who seemed to be in an even livelier mood than usual.
"Alright Rolf," Edison said, sitting in his Captain's chair and taking a deep breath in anticipation. "Put me on."
Down below the decks of the Excalibur, down in the cafeteria, a few moments ago sat a red-haired officer on a table drinking some coffee while he was reading an article on his PADD. Sitting next to him was a dark-skinned female Vulcan, who was drinking tea while working on what seemed to be a set of mathematical problems.
"I still don't know how you're able to do that T'pok." He said in a South African accent.
"I am able to complete these problems through rigorous effort and study Lieutenant Der Sandt." She said in a flat Vulcan manner as she continued on with the math problems.
"God, I've been telling you this since the academy T'pok, just call me Francois, alright?" He responded before their shared attention turned to another human officer, who was this time an engineering Asian officer.
"Teinosuke. It is agreeable to see you." T'pok said.
"As to you guys." He said as he sat down with the officers. "So, any news about where we are? The Senior Officers are keeping us more in the dark than a bat."
"Eh… they'll tell us soon," Francois said, tugging his uniform to hide his anxiousness.
"Is there something wrong, Otoko? You look nervous." Teinosuke asked, noticing the nervousness coming from the South African Officer.
"Well I-" He stuttered before the intercom began to voice the sound of the captain.
"This is the Captain speaking." Captain Edison said, trying his best to contain his anxiety from his crew.
"I know you are all wondering where we have ended up and that you want answers as to what has been going on. At 1120 hours, we made it out of the wormhole in one piece but were forced to make several drastic maneuvers as you know to avoid colliding with the surface of a planet. After attempting to escape the atmosphere once spotted by the locals we have been forced to maintain position at five thousand meters due to encountering an energy barrier preventing any and all escape from the planet. After a meeting with a select few of the locals and shifting through data on the planet's internet and communications we have discovered that we are now inside what seems to be a pocket dimension very loosely based off of…the… terran abrahamic version of hell."
"W-What the-?!" Teinosuke yelled as he stood up from his chair.
T'pok adopted a look that seemed to be a combination of confused and contemplative while placing her hand on her chin.
"Are you kidding me!? This can't be serious! We can't be in hell!" A nearby officer yelled.
"This has to be a joke! R-Right?!" A female officer said, turning to a nearby officer for support.
"Why are you Terrans getting so nervous?" An Tellarite Officer said, scoffing at the humans.
Francois gulped as he slumped into his chain. "Looks like they're taking it well…" He thought to himself
"It must also be mentioned that the inhabitants technically count as a pre-FTL civilization, some of which were once human, however, their technology and culture match that of the early 21st century. Any species outside of earth from our galaxy are also unheard of, with the only other type of beings being a few species born in this place. I will upload access to all information that has currently been gathered on this society to everyone's PADDs and will continue to release information as gathered after reviewing it. I would highly suggest you all read up on Abrahamic Terran Religious Literature, though how much of it actually applies remains to be seen."
The captain's openness with releasing information did seem to lessen tension a bit while the rest confused the crew a bit. However many of the human crew were still in the process of near hyperventilating or trying not to have a mental breakdown, with Non-Humans trying to calm down their comrades.
"On a different note myself and the senior officers have agreed to help a small group of the locals in setting up a medical clinic, food pantry, and rehabilitation center as a means of gaining allies, setting ourselves up for a possible long haul, and in exchange for help in figuring a way back to the federation. While this would normally be out of the question even if it were necessary to get back federation space, a clause in the prime directive does allow interaction if contact was already made unintentionally as we did when we almost crashed."
"We're helping demons!?" I didn't sign up for this!" Another human officer called out.
"How can we continue to break the Prime directive like this?! I don't want to end up being court martialed!"
"Now hold on, if they are asking for food and medical assistance they can't be that bad."
"That Bad? Amica, they're demons! They're gonna kill us all when they get the chance!"
"And what do you base that on? The captain wouldn't consider helping them out if they were pure evil."
"Oh don't tell me that Martinez! They're demons! Of course they would be evil!"
"Wait.. those beings in the cafeteria, they must have been the demons the captain agreed to help out!"
As the crew when wide eyed over this revelation and were about to voice their opinion on the matter before being cut off by the internal comms again.
"The Spider one was kinda hot to be honest…" Teinosuke said quietly.
"But now," Edison started. "I'm going to talk to you all personally. I know that it's scary to hear that we are in a dimension based on hell and you might be scared. Hell, I wouldn't blame you. We don't have any communication with Starfleet or the Federation for that manner, we don't know where we exactly are, and theories that would provide us with our return are at their staging grounds. But, I beg of you all from the bottom of my heart, do not give into fear. The Federation was founded at a time similar to our current position. We just had a war with the Romulans, the Klingons were committed to our destruction, and we were still at an uneasy peace with the Xindi. But still, we banded together under a common banner of peace, liberty and freedom, and managed to pull through the hardships that faced us. We did it once, we can do it again here. So I beg of you all, do not give into fear." Edison spoke from the bottom of his heart to his crew, hoping that it would give them hope in a hope-stripped world like they were in.
"We are Starfleet. We can do this."
For a moment the crew remained silent and contemplated on what the captain said while some of the panicking human crew members managed to get it under control.
"The captain is right, whatever preconceived notions or fears you all have need to be shoved aside for the time being. It is unfair and illogical to judge a species or group on hearsay and superstition. We can make our judgments after reviewing what we know of this place." T'pok spoke up
The officer panicking over demons clenched his fists and while glaring at the vulcan but let out a frustrated sigh and started fiddling with his datapad as other crew members joined him in reading over the information the senior officers had gathered.
"I suppose that went as well as it could." Edison sighed
"Yes, quite an amusing display of cooperation and friendliness, wouldn't you say." Alastor taunted with a toothy grin.
Butting in before things could escalate, Charlie made a request to the captain, "Captain Edison, if you would let me, I c-could address your crew to help answer any questions and uh..try to calm things down a bit."
"Your majesty…" Edison began, trying to move on from Alastor's jabs. "This ship is on the edge of a knife from turning into a full-scale riot. I don't think-"
"I know things are bad, captain, but I'll have to talk to them eventually if we are going to be helping each other. Plus, my project to rehabilitate sinners will demand I deal with difficult people all the time, and it uh…probably won't take long for some of them to piece together that we are the demons you were talking about since they saw us in the cafeteria. Sooo…it might not go well if we just disappeared after the fact and never addressed…them, heh." While Charlie did her best to remain confident, it was clear that she was somewhat buckling under the pressure, given her sheepish and pleading smile.
Edison took a long disgruntled sigh. What was this princess thinking? He just told the crew that they were in the worst place imaginable, and she -the princess of said place- wanted to go to his panic-stricken crew? This woman either had the biggest guts Edison had ever seen, or she was as much of an airhead as a first-year cadet. Then again, maybe she had a point about the crew having to get to know their new allies firsthand, especially if they had already seen them. However, it could just as easily backfire and trigger a full-blown riot by some of the crew. Something that Edison was very keen on avoiding.
"Alright," Edison relented. "I'll let you talk to them." He said, but before Charlie could speak, he interjected. "But swear to god, don't hurt any of my crew."
"You have my word, captain," Charlie said with a nod.
Activating the internal comms once more, Edison spoke once more. "To add to my last announcement, there will be someone from this world arriving momentarily to help answer any questions you may have."
"You can take the turbolift to the cafeteria; there will be two security officers waiting for you that will protect you if anything gets out of hand," Edison said to Charlie.
"Alastor…" Edison turned to Alastor, in a voice that was evident that he was holding back anger at the radio demon. "…can take the next turbolift to rejoin the rest of your "friends" and then we'll take you all down back to your hotel."
"Why take the turbolift when I can do it myself?" Alastor joked as he flicked his staff.
As Charlie made her way to the cafeteria she wondered if she had made a mistake. " Would they simply blow up completely over my presence, would they refuse to believe anything I say, would they call for me to be thrown off the ship and the partnership ended before I even have a chance to explain her dream?" Despite entertaining these doubts she pushed them aside becoming determined. 'No I have come too far to just give up or hide away, someone had to listen to her, someone had to share her hope that they could make things better for all, this is what she set out to do when she started the hotel. It's time to win hearts and minds.'
As the turbolift doors opened up, two starfleet security officers were standing in front of the entry. One of which was a very familiar South African entry, with a distinctive Afrikaner standing to the right of an Andorian Officer.
"Ms. Morningstar." Francois said with a nod and a reassuring smile. "I wished we could have seen each other in better circumstances."
Returning the smile Charlie replied, "Yeah, but I guess there's no helping that now. All I can do now is try to calm them down as best I can and answer any and all of their questions truthfully."
"Good luck on that one. It's one scream away from a bleeding warzone."
Charlie started nervously laughing.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that. But to be honest, if anyone from your group can calm them down it's you."
Turning towards Francois Charlie replied with a hopeful tone, "Really?"
"I mean who else? I mean there's a spider who has as many issues as a faulty warp core, a red haired psychopath, a paranoid moth-like girl, a hyperactive janitor, and a cat that has enough inner turmoil for an entire generation. It makes you look very… how can i say this, well… normal in comparison."
"I know they all have their faults, and we're working on rehabilitating Angel. But I've come to actually like some of their quirks a bit, besides Husk's excessive drinking and Alastor's lack of empathy."
Their conversation was interrupted as the turbolift had arrived at their destination.
"Oh, you'll need this." Francois said as he handed Charlie an earpiece with a small microphone attached.
"Just hold down the button on the side for a few seconds and speak into it so your voice will travel across the cafeteria's PA system." Francois instructed as Charlie put it on.
"Well here goes nothing." The daughter of Lucifer stated as she and the two security officers exited the lift and entered into the cafeteria.
As they entered they noticed that three dozen people had come to the cafeteria to ask Charlie questions. While it was rather loud at first with the crew debating amongst each other they all went quiet as they saw Charlie and the two officers enter.
Surprisingly to Charlotte was that most of them were non-human with species she had only spared a passing glance at or had not yet seen. Around a quarter were human with nearly all of them very nervous or casting suspicious and angry or glares at her once everyone stopped talking having realized she had arrived. Fortunately most of the room looked at her with curiosity, neutrality, or expectancy.
Taking one last deep breath Charlie addressed them all. "Um…hello, my name is Charlie and I thought it would be best if you all had someone to answer your questions seeing as I was um…born here."
The knowledge that she was born here caused most of the human crew to start discussing this revelation a little.
"Who the hell are you?"
"Well uh, my full name is Charlotte Morningstar and I run a hotel with the hope to turn it into a rehabilitation center to try and…redeem sinners."
This prompted the crew to start murmuring again before Charlie interrupted them.
"Wait-well, before I answer any of your questions I should probably state why your captain has agreed to help me and my friends. Having grown up in hell I tried to see the good in everything since this is my home. Although I can't ignore that it has almost every problem imaginable, we are mainly facing overpopulation. So I decided to open up a hotel in the hopes that sinners could be redeemed and sent to heaven rather than…face w-what happens every December 31st."
"You're not gonna kill us are you?"
"W-what, of course not! I would never harm another being unless I had to defend myself or my friends."
"So, you said something about the 31st. What happens on that day?
"I-uhh," Charlie took a deep breath and continued. "Every year heaven will send down exorcist angels to…commit an extermination event t-to deal with hell's overpopulation. They are in-indiscriminate about who they target and leave after 24 hours. Then I um…signal the end of it in my ring by shooting up fireworks." Charlie started with a slight strain in her voice while looking down.
This prompted even more murmuring and the negative glares at Charlie lessened while some empathetic ones started to appear.
"So, are people here like you? Or do they want to turn us into a Tellarite Uha'ur Stick?"
"She wouldn't know what it is dipshit." A nearby officer nudged the speaker.
"Sorry, I mean a kebab. Would they turn us into kebabs?"
"Well, t-there is a cannibal colony in pentagram city, but it depends. There are obviously a lot of bad people down here but some only care about going about their day to day business, others are actually somewhat pleasant to be around, and there are some good people around here."
"Oh a cannibal colony! This place is going to be great."
"I guess I should mention the different groups of demons in hell. There is sadly a hierarchical structure based on class and species. At the bottom are Imps and Hellhounds who are all born here and are all working class or servants and…slaves. The Imps can also be divided into subspecies by ring while Hellhounds are deemed to be below them and are sigh widely viewed as property. Above them are Succubi and Inccubi that have some powers with seduction and will visit the living world from time to time to um…mate." Charlie stated the last part with a blush.
"Ha! I can get behind those if you know what I mean."
"Heh yeeah, um back on track above the Succubi and Inccubi are the sinners who died are sent here. They aren't like the other beings in hell since they are all sterile and they take a form based on how they died, if they committed any grievous sins in life, and their personality. They can also regenerate wounds and can only be killed using exorcist weapons or if they are disintegrated. Some of the sinners also have abilities or skills that make them powerful enough to gain enough territory and influence to become overlords who rule over parts of hell."
The crew murmured amongst themselves. So everyone that was bad while alive ended up here? An officer wondered if they would see someone like Hitler or Stalin down here.
"Next at the top are the Ars Goetia, a mix of fallen angels and hellborns that can also regenerate wounds like the sinners but make up Hell's nobility along with their children. They have most of the power in hell and have different ranks with a king ruling over each ring of hell representing one of the seven deadly sins minus the top ring."
"You mention rings, what are they exactly?"
"Well, hell is divided into 7 rings with the Pride Ring at the top, then Wrath, Greed, Lust, Envy, Gluttony, and Sloth. Sinners although can only live and be born inside of the Pride Ring. Each ring contains their own separate cities and environments with a large elevator system that allows travel between them too. However, only hellborns can travel between them. Oh, I should mention Envy also has a number of aquatic species, Gluttony some insect-like demons, Greed has jester-like demons, and Sloth some goat-like demons that are all on the level of succubi in the hierarchy."
"Elevator systems? So this place is just one giant screwed up 20th century mall then?"
"Finally at the top of the hierarchy is the Fallen angel uh…L-lucifer and his wife Lilith who technically rule over all of hell and live in a place at the center of pentagram city in the pride ring."
"So uh, Lucifer," A crew member asked. "What's he like? And more importantly, what's he going to do when he finds out we're here?"
"W-well, I…honestly couldn't say how he would react. M-maybe he would try to learn all he could from you, or he could try to find a way to get you guys to leave, or he could react negatively and demand you surrender your ship. I don't know. He can be very scary and cunning when he needs to be, but he can also be a goofball. He doesn't do much other than negotiate with the Ars Goetia to keep power balanced between them, run his amusement park and other properties, and stays at home."
In the front stood T'pok. She had noticed some very noticeable details. This woman was speaking very familiar of the ruler and even said home instead of in his palace. Bringing up her tablet and typing into her PDA it wasn't hard to bring up an image of Lucifer from the released data, nor was it hard to see the resemblance. Therefore, using the renowned Vulcan Logic, she put two and two together.
"Lucifer is your father." T'Pok said bluntly, putting down her PADD. "Logic dictates it." Hearing what T'pok said to Charlie, the starfleet officers whispered among themselves in both equal parts confusion and curiosity.
"What? Are you kidding me? So this girl is some sort of princess or something?"
"I-yes." After taking a breath Charlie confirmed T'Pok's hypothesis. "Lucifer is my dad and I am the princess of hell heh." Stated Charlie as she adopted an embarrassed and nervous face reminiscent of the one in her disaster of an interview with 666 news.
T'pok simply raised an eyebrow while keeping her emotionless gaze which contrasted with the rest of the starfleet human officers. "Fascinating."
The Q&A session continued for a bit with Charlie unable to give any info about heaven and some limited information about her parallel earth. Overall her stunt had pulled off, the crew had mostly calmed down and was now much more informed. Fear being largely driven by unfamiliarity lost most of its power when even very difficult and dangerous things were able to be comprehended.
"Well, I thank you all for your time and for listening to me answer your questions. Hopefully I can get to know some of you better as I see you around the hotel or if I'm needed back on your ship."
Having finished addressing the crew Charlie was led by Francois back to the turbolift where the two traveled to the transporter room.
"So… she was nice. Surprisingly." Teinosuke stated to a human female officer next to him.
"I expected she would turn this place into a massacre. Guess I was wrong."
"Yeah, you know…" An Officer began to speak. "I think there actually may be good people down in this hellhole. But probably more crappy people." It was a sentiment that more and more of the ship's crew began to believe.
Letting out a deep exhale after exiting the lift Charlie was very relieved. Her fears were unfounded and she was able to do very well despite not preparing as she had done with her last interview. Things were looking up for once, with a little luck the Hotel would start seeing more guests and she could start making some real progress with Angel.
Entering into the transporter room she was immediately tackled into a hug by her girlfriend prompting the security officers to draw their phases for only a second before holstering them seeing it was only the action of a worried significant other.
"Woah! I'm alright Vaggie, I was just busy talking with the crew." Charlie consoled her girlfriend while returning the hug.
"Sorry hun, I was just worried something had happened while you were gone for a while."
"Thanks for caring, I was up on the bridge when Edison made the announcement to the crew, it was…rough so I volunteered to answer any of their questions to try and calm things down."
Bracing for Charlie to tell her the crew had freaked out or grilled her as a prisoner or manipulator she was surprised and relieved when Charlie declared she had done alright with the crew.
"They actually took it fairly well, Vaggie. A few are probably still distrusting of me, but most were satisfied with my answers and they didn't panic."
"That's-that's good to hear. Now we just need to hope they keep their promises."
"Suspicious of everything as ever, oh you never let me down my dear Vagatha." Alastor said as he entered the room with Angel.
"It's been amazing up here but I want to get back to nuggs soon. I don't trust that crack-fueled midget with him." Angel commented while staring at the transporters.
"Don't fret my feminine fellow, Nifty and Husk haven't burned the place down since I sent them back." Alastor stated while petting one of his shadows.
"So, what are these doodads?"
"Oh those?" A familiar Coloradian Voice said from the door that entered into the transporter room. It was Edison Hendrix, but not in his Starfleet Uniform. He was wearing a brown leather jacket with patches from pop culture and various places around the Federation. They included San Francisco, ShiKahr, and Sagar bav Balkar just to name a few. Underneath was a red T-Shirt with the gold starfleet delta in the middle of it. He was also wearing black jeans and aviator sunglasses to boast. "That's a transporter pad."
"Transporter? You mean…" Charlie asked as her eyes widened.
"I mean that's where you stand to get transported across space nearly instantly. That's how we got to your hotel after arriving here." Edison said, walking to the demons as he pointed to the transporter pad. "Oh and I'm off-duty right now, so I'll be taking you guys down."
"Wait, you're sending us back with these? A-are they safe?" Angel nervously asked.
"Safe? I mean sure they are!"
"I could always get us back using my method." Alastor stated.
"Duuh, on second thought I'll take the transporter thingy!" Angel hastily replied.
"Ah!" Edison smiled at Angel before giving him a finger gun. "Thank you for that! Alright, everyone who wants to go on, go ahead." The Captain said as he walked onto the transporter pad.
Angel was the first to step onto one while Charlie and Vaggie followed with Alastor shrugging and deciding to give it a try.
"Ready when you are Sir. Transporting you in the lobby of the hotel." Lieutenant Summers said to the Captain, who gave her a nod.
"We're ready, Lieutenant. Engage." He ordered the transporter officer, who began the transport sequence. Immediately, an orange hue surrounded everyone standing on the pads and after a second or two they had disappeared entirely.