Six
Bloody hell, Garak!
Despite knowing it was his friend restraining him, Julian kept instinctively struggling. He let out another muffled exclamation while attempting to slap Garak. God, this must look ridiculous.
"Doctor!" Garak whispered harshly, tightening his grip. He jerked his head upwards.
At that moment a loud shout filled the air, footsteps coming to a sudden stop. "Buggering hell, I lost 'im!"
Julian's eyes widened. That sounds like the mugger from before…
A second set of footsteps came to a halt, the unknown person gasping for breath. Julian could just make out their shoes through the leaves of the bush and prayed that they would remain hidden. "Dammit! You should've just shot him!"
"We're supposed to keep 'im alive! Dead Turks don't talk! What'd you want me to do?!"
Turk? Julian realised they must be talking about his skin colour. Still, he wasn't sure what a Turk was supposed to be.
"Knock him out, punch him, I dunno!" The second voice snapped. It sounded like. "The boss is not gonna like this. We need that info."
"Well at least I tried," The first man snorted.
"Trying isn't gonna save us, dipshit. Come on, let's keep going. Maybe he's up ahead."
Rapid footsteps indicated the muggers' departure, though Garak continued to restrain Julian.
They're gone! Let me up! Julian grunted softly, yet Garak kept his hand firmly glued to his mouth. He seemingly lost in thought as he pondered what they'd just heard. Julian even wondered if he was reminiscing about his days in espionage. But now was not the time for relieving the past.
Garak, you're hurting my face. Julian mumbled again into Garak's hand, prompting the Cardassian to remove it.
Garak heaved himself off of Julian, brushing down his suit. "I do apologise for the restraint, doctor, but you must understand that-"
"Garak!" Julian snapped, sitting himself upright. "What the hell is going on here? First I see you get dragged off by some humanoid, I get attacked by a mugger, and now there's a whole group of them after us? What happened? Where are we?!"
"Doctor, please," Garak took a moment to observe for any nearby listeners. He leaned forward, whispering in Julian's ear. "We seem to be targets of some sort of extremist group. That humanoid who kidnapped me seems to be one of the 'spies' of this group."
"Extremist group?" Julian muttered. "But this is early twentieth-century Earth! I thought there weren't any extremist groups at that point."
"It is possible my assessment of our situation may be incorrect," Garak pointed out. "After all, I am not as good a historian as I am a tailor. Have you been able to deduce the local dialect?"
Julian frowned. "My attacker spoke English, but I didn't recognise the accent. Same with the other gentleman," He looked at Garak. "What happened to you? How'd you find me?"
"I was incapacitated in a similar manner to yourself," Garak commented. "I don't know how long I was unconscious, but I awoke in some sort of underground facility not far from here. The guards were very sloppy in tying my restraints; it almost seemed I was invited to escape. On my way out I overheard them in conversation with one of the gentlemen who just missed us."
Julian suddenly snapped to attention. He initially didn't believe the gunfire was real, or the heavy marching of boots. As much it frightened him, it confirmed his suspicions. They were still out of immediate danger, but things would undoubtedly get worse from here. "Garak, we need to get out of this program."
Garak stared into his friend's eyes. "I don't suppose you've had an epiphany of our location?"
Julian sighed. "You didn't hear that marching? Or the gunshots?"
"Doctor, I am sure you are aware of how terrible Cardassan hearing is by now."
Julian rolled his eyes internally. "I'm not sure about the country, but those gunshots…They sound too old…Garak, I think we're in the middle of the first world war."
Garak cocked his head. "'World war'? I assume you mean this involves the majority of the planet?"
"Yes it does" Julian snapped. "It was the biggest bloodshed in Earth history at the time. They called it 'the war to end all wars'."
"I see they made promises that couldn't be kept, given the number of conflicts it seems your people have had."
Understatement of the century. "Garak, I don't care about following this program's story. We have to find a way to get out of this holosuite. If the safeties are off and we end up in a trench or get interrogated by either side, there's no telling if we'll make it out alive."
Garak appeared confused. "A trench, doctor? I don't suppose you mean a coat?"
If they were having this conversation in the replimat, Julian probably would've sniggered. "In this particular war, soldiers on both sides would build massive ditches and use them as protection against the enemy. They were notoriously foul. Thousands of men were killed." He gave Garak a look that indicated he didn't wish to discuss it any further.
"I see. I must admit, as much as it sounds inappropriate, that I find myself a bit curious about the interrogation techniques used in…primitive wars, such as this."
Julian's eyes narrowed. "Planning to take back tips and tricks for your beloved Obsidian Order?"
"Of course not, doctor. I am but a humble tailor," Garak smiled. "I simply wish to broaden my understanding of your planet's history. Speaking of which, why did that man refer to you as a Turk? Is that meant as an insult or as a description?"
"To be honest, I'm not sure," Julian admitted. "It's definitely something to do with my skin colour. Even during a war, people were still conflicted about race."
"I see. How do you propose we make our escape, doctor?"
"That's the part I'm not sure about. We might have to go along with some of the program. For example, if part of this program involves one of us being captured or we get separated somehow, the other should still attempt a rescue-"
"-But continue looking for a way out at the same time. A reasonable plan, doctor," Garak leaned against a nearby tree, using it to lift his weight off the ground. "Shall we press on?"
