Jeden bounced on her toes in nervous anticipation as she heard Isan’s voice in her head from their time together at the academy, ‘Move, don’t let your opponent dictate the match, control it…‘  Across from her, her next opponent, Lieutenant Tra’vil ducked under the ropes of the sparring mat. 

She bit down on the mouthguard and grimaced. Though she generally disliked these classes she found them to be a good workout and boxing had been growing on her. She knew it was a skill set she needed to improve even when she expected to be on the losing end of the match given the size of her opponent. 

Her opponent nodded to her and reached out one of his gloved hands which he bumped with her own before she settled into her boxing stance. From the side of the sparring mat, the instructor blew her whistle and the match began. Remember all the instructions that Isan had drilled into her she moved quickly to her right and closed the distance. She ducked under a jab from him brought her fists up under his defence and felt a wave of satisfaction as they both connected before she jumped back to dodge his counter. Though she anticipated the strike her timing was off and she took a glancing strike across her helmet knocking her on her ass.

Before she got up the instructor blew her whistle pausing the match. “Ensign Sonia, that’s the match for you. Your CO wants a word.”

Jeden let out a disappointing sigh, as she took her gloves off before removing her helmet, “Thanks for the match Lieutenant, sorry I have to run.” He smiled and offered his gloved hand, “Always a pleasure Ensign, you are getting damn quick, a month ago you wouldn’t have been able to land those hits. Rematch next time?”

With her closed fist, she bumped his glove, “Definitely. But for now, I need to get out of these clothes, really worked up a sweat today. See you soon.” With that, she ducked under the rope and grabbed her combadge, quickly putting it back on her shirt.

Giving the instructor a quick nod she started to make her way to the showers as she tapped her combadge and called her CO. After a moment the Lieutenant Commander’s voice came over the coms, “Ensign Sonia,  I am sending you a data packet with your new orders. I want to lead a team to evaluate some of the wrecks in the scrapyard to determine if they are salvageable or if they need to be scuttled. Read them and get yourself ready for the reception I will meet you there and introduce you to your counterparts there.”

Jeden sighed as Ortega cut the channel. “Right, 90 minutes….” she said as she looked at the large clock on the wall before stepping into the shower room, “guess I cannot have a relaxing shower then…”

Looking down at her dress uniform Jeden absently mindedly brushed the sleeves and the jacket as if there was dust on it. She knew she was distracted by events almost 30 years in the past but knew she had to move past it. As with many Bajorans, she sometimes struggled with anything to do with the Cardassian military. Though she was born years after the occupation, it had claimed the lives of three of her grandparents and she keenly remembered the stories her parents and others used to tell her. As she thought about it, her hand touched the d’ja pagh hanging from her right ear, he rarely wore it but made a point to whenever she was in her dress uniform. “Times have changed,” she muttered under her breath as she thought back to growing up on DS9 and the handful of Cardassians who lived there; they had all been wonderful people.

With a final, forceful exhale, more of a snort, she straightened and stepped through the door into the ongoing reception. Between the slightly dimmed lights, soft background music and chatter she felt herself relax a little as she took in the scene. Looking around she saw most of the senior staff, except Commander Ortega, and several junior officers she was familiar with mingling with a number of Cardassians of various ranks. Her gaze stopped on the rather large buffet table across the bar and she couldn’t help but smile. “Oh, good food always wins me over,” she said with a smile before she made her way over to it, almost with a skip in her step. 

As she looked down at the wide variety of food she stopped when she saw the Cardassian meat rolls with Yamok sauce, the Larish pies and the Ikri buns. All items she was very familiar with and ranked in her favourites, though most food in general was.  “It would be a pity to let this go to waste,” she said with a grin as she selected one of each and put them on her plate. Taking a rather large bite of the roll she turned around and saw Samwell standing not far off as he ordered a drink with another ensign in a teal uniform she wasn’t familiar with. They made eye contact and she hurriedly nodded at him before he headed back into the crowd, slightly embarrassed as she realized she likely looked like a chipmunk with food in her mouth.

“Ensign Sonia, there you are,” came a stern yet very feminine voice from behind her.

Jeden stiffened and quickly put her plate down beside her on the table before turning around, and hurriedly chewed the remainder of the roll. “Commander Ortega, ah, hello,” she said as she covered her mouth.

“I would have expected you to come find me as soon as you got her Ensigned,” she said flatly while her eyes lingered on Jeden’s earring. “Thought…” her eyes shifted to the buffet, “I can understand the draw of the food.” Ortega grabbed the Ikri bun off the plate Jeden had been holding and smiled, “Did you have any questions about the mission?”

Jeden shook her head, “Not really, it seems straightforward enough. Assess each of the ships to determine if they can be salvaged. If possible outline what is needed to get it underway otherwise scuttle it.” She smiled, feeling confident that she could do the tasks with ease, “Oh, there was one, who will I be working with? I didn’t see any other crew members down.”

“That is because they aren’t from this crew,” Ortega said as she turned and gestured over to a young Cardassian man with strong features. “You will be working with Gil Nudras Droc. He is one of the junior engineers on the Daneer. Given that you are to check several Cardassian, Dominion and Federation ships it makes sense to have you work in a team though I understand you are familiar with Cardassian technology. I trust that won’t be a problem.”

“Yes, Commander,” Jeden said, “No, I mean that won’t be a problem.” 

“Good,” she responded just as Gil Droc stepped up. “Gil Droc, this is Ensign Sonia Jeden. You two will be working together for this mission. Get to know each other as you will both be very busy in the coming days.” With that Ortega grabbed another Ikri bun and walked into the crowd.

Jeden looked the young Cardassian over with an inquisitive eye before she smiled and held out her hand, “Gil Droc, it is a pleasure to meet you. I am Ensign Sonia Jeden but you can call me Jeden.”

Nudras took her hand and nodded in greeting. “Ensign Sonia, a pleasure. I look forward to working with you. Most call me Droc,”  he remarked very formally.

Jeden sighed, “I don’t bite Droc. Come get some food.”

Droc visibility relaxed at that, “I could do with some food. Wonder if the Yamok sauce is decent.”

“It’s ok, not the best I’ve had but I am pretty sure it is replicated which would explain that. The meat rolls are pretty good and make up for the ok-ish sauce,” Jeden said as she handed Droc a plate with a meat roll. “You want a Larish pie? I haven’t had one yet but I am sure it is edible.”

He accepted the plate with a quick, “Thanks.” He took a quick bit, “You’re right, the sauce isn’t the best but it is passable.” With that, he put down the plate and looked at Jeden for a moment, “I want to get this out of the way. Will we be ok working together?”

Jeden cocked an eyebrow, fixed her glare on him and crossed her arms, waiting for the inevitable reason.

Droc shifted uncomfortably for a second and broke eye contact, “Because, well, you are a Bajoran and I’m Cardassian.”

“Yes, I can see that,” Jeden said giving him a disapproving stare before she smiled and let out a little laugh. “Sorry Droc, I couldn’t help myself. We will be fine. Neither of us where there though I would be lying if I said I had no connection to it, hadn’t lost family, most Bajorans did. I am sure some of my people will be signing up to this New Maquis madness because of the anger but that isn’t me. I grew up on DS9 and knew Cardassians there. Treat me as your equal and we will be fine.”

“Ok, I wanted to just get that out there in case it was going to be an issue,” he said with a nod. “I think what happened was horrible….”

“Stop,” she said with a bit more force than she intended. “We don’t need to do this. We are at a party, let’s enjoy ourselves and get to know each other. From how I read the mission brief it will be just us on those derelicts so you better get used to my chatting now.”

With a smile, she turned back to the table and added a selection of food to her plate and then gestured to the bar, “I don’t know about you but when I’m at a party I like to have a drink and enjoy myself though sadly this isn’t the type of party we can dance at.”

Droc matched her smile, “Food and a drink would be nice.” After a pause where he grabbed some more food, he continued, “Maybe some dancing wouldn’t hurt another time.”

“Well Droc, maybe, if you are well behaved we will see if that can be arranged,” Jeden said with a wicked smile. “But for now, let’s get that drink and go mingle. I can introduce you to some of the other lower deckers around here.”