"This is an outrage!"

Location: Brig, USS GALAXY

"Waiting for Duty"

Introducing once again Lt. Commander Ethan Suder

Ethan returned to his couch after collecting another drink from the replicator. He continued tapping through a data padd. The latest reports of new warp theories wasn't quite enough to peak any interest from him. With all that had been going on with the ship, he had been floating around making adjustments and repairs here and there, but he hadn't run into anybody he'd wanted to.

He hadn't been onboard long, he hadn't even unpacked his stuff. They just lay in the same couple of bags that he'd taken with him. He wasn't too sure if he was ready to meet the old gang again. He was pleased to see the crew hadn't changed that much, with the exception of only a few promotions, demotions and new faces.

He was slightly looking forward to seeing Karyn Dallas and Michael McDowell again. Since he left the original Galaxy, he had no contact with any of the crew. He hadn't spoken to many people.

Starfleet had given him permission to work on a huge project on the outskirts of Federation Space. It was a huge oppurtunity and it would also give him a chance to escape the place that had imprisoned his heart. Gave him time to think about everything he had gone through. To deal. And maybe overcome.

He had felt a touch of anxiety just before stepping foot on the Galaxy. He'd been really nervous. And when he stepped on to the ship and found himself in a similar corridor to that which he remembered, the haunting feelings came back to him. The voices and echoes of the past that had followed him around the quadrant were still here. He remembered pausing, thinking if he really belonged here. He had to give it a shot, find out for sure.

He placed the data padd back on the table and walked over to the window, glass still in hand. He took a long deep breath, a sigh full of emotion. His thoughts pondered on one thing only. The past. Part of him was really glad to be back, beyond words. But another part of him just wasn't ready for what was to come. But he would go on. Perform his duties to the best of his abilities. Do the job he'd always done. The job of an Engineer.

He returned to the couch and tried to focus once again on the warp theories located on a very dull data padd.

-Backpost, before the battle....-

"A Spot Of Tea"

Lieutenant Cassius Henderson, Chief Tactical Officer
Lieutenant JG Ella Grey, Assistant Chief Engineer

-Lieutenant Henderson's Quarters, USS Galaxy-

Cassius walked into his quarters, dog tired.  He'd just met with his new assistant.... and to tell the truth, he had been right when he had said to Irene deMercereau that he perfered Lieutenant Livadhi. Collapsing onto his couch, he sighed.  He'd make do.

"Henderson to Grey." he said, calling his new friend and love interest.  Maybe she'd like some tea and conversation.  Tea had always been soothing, and so, as he had experienced in the last few days, had she.

Empty air was his only response for a minute before a voice came over the comm. "Ella says hello." Indigo Renkert said cheerfully.

"Ask her if she'll join me in my quarters for tea?" he asked, chuckling at how stupid he sounded.  Ensign Pennington's conversation had taken it out of him.

There was another pause, presumably while Ella communicated her response to her roommate. "Sure thing, buddy." Indigo said. "She says she'll be there in fifteen."

"Great.  Thank you, Mr. Renkert." Cass said, unconsiously smiling, despite the fact that neither Indigo nor Ella could see him.  After the link was off, he walked over to the replicator and replicated the water and kettle.  Searching through his quarters, he managed to find a few teabags.  A nice Japanese blend.

Fifteen minutes later, Ella arrived at his quarters. She waved as she entered. She smiled. ~~I haven't been invited over for tea in quite some time.~~

Going back to sign language, Cass replied, ~~Well, to tell you the truth, I haven't invited somebody over for tea in a while either. Come on in, have a seat.  I hope you like Japanese green.~~

~~Of course.~~

~~What a day.  I just met my new assistant.  She's.... well, going to take a lot of work.~~ Cass gestured.  ~~I just hope I'm up to it.~~

~~Troublemaker? Inept? Brat? All of the above?~~ Ella signed before taking a sip of her tea.

~~Something else....  Rima is... well... interesting.~~ he said, then pulled deeply at his tea.

~~Poor Cass.~~ She signed to him with a smile.  But she inwardly smirked. The word 'interesting' had so many different meanings and she wondered if Cass wasn't just a little 'interested' in his new assistant. ~~I'm sure it will turn out all right in the end.~~

~~Maybe you could chat with her.  See what makes her tick?~~ he said, randomly, then wondered why he had.  He usually perfered to do that sort of thing himself.  Intelligence and all.  He prided himself on being able to figure people our.  Pennington was just..... weird.

Ella grinned. ~~I think you've got the wrong girl. I've never been one for girl talk. Most of my...friends are men.~~  Looking back briefly on all her past relationships- not really friendships though-, and adding in Curtis, Victor, and Indigo...yup, definately a large male factor, Ella thought.

~~Well, I'll take care of it myself.  I'm more used to that anyway...   Wonder why I asked you to do that.~~ he signed, cocking his head, thoughtfully.  ~~That was odd.~~  He laughed aloud.  ~~So, how was your day?  How's Lieutenant O'Shea?~~

~~Routine.~~ Ella replied. ~~Anna's a good boss. I like her. And I think you asked me to talk to that girl so that you'd have a good excuse to ask me over for tea again.~~

"Damn," Cass laughed out loud, "You've caught me red handed on that one."  Cass coughed into his hand.  He'd found that Ella was one person who couldn't be fooled by his intelligence-taught maneuvers, even the subconsious ones.

Her eyes sparkled over the tea cup. ~~You said I'm cute when I'm smug.~ she reminded him after she had set the cup back down.

~~I did indeed.  It brings out your eyes.~~  Cass replied in sign, the  drank the last of his first cup of tea.  After refilling it, he continued.  ~~So, I suppose you probably figured that this one would reach my ears anyway, but how much of what's been said about you and Lieutenant Kreighoff is true?~~  That was probably inpolite, but he'd heard some rather extreme versions of that story.

Ella rolled her eyes but looked amused. ~~Depends on what you've heard, I imagine. Victor and I are just friends, despite the stories. The seven children rumor is my favorite. How on earth they think we've had seven children by now is beyond me. I'd have to start popping them out at, what, age sixteen?~~

"Ha!" Cass said aloud, ~~That would be quite a feat for two people who only met this year.~~

~~TELL me about it.~~She shrugged. ~~I like him. And he needs the company, even if he says he doesn't. Apparently, most people wet their pants at the sight of him. It's been that way all his life.~~

~~Judging from his bio only, that doesn't seem fair, but likely.  I intend to track him down at some point and see what he's really like,~~ Cass said, ~~You know how I am about finding out about people.~~

~~Let me know what you think of him. Curtis and I don't get that vibe he seems to give off, so he lets us somewhat closer than most.~~ Ella shook her head. ~~Poor Victor. I asked if he wanted to play tennis with me the other day and he couldn't fathom the idea of doing something just for the fun of it.~~

~~Do you have any feelings for him in a more than friends sort of way,~~ Cass asked awkwardly.  He felt foolish, being concerned like this.  For crying out loud, I'm a grown man, he thought to himself.

~~Somewhat.~~ Ella said with another shrug. ~~Does that bother you?~~

Cassius hesistated, ~~I guess.... Well, a little.  I really am very fond of you, even after only these few days, but knowing what kind of person you are, I don't expect you to settle down after one date.~~  He chuckled a little about that.  ~~Does that make sense?"

~~Yes.~~ She smiled slightly and looked down at her hands. Cass was right, she wasn't looking to settle down. She was just going to try her hardest not to use him. Ella looked up again.~~I like you too...but I'm not looking for anything serious right now.~~

~~Well, I'm sure we can still be friends, and who knows where the future will take us.~~ Cassius said, ~~God knows, in today's world, everyone needs as many friends as they can get.~~  It was a damn shame that Ella wasn't looking these days, but again, who knows.

Ella laughed. ~~I've never had so many friends in my life. This ship should have been built years ago.~~

~~This ship is a big part of what I'm worried about.~~ Cass said, pouring them both another cup.

~~How so?~~ she asked before picking up her cup again.

~~Have you ever seen the recording of the press conference that Admiral Hoth held when she was launched.~~ he replied, "It's absolutely frightening.  This misdesigned ship is going to be his version of a "big stick", a message to the other governments.  It's a provocation.~~

Ella shrugged, unsurprised. She took another sip and then set down the cup. ~~The Federation is not as...humanitarian as it would like to think it is.~~

~~That is something that has occured to me recently.~~ Cass responded, sipping pensively, ~~How much do you know about the Dove-Hawk debates?~~

~~Not much.~~ Ella replied. ~~Politics usually bore me. I imagine it has something to do with peaceful exploration versus more forceful means?~~

He nodded, ~~Something like that.  Hawks are more interested in isolationism and a more militant Starfleet.  Doves are more inclined to work for diplomacy before arms and desire a return to the Federation before the Dominion War.~~

She tilted her head to the side, wondering where he stood on the subject.

As if he had read her mind, he answered, ~~I'm more of moderate Dove.  I think that the middle ground that we have today is the most effective road.  We're prepared for war, but diplomacy has to be the first option.  Kind of like the United States in the 1900s, before President Bush came to power.  Sorry, I took a lot of political history courses at the academy.~~

~~The Federation was born from a world that has a history of that sort of violence.~~ she reminded him.

~~Very true.  Unfortunate, but I think that's an aspect of human nature.~~ he said, ~~I just wish it wasn't true.  But I know better, and that's why I perfer to sit in the moderate range.~~

~~Given the chance to negotiate or go forth with phasers drawn, I think most people will choose the phasers, Federation charter withstanding.~~

~~That sounds about right, especially with conservatives like Hoth, Valerian, Illyanovitch, and Guignon in power.  On the other hand, we do have acceptable moderates like deMercereau and Mol.~~

~~I wonder what Brhode thinks on the subject.~~ Ella mused. ~~He isn't one for negotition but I've heard there's no love lost between him and Hoth.~~

~~Nor between Admiral deMercereau and Admiral Hoth. I wonder about Bhrode sometimes...~~ Cass said, the spoke aloud, "He has a good side to him. I suspect, that above all things, he's loyal."

She laughed ~~Probably. Well, I should get going. We should do this again sometime.~~

~~We should.~~ he nodded, then walked her to the door. After she left, he sighed and then burried his head in the pillow on his couch.

~Damn.~ he thought, ~Not interested....~

"Seeing Double"

Lt. (jg) Ella Grey

Ella stepped out of her quarters and blinked.

Standing in front of her was a tall woman standing in an almost rigid pose, her arms at her side, her back straight. She was wearing a short muted red dress, the hemline of which was a good several inches above her knees, which was where her white boots ended. Her hair was slicked back in a ponytail.

Ella tilted her head. The fembott tilted her head.

Ella sighed and went back inside. She removed the white go-go boots she was wearing and looked down at her own mini shirt. Well shit, she thought. Guess I'm not going out in these.

Ella rummaged through her closet once again.

"Typical Federation"

Bvt Maj Saladin Bolivar Intelligence

Female androids loose on the ship, is Captain Bhrode insane, any of those machines could contain intelligance gathering assets, and the design pretty much guarenteed males of the species would lose any common sense to impress a pretty woman.

Though why would you bed one of these androids, it was not like you would be able to reproduce, to bear a child with a machine.

Perhaps just physical release, but again an inefficiant waste of resources. Especially considering it was the Orions that purchased the androids...

"Chief, have we begun probing the Orion accounts, where did they get the funds for 6,000 female androids?"

"I'll do the best I can.. but Orion funding..."

"I see your point." Bolivar studied the screen, "Do the best you can."

"Yes sir."

The Orion syndicate, pirates, assasins for hire, and thugs. There had been a run in or two with the Alliance. But an agreement had been reached, with the Orions when they were informed that any attack on a Nietzchean vessel would result in the capture of two Orion vessels and the execution of the crew. All it took was 3 of those executions, and the Orions got the point.

The big concern wasn't how they afforded the androids but what would they use them for.

These androids were perfect replicas of a humanoid lifeform, and could be disgused as any species. With a change of a programmng console they could become assasins, spies or saboteurs.

In other words the perfect weapon, and the Orions had 6,000 of them.

They would need to see the inside of one of these androids... and figure out if they could be repaired.

"There Go An Romantic Date!"
By Lt. jg Dr. Klaus Fienberg
Lt. jg Kay Elizabeth MacFarland (APC)

With (Ret.) Lt. Cmdr. Erik Stiener

Klaus Collected himself and retrieved his medkit from the floor.

"Erik, what the f**king hell are you doing here!?"

"You are not pleased to see your brother?"

"Of course I am!...I mean no I'm not!.. Oh I dunno!"

"I look at the schedule. You get off in exactly...." Erik lift up his dead arm and look at the watch that was conveniantly there, "1 minute."

"Would it not be easier the put the watch on you're right wrist? You are freaking people out."

"But I'm left handed---"

"But you can't use that entire arm. We're going outside, the staff doesn't need this nonsense." Klaus grabbed Erik by his good arm and dragged him outside the main sickbay door with him so they could argue in peace."Now what do you want? You know Starfleet does payanyhting."

"Oh come on Klaus! You really think so low of me?"

Klaus calmed a bit but was still a little angered. "You track record speaks for itself." Some remorse for yelling at his only real relative entered the doctors face. "Look, I am glad to see you, but just not right now. Go take a look in the promenade of something, I'm a bit busy. I'm sure you have to set up you apartment."

"Yes, but what could you possibly have to do that's more important than assisting your own....brother----"

A huge smile cameupon the wily jackass' face. "You've got a date. HA HA! Somehow I knew it!"

The Anger in Klaus' eyes could only be matched or surpassed by that of Kay.

Erik smiled and walked torward the nearest turbolift. He was like a bad case of crabs. Extremely hard to get rid of.

The young science officer was on the turbolift heading towards Klaus's Apartment when an young man gave out an gasp.

The young half Betaziod looked at him while Kay was wearing an short black, Betaziod dress that her friend and boss Rose let her use.

"What in the bloody hell are you looking at?"

Erik gave his strange look that all women get.

"Take an picture it will last longer!" she told him while fliping her red hair back and walked towards Klaus's apartment.

Erik merely smiled and disappeared into the hallways.

Quite quickly, they arrived and Klaus took the lead at the door.

"Welcome to my inner sanctum. You are actually the only other member of the crew that has entered these quarters since my arrival."

Inside, the room was a very well kept place. The only thing out of place was the Black five string bass, neatly on its stand.

"Not much, but I'm only a doctor."

"Nice place, better than mine."

Klaus walked over the replicator and waited. "Might as well eat something. What's your pleasure."

"Just Betazoid wine please." the young woman said while sitting down on an small couch.

With almost a whisk of his hand, Klaus quickly typed in the order along with his own. Cranberry Juice.

"I sometimes I don't like asking for it. Sorry I won't drink some wine, but the last time I had an alcholic drink, I tried to hang myself." Klaus took a seat on the couch, took a drink and a slight chuckle came out. "At least I can laugh about it now. So....well...I dunno..Do you have a past?"

"Some what of an past? What do you want to know love?"

"There are many a past event that makes a person who they are. I've had many a teacher tell me this. Bah! I say. I guess, who you are, where you've been."

"Well I was born in the Highland of Scotland, I been to Risa, Betazed, Bajor, and other M class planets."

Another swig of the Cranberry after klaus cracked his kneck. "They really need to design an ECH (OOC:Emergency Chiropracter Hologram.)"

Kay got up from the couch and started to rub his neck gentle while humming an beauiful tone trying to make him relax.

"Well....that's nice. Me. The USS Renville would have been my home, but a strange accident in Engineering ended that. I've really only been on a few planets. Nameless mining colonys and the like. I stayed mostly on ships. I prefer the stars to any planet other than Earth or Betazoid. Betazoid was the only major world I was on. Can't really count Earth, I was raised in the heart of south central Berlin."

"Really I never been to Berlin, I been to England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales...very beautiful."

"Well, The London Medical Academy is very nice. Berlin...is just Berlin. There really isn't much to say about it. One city I liked was St.Petersberg. As well as New York and San Francisco. Bah! The stars are my place. I've always felt better in space thanon a planet. I guess it's just a fact of my birth."

Klaus stood up, and snapped his neck and back. "Wow, that did wonders. I feel as I should repay the favor."

"And what kind of favor would you like, Klaus?" Kay asked him her Scotlish voice while sitting back on the couch.

Klaus merely chuckled at this and looked her in the eyes, with that german smile. "Your choice."

Suddenly, the door bell rang.

"What the hell? Must be that idiot Erik. COME!" No answer. Klaus got up and walked to the door. The opening of the door was like a movie. 3 femmbots stared Klaus straight in the eyes, laughed in unison(which was disturbingly erie) and stood there motionless.

Klaus reeled back slightly, allowing the door to close. "Now I am seriously freaked out."

"Your not the only one lad!" Kay told him while walking towards him, thinking about what the hell was going on. Then the half Betazoid kissed Klaus on the cheek.

Klaus walked over and looked out the doorway again seeing nothing walked back in slightly.

"I bet this is going on all over the ship. Those are Mudd's androids too." He swung his hand quickly off to the side "Bah! If anything goes wrong, I'm sure security can fight them off....But I'm worried about Erik, he might set them off."

Kay just sit back on the couch so damn mad, "There goes an romantic date!" she told herself while just sitting on his couch looking out into the stars.

"Reservoir Dogs"

Bvt Maj Saladin Bolivar NALDC Liaison

=Intelligence office=

What they needed was one of the Androids for study.

Once they examined them he could tell if they had been altered for any nefarious purposes.

If they were he would have evidence to take to captain Bhrode.

"Is one of those androids out on the ship?"

"Yes sir, we could get one easily."'

"Good brign one here, set up a table and engineering kit with tools."

"Sir?"

"Chief the most efficent way to identify and clasify these androids is to dissassemble one."

THat got attention.. "Isnt' that a bit brutal?"

"It's an android, a machine, no more subject of sentimentality then a replicator."

Then one of the Mudd androids walked in.

Bolivar pounced, like a preditory creature. "Come right this way."

Once in the room he moved with rapid speed and an efficency of movement. Small metal rod was placed under the android's armpit and an arc of electricity surged through the 'woman' knocking her stiff as a stone.

Once she was on the table Saladin removed his jacket and draped it over a chair.

"Comptuer music."

<working>

He picked up a cutter and suddenly a song began to play

... I don't know why I came here tonight.... ...I got a feeling that something ain't right...

~Epiphany of Flight~
Lt. Cutter Kara'nin

"Come in," Cutter called out as the door chime rang.

The mechanical doors opened on command, revealing a human in a yellow uniform. He stepped inside pushing a small cart and turned to the black sofa where Cutter lay reading what appeared to be a printed play script. "Hello. I'm Ensign Hanley. I'm returning possessions we found after catching the Orion raiders, you reported missing items?"

"Ohn, lene," Cutter said, hopping up to his feet. He carelessly threw the play he was reading onto the couch behind him and stepped across the room towards the young ensign and his cart. "Sem, there were a number of things."

Hanley looked at the PADD in his hand and searched for Cutter's name, "Kara'nin, correct?"

"Esema," Cutter nodded.

"Ah, yes, here you are," the ensign said, kneeling down to the cart's bottom shelf. He handed Cutter a small bin of trinkets and things that were taken from his quarters, "Is this everything that was taken?"

Cutter looked over the items quickly, most of it was unimportant, meaningless. There were only a couple things he was concerned about retrieving. "There were two small boxes that were taken as well."

Hanley gave a brief, confused glance and turned and looked back at the cart. Illumination struck as he reached down to fetch the Fruna'lin's other items. "Right, sorry. Is that everything," he asked again, handing Cutter a box with Crom's Ferengi seal and a fancy Starfleet-issued silver box.

"Sem," Cutter nodded, "thank you." Hanley returned the small nod then walked to the other side of his cart and pushed it out the door and down the hall to his next stop.

After he had left, Cutter set the small bin on his coffee table and carried the two boxes over to his desk. He placed the silver box in his top drawer with a surprising amount of care and opened the other one. He smiled as he noticed all the isolinear chips remained intact and removed the landscape program he was about to play before the red alert.

It had been delayed somewhat, but now he was going to go fly!

***************************************************************

In the air again, the best place in the universe to be. The only true state of existence.

Cutter couldn't imagine what it would be like to not have wings, to not have the ability to pull yourself up off the ground, to not be able to glide over earth below. How humans could live happily on Fruna was beyond him. Surely they lived every day in envy, coveting the gift of flight that Cutter's kind had but which theirs did not. Poor creatures, the poor, miserable creatures.

But, Cutter existed above them. He had tasted of the pleasures of flight; the sweet, encompassing joy one could feel when you were weightless, the exhilarating lift of the wind, the revelation of the ground below as land beyond the horizon came into view. He knew these things and could not know life without them.

He sighed, moaned with pleasure as the experience came back to him instantly, like breathing or sex. The holographic land below was flat, plains extending to every horizon. The tall grasses below danced in the wind, reaching upwards longing to join Cutter, then bowing back to the ground in deference to his divine grace. The sun reflected off the tall slender blades as the bent, revealing every color of green, forest, sage, viridian, lime, malachite, chartreuse, emerald, yellow green, green yellow, all for him.

Cutter swooped low, just touching the blades of the grass. Their tips tickled his skin through his open shirt-vest and on his legs and feet where his shorts did not cover. This was delightment, pure bliss, an incredibly joyful combination of the kinetic and the tactile and the visual, of sense and world and spirit and he lifted back up wholly in the air he thought, Ist Bhrode, ist Starfleet and the Federation and the mud-sucking humans that ran it, you can spout honor and duty, responsibility and humanity, self evolution and protection and self defense, your ethics and your values and your moral imperatives and your goals and your strictures and virtues and grand purposes of life, you can debate or quietly persuade or yell to the heavens until the end of time in all your hypocrisy and fear, and you will never have a feeling like this, you will never have this sensation when the grace of mind and body and world are all in perfect consort. You can rant until you're blue in the face, about what people should do with their brief lives, about which ideas are right, which cultures are just about who has the right to live and who has the right to die, as if there were any way to tell for sure, but until you get up here and fly and surf the wind and climb the drafts and exert yourself against the death grip of gravity, you just don't know. You have no right to speak. You are slaves to your ideas and you cannot see that there is no higher goal than this, the ultimate purpose of existence, of the universe itself: the freedom of flight.

The landscape began to change beneath Cutter. The grasses shrank and grew sparse, the soil became drier and more sandy. He was entering a desert, and some object began to rise quickly from horizon. The small sprout grew quickly into a tower of a cliff, standing alone like an obelisk in the desert that was as flat as the plains before. This must have been one of the surprises Crom spoke of. Cutter was hovering low to the ground still, and the cliff rose several hundred feet into the air. He closed on the cliff and caught a hard westerly updraft and sailed upwards in a tight gyre; he sat motionless and yet was cast violently up by the gusting wind until he burst from the shadow of the cliff into the raw yellow rays of the sun once more.

He landed softly on the top of the cliff. It was flat, a mile high table set on the desert floor. Before him were several large pylons, jutting out from the tall mesa and reaching even higher. They stood out remarkably, they were alabaster white, greek-style columns with carved vertical grooves that expanded outwards at the top, and flattened like tables, but there was no roof to rest atop them. They formed a circular room, if you could call it a room with no walls or ceiling. Instead, three large padded marble beds/benches marked off the far boundary.

On each bed lay one beautiful scantily clad woman, each seemed to awaken from some slumber at Cutter's arrival. They gestured in unison for Cutter to approach and his mind flashed back to the Ferengi that sold him this program. He smiled, knowing what was in store for him, accepting and embracing it fully. There was only one other thing in the universe that could hold a candle to flight -- this would be fun.

Chad Vicenik
Lt. Cutter Kara'nin
Chief of Astrophysics
USS Galaxy

“Mopping Up”
By Lieutenant Commander James Lionel Corgan
Chief of Security, USS Galaxy

Location: Security, Brig

~”What a day…”~ Corgan exhaled exhaustively, as he stumbled step by step back to the security office. His major muscles, and in some cases, organs, screamed for a stop in the brutal punishment. He tasted the salty sanguine on his lips when he licked, and felt its searing sting. When he felt his chest, dull aches and sharp pinpricks assaulted him in force. It was official, he was messed up.

James felt the freshly regenerated shiner on his right eye. That was from an Orion punkass who decided it was better to fight than run. Not that James minded. In fact, he wasn’t afraid to get hurt. He had been hurt so many times that he was almost desensitized by the pain. The fact that his glasses were busted, and that his right eye was somewhat blurry in vision didn’t set him in a good mood. But all was well. The Orion who threw the punch was easily dispatched by a kick to the privates and a well placed knee to his forehead while he doubled over. Not exactly fair play, but effective and brutal.

“Man that hurts…” James grumbled as he moved his arm, now pulled thanks to an Orion’s armdrag. Corgan nearly dislocated it breaking out of the move, and nearly sent the poor Orion looter into a coma afterwards.

Picking his way through charred panels, overhanging and singed wires, and twisted, burned out bulwarks, James slowly made his way to the security office. As he walked by, Lieutenant E’xch was leading a chain gang of Orion looters down the hall and towards the brig. E’xch and James saluted each other, the Orions grumbled and jeered, recognizing Corgan’s face.

“Got something to say boys?” The chief of security snarled, an evil, hideous grin split on his face.

Instantly, the Orions bravado turned into cold, gutsick fear. Most shut up, while the less brave trembled.

“I thought so.” James chuckled, “E’xch, carry on.”

“Sir.” The Denobulan interrupted, “I’d hate to bother you, sir, but Captain Brhode wants to see you right away. Its about the prisoners.”

”Oh for f**k sakes… what about the prisoners?” James snarled, his hand swiping the air in agitation, nearly backhanding the lead Orion in the chain gang.

The Denobulan replied, “Sir, Brhode wants you to witness the interrogations, and he wants you to do a few of your own.”

“You’re kidding me, right?” James hand almost clipped the lead Orion in the temple, but the Orion warily ducked.

“No sir, I’m not kidding. Brhode wants you there… yesterday. Now how come you humans always want people to distort space time whenever you want them to come to you?”

“How the f**k should I know?” Corgan swung his elbow in a sweeping gesture as the Orion ducked again, “Well… thanks for the message. Might as well see what else he’s going to pull in this f**king circus.”

“Right, sir.”

James inspected the lineup of Orions as they looked at him in fear. He identified three of the boarders from their first action, the one where the surrender was the quickest and easiest in history. He identified Neth, the ringleader and the sad, sorry excuse of a man that he was. His head was hung down low, mumbling something about this capture being the third in an entire month. Next was the giant of a man, identified as Grint, whom for all his intimidation looked no more harmless than a depressed teddy bear. Then there was a brainy fellow named Unitch, who could only sigh as if he and only he had a voice of sanity.

“So, how are you boys doing?” James asked smartly, “Good?”

“Blow me.” Neth growled.

“Whip the little guy out, smartass.” Corgan snappily replied, “Ok, who’s next… oh my… a big catch. What’s your name, big guy?”

The large Orion loomed down at James, his voice like gravel and ice, and just as cold, “Grint… Smash little Feddie, Neth?” He asked, staring at Neth’s direction.

“No… not now. We have enough charges as is.” Neth responded sadly.

“Awwww….” Grint whined, “Me wanna smash…”

“Relax, big guy.” James patted him on the shoulder, “I hear of some Supermax penal colonies where you can smash all you want. I’ll put in a good word for you.”

”Oh boy! Can my friends come too!” Grint’s eyes shone with excitement, as Neth and Unitch groaned for the giant’s idiocy.

James surveyed Neth and Unitch, “Naw… they’d be prison b*tches in a nanosecond. They’re harmless. Put ‘em in New Zealand for all I care.”

“Hey!” The leader Neth took offense, “That’s no way to talk to the great Sarse Raiders!”

“You can drop the act now, sir. We’re captured, remember?” Unitch reminded.

“Oh yeah… that’s right. We’re really just a bunch of incompetent boobs. Please don’t send us to prison… please?” Neth gave a doe eyed stare to James.

“Ha!” James chuckled, and then turned serious, “No. And shut up. I haven’t meet the smart one yet. And who are you?”

“Unitch… Lieutenant Commander.” The brainy one sneered.

James raised an eyebrow, “You’re an educated one, aren’t you?”

”Since when?” Neth piped, “He’s just a cronie…”

“I was educated at the University of Betazed.” Unitch replied with an intellectual accent, “I was the class Valedictorian, graduated top of my class in Subspace Communications, which I have my Masters… which I would have got a PHD if it wasn’t for the Orion space service.”

Neth raised his voice, “But I thought you failed…”

Unitch looked at his leader hostily, “Ok… I should have got my Masters… but I was drummed out for cheating on the final test.”

James looked over the three Orion stooges, and looked at them all with pity, “Ummm… welll… I’ve had enough for one day. Any room in the cells for these… washouts?”

E’xch checked a PADD, then answered, “We’re filled to capacity. Any more, and we break the Geneva Intergalactic Treaty.”

Corgan sighed again, “Well, looks like I’ll have to talk to Brhode again. E’xch, throw them wherever there is space. And send more security officers to the brigs, or wherever we’re holding the excess. I’ll see about getting a cargo bay to hold everyone in.”

“Aye, sir.” E’xch saluted, dragging the sorry lot of Orions off towards the next set of brigs.

The attack brought on more long term problems than James cared to admit. Because of the Federation’s habit of stunning people instead of killing, there were more prisoners than they knew what to do with them. The brigs were overloaded and Orions were being stacked like sardines. Though Brhode could have cared less about any treaties, James didn’t want another serious violation of anything pinned on his captain and himself. There were probably enough as is with the ones he knew about, much less Brhode’s insubordinations that James hadn’t heard about. Therefore, cleanup was part repair, part mop up, and part dodging the bullet from Federation nitpickers. Not an easy job.

As James entered the first block of brigs, he saw that Raven Darkstar, unmarred by the fighting, and Brhode, a little flustered, were already there, talking to the highest ranking prisoner in his brig. The annoying aura of Lysander was also present. Another three stooges, all stupidly loyal to each other, leaving James as the only outsider.

~”Oh joy. Here it comes.”~

Brhode spoke like evil clockwork, “Corgan, what took you so long?”

Lysander added, “Yeah, where the smeg were you?”

James answered, “I was in the thick of it, sir. And thanks to the Orions brilliant little plan, we have an excess of…”

“Zip it. I want to show you something.” Brhode’s scowl peeled the synthetic fibers off the wall panels, as he pointed to an Orion Captain, “Beamed him off just before his ship blew to kingdom come. I want you to watch me ask him some questions. Maybe you’ll learn a thing or two about galactic diplomacy.”

~”Or lack thereof…”~ James braced himself, waiting to see what kind of brutality Brhode planned, and asked himself how he was going to protect the prisoners rights and obey the Captain at the same time.

“THIS IS AN OUTRAGE!” Cut in the Orion captain, his green face showing signs of flushing anger, as his hands were within inches from the forcefield.

~”Oh great… now he done it.”~ James took pity on the Orion officer, “Sir, I…”

Brhode’s scowl then turned to amusement, like a Terran panther dangling a large mouse, and enjoying the sadistic mindgame with his Orion counterpart. “Chalk it up to Captain’s prerogative.” Brhode grinned, “Now you wanted to have a conference, now confir.” Brhode then came at ease, waiting for the mouse to make the next move.

The mouse didn’t move, but changed into a dark, angry skin tone. “THE FEDERATION WILL BE APPAULED TO KNOW THE CALIBUR OF CLOD CURRENTLY IN COMMAND OF ONE OF THEIR…”

“Ahem…” Brhode coughed.

Also being tired of the Orion’s ranting, James pushed a tiny button. The forcefield then filtered out all noise. With bemusement, Corgan watched as the Orion grew angrier upon realization that he was being silenced, then watched as he became more impatient, then more fearful.

“Meat Truck, do you people have a fire hose?” The Captain asked Commander Darkstar.

With a Brhode like glare, Darkstare stared at Corgan. “Unfortunately not.”

James shrugged innocently, sarcastically wondering what ever did happen to those fire hoses. As far as James knew, the engineering repair crews needed them more than he did. Also considering that fire hoses were banned in the Federation for riot control use (that was what phasers on wide sweep were for), James just couldn’t find it in his heart to keep the hoses.

Of course, annoying Brhode too was quite annoying, and to put Darkstar in a sour mood was delightful. James knew of Brhode and his favoritism with Darkstar, and how Darkstar was stupidly loyal to the Captain. James was also aware that his job on the ship was in serious jeopardy as long as Darkstar was Brhode’s puppet and as long as he was a Brevet Commander.

With Lysander in the room, James felt seriously outnumbered. He watched with detached fascination as Brhode and the Meat Truck interrogated the Orion Captain, watched as the Captain’s resolve crumbled as Darkstar counted down the seconds.

~”A ship ruled by fear.”~ James came to the conclusion. Brhode was real fear, and he wasn’t afraid to use it. Darkstar was intimidation, who didn’t have the independent mind to think outside the box. Then there was Lysander, a poodle in a den of pitbulls, but sly and surprisingly effective. Underneath the dainty, pampered dandy was a lion.

As James de-muted the cell, the threesome did their grizzly work. And they were all ripping into the carcass of the Orions, just like they did to their fellow crew.

~”What am I doing with these people?”~ James asked himself, realizing his enemies were not the Orions.

“Androids! We bought 6000 Androids!” The Orion cracked under the pressure, “Except none of them worked! They obey him fine, but they wouldn’t respond to the commands of anyone else! How are we to sell them now?!”

Lysander sneered snidely, “Wasn’t slave trading banned?” How James hated that voice.

The Orion didn’t like Lysander’s wheedling voice either, and spoke to the Alpha Centurian halfbreed, “They are androids! They are machines! The laws do not pertain to machines!”

~”Ours do… and Lysander will say that about… now.”~ James predicted.

“I’m sure Data would have disagreed.” Lysander quipped wryly.

~”Or something along those lines…”~

Brhode motioned to James to mute the cell, and James cut the Orion off in mid sentence, “Corgan, get Mudd in here. I wanna have a little chat with him too.”

Disappointed, James complied with a nod. He wanted to be the first to interrogate Mudd. Even that petty trickster didn’t deserve a round with Brhode in this mood. He asked, “And what about the female androids that beamed aboard the ship?”

Flippantly, Brhode came up with a solution, “Let them mill about the ship. I just want Mudd.” He said, and then turned to Lysander as James decided to leave. He heard bits and pieces of their conversation, of the intelligence check and the repairs. Lysander, as close to obedient as attaching his lips to Brhode’s butt, gave the Captain his “Yes sir’s”, and walked out of the brig, passing a smart assed sneer at the Lieutenant Commander.

“Corgan! What are you doing here! Bring me Mudd! That’s an order!” Brhode bellowed.

“I will sir.” James stammered, “But I have one thing to address. We’re.. running out of prisoner space. I’d like to ask permission to turn Cargo Bay 4 into a temporary holding facility until we drop the Orions off at a Starbase.”

“What? We can’t stack them like cordwood?” Brhode asked with a snarl.

James shrugged apologetically, “Unfortunately, no. I’m not to thrilled with them either, but I have a code of conduct to follow. Can’t help it.”

Brhode thought it over for a second, then replied, “Just get it done. And bring me Mudd.”

”Aye, sir.” James saluted, then trundled off, glad to be away from that walking brush of death.

"Erik Steiner, Interstellar man of Parasitic Lifestyle....In other words, a scrub that got lucky."
Erik Steiner
Lt. (jg) Klaus Feinberg.

Location: The Promenade

Soundtrack: Metallica - Enter Sandman (The Walking scene.)

Erik had finally opened his shop, "Steiner's Inventions & noveltys."

He sat patiently at his desk, awaiting any potential customers. Business on the first day of any business can be slow. Then a strange thing happened. 3 Identical women walked up.

Steiner immediatly went to his really very bad smooth talker mode. It really wouldn't have mattered, since the 3 were fembots. If you couldn't figure that out, well....

"Can I interest you ladys in anything, perhaps some trinkets? Or other noveltys?"

The 3 giggled, seperatly this time. They rounded the desk and surrounded Erik. One conveniantly took a seat on his lap.

"Well, I'd better close up shop then."

The 4 got up and left, Erik closing the shop behind him, and they all walked out of the promenade. Down the halls to the nearest turbolift.

Klaus walked quickly in sighting Erik's shop. Not seeing him around, he decided to return to his quarters and sleep. Something was awry with the fembots, and he had a bad feeling. Unfortunatly, Klaus' warning to avoid the fembots would go to ears that weren't there.

"Orion Dawn: Investigation"

Curtis Geluf, Chief Operations Officer

Delta shift, night watch. A usually uneventful 6 hours. But with the ship in its current condition, things were not exactly normal. Most of the ships systems had been repaired, with a few minor things expected to be finished withing the next 3 hours. And with Commander Corgan interrogating Mudd, Curtis was left to the command chair.

It was going well so far, nothing unexpected, which was good because Curtis was a little nervous, having never sat in the Captains seat before. He was happy just to wait out the shift in silence.

But fate had other plans.

"Sir, incomming hail from Starfleet, priority one." came the voice of Curtis' wife, Kiora, from the OPS panel.

"Oh no...." the Lieutenant mumbled to himself, "On screen."

A second later, a youngish looking Admiral appeared on the viewscreen.

"This is Lieutenant Curtis Geluf, acting commader of the U.S.S. Galaxy."

"Mr. Geluf...." the Admiral began, a little confused. "May I ask where Captain Bhrode is?"

"The Captain is performing an interrogation of Mr. Harry Mudd at the moment sir." Curtis replied.

"Very well. This is Admiral Kelly, we have recieved Captain Bhrode's report on your current situation. Starfleet is particularly concerned about the mention of a possible resurgence of the slave trade involving Mr. Mudd's robots. A full investigation is proceeding immediately. Expect a Federation entourage within the next 36 hours. How is the Galaxy holding up?" asked Kelly.

"It's nothing a little tape 'n glue won't fix sir." Curtis grinned.

"Very well Lieutenant. Please relay the message to Bhrode. Tell him to have his security teams ready for armed escort to the planet. Have Intelligence begin a full investigation of Mudd and his Robots and be prepared to share the results with the Federation ambassadors."

"Aye sir."

"That will be all Mr. Geluf. Kelly out."

OOC: OK! We have a Federation group heading this way. Counselling, get ready for some diplomacy. Intel, get to work on those androids. And lets not forget the Android Pheremones male crew memebers!

NRPG: 1. Took place a short time before "Orion Dawn: Investigation".

"Case Unsolved...But Not Closed"

Lieutenant (jg) Michael McDowell,Engineer

Ensign 1100101011111110 (0xCAFE) [NPC]
Computer Systems Engineer

Ensign 1011101010111110 (0xBABE) [NPC]
Computer Systems Engineer

*** Main Engineering, Gamma Shift ***

The two Bynars standing before Michael kept communicating at an ever-increasing speed. It was disturbing to say the least that even they could not find the cause of the multitude of problems the ship was experiencing.

This could go on for another few minutes and so Michael turned his attention again to the PADD he used to work out possible solutions for the mysterious - though mostly minor - problems. The no. 1 problem to really solve was the one with the shields. Lieutenant O' Shea's quick fix was good enough for now, but it was only a temporary one.

Michael had spent the whole of his previous shift to find out what caused the system responsible for generating the shields to fail. In the end the hours of meticulously searching for clues had resulted in nothing, except for a few deviations. This was what frustrated Michael. It felt like he'd done nothing but staring at various consoles in Engineering.

Admitted, it was kind of naïf think that he could solve the whole 'puzzle' all by himself. Only now Michael began to understand that he wasn't even one step closer to an overall solution. But when he started it seemed unreal, even ridiculous, that no one on the Galaxy knew how to get rid of what's causing all those 'inconvenient' mishaps.

"Lieutenant McDowell..."

Apparently the Bynars were done with their discussion and wanted to inform Michael of their findings. Pulled away from his contemplation's Michael looked up from his PADD. "Good news I hope?"

"We still do not..."

"...have a solution if that is..."

"...what you mean."

Michael took a breath and slowly shook his head. "So my data was useless. Bad news then?" He wasn't looking forward to hear about any bad news, but if there was then he could not ignore it.

"No, not bad news but..."

"...a new idea to track..."

"...and possibly locate the..."

"...'Quick virus'."

Michael looked surprised. "Excuse me,...'Quick' virus?"

"Yes. Most of the..."

"...people on the ship think it is..."

"...a virus that causes all..."

"...the problems."

"A computer virus!? You must be joking. The computer should notice that kind programs right away." Michael called out incredulously. Each of the two computer cores had quite some complex software installed dedicated for that task, so what the Bynars said didn't make much sense...at first. A moment passed after which Michael scratched his head. "Ah, what the heck, it might as well be a virus. At this moment I'm beginning to believe anything is possible."

Walking up towards the Master System Display Michael quickly looked over the complete schematic of the Galaxy. "Well, lets talk about that plan. I sincerely hope we can use it to find the software equivalent of penicillin."

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