"The Paranoiacs Finally Meet"

Maj Saladin Bolivar
Chief of Intelligence
NALDC Liason

Sub-Commander Savar ir-Aihai tr'Khellian
Assistant Tactical Officer
Romulan Exchange Officer

= Lounge =

Saladin sat in his usual chair in the lounge sipping a glass of Darjeeling tea. It was his usual unwinding situation. Then he would go home to Ahdjiia and the little ones.

The little ones did have a habit of being underfoot and it took time for him to not step on any of them... he had been lucky so far. He sipped the tea and watched the crowd as he normally did.

"Pardon my intrusion, Major," a voice to his left caught his attention. He turned to see the Romulan exchange officer, Sub-Commander tr'Khellian, standing there. "Commander Henderson requested I deliver this PADD to you personally." He handed the report to the Intelligence Officer with a respectful nod, which Saladin returned politely.

"Does Mister Henderson not have yeomen to fetch and carry for him?" Bolivar enquired dryly.

"Apparently the report is sensitive," Savar replied, having thought the exact same thing. And if it really was sensitive, he was fairly sure they'd entrust it to a yeoman over a Romulan. But he had been planning to stop by the lounge anyway, so it was little inconvenience and only a minor insult. "I understand congratulations are in order upon your recent marriage, Major," he said, with a smile.

"I take it you have been paying attention to the rumor mill of the Galaxy, it is more efficient then both the Tal Shiar and the Cheka combined." Saladin mused, ever since Ahdjiia came back and started hyphenating her name he had been getting all sorts of congratulatory phone calls, some even from crew off the ship. He would have preferred more discretion to avoid her being used against him.

"Rumour mill?" the Romulan echoed, frowning at the unfamiliar phrase as he ran it through his mind. "No, Major. Your new wife and I were talking in the Mess one afternoon, and she mentioned the joyous occasion." He started slightly. "I apologise if I have said the wrong thing, Major. I realise some value their privacy above all else."

"You have not." He looked at him, "the openness of a Human crew is... something that I must get used to."

Savar nodded in agreement. And it was not merely the humans who conducted their affairs so openly, lacking decorum and invading one's space. He wondered how the Major and his wife got along. Tr'Khellian had found Ahdijiia most polite but she was still very forward. "Your culture favours more reserve then, Major?" tr'Khellian queried. He had read the personnel files of all the senior officers, and discovered to his surprise that Bolivar was not, in fact, human. The files on the Nietzschean race were scanty, making mention of genetic wars and exile.

He nodded, "We do value privacy among others, to avoid showing weakness."

This in itself seemed a remarkable concession to make, since the very statement revealed that weakness existed - and the admission itself seemed a weakness. Tr'Khellian felt somewhat baffled. "Do you mean you may show weakness to your own kind only, or to no one?" he asked, with a frown.

"To no one, in the old days it was because you did not want to give your rivals ammunition. But things have changed, like marrying an offworlder..." He paused, "Perhaps we are more Romulan then it is known, though Mr. Omar is of your kind yet he has all the stealth of a Klingon warrior."

Savar gave a wry smile. It was interesting that both Bolivar and his wife, not to mention Legate Curran, had raised the issue of Ambassador Omar recently. Naturally, word had now reached his ear of the incident in the Science Laboratories, and of the confrontation between the Andorian fighter pilot and Ramir Omar. He had stored the information away carefully, for future use. Little as the Senate wished to have Junior Senator Omar return to ch'Rihan, they would like the idea of a brutish and disruptive ambassador-at-large even less.

"Ambassador Omar is still settling into the largesse of office," tr'Khellian said, maintaining his politeness and not saying what he actually thought of Ramir's conduct. "I believe having held his post largely in war-time, he has not yet adjusted to the more delicate nuances of peace-time diplomacy."

Saladin recognized politeness when he heard it, as in the guy was an idiot but we can't say it, much as the same when Genghis Stalin was named ambassador to Betazed and was recalled home in days, "Even for wartime diplomacy... the man is too... blunt and direct. But then again.." He sipped his tea, "Even in war time diplomacy is an art that requires a deft touch. It is why I was never selected for the diplomatic service."

Savar declined to comment, but gave a knowing smile. It would appear that Ambassador Omar's position onboard the Galaxy was increasingly weak. The man himself was grossly unpopular. Savar was beginning to wonder whether he was not the only exile onboard.

"I understand there is a bare-knuckle hand-to-hand combat tournament being held onboard," Sub-Commander tr'Khellian said. "Will you be taking part, Major?"

He shook his head, "My schedule is too busy with intelligence and with my family responsibilities. I have no desire to compete, are you entering the tournament?"

"I am not," the Romulan said, a little pompously. "The Rihannsu have several advanced forms of martial arts, and those held in esteem have strict honour codes. I have achieved a level of proficiency in two of them as well as being trained in basic hand-to-hand combat." The Romulans' martial arts were little known outside of the Empire. Like their tactics in battle, the manoeuvres involved were swift, calculating and deadly, often focusing on striking key nerve sites. "However, they are disciplined. The idea of a hand-to-hand combat tournament without any rules or limitations whatsoever is barbaric. It is without honour." He shook his head dolefully. "I will not even be attending as a spectator. It would be depressing to see officers reducing themselves to the status of street thugs," he opined archly. "I understand Legate Curran has been taking part and has been knocked unconscious twice. The second time, with a chair!"

"So has my wife...taken part, and I couldn't dissuade her." Saladin sighed, "I couldn't forbid her to take part it wouldn't have gone over well."

"I am sure her training will ensure she will come to minimal harm, Major," Savar replied. "Well, if you will pardon me, I must return to my duties."

"Of course," the Nietzschean said, with a nod.

"Please give my best regards to your lady wife, Major," tr'Khellian said, bowing his head slightly, before taking his leave.

"A Visit from the Jolly *Blue* Giant"

By
Ensign 8-ball Hunter

and
1st LT A'Akledorian
(Vanguard Three)

----------

8-ball was bored.

This wasn't an entirely unusual occurance. But it was annoying all the same. 8-ball stared at her ceiling from the floor in her quarters. It stared back.

"Hi," she said to it.

The ceiling did not reply.

Sighing, 8-ball rolled over on her stomach. In the last couple of days, there had been excitement. Fighting, drinking, wearing hot fudge sundaes, kissing blue girls. . .but now it was just back to routine. Work and eat and sleep. The boredom was so thick it was depressing. "This sucks," 8-ball said to no one in particular and stood up. Maybe she could go to the holodeck and simulate a club. 8-ball was in the mood to dance. Or mosh. Whatever.

T'Shani was bored, as well. *And* troubled. If that message from General Houghton was true, she would have to be *especially* careful when the Galaxy went to the Romulan Border, if she was going to get her 'other' assignment completed, without anyone--especially that *Corran*--noticing.

T'Shani decided to occupy her mind with something, *anything* else, for the moment though. Maybe...she got up, dressed, and left her quarters...

***

8-ball was just throwing on some shoes when the door twirped at her. ~That's weird~ she thought. ~Maybe that ensign's back again. I should put a sign up on the door that says '8-ball here. This is not the room you're looking for. GO AWAY~.

Instead of doing this, 8-ball sat back down on the floor of her quarters and said, "Come in."...

Tish flicked her left antenna slightly as she entered the Ensign's darkened, small quarters.

~What the FUCK?~ 8-ball thought.

It was her. The evil, evil jolly blue giant that had knocked her out in the ring. 8-ball stood up very, very fast. ~What the hell is she doing here?~ 8-ball glanced at T'Shani, backing up ever so slightly. She was wearing another black number, slacks, duty boots, and a vest, ever so slightly unzipped. ~Well if she comes after me or tries to eat me or something, I suppose I could just unzip it again. . .and run.~

T'Shani tried to hide a small smile. There was definitely potential in this one...maybe someone whom she could...recruit? ~After all,~ Tish thought, ~She did disrobe...*me*!~

Instead of smiling, though, the towering Andorian woman looked straight down at 8-ball, arching her right antenna forward towards the girl, the left antenna 'scanning' the rest of the room.

8-ball glared at her. It wasn't that she really minded that the Andorian had knocked her out. . .it was a fight, after all, though T'Shani certainly wasn't on 8-ball's list of happy, happy people. . .but there was no reason for the big blue woman to be in her quarters. Was she still pissed about the disrobing or something? 8-ball had no intention of getting into another fight. If this T'Shani came near her, 8-ball was going to scream, "Rape!" and run like hell.

8-ball had no problem being a coward when the time called for it. But being nervous of T'Shani didn't make her not curious. "What the hell are you doing here?" she asked, still keeping herself in a position to move quickly if necessary.

Tish almost laughed...almost. Instead, she kept her stone-cold face immovable. "Shut up and come with me, T'Pol Hunter," Tish said in her deep voice. And with that, she spun smartly on her heels and marched out the door, into the corridor, not even slowing or checking to see if 8-ball was following. ~She's the curious sort...and if not, then I have nothing to worry about...~

8-ball stared at the space where T'Shani had vacated. The smart thing to do was to not follow. THe smart thing to do was to sit in her room and wait until the evil blue giant had gone away for sure and avoid her like hell for however long she was stuck on the Galaxy with her. The logical thing was to stay away.

~Logical. . .~

"Hold up," 8-ball called in the empty room and ran after T'Shani. She caught up and walked quickly since she had to walk twice as fast to keep up with those long, blue legs. "For starters, my name isn't T'Pol so don't ever call me that. Secondly, where the fuck are we going?"

~Too, easy, kid...~ Tish thought, a smile--hidden from 8-ball, who was behind and to the right of T'Shani--forming on the Andorian's face. She cocked her right antenna in Hunter's direction, electing to not say anything. Instead, she let a small half-grunt escape.

"Oh, T'Shani? Jolly Blue Giant? Come on, talk to me here!"

Tish kept walking. Turning the corner, the pair headed for a turbolift alcove. She mulled several things over in her head, while 8-ball tried to keep up with the Andorian's large stride.

~First, she *does* have potential~ T'Shani had seen that during their fight match. ~*and* an ability for uncommon tactics~ That, too, had been self-evident during the fight. That could either be an asset *OR* a liability, depending on how the 'hybrid' decided to control herself. And if this was to work; She'd *have* to learn focus and control.

~Second...well, I can't do this 'assignment' by myself...~ and for now, she didn't know...or even trust anyone else...with the exception of maybe that Henderson. And he *had* been intel before, as well. ~Maybe...~ Tish filed that in the back of her brain, for future thought at a later time.

Houghton had been specifically clear to seek and recruit *only* someone whom Tish felt she could trust. Even though she didn't really know 8-ball at all--with the exception of what Tron, her friend at Intel'--was able to dig up.

They stopped in front of the turbolift doors, waiting for a car to stop.

8-ball stamped her foot. The mysterious act very quickly got old and her sense of curiousity would only go so far before she just got irritated. "Hello?" she said, waving her hands in front of T'Shani. "Earth to blue girl. Or. . .universe to. . .whatever. . .yo T'Shani!"

The lift stopped, and the doors opened, revealing an empty turbolift, inside. Motioning with her antennae, Tish stepped into the lift, followed by 8-ball.

8-ball rolled her eyes. What was the point in even trying to figure out anymore?

"Ten-Forward," T'Shani said into the air. The turbolift began to move...

"And we're going to Ten-Forward why? Come on, dammit, tell me something!"

Tish just rolled her eyes and circled her antennae... ~So impatient!~ T'Shani held up her hand, stopping 8-ball, mid-sentence. "Calm down, Ensign. Don't get your bundles in a panty..."

8-ball looked at her blankly. "Huh?"

~Maybe that's not how the Pinkskins say it, afterall~ Tish thought to herself as she noticed the confused look on 8-ball's face. ~Fuck it...~ she never had had any luck with those stupid Terran euphamisms, anyway...

The turbolift changed directions, again, finally coming to a rest and opening meters from the doors to the Ten-Forward lounge.

T'Shani walked out of the turbolift; 8-ball in tow. "Let's have a drink, Ensign..."

to be continued. . .muahahahahaha. . .oh, come on, you know the evil laugh is chilling

OOC: We are now headed for the Rihannsu border. We will arrive either tomorrow night or the morning after. Anyone who wants to JP with Captain Stuart can do so by e-mailing me or AIMing me at Imperfect Future.

"Uneasy Into The Night"

Primary Characters:
Captain Eliza Stuart
Lieutenant Commander Cassius Henderson

Secondary Characters:
Lieutenant Jeremy Savoie
Lieutenant Curtis Geluf

****

USS Galaxy
Deck 1
Main Bridge

"There he goes," Savoie reported from Navigation, as he watched the blip of the USS St. Lawrence accelerate into warp, "Captain M'Kantu's runabout just made warp in the direction of the Halifax."

Cassius Henderson, seated in the command chair, checked the wall chrono. "1205 Hours." He rubbed his eyes again. This was about as unpleasant as being the intelligence liaison at Dalson Center had been. And he remembered very distinctly how that had gone. "Curtis, where is Commander Von Ernst, anyway? Shouldn't she be up here to meet Captain Stuart. I'm sure Stuart has orders for us, with the repair's being complete now."

Curtis Geluf checked his board once, twice, three times, then looked back at the ship's Chief Tactical Officer. "I don't think she's onboard. The ship's computer can't locate her biosign."

"That's odd... Why wouldn't she be here? Check with Wolf 359's main computer and see if she's on the station," Henderson said, leaning forward. Having the XO missing wouldn't go over well with a new commander. He shook his head, and wished M'Kantu had been able to stay.

"Hold on a moment, sir. Incoming transmission for Captain Stuart from Starfleet Command," Geluf said, "You'd think they'd have waited for her to be onboard more than an hour."

Henderson snorted, "Right. Patch it through to her ready room. And then get with W359's computer and try to find Commander Von Ernst."

****

USS Galaxy
Deck 1
Captain's Ready Room

Eliza Stuart unpacked her ready room bag. She didn't want to bring in too many of her own things, since it was still M'Kantu's ship, but she needed enough to be comfortable. She settled on a few holos, one of herself and some friends from command school after a kayak trip in Vermont, another of her as a child with her parents. These she placed on the desk, along with a few PADDs containing her orders and other information. She added M'Kantu's data chip to that pile, and decided she was ready to confront the next challenge, her command team.

It was at that point that the monitor on Captain M'Kantu's desk beeped. "Damn. What now?"

Seating herself, she received the call. Admiral Hoglund's jowly face appeared on the viewscreen. "Captain Stuart, I'm glad to see that you've arrived and are settling in."

"Admiral Hoglund," she nodded in acknowledgment, "Is there something I can do for you, sir?"

"Yes. I'm just calling to inform you that Commanders Von Ernst and Hawksley won't be remaining onboard. They're being recalled to Starfleet Tactical at Wolf 359," Hoglund said. He didn't like depriving Stuart of her XO or Tactical Specialist just as she came onboard, but he had his orders.

"Convenient," Stuart raised an eyebrow at that, "At little too convenient. Does this have anything to do with the investigation, Admiral?" First M'Kantu, now Von Ernst.

"No. I don't have anything to do with it. It's an official transfer from BuPers. Not sure who ordered it," Hoglund rubbed his jaw in contemplation, "If I had to guess, I'd say Hoth, since it's both of them at the same time, to the same place. But I don't know if W359 is their final destination or just an admiralty pool assignment while something more permanent comes up."

"Yeah. So what do I do for an XO? Is Counselor Dallas still persona non grata with Starfleet Command?" Eliza asked, frowning as she brought up the senior staff roster, "Not that I like the idea of making a counselor without command school my XO."

"Actually, I have an answer for that as well. Yes, due to the Ianjep incident, it would still be impolitic to make Counselor Dallas the XO, even for a short period of time. If you want my opinion, go with Cassius Henderson, your CTO. He's essentially doing a lot of the tactical work that the second officer does, with Dallas doing the personnel things. It's a good system, and it's a shame to break up the band, so to speak, but I think he'll do better in the XO than anyone else you can get in the short term."

She brought up the necessary file, nodding as he spoke. Cassius Robert Henderson, Lieutenant Commander as of about four months previous. Solid background in tactics and intelligence. Advanced training in both. Huge blotch on his record from a classified incident at the end of his intelligence field operative career.

"Does anyone not have a serious mistake in upper level command these days," she said, "It's so hard to find good help." She closed the file.

"I'm sure he'll do fine. Anyway, I have things to do, Captain. I'll be seeing you."

"Yes, sir," she said, not allowing her frustration with the situation to show. She had a mission to accomplish, and it wasn't going to get any easier. Tapping her comm badge, she summoned Henderson to her briefing room.

Cass stepped into the ready room, feeling decidedly *unready*. “You wanted to speak to me, ma’am?” This would be his third commanding officer in almost as many months. Not a good track record for the starship Galaxy.

“Yes, I did,” Stuart said, “’Commander, I have some bad news and some good news. The bad news is that Starfleet Command has seen fit to transfer Commander Von Ernst in addition to Commander Hawksley. However, they recommended you to me as a suitable replacement for the duration of my stay.”

“I suppose that’s the good news?” Cass said, feeling a little overwhelmed. Executive Officer? It wasn’t an opportunity he’d thought he’d ever get, especially after being cashiered from SFI. But who was he to deny what was being offered, “Okay, so where do we begin?”

“The Rihannsu border, I’m afraid,” Eliza replied, gesturing to the Captain’s desk for them to take seats. She was starting to get over her own taboo on moving into M’Kantu’s space now that he was gone. ~If I’m going to be here, I should do the job I’m assigned and be comfortable with it.~

“Really? I know that with the recent treaty at Galvanis the neutral zone came down, and that’s made the border a safer place. So what takes us there?” Cass asked, without jumping to conclusions, and waited for Stuart to tell him.

“Three days ago, Starfleet Command lost contact with the USS Pallas Athena, which was coordinating the border patrol under the command of Admiral William Valerian. In his last communication, his flag captain, Talvar At’Vhandol, indicated that they were going to investigate some strange readings.”

“Strange readings? Isn’t that a little ambiguous for a starfleet captain?” Cass asked, folding his hands on the desk and leaning forward to look at the map that Stuart was bringing up on M’Kantu’s desk monitor.

“That’s exactly what concerns me about this. Something tells me this won’t be a simple SAR mission,” Stuart said, “Either way, my orders tell me to start my search in the Delta Calath system, their last known position. From their we have a free hand.”

“Alright,” Henderson said, then paused as something came to mind. “Ah, who do you want running tactical while I’m the XO? Right now my assistant is a Rihannsu exchange, and with us headed for the border... I don’t know how comfortable I am with him at the arch.”

Stuart’s smile faded. “That’s unfortunate,” she said, “We’ll leave SubCommander tr’Khellian in charge of tactical, but I want you ready to transfer arch functions to your console if the situation arises.”

Henderson nodded, “Very well. Whenever you’re ready.”

“Then let’s go.”

****

USS Galaxy
Deck 1
Main Bridge

“Set a course for the Rihannsu border, Delta Calath system, Mr. Savoie,” Stuart ordered, having announced her presence to the crew, taken the ship out of drydock, and out into space. It felt good to have a ship under her feet again.

“Ready, ma’am,” Savoie replied.

“Engage.”

The Galaxy elongated to a streak of light and was gone, uneasy into the night.

"What's Up, Doc?"

Lieutenant Commander Cass Henderson
Lieutenant JG Doctor Klaus Fienberg

****

USS Galaxy
Deck 10
Ten-Forward

"Hey," Cass said, joining the young doctor he'd met during the Orion mess. It really was time he spent some time with somebody who didn't have estrogen pumping through their body. And Savar didn't count. He was too... Rihannsu. He'd spent too long among the Galae, and wasn't the kind of man who you really had conversations about anything with. Not that Cass hadn't had good tactical discussions with Savar, but... He'd decided he wanted a change.

"How've you been feeling, Klaus?" he said, "Better I hope. I heard you've become engaged."

He looked up at Cassius, "I am fine my friend. But I'm also a wreck. I have to plan a wedding, finish refereeing this tournament, and still deal with my bosses."

He stirred his coffee, which was Decaf. "The life of this Junior Officer is about as hard as any department head at the moment. I'm starting to wonder what kind of mess I've gotten myself into."

"Ah, yes, I'd noticed you were Refing. I have a weapons tech in the tourney. He's doing okay, but he'll probably get knocked out soon. He's too straightforward of a fighter," Cass said, ordering a bowl of clam chowder and a cup of tea from a passing waiter, "So what mess are you involved in? Anything in particular or the hecticness of daily life with the weight of impending matrimony added on?"

Klaus was becoming more relaxed. "Yes, thats about it. And I'm afraid of my brother somehow getting involved and screwing things up. The Man is insane. I know he's my brother, but he has no marbles anymore."

A sip of the Decaf Coffee seemed to breath a little life back into him.

"Eric? The civilian consultant in engineering? That man is your brother?" Cassius found himself jumping to conclusions. It was the only explanation, though there did seem to be so many unstable people onboard these days. Quick, Steiner, maybe even Kreighoff and Von Ernst. "I wouldn't have guessed it. Have you told him about your plans? I know he's family, and that complicates matters, but still... if it's going to cause that many problems..."

Klaus chuckled a bit. "My Half-brother managed to get people to think he was a consultant, when at the moment he is still applying to Starfleet to have consultant status assigned to him. He's advising on his own, with his own engineering brilliance. And he was a Starfleet Engineer before.....well the accident that took his arm and his sanity. Every nerve in his left arm is dead tissue, up into his shoulder. He can't use prosthetics. He seems to have, as fanciful as it seems, a bad luck gene."

"Hmm. I hope he doesn't screw anything up in the refits. I'd hate to think that the Quick virus could be made worse. But I hear that we're supposed to have the PPC up and running when the refit is over." he said, "At least now the ship will do what it was designed to."

"We can only hope." Dr. Fienberg went into thought for a moment, looking down at the table, and placing his hands on his forhead in a contemplative manner. Without raising his head he spoke.

"I would not be surprised if Erik had the brilliance to fix Quick's mistakes. But he is fully taken by one of the 7 deadly sins. Sloth. He is a lazy pig."

Fidgeting slightly. "He does have the credentials, He did work directly for the Engineering Corps, as well as a final rank of Lt. Cmdr. But I'll be damned if he ruins the most important day of my adult life so far."

"I agree. That day will be about you and your fiance," Cassius nodded, "Have you and Kay set a date yet?"

Klaus Fidgeted again. "No. I'm going to go see her and discuss it further."

"That sounds like a good idea."

He thought back to the Orion incident. -How all of this nearly came to an end before it started due to some......androids.-

"When I first met her, I never expected such a thing to happen." He returned a contemplative stance.

"Well, I'm happy for you," Henderson said, his own mind flitting, strangely enought, to Pennington. The memories of the Quentin incident still taunted him, as untrue as he told himself they were. "May you and Kay be a bastion for each other, long into your old age."

Klaus merely raised his eyes, met them with Cass' and smiled.

Henderson nodded knowingly, "Well Klaus, I'll leave you to it. Unforunately, with a new commander coming in, my life's about to get very complicated as well. Good luck with everything, and have fun with the tourney."

"New Friends"

by
Ens. Jasmine Heloi
Vanguard Five

& Ens. Paulo DiMillo
Asst. Chief Intelligence

Paulo walked down the corridor. He had just arrived on the ship, and he was already lost. He was an Intelligence officer, you would think he could navigate a ship. He kept walking till he came to what he was looking for. 10 Forward. "About time," he said to himself as he walked in. He walked over to the bar and ordered something to drink, and took a table next to the windows. He pulled out his PADD and started to look it over.

Jasmine Heloi walked into the room with a purposeful stride. Her eyes met those of her comrades briefly, and she smiled in acknowledgment of what greetings she received, but it was almost as if she were looking for something in particular. Then, as if she had finally found what she was looking for, the Betazoid made a beeline for one of her favorite tables. Admittedly, the said table was occupied, but it didn't bother Jasmine as she came to a halt before it.

"Hi," she smiled, and for a moment she looked every inch the vid star she had been and not the fighter jock that she was now. "I'm Jasmine Heloi. I hope I'm not being too forward here, but I thought you looked like you might like some company."

Paulo looked up at her. He tapped something on his PADD and set it down, "by all means," Paulo replied. "Ensign Paulo DiMillo, Intelligence," he said introducing himself to her.

Jasmine smiled brightly at the introduction, "Ensign Heloi, Vanguard Five, aka one of the Fighter jocks. It's a pleasure to meet you, and please call me Jasmine."

"Okay... Jasmine. Would you like anything to drink?"

"Hmm, Frank should be bringing something right about..." Jasmine looked up at the waiter and grinned as he set down a steaming mug of hot chocolate before her, "Now." She turned her attention to her companion before she continued speaking, "If I don't miss my guess, you're pretty new around here."

"That I am," Paulo said. "Just transfered from Earth," he finished. 'Maledizione h foward dello streight E non lanciare affatto!' He said to himself.

The fighter pilot nodded thoughtfully, "Well, let me be one of the first to welcome you to the Galaxy. I'm pretty new here myself, but so far she seems like a good boat. I was on the Dallas before I got transferred to Vanguard Squadron."

'The Dallas,' Paulo thought to himself. "Nothing big must have happened, casue I don't remember anything off the top of my head about that ship."

Jasmine chuckled softly, "Nothing big. Don't let the Captain of the 'Big D' hear you say that. We'd been in the Outer territories of the Federation for a while, so I wouldn't doubt that our exploits aren't that well known."

"The Outer territories huh," Paulo replied. "Anything interesting going out there? We didn't get a lot of anything from out there."

"A few border skirmishes, a new species to trade with, a few more specks of dust and spatial anomalies to make life interesting...pretty much the usual in any border sector. Nothing really noteworthy, however," Jasmine replied after a moment's thought

"Sounds like it was a dull assignment. For me I mostly stayed on earth, i didn't get to go into the field a lot. This is my first actual field assignment, so hopefully some interesting things will come up."

Heloi laughed musically before she spoke, "There's a very potent curse that says 'May your life be interesting.' I wouldn't worry about interesting given the reputation of this ship."

"I will have interesting, of these days," Paulo replied. He then spoke under his breath in Italian, "E maledizione di I le persone che mi hanno preso la mia famiglia, poichh conosceranno interessare!"

"Sorry about that," Paulo apologized.

Jasmine listened intently to the musical words and smiled at his apology, "No need for apologies, Paulo. I take it that those are words of your native tongue? It sounds much like Betazoid, though the intonations and subject are different."

"It's Italian," he replied. "I tend to use it when, well...." He didn't know how to go on. He had just met her, yet he felt like she should know his past. "It's a long story," he finally said.

She nodded thoughtfully, "Most tales worth telling are long. If you want to speak of it, please feel free. And if you would prefer to not do so, that is your choice. I will not pressure you either way." Jasmine took a sip of her hot cocoa and watched him from under half-lidded eyes.

She could tell that a thousand things must be running through his head at that time, and that was just it. A thousand things going through his mind. His little brother's and sister's 3rd birthday, and outcry of his sister missing, the feeling of failure all the time, the strength of will that he had to find her. "It is a story worth telling, but not in a place like this. I feel that at least one person on this ship should know, and why not the first person I meet outside of my department, and the one who has the most energy I have seen in years."

Jasmine smiled warmly at him though she was tempted to laugh at his description of her. Energy? Perhaps, but she had never heard it put quite that way. She had the feeling that he was according her some as of yet untold honor by deciding to confide in her, and for that she was somewhat more subdued when she responded to him. "I would be honored that you would share this with me."

Paulo smiled back at her. He hadn't told anyone from his last assignment about his past, and truth be told only a few people knew about it.

She continued to sip from her mug and regarded her companion thoughtfully. Her instincts in this particular matter were telling her that she must tread carefully from here on - and that her natural Betazed behaviors should be all the more in evidence. Jasmine left control of the conversation in Paulo's hands as she drained her drink. To the fighter pilot, two things required utmost attention - flying and chocolate.

Paulo finally spoke up, "we should talk someplace else. Someplace a little more quite, and with a few less people."

"The Arboretum?" she suggested, knowing that at this time of day the greenery were generally left to grow quietly on the ship without much disturbance.

"Sounds good to me," Paulo said. "Lead the way, I got lost coming here, I don't think I could find the arboretum."

Jasmine laughed, "Aye, it can be a bit daunting trying to find your way around here. Follow me." The former vid star stood and weaved her way through the crowd and then into the much less occupied corridor. After a moment's thought, she turned left and began walking.

Paulo followed her through the crowd. He didn't know there would be such a big crowd on a starship at once.

She led Paulo through several twists in the corridors and a turbolift ride before they arrived at their destination. Of all the places on the Galaxy, Jasmine had decided that she loved this one the best for it was a small piece of home on the starship. If she closed her eyes and simply breathed the air, she could almost...almost believe herself back in Aduras. She led her companion to a particularly shaded spot under the shadow of one of the few trees that had been coaxed to grow inside the ship and took a seat on the stone bench.

Paulo sat a few spaces down from her, just watching her for a second. He took a minute to look around, and to see earth all around him, though he knew he was on the Galaxy still. He looked back at her again, and collected his thoughts. "Sorry, it has been a few years since I talked about my history. Counselors hate me because of it."

Jasmine smiled, "Counselors don't generally hate their patients. But please, go on when you're ready." She was actually quite content to sit on the bench and absorb nature.

"It was back many year ago, just a year before I started school, and yet I remember it like the day I graduated from the academy," he started. "Back then I had a nice family, a younger brother and sister, who were twins, a loving mother and father."

He took a few minutes to gather some more thoughts. "On my brother's and sister's 3rd birthday is when my life turned from what it was to what it is now. I had a life full of happiness, now I have a life that is full of revenge. On their birthday someone invaded out home and took my little sister from us." He let that sink in for a second.

Jasmine's expression turned sympathetic. She knew all too well what that could do to a child, let alone what it could do to change one's life's choices. Admittedly, she did not have that problem, but a friend of hers had lost her twin sister in an accident. She had never truly recovered, nor had, as she could see, Paulo.

"And unfortunately that wasn't the end. Less then 6 months later my brother died. The only reason anyone could think of was it was the loss of his twin sister. After my parents lost both of their younger babies they both went into depression, though neither died. I guess you could say that they still had something to live for, me. I promised them they day I got into the academy that I would find out who did this, and I would make them pay one way or another." He stopped there, thinking of where to go next. He had so many feelings inside him right now that he could just scream to get rid of them all.

A faint line of pain showed on Jasmine's forehead as she quickly forced her mental shields up a notch after the bombardment of emotions. Revenge was not something she could condone, but it's affect on Paulo was undeniable. "And if you find the ones who took your sister...and brought them to justice...what would you do then?" The words escaped her before she could draw them back.

Paulo thought for a minute. He had never really thought about that. "I... really...... don't know."

"I am no Counselor, Paulo. But I'd like to think of myself as your friend. You've been living and breathing revenge for a long time, consider what will happen after it's run its course." She didn't go into how revenge would eat a person's soul, or how it could easily become a quest for which there was no real solution. She recalled a vid that one of her co-stars on 'Starfire' had insisted that she watch - something called 'Batman.' That superhero was so consumed by revenge that when he had finally achieved his goal, there was no solace for him...he still had to continue fighting the darkness since the pain never stopped. She would hate to see someone else fall to that fate, but it was not her place to say.

"I know," Paulo replied. "I just want revenge on him so bad, and I want to find my sister alive, and yet part of me wants to know that she died years ago so that she didn't have to suffer away from her family." He took a few deep breaths, trying to hold it all in

Jasmine's eyes grew, if it was possible, all the more sympathetic. Emotions were regarded somewhat differently on Betazed - tears were not disallowed for men or women for it was true expression of how one felt. However, she had been living amongst humans long enough to recognize the training that had gone into the need to never show weakness. "I'm sure she knew that you loved her very much."

"That is the thing," he said, "I seemed to pick on her a lot, and her brother. I am told it was normal older brother stuff..."

"It is perfectly normal," Jasmine reassured him, "It's what siblings tend to do. No matter what, even when you're picking on her, she knew you loved her. Why else would you choose to pay so much attention to her?"

Paulo thought about it. She had a point. "Guess your right," he said. "I miss her and her brother so badly sometimes I can't handle it."

She nodded, "I can understand that..." And she could to a point.

"I used the love I had for her, and missing her that got me through the academy. There isn't a day that I forget about her, and I feel that if I ever forget her, that means I have failed." He stopped for a second. "I guess I am so hard on myself so that I don't forget who I a doing this all for..."

Jasmine kept a sympathetic expression on her face as she nodded.

Paulo stood up, pushing all his emotions back down. "I should get back to work," he said. "Maybe we could do this again, maybe without the heart wrenching story."

The fighter jock smiled, "Sure. Just give me a call. It was nice speaking with you, Paulo."

"And it was nice speaking with you Jasmine." At that he turned on his heal and left. Even though he seemed to still be pushing down a lot of emotions he felt a little better now.

"A Drink with the Jolly Blue Giant"

By
1st LT A'Akledorian
(Vanguard Three)

and
Ensign 8-ball Hunter

----------

=^= Deck 10: Forward Lounge =^=

... T'Shani walked out of the turbolift; 8-ball in tow. "Let's have a drink, Ensign..."

By this time, 8-ball had given up trying to get anything out of the annoying blue woman, but she was still surprised. After all, it was only a few days ago that 8-ball had gotten the shit kicked out of her by yours truly and of all things she had thought T'Shani might have wanted with her, a drink wasn't one of them.

"A drink?"

"Yes, Ensign. A drink, that is what I said," Tish said in mild annoyance, her right antenna twitching, ever so slightly as the pair sat down at a table in a dark, far corner of the lounge. T'Shani stretched her antennae in either direction, picking up both slight psi vibrations, looks, and whispers from those seated around the two...

"That's the pair that *kissed*," one woman, a Petty Officer, whispered to her boyfriend.

"Really?" the man perked up at that mention...and was quickly elbowed by the woman.

...Tish just filtered it all out as she motioned for the waiter to come and take their order.

"Arkedian Sparklewater, please....Ensign?" T'Shani remained looking at the waiter, while her left antenna swiveled back to face 8-ball, in a questioning manner...

"Oh. Yeah. Uh, I don't know. Whatever. You do aneurysm's here? Cool, get me that."

T'Shani remained stubbornly silent after the waiter left to fetch their drinks. She studied 8-ball carefully--so high-tense, with an air of self-assurance on the outside...but, it seemed, vulnerability and conflict on the inside....T'Shani wasn't sure, but...well, she'd see where this went.

8-ball slouched in her seat. She was starting to get the idea that T'Shani had decided to get her drunk, publicly humiliate her, and then beat the shit out of her. ~Eh. As long as she's buying.~

Still, as much as she loved to assume the carefree attitude, 8-ball was interested in the evil, blue militant. She wasn't without entire personality. 8-ball was sure she had caught a glimpse of a smile here and there. . .and the fact that T'Shani had kissed 8-ball in the ring gave her a certain spunk. There had to be more behind all that blue coldness. 8-ball just wasn't sure what the hell it was.

Eventually the drinks came. T'Shani placed the Sparkelwater (an Arkedian mixed drink that--as its name implied--*sparkled* brightly with the colors of the rainbow) in front of her, taking a sip through the long, thin straw. ~Mmmmmm...~ she absently thought as her antennae curled in ecxtatic enjoyment when the smooth, cream-like liquid flowed down her throat.

8-ball slammed her shot back, ordered another one, and then glared at T'Shani. Curious or not, this was getting old. "NOW will you tell me what the fuck's going on?"

T'Shani bit back the urge to grab the girl's neck and wring her into silence...she *really* needs to learn patience....but then again...maybe it was time to get down to business.

"You fought well, two days ago, 8-ball," she said in between sips from her drink.

8-ball snorted. "Yeah, I did great. I got knocked unconscious. It was bundles of fun. What about it?"

Tish gave 8-ball a long, measured look. She set down her glass, and placed her large, blue hands on the table. "The only reason you failed, 8-ball, is because you didn't do what I told you to..."

8-ball raised an eyebrow. "And that little nugget of wisdom was?"

Tish leaned closer to 8-ball, whispering, "Chia'lna veroon'sk'iil chia'ln," repeating the Vulcan phrase that she had said to 8-ball during the tournament.

"Expect the unexpected," 8-ball translated into English as her second shot was served. She ignored it. "Okay, first off: stop speaking to me in Vulcan. It's a thorougly annoying language. Secondly, you CAN'T expect the unexpected. The whole point of something being unexpected is that it's IMPOSSIBLE to expect it. And thirdly, what the HELL does this have to do with anything?"

T'Shani A'Akledorian did something totally out-of-place for her: she actually laughed! "Ha, ha, ha!" she clutched her belly and grinned widely at a very surprised 8-ball.

8-ball, who started when T'Shani had laughed, relaxed in her seat again. "See," 8-ball said, "now that was unexpected. One does not expect the blue militant chick to start giggling. It's impossible to attempt it."

"You..." Tish said, pointing both of her antennas straight at 8-ball, "still have much to learn."

8-ball rolled her eyes and drank her second shot. ~Another one of those. You have much to learn, Grasshopper. I do not need this shit~. "Look, it's very nice that you want to be my teacher and mentor and all but unless you got something more than this mysterious 'you still have much to learn' shit, you're wasting my time."

~Yes, she'll do...~ Tish thought to herself. ~*IF* she learns patience and courage...she could be a great warrior...for a *Pinkskin*~ T'Shani conceded in her mind...

"Ensign," Tish sighed and chuckled, slightly--the amusement still evident in her deep, husky voice, "what if I told you that I could show you how to do just *that*..." Tish trailed off as she attended to her drink, again.

8-ball glanced at T'Shani. She was irritated, sure, but the proposition was interesting enough. . .if there was profit in it, of course. 8-ball smiled to herself. She should have been half-Ferengi. 8-ball pulled one knee up to her chest and sighed. She might as well hear this whole thing out before she decided what the hell she was going to do. "All right," 8-ball said, interested in spite of herself, "tell me how you're going to teach me to do the impossible. . .and what it's going to cost me to learn."

~Very good, indeed~ Tish *looked* up with her right antenna while she still sucked on her drink. Finishing it off, she turned her face up to 8-ball.

"The cost, 8-ball, is to put away the girl you are now...and become the woman you were meant to be. Not this...this *thing* you are now," Tish motioned toward's 8-ball with her left antenna.

Oh, THAT was degrading. "I'm a THING?" 8-ball said incredulously. "What's wrong with how I am now?"

T'Shani pushed back the urge to laugh, again. ~So young! So...sure of herself!~ the girl in front of the Andorian woman reminded Tish of herself...a long, long, time ago...

locking her yellow-orange pupils with 8-ball's eyes, Tish lowered her voice, "Because...now, you are not everything you *can* be, 8-ball Hunter. *NOW* you are still not totally sure of yourself...deep down. But you have great potential..." she trailed off and leaned back in her seat.

~Potential to be what, exactly? A giant blue killing machine?~. 8-ball was intrigued, sure, but T'Shani made this whole deal sound like a lifetime gig. 8-ball didn't really think she was the kind of girl for long term commitments, whether they be to a guy or a god or a cause. 8-ball leaned forward to protest.

... But before 8-ball could say anything further, Tish leaned forward, across the table again ~be damned, what everyone else thinks!~...

...And kissed 8-ball again; just a quick kiss on her surprised lips.

~What the FUCK?~ 8-ball thought as she pulled back quickly this time. ~Is this girl horny or just NUTS? Am I, like, amazingly attractive to blue Amazons or something?~

"Meet me in Holodeck Three, tomorrow morning, at oh-five-hundred, sharp," Tish whispered in 8-ball's ear, as several of the men who had been discreetly watching the pair literally dropped their eating utensils and dropped their jaws as they watched what was going on between the two.

8-ball tried to collect her wits enough to say something, but before 8-ball could even recover to question or protest, Tish had already quickly gotten up, turned, and left...her long legs carrying her past the double-doors, closing on a very confused, yet intrigued 8-ball Hunter...

"From the Shadows, Part II"

Primary Characters:
Captain Eliza Stuart
Lieutenant Commander Cassius Henderson
1st Lieutenant T'Shani A'Akledorian

----------

=^= Deck 37: T'Shani's Quarters =^=

The meeting with 8-ball had gone better than Tish had planned. If the Vulcan-humanoid girl could get a handle on her patience, she truly had the potential to be a great warrior, alongside T'Shani.

... But ...

That didn't necessarily mean that Tish wasn't worried to death about the 'mission' General Houghton had *given* her... Hell, she had been assured by the Section 31 Ops that everything concerning the Deep Shadow project had been taken care of: erased, gone...for good.

But now, with the Pallas Athena missing, and Red Division's spook--the very one that had been field-commander for her *previous* mission--dead...it did, indeed look as if the Romulans had been able to steal the prototype.

~Goddammit!~ Tish swore in her mind. ~How the *HELL* had the Reddies let that happen?! It was a secure site! In the middle of nowhere!~ But obviously, it *had* happend...

T'Shani sighed as she unfolded her legs from the meditation mat she was sitting-on. Switching the encrypted PADD off, she realized that--as much as she didn't want to--she *was* going to have to inform the Captain...that new Stuart woman.

The problem, however, was that she had *never* met Stuart before; didn't know a *thing* about her--her training, her ability to follow orders, to keep discretion, and a 'Fleet commander, as well!

~If only I was in a *real* Marine detachment!~ Tish groused as she pushed herself off of the floor. ~Or Intel....wait a second!~

She stopped, stretching her back, neck, arms, and antennae. ~Wasn't Henderson a previous 'spook?...Yes!...and now he *was* the new XO......maybe she could talk to him?~

"A'Akledorian to 'Commander Henderson," Tish called out into the air of her quarters.

Instantly, the computer's commrouter picked up the request, rerouted it through the main internal commnet, and announced it to Henderson's personal communicator...

=^= Deck 2: Executive Officer's Office =^=

Cassius Henderson was in a reflective mood. He'd spent the previous four hours in tactical, finishing some paperwork he'd been putting off for next shift, informing Savar and Pennington that they were Acting Chief and Acting Assistant respectively, and moving a few of his things up to the executive officer's office. Just what he would need. There really wasn't any way Command could make it permanent, not with his short time back in grade and the blotch on his record from Dalson Center.

Dalson Center... Now there was an intelligence failure on all fronts. ~A research station on the Breen DMZ, right after the war. No, Lieutenant Commander Henderson, the Breen do not have the capacity to be a credible military threat to the Dalson System.~

~Right...~ he thought to himself, sitting behind Von Ernst's desk, ~Not that you did all that good of a job.~

But that really wasn't entirely fair. And the part of him that he'd been happy to bury when they cashiered him was now more than willing to point it out.

~And what was I supposed to do?~ Agent Henderson asked himself pointedly. Agent Henderson had been younger, somewhat leaner, and completely nondescript. The kind of person who melded into crowds. ~I was a field agent, not Starfleet Security. Of course something slipped through, especially when they attacked the planet and I was scrambling to help Leontiev preserve his work. I was lucky that grenade didn't go off immediately.~

Henderson winced at the memory, and dismissed it. That was something for another time. Right now, somebody wanted his attention... A'Akledorian. That would be the aggressive Andorian marine he had met in the gym. What could she need?

"Henderson here, go ahead," he replied, sitting up.

['Commander, I must meet with you--in private--immediately, regarding Level Three information I have obtained.] T'Shani stated simply.

Henderson paused, thought, and reacted. "Lieutenant, how did you come across Level Three... No. Don't tell me, this channel isn't secure. Don't even hint. I want you to meet me in the Main Observation Lounge on Deck 1 in three minutes. I'm going to have to inform Captain Stuart, and probably bring her along."

~Well, there goes another day of 'peace and quiet'~

[Very well, Sir. I will be there in three minutes. A'Akledorian out.]

Henderson frowned. ~Eh...right~ "Henderson to Stuart," he said. She wasn't going to like this. Day two of being onboard, and already junior officers were showing up Level 3 information. Which of course meant god-knows what, since Level 3 was anything classified on a need to know basis. Which meant somebody obviously thought T'Shani A'Akledorian needed to know something.

[Stuart here, 'Commander, what's going on?]

"Captain, it's just come to my attention that one of our junior officers has somehow come across some form of document or information classified Level 3," he said, remaining deliberately vague. In the great game, somebody is alway listening.

[Interesting. Do you know how? Oh... Sorry, that was a stupid question. I assume you want me to come find out?]

"Yes. We're meeting in the Main Observation Lounge on Deck 1 in two and a half minutes."

[Good work, 'Commander, I'll be there. Stuart out.]

Henderson nodded, gathered a few things from his closet, and then headed down the hall to the conference room.

**Exactly Three Minutes Later**

=^= Deck 1: Main Observation Lounge =^=

"What are you doing, Cassius?" Eliza asked. Henderson was standing in the middle of the conference room table holding a tricorderlike device, which was chirping.

"Well, first, sweeping for bugs. Second, I'll be setting up a jamming field around the room," Henderson said, "This might be the two years of time I put into SFI talking, but I think we should probably have this conversation in private."

"Good point," Stuart nodded, and helped Henderson down from the table, watching him pocket the device, "So now that I assume you're finished reminiscing, who is this junior officer?"

"1st Lieutenant A'Akledorian, T'Shani Ardorannan. She's a Vanguard Squadron Pilot. What that doesn't tell you is that she's also a Grandmaster in two Andorian bladed weapons and had a 4.00 at Marine OTS. She's aggressive, possibly overly so, and a believer in the strength of the Marine Corps. Ah yes, and she's telepathic with Andorians, Vulcans, Betazoids, and possibly Rihannsu."

"That's uhm... frightening, when you put it that way. And she's now a pilot? Never mind," Stuart replied, "And you have no idea where this information came from?"

"No, I have every idea of where the information came from. Two actually. My first thought was that it came from one of her higher ups during the Andorian Defensive League's campaigns... 2374-2376. Actually during the exact months I was intelligence-side. The other thought was that it came from somebody inside the marine corps. Lately I've noticed a move toward independence and self-reliance with marine units."

"That's a dangerous precedent," Stuart said, "Let's hope it was the first."

The portside doors swished open, and Marine First Lieutenant T'Shani A'Akledorian calmly--yet with a professional, military swagger--strode into the room, dressed in her regulation Marine Class-B uniform.

Henderson watched A'Akledorian enter the room, sizing her up. It was definately the same person he had seen before. Leaning to Stuart's ear, he whispered "One word sum up: intensity."

Stuart nodded. She was getting it too. The barely controlled aura of intensity. "Alright, Lieutenant, take your seat. This room is secure. Now could you please tell us what's going on."

T'Shani sat down, maintaining her at-attention pose as she moved to the edge of her seat. Unlike when she had been talking with 8-ball last night, Tish got right to the point as she faced Stuart...

"Captain, 'Commander," she swiveled her left antenna in Cass's direction while maintaining eye-contact with Stuart, sizing her up.

Stuart sat waiting for Lieutenant A'Akledorian's report, when she realized that the Andorian had locked eyes with her... ~Whoa... What's going on here?~ Stuart wondered, slightly offended, as she maintained her own calm expression and eye contact. Two could play at that game.

Dispensing with what the two commanding officers already knew, T'Shani continued:

"Sirs, the information that I am about to share with you is classified Top-Secret, Level Three, and is not to be shared with anyone with less than a Beta-Two Security Clearance, understood?" T'Shani paused as Cassius cut-in...

"Which I will note limits it to you, me, Legate Curran, Commander Dallas, Lieutenant Geluf, Major Bolivar, Lieutenant Commander Suder, and Lieutenant Commander Corgan... But not yourself, Lieutenant A'Akledorian, unless you've somehow managed to get a Beta Two Security Clearance while we weren't looking," Cass said, beginning to get a little annoyed himself. Up until a few days previously, he hadn't even had a Beta Two. "Who put those limitations there, and how did you get it?"

Stuart decided to allow Henderson to do the talking for the time being. He had been through this all before, and she hadn't. She'd been a diplomatic officer and a tactical officer before that, but never intelligence.

Tish faced Henderson as her antennae arched wide in amusement. Yet, she kept her face stone-cold professional, simply stating, "Yes, 'Commander, I have."

"Not on this ship," Stuart corrected her, "I don't know who you're working for, but you'd better get to the point."

Cass noted her antennae language. The boldness in her communication with him seemed like outright disrespect for Captain Stuart. She seemed to be enjoying her game, whatever it was. "But the real question remains how..."

Before Cassius could finish his follow-up question, T'Shani reached up to the collar of her duty jacket and unzipped it. "As to the how, 'Commander..." Tish trailed-off as she started undoing her olive duty tunic, as well...

~A'Akledorian sure has a flair for the melodramatic. The rumor about her bout with Ensign Hunter must be true,~ Henderson thought to himself. He'd been right. Intensity was the word to describe her.

Captain Stuart frowned impatiently. These preliminaries were pointless. She'd never been partial to spy games. Henderson could sit there coolly, but it was beginning to irritate her.

~Humans! So impatient! It must be a genetic trait~ Tish thought absently, arching her antennae in mild annoyance, recalling her *discussions* with Hunter the night before.

Sighing, she stopped the zipper of her tunic just above her breasts.

"Any time now, Lieutenant," Stuart said, still waiting.

Quickly, she reached into her uniform, between her breasts and pulled out a small datachip, no bigger than her thumb. Once the chip was removed, she quickly zipped everything back up, as if nothing had happened at all.

Turning and handing the chip to Stuart: "Sir, on behalf of Major General Tanner Houghton, I present to you classified information concerning Starfleet's 'Deep Shadow' Project."

"Tanner Houghton, SFMC, Third Corps, Second Division, also known as "Red Division". I've never met him, but people I know have. Red Division is a intel-engineering branch of the SFMC. I won't say that they're people I'm overly fond of," Henderson said, mostly for Stuart's benefit.

"So let's see it," Stuart said, "I do hope this is going somewhere relevent?" T'Shani calmly turned her head to face Henderson. She had respect for the man; he had been in intel, as well. In fact, Tron had known him--somewhat--during the the 'research station' incident...

"'Commander, the datafile will explain everything, Sir." T'Shani stated simply, not saying anything more, but motioning to the chip in Stuart's hand with her right antenna.

"Then let's find out what this is all about," Eliza said, then inserted the datachip into the holovid projector and waited for it to play. This wasn't exactly what she had wanted to have on her first day in the Galaxy's big chair.

As the lights in the Observation Lounge dimmed, a holovid appeared on the briefing screen on the far bulkhead, displaying the Federation Crest, followed by the Red Division Insignia and a Classified Disclaimer.

"This is Intelligence HQ," Cassius said, clenching his teeth. ~They told me they didn't work with Red Division...~ "The datestamp says 2379, long after I left Intelligence. That one there is Tanner Houghton."

[Ladies and Gentlement of the Security Council, thank you for your time today. I am Tanner Houghton, Commanding Officer of Starfleet Marine Corps 'Red' Division. May I remind you all that this meeting is Classified Top-Secret--Level Three--and you are not to discuss this information with anyone.]

A vidscreen blinked-on behind the General as the assembled officers in the recording nodded their heads...

[Before we get to the status report of Project Deep Shadow, my assistant, First Lieutenant A'Akledorian, will brief you on the pertinent background information...]

"You were in OTS at the time, how did you..." he brought himself up short. There would be time for that later. He could hear Stuart doing the same thing. ~Cass, you're slipping.~

Tish chuckled inside, as she watched herself walk to the podium on the holovid. She also noticed Henderson's surprised reaction, but decided to just sit tight, and wait until the presentation was finished...

The T'Shani on the vid cleared her throat, softly, then began to speak:

[Esteemed members of the Federation Security Council...]

~Typical.~ Henderson thought, ~She speaks to them with the same intensity that she speaks to Stuart.~

[...Roughly two standard years ago, a detachment from the Andorian Defensive League engaged a Tholian invasion regiment at Ak'raar IV--on the Deep Andorian Frontier--during the Battle of Hel'mis' Retreat...]

...A tactical map came up on the vidscreen behind her, showing the position of Ak'raar IV, the routes of the invasion forces, and a scrolling history of the battle, itself.

[The Tholians attacked the planet in hopes of possessing *this*...]

...A new image replaced the tactical map; an image of a strange emerald-hued crystalline-looking artifact...it spun as if suspended on the screen, data pointers updating findings and information about it.

Tish closed her eyes as memories flooded her mind: racing through the caves of Ak'raar, chasing the Tholian spy; killing it and stealing the datachip; later assisting Captain Blackar and the "Red Dogs" as they retrieved the artifact, the trap that had killed half of the Platoon....

She shook her head, slightly; forcing the images into the back of her mind, willing herself to watch the rest of the recording.

["What is *that*?"] a voice from the somewhere *off-camera* asked the tall Andorian woman behind the podium.

"That was Commander Brenna Worthman, SFI. She was a handler when I was there, but by now I'm pretty sure that she's in charge of liaison with the Romulan Naval Intelligence."

The T'Shani on the holovid paused, looking in the direction of the voice: [Ma'am, this is the basis of Project Deep Shadow,] she turned back to face the rest of the assemblege.

[This artifact, called the 'Iathali'ik Nath'nakal' by the Tholians--roughly meaning 'Shadow-bringer'--is a unique 11-dimensional focus-conductor/emitter]

A murmur went through the on-screen assemblege. Eventually, the commotion died-down, and the assistant continued...

[Put simply: it focuses direct-matter energy and remodulates it across the sub- and super-spacetime fabric, creating a two-way portal into--as the scientists term it--multi-dimensional space; or trans-space. This allows it to operate in so-called *parallel* real-time space; think of it as an underlayer to *normal* space, but without the time, speed, and reality restrictions of sub, super, *or* normal space. Currently--as will be discussed by General Houghton--Red Division's scientists have not-yet been able to create a compatible power-source for the artifact, itself.]

"Multi dimensional space?" Stuart said, "You mean like a cloaking device? Wouldn't that break the Treaty of Algeron?"

"Depends on the wording. If it says all cloaking technology, then yes. If it says all Rihannsu cloaking technology, then no," Henderson said, "However, I'm curious as to who really owned Ak'raar, or this crystal, in the first place."

Another on-screen question: ['Lieutenant A'Akledorian, how did the Tholian's locate this-this...'Shadow-bringer' crystal, and who put it there, in the first place?]

"And that is Commodore Pavel Illyanovitch, Director of Starfleet Intelligence. He doesn't obey treaties any better than your average Orion pirate," Cass said, "Which I suppose is an insult to Orion pirates."

[Sir, to answer your first question: after the Tholian Web Incident of 2264, the Tholian's actively began to seek-out the cause of the space-time rift that claimed the U.S.S. Defiant, NCC-1764, and almost led to the death of *then*-Captain James T. Kirk. Through research means unknown--at this time-- the Tholians located the artifact, as well as several other incomplete fragments scattered throughout Tholian, Gorn, and Andorian space.]

"The ship she's referring to recently resurfaced, encountered actually by this ship, the USS Galaxy. It had been to some sort of other plane of existance, a sort of hell-plane according to the logs. I'm not sure how it worked. Lieutenant Black's logs are pretty incomplete on the matter," Henderson said, "How the crystal figures into it, I don't know."

"Maybe as a focusing point, or a catalyst."

Again, she paused. Then, continued: [As to the question of *who* planted the artifact...that fact is still undetermined. Though, SFI has estimated that the artifact was secured, undisturbed on Ak'raar IV for at least four-thousand standard years, until a Red Division reconnaisance team recovered it, late last year.]

Again T'Shani closed her eyes--briefly--recalling the terror that was unleashed as the recon team *retrieved* the artifact... And now, with Blackar dead......

"Is that is? What does that have to do with us in the here and now?" Stuart asked.

T'Shani swiveled in her chair, holding Stuart's eyes. "Everything, Captain...everything..."

"Toe The Line"

Primary Characters:
Captain Eliza Stuart
Lieutenant Commander Cass Henderson

Secondary Characters:
SubCommander Savar tr'Khellian
Ensign Rima Pennington

****

USS Galaxy
Deck 1
Main Bridge

*TAP TAP TAP*

~Stop...~

*TAP TAP TAP*

~Stop...~

*TAP TAP TAP*

~Stop...~

*TAPTAPTAPTAPTAPTAPTAPTAPTAPTAPTAP*

*WHAM*

Cassius Henderson's hand shot over from the XO's chair and knocked the stylus out of Rima's fingers. "Stop fidgiting... You know it bothers me." Truthfully, there was a lot bothering him right now. Admiral Valerian’s missing command ship, for starters. Lieutenant A’Akledorian’s mysterious datachip would make a nice second. Rima had been relegated to third.

“Sorry... I hate being in warp,” she said, “The waitting is just about the worst thing I can think of.” Actually, the worst thing she could think of was that he was now the XO and she was Savar tr’Khellian’s assistant. Which reminded her... The console she was sitting at, next to the XO station, suddenly became very interesting. She didn’t like listening to tr’Khellian’s orders.

“Right...” Cass nodded, “Well, we’ll be coming out of warp soon.”

As if on cue, Lieutenant Savioe announced their arrival, “Leaving warp in five... four... three... two... one... mark.”

“Ship to yellow alert status,” Eliza Stuart turned to the Rihannsu officer manning her tactical arch, “The Pallas Athena’s last known position in this system, Delta Calath. It was investigating a distress call in the Lhoranth Asteroid Field. We’ll take the shortest distance course from here to there. Sensors to full, keep and eye on all communications frequencies.”

Henderson nodded thoughtfully, “Intelligence, could I get a workup on the Romulan Naval deployment in this region, as well as anything else that you think is pertinent. Sciences, the asteroid field, as well as the surrounding cultures.”

After a chorus of yes’s, the USS Galaxy began to trace the missing starship’s last path.

Lieutenant Commander Ethan Suder
Chief Engineer

Lieutenant (jg) Dhanishta Eshe
Engineer

"Piece of Mind"

Ethan stormed out of Curran's office, feeling agitated and somewhat annoyed. He frowned, not wanting to do anything but get back to work. "Rude bastard!" he muttered to himself. He had a little respect for the guy, from what he had heard. But after being in the same room with him, even if it was only for a few minutes, that respect went down the toilet. Something was wrong with him, that much was obvious. To a Betazoid it was anyway. For a moment, Ethan thought that Curran was in need of more psychiatric help than Dhani.

He entered the turbolift nearby and continued to frown, still annoyed. Perhaps this guys feelings had rubbed off a little on him. He hadn't been feeling one hundred percent, the dreams continued, he found himself daydreaming a little more than he liked, he still couldn't sleep that well. He figured that after a few years, he might have gotten used to it, and he had, more or less. Although he did wonder about the day when he could finally rest for a whole evening, in a peaceful sleep. Like that was going to happen anytime soon.

Dhanishta thought her head was going to explode, one minuet she was with Suder and the most aggravating man she'd ever met, the next moment she was screaming for people to die whilst blasting a phaser rifle at them and now someone else was asking her how she felt and how many fingers he was holding up! Reaching out she pawed at the air trying to grab one of the many arms that hovered before her. Third time lucky, with her other hand she felt along his arm, over her own hand to his wrist and then his fingers,

"Three." She croaked out.

"Any dizziness or nausea?" Came his next question, like he was following a text book.

Dhani just groaned.

When the turbolift came to its destination, Suder stormed out as quickly as he had stormed in and drifted down the corridor. Ignoring the few crewmen around, he slid through the opening doors of Sickbay and approached one of the biobeds, ignoring the Doctors completely.

As she looked down past her own feet, there were so many of them, she watched Suder approach, ~ Oh great, ~ she thought, ~ Suder in stereo! ~ Rolling on to her side she felt the knot in her stomach swell. Her arms and legs felt heavy, the tingling sensation still crawled along her skin. She rolled a little too far and landed on the floor. She heard the doctor call for the nurse to help him out and then felt them as they pried her off the floor. Waving her arms around like she was swimming she fought them off, the knot in her stomach began to rise. Her vision was so blurred that she had no idea where any of them were. She took a hold of the side of the bio bed and shifted onto her knees. All she wanted to do was get to the bathroom, or at least tell them to get her to the bathroom, but it was too late. Her stomach lurched violently as she promptly threw up.

Suder frowned at the Doctors and then crossed his arms. Turning slightly, he looked at the on-duty Doctor. "Congratulations, Doctor. Tell me, you guys actually good at anything?" he asked looking back down at Dhanishta and the nurses trying to help her back up. He turned back to the Doctor and stepped closer to him. Leaning forward slightly, he continued to frown. "Why don't you give her a little something to relax and then tell your team to back off!" he almost growled. He could sense that the Doctor was thinking he must have been under a lot of stress and didn't mean what he had just said about the Medical Department, and he was right.

"This stuff is sick." Dhanishta said not realising the irony of her statement till after she said it. Wiping her hands on her shorts she offered a week smile at the nurses as they shifted her back on to the bed. She dare not lay down again as her stomach threatened for an encore.

Ethan glared at the nurses until they slowly backed away. He then approached Dhani, arms still crossed. He sighed and stood near her. "Want a hand?" he asked.

"What's wrong with mine?" she asked looking at each and Suder in turn.

He raised an eyebrow and almost half smiled, but didn't quite make it. A nurse came along and pressed a hypospray against her neck, activated it and quickly returned to a console near by. Ethan sighed again. It was just one thing after another. He wasn't quite sure what to do. The Doctors had had no luck diagnosing her yet and Karyn Dallas, surprisingly wasn't making the kind of progress he had hoped. Sure they were hopefully getting somewhere, he just wanted the situation resolved now. He remembered when Michael had been in an accident and had forgotten a lot of things. He hated seeing people in his department, his friends in this kind of situation. He wished he could do more.

"Just sit tight!" he said moving towards a console. He sat down and began tapping away quite quickly. He began writing a message and then began searching the computer database. More specifically, any record linked to Dhanishta. After a few minutes, he managed to find what he was looking for and sent the message.

As the hypospray worked through her system the room came back into focus, then Suders became one and her stomach settled.

"Can I go now?" she asked on-one in particular, "I feel fine." She continued, "I just fainted, it's not a big deal." She slid off the bio bed, but left her hand on it for support.

Suder spun around on his chair and looked over at the Doctor. "On one condition." Suder replied. "We go back to your quarters and agree to remain there. We need to sort this out."

"I'm not going or staying anywhere with you." She shot back before she even realised what she had said. "It's probably just the medication they stuck me on." She glared at the doctor. Hearing something behind her she turned.

"Do you think we can use this?" Turran asked holding up a laser scalpel.

"Be careful with that." She said rushing over to him, like a mother would if her child were holding a knife or a piece of glass. "Put it down. It's a laser scalpel." She explained, "Its used to cut things with, like flesh!" she thought for a moment as she watched Turran place it back on the upturned trolley, "I suppose it could come in handy on the farm." She mused. "Stick it in the bag and lets go, this place is starting to creep me out, I never did like sick bay." She turned to leave, Turran in toe, but stopped abruptly, Suder, the doctor, the nurses, all stood looking at her. More like staring. She turned back to Turran, but he wasn't there, just a confused nurse, also staring at her.

With a nod from the Doctor, Ethan approached Dhani from behind and jabbed another hypospray in the back of her neck and caught her as she fell backwards. He then continued with the flow of motions and picked her up. Carrying her towards the door, he stopped and looked back at the Doctor. "I have a thing or two I can try to sort this out, if all else fails, I'll bring her back. But this place will be no good for her." He then turned and left Sickbay.

Dhanis eyes flittered open, glancing around the room she felt slightly odd. This continuing change in surrounding was really beginning to irritate her. Hearing Salem meow from the other room she realised that she was in her own quarters, still it didn't feel secure. Had she been dreaming? Had she finally been able to sleep? She wanted to walk, walking had always helped her to think and the exercise felt good. Better than sitting around and brooding. But then she had been walking when she met Curran and then... The memory of the day trickled back as she stood up and walked to the door. She frowned when it didn't open. Looking at the door panel she realised it was locked, from the inside.

Ethan looked up from his sitting position in the corner of the room. At long last, Dhani was awake. He continued sitting and cleared his throat. "So your first impulse when you wake up is to leave your quarters. Why? Where would you go?" he asked.

She jumped and spun round, "What the hell is going on?" she demanded ignoring his question.

"A couple of years ago, I created an unusual encryption method based on records I went over from a starship, thought lost for a number of years until recently. The Borg have a unique way of working. If they want to lock something out, or in for that matter, it would take a long time to decrypt. I've never had the luxury of using it though." He finally stood up. "So where were you off to?" he asked again.

Dhani didn't like this, the situation nor the feeling she was getting. She wanted to run from him. She felt trapped, hell she was trapped. He locked her in here with him. What the hell did he want? What the hell was going on? Why.? The questions kept flowing and the panic kept rising. Breath she told herself, just breath, everything is going to be okay. She began to mentally raise a wall around her, a mental guard. It was something that she had always done without even thinking about, but now she felt the need to raise more. She continued to eye Suder up suspiciously, trying to work out his motives.

"I was going for a walk." She finally said curtly.

"Interesting." He commented quietly, folding his arms for the umpteenth time today. "Dhani you're not well. You've had a lot of mental training and discipline, and yet you're not quite in control of the situation. I want to help you."

"I'm fine." She replied.

"Yeah, running around the ship, crazy, passing out and throwing up because you're fine." He shot back sarcastically. He shook his head and turned to look out the window. He lowered his head and thought for a few seconds. This was going no where. She didn't want help. Obviously she was quite a private person, not used to being ill, let alone someone helping her. Perhaps she should be transferred to a medical facility somewhere when they pass one, on a Starbase or something?.... But then he needed every good Engineer he could get, but perhaps her health was worth more than that. Perhaps to save her would mean having to transfer her over to the medical authorities. The thoughts continued to float through his mind.

"What do you expect when they pump me full of sedatives?" she shot back. She could feel her temper rising.

"It's not to do with the sedatives, you know that. How long have you not felt good. I'm guessing before the sedatives!" he snapped back. Otherwise you wouldn't have needed them."

She stood for a moment just breathing, not knowing what to say or do. "There's nothing wrong with me." She said finally through clenched teeth, wanting that so much to be true. At that moment she felt so small, like a little girl, and she didn't like that feeling.

Ethan remained silent. He continued to stare at her for a while, and then began pacing in front of the window. He had Michael covering his shifts for him, so he was quite happy to take as long as it took to try and get to the root of the problem. So he continued to wait, for her to admit it.

She watched him for a while, wondering what it was he wanted, why he was here. It dawned on her that he wasn't going anywhere. He might not be able to read her but she could read him. But that was against everything she believed in, so she continued to watch him pace. The silence between them grew.

Ethan finally turned and looked at Dhani. "What would your tutor on Vulcan say? What would he do? Leave you to sort out whatever it is that's going on, like I, like we all have done. And then perhaps offer to help you, like I am. I suppose I'm nothing like him, but I'd like to try. No matter how accustomed you are to dealing with problems yourself, there comes a time when we all need help."

At the mention of her tutor she tensed. She could feel every muscle in her body contract, she became so stiff that she could be used as a surf board. She swallowed hard, forcing the saliva down her oesophagus, so hard she thought she might choke on it. The anger rose, she stood till it passed and then walked across the room to her desk. Sitting down stiffly she turned her back on Suder and looked at the stack of padds on her desk. She reached out and picked them up. Placing them on her lap she began to sieve through them. She could just pretend that he wasn't there, if she ignored him long enough maybe he would go away.

Ethan walked back to the corner where he had been sitting earlier and picked up a couple of data padds that he had been reading. As he stood back up, he found it odd that he was suddenly in his office. But it wasn't his, it was another Chief Engineer's office. There was various shouting and then a data padd was thrown into the wall near him, by the door. Then he saw the field from his dreams. The house, the sounds of kids playing games, the sun setting. Then he found himself looking down at the data padds he had just picked up. He shook off the thoughts, or fantasies, or whatever it was and looked back over at Dhani. His head tingled a little and he felt a little shaky. But he brushed it off and sat on the couch. He began reading the information on one of the padds and sighed.

Dhani put the padds back on the desk and pushed them aside, she couldn't focus on them, or anything else for that matter.

"What do you want?" she asked quietly.

Suder looked up from the information on the Quick Virus and the EEH program. "I want to help. There's a couple of mental tricks I know that might be able to strengthen your mental abilities, thus, being able to sort out the problem on your own as you know doubt want."

"I don't want them Suder." She replied, "You really know nothing about me do you?"

"And you don't know me, or this ship, or the people, or how any of it works or comes together!" he said standing up. "We don't have time for things like this, the only way we get through is together. We're a team! The people on this ship, they work together, they might not like each other or always agree, but we're a unit, together! I don't know how other departments run, or what the team leaders do, but I treat everyone under me the same. In my department, we're a unit, a family! If one person goes down, we all go down!" he continued to frown, yet looking somewhat sympathetic at the same time. You have a problem, fine, you want to keep it to yourself, fine, you want to work it out yourself, fine, the gods know, we all do that, but you haven't been able to have you!" he asked. "It's gotten out of hand, it's effected your judgement, your attitude, your responsibilities on this ship, and most of all, it's effecting others. People are worried about you, concerned. Karyn Dallas, probably a few idiots in Sickbay, Jiiles, Tom, the others in Engineering, me!"

She wanted to scream at him but instead she did the smart thing, "So what do you propose?" she asked. Keeping her eyes fixated on anything but him.

"Just a quick training session. I hope to be able to strengthen your mental abilities, temporarily of course, to help you deal with the problem." He explained. "I'm no Vulcan, but I know it's a lot safer." He almost smiled.

"No." she replied simply. "I don't need nor do I want to link my mind with anyone. I'm doing fine on my own." She said flatly, "You just caught me on a bad day is all." She kept her tone calm and steady.

"You misunderstand, there's no linking whatsoever, consider it, a transfer of strength." He explained.

Inside a voice chuckled, that's the last thing I need she thought, I'd sap him dry!

"The answer is no, Ethan." She said standing up. Still she remained calm, her voice showed no signs of wavering, on the inside however she felt like a wafer; small, thin and easily broken.

Ethan frowned. People on this ship were so stupid, shallow and stubborn. He grabbed his data padds and made his way to the door. Tapping in the encryption code, the doors slid open. He didn't even take one look back at her, just left in silence.

Dhanishta wasn't prone to claustrophobia but right now she wasn't sure what might spring up next. Her panic was like a pot on the stove beginning to boil. As he left her quarters the gas was put out, and she began to feel the calm wash over her. The sweat that covered her body felt cold and sticky, and she could smell the faint remnants of puke, boy did she need a shower!

Lieutenant (Jg) Dhanishta Eshe
Lieutenant Commander Ethan Suder

“A Holo Truth”

Dhanishta stood out side Holodeck 2, she had been there for about five minutes pacing. Every time she went to press the chime she stopped herself and questioned if this was a good idea. They hadn’t spoken in a week, and their last meeting hadn’t really been successful. All he had wanted to do was to help her, she respected that and was thankful for the gesture, but had refused his help, she didn’t want the help he was offering. And well let’s just say he didn’t take rejection very well, and thus they hadn’t spoken in a week. Not that she had spoken to anyone else that week, except Ahdjiia, who had thankfully kept her busy with spider crèches, or else she was sure she would have really lost it. But here she was, another five minutes gone. Taking another deep breath she walked up to the door, half running and punched the chime. ~gotta run and jump~ she thought.

Suder didn’t hear the chime ring out, nor did he hear the door open behind him. He was sat at a table in the middle of the holodeck. The scene was quite dull, white walls, white floor, bright lights from above. Various work stations scattered around the room. He was sitting on a stool, leaning on one fist and scanning through some data. Nearby was a cup of his usual Betazoid beverage. A dark blue and thick liquid. Stronger than usual. He continued scanning through the data and sighed. “Computer, scan matrix Suder-Alpha for any virus’s or abnormal program routines.” He ordered.

A few seconds later, the computer beeped in response. “Scan of Matrix Suder-Alpha complete. No virus, anomalies or abnormal routines detected.”

Suder frowned and the dull and plain voice of the computer. “Then why isn’t the program working?” Ethan mumbled to himself.

“Quick Virus?” Dhanishta offered with a small smile still standing in the doorway.

Ethan slowly turned on his chair and looked at Dhanishta. “Yeah.” He said with a nod, turning back to the desk. “I think so anyway.” He muttered.

“Anything I can help with?” she asked, still not entering. She still felt a little uneasy round him, after he locked her in her own quarters she felt a little timid to say the least.

Ethan raised an eyebrow and then frowned. He found the circumstances a little odd. Indeed she seemed to be more calm than the last time he had seen her. He had offered to help her, she had refused. She was offering to help him now, should he refuse? But then he smiled at himself. He wasn’t as stubborn as she was. “By all means.” He replied, taking a sip of the beverage on the desk.

Cautiously she took a step into the room, looking around she sighed. She was loosing her nerve in telling him what she came here to tell him, maybe she should have followed her first thought and gone straight to the captain. But then she really should tell him first, she owed him that much. “Ethan I don’t want to help you.” she stated.

Ethan raised an eyebrow and looked up. Slowly turning, he once again looked at Dhanishta and crossed his arms.

“I want to talk to you, chat as it were. I need to tell you something!” Could he be more off-putting, she thought. The folded arms didn’t really make her feel welcome nor tell her that he was responsive. The sound of the doors closing behind her made her jump.

Ethan saw that she was slightly uncomfortable. He looked down for a moment at his unzipped duty jacket and smiled slightly. He then looked back up. “How may I be of service?” he asked.

Stop being nice to me for one thing, she thought to herself. She approached the table he was working at and casually scanned it. She recognised the schematics, “You’re working on the EEH.” She stated with surprise. Her blood shot, puffy eyes went wide with excitement.

This time he raised both eyebrows and looked at her. “How do you know about it? It’s been offline since before you came onboard…. A long time.” He said.

“Yer, erm that’s kinda…” she stopped not really quite sure how to proceed, “That’s sort of involved with what I want to talk to you about.”

“What, you sabotaged the program from Earth before you arrived on the ship to give me a headache in trying to fix it?” he asked.

She licked her lips and began to chew on one. They were quite dry, must have been all the crying she thought, in fact all of her skin felt dry to the touch, another reminder of why crying was stupid! “Yeah,” She said, “you got me. I’m a saboteur.” She sat down across from him and looked in to his eyes.

“Well, you could be worse things. In any case, maybe you know how to unfix the problem?” he offered tapping a few buttons on the screen in front of him. “What was it you wanted to talk about?”

“Not likely, I spent about a decade working on that thing to no avail. If I spend one more minuet on it I think I’ll go nuts!” she looked at him and smiled, “But then you already think I’m nuts don’t you?”

“Not really.” Ethan replied quietly. “I think someone who goes around saying nothing but ‘yeah yeah golf’ is a little nuts, but not you. You like many of us have your issues. We have ours, we live, we deal.” He explained.

She nodded. “I was grateful you know? And still am.”

“Us mortals, we do what we can.” He replied with a half smile.

“Don’t fudge the issue, I know you were hurt. I don’t know if you can understand. It wasn’t that I wanted to sort things out on my own, I wanted help. But what you were offering wouldn’t fix the problem. It would just have made it worse. I stay clear of anything Betazoid, and I know you wont understand that but..” she trailed off, realising that that is the first time she had ever revealed anything personal about herself to a commanding officer. She stunned herself into silence.

Ethan looked at Dhani and then casually around the room. “You don’t have to explain… unless this is what you wanted to talk about?” he asked leaning forward.

“In part, yes,” She concluded, “but that’s not the real issue. On some level you think I’m crazy. Don’t deny it you said it your self. And I just want to clear that up.”

“When I said crazy, I didn’t mean your brain had turned to noodles, I was talking about how’d you flipped out a few times. That’s all. Don’t look too much into it, or much of what I say for that matter, unless it’s work related of course.”

“Ethan,” she said sharply, “I said don’t deny it.” She gave him a hard stare.

He sighed. There was no point arguing. He had already established that she was stubborn. He just continued to scan through the information and took another sip of his drink.

“About a month or so ago we were on a diplomatic mission to a planet called Quinten, do you remember?”

“I don’t even remember what day of week it is…” he replied as he continued to scan through the information. But yeah, Quinten, I remember.”

“What exactly do you remember?” she asked.

Thinking about it, Ethan raised his head. He hesitated and then replied, “I don’t… really. I hear people going on about things, dreams and stuff, but I don’t remember.” He replied honestly.

“What sort of things have you heard?” came her next question.

“People dying, the Galaxy crashing, that sort of stuff. All pretty much sounds the same.” He replied quietly.

Dhani took a moment to compose her self and then she dove right in, “We were on a diplomatic mission. An away team beamed down to the planet, Dallas and several others I don’t remember who. The planet then exploded. The ship was hit pretty bad in the shock wave, a lot of people died.” She paused as the halls haunted her, the cargo bay filled to the point of overflowing. She felt her bottom lip waver slightly. Standing up she continued while pacing, “An away team was sent down, you and McDowell were in it. Time passed by, me and Grey patched the ship up, running round like scolded chickens. Reports flooded in from every deck, half the team were dead. After a wile Starfleet came along, Admiral something or other, the captain got a blocking and I’m not really sure what happened there, but they thought we did it, as in blew up the planet. Well there was a stand off for ages and then they opened fire. The ship was badly damaged already and I don’t know of all the details there but the end factor is the ship crashed, the Hood followed. Everyone on the Galaxy died.” She stopped and looked over at Suder.

He was gazing at her and the desk as she told the story. “hmmm,” he replied as she continued to pace. Sounded familiar, like what people had been discussing. Strange that she be taking it a bit more serious than the others.

“There’s more.” She said as her hands began to sweat. “Everyone died…. Except me!”

“A tragedy of luck I’m sure.” He said softly.

“Yeah.” She replied not too sure what he meant by that. “Well the years rolled by and to cut a 30 year story short, the away team came back, through time and….. everything was fixed, the end.” Tilting her head she gave him a slight smile and walked towards the door, “Of late I have been having these flash backs and there the walk around join in kinda things and that’s why I have been acting strange. In fact the first flash back I had was in Curran’s office. So erm, sorry bout that.” She shrugged and hailed the computer for the exit.

“That’s a lot to take, probably one of those things where time is the only thing that can heal you.” he said turning on his stool, following her she headed for the exit. “And-“ Suder was cut off when a sound to his right caught his attention. It almost sounded like a phaser being fired in short bursts. But it was in fact a holographic image trying to form itself. There was a lot of interference. The hologram continued to disappear and then appear, but with a lot of dots, colourful scratches, it also looked like someone caught in a transporter beam. He quickly began tapping away the screen on the desk and looked back at the holographic image. Gradually, bit by bit, the image cleared and the distortions phased away. First the uniform of a Starfleet Engineer appeared, and then hair, followed by the face.

The hologram turned and looked at Suder and then the new Engineer. “Commander Suder, Lieutenant Junior Grade Eshe.” She stated. She paused for a moment and then continued. “I have managed to successfully update my knowledge of ship systems and crew personnel. It has been a while since I was activated.”

“Indeed.” Suder replied. He sat back on the stool and smile. He then looked a little confused. “But,” he looked back at the desk, over to Dhanishta and then back at the hologram, “I didn’t do anything.”

“My matrix has been attacked by a virus of some kind. The matrix unit was designed by yourself to filter out any problems, virus’s, corrupt files etc.”

“Of course.” Ethan replied remembering. It had been a few years, he’d forgotten that. He turned to Dhanishta. “Dhani, this is Sophia. Sophia, Dhanishta Eshe, as you already know.”

“Erm, nice to meet you.” Dhani replied. Inside her head a little voice, the one thing she wanted to string up and shoot, called her a chicken, it continued to cluck at her for a while before it faded out. Dhani continued towards the door, her fingers twitching, “Thanks for the chat, I really have to go now.” Part of her wanted to stay and find out more about the EEH and she had told him so much already she really should tell him the rest but now was not the time, not with this Sophia in the room. And besides he would find out exactly what she had done when the report came out. Ah yes, the report. Next stop, the captain.

Parts of the hologram began scratching away with interference again. “My program does not appear to be stable. It-“ And then she disappeared. Ethan frowned and slammed his fist of the desk.

“Program Alpha-Suder has been taken offline.” The computer reported.

“Bugger.” Ethan replied looking back towards the exit. “Dhani, is there anything, I appear to have plenty of time?”

Dhani looked round the room, with a fake smile she turned back to him, “No, no that’s it the whole all, there’s nothing left to tell. I’m done. See ya.” She said quickly. Giving him a wave she walked out the door.

Ethan gave a nod and turned back to the desk. For a few minutes, he let the information sink in. Then the distortion near the desk began again. Sophia began appearing, but would then disappear. Then her program shut down. “Computer, status of program Suder-Alpha?”

“Program Suder-Alpha is working within normal parameters.” The computer replied.

“Like hell it is.” Ethan muttered. “Computer, have you had the shit taken out of processors lately?” he asked.

”Unable to comply, please restate the question.”

“Are going to wake up soon and maybe detect this virus?”

“Unable to comply, please restate the question.” The computer replied again.

“Have you had a Vulcan perform surgery on your freakin’ eyes?”

“Unable to comply, please restate the question.”

Ethan continued for a while as he worked on restoring the Holographic Engineer. He spent the next few hours in the Holodeck, working away, one drink after another to keep him awake.

Dhanishta continued down the corridor stepping into the turbo lift her heart began to race. “Bridge.” She called out. As the turbo lift began to move she straightened out her shirt, dusted her trousers, maybe she should be in uniform for this, she wondered. Pulling out the band that held her hair in a firm ponytail she slid it on to her wrist, she liked the fact that she could hid behind it, but then she was going to see the captain, maybe she should have it up? But there was no time, the doors slid open. She was there, the bridge. Gulping the air she stepped out of the lift.

The view screen was smashed, most of it lay on the floor, or rather the ceiling. Beneath her feet the light strips cracked. Her stomach lurched just as before as she looked at the corpse that littered the main bridge. Some hung from the ceiling where they had been trapped by their crushed consoles, others lay in broken heaps on the floor. All of them had their flesh hanging off as they had laid there decomposing for the last few years. She thanked all the gods that she could name that she was wearing an EVA suit, she was sure she would have puked her own guts up if she had been able to smell them.

“Can I help you miss?” someone asked her.

She didn’t even look up, “Captain.” she said in a muffled voice, she hadn’t realised but her hand was covering her mouth. Removing it and wiping her hand on her trousers she closed her eyes and took a deep breath, opening them again the bridge was as it should be, “I want to see the captain.” She said.

“I turn to Jiiles”

Lt (Jg) Dhanishta Eshe
Engineer

NPC Lt Jiiles

“Jiiles?” a wavering voice whispered from within the darkness of his quarters, “Please don’t turn on the lights.”

Jiiles froze in his tracks. While assimilating the voice he had just heard he took two steps backwards towards the door, “Who’s there?” he asked cautiously.

“Do you remember what happened in the cargo bay?” she continued ignoring his shock, “I was sitting there, just staring at all the…” she paused a moment to stifle a sniff, “bodies. I didn’t know it was you at first, I just rambled on.” She could feel his unease just as she could feel the cold harsh mettle floor through the carpet.

“I told you about the Breen attack on Earth, how I saw my friends and colleagues die. How I never cried. I cradled my dying,” she skipped the word ‘boy’ and continued with, “friend in my arms. And I didn’t even cry, not then, not ever. I didn’t even attend his funeral. Did I tell you that?”

“No.” he replied, still trying to work out who it was sitting in his quarters in the dark. How did she even get in?

“Do you remember what you told me?” again she paused for a moment and then continued when he didn’t answer, “How the sight of death, the smell of blood it never gets easier. No matter how many times you see it happen?”

“Or the aftermath it’s always hard.” he finished, “Yes I remember.” He said quietly as the memory drifted through his mind.

She sniffed again and wiped her nose on the back of her hand while backing up further into the corner.

“But it didn’t happen.” He said trying to make his way towards her.

Again she ignored his comment and ploughed on. “Do you remember the little girl we saved? Her name was Annie.”

He nodded, though she couldn’t see.

“She died screaming my name. After I pulled her from the wreckage. There was nothing I could do.” Her voice began to waver, almost breaking, “I couldn’t do any….. I pretended to be her mother. I told her that everything would be okay, that I loved her and that I was waiting for her. I told her to go to sleep and when she woke I would be there with her.”

“We all died Dhani.” He said remembering his own death. Killed by a head on collision with a console.

“No!” she shouted standing up, “No we didn’t. I didn’t.”

“What?” Jiiles questioned rubbing his head. It was late and he was tired, and didn’t really have a clue why she was here, with him. Until that day they had never met. In reality they had never met because those events that he remembered as well as his own name never took place. So why did he remember them at all? Temporal mechanics! He never liked them.

“I didn’t die,” she repeated her pitch rising, “I survived the crash.”

“You survived?” he asked forgetting his fatigue, “For how long?” He had heard stories of how some of the crew had survived the crash, but only for a few minutes, an hour tops. They remembered their dying moments, waiting there unable to help themselves, the pain increasing and most of them drowning from their own blood. He had no such recollections of his own death, it was more like a dream, one of which he woke up at the last moment, sweating in his bed. But he knew it had happened, he just pushed the feelings aside, after all he was still alive.

“Years.” She replied quietly.

“How long?” he pushed.

“Dose it matter how long?” she snapped at him.

There was a long pause as the silence creped in threatening to separate them.

If the room had not been in complete silence, Jiiles would not have heard her as she quietly began to recap on the things she could remember.

“After I pulled Annie out I checked the others, they were all dead. After Annie died I thought I would too. I remember trying to salvage something, anything to make a transmitter of some kind, so I could call for help, contact Starfleet.” She hissed the last word out, still venomous towards them.

“But everything in the ship was fried. The tricorder was useless, interference. I couldn’t localise it. I began to project a trajectory course of the saucer section. I saw the direction it was headed from the window of the pod but after our dismal decent I was not sure that my projections would be correct. So I headed to the hills, the nearest natural boundaries, shelter. I don’t remember exactly how long it took me to get there but I guess it was a week.” She paused for a moment. The tears were still falling but she had to continue, she needed to,

“It was like being on Vulcan, the landscape was dry, the ground was dusty, not quite sand, there was no vegetation. During the night it got cold, very cold. But I made it to the hills. Just beyond them was the ship. Crippled, burnt, damaged beyond my repair capabilities. I searched the ship, just like we had after the first attack,” She looked up towards Jiiles, wondering if he remembered all that had transpired between them when they had been looking for survivors, trying their hardest to get to engineering, but not able to leave all those people suffering.

“But none of them were alive. And there were too many to bury, I couldn’t do it alone.” She began to sob again as the image of her dead comrades haunted her mind.

“I took refuge in a cave about a mile or so from the crash site. I managed to make a transmitter from parts I salvaged from the Galaxy, and send a distress call. For the first week while I was making it, it was all that kept me going, but there was no reply, I waited weeks. They turned to months, and no one came. So I went back to the ship and took as much as I could use back to my cave. One day I found myself talking to myself, I realised just how long I had been stuck there, not wanting to leave, because, hey, if I started looking around the planet then when the rescue team came they wouldn’t find me, so I stayed put. The months rolled by. I needed someone to talk to so I retrieved the E.E.H, but I couldn’t get it to work. So I went back and got the personal records and listened to them, it was like having the crew with me, in a way. They were my confidants, my pick-me-ups, my friends, for years, until I found Turan. After meeting him I didn’t go back to my cave,! I moved in with him, he had made a farm and I stayed with him. Together we cared for the farm and grew old together. For 28 years I lived with him.”

It was a lot to take in. He was close to her now, as her sobbing continued he held her shoulders. Trying to make eye contact in the dark, “But it’s all over now.” He said trying to comfort her, “It’s been fixed.”

“I know.” she said. Her body now jerking with uncontrollable spasms, as she continued to cry, “I fixed it!” She broke down, sinking to the floor still in his grip. He moved in closer, taking her weight as she collapsed, holding her tightly as they sat on the floor, the darkness creeping in around them.

For hours they continued in that embrace. Jiiles kept quiet, there was nothing he could say that would ease her pain. So he just held her stroking her soft hair as she shook in his arms, giving her all the comfort that he could, that she needed.

This is why she came to me, he thought. There was no one else, at least that he knew of on the ship that would tolerate someone breaking into their quarters and breaking down. The counsellors would analyse her and everything that she said would go on to her records. He was sure that the majority of the crew would tell her to pull herself together, that she was a Starfleet officer and should act like one, blar, blar, blar. And at the end of the day no one would give her the comfort that she needed, as simple as it was sometimes it was just what the doctor ordered.

It was long after the cramp had set in that he decided to move, Dhanishta had been still for some time. If it wasn’t for the gentle, slight movement that her chest made against his he would swear that she was dead. Scooping up her small frame he proceeded towards the couch. Her arms interlocked around his neck and she didn’t let go as he tried to set her down. After a lot of manoeuvring Jiiles ended up lying on the couch with Dhanishta next to him, her arms still locked around his neck. For a while they just lay there, Jiiles continuing to stroke her hair.

Leaning forward he kissed her forehead. Such affection was unexpected, Dhanis eyes flittered open.

“Sorry,” Jiiles mumbled as he fell into her eyes, such beautiful eyes, “I thought you were asleep.”

“I don’t sleep.” She replied returning his gaze.

“You should at least try. You need it.” He said.

She smiled lightly, if only she thought. Sleep is the one thing she craved at the moment, and the one thing that for some reason, unbeknown to her, she couldn’t have. Unlacing her hands from Jiiles she sat up and rubbed her eyes.

“Are you going to tell anyone?” he questioned.

“Tell them what?” she asked.

“About what happened, in the past, the present, the alternate time line.” He concluded with a frown. It was confusing enough for him, and he only had a day or so of memories. It dawned on him now just why this had hit her so bad. He had only a few days, he could dismiss them as a dream, a very bad one but still it was a lot easier to dismiss. But 30 years of memories, wow.

“No. At least… I don’t know.” she concluded shaking her head, “Who would I tell?”

“The Chief for a start, the Captain too. The Temporal Investigators will want to know everything for one.”

“Everything?” she asked dismayed.

He nodded.

She felt like crying again, but she had done enough of that and it felt like she had no more tears to cry.

“Hey,” he said pulling her gently back to lay on the couch, “you don’t have to decide anything now, just try and sleep, okay?”

He began to stroke her hair again, it felt so relaxing that she didn’t protest. For the first time in ages she began to unwind, she could feel his breath on the back of her neck warm and gentle. She heard the change in his breathing as he fell asleep. She stayed there for several hours longer, wrapped in his arms, in his warmth. She felt him flinch, it was obvious that he was dreaming. It was time to take her leave of him. Uncurling his arm gently from hers she slipped off the couch and walked to the door. As the door opened she turned back to look at him. He looked so peaceful, she longed to be there too, in that place, to dream again. Sighing she took a step back and watched to door close on the image. Taking a deep breath she called out, “Computer, locate Commander Suder.”

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