"Within This Frozen Shell"

Primary Characters:

Admiral William Valerian
Lieutenant Commander Cassius Henderson
Ensign Rima Pennington
Ensign Kira Murphy
Ensign Teryn Wilat
Ensign Cora Dobryin

Secondary Characters:

1st Lieutenant Elly Morales
Ensign Winston Hunt

****

USS Pallas Athena
Deck 20
Cargo Bay 2

~Damn, damn, damn!~ Admiral William Valerian cursed for the thousandth time. He hadn't been counting on the damage to the Athena being quite so severe, or the loss of life so great. But he was sure that he could still talk his way through it. ~If the Galaxy ever gets here to find me...~

Looking around he remembered the attack on the Athena. tr'Bhutra's cruisers had cornered the Athena in the asteroid belt, just after they'd taken on the freighter's crew. Captain at'Vhandol and Legate Jericho had been as careful in their negotiations as they could have been, but ultimately the result was the predictable one. The Athena had been quickly crippled.

Valerian had taken the opportunity to remove himself to the cargo bay and lock himself in, along with a few of the wounded and an intelligence analyst who had helped him move them. In hindsight, he probably didn't want the analyst along, but he could hardly leave her to Rihannsu marines. He considered himself calculating, not heartless. At least once the marines had been through, he was now fairly sure that the impertinent smirk had been wiped from Jericho's face. ~If he lived.~

So they waited. Not knowing if the Romulans had left, or if the Galaxy would ever get there to rescue them. And meanwhile, Valerian wracked his brain. He would need every ouch of oratory ability that he had in him.

****

USS Pallas Athena
Deck 18
Main Shuttlebay

"Did I mention how much I hate away missions?" Rima said, remembering distinctly the away mission on which she'd saved a few merchants from space bandits. "You know, I'm not the new person anymore. Why didn't you take Biessman or something?"

"Because I can count on you," Cassius replied, ignoring her earlier question, "Murphy, they're on Deck 20, right? The life signs?" He looked around, doing an sight check on his, Pennington's, Murphy's, and Teryn's equipment.

Checking her tricorder and fighting down the urge to make beeping noises to go with it, Kira nodded, "Aye aye, El Commandero. Deck 20, and they are alive at the moment. Life signs are a bit erratic, so they either could be injured or lots of interference. On this ship at the moment, I would estimate injuries."

"Then lets not waste any time," Cass said, turning to his Hazard Suit equipped team, "Teryn, you have the schematic of the ship on your PADD. What's the shortest route from here to there."

Teryn, examining the schematics on her PADD, saw two possibilities. The first required them access an empty turbolift shaft and use that to get to deck 20. Unfortunately, the closest turbolift shaft to them had an actual turbolift inside, which must have been parked on deck 18 just moments before the power had gone off. The second option, while less direct, took them through the Jefferies tubes.

"If we take that corridor there," she indicated to one of the shuttlebay's exits, "Turn left at junction 16-alpha and right at intersect 14, we can access the Jefferies tube network and make our way down to deck 20."

"Thanks you, Ensign," Cass nodded, "Let's try that route and hope it isn't blocked." They needed to get there before power went out completely. Ella was on her way down to fix it, but that didn't mean she'd have an easy time getting to Main Engineering. Looking back over his shoulder, he watched the other teams heading off in their own directions.

Henderson lead them out of the bay and to intersect 14. After manually opening the door, he started the climb down into the jeffries tubes. So far, so good. The rungs were cold in his hands. ~Environmental control must be failing. If it weren't for the forcefields, this place would be a tomb.~ Then it hit him.

Rima followed Cass down, wishing she had stayed home, in her comfortable quarters, with a nice book. This was obviously *HIS* fault.

"Has anyone noticed that we haven't seen a single person, alive or otherwise?" Cass asked, "Just the life signs we're heading for."

Kira turned on the flashlight she had brought with her, held it upto her chin and said, "Ooooh.. Maybe they are all just ghosts, and there is no one aboard, just fake signals?? Or mutant space vampires.."

Cassius turned and looked at her for a moment, then shrugged, "Mutant Space Vampires? MSVs? I don't believe they exist." The descended lower, down two decks.

"Are we there yet?" Rima whined, glaring down between her legs at the top of Cass' shaggy skull. "This ladder's cold. Seriously. You'd think that after nearly 2400 years, humanity would have developed something better than a ladder. Or at least a cold resistant one."

"Rima," he paused, making her stop, "You shut up."

"Ouch. That hurt." she quipped.

Cassius shook his head and dropped to the deck. "We're there," he said, making a sweeping gesture with his arms, displaying the glory of the jeffires tube access room on Deck 20 to Rima, who climbed down after him, "It's grand, isn't it?"

"Uhm, sure. Whatever you say, XO," Rima said, giving him what could only be described as a 'wierd look'.

****

USS Pallas Athena
Deck 20
Cargo Bay
20-2-Port

Getting the other wounded to Cargo Bay 2 had taken every ounce of strength Cora had left. A hard enough task for the able bodied, but she was also injured as a result of the attack. However there had been no other option.

By now time blurred to something inconsequential. Too tired and in far too much pain to care. Ensign Dobryin fought to stay awake but found that extremely difficult. She closed her eyes. Just for a minute or so Cora would rest, but not too long.

"Hey Cora?" Elly Morales whispered. The former commander of the 72nd Marine Division looked bad, and felt worse. Her hair was tangled in her face, and her uniform and battle armor was burned away in many places. She'd had a console explode in the marine office, a few doors away, and been caught in the explosion. Now she was lying against one of the walls of the cargo bay, next to an unconscious medic and an intelligence analyst.

Cora barely heard Elly's question and she wasn't entirely sure she was hearing things correctly. "Hmm..." she mumbled as her body wanted nothing more than to sleep.

"How long?" Morales asked, "How long... have we been in here?" She looked over to Valerian, who had chosen to seperate himself from the group. He hadn't stopped pacing yet, and she could hear him muttering to himself. The cold was probably getting to him.

She really had no way to tell how long they'd been hiding in the cargo bay. Drifting in and out of consciousness. Much closer to being totally unconscious than really paying attention to the conversation. "Unknown..." she mumbled almost too quiet for anyone to hear. Cora had started to shiver and another wave of pain hit her.

****

USS Pallas Athena
Deck 20
Corridor

"Can you localize that search again. Even on this class, it's a big deck," Cass said as they gathered together again. There had been a firefight on this deck. Right outside the jeffries tube junction room. He could see where the positions of the combattants had been. Rihannsu troops, identified by the look of the disruptor burns on the walls, on one side, the Starfleet crew, phaser burns for indicators, on the other. The Rihannsu, or those with their weapons, had won, and the blood on the floor was the grim evidence.

"One of the four cargo bays on this deck," Kira replied, following along.

"Right. Rima, pick a number," he said, turning to look down the corridor in the direction of the two starboard bays.

"Uhm, six thousand, seven hundred and twelve?" she replied sarcastically.

"Cargo Bay 2-Port then," he said, doing a quick division in his head, "This way." He turned on his heal and lead them down toward the bay.

****

USS Pallas Athena
Deck 20
Cargo Bay
20-2-Port

Cassius stood back as Rima used the code breaker that they'd been given by Chase Remur to get them past the lock. As they'd gotten closer, Ensign Murphy's tricorder had confirmed that this was the bay that they wanted, and that there were four seperate lifesigns within, most of them very weak. She still couldn't tell what they were.

The breaker chirped and Rima removed it from the lock, "All yours, Cass."

"Oh no, you first. I insist," he said, "We're going in standard sweep. I'll go right, you go left. Teryn, cover the center." Raising his rifle, he signaled Rima to open the door. She frowned, balancing her rifle on her hip so she could enter the code. The door began to slide out of the way.

As soon as he could, Cassius ducked under the door into the bay, nearly colliding with Rima, who had done the same thing, then swept right. All he saw were crates. He raised his right hand from the trigger of his rifle to signal the all clear.

Rima swore under her breath as Cass nearly knocked her on her ass and swept left. ~Idiot. He should have known I was going to go as soon as I could open the door.~ she thought as she continued to survey her zone. For the thousandth time wishing she hadn't come, Rima raised her right hand. She was getting too good at this.

"Okay, let's fan out, but keep your wits about you," Cass said, and started moving forward. There were no battle scars in this room, and he didn't see any sign of habitation, other than the signals on Murphy's tricorder. "Any better reading, Murphy?"

"Yes. I have a lock now. Three Terrans and a Betazoid at the far end of the bay," Murphy reported. At least on this away mission they seemed to be taking her seriously.

He nodded in confirmation, an exaggerated gesture, then turned the corner into the back part of the bay. There they were, four officers, one in an flag officer's uniform. That had to be Admiral Valerian, if the pictures did him any credit. The normally well built man was a little on the thin side now, though. They'd been there for a while.

Valerian looked like he might do something, and Cassius called out, "Don't move, sir. We're a Starfleet Rescue Team. Murphy!" He called for the group's medical officer to come check out the survivors.

Kira dashed over to attend to the fallen flag officer.

"What ship are you off of?" Valerian asked, looking up from the wall he was lying against. He'd been here for too long. Something like two days in his estimation. Was this the group from Galaxy? Was this his rescue? It didn't matter. "We have to get back to your ship, 'Commander. We were attacked... Romulans."

Henderson paused for a moment. That hadn't been what he wanted to hear, and bore grave consequences for both the Federation and the Stellar Empire. "I understand, sir. We'll get you back to the Galaxy as soon as our medic certifies you all ready to be moved."

Valerian could feel his inner self grinning. This was the group from Galaxy, just as it was supposed to be. He nodded at the officer who was talking to him and lay back for the medic to check him over.

Cass moved on to the others, who Kira had just passed. He watched Teryn and Rima take up positions on either side of the room, covering the entrances. He and Rima made eye contact as he knelt to talk to the three injured officers. "I'm Lieutenant Commander Henderson," he said to the intelligence officer, "Can I get your names?"

Cora wasn't in much better shape than Elly or Winston in fact she barely heard the question. "Ensign Dobryin, 1st Lt Morales and Ensign Hunt," was her very strained reply. Anything further could be verified by Starfleet. Pain flashed across her face and Cora knew it wouldn't be long before she joined the other two in a blissful state of unconsciousness.

Henderson frowned and turned, his arm moving swiftly up to tap the communicator on his chest. "Commander Henderson to the Galaxy," Cass said, and waited for the reply.

[This is Captain Stuart. Go ahead, Commander.]

"Captain. We've found the source of the life signs on the Athena. It's Admiral Valerian and three of the crew. They're very weak, however, because they've been trapped in here for several days. I'm going to move them down to the shuttle and bring them back to the Galaxy."

With the transporters being out of range, it was probably their only option. He'd see what Captain Stuart had to say. Either way, it needed to happen fast. They'd probably be okay, he thought, but he was no expert, and there was an Admiral on the line, not to mention the three other lives.

[That sounds like the best course of action, provided their condition is stable. I'll alert medical to the incoming patients. We'll move to the edge of the asteroid field for you.]

Cass nodded and turned to check his team and the survivors. He tapped his combadge again, "Henderson to Kreighoff." They would need active transporters to get to the bay. There was no way that they would be able to carry them through the jeffries tubes.

[Ah... Kreighoff here,] the voice of Victor Kreighoff came through the communicator. Briefly, Cass was reminded of his former feelings for Ella Grey. Some things just were not meant to come to pass.

"How's power looking?" Cass asked, "We have four who need to be MedEvaced and we had to crawl through the tubes to get here. My guess is that we need transporters to get back." He could hear Victor relaying the question to Ella, then, after a pause, the security officer's voice returned.

[Grey says she can give you limited power now. To the transporters only.]

Cass breathed a silent sigh of relief, "Good. I need that power."

[Done]

"Give Lieutenant Grey my thanks," Cassius said and cut the conversation, "Computer, site to site transport to the Main Shuttlebay. 8 to beam." A few moments later they appeared on the cold deck of the shuttlebay.

Rima glared at him. She hadn't been ready for that.

"Teryn, go get the shuttle warmed up," Cass said, "Rima, Kira, help me get the survivors into the shuttle."

****

Shuttle Serengheti
Main Cabin
En-Route to the USS Galaxy

Cass reflected on the away mission as he sat up front with Teryn. Kira had drafted Rima into keeping an eye on Admiral Valerian and company. He'd let the rest of the group know what was happening, and that he'd send another shuttle back for them, as soon as he could. And they'd found four survivors. But what bothered him was the lack of bodies. When he'd checked in again with Krieghoff and Bolivar, before leaving, neither of them had found so much as one body, just a lot of signs of struggle. That wasn't good.

And it appeared the Rihannsu had committed an act of agression. Of course, the Lhoranth was on their side of the border. But nominally, the Federation and the Stellar Empire were allied. So many posibilities. Hopefully Captain Stuart had realized what might be happening here.

"What To Do? What To Say?"

Primary Characters:

Captain Eliza Stuart
Lieutenant Commander Cassius Henderson

Secondary Characters:

SubCommander Savar tr'Khellian

****

USS Galaxy
Deck 1
Ready Room

Eliza Stuart pushed away her mug of tea. It was cold again. Her tea had now gotten cold three times, and still she couldn't manage to find the right words for her report. She'd covered the cold hard facts, but when it came down to her opinion of what they might mean... Perhaps she had to admit that she didn't want to admit what she thought. That the Rihannsu had attacked the Athena.

Putting the PADD down on the desk, she tried to consider a more proactive solution to her dilemma. She had found the Athena. But the Galaxy was still too close to the Lhoranth Belt to use their long range communications systems effectively. The Pallas Athena must have been a sitting duck to whoever had hit it, unable to call for help over any distance.

That thought made up her mind and she quickly formed a plan of action. Tapping her communcator, she spoke. "SubCommander tr'Khellian, is 'Commander Henderson back from the Away Team yet?"

[Yes, ma'am,] the Rihannsu on the other side reported, [The survivors of the Athena have been beamed to sickbay. The shuttle has departed again, on his orders, to return to the Athena. He's on his way to the bridge now.]

"When he gets here, send him in," Stuart said, and sat back, ignoring the unfinished report on her desk.

****

USS Galaxy
Deck 1
Main Bridge

Stepping out onto the main bridge, Cass immediately noticed a tension he hadn't seen since Savar had first come onboard. Apparently they had come to the same conclusions here that they had on the Athena. Savar was the enemy again. At least to the majority of the crew.

"'Commander Henderson," the Rihannsu turned to greet him, "Captain Stuart required your presence in the Ready Room."

"SubCommander tr'Khellian," Cass nodded, acknowledging the other officer, and then stepped past him toward the Ready Room. It was decision time.

****

USS Galaxy
Deck 1
Ready Room

"Captain," Cass said, walking into the ready room. The doors swished shut behind him.

"Tell me, 'Commander," Stuart said, "What did you find over there?"

"Admiral Valerian was still conscious when we arrived. He told me that the attack was by Romulans. I believe that he meant members of the Rihannsu fleet, or some element thereof," Cass replied, shifting on his feet uneasily, "And unfortunately, that's what internal and external conditions seem to indicate. Rihannsu weapon signatures all over the place. What bothers me though, is that we only located 4 out of a crew of 565. No bodies. Anywhere."

Stuart pursed her lips, as if the past day had worn on her nerves, "That bothers me too."

"So what do you intend to do?" Cass asked, "As far as our orders are concerned, we're finished here. We get the Pallas Athena back to Wolf 359 and wait for further instruction." He didn't mention that with any luck Captain M'Kantu would be back at that point too. It wasn't that he disliked Stuart, but that he liked M'Kantu. Which was a strange feeling, since he'd never so much as entered combat with the captain.

"You're right. But orders can be changed. I'm going to take the Galaxy into the asteroid field and tractor the Athena, then remove it and tow it to the range at which we can use our long range communications. Then I'll call Starfleet Command and find out what they think. We can't just leave, much as I'm sure we'd all like to. Something is happening on the border, and we're the closest ship. Of that I have little doubt."

Cass nodded, "That sounds like a...."

He was suddenly cut of by the ship rocking, and alarm klaxons. A few seconds later, tr'Khellian's voice came over the ship's intercom, [All hands secure to battle stations. We are under attack.] The ship rocked again, and Cass found himself greatful to Doctor Quick for the ship's solidity. By the time Savar's announcement was finished, he'd followed Stuart out the door and onto the bridge.

"Report," Captain Stuart ordered, walking down to take the command chair.

tr'Khellian, from his position at the arch, gave them the news in his accented English, "Two D'Deridex-Class Warbirds, from the local sector defense force. IRV D'Salva and IRV Ven'tnor. Commander Saantro tr'Bhutra is their commander, and they are not responding to hails."

"Any idea why?" Cass asked, gripping the rail as the bridge shook. Already the damn inertial compensator was having problems.

"The Galaxy is in Stellar Empire territory," Savar replied.

"Keep trying to raise tr'Bhutra. We have to put an end to this madness," Stuart said, then turned back to face tr'Khellian, "In the meantime, return fire, target their weapons systems. Henderson, get down to the battle bridge and be ready for seperation in case we have to resort to that.

"Just in case"

Lt. JG Ahdjiia D'Tinya-Bolivar

The prayerweb she'd been idly weaving was immediately dropped to the console soon as the alerts were sounded. Ahdjiia quickly joined the other security officers in assuming thier stations with phasers ready.

Inwardly she was hoping this wasn't going to be a rehash of the boarding by the Orions from when she first joined the crew. That had been chaos en full.

As much as she doubted there'd be boarders, it still paid well to keep attentative and wary. After all, if the pilots and the ship's armaments failed, then it was on them to battle face to face.

Just one of many 'lively' moments in Security, and oddly enough, what she looked forward to since it was absolutely nothing like the world that had once been home to her.

"Queen's Gambit"

By
Legate Kylar Curran,
Chief Liaison Officer

****

Deck 17
Liaison Offices
Kylar Curran's Office

*****

Curran watched the first shuttlecraft launch itself away from the USS Pallas Athena. The sleek curves of the shuttle in antithesis of the barren broken starship off the port bow.

The tiny sparks flitting about in the distance were the ship's Banzai fighters, the tools of the newly formed Starfighter Corps. All had been deployed of recent since discovering the damage of the Athena had been attributed to the Romulans. Or, someone was making them believe it was the Romulans.

Curran turned his back on the blanket behind him upon the sound of his buzzer. Without determining who the visitor was, he depressed the entry key, unlocking the doors to allow the visitor in.

The foyer to the liaison offices was dimmed. Curran, unlike the energy wasting humanoids on board the Galaxy, preferred to conserve resources if they weren't in use. Since they were in Rihannsu space, there would be no visits from dignitaries, and all internal problems were put on hold while all was focused on the great injured bird drifting off the port bow.

Therefore, all lights had been disengaged in his offices except the reading lamp upon his mahogany desk. The only sounds were the gentle soothing lilts of Kelvan symphonic pieces, numbed as they were by their underwater ballads. These were the only symbols of home he carried with him; if he were made to suffer the fools on this ship, then he would do so with the strength of superior musical scriptures behind him.

He did not hear the soft footsteps as they entered the offices just beyond the meshed gate that separated the lounge from his offices. They were trained to stealth, if not to assassinate.

"I was expecting you." The Kelvan whispered the harsh enunciation of a man who had not partaken of water in days. He knew that his visitor was just beyond range of the cast light from his lamp, masking their identity.

The being just beyond the realm of light remained silent for a time, gauging the adversity of the man whose face remained concealed behind the harsh glare of the light aiming forward and down upon the glossy surface of the unmarked natural desk beneath.

Beyond them, a pair of Bonzais streaked past and up as they made their approach to landing.

"Tell me, Legate, what level of manipulation do you believe you have achieved with me to bring me here?" The silhouette that moved into the jurisdiction of the light revealed itself as she spoke.

Atole Tekri stepped diligently into the offices of Kylar Curran and took up residence upon the sofa lining the back wall, offering an unrestrained view of the scene outside. She traced a long finger over the outline of the Pallas Athena laying broken beyond, crumbled bits of asteroid debris trickling past the window and beyond as the ships deflectors disintegrated the larger celestial objects that met their ending with uncaring resolution.

"Or do you perhaps believe I led you to this crossing of paths, hmm?" Upon Curran's initial silence - perhaps analyzing her for telling body language - she played up on his perhaps overly logical mind.

"Why here and now, Sub-Centurion?" He didn't have to clearly define that which they both already knew.

"Perhaps I arrived in time for you to discover the Pallas Athena?" An 3 meter wide asteroid shattered as it came in contact with the ship shields. "Maybe I arrived to plant the seeds of doubt in your Starfleet. To gather Intelligence for the Empire on the Federation's more powerful starships? Or perhaps I am only here as a simple attaché as was in the manifest log."

"Or you've come to assassinate key personnel." Tekri raised an eyebrow akin to the Vulcan's as something piqued the curiousity.

"Why, Legate, I am but a simple attaché! What could possibly be gained from such an audacity?" The Rihannsu continued to gaze out the portal. Something had her attention beyond. It may have been the Shuttle Serengheti returning from her excursion.

"Renewing hostilities with the Star Empire would appease many opponents of the current administration. Perhaps you have established alliances with those who held contempt of the Federation after the fiasco on lanjep."

"Admittedly, the information that is available shows Commander Dallas acted selfishly on lanjep. To save her Captain if I recall?"

"Commander Dallas did not speak the true voice of the Federation that day." Dallas had almost single-handedly destroyed the entire Federation with that one word. 'No'. In protesting against the trade route as demanded by Price's captors, who turned out to be the Breen, the tenets of faith built upon by the Federation's promise to act in the best interests of their member worlds came very close to tumbling down. Dozens of member worlds voiced their displeasure at the Federation Council rather intently. Some even broke ties with the Federation itself to join or form new alliances elsewhere. No doubt some turned to the Romulans as the trade route did come precariously close to their borders.

"But the impression that she did remained, regardless. Yet, I noticed she is listed as a member of the Senior Staff of this vessel. Has Starfleet not learned from their mistakes?"

"This interrogation is about you, Sub Centurion. Not the Federation." She'd almost succeeded in turning the questioning around on him. A lesser human may have succumbed to her wiles, but not a Kelvan.

"So this is an interrogation? I thought it was a conversation between two like peoples. Outcasts of their own, forced to lie with the inferiority of others."

"I seriously doubt you were cast out, Sub-" He was cut off with a wave of the woman's hand. She crossed one black stitched leg over the other, the gloss of ebon boots glinting in the starlight refractory.

"You may address me as Atole, Legate. Or may I use your given name?"

Tekri's wish in using first names was a ploy, obviously. He would not step into the realm of intimacy first names entailed in Romulan culture.

"No, Sub-Centurion, you may not."

Tekri sighed lightly, but acquiesced with a slight nod. "As you wish, Legate. I am but a guest on this ship for the time being; in time we shall come to call each other friend, I hope."

"Doubtful. Do you know anything of what occurred with the Pallas Athena, or would you rather plead ignorance on that as well?

"I know one thing, Legate." She settled into the sofa, completely relaxed but still focused on something outside.

Would she finally give some piece of tantalizing evidence?

"What do you know, Sub-Centurion?"

"You have visitors."

"That's somewhat vague. Can you be a little more forthcoming?" The ship rocked at the moment he completed his sentence, the lights a-flicker as operations re-allocated resources to shields. Red tinted lighting came alive, and the alert klaxons sounded.

The computers were simply a nano-second behind. Tekri hadn't slipped a notch, but pointed outside, where two Romulan D'Deridex warbirds hung outside uncloaked and firing as they swooped into the Galaxy.

"The Enemy of my Enemy is my Friend" - Part 1

Sub-Commander Savar ir-Aihai tr'Khellian
Acting Chief Tactical Officer

****

Bridge
Deck 1
USS Galaxy

****

Sub-Commander tr'Khellian had been on duty now for over six hours, and the hostility pouring off the other bridge staff had not abated at all. It was wearying - his requests were met with staccato responses and the cutting glares he was receiving isolated him all the more. Just the slight nod of recognition which Henderson had afforded him when he had passed through en route to the ready room had been a welcome comfort. All too rare now.

He tried to keep himself active and distract himself from the possible ramifications of this incident. If the Treaty of Galvanis failed, or the situation onboard became unbearably hostile, he could lose his post as the exchange programme crumbled. Given the warlike intent behind the attack on the Pallas Athena, Savar expected cold comfort from the hawks who were striving to control Rihannsu society.

"Ops," he called, from his post at the Arch. Technically, with both Stuart and Henderson off the bridge, he was the acting watch officer, but he had thought it inappropriate under the circumstances to leave his console. "Stand by for another tachyon sweep."

There was no verbal response from the officer at the console. Following a pointed delay, the man's hands moved across the controls to carry out the order.

A moment passed. The Ops officer stiffened. "Sensors are picking up elevated neutrino levels. Heading 147-mark-10, distance 0.7 lightyears."

Savar was already homing in on the signal and scanning through the reading, his face frozenly intenting, glowing in the reflected light of his console. A thrill ran through him. Readings elevated suddenly as the tachyon wave hit home; on the viewscreen, the space shimmered, and a growing patch of green hull came into view. A bright flash heralded the first shot from the D'Deridex-class warbird which had emerged from the ether

"All hands, secure to battlestations!" tr'Khellian barked, his hands flashing across the arch to get a lock on the decloaking vessel. Klaxons blared around the ship as the first torpedo hit home, Savoie leaping into action to try to avoid an incoming second wave. "We are under attack!" He followed the standard Starfleet procedure of hailing any hostile vessel, expecting no response, and prepared to return fire - to do things the Rihannsu way.

Henderson and Stuart tumbled from the ready room as the ship rolled again from a second hit. By now, a second warbird had decloaked, and the Galaxy was swooping into evasive manoeuvres. Savar hurriedly patched into the intelligence database in an attempt to identify the attackers, loosing a volley of photons from the aft launcher as a disruptor blast arced across their field of retreat.

"Report," Stuart demanded, swinging into her command chair.

"Two D'Deridex-Class Warbirds, from the local sector defense force. IRV D'Salva and IRV Ven'tnor. Commander Saantro tr'Bhutra is their commander, and they are not responding to hails."

"Any idea why?" Cass asked, gripping the rail as the bridge shook.

"The Galaxy is in Stellar Empire territory," Savar replied, the verbal equivalent of a shrug.

"Keep trying to raise tr'Bhutra. We have to put an end to this madness," Stuart said, then turned back to face tr'Khellian, "In the meantime, return fire, target their weapons systems. Henderson, get down to the battle bridge and be ready for seperation in case we have to resort to that."

Henderson nodded and vanished into the turbolift. Tr'Khellian scored a glancing blow on the D'Salva from the dorsal phaser bank. The situation was grim. The D'Deridex class was the standard ship of the line, mass-produced to defend and extend the Empire's borders. They were larger than the Galaxy class, and had more firepower. The Galaxy's only edge was in terms of manoeuvrability, and Savar was thankful of a skilled pilot at the helm. But their only real hope was to utilise the phaser cannon, hitherto defunct and unproven. If they could disable the warbirds without being destroyed themselves, they could force a ceasefire. Tr'Khellian barely had time to pause to consider how bizarre this felt, like some flashback to simulated training, only in nightmarish reverse, fighting from the bridge of a Starfleet vessel against his own compatriots, flying ships of the like he had once commanded.

"We must bring the phaser cannon online," tr'Khellian said, not taking his eyes from the console as he blasted the D'Salva's shields with sustained phaser fire, followed by another spray of photons towards its primary disruptor bank.

Stuart nodded. "Engineering," she barked at the officer stationed at the rear of the Bridge, "get that cannon online. Sub-Commander, scramble the rest of the fighters."

"All fighter crews to your launchbays," tr'Khellian, flicking the ship-wide comm online. A wise decision. The fighters were, in his opinion, useless against the current generation of warships, which were smaller, lighter, faster and more manoeuvrable than before, but they were perfect for assaulting huge, hulking capital ships like this. They did not pack much of a punch, but could wear down an opponents shields and harry them remorselessly. If they were caught in disruptor fire, they would be incinerated instantly, but to hit such a small, fast-moving target would be distractingly tortuous for any Rihana commander.

"Dive!" tr'Khellian barked in Savoie's direction, as a low rumble thundered through the vessel and shields dropped again. The warbirds were trying for a crippling pincer movement, a favourite of patrol groups, which would aim to trap and cripple the Galaxy by attacking from the x and y axes simultaneously. The only way to break this strangehold was to rush one of the ships, forcing it off-course, then to pull out at the last moment. The Galaxy, with Savoie at the helm, could just manage this feat. Pivoting, the Galaxy swept downwards, bracing itself against disruptor fire from the Ven'tnor. The remaining fighters spewed from the Galaxy's aft, like wasp leaving the hive, slicing towards the surprised warbird. In the distance, the fighters were rushing back from patrol to join the fray.

The Galaxy tore towards the D'Salva, tr'Khellian's target of choice as the lead vessel and the carrier of the patrol group's commander. A disruptor blast caught the Starfleet ship head-on, scarring the shields, before the Galaxy spat out a hail of fiery torpedoes. She pulled up almost too late, and tr'Khellian completed the evasive attack with a riposte volley of photons from the aft launcher.

"Shields are holding at 74 per cent," tr'Khellian reported, as Savoie brought the ship around for another pass. "D'Salva's shields are at 69 per cent, Ven'tnor's at 92." His hands moved rapidly across the arch. "They are still not responding to hails."

The ship rolled to avoid another hit, but a disruptor blast caught the saucer a glancing blow as one huge green attacker swept past, followed by angry fighters, sniping away at its flanks.

"Captain," tr'Khellian said, his words slow as he concentrated on tracking the D'Salva with a sustained line of orange phaser fire from the ventral banks, "we will not be able to simply disable their weapons before they are able to disable our shields. This is a battle of attrition we will inevitably lose." The ship rocked violently again, and the lights on the bridge flickered, as if to underscore this warning.

Stuart didn't look up from her console, where she was tracking damage reports. "Suggestions?"

"There are two weak spots on the D'Deridex-class vessel, both on the underbelly of the ship, near to where the warbird's wings meet. There is a critical power relay located there," he explained, as he rained more fire down on the D'Salva. "It is heavily armoured, but if we can breach the shields there, two photon volleys should knock the relays offline and disable the warbirds' propulsion systems."

This revelation attracted a couple of incredulous glances from other officers. Tr'Khellian felt the grip of despair on his heart. Having commanded a D'Deridex vessel, he knew all too well the weaknesses built into the class, and had taken extra steps to defend this area by upgrading the armour, and always avoided passing over enemy vessels, leaving the underbelly exposed. It was, in macro form, similar to the way he regarded his prosthetic little finger - an ever-present weakness, often unacknowledged, but always there, always to be concealed. Revealing this to people who might well be his people's enemy again felt like an act of deep personal betrayal.

"Do it," Stuart commanded.

Tr'Khellian nodded sternly, routing orders to the Vanguard squadron to concentrate their fire on that area. They would wear down the shields slowly but effectively, if they could dodge the deadly disruptor fire which would surely track them.

"Engineering, I need that cannon!"

"PST"

By: Klaus Fienberg

Location: Deck 12

For some reason, the off duty doctor found himself on deck 12. He had comepletely forgotten why he was there.

The Memories of the last terrible war had been washing over him ever since he'd heard the news of the Pallas Athena. The deaths, the destruction, the pain.

Klaus had already decided that a war between the Federation and the Romul----er----Rihannsu (He hasn't gotten used to that name yet,) would be too devastating on both sides, allowing for any remaining major power to rise up and and conquer both.

Knowing the Klingons, they probably would attack following this war. But which of their former allies? The Federation? Or the Rihannsu.

The alert woke The good doctor from his walking sleep, and he headed straight for sickbay.

Location: Main Sickbay

He ran in and took a position. Casualties come quickly.

"Rarest of Criminals"

By
Lieutenant Commander James Lionel Corgan
Security Chief,
USS Galaxy

And

Lieutenant jg Dhanishta Eshe
Engineer,
USS Galaxy

Location: Security, deck 38

Despite the busy nature of Corgan's latest task, Security was at an all time lull. Alert as ever, being near Romulan space, and with a new crewmember on board of questionable motive and even more questionable repute, the entire department was on a razor's edge of readiness and poise. However, nothing much was happening, making the waiting for a surprising event all the more painstakingly boring.

Not so for Corgan. Searching for a friend and keeping tabs on the Romulans was busy work for the chief security officer. He was in a mountain of paperwork, and it kept adding up as time passed. Reports, search queries, more reports, all added up to a backlog of work. Working almost around the clock, pausing only to eat and sleep, the tasks consumed him, and he chewed through the endless production line of paper trails like an automaton on a mission.

It chased away the thoughts of Rebecca Von Ernst.

It also kept the arousing thoughts of the new Rihannsu diplomat, or more specifically her shapely buttocks and tantalizing breasts, out of his mind. Until he thought about avoiding said thoughts, which really brought him back to square one. Groaning like he was labouring under a stone while being drugged and tempted, he dove back into his work.

=/\="Lieutenant O'Rorke to Commander Corgan. Come in."=/\= Chirruped his comm.-badge.

Looking out of his pile of work, he groaned again in frustration. He had a mountain of work to tackle, and it was only adding up! He was in no mood to be interrupted by another officer whom couldn't book a dissident without consulting the manual AND their superior officer. "Corgan here. What's the problem?" Sighed the chief.

=/\="Sir, you better come to the front. There's... an officer here, and she has a strange request."=/\= O'Rorke explained nebulously.

His patience grew thinner than silk. "Well? Come out with it Lieutenant. I don't have all f**king day."

=/\="There's a Lieutenant who's turning herself in... and nobody has pressed charges yet. It was a... domestic dispute."=/\=

The situation being no laughing matter, James vaulted from his seat. "Be right there!"

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

Main Lobby,
Security

Dhanishta was still agitated. She had left Turan in sick bay. Totally mortified with what she had done but still the anger swirled around inside her. She was more angry with herself than Turan, which was why she was here, to confess!

"Excuse me, Lieutenants." Walked in James Corgan, addressing both the flustered O'Rorke and the distressed Eshe. With his hair somewhat unravelled, and his glasses tilted at a slight and awkward angle, it was apparent that he was working late and hard, and his impatient mood wasn't improving. "Someone please tell me what is going on here?"

Dhani spoke up now, she knew it was bizarre but she had to, "I'm here to.. confess?" she half questioned, not knowing really how else to put it. Looking at their bemused faces she added, "I hit Turan Trelar, several times."

Corgan's look matched O'Rorke's perfectly. Sceptical, confused, and pondering what to do about the honest soul whom spoke her testimony.

"I'd hate to break it to you, but it's usually the VICTIM who presses charges in these situations." He explained as patiently as his exasperated mind could possibly do, "It's a hard call to throw you in the brig. You confessed, but the fellow you hit hasn't pressed any charges.... O'Rorke... help?!?"

She looked from one to the other wondering why this was such a difficult thing for them to handle. Sure it wasn't usual for someone to just waltz in to report a crime that they had committed, but come on people!

"I'm an expert in military law. I'm sure there's a regulation handling this specific situation, but if I remembered it, I would have handled this by now. I was hoping you would know what to do, sir." O'Rorke shrugged her shoulders.

James apologetically spoke to his subordinate, "Get a padd with the Starfleet and Federation Legal codes, now." He then looked back at Dhanishta, as O'Rorke scrambled off in a panic, "Honestly... this is f**ked up, Lieutenant. I don't want to throw you in the brig, and I legally can't because there are no charges pressed. However, a confession to a crime leads someone straight to the brig. The two conflict, you understand."

Dhanishta sighed, an audible and agitated one. "Look," she started slightly clipped, "I assaulted a crew member, understand? I don't care what you do. Take an incident report or something. If he presses charges you know where to find me. It's not like I'm going anywhere! And its not like he can report it, he's in sick bay! She looked down at her hands they were still covered in Turan's blood. She stared at them for a moment, she could feel it drying on her hand, cracking as she wiggled her fingers.

"O'Rorke!" James hollered, "Why the f**k didn't you check her hands?!?"

From the back, O'Rorke yelled, "What do you expect? It's not everyday somebody comes in to confess a crime like this! I thought she gave him a punch..."

"For god sakes, it looks like she beat the holy crap out of him!" Snapped the security chief, "Why hasn't sickbay told us about this yet? Those incompetent f**ktards are supposed to tell us when someone's been beaten?"

"Yes sir... but they're a bit slow on that. I found it!" She cheered.

"A whole f**k of a lot of good it does us now." James sighed, turning back to the other officer, "Sorry, she's a good officer, but sometimes she misses a thing or two. Jesus f**king Christ woman, did you beat him within an inch of his life or something? Please tell me that's your blood on your fist."

Her eyes told him all that he needed to know. Her hands began to shake slightly, she wasn't sure if everything had sunk in yet, she was still running on adrenaline.

"Ok... how bad did you beat him?" Stepping carefully as if he was in a mined field, he asked the question.

She took a moment to respond, "Erm?" she said whilst running her fingers through her hair, "I'm not sure. I punched him, kicked him, a couple of times. He pinned me I broke his nose, maybe a couple of ribs, I'm not sure. He doesn't even remember me, twenty eight years and he doesn't even remember." She looked away, confused hurt and still totally shocked.

"Lady, from the sounds of things, you may have crossed the line between assault and attempted murder. For now, you're definitely going to go to the brig. Follow me please."

She nodded numbly. Following him like she were a sheep staring at the floor, not really registering what was going on around her.

"Do you want these as evidence?" she questioned holding out her hands. Mentally she kicked herself, ~You're not supposed to help them condemn you! Dumbass!~ shrugging at her self she looked up at the Chief of security. She looked so small and lost, and she felt lost too. Not knowing or understanding how she had got herself into this situation!

"O'Rorke, contact sickbay." Noticing the distressed look on the young engineer's face, he decided to take an empathetic path, before she broke down into pieces, "See if he's alright, and ask him about charges. And for god sakes... be gentle."

"Aye, sir!" She called from the back.

Sighing loudly, he waved his hand towards Eshe to follow him. He led the engineer to the holding cell area, an octagonal room containing eight cells. Going to the largest suite, he deactivated the force field. A shimmer dropped the energy barrier as he beckoned Eshe to step in. Docily, she complied, stepped in, and sat on the surprisingly comfortable cot in the corner.

"Hold still for a second." Whipping out a tricorder, James stepped in the cell with her, and gently held up her hand to the scanning device. Giving her bloodied hand a few passes, he logged the DNA data on the tricorder, and then let go. Checking the screen, he raised an eyebrow. "Trelar. The new Quentite Ambassador. What did you have against him? Does it have anything to do with that twenty eight years comment you made earlier?"

She nodded numbly, "Yeah, he shot me in the back." Realising that that limited bit of information was just that, limited, and most likely not enough information she decided to expand, "When the ship crashed onto Quinten, in the alternate time line, I survived. Turan was like my husband, in a way." She wasn't quite sure how to put it.

"Ahhhh..." Breathing in understanding, he sighed, "So you were Naut! I remember. That was a mindf**k. You know, I have memories too. I was on the investigative crew that went via shuttle. We got stuck in a timewarp, and ended up in the future. I... didn't like what I saw." He added with a mournful regret, "Knowing what happened, guessing what to do about it... and seeing friends for the last time like that. It was... upsetting. I feel for you, Lieutenant."

"I'm not Naut!" she spat out, "She was twisted, angry and vengeful. I'm not like her." She looked back at her hands again, "I'm not her, I'm not!" she began to shake more now. She was so confused, she could feel everything Naut felt, remember every detail of her life. But it was all so confusing, what she believed in Naut didn't, what she held dear, Naut didn't. Everything conflicted, and she hated Naut for what she became, Naut hated Dhani because that was who she was, and she envied her life. And Dhani hated herself for letting Naut take over, Naut who was part of her, ARG, such confusion.

"Whoa! Hey!" James snapped back in defence of himself, "Fine, you're not Naut. But you have her memories. I mean, she was the only survivor. I was there, I was in the investigative team. Hell, we were the only rescue party from the looks of things. And I can't deny that it did happen at some point. So really, what's your problem?"

She gave him an apologetic look, she hadn't meant to snap at him but her head felt like it was going to explode. "I.. I'm .." she sighed with frustration, "are we done here?" she asked instead.

He gave one last glance at the tricorder, "Yeah, I have all I need. I'll let sickbay know you're here. Turan still has to press charges for the aggravated assault. If he's forgiving, you might be let off. And to be honest... I hope he does forgive you."

~I hope he never forgives me~ she thought, "Me too." She lied. If Turan didn't forgive her then she couldn't either, if he did... how could she possibly begin to forgive herselves for what she had done? It wasn't just the fact that she beat Turan to a pulp, but that she or rather Naut had settled with him. He was a child for crying out loud.

"Oh, and as for standard brig rules..." James added, "You are to conduct yourself in a manner befitting a Starfleet officer. Rowdiness in the cell is not appreciated and negative behaviour can be used in military court if it comes to that. We also have meals brought in, but to be honest again, hope to god that Turan drops the charges before then. The food's that god awful. If you need anything, let me know, ok?"

"Sure." She murmured as her own thoughts began to consume her.

"Secrets"

By:
Lt. Commander Rose Isis MacAllen

Ensign Paulo DiMillo,
Asst. Chief Intellignece Officer

Paulo walked down the cooridor. This whole situation with the Empier had him confused as hell, and that was saying a lot for an Intelligence Officer. He hadn't seen anything this messed up since... well... mayber never. It seemed like he was doing a hundred things at once, and he didn't have time for them all.

Rose was in her office going over the records of the men from her own past, including royal diaries from the past few years about every secret.

But in her mind there was an question that was bothering her, can she trust this man with them?

Paulo hadn't been paying attention to where he was going. He was walking to just walk and work at the same time. It seemd to help when he needed to work on many thigns at once. He didn't relize it when he passed Rosa's open office doors.

"Paulo, is that you?" the young Betazoid officer from her open office door.

Paulo stopped, took a few steps back to the open door, "yeah," Paulo replied as he walked in. "What can I do for you?"

"I got the information for you if you want to go over them." Rose replied looking white as an sheet, thinking about James and why he choose Rebecca over her which was very hurtful thinking that he was in love with her. Paulo looked at the PADD. It was teh information he was looking for, but it would take a lot of time to look through it all. "Thanks he said, there is a lot of information here. How'd your friends get all this information saved?"

"He have his ways, Paulo." said Rose while taking alittle sip of her wine feeling abit depressed.

"You look like hell. What's up?"

"Oh your very much of an gentleman aren't you, lets just say an few months ago man who I though who loves me more than anything told me he don't and he picked an woman who really don't like me over me....story of my life."

Paulo paused a second. "Well, I have never been in a relationship like that, but to me it seems like life, and I am sure he is a lot worse off with this other person. He might be in more missery then you."

She laughs alittle and drunk more of her wine, "Believe me he not, you read my record. I just an slut that men can either rape, use, or been steped on....I so fucking tired of it!"

"Any person in your situation would be," Paulo replied as he walked over to her, took her glass of wine and put it in the food replicator. "Water he said," and a cold glass of water appeared where teh wine used to be. He walked back to her and gave her the water. "I am sure one of these days you will find that one person and you will be happy."

"I never will, even though I have children I want to have some passion in my life. I want an man he won't betray me for another woman, who can swept me off my feet, to grow old with and have more children." the officer replied just playing around with the cold ice water.

"There are billions of men in the universe," Paulo replied. "I am sure one of them is for you.: "No, it over for me."

"How can you say that?" Paulo asked. "Have you met every man out there?"

"You know I lost an husband, and we wasn't even in love with each other." she said while trying to find another bottle of Betaziod red wine that her aide Seyjar Raynor have been hiding from her boss.

"You better not be looking for more wine," he said as he stepped in front of her. "I havn't been through everything you have, but I have been through a lot, and you can just give up. You need to keep on going in life, and one day, everything will work out."

"How would you know how I feel, or what I been though other what my records stated." Rose hissed alittle while sitting on the couch while grabing an pillow near by.

Paulo closed the door and went and sat next to her. "I never said I knew what you were going through, more that I had an idea. This dosn't mean you can still drown out your feelings and ignore your life. You have children who depend on you, and love you with all their hearts, no matter what you do. Use that as a source of strength and I am sure you can get through your life."

"How do you know Paulo?"

"Remember when I told you about my sister and brother? The only thing I had left after that was to find out who did this to my family. I made a promise on that day to my parents I would find out who did this, and I use that, and the love I still have for my brother and sister, mother and father. You need to find something like that in your life"

"My mother hates my guts because I had my oldest daughter who can't walk in her life time because of my eating problem and the man who raped me DNA made her that way. My father who just came back into my life an few years ago from an POW camp have his own command onces more, he loves me very much. I have an few friends but not very many because most of them either betrayed me, gone, or dead....and now with James did what he did, that just made my life an living hell."

"Then hold onto your friends, father and children. Forget the rest."

"It not that easy for me. During New Years on my home planet I almost killed myself, I was planning on it anyway. It would have made many people on the ship very happy including James and Rebecca." she said while starting to walk around her large office, thinking about how happy she was once upon an time, sound like an damn fairy tale.

"It took a lot of strength not to," he told her. "It might have made some people happy, but it would make most of the people unhappy. Think og all the people who depend on you? Your children and shipmates."

"What shipmates, were in the hell is that damn wine at?!"

"The shipmates on this ship that need the information you can get, so they can do their jobs, so they can explor the galaxy and protext the Federation. And you don't need anymore wine. Come here and sit down," Paulo asked.

"And what will you do if you I don't, Mr. Intell Officer?" Rose asked while lookig though an closet door by her desk.

"And I be dead before the react me, I hate Medical Officers. But not my cousins new husband he an very nice German man." the young Betazoid said while sitting down closer to him now.

"And the Chief Counselor is too busy to see me...she have her own life."

"See, we agree on something. And you just said your cosuin has a very nice husband. See, there are men out there like that, and I like to think of myself as one of them."

"Really?" Rose said with alittle grin then looks away alittle.

"Yeah." "I see."

He put his arm around her to comfort her a little. "You just need to find that one person."

The Betaziod lays her head on his shoulders trying not to cry, she been holding her pains of her past for so many years.

"Just let it out. Its okay."

Tears started to flowly out as she started both shaking and started yelling in Betazoid, then Rose looked up to him with her dark black eyes.

Paulo smiled at her and kissed her on her forhead. The young Betazoid kept on looking at him while more tears started to pour down more from her tears down her soft gentle, olive skin.

Paulo just sat there holding her in his arms.

Rose looks down alittle shame of her tears, she started biting her lip alittle which is an sign of her been alittle scared.

"You don't need to do that here," Paulo said as he pulled her a little closer. "You can let everything out."

"I hate feeling like this!" Rose yelled making her cry even more while shaking more than before.

"I know, we all do. But don't you feel a lot better afterwords, after you let it all out?" "Sometimes." she just said while her head was lying on his crest this time as slowly time was going by.

Paulo just sat there and kept his arm around her. He would stay as long as it would take. As time went on he felt something, something he hadn't felt in a long time. What was it...

"What wrong Paulo?"

"Nothing," he replied quickly. He didn't know what he was feeling, and it was actually starting to bother him. More time when by then Rose asked, "What now?"

"Nothing. I am just worried about you, that is all.'

Then the young woman started to calm down an fall asleep alittle, her feeling well at least half of them was out into the open now. All is it now was some deep breathing between the tears that was still falling.

Paulo could tell that she was starting to fall asleep, and he would stay here till she did, and then maybe he would stay longer till she woke up. He was having enough trouble sorting his feelings out

About 15 minutes later the young Betazoid officer started to wake up, she was now laying on the couch covered up with an Betazoid blanket that her late great grandmother gave her.

Paulo was sitting at her desk, looking through all the information she had given him. It was a lot to go through, and he wanted to get started

In front of the report was some of Rose's diary enters and in each enter you can hear an young Rose reading them out loud:

"Early to Mid 2376, I'm still in sickbay after been saved from my ex-boyfriend William Smith who is now an Maquis. He hurt me alot after beating me while trying to have sex with me. To him I was his no matter what, but after I was saved he was gone once more and I fear that one day he will come back for me no matter what. But the good news is I got an new rank...Lt (jg)....."

Paulo kept reading.

"Late 2377: Another devil from my past into my life, this time an half Betazoid/half Human old crewmember from my time on the Yorktown by the name of Lt. Victor Wilson who was an Asst. Chief Medical officer have started to kill off some of my co-workers or people who been with me. Now, once again I'm in sickbay after Raven Darkstar save me and there was an shocker this time...I going to have his baby. I called my mother who wasn't very please and she ordered me to kill off the baby since it an bad thing to have it since were so close to the Betazoid royal family.

But I stood my ground and told her I was going to have it after thinking it over and talking to Commander Dallas about it who have agreed to be an royal godmother..."

Paulo could not pull his eyes off from what he was reading, and just kept on reading it.

"May 26, 2378: Little Karyn MacAllen is born, it was an hard birth for me and for little Karyn. But the sad thing is that the CMO told me because of my eating problems and Victor's DNA made my kid handicap for the rest of her life....she could never walk in her life time. Now I truely want to died...."

"Early 2380: My husband Rashid was murdered Victor and took over his whole body and face, he had me fooled. But when I found out we was coming back from an away team mission to an old starfleet ship that almost turned everybody mad. I started to hit on James Corgan who been my friends since he came to the Galaxy, but he didn't know that I been in love with him for years. An few months later my aunt Angel found Rashid body and took him to Betaziod for an royal buried. As for Victor, he gone again...plan his next move to get me."

Paulo paused. A lot had happened to Rose, more then he had known. Now onder she was the way she was. He looked over at her to see her laying there awake now.

"Hey, how long have I slept?" she asked while trying to get up, the young Rose was still abit weak.

"15-20 minutes," Paulo replied. "Not to long" "Sorry that I fell asleep on you, I haven't been sleeping well. My twins keep me awake."

"Its okay. Sometimes you just need o take a little nap."

She put her thin soft hands though her long brown hair and asked, "So, did you find anything?"

"I just had enough time to go through your logs."

"I see...are they any help?"

"Not to my probelm, but I think I understand you a little better now."

"So, what going to happen now?" the young woman asked while lying back gown again, she was too tired to get up.

Paulo got up and walked over and sat above her head. "I think that is up to you to decide."

"What do you mean by that?" Rose said while looking away from him then sighs.

"Where do you want this to go."

Now this was getting abit mixed up, hell maybe she was trying to void the subject at him. "What does that mean Paulo?"

Paulo didn't reoky, but just picked her head up and put it on his lab and started to rub her scholders a little.

The Betazoid started moaning, it felt so damn good to her as she started to move her head around.

Paulo just continued.

"Oh Gods, that feels so damn good!"

"You seemed to need it."

"You feel like an Roman god you know that."

"Didn't know that. I guess thanks is in the order thogugh, so thanks."

Rose started moaning more while she felt his hand feeling her soft, rose smelling hair alittle.

Paulo could tell that she was likking it, by the small moans that escaped her mouth.

"What are you planing next? You know we should be working on this problem about your sister."

"Thinking I am going to do this for a little while, then I was thnking about going to go get somethign to eat. Then after that, well, we will see what happens."

"I still feel tired."

Well you could take another nap and I can work a little."

Rose lay back down on the couch while Paulo cover her up, she knew what on his mind but she didn't ask any questions.

"What is on your mind," Paulo asked.

"I was about to ask you the same question." Rose replied with alittle smile.

Paulo let out a small smile. "I don't know. I havn't felt this feeling is so long, I can't tell what it is."

"I understand you want more time, but I'm here if you need me."

"I want it, I just don't understand it. That is all."

"You don't know me very well at all, so why do you say you want it when you don't know it?" Rose questioned while covering up alittle more.

"Even more confusing questions," Paulo said with a smile

Rose smiles back as she took off uniform jacket off the get more relaxed and covers up once more, "Well if you need my help, wake me up ok?"

Rose smiles back as she took off uniform jacket off the get more relaxed and covers up once more, "Well if you need my help, wake me up ok?"

"I will," Paulo replied.

Then Rose kissed him on the cheek gentle with alittle smile of her own once more before lying back down on the couch.

Paulo got back up and walked over to her desk, to continue reading the information.

AN hour had passed and Rose was still asleep on her couch in her office while the Asst. Chief Intell officer was looking over the reports knowing that both William and Victor was still in prison for what they did to the young Betazoid.

'Seems to be the only logical choice," Paulo said to himself. "I would need to look into their files a little more."

The young Betazoid started to move around the coach in an little peaceful dream, she was smiling while sleeping.

Paulo looked over at her. She seemed to be having a good dream, and that made him happy. After watching her for a minute he looked back at the files he was reading

Many of the reports on the two men were still sketchy at best, and he would have to look into it more to get more details about them.

Another log: New Years Eve 2380/2381: James came to see me today and told me he in love with Rebecca, this was like an knife into my heart.

....I'm going back to Betazed for New Years, also I going to teach my children the ways of our people and our gods. Maybe I need to be dead.....but my heart is broken like an glass that been shatter into an million pieces for like the fourth or fifth time in my life.

Oh, Gods of my people...what am I going to do?

Seemed like the more he got into the files, the more he learned about her. Was this her way of telling him something?

In an few more pages was the bios of both William Smith and Victor Wilson started with William Smith:

Name: William Smith Race: Human Age: (as of 2381) 31

Born to Commander Vincent Smith and his wife Lt. Laura Smith who was both medical officers on the USS London, young William was very handsome and smart while growing up on the London.

He join the Acdemy at the age of eighteen where he got very abuse with some of his girlfriends who all reported him.

On day he met an young Betazoid girl name Rose Isis MacAllen who is part of the Betazoid Royal Family, he fell deeply in love with her and for an time she did too but when he got too abused with him she left him an few months before gradated.

An few months later the young Rose end up in the Acdemy sickbay, after he beated her and left her for dead on the Acdemy grounds.

He was force to leave Starfleet Acdemy and later he became an Maquis Captain an few months after the war end.

He became more obessed about Rose more than ever and he found her on the USS Galaxy, so during her week of her birthday he kidnaped her while she was on Betazed.

Lucky she was saved by the Maquis XO who he helped Rose escape from the ship but putting her the shuttle, when William found out he shot his XO and vow to get Rose back on way or another.

In 2381, there have been reports that William Smith is hiding close to the Romalan border...still plotting.

The only thing Paulo could think was, what did she really want? What was she trying to tell him, besides her past.

Name: Victor Wilson Race: 1/2 Betazoid 1/2 Human Last Assighment: Asst. Chief Medical Officer, Lt., USS Yorktown Age: (as of 2381) 33 years old

Born in London, England to Starfleet parents who both worked as teachers at Starfleet Acdemy, Victor was an only child and grew up spoiled.

He was very smart in History, Archology and anything to do with Medical. At the age of 18 he when to Starfleet Acdemy and with in eight years that including his four years at Medical school she grandated with top honors...his first post was the USS Yorktown.

An few years later he met and fell in love with an young Betaziod Ensign from the Science Department by the name of Rose Isis MacAllen.

But the young woman just wanted to be friends with young Victor who in her own words scared her. So, one by one he started to kill off her friends.

The commanding officer, an human woman by the name of Captain Angel Allen was worried about the young woman safety and had Rose transfer to the USS Galaxy.

Everything was fine until an few years later during an Borg attack, he kidnaped her, tied her down in an unknow room on the ship and raped her.

She was saved by Raven Darkstar, and he when to prison...but later on he found out the young Betaziod was prenancy with his daughter who was later named Karyn Shinta MacAllen.

In 2380, after keeping his eyes on the young Rose though out the years including her marriage to Rashid it was time to reclaim Rose and his young daughter so he killed Rashid before he got to the Galaxy and took his face as his own to trick Rose...it worked.

After the mission on an old starship, he should his true colors as she along with an few people on the shuttle was taken prisoner as he vow that he would shoot Rose if anybody does anything stupid...but James along with some of the other people saved her and the shuttle as they got to the ship safely.

In 2381, their are reports that he is working with William Smith near the Romalan border...

(End of reports)

Paulo could not believe what he was reading, and yet he had to. All he could do was keep reading.

"Remorae"

by
Flight Officer Jasmine Heloi
Vanguard Exec,

Vanguard Six & Pilot Tyten
Vanguard Five

[Flight Deck]

Jasmine felt like she had been back on the ship for only a few minutes before the Galaxy shook from the tell-tale concussions of weapons fire. Tyten and she were heading towards the pilot's ready room for a bit of relaxation and maybe a game of cards after their flight to and from the Pallas Athena. Muttering under her breath about the unfairness of enemies, she quickly grabbed her wingman's arm and turned them both around. "Rex'll probably order us out of here and into the fray any minute, so we might as well get going. We'll have to do that card game after we kill the bad guys."

Tyten gave her a playful look. "You know, that's not the first time I've heard that excuse. You were just afraid that I was going to beat you this time."

Jasmine cursed quietly when she found out just who they'd be harrying - or rather fighting. The Romulans. Both she and her wingman climbed into their fighters and prepped them once more for a jump into the deep darkness of space. Rex's order had come just when she had expected it, and her fellow flight members were climbing into their own fighters. Keying the all-Two Flight comm system, Jasmine spoke somewhat cheerfully, "Are we ready to go for a little walk in the park, campers?"

His instrumentation showing green across the board, Tyten smirked at Jasmine's last comment. "You know," he said over the com, "When I was younger, there was this one time that I went to the park with my parents. Not knowing much of your childhood can make you a real brat so I thought it would be a lot of fun to run through other people's picnics." He smiled wickedly, "I wouldn't mind ruining these Rommies' picnics. Blue is go for launch."

After all her flight members had responded, Jasmine gave the word to go. Their fighters rushed out into space and into the battle. The mighty phaser banks of the Galaxy roared above and to the sides of them and the old adage - Friendly fire, isn't - went through her head as she ducked one of those beams. The Romulans weren't being much nicer, though, admittedly, a ship phaser blast was a bit of an overkill for one of their fighters. That was, of course, when the Romulans deployed their own fighters to harry the Vanguard. "Tex, Diamondback, take the two on the left. Blue, with me on the two to the right."

"Copy that, Jazz, I'm right with you." They pulled in behind the two Romulan fighters who immediately scrambled. "I'll take the one on the left," Blue said as he veered left. In his mind, he pictured a long drawn out chase through the battle area with the enemy pilot, and to be honest, that just didn't appeal to him. He quickly squeezed off a few phaser bursts. The shots were not among the prettiest he had ever done, but surprisingly, they got the job done. Two of the bursts lanced through the port impulse engine, impacting it enough to break through the small vessel's shielding and send it into an uncontrolled spin. And then, it was gone. The spin had begun too close to one of the larger Romulan ships. Tyten could only imagine the fear that had ripped through the pilot as he saw what was to be his fate. The fighter struck the larger ship's shielding and broke apart. A cascading reaction throughout the fighters engines finished it off with an explosion.

Jasmine, in the meantime, was engaging in some fancy flying. The fighter that she had targeted must have either a Top Gun or a lunatic for a pilot given the moves he was twisting his fighter into. He was good, she had to give him that, but she kept on his tail like paparazzi on an actress. It wasn't mere cockiness that made her believe that she still had an edge on the loco Rihannsu, and that was proven all too well when she managed to spook her target into one of the main fire fight regions between the Galaxy and his home ship. Dodging cruiser phaser blasts added a whole new level of difficulty to the chase, and she was almost disappointed when her target was singed by one of those bursts.

She was saddened when it became almost too easy to end the other fighter's threat with a well placed burst of her own phasers. The other ship's shields were gone, and the blast easily penetrated the fighter's hull. A few eye-blinks later, the fighter became a fireball.

Checking her position and that of her wingman, Jasmine returned to the port of Tyten's fighter, "Well, Blue, looks like we creamed 'em. Now we get to bug the big boy. Tex, Diamondback, take the starboard of the D'Deridex ship. We'll take the port. Think remorae on a shark. Skim close to the shields and do a strafing run. Do not, however, get caught by the phaser beams or the shields. This'll be tricky, but you're the best. Get to it."

Strafing runs were always tricky as the number of variables that a pilot had to calculate tripled. Truthfully, it was more instinct than anything else. Most pilots could competently execute a strafe, but the real good ones could get close enough to the ship in question so close they could reach out and touch the hull. Tyten prided himself on being one of the later. "I'll race you down there, Jazz! Last one back buys the drinks!" he shouted over the com as he accelerated and went in for a run.

"Ha! You'll owe me a Triple Starblaster, Blue boy!" Jazz replied as she, too, accelerated for her own run. She could feel the roar of the tiny ship's mighty engines as she punched it. The key to strafing runs was speed and accuracy. Namely, go fast enough and carefully enough to avoid becoming so much space dust. Easy in theory, and, as Jasmine Heloi knew all too well, just as "easy" in fact. Then again, she was a pilot. Cockiness was part of the whole fighter ego. He barrel-rolled right as green disruptor blasts lanced out towards their position like a giant hand swatting at the annoying bug flying too close. He returned the gesture and quickly fired off shots of his own, lighting up the Romulan ship's shielding as each blast connected with its target.

Jasmine was weaving her fighter left and right, dropping a few torps as she went. Her goal was to bombard the ship enough that through her own and her flight's efforts they might overload the Romulan shields. She believed in skimming very close to the shields, namely close enough that she could (if the laws of physics allowed it) reach out and touch them. It appeared as if their 'buddy' Romulans had decided to devote one array to the fighters while the others were occupied with the Galaxy. That made for even trickier flying. The only "safe" region was so close to the shields that your own shields were only a hair's breath away from touching. If they touched, however, the fighter would ricochet away from the Romulan vessel and become an easy target for their disruptors.

This, she decided, was fun.

After a few more quick runs, the larger ship's shields began to fade. Tyten smirked as he thought of the old Earth adage about how to go about eating an elephant. He never quite understood why anyone in their right mind would want to eat an elephant, but somehow the image invoked by the query seemed fitting. This was one "elephant" they had taken down. "Jazz, this is Blue. I think I've done all I'm going to from here. I'm sure the Galaxy's phasers will have more effect than my peashooter. Permission to bug-out from this target?"

"Granted," Jasmine replied as she watched their target's shields go down. "Besides, Blue, you owe me a drink."

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