"Skeletons in the Closet"

Ens Miguel Antonio Sandoval
Dr. Teeda Chouu (NPC)

(OOC: Takes place roughly at the same time as the attacks on the domes, but Miguel and Chouu are not yet aware of this event as they were away when it happened.)

(Location: Unknown)

Interestingly enough, being dead was an awfully uncomfortable experience, and not the enternity of bliss like it said in the tourist brochures.

When the lights went out for Miguel Antonio Sandoval back on the proposed Gryphon Terraforming Asteroid, he has expected them to come on again revealing the blessed Holy Trinity in their Golden Kingdom.

God the Father of All. God the Son...... Redeemer of Miguel's many sins. God the Holy Spirit.....that mysterious whisper in the hearts of men.

Unfortuantely, the only Trinity present when Miguel regained consciousness, was:

God the splitting Headache, God the blurred vision, and God the overwhelming odor of sweaty socks.

Shaking himself back fully awake, Miguel atempted to take quick stock of the situation.

Im not dead.......right?

The Asteroid?

He had been surveying the Asteroid for Terraforming when .......what was it.....oh yes, that shuttle, and the space-suited attackers.

Miguel furrowed his brow in concentration trying to remember.

The attackers had appeared almost out of nowhere weilding slug-throwers, primitive Chemical-projectile weapons that despite their antiquity had proven quite effective.

Miguel remembered the silent explosion that had thrown him off his feet, and then, the eerie hissing of escaping air from a puncture somewhere about his knee.

He remembered yelling......a yell with no noise as there was no air to carry it.

Then Blackness.

And now........

What?

Miguel cracked his eyes open and found himself crumpled up in a ball on the floor of a largewalk-in storage closet.

Shelves of rusted out junk lined three walls of the 10'x10' room, while the fourth was barred by a sealed door of some sort. The body of his companion Dr. Teeda Chouu of the Gryphon Science Council lay nearby propped up against a very heavy looking file cabinet. She seemed to be breathing at least.

It was only when Miguel attempted to sit up that his body suddenly decided to inform him of how much pain he was in.

"....ouch....." Miguel squeaked pitifully as he slumped back to the floor in agony.

His head hurt. His chest hurt. His left knee felt like it was the size of a basketball.

Taking a deep breath, he also discovered that he felt like his lungs had been freeze-dried, which considering his near-decompression episode was probably not too far from the truth.

Moving more gingerly this time, he once again tried to sit up.

~~whoa~~

This time he stayed upright, but had to sit quietly for several minutes waiting for the universe to stop spinning.

He looked around again.

Yup....still in the closet.

His right hand moved to his chest.

~~Damn~~

His Comm-Badge was misisng.

Come to think of it, his whole space-suit was missing. Miguel had been using a bulky Gryphon pressure suit to hop around the Asteroid prior to the attack, but now the suit, along with its ancient bubble helmet was missing.

The Starfleet uniform he had been wearing underneath remained, but the badge and much of the trouser leg below his left knee wer also gone.

Taking another deep breath Miguel examined the knee.

He wished he hadnt.

The suit-leak had been in his leg, and being thus exposed to the vacuum of space his lower leg had taken the brunt of the damage thereof.

The normally olive skin of his heritage was blistered and black all around his knee, while spiderwebs of burst bloodvessels were clearly visible underneath the skin surface.

Experimentally Miguel tried to bend it.

>KREEAAAAKKKK!!!<

Yikes. The very audible grinding noise informed him that the delicate Bursa sacs in his joint had burst themselves during the decompression.

He could move if he really wanted to, but he was grinding bone against bone.

Miguel next turned his attention to the still form of Dr. Chouu laying beside him.

Like him, the lady scientist's spacesuit had been sliced away leaving her clad in the simple colors of a Gryphon day tunic. The dark haired woman seemed still unconscious, but otherwise appeared uninjured.

Perhaps she had been captured without suffering a suit puncture.

Captured?

Miguel looked at the closet door.

That is what happened right? He had been captured. But by who, and for what reason?

Absently his hand touched his chest searching for the badge yet again.

This was supposed to be a simple Scientific project.

Assist the Gryphons in terraforming the asteroid for agricultural purposes and that was that.

Wasnt it?

Not for the first time in his brief time aboard the Galaxy Miguel felt woefully un-informed as to what was really going on.

~~~Nobody briefs the Botany Department on Mission specs,~~ he thought glumly.

"Whoa.....my head....." Dr. Chouu was stirring now, and slurred her words. "Wha....the...the....we got attacked."

The Scientist sat up sloppily with much the same success as Miguel's initial efforts. "Who....Miguel?...." her eyes focussed first on the Starfleet officer, and then her surroundings.

Her eyes slowly focussed back into awareness as she took in the prison. "What...where are we....in some sort of food pantry?"

Miguel nodded painfully and massaged his freeze-dried vocal chords. >>"I believe so Doctor".<< he rasped, >>"Either that or some sort of supply closet."<< he inclined his towards a massive file cabinet of some sort in the corner.

Teeda Chhou's brows furrowed as she considered her co-prisioner with confusion. "Whoa, slow down......I didnt understand a word you just said mister."

Miguel cleared his throat and tried to force more air out of his craackling lungs. >>"I said.....I think....its some sort of supply closet...."<<<

Dr. Chouu sighed. "No. . .no...no...I mean I cant UNDERSTAND you. I dont understand the language you are speaking." she explained.

Miguel's eyes widened and once again he felt for his com-badge realizing at the same time that the Universal Translator that was incorporated into it was also naturally missing.

He had been so used to speaking to Chouu in Spanish for the past few hours and having her understand him, that he quite naturally forgt about its presence.

He tried again in his halting English. "So sorry. Am forgetting ...uh.....univer....universal.....um....talking thing yes?" For some reason, despite their situation, Miguel felt a bit of shame for sounding like such an idiot without the translation.

"The Translator?" Teeda's eyes also flashed to his chest. "It was in your badge." she guessed. "Well no matter, we still need to figure out whats going on."

"What is happening to us yes?" Miguel asked, "Am having been unconscious on aster...aster....floating rock. You am seeing what happened?"

"Did I see more of who attacked us?" she interpreted. "Well only for a moment. Like you I saw the belt-shuttle....the men in space-suits firing slug-throwers. " she paused " There was an explosion and you radioed somthing about a suit leak and then collapsed, honestly Miguel I thought I'd lost you then."

"I thought am being losted myself," he tried to grin.

Chouu thought a minute replaying the events in her head. "I saw some of them grab you and slap a patch on your leg. The rest of them quickly surrounded me and led me back to the belt-shuttle. It was some old-dingy antique model, but not somthing I've seen anywhere in the belt. Anyhow as soon as I was in somebody jabbed me with a handheld stun-stick or somthing, and voila'. Here I am."

Miguel nodded. He understood only about half the English words, but he got the gist. "And being why however." he nodded sagely.

Chouu frowned. "Why? That my friend is the 100 latinumslip question. The terraforming project I'm afraid is one of the focal points of contention between the Troyers and Draysons, and as local head of the project I'm afraind I make a good target. Still I never thought anybody would stoop so low." She paused. "You're being the Starfleet liason assigned to the project makes you pretty good political pawn as well I'm afraid."

Miguel could almost cry. "Political!? Am being about plants and green growing things! Am not about being political! Why for wanting to not grow stuff? Its am bieng good for everybody!"

He was frustrated beyond reason. Why did things have to be so difficult? There couldnt be anything more un-political that simple greenery and agriculture. It was the stuff society was based on. Miguel could care lessa bout the political ramifications thereof. As far as the Toyers and Draysons went he had not a clue which was which, and really didnt care. "Am not being political." he huffed painfuly flexing his knee with a loud grind.

Teeda Chouu sympathized deeply. She was also of a deeply scientific mind, but life in the Gryphons had made her more in tune to the political realities of events in the Belt. "Roger that, but somebody is making it political.......the question is ......who?"

As if to answer her question the sound of a door hissing open was heard. someone or something had entered the room just beyond their own tiny prison/pantry, and the soft sounds of rustling footsteeps could be heard coming closer.

Teeda and Miguel exchanged glances. Somebody was coming, and perhpas therin lay a chance for escape. Briefly Starfleet's training course in this regard flashed through Ensign Sandoval's mind, but this situation seemed almost absurdly different.

When he took the class almost a year ago he had been well fed and in perfect health, standing amongst friends under the San Francisco sunshine. Now cramped, hungry, and barely able to move his leg, the lessons in escape seemed indeed remote.

There was no time to plan somthing at any rate.

There was a slight humm of an electronic lock, and then with a slight pop of air the solid door behind them creaked and swung open.

Sandoval had steeled himself for rough and grungy pirates, or maybe even drooling Klingon thugs.......what he didnt expect was the shy inquisitive gaze of a pale sixteen year old boy staring down intently at his 'prisoners'.

The lad didnt speak, but instead gracefully knelt and placed a covered food dish gently between the two scientists.

His piercing azure eyes almost glowed as he shifted his gaze from one to the next, cocking his head to the side almost like a curious puppy.

The three sat silently for half a heartbeat before the pale boy stood smoothly and retreated closing the pantry door behind him with the barest of swish's.

~~~So graceful.~~~ Miguel thought to himself as he shook himself. ~~~Like some sort of dancer or gymnist moving,~~~

It was only then that he realized that not a word had been spoken...nor even a sound made during the whole exchange.

Dr. Chouu was gingerly lifting the cover off the food tray. "Hot Food Packs complete with silverware and a couple of napkins." she advised with a hint of surprise. "They've even been warmed up......and...." she paused examining a small plastic pouch laying on the tray, ".....with salt and pepper too." she said amazed. "We must have been picked up by some Four-Star Terrorists."

Miguel was still kicking himself however. ~~~....should have done something....should have said something......~~~ he punched his fist at the locked door in frustration. Bad knee or no, he knew he could have taken the pint-sized boy if he hadnt been so surprised. His first chance to escape and he blew it.

"Clear As It's Going To Get"

(Occurs Immediately after 'Here To Do A Job')

Principal Characters:

Lt (JG) Victor Krieghoff
Lt (JG) Ahdjiia D'Tinya-Bolivar
Dr. Vladimir Malgin
Ensign Cora Dobryin
Others TBA

Secondary Characters:

Ensign Paul Hanley
Ensign So'ka

****

Runabout Caracal
Approaching Gryphon Colony Asteroid

"Request a course deviation to make a sweep for crewmen on approach, sir," So'ka requested from the sciences station. "There are a number of bodies in orbit around the colony carried out by explosive decompression."

Victor made a course correction on the piloting console. "Denied."

So'ka looked up and frowned, but nodded, "Aye, sir."

After another correction, Victor added, "If they're out here, So'ka, they're already dead. They can wait."

"Aye, sir," the ensign repeated slowly as he turned back to the console. "I understand."

"D'Tinya," Victor asked, changing topic abruptly as he frowned at the console and then out the view ports in front of him as if trying to reconcile conflicting data. "Any luck with the remote activation signal for the landing bay doors?"

"Still working on that," Ahdjiia said as her fingers danced across the console, "It almost co-operates then decides to be fussy."

"Keep trying. If I have to blow them, then that creates more problems to fix later."

"I'll run out and force them open before blowing them," Ahdjiia said wryly.

"Dobryin," he changed topic again without warning. "Getting the visual data you need?" He glanced at a side console. "So'ka, what's the interference down to?"

"Thirty percent, sir, and dropping. Records say it should be down to fifteen percent by the time we reach colony orbit."

"Within probe tolerances?"

"Aye, sir." So'ka seemed pleased to have something constructive to do. "I can give you ten minutes with a remote probe on live feed if I launch now before we need to divert attention to docking."

"Dobryin, you've got a probe for ten minutes. Get with So'ka and get all the data you can."

Cora nodded, "I'm on it. That probe will help with getting aerial data. The rest will have to come once we land." She shifted her attention to So'ka, "I'd like to scan both the colony and Galaxy's exterior while we have a chance."

"Can do," the security officer nodded. "I'll program the probe to do the Galaxy first since we're closer, and then the colony while you're processing that data." His hands worked the console. "Probe away."

Victor frowned again as he looked at the slowly approaching colony asteroid. "Hanley, get the Mhonga on the line and see if Malgin has finished looking at the colony layout and made his choice about where to set up once we're inside."

"Yes, sir," Hanley answered with only a faint quaver in his voice. He flipped a switch. "Caracal to Mhonga. Dr, Malgin, please."

"Yes, sir," Hanley answered with only a faint quaver in his voice. He flipped a switch. "Caracal to Mhonga. Dr, Malgin, please."

Tired and annoyed voice of doctor Malgin sounded, as he came online "Malgin here. What the hell do you need? And is it really that important to distract me?"

"The lieutenant wants to know if you've decided where to set up your field surgery, sir," Hanley asked quickly.

"Heh," choked laughter was heard, "I wouldn't be myself, if there was no field surgery here. My hands are itching for scalpel... Place is chosen. Everything's set up and ready to work. My medical hawks know their job, so feel free even to send Surgeon General here to check it up."

The colony asteroid filled the runabout's forward viewports when Victor spoke again. "D'Tinya?" His hands touched a pair of controls. "Thirty seconds on the doors or I have to cut them open."

"The system's being...", Ahdjiia started to say as she finally got the doors open, "There we go."

Ahead of them, the massive doors slowly started to open.

"Good," Victor nodded, as he started the runabout forward, taking it into the bay as soon as there was clearance for it, even before the doors had finished opening all the way. "As soon as Mhonga gets through, close them again and we can open up the inner access doors."

The two runabouts slipped into the large shuttlebay, an array of civic-owned small craft arranged on the pads below them. Here and there, one of the shuttles and work bees bore signs of an explosion or external damage, but most appear untouched.

As the large doors started to close behind them, Victor worked the controls deftly and swung Caracal to face the doors that led to the inner area of the colony. "D'Tinya, see what you can do with the inner doors once the bay is sealed. So'ka, see if you can get anything on why some of the ships are damaged and some not."

Aye," Ahdjiia said as the quickly tapped the controls to start opening the inner doors. She smiled inwardly as these were being more co-operative than the first set.

"Scanning, sir," the ensign responded. "Looks like... rescue vehicles." The alien's eyes were hard and his voice tight as he looked up. "They disabled all the dedicated rescue vehicles, sir."

"Get mad later, So'ka," Victor said quietly as he adjusted the runabout's position to accommodate the medical team. "If you're mad, you don't think. If you're not thing, you've already lost. Remember that."

"Yes, sir," the ensign said slowly.

The main bay doors closed and sealed behind them with a thud that was felt more than heard. "D'Tinya?" Victor asked without looking up. "Doors?"

"They're opening now. The commands register but there is some physical blockage," Ahdjiia reported.

After a moment, the smaller set of doors slid open, the blockage - a fallen catwalk - swinging free and falling to the airlock floor as they did so. Victor moved Caracal in, followed by Mhonga, and the inner airlock cycled slowly closed behind them.

"What have you got from the other side of the doors, So'ka?" Victor asked quietly as he brought the runabout's weapons and targeting systems up and ran a check on them. "Any activity?" To Hanley he said, "Tell Malgin we're waiting on a sensor scan to make sure there's not someone waiting for us on the other side of the door - I don't want his ship taking a hit from some after-market anti-shuttle rocket."

"Aye, sir," Hanley nodded, relaying the message to the Mhonga.

"Got it," Vlad barked, "Loud and clear. I am sure you guys there know what to do. I don't want to have you on my operating table after you mistakes. And I am sure you don't want it too..."

So'ka worked the sensor panel, frowned, and looked closer at the readings. "Just a moment, sir," he said, motioning Cora over. "I've got some readings I don't recognize here."

Cora approached So'ka it didn't take her long to correlate that data with known weapons. "The electromagnetic spikes belong to anti-personnel rail guns. They appear to be firing sporadically right now," she paused, "Cardassian phasers are what those other signatures are. I'd say three maybe four of them. Those readings are rather infrequent."

"Noted," Victor replied. "Pass that on to Malgin, Hanley. He'll need to know what he's looking at. So'ka, you and Dobryin watch the scans. If anything looks like an anti-shuttle weapon warming up appears, take it out." He tapped a few controls. "Phasers switched over to you."

So'ka looked at Cora a touch nervously, but nodded, "Aye, sir."

"Aye Sir," Cora replied.

Hanley passed on the information to the Mhonga quickly, along with the addition that Caracal would deal with any possible missile threats.

Malgin tapped his combadge after receiving news about threats. Under his breath, he muttered "Hell, anti-personnel guns. I'd personally choke every bastard, who invented and produces them..." Then he cleared his throat and addressed his subordinates "Okay, boys and girls, we'll have tough time soon - anti-personnel guns in action. Everyone, whisper you prayers, if you know any, and get your asses ready..."

"D'Tinya, get them open and let's do this. We're first, followed by Mhonga at a twenty second interval," Victor decided. He worked the controls. "All Security Team members to full alert; I want a three-man team on the transporter pad ASAP for beam-down to secure the landing zone once we get inside the colony. Make certain they know it looks like they'll primarily be up against rail guns so they don't spend a lot of time watching for phaser tracks if they come under fire."

"Ready now," Ahdjiia said as she tapped up the appropriate controls, eyes watching to move at a moment's notice.

As the inner doors slowly worked their way open, the lights from the inner airlock spilled out into the open center of the mostly-dark colony, illuminating the maze of crosswalks - many collapsed with the cessation of the localized gravity fields. Victor brought the Caracal out slowly, picking his way through the maze of remaining crosswalks with care. "D'Tinya, all external lights on. Let's see who wants a piece of us."

"Ready now," Ahdjiia said as she tapped up the appropriate controls, eyes watching to move at a moment's notice.

As the inner doors slowly worked their way open, the lights from the inner airlock spilled out into the open center of the mostly-dark colony, illuminating the maze of crosswalks - many collapsed with the cessation of the localized gravity fields. Victor brought the Caracal out slowly, picking his way through the maze of remaining crosswalks with care. "D'Tinya, all external lights on. Let's see who wants a piece of us."

Ahdjiia had anticipated the order and she had the lights on almost as soon as the words left Victor's lips. She carefully looked as far as she could see of things.

The runabout's lights flared on, pushing back the darkness like a small sun risen inside the colony.

"So'ka? Dobryin? Anything?"

"I don't see... wait, what's that?" So'ka pointed to a reading on the sensor panel.

Cora double checked the reading So'ka had indicated, "I see it as well. Could be something we just need to determine what exactly it is quickly."

"Find out. Take it out before they take us out," Victor suggested quietly as he guided the runabout through a slow swooping turn around a series of support struts, and the Mhonga began exiting the airlock, her external lights clicking on as well. He frowned as something struck the viewport with a 'clink' and ricocheted off, followed by several more identical objects. "We're taking small arms fire. Railgun projectiles. Hanley, make sure Mhonga has her shields up."

The ensign relayed the command quickly and returned an 'affirmative' from Dr. Malgin's vessel.

"D'Tinya, make sure that every team has at least one tricorder set to automatically scan and backtrack incoming projectile trajectories. These things move in a straight line, so if they can see us, we can shoot them."

"Doing that now," she said as she relayed the order and checked her own tricorder.

"Dobryin? So'ka? Anything?"

For a moment Cora was quiet as she double checked the lock. "Got it," she replied simply as the threat was eliminated.

Victor swung the runabout past a broken pylon, looking like a spar that had been thrust through the asteroid's shell from outside, as the erratic hail of railgun rounds dinging off the vessel's hull tapered off. "The shooters will be moving to the landing zone once they see where we're touched down, D'Tinya," he observed mildly. "The security team we leave behind needs to watch for that."

"Understood," she replied as she relayed instructions to the other team members.

Victor nodded. "Good enough. All away team members are cleared to respond to lethal force in kind. We'll want someone alive to talk to, but not at the expense of another life. If indicated, away team members may issue one warning to a terrorist opponent, but after that kill them - they don't understand anything else."

Cora's only acknowledgement was a brief nod.

With a slow, sweeping arc, Victor brought the Caracal around and spun her in place, nose pointing back the way they'd come. "Everything clear?" he asked So'ka and Cora.

"As clear as it's going to get," Cora answered the question.

"Then send the team down, D'Tinya. Hanley, tell Malgin he can land as soon as we clear the LZ for him." Victor made a small adjustment to the controls. "As soon as we set down, I want that booster relay set up. So'ka, you and Hanley take care of that, and then find me. D'Tinya, once you're good with the security on the runabouts, link up with me and we'll start looking for our people."

"Aye, sir," So'ka and then Hanley murmured, one after another.

"Aye," Ahdjiia said as she sent the team down and relayed the order to Malgin.

Back Post

“Friend in a Cell”

Lt. JG Ahdjiia D'Tinya-Bolivar,
Security

&
Lt. JG Dhanishta Eshe,
Engineer

As Ahdjiia came on shift, she perused the reports of the shift before and to her surprise Dhani was listed as in the brig. Out of all of those she knew on the ship, she never expected her to end up there. At the first chance she had, she walked in to see her.

Dhanishta sat cross legged on the cot in the corner of the cell, her head resting on her still bloodied hand, hair cascading around her, hiding the image of shock that was still etched on her face.

She heard the light footsteps that Ahdjiia made as she breezed her way across the cell. Dhani grumbled to herself, she should have told the guards ‘no visitors’, she really didn’t want to be seen in here, ashamed and embarrassed.

She glanced up for a second to see her visitor, some counsellor no doubt. Or maybe it was the security chief coming to tell her that Turan had indeed complained and pressed charges. Maybe she had killed him! She fought the erg to throw up.

Ahdjiia, it was Ahdjiia! Dhani didn’t know weather to smile or hide. Was it even possible to hide in a cell?

"You okay?" Ahdjiia asked as she stopped in front of Dhani's cell, leaning against the archway near the holding field. There was only concern in her face and tone. She'd read why Dhani was in the brig, but wasn't going to pass judgement on the first person she met when she'd come to this posting.

Dhani lifted her head, her face was pale, almost transparent even her trill spots were faded. She looked wretched. Letting her hand fall into her lap she nodded, not trusting herself to speak. Staring at Ahdjiia with hollow eyes.

"You look like what the Terrans would call Hell." Ahdjiia said, "Has anyone from Medical come by to look at your hand yet?"

She looked down at her hand and then back up at Ahdjiia, “It’s not my blood.” She said sombrely.

Ahdjiia nodded, "Do you want to talk?"

Dhani began to shake her head, not so much at Ahdjiia but at the tears that were welling up. Pinching the bridge of her nose with her thumb and fore finger she propped her elbow back on her knee and tried to stem the tears.

“He doesn’t remember anything, Ahdjiia. I don’t understand.” She looked up at her with watery eyes, “You remember what happened. Pretty much the entire crew remember, but he doesn’t. Twenty eight years Ahdjiia. How can he forget twe….” She stopped. Her eyes stung a little as she held the tears back. Shaking her head again she returned to her previous position.

It took a bit for Ahdjiia to think along what Dhani was talking about. "Tell me what you remember while the rest of us were either dead or lost."

This was the first time that anyone had actually asked her what had happened. Sitting for a minuet she let her mind float to those memories that she was trying to block out, “As the ship was caught in the rift, I took Anne and a few other officers to an escape pod. It was the only logical action to take. The pod was badly damaged during the decent. The others died on impact, but Anne…..” she could still hear her screams.

“I held her in my arms for six hours. There was nothing I could do for her. As her body trembled in my arms I held her close. I told her that she would be okay, that everything would be okay. As she died she called out for her mother. I told her to go to her, to run into her arms, where there was no more pain, where she would be safe.” She hadn’t realised it but tears were already streaming down her face,

“She was the last person to ever call me Dhani. After she died I thought I would too, I had only known her for a few days but…..” she sighed,

“Eventually I left the pod and found my way back to the Galaxy, it took a few weeks to get there, but I managed it with all the rations that were in the pod. I tried to make a beacon and send a message, I presumed that it didn’t work, as there was no response. For months I waited, living on rations. I began to look around, I found a cave and began to haul things of use from the ship, not knowing how long I would be there for. As time went on I returned more and more to the Galaxy. Seeing everyone I worked with, the people I lived with just all… there were too many to burry, and I couldn’t do it alone.” She wiped the tears away on the back of her hand, Turans blood smeared across her face,

“I took what I needed to live, trying not to look at them all. After about six, seven months I found that I had nothing to do, so I went back to the ship and got all the personal logs that I could find, just to have something to listen to, someone to talk to. Three years later I met Turan I couldn’t bare to hear my own name again so I lied to him, one of many. He called me Astronaut, eventually it was shortened to Naut. He had learned Federation Standard but not having a comparison he was difficult to understand. So I learned Quintarish. For years he told me stories of his life, I helped him on the farm that he had made, and we would occasionally get things from the Galaxy to use. As the ship sunk further and further into the sand we used to clean the sign. Just in case anyone came to look for me and the rest of the crew. And that was how it was for twenty eight years. We just plodded along, hoping.” She looked back up at Ahdjiia, it was clear the she probably wasn’t expecting all this information. Or maybe she just had no idea what had happened. Dhani wasn’t sure weather to continue but she had already gone this far,

“But as time went by Naut became angry. Angry that it was Starfleet that had put us there. They shot us down, believed that the Galaxy had destroyed Quinten. They killed the crew, they abandoned me. Left me there to die because of what was there. They couldn’t have it, so no one else could. And they wanted to make sure that no one else could tell the story of what they did that day. I was made to suffer for their mistakes. And then they came back *thirty* years later. Naut wanted them dead, all of them. What was the point in going back, she, I, had missed so much, there was nothing for her there. So she tried to kill them, and that’s when he shot me. In the back, just like all the others. Back stabber.” the venom in her voice was startling, the anger seemed to rise in every word she spoke,

“I awoke in the shuttle, it was on its way back down to Quinten, another ship had gone down, that’s when I met Dhani, and I met Naut.” Her terminology was confusing to say the least, but then so was her situation. To have full knowledge of what happened to Naut, and to have her thirty year older self pull her from the escape pod! She saw and felt both angles, but had no idea how to meagre the incredibly different personalities. Dhani couldn’t accept Naut for how she felt and what she had tried to do, and Naut couldn’t accept Dhani because of her beliefs and shear naivety. Both were fighting the other in the same mind. A losing battle by all accounts.

“Me and Naut realised what had happened and while everyone else was arguing over what to do we snuck into the shuttle. Flew it into the rift, breached the warp core and died. The time line was restored, and everyone else lived happily ever after.” She didn’t even look at Ahdjiia, just stared at the floor, the remaining colour draining from her face.

It was quite a bit to digest to put it mildly. Ahdjiia was stunned by it all and silently prayed to Anashwaa to help weave a web to put it all in order for Dhani. To be truthful, she was in awe that Dhani hadn't gone completely mad having to deal with this all. It had to've been horrific at the time, and then to have everything back to 'normal' while still knowing all of this, and hearing the others talk of recalling their deaths.

Ahdjiia tapped the panel, pulling back the repulsor field and strode into the cell. Security protocols be damned. She sat down next to Dhani, offering her hand to hold.

Dhani took Ahdjiias hand. It was warm compared to hers, though Trills hands were naturally colder than most other humanoids. It was such a small gesture but it meant so much to her. Just to know that someone cared. It didn’t matter that Ahdjiia didn’t understand what she was going through, she couldn’t. But to know that she cared… her eyes welled and she wept silently.

The Chrysalian scooted to hug Dhani, murmuring soft words of comfort. "Let it out.", she said softly, "You've held this in too long."

And Dhani did just that. Crying so hard that her entire body shock. She couldn’t contain all the pain. The confusion was almost overwhelming. She promised her self that she wouldn’t cry; she had to be strong, what would Sark think of her? All the time he spent training her not to give in to these disgusting emotions. They clouded her judgment, but she couldn’t stop, it was just all too great. Suddenly she pushed Ahdijiia away. Her stomach trembled and lurched, scrambling across the cell to the incredibly indignant toilet she heaved several times and then threw up.

Ahdjiia let Dhani sick it all up and discreetly got up and replicated a glass of cool water for her.

Slumping next to the toilet she let out a slow wavering breath. Wiping her mouth with her blood stained hands made her heave again, but she contained the bile this time. She looked up at Ahdjiia, wondering if she looked as awful as she felt. The look on Ahdjiias face confirmed that she no longer had to wonder, she did look like crap. Reaching out with trembling hands she took the water from Ahdjiia and began to sip it slowly, “Thank you.” She said in-between sips.

"When you feel up to it, we'll get you cleaned up so you feel a little better." Ahdjiia said, still concerned for her friend, "We've got a small facility for officers pulling long shifts that you can use. I'll even replicate fresh clothes for you if you want."

Dhani smiled, though it was small and barley noticeable. Ahdjiia was too good a friend, “I really don’t deserve any special treatment. After what I’ve done. It’s just enough that you are here, lowering your self, to talk with me.”

"I lower myself to no one save when I must bend down to speak to children.", Ahdjiia said with a soft smile, "You've held in what you experienced for too long and after hearing what the rest of us were remembering certainly didn't help. I think you've acted the best you could without going insane from having to carry such a heavy burden."

Dhani swallowed hard, hearing someone else talk about it, was upsetting to say the least. She remembered when Ahdjiia first told her about the rumours on the ship, she had just had a flash back; they had been in the mess hall. Back then it hadn’t made any sense, but as the flash backs came more often she had pieced them all together. “I am weak.” She replied simply. “I have let emotion rule me. It has clouded my judgment. That much is obvious.” She held her hands out gesturing the cell, “I have not acted as an officer of the Federation. I have not acted in the best interests of others, and I have not acted in the best interests of myself. I am not the martyr I claim to be. I am a failure as an officer and a civilian.” She handed the empty glass back to Ahdjiia with a nod.

"And for those who you call you that, I would very much like to see how 'they' handle carrying the burden you have as well as you." Ahdjiia said as she took the glass, "I would wager them having long since broken and now be off at the mental health wing of Starfleet Medical."

Dhani burned inside, “Instead I have sent a good man, a boy at that to the medical bay, broken and bleeding. That’s how I handled this burden, by beating a child, almost to death.” Her temper began to flare again “Please don’t congratulate me on this, Ahdjiia, I haven’t ‘handled’ it well at all. I should be in a mental ward, strapped down and incapacitated. At least then people I care about would be safe.”

"Once the others have heard what happened with you, they will help as they can.", Ahdjiia said, "Though I dread what the Temporal Authorities will have to say about it."

The flame inside Dhani fizzled out, “I have already spoken with the Captain, she knows all about it. That and half the bridge crew.” She groaned as she sat down, remembering her out burst on the bridge. “She is working on a way to contact Starfleet temporal investigations to send them my full report. It may help M’kantu. But at the moment we are out of communications range.”

The mention of the bridge crew silenced Ahdjiia from anything else she would've said for now. It brought back the memory of when she was on the away team and had seen Saladin's withered corpse lying on the ground covered in the shroud from the wreckage of the Galaxy that had been buried. But temporal headaches aside, he was alive now, their child growing within her, they were together.

In the end, that was what mattered most.

"That the Captain knows, is a good portion of the solution." Ahdjiia said softly as she found her tongue again, "I trust that she will do what's best for all involved."

Dhani nodded. Though she knew with an unwavering certainty that there was nothing that any of them could do for her. How she would love to have the memory erased from her mind, but even that wouldn’t fix the situation. She was going to have to find a way of dealing with this on her own. A way where she could keep her job and not attack innocents. It was so strange to feel remorse and shocked at her actions and at the same time feel totally justified. ‘He shot ME!’ were the words of Naut echoing inside her mind. She could feel the ongoing argument about to begin inside her mind. She rubbed her temples in anticipation of the headache she would receive from the screaming she and Naut would dish out for the other. “Could you do something for me?” she asked Ahdjiia,

"Anything, just name it.", Ahdjiia said.

“Could you let me know how Turan is doing, if he’s okay?”

"Of course." she said, "I could even relay him a message if you wanted."

“I don’t think that would be a good idea. He’s had too much trauma for one day. He thinks that that’s how all Trills say hello now, snog ‘n’ punch.” She tried to sound light hearted, but her heart really wasn’t in it. Shaking her head she said, “He doesn’t remember me and I tried explaining, but all he wanted was to get as far away from me as possible. Relayed messages of regret… I think would fall on deaf ears. That or he would think I was trying to sweeten him up so he wouldn’t press charges. And I don’t want that. He needs to feel safe here. He’s just a boy.” Her stomach churned as she said that; he was a boy. Had he been when they met? Surely not, he was almost 20 and a man. He had been looking after himself for years, living off the land, he was so different back then. So much older, not just by three years but all that he had seen, everything he had gone through. Although it pained her that he didn’t remember what she did, part of her felt relief. He was a child and did not need to be burdened at such a young age with the memories of death. “Ahdjiia, could you just make something up? Tell him anything, just not the truth. He shouldn’t know what happened. Just tell him that I mistook him for someone else, or that I’m insane or something.” She pleaded.

"Certainly." Ahdjiia said. She wasn't sure what, but she'd come up with that when the time came.

“Thank you.” Dhani said whilst taking her hand in show of her gratitude. She held Ahdjiias hand for a few minuets feeling her warmth and her compassion, “You truly are a good friend. Too good.” She squeezed her hand gently, “Thank you.” She said again.

**missing text**

Dhanishta smiled at the memory of the hoards of spiders Ahdjiia kept as pets. Crawling all over her skin, tickling her as they did so. She had to admit that they were cute, funny to think that a spider was cute! At first she had wondered how Ahdjiia kept track of which was which, she had so many. But after a few hours with them she realised that even they had individual personalities.

"Or maybe they are not as perceptive as they would have you believe." she joked as she wandered back over to her cot, giving Ahdjiia a sly smile as she sat down.

"Or they are able to see clearer without the notions that cloud our minds to matters." Ahdjiia smiled.

Dhani smiled back, “You’re too kind.” She said again. “You know, I’m sure that you should be working or something. Comforting criminals isn’t in your job description, I’m sure!” she said. She didn’t really want Ahdjiia to go, but her headache was getting worse. That and Ahdjiia was making her feel better and right now she wanted to feel crappy, after what she had done to Turran she felt like she should be doing penance, somewhere far worse than where she was.

Back post

“Cell Talk”

By
Lieutenant Commander Ethan Suder
Chief Engineer

&
Lieutenant Jg Dhanishta Eshe
Engineer

The corridors seemed quiet, cold and empty. But at the same time, Suder was quite content with the atmosphere. He tugged down on his duty jacket and came to a halt. He turned slowly and raised a hand, hesitating. He wondered what was the best course of action at this juncture. He pressed a button on the wall panel and took a deep breath as the doors slid open. He casually strolled into the large room and gave a nod to the security officer on duty. Coming up to the last cell, he stopped and slowly turned, looking down at Dhanishta.

Dhani was laying down on the cot in the corner of her cell. Her head hanging off the end as she was trying to stem the flow of blood flowing from her nose. Her head was literally thumping> Every slight sound aggravated it, the rustle of clothing the guards talking, the dust settling. She had already punched the wall hoping that the pain from that would distract her from the migraine, but it hadn’t, her red raw knuckles didn’t even hurt. The screaming match between Dhanishta and Naut was still raging somewhere in the depth of her mind, she was sure of it. Though she could no longer hear the insults that each threw at the other, she no longer cared. She wanted to call one of the guards for some pain killers but opening her mouth sent another spike of pain through her skull, so she lay there, hoping that at some point it would go away. Praying to any gods that could hear her.

Ethan watched her for a moment, stretching out with his mind. He could sense the discomfort that she was in, the confusion, and something else that he couldn’t quite pick out. Picking out feelings with her was like trying to find someone in a room of a thousand people. Still, he felt something from her, something that felt very familiar. But as quickly as he found it, it was gone and replaced with the discomfort. He shrugged off the possibilities and frowned a little.

After two more minutes of going unnoticed, Ethan cleared his throat and piped up, “Can I get you anything, Lieutenant?” he asked. ~hmmm, out of all the stupid questions you could ask, guess that one wasn’t so bad, not as stupid as, are you okay?~ he thought. He paused and then continued, “Are you okay?” he asked quietly. ~Fool!~

Dhani wanted nothing more than to rip out his tongue for speaking. The searing pain! She held her head rubbing her temples, as if that would help. But it made sense, when you fall over you grab the part of your anatomy that hurts and rubbed it till it stopped. So why then didn’t her head stop hurting? Opening her mouth she went to speak, the stabbing, followed by thumping, “P, pain……” she broke off her face scrunching up, “killers….please.”

Suder moved away from the cell with a sigh. For some reason he was more tired today than usual. Not that it was surprising. After barely speaking to the security officer he returned to the cell hypo spray in hand. Pressing a button on the pannle next to the field, he looked up as the field dropped.

Suder stepped into the cell and pressed the hypospray against her exposed neck. After hearing the chemicals inject into her body, he looked at her for a few seconds to see if it was good, or if maybe she needed a bigger hypo….

It took only a few seconds for the pain to fade, it wasn’t completely gone, just enough for her to move without wanting to scream. Sitting up she thanked Suder and wiped the blood off her nose. Trying to make an attempt to look presentable. It was quite impossible, her hands were stained with Turans blood, mixed with her own from her nose bleed. Her face was streaked with tears, and blood. She had thrown up several times since Ahdjiia left, there was really no way to make herself look any better, but still she tried.

“Presentation is a comfort you need not worry about.” Ethan commented. “I’ve seen worse.” He then thought for a moment. In his years of service, he’d probably seen more than he wanted to. “A Bolians head exploding for example, the blood, the brains, now that one will stay with me.” He sighed and looked at the floor. What a great time for humour, but then based on their experiences thus far, he wanted her to know he wasn’t there to arrack or bully her. Just to be a friend. Sure they’d had more downs than ups….. had they had any ups? She’d done her work, everything was okay. Then suddenly this. Maybe what she needed was to be hooked up. Everyone here on the Galaxy it seemed had slept with everyone else. He had restrained himself from doing so. He’d seen far too much tragicness in his years on the Galaxy. But then saying that, it might be just what she needed. Someone to trust, someone to confide in, someone to love? He’d have to get Jiiles to “call” her some time. Or better yet, Curran! That would be worth seeing. He’d have to dare Dhani to hit on him. He’d either throw up or spontaneously self combust, the latter would be much preferred!

Dhani smiled her thanks. But the comment of the Bolian only reminded her of what she had seen, did Ethan really think that compared? And as to what she was still seeing? But then he didn’t know, and he didn’t need to know, no one did. She looked up at him with her dark green eyes, waiting for the lecture. Hoping that it would be a short one, she could hear the rising voices in her head again.

Ethan remained expressionless. His black eyes piercing anything and everything. He wondered what to say. How many times had he tried to help her through whatever it was that she was going through? How many times had they argued? Was a lecture from her superior officer really going to change anything? Perhaps it would. He frowned again as her dark eyes met the blackness of his. He opened his mouth slightly, ready to unload on her. His jaw seemed clenched though. He paused for a few seconds, and then he unloaded, “What’s wrong?” he asked softly.

She was surprised by the softness of his tone, but the question pissed her off. That’s all everyone had been asking her, ‘what’s wrong’ and ‘are you okay’? What did it matter, couldn’t they understand *she * was the bad guy here. What the hell was he expecting? Why the hell where they all ‘have a coke and a smile’? Shaking her head at him she frowned and stared at the floor. She had nothing to say to that, Naut had a lot to say, but Dhani kept her quiet.

Ethan turned around and sat next to her. For a moment, he just looked at her. She clearly was tired of people talking to her. Why didn’t she want help? The longer she did this, the worse it was going to get. But he could not understand it. Nothing quite like dealing with problems yourself. Hell, he’d probably flatten someone if they began delving into his past and tried getting him to talk.

Minutes seemed to pass by. Silence. The same silence from the corridor. Suder stood up and slowly strolled around the cell, looking at the floor every now and again, at Dhani. “I suppose you just want to get back to work, bury whatever ‘it’ is?” He asked at last, his voice calmly toned. ~Kids!~ he thought ~Kids~, Vulcans, Trills, all bloody stubborn!~ he snapped at himself mentally.

She didn’t even look at him, “What I want is of no matter. I should get what I deem they deserve.” She flicked her eyes up at him for a second and saw the expression on his face. Returning her glaze back to the cell floor she asked, “Do you even know why I’m in here?”

“Word has it you helped some kid become one with the floor.” Ethan replied. “But I’m not here to judge, or prosecute or lecture. Just here to try and help. I know that I’ll ask what’s wrong, what can I do to help, just talk….And I know you’ll throw it back in my face and not want any help. But the situation is now unfortunately beyond what you want. We can let things slide at first, but now an innocent kid is looking. Well, probably better than he was, but still…. Get my point?”

“He’s not just some kid.” She shot back at him, “and he’s not that innocent. He fuckin’ shot me!” she was slightly taken aback at her own language, “Sorry. I have been talking with Corgan, guess he rubbed off on me.” She sighed and looked up at Ethan, “I understand what you’re saying. I know that I have let things get out of hand. I know that you want to help. But you can’t just keep coming up to me and demand that I talk to you. You can’t help me by chatting over a cup of coffee, it won’t fix anything. Don’t you get it?”

“I get it.” Ethan said raising his hands slightly in a defensive posture indicating that he was backing away slightly. “But it would be a start wouldn’t it?” he asked. “I don’t want to demand that people explain their problems to me, quite frankly I don’t care. But when it comes down to my Engineers and Karyn Dallas, I make it my business to know. If they don’t want help I back off. But when someone gets hurt, then something needs to be done. Even if it is talking. I can’t change whatever’s happened. I might not be able to make things better, but id sure as hell try. You don’t want my help now or ever. I’ll back off, I’ve tried. Your sister even insisted I come try again. But I’ll leave, let the Captain be the one to deal with you.” He paused and came to a halt and knelt down, their eyes on the same level. “But it seems to me like you could use a friend at the moment.”

Tears welled in her eyes again. Ethan shouting was what she had expected, it seemed like every time they talked they always ended up shouting at each other. But the last sentence was what choked her. “I don’t deserve a friend.” She mumbled as her lip started to wobble. God she was a mess, “Talking about it isn’t going to change what I did, I can’t take it back. Talking isn’t going to change the way I feel, its not going to change what I see.” She broke eye contact.

“You, probably more than anyone on this ship deserve a friend. Take Curran for example. He’s the kind of guy who needs the Federation flag pole surgically removed from his arse. Its people like him that don’t deserve friends. Saying that I can’t imagine he actually has any. But people like you, young, smart and pretty much attractive need friends and should have friends. You have a good heart and soul. You’re not evil… And this isn’t a come-on. I’m happily engaged to a book and picture in my quarters.” He said with a smile. He looked down at the floor for a moment and then up at Dhani again. “So he shot you huh?”

She nodded. “He doesn’t remember. He doesn’t remember any of it.”

“Ahhh…” Ethan exhaled with a nod. “I’ve heard all of this stuff. Everyone having the same dreams or something. But most people seemed to have discarded the situation. But I’m guessing your case is a little different?”

“Yes. I tried to tell you the other day, but I chickened out. I thought you would end up reading the report the Captain has it under lock and key. She is sending it to the Temporal Investigations department. I shouldn’t really be talking about it but well, I have already told her and the entire Bridge crew, Truan, Ahdjiia, Corgan. And now you. So no brownie points for me!” she gave him a small smile.

“Oh yeah, I heard about that. Something to do with you shouting at everyone, telling them how they died? Boy am I glad I wasn’t there, although I am curious.” He added with a raised eyebrow. Then the thought came to him that maybe he frowned and raised eyebrows too much… He shook his head and looked back at Dhani. “I also heard personnel logs were involved. Care to elaborate?” Ethan half smiled.

Dhani looked at him, he was just like the rest, itching for gossip. It was amusing though, and at least they weren’t shouting! “Yes. I listened to everyone’s personal logs. It was years ago and I don’t remember much. So don’t ask anything, I won’t tell and can’t tell you.” She could see the boy in him, it made her laugh.

Ethan for a second clenched his jaw. “I’m not interested in anyone, wasn’t looking for gossip, was just wondering if you heard any of mine.”

She smiled at him. “You weren’t dead. There was no need to.”

“Well that’s very polite of you.” Suder joked. “But hey, maybe one day you might let something slip about one or two people….. So you were what, alive for a while, reading personal logs and getting shot in the back, and this was in that dream thing everyone’s been having?”

“Suder, it wasn’t a dream.” She told him, her tone grave. “I lived on Quinten for 30 years. Three of which I spent alone, with the personal logs. When the Federation arrived I, Naut, tried to kill them. It was a revenge thing. And that’s when Turan shot me. I still can’t believe it my own… Anyway, I was taken up on the shuttle which didn’t make it out of orbit, came back down with the Galaxy, the Hood and later… others. Me and Naut, my older self, then flew the Opaka into the rift, breached the warp core and restored the timeline.” The nut shell version she thought.

“As simple as that.” Ethan commented. He stood up and resumed his pacing from side to side. That must have been pretty rough. No wonder she’s a bit crazy. Who wouldn’t be if they had the memory of the events she just described? “Hate it when that sort of thing happens. I know what it’s like to be in a warp core breach. Thirty years alone… Not that hard to imagine.” He said quietly, trying not to make it sound like it was nothing. For a moment, he remained still, looking at the wall, deep in thought.

She watched him as he paced her cell, wondering what was going through his mind. “You want to know what the worst part is?” she asked, like there could be a part of all of that that was worse than the rest.

Ethan slowly turned to look at her and casually crossed his arms and raised his eyebrows… again!

She took a deep breath. The only other person she had told this to was the Captain, though she had told her a lot of stuff, most of which flew over her head so she figured that this little bit of information escaped her attention. “I still see them as Naut did.” His look remained the same, she should re-word. “Everyone on this ship who died, is still dead. At least, I see them like that. Not really wanting to make you vomit but they are walking, talking corpses. Just wandering around with their flesh hanging off….” She heaved and moved closer to the toilet.

Ethan first stepped forward and put a hand on her shoulder to help steady her, but then thought better of it and stepped back again. He considered what she had just said. Interesting. So everyone died, and she still sees them all dead. To say that she needed therapy was an under statement. “Well, I’m glad you’ve told me this. Makes me feel like I’m one step closer to understanding that brain of yours. I can’t imagine what it’s been like, the memory of thirty years all crammed into a day…. But it is something you’ll get over, talking is always the first step to recovery, not that I’m trying to sound like a freakin Counsellor or anything.” He stood against the wall for a few seconds, giving Dhani the room she needed. “I’m sorry this has happened to you. If I could, I’d gladly swap places with you, I guess it’s just one of life’s little tricks.” He concluded. “Not that my world is any better” he added.

She nodded. But the nauseating memories mixed with Naut’s shouts swirling inside her mind was enough to make her heave again. Trying to retain all the bile and her sanity, and her job, and… the sound of someone throwing up was grim to say the least. The feeling as it erupted from her mouth was defiantly not pleasant, and the stench… She thought for a moment about returning to the cot in the corner, but it seemed more sensible to stay by the toilet. Best seat in the house she joked to herself. Slumping into the corner by the toilet, she let her head fall back and rest on the wall. Thump, thump…. Stab…. Stab….. owwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!

Ethan gave Dhani a few minutes break then decided perhaps today’s session was more than enough for now. With a nod, he turned slightly. “I better leave you to get some rest. Just shout if you want something else for any pain. I’ll swing by later…. Gotta’ go fry Michael.”

Dhani groaned. Realising that wasn’t the words that meant pain killers she tried again. “Could you leave me some pain killers? Better yet stick in on drip?”

Ethan once again raised an eyebrow at her request. “I’ll, see what I can do.” He replied.

“Thanks.” She muttered, scowling at the increasing pain. As Suder reached the force field, she winced at the sound as it was taken down. And again as it was restored. “Hey, she called out, “what did Michael do?”

Ethan stopped and turned his head, looking at Dhani out of the corner of his eye. With a smile, he replied, “Nothing, it’s just fun to watch him squirm.”

She sat back, Ethan could be funny. She laughed as she imagined him hauling Michael up for something! And then almost cried as the pain swelled.

Ethan left the brig, still deep in thought. The day’s events had been interesting. Better than his average day. Brood, work, brood, read a book, brood, have something to eat, brood, try and sleep, brood some more….. But no, the Quick Virus and personnel reports was keeping him busy today, not to mention Dhani’s situation. Was there ever a normal day on the Galaxy? But then what was normal? Who would judge what was normal and what wasn’t? For all he knew, normal was what the Galaxy went through all the time, hell? Perhaps hell was the normal way of life? ~shut up! Just go back to your quarters and brood!~ he thought to himself as he stepped into an open turbolift.

"Dropping Eaves"

Ensign Miguel Sandoval
Dr. Teeda Chouu (NPC)

(Still in the closet--Aboard an unknown ship)

"Am being Ready?"

"Ready as I'll ever be......you sure this is going to work?"

"What are you being meaning?"

"I mean THIS.....just trying to bash the door in with nothing but our sof t squisy bodies seems a bit........unscientific."

(A Pause)

"Are you presently having a SCIENTIFIC suggestion Senora Chouu?"

"Nope.....just seems like an awfully hard looking door."

"Am being softer than the walls, so no other choice."

"Whatever......ready?"

"Ready"

>>NOW!!<<

With a loud SLAP of flesh against unyielding Industrial Plastic, Dr. Teeda Chouu of the Langemier Science Council, and Ensign Miguel Sandoval of the USS Galaxy richochetted off the door to their small closet/prison and slumped painfully to the floor.

"ouch"

"My thoughts exactly.......thats a mean door."

Gingerly rearranging himself into a sitting position, Miguel slapped the door in frustration. It was not made of metal like the surrounding walls, but instead seemed formed of some sort of high-grade plastic. That combined with the fact that it swung 'outwards' instead of sliding into the wall had made him assume that it would be possible to bash the thing open.

Next to him Dr. Chouu propped herself up on one elbow and sighed. "It did actually shake a bit when we hit it, but its still way too solid. Maybe if we had a battering ram of some sort."

Fat chance of that happening.

The only other objects in the pantry style closet was the empty dinner tray leftover from the meal provided by their captors, and a massive file cabinet sitting in the corner that probably weighed over 600 pounds.

"Si....I will bash with dinner plates....you try moving the cabinet.

Dr. Chouu stuck her tongue out at him.

Outside the room the two could hear the intermittant footsteps of boots on metal decking every so often. That combined with the humming of equipment and the gentle rocking of the floor beneath them had led them to assume that they were aboard a space vessel of some sort.

The footsteps out in the hall (or whatever lay on the other side of the door) didnt give any indication of having heard the rather pathetic escape attempt, but merely continued clomping along their merry way.

For long moments Teeda and Miguel could only stare at the walls, and each other wondering what to do next.

Their captors, whoever they were, seemed pretty resigned to ignoring the two scientists. As they waited, miguel and Teeda listened to two 'crewmen' greet each other in the hall, and stop to have a 'chat'

".......tell you Renny....this whole idea is starting to stink. The whole kidnapping thing was full of dumb risks."

".....gotta take risks to make a buck sometimes Mac......."

"....yeah yeah whatever Ren, I aint no coward, but there's a difference between being daring and being stupid......"

Miguel raised an eyebrow and looked at Teeda. Except for the skinny boy who had delivered their food, this was the first they heard from their captors.

By unspoken agreement both leaned in closer to the door to hear more of what was going on outside.

".....Dumb dumb dumb......no planning.......no intelligence......"

".......we got em didnt we?."

There was the sound of someone swearing.

"Got em? DAMN Renny there was supposed to be only ONE of them! One stupid Scientist bitch.......but we pull in the nets, and Oh-Hell We ended up kidnapping a Starfleet Officer!!!"

"So?"

"So.......dammit Renny this was supposed to be a minor political dispute between a bunch of red-neck asteroid miners,.....Now we just dragged in the entire Federation!!"

Miguel wondered about this. ~~~Obviously they were after Dr. Chouu and were not exxpecting me at all. But who are they working for? They dont sound like they like ANY of the Gryphons.~~~

".....contracts.....what use are they if we go off on these stupid expeditions....."

"....gotta grab the chances when you get them......'sides pay looked to have been pretty good."

The first speaker scoffed at his partner.

"....Pay? What pay? Who the hell we gonna collect from now?"

"....have a point there......how were we supposed to know those dumb Rock Miners would start a shooting war right as we were making our grab?"

Both prisoners sat bolt upright at that one. Up to now neither had been aware of the explosive events back on Langemeir. Apparantly things had changed for the worse rather dramatically.

"......dumb ass thing to do anyhow. Start a fight with a Federation Battleship sitting in the harbor......think they could have waited a week....."

".....Dumb Rock hounds...."

Miguel leaned in close to whisper to Teeda, "Things am being bad for captors yes? Maybe good for us?"

The lady scientist didnt look convinced. "Im not so sure. I still havent figured out who these guys are, but from the sound of it I dont think they are from the Gryphon Belt at all."

"Maybe being pirates.....Bounty hunters?" Miguel wondered.

"Maybe. Sounds like they were hoping to kidnap me and maybe make a profit ransoming me back to the Draysons......or maybe to the Troyers too, or even the highest bidder. Both factions have reasons for either wanting me returned safely, or wanting me out of the way permanently."

"But war being started instead?"

"Right. " Dr. Chouu nodded, "Who cares about a little kidnapping if the Troyers and Draysons are beating the crap out each other anyways? The Terraforming project is the least of nybodies worries now."

The 'Pirates continued thier conversation.

".....'sides, one little captured Starfleet Officer is the least of the Federaion's worries now......" The speakers continued to talk amongst themselves. "The way I hear it, their pretty little Battleship got nuked in the first go-round........"

".....Dang.......That'll piss somebody off............."

"......Yup....dumb move........the Fleet will tear this place apart....."

"....Federation aint like Klingons Renny."

"........No?......way I hear it .....things at Starfleet are a bit more hardnosed lately......."

~~~The Galaxy? Destroyed?~~~~ Miguel looked at Teeda with worry in his eyes.

She could only shrug......it was kinda hard to tell what was going.

"......yeah well getting your sissy little 'research-fleet' waxed by everybody from the Borg to the Dominion will do that, bout time they figured out what was going on."

"......Who's side you on anyway?......"

~~~Sissy little research fleet?~~~ Miguel could help but flinch at that comment. The whole reason he joined Starfleet was because he truly beleived it was an instrument of sceince and exploration........maybe these Pirates hada point.

His musings were cut short however by another sound. A new set of footsteps were approaching, softer and less akward than the others.

Apparently the two gossipy pirates had notice d it as well.

".....well well well, must be chow time for our guests....Greetings Freak! Whats on the menu this evening?"

"Har....har.....Dont let him scare you Freak. We just want to see whats under the tray."

".....Hot rations.....spices, and a couple of napkins? Damn Freak.....whats all this crap? This isnt the Hotel Risa......"

There came the sudden clattering of somthing metal striking the hard deck, and the two pirates broke out into loud guffaws. Their boots tromped heavily on the deck as they moved off leaving their poor silent victim behind.

For long moments there was nothing but silence while Miguel and Teeda strained their ears against the door. The sudden very loud click of the electronic lock made them both jump back, and with a soft pop of air the closet swung open once again.

It was the same pale boy from before. Dark touseled hair, gleaming blue eyes, and an amazing sence of grace and balance. This time however the peircing eyes were cast downwards at the sad little food tray the lad held between two delicate hands.

The lid was cracked, and food splattered all over the tray, and some even on the front of the boy's light blue tunic.

There was at once a sence of abject tragedy and shame about the lad as he knelt gracefully before the two and deposited the sad little tray.

Almost reluctantly he used one of the napkins to try and arrange it into aneater piles, but to no avail.

Clearly saddened he stood to retreat when Dr. Chouu suddenly found her voice and siad, "Wait."

He did. Pivoting smoothly in mid stride to pierce her with those intense blue eyes. If he hadnt been so young, Chouu could almost find her heart fluttering at those eyes.

"Wait please." she asked again. "Who....who are you?"

The lad cocked his head to one side listening intently but made no reply.

"One of the crew of this ship? We are on a ship right? Another prisoner perhaps?"

No reply, but the lad was studying her intently.

Miguel cleared his throat and tried. "Hello yes? Do you Speak Common? No? Habla Espanol? "

No luck. Dr. Chouu tried a few more languages that she knew, but the boy seemed perfectly content to just listen to them. It was probably pointless, becasue the other pirates had spoken to him in English, and he had obeyed the request to 'wait'.

The two scientists exchanged glances. This was going nowhere.

Apparently the lad decided the same thing for quick as a wit, he turned on a heel and glided out of the pantry.

What the hell kind of ship was this?

"Stayin' Alive"

Lt. JG Dr. Klaus Fienberg,
Medical Officer

Location: The Halls of the Galaxy

Klaus still needed to work things out for himself. Cmdr. Dallas has lifted the pain. He would need to return for more therapy, but there was no time.

He would likely be needed in Sickbay, again. His work was never done.

Now Dr. Fienberg had realized something.While the Department heads were the more recognized people, the allstars. But Doctors like himself, and the Nurses were the true backbone of Sickbay. And while they were supplements for the Bosses, the bosses could not opperate without them.

His life began to make sense at long last. A man trying to survive. Stayin' Alive.

It finally clicked in his brain. -If I stay alive. I can help others do the same.-

It almost seemed impossible now that it was so hard for Klaus to accept this. He still didn't, but he had too.

Location: Main Sickbay

"I do not know if anyone cares, but I am alright now." Klaus immediately took a position.

"A 'Sensor-ational' Idea"

by
Flight Officer Jasmine Heloi
Vanguard Squadron Exec

&
Commander Cassius Henderson
Executive Officer

Jasmine Heloi had managed to don her flight suit in the time it took her to go from the fighter bay to the bridge. Admittedly it did require a few contortions that were rather improper for a Starfleet vessel, but she managed in due time. When she reached the bridge, the now properly attired pilot stepped out into the chaos that was only to be expected after a terrorist attack. "Commander!" the Betazoid called, looking around the bridge before finally spotting him.

Jasmine approached him quickly, deftly avoiding a crewman, "Commander, if I'm not mistaken, that shot took out our sensors and external communication. That correct?" She trusted that Cass would recall her background in engineering as she asked the question, otherwise it would take too much time to explain how she guessed.

Cassius turned around from where he'd been assisting Ensign Haverlock and Ensign Biessman with tactical, spotted Jasmine, and made the connection about her background. "Yes it did. Lieutenant Nong's working on getting communications back up but I need some form of sensors."

"That'd be where I come in," Heloi replied with a slight smile, "We can use Vanguard Squadron to set up a rudimentary sensor array. We'll deploy around the ship to provide 360 degrees of sensor coverage in all navigational directions. We should be able to shunt the data directly through the internal communications grid provided that we stick close to the Galaxy's hull. I'll also be able to send out scouts to see if we can determine where the attack originated. I'll need to borrow one of the engineers and an operations officer to get it to work, however. This'll probably take a bit of macgyvering to actually function."

"Sounds like a plan," Cass said, knowing that she knew better than him whether it was feasible or not. He couldn't fathom the meaning of the word 'macgyvering' but whatever it was, she would take care of it. "Gather whoever you need and deploy, priority one."

She nodded, "You got it, Commander. I'll be in touch when we're operational."

"You know what to do, Jasmine," he replied.

With a somewhat half-hearted wave, the XO of Vanguard Squadron left the bridge after summoning an engineer and an ops officer. There was a lot to do, and not enough time to do it in...

OOC: Takes place an indeterminate time after "Rain of Fire"

"Breaking Point"

***
Lammergeir
Banquet Hall
Outer Corridor
***

The screams had faded away to sobs and moans of the injured. Lights flickered, died, and fought their way back to shaky dimness, only to start the cycle over again.

Coughing fits took over as the reigning remnants of sound, softly undermined by crying. The dull thuds of the impacts had disappeared. Only the impressions remained.

The rough and tumble of rock fell away somewhere, and flashes of light sprinkled around the dust-caked faces of the survivors in the rubble.

"Justin Drayson, are you here?" The call was framed by a face followed by a body to clamour through the new opening in the wall.

"He's not here!" A flashlight flew across to the source of the voice. An arm reached up to cover eyes that were unrecognizable in the cake of blood and dirt.

"Get these survivors off to the infirmary. We'll move on." And so the dig to the next pocket carried on. The death toll had climbed.

The rescue teams had combed through a half dozen pockets of citizens left stranded when the bombs fell. It was in the next pocket that Laura Sellman, a Drayson judge was located. Since she was the only member of government located, she had been named acting leader of the Drayson Institute.

"Give me a report on what happened." She coughed out particles of dirt as she was led out of the pockets of injured and dying. It was sickening. A medic tended to her bleeding eye.

"Reports are still scattered. The Federation ship has set up communication relay points that help, but the outlook isn't bright, ma'am." The bright lights of the triage blinded her as she was carried in on the stretcher she was lain on. The smell of burnt flesh, death, and blood permeated the air. Not even the overpowering aroma of antiseptics could dampen the depressive nature.

"Drayson is out of contact. We can't raise anyone there. We fear the worst." She was being carried into one of the more cleaner sections of the triage. Probably a new section. She was immediately tended to by a trio of doctor's and nurses.

"Never mind me! There are worse off coming out. Take care of them first!" She coughed and spit up blood. "That's an order." Her features may be battered and dark, but her eyes burned fierce and dark. The medical technicians took their leave, but left one technician behind to do what needed to be done.

"How many dead?"

"We're at 3670 and counting, Director. Thousands wounded. As I've said, the Federation ship is coordinating efforts to establish communications with the other locations."

"Any word on who is behind the attacks?"

"There have been captured, but they aren't talking sense. Some are blaming the Romulans, some Breen, some Starfleet. Most are blaming..." His voice trailed off.

"Who, mister! The culprits *must* be dealt with. They shall not escape our vengeance!"

"They are saying they are under orders from the Troyers, Ma'am." For all the sounds of sickness, injury, dead, and dying, all fell in a virtual silence in the sphere encircling only Laura Sellman and this young aide without a name as the concept screened out all else.

"It would be just like them." She coughed up more blood.

"What would be just like them?" Another series of orderlies had carried in Justin Drayson.

"Commodore Redinger has been able to determine the missile trajectories were from the Troyer region of the Belt. The sensor array on Lammergeir was able to pinpoint the telemetry as being from or near Troyer. It would seem to support the theory."

"That dirty bastard!" Justin Drayson made every effort to sit up in heated anger, only to be pushed back down by his doctor and orderlies. "He killed my daughter..." New tears, his face already caked by them, fell down his face. The image of his daughter decompressing flared up in his eyes again.

"Andrea is dead?" Laura fell back on her own cot, the implications rising with the bile in her throat. Andrea was like a daughter to her. She loved her as her own. Her own grandchildren played with Laura's kids. This brought a sharp touch of anxiety to her. They'd been at the fairgrounds below.

"I want them dead. Assemble the fleet. Destroy those Troyer bastards. They've done enough harm."

"Director! We can't do that! We'll be no better than the terrorists. We don't even know if it was them or not! Even this Starfleet has been blamed for the attacks. I will not abide by an order to attack our own." She went into coughing fits as blood flaked out. She grew faint.

"The fires came from their part of the Belt, Laura. If they did not launch the attacks, they were at least a part of it for letting it happen. It's quite obvious that they are opposed to our coalition. They had no intention of arbitrarily following the decision the Federation Ambassador would have lain down."

"You are talking about civil war, Director! As much as I detest their political maneuvers, I can't see how instigating an attack against them would solve anything!"

"They have those damnable mercenaries in their pocket, Laura. They sold their morals out. Roland Troyer is a traitor."

"Justin, you're not thinking clearly. Your daughter just died. Let me handle things."

"You are not about to take my power away, Laura! No, the time has come to make a stand. Send the fleet."

"I'm using my powers as the only remaining council here to block your move, Justin. There are children involved."

"Then you're fired, Laura." His eyes focused on the ceiling and away frm her. They were hard and cold.

"You can't fire me! You need support from the rest of the council for that!"

"Seeing as there is no other council members present, and we are now in an emergency situation, I have the power to do whatever I deem fit for my people, pursuant to the Emergency Powers Act, and you know it. If you want to contest it, I'm sure I can find a few supporters to name into positions now vacant, don't you think? You're either with us, or against us, Laura. Make your choice."

Judge Laura Sellman fell silent. She knew she couldn't stop him. At least until she garnered support or located other council members who would side with her. She much doubted it though.

"I'll take that as you are in agreement, then." He gestured the aide over. "Get me Hunter Redinger. He has a job to do. Those Troyer bastards are going to pay with their lives."

"First aid"

by
Turan Trelar,
juvenile Quentite "ambassador"
with an authorized appearance of the unconscious Pilot Tyten

Turan crawled the Jeffries tube. This was like exploring a cavern down on Quentin. Not really. Not really that difficult. This tube was illuminated by a pale blue fluorescent light. This tube didn't have extremely narrow or flooded sections and there weren't any sharp protruding edges immediately punishing any inattentiveness.

Finally the tube ended with a bulkhead, closed with a lid similar to the one of the lift cabin. Again, the Quentite boy pulled the half circular handle and turned it to the right. The lid swung open to the outside.

Turan looked out of the hole. The smell of freshly prepared food filled the air. Obviously this Jeffries tube access lid was somewhere near 10-forward. The Quentite giant climbed out of the hole and carefully closed the lid. He had to find other crewmen - and 10-forward was full of them almost at any time.

Turan walked towards the lunch areas two winged automatic door which gave way to an obviously empty area. Turan entered and looked around. The room as indeed empty. Anything looked normal except the broken plate and the pair of boots laying under one of the tables. A pair of boots? The juvenile Quentite ambassador decided to have a closer closer look and walked to the table. The boots were not empty. They belonged to the corpse of an officer lying there bleeding. Was he unconscious or dead? The man's eyes were closed. Turan wet the back of his hand and held it over the man's mouth and nose. - A cold feeling. So the officer was alive and breathing. Searching for the source of the poodle of blood, he cut away the injured man's uniform trouser leg to find a sharp piece of bone protruding through the leg's skin with a thin rivulet of blood pooling out of the injury. The former Quentite boy scout pressed his thumb on the leg a little upwards from the cut until he found the point to stop the pooling. Turan grabbed a tablecloth and ripped it to strips, wound a strip around the broken leg two or three times, pressed a spoon on the point where the bleeding stopped and wound the strip of tablecloth around it for another three times. Finally he knotted the ends and pulled the knot tight until the bleeding dried up. The officer was out of danger now of bleeding to death.

Turan sat down and relaxed.

((OOC: If anyone's interested in running into everyone's favorite meddling journalist, let me know :) I'm always up for JPs! -Laurel))

"The Hell with That"

by
Emmett Bregman

I hate Starfleet.

No, really, I do. First I get invited to come aboard the prestigious USS Galaxy, interview a few people, throw together a first rate documentary, and go home. Then I meet up with the classic 'need to know and you don't need to know' bullshit, and now, to top off that whopping piece of pie I get told to stay put in these offices until someone tells me I can leave.

Why is that, do you ask? Because someone, and I'm not naming names, decided to get this bloody ship stuck in some sort of terrorist attack. As if the billowing smoke off of the colony isn't enough of a frickin' clue. Here I am, sitting right on top of the next biggest story since October 1st, and what do they tell me?

Stay put.

The hell with that.

*******

Tick.

Emmett stared at the clock with every intention of throttling it if it grew any louder. He could almost swear the thing was trying to annoy him. He needed information, any sort of information, and sitting in the office was getting him absolutely nothing.

Tock.

Damn thing. Why anyone would want to have a loud-enough-to-wake-the-dead grandfather clock installed in their office truly mystified him. He had been watching the clock for the past ten minutes, convinced that it was getting louder the longer he stared at it. Jasmine Heloi had left him and his camera crew only fifteen minutes previously, but Emmett was a man of action.

Or, to put it more truthfully, he was a man who had caught the scent of a major story brewing. The documentary could be pushed aside for the moment, right now he could be an up-front witness to history in the making. Flight Officer Heloi ordered him to stay put.

His response? The hell with that.

"Come on, we're leaving," Emmett Bregman stated when he had definitely had enough.

"But, we were ordered to stay put," Dale protested. He was such a good little starfleet officer. How disgustingly cute.

"It was merely a suggestion," Emmett said without even a moment's worth of thought, "There were no orders there. Come *on,* we've got a story to cover."

Shep was already packing up his gear, but Dale was still remaining stubbornly seated. That was enough for the director. "Dale, who is your commanding officer for the duration of my time here?"

"You are, in terms of the documentary."

"Exactly, so get your ass up and out of that chair and follow me!" And like the good little starfleet officer he was, he obeyed orders.

Emmett stole a glance outside at the still smoking hole in the colony and shook his head. He needed to know what the hell was going on, and if it took a little creative thinking to get his way - he'd do it.

A few moments later, Emmett with his camera crew in tow left the office. He had a story to cover.

"Alien Ghost"

Flight Officer (reinstated) T'Shani A'Akledorian

----------

** Slightly preceeding and concurrent with "Rain of Fire" **

=^= Enroute to Lammergier from Vanric, Gryphon Belt =^=

[...and the estimated time to arrival at the Lammergier terminal is twenty minutes. Thank you for flying United Spacelines, and please come and fly the 'Friendly Skies' again.]

Tish grimaced at the trite, canned spiel from the spaceliner's captain. Scowling, she looked out, past the transluminum window, peering *down* on the Gryphon Belt.

~There it is...~

Her hearts pumped a little faster, as she caught sight of the USS Galaxy. Her *home*.

~Heh...~ she laughed bitterly to herself. She had *never* thought she'd call the Galaxy *that*. But, after what had happened in phase-time... she was worn out, scared, and defeated. She just needed to be *home*; wherever that was.

~Sure as hell, Rex will rub this in...~

But then, she had been *different* before all this, hadn't she?

~Yes...~

She peered out again. Not at the scene of the liner slowly spiraling *down* to Lammergier...not at the Galaxy, as she moved slowly and graciously to maintain trim against the floating rocks.

No, she peered at the...the *alien* ghost, shadowing her from within the window. The face she looked at...it wasn't one of a warrior who had vanquished her foe in battle. It wasn't of one who had found her long-lost friend. It wasn't even the one of the scared little girl, lashing out at anything that threatened her...

It was just...

*Empty*

She studied that face...

The reflection's antennas hung low, over the woman's brow. Her eyes - once bright-yellow with passion - were dimmed and muted. Her skin was pale, hanging off of the prominent cheekbones that pronounced themselves against the undernourished vestiges.

~A ghost...~ she thought. ~What have I done? What have I bec...~

*FLASH!*

Before T'Shani could finish her thoughts, she was momentarily *blinded* as a strange red-orange energy bolt sped past the tranport.

For the first time in two weeks, she spoke: "What the <Felk> is that!?"

A person screamed, as the spaceplane shuddered, rolled, and then arighted itself.

"Look! Oh my god!"

Tish followed the pointing-woman's finger as it drew a line to the now-destroyed pressure domes protecting the Lammergier colony.

~Oh, <rhooz>...~

She had to get to the Galaxy, now!

1343