"The Training Wheels Come Off"

1Lt. T'Shani a'Akledorian
CO, SFMC Furies

2Lt. Branwen London
XO/Staff Psychologist, SFMC Furies

2Lt. Gregory Ward
Blue Team Leader

2Lt. Jebidiah Baile
Red Team Leader

NPCs:

Lt. Coja Rembala, Furies Intelligence Liaison
SgtMaj. Carl Johnson, Furies Command NCO

== Deck 4: Furies' Mission Briefing Room ==

T'Shani a'Akledorian stood behind the small dias at the front of the Furies Mission Briefing Room, or "MBR". Last night--among other events--Cass had informed her that the Furies would be performing S&R maneuvers planteside. She had intended to brief her Lieutenant that evening, but Cass had wanted her to hold off and wait to see what happened after the dinner Captain M'Kantu had with the Hydran Commander. All had gone well (so far), and their mission had been green-lighted.

Also, Tish had had somewhat of a "Night From Hell", anyways, with *both* Corran and Cassius. She was in NO mood to think about that now; she had a mission to run, damn Cassius and the rest.

Branwen was the first to enter the room. She was excited. Everybody had noticed the battlecruiser, and speculation was rife. She was hoping for a chance to prove herself in action.

"Lieutenant London reporting for duty, ma'am." As XO she was glad she got there first.

Greg was walking through the corridors to the briefing room with his platoon XO in the form of Pete "Wrong Way" Stacker. The young Gunnery Sgt had earned the nickname following a firefight during the war with the Dominion when Stacker accidentally caused the artillery to hit Ward's own unit which was also Stacker's. Every so often, Greg would often ask the younger officer where "North South" was on the artillery orders just to give the younger officer hell because he was his friend.

Greg's mind was partially focused on the return of one Lieutenant JG Naranda Sol Roswell. She'd apparently went underground after someone tried to kill her or that's what Digby told him prior to the short woman's transfer off of the Galaxy. Greg had felt a unique connection to the younger woman but right now, as he and Stacker closed in on the Mission Briefing Room, Greg's mind slowly started to crawl into the dark part of it's self as he motioned for Stacker to get a squad of his Blues ready while he went into the briefing room himself. Once inside of the room, he came to attention and said in a clear voice Blue Team Lead, Second Lieutenant Ward reporting for duty." before giving Lieutenant London a nod before moving to his spot at the table.

"I want Red One and Red Two ready in twenty minutes. Full combat gear and on standby." Baile instructed his gunny as he headed towards the briefing room. "I want Nitro to take as many shrapnel grenades as he can find as well as jumpers. Each man carries double water rations and a backup weapon. Keep the backpacks at around 100 pounds each. I want them mobile, not fucking crawling like maggots."

Furji nodded and saluted his CO as they reached the briefing room. Baile himself was already in combat gear, or rather he looked like he always did. Green BDU-pants, black t-shirt with the USMC insignia and with his sidearm strapped to his thigh in a holster. And of course - the hat. But this was business time. Now the only thing that existed in Baile's mind was the work to come. "Lieutenant Baile reporting in." he said after coming to attention for the briefest of moments. The focus in his eyes couldn't be missed as he sat down. Anyone messing with the Marines this day would die.

A few moments later, Johnson, Asaki, and Lieutenant Rembala entered in as well, taking up seats near the back of the room.

"All personnel accounted for, Lieutenant," Valentine informed as he tapped a few things into his padd.

"Very well," Tish acknowledged. "As most of you are aware, we've got company in the Mirusa system."

Branwen just nodded.

Greg looked over at the Andorian woman and gave her a half-smile. It didn't matter if it was the Hydrans, the Q, the Borg or whatever-nothing was going to fuck with the Galaxy's crew anymore.

Tish bobbed her antennas in agreement. "Now I know your feelings the Hydrans, especially what happened during Havras. And believe me," she leaned forward on the dias, "I've had plenty of run-ins with them, as well." Briefly, her mind flashed through the events from a year and a half ago, at Rel'kessan.

Bran had not seen any serious action yet. She was excited, yet also a little bit scared.

Greg looked over at Tish and nodded gravely as he kept his attention on the young Andorian woman.

She continued, walking out from behind the dias to stand beside the viewscreen at the front of the room. Looking to Valentine, she nodded once. A moment later, the viewscreen lit up as several dossier's--with pictures--flashed across the screen, then shrunk to each corner of the screen. The last one--a picture of a thin-faced man with a long nose and old-fashioned wire-frame spectacles--stayed zoomed at the screen's center.

T'Shani indicated the picture with her hand, "This is Doctor Nicholas Jericho, Site Director of the Mirusa Six Exploratory Project. Some of you may recognize him on his recent work with the Iconian Project that was detailed in *Scientific Galactica* a few months back."

"Okay, I take it that he lost something and we, being the talented finders and removers of Starfleet, have to find it?" Greg said in a questioning voice.

"Yes, his team *is* missing," T'Shani confirmed. "And we get the lovely job of finding them. Amidst a full platoon of Imperial Guards."

"Ma'am where can I find more information on the Hydrans?" Branwen blushed. She knew it was probably a stupid question, yet it was even more stupid for her to go away and without any information. "Why, for example, would they go after these people?"

"I can answer that," a voice rumbled from the back of the room.

Greg turned his head just enough to look over at the unit's new intelligence officer. Coja Rembala took the position after his predecessor, Private First Class Salu Digby left the unit in order to obtain full intelligence operative training so that she could be more capable of doing the whole "spook" aspect of her job.

The new Kenyan Intel officer assigned on detachment to the Furies stood up from his seat next to Johnson. The tall, muscular Masaai looked to T'Shani for permission to speak. Nodding once, Tish yielded the floor to him.

"It is no secret that the Hydran boundary is less than two sectors away," his richly-inflected basso voice rumbled. "As such, they've become very interested in Doctor Jericho's findings in this system, especially those on Mirusa VI."

Coja's large hands touched at a few controls below the viewer, replacing the dossiers with a bird's-eye sensor capture of the planet's surface.

London watched the display. There wasn't much to see at first, and then she saw some pyramids. Nothing that interesting to an aliens species she would have thought. "Any idea what they are after?"

Greg looked over at Coja, "If you need my help Mister Rembala, I can speak Hydran thanks to one of the previous hosts that my mother had due to the time that the symbiont spent as a linguist." Greg said, not arrogantly or in a manner that he hoped that the Intel officer didn't think he was showing off, as the trill wanted to be helpful.

Greg's combined marine and special ops training took over then and he quickly took in the outline of the buildings and the general area around them. Even though the special operations troopers that was in the furies were now evenly spread around the Galaxy's marine detachment and one of them, Digby, had left-it wouldn't hurt to see if the first LT would want them in the field for this.

Coja simply nodded deferentially to Lieutenant Ward, indicating that he would solicit the Blue Team Leader's expertise, if needed.

Turning back to London, "We are not sure, Lieutenant London, but the discovery of several of the gollums that are found within the main structure's entryways seem to have an uncanny resemblance to the Hydran species."

That was interesting Branwen thought.

Coja relinquished the floor back to T'Shani. "In addition to our own missing personnel, the Hydran's are missing some of their own guards." Drawing a breath, she tried to push out the feelings of unease she felt in her next words.

"Commander Henderson will be leading the expedition, and will act as the Commander In Charge on the ground. We will be tasked with actually searching the main structure--with the cooperation of the Hydrans--to find the missing scientists and guards.

"Blue Team will secure the perimeter, base camp, and inner entrance ways. Red Team will perform the structural search. Standard drop ship insertions. Questions?" She stole a glance to each of her Lieutenant's: London looked excited and nervous, like one of those small lap-dogs just waiting to perform. Baile seemed to be impatient, yet focused. Ward was hard to read. He sat, unblinking, looking at the screen.

Turning her gaze up to Johnson (who had just been promoted to Sergeant Major), Tish continued. "Major Johnson will brief you on our operational parameters, now." She stepped aside as the tall, solidly-built Los Angeline marched to the front of the room.

Briefly, Johnson caught Jeb's eye and gave him a "here comes the shit" look, before starting in.

Greg was a professional with several years of being both a marine and being one of just under one hundred troopers trained as a special operations Marine or an Advance Recon Commando as the official term was. Those trained as ARCs would often be sent into the field separate from the others to handle any kind of problem that might or would come up that would counter the unit's current mission. Thus his attention was focused solely on the screen in front of him.

"This is a standard S&R op. Since most of the structure is unmapped, we don't know how tight space may get, so only minimum gear is to be carried: Tac Suits, hand phasers, and BR55s, plus any other "toys" you may think necessary," he smiled, knowing that Baile would get the joke.

Greg smiled for a moment, just a moment as the briefing continued. Maybe it was time to break out some of the new equipment that they were given by the Colonel when he visited a while back at the appointment of Tish to the post of detachment head.

"Signals are as follows: 'Green' is go. 'Blue' is objective found. 'Yellow' is hostile contact. 'Red' is hostile engagement. 'Black' is abort. 'White' is retreat. Any questions?"

Greg shook his head and his focused turned back to the Andorian LT.

Johnson turned to T'Shani, "Ma'am," he nodded, then marched off again to the back of the room.

"All right, Furies. Colonel Gessekensett told me you are the best, and from your training, I believe it. Now the training wheel's come off. Let's find our scientists, and get off this forsaken world as quickly and efficiently as possible. Dismissed to your Teams. Have them strapped in thirty, departure in forty-five. Questions?" she looked around. "No? Good. Dismissed, Marines."

Greg stood up and walked over to Tish. He was a good four inches shorter than the six foot six Andorian woman but even he had to appreciate the woman's strengths as a Marine.

He waited until Tish noticed that the normally quiet Marine was standing next to her before asking, "Do you think that the special operations troopers that are spread among the detachment are going to be needed, ma'am?

"You have--aside from myself--about six fully-trained advanced recon commandos in the Furies that could also add to the quickness of the search, Lieutenant." Greg asked in a tone that he knew that Tish could hear him in because asking the head of anything if the ARCs were needed was not something that you asked for everyone to overhear.

Tish's antennas perked, in contemplation. "Send an ARC with each fire team, to assist in the operations, Lieutenant. I will rely on your advisory role to keep me abreast of their ops." And with that, she turned to get ready for departure.

((OOC: Science Team Members - Feel free to organize yourselves into pairs or go solo. You can either help dig, help go through files, help extend base camp, or go exploring. The choice is yours. Feel free to ask me questions. - Laurel))

"Coming to an Understanding"

by Lt. Jasmine Heloi
Chief Science Officer/Vanguard Exec

& Dr. Nicholas Jericho [Frank]

------ Mirusa Project Base Camp, Mirusa VI ------

The first thing that she noticed as the transporter beam released her was the heat. To use some poetic license, it was the type of heat that could drain a body of all moisture in five seconds tops. Jasmine could already feel a sheen of sweat form across her brow and she restrained the urge to wipe it off with the back of her hand. The desert survival uniforms that supplies had provided all the teams with helped some, but for someone such as herself that was from a more moderate climate it did not help nearly enough.

The Betazoid shaded her eyes with her hand as she glanced about the planet surface. "Dr. Jericho?" she called, addressing the bald man standing to the side of the landing area. The Betazoid stepped forward holding out her hand, "I am Lt. Jasmine Heloi, Chief Science Officer on the Galaxy. We," she gestured with her free hand towards her team behind her, "Would like to extend an offer to help with your work."

Doctor Nicholas Jericho was not having a good morning. First the sudden flood of Starfleet and Hydran 'Investigators', and now this? He wasn't going to get any work down, with all of his diggers distracted by the sudden influx of new people. He turned around and frowned. "Lieutenant, I'm going to ask you a question and I want you to answer truthfully. Are you trying to steal my find? Take my funding? Because if not, what purpose do... you... Are you Adora Starfire?"

She was never, ever, ever getting away from that identification. Maybe she should consider hiring a plastic surgeon just to avoid situations just like this one. Glancing towards the heavens in an obvious plea for assistance, the Science Chief used one of her famous smiles as she nodded, "Once upon a time, I was on that show, yes, sir." The Betazoid quickly changed the subject before he continue speaking about Starfire, "However, to answer your questions I have no intention of stealing your find or taking your funding. My Captain instructed me to place myself and my team at your disposal to aide in your research until such time as we locate your missing team members."

"Ah..." Jericho nodded, as if he'd made some sort of discovery. He'd thought she'd looked familiar. Serving in Starfleet? Probably some kind of publicity stunt. "Well, 'at my disposal' I can work with. I could use some extra diggers... and somebody to reorganize my files. I'm afraid they're terribly disorganized."

"I'm sure some sort of arrangement can be made, Doctor," she knew that they were not glorified 'gofers,' however what information they could glean from Jericho's records would be helpful.

"Excellent," he replied, features softening for a moment. Jericho was a tough old bastard, but... credit where credit was due. "I really do appreciate the help Miss Sta... Lieutenant. We are somewhat understaffed."

Heloi nodded, "Its our pleasure, Doctor. And it's Lt. Heloi or Jasmine. If you could outline where we can be of most use to you, I'll deploy my people so we can get to work." The Betazoid glanced back and caught Shay's gaze. She had an idea where the two of them might be of the most use - namely going through Jericho's records. To 'organize' them, of course.

"Well, definitely my records... Ah... If you have any engineers, we could use some help expanding the settlement, so that it's more protected from the elements. My project engineer, Mr. Obaleshe, has been wonderful, but he doesn't have the resources of a starship," Jericho replied. Yes, this could have it's advantages. "Otherwise, have them report to my dig manager. I'll have her teach them the basics of excavation and recording."

"Like I said, Doctor, we can definitely come to an arrangement. I'll leave you to your work for the moment, Doctor, so I can deploy my people. I'll speak with you again later about what you've found here on Mirusa and where your missing people might have been when they disappeared."

"Excellent," Jericho nodded, "Well, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to supervise our excavations for the day. We're starting on the temple block surrounding the main temple."

"Of course. Thanks again, Doctor," Jasmine nodded, before turning back to her team to deal out assignments. This was certainly going to be an interesting venture. Then again, whomever said that away missions were boring weren't in the same Starfleet she was.

"Regarding the Naked Andorian That Ruined Our Evening"

Commander Cass Henderson, Executive Officer

Lieutenant Commander Ekoma Janx, Head Tactical Analyst/Starfleet Tactical Liaison

****

Lt. Commander Janx's Quarters,
Deck 5,
USS Galaxy

Cass woke up early and exhausted. After the game of Strategema and the message to Mouse, he'd only gotten about four hours of sleep. He knew that he had to beam down to the planet in a little over two hours, but he had something he *needed* to take care of before he went. There was no way that Cass was going to leave things as they were with Ekoma, after the *disaster* the previous night.

So he switched into his combat fatigues, which he had decided would be ideal for this away mission. Midway between the standard duty uniform and the combat armor, the fatigues would give the Hydrans an impression of waryness, while still being light enought to let his body breath in the desert heat. Then he walked down the hall to Ekoma's quarters, where she was no doubt getting ready for her shift.

Janx sighed inwardly, a conflicting array of emotions battering against the young Trill. The events of the last night had been...*horrendous*, to say the least. Everything had been going so well, so *perfectly*. The man she was pining for had made it clear that he had wanted to make love to her, something that she had *yet* to experience. Being a virgin definitely sucked. Especially at her age.

She *had* been looking forward to giving that up, last night. But then the Blue Bitch--'Lieutenant T'Shani a'Akledorian--had ruined everything, and Cass seemed a little too nonplussed about it, in Janx's opinion. Instead of kicking the intrusive femmalien out, he stood there...*negotiating* with her!

It had been too much for Ekoma; she bolted as soon as she could. A part of her felt bad about it, but another felt righteously indignant. However, it was the former that was winning over the latter.

~Maybe I should...~ her mind wandered at the possibility of going back to Cass's quarters. What would she find? Him alone? The Andorian dominatrix holding him hostage, strapped to his bed? Or would he slyly wrap his arm around the Marine commander's hips and smile sweetly, while telling her to 'get lost'?

*BEEP BEEP*

Her mindrush stopped at the sound of the doorchime. "Come in," she called back into the main room from her bathroom, where she was still trying to get her short-cropped blonde hair to set right.

Cass entered the room slowly, not exactly sure what his plan was. He wasn't exactly sure how to go about convincing her that what had happened the previous night shouldn't change thier feelings, just that he knew that he had to convince her. He took a moment to look around her quarters, before calling back to her. "Ekoma? Do you have a moment?"

Ekoma froze, trying not to let a surprised "Eeep" from escaping her mouth. ~Dammit!~ she swore to herself, resolving once again to *always* check the security screeen before letting anyone into her quarters. She did *not* want to talk to him, not yet anyway.

Clearing her throat softly, she tried to sound stern by using her 'bridge-voice': "Please leave, Commander."

Cass sighed. It was to be expected. Perhaps he wouldn't be too dissapointed to see T'Shani transfer away. Not that he even remotely believed that whoever she was working for would allow it to happen. And not that it was going to help his current situation.

He shook his head. "If that's how you want it, Eko. I'll miss your company."

Cass turned around and headed for the door. He did have an away team to run.

"Wait, Com--," she sighed heavily, her heart caught in her throat, especially when he had used her nickname, 'Eko', that he had given her the other night, on the holodeck. "Wait Cassius," she turned back to the central living room of her quarters. "What...what happened, last night, Cassius?" she asked sincerely as she slowly approached him.

He caught himself before he could pass entirely through her doorway, turning around and walking back inside. Well... He didn't exactly want to talk about Tish. But if it meant salvaging his relationship with Janx, which was far better for him than his experiences with Rima Pennington had ever been, then he'd do it in a heartbeat. "Do you mind if I have a seat? This is going to take a moment."

She sighed, looked at the wall-chrono, then motioned him over to a seat. "I've got thirty minutes, before Beta starts," she informed.

"Yeah, me too. I'm leading the away team to the surface today," he said, gesturing to his surface fatigues as he sat down. "Though... I told you that last night."

Ekoma only nodded in silence, waiting for him to tell her what had occurred between him and the Andorian ~...bitch,~ her mind supplied. She knew not to rush Cassius; he'd say what he needed to say, when he needed to say it.

"To be perfectly honest, it's not entirely *her* fault," Cassius started... How was he supposed to explain the Rel'Kessan mission? It was classified, but... "She and I were assigned to a classified mission over a yeah ago, before the Battle of Havras."

"In the course of this mission, I saved her life," he continued, getting closer to the important part. "I'm fairly sure she started having feelings for me as a result. I figured out that she did a few weeks ago, but didn't say anything. I wasn't sure what to say, truthfully."

"As for last night," he replied, "I guess she decided that it was time to tell me how she felt. Why she was naked... I have no idea."

It made sense. Well, at least part of it. She still felt as if Cassius weren't telling her all of what had *really* happened, but decided to let it go. "What did you tell her?" she asked meekly, though her green eyes met his.

"I ordered her to explain herself," he replied. Her body language told him that she still wasn't totally sure of the completeness of what he was saying. But there wasn't much he could do about it. Even *Rima* didn't know who he really worked for. "She gave me a half answer and left. There's something more going on there, but... It's more complicated than I care to guess at."

Janx had to ask the next question, her body shifting at her unease. "Do you love her, Cassius?"

"No," he replied. That was an easy question. "Tish, though I do consider her my friend, would have to do a lot of changing for me to even consider her in that way. I'll admit that she's physically attractive, but she's too unstable emotionally to be truly appealing. One of the things that I like most about you is that you're fairly grounded."

Ekoma's breath caught, for a brief second. She wasn't sure if that was to be taken as a compliment, or not. She had learned--from his tutoring her during the Bridge Command Certification training--that Cassius usually looked at things very directly, and also voiced them as such. He was being honest, true, but wasn't apologizing. But, she realized that she shouldn't expect him to, either.

"Cassius," she said while trying to keep the exasperation from coloring her tone. She leaned forward, taking his large, long-fingered hands in hers, small and delicate. "I like you...alot," her skin flushed a little brighter, "I think that was, um...evident, last night," she tried to keep the hot blush from growing across her face, to no avail. "But if we're going to *be* anything, I want to know exactly *what* you want that to be."

She sat back again, though still holding his hand, her thumb caressing his fingers. "Lovers?" her eyebrows quirked high. "Friends with benefits? Acquaintances? I need to know this Cassius. I've given my heart away before, only to have it handed back to me because that man decided to chase someone more--I don't know--*exciting*."

She shook her head, chuckling to herself. "Hell, I haven't even told you, Cassius, I'm still a virgin. Can you believe it?! At my age? I guess I'm waiting for the right guy. And last night..." she trailed off, her eyes wide and meeting his, seaching; hoping for some understanding. ~Don't hurt me, Cassius. Please, don't hurt me.~

"... was incredible," he finished for her. "It was the best evening that I've had in... since the Academy, really. Well, it was before T'Shani showed up. I want to have a real relationship with you, Eko. Everything that's happened to us so far tells me that we'd be good for each other. And don't knock yourself. 28 is still very young. You have plenty of life left in you yet."

She smiled brightly at his acceptance and kindness. Her friends, back in her Trill home province of Jehnak, had always given her a hard time about being the resident virgin; they had all "made it" by the time they had started high school. But Ekoma had come from a very old-fashioned family of rapeg farmers. With a religious zeal, her mother had instructed her (and even *scared* her into) keeping her virginity intact until she had decided on a lifemate.

It didn't help that her mother, Belma, was joined. Kem--her 400-year old symbiont--*always* set rules and regulations and other restrictions that the young Ekoma thought of as being "unfair". It wasn't really until she had started her studies at the Academy on Earth that she even began thinking outside the social "box", as it were. By the time she graduated from Starfleet Academy, and with some very *interesting* experiences provided by her Deltan dormmate of all four years, she had gained a much more open view of other's cultures and social views.

But still sometimes, especially when it came to matters of the heart, she was still that small, shy, backward girl on a little rapeg farm stuck back in the sticks.

"Thanks, Cass," her voice piqued with sincere feeling. Quickly, she wrapped her arms around him, hugging her body to his. Looking back into his eyes, she smiled again. "I may have plenty of life left in me, but I'm no *h'ijak mev*," she pronounced the Trill word for the symbionts. "I might as well not wait too much longer, huh?" she said a teasing smile crossed her cute, dimpled face.

"Not too much longer," he echoed (excusing the pun) her sentiment, wrapping her smaller frame in his arms. "I think that's one of my favorite things that you do... right there... that smile. It lights up your face."

That comment only caused her to beam brighter, her jade-green eyes dancing with playful happiness. "Well, go on your mission, mister, and you might just have something *special* waiting for you, when you get back," she smiled seductively, while snaking one hand slowly up his inner left thigh.

"Well Miss Janx, I'll look forward to that. It'll make this away mission that much more bearable," he replied, and leaned in to kiss her goodbye for the time being.

"Good," she relished the kiss, and considered acting upon the urge to go for more. But, there would be time for that. And if she really *was* going to give herself to him, she wanted the night to be special. She'd wait, then.

As he got up and started walking to the door, she kept his hand in hers. Just as he reached the door, she tugged on his hand, turning him back to her. "Cass, take care of her. I may not like her, but she's hurt, even if she doesn't show it."

"I know... I think I feel more fatherly about her than anything else. I'll keep my an eye on her," he nodded, pulling her into his arms again. "Take care of yourself, Eko. I'll be back before you know it."

He kissed her again, and headed off to lead the away team.

"We need more men...and women"

BY Lieutenant Michael Jamson, Operations Officer
USS Galaxy-A

Appearances by :
Lieutenant JG Tarin Iniara, Chief Of Operations
Lieutenant Ella Grey, Asst.Chief Engineering
Ensign Catherine "Angie" Donalds, Operations Officer - NPC(New)
Ensign Parks, Operations Officer - NPC
Lieutenant Cameron Bartlett, Operations Officer - NPC

**** Stardrive Section, Deck 9 - Operations Center *****

"Make sure you adjust the main sensor arrays with enough power, divert scans and schedule it for the proper usage for all the departments. Don't forget to check the service board both for collisions. Both Science and Engineering Labs require main sensor scans for research, and if we're not done by tomorrow morning, we'll have the usual rain of complaints and bickering, not to mention Iniara would chew me up for breakfast" Jamson told Ensign Parks. "I'll try to do my best" Parks replied. "I'm sure the Chief would be satisfied".

"Of course" Jamson replied with a slight apathy in his voice. Michael had no doubt in Parks' abilities, he was a fine officer, but the latest shortage of human resources what was annoying him and wearing him out as well as his colleagues. Even though operations was a big department, and not only included Engineering, but also Tactical, and Security, after the last mission, too many 'core' ops members were transferred off the ship or into other departments which left a lot of work to be accomplished but no manpower. The heavy load of duties forced ops crew members to make double and even triple shifts.

"Michael..." Lieutenant Tarin, the Chief of Operations jumped behind the weary man as he rubbed his eyes slowly and yawned.

"Yes, Iniara?" Michael turned to face her, surprised.

"We have a new officer on board" she sighed in content. It wasn't easy running the largest department on the ship with so little manpower.

"I'm aware of several new ops officers but-" Jamson spotted Ensign Donalds.

"Yes" Iniara smiled. "This is Ensign Catherine Donalds, our new officer in the department".

"Nice to make your acquaintance" Jamson nodded in, surprisingly, without any glimpse of contempt.

The young Ensign didn't waver "Great to be here sir".

"I want you to show her around and let her accompany you for awhile" Tarin said.

Jamson looked puzzled. He raised his hand in question towards Catherine "Would you please excuse us for a nano second?"

"By by all means" She said a bit surprised not expecting Jamson's reaction.

The tired Lieutenant took Tarin aside "Iniara...I am loaded with work! with all your assignment for the past couple of days, in addition to last weeks' reports, the last thing I need right now, is to babysit a new officer, who's experience doesn't even match the Vorka plant in my room!". As much as he was glad to finally have some help around, he had better things to do than to run tours for new operations officer.

"Mike...I don't have to tell you we're short on man power. I have the entire department running double and triple shifts! so unless you want to spend the entire weekend covering for others and scrubbing and scraping the shuttlebays' floors" She grinned, "You don't have a choice, that's an order".

Jamson was annoyed, and expressed it by growling "You're enjoying this...aren't you?", he looked straight into Tarin's eyes. He knew she was, by the looks of her smile. In spite of the fact she was his commanding officer, they've spent considerable amount of time together, mostly at the holodeck or the lounges, but that didn't interfere Iniara to give him orders and sometimes just tease him around. For the experienced fighter, it was a chance to develop his humanity and make 'friends' as Karyn Dallas described. It was yet another phase in his never ending struggle to learn more of his personality. He was proud to call Iniara a 'friend' but, sometimes, he felt like he was about to explode.

"You have no idea..." Tarin remotely tried to control her laugh.

"Fine!" Jamson gave up, handing his personal padd to Iniara and moving to Ensign Donalds. He then turned back to his commanding officer who was quite amused by his little childish charade "You're aware of the fact that this is simply not fair?".

Tarin just nodded and pointed in the direction of Catherine..

Jamson who was now simply dead tired, was boiling up like a pot of hot steam, waiting for the right moment to burst. "You know we need more men!" He moved towards the doors expecting to say the last word. "And women!" Tarin corrected him out loud.

'I meant more personnel....' he thought to himself. "Ready to go...?" he asked Donalds in defeat. There was nothing he could do, and he knew it. It didn't add to the turmoil of feelings in his stomach.

Ensign Donalds nodded in agreement and the two headed outside the Ops center.

***** Turbolift, Underway to the Bridge *****

"Where are we going?" Catherine was curious to know.

"We're heading to the bridge, I want to show you our stations. Then I have to get to the main shuttle bay, main Engineering and the lateral sensor and communication subsystems on deck 39". He had a lot to do, and Catherine had to follow him around. He didn't stop and think how she felt about it. Maybe he was just too hard in his act, he as sure she too, had better things to do, then to follow him around.

"Lateral sensors sounds just fascinating" Ensign Donalds giggled while trying to make a conversation.

"Oh, really? Do you specialize in Sensors?" Jamson replied instantly. He felt a bit bad for putting on such a show on Catherine's first day at Ops. She seemed to be comfortable around him and not edgy like the rest of the crew. That only contributed to his growing sense of guilt.

"Yep" She smiled. "I've majored in Sensor networks and communications back home".

"Starfleet?" Michael asked hoping he could talk on the 'good' old days at the academy.

"Nope. Prior to that, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. I was one of those kids who assembled a portable subspace radio transmitter in the back yard. Before joining the Academy" She answered.

"Interesting. That's exactly what we need, I don't remember having too many sensors specialists since I came aboard, not in OPS anyhow. I have to be honest with you though, I've always found sensors...dismal" He said. "No offence made, of course..." He didn't mean to offend her, but sensors were a science by itself, to an engineer and other technical experts from science. RF and IR sensor pallets, higher frequency waves, dozen types of sensor probes, it wasn't his cup of tea.

"That's ok. I guess sensors aren't just not for everyone" she said sarcastically.

Just as Donalds finished her words, the doors swished opened and revealed the center of the hive, the Galaxy's bridge. "Welcome to the bridge..." Jamson said keenly. He adored this place, especially this particular bridge. He had a special place in his heart for this place. Spending many years on this remarkable ship, he had the luck of serving with many great people in this very place. He missed the captain's chair so much, and wanted to believe one day he'll have a second chance. When the Galaxy was heading to starbase 212, Commander Henderson gave Jamson command, but Michael, knowing he would have to sit in the captain's chair, stayed at the ops station and didn't budge. It was literally, too painful.

The bridge, the center of the ship, was as always, very busy "Let's start with the mission ops" Jamson moved quickly to the Mission Ops station, right behind tactical, and next to the science station.

"Is this where we monitor the ship's away teams on mission?" She smiled pretending naive.

Jamson was relieved he didn't have to explain the Ensign about missions ops. She seemed to know more than he gave her credit for, as if she was already onboard a starship before. Little did he know that she graduated 8th in her class and served aboard the USS Crazy Horse prior to joining the Galaxy. "Moving forward to main the Operations console" he made sure Catherine was following before continuing "This is Lieutenant Cameron Bartlett. What's up 'Cam?".

"Hey Mike...How goes it?" Cameron replied.

"He looks tired" Catherine remarked.

"Well yeah...we all are. We're very short on personnel at the moment, so we're all running double shifts. That makes you kind of a blessing, doesn't it? This is Beta shift, and I'm supposed to be here, but 'Cam is replacing me. It's his second shift today, and he's covering for me" Jamson said to the Ensign and glanced to the commanding officer's chair once again. He noticed Lieutenant Ella Grey from engineering but not Karyn Dallas who was suppose to be there for Beta shift. "Where's Karyn, 'Cam?" he asked.

"I don't know, I think she's tied up. Ella came and said she was replacing her. She's the shift first officer anyhow, so she's covering bases" Cam typed gently on the LCARS system. Apparently, Lieutenant Grey passed the infamous bridge officer certification program, otherwise she wouldn't be able to replace Karyn on the bridge.

Cameron was looking at Catherine, who in her turn glanced to Michael with an awkward look.

"'Cam, this is Ensign Catherine Donalds, the newest addition to Ops. She'll be helping us around at Ops" Jamson moved on.

Bartlett was really tired but was able to squeeze a tiny smile for the new officer "Cool. Another night bird...finally, I might even get some sleep!".

"Don't bet on it. Call me Angie." Linda replied and shook his hand.
"What's up?" Lieutenant Grey said in her mechanical voice as she approached the group.

"Fresh blood..." 'Cam joked. He was, of course, referring to Ensign Donalds.
"It's about time Ops members stop working so 'hard'..." Ella said, remembering how Victor's furniture and personal effects had been delayed because Operations hadn't checked their program.

Michael became a bit irritated "You know Ella...I've heard Tarin talking to Lieutenant Commander O'Shea about lending some officers from Engineering to help Operations. I believe I've overheard your name at the top of the list...".

She arched an eyebrow. "I usually am." Ella winked and then turned to Donalds, "Anyway...nice to meet you, Ensign. I'm Ella Grey."

"Nice to meet you Lieutenant" Ensign Donalds extended her hand. "I hope we'll have a chance to work together".

"I hope so too..." Grey answered back.

"Yeah me too...if you wish to design new shuttle crafts, Ella is the one you should turn to" Michael said sardonically.

Ella shrugged. "If you want something that actually works, then yes I am."

"I'd love to stick around, but unlike the Engineering staff, I have things to do..." Michael grabbed Ensign Donalds tenderly, waved to Ella and Cameron and the both of them marched to the turbolift.

***** Turbolift, underway - Main Shuttle Bay *****

"By the looks of Lieutenant Bartlett and yourself, It seems like everyone on the department are making an effort and exerting themselves" Donalds noticed the obvious.

"Yeah, the long hours are taking it's toll" Michael said to the young Ensign. He wanted to apologize for his behavior, but that damn psychological barrier was preventing him from doing so. His first impression from Catherine, was that she was plain nice and got along with everyone. Not a social being himself, he somewhat envied her, it must have been so easy to get along with everyone. He wasn't like that when he first joined the USS Ranger, or the Galaxy. He was shy and kept to himself, and didn't make too many friends. When he climbed through the chain of command and earned the much desired ranks, he didn't need many friends, he could just order people around and concentrate on his job.

"I hope this would be over soon. Not that I have anything against hard work, it's just that, I didn't expect to start like this" she smiled. "Not the typical 'soft' landing you'd expect for a new officer". Catherine, among other things, meant to the 'welcoming committee she witnessed back at ops. She had little time to accommodate and was already thrown into action.

"I...well...I'd like to apologize for my rude conduct earlier, I'm just not used to having people around me" he all of a sudden hesitated. "Well...I usually have people around me, but you know, I never get too much attention, unless I happen to demolish a holosuite or two..." Jamson couldn't explain himself, he lost himself in words and feelings, but never the less found himself opening to Catherine. "Damn..." This was somewhat more easy to him, maybe because he didn't know her that well. Who knows if not knowing her helped, or was it Karyn's sessions that did the job. Anyway you come to think of it, it's a shame no one had a camera in the room to commemorate the moment, Lieutenant Michael Jamson, the everlasting and proud 'mule' was apologizing, moreover, to a junior officer.

"Don't mention it, sir" Catherine said surprised, but didn't make a big deal out of it.

"Could we just forget this little 'pathetic' and miserable revelation?" He was at it again, unknowingly.

"Consider it forgotten" she said seriously.

The doors again swished open and revealed the huge shuttle bay. Ensign Donalds smiled "Look at these shiny floors...."

"An ARChed Conversation"

Featuring: 2Lt. Greg Ward Blue Team Leader/ARC Operations Lead-USS Galaxy

Cpl. Richard Simmons (NPC) Infantry/Red One Alpha/ARC

Cpl. Mike Tucker (NPC) Infantry/Blue One Bravo/ARC

PFC Franklin D. Donut (NPC) Infantry/Red One Bravo/ARC

Cpl. Dexter Grif (NPC) Infantry/Red Two Alpha/ARC

LcCpl. Grace Waldron (NPC) Infantry/Blue Two Alpha/ARC

PFC Leonard L. Church (NPC) Sniper/Blue Two Bravo/ARC

**********

Marine Briefing Room,
"Marine Country"-USS Galaxy

In the briefing room that was usually set aside for the meeting of the marine department heads but in this case it was set aside for something else entirelly. In the room at that moment was the seven members of the Adavnce Recon Commando branch of Starfleet Marines, seven men and women that knew that part of their job was to get the job done and make sure that any headaches for Intelligence was lessened...

...Plus it paid a hell of a lot better!

Second Lieutenant Greg Ward was sitting at the head of the briefing room table, the thoughts about the USS Akula crashing into the surface of his homeworld still made the trill spots on his neck burn with anger but he had to put that anger into something more creative, which is why he stepped forward to Tish and suggested that she use the ARC's on board, hence why this meeting was called.

"Ladies, Gentlemen, and Donut. We have a mission put forward to us by the Lieutenant. As you know, there are a batch of Hydrans and regular fleet techies down on the surface below in apparentally some ruins. Now I know that somre of you are still kind of smarting from Havaras but this is not the time to try and avenge those lost in that battle as we have a mission to do and I intend for us to do it well." Greg said as he started the meeting, his eyes landing on each person in the room.

"Now, aside from the usual duties that we will be performing as marines. The Lieutenant has requsted that we assist in the regular operations that the fleeties have us do which will no doubt be search, rescue and recon. Now, I've been hearing some rumors that some of you don't like being in red team with Bailie..." Greg started to say but Donut piped up with something which made a question cross Greg's face to which Donut repeated it.

"He is a Shiong-muh duh duang-ren Kuh-ooh duh lao bao jurn, Sir." Donut said loud enough for everyone to hear that made both Simmons and Grif snicker while Tucker just blinked as he didn't speak Chinease let along the slang of that country on Earth and as for Waldron and Church, they just sighed and shook their heads sadly.

"That may be, Donut. But he is still your superior officer in the Red Team and I don't want to hear anything about trying to teach him a lesson again, do you understand me Donut and company?" Greg said flatley as he looked at the Red Team members in the room who simply and quietly nodded. Greg then leaned back in his chair and held up a data PADD.

"Now, as you know that when the Colonel arrived earlier this month and put the LT in charge of the detachment, he also dropped off some new toys for us to work with. For instance we've been issued the BR55 Enhanced Compression Rifle from Enigma Sector R and D. It packs a hell of alot more kick and it has more modulations than your standard compression phaser rifle. Meaning that if the borg show up, they'll be in for a real surprise. Further more, the new M90's are here to which as some of you might recall is basically starfleet's answer to the old terran shotgun. The M90 shots out a burst of compressed phaser energy much like pellets from a shotgun used to in a spread pattern so that it can cover a larger radius." Greg explained as the two weapons appeared on a holo-projector built into the table.

"Greg, what are our current standing orders while being in the teams? Do we cut from them and go about or own orders or what? " Church asked. Like the others in the room, they knew that Greg was capable of forgetting where he was going in a briefing sometimes. "I was getting to that, Church. I want you all to stay in your assigned units. But the LT wanted me to make sure that you cordinate with me so that I can cordinate with you in the field. Knowing my luck I'll be stuck watching the rookie so to speak." Greg said, adding a little joke at the end to try and get rid of the tension in the room.

There was a smattering of snickers from the room and then Greg said "alright, you have your orders. Dismissed." and the various ARC officers left the room with the expections of Donut and Church.

"Donut, first off I wanted to congradulate you on making it to PFC. I know that Bailie was a bit of an ass to you on that and even though you're not under my direct command at the moment, you have to remember that not everyone knows about what you've been through. Give him time and he'll understand how useful you are to his unit. Also, Church..Donut. We got the new S2 AM's in along with the other weapons and you two will both be issued one along with your regular gear while you're in the field. Remember, among other things you two are my primary eyes in the field, especially for this mission. Something...something just does not feel right about this whole set up, you know?" Greg told his two officers.

"Yeah, I understand boss. Something 'bout the Hydras being here really makes me worried about glowing blue spiders and stuff like that you know?" Donut said looking at his superior officer which made Greg wince. During the last few months of the War with the Dominion, Donut had been badly injuried by a Dominion Plasma grenade which had some kind of attachment unit which had hooked it's self to Donut's armor and had put him in the medical ward of a Dominion/Cardassian/Breen POW camp during a major battle of the war. Donut then spent the next few months as a "guest" of the Breen when the Dominion and Cardassians had buggered out and it had been Donut's own squad that had liberated the Breen POW camp and saved one of their own. To this day, Donut would often make the "glowing blue spider" comment as his way of dealing with the stress.

"Alright, you two get ready to head into the field. If you see those Hydrans move one inch towards hostile towards anyone from Starfleet, I want you to put a shot clean through their frelling heads and you'd best not be seen when you do it, do you understand me?" Greg said

"We understand you sir." both Church and Donut said in unionsion and then they both left the briefing room and left the ARC unit lead to his thoughts before hee too left the room to finalize getting ready.

OOC Translations: Shiong-muh duh duang-ren means Violent lunatic. Kuh-ooh duh lao bao jurn means Tyrant.

"That time of the month"
By Lieutenant Michael Jamson, Operations Officer

Appearances by :
Lieutenant JG Tarin Iniara, Operations Chief
Ensign T'Ashaya (The Vulcan Tsunami), Operations Officer
Ensign Filip Parks, Operations Officer - NPC
Lieutenant JG Cameron Bartlett, Operations Officer - NPC
Lieutenant JG Moe Branson, Shuttlebay Chief - NPC
Chief Petty Officer Joe Klein, Operations Specialist - NPC
Petty Officer Second Class, Operations Specialist - NPC

**** Stardrive Section, Deck 9 - Operations Center - 0830 hours *****

"Good morning everyone" Tarin greeted the majority of the Operations department. It was the daily departmental review, a must on every starship and starfleet facility. It was a mandatory regulation that an inspection was held once a day by the department's head, usually taking place when the Chief of the department started his shift. Although the time of the meeting was up to the officer in charge of the department, not all the officers in it had to attend. It was comprised mainly of the officers in charge of each shift and sub division. All the duty officers were there, along with the team leaders of the diagnostics, communications, sensors, and power grid teams.

This meeting allowed officers to report the status of their tasks, individual areas, as well as bring up new ideas, issues that required special attention and to share one's thoughts. The Department head then shared it's information with everyone, and gave out the daily roster which was approved by the Executive officer onboard and contained tasks as well as duty shifts.

The doors hissed and into the center of OPS entered Michael Jamson, and he was late. This has become quite a habit in the last couple of days. Lucky enough for him, he wasn't the only one. Operations members' were working harder than ever in their attempt to complete the gaps created thanks to the shortage of personnel. "I'm sorry I'm late...bad night" he jumped to his regular seat, right next to Tarin who was sitting at the head of the small sized conference table.

"Right...." The Chief of ops moved on. She shook her head and yawned like the rest of crew members under her command, a clear sign they were all working too hard. "Now that you're here Mike. I was just about to ask everyone to report their activities and status" she turned to Ensign Parks.

Filip Parks was all tidy up, and eager to report. He pulled shifts like every other ops member in the last several days, but had no signs of fatigue whatsoever. He's been working on the power distribution schedule for the main and lateral sensors arrays. "I've finished the scheduling of the sensors arrays for the departments. Aside from Science, always the 'deprived', everyone accepted and approved it" he continued to read from his padd, "Other than that we've had a slight power fluctuation in the starboard EPS manifolds, the internal sensors...I've diverted it all to Engineering and asked them to run a diagnostic".

"Good Ensign. Keep me updated if anything emerges. Michael? Communications?" Iniara continued on and asked.

"Well...that's Petty Officer Second Class McTee's area" Michael raised his head and looked her up, but she wasn't there.

"Don't bother lieutenant, she's on the bridge, but will be in here in no time. She's on a watch shift and will be replaced soon, so I've asked her to join us before we're done. I've arranged for someone to replace her while we're here" Tarin assured Jamson all was well. "We'll get to her once she's here. Anyone else?" the Chief looked around and found her next victim. "Lieutenant Branson? what's the status of the shuttle bays?".

Lieutenant Moe Branson, the Trill shuttle bays chief. If it wasn't for department meetings, you wouldn't have felt his existence, so unless you were taking a shuttle ride, you didn't know he was there. He was always at the main shuttle bay, taking care of the shuttles and making sure everything was at peak efficiency. "As usual Chief, everything at 100%, nothing unusual". This didn't came as a surprise to anyone, Moe was a fanatic when it came it 'his' shuttle bays, who had everything under control. Nothing, and it was well known that simply NOTHING at those bays could escape his pursuing eyes. It was rumored that he once conducted a search and destroy 'operation' against Grazerite microscopic dust mites that ate their way through the ship's ODN fiber network. They clutched a shuttle on it's ride back to the Galaxy and started their journey inside shuttle bay 2. He chased and eradicated them all.

Next was Chief Petty Officer Joe Klein, one of the more experienced Operations member on the team, Klein was in charge of many things, including the Transporters. It was Chief Thomas Jensen from Engineering who was really in charge of the transporter rooms and systems, Joe was OPS's representative and worked closely with Jensen. Michael rememberred Thomas, and quite well. He was surprised to hear he was still running the transporter systems. It's been a long time since Michael talked to him, years...and back then, he was the XO of the Galaxy under captain Price.

"During my revaluation of the reports in the last everal days made by the maintenance crews on the transporters, I have found several strange entries in the logs. They were all coming from the mass cargo transporters on deck 5. At first, I thought it was a simple problem with the pattern buffers and targeting scanners. Ater running diagnostics, I didn't find anything unusual...the buffering tanks were fine, the Doppler and Heisenberg compensators were performing right quantom corrections, the computer assured that the outer safety margin was set exactly to 301 seconds. Along with Chief Jensen, I've ran more diagnostics, but found nothing unusual" Klein sounded a bit frustrated.

"The Cause, Chief PTO?" Tarin asked in interest.

Joe leaned against the table with his elbows "It could be the Molecular Imaging scanners, because the quantom state information is derived from the molecular structure of living entities and passes along to the energizing coils. Meaning, it might also be the energizing coil or phase transition coils. The first, has ACB coils which emits a 2 stage unidirecational spiral matrix wave to allow the process of dematerialization to begin. Standard Starfleet transporter technology. The second, in the chamber platform at the top above the energizing ones, decouples sub particle binding atomic energy by utilizing narrow focus quark manipulation. That means, the matter stream, or the reoriented partciles that form a string can be moved in the pattern buffers."

"What about the biofilters?" Ensign T'Ashaya asked from the back.

"Unlikely" Klein replied. "Biofilters are nothing more than a filtering or 'fishing' net for hostile bio material and contraband."

"Biofilters only have 52% of known biological forms and illegal cargo in their database. Is it possible it was damaged or infected in any way by a biological agent?" T'Ashaya continued. Protocols, after all, stated a scan of the biofilters should occur in cases like these.

"I really don't think so, but I will check," Klein acknowledged.

"And the emitter pads?" Tarin persisted.

"Again, unlikely. The stage 1-3 EPS conduits are all functional with no problems" Joe rejected this theory as well.

"Very well..." Iniara punched a key in her personal padd before turning to Cameron Bartlett, known as 'Cam to many. Lieutenant Bartlett was a known figure on the ship, quite popular in many ways, he had a striking sense of humor and the ability to draw himself away from attention at any given time or situation. He followed Electra Reece to the Galaxy and stayed up until she was injured and was sent back to Earth for treatment. After reviewing his future options, he decided to stay on the Galaxy and continue his service for the time being. Jamson knew Electra for awhile, not that well, but he remembered her and tended to ask 'Cam about her every now and then.

"Cameron? what do you have?" Tarin asked away.

"Well, I-" Just as Bartlett started his report and the doors swished opened, revealing Petty Officer Second Class Cynthia McTee who came back from the Delta Shift on the bridge. "Sorry I'm late" She added and took a seat next to Cameron. Bartlett waited for her to settle down before he continued "As I was saying, the other day, on the bridge, I was monitoring intraship data traffic, ship to ship, ship to station and subspace packet transmissions communications at the bridge ops station, and I saw what appeared to be unencrypted starfleet information passing through the commercial network and ODN datalines from our ship to one of the relays in the sector".

"What do you make of this?" Iniara questioned.

"I believe we might have a problem with the isolinear and gelpak encryptions, might even be the related antenna arrays, but Communications is not my poison..." Bartlett removed himself from the situation.

"Petty Officer McTee?" Tarin turned to Linda.

"Isolinear encryption chips and gelpaks are divided into six shipments when sent by a Federation courier, and not by secure transmissions. Decoding encrypted information is a daunting task if not impossible. Starfleet is using private keys, through the commercial network as well, at 2.38 x10`2 numerical operators for most sublight communications. Also, Starfleet routinely and randomly changes the codes, so that, in my opinion leaves out the idea of someone listening in to the transmissions" Cynthia knew her material well.

"What if those transmissions are diverted to a determined force who wants to decode it?" Jamson jumped in.

"It is unlikely that the communications could be diverted that easily. There are antennas all over the sectors controlled by Starfleet and the Federation, monitoring strange activities of movement, data and voice. Most subspace communications cannot go beyond the energetic signal of 92/22 with the help of a single technology. In warp terms, that's 9.9997 and 22.65 light years in distance before data and signal loss. However, it is possible break the codes, but I'm betting this is not the case" She answered.

"What do you think this might be?" Cameron asked.

Cynthia replied in grace "It might be the ship's RF transceivers or even IR emitters. I believe the ultrahigh subspace transceivers could be held responsible. However, even though they are linked to the regular starfleet communication nodes, it is separated from the commercial nodes for logical reasons. The STA device in charge of subspace communications is made of molded polykeiyruium, with separated voice and data architecture and contains 4 circuits at the data section for better operation. Connected to all, is the encryption device, located within the ODN fibers. It was also integrated within gelpaks in recent years for better performance. I believe everything I have mentioned should be checked thoroughly, starting with the subspace transceivers on the commercial and starfleet networks, then to focus on the STA and ODN fibers, as this is not an ideal situation...".

"Fine...anyone else have any more thoughts on the situation? I want to get going, I have a meeting with the first officer and a watch duty coming up" Iniara said.

No one nodded or lifted a hand.

"Ok people...it's that time of the month" Tarin said out loud and caught everyone's attention. The entire cast looked amazed for a moment, as no one really understood what she was talking about. Jamson was confused. 'What the hell was she talking about?' he thought to himself but didn't dare to stare at his commanding officer, he kept to himself and his padd, but not some of the others who looked puzzled and gazed at Tarin.

"The level 2 diagnostic project!" Tarin yelled and everyone moaned, and for a few seconds let out sighs of relief. Some even giggled.

One of the many officers' daily duties onboard a starfleet ship and station was to run maintenance and diagnostics. Certain systems like the transporters required a daily level 4 diagnostic and a weekly level 3 diagnostic. Other systems like the computer cores required once a month, a level 2 diagnostic, and every 3 months a level 1 diagnostic and inspection which was coordinated with all the departments and senior heads on the Galaxy.

"Michael..." Lieutenant Tarin was about to announce the winners. "I want you and Ensign T'Ashaya to work on the computer core diagnostics. I know you have some experience in the matter, so run it with Engineering, as I've already spoke to Lt.Commander O'Seah and she'll be sending her own team to aide. Ensign Parks would be working on the ODN network but since both are related and based on one another, you'll be in charge of that as well. Take whatever resources you need".

Jamson's past experience with core systems and isolinear chips was hunting him. A computer core diagnostic? that would take all day! maybe even the whole week, depends on what they find. It was a dirty job, and he was in charge of it. If he only had more human resources, this would be done in an instant, but that's wasn't the case. He would have to lift his sleeves and drown in the sea of type 3 isolinear chips and and ODN fibers "The Optical Data Network-ODN, and it's thousands of optronic fiber cables are stretched all around the ship. We have several computer cores, all part of the CPG-Coprocessors and Peripheral Group. It's a primary system that all others rely on, and let's not forget it's backed up by a secondary superconducting control cabling. If we're going to run diagnostics on the cores, and to find the problem within the communications, I suggest we run a level 1 diagnostic on the entire system".

"But that would mean shutting down the systems...." Parks claimed.

"Yes. And that's unaccepttable" Iniara summerized it up, "Level 2 should suffice".

"Very well. Ensign T'Ashaya?" He asked Tarin. He certainly didn't expect the figure standing up at the edge of the table, on the other side of it.

It was the Vulcan from the swimming pool. Michael's heart almost dropped to his pants, and he missed at least one heartbeat. Was she an OPS member? how could he overlook that. 'Of course!' he thought to himself again, she was a Vulcan, and he's read Tarin's report on the new enlisted personnel, which included a Vulcan. There was only one other Vulcan in OPS, Lieutenant T'Rehn. "I...." he mumbled "I guess...fine by me. We'll get it done and notify you on our progress".

"Excellent" Tarin moved on. "Klein. I want you working on the transporters diagnostics with engineering, try to solve those 'problems' by today, will you? that's a top priority, with the upcoming mission on Mirusa, I'm positive we'll need them online and working most of the time". Klein nodded as Iniara glanced to Lt.Bartlett and PTOSC McTee "Cynthia and Cameron, I want you too to work on the Communication arrays, subsystems and internal sensor arrays. Make sure you read Park's report and consult with engineering. Since this is also ODN related, Parks and Jamson should be notified too. Cynthia, I'm counting on you for this one, as this is your area".

"Don't forget to take a look at today's roster for your shifts and watch duties" she concluded. "Oh, and one more thing...before I release everyone to their duties, I wanted to talk about the upcoming mission and the last few days" she stood up and leaned towards the table taking a less formal stance. "I know it's been a hard couple of days, but with the new addition to our department, I'm sure we can pull this one off. I know everyone are tired, but so am I and so is everyone else on the ship. Just keep on doing the best work you've been doing up until now and I promise to speak to the captain and executive officer about a shore leave after this mission is over". "That brings me to the upcoming mission on Mirusa IV. I'll be needing some volunteers for an away mission. This 'adventure' would require you to adjust your daily duties, so consider this mission as a 'bonus' to your regular work and adjust your priorities accordingly. Aside from that, we have to muster up some resources for the away teams, this is going to be a big one".

Everyone sat in their chairs and listened to the Chief, no one moved a muscle before she gave the tone to get back to work. "You're dismissed" was an awakening alarm for everyone to start their busy days. Jamson, who was especially tired stayed in his chair for an extra minute. He had a long day coming up, and had to work with no other than T'Ashaya, known to others as the Vulcan Tsunami. He didn't know her nickname, nor did he know that she would prove to live up by this name as they worked along.

"Lieutenant?" T'Ashaya stood right behind him.

"Ensign...T'Ashaya" Michael slowly rose from his chair, "We meet again".

"You seem disappointed," she replied to his odd yet tired look. "I would have thought you would be looking forward to 'round two.'"

"That's the least I could say..." he whispered.

"It is clear to me, that neither of us are logical choices for this assignment. But since we have our orders, I believe we have no other options," the Vulcan suggested.

"I'd hate to admit it, but you're correct. When Lieutenant Tarin decides something, she's quite persistant. I guess we're stuck together..." Jamson complained.

Of all the eligible crew members in OPS, and there weren't too many, Michael had to tag along with T'Ashaya. The Vulcan infuriatingly didn't seem to care about him one way or the other, he on the other hand had no problem marching into Tarin's officer and protest, but he knew it wouldnt help.

"Are you coming?" The Vulcan Tsunami stood at the entrace and waited for Michael to join her. "We have a task to perform, and we already late on our schedule".

"We already have a schedule???" Michael rushed to her.

"Yes, we have a schedule. Lieutenant Heloi has already requested my services down on the planet. According to the initial geologic reports, Mirusa IV once had vast oceans, akin to those of Delta or Earth. The Lieutenant wants my assistance in discovering what happened to change that." She handed him the roster padd Tarin gave everyone earlier, already dutifully displaying the division of duties between the two of them. She said nothing as she led the way.

It made no sense to complain about the double duty. She had been told to expect it, that it was always assigned to Vulcans because no one thought they needed sleep. Jazz, of course, knew somewhat better, but T'Ashaya secretly suspected that this was Jasmine's way of secretly sneaking T'Ashaya into her department. It was the only way the entire situation even resembled logic.

"Great...." Michael sighed once more as he tried to keep up with T'Ashaya.

"Hot Rods" Pt. 2

Lt. Cmdr Brianna O'Shea, Chief Engineer/SEC (Trey)
Lt. Michael Jamson, Operations (Bob)
Lt. JG Naranda Sol Roswell, Engineering (Lori)
Lt. Jiiles, Engineering Officer. (Dru)
Ensign Marcus Slayton, Engineering Officer. (Will)
Ensign Richard "Ringo" Langly, Engineer (martin)
And Quentite Ambassador Turan Trelar (marco)

:: Holodeck IV, Continuing story....

"We took the design into consideration. As you can see we micro-compressed ours. Plus, these can be fabricated more easily then our standard chipset we use now." Anna said, standing there for the moment. Just answer questions and enjoying watching how they seemed to like what the SEC was giving them.

Jiiles looked over at Jamson. If he had eyebrows he would have raised them, instead his eyes widened at the comment for a moment before returning to normal.

"I've had the chance of working on some Cardassian systems in the past" Michael checked the rods again, "but they were composed from multiaxis chromopolymer lithography. Quite similar to isolinear chips, but differ in 1mm photon amplification coating which enhanced the input" he turned the rod around and added "The main difference is in the chemistry of the
polymer and the lower data density, 5.37 kiloquads per cubic centimeters for the Cardassian and 6.51 for the Starfleet standard isolinear chips. The Chips also operated on faster light pulses, 68,913 nanometers than the Cardassians rods, at 46,238".

"Someone gonna get a brownie, hell, I'll be generous, brownies on me when we finish for the day." The chief engineer said, then nodded to Jamson.

Nara smiled and shook her head. If one thing warmed her up to someone...it was chocolate. It was her only weakness. Ok not her only. Saul was another. So was anything with tiny pointy legs. And mines. Sometimes she'd dream of the mine field she saw during Havras. Ok, so she had a few weaknesses. Brownies was one of them.

"The Gelpaks are going to replace the regular ODN fibers? That means we'll have to disable the in transit error checking...and I simply have no idea how to do it, in a gelpak..." Jamson confessed.

"As you know Starfleet first started using the gelpaks on the USS Voyager. Since then it's becoming pretty standard on smaller class vessels. Only now, these new gelpaks are to go in starships that compare in size to the Galaxy." Anna said, then paused to walk around some as she talked. "These," she said indicating the gelpak. Their speed is larger then 800-900 kiloquads per second.. I'm sure you've all heard the problem of burned out paks. These paks as a limited self healing, before you think that it's like regeneration. It's not." Anna said. "What it is limited ability to isolate damaged clusters within the affected gelpak. Each gelpak has over a thousand clusters. One cluster is burned out for whatever reason. It rebalances itself and disperses it into the other clusters." Anna explained.

Nara nodded approvingly, "Efficient."

"The speed of the gelpaks is larger than 800-900 kiloquads per second? I'm impressed..." Michael was yet again astounded.

"I was part of the team that designed the new gelpaks.. to many years to get them to this stage of working operation." Anna said, slightly proud of them.

"I'm guessing that you have already run simulations on this? Do you have the data?" Jiiles asked.

"Yes, we have and I do." Anna said, tossing a data padd over to Jiiles.

Jiiles caught the padd and began to thumb through it.

"I suggest that we run a series of diagnostics while the system is working properly, to gauge the normal operating functions. Then run a battle simulation, during which we need to run a simultaneous diagnostic on all systems. Hopefully we will be able to pin point the moment the touch screams stop working and why. If we run a sub systems check we should be able to gather data from each system, even the non essential ones. We should be able to find out the cause that way.?" Jiiles suggested.

"Okay, any other suggestions before we began?" Anna asked, as she looked around her team. "Don't worry, we aren't trying to solve this in a hour. Got something to say, throw it out there and lets hear it." Anna said, picking up her raktijeno cup and taking a drink.

"I'm with Jiiles..." Michael glanced from Commander O'Shea to Jiiles before continuing, "Run a level 2 diagnostic, get a 'baseline' performance, then
monitor it and the effects".

Nara nodded, "I agree."

The doors to the holodeck opened and Marcus, filling
out a PADD before handing it to a marine who took it
and headed in the opposite direction. "Sorry about
being late, there was a request to help with something in the marine section with engineering." Marcus said as he walked in, looking at Anna.

Richard eagerly inspected the new gadgets. Turning it around and upside down, making sure he didn't miss a single detail. After he was done with that he looked around the futuristic looking Bridge and all that was in it. "Wow dude...this is freaking cool." A big grin appeared on his face. "I say we skip the 'blah blah', plug in, and start hacking."

"Ensign..." Jamson raised an eyebrow. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but this is not the Liaison Corps not Merchant Marines organization. You are a Starfleet
officer, and WE have rules, regulations and directives. We are expected to follow it to the latter. We cannot simply 'plug it in' as you suggested!".

Nara almost giggled. She was dying to just plug it in too, but she even
knew that protocol.

Rules and regulations. Richard, or Ringo as almost everyone called him, already heard that a thousand times. How boring. Who wants to follow rules and regulations when being in this playground the were in now? But, of course, it would be tiny bit reckless for him to just say that to a
superior. He slumped his head and shoulders a bit. "Yes, sir. Of course, sir. Whatever you say, sir."

When he noticed Marcus, he pointed to Jamson in such a way that Marcus would see it but Jamson not, and mouthed 'What's his problem?'

Apparently, Ensign Langly wasn't used to following rules and regulations. As a former captain, even Jamson used to bend some of the rules when it was necessary. In fact, as stated in General Order 4 - 'Starfleet Authorizes any and all commanding officers to countermand Starfleet regulations in the event of an extreme threat to Federation security'. But this wasn't the case, and besides, there were so many General orders, regulations, directives and guidelines. It was easy just to 'forget' and 'plug it in'. Forgetting or not following the normal
guidelines, could cause catastrophe, as Michael
has experienced it before and lost 2 commissions because of it, he wouldn't want to see this happening again.

Marcus went over and patted his friend on the
shoulder. He was still impressed with man's ability to stay cool under fire during their work to bring the Galaxy's teeth back during the DIIS' attack and he smirked at Langley's comment. He then went around and the general bridge layout and then raised a very
Vulcan-ish eyebrow and asked

"I thought that this layout was still in the design stages." Marcus asked
curious.

"Computer, remove table.." Anna said, and the table she was using vanished. Looking toward Marcus she nodded. "This is one of several designs being planned out. I want to remind everyone, what you seen in this... program, isn't to be talked about outside here. SCE works with Starfleet Research and Development, at times we have to see classified projects.. this is one of those." Anna said. "Now if there is nothing else, lets began running some tests and see why the interface isn't working." Anna said, then give a nod before moving over to the console where sciences would be stationed.

"Hot Rods" Pt. 3

Lt. Cmdr Brianna O'Shea, Chief Engineer/SEC (Trey)
Lt. Michael Jamson, Operations (Bob)
Lt. JG Naranda Sol Roswell, Engineering (Lori)
Lt. Jiiles, Engineering Officer. (Dru)
Ensign Marcus Slayton, Engineering Officer. (Will)
Ensign Richard "Ringo" Langly, Engineer (martin)
And Quentite Ambassador Turan Trelar (marco)

:: Holodeck IV, Continuing story....

Nara had been listening and absorbing it all. She would do her own thinking and theorizing later. She would put some questions to ask on a PADD as they came to mind. But now, well, now was play time! She pressed the buttons, watched the screens display and almost giggled with delight, but she kept herself in check, only allowing herself a very large smile and a few gasps.

"Marc, you, Nara, and... Ringo, began running level one diagnostics on the entire system. Jills and Jamson, your with me over here... we are going to check the core of what the program is run on... the isolenier lines." Anna said, "Lets see some asses and elbows moving guys." Anna said, then smiled as she knelt down to remove the panel on the console.

Nara tried not to roll her eyes at the last sentence. Sometimes the clichés were just annoying. She turned to see who this Marc and Ringo people were.

Marcus nodded and agreed with what Anna was saying.
He'd seen the concepts for the Excalibur class' bridge during his days at the academy in the theoretical design course. He rolled up the sleeves on his uniform jacket and nodded to Ringo who smirked and nodded back, then Marcus looked at Nara and motioned for her to have first crack at the system's controls fully. He watched with a slightly critical eye because he'd heard mixed reviews about Nara from a number of people on the engineering staff but he wanted to wait and make his own opinion about the young woman.

Jiiles glanced up from the padd and nodded. Following the chief he continued to scan the padd. "When were these preliminary tests done?" he asked her.

Anna paused and looked over at Turan. "You can come over here... you can help us." She said, then turned her attention back to the console. Hearing Jiiles question, she paused and looked at him.

"This project has been going on for about two months, last series of tests was three weeks ago. Preminary runs on it though didn't meet the expectations it's suppose to." Anna said, then turned and keyed in some numbers.

"Watch out.." She said, as a sled slid out from the console and had about twenty four of the rods in bedded inside. "each console has twenty four of these, except navigation, tactical and operations, they have double." Anna said pausing.

Jamson was overwhelmed "Damn...24 and 48 rods per console?! That's nothing...I am getting old! I'm used to several hundreds". He remembered working on core data storage which required 100,000 rods and chips arranged in groups of 50's and 100's.

"Well these rods hold more then the current standard, Lieutenant. Cores on the new ships could have as few as 50,000 rods. All depends on the starship and what it's mission." Anna said.

Nara was already consumed in the new system. She had taken a tricorder, scanning the inner compartment where O'Shea had pulled the rod tray out. After she had pulled the tricorder back and stood up looking at the small screen, her face took on a look of concentration as she studied the readings.

Turan remembered the console he worked at, helping Lt. Eshe. Gee, this one was different to that one. This one made the old one look ancient - even for a Quentite's eyes. Reverently, he took a step back.

"It's far above my knowledge, I must admit. Never seen things like those before. How should I be able to help you?" he addressed O'Shea.

"Don't worry, you'll do fine. Just stay beside me and remember. Tinkering is fun." Anna said. "You can hand me tools as I need them. How about hand me the rod wrench.. want to pull some rods so I can check the connecters." Anna said then nodded to the man.

"Rod wrench? Ergh ... Yes, Sir" Turan looked around searching for anything what could have been the right tool to work at a future-design space ship console.

Jiiles studied the sight before him his brow furrowed into a frown. He looked over to O'Shea, "What was the desired outcome from these previous
tests?" he asked. The obvious answer was that it would work without any problems, but he was looking for more detail than that. With any new program it is expected to have teething problems, he was wondering what sort of hurdles they were expecting from the onset.

Brianna paused when she heard Jiiles question. Hearing Nara, she looked over.

"Maybe we could..." Nara mumbled as she bent down again and touched the wire. Something about the wire seemed to take her concentration as she ran her fingers along the connectors. She often thought to herself ignoring what others were saying. She tried to listen as well, being that she often embarrassed herself by repeating a solution they agreed upon already.

"I didn't want to tell you how the simulations ended cause I don't want you to all get discouraged. Might help you see the problem." Anna said, sitting now on her behind there on the floor. "Ever test, every simulation we've done the connectors fuse themselves together. Like wielded. Then the interfaces become offline. Power spike is then formed by the consoles, send back through the system. Spike hits the gelpaks, them slams into the warp core. The core can not handle the energy that it's hit with... the core breach's. All hands lost. Every time." Anna said, looking at their faces. "SEC has several teams trying to figure it out." Anna said. "

"We need to figure it out soon. Ships waiting for this system." She added then.

"Have they considered changing the wiring?" Nara asked still looking at the wires.

"Tried that. There wasn't a difference. The energy spike hit the warp core." Anna said. "What about if we tried to either shield the core better or created a buffer of sorts? Surely all of us can come up with something to protect the warp core?"

Nara nodded, "We could try different connections as well. Maybe too narrow for that amount of data or maybe too wide and overwhelming the other systems."

"We need to think of new connectors then." Anna said, looking over at the others.

Jiiles looked at O'Shea for a moment as he took on board what she had said. His mind began to tick over the possibilities, "So basically we already know what the problem is.... the gelpacks. That is what we must modify.. if we can figure out what exactly sparks the gelpacks connectors to fuse during these tests, we might be able to fix the problem. Or modify the gelpacks." the frown returned to Jiiles face. turning from O'Shea he walked across the room and to a consol. bringing up a diagram of the gelpacks and its components.

The screen light up with a cross cut display of the gelpaks and related information on the. When he hit a button they began to unlayer and he was able get probably more information then he needed on them. Everything from how often they should be interchanged, to the rotation so there's not a complete failure at any given time. There was a link there that he hit and it brought him to a page where the gelpacks were the new version of the bio-neural packs installed on the Intrepid Class starships.

Turan scratched his chin. Somehow, the problem looked well known to him. But that was in an earlier life home at the farm - in a galaxy far far away.

"Did you record the direction, pressure and amount of the energy flow?" asked the Quentite giant. "And did you search for unexpected peaks?"

Anna nodded. "Yes, it was all recorded. When the ship was attacked in the simulation, the energy the shields absorbed, it the gel packs, more packs it hit the larger the spike got until it hit the core with a pressure that wasn't expected."

"What about radiation?" Jamson suddenly asked. "It is known the Gel packs... being organic and biological, even though incorporated with neural fibers and computer systems, could be effected by infections such as bacteria" he paused and continued. "So what if these new IV class gel packs are sensitive to a particular type of radiation? There were recorded cases of standard gel packs failing when operating under subnucleonic radiation".

"That's something that hadn't been tested for.. your thinking that when the packs get hit with the energy discharge, their thinking it's a organic infection and their trying to get rid of it... there by throwing it onto a track straight for the largest incinerator on the ship... the warp core.." Anna thought and studied it.

Jiiles turned back to Jamson, "You know I think you might be on to something there." He paused for a moment nodding all the while. Turning back to the schematics Jiiles smiled, "I have a plan." he concluded.

Anna was about to get everyone to work when some of the people present was called up for. When She heard Henderson calling for engineering support, Anna sent Nara and Ella, then watched everyone needed for away teams depart holodeck IV.

"Tea Time"

Ensign Sh'laran
Stellar Cartographer, USS Galaxy

With a crew of over one-thousand personnel, it was difficult to be lonely onboard a Galaxy-class starship. Sh'laran had managed to find a way, though; Become the stellar cartographer, and you could be as solitary as you wished.

Of course, if you didn't wish, you were still stuck in a giant thirty-foot tall semi-spherical room, alone on a platform, for eight hours a day. Sure, there were a pair of lab techs on the ground level below, but they avoided speaking to you as much as possible (because they hated you), and none of the other science officers dropped by for even so much as a cup of tea.

The Andorian didn't really like tea, anyway.

He was, however, planning on heading down to the surface of Mirusa, which would be a nice respite. He hadn't been off the ship (except onto a starbase) in months. He hadn't even gone down to the serface of Trill, having been stuck onboard feeding information on the Akula's course to the intelligence people. He really hadn't noticed when the ship had been attacked - it really did strike him as a bit of a non-event.

Something about the archeological mission was a bit unsettling, though. Perhaps it was the fact that it was way outside of his specialty, though he had heard rumours about some terrific - if a bit ancient - starmaps down there. Or maybe it was the thought of being around other science officers, tea or no tea.

Or maybe it was the Hydran cruiser in orbit.

Yeah, that was probably it. The last time he'd seen one of those things, it was barrelling toward the half-destroyed saucer section that he was attempting vainly to fly. That sort of thing was enough to sour someone on a species that they'd never heard of until the proverbial bullets started flying.

Giving up on this train of thought, he turned back to his console,trying to distract himself until the chief called.

"Tears In The Sand"

Lt.(jg) Naranda Sol Roswell, Engineer

Lt.(jg) Saul Bental, Intelligence/Lily Squad Leader

***Holodeck 2***

Nara had decided to try to see if Saul was ready to talk yet. She had stopped by Intelligence CIC and left a message with the young Ensign to pass to Saul at a convenient time. It had simply stated that she would like to meet him in Holodeck 2 sometime after his shift.

She wasn't sure how busy he was or if he would be there in time before her time was up. She brought up a common seashore landscape program. She had on a long flowing shirt and a loose, yet flattering tank top with a wide scarf made of the same gauzy fabric as the skirt over her shoulders. The climate control was somewhat warmer, but not uncomfortable. Just warm enough where you would wear light clothing rather than the wool-like uniform.

She was hugging her legs with her bare toes wiggling in the sand as her mind wandered, yet at times went to what she would say to Saul and how. ~Oh please let him be in a good mood.~ She pleaded in her mind.

It was a long while until the arch finally opened. Saul stepped into the holographic reality, his cloths apparently changing according to the default settings Nara entered earlier. He looked somewhat hesitant, even... guilty?

"Hey," He said.

Nara turned and stood to her feet, feeling somewhat unsteady on the shifting sand. "Hi. I just figured this would be more..." She smiled nervously and shrugged, "Relaxing." She had intended it to be that and nothing more, almost opting for another scenery so as not to imply she wanted anything romantic to happen. Though, she knew she also partly wanted to recreate that same calm they experienced on the Sakarian Sea. It was the first and one of so few times they actually seemed at ease with each other.

"Ah, sea wind," Saul said, gazing ahead stoically. "Too bad it's not real... Princess, I've just had the crappiest day, starring my CO who was accusing me of trying to KILL you, of all things... I could use a real ocean right now."

Nara smiled slightly, "Wish I could provide one." She chose to ignore the earlier comment. She had let go of her own paranoia for peace sake already. She stepped closer, "At least we won't get sunburn as we would from a real sun."

"We never got sunburns back on Utrecht III.", Saul indicated. "The sun was too weak and the atmosphere was too dense. You know, if you could ask a kid from the 14th century what color is that sun, he would tell you that it is yellow. Me, for me the sun is red... I'm still trying to get the hang of yellow suns."

Nara smiled at the rambling, "A red sun would be interesting to see. Would you like something to drink?"

"Anything cold without alcohol or synthol would do.", Saul said. He sat down where he stood, then stretched and brought himself to a complete horizontal position. He narrowed his eyes at the brilliant artificial sunlight.

Nara had gone to the beverage booth. She got two replicated lemonades and sat by Saul, handing him a glass. There was obvious awkwardness in the air. Evidenced by Saul's coming question.

"How... how is it going?"

Nara ran a finger along the gathering condensation of the glass, causing the tiny drops to combine and drip onto her skirt or the sand. She was half tempted to flick some of the water at Saul, but she knew she would just be stalling what she knew she needed to say. "Things are different since before Trill, but good." She had not looked up from watching the glass and her face now turned thoughtful, almost amused, "I think having Saia around has done some good for me." She looked at him, "I guess that's another reason to thank you. I doubt I would have even met her otherwise. How are you?"

"As I said, crappy. Too many bad things happening at once."

Saul resisted adding 'But at least I'm filthy rich'. Nara already had about a thousand reasons to hate him, and knowing how righteous she was, if he would tell her about the profits he made thanks to the 'sudden shifts' in the Ferengi stock exchange, she would have reason 1001.

Instead, he glanced at her. She looked slightly funny from his position on the floor, but then again, the entire world seemed slightly funny when you look at it from below.

It was then that he decided to ask a question that should've been asked a long, long while ago.

"Nara, what do you think about me?"

She blinked at him, smiled nervously and looked down, "You just kind of made this easier." She shrugged, "Except I wanted to ask you first."

Saul shrugged, and after another moment Nara's smile faded as she thought how to phrase her words, "At first I didn't know what I thought of you. More like feel about you. I've only felt remotely like that before and I was as scared then as I am now of it." She took a breath and finally looked at him, "I think of you as a good officer with a hidden part of himself. That used to bother me. Until I decided I'd rather..." She shook her head, ~know some part of you than none,~ her mind finished.

"I understand." Saul said, trying to persuade her to say more.

She wasn't sure where THOSE words came from, "I mean, I've decided to not let it bother me. I do think I'd like to get to know as much of you as you'll let me." She looked down again. "But I know you're with Bran. Whatever the real story is, SHE thinks you're her boyfriend. I just had to let you know how I feel...Just so..." She shrugged and looked at him, "Just so you'd know." She then brought her legs up to hug them.

Saul's immediate instinct was to say 'crap', but that would be inappropriate in too many layers.

"Me and Bran... we spoke only three times last month. I'm not... I'm not sure about her, or anything. And she knows it," He confessed. Well, the third time wasn't much about talking as it was about kissing in romantic places, but that was beside the point. "So what you're saying is..."

Nara shook her head amused. "You're not going to let me be vague are you?"

Saul shook his head. "I think our lives would be easier if the two of us were less vague. No?"

She looked him in the eyes, searching for something she wasn't sure of. "You're the second person I've known in my life I would like to know intimately, and to know me intimately." She feared how that must sound, so quickly added, "Emotionally." Before looking down hoping she wasn't blushing.

Saul slowly closed his eyes. Deep inside, he was hoping that Nara would give him the infamous 'Let's just be friends' speech. It's not that he made up his mind, but it would leave him with only two choices - Bran, or remaining single. But life, much like Commander Henderson, wasn't going to let Saul get away with it.

"Nara, I... why didn't you tell me before?"

She gulped. She felt vulnerable. She hated that. She shrugged, "I was scared I guess." She raised an eyebrow looking at him, "And remember, on the way to Trill, you weren't exactly letting me talk to you."

She rested her head on her knees, "I wasn't sure how you felt either. The whole avoiding rejection thing, ya know?"

"I know...," Saul said quietly, not daring to look at her. "I'll tell you the same thing I told Branwen - I have no idea how you even TOLERATE me after all we've been through."

Nara shrugged and looked at him laughing, "That's a very good question." She was silent looking at him a moment, "Because I think I'm glad it was you I went through them with and I don't want to stop going through things with you. We tick each other off. We both know that. For me it was a way of fighting these feelings." She smiled, "And I'd rather fight with you than anyone else. Cuz let's face it, I'm pretty much going to fight with everyone whose part of my life eventually."

She looked down, "Except Bran. Darn girl's so agreeable. I couldn't pick a fight with her if I tried." Nara felt her heart fall. "I don't see how you put up with me. There's Bran, who’s pretty much ready to jump off a cliff to show you her love, and here's me...who’s all but ready to jump off a cliff to avoid being that vulnerable."

She looked back at him, "But I think I'd be ok with being vulnerable with you." She put her head in her hands, "Oh shut me UP!"

"Yes ma'am.", Saul said, and without spending a moment to contemplate on the consequences, he leaned forward and kissed her gently on her lips.

"That should do the trick...," He mumbled as he took a step back. Much to his dismay, he could actually feel himself blushing. Intelligence officers aren't supposed to blush! They're supposed smirk, have hidden superpowers, drink Vodka Martini, and keep poker face at all times. Or at least three of the items on the said list.

Blushing wasn't on the list. It was on the other, black list.

Nara had tears threatening to cloud her eyes, and that kiss didn't help. She looked at him, trying to ask why, but she could barely move her lips still feeling the relics of his on hers.

"Listen, I'm being very unfair here toward someone, possibly two people, and most likely three...," Saul told her softly, referring to her, Bran and himself. "I've vowed to Branwen and to myself to make up my stupid mind until tomorrow. And... and if I were one of you two, I would toss the Intel guy out of the airlock for just putting me in such an awkward situation."

Nara shook her head, finally finding her voice, "You did nothing to put us here, Saul."

"You're wrong," Saul shook his head, "I did something very stupid, something I did a lot back on Utrecht III but never during my Starfleet service. I waited for something to just go away. Listen, I... I'm glad we finally spoke, and... I promise you an answer tomorrow, all right?"

In the back of his mind, Saul realized that by tomorrow they'll be orbiting Mirusa, and he might be unable to speak with Nara or Bran... a decision should be made, tonight. It took long enough as it was.

She looked at him, "That's not fair." She spoke it softly, almost a whisper.

Saul only gazed at her. She could read the curiosity and anticipation on his face.

"You kiss me and tell me that we may or may not be in a relationship later." She looked down and sighed. After a moment, she looked back up smiling and shrugged, "Yet, I wouldn't take that moment back for anything even if it's the only thing we'll ever have."

Saul just shook his head, as though he was contemplating something, deeply. There were several things to say, and none seemed right. None seemed totally wrong, either, but everything could cause damage. Then again, wasn't the damage already done?

"I should leave now," He said, stepping forward. He stopped next to her, not daring to look in her eyes. "Tomorrow, I promise."

Nara looked at him, "Would it be inappropriate to have just a hug?" It may have been some primitive thing. To be held when everything seems so topsy turvy.

With the same silence that followed the last moments, he came near her, and embraced her without a word. Even devious Intelligence officers need to hug and be hugged once in a while.

Nara couldn't tell for how long they were locked, embraced, but eventually it was Saul who gently pushed her away, then requested the arch to appear and vanished through it.

Nara sighed and sat back down closing her eyes trying to concentrate on the warm breeze rather that the tears flowing from her eyes.

"Love, Pain,and Friendship."

Commander Cassius Henderson
Executive Officer

Lt. Dr. Klaus Fienberg
Cheif Medical Officer

~Hmmm...Maybe I should head for the transporter room now.~ It was about damned time some good old fashioned exploring again. The halls of the Galaxy seemed dreary with the recent conflicts, especially the disaster on Trill, but finally something was about to happen, dare he say "fun?" But something about an open crew quarters door caught his attention, or maybe it was the man exiting them. "Cass?"

"Yeah," Cass Henderson said, exiting Ekoma's quarters after their pre-shift chat. He was pleased that she'd decided not to let the previous evening's disastrous interruptions negate her interest in him. He was rather enjoying their fledgling relationship. "What can I do for you, Klaus?"

Klaus' hand point at Cass, then slowly over to the door, which had

now closed, then it drifted back to Cass. He did this several times as his brain wracked. "Are those.....Ekoma-something's Quarters? I'll be damned if I can remember her rank and full name right now."

"Lt. Commander Janx," Cass nodded, motioning for Klaus to join him as he headed toward the turbolift. He'd been pushing being late by staying with her as long as he had, so he needed to keep moving. "She's our liaison to Starfleet Tactical, as well as our Head Tactical Analyst."

"Ah, Yes, of course...hmmm. Does this have to do with some strange rumors I've heard as of late? I never thought they had any relevance, and we have some gossipers on this vessel, but this at least confirms some involvement of you and Ekoma...but...Hmmm."

Klaus thought for a moment. "Cassius...I feel the need to say that you should tread carefully. I understand that you likely already are, and my attempts to help are redundant, but just a helpful thought from a friend."

"Yeah, Ekoma and I are seeing each other," Cass said, arching an eyebrow. "I appreciate that, Klaus, though I'm curious as to why you felt the need to say that."

"Intuition, observation. Sometimes I wonder if I'm healing the right part of the person.....But even I have problems." Klaus suddenly became nervous and started to watch his flanks and over his shoulders.

"Don't we all," Cass asked offhandedly. He passed the doors of his own quarters, steping inside just long enought to grab the desert fatigue jacket and his equipment. Locking to door, he continued down the hall to the turbolift door.

"Yes...I'm having...an attraction, and I probably shouldn't have it." If it wasn't already obvious, he diddled with his ring again. "I don't understand. Kay is all I've ever needed, wanted, but another invades my mind like a parasite I can't get rid of."

"Really? May I ask who's caught your eye?" Cass said as they stepped into the turbolift. He reached over to program the lift manually, not wanting to interrupt Klaus. This couldn't be easy for the guy.

"I...Can-n't.....Uh..Lieutenant Naranda Sol Roswell." Klaus looked around to see if anyone heard, even though safely inside the turbolift. "We've become close friends, and have our 'Significant' others, but..." Klaus composed himself. "It can't be. She has Saul, for whatever that nonsense is worth, and I've been married to Kay for about 2 years now." Quickly and sternly, as if all of the wisdom he seemed to have accumulated in his lifetime had simply slipped out an airlock, he professed the following. "There is nothing that can be done. I still love Kay, and that's all that matters!"

"Nara Roswell," Cass looked at him like he was crazy. Which he patently had to be. "Yeah. You're a lot better off with Kay. Nara... Nara doesn't seem to know which end of the chain of command she answers to, and that irks me, given that she's an experienced soldier. There's something about her that's just off."

"She's been through alot my friend, and I respect her endlessly, But you're right, and I'm right. I can only hope this passes, and neither of them find out." He knew, however, that it wouldn't just pass. And then Klaus nodded. "It's not going to 'just pass,' shouldn't kid myself. Hopefully learning about the past of an enemy will keep my mind off of things. You know, when you know your enemy well, You pity him instead." Klaus smiled. "And that pity turns to...turns to...uh..."

"Right," Cass nodded as the turbolift shot down toward the transporter room. "So how are things with Kay at home? It's been two years now... Are you guys considering kids?"

"Things are well. Work does lessen contact, and she seems detracted now that Countes..whatever friend of hers gone. Commander something." Klaus chuckled. "Damn my memory. But anyways, I know she would go for it, but I myself am unsure. I would prefer to raise a child in the stability of a Planet, such as Earth, or Betazed, hell even Q'onos would do. But I don't want to leave Starfleet, even for parental leave. My work is not done. This is my life."

Cass nodded. "I can sympathize." Juggling his duties as the XO of the Galaxy and a handler for SFI took away an incredible amount of time away from other things. Not that he would mention that. "If I were you, I'd have the child here. Of course, I'm biased. I grew up the USS Callimachus. Stability never seemed to be an issue there, and the Callimachus was heavily involved in the early Cardassian War."

"I suppose it's just having lost my mother on the Rennville." Klaus just stood there for a moment. "I don't know...." His thoughts drifted back to the Rennville. "I remember that the Rennville has been missing for about 2 years now. I wonder if you have heard anything on the matter?" Ikoma Frank says:

"No," Cass lied. The Rennville was one of several dozen ships assigned to SFI on a semi-permanent basis. It's entry onto that list in 2380 had necessited the ship's official 'disappearance'. He found it distasteful to have to keep the knowledge from Klaus, but orders were orders, and they existed for a reason. "I wish I could help you... on any of this. But as my own life has proven again and again, lately: I don't have all the answers."

"Understood. So, what do we know about Mirusa. I requested this assignment to get away from the normal drudgery of sickbay, since my staff can handle things with out me, especially with Axl, but I wonder if there is the possibility that my skills will actually be needed on the surface. I know I'm trying to hope for the best, especially with the Hydrans around, but whos to say they've actually done any harm. The Hydrans, to me, seem kind of like the less violent of the three powers. The Breen have proven their....combative nature, as have the T'Kith'kin, and the Hydrans."

Klaus was unsure if this was the right thing to say. "But in my study of history, the Hydrans, for a time, were a trusted and well liked ally."

"Your skills may be needed," the executive officer admitted. He'd had his fair share of encounters with the Hydran Sovereignty, and didn't trust the blue imperialists any farther than he could throw them. "Given that the last time the Hydrans were heard from was around 2310, we have very little feel for how they have changed in the past seventy years. And I'm not sure I would use the phrase 'trusted and well liked' when it comes to the Hydrans. It was an alliance of necessity."

"Perhaps. I realize this is true. Call me a pacisifist if you want, but that is just 'how I'm built.' Well, I'm glad that I decided to do this. But personally, I do not have a bad feeling about this."

"Well, then you're in the minority," Cass replied, "I certainly can't say that I'm remotely comfortable this close the Hydran border with a tactically ambitious flag officer onboard."

"I trust in the captain's, and your, judgement on the matter." Klaus motioned to his belt. "I have broken from the norm and brought this along." It was a type 2 phaser. "I just hope it's on the proper stun setting for Hydran Physiology.

"You're the doctor," Cass shrugged as the lift slowed to a halt. Not too much longer now. He wasn't relishing the thought of facing Tish so soon. Cass, of course, knew the proper setting, but he was curious how much effort Doctor Feinberg was willing to put toward his pacifism. "You tell me. Is it?"

Klaus seemed...in pain from his lie. "No. Even I know when it's time....time to discard one's ways for the 'greater good.' For the defense of what you stand for."

"Set your phaser to stun, Klaus," the exec cautioned. "I agree that the greater good has to come first, but there's no reason to start a war here. Not today. Not while the Federation is so woefully unprepared."

"Yes. I know. I don't know why I did it. It was one of the most painful decisions I've made since....Well, My past has it's own 'covert' side to it. I don't know..." He quickly reset it. "Maybe the Vulcans are right, Emotions, and more importantly Passions, may very well be the end of us someday."

"I have to disagree. They're what define us," Cass said, stepping out of the turbolift and heading toward the transporter room. "Those passions and feelings are what make us willing to fight for what he love and believe in. Without them, we wouldn't be whole."

The memories still plagued him. Occassionally they would still creep up. He nearly collapsed to the side of the turbolift, leaning on it. He quickly shook it off, saying "All behind me. The pain is all behind me." He righted himself, and asked "What do you know of *my* past I wonder?"

"Not a lot," Cass said, "And to be honest, it doesn't look like the pain's behind you. Have you been seeing Councelor Dallas recently?"

"No. Just a memory. A memory of one of 3 cardassian stations." He smiled again. "At least they're space dust now."

"Really?" Cass paused in the corridor. This would bear hearing before they descended to the planet. "Tell me about it?"

"Well. All 3 missions were a joint venture within the alliance. Two teams on 2 cloaked romulan shuttles. I was team one's medic, and Gunther Engleman was team two's medic." He scratched his chin for a moment. "The reason he and I were chosen, both fresh out of the Vulcan Medical Institute is likely obvious. The similarity between Vulcan and Rihannsu physiology. The rest of the team was a mix of tactical, security officers, and marines. The first mission was the hardest, we lost 3, but the station was destroyed, successfully. It was as simple as it sounded, save for the fact that it required an EVA boarding opperation. Team two took the bridge and deactivated all of the station's security systems while we placed explosives on the main reactor. We lost....a few. But we were soon transported out, and like green eagles, we soared away as the station promptly exploded. There is something else to mention. I *have* killed before." This was the thing that pained him the most. "It was on that day....."

"I remember reading the report about that," Cass nodded. It was no secret that he'd worked for SFI in 2375. "You and your fellow officers did the Federation a great service."

"I do remember one horrible Site. Jorik and his damned Mek'leth. Skilled warrior, but the sight of cardassian blood on a klingon blade LONG after we left, made me want to vomit."

Cass closed his eyes for a moment. It really was the little things that got to you in the end. "I know what you mean. Well Klaus, I need to get dirtside. I'll see you down there?"

"Well, I'm on your Away Team, so I think we'll see each other *very* soon." He let out a hefty grumbling laugh.

"Peace be with you, then," Cass said, and took his leave, ducking into the transporter room.

Klaus thought to himself. ~Wait, yes. I did forget my other equipment....~ Of all the things he forgot, he forgot his medical kit. The heavy desert field jacket, his phaser, tricorder, all there. "Wonderful." He quickly ran back to the turbolift, shouting "Deck 12." before he even had both feet in.

"Martial Arts 101: Legs and Jumps."

By Ensign G'Bat'ea
Tactical Officer

& 2nd Lieutenant Branwen London
Furies XO/Psychologist

G'Bat'ea had been kicking a rather large red punch bag to one side of the gymnasium. He had finally braided his hair so it no longer clung to his face when he moved, much less distracting. With every kick the braids flew before his face then quickly retreated from whence they had come. His loose forest green martial arts suit let him move freely and the air to flow around his body beneath it. He was ready...

Bran's long hair was also bound in a ponytail and that was wound in a tight bun on the back of her hair. She was clad in a simple training outfit and was now in the gym stretching and getting ready for the fight. She smiled at the large man.

"Hi." She said. "You look cool that way."

G'Bat'ea was uncertain of how to take that, he had not quite mastered when a human was being sarcastic. "It is practical," he conceded. "Now, name your martial art of choice."

She wasn't sure, something in which she could use her quickness might be an option. "How about human style karate?" She suggested.

"As you wish." G'Bat'ea turned from the punch bag and gave her a quick bow before stepping onto the matting designed for these types of bouts. "I will try my best not too hurt you." Perhaps it sounded arrogant, but G'Bat'ea genuinely feared putting the smaller built woman in sickbay.

Bran giggled. "I am not made of glass, G'Bat'ea." She hoped she pronounced it right.

"Nor are you made of tritanium, Ms. London." G'Bat'ea sized her up with a snarl on his face. "Remember that."

"I know. But remember I have always trained against people who are bigger than me. I plan to use my speed. Ready?"

"Ready." G'Bat'ea agreed, getting into a defensive posture by bring his arms

up before him and bringing his weight onto his back leg.

Branwen decided to try to impress him especially when she was still fresh. So she made a couple of quick moves, and even managed to touch him making sure it was light.

G'Bat'ea took a couple fo steps back. "Impressive speed, Ms. London." With that he came forward with renewed speed, attacked her frontally with a few kicks and a hit, all of which she blocked. Then he jumped, rolling over the top of her - landing in a crouch position he spun around, leg outward to take her to the floor. Standing back he grinned. "Nausicaans are suprisingly

agile for their bulk!"

"Fascinating!" Branwen said. "Can you teach me some of those moves? I am always in for new things."

"Certainly." G'Bat'ea extended his hand to help Branwen back to her feet. "It should be rather simple to learn for someone of your speed and frame, as long as you have strong legs..."

"I think so. How do we test it?" She was really getting into the spirit now.

G'Bat'ea let go of her hand and stood in a defensive posture again and grinned. "You hit me with your best kick." He put his arms up in a standard block.

She hesitated however. "are you sure? This might hurt."

G'Bat'ea shifted his weight back and forth and took a deep breathe. "I am certain."

"Alright then." Not holding back she marshaled all her strength and then slammed straight into him.

G'Bat'ea managed to absorb most of the blow with expert lack of expression, only a stray 'oomph' and a slight movement onto his back foot betrayed it had affected him. "Okay, well I'd say there is definitely enough strength there, so what says we try and put that together with your speed and agility?"

"Great!" She actually jumped up and down like a little girl with excitement. "I really love learning from aliens. So show me!"

Not only Branwen's actions but her choice of words seemed to seethe with immaturity and closed-mindedness. A strange trait for a counsellor perhaps, but not so much so when one considered she was also a marine. Nonetheless, training was what he had offered and training is what she would get.

"Ok," G'Bat'ea hoped she could transfer her enthusiastic childishness into concentrated energy. "I want you to use your legs and jump over me." He knew it would take some training of the muscles and time before she could properly achieve this, but crouching down he hoped for the best, whilst ready to block any failure.

She judged the distance took a little leap and jumped. She almost made it, almost. Just that last half centimeter.... Her right feet entangled in his hair and with a little yelp she landed in a heap on the other side of him.

His hair caught, G'Bat'ea fell onto his back, millimetres away from Branwen.

Tugging his braids from under her, he rolled sideways and regained his footing. "That was not bad, for a human."

"Thank you." She giggled nervously. "I hope it didn't hurt you?"

"It did not." G'Bat'ea agreed, a slight scowl crossing his features as he helped her once more to her feet. "Did you hurt yourself?"

"Oh no, don't worry. I don't hurt that easily." She smiled at him. "Shall I try again, I think I can jump a little higher."

"Alright, one more." G'Bat'ea cleared his throat and returned to the crouching position. "This time, try not to resort to hair-pulling, Lieutenant."

She giggled again. "I will try not to." Then she got ready for another jump. This time Bran just made it.

"Impressive." Perhaps he had underestimated this woman. "How did it feel?"

"Great! It gave me a kick. I didn't know I could do that." Bran was smiling at him. "What is next?"

G'Bat'ea could feel her enthusiasm beginning to half-intrigue, half-annoy him. She certainly was persistant in a young sort of way. "Well, in order to

progress you need to practise that move until it becomes useful on a fully standing opponent - which means exercising your leg muscles."

"I can do that!" She paused. "I hope I am not getting on your nerves. I tend to be a bit enthusiastic when I like things. If it gets too much, promise to tell me."

"If I can handle Jem'Hadar warriors then I am sure I can handle a little over enthusiasm." It was strange being the teacher for once, and he did feel

a bit more seasoned and mature than this woman. Up until this point he had always been an underling of protege himself. "Now, we should work out something that suits you to exercise your legs?"

"There are some machines in the gym, I can use them to train my legs. And I can jump over stuff." She offered.

G'Bat'ea's distaste for gymnasiums and their machinery did not show on his face as he nodded. "That would be satisfactory, and remember to concentrate your energy. You would be suprised just how much further you can propel yourself with a lot of concentration. However, we shall work on timing this move after you can successfully complete it." When had he become a martial arts instructor?

"sounds good. So in how much time shall we meet again?"

"Well I think we should arrange something after the mission to the surface, after all I am unsure of what commitments I'll have to the mission." G'Bat'ea thought it was a sensible precaution there was no telling how long they'd be here.

"I agree. I will probably be going down. But in the meantime I will continue to practise. Who knows it might even help me down there."

"With any luck we will not require practise..."

"Let's hope so. Thank you for the lesson." Bran said.

"You are welcome, Lieutenant, until next time?" G'Bat'ea stood up straight and then gave her a curt bow.

"Certainly. I am already looking forward to it." With that Bran dashed out.

“Spiders!”

---

Ensign Linda Belle Patch
Operations Officer

Ensign Miramon Terrik
Flight Control Officer

---

===Miramon/Patch Quarters, Deck 5, USS Galaxy===

“Aaaah!” The yelp was muffled and lost behind two sets of doors, but that wouldn’t be so for long.

Mere seconds after the shrill shriek had sounded, the short, dark-haired and very pale form of Belle came crashing through the doors leading to Miramon’s bedroom. With another anxious gasp the girl dove straight over the body of the semi-conscious Bajoran and curled up in the far corner of the bed, clutching the pillow she’d stolen from the man during her flying leap, while her eyes grew to the size of dinner plates.

Her brown hair was thrown about her shoulders in a disheveled mess and her shaking body was garbed in a considerably oversized T-shirt, promoting some band or another, and yellow shorts. Her eyes were fixed on the door, horror glinting back from them, and her lower lip was twitching in worry as she kept pushing her body back into the furthest part of the bed. Belle hadn’t even glanced at Miramon yet and by the looks of things she wasn’t about to, either.

Within maybe half a second of seeing Belle dive into the room at a speed that the Bajoran would have thought was physically impossible for a human, Miramon had put down the PADD he had been reading - an Earth novel, as it happened - and glanced with a rather intrigued stare at his roommate, who thus far hadn't said a word beyond an incoherent screech. He looked over to the door of his room, half expecting a Klingon with a blood-curdling cry and a bat'leth to come strolling in, the latter object having Belle's name written on the blade. But, as it was, there was no such entity. Turning back to the human, the Bajoran raised his right eyebrow in confusion.

"Now, trusting the assumption that you don't believe you've seen a ghost, and knowing full well that I am not responsible for whatever's got you in such a fright, would you care to explain what the heck you're doing?"

Belle blinked, glancing at the Bajoran and sinking her teeth into her lower lip to keep it from twitching. She opened her mouth to say something, but closed it right after, looking back at the door with a frown and a pout. Finally, after some more varied confusion, the girl raised her hand and pointed in the general direction of the door, turning her head to eye Miramon triumphantly as she’d just made a perfectly fine attempt at a coherent movement.

“There!”

Miramon looked at Belle strangely for a moment, then glanced back at the doorway.

"I see...carpet, and the outline of the door. Other than that, I'm looking for...what?"

The diminutive human scoffed, giving a scowl at his unwillingness to read her thoughts as she kept her arm outstretched towards the door, eyeing the Bajoran with misplaced annoyance. “It’s in my room,” she exclaimed fervently, shaking her outstretched arm up and down to strengthen her lost point.

Belle came off as oddly impish, curled up in her T-shirt and clutching the pillow tightly while shooting the owner of said pillow an unwillingly peeved glance. She’d know the man for exactly, oh, 16 hours now, and hadn’t talked to him at all aside from the original “How do you do. What’s the weather like in these parts?”, yet diving for cover into his bed or balling up there didn’t seem the least bit odd to her. Go figure.

"Now listen here. You've got pillows in your room just the same as me, so why you'd want to steal mine is beyond me."

Miramon shook his head. He'd not had this much trouble with Saia, and she was a 9-year old Trill. But then, he was used to humans acting strangely.

The dark haired girl gave an involuntary snarl and smacked the Bajoran over the head with the pillow, dropping it on his face when she was done. “It’s not about the pillow,” she wailed, flailing her arms angrily.

"It's not?" The Bajoran stared at the woman with disbelief.

Finally, she dropped her hands back into her lap and rolled her eyes with a completely flustered expression, simply not believing that the man was as dense as he came off as. “There’s a –spider-!”

She just blinked at the blank expression she received.

“There’s a SPIDER in MY room!” She explained again, scowling like no other.

"Oh! Right. What is a spider, precisely?" That just forced her to grab the pillow again and whack him over the head for the second time. “How can you not know what a spider is!? Eight legs, buggish, creepy and crawly? What kinda man are you anyway?” And she whacked him for the third time, holy anger and everything.

Miramon was just confused. How was he supposed to know what a spider was? "Um, you know, maybe I ought to make sure that you know I'm Bajoran. We don't *have* such creatures on Bajor. Anyway, what did you want me to do about it?"

What was this man made of? Who was he? What beastly machine had spit him out and why in the ‘verse was Dee, of all adorable people, have to be chunked together with him? She stared at him in wide-eyed wonder, not even bothering to grab the pillow again and try to whack him, as apparently such measly things didn’t even make The Man Of Steel budge. And, sadly enough, she didn’t have her rocket launcher along with her. Maybe THAT would have gotten more than a raised eyebrow out of him.

The girl fell back in exasperation, her arms stretched out to her sides as she looked up at the ceiling, her eyes slowly glazing over. He couldn’t be for real. No way. EVERYBODY knows what a spider is. EVERYBODY. The little lady down the street, the tech at the Vanguards. The clueless Trill on the rooftop. Just, EVERYBODY. But! – and there is also always a but! in there somewhere – not him. He had to be out of an alternate universe or something, where bugs didn’t exist and the word ‘spider’ meant a bubbly drink.

Belle was left with only a few options.

A) Take the pillow and choke him to death.

B) Lecture him about the evils of spiders and the effect they have on females, or…

C)

“Fine,” she exclaimed dully from her current position.

“Fine,” she noted again, nodding her head thoughtfully this turn.

“Fine,” she finally decided, nudging her body into a free roll towards the side of the bed and touching her feet to the ground as she reached it, soon standing up straight and pulling the oversized shirt downwards to lose the wrinkles in it. After that she eyed Miramon blankly, raising her hands slightly in one last attempt at reasoning with him. “Spiders?” Oh hell, who was she kidding, the man was clueless.

She sighed, yielding to the stupidity of it all, and then trotted out of the room. A moment later Miramon could hear the front door whooshing open and then closing again, after one pair of feet had padded out through it. Seconds later the door clanked open again, this time two pairs of feet hiking in. “In there,” Dee’s voice sounded somewhere in the other room. All fell quiet for a trice, until a decisive stomp resounded somewhere in the distance and Belle clapped her hands together giddily, giving some victorious squeal.

“Dead?” Her voice was still a bit shaky, but very clearly tinted with a straggling sense of hope.

“Dead,” a male tone agreed, making a soft, ringing baritone-kind of sound.

“Yay,” she noted happily, and then the footsteps started again, the familiar whooshing of the door following short after.

In a flash the girl was back at Mirry’s door. As she peeked in she nodded at him triumphantly, her hands on her hips. “Spiders!”

And then, well, she disappeared.

At least neighbors were good for something, even if it was only for spider-smashing.

“Things Unspoken”

Nara & Bran with Saia (NPC)

***Nara, Bran, and Saia’s Quarters***

Bran got home immediately, went to her own room and gave the cushion on her bed a few good whacks. "I hate veterans and I hate spoiled annoying little kids!" She grunted.

Nara was sitting on the couch reading a PADD containing the new system O'Shea had introduced; while Saia painted in a corner. Nara kept her promise and found some paints, an easel and a big pad of paper for Saia.

It normally wasn't like Bran to come in without greeting. Saia, obviously, was oblivious to it, too much in concentration over her painting of something that had yet to take form of anything Nara could recognize. It looked dark and menacing, though. Nara decided not to think too much about it and went to Bran's door. "You ok in there?"

"I am fine, just had the most rotten day in history." She growled. "Not fit company right now until I get rid of a loooootttt of aggression."

Nara laughed, "Ok, I'm out here when you're ready to talk." Nara returned to the PADD and shrugged at Saia who had turned around for moment.

"Okay."

***Later***

Branwen came out ten minutes later and sat down on the couch. "I knew it would not be easy, yet it seems nobody wants a marine shrink. Least of all the Marines."

Nara looked up, "Are you surprised? They're all hard-nosed, kill or be kill, unfeeling...." She realized what she was saying, "And your the only one whose not like that."

"Not true, with many of them it is only the exterior. They have never learnt to show emotions, yet they do have them and it is eating at them. That's why it is so important they let them out."

Nara nodded and then shook her head, "And good luck with that." She looked to see if Saia was listening, and seeing the young Trill concentrating on her painting, she spoke low, "How are things with Sam?"

"Don't mention her name to me today. She was a large part of my troubles." Bran flared again.

"Hmmm," Nara glanced at Saia. She wondered if she should in fact stop her from hanging out with Sam. She looked back at Bran, "Ok, other than that, how are things?"

"Otherwise things are fine." She blushed thinking back on what has almost happened with Saul. That was not something she was comfortable with sharing with Nara.

Nara noticed the blush. "What's that about?" She pointed to Bran's face.

"Nothing." Branwen said quickly, too quickly. "It's personal."

Nara frowned and nodded again. She kind of guessed, but threw it out before she really let it settle.

"So how was your day?" Branwen desperately wanted to change the subject.

Nara smiled, "The usual. Diagnostics, gizmoes, tinkering with the ship hoping to improve it's performance, praying you don't blow it up in the process."

Bran grinned. "And the kid?"

"We're getting along better and its going really well."

"I am glad." Bran fell silent. It was akward she couldn't talk about what had nearly happened between her and Saul.

Nara sighed, "Ya know, it's obvious there's something you're not telling me.

You dont have to tell me what, but is everything REALLY ok?"

"I think so. Look, it has to do with Saul, so I really cannot discuss it with you." She apologized.

Nara raised an eyebrow, "I don't see why not, but ok." She picked the PADD up again.

"It is akward enough us both loving him. I am sure there are some things you want to keep to yourself." Bran said. She hated that there was something between them.

Nara stared at her blankly a moment, not sure how to respond and then turned to look toward Saia.

After a little while Branwen looked in the same direction. And then stood to have a closer look.

On the canvas, it was a little clearer what the images were of. It look hauntingly famailar. It looked like a city, or more like the remains of one.

Over the painting Branwen looked at Nara with a little worry. She took her roommate aside. "Is she still seeing a therapist?"

Nara blinked. "I..." She looked at the painting again and figured out what Bran was implying, "Looks like...No. I thought she was doing ok. I can't even deal with my own issues...I didn't think...." Nara frowned and looked down, "I've failed her there haven't I?"

"No you haven't. Don't blame yourself for having no experience with children. It is important that she continues to talk about this. I think finding her a therapist is a good idea. Somebody she feels comfortable with."

Nara then looked at Bran and smiled charmingly.

"Are you thinking . . . No, I couldn't. Ethics you know." She protested.

"She knows you...I know you..." Nara continued. "I mean there's Dallas, but even with all that confidence creed thing, I feel uncomfortable someone knowing those secret things about me is talking to Saia."

"As if I don't know things about you." Branwen protested again. "I don't really know if this is allowed. Or if Saia would want it."

Nara sighed and nodded, "Yea. But what about unofficially? We could ask her."

"I suppose so. " Branwen wasn't sure. "I would be more of a friend then."

"That's what you are anyway."

Branwen was not completely happy with it. "Why don't you ask her if she would not prefer to see another therapist. She might not feel comfortable talking to me, you know."

Nara nodded and set the PADD down, "I'll talk to her about it some time."

"Okay. Let me know when you do." Branwen said still a little bit uncomfortable.

Nara nodded again and went back to the couch reading the PADD, but her mind kept going back to the odd tension that now divided her and Bran.

Bran went her own way as well relaxing in front of the DVD player. She felt a bit guilty but she couldn’t tell Nara that Saul and she had nearly had sex.

OOC: Thanks everyone, for being patient while I work through my connection issues. Part II will be out tomorrow evening, and we'll get the teams moving along. If anyone wants to write their charachters coming down to the planet, that's fine. They'd be either transportered to the rally point where the Marines are unloading the dropships, or they'd come down on the dropships, themselves. -- MJ

"Planetside, Part I"

1Lt. T'Shani a'Akledorian CO, 188th Furies 2nd TSS Dtc.

Cdr. Cassius Henderson XO, USS Galaxy/Ground Team One CO

== Enroute to Planet Surface, Mirusa VI ==

"We'll be touching down in ten, Lieutenant," the Anduril's Betazoid copilot--Lavanna Lewis--informed over her shoulder.

Tish nodded absently, without saying anything, just a far-off look in her pale yellow eyes.

Sergeant Louise 'Mouse' Markinson sat strapped into her jump seat, directly behind Lavanna Lewis. From there, she watched T'Shani A'Akledorian, wondering what thoughts were crossing behind the far-away look in the Andorian's eyes.

The previous evening hadn't been kind to Mouse. From the late night up talking with some of the girls in the barracks, to the sudden interruption of her sleep by the vibration of her transmitter, she had become progressively more exhausted. Mouse pondered the message she'd recieved from Handler the previous night.

[Priority change. Watch for the watchers. Primary target under observation. Home team wants to know more.]

So Lieutenant A'Akledorian was being watched, and her Handler wasn't sure who it was. Mouse was feeling slightly in over her head, but she remained quiet and observant, as usual.

"Approaching the drop, Lieutenant." That was Sgt. Rowley, the pilot, this time. Tish bobbed her antennas, again.

'Mouse' spared a glance directly across to the rat-humanoid sitting behind A'Akledorian. Sergeant Ropp'tk'tk, her partner in crime, sniffed back at her. She couldn't tell if he was worried or peeved at being cramped in the jump seat webbing. The Imuzen man was hard to read.

~Focus on the mission, T'Shani. Get it done, then pick up the pieces of your life,~ she chided herself. But it was so damned hard. In the course of just two nights, she had messed up everything between her current CO, Cassius, and her former CO, Rex. She loved both men... ~Right? I do, don't I?~... but neither one wanted her. Again, she was just the forgotton girl on a raped planet, again.

*THUMP*

She felt the dropship come to rest on its antigravs as the planetfall ramp quickly fell to the ground. Unstrapping herself from the seat, she checked her tight-fitting TacSuit, utility belt, and weapons, and then made her way to the rear of the shuttle.

Cass Henderson had been surprised to find out that he had been the first member of Team One to beam down, at least until he'd remembered the SFMC penchant for dropship use. However, he was greatful for the respite, and had used it to square away things with the project manager, a snarky old man named Jericho.

So now, with the Hydrans set to arrive in a few minutes, and the rest of his team already deployed, he was sitting on an empty supply crate, waiting for the arrival of the Furies.

Sitting and waiting took it's usual effect, and he spent most of the time thinking over the many varied things that were on his mind.

He was apprehensive of the arrival of the Hydrans, whose transport could be seen descending from the opposite side of the camp. The Imperial Guard unit had transmitted their plan to set up a base came on Mirusa earlier that morning, so as to conduct long range searches.

On top of that, he was worried about several of his friends. Klaus Fienberg was flaking out about the past again, and Tish had God knew how many issues at the moment, *not* to mention the events of the previous night. He was eternally greatful that Eko had been agreeable this morning. That would help cut the awkwardness of working with Tish. She couldn't pick 'better' timing, could she?

The dropship set down in front of him and discharged it's passengers, starting with T'Shani A'Akledorian. As usual, she wore her form fitting tactical suit, complementing her figure. It was a start contrast Cass' simple desert fatigues. Yeah... this was going to be interesting.

~Rhooz,~ Tish swore to herself, while debarking. She knew that she'd have to face him, eventually. But she'd hoped that she could silently "cloak" herself from his everprescence, just for this one mission. Why did he have to be everywhere, all the time? Damn him.

"Good morning, Commander," she said coolly, professionally, belying no intimations of what had happened last night.

"Tish," he nodded curtly, keeping a more certain distance between them than he usually did. He stood up from his crate as the marines piled out of the dropship. Shouldering his phaser rifle, he closed the distance between them. Her body language was different this morning. The previous night had definately left a visible effect on her. Or was it something else?

"Where are the Hydrans, Commander?" she asked, keeping her voice void of any emotion that might tip her feelings again. Sevenscence says:

"Scheduled to arrive in five minutes," Cass said, gesturing with his rifle toward the descending Hydran transport, outlined by the clouds in the sky behind him.

Tish turned to the rest of the teams, who were now disembarking from the Narsil, Herugrim, and Glamdring--the other three dropships that serviced the Furies. Nodding once to sergeant Johnson, she turned to walk with Cass over to where the Hydran ship had just landed, near the dig team's main structure.

"The leader of the Imperial Guard detachment contacted me this morning," Cass explained as they walked. "He's not too keen on working very closely with us, and would perfer to keep thing seperate. I'm amenable, though I'll be posting a team to keep an eye on the Hydrans, and relay information from their command unit to mine."

Tish nodded while adding, "From your brief on that padd, I see that they will be sending a guard with each of our teams. I don't like that, Cassius," she paused, using his name for the first time that day.

"It's one man," Cass locked eyes with her, "We'll have one man with each of theirs. Unless there's something out there that I don't know about, which is entirely possible, I don't see it being an issue."

She held his eyes for only a moment, searching them for anything...anything from last night. But, she saw, he was past that. ~As you should be, Tinis,~ she thought silently to herself. "Fine. Let's get this over with, and find the science team. I don't feel good about this, Cassius. I don't. Something's not right." She turned and marched over to the purplish-blue hued shuttlecraft that carried the Hydrans down to the surface.

She kept herself from making a face as the shuttle's passengers came down from their large shuttle's ramp. Hydrans were so.... disgusting. Thier sheeny, slick skin and strange, tubule-like muscles. And the three eyes and beak were disconcerting.

She shuddered, involuntarily as she remembered Gral N'Fth'Nor's face, foaming at the beak, inches from her face while at Rel'kessan.

Cass was, perhaps sadly, unphased by the arrival of the Hydrans. He'd been getting far too used to their presence of late. They just kept popping up. "Qasar Nen'Kir'Than," Cassius bowed in greeting. "I trust your trip down to Mirusa has been uneventful."

The Qasar, who was equivalent to a Marine Major, bowed to Cass, as was their custom. His central eyestalk turned toward Henderson, while the other two rested on both T'Shani and Johnson (who had come up to accompany his CO), as well.

"Yesss, Commander," his voice slithered sibilantly out of his beaked maw. "I am to inform you that our commander has given your crew fourty-eight of your earth-hours to find your teamsss, and leave thisss planet," he hissed while refocusing all three eyes directly onto Cassius. Nearby, his three other lackeys drew closer to their leader.

"Return this message to your commander, Qasar," Cass replied, his voice firm and commanding. "We agreed upon the two day time limit until renegotiation last night at dinner. If Gral Kedr'Ni'Van has any new concerns, he is to contact Captain M'Kantu.

"I will warn you, though. We have no intention of withdrawing from this planet, as it is within the current official borders of the United Federation of Planets. Any attempt to remove us will be met with the appropriately forceful response."

The Qasar's two henchmen (Gi'Mev's, by their ranks) moved forward quickly, but he held his fist up. Stopping, they withdrew a few paces again. Fixing all three eyes on Henderson, "I am *aware* of our commander's 'agreement' with yours. This may be a neutral planet, but this you walk here on our terms, Commander Henderssson. You will find your men, and leave, assss per the agreement."

"No. You haven't been reading your orders carefully enough, Qasar. The agreement is that we will both find our missing personnel, then proceed with our previous orders, thus preventing a conflict and working to further the well being of both of our people. I suggest you double check your orders before attempting to throw your weight around again,"

Henderson glared daggers, hand resting comfortably on his phaser pistol's grip. "And you may want to look at your charts again. This is Federation territoy. If your government wants the planet, they can file a claim like anyone else. They have diplomats. Use them."

The Qasar's beak chittered, as if he were getting annoyed, as Tish figured. As much as she hated these blue-purple mostrosities, she knew that they had a mission to perform, and fighting with the Hydrans--even though amusing--would just hamper things. Slightly, she touched the hem of Cass's uniform cuff, silently urging him to let it drop.

Cass didn't bother to respond. He knew something of Hydran tactics, so he was aware that this was a common one: sending out a hotheaded officer who was likely to goad the opposing commander into a fight. He also knew that the only easy ways to deal with the tactic were to kill the person on sight (not a good idea) or to irritate them into attacking first or backing down (bad and good respectively).

Tish cleared her throat, and stepped forward. "Qasar Nen'Kir'Than, let's get this done, and be out of each other's mutual..." she paused, "...hair," she finished, then realizing again that Hydran's had none.

"Good," he said gruffly. "Where is your base camp, Lieutenant?" Nen turned to fix his gaze on Tish, while keeping a solitary eye on Cassius.

"At the main dig headquarter structure," she hiked a blue thumb behind her to indicate the low-trussed metallic-looking building back over where the dropships had landed. "My Master Sergeant--Johnson--will take you there. Johson?"

"Yes, Ma'am," the black man stepped forward, nodded at Nen and his contingent, and smartly marched off toward the command post.

"Cass, what in Thori's name was *that* all about? I know you're still mad about last night, but--"

"But nothing," he replied sharply. "I'm a tactician, T'Shani. I'm trained to recognize a pattern. The Hydran have a tactic known as the 'Mevhor'Dran'. It's a very simple tactic, in which they send a young, hotheaded warrior out to goad their enemy's leader into a fight, usually resulting in that leader's death. It's the snake mentality. Cut off the head... and you know the rest.

"In any case, the easiest way to deal with it is to goad them into either backing down, because they don't wish to strike the first blow, or into attacking. The only reason that Hydran relaxed so suddenly when you spoke to him was because he's trained to."

Tish rolled her eyes at 'Mister Tactician'. Obviously, he there was something else still bothering him. "So, you're still mad at me that I ruined your mounting-session of Janx, huh?"

"Do you have a brain? Is it connected to your brain stem? Do you use either?" Cass turned and looked at her. "What part of inappropriate do you not understand?"

Tish realized that she had overstepped herself, again. And, he was too wound up, anyway. ~Fuck him, then.~ She didn't have time to indulge whatever stormcloud he was dwelling upon. Turning away, she changed the subject while vowing to *never* mention that goddamned Trill, ever again.

"Tish," he said, stopping her in her tracks. "Answer my question. I know you didn't think before you barged into my quarters last night. I don't blame you for it. Ekoma and I will have plently of opportunities to do what we were doing. But I do want to know why it happened."

Tish huffed, her antennas arching back a little. "It's... complicated. Forget it, Cass. I shouldn't have brought it up again," she said while waving a hand dismissively. Turning to duck into the command structure, she looked back over her shoulder. "Ask Corran, later."

"I'd rather here your side of the story," he replied, following her. "I trust Corran to give me the truth, but honestly, I'm more concerned about you than I am about him."

Tish sighed, annoyed. Not as much at Cass's persistance, but that she had been foolish enough to bring it up again, anyways. What was the Pinkskin saying, "Picking at old wounds?"

The problem was, this one was still pretty fresh. "Forget I even said anything, Cassius. Let's get this briefing done." With that, she disappeared into the structure.

<To be continued...>

"How to recruit an agent in 7 simple steps – Part II, Picking a lamb"

Lieutenant J.G. Saul Bental

Intelligence Officer / Lily Squad leader

The three members of Lily squad spent the voyage to Mirusa by carefully inspecting the various officers who formed Admiral Proctor's entourage.

Less than a day away from the Galaxy's destination, Saul, Nyoko and Seren's opinions about the potential candidates for 'recruitment' were divided. The fact that the three of them had to continue full time in their regular tasks – most related to the outcome of the Battle of Havras – didn't make it easier.

Saul pulled another PADD from the small pile on the round table. Across the table, Nyoko was holding a couple of PADDs on her own, her eyes jumping from one personal file to the other. She uttered something very unpleasant in Japanese.

"Every candidate I bring up, you object. We'll be out of candidates soon!", She pouted at Saul, the slanted her eyes toward Seren in a silent plea for help. The Vulcan Informatician remained externally unconcerned. If he was a Human, Nyoko would call him apathetic, but he was Vulcan and you know how these my-logic-will-kick-your-emotional-rear folks are.

"Motives, motives, Yuuri. You're weak on the motives. In fact, you're looking at this the wrong way.", Saul told her.

"Excuse me? Just so you'll know, I was almost picked for Humint handlers course before I was reassigned to the Galaxy! What did you do, Mr. Lieutenant Junior Grade?"

Saul ignored Nyoko's anger. They were all frustrated by the lack of progress, even Seren. But this had to be done right.

"Let me explain. Forget for a moment what they taught you at the academy and let's start from the basics."

"I'm listening.", Nyoko said. Seren remained silent, but Saul could see how he shifted forward slightly.

"What we're going to do is make a person do something very unnatural.", Saul began, "We're going to make someone go against his loyalties and his believes, and do it willingly. Willingly, you understand? Basically, we are going to alter the reality for him – or her – so that he'll look at his actions in a different light. Now, all these people you suggested, none of them are too loyal to Proctor, but still they are not stupid, and they do realize that if they leak information and get caught, our dear Roman empress is going to introduce them to the wrong side of the airlock."

"So basically you claim that there is no way we can recruit an informer within Proctor's troupe.", Said Seren, "Because it would be illogical for them to fail the Admiral's trust."

"But that's exactly the point.", Saul beamed at the older Vulcan, "How DO we make them think it's totally logical to leak information? How will it seem natural to tell someone 'from the outside' about the actions of your superior officer, without fear?"

"You're not going to suggest bribing, are you?", Nyoko rolled her eyes, "May I remind you that these people ARE, in the end, our own?"

Saul nodded. "That makes things harder. One of the ways to convince someone to do something unnatural is the negative way. Threatening someone's life or blackmailing him is a negative way. So is threatening those who are close to a potential candidate, or endangering his most precious possessions, even his home. Negative ways can be effective, and are easier to implement. Too bad we can't use them."

"Maybe because we didn't joint the service to BLACKMAIL A FELLOW OFFICER.", Nyoko ranted.

"You'll be amazed how dirty things might get the more you climb up the rank levels. Politics are dirty business, even within our valiant organization. Anyway, negative recruitment ways are too risky, and too crude. Also, the problem with a negative way is that the recruited agent has strong motivation to act against his handler, and remove the knife from his throat."

"No blackmailing.", Nyoko summed up.

"Not this time.", Saul flashed a grin. "The second group of methods is the positive way. It usually works on the weaker candidates, those who are more prone to fall for temptations. Find something the candidate want, and give it to him. Credits, power, moral satisfaction, women…"

Saul paused, and he and Seren eyed Nyoko for a long moment, until the petite Japanese officer broke.

"You are NOT suggesting that I… no, no way! Starfleet doesn't pay enough for me to make out with…", She waved the PADD containing the personal file of Commander Mark Sheridan in front of Saul's eyes.

* * * Starfleet Academy, 2402 * * *

"I don't believe you.", one of the cadets interrupted Commander Yuuri's lecture.

The Japanese instructor frowned at the Bajoran cadet. Behind her, the caption 'STEP 2 – PICKING A LAMB' flickered. "I may be an old hag now, but in my time I was a pretty little girl."

"That's not what I meant…", The Bajoran mumbled, shifting from side to side, "It's just that… using women and the desire for sex as a bait for Intel data is SO 23rd century…"

"Well, twenty years from now, when YOU will be an instructor – IF you will be an instructor – we'll see how YOU feel when your students call you an old hag, oh, I could've seduced the Commander if I wanted. You'll be amazed what good Sushi can do to your… ah, never mind. Where were we…"

* * * USS Galaxy, Intelligence CIC Present day* * *

"Nyoko, There are two ways to approach the positive method. The clear way and the hidden way. The clear path means that the we come to the agent with a clear proposal, and he is fully aware that he is 'activated'. Offering someone bribe or talking to his morale opinions are the clear way. But, again, this way is too risky for us."

"Lieutenant Ghiaz is a known dove. Why won't we use the 'clear' way as you call it, and tell him 'Hey, what a dove like you do in an aerie like this?'."

Saul pointed at her. "And this is IT exactly. Ghiaz's file say that he picked his post among Proctor's staff out of three possible alternative, despite the fact that he doesn't tolerate her opinions. Why was he willing to make this sacrifice? What drives him? What drives them all?"

"Ambition.", Seren said simply. He, the NCO who lacked any ambition at all (as he told Saul during their first interview), could easily identify what he thought of as a flow in others.

"Precisely. These people might be tempted by a pretty woman or man, a shiny bag of latinum, or an inflammatory political debate… but all of them suck up to Proctor because they want to use their relations with her as leverage. I promise you that none of them chose this job because it was challenging, or because they admire Proctor. Well, maybe that Sheridan did, but the rest just want to get ahead and being close to an admiral can lead to some interesting career shortcuts."

"And again we return to a point where none of the possible candidates have a reason to tell us anything.", Nyoko said. She was getting tired.

"BUT…", Saul's voice grew louder and louder, "What if someone was lagging on the race? What if someone in one of the outer circles of Proctor's court is failing time and time again to get closer to the plate? That someone would do ANYTHING to get closer to the Admiral, no? Perhaps, a good advice, or some sympathy, would be nice."

Nyoko closed her eyes. "So basically, our agent is going to tell us Proctor's closest secrets and in exchange we'll get him closer to Proctor?"

"Something like that."

She opened her eyes again. "Saul Joop Bental, you are insane."

"I think the Lieutenant's chain of thoughts is completely logical.", Seren told her. A PADD was hurled toward him, but he avoided it with ease.

"OK guys.", Saul prompted, "I need you to find me this guy. He or she are on one of the outer circles – not too far away from Proctor, don't get me the guy who cleans her toilet – and who is insecure and unsuccessful enough not to get closer. Someone who lacks the political skills, the elbows… but who doesn't have a problem befriending a complete stranger, say, me or Nyoko. Let's go and pick our lamb from the herd."

Within half an hour, the trio went through all the PADDs, slowly adding one by one to the pile of 'eliminated candidates' until only a single PADD remained.

"We have a winner.", Saul proclaimed. "I hope Lieutenant Chun Lin believes in angels, because three angels are going to descend from Intel heaven and grant all his wishes."

Nyoko sighed, and mumbled something in Japanese about Dutchmen, mental hospitals, isolation from civilized society and strong sedatives.

NRPG: All people mentioned in this post are used from the Star Trek: 'Articles of the Federation' novel by Keith R.A. deCandido. I've tried to keep personalities as close to his written prose as possible, so yes, Bacco really does talk like she does in this post.

This post and others like it will establish characters in command level positions you'll be seeing as recurring characters in the Miranda/Galaxy/Relentless simverse.

-----

"Fallout"

Starring: Nanietta Bacco, UFP President

Esperanza Pinero, Chief of Staff

Admiral Jas Abrik. Chief Security Advisor

Fleet Admiral Leonard James Akaar, Starfleet Command

Captain Holly Hostetler Richman Liaison to Starfleet Intelligence

Mentions: Kant Jorel, Chief Press Liaison for President's Office and Federation Council

Sivak, President Bacco's Personal Secretary

*****

May 20th, 2382
Twenty Minutes after Havras FNN Broadcast

Paris, France, Earth
Palais de Concorde Monet Room,
Basement Level

"Where's that damnable Admiral? The least he could do is show up on time seeing as gave up a bases loaded top of the seventh with Hayakawa about to clean up. Do you know how long it's been since there's been a nailbiter Pioneers game, Esperanza?" The grey-haired President of the United Federation of Planets paced around to the head of the conference table, and slammed her hands down symmetrical to each other, eyeballing her Chief of Staff.

"No, ma'am, but I suspect we're about to find out." Esperanza Pinero, her olive skin glistening with perspiration at the recent news causing her to dodge through councillors questions and relentless aides around every corner as she compiled every report relating to Havras for the President.

"Don't get smart with me. You're not so important to my well-being that I can't kick your ass out the door."

"Yes, ma'am." Nan Bacco's eyes glittered as her Chief of Staff slid gracefully into her contoured seat, shuffling documents into a semblance of order. Esperanzo may by almost sixty years old now, but she'll always be the rambunctious child of Victor and Nareida Pinero, close friends of Bacco's on Cestus III, the homeworld of both the President and Chief of Staff.

Before Bacco could start in on the auspices of the Pike City Pioneers, who haven't had much luck in the Cestus Baseball League for the last season since Kornelius Yates finally reduced his gametime and allowed the younger Hayakawa some more game time, Fleet Admiral Leonard James Akaar arrived with Captain Holly Hostetler Richman, Liaison to Starfleet Intelligence.

"President, Ms. Pinero, I apologize for my tardiness. Things have been exceptionally hectic of late." The centenarian Capellan, his graying hair pulled back at the temples exposing his strained features, took his station immediately to the left of Esperanza. Hostetler Richman, herself mild in years but stoic in the poise of one far older and experienced, took her seat next to the empty one beside the President.

"Try my job sometime, Leonard. I'd love to take a vacation."

"No, thank you, Madam President. I lack the skills required to perform the tasks as superbly as yourself."

"Cut the crap, Admiral. You know the game as well as anyone, so stop kissing ass." She darted her dark eyes towards him in a suspicious look. "Or was that an insinuated insult?"

Before Akaar could respond, Jas Abrik marched in, arms ladled with stacks of PADD's, an equally heavy expression on his elderly features.

"About time you showed up, Jas. If I called the meeting 15 minutes earlier, I might've actually been able to sit to the end of the game."

The Trill security advisor gave Bacco a sour look as he settled into his seat to her right, next to Richman, who nodded in greeting. Abrik ignored her.

"Now that we're all here," Bacco had not moved from her slightly leaned over stance, even though her hands now gripped the edge of the table. "I should have known what with Federation Day coming up, something was bound to burst my bubble." She stabbed a forefinger control on the terminal inlaid into the wood surface of the desk. A panel slid aside in the center, at which point a holographic representation of the newscast from Vera Donahue replayed itself in all its glory.

"Someone *please* explain to me how actual logs managed to find themselves on a public newscast? This was supposed to be a classified mission, was it not?"

"Madam President, with all due respect, what difference does it make?" Abrik was a staunch supporter and campaign manager for Special Emissary Arafel Pagro during the special elections to elect a new President after Min Zife stepped down in 2379 after the Tezwa incident. Pagro was heavily anti-Klingon and based his campaign - on Abrik's advice - on establishing an aggressive posture for the Federation in an attempt to lead the Federation away from its historical failures to put it on a definitive path to success. Bulking up Starfleet, authorizing budget extensions on special projects in defense of the UFP, breaking away from 'shaky' alliances of convenience with questionable partners such as the Klingons and Romulans, etc. Any species that was once an enemy, or harbors aggressive tendencies, should be forced into Federation policies if in alliance, or given the heave-ho.

The elections had been a close call, with Bacco barely squeaking by. It certainly helped that the C-in-C of Starfleet - Admiral Ross - had thrown his support behind Bacco. Nothing like a Dominion War Hero to turn the tide.

"What difference does it make?? We've gone through this all before, Jas. The Federation does not condone violence or aggression in any form. Seek out new life and new civilizations? Isn't that the Starfleet mantra? Or has it changed to 'Seek out new life and assimilate new civilizations, and let others die because we don't get along with them'? Honestly, I'm really not seeing why I continue to keep you around."

Abrik shrugged, in line with the smug look on his face. "Because if you don't, you know what will happen."

"Stop reminding me. A woman can dream, can't she?" And envision how many different ways of killing him at the same time.

"Holly, what have you got? Anything from Intelligence?"

"We're getting conflicting reports, but nothing confirmed as yet. I've got a dozen analysts researching FNN's source. At this time, we can confirm that the level of detail in the report can only come from an operative with a level of security access only top-level command officers are granted. Unfortunately, with the inclusion of Admiral deMercereau's 12th Fleet, there were 115 starships present. Over 500 command level personnel had access to the sensor logs with recording permissions. It will take some time to run background checks on all of them."

"Madam President?" Akaar, who had remained silent through the interchange, raised a hand slightly.

"This isn't a classroom, Leonard. No need to raise hands, but thank you for the consideration." She didn't have to look at Abrik for him to get the point.

Akaar continued without skipping a beat, ignorant of the personality conflicts in the room.

"Judging by the broadcasted details of the field of battle, the sensor logs had to come from the three ships engaged amidst the worst of the conflict. Irene's fleet arrived later in the logs. I've viewed them myself and can corroborate. The timestamps have not been tampered with."

Esperanza had begun shuffling through the data jackets in front of her. The perspiration had disappeared with the dehumidification levels in the room, though the flushing in her dark cheeks had not.

"Arizona, Galaxy, and Miranda." Richman wrinkled her brow at the names of the starships.

"Emmett Bregman is on the Galaxy. He had ties with Presidents Zife and Jaresh-Inyo."

"And myself, too, Holly. I'm not so sure he's the source. He may be the biggest ass this side of the Alpha Quadrant, but he knows the consequences if he reports it."

"It was his network that reported it, Madam President. They knew before we did. Plus, he didn't broadcast the article. Vera did in his place, possibly to throw off the scent."

"Ohhhh, you don't know Emmett that well, Holly. A story that big he'd never do the work for and give someone else credit. Especially the competition within FNN. He certainly enjoys the attention, positive or negative. Worse the attention, the more he's wanting to be at the center of it." Bacco lowered her tone a notch, signifying the end of the discussion. "Who else?"

The human female thumbed through another document on her personal PADD, coming to a stop on one of the ship manifests.

"Commander Kit Jordan-Elaithin."

"That's Captain Elaithin's wife. Starfleet Intelligence, is she not?" Akaar had steepled his fingers in the tradition of the Vulcan who had been there at his birth over a hundred years previous.

"Yes. Recalled to Earth for debriefing. Former reporter for the Federation Dispatch. Accelerated through the ranks quite quickly, in fact."

"Pardon me, Madam President, everyone else," Abrik dripped sneers all around. "The fact is, what's done is done. Looking for blame won't change anything. The protesters outside aren't going away. The Federation's citizens demand retribution for the sons and daughters who died at Havras, and now it's time to move forward with resolution."

"I agree." The CoS interjected without hesitation, startling both herself and Jas Abrik, since they don't see eye-to-eye on many matters, even though she understood his view, even shared it. Only, she knew the long-term benefits of establishing relations with former enemies. She'd rather have them as shaky allies than definitive enemies.

"And yourself, Leonard?" Bacco ignored Abrik's arrogant stare. She pictured her hands around his throat and throwing him out the 15th story window. Let him enjoy the fruits of his labor by playing with the bloodletters he helped foster outside.

"Starfleet is at your disposal, Madam President." He nodded slightly, eyes closed in assent.

"Holly?"

"I agree a resolution needs to be found, but if there's a command level leak roaming free, it needs to be plugged before the hole gets any bigger. We've bigger secrets than Havras to protect the public from." Tezwa, Trill, the parasites... "The Miranda is due to arrive within the day to take part in the festivities. It would be an opportunity to investigate further."

Bacco thumbed her communication panel. "Sivak!"

[Yes, Madam President] The graveled tones of her Vulcan aide replied immediately. A gong came to her thoughts unbidden which she at once shook off.

"Clear my calendar. Call an emergency session of the Security Council to the Wescott Room."

[Yes, ma'am. Oh, Pioneers lost 8-6.]

"Looks like you're off the hook, Jas. Doesn't change the fact you piss me off, but I won't kill you today. Thank you Sivak." As she raised herself straight, the rest of the occupants also rose to their feet.

"A resolution will be found, Abrik, but not one you would prefer if I can help it. Esperanza, make sure Kant Jorel gets out a press release on our response." She paused momentarily.

"Perhaps I should have a meeting with Captain Elaithin, hm? Not like he doesn't deserve at least a homecooked meal out of what he's done for the Federation lately. Do you think he likes baseball?"

"These Are Dark Days Indeed"

Lt(jg) Cora Dobryin Chief Intelligence Officer

By some miracle Cora had managed to get away from Galaxy's Intel Center. In fact it was a good thing she had away team duties Because she needed a change of scenery. Of course the last thing Dobryin expected was the bomb shell that greeted her upon returning to her quarters. Under normal circumstances Cora wouldn't pay attention to a blinking message light when she was operating on a tight schedule.

This time however something compelled her pause and see what it was about. She didn't get very far into it before a distinctly cold chill gripped her.

Hey Cora like everything in the world of Intel, I'm sure the timing of this message won't be ideal. Wish I could say it will have a happy tone, but that's not appropriate. Anyway I have bad news about Nate....

More than once Cora had to read the words to let the truth sink in, yet even then it seemed like a bad dream. One that made her wonder the full story. It hadn't come through offical channels, with that all too familiar mechanical wording. Instead it had come from a good friend who also happened to work in Intelligence.

Various twists of fate had brought the three to their current career paths. Later Cora would grieve in her own way, even though she hurt inside now there wasn't time to deal with it. Duty required her ot set that aside.

She headed for the transporter room with her gear. Deep inside Cora had managed to temporarily tuck away her own personal turmoil. It wasn't long after she'd stepped onto the transporter pad that she found herself materializing near Cassius Henderson's location.

"That Old, Familiar Feeling"

Starring: 2nd Lt. Greg Ward (PCC) Blue Team Leader/SFMC-USS Galaxy

Gunnery SGT. Pete "Wrong-Way" Stacker (NPC) Blue Team XO/SFMC-USS Galaxy

Tech SGT Carol "Foe-Hammer" Rowley (NPC) Pilot of Pelican Transport "Anduril"/SFMC-USS Galaxy

Cpl. Mike Tucker (NPC) Infantry/ARC/SFMC-USS Galaxy

Pvt. Micheal J. Caboose (NPC) Infantry/Heavy Gunner/ARC/SFMC-USS Galaxy

SGT. Adrian Mendoza (NPC)

with mentioning of people from other posts who took the Pelican "Anduril" down to the planet.

Infantry/SFMC-USS Galaxy

Suggested music: "I Disappear" by Metallica (for flavor), Lenny Kravitz's "American Woman" (you'll see why)

==========================================

Second Lieutenant Greg Ward turned in his chair just enough to look at the other marines in the transport section of the pelican code-named "Anduril". First Lieutenant T'Shani Akledorian was sitting with her people at the operations station of the pelican while the rest of the unit was getting antsy to get out of Engima R and D's newest flying brick. Greg adjusted the M7 Compression Phaser PDW on it's quick action sling as he moved over to where Foe-Hammer was following the other transports in.

"Are we in the pipe, Foe Hammer?" Greg asked as he leaned over the right shoulder of the older woman.

"We are in the pipe five by five. I think that you'd best get your ARCs ready, Greg." Foe-Hammer said to which Greg nodded and then activated the closed circuit comm to the other ARC troops.

"This is Strike Command to ARCs. Prepare to activate sneak suits in three...two...one..activate." Greg said into the channel and then reached over to his left wrist and activated the small padd built into his right forearm which activated his ARC suit's special features.

The ARC suit combined the standard issue Hazard or Mark 2 battle suit with a number of unique features. The primary one was that the ARC suit uses electro-fiber technology, which was a by-product of fiber-optics research. The texture isn't far removed from rubber but the material products the wearer against a wide range of toxic substances. The suit it's self has a wide array of built-in sensors. It is referred to as "Smart Skin" in military R&D as data about different regions of the body, including blood loss, is exchanged between the suit and the intravenous nanomachines to create a bio-feedback system. The suit also applies varying pressure to major internal organs to maximize performace and to safeguard their fuctions as well, thus ensuring the ARC's active status in the field to be increased by a factor of ten.

Greg looked at the small hologram projected from the padd and saw that the other ARCs had activated their suits as well and he smiled but before he could ask a question, he heard Mendoza saying something from the back of the transport and he moved to the back to see what the young marine was saying.

"Look esse, what I'm trying to say is that I don't know why we're just flying into rescue a bunch of fracking scientists, I mean seriously what a waste of our collective talents." Mendoza said as he leaned back in his seat and smirked but the smirk slowly faded off of his face as Ward stepped over to him and looked down at Mendoza.

"Did I give you permission to bitch, soldier?" Greg asked, his tone deadly serious.

"Er, no sir. You did not and I was just.." Mendoza started to say but the look that crossed Ward's face made him stop.

"But and or just nothing, marine. When you joined my beloved corp, you joined in for a bitch session about shitty food and living conditions, about harsh bastards named Zim who pushed you past limits that not even your *GOD* knew that you had. Not about what *MISSION* you were sent on. Oh, how I dread what my beloved corp has been turned into if this" Greg said, motioning to Mendoza as he spoke with the other people in the pelican paying attention as he spoke, "is the best that comes out of boot, then I can't retire any century soon." Greg said, holding the hand that he'd been using to geasture with up to his forehead and acting like he was about to faint which brought a number of snickers from the cabin.

"What the lieutenant is trying to say, Mendoza, is that since you were a member of the 454th before the colonel merged your unit and the 237th into one whole, they may have let you bitch but now you're under Lieutenant Ward and he can't do your job..well, I think that he can put it better by himself." Stacker said as he geastured at Greg who's face had a serious look on it and then a rather nasty smile which didn't leave his face as the two pelican's that carried "Blue Team" to the field landed and the members of "Blue Team" got arrayed outside of their transports, two straight lines that may Greg's heart swell with pride but he still had Mendoza in his sites as he walked down the two lines with his hands clasped at the small of his back.

"For those of you who have never been on the same field of combat with me, I have only one simple rule that everyone knows. Everyone fights, nobody quits and if you can't do your job, you'd better pray that whatever you're fighting kills you because in the end, YOU WILL HAVE TO ANSWER TO ME! EVERYONE FIGHTS, NOBODY QUITS! DO YOU HEAR ME?!" Greg said at the top of his lungs.

"WE HEAR YOU SIR!!" came the unified response that even Mendoza said clear and loud without any hesistation in his voice.

"Good, now that is out of the way..Warm it up, everything you've got. C'mon you apes, you wanna live forever?" Greg said as he slapped Caboose on the shoulder reassuringly to which the the younger marine smiled and nodded.

"I want this LZ secured, which means Berry, I want your squad to handle it. Mendoza, I want to cordinate with Simmons of ROA to get them up and ready in case we have to create a shooting gallery!" Greg said as he geastured to the two marines in question and everyone went about their duties without him having to say "dismissed". Blue Team knew what their CO wanted of them and that was good.

Greg walked over to where Pete was talking to Caboose who quickly headed off to where Grace Waldron and Donut were standing, the heavy gunner was unusually quiet today and that actually scared Greg but then a flash of blue skin caught his attention and Greg looked over at Lieutenant Akledorian and smiled kind of. "Wrong-Way", looked at his friend of the last few years and smacked him on the shoulder which got his attention.

"You know something, you once asked me for advice. You want some now? Never pass up a good thing." was all that Stacker said and then geastured with his eyes in the direction of the andorian woman to which Greg simply nodded and walked over to where she was standing, having just gotten done talking with the Galaxy's XO. Greg walked up next to her and gently placed a hand on Tish's left shoulder and said in Andorian,

"You probally haven't heard this yet, Lieutenant. But you are a good and very capable officer, Lieutenant, plus the fact that you are attractive and intelligent isn't bad either." Greg said, then gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze and then he walked off to where Stacker was now standing with Church.

OOC: And with this, the fun begins. First thing tomorrow, I'll start the big group JP. Thanks for being patient, once again! -- MJ

"Planetside, Part II"

Cdr. Cassius Henderson USS Galaxy XO

1Lt. T'Shani a'Akledorian Furies' CO

Master Sergeant Carl Johson (APC, M. Miller) Furies' Top-Kick

Various Hydran NPCs

== Mirusa Dig Site Basecamp ==

< Continued from "Planetside, Part I>

Gi'Mev J'Kth'Kor turned his head to look over at his Qasar. Both of their tertiary eyes met, speaking untold word between them. Neither of them trusted these "Starfleet" types. Especially the hew-mons. The Andorian female, Kor could respect to some degree. She seemed to have the warrior's demeanor. But the hewmon, Henderson, seemed...

"Untrustworthy," Gi'Mev Sh'Vor'Klat filled in, unaware of his compatriot's musings.

Qasar Nen'Kir'Than turned to his two lieutenants, an eye-stalk fixing on both of them. These were two of his most trusted aides, Kor and Klat. They had served honorably with him since they were first inducted into the Sovereign Imperial Guard, 76 cycles ago.

"Speak, Kor," Than commanded.

"Qasar," Kor bobbed his center eyestalk in deference. "These Softs are not to be trusted. You know of the reports; they stole the Shadowbringer from us. If it were not for Gral N'Fth'Nor-"

"N'Fth'Nor's a *fool*, Kor," Klat spat while chittering his beak rapidly. "His faction, though not officially sanctioned by the Kle'J, may have been glorious, true. But he has only stirred up the Romulans and the Federation. Not wise," opined Klat.

"Speak carefully of the Gral," Than said lowly, almost menacingly. "Without his ships holding as they did, the New Union would not be so stable. You know this. N'Fth'Nor is a strong warrior, he's-"

The Qasar paused in mid-sentence as he heard the command structure's hatch open, admitting four of the Starfleet officers. Why did they have such odd names? With out the caste-names, it was hard for Than to remember their relevant positions. But there was something about the Andorian woman... she seemed...familiar, somehow.

Cass stepped into the command room, taking a moment to become familiar with the space. He was reminded suddenly of the corridors and detention blocks on the Hydran Prison Cruiser he'd rescued Rima from not three months previously. Rima. He wondered briefly what she was doing before he stepped over to the briefing table.

"Qasar Nen'Kir'Than," he addressed the leader of the Sovereign Imperial Guard unit from the Hammer of Progress. "Our personnel have all arrived and are accounted for. What is the status of your unit?"

"We are ready to proceed, Commander. Since our last...*discussion*...I have spoken to my Commander. You are to lead our mission, Commander," Than said, though carrying clearly in his voice that he wasn't happy with the idea of the hewmons leading the expedition.

"Thank you, Qasar," he nodded. "I've already deployed our science teams, who will be uninvolved with our search. Those teams under the command of Lieutenant Heloi will be aiding the research team. The other teams, under the command of Lieutenant a'Akledorian and myself, will be interacting and working with your teams."

The Qasar looked from Tish, back to Cass, then clicked his beak once before activating the holomap on the table between them.

~That's odd,~ Tish though, wondering if somehow the Qasar might be.... afraid? ~But of what?~ Tish had to wonder. Briefly, she threw Johnson a 'Keep Your Eyes Open' look.

Johnson simply nodded, his hand always on his holstered JK-2 phaser pistol.

"Here," the Qasar's long, tentacle-like 'finger' slithered to the center point of the map, marked with a large pyramidal way point marker, "is our command structure. The main dig entrance is here," his finger slithered further along to one of the ancient structures on the northeast. "You will start in the lower caverns."

"If I'm in charge, then I think I'll have a say in where my teams operate," Cass replied. "I'm going to split my group up to cover the whole dig. If you'd like to attach officers to these preexisting teams, feel free to do so."

He pointed to several points on the grid, marking them as the positions of teams and sections they'd be covering.

Gi'Mev Klat grunted in annoyance, but said nothing as the Qasar's gloved tentacle rose sharply to issue silence. Speaking in a barely-restrained tone of calm, "Commander, we will *attach* a Royal Guard to each of your teams. How many do you have?"

Than studied the map again, before speaking aloud in his native tongue, presumably to his underlings. Tish listened closely as the Hydran clicked, growled, and squealed in his own tongue, the Universal Translator only picking up a few broken sections of his orders. It seemed he was speaking in a less-used dialect....

"Klat.....send....for each team....make....sure....full charge....find the....entrance...."

Tish and Cass both exchanged quick glances, but Tish indicated that he remain silent, for now. Whatever it was, they couldn't tip their hand so easily. Obviously, Than had chosen his words and dialect carefully, hoping that they wouldn't understand.

Than turned back to the trio of Starfleet officers, and gestured widely with his tentacled arms. "These four *G'Iv's*--comparable to what you term a *Second Lieutenant*--will assist you," he turned to indicate that the four Hydran junior officers should step forward.

"K'Vos'Toj, A'Vab'Brak, Z'Jgk'Thur, and Q'Fth'Nov, will each accompany one of your teams. Will this be agreeable to you?"

"Agreed," Cass replied, then turned to T'Shani. "Tish, you're in charge of splitting the teams. You're with me. Otherwise, feel free to mix it up."

Tish nodded once, then signaled to Johnson to go out and get the Furies into loose formation. Obediently, he nodded once, before glaring at the three-eyed monstrosities and marching out, soon followed by Cass and Tish.

As Cassius passed the threshold of the door, Qasar Than called out, "TinisalsharithShani," he slithered over her full given name.

T'Shani froze, no one called her that. Slowly, she turned to face Than, her yellow pupils gleaming dangerously as her antennas wavered over her head. "What, Than?" she growled.

"Tell your General Houghton that the Gral sends his greetings," he said, before chuckling in an odd, barking fashion as his beak chittered excitedly.

Tish only glowered and stormed out, ice and rage fueling her blue blood...

"Plots and Pregnancy, The Conclusion."

By Commander James Lionel Corgan Commander
Karyn Dallas
Captain Atole Tekri
And Teacher of the Year (2385 in timeline Alpha) Mika sh'Sonora

Location: Sickbay

James could remember that earlier in the day he was in an actual good mood.

More than he normally warranted, in fact. One he could thereby call, as compared to his usual days, a good one.

Commander James Lionel Corgan wanted to ride the crest of this new feeling all thoughout the day. Do his day of work (which for the most part was fulfilling work that he not only did well but did enthusiastically, for he liked his department and nearly everyone in it), then go out and pick up Mika, who was to be harrassed by grade schoolers with a MacGyver like instinct of turning paper into flying weapons. Then it was on to dinner, some time in the holodeck, and if the mood permitted it, some private time in his quarters with nothing but themselves and his compilation of rock ballards. Whatever came of that he would ride to wherever it took him.

Then along came Atole, pregnant with child and claiming, above all impossibilities, that it was his.

Hence sickbay. Hence the concerned looks of total strangers who had no real business trying to find out the test results. Hence the scrambling of the doctors who were pouring over test results and medical histories.

~"And it was such a good day to begin with..."~ Corgan half muttered, half thought, as his omnipresent girlfriend Mika hovered over him like a vexed and internally boiling mother hen. Of all the persons that concerned him the most was Mika. Tekri, as seen in the corner leaning and worrying about the test results, was already a cut and dry subject to James. She was going to be troubled no matter what happened, already losing the change to reunite with James with her final gambit. Mika, however, was a person James would have to deal with no matter what happened.

It was obvious to him that the news of a child annoyed her. James could see how Mika would feel robbed, but otherwise to him it was irrational. It was not as if HE had any control over what happened. But nonetheless, James looked on Mika with a hint of sorrow. If James understood her alien mindset that already saw the two as a legitimate couple, then Mika was denied.

~"How will I make it up to her?"~ James thought.

Karyn Dallas patted James on the shoulder. "In a few more minutes, Commander."

Given the sensitive nature of the situation, it was thought that today was as good a day as any for Karyn to come in for her regular nursing shift in sickbay. Regardless of the outcome, the expectation was the people involved would need to talk.

"Thanks Commander." James nodded, understanding.

Atole Tekri looked up on hearing the nurse's voice, before looking back down at the ground. She was clenching her fists nervously, and her manicured nails dug into the palms of her hand.

Dallas noted the woman's nervousness and offered her a comforting smile. Whatever the circumstances, it was not Karyn's place to pass judgement, only to be supportive of all involved. "The doctor will be with us in a few minutes," said Karyn, taking her own basic medical scans to supplement the doctor's findings. It was her job to make sure Tekri's vitals were stable and that she was as comfortable as possible.

She considered what a horrible mess she was in - if James had been single, then things might have been different. But he wasn't, thanks to that Andorian veruul. Tekri hated her guts, yet she knew that wouldn't change anything - so it was best to act kindly towards Mika.

Several minutes passed, and then a pimply-faced doctor entered - the kind who looked like he hadn't even gone through puberty yet. From the nervous look on his face, Tekri could tell it wasn't good news.

"It seems..." he hesitated, breaking into a smile to ease tensions. "That you do indeed have a healthy baby girl inside of you. There are some odd anomalies which seem to point towards artificial implantation rather than natural conception, but I can't say I've seen many Romulan foetuses in my lifetime..."

He shrugged his shoulders. "I can't say for certain, but it looks artificial. What is certain is that you have a baby girl."

Karyn frowned. What did "artificial" mean? That the child wasn't real, or that the child had been conceived outside Atole's body and then implanted into her womb? Naturally, there were all sorts of questions regarding paternity.

Tekri buried her face in her hands - not from shock, this was pretty much what she expected. She just couldn't bear to see James' reaction.

If Tekri could see James expression, it was one of strange adulation. Gone was the tension from before, the pressure of the new girlfriend as she had to conform to the reality that his heart would in some way have to be shared, the anger towards Tekri for absconding with his DNA without his permission, the fear of having a child torn between stars and cultures, not knowing or having the normal life James felt was paramount for any child.

This time he was happy.

A baby daughter to call his own... sort of.

"My god." James sighed, "I don't care what the test says. I really am a father. This child is a part of me..."

"James?" Mika lisped with an upswing 'u' sound at the end of his name, agitated and perplexed by James sudden mood.

"Mika... i'm a father." Corgan breathed a sigh of wonderment, "A father... with a daughter. I've always imagined that I would have a daughter, and now I know for sure. My god... it's amazing. Doctor! I want to see her." He waved to the pimply ensign for assistance, "You can make a holographic extrapolation of her, can't you? I'd like to see her?"

Mika acted as devil's advocate, "Wouldn't that spoil some of the surprise?"

James shrugged, "If she is living with Atole, I'll rarely get to see her. This is my best chance. May I, Atole?"

It was certainly not the reaction Karyn had expected from James. Corgan had been manipulated by Tekri and she knew a part of him would always carry those scars. But Dallas supposed parenthood, seeing an actual child, changed everything.

There was naturally still the concern that the Tal Shiar agent was lying, but Karyn couldn't very well fuel that fire now. >

Tekri looked up, as perplexed as Mika by James' sudden joy, and nodded slowly.

"Alright then," the young doctor nodded and headed over to a nearby console. After several seconds of entering commands, he looked up. "Computer, activate extrapolation of child at five years old."

The ship's computer beeped in confirmation and, seconds later, a young girl appeared.

Tekri found herself unconsciously smiling and rubbing her stomach with pleasure, knowing that this motionless girl was inside of her right now.

The girl's hair was more blonde than brown (certainly it was lighter than Tekri's long jet long black) but she had the same colour eyes as her mother - a deep, piercing blue. She had the pointed ears of a Rihannusu, but barely noticeable cranial ridges. Her eyebrows were slightly uplifted in the manner of a Rihannusu, but not obviously so.

Now Tekri's smile turned into a full-blown grin - her future child was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen.

Mika's eyes watered, her turquoise cheeks blushing into a dark blue. It was as if her hard, angry features melted away. "She is so cute." She whispered, awestruck and enamored, "James, look at her, doesn't she look like you?"

James didn't see much of himself in the child's resemblance (aside from the hair). His curiousity was gripping and clawing at his heart. He wanted to see more. "Computer, show a growth cycle simulation, from current age to twenty Earth years."

The holographic image metamorphed slowly, the baby untwisting herself from a fetus to babe in seconds, her hair growing out more as a body suit encapsulated the swiftly maturing babe. She grew from one, then two in a matter of a moment, standing more upright and showing more of the parent's features while slowing changing from a cherubic toddler to a young child. At three, her hair turned ruddier and took on more pronounced waves, similar to James own when his hair was left to form on its own.

At five, then six, the child took on more of her father's leaness, and as she grew older and older still, she became an awkward and tall beansprout of a girl, one better suited as a mischevous tomboy starting trouble in school than anything girly.

When the program accellerated her to her early teens, she started to take back the form of her mother. She conformed more to a female design. Her cranial ridges were more pronouced, her eyebrows sharper than razorblades, her lips and eyes keeping a Mona Lisa like pool of secrecy, hiding most, but not quite all, of what kind of girl she would grow up to be. She had her mother's hawklike eyes, frozen blue gems deeper than James, but held a spark of energy and wildness that could be contributed to both parents.

Back in the day, James remembered that before the Borg came he was a cocky, arrogant, self confident teen with a wild streak. He would have to warn Tekri about that.

The hologram wound down its cycle, carrying the girl from sweet sixteen until the cusp of her adulthood. The girl turned into a woman, most definately like Atole, and James was taken aback when he had to remind himself that this strikingly beautiful woman was going to he HIS daughter. The girl now woman was shaped almost like Tekri, and under silouette only the most observant eye could tell them apart, but while Tekri had the body of a femme fatale, the child kept some of her father's lean and lithe shape. She was taller than her mother, slightly shorter than her father. An athlete, perhaps, a runner most definately.

And yet James had to make sure it was his. He felt the rim of his glasses slowly with his fingertip, then slid them carefully off his face. He commanded the hologram to solidify itself, and then slipped the glasses onto his holographic daughter.

The resemblance now leapt out at him.

"She's mine, all right." James grinned triumphantly.

Karyn nodded to the baby-faced medical intern whom she knew had just graduated from medical school. "Were you able to confirm paternity and date of conception, Doctor?"

"Uhh." the young doctor looked up nervously. "Paternity, yes. The child is indeed Commander Corgan's. As for date of conception - well, you see, ahh, this would be the first Romulan foetus I've studied, and I've little idea of the Romulan menstrual cycle and such, so uhh. no." He trailed off, concentrating again on his console.

Karyn ignored the doctor for a moment and turned to Tekri. "I'm assuming you've seen your own doctor. When do they say you conceived?"

"About a month ago, " Tekri thought back. "But I wanted to keep my pregnancy under wraps, so I went to one of those backstreet doctors, so he didn't have the equipment to give a precise date. The instruments he had available were crude at best. But I've been pregnant roughly a month, maybe a month and a half."

Dallas turned her attention to the young doctor once more. "Talk to Dr. Fienburg. We have a Romulan Ambassador, so surely we have basic biology related to his people on file."

"No need." Corgan interrupted, "The child is of artificial conception. I know this. I was taking birth control. Federation standard Cyclexonol, it's a sperm inhibitor. Stops them from traveling to the Seminal Vesticles to mix with Semen. A very effective form of birth control with a failure rate so low it is considered impossible. So the only other way she could have been pregnant is by artificial conception."

James turned to Tekri, "My penance for our relationship. I had to teach sexual education on the ship."

Karyn knew that no form of birth control, save abstinence, was one hundred percent effective and she was going to point out that fact, but it seemed as if the possibility of deception on Tekri's part didn't especially concern him.

Of course that didn't mean it didn't concern Karyn, for if someone was determined to see that Tekri conceived James' child, whether it was Tekri herself or someone else, surely there was the potential for more stress to follow. But Karyn also knew she had to deal with reality as it came, and that meant helping both accept the pregnancy and potential ramifications.

Tekri laughed softly at Corgan's remark. "That's irony, if ever there was any. Where do you want to go from here, James?"

The young doctor interrupted. "Well, there are two possibilities medically - I'm sensing you have mixed feelings about the child, so there's the possibility of abortion. As a practitioner of life, I'm against it - but it's my medical responsibility to point these things out."

"Or you conceive the child," he said. "However, until today I didn't know Romulan-human pregnancies were even possible, so there might be... complications during birth. Nothing I can't handle, but you should know all the medical facts and options before deciding anything."

Corgan said with a note of concern, "I hope it doesn't come to abortion. Call me old fashioned, but I think abortion is a last resort. If Tekri is in danger or the child can't be saved... sure, go ahead, but we're both not poor and we both have the means to raise this child. I see no need to abort her."

James turned to Tekri, "But of course... i'm not giving birth to her. The final choice would be all yours, Atole."

"No," Tekri shook her head adamantly. "There's no way I'm losing my baby, especially after I've seen it." She found, to her surprise, that she had gone from being an unhappy pregnant woman to like a protective mother hen - she was determined that nothing would endanger her child.

"I'm just wondering where the child will live, James. Would you be alright with it living on Romulus?" She smiled at him, and this time it was not a seductive or pleading smile - but rather the radiant, pure smile that only a pregnant mother can do.

James reaction was one of disappointment, "Normally, i'd say yes... but I'll miss so much..."

"If I may," interjected Karyn, looking at both of them, "while the question of where your daughter is going to live is an important one which should be discussed, I think we should take this pregnancy one step at a time."

"Aye, ma'am." James gave Karyn the floor. ~"She has been a counsellor longer than I have been an officer. Her experience is superior and sound. My part is done for now. I'll just stand back and let the girls talk..."~

As James backed away with Mika slowly following, James led a downcast look at the floor and added as an afterthought, ~"Still, convenient that the Commander did show up. I wonder what she knows?"~

Karyn turned to Tekri and the young doctor. "Are you aware of any medical complications which require you to stay close to doctors on Romulus?" Dallas understood they'd be traveling in unknown territory with a Human-Romulan hybrid, but she wasn't convinced it was something they couldn't handle.

"None that I'm aware of," Tekri said.

"Ahh yes," interjected the doctor. "While the birth itself might be painful, that's not what I'm concerned about. I'm more worried about the actual side-effects of pregnancy."

"As you might know, human women experience cravings and mood swings during pregnancy. Romulan females also experience this, but it is slightly more blatant. Furthermore, pregnant Romulan women have a heightened sexual desire and can become depressed very easily when lonely."

"Therefore," he finished. "I wouldn't recommend Captain Tekri to live alone, whether on Romulus or here on the Galaxy - she should be with either friends or family. Otherwise, prolonged loneliness can cause serious depression in pregnant Romulan women, and any serious stress on the mother's part could cause... uh... complications for the child later on."

Thus far, the side effects weren't that much different from those encountered in human pregnancies. Increased sex drive, mood swings, cravings as well as the need to avoid stress and gain emotional support were all common with humanoid pregnancies. The bottom line was that pregnancy itself was stressful and scary, especially if the mother to be felt she was all alone.

Tekri looked at Corgan, wondering what his reaction was to the doctor's unexpected statement. She certainly hadn't known much about the side-effects of Rihannusu pregnancy, but then again, most socially upstanding Rihannusu women were happily married by the time they became pregnant. That certainly wasn't the case here.

But what the doctor said cleared all and any decisions for James quite easily. If Tekri stayed on the Galaxy, where James could keep up with the progress of the child, their already strained relationship that had the potential to explode into outright hostilities would have disasterous effects on Tekri's fractured psyche. ~"I don't want to hurt Atole anymore."~ He thought, the voice in his mind resounding a note of sobering sorrow.

He said, "You'll have no choice, then. You must go to Romulus."

Karyn arched her eyebrows in surprise. One moment James was fascinated and seemingly in love with his daughter and the next moment he was sending his only link to her away. Dallas could only surmise that fear and anger were affecting coloring his thoughts and judgement. All this was understandable of course, but not solid tools with which to make life altering decisions. Dallas would need to speak with James.

Tekri frowned with surprise at his sudden defeatist attitude. That was one thing she hated about James - he seemed to gain a passionate spark within him all of a sudden, but moments later it fizzled out in the slightest hint of an obstacle.

Sure, she had suggested going back to Romulus - but it wasn't like she wanted to go. Returning to her family estate would mean giving control of her life over to her parents, who would do anything to avoid a scandal of an affluent Rihannusu woman pregnant by a Starfleet officer.

Ironically, it would also probably mean forced marriage to the youngest spoilt brat of the powerful Sekhu clan. Even worse, Tekri suspected the two families would come together and agree that her child should be raised as a Sekhu to avoid any embarrassment or loss of prestige - that, she hadn't told James, who would likely be rather annoyed at being denied his paternal rights.

She opened her mouth to object, but then thought better of it. After all, how could she stay if Corgan didn't want her here? It wasn't like she could stick it out on her own onboard the hostile Galaxy, and that veruul Mika clearly hated her. Tekri decided she would have better luck trying to breath in the vacuum of space.

"If that's what you want, James," she nodded as emotionlessly as possible. "I guess I should leave right away. However, I'd just like to talk to Commander Dallas for a moment, if you may."

"Of course." Karyn nodded firmly, seeing the array of emotions play across the woman's face. Dallas was unsure if this woman was manipulating all of them or in a state of genuine distress, but the one thing she knew was a child's welfare was at stake. She couldn't turn Tekri away, as a counselor or a medical officer, and admittedly Karyn felt for the Romulan woman. After all, they couldn't dismiss the possibility that Atole was just as much in the dark about the conception as the rest of them. "Absolutely. We can talk in the nursing office right back here if you like," Karyn gestured to the office doorway next to the CMO's office.

The Tal Shiar captain followed her in without another word.

Karyn turned back and met Corgan's gaze. "I'd like to speak with you and Mika as well, James. I'll be in touch."

Wincing at Karyn's sudden sharp, almost accusing tone, James said with unphased cool, "Yes, ma'am." He gave Karyn a emotionless nod and salute then collected his glasses from the still activated daughter hologram.

He gave it one final look, then deactivated it before leaving.

With Mika at his footsteps, James felt more agitated than he ever did at the whole crisis. He was looking at a daughter, his daughter, and the prospect of her being raised offworld, most likely by not only Tekri, but the child's only set of grandparents were less than thrilled about a half human/romulan child being born. The child would get more warmth cuddling up to a glacier than be with a family that was less than willing to accept her. Then there was the problem of Tekri, whom faced arranged marriage on Romulus (if he remembered correctly), or a lonely, forsaken life on the Galaxy without even her lover to lean on.

James didn't want to surrender like that, but between the two options he knew what was better for Tekri and the child, and it was tearing at his guilty conscience like a bat'leth.

"James!" Mika snapped at his sharply, "James! Didn't you hear me?"

"Huh?" James sighed quietly, his mind now focused back to his embittered girlfriend. Mika was obviously upset, for she scrunched her face in a way James rarely ever saw, and her antennae were now rigid and alert. "Sorry..."

She growled tersely, "You are going to leave Tekri on Romulus? That is cold hearted! How could you?"

"And you think it would be better here?" Corgan snarled, "She has nobody here... not even me. How can she be here with me as a reminder of what she did and what she can't have anymore? You heard the doctor... she needs to be around family and friends..."

Wracked with the guilt he felt, James fell up against the wall, clinging a hand to a fevered and sweating forehead, groaning with the weight of ages, "How can she get these things here? She will be alone and miserable here. How can I do that to her?"

Mika frowned, shaking her head, as bemused and all knowing as James was distraught, "I may not like her, but I do not wish ill will towards her. She needs you... needs us. She'll need out strength, our forgiveness, even our love to some extent. James, make this all better... or else."

James countered, "And if she is using this as an excuse to get me back?"

"She'll fail, because you... have... me." Mika clucked, "But I believe she is telling the truth. She is really upset. I don't think she likes the idea of going back to Romulus. She may have to stay here."

Sighing, James said, "We'll talk to Commander Dallas. Maybe she can help us sort this out. To tell you the truth, I want to raise this child, even if I didn't conceive her myself. She is still half me. But... if what the doctor says is true... I don't see how she can raise a child here. Her heart would just... rend itself to pieces. I'm afraid for her and the child."

"I know." Mika gently caressed James' cheek, "You're a good man. You'll make the right decision. And do not worry about me. I will... keep my jealously in check... for you."

Gathering Mika in his arms, James held his Andorian girlfriend close, momentarily getting lost in her subtle perfume and intoxicating intimacy. Nose to nose, pressed close, James felt as if her strength was adding to his own wavering shields.

"Are you sure you can handle being around Tekri?" James probed.

Mika smiled, squeaking, "Yes. I was a diplomat, remember?"

James was about to object, but was silenced by a surprise kiss on the lips.

"Memento Mori"

**Memento Mori: Latin. Translation; “Remember Mortality”**

In order of appearance: Michael McDowell - Civilian

Tria - Third year Medical Attending (NPC) Appearing Tanson Eshe (APC)

Jakim - First year medical student (NPC)

Adriel - Medical technician (NPC)

And Dhanishta Eshe

(This is set the day *before* the Galaxy leaves Trill orbit. Running parallel with the post “She’s not gone yet” – which is still under construction but will be aired shortly.)

*** USS Beagle, en route to Trill ***

The ship flew smoothly through space with warp 6. The colourful streaks of stars passed by in surprisingly regular intervals. The room was silent, except for some classical music that was playing in the background. Someone who was a bit familiar with Earth's classical music would recognize it as the Largo part from double concerto in D minor, from Johan Sebastian Bach.

In this tranquil setting, Michael was sitting on the sofa nearest to the large elongated window trying to catch up on some new developments in Warp Plasma Physics. But he wasn't getting anywhere. He didn't even make it passed the second paragraph. His mind always pulled him out his concentration, back to that moment where Jiiles had contacted him.

Then it all came back. He got cold, sometimes even shivered. Anxiety and fear crept into his body as he wondered what he would encounter when he was at his destination. Jiiles story had sounded absurd and Michael couldn't believe it at first, especially when he mentioned Dhani and what had happened to her.

How long had it been? Must've been a year or more since he'd left the USS Galaxy in pursuit of the truth behind the incident near Starbase 86, something for which he was blamed and had to pay for,...and still had to pay for. It had been equally long since he'd seen Dhani for the last time. But the memories of her were as clear as ever. They never faded. This train of thought made his mind immediately switch to Karyn. Like Dhani's, the memories of her would never die but will stay as vibrant as always.

Something had changed and Michael noticed it. He looked outside and saw that the ship had dropped out of warp. If he was right then they had entered the planetary system of which Trill was a part. It wouldn't be long before they would arrive there. He knew what he could expect in Trill's capital. The news broadcasts had described the situation in detail. And although that in itself was horrible, it was Dhani that filled his mind.

*** 4 hours later, Trill, Leran Manev View Hospital; room 8, Intensive Care***

Leran Manev View Hospital was situated on a hill about 15 miles from the capital surrounded by a beautiful landscape. The hospital itself was fairly new, only ten years old. Its sleek design took nothing away from its surroundings. The gardens that surrounded it were steeped with rich historic architectural designs, bringing the past and present together in a place of healing and transformation.

Transports ran regularly to the hospital, through the belly of the hill, keeping the landscape as natural as possible. The underground station was clean and fully air conditioned. Riding in transports could become stiflingly hot at times.

Michael stepped out a typical transport that could be found everywhere on Trill. Wiping the sweat off his forehead he looked around. It was his first time on Trill and it was interesting. However, the reason he was here for dominated everything, making his visit less then enjoyable.

He started to walk towards the exit of the station. He assumed that the entrance to the Hospital should be close to the station. And it was only now that his nerves started acting up, more and more afraid of what he was going to find.

Tria looked out the window over at the people coming up from the station. He frowned slightly. He didn’t know the woman in the bed next to him. But he had spent a lot of time with her sister, and her family.

He looked down at Tanson lying next to his dead daughter. He held her so tight as she had slipped away. This wasn’t the proper death of an honorary Klingon warrior, he mulled over the stories Kala had told him about her and her twin sister growing up on the Klingon home world and learning their ways.

Tria sighed as he noticed the eager medical technicians waiting by the door. One of them was a student. He had no grasp of grief yet. Just give it time Tria mused.

“Mr Eshe.” he said, “It’s time. I’m so sorry.” That was all he could say. There was nothing that was going to ease his pain. And Tria had to block it out. He was fond of Kala, and to be the one to tell her father… it was too much for him to think about now. The girl had been here, by her sisters’ side for six months now…. He blinked and resisted the urge to cry as he watched Tanson uncurl himself from Dhanishtas body.

Tria bowed his head, he couldn’t look as Tanson leaned over the bed and kissed his daughters head.

As Tansons’ footsteps echoed out in the hall Tria looked up and watched the med tecks hotfoot into the room. Tria shook his head in disgust and walked out.

*Ten minutes later.*

“And what does this do?” Jakim asked Adriel.

Adriel was beginning to get sick of the questions; did this guy ever go to medical school? He bit his tongue; it was good that he was eager, also annoying! Turning round he looked at what Jakim was referring to *now*.

“Oh, that is a device used to monitor brain wave functions. Here, you can turn it on if you like.” he suggested. It would be a good distraction while he cleaned up the patient and got all the equipment off her.

“You sure we are allowed to do that?” Jakim questioned brushing his dark hair back from his eyes.

“Why not?” Adriel responded, “It can’t do any harm. The girl is dead.” he said matter of factly as he gathered several instruments and put them on a trolley.

Jakim shrugged. Walking back round the bed he flicked on the power switch and watched as the monitors blinked back into life.

The brain wave monitor fussed and displayed what looked like static. Having only attended a Trill medical school, and specialising in Trill medicine he wasn’t completely competent in using such equipment. But it was only his first year. He would be learning all about other species in due time.

As the power flowed through the connecting circuits the ventilator kicked back into gear. The sound of it filled the silence between the experienced Medical technician and the student.

Jakim jumped slightly at the noise. “Oh c**p!” he exclaimed, “I need to disconnect that don’t I?” he asked.

Adriel shook his head, “It’s not connected to her. The mouth piece has been taken out.” He paused from his work again and looked at him. Jakim seemed so nervous. It was probably his first time around a dead body, “Look man the girl is dead. You could paddle her and it would make no difference okay? Don’t worry. Have a play with the equipment.”

Jakim nodded and looked at the heart monitor, “Hey is that supposed to be doing that?” he asked watching the line peek in irregular intervals.

“It’s just feed back.” Adriel reassured him without looking up. The new guy was beginning to get on his nerves.

Jakim shrugged and began to scan over the charts. They were interesting to the student; several pages of brain scan charts, notes from the doctors, drugs administered and so forth.

** Meanwhile, at the reception **

"Excuse me, could you tell me which room Miss Dhanishta Eshe is in?" Michael asked the middle-aged woman that sat behind a clinical white console.

She looked up and smiled. Not a smile like in 'how nice to see you', but out of pure courtesy and nothing more. "And you are, sir?"

That question was to be expected. Michael, however, had not thought of it and saw himself faced with a possible problem. They wouldn't just let him through just because he said he was a friend of Dhani, now would they? "Uhm, I'm a friend of Miss Eshe and I've come to visit her. I know, you've got only my word for it...but I’m telling the truth. I've come all the way from Earth and I really have to see her."

Tria walked out into main reception he was on his way to get lunch when he overheard the human at the front desk. He stopped and looked around for a moment. Lunch would have to wait.

“Sir?” he called out.

Looking to his right, Michael saw the man who’d addressed him. “Yes?”

“You’re looking for Miss Eshe?” he wanted to clarify. What a crappy time to come for a visit. The woman had just died. But then maybe he already knew that and had come to pay his respects… but then she had only ‘just’ died… Oh great! Why did he get himself into these sorts of messes?

“Yes, I am.” Michael replied. “I’m a friend of hers, and I’d like to see her.”

Tria nodded and sighed to himself. He looked at the man. He looked honest enough. And it couldn’t hurt for him to visit a corpse he supposed.

“Are you aware of Miss Eshe’s condition?” he probed as he led the way towards the lift.

“Only that she’s in a coma. Besides that I don’t know anything, not even what caused her to slip into a coma.” The trip to the lift was relatively short and now both men waited for it to arrive at floor eight. “I was hoping you could tell me more about that and how she’s doing now.”

Tria couldn’t even look at the man standing next to him. He hung his head and pondered how to tell him. The lift jerked as it stopped, another thing left over from the disaster on Trill just weeks before. He sighed and waited for the door to open. He had to tell this bloke soon, they would be at her room in a matter of minutes.

He stepped out of the lift and proceeded down the corridor. He paused three doors from room eight and turned back to the man,

“Can you wait here for just a moment?”

Laughter rippled through the corridor, Tria frowned and turning quickly he walked to Dhanis room. Stepping inside he glared at the two med techs. They had obviously broken the ice with each other, and found the task of clearing out the room of someone who had just passed away quite amusing! He would be filling a complaint that was for sure.

A few minutes later Tria reappeared in the hall-way, behind him two sheepish medical technicians appeared. They scurried past Michael both nodding slightly as they did.

Tria motioned for Michael to join him. The door to Dhanis room was open. The monitors were still beeping away to themselves.

“I am really sorry to tell you this,” Tria began as Michael joined him at the door way, “but Miss Eshe passed away about an hour ago. You are quite welcome to sit with her, talk to her… what ever you want.”

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