"Here Be Pirates..." (Follows on directly from "Just A Short Trip")

Lieutenant Kimberly Burton
Chief Medical Officer

Lieutenant Dhanishta Eshe
Assistant Chief Engineer

Lieutenant Victor Krieghoff
Security Officer

Kio
Medical Officer

Ensign Lela Beral
Operations Officer

Flight Officer Ember Lansky
Fighter Pilot/Helm Officer

Sub-Commander Delon Velal
Romulan Naval Intelligence Office

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Sat at the helm of the Legacy, Kimberly idly watched the autopilot tick away the moments until their transition to normal space. Their brief, and so far uneventful trip here hadn't taken very long, and now it was time to get to work. Some of the crew were aft, readying the sensor pallets that had been added to the Runabout for this mission, happy to leave them to it, she sat up as the computer beeped at her with the warp transition warning.

Raising the shields, a long time personal habit, she deactivated the auto pilot and brought the little ship out of warp manually. Running a quick scan she tapped the 'all hands' comm., "Okay everyone, we're here, so let's begin shall we, Ms Lansky, if you'd take the helm, Mr Krieghoff, Sub-Commander tactical scans please, Ms Beral," turning to the young woman beside her, "general scan of the system please," she asked. Shutting down the comms she reset the auto pilot for the moment and sat back, ~ Now for the boring part. ~

Delon said nothing but gave a nod. Turning in his seat he moved over and manned the tactical station. "Registering nothing on long range tactical sensors." He said, his voice was almost like that of a Vulcan.

Already in the back of the ship with the extra sensor pallets - it had quickly proved to be the best place for him to station himself so as to have the least effect on the rest of the crew - Victor turned to the additional sensors and began to run secondary sweeps paralleling those of the Sub-Commander, but with different frequencies. "Nothing on the secondary sweeps," he reported tonelessly. "Switching to close-range scans for two scan cycles as previously directed." He tapped some controls and the screen reconfigured for the close-range scans. "I recommend raising our alert status until the Sub-Commander and I certify the system clear of potential threats, Lieutenant Burton."

When Lela heard her orders, she had to note something:

"Mrs Beral, sir," she said with a smile on her face.

"My apologies," Kimberly said as she stood and relinquished the pilots seat, "your ship."

Lela's fingers began to tap on her console.

"The system has eight planets. One class B, one class H, one class M, two class J, one class S, one class I, and one class C planet. Between 3rd (class M), and 4th (class J) planet is an asteroid belt, containing several billion planetoids and asteroids, largest one has 5,157 km in diameter. Average diameter of the asteroids is 276.15 km. The largest planetoid seems to be habitable. But obviously not naturally, the atmosphere has to be generated somehow artificially. Planetoid's gravity field is sufficient to hold the created atmosphere. I'm not picking any lifesigns from its surface though, the other asteroids in the vicinity are deflecting our sensors."

"If I remember from the briefing pack, the Class M planetoid is being terraformed by the local government," Kimberly offered, "but it's in the early stages. Concentrate your scans on the asteroid zone if you would, and avoid any direct scans of the third planet please, the locals like their privacy I'm told."

Memories of the assault in the Gryphon Asteroid belt prompted Victor to shift the scanning frequencies on his pallet slightly. "Shifting scan frequencies to check for possible electromagnetic or chemical propulsion kinetic launchers in the asteroid belt. Recommend that the standard and navigational sensors have an automatic trip established to watch for a sudden shift in trajectory by any objects from the belt's direction to warn us if we're fired on by such a launcher."

Looking up and listening to the rundown on the system; Delon said nothing as usual when he returned to his sensors. "Tactical sensors are bouncing around the asteroid belt... attempting to triangulate for better sweep." He said then paused and shook his head. "Picking up feedback.... unable to compensate at this range."

"You heard the gentlemen," Kimberly said to Lela at Ops, "So noted and logged, proceed at your discretion Ms Lansky, take us in slowly," she ordered. Settling into the chair behind the pilot she sat back to watch for a while, content everyone seemed to know what they were doing she tapped into the sensor feeds to watch what was going on. ~ Boring! ~ she thought after a moment.

"Anyone bring a deck of cards?" she asked somewhat humorously as everyone worked.

"Nothing on the initial sweeps," Victor read off from his screens. "The same interference that the Sub-Commander reported is also making my scans unreliable."

Checking the readouts again Kimberly frowned, if they had to scan the entire asteroid belt with this resolution, they'd be here for weeks, "Mr Krieghoff, liaise with Lieutenant Eshe please, have her ready the four probes we brought with us, coordinate launch and search areas for the probes, as well as a search grid for us. At your discretion thank you." ~ I have no desire to be out here for a couple of weeks on one small runabout! ~ she decided.

Victor assembled a tentative search pattern for the probes, checked it, and then transmitted it to the Sub-Commander and Lieutenant Eshe for a confirmation check and possible correction suggestions.

Sitting in the back of the runabout, concealed from everyone's view Dhani wondered just what she was doing here. She remembered vividly Burton saying that she wasn't fit for an away mission, that she should be locked up with more counsellors and psychiatric therapists than she could count! And yet here she was, sitting at the engineering consol of a runabout on a mission that just reeked of trouble. Maybe it was a test, maybe Burton had her hooked up to all sorts of gismos testing out her every action and reaction, monitoring her brain waves and all sorts. In fact that would have probably made the Chief Medical officer orgasm, all that data to analyse! Sighing to herself, unable to pass the time with any trivial conversation, mainly cause she wouldn't really talk in depth with anyone here and also cause she was in a side room away from the 'normal' people, like she would contaminate them or something, she began to look over the information that Krieghoff had sent her.

The search pattern was quite standard, nothing new, all Federation text book really; she expected more from the man they all called 'death'. Tapping her consol she brought up a map of the area and began to plot a new course for the probes. If they were going to do this, they had better do it properly, leave no corner unexplored. Though they would have problems trying to scan the asteroid belt; too many phantoms and ghost readings, she was going to have to reconfigure the probes if they wanted to take a lookie inside the belt, and lets face it, where is a better place to hide and ready fro an ambush than an asteroid belt?

Ensign Kio, finding her-self with little to do as no one appeared to need medical assistance, certainly no interaction with an uptight Vulcan, occupied her-self by double checking all the readouts as they came through. Still a relatively new member of the crew on board Galaxy she had not spent a vast amount of time on away missions and she was sure that valuable experience could be gleaned from. somewhere. But even a Vulcan can become bored by endless readings of nothing and after a while she looked about her for another occupation.

Sub-Commander Delon Velal sat not very far away from her and after a moment of consideration she rose to her feet and approached him.

"Ensign Kio, medical officer. I thought perhaps given the history of relations between our peoples that I should introduce my-self and express my satisfaction in working with you on this mission." She said, mentally praising her-self for such diplomacy. All Romulans were perverse aberrations of the Vulcan species and should be thought of as such but to do more than be polite to them was pointless and far too emotional. After all, politeness was far more likely to win points in her favour than an open avowal of her distaste. She stood, waiting for a reply with her hands neatly folded behind her back.

Looking at the station displays Delon said nothing for a moment then glanced up only briefly to remind himself of what Kio looked like. He remembered her when he was introduced to everyone when he beamed onboard the Legacy. After initial introductions were over he filed all the information away ad set to began his work. Judging from her stance and look he could tell she was proud of herself for having spoken to him. That was the kind of attitude that drove Romulans from Vulcan centuries ago.

"Kio is an unusual name for a Vulcan..." He finally said as he never looked up from his console. "The name reminds me of a unwritten song." he said then glanced toward her and raised an eyebrow, but was in mock of who she was or was it in general interest of who she was. "It reminds me of someone." He said then glanced back toward his station. "Maybe this joint assignment be.... amicable for both our people." He paused then and looked back to his sensors.

"I'm getting a sensor ghost... bearing two four seven mark nine... can you confirm, Lieutenant?" Delon asked Victor.

Victor checked his scans, frowned, and reset the scan limits. "Confirm the ghost. I show no reading for tetryon particles typical for a current Romulan vessel, but we lack the capacity to generate an anti-proton beam or tachyon pulse to determine positively if such a vessel is present. Your experience with cloaks exceeds mine, Sub-Commander - can you detect anything? Is it possible that your Command has dispatched a vessel to shadow us and ensure our safety?"

"It is possible, but unlikely." Delon stated as he glanced to Victor. "My ship the Dividices is the one assigned to our endeavour. By my order she should not be here...." He paused and turned to the sensor array and typed a few commands into it. "Confirmed... the Dividices is holding station in the neighbouring system." he said.

That was one possibility eliminated. Victor doubted the Romulan was lying - there seemed to be no point to it - and even if his ship was closer than he was willing to admit, they would never have been sloppy enough to let the runabout detect them; Romulans were too efficient for that. "Perhaps an older model cloaking device?" he suggested. "They do turn up occasionally on the shadow market. I suggest you and the others attempt visual identification of distortion, Lieutenant Eshe, while the Sub-Commander and I attempt to confirm the presence of any vessel using such a device." He began to reset the limits of his scans again. "If you can scan for gravitational wave displacement, Sub-Commander, I will reconfigure to scan for subspace anomalies - if this is an older-style cloaking device, one of the three of us should locate it that way."

Delon nodded and then looked over at Victor. "There is always the possibility of firing on it." He said; Romulans were known to shoot first and ask questions later.

Victor paused to consider that. If this was a cloaked vessel, then it had no business here, no matter who owned it. The vessel - at least for the moment - appeared to be trying to either evade contact, or remain undetected, which could mean that the runabout outgunned it, or that it didn't wish to draw attention to itself by destroying the Starfleet vessel. Victor knew which of those possibilities he considered more likely. In any event, regulations were clear on such things - and Lieutenant Burton would not authorize such a move regardless. "Unfortunately against Starfleet regulations, Sub-Commander," he replied tonelessly. "But I suggest charging the weapons systems and going to a higher alert status, Lieutenant Burton." The shields were, at least, already raised. "I also recommend linking the ship's sensors and log to an automatic constant transmission in the event we encounter hostile action."

Delon looked over. "However, I could do it and there for there would be no problem since it was a Romulan who is sitting here at tactical." he said, if the Romulan grinned it was only Victor that would have caught it.

Having been listening quietly to the conversation Kimberly coughed softly, "Mr Krieghoff is correct Sub-Commander, but if there is a possible cloaked ship out there let's be a little cautious shall we. Yellow alert if you would Ensign Beral, full power to the shields, Mr Krieghoff, you may place weapons on standby, but you will not fire unless I order so. Clear." ~ Chances of that happening are very. ~ she started to think as she read the sensor readings before her.

"Yellow alert. Full power to the shields," confirmed Lela her orders, while taping on her console.

"If this is an older model cloak," Kimberly thought aloud, "am I wrong when I recall reading something about some older model cloaks having a few weak spots other than tachyon or anti proton scans?" she asked aloud, "anyone got any ideas?"

Delon looked up. "We could flood the area with neutrino radiation... that has shown favour in cloaked vessels before. Also, if it's an older cloak it could be leaking neutrino radiation... might scan for it, then try the latter?" Delon stated as he continued to watch the 'blip' on his monitor.

"Neutrino radiation released." Said Lela. Shortly after that, it was quite clear, what they were up against.

"Klingon Bird of Prey decloaking dead ahead. Distance six hundred meters." The runabout shook. "They've caught us with a tractor beam."

The runabout strained as the engines futilely tried to continue their course. Kio watched the display screen, mouth open in horror and self control abandoned for the moment. As in all intense moments the little voice of her subconscious commented dryly that perhaps her medical services might be required after all.

"Incoming hail," Kimberly said unnecessarily, as everyone else was probably seeing the same thing she was.

=/\= Starfleet Runabout, cut your engines and prepare to be boarded. This will be your only warning. Fail to comply, and we 'will' open fire. =/\= a serious sounding voice informed them.

"Any chance we can get out a distress call?" Kimberly asked, noting that long range communications, as well as sensors seemed to be suffering from a massive amount of interference, "or better yet, get 'ourselves' out of here? Options people." She asked loudly in a calm voice, something she was most definitely not feeling.

"Dump the logs to the unlaunched probes and fire them off on four different trajectories," Victor suggested as he checked the scans of the Bird of Prey's shields. "Hostile vessel has been refitted with more modern shields," he reported. "Our weapons aren't powerful enough to penetrate them."

"Eshe, you heard the man, do a data dump into the probes and launch them!" Kimberly ordered swiftly.

"Already on it!" Dhani shouted back, there was not much point in using her comm badge she could hear everything through the wall!

"If they intend to board us, they will either beam us off the runabout, or tractor us into a cargo hold," Victor continued in the same emotionally-null voice he'd used the entire journey, as if what were happening to the runabout were of no more interest than ordering a cup of coffee. "Do older-style vessels such as this have holds large enough for the runabout, Sub-Commander? If they draw is inside the ship, our weapons will be considerably more effective." Privately, Victor didn't think whoever they were under attack by was stupid enough to do that, but the possibility existed - people were always doing stupid things at inopportune times.

Lela thought a while and then suggested. "Sir if we disable their tractor beam, we should be able to get behind them and stay there. Klingon ships have most of their firepower aimed forward, so we would be relatively safe there. We have 5 torpedoes. By firing one torpedo and shooting all our phasers we could damage their engines, so that we will able to escape. In case it won't be sufficient, our shields should withstand several hits from their rear disruptors and we can fire once more."

"Micro torpedoes, against that thing?" Kimberly muttered, "do you really think they'll hurt it?" she asked, dubious about the whole weapons thing anyway, but equally dubious about the effectiveness of their small armoury against the monstrous ship before them.

"Sir, microtorps are small, but they are not to be underestimated. Believe me, they cannot penetrate these shields, but they can weaken them. And type V phasers could do the rest of the work. If we fire from phasers in the very same moment, when torpedo hits their shields, we could do some damage to their engines. Klingon shields aren't so strong as those of Federation." Said Lela.

Ember nodded to Lela's suggestion. "I should be able to bring the runabout around and evade most of the firepower from the Bird of Prey, since we have the advantage in size and maneuverability... and also, I might add, a half-decent pilot," She said, cocking a smile. "I suggest we fight it out." That was preferable than any option to surrender, but it was not her call to make.

Delon had taken a moment to think over Victor's question before speaking. "There is sufficient room inside to have a runabout... however modifications would have to have to been made. My understanding of Klingon ships as it is, there would be considerable stress considering the age of the vessel..." Delon stated. "We could release radiation to mess up their sensors... and try sending an electron-IM pulse back through the tractor beam to neutralize it... you should know, that is in theory only..." He said then glanced back to his station.

"Whatever you want to do... I would do it quickly..." He then added.

"Sir?" turned Lela to Lieutenant Burton with a question in her eyes. ~ Now it is your turn to decide ~

Victor frowned at his console. Tactical operations at the ship level were not his best field, simulations aside. He knew what he'd do if he were alone, but with all of the others along, he was barred from that option. He depressed some keys and set up a constantly-updating firing solution for the microtorpedoes controlled by the Sub-Commander's console. "Firing solution locked for torpedoes," he announced. "For best results, I suggest we launch all five at once: two at the same spot on the shields as the phasers, with the remaining torpedoes immediately behind the, one targeting the tractor beam emitter and two the engines. The impact of the first torpedoes against the shields has a better chance of allowing the remaining ones to penetrate."

Looking around at the faces surrounding her Kimberly hesitated for a moment, this was supposed to be a simple survey run, and combat was most definitely not what she had envisaged. Running options through her mind she debated for what seemed like an eternity...

~ Weapons. Fight. ~

~ Run Away. ~

~ Tractor Beams and Engines. Not People! ~

~ My Crew! ~

Looking outside she watched the massive Bird of Prey loom ever closer, its tractor beam emitter and weapon ports glowing menacingly in the darkness outside. Closing her eyes briefly she turned away ~ Goddess forgive me! ~

"Sub-Commander do your best to confuse their sensors if you would, Tactical, target their weapons and engines 'Only!' Clear." She stated firmly, "Helm, as soon as the tractor beam fails," ~ If it fails ~ she added silently, "Take us into the asteroid belt and use the rocks as cover, try and loose them," turning to face aft, "Lieutenant Eshe, as much power as you can to the shields and SIF, we may need it!" she announced loudly.

"Already done Sir!" Dhani replied, saving the smirk for a time when she could enjoy it.

Turning to his station, Delon's hands began to fly over the console. "They're trying to penetrate our shields..." He said as the crackle cause a feed back in his console. Furrowing his brow he did manage to scramble their sensors for the time being.

Victor looked up from his sensors. "They're charging their weapons. Recommend we fire now, before they come on line."

Watching the approaching Bird of Prey loom ever closer Kimberly found herself increasingly torn between her dislike of anything remotely resembling violence, and the imminent need to protect the small crew under her command. Opening her mouth she found herself unable to speak for an instant as the approaching ship altered its approach to bring its main battery to bear.

"Let's." she started to say, just as all the lights went out.

"Oh Gose," she swore as she looked around the darkened cabin, "Someone. Anyone.?"

~ What next! ~ she asked the universe somewhat stupidly.

Off: takes place after 'Killing Demons'

“Haunting Me“

Lt. Ella Grey

==========

Oddly enough, I slept soundly after Victor left. But then again, I’ve been working non-stop to stay ahead of O’Shea.

Things followed me in my dreams, both monsters and men, but I didn’t give them permission to hurt me.

Chapter One from the Krieghoff Method, I suppose.

I slept in and then stayed in bed, tired yet restless. Agitated and yet relieved. Awake and yet asleep.

Thinking.

Remembering.

Haunted.

“It’s beautiful.” I heard myself lie to Thomas again; looking at his perfect diamond engagement ring and wishing it were a sapphire. “I love it.”

“No, no, no!” Jeremy Flitt screeched at me from a night long ago, his voice climbing octaves in his madness and his partner tightening his grip of my upper arm. “You are singing it ALL wrong!”

"Y...You're not going to speak again, are you?" My old friend Laura stammered at me the night she realized that I had no intention of speaking to anyone ever again. The night I realized that I was capable of murder, incidentally.

“Don’t look away.” Daro commanded as he drew his fist back for the first punch and I watched him, knowing that I’d just traded my soul for vengeance.

Haunted by voices from the past, I thought as I turned over onto my side.

And here it wasn’t even Christmas.

“You need to let it go, Grey.” Victor once told me, back when he would never have given me permission to die.

~~ I've never been a wolf, Victor ~~ I had signed to Victor, back when we were friends.

“Your spots looked lonely.” I once purred at Corran as my excuse for tackling him to the bed, our not so subtle joke that never seemed to grow old.

“This thing you have right now?” Padma’s voice reminded me again. “It might fun. It might be a sexual relief. It might be a wonderful distraction. But it's not real -- it's not *love*”

“Go away.” I growled at the memory, burying my head underneath a pink pillow. Christ the woman was almost as bad as Lt. Angie ‘You’re Just a Mouse to Me,’ the super bitch.

"Romulan ale should be illegal." I heard Indigo’s voice groan at me as she fought off her hangover.

“Did she suffer?” I’d asked Elessidil, my voice as dead as my friend.

“I don’t think so.” He’d told me, his eyes as dead as my voice.

“I’m not having a nervous breakdown right now,” I tell the empty room. “Not enough people have voted for me in the betting pool.”

But the thing about ghosts is that they don’t really agree all that much with how you think the world should be run. And they will be heard whether you like it or not.

Ghosts are memories and there are days when I wish that mine could be exorcised.

I can still remember the feel of his hands around my throat.

I can still hear the stupid song that played when we first kissed.

I can still smell the salt of the sea at her funeral.

I remember wanting to scream at my parents the day after I had woken up in the hospital.

And the day after the ship from hell.

And the day after Indigo died.

And the day after we were rescued from the Hydrans.

I wanted to scream 'I've been attacked and you want me to go on like nothing has happened?!?'

But I always do, don’t I? I go on, at least eventually.

Cause this is just a temporary slump, I tell my ghosts and myself, and I really was telling the truth when I told Victor that I didn’t survive all this just to give up now.

But maybe its time for a bit of a change and soon.

I throw my blanket off and drag myself over to find something to wear for the day.

"Drinking with the Goddess"

Nara & 8-Ball

*****Crew Quarters*****

8-ball was the goddess of war.

Okay, so not so much. But she was pretending to be, as she created a vast and epic battle between Sir Eptgac, the Pure, and Protector of all Abused Teddy Bears, and Sir Marvin the Mighty, Defender of all Paranoid Minidroids out there. Sir Eptgac had just taken a mighty blow, causing his head to spin around in a slightly demonic fashion, when the door chimed.

"Come in," 8-ball said as she set down her toys, silently declaring a peace between the two factions. . .at least for the time being, until her guest went away and Sir Marvin The Mighty attacked again.

As the door opened, a bottle was shot through, almost hitting 8-Ball and let go as the woman who had shoved said bottle at 8-Ball walked past and plopped on a chair looking quite unhappy.

8-ball barely caught the bottle before it smashed into the side of her head. "Hiya, Nara," 8-ball said with a raised eyebrow. She raised the bottle slightly and asked, "So, was this bottle intended as a signal of friendship in these dark and depressing times, or were you hoping that it'd smash into my head and send little green shards of broken glass into my brain?"

Nara just muttered, "I can't find Baile." After realizing that would mean nothing, or rather something she didn't want it to mean knowing 8-Ball's dirty mind, she rephrased, "I need another drinking partner."

8-ball was a little saddened to know that she wasn't everybody's FIRST drinking partner, but she got over it. "Always glad to help out a friend," she said drily, opened the bottle, and drank. Then she handed the bottle back, saying, "Here. Hurry up and get drunk so you can tell me why you need a drinking partner."

Nara took a swig. "I'll start by saying it has to do with Saul. More details later...when I won't care anymore."

8-ball nodded. It wasn't so surprising that it had to do with Saul. . .when didn't your boyfriend, or lack of boyfriend, drive you to drink, anyway?. . .but she hoped it had nothing to do with Saul's thoughts about her. 8-ball decided it wasn't likely that Nara knew what Saul had fantasized; otherwise, why would she come here to drink?

Unless that bottle really was supposed to kill her.

8-ball pushed that unsettling thought away and drank with Nara till the bottle was nearly empty. 8-ball was a little tipsy, so she knew that Nara had to be worse off than that---8-ball was fairly confident in her ability to drink everybody on the Galaxy under the table. "So," she said, "what did Mr. Bental the Super Sleuth do?"

"Left me in bed by myself. We were all hot and heavy and HE comes into my head. Evil bastard. I had to tell no to Saul and then he left me. Just LEFT ME!"

8-ball blinked. Whatever Nara said had made little to no sense. "I'm confused . . .Saul comes into your head and then leaves you?" Maybe they should have started the conversation three gulps earlier.

"No, Marks came into my head. Made me not want to have Saul take me. I WANT Saul to, but Marks makes me scared." She grabbed the bottle again for one of the last swigs before repeating, "Damn bastard."

8-ball tried to remember anyone on the ship named Marks and failed. Still . . .this sounded like something that Nara might seriously regret telling her the next morning when she woke up. 8-ball wasn't entirely sure what this Marks had done to Nara to to make her so scared of sex, but she could think of a few obvious things, and she couldn't imagine Nara really wanted her to know about them.

8-ball tried to shift the topic to what Saul had done, instead. "Does Saul know about. . .Marks?"

"Yea. I think he's being patient, but I'm tired of making him wait...and I'm tired of waiting."

8-ball nodded. She felt a lot less tipsy than she had five minutes ago. "Well, the easiest way to be comfortable with a guy is when you're drunk. . .no inhibitions mean so much more fun. . .but only for that night. I wouldn't stumble into his quarters after you leave mine. I really don't think Saul would do anything. . .if he's been patient this far and passed up on other. . . opportunities. . . then I doubt he'd take any kind of advantage of you."

"Still," 8-ball continued, "you'd regret it if you did something while you weren't all there upstairs. You need to be able to make a conscious choice of whether you're willing to trust Saul enough to sleep with him or not. If you can't trust him, then you're not ready. It's as simple as that. Of course," 8-ball mused, "you really should be talking to some kind of counselor about this. I'm only qualified as Horny Sex Goddess. Now, if you have a question about something that happens during sex, then I can help you, but with this. . .I don't know that I can."

Nara snorted out a laugh, "May need some advice on that too. Never had consentual sex before. But getting drunk before? That's an idea to pre-meditate."

"No, no," 8-ball said quickly. "No. What I said was NOT to get drunk before you have sex. Not for you. For the rest of us casual sex seeking people, drunk sex works out just fine but for someone who's never. . .yeah, no. As far as the sex goes. . .when you're there, when you're ready, I don't think you'll have any problems with the actual mechanics of it. I mean, Saul's apparantly a kind of vanilla sex guy. You know, nothing too kinky, man on top, blah blah blah."

8-ball nearly froze. ~Fuck~ she thought. "I mean, that's the impression I get," she quickly ammended. "I'm pretty good at guessing what people are gonna be like in bed. Otherwise, I'd have a lot less fun. Anyway."

8-ball played with the empty bottle, spinning it around on the floor for no real reason. "Well," she said, "if you want to ask anything or, you know, do anything, I can help with that too," 8-ball said. "If you want to practice with the fairer and less scary sex, I can do that. . .sorta doubt it, since you're sadly not into girls. But I can't tell you if you're ready or not."

Nara heard all that, but kept a question in her mind when 8 finally shut up, "How do you think I would be?"

8-ball blinked. "Um. . .well, do you want me to be honest?" Without waiting for an affirmative, 8-ball went on. "You don't exactly have tons of experience, or, much of any, really, so I'm not going to lie and say that you'll be some amazing natural at sex or something. You're not going to be anywhere near my league. But. . .you have this whole sweet yet warrior thing going for you, a way of turning from innocent and cheerful to pissed off and yelling in five seconds or less. . .so you could be kinna hot."

Nara sat up straighter and nodded proudly, "I could be." Then she slumped again and mumbled, "Just need to prove it."

8-ball smirked and then glanced at Nara thoughtfully. Her fingers twitched twiced in the air, and she pursed her lips for a second before she scooted over closer to Nara and kissed her.

Nara was surprised a moment, but thought to herself ~Why the hell not.~ (of course the alcohol said that more than anything) and kissed 8-Ball back in ways she kissed Saul.

After a long moment, 8-ball pulled back, and without realizing it, quirked an eyebrow. "Yeah," she said. "You could definitely be kinna hot."

Then she sighed. "Alas, I am not a complete asshole, and I can't quite commit myself to taking advantage of you in your drunken and inhibition-free state. I won't be your second Marks, whoever he actually is. If you ever do want to try practicing something out before you go with pro with Saul or, hell, if you just decide that you're interested in playing for both teams, you come over and let me know when you're sober. We'll work something out."

"Now," 8-ball said with a little bit of a grin. "Can you manage to get home okay, or do you need Auntie 8-ball to walk you?"

Nara laughed shaking her head, "You're not a bad kisser 8. No wonder you can have any man you set your mind to." With that she stood and nodded at the bottle, "I visited Indigo in the holodeck and she told me where to find that. Interesting program."

"Wouldn't know," 8-ball said shortly. She knew visiting Indy helped Ella out, but 8-ball couldn't make herself go. She saw enough dead people as it was.

8-ball pushed back those thoughts and grinned a little at Nara. "Besides," she said. "It's not exactly my kissing that makes men crazy about me," she said.

Nara smiled back, "I've heard rumors. Once Saul and I get down the basic part, I'll come get some ideas from ya."

She waved as she made her way to the door back to the corridor.

8-ball waved back and smirked as she watched Nara walk unsteadily out the door. Once she was gone, 8-ball sighed and stood up. Her relationship with both Nara and Saul just got stranger and stranger by the day.

8-ball glanced at the fallen Marvin the Mighty and Sir Eptgac, whose head still needed vigorous repair. She thought about playing with them but dismissed the notion, at least for the time being. 8-ball still had a bit of a small buzz going. . .less, after Nara had brought up both Marks and Indy. . .but it was there. She figured she'd take a nice, long sonic shower to relax her muscles and take the edge off.

Then, she'd go back to the epic battle with a clear mind.

Then, she'd transform, from Goddess of Sex to Goddess of War.

"Burdens - Part I"

Ensign Zev Raynor
Terran Telepath 'Intelligence' Officer

Second Lieutenant Branwen London
Marine Officer, Furies Chief Pyschologist

Raynor was wandering again... for some reason he did that more often than not. Entering random rooms and had the general outward appearance of being lost. He knew exactly where he was, but his was his way of not having to make up an excuse for being in places he had no business being. This was when he walked into her office, saw her, and said "Hi."

"Hello again." Branwen said. "You are not here for an appointment, are you?"

"Your a counsellor?" Raynor asked with the implication of mild surprise. "I thought you were a marine."

Branwen rolled her eyes. "Why do so many of you naval types think that those two things cannot coincide?"

"Oh I think they can coincide no problem... its more of that's something you don't see everyday type of surprise at work here..." Raynor said in his defense. "Besides your telling me that the Marines didn't have the a similar reaction upon their discovery? Or the Liason Department? Or how about the Starfighter Corps? You have to admit it is rare."

"I am an experiment." She smiled. "That's why I have to do extra well. But what brings you here today?"

"My feet mostly" he joked.

"You thought I was about a podotherapist." She said joking. "I am sorry, that would be the next door on the left."

He let out a small chuckle, then looked around the room "You decorate this place?" he asked.

"I try to. I have to be careful, Marines don't like to many decorations. And I don't have much time for it anyway."

He raised an eyebrow. "What they going to kill you if you put in one too many flowers?"

"No. They will come in for one meeting, think I am touchy-feely, not say much, be very polite, and not come back."

"So your going to get them talking about their probelms with that cute face but in such a way that that they feel like their getting pushed around, in a rough and tough way..." Raynor said with a sarcastic tone, and confused expression... and then suddenly switched topics. "By the way what music do you listen to?"

"To answer your question, I am straightforward and honest to my patients." She leaned back in her chair. "I like a lot of music, and especially traditional Welsh music." She told him.

"Huh..." Raynor taking note once again that no one seemed to listen to ANY MODERN MUSIC. Did it even exist... he was beginning to question that. "It's weird... I've asked like 20 people or so of various departments and ranks... I'm starting to ask myself... Does modern music exist in this century?"

"I don't know. We didn't listen to it at home, and I very rarely do. When I play or sing it is never modern music," She mused.

"Yea but you think I would of run into SOMEONE who listened to it... after all its the music of our time..." Raynor said with slight frustration in his voice. "I mean modern music would express what people are feeling TODAY, in a style people like to listen to it TODAY. Its just so weird..."

"I did not grow up with modern music. You must not forget that." Branwen said. "I am learning to listen to it, but it is still not my favourite music."

"I suppose," Raynor said tilting his head slightly. Looking around the room again... and then back to Branwen, seeing the almost tired look in her eyes. "Here's a question... why officer's training? Why not just get a Warrant Officer commission for your pyschology degree?"

What he was really asking is why push yourself so hard, but he didn't phrase it that way so as avoid as much of her bite as possible. So many people were already asking the... 'Are you okay' question that she was probably sick of it. Raynor already knew the answer, so he didn't have to ask...

"Because...." He had taken her by surprise veering of subject like that. "It would not be enough for me. I am ambitious." Branwen blushed.

"So you want a command of your own someday?" Raynor asked.

"Definitely. When I am ready for it." Branwen said. "Don't you?"

Raynor cocked an eyebrow... "Well I've been an ensign for the majority of my ten plus years in the service. Managed to successfully annoy many of my superiors in that time, while at the same time doing whats necessary for the greater good... and becoming too valuable to let go. I'm also partially insane and could never be fully trusted with a command of my own because of my heritage... I'd have to say no... I'm not ambitious at all. Doesn't mean I won't take a command if its offered and I'm the only one for the task... but I'm not going out of my way to achieve it."

Then once again veering the subject back to Bran, he asked, "Are you ready for it now? Because you seem to have it."

"Ten years as an ensign?" she looked absolutely incredulous. "And you don't want more? Amazing." Then she sighed. "Trouble is, I don't think I am ready. I was barely half year out of school when I was made XO. I just don't have the experience, but I am too stubborn to step down. And too ambitious. It would look bad on my service record, I just wish I had somebody who could teach me. Baile isn't here half the time, and when he is I am too scared to ask him anything anyway."

"I've heard he's a scary man though I haven't met him myself..." Raynor said. Then he sighed, "You know, I know there's this personal insult thing against the Hazard Team for the marines, but I used to XO a Hazard Team back on my old ship... And more often than not I found myself commanding Marines in our joint operations... not to mention running alot of joint drills... with previously unpracticed situations... and I guess I'm saying that if you want help... I'm avialable."

He paused for a short time to let his words hang, before continuing... "Command isn't about doing everything yourself, or even more jobs than you can handle, its about delegating tasks to those below you and trusting them to do the job... running everything aspect of that unit and running this office on top of that... has to be taking its toll."

He didn't tell her that he had the memories of a dead marine CO lurking around in his head.

"In short if you need help ASK... its a simple philisophy but its always worked in someone esles family," Raynor joked.

Her eyes shone. "I didn't know whom to ask. I could not ask one of my junior officers. How do you do it, do two jobs and have enough time to sleep. I don't mind about hobbies or a social life, but I'm not sleeping enough and that has to change. I already have a counselor on my back." The words came tumbling out now.

Raynor didn't know how he got himself into this or why he cared so much... save that he always tried to do the right thing. But still he cared... "Well now you have someone you can... and seriously though, doing this both these gigs full time... its not something you should be pushing... I'd rearrange my schedule so I'm only doing one part time... mainly drop your counselling duties to part time... I mean your sitting here in the office and no one is waiting for an appointment... just get a yeoman to keep track of the secretary work and let yourself rest a little," he advised.

"I wasn't supposed to do Baile's job full time. I could manage when I was just XO. He's never here. And the work needs to be done. At the same time I am not willing to cancel the experiment of being one of the first marine shrinks on a ship. They are just beginning to trust me. You see my problem?"

Raynor was going to go into a little bit of a rant... a minirant if one willed... for some reason he did alot... "I'm not saying give up on the counselling job..." he started. "I'm saying get someone to help you around here, someone to take care of the most basic paperwork which you seem to doing yourself... make sure you don't have to come in every single day and sit here in this office by yourself with absolutely no waiting to get into an appointment, make it slightly more managable for when Baile isn't here... most marines won't notice the fact that you got a secretary... its normal for shrinks to have secretary staff... this will free up some of your time... and it doesn't have to be all the time either... just temporary while the normal CO isn't here. Lighten your load just a little... just you got to stop punishing yourself needlessly for-" Raynor stopped.

He didn't want to reveal how much he knew... so he stopped himself for a second, giving him a chance to think before saying... "Well... I don't know what for but your going down a path of self destruction... I can see it in your eyes... stop... don't go down that path... pull up."

"Burdens - Part II"

Ensign Zev Raynor
Terran Telepath 'Intelligence' Officer

Second Lieutenant Branwen London
Marine Officer, Furies Chief Pyschologist

"I'm saying get someone to help you around here, someone to take care of the most basic paperwork which you seem to doing yourself... make sure you don't have to come in every single day and sit here in this office by yourself with absolutely no waiting to get into an appointment, make it slightly more managable for when Baile isn't here... most marines won't notice the fact that you got a secretary... its normal for shrinks to have secretary staff... this will free up some of your time... and it doesn't have to be all the time either... just temporary while the normal CO isn't here. Lighten your load just a little... just you got to stop punishing yourself needlessly for-" Raynor stopped.

He didn't want to reveal how much he knew... so he stopped himself for a second, giving him a chance to think before saying... "Well... I don't know what for but your going down a path of self destruction... I can see it in your eyes... stop... don't go down that path... pull up."

"Just one tiny thing, Zev. Everybody on board already has a job, where am I going to find a secretary?" She asked a little sheepishly.

"Its paper work I'm sure that someone could spare a few hours each day to come down here... and if not... I'll..." Raynor thought for a second before commiting... realising how he had manveured himself into this situation. "Help out until you get someone assigned more permenantly... and as for the Marine side of things... your a CO now until Baile decides to reappear or is replaced by someone esle... find a yourself an XO to help you out, and make various recommendations."

"Sounds like a plan. And you would really help me. That's really nice." She said softly.

"Uh... Yea... well no big deal... I'd do the same for pretty much anyone," Raynor said rubbing the back of his head.

"You look tired." Branwen remarked. "What's up?"

"Evidently I appear to be sleep deprived..." Raynor said in mild surprise, then jokingly said, "Excuse me for a moment while I render myself unconscious..." and with that he collysped to the ground in an uncontrolled manner, as if both his legs just gave out. But the thing is he willed this.

Ten seconds after doing so the word "Ow..." emerged from Raynor's lips followed by... "Let's not do that again... today anyways..." as he got up.

Branwen staring at him with wide eyes. "What did you just do?"

"Something slightly painful," Raynor said in earnest.

"Can you explain?" Branwen asked a bit more worried now.

"I was going for a pyshical gag, to try find a weird way of saying I'm not actually tired... but I think it got lost in translation..." Raynor explained. "Really I'm fine, a little tired from having to fill in a bunch of reports from our last stop, but not alot beyond that... I think."

"You are that tired and yet you are offering to help me. Maybe you are just as bad as I am." She said gently.

"Not really..." Raynor said checking the time, and then counting down with his hand from five... four... three... two... one...

The comm sounded... "Raynor where the hell are you?? Your shift started two hours ago!"

"In a counsellor's OFFICE!" Raynor replied as if annoyed.

"Oh..." the voice on the other side acting as if it were interrupting something important.

"YEA..." Raynor said with slightly indignant voice.

"Well-" it began.

"You were going to go back to getting along with out me... " Raynor declared and with that the transmission cut out. Then with a smile turning back to Bran, "Where were we?"

"Are using me as an excuse for something?" Branwen asked amused.

"Not really... I mean thats what the guy on the other end will take it as... but I never said that I was in a session... it's his own fault for not double checking the facts," Raynor jested.

She smiled. "But still, it seems you are too tired yourself and too busy to help me out. You have already helped me tremendously by giving me your advice."

"I can spare a few hours a week to help you out for the next little while until you can find someone esle... really its no big deal... and despite this cliche always coming back to bite me in the ass... how hard could it be?" Raynor asked.

She was the one who was going through the rough time emotionally, and didn't

need her work load doubled because of a certain officer's absence. Raynor felt he had to lighten that load as much as he could for the simple reason it was the right thing to do. And then another option occured to him...

"Or I could spend the rest of my shift programming a holographic secretary... assuming that every deck of this ship has holoemitters for the EMH wired in..." Raynor suggested looking around.

"You could do that?" Her eyes widened. "It could actually do work for me?" Sometimes it shone through that she had grown up under very spartan circumstances without computers or any other electron devices.

"Might take me a few hours, might take me a week, but yea... I can..." Raynor said, trying not to make a big deal out of it which this woman seemed to do everytime he offered help.

"Wonderful." She beamed then walked over and gave him a hug. "You are a wonderful friend."

Raynor went completely frozen with surprise for a second trying to process her intention... Was she attacking him or hugging him... Then that second of shock passed with a slight amount of hesistation, he hugged her back... oh so lightly. Just to in attempt to show that this was for a friend... and not for any sort of romantic intention.

"If I ever can do something back for you, just let me know." Branwen was saying, oblivious to his concerns.

"A note to get in and out of work at any point in time would be nice..." he joked, then his voice went to a slight more serious, yet carefree tone... "If I think of anything I'll be sure to ask."

"Good. Now you came here asking about music, did that have a reason?"

"Yes, but its a surprise... and I don't want to ruin it..." Raynor replied.

"I thought I might be able to help..." She explained.

After much debate within his own head he decided to give in... which took a total of two second involving his head moving back and forth... "Radio show... sort of like the one that insulted Proctor not too long ago, but on a more regularly scheduled basis."

"Nice," Branwen said. "But you are going to need more people to run it. Are you going to have live music as well?"

"Nope just what's on file in accordance with people's taste..." Raynor answered. "And right now as the show is... I can run it until we get some more guys on board... most of the equipment and software is already setup... just need to advertise and survey what people are into... create something that they'll like based on that."

"It sounds very nice." Gwen said. "I hope you will play my kind of music as well. I don't think many people will be familiar with it."

"More like a long forgotten Military practice... though I'm guessing theres a reason for that... anyways... I'd better get out of here before someone competent realises I'm not in session... or you have a victim- er wait... yea victim arriving," he said heading for the door.

Branwen smiled. "Victims indeed. Some people... let me know when you finish my secretary and if there's anything I can do to help with the music don't hesitate."

"I will... won't... you know what I mean..." Raynor joked again looking back for a moment before exiting. Shouldn't have looked back he thought to himself, but let it pass.

"Meeting a Marvel: Part 2"

Ens Eve, Tech Op, Intelligence

Lt.(jg) Nara Roswell, Engineering

*****Corridor Outside Ten-Forward****

Once in the hall, Nara asked, "How did you end up with implants anyway?"

"Don't know exactly," Eve said. "I was plucked off of an alien starship floating derelict in the deep of space, in suspended animation. No memories from before I was put under."

Nara perked an eyebrow up looking at her, "Where did you wake up?"

"Alien starship, sort of an interstellar laboratory you might say," she said off-handedly. "basically a starship that held medical, scientific, engineering, and various other types of labs, workshops, research stations ... and acording to the sensor logs, it was over 3 kilometers long!"

Still in awe of this mysterious adventure, Nara asked, "How did you get from there to here?"

"StarBase Far Reach detected a repeating transmition. Garbage and gibberish, it wasn't anything nore than the ship's transmitter array after 500 years of constant broadcasting." They rounded a corner and kept walking. "Cdr Mahueta, Far Reach's CO, dispatched the station's attached Defiant class starship, the USS Vindicator, under the command of some of the crew from the USS Saturn, who use Far Reach as their standard port of call. They found me, managed to get me out before the ship quite literally fell apart, and then I went to earth."

"How did the aliens treat you?" Her mind still full of questions, Nara just kept asking them.

"Don't know," Eve said, unconcerned. "There were some log records the Saturn's Science Officer managed to recover, but not much. They wiped my memories after putting me in stasis the last time."

Nara raised an eyebrow, "Did any of them live? Perhaps they could tell you what you have in there." Nara nodded toward Eve's body and added, "Cuz someday, something's gonna break and someone needs to know how to fix it."

"Some of them still exist. However, they experienced a mass racial evolution into a higher state of existance." Eve raides her right hand and flexed her fingers. "As for maintenance, that's what the nanites are for. I've already had my hand completly crushed once, and within a weeks time, it was back to fully optimal performance."

Nara smiled at her as she pressed the code to enter her quarters. She called out for Bran and Saia, but there was no answer. After telling Eve she could sit anywhere, she walked over into her bedroom and bent down to reach under the bed, pulling out a Engineering Kit. She walked back into the common room, sitting at the coffee table, opening her Kit and taking out the tricorder, pressing buttons making a few adjustments, mumbling as she did so. "I studied a bit on Lt. Data...I think he's still a Lt. Anyway, also read some things about cybernetics in general. And there had been days I pestered my Dad asking about his. He couldn't tell me everything, but..." Her voice trailed off as she pointed the Tricorder at Eve, "Let's see now."

Eve shook her head. "No positronics anywhere. Acording to the suposed experts, what I have is lightyears beyond Dr Soong's work and Data." She listened to the tricorder doing it's work, and Eve knew what it would more than likely display - what was artificial and what wasn't, with little more information beyond that.

Nara frowned and tried adjusting the scanner and asked, "Well, do you have any...panels? Openings?"

Eve shook her head. "None that anyone has been able to deduce. Completly self suficient; according to the scraps of the log recordings, their original intent with me was to create a weapon - a cyborg to fight the Borg. However, even in my present incarnation, I don't have much more of an advantage than you."

Nara kept trying to fine tune, "You kidding me? You're a freakin marvel of Engineering!"

"So I've been told by to many people," she remarked. "There's no files anywhere, not even in my internal chipsets, that have operational files, specifications, schematics, nothing. I'm a prototype that never made it into production."

Something hit Nara again. The same guilt as before. She lowered the tricorder, frowning, "Sorry. You shouldn't be treated like some technology. I'm being horrible."

Eve only smiled, rolled up her left sleeve, and with a twist, yank, and a few sickening pops, removed her left arm at the elbow, though the look on her fase spoke of some amount of discomfort. "Don't worry, I'm fine, I don't mind your poking and prodding. As for this," she held our her left lower arm and hand out in her right, "Feel free to look. The twist closes off the "blood vessels" and whatever else my systems use for utilities and power. It's been posited that there used to be a number of attachments I could 'install' in place of one of my lower arms, something similar to a Drone's cybernetic limb replacements."

If one looked into the end of her arm where it was attached to the other half, it would look more or less like a biological limb, saving for the fact that there was no bleeding or other fluid drippage. "Oh .. and don't worry, once I reatach myself, I'll be back to normal by the time my next shift rolls around."

Nara winced a bit but then her Engineering (aka geek) curiosity got the better of her a she did look closer, again using the tricorder. She was a bit afraid to touch it. She figured it would hurt Eve or the simple fact people should be smart enough not to touch live wire. She asked as the scans still showed inconclusive, "I just wonder why they would do this to someone."

"Another tidbit of my past: I was born in the last 1700s in Russia, on Earth. I wasn't in exactly the most favorable of living conditions, and that curiosity I had at the time ... aparently inspired me to let them do this."

Nara looked at her, eyes wide, "Did I hear you right? 1700s? Like ancient ancient...ANCIENT times?"

Eve nodded. "The Saturn crew estimated that I was in stasis for something like 500 years before they found me."

Nara closed her eyes shaking her head, finding it impossible, "They didn't even have that technology! How could you be in stasis?"

Eve gently took her detached limb back and deftly returned it to it's rightfull place on her elbow. She moved her left wrist about, wiggled her fingers, and nodded. "All that is left to say I can pull my arm apart is the skin, which will be repaired in about an hour. As for the tech, remember, this is stuff more advanced than Data, and that was 800 years before HE was created."

"But Earth? We didn't even have telegraphs till the 1800s!"

"Aliens, remember," Eve reminded her after smoothing down her sleeve over her arm.

Nara laughed shaking her head, "I sometimes forget they came around that early." She stood, "So after all that I think I'll be polite and ask what you'd like to drink."

"Just a water, thanks," Eve said, a little unsure of where to go from here.

Nara brought Eve a water and had herself a Trill fruit drink Saia had favored and which now had grown on Nara's tastes. She sat down and was silent a moment as she thought, "I know I've said this before, more than once, but I am very interested in helping figure out those mystery components. But only if you allow me. There's a strong regulation among most telepaths that prevents unsolicited mind scanning and such. If I were scanning your mind instead of your cybernetics I would be in serious wrong already."

Eve nodded, understanding. "I'd let you, but unfortunately there's tidbits of classified info up here. I *am* intelligence, after all. Can't let all the little secrets spill."

Nara smiled, 'Wasn't planning on it. The times I've ever been in people's minds were quite disturbing. Or maybe it's the people. All three were pretty, well, disturbed." Nara remembered Dhani's thorn bushes, Victor's coldness and Baile's wasteland. All mindscapes she would be pretty content to stay out of from now on.

Eve's would probably be something akin to the interior of a Borg Cube, or perhaps the corridors and compartments of sterile laboratories of various makes and descriptions. Who knows? "Would you like to, though? I think I know how to set my memory up to enshroud the bits that need to be hidden, as far as Starfleet Intelligence is concerned."

Nara laughed, but looked into the woman's eyes seriously. "Will you freeze me, scare me or otherwise have thorn bushes in the way?"

See, that was the neat thing about her neural cybernetics: she had a much more firm grasp of her recal and storage than even many vulcans - though Data and Lore had her outclassed 100 to 1, hands down. "I wouldn't think so, I've never had anyone touch minds with me telepathically before." Already her neural nets - organic and artificial, were hard at work, secreting everything classified by SF Intell into what could only be described as a 'Memory Warehouse.'

"The Coming Storm" Pt 1

1st Lt. 1st Lt. Jebidiah Baile
Lt. Cmdr. Brianna O'Shea
Julie (wrote by Stuart)

Hell. Hell is not one place. It's many. It can be small as a box or without any limits. Vaden is one such hell. The prisoners, or inmates as they are called, have no rights. Its a maximum security penal colony.

You don't get sent there for stealing candy.

You get sent there when no one knows what to do with you.When the rules of law and society are just not enough. When you've fucked up so bad no other correctional facility will touch you with a cattleprod - then the maximum security penal colonies is what remains.

Vaden was one of the worst. In an normal prison there's at least some attempts at rehabilition. On Vaden such thinking didn't exist. It was, for better or for worse, run by a man who, if he had not been consumed by greed could have been one of the richest men in the galaxy, such was his business sense.

But the Warden, affectionately referred to by the inmates as 'the fat bugger' sat on a goldmine. His prison was populated by the worst criminals from the known parts of the inhabitated space. To him they were nothing but numbers and free labour.

He ran a tight operation. Less than five hundred guards to control ten thousand hostile bodies. The ratio on other penal colonies ran one guard to every ten prisoner. It was, needless to say, a very cost effective operation he had going. To top it all off Vaden had been built on some very attractive rock, which quite literally held a mountain of wealth in it.

It was no chance that Vaden had been built there. The Warden, aka the fat bugger, had carefully selected the site when looking for ground to build his prison upon. It had never been his intention to rehabilitate the prisoners. They were a means to an end. If one of them died he replaced them.

To the Warden there was two things the Universe would never run out of - criminals and war. War required metals, which he had in abundance on Vaden and the criminals made sure he could mine it. Sure enough someone could take the whole thing away from him, either the Hydrans, the Federation, the Dominion - anyone with some troops could do it. But no one could run it as efficiently as he did. He controlled the lifes of the prisoners. To them he was God. He kept them at each other, played them against one another to keep them from organizing. He had done the same thing during the Dominion Wars when the Crows had blown up one of his mines deep inside the Cardassian Space.

He had been lucky to survive that time. Seven men had walked right through his security system as if it didn't exist. He had been careless at the time. Now he had learned his lesson. The problem was, the Warden had realised as he had been briefed on what had happened to his Chief of Security, was that none of the people working for him had learned the same lesson.

One man. One damned man.

He had lost sixty guards in the riots and nearly five hundred prisoners. But what really annoyed him was the destruction of the main lift from Shaft Three. It would take weeks to repair as most of it was laying at the bottom of the seven kilometer deep shaft. It was a delay the Hydrans had not liked when they had found out. Damn that man.

It would have been possible to cover it up if the Hydrans hadn't come to pick Baile up. Who of course had decided to leave the facility after starting a riot. Damn it! He had lost his best man, but he was partly to blame for it. Raschek hadn't understood just how dangerous the Starfleet Marine really was. Now he would have to find a new head of Security and fast. And more prisoners.

He fumed at the thought on how much credits he would have to hand out to the bounty-hunters to make sure the prisoners got shipped to Vaden instead of any other penal colony. Two months should be enough to replace the five hundred dead prisoners. At least the Hydrans had been willing to pay for the least damaged bodies. Genetic raw material they called it. They could call it golden dogshit for all he cared as long as they paid for it.

----------------

Baile had left Anna and the girl in a tunnel leading into the main ventilation shaft. The complex was a rather impressive sight, but it was just, as the saying goes, the tip of the iceberg. The main complex was underground with the main holdingareas and the five main mining shafts, each nearly one hundred meters in diameter. It was rumored to be impossible to escape from, but the Marine had found a way through a set of natural tunnels. The problem was that it was virtually impossible to steal any sort of lightsource from the guards. Luckily the creatures that had messed him up had taken care of that. Darkness meant nothing to him these days.

He had almost lost patience with both Anna and the girl when they went inside the prison using the tunnels. At least until he remembered they saw absolutely nothing but pitch black darkness. After that he had slowed down somewhat.

It had been a bastard of a climb, almost two thousand meters on a friggin ladder. Even he had been tired when he had reached the platform. But if everything went as he planned then there would be no need for Anna and the girl to climb the ladder at all.

He crouched low, listening to the sounds around him. There were guards nearby, but none of them coming his way. He could hear the servos on the surveillance cameras, but those could easily be avoided.

"Still fighting the good fight?" the voice startled him, making him take a step backwards, towards the very edge of the platform he was standing on. His fingers found the edge of the platform just in time and he found himself hanging freely over a very deep shaft.

"I was wondering where the hell you had gone.." Baile chuckled with dark amusement as he heaved himself up again.

The blond woman smiled at him, the same secretive smile she had always given him all those years ago. "Had places to see.."

"And people to meet.. " he finished for her. "What do you want, Maya? I'm not in the mood for anyone fucking with my mind at the moment.."

She shook her head. Fine blond hair danced around her face. A slender hand brushed aside the runaway strands. "Do I have to want something, Killer?"

"Everyone wants something.. "

"Even you?"

"Especially me.."

She paused, tilted her head to the side. "Yes.." she nodded. "Especially you."

"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked although he knew the answer.

Maya smiled at him, smile that damn smile of hers.

He stood up and started walking down the corridor with Maya following close behind. "I thought you'd stayed behind with those Hydran buddies of yours.."

Suddenly she leaned against the wall in the corridor up ahead. For a second he had been able to feel how his body had switched to full alert, ready to fight, until it realised what had happened. It seemed his body reacted a lot faster than his mind. That could definately prove to be troublesome in the future.

"I'm not Hydran nor are they my friends. I.. " her voice faded and she could feel Baile watching her. Closely.

Baile brushed past her, ignoring the ghost of his past for now. He had other things to do.

------------

Physical exercise wasn't one of Reidun's favorite things to do. So he didn't. Ever. But still he managed to stay slim and maintained the illusion of fitness despite a truly bad diet and no exercise if it could be avoided.

Reidun loved his job but hated his boss. In a place like Vaden that wasn't very rare. It was more or less the going rate for boss/worker relationships. But what was different about Reidun was that he had only one boss and a lot of underlings. He was the Warden's aid, the second most powerful man on the foodchain and certainly the hungriest.

To say he detested the fat Warden was an understatement. Once, a very long once ago, his boss, Warden Èlevèe, had been the toughest, smartest and meanest Warden in known space.

Now that man he had once seen as the perfect businessman was nothing but a bitter and greedy loser. Not that Reidun frowned upon greed. It was one of his driving motivations in life. But it was the blinding bitterness he resented.

The prison was in uproar after the riots. Riots happened from time to time. The Warden had never believed anything else. That's why the prison had been built in sections. Each section contained up to 100 prisoners divided by ratings on how dangerous they were. On Vaden only two ratings existed. Soon dead and Dead in a while.

It was a nice setup the way the Warden played the gangs against one another. It kept the balance and five hundred guards was more than enough to quell the riots, especially backed up by sentry guns and droids. That had all gone to shits when Baile had opened the connecting doors between the sections and let everyone out. He had tried to warn the Warden, tried to make the fat bugger.. he stopped his line of thinking. Fat bugger. Hah. Even he had adopted the inmates nickname of the Warden. Reidun shock his head and chuckled as he poured himself a glass of Whisky.

They still hadn't found Baile. The Warden refused to even entertain the idea that he might not be within the facility any more. He flat out refused. It was both irrational and illogical. Élevée had reminded him that while a few had escaped the prison the harsh environment outside and predators killed the escapees and even if they should survive the only way off the planet, unless they wandered inside one of the Hydran fortresses, was at the very top of the complex, surrounded by security and a lot of guards.

He sat in the chair with a view over the complex, high up in the air. There was something about the dusk on Vaden that he liked. Strong light had never appealed to him due to an illness he had contracted as a child, making him oversensitive to light. Just his luck that his nightvision was almost as bad.

One of the oreliners started lifting off from the loading area. The lights from the massive thrusters lit up the darkness around the complex. The light cast reflexes from the room behind him. Something moved in the corner of his eyes and once his brain understood what it was seeing his heart nearly stopped.

-----------------------------------------------------

Anna sat with Julie in the tunnel, waiting Baile's return. Nothing much was said, as Anna continued to focus on what Baile had said as they moved through the pitch black tunnel. " You don't want to see what's in these tunnels" he said as if he was on a hike. What was it? Did she want to know, this point she didn't care. Holding Julie's hands up for the girl's sake rather then her own, Anna sat there in the darkness wondering if Baile was leaving her since he now had the transmitter. Hearing Julie she turned her face toward the girl. "Just darkness..." Anna said as she then thought about Baile once more, ~he won't leave a man behind..~ She told herself.

Seeing some light down the way. Anna moved with Julie toward it. Wasn't as much as being on the surface, but after the darkness they had just crawled through this little bit of light was more welcoming then Risan holding a martini. "We wait here... he'll come back." Anna whispered.

----------------------------------------------------

"Baile."

Slowly he got up, careful not to make any sudden moves that would make Baile believe he was hiding a weapon. He knew he was no chance against a Marine. Physical conflict just wasn't his thing. That's why they had a lot of guards with a lot of weapons. Reidun wondered silently just where the hell those said guards had gone. Dead most likely he decided.

The marine didn't say anything, just stood there and watched him. The goggles rested on his forehead, causing the alien lights to reflect some of the light from the outside.

"My guards?" Reidun asked slowly and felt a trickle of sweat run down his back. It was definately not good.

"Dead." the marine replied with barely hidden amusement. Reidun swore he could see the Marine smile at the thought of the dead guards. What the hell was this man?

Still he couldn't help to cock an eyebrow at the statement. "Dead? I have five of my best guards outside."

"You had..."

The Warden's aid swallowed hard. He had seen a lot of people lie over the years, but that voice alone was more proof than any picture could have ever been. "What about the ones guarding the main hall?"

"Dead."

"I'm alive.."

"The Coming Storm" Pt 2

1st Lt. 1st Lt. Jebidiah Baile
Lt. Cmdr. Brianna O'Shea
Julie (wrote by Stuart)

"For now.." Baile interrupted him, but sounded more amused than threatening which to Reidun was far more threatening than it would have been otherwise.

"Alright, I'm alive for now.. " Reidun corrected himself with a slight but nervous smile. "That means you think I'm of value to you or that I possess some knowledge you need." he said and fell silent, looking at Baile.

"You're a smart little donkey, Sparky.. " Baile replied. "I'm here to make you a deal."

A deal? That meant business, something Reidun understood well. A smile started forming on his lips. "Of course. What kind of deal are we talking about?"

Baile walked over to the chair he had been sitting in and sat down, grabbing the bottle of whisky. He pulled the cork off and looked at Reidun.

"Please that's vintage Whisky from Terra.. it's.." He was going to say priceless as Baile took several deep gulps, wiped his mounth with the backside of his hand and chuckled. "It's yours.." Reidun finally said.

The marine leaned back in the chair. "I know you, Cohiche.. I know what you want.."

"And what might that be?" Reidun replied, careful not to make any sudden moves. It was as if the temperature had dropped several notches just in the last seconds.

Had he been able to see the blond woman standing next to Baile he would probably have been even more nervous. She was resting a slender hand on Baile's shoulder. Her gaze rested on the powerful figure sitting in the chair, the man that had once been the love of her life. The man that had killed her. Her King of Killers.

"Power." they both said, but he only heard Baile's voice.

"I'm listening."

"I know you are, Martha.. if you weren't.. let's just say it wouldn't be pleasant." Baile promised him with a smile that sent chills of the bad kind through Reidun.

Reidun listened intently as Baile presented his offer or rather his request. It was as the Terrans put it - an offer he couldn't refuse. But still he had to ask. "What's to stop me from doublecrossing you once I get what I need?"

To his surprise it didn't make the Marine angry. Instead he stood up, took one last swig from the bottle and looked at Reidun. "Two things. One." he said and held up a finger. "You're a practical man. This is business. It will get you what you want twenty years ahead of schedule. Two." another finger. "You don't want to make this personal."

He had left Reidun's office behind him, stepping over the bodies of the dead guards.

"Are you going to leave Anna and Julie behind?" Maya asked him as she walked next to him.

To that he just nodded.

"Why?"

"You know why." he replied.

"It's not a good reason, Killer."

"They'll slow me down."

"Almost everyone will slow you down from now on. Even your precious Crows." she said to him. He turned his head to her, opened his mouth so say something but decided against it.

"You came all this way just to make good on a promise you made her a long time ago and now you're ready to leave her here just because of THAT?!"

He just kept walking, his eyes scanning the area for signs of traps, sensors and guards.

"Jebidiah Baile! You get back here right this instant!" he barked at him with more irritation in her voice than he had ever heard from her. She even pointed with her hand at a point in front of her.

He stopped. He actually stopped. The man who had killed eleven armed guards on his way in actually stopped midstep. For some reason she had always been able to stop him when she was alive. Guess she had the same power as dead. He turned around and looked at her. "This is not the place to discuss this.."

"I think this is the perfect time!" she chided him in the perfectly logical voice she had always used when she disagreed with his reasoning.

"Goddammit Maya! This is NOT the time!"

She crossed her arms and looked at him.

"This is so not happening.." he mumbled to the empty air. "The chances of her making it out alive are.."

"A lot better than if you leave her here!" she interrupted him. He tried to lock eyes with her, intimidate her to back down but she met his gaze evenly. "I'm a mirage, remember.. figment of your imagination.. I can keep this up all night." she told him with a crocked smile.

Throwing his arms up in the air he sighed. "Fine.. you win."

"I know." she replied as she walked past him, swaying her hips.

------------------------

Anna and Julie had been sitting for a while, waiting. Finally Anna stood up. "Come on.... never depend on anyone but yourself." She said as she stood for a second and then moved out of the vent and climbed down a ladder. She motioned for Julie to say nothing since they were essentilly inside the prison grounds. Anna moved quietly around the wall and paused when she heard some voices. Pulling weapon she'd taken off Jannic she stepped around the corner and dropped two prison guards.

Their bodies fell to the ground in a thud of silence. Moving now she ushered Julie behind her. Either she would get off this world, or she would be dying within the next few minutes. Moving through the narrow alley ways she headed for the landing area. Her thoughts about Baile was he had really changed, he'd left her, somewhere inside it didn't bother Anna cause she knew he would, that was how untrusting Anna had gotten being here on Vaden.

Julie followed the woman as she led them into the compound. She was happy that they weren't waiting for the man as he was a very scary person and though he seemed to be helping them, she had sensed that he was looking out for himself above all else. So she was more than happy to follow the woman. Looking ahead Julie could see the landing area off to the left. It looked to be Anna's destination. Hopefully she knew of a way off the planet.

Tugging on the woman's sleave, she whispered to her. "Are we gonna wait for the other guy? The one with the strange eyes?"

"The Coming Storm" Pt 3

1st Lt. 1st Lt. Jebidiah Baile
Lt. Cmdr. Brianna O'Shea
Julie (wrote by Stuart)

"He didn't wait for us.... one can only depend on one self, Julie." Anna whispered as they moved. Again, when they came to guards. Anna killed them wtih the gun as she moved closer toward the landing area. This point she knew she was dead if she didn't get off this world, so she was going to die trying, either way she was going to die.

-----------------

The marine entered the dark tunnels careful not to disturb the.. inhabitants.. in there. Something was wrong. It was too quiet. It didn't take him long to realise Anna and the girl had moved out. Quickly he looked for signs of struggle to see if the guards or the inhabitants in the tunnels had surprised them.

Maya looked at him and shook her head. "She left because believed you wouldn't come back."

"I wasn't"

To that she just nodded sadly. "Can you find her?"

He looked down the tunnel where the tracks were leading. Baile nodded. "I think I know where she's going..."

Rest would have been welcome. He was on the brink of collapse, he could feel it in his bones. Running after Anna was an additional task he had not anticipated and it was most likely going to get them both killed. No, he corrected himself. It was going to get her killed. Not him.

Anna and the girl had a good head start, but Baile was faster and more used to dodging enemies than Anna was. He grabbed a guard and very politely asked him abuot possible routes to the landing area. When the guard refused to answer Baile stopped being polite.

Using the information provided by the now dead guard Baile could move faster now that he knew where she was going.

The duo was hiding behind a wall, waiting for the guards to pass when he found them. He crouched low and moved towards Anna and the girl. The ride hadn't arrived yet, it wouldn't arrive for many hours. It was just like Anna to rush head first into things. It wouldn't just be a matter of boarding a ship to stow-away. No, this was a prison, equipped with every sensor in the book to detect such things.

Vaden was a maximum security penal colony. If they detected a prisoner onboard a departing ship, then they had enough gunturrets to make that pilot very miserable very fast. It was well within their mandate to do so. Vaden wrote their own rules and since everyone involved preferred Vaden to store their troublesome lawbreakers everyone looked the other way.

Baile wrapped an arm around Anna's throat and lifted her off the ground. "Not a word Anna, or I'll kill you myself... " he whispered in Anna's ear. The landing area was a critial point, the only way out of Vaden. It was, for obvious reasons, one of the most dangerous and well guarded places in the entire prison and NOT the way Baile had intended to leave.

Anna didn't have the strength to fight back. Truth was if she hadn't had the gun she wouldn't have even got this far. Bringing her hand up she gripped his wrist under her chin.

"You fire that gun here and this place will be swarming with unhappy guntoting boys who want nothing more than to kill you... once they get what they want from you.. and the girl.." Baile whispered to her, his arm firmly locked around her throat. It was surprising how strong he felt compared to Anna despite being fatigued.

Anna could still say nothing as he held her. Her hand caked with dirt and dried blood couldn't even grip him tight enough. Part of her wondered if she did have the strength, would he even feel it?

"You left a trail of bodies even a Starfleet Engineer couldn't have missed.. If you're trying to get yourself killed, Newbie, just say so and I'll leave you to it.. if not - do e x a c t l y as I tell you.." Baile instructed her, leaving no room for doubt what he would do if she didn't.

Nodding her head she couldn't say anything cause of his choke hold.

He let go of her and started heading in the direction he had just come from. "Now that the situation is fucked up we need to go and pay someone a visit.. "

Maya looked at Baile and then at Anna. "She needs a doctor.. or she won't survive the trip out of here."

Fury blazed in his alien eyes for a second as he looked at Maya, or rather into the empty air from Anna's and Julie's point of view.

"You owe it to her.. she needs you to clear her name and right now her name is all that she's got. You may not care about your name, or believe you do, Baile, but she does.." Maya told him in a calm voice and looked at the tired Anna. "Find that doctor.. he can patch her up enough for her to survive the trip to the Galaxy."

He sighed heavily. "Alright.. move it.. fall behind and I won't stop again."

Looking at him from behind Anna wondered what was wrong with him? At times it looked as if he were having a internal conversation with himself. "Where... are we going?" Anna whispered.

His eyes glowed in the dark as they reflected the faint light coming from the landing area. "It's only a matter of time before they find a body.. and then it's bye bye ride home.. The fat fuck will lock the place down tight and vent gas into the halls or he might just let loose his little dogs.. doesn't matter.. either way you're screwed.. " he said, leaving himself out of the equation. "So we go to the dogkeeper himself.. "

The Warden.

Baile had planned to go there anyway, but alone, not with an almost dead and stubborn Irish Engineer and a kid that made him want to find a gun and shoot the little girl several times.

Oh yes. This would definately be fun.

"Trio at the Bar"
By: Ayden O'Connor
T'Rei
Branwen London

The turbolift sailed through the shaft towards its ascent, while Ayden O'Connor leaned against the opposite rail with a preoccupied expression across his face. A few hours ago, Ember had left the ship on some sort of joint operations reconnaissance mission in the neutral zone. As much as he knew she could take care of herself better than most others, the fact that he wouldn't be able to see her for almost a week didn't set too well with him.

In the meantime, the Galaxy was on its way to the Romulan homeworld where the Vanguard squadron would be kept on a leash. Obviously the Romulans wouldn't have liked the idea of Federation strike craft wandering through their territories, but that would also leave the pilots crawling walls trying to find something to occupy their time with. Ayden found himself envying Ember, at least she had been fortunate enough to get some flight time.

He considered going to the holodeck for some recreation time, but couldn’t decide on what sort of program to run and was too picky to just select one at random. Then he recalled Ember’s discussion of that new bar on board; the Heaven’s Eclipse. While he had hoped that he and Ember could go together, that ambition had already been ruined once, and with every passing second it looked like it was going to face a second violation.

Heaving an audible sigh as the turbolift doors parted into an extensive corridor, he pushed himself off the rails and exited. At this point, a few drinks sounded rather warranted anyways. Besides, he had plenty of credits to spend if he wanted to, but he wasn’t expecting it to come to that. Just a few drinks, socialize amongst the crew for a few hours, and then go to bed.

That was his agenda¦

Branwen came into the bar a little later. She hadn't been here much recently, and she certainly hadn't met the new bartender before. Today she was not out for company, just that her quarters were too silent. Nara was somewhere with Saul. So she sat at a booth, quietly gazing at the stars.

Leaning his shoulders against the bar table, Ayden quickly gestured to the tender and ordered a drink, something else Ember had recommended, a "Quantum Rift". When the bluish beverage came into contact with his lips, he could see why she enjoyed it so much.

Gesturing thanks to the bartender, Ayden started a tab and glanced around to see who he could recognize. When he noticed Branwen sitting in a quiet corner alone, he thought he'd go over and say hi. Part of having a fun time in a bar was in being with others, after all.

"Hey Bran," he began, standing in front of the booth without seating himself just yet. She hadn't always been in a sociable mood, and he didn't want to just assume she'd be interested in a chat.

Branwen smiled at her friend. "Hello there, how are you doing?"

Ayden shrugged, taking a small sip of the refreshly satisfying drink. The added kick that Ember had mentioned was surprising, yet very tasty. She had recommended he take small sips, and that's exactly what had "Not too bad, crawling the walls like every other pilot on board." He replied coolly before gesturing towards the empty seat in front of her.

"No patience whatsoever." She grinned. "Oh how his life for you these days." It was better to talk about other people, not herself.

Ayden chuckled, "It's not going too bad," he paused for a second, maintaining a jovial grin. "Ember's out on some sort of recon mission, I'm stuck here wishing she was back." He joked, realizing only too late that that probably wasn't the best thing to say considering how their previous meetings went a few weeks ago. "Uhm... how about you?" He continued.

"I'm absolutely fine." She tried to say with a confident grin.

Unfortunately, Ayden was able to see right through the shroud. He didn't however, make that observation so obvious. "Well that's good..." he replied simply, "Have you ever tried this? It's called a Quantum Rift. It's pretty good actually." He continued, gesturing towards his drink.

"No, I haven't. I don't drink that much alcohol. What is it?" She asked him.

Ayden chuckled, "I have no idea... but it's good."

"You can drink something alcoholic and not know what it is it? You like to live dangerously don't you?"

Ayden shrugged again, smiling. "Life isn't worth living if you're not willing to take risks..."

T'Rei's mood had soured incredibly since her little chat with Artim. The ensign was free for a duty shift, which meant she could, for the first time in her life, get totally wasted and attempt to forget all this mess she had found herself in. As she walked into the bar, she noticed Ayden and nodded. Taking a seat beside him, she motioned to the bartender. "Get me the strongest thing you have, and double it." She stated with an arched eyebrow.

Ayden glanced over, noticing T'Rei who had suddenly plopped herself down beside him, in front of Bran. The identity-confused human was certainly having one of those hard days, he could see through that. Combine her day with Bran's hidden issues, and he was sure that having the two of them together would be a very bad thing. "Tough day?" He said, looking over to her. "You have no idea." She stated with exhaustion.

Michael had slipped away from the bar and brought T'Rei her drinks, looking at the three people and watching the amused glance on Ayden's face. "Now what would Ember think?" He joked, recognizing the fighter pilot from the holographic pictures that had been going around Ayden chuckled, "Visa Versa, nothing." Branwen looked over at the new guest was not familiar to her. "Hello there. I am Branwen." She introduced herself. "T'Rei. I'm pissed off, confused, wanting to get drunk, and screw anything that's of the male gender." Glancing over to Ayden, she stated, "Except you, of course."

Michael nodded, phasing his attention to Branwen. "Would you like me to get you another?" He said, noticing her near empty beverage. "Or something more exciting?"

"Just some more juice for me, please." The Marine said.

"Anything happen at work, to make you angry?" She then asked the other woman.

"It's concerning my past. My childhood, or what I thought was my childhood." T'Rei glanced at Micheal. "Can I get a 'cosmic organsim' please?"

The look of humor was not lost on her drinking comrades. "It's a drink." She muttered as she blushed.

Michael nodded to both young girls, glancing for a moment at Ayden's drink and noticing it still relatively full. ~Ember must have warned him~ he mused, "Sounds great ladies, I'll be back in a moment.

"Your childhood?" Branwen was getting interested. Ignoring the bit about the drink. "How is that influencing you now?"

"It's something I have to deal with by myself, if you don't mind." Sighing, she turned her attention to the rest of her drink.

"No problem." Branwen said. "You know where to find me if you change your mind." She smiled.

"K, thanks." T'Rei stated with a half smile.

"So Ayden and you are friends?"

"Yes. We've know each other a short time. Just friends, nothing more." She smiled somewhat, but her mind was lost in all that was going on mentally for T'Rei. The affects of the alcohol were somewhat taking over and she felt a welcome sense of calm.

"The same for me." Branwen said.

"So, you guys seeing anyone?" She posed the question, just to bring up some interesting conversation.

The Welsh woman blushed. "No, I'm not interested in relationships."

Ayden had to admit, he was proud to say it. "Yeah, it took a while but I've finally converted Ember into a relationship." Oh he knew he'd get whooped if she had been present for that remark. She'd take it as some sort of strike on her independence, even though she knew above else that he was kidding. A jovial grin escaped his lips, fun stuff.

Bran just stayed silent.

OOC: Takes place before Ember's recon away trip...

"It's All About Trust"

By: Ayden O'Connor & Ember Lansky

===---

Ayden was exhausted after spending three hours on patrol, literally pulling himself into his quarters while he stripped off his uniform top and let it fall to the floor. As he crashed into the sofa in a heap, he took a second to notice that Ember wasn't around. His shoulder slumped further into the cushion while he wished persistently that she had been.

The flight schedule had been incredibly hectic lately given the current crisis at hand, and it was likely that she was either in her own quarters resting, or suiting up for the next sortie. Of course there was a third possibility, or a fourth, or a fifth... he didn't want to think about it.

The rumor mill always had plenty of things to say about Ember, and Ayden had gotten quite comfortable with the daily spin on their relationship. He had noticed for sometime; and with great enjoyment, that whenever her name came up, it was usually associated with his. But when he came off of the flight line, he heard something new this time. A name he had heard about only a short time before he and Ember became a couple.

Miramon...

Something about him being in her quarters while she was wearing a robe, and then her in his quarters wearing a PT outfit. Under normal circumstances he'd probably shrug it off, but for some reason these new revelations stuck to him with a sense of... jealousy and uncertainty.

Sinking further into the couch, he realized exactly how much he wished Ember had been here to prove him wrong.

"So, are you coming in for dinner, or are you going to just sit there?"

When he turned around, Ember was standing in the doorway leading to the bedroom, an amused smile on her face. She seemed to have made herself comfortable while she was waiting inside, and had changed into a loose oversized t-shirt that barely extended to mid-thigh. Whether she was wearing anything under it, or anything else, was a different matter.

She took a step forward, the shirt sliding revealingly down one shoulder as she shifted. "Dinner's served... in bed," She stated, her grin saying she knew her planned surprise had worked just fine.

Ayden gazed at her for several long seconds, admiring the cuteness of her apperance. When he saw her like this it usually removed every trace of doubt from his mind. Ember wasn't the type who would take a direct challenge regarding her faithfulness very well, as he wouldn't expect any girl to. That, and the revolving fact that as suspicious as her meeting Miramon twice was, he couldn't just assume that she was sleeping with him.

He decided to err on the better side of caution and taste. The thoughts of her being with Miramon were disturbing, but he couldn't see her 'faking' a relationship while getting some on the side. Afterall, she hadn't exactly been looking for a relationship at all. If she didn't want to be with Ayden, she wouldn't be.

"I like dinner in bed," Ayden commented, rolling over completely. He would probably prefer a shower beforehand, given the fact that he was filthy, but that was another variety that Ember tended to ignore.

"Yea, I thought you would," She said, walking into his arms when he stood up from the couch, and nuzzling his neck with a few gentle kisses. He was right that it didn't matter to her whether he was clean, sweaty, dirty, or not. But, there were some things she didn't like, and waiting was one of them. She had grown so bored, cooped up in his quarters. "I think you have a lot to make up for, being as late as you are," She pointed out playfully.

Ayden mused in her words, cradling her around his arms as he swayed her from side to side gently before bending down and giving her a soft, seductive kiss on the lips. He sensed no reluctance on her end, no shred of any sensation of guilt or reservation. It calmed his distress, but didn't entirely get rid of it. "I was bored to tears..." he began, staring into her eyes for any indication that she had been less than honest with him. He found none, so what was the whole Miramon thing about? "How about you, do anything interesting while I was away?"

She tipped her head, looking thoughtful for a moment, unaware of the hidden implications of his question. "A lot of the usual... you know," She said, meeting his gaze again. And he *should* know. There were a few things that she really enjoyed doing; and spending time in the gym and holodeck playing one of her wild adventure sports, or practicing her martial arts were definitely among them. "No more running down corridors in the nude though, if you're worried about that," She teased. But like it had just occurred to her, she added, "I did check out the new bar while you were gone - Angel's Moon. Beautiful place, and the guy running it's pretty cool."

Ayden paused for a second while his brain absorbed her brief synopsis of recent events. There wasn't any mention of Miramon anywhere, and he was surprised by that. Even if their meeting had been entirely innocent, he would have thought she at least brought it up. "Good," he replied, kissing her lightly on the forehead before easing away on his way to the shower room. He started to unzip the remainder of his tunic, then began working on his pants. "Feel like joining me?" He asked over his shoulder, ever so curious as to whether she was wearing anything below the t-shirt at all.

He'd find out, eventually, but not yet. "I'll pass..if not we'll never get to the rest of the night," She said, her eyes promising a lot more, later as she helped him remove his pants. That was interesting, since she'd hardly ever pass up an opportunity of spontaneity, which means she probably had some *other* surprise planned, which she didn't want to skip. That was incentive enough to get him to hurry up with his shower. She gave him a few kisses on his cheek, and her hand lingered on his before finally heading into the bedroom.

While Ayden removed the last parts of his uniform in the bathroom, he glanced across the mirror and saw Ember working in the bedroom, although he couldn't tell exactly what she was doing. The majority of him was ready to just forget about what he had heard about Miramon, because he knew Ember enough to know that once again, if she didn't want Ayden she wouldn't be here. In that same regard, he couldn't see her doing anything to endanger their relationship either. She wanted to be with him, so how exactly could Miramon fit into the equation?

The sonic shower was disatisifying, leaving Ayden to retreat far earlier than he had anticipated. There wasn't anything wrong with it necessarly, it was just that he would rather be with Ember than anything else. If she wanted it her way he probably never would have taken a shower, but Ayden had his limits to how disgusting he could be on special occasions like whatever she was throwing.

Special occasions were almost a weekly experience for them, with other days spent either working or just cuddling on the sofa watching a holovid. Ayden always believed that she was doing this in order to bring herself closer to their relationship, knowing by their previous conversations that she had little to no experience with commitment. He still believed that, but the irrational fear lingered that she was doing all this to cover for an affair with Miramon.

As he wrapped a towel around his waist before returning to the bedroom, he looked at Ember thoughtfully. If there were only three words that he could hear her say, he doubted that he would have any reservations, hesitations, or concerns ever again. It would probably be the three most difficult words that she could ever say in her life, and yet he was absolutely convinced of his own feelings for her.

"I love you." He uttered softly, pausing to reflect upon her rather than searching inside the dresser for underwear.

The words caught Ember completely unaware, and she could not have guessed the gravity or the importance behind the words. She turned to him, spending only a second in consideration, before she smiled. "I know, Ayden." She closed the distance between them and gently held his hands, brushing her lips across his jawline tenderly. "I know," She whispered more softly.

Lacing her fingers through his, she tugged him further into the bedroom, showing him what she had done. It wasn't spectacularly much - just minor touches here and there, with the lights dimmed, and lit scented candles placed around the room. Rose petals were scattered on the bed, and she had added flowing drapes which softened the look of the quarters and added to the romantic ambience. It really wasn't much, but she had been inspired to do something for Ayden, after the dinner with Miramon yesterday, seeing how the Bajoran had gone to such great lengths to prepare a meal for a friend. How could she do less?

"You better like it," Ember teased, leaning into him.

Ayden could only catch a glimpse of the scenery from the corner of his vision, the majority of his attention placed entirely on Ember as she gently pushed him down onto the bed before straddling him. He smiled, trying not to be too disheartened that she still couldn't repeat those three words. It would take time, and there was no reason that he could expect her to be able to say them so soon. Drawing his arms around her waist he nustled her close to him, "This is nice." He said sincerely, gazing into her with all the love and joy he could give. "Is there an occasion?" He asked.

The question wasn't meant to imply that there had to be an occasion just for her to do something nice for him, given how spontaneous she tended to be around him. Having her so close to him made any lingering thought disappear, totally consumed by the warmth of her. Not necessarly just physical either, he was wondering if there was something more to it. He believed there was.

"Need there be?" She replied with a chuckle, not understanding why she needed to wait till there was an occasion before she did anything. That would take away all the fun, since people tend to *expect* something special on an occasion. Doing things impromptu and out-of-the-blue, just because she felt like it, was more her style. "Give me a minute," She said, giving him a peck on the cheek then pulling away to get something.

She returned barely a minute later with two glasses of wine, one held in each hand, and grinning to herself as she got back into bed and into his arms, handing a glass to him and making sure it didn't tip over. "You've got yourself an alcoholic girl, you know that?" Ember joked smilingly.

Ayden chuckled, taking the glass in his hand while he kept his attention on Ember. It was nice to have her in his arms, everything always seemed to feel right whenever she was this close to him. "Hmm... are you telling me that you have to be drunk to sleep with me?" He teased her back, placing a soft kiss on her temple.

Taking a sip of the wine, he noticed how delicious it was. He started to wonder if she acquired it from that new bar that opened up. He admired most of all however, how Ember's reflection danced along the wavy ripples in her own glass while she watched him.

She clearly enjoyed the little affectionate gestures from him, but that comment got her laughing. "Hey, I don't get drunk that easily you know," She protested defensively, adding pointedly, "I think I must have had at least five or six glasses when I went to Angel's Moon. But you don't see me getting drunk, not even on his more potent specialties."

Ayden smirked, giving Ember a curious yet amused look. Taking another small sip of the wine, intent on making it last as long as possible so that he wouldn't have to leave her in order to get a refill, Ayden smiled at the sharp taste it left dancing in his mouth. In truth he wasn't too concerned about her having so much to drink, knowing that he had set some pretty interesting records himself. As long as neither of them were consuming alcohol because of a stressful day, or to forget about troubling things, he was ok with having some fun. "I've heard some good stuff about that place, a lot of people say it's an outstanding spot. The rumor mill seems to think it's going to put ten-forward to shame in a few weeks, maybe even less."

He paused for a few seconds, reflecting on what else the rumor mill had to say. The moment was too perfect for him to ruin it, and he tried to purge any doubts lurking in his mind with the fact that she was with him now. A few seconds lingered past until he could bring himself to ask. "Ember, can I ask you something?"

Enjoying the richness of the wine, that sudden question came unexpected. Quirking her eyebrow, she glanced up at him with a bemused look, as though he should have just gone on ahead to ask what was on his mind. He didn't need permission, and he should know that by now. "Sure," She said anyway.

Ayden nodded with a short smile, almost certain about what her answer was going to be. There was no reason for her to cheat on him, at least none that he could detect. This was just going to clear his mind before they continued onto their romantic evening. He settled his arm around her shoulders, keeping his gentle gaze set into her eyes. "I heard that you saw Miramon last night..." he began, being very careful in his choice of words. "You know that I trust you, and that I'm being paranoid for even asking this but... did something happen?"

~That certainly came out of nowhere~ She thought, not anticipating this question, at all. It was the furthest thing that could possibly be from her mind, and she couldn't believe that he was brooding over this, and probably had been from the very start. Then, without any warning, she began to laugh, shaking her head as she did so. "I never fail to be impressed by how fast word carries on this ship. You'd think they have spy cameras everywhere," She said sardonically, with a small shrug.

Taking a sip of the wine, she looked at him, asking clearly, "What do *you* think, Ayden? Did something happen?"

Ayden didn't even hesitate to shake his head, he was so certain of it. He guessed it was pretty silly for him to even worry about it, but that nagging concern in any new relationship couldn't be evaded... at least not by him. "No, I don't." He paused, feeling that he should at least justify his concern, but the words seemed to escape him. "I know that if you didn't want to be with me; be my girlfriend, you wouldn't be. But I think it's fair to ask, I mean... first he's at your quarters, then you're at his."

He knew he didn't have to justify his concerns too much, Ember preferred blunt honesty more than anything, it was one of many foundations for their relationship. If he was worrying about something, she would have expected him to spit it out right then and there. It's not like she wouldn't have paid him the same courtesy if their situations had been reversed. "You two did have a moment before we met, afterall."

Her mouth fell open slightly in surprise. She was sincerely caught between wanting to burst out laughing or turn ugly on him for even thinking of suspecting her of anything more. He might claim otherwise, but he was most certainly thinking it. "Now I wonder if there's any part of my life that's not wildly publicized," Ember said self-deprecatingly, half-amused and half-resentful. It was utterly ridiculous. But then again, that was how she came to have such a bad reputation - people looked only at what they could see, and drew their conclusions about her. Tried and hung without a trial. She didn't let it affect her, but it didn't mean she was happy about it.

Ember inhaled, then let her breath out slowly. "What do you want me to say?" There was honestly nothing to say, because nothing had happened. She didn't even know where to start. "If you must know, I dang near hurled him out of my quarters when he first came to look for me. And yesterday... yesterday when I went to his quarters, it was sort of like a kiss-and-make-up session," She chuckled. " Except there was no kissing. Only making up. We came to a truce, so to speak."

Ayden nodded with a slight smile, seeing how the change in topic had affected her. He set his drink down on the nearby table and took her hands in his, holding them closely as he gazed deep into her eyes. "Ok," he began with a second more to think about how to respond. His fingertips brushed the palm of her hands while he smiled again, speaking his next words with the upmost of sincerity. "I'm sorry if I upset you."

She shook her head gently, a smile curving her lips. Seeing his sudden tenderness quelled the frustration that was only just beginning to build. She wanted to tell him not to be swayed by the rumours flying around the ship, but she was abruptly struck by the realization that maybe she *should* have said something to him, before the rumours hit. There were so many things in her life she didn't see the need to tell or 'report'; she was used to being a lone ranger, and being accountable to no one.

"You didn't. But it doesn't mean I am sparing you from a week's worth of penance, at least," She cautioned teasingly, readily letting go of the momentary unhappiness.

Ayden chuckled, "You're wish is my command." He said before slipping another soft kiss onto her cheek.

"Fight or Flight" - Part 3

Branwen London
XO, Furies SFMC

Ella Grey
Asst. Chief Engineer

James Corgan
Chief Security Officer

Brian Elessidil
Asst. Chief Counselor

Cora Dobryin
Chief Intelligence Officer

Kylar Curran
Chief Liaison Officer

****

Deck 8
Intelligence Offices

Cora couldn't ignore the Counselor's look and she'd be having a private discussion with him later for now her attention however remained on Curran. "No one leaves this room until we're finished, that includes you. I'm not here for a therapy session," she paused making it very clear her job only concerned the threat this could information could pose if it wasn't reported properly. "I'm here to prevent a major tactical nightmare. That's it. The psychological impacts are the Counselor's realm. Right now your only job is to stay here so we can get this over with."

The diplomat narrowed his eyes at Cora, shifting his attention with cold determination between her and the counselor. After an eternity of silence, he took his time to ease back into the seat designated for him.

"I see no tactical reason a counselor is required to sit in on an intelligence debriefing. You ask and require physical information on the events. How we were individually responding to the situation has no bearing on future reports on Hydran activities. It is insulting and unprofessional to place us in a group session without having taken proper care to determine how we would adversely react to discussing what was done to some of us."

As much as Ella disliked the Kelvan she had to admit he had a point. There was hardly anything that she could add to the so-called intelligence section of the debriefing. Her reaction had been to pretend the whole thing wasn't happening, hadn't happened.

Things were going no where fast, "It wasn't my call to have a Counselor here. As an Intelligence Officer it would have be my duty to hold this briefing one way or another so that's what we're doing. Now what else can you tell me. I'd like to hear from more of you. Everything you can recall is helpful."

Personally, had he known the reaction to his presence would be so resoundingly negative -- then again, when was anyone ever *happy* to see a counselor? -- Brian would have advised Karyn that they stay out of the Intel briefing and limit themselves to individual sessions with the affected officers. But she had decided it was important for there to be a presence from the department to make sure the "human" aspect was maintained and to catch any important information they might need to know in advance of meeting with the victims.

It had been a long time since he'd experienced the old and unsettling feelings of frustration and futility regarding his role as a counselor, and he silently willed himself not to let himself get overwhelmed by them. He found himself wanting to interject a defense in his own behalf, to try to convince them that he was there for *their* benefit (even if they didn't believe it); at the same time, he wanted to lash out and say to hell with all of them and storm out of the meeting as so many of them wanted to do. After all, even counselors were people too, with all the feelings and often irrational reactions that everyone else experienced, especially when their presence and their desire to help were being assailed. But in the end, counselors bore the responsibility to keep their own shadow side in check, and to be the example of the theories and practices that were the stock of their trade.

Deciding that things were tense enough and that there was little he could say to assuage anyone's feelings about the situation at the moment, he took neither the path of defensiveness nor angry remonstration, using silence to re-emphasize his role as an interested observer while Lieutenant Dobryin conducted her debriefing.

James was feeling the electric intensity in the room. Once the reasonable

one, now overshadowed by Curran's overwhelmingly aggressive personality

- Hide quoted text - and the councelor's well intentioned but misguided cause, James Corgan felt like he was left out of most of the argument. At this time, he was not the one with authority, but to be left out felt... odd.

"Ahem." James coughed, "We should move on. We can spot weld on our personalities later with the councelors, and Curran is right... that is something that should be one on one. Right now... what would you like to know, Lieutenant Dobryin?"

Cora was frustrated herself but didn't let it show, "I'd like to hear from those who haven't spoken. Everyone's view is important, even if its just the slightest thing you can recall."

Ella took a deep breath and then related everything that she could remember.

She didn't think it helped out much, the best she contribute being a blurred viewing of O'Shea and a description of the lab which relied mostly on her sense of touch and smell, but she did her part and hopefully could go back to work soon.

So far Branwen was in her corner listening to them all. She was very happy that nobody ask her anything, and would happily continue to be silent until the mission was over. She hated every minute of this, and just wanted to get out of there without having to tell anything personal.

Enough was enough, Brian thought as silence continued to be the only response to requests for people to speak about their experience. He gave Cora a look to suggest that what he was about to say was a recommendation to her as the Intel officer responsible for the debriefing. "I'd like to suggest that we break this debriefing up into shorter individualized sessions. I think it will facilitate the process by making it at least a little easier for each of you to speak because the sessions will be private and only as long as is necessary for you to relate your accounts of what happened. Furthermore, since your testimony is required only by Intelligence protocol, I'm going to recommend that each of you meet privately with Lieutenant Dobryin alone; if anyone would like me or any other counselor to be present, I'll make sure your request is met, but I'm not sensing anyone feeling in any way more comfortable by the presence of a counselor by fiat. Is that an acceptable approach to everyone?" He looked from the group to Dobryin then back again.

"May I be excused from this?" Branwen asked. "I really don't remember anything useful. What I know I have already told."

Elessidil regarded her carefully, knowing full well that Bran wasn't going to contribute anything more to the discussion -- pretty much the same could be said for the others at this point. But it wasn't his place to dismiss anyone; that was up to Lieutenant Dobryin.

For her part, Ella didn't know why she had to go into an individual session if she'd just given her intel and she said so, although in as polite a tone as her implant would allow.

"Agreed." Curran sighed inwardly. The counselor had shown a mote of intelligence, more than could be said for most of the others here. "I will submit my report to your offices, Lieutenant, before the end of the day." He rose from his chair nodding, carefully arranging his PADDs before him into a neat stack. He didn't care that he had been asked to come personally. He didn't see the need.

"I do not require a counselor to proof-read my report, either, 'Commander."

"I'm sure I have plenty of other work to keep me busy, Mister Curran," Brian calmly responded.

"Of that I have no doubt of." Altering mind-states can be taxing, he supposed.

The debriefing concluded, the staff all trickled out quietly, the tension in the air snapped like a rubber-band when they'd gone their separate ways.

"So Not Good."

Lieutenant Kimberly Burton

And the crew of the Runabout USS Legacy

USS Legacy

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"Well, that was clever!" Kimberly commented, somewhat deadpan, her voice echoing in the darkened and now dead silent runabout.

Even life support seemed to have gone down, and the silence, especially for someone who had spent most of her life on star ships of one sort or another was somewhat unnerving.

Feeling the runabout shake as the old bird of prey physically connected and locked on Kimberly looked around at her small crew with a raised eyebrow, "Anymore bright ideas?" she asked the room in general.

Receiving no reply from anyone she looked out the window at one of the wings of the old ship and spent a brief moment contemplating options, the old line of 'Prepare to repel boarders' briefly crossed her mind, but was as quickly dismissed. The Legacy was in no shape to make an escape, and the ship above them contained, according to sensors well over a five times their numbers in crew,

"Phasers are dead," someone reported from the darkness.

"I thought they'd been checked during pre-flight?" Kimberly asked.

"Yeah, just like everything else aboard," the faceless female voice answered, "looks like they've been tampered with."

Not entirely sure if that was a good or a bad thing Kimberly thought for a second then, "See what you can do with them," she ordered as she stood, and immediately hit her head on the overhead panel. Swearing softly she stepped away from her chair carefully and tried to find the emergency locker. In the dark it wasn't too difficult, the small chem-strips had started glowing softly in the dark. Prising open the locker she pulled out a handlamp and flicked it on, only to find that it too was dead.

"Someone 'really' doesn't like us," she muttered.

Hearing the sound of a transporter Kimberly looked around for the incoming transport. Seeing nothing obvious save a small glow behind the transporter console she stepped tentatively around the column just in time to see the fading glow of a Klingon transporter beam, looking down at the dimming light she instinctively backed away from the small silvery sphere that sat on the deck.

"Oh bugg." she started to say as the whole cabin went white.

Then very, very dark.

"Meeting a Marvel: Part 3"

Ens Eve, Tech Op, Intelligence

Lt.(jg) Nara Roswell, Engineering

*****Nara's Quarters****

Nara's smile came again, "Then maybe that's the kind of scanning we need to try. Just let me know if I come upon something I shouldn't or when you want me to break the link. Let me know when you're ready."

Eve settled back into the couch - for that is where she sat - and closed her eyes, nodding to Nara. "Jump on in," she said after a moment.

Nara looked at Eve a moment and opened her mind a bit and reached out to Eve's. She then closed her eyes and started by mind-speaking, ~I prefer easing in.~

The voice that responded had a mechanical tone to it, as if having been passed through a shoddy speaker and sound system. ~Perhaps, to each their own.~

Nara smiled and went deeper in, wondering if Eve's mind would create a scape at all.

The scene could be described as deeply gothic. Dark, muted colors, fluted, vaned, and buttressed beams, columns, supports, and even stained glass windows - this setting was within what apeared to be an ancient Cathedral, though the floor was empty of pews. A solid oak set of double doors lay just behind Nara, and down the path in the center of the expance, on the far plating of the armor, suggesting the occupant was female.

Nara stood there, looking as she did in the real realm. She took a moment to examine Eve's mind realm. She was sure these scapes meant something, but she wasn't interesting in studying it that well. It was a way she figured for them to expose their minds without letting it be clear what was there. The overall appearance and atmosphere of these scapes was enough to give a better view of the person's psyche. Or rather, for stronger minds, what they wanted you to see. Opening her mouth in this realm of mind, she spoke, "Eve?"

The figure turned around, and those violet eyes were unmistakable. "Welcome to my mind," she said with a normal sounding voice.

Nara smiled, "A bit eerie, but by far the most habitable."

Eve stepped down the stairs, the armor humming faintly by the time she reached Nara. In all actuality, it turned out to be powered armor of a type never before seen (though quite possibly simply a figment of Eve's imagination.) "Where would you like to start?"

Nara looked at the armor curiously, then nodded toward it looking at Eve's mind-persona, "Well that for one. What kind of armor is it?"

"Powered battle armor. The protective material is called Cermatite, something roughly between Duranium, tritanium and ablaitive armor," she said, ticking the three off on her right hand, "and Neutronium. Tough stuff, but incapable of being produced by current science. Even the Borg can't make this stuff, thankfully. Something aproaching the fabled Adamantium, but not as indestructable."

"The suit itself contains a small fusion reactor in the backpack which powers everything else. User strength is enhanced by the inbuilt servos, allowing an increase of aproximately four times the wearer's strength. There are several other features that I haven't looked into yet."

Nara raised an eyebrow, "And you felt the need to wear something like that in this realm?"

Eve shrugged. "This is my first time here, and I let this avatar present hitself as it would prefer," she said, as if her current apearance wasn't really herself.

"Well, so long as I have a body to talk to. It's a bit disconcerting to talk to a disembodied voice." Nara shuddered visibly in both realms remembering the Dithparu. If Eve had any empathy, she likely would had noticed the slight chill that ran through Nara's nerves.

Here, her vision didn't work as it did in the 'real world,' but there was enough telepathic bleed off that Eve could discern something was amis. "Is something wrong?"

Nara waved it off, "Just a memory." Frankly, Nara was annoyed at haunting memories. She then focused back on Eve, "As to what to see is up to you. This is your mind, be the guide."

At this, Eve frowned. "To be honest, I don't know where TO start, except here. Since we've a defining point of origin, I am unsure of where to go from here."

Nara wasn't sure either. She simply followed Dhani's sister in Dhani's mind, No one dare go very far in Victor's and Baile kept things at the entrance. Though it was a wide view, he had kept her from going anywhere. She looked around, "Shall we open some doors?"

"As they are the only way to go anywhere, sure."

"Well..." Nara smiled shaking her head. She might explain later that one could switch things around however they wish, but for now she was wanting to explore. Eve intriqued her to no end. She approached the nearest door and looked over at Eve, "Whatever behind here is up to you. Even subconciously. You go first and make sure you don't mind me seeing it."

"Feminine Wiles"
Major Corran Rex, CAG
Lieutenant Ella Grey (Acting) Chief Engineer

-----------------
Corran's Quarters
-----------------

Corran sat at the terminal in his quarters, fighting the urge to yawn. For a trip to Romulus, this mission had been indescribably.. boring so far. It was a little ridiculous, really.

Ella was over on his couch, diddling with some PADD or another - something Engineering-related, he assumed - as he processed through the most recent updates. The latest flag - addressed to him as "CAG, USS Galaxy", instead of the usual "Squadron CO, Vanguard", caught his eye. Opening it, he quickly perused it's contents.

"Hunh." he said aloud when he was done, cocking his head to the side in an obvious display of mild surprise.

Ella looked up from her computer PADD and cocked her head in the same direction as his.

"Remember a couple months back, when we got those new Rogue Mark Vs to replace our old Bonzais?" he asked her, referring to the fighters flown by his squadron. The old Bonzais had been setting in the back of the fighter bay, unused, for months now while he waited for word from SFFC Supply on just what to do with them.

"Yeah." Ella replied. The Mark V's were easier to work with, of course, but she didn't really like their design. "A lot of our engineers want to start breaking them down for spare parts. Just kidding."

"Hell, I've had the same thought." he confessed. "It took me all of three days to swap out the pilot's chairs between the my old fighter and my new one."

Ella laughed. "I suppose that's better than having superstitious pilots with rabbits feet or unwashed jockstraps. Are they finally collecting the bonzais?"

"Well... no."

She raised her eyebrow, waiting.

"I'm to commission a new squadron with them, actually." he clarified. "Redistribute personnel from the releif pilots and the Vanguards, and try to draw the extras I'll need out of Galaxy's crew."

"Really?" Ella said with interest. "With what aim? Back up for the Vanguards?"

"A fully functional squadron to serve alongside the Vanguards. Given Galaxy's increasing.. prominence, they feel the support of a second fighter squadron is required. Thank the gods we're a G-III refit, or we wouldn't have the space."

She could already feel the wheels spinning as she asked him what he would be looking for in the new pilots.

"Well, I'm six pilots light. Five if I stick that Intel kid I just got in a fighter. I can cut it down to four if I tap Flight Officer O'Donnell - but that leaves me without a pilot for the Thames, our new AWACS runabout.

" Corran frowned. "I don't know. Hopefully I wont have to scrape too many barrels - and maybe Miramon won't kill me for hijacking his pilots."

She made an amused noise but sounded slightly distracted.

Of course, Corran was not entirely without perceptive abilities, so eventually he noticed the expression on her face. "What?"

"What? Oh, just thinking that relief pilots are probably more interesting than shuttle pilots."

The Trill frowned, having the interesting effect of compressing the spots on his forehead together - something that always gave Ella a laugh. "I don't follow."

She rubbed his forehead lightly before answering. "I would imagine being a regular shuttle pilot would get a bit monotonous after awhile. Whereas AWACS probably keeps you on your toes, am I right?"

"Well, sure." he shrugged. "It's not an easy detail. You're in the middle of combat, but you're not really fighting - the job's to provide tac info to the pilots, and S&R anyone who goes EVA, that kind of stuff. Takes some brass ones to be good at it."

Ella gave him a wide grin, like she did when she was piloting a shuttle and about to do something crazy.

Now that, he didn't miss. "No."

"I need a change." Ella said.

He started up from his seat, shaking his head. "No - no, we're not doing this. You can't transfer to the Vanguards."

"Why not?" She pouted

"Because.." he started. He couldn't very well say 'Because you're my girlfriend." Sure, it was a regulation. But nobody ever followed that regulation. Nobody ever got punished for it, either. "Well.. because."

She put away the pout and crossed her arms. "I'm a good pilot." She didn't wait for him to reply for adding "They wanted me on Red Squadron."

"Well whoop de doo." he muttered under his breath, flopping down on the couch with folded arms.

"I'm also professional." Ella retorted. "I'm more than capable of letting you be boss, if that's the problem."

"Ella, that's not it." he replied. The 'not entirely' went unsaid, at least. "You're an engineer, not a fighter pilot."

Her lips twisted. "My mommy said I can be anything I want to be."

"Of course she did." Corran replied with a sigh, and put his head in his hands.

"I don't think I want to be an engineer anymore." Ella said. "I mean, I love working with the ship when it isn't being blasted into bits, but its not... what I need anymore, I guess."

"And who'll be in charge of Engineering, if you transfer?"

Ella shrugged. "Its not really up to me, but I'd guess Nara since she's assistant chief now. And nothing's sexier than a man pouting, Corran."

"Oh, no you don't." he said, noticing the way she was starting to saunter across the couch.

"No what?" she asked innocently.

"You're going to try to use your feminine wiles on me." he protested as she snuggled up to him. "There'll be none of that - not on this decision." It was, of course, a token protest. But it was one he meant.

Increasingly aware of just how close she was, though, Corran did have to admit that it was producing an effect.

"Feminine wiles." She laughed. "You are old."

"Damn straight." he grumbled. "Pad's right - I'm a regular dirty old man. Or I've got enough of 'em in my head, at least."

Her smile faltered a bit at the mention of Pad's name. "If I decide to pursue this, you'll choose me because I'm the right person for the job. I'll leave my wiles out of it."

"All right, I'll promise to give you all due consideration as a candidate - " he conceded with a raised finger, forestalling the gleeful expression on her face. " BUT - you're not going to get any shortcuts from me. Not in the application process, and definitely not if you make it into the squadron."

"I wouldn't take them even if you offered them."

"And I never will."

"Mess"

Zev & Nara

A dark plain room with a woobly table, two chairs, and a broken monitor.

Raynor looked at the devastation within the room... The table was though had been 'placed' back into its upright position was clearly woobly, as if ready to collypse at any second. The monitor on top was smashed to peices. And he stood there, trying to comprehend how 24th century technology on what was essentially a warship could be so easily torn apart. The look on his face was as if no was home, but in fact he fully comprehended the world around him. He just didn't know what he was going to tell the engineer who came... whoever it was.

The door buzzed... Raynor walked towards the door as it swished open, and said, "I wasn't sure if I should call an engineer or a carpenter..." He said with a grin looking over his shoulder at the wreck.

Nara perked an eyebrow looking around. "Did you tick off a Klingon?"

It wasn't intentional Nara was there. It was just next on the list and she was the next available engineer to go do field work. It was never intentional when Nara and Zev ran into each other. It was just pure coincidence that Fate seemed to enjoy. She smirked looking at him, "Or is this your latest attempt at causing as much annoyance as possible?"

"Actually the desk apparently decided to destroy itself once it found out I was working on it..." Raynor joked. "Every single law of science known to Q is broken when I actually sit down to work and a massive amount of stress is put on the universe when I do it. Apparently the universe just couldn't handle it this time... something had to give... thus creating the result you see before you..."

Then after a pause... "I'm guessing we'd have to replace the monitor..."

She nodded looking up at it and frowning. "Seriously, was there a fight?" She looked at him and smirked again, "And how did you manage to get out of it alive."

"Basically there was a disagreement of sorts, and I ended up using Rose's Law of Phsyics... I'm bigger than you, therefore you do what I tell you..." Raynor explained. "Can't really go into details... Intelligence crap..."

Nara shook her head, "Of course." She walked over to the monitor and shook her head sadly. "See, I told you. This is why she gets in her moods." She walked over to a nearby console and shut off power to the monitor.

"She?" Raynor asked, confused.

Nara laughed, "The ship, remember. You always seem to get her cranky just when I have her subdued. Well, engineering as a whole. I just tinker where they let me, but still." She walked over and started disconnecting wires from the damaged monitor.

"I've always thought of the Galaxy class starships as men for some reason..." Raynor stated. "They lack the grace of a woman generally..."

There was a pause, "Maybe the ship is pissed at me for that reason."

She turned to him increduosly and waved toward the monitor, "Well, of course she is!"

"Oh well... at least I know where I stand with this bird." Raynor said thoughtfully. "Why are ships always women anyways?"

Nara laughed, "If it were a man, we'd always be going to Risa."

"And whats wrong with that?" Raynor asked in jest.

"We'd be totally unproductive." Nara took her own words and went back to snipping wires that were frayed and gently disconnecting ones that were still usable.

"I'm already totally unproductive so I guess I wouldn't notice the difference..." Raynor said in thought.

"Need anything?" He offered.

She just shook her head as she had to now use one hand to balance the screen as she worked at the wires. Then it hit her that she did need something, "Oh, um, would you mind holding this for me so the wires to rip anymore?"

"Sure" Raynor said taking hold. "So how's life been recently?"

"I'll say fine since we're on duty and as much as we've bumped into each other, I don't know you well enough to answer that honestly." As she was moving to the other side for those wires, she noticed the circuitry behind the monitor was damaged too. "Gonna have to replace some of the circuitry too." She sighed and went back to work on the wires.

"So what would you prefer to know before I can get an honest answer to that question?" Raynor inquired.

Still concentrating, it took a moment for her to answer. The words slowly sinking in and answer formed even slower as she worked out a good wire from the monitor. It was a bit of work as they were secure and weren't meant to come out at all. So the rare times they had to, it took a bit to do it. "That you're more than a clown for one."

Raynor was caught off guard by that... if only slightly... he was expecting a question about his past, and his life experiences... instead he got one directed at his character... He had to think for a moment before saying... "Have you ever read Hamlet?"

"Yea. Had to for school." She continued working, her tone that of someone concentrating.

"You remember how Hamlet pretends to be insane after finding out his father was killed by his uncle..." Raynor asked.

"Kinda."

"It caused several people to misread him... to believe him to be less than he was..." Raynor led her on... seeing if she would make the connection.

"Uh huh." The last wire disconnected, she reached out to take some of the weight as they slowly lowered it to the ground. She looked at it forlonely before turning to him, forgetting what he said the moment before, "What were you saying?"

Raynor sighed... this woman either wasn't getting the implications of what he was saying, or was too concenrated on what she was doing to think too much about anything else. He wondered why he felt a need to tell her the truth... why was he leading her on closer to what exactly he was...

He sighed again... "Nevermind," he decided it wasn't worth it right now. Those people who got to know the man under the clown, were usually frightened of him. He had too many monsters hidden away... and decided, for now to keep them hidden.

She looked at him a moment, "A mask?" She had now remembered what he said, at least a bit of it. "But why would you want people to think less of you?"

"Look at this table... if people truly understood the real me... understood what I was capable of..." Raynor broke off. There was a moment of silence before he continued, "Besides, it gives me an advantage, as those who seek to harm me or this ship will always underestimate me..."

"Better to pretend to be a clown, than be true to oneself and a monster to everyone else."

"You think you're a monster?" Nara let out a laugh, "You should meet Baile and Victor Krieghoff. Then you can judge if you're a monster or not."

"I tore apart the table before you, in less than 2 seconds and I was going easy..." Raynor responded in darkened manner.

He nudged one of the legs with his toe, and the table collapsed. Considering it was made out of duranium... it came across as a slight shock that it was that easy to do...

She just watched him a moment, "Ok. So you're super strong. And?"

"And when I asked you how has your life been recently... the thought to kill you just to find that out came readily to mind..." Raynor spoke softly. "Your a friend... and yet that thought is still there. For something so trivial..."

~You are a sick bastard Zevy boy... I like it~ Madden whispered at the back of his mind.

Raynor listened to Madden but said nothing back... he hated Murphy's Law.

She still regarded him as casually, "I've had my life threatened before. But you didn't. That makes you not a monster. But I do agree that there is now more to you than I realized. Why did you want to kill me?" It was asked as casually as 'How's the fishing?' He had yet to really impress her or frighten her to any real degree. She's seen enough to be practically unphased. She did however feel her body tense, and her mental walls become more secure with the new knowledge.

"I hate to keep making you look at that table... but there's more than raw ability shown there... you can also see the will to use that ability..." Raynor said causally. "As for the reason for wanting to kill you... my mind doesn't work normally, but if one were to use the most basic logic... so I could extract the information as your life flashed before you eyes... learning everything you knew up until the point of death. It's my weirder form of telepathy."

"And I can see that the new information makes you more distant than before..." Raynor observed after a moment of silence.

"Even if its only slight."

This did sorta freak Nara out as she took a step back, shutting every possible window and door to her mind. Her face showed a bit of concern, "That's...a little creepy and morbid." She still watched him, looked at his eyes, "Only slight. So long as you don't ACTUALLY kill me, I think we're ok." She wanted to smile reassuredly, but the new information was still sinking in.

"It's the reason I got drafted into Intelligence in the first place. Every enemy dead, every friend that falls, and every innocent bystander is now up here..." Raynor tapped the side of his head. "And worse, there not all that bad... I actually like some of the experiences..."

Nara shuddered a bit, "Why?"

"Because some people have lead truly happy lives... they died peacefully surrounded by friends..." Raynor said softly. "Something I've never been able to afford."

"What about here...." She paused and looked at the chronometer, "I'm still on duty." She looked at him and smiled this time, "Knowing our track record, we'll meet again."

"Because I have the memories of many of the former crew... I'm not sure if this is real on my end or a carry over from someone else..."

Nara shrugged, "Sounds like the issues a joined Trill would have I guess. I don't have that problem though." She perked an eyebrow, smiling as she gathered up her kit.

Raynor laughed a little... "I've got one of those buggers up here... I can relate to that... which is kinda creepy..."

But it seemed more forced now.

Once the mask goes off for someone, it never truly convinces them the same way it used to...

Nara looked at him curiously as she took apart a tool to put the pieces away, "What buggers?"

"A symbiont... but not important..."

She looked at him oddly, "But you said 'up here.' Symbiont usually live in the abdomen I thought."

"The memories of a symbiont anyways... which is all the Trill seem to use them for... I could be called Zev Laxis if we were to go by that standard..."

Nara looked at him, dying to ask questions. "Ok, maybe I'll just find you if we don't meet by chance. I'm dying to know about all those lives in there." She nodded toward his head and stood. "But for now, I better not dawdle."

"Theres a couple thousand plus in here so it might take awhile" Raynor warned.

She smiled and shrugged as she put the strap over her shoulder. "Well, we both are stuck on this boat for awhile, and we'll write letters when we're reassigned." Nara looked at him again, shaking her head thinking of all the unique people she's met on the Galaxy. "I don't think anywhere else would be quite as exciting and I'll need the stories."

"Meeting a Marvel: Part 4"

Ens Eve, Tech Op, Intelligence

Lt.(jg) Nara Roswell, Engineering

*****Nara's Quarters (Eve's Mindscape)****

Eve looked around at the various doors, feeling suddenly fragile and vulnerable. Where to turn, what path to take? For the first time since she'd been pulled from stasis, Eve was lost.

Nara looked concerned, "Perhaps I'm not the first person you should let in here." She wasn't a counselor, but it did seem unhealthy to not know how to go about ones's mind.

"You might be right," she said. "Especailly considering this isn't usually the way I look at things nor- maaaaaalll ==*&^^$#%%^44367%%---- " Eve's apearance and speech flickered, distorted as would an incoming transmition on a garbled or jammed frequency. She looked surprised, and her apearance flickered and disapeared, leaving Nara alone in the Cathedral.

Nara stared dumbly at where Eve had been. Unsure of what had happened, she called out, "Eve?"

A side door opened and a figure stepped out, the door closing behind them. This individual was garbed similar to Eve, though her armor's sie gave her a larger, beefier apearance, though the grace was never diminished. Unlike Eve's armor, which was unmarked, this woman, with white hair, helg several icons on her garb: the fleur-de-lys on left knee and right shoulder pllating, and a stylized I flanked by wings on the left shoulder plating. "To whom do I have the honor of speaking?" Her voice was a rich alto, smooth and yet commanding.

Nara blinked and thought to herself, not caring to block it from transmitting, ~Will I ever learn?~ She stared at the woman before her and tried to ease out of Eve's mind, feeling best to ask Eve questions in a safer realm. In a realm Nara was more famialar with. However, she felt blocking. Her own avatar in Eve's mind looked at the figure with wide eyes, panick radiating from her own mind, uncaring to block it. She kept trying to break free, not answering the query.

The woman smiled sadly. "I'm sorry, my dear," she began, sounding more like a nun than a warrior. "I'm afraid you won't be able to disengage your telepathic link with Eve until her safety has been asertained."

Nara gave up and looked a bit tired from the trying, remembering how physically draining using telepathy could be. She looked at that woman, "Does she even know you exist here? Did she create you?" Nara was surprised her first question didn't have to do with how to asertain things so she can leave.

"I am the avatar for Eve's cybernetic internal security," she said, "monitoring and protecting her from threats both internal and external that cannot be handled on the macro scale."

Nara could only say, "Ok." She was still getting further intriqued, but at the moment she was more concerned at how this security system determined to keep Eve safe and how they would handle Nara being there. "How do you plan on doing this?"

"Currently, you have projected your conscious mind into Eve's. Certain safeguards have been activated that prevent telepathic contacts from withdrawing to their own body. You are effectively trapped within this single room, and will remain here until you are deemed non-hazardous and the blocks released, or your physical body dies. With respects to other invasions, there are other parameters in place as apropriate for the circumstances."

Nara listened and wondered how the hell this happened. This sort of thing was supposed to only happen on away teams. Not casually poking in someone's mind. She glared at the woman, "For one, she invited me. Secondly, all you have to say is never come back and I won't. I'll be sure to let Eve know that no one should come in here. And lastly, I haven't see anything." After a beat, "Well, besides you of course, but I can keep secrets."

"That has yet to be determined, my dear," was the simple responce.

Nara sighed. She really was stuck. She had no way to call for help telepathically or otherwise. She crossed her arms, "I really have no choice. Deem away."

Seconds later, the avatar spoke. "You have been determined to be clean. However, at this time it is requested that you depart and return at a later period."

To say Nara was ejected would be putting it lightly - one moment she was in Eve's mind - the next, returned to her own body, and not by her own doing.

Nara's posture had turned to slumping, and her face contorted from the sudden change. Her mouth muttered as if talking in one's sleep, "Later?" She then put her hands on the floor in front of her, re-orienting herself as she looked at Eve, "Do you know what just happened?" Nara felt a little dizzy, hence why she preferred easing as opposed to jumping

Eve's eyes opened and she sat up, having slumped down a bit herself. She blinked a few times, and her eyes lost focus as they peered at something seen only to her. "I don't know ..." she finally said.

Nara moved to get herself seated on the couch, but the movement made her more dizzy, causing her to put her head in her hands. Her words muffled as she warned, "Never let anyone in your mind."

Eve looked at her curiously. "What did you find after I got booted?"

Nara sighed, feeling her equilibrium return. She looked at Eve, "Whatever you have in there, someone is willing to kill to keep it protected."

Eve's eyes went wide. "You're certain?"

"I was held there until they deemed me safe or something. They told me to come back later. I doubt I'll be doing that." Self-preservation won over curiosity...this time.

"It might be something my alien benefactors left in my artificial wet-ware," Eve said.

Nara rubbed her head again, "All I can say is you are not someone to be messed with in any way."

"Why would I want to kill you?" Ever the innocent little thing, as yet untainted by the Multiverse about so many things.

Nara smiled, "Let's just say thank whatever Holy powers there are that you weren't here when the Dithparu attacked. Want to or not, you are a killing machine. Fine-tuned and fully powered with security devices for you body and mind. You, Eve, could likely kill every marine on this boat."

"Well, I *WAS* originally crafted to fight the Borg, remember," she said quietly. "however, I've no real interest in fighting. I'd rather get behind a workbench and put together a miniature warp core than fight someone or something."

Nara laughed, "Then you and I will be great friends." She then looked serious and pointed at Eve's head, "Just keep Ms Security Device away from my mind." Nara paused a moment and nodded to herself after assuring her mental walls were up in place.

"I can't broadcast, any defenses I may have besides ... whatever that was ... are passive. I have no telepathic capabilities of my own." For that, she was entirely gratefull.

"Concerning Relationships"

Lieutenant Miramon Terrik, Chief Navigation Officer

Lieutenant JG Nara Roswell, Engineering Officer

---------------

Senior Officer's Quarters, Deck 5

Nara rung the chime to Miramon's quarters. She hadn't seen him in awhile and hearing rumors about him and some Ember girl brought on a new concern. After all the whining she's done to him about Saul, she owed him really.

The man in question was currently reclined out on his couch, sipping Jumja Tea and reading what was considered to be a Vulcan classic, The Dictates of Poetics, which he'd borrowed from Selana. So far it was about as dry as could be expected, in his opinion, but after he'd finally churned through the copy of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night that he'd been recommended by Maggie Pike, this was equivalent to a book he really couldn't put down. Earth literature simply didn't agree with him, much like their Mexican food.

Still, the tea was always pleasant and it wasn't as though he didn't have a few hours to kill, given that his duty shift was most definately over and he'd caught up on his paperwork. Well, okay, maybe not completely, but he had to take some time out in order to prevent his brain from becoming mush.

But it has to be noted that this was coming from a person that read Vulcan literature to relax his mind.

He barely heard the door chime go, but once he'd comprehended that it was, in fact, somebody at the door, and not a figment of his imagination, he continued reading his book, not bothering to look up in order to confirm that this was so. Besides, he'd heard his cat miaow, which was usually a pretty good indication that an abnormal sound had recently invaded the airspace within his quarters.

"Come in," he called out, still not looking up. Despite what most people thought of Vulcan writing, this was actually rather engaging.

Nara entered, seeing Miramon on the couch, looking in all the Universe as if all was well. "Well, I came to check up on you, but seems you're doing just fine." She watched him, smirking, wondering if he would even care to acknowledge her.

The Bajoran looked up from his book and smiled, sitting up and looking around briefly for the bookmark that he'd put down...somewhere. Although he knew it was another of his little eccentricities, he'd always preferred the tactile sensation of reading a physical book, rather than one that was transcribed onto a PADD. That certainly explained the large bookcase he'd put in his room when he'd moved into the new quarters, but he'd had to put on a solid glass door when he'd gotten his cat, since she'd decided that books were good material upon which to sharpen her claws.

He found it, and slotted it carefully between the two pages he had been perusing, setting the book down on the coffee table.

"Take a seat, Nara. Would you like something to drink? I'm having tea, but I can easily fix up something else for you."

She shook her head, "No thanks. How are you?"

A wry grin crossed his face, followed by something of a nonchalent shrug. "I'm good. I exercise, I eat right, I work only when I'm supposed to and I occasionally leave my quarters now and again. How about you? Decided to move into Saul's quarters yet? He's a senior officer too, so his room is decidedly bigger than yours."

He was, of course, just playing with her, although there was some truth to what he said. Her quarters weren't quite the same size as the ones he and Saul had. With the trill kid, it made things even more cramped. Although, admittedly, the extra space was necessary for the boxes of paperwork that both of them expected to be delivered anytime now.

She rolled her eyes at him, "I swear. NO. I do not plan on moving in with Saul. If it weren't for Saia, maybe. If it weren't for Bran having just come back from a traumatic away mission, maybe. Mainly, we haven't even decided to be exclusive yet." She leaned forward, "I came here to ask about YOUR love life. Which was a shock in itself." She smirked slightly, then got serious again, "There's rumors about you and some people named Ember and Ayden? I heard so many stories from he stole her from you to you guys having a menage a trois. That one likely started by 8-ball."

"Yes, somehow I can picture 8-Ball being the one to start those rumours. But there's only some truth to it. I'm not really sure what to tell you, Nara," he said, his expression calm but almost solemn. "Ember and I aren't together, and we're just friends, but I suppose there was always potential for there to be more to it. The presence of Mr O'Connor doesn't help matters, but if nothing else, I can live with being friends."

He gave a soft smile, reflecting on it inwardly, though revealing nothing of those thoughts to Nara, who was better off in the dark. Nobody but he and Ember needed to know how their relationship started, that was for sure.

"That's not to say I wouldn't mind if things became more serious, but it's pretty much out of my hands, Nara. I've done what I could for the moment. The next move belongs to Ember, I suppose."

She sighed, "How I wish I could give you some advice but you even have this figured out. You make it impossible for me to pay you back."

"Wait, you think I gave the both of you advice to help you out?" Miramon asked, with a sly grin. "My motives were purely selfish - the sooner you two got together, the sooner you'd be pestering me with complaints over the fact that it wasn't all working out the way you wanted it to."

Nara smied at his joke, then frowned as she looked down, "Well, it is starting to get a bit...testing for him I think."

That wasn't exactly a normal statement to make, he thought inwardly. Was there something going on he wasn't aware about? "What do you mean, Nara? Is Saul having second thoughts, or regrets of some kind?"

"No. I don't think so." She talked about it to Dallas, a counselor. She talked about it with 8-ball after getting angry and drunk. But Miramon? How would she explain it. She was sure it was something he knew about, but she always saw him as this innocent gentleman who didn't have a lustful thought in his being. She was sure she was wrong, but that was her perception. After a moment she finally thought of the most sterilized way she could put it, "We had yet to consumate our physical relationship." She laughed nervously not sure how he would take that. She added, "It has to do with something in my past and he accused me of not fighting."

That was something of a surprise. From the conversations he'd had with Saul, the human had hinted that this hadn't been the case, but he wasn't full clear on the extent of their relationship. Still, since Nara had come to him about it, it was pretty obvious she wanted to talk about it, regardless of whether or not it was an uncomfortable topic.

"I was under the impression that some humans set marriage down as a prerequisite to entering into a relationship at that level. Is that maybe what Saul's problem is? If it isn't, I can't say I'm sure what advice I can give you, since I'm not familiar with the episode in your past to which you refer." He smiled at that point, remembering some of the incidents of her life he had seen.

She shrugged, "Even on Sakaria, but..." She shrugged again, unsure why she had really all but forgotten about that.

The reason for Sakarians were mainly physical and spiritual in a way. They bonded on a deeper level in the act, making it devastating for them to split up. Since Nara wasn't Sakarian by blood, she saw no danger in having a physical relationship with Saul. Of course, she never imagined Saul would leave her either.

She looked at Miramon shyly as continued, "Not the case with Saul. We both want to. A memory keeps invading, making me think he's someone else. Someone who I would kill if he tried to touch me again. If I had the courage." Her face had turned down again.

The Bajoran shook his head in a typical gesture of inward exasperation. These two were hard work, that was for sure. He'd always thought the difficult point had been getting them to reveal their feelings and do something about it. After that, he'd pretty much expected that it'd be clear cut: either things wouldn't work, or they'd work out quite nicely for both of them.

This, though, really wasn't his realm of experience. Actually, if anyone he knew would have known what to say, it would have been his brother, who would have gone on at length about it being a spiritual crisis, but that was typical, given that the man worked in one of the many monasteries on Bajor. But the pilot had never had such notions drummed into him, and he was far too much of a pragmatist to know what to do about this particular sort of situation, and he said as much.

"Not sure what I can do about this one, Naranda. I'm neither a counsellor nor a telepath, so I know nothing of memories like that, or the methods by which you decide to get past them. All I can advise is that you focus on Saul, the person you are in a relationship, who I dare you say you love. Otherwise this will be something that will inevitably move far beyond the realms of physical intimacy and will effect your relationship in it's entirety."

Nara smiled at him as his words made sense. Focus. But could she? In the heat of things it was hard to focus on anything...but the heat. "Oh wise one, yet again you answer ... wisely." She smirked and shook her head at he attempt of jesting.

Miramon almost rolled his eyes at that one, but just gave a gentle shrug of his shoulders instead. "Beyond that, there's nothing I can do, Nara. If you have problems with Saul, he's the one you need to talk to."

"So I keep being told. Trust me, I will. Soon." She sighed, "So this Ember girl. You ok with that?" She came here to talk about him and somehow it always turned toward her. That was pretty selfish she scolded herself.

He shrugged again, his expression adopting a practised calm that had come from a cruel understanding of his own capabilities. "Not much I can really do about it, Nara. I've made my wishes perfectly clear. It's for Ember to decide what she wants. Either way, I can't afford to stand around like a love-sick teenager. Ember is adult enough to make her own choices, and I've already made mine, so there's very little to do."

She watched him a moment and shook her head, "Then I guess you're ok."

"Shady Compensation"

Lieutenant Saul Bental
Chief Tactical Officer

"Shaul?"

"Huh?"

"Did the computer do anything to you?"

"Hmmm?"

"I SAID, did the-"

"No."

"The please don't look at it that way. You're scaring it."

Saul smiled for the first time since he got back from the planet's surface. He was sitting in his quarters, watching the console intensely as he tried to asses the damage done by his meeting with Andrus, and come up with a plan to prevent the situation from deteriorating.

The other person in the room, the one that was concerned for the welfare of Saul's hardware, was of course Chava. She seemed to be bored out of her mind, but Saul had no time entertaining her. Unknown to her, he was fighting for his career and his agenda in those very moments, and it was a losing battle.

The first thing he needed to do is to find out all he could about Andrus. It was tempting to use every contact he had, every bit of influence both inside Starfleet and outside it, to try and find a weak spot to use as leverage against the Betazoid. However, Saul couldn't afford any more links between him and his many fake identities to be exposed.

While he tried to pretend not minding that Andrus find out that he was in fact Joord, in reality the exposure of this link was disastrous. It was like a loose thread in a Xenexian longskirt – pull it gently, and within a moment the whole longskirt unravels and the poor Xenexian girl is left only with her underwear on.

If it was possible, Saul would simply walk away. The stuff he needed to get out of Romulus was crucial for his plan – enough to make him meet Andrus in person – but he could try something else. However, the damage was done, and now he was committed to seeing this through. If he turns his back on Andrus, the latter would probably expose him, and he could start arranging his farewell party from the Galaxy.

No doubt, he should've been more careful. The slogan 'Who dares, wins' wasn't always truthful.

The more he thought about it, the more the solution of getting Andrus killed become more and more reasonable. Saul wasn't a cold-blooded killer, but there was too much at stake here, and the life of a blackmailing Betazoid bastard who is probably pending death penalty on several worlds already, was a small price to pay for Saul's career, agenda, and even freedom, wasn't it?

It would be quite convenient, Saul reckoned. Once Andrus gets on board, he could be eliminated with ease. Heck, perhaps a Transporter accident could prevent him from getting on board. Yes. O'Shea could've tampered with the transporter mechanism…

Saul licked his lips, and decided to put all those ideas aside. He was not ready to commit murder just yet, even the murder of an enemy, but he was smart enough to make contingency plans.

"Shaul?"

"What?"

Chava put the book on the table, not so gently. "Listen, I'm getting bored out of my mind here, locked in this room. Let's do something before I start banging my hand in the wall."

"Not now."

She stood up, her voice rising to a near-shout. "What gives you the right to lock me here?? Aren't you supposed to be part of an enlightened regime, which does not deprive civilians of their rightful freedom?! I…"

"Even enlightened regimes lock up civilians who do business with the enemy, Chava.", Saul replied dryly. "You shouldn't have gone to Vaden."

She sat down. "So that's what it's all about. You think I'm a traitor. You're not just afraid that the others will think so."

I know you're a traitor, Saul thought. I'm just not certain you know it yourself.

"You shouldn't have been there.", Saul repeated. "And that Vulcan doctor in medical told me that you have some nasty wounds telling the same story."

Chava shrunk in her place, the defiant glint in her eyes replaced with something else… fear? Or perhaps pain?

"I just do business. We all do. You told me yourself, remember? That if I wouldn't get the credits from making the sale, someone else would."

"Would you sell a pistol to someone who would use it against you?", Saul demanded. "That's how I view any kind of interactions with the Hydrans. And I'm as open-minded about them as one can get."

Chava grunted, obviously not buying it.

"I'll take you to the holodeck later today, if you want to. That's the best I can offer."

"I guess it'll have to do.", She shrugged. Her broad face seemed to be saddened, and Saul could understand. But restraining her to his room was a necessity, like too many other necessities he did not like.

She works for Devoss, he reminded himself. She's not the sixteen years old street brat that wanted to say 'goodbye' when you left.

He stood up. "I'm going to the bathroom, to call girls."

Chava giggled as she reached for her book. "Poor Nara. Only men could think that the toilets is a place for romantic conversations."

* * *

"Good day! To what do I owe the pleasure?", t'Noir asked, carefully shoving a pile of hand-held computers aside.

"You know, your man gave my man quite a scare.", Joord said harshly, skipping the usual greetings. "I think he's going to chicken out."

"What does our deal have to do with Human farm animals?", t'Noir inquired, puzzled.

"Nothing. But when I spoke to him, he seemed to be totally freaked out. I think that your other client will use your services exclusively, t'Noir; If I can't get my possessions safely off your homeworld, I rather not leave them be."

t'Noir sighed theatrically. "Make your demands."

"I'm reducing your commission by five percent, and you will provide me information on two individuals in the next twenty four ch'Rihan hours or we have no deal."

T'Noir seemed amused. "Unacceptable."

Saul just folded his arms, gazing at the Romulan intensely through his green lenses.

"Be thankful that I've ran into some economic difficulties, otherwise our conversation would be over at this point.", The Romulan broke the silence.

"Obviously."

"My commission remains the same."

"The people I want as much background information about as possible are your other client, and a citizen of your planet."

He pressed on a button, and Artim's data on Talara made its way to t'Noir's office.

"I don't divulge information on clients.", t'Noir stated.

"Your 'client' did something to my friend. I suspect he's blackmailing him or threatening him. Now, I like my contacts to feel that their connections with my bring them only benefits, and no hardships. Obviously you can see my point of view."

"And you, mine. Who would work with me if I gave information about clients? Would you work with me if I gave him information about you?"

"Who says you haven't?", Saul hissed.

"I may be able to provide you some hints, though. Nothing blunt. As for the other woman, I'll do it. Sure. Are we in agreement?"

Saul pretended to think about it for a while. "Yes. But I'm VERY disappointed. I'm not a satisfied customer, t'Noir."

"So you keep saying, yet you keep getting back.". And then the screen turned black.

Saul rose from the toilet, and began the tiresome procedure of removing the fake hair, mustache and cheekbones. At least something will come out of this whole fiasco – if not for him, then for Artim.

"The Universal Language"

Lt. Cmdr. Brian Elessidil
Asst. Chief Counselor

Samantha Widdlestein
Teenage Know-It-All

The holodecks on the Federation Starship Galaxy were rarely in want of use. With over one thousand people and their duties, tasks, stresses and occasional boredom, there was more than enough need for recreation to go around. Some came to climb mountains. Some came to be amateur detectives. Some came for picnics in sunlit parks. Whatever people did when they got there, it was often for the same purpose: escape from the realities of everyday life aboard a space-faring vessel where mountains, detectives and parks were otherwise hard to come by.

Today might have been a first for this ship. Through the wonder of technology and imagination, the bland cubicle-shaped room with its black walls and yellow grid lines had been transformed into a large, elegant hall with row upon row of empty red velvet seats beneath a lofty ceiling studded with crystal chandeliers. Around the rear and sides of the space were two levels of balconies, each with their own sloped rows of seats and fronted with ornate baroque filigree.

What made this hall special however, was not how it looked, but how it sounded. At the front opened a spacious stage filled with at least a hundred musicians, each diligently applying their talents to their respective instrument, focused partly on the music that occupied the stands before them and partly focused on the man at the podium in front of them who united them in one grand musical effort. A grand fanfare sounded from the brass, announcing the piece that was just about to take off . . . until he stopped them with a wave of his baton.

"Low brass, trombones especially, can we give your response to the trumpets more of a . . . mm . . . a bell sound. Think like you're one huge iron bell, each peal ringing out between the fanfares from the trumpets and horns; big, bold -- let it ring. Back to the top again."

The music started up again, covering the entry of a new guest in the holodeck. The guest looked around her with interest and then nodded in approval.

"Well, roll out the red carpet!" Samantha Widdlestein said.

Surprised by the unexpected voice, Brian didn't even have the chance to cue the downbeat. He smoothly turned on the podium and peered out into the seats to see who the music critic was. There, in about the 20th row back, sat a plucky blond girl for whom shyness was obviously not a problem.

"What -- too much?" Brian asked.

"Oh, not at all," Sam replied. "If you intend to serenade the King of the Universe of something." The girl squinted over at Brian. "This isn't for you, is it? It would be a bit pretentious to have this booming as you enter Counselling."

Brian just laughed as heads turned amid the musicians as the looked to see who their conductor was speaking to. He folded an arm in front of him and brought his other hand to his chin as he pondered the suggestion. "You know, that hadn't occurred to me. Maybe we should record this and I'll start using it tomorrow," he chuckled

Sam grinned and decided to move up to the podium. "So, you just wave that stick at them and they know what to play? I could do that."

A few of the second violins giggled. "Well, it doesn't quite work like that," Elessidil replied. "But then again, if you have a good enough group of musicians, it can almost be that way -- and they are," he added sotto voce, leaning in so only she would hear. "You're Samantha, aren't you?" he asked in normal speaking voice again. "I don't think we've ever officially met. I'm Brian -- Counselor Elessidil, I suppose, but not here," he added with a wink as he extended his hand.

"I know." Samantha said as she shook his hand. "I know who everyone is on this ship."

"I guess you do, " the counselor said, grinning. "So are you a musician too?"

"No, but I'm considering adapting one of my novels into a musical." Sam said. "I think my pirate romance novel would do very well as a musical. Know any good pirate songs?"

Brian scrunched his face in thought. "Pirate songs . . . hmm . . . well, I know a piece about the sea. The third movement is all about the waves. Pretty stirring, I'd say."

"Stirring is good. What kind of stirring?"

"Brisk, lively . . . sounds a lot like a ship in a storm. Wanna hear it?"

"Sure!" Sam said and sat down to listen.

"Okay," Brian began, "but I have to confess I've never actually conducted this one before." He turned to the orchestra. "We'll need a chorus . . . . Computer, please add a standard symphonic chorale, approximately one hundred voices."

The computer dutifully obliged as the wall behind the orchestra expanded further back and several rows of singer-lined risers filled in the space.

"Great, now we'll need music. "Computer, please supply all singers and orchestra with copies of Ralph Vaughn-Williams' symphony number one."

A moment later, the score materialized on the podium, orchestral parts on all the musician's stands, and choral parts in all the singers' hands.

Brian looked down at the score, then over to Sam,"Okay, ready?

The girl nodded and watched the musicians with anticipation.

Similarly to the first piece, this one started with the trumpets, but then the chorus came in right after and the interplay between the orchestra and chorus began. Although the counselor was familiar with the piece, conducting it for the first time was challenging. Still, he did his best to highlight the dramatic effects of the music for Sam's benefit.

Samantha listened. "It's very dramatic. I can't decide if I'd want to use it in my fight scene or the dramatic rescue of the princess in disguise."

Brian cut off the musicians, and turned to Sam. "Princess in disguise? You're pretty imaginative," he said with a laugh. "And you write novels too?"

"I've got natural talent. Plus I've finished all my homework for the year. Put the music back on," she commanded imperiously.

"Same piece?"

She nodded.

"Okay, let's take it from the top again," Brian instructed the musicians. Again, trumpets then chorus then orchestra entered as the music unfolded.

"It's good but what I'm really looking for is something for the scene where the pirate rips off all the princess' clothes."

And again, the orchestra and chorus fell silent at the wave of the conductor's baton. He turned to Sam.

Sam blinked her eyelashes innocently. "Did I say something wrong?"

"Wrong? No," he chuckled. Something of a pained expression came to the counselor's face as he scratched his head in thought. The introduction of nudity into the picture was not something that bothered most Betazoids, but concern over the direction in which the scene was headed aside, an appropriate musical illustration was not immediately forthcoming. "To what end is this clothes-ripping scene occurring?" Brian asked.

"Resolution of Unresolved Sexual Tension Scene Number Four" Samantha said matter-of-factly.

"Of course," Brian responded, equally matter-of-factly. "Actually, Sorba Melkanian's 'Sinfonia Erotica' would be perfect for your scene, but in addition to a standard Terran symphony orchestra it calls for a sextet -- no pun intended . . . or maybe the pun *was* intended," the counselor interjected, never really having thought about it before, "-- a sextet of Caitians in estrus. It's, uh, something you really have to be in the mood for to listen to," he advised. "And I'm not."

"Oh, come on! How could you not want to listen to that?" The girl said, pulling a face.

Elessidil smirked. Samantha Widdlestein was every bit as amusing as he'd heard. "Maybe there's another scene you'd like to consider scoring?"

Sam adopted a 'thinker' pose. "Well, there's always the death of the pirate's first love flashback to write. She dies when his first ship crashes into this huge iceberg and they're the last two to survive in a very touching scene where they're both freezing together adrift on a large length of plywood. Indigo says its too dramatic but I think..."

"Indigo?" Brian asked, interrupting the girl's scene details. "Indigo Renkert?" he asked again. It was still an uncomfortable name for him to hear. "She *says* it's too dramatic? Present tense?"

"Yeah," Sam said rolling her eyes. "She's very good with set design but has no flair for... OH!"

"What?"

Sam, who would usually give people buttons in the face of adversity, looked a little embarrassed. "I forgot that you're the one who... er, I made an interactive holo program of Ensign Renkert for Lt. Grey. She's really great for bouncing ideas off of."

The counselor simply stared at her for a moment, feeling suddenly off-balance by the unexpected mention of the slain officer. A wan smile gently tugged the corners of his mouth. "I'm sure she is," he said, speaking a little more softly than he had been. "That's pretty ingenious of you."

Samantha was glad the conversation had turned back to something she could manage. "Of course it is. I'm a genius, after all."

"So you are . . . so you are," Elessidil confirmed with a thoughtful grin and nod. "So would you like to get back to scoring your novel?" he asked, eager to move on from the topic of Indigo Renkert.

"Yeah. Do you have anything that goes well with tsunamis?"

Brian just laughed.

[OOC: The "soundtrack" to this post includes Dmitri Shostakovich's "Festive Overture" and Ralph Vaughn-Williams' Symphony No. 1, "A Sea Symphony". :)]

"Space Travel"
(The Rihannsu Tangent)

By Jek (NPC)
Trader, Owner/Operator, Longchair Raider Cargo Ship

****

Space was a lonely place. Of that Jek had no doubt. Travelling from planet to planet, buying this, selling that. It was just a big disappointment. And having to share a cramped ship with your cousin, who it seemed never took a bath, just made it that much worse. What he wouldn't give to have the company of a Huuuman female for an hour or two; a blonde woman; long blonde hair... yeah, that's what he wanted. Of course she would have to know when to shut up, and follow directions.

Sitting at the controls of the cargo ship, Jek scanned for any ships in the vicinity, smiling when the screen showed that the area was empty. It didn't take to be caught off guard by some ruddy pirate in this stretch of space, and definitely not get caught by any of those bloody big Warbirds. It was difficult enough with pirates, but adding Romulans to the mix wasn't the best recipe. Safe to say the long range sensors were clear.

Leaning back in the chair, Jek lifted his feet to the console, crossed them, placed his hands behind his large head and sighed. He was thinking back to the last female he had tried to "integrate" with. Strange woman she had been; Long blonde hair, of course; very pleasing on the eye; great rack; the tightest all body suit he had seen in a long time and the most amazing looking hands - could probably rub earlobes all day without hassle. The small black/grey metal attachment above her eye had initially freaked him out, but with everything else, he gave it only the quickest of thoughts before deciding to take her. He had overheard her telling someone else that her name was 'Seven', an interesting name for sure; intriguing to say the least. Stupid woman... He had only placed his hand gently on her shoulder for the briefest of moments. Okay, so maybe it was a little more than 'gentle' and substitute her 'chest' for her 'shoulder'. She still didn't have to go and twist the arm far enough to break in 3 places. That blasted woman. If he ever saw her again, he'd make her sorry for doing that.

The Longchair Raider was a small cargo ship, well past its retirement age, comprising of a large cargo bay, bridge, engine room, and two small rooms that you would hardly call 'quarters'. It had been all they could afford as they fled their home world of Ferenginar. Apparently the plan to sell Ferenginar to the Orions was a little ambitious even for a Ferengi. Certain high ranking people on Ferenginar had wanted to deal with the situation in a deadly fashion and Jek, all of a sudden, "found an uncle", who was on his deathbed, in the farthermost corner of the Galaxy, and had to visit him, taking his cousin Firk with him.

And now here they were, taking some supplies to ch'Rihan for some farmers. Digging implements, battery cells, plant seeds and other assorted things, filled the cargo hold. Not the sort of things that would give a big profit, but a job was a job when you had no credits, no reputation outside of Ferenginar and the Orion syndicate after you for that disastrous Liquid Crystal debacle, which Jek firmly believed wasn't his fault. Who could have known that contact with sodium bi-carbonate would cause that kind of reaction. The Orions, it seemed, didn't hold to the Ferengi Rules of Acquisition, especially #1 which stated that "Once you have their money, you never give it back".

A loud warning siren woke him from his revere, and the first thing he did was check the sensors... "Better to be safe than Dead" was one of his favorite sayings. The screen was still clear. At least he wasn't going to get attacked by pirates. Running his fingers over the controls he started a system wide diagnostic to determine what the problem was.

"What was that?" Firk asked as he poked his head into the cockpit of the ship.

Jek didn't answer, for he was reading the data that crossed the screen and hadn't heard him.

"I asked you what the siren was for, Jek?" Firk called out loudly, gaining his cousins attention.

Jek looked up at his cousin. "We just lost another Inductor Coil. That's the third one this month. Go get the spare one!"

Firk nodded solemnly and turned to go. "What's going to break next?" He said rhetorically under his breath.

"The Ties That Bind" Pt 1

1st Lt. 1st Lt. Jebidiah Baile
Lt. Cmdr. Brianna O'Shea
Julie (wrote by Stuart)

(all other NPCs wrote either by Jonas or Myself)

"REIDUN!! YOU LAZY BASTARD! I TOLD YOU TO GET HERE TEN MINUTES AGO AND I DO NOT SEE YOU STANDING IN MY OFFICE!!"

The booming voice belonged to Warden Élevée, a slightly overweight man in his best years. Or maybe not so slightly overweight. The man was, for lack of a better word, gargantuan. Four hundred and sixty pounds of bones, flesh and a lot of fat. Strangely enough Élevée could move relatively easy on his own despite his massive frame.

The fat man was also a lot stronger than he looked with hands strong enough to snap a neck in half. More than one fugitive had felt the massive strength in his hands just before their necks broke.

Élevée believed in a lot of things, mostly in the power of hard credits and the greed of men. But he had also believed he could earn mountains of credits by supplying the Hydrans with rare metals from the mines. That believe had proven to be true - until Baile had decided to leave his facility.

Now he was in a world of trouble. For some reason the Hydrans had gone total apeshit over the DNA he had sent them. Loosing Baile had not impressed the Hydrans at all.

Over the years Élevée had learned a thing or two about the Hydrans. It was the key to a successful business venture. Details. It was all about the details. He had learned about Hydran society, their history, basically everything he had been able to get his hands on.

Seeing a truly high-ranking religious bozo exit the ship and enter his prison had been more than enough to set off the alarms in his head.

If that had set off the alarms in his head then all of Hell's sirens had started howling. They wanted Baile. He had no idea why, but they did and they, as in the religious clowns, didn't want the rest of the Hydrans to know it. The Chief Nut made it very clear to him and he had seen first hand what Hydran genetics could do to uncooperative people.

---------------------

Baile sighed heavily. Anna was getting weaker and now Maya had made him go on a wild goose chase for Szekely and whatever medicines he would say she needed. He rolled his head, waiting in the shadows for the guard to pass him before sliding in behind him and knocking him out. This was taking too long.

Finesse had its uses, but not when he was running out of time. He removed the stun baton from the guard and looked around for wiring and eventually a fuse box. It had worked before and it worked again when he jammed the baton into the electronics and pressed the button. Every light in the sector went black. It didn't matter if the emergency lighting kicked in, providing the fat fucker had been gracious enough to install any. It would be dark enough to suit his needs.

Szekely had, just like the rest of the prisoners, looked around in confusion when the lights went out. Then the shit had hit the fan. Sounds of fighting could be heard and then nothing.

"What in..." Was all Szekely could say before he felt someone grab him. He couldn't say anything as he felt himself drug into the shadows and once there he then was turned to a somewhat familiar face that he could half way make out in the darkness. "I don't think your here to take me with you... so... what's going on, why'd you come back here?" He asked as he saw the medical items in Baile's hand.

Feeling himself being more less drug again, Szekely said nothing as Baile pulled him along in the shadows. Holding himself tightly to the wall he looked around and couldn't see much now that they were back in the darkness. Szekely wished he knew what was going on, but judging by the grip he was being man handed with, Baile wasn't the one in need of medical attention.

He had left Anna and the girl a few minutes walk away. The alarm had started sounding and the guards came running down the corridors, alert and nervous. The last few days had proven almost too dangerous for most of them. Baile pressed the doctor against the wall while two guards passed them only a few feet away. "Listen doc... " he turned to Szekely. "Do whatever it takes to fix her.. I need her to survive for a few more days.. understood?"

Szekely nodded. "I'll do what I can, but what I can do is very limited." He replied as they began to move once more. Soon they reached where Anna and Julie was, Szekely instantly moved over and slightly cursed at the girl he saw before him. Checking her over. "She needs alot more then I can offer... I can stabilize her, but she's slowly dying.." He said.

Anna was sitting there, pushing Szekely's hands away from her she then reached for the metal knife to protect herself thinking he was trying something.

Baile's hand caught Anna's before anyone could react. "Sit still Newbie.. I haven't got time for you to screw around.. you're sick and if he doesn't help you right now you're dead in a few days.. "

"He'll hurt me!" Anna said, then felt Baile grip her hand until backed down and nodded. Keeping her 'knife' she put it on her belt once more and then let whoever this was look at her.

Szekely looked over and treated what he could would wise. "She needs food, good bath... rate of blood loss she's got, little blood wouldn't hurt her any either." He stated to baile since he was the man in charge.

"Doc.. unless you're volunteering to donate blood it's not gonna happen.. "

"All I can do is treat superficial wounds with what I've got." He stated. "She needs off this planet... as soon as possible... otherwise, she'll be dead within a few days, I don't give her a week in her present condition." the old man said then.

Baile grabbed him by the collar and lifted him off the ground. He pulled off his goggles with his free hand. "You listen here doc.. You pump whatever drugs she needs to keep the Reaper away into her.. You've been in the war and you know, just as I do, what kind of cocktails Spec-Ops use.. " Wonder cocktails. That's what they were called. A mixture of steroids, painkillers and healing agents. Nothing for the weak hearted, but Spec-Ops needed every edge they could get. That was one of them.

"It could kill her!" He snapped back. "Look at her, I give her something that strong and it could stop her heart... which do you want? Me to help or just kill her for you?" He asked still being gripped by Baile.

"She's dead either way.. and Doc.. this is not the time to develop ethics.."

Pulling himself away. "Fine... but her death will not be at my hands, but yours." He said kneeling back down and began to mix up the 'cocktail'. It was crude and wasn't the nice friendly drugs the Federation had, it was stuff that he had gotten from around here. He didn't have a hypo, so he took the old fashioned needle and injected the contents into Anna's arm.

Anna groaned and it felt like her arm was going to burn off. Taking her fist she punched the old man in the face, then gripped her arm for the pain of it. Then her body began to go numb, yet at the same time she felt as if she could run from here to Earth and back.

Her heart beat stronger and more even than before. Baile crouched down and looked at her. "Newbie.. listen.. What you're feeling is false. All it does right now is keep you alive but for now that's all we need. If we get into a fight you let me take care of them or you'll die. Is that understood?" he instructed her using the same voice he used when commanding marines.

Anna nodded. "I'm ready.." She said, slowly standing up. Rubbing her hand she then looked at the doctor. "Thanks... and sorry." She said then looked around. "Where we going now?" Anna asked, only feeling a slight pain now.

"The Ties That Bind" Pt 2

1st Lt. 1st Lt. Jebidiah Baile
Lt. Cmdr. Brianna O'Shea
Julie (wrote by Stuart)

(all other NPCs wrote either by Jonas or Myself)

Baile looked up at Szekely. He didn't want the doctor to know what the next part of the plan was. This was after all Vaden. Anything was allowed to survive, including betraying allies and friends. "You better head back, Doc.. it'll take the guards a few more minutes to do the count."

Szekely nodded and took his things. If he was lucky he could use what Baile took to get himself off this rock later on. "Always interesting, Mr. Baile." He said then scampered away into the darkness to find his way back to the cell.

He waited until the doctor was well out of earshot. "Now we go and pay mister Fatty a visit.. he's the only one that can clear transports. He's a paranoid fucker, but he's not dumb."

"Fine... but I get to kill him, promise me that." Anna said as she looked at Baile.

Cocking an eyebrow Baile looked at her but nodded after a few seconds. "Alright.."

"Lead the way.... bright eyes." Anna said checking to make sure Julie hadn't wandered off.

"Bright eyes?" the marine looked at Anna a few seconds and then started to chuckle as he walked in front of her. "That's pretty funny, Newbie..."

Anna followed behind him keeping herself quiet for the most part. "Where are we going now?" Anna asked a she moved as he had showed her on the jungle world.

"Like I said.. we're gonna pay Warden Élevée a visit.. the fat bastard is ugly but he knows how to keep ships on the ground and prisoners away from them at the same time..."

Anna nodded and followed along.

Élevée was in his office yelling for someone to find Baile and thinking nothing over the murder of Raschek's murder. "I don't care find him... find him or you'll be dead next!" Élevée yelled into the speaker before switching it off and picking up a plate with food on it and taking a bite.

Baile was good. No question about it. The killings had not gone unnoticed, but the recon-specialist had guided not only himself but a female engineer and a little kid through enemy territory. But getting inside the fat man's office was a totally different matter. It was protected behind heavy blast doors with no controls on the outside. "Wait here.. " he whispered and stepped out from the shadows where they had been hiding.

The three guards saw the prisoner as he stepped into the lights. "What the..."

"Prisoner.. stand still.. how the hell did you get he.." the second guard, holding an assault rifle in his hands stopped mid-sentence. "Oh shit.. it's Baile.."

Baile's knife crossed the distance between Baile and the guards in the blink of an eye. The blade buried itself to the hilt in the throat of the nearest guard. Normally the guards wouldn't have hesitated, but seeing Baile, the man that had turned the prison upside down in less than a day made them hesitate that extra second.

Normally the man would returned fire on Baile. This time, he new that if he did Baile would run him over as if he was not even there. Instead he turned brought his radio up. "We need support... send out support now!" He screamed into his radio.

The marine almost ran him over, but just as he was about to pass the guard he brought his arm and hand up. The last thing the guard saw was Baile's thumb before it popped his eyeball like a ripe grape. The other hand pulled the knife from the dying man's throat and skillfully brought the blade in a wide arc, expertly opening the throat from ear to ear. - baile's got a way to open the door.. the support won't get there in time

Anna stood there, no sign of emotions on her face as she walked over the blood that ran over the cobble stone yard. Stepping over the first body she approached Baile, nothing but a cold mask of survival showing on her face.

The radio was buzzing with activity when Baile crouched down and retrieved it. He started to whistle as he changed the channel on the radio to a very special one.

Maya looked at Anna and then at Baile. She could almost feel the turmoil inside Anna, silently wondering if she was even aware of what was happening to her. Baile on the other hand felt nothing. Killing the guards meant as much to him as opening a door did.

How she hated her creators in the moment.

Baile pressed the send-button, all while whistling. "I'm at the door, Sparky.. Thinking about selling me out yet?"

The radio was silent for a few seconds until a voice Anna didn't recognize came through the static noise. "All the time, Mr. Baile."

"And?" Baile smiled coldly into the microphone.

"The deal is valid, Mr. Baile. I prefer staying alive. Although I'm convinced we could end your life here eventually I do not think it is worth the cost."

With that the door opened as the security was unlocked by Warden Élevée's aid - Reidun.

Anna looked at Baile and wondered who he had made the deal with to get inside. Looking at him for a minute she then followed him inside. Her heart beat was at an unusually calm beat. Each step she came closer to the man that had brought so much pain in her life. Soon, he would feel the wraith of the beast he created.

"So.. how you plan to kill him?" he asked her casually. They still had a short walk ahead of them until they reached the fat man's inner sanctum.

The blond woman walked next to them, silent and worried, unseen by Anna and the child.

"Slowly..." Anna whispered. Coming to Élevée's office. She paused at the door, letting Baile go in first before she entered.

Élevée just sat there, about to choke now on what he was eating. The sight of Baile scared him, but the sight of Anna had worried him cause if Baile came for her and in her condition, what would he do to him because of it.

"Hello fatty.. " Baile greeted the Warden with a cruel smile on his face. The Warden's heartbeats sounded like thunder in his ears. Again the strong instincts, instincts he didn't truly understand, came to life inside of him, bringing out something far more dangerous than the Baile he had been before the visit to the Hydran temple.

Élevée couldn't hardly say anything at first. "I... can give you anything you want." He said as Anna stood before his desk. "Anything... freedom.... credits.... anything." Élevée stated.

Anna didn't say anything as she pulled out the honed piece of metal she had forged into a knife. She then looked at Baile and walked around the desk. Approaching Élevée she casually picked up the stylus on his desk, placing it between her middle and ring finger. With a quick thrust, she sent it plunging into Élevée neck. It wouldn't kill him cause she where the arteries were from biology learned at the Academy. "That's so your screams will never be heard... no one is going to come help you." She whispered, starting to tremble. She then took her knife and began to cut off his fingers, starting on his left hand. "This little piggy went to market... this little piggy stayed home.." She said reciting a childhood rhythm.

"The Ties That Bind" Pt 3

1st Lt. 1st Lt. Jebidiah Baile
Lt. Cmdr. Brianna O'Shea
Julie (wrote by Stuart)

(all other NPCs wrote either by Jonas or Myself)

"If you let her finish that you might as well kill her now." Maya said to Baile as he stood there and watched the scene play out in front of him. "When she comes to she's going to hate herself and you know that.."

"Not my problem." he replied casually and cocked an eyebrow. "That hurt.. "

"It will be.. what's the use of saving her body if her mind die? She will start walking the same path you do and she's not you.."

"WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME?!" he screamed at her, completely oblivious to the people around him.

Anna paid no attention to this point at Baile or Julie. After cutting off all his fingers on his left hand she looked at him and punched him in the face for looking at her. "Don't you ever look at me..." Anna said as she pulled her knife. "We want off this world.... your next words better be giving us what we need."

He knew what she wanted. Maya didn't need to answer his question. He sighed again, silently cursing himself for not getting rid of the excess baggage and leaving the planet. "Anna.. "

Anna punched Élevée again, then again and one more until his face was bloodied. Anna's breathing was heavy and grabbed his hair and pulled his head back looking down into this pitiful man's life. She then picked up her knife and brought it to his throat. She stood there for about give minutes looking into his eyes. When she finally heard Baile speak her name. "I... I can't kill him Baile.." She said, tears began to run silently down her cheeks. "I can't do it... I hate him... I hate him and I can't do it...." Anna said then looked at Baile. "He... hurt me... Jeb." She said trembling.

He leaned against the wall and looked at her. "I know.. and it's alright, Newbie.. Killing him won't make it go away.. You'll have enough demons after this as it is.. adding this fat fuck to that list is just not worth it.."

Anna lowered knife and put it on her belt loop. "Get what we need... I want to go home." Anna said, she then walked over to Baile. "Make it he never hurts anyone again." Anna said looking at Baile now.

Pushing himself away from the wall he walked past Anna, patting her shoulder lightly. "Tell me Fatty.. are you going to make trouble?"

Élevée wasn't able to talk thanks to the stylus Anna had crammed into his throat. He looked at Balie and shook his head no.

Anna turned and watched Baile and Élevée.

"You know.. You just had to go and make this personal, didn't you?" Baile's voice sounded tired. "All I wanted was to find an asset, but you just had to make it personal.. "

Élevée shook his head again, but then did something odd. He smiled, "Least... she'll... never... be... the same... she's... like... you.... you both..... were.... created..... with... my... help." He said then chuckled slightly, more of a rattle though.

The marine looked at Maya who just looked at him. "Is he right?" he asked her calmly.

"It's not that easy, Baile.. you.."

"IS HE RIGHT?!" he bellowed at her with a voice so full of fury the air itself inside the room seemed to get harder to breathe.

What would happen the day Baile understood? It was too soon to tell him. Before she could react Baile shrugged. "It doesn't matter.. " he said to her before turning his attention to Élevée. "Bubba... you just made me angry.. but I'm not going to kill you.. "

"Why?" Élevée asked, watching Baile.

"Because you have a whole prison full of people that can do that so much better and more painful than I ever could.."

"Baile... lets go home." Anna said.

Élevée looked at her and then back to Baile. "Then... why come here... so so... she... gets... her kicks?" he asked, coughing up blood now.

Baile shrugged. "She needed it.. besides.. watching you suffer is just too much fun not to watch.. "

"What... do... you want?" Élevée asked.

The smile on Baile's face was cruel. "Simple.. you give clearance to the same ship that brought me here and I'll kill you instead of handing you over to the prisoners.."

"Their in.... orbit... waiting for a transport of cargo up.." Élevée stated. "Kill me..... why should I give you.... transporter.... code? I'm... Dead... either way."

"It's the way in which you will die that matters.. the prisoners will keep you alive for days.. you know that.. me - I'll kill you quick and painless." Baile replied calmly. "But try and mess with me and I'll show you how I made Jem'Hadar's scream during the war."

"Fine... fine.." Élevée said reaching into his desk drawer and handing Baile the access code to the transporter and information to beam up to any ship he'd want.

Watching Anna remove the fat man's fingers was the most horrible thing she had ever seen. But she felt deep down that she knew why she had done it, why she had cut off his fingers. Deep down she was almost happy, in a strange kind of way. For, if sending that clone after Anna had done by been him - at least that was what Julie believed, given Anna's attack on the man - then it was likely that her own mother had not been as fortunate in dealing the clone as Anna had been. And so in a roundabout way, the fat man before her was responsible for her mother's death.

Moving over to Anna's side, she briefly patted her on the back and waited to see what the man with the strange eyes was going to do next.

"Where's my gear?" he asked the Warden. The tone in his voice warned the Warden to mess with him. The Warden was a dead man, but it was up to him to choose how he would die. The Warden simply nodded towards a locker by a wall. He gave the door a solid kick, which nearly bent the door in half. He cocked an eyebrow at the display of strength. Someone was definitely going to pay. Strong fingers grabbed the edges of the locker door and a few seconds later the bent metal door flew across the room, casually thrown away by the Marine.

"The Ties That Bind" Pt 4

1st Lt. 1st Lt. Jebidiah Baile
Lt. Cmdr. Brianna O'Shea
Julie (wrote by Stuart)

(all other NPCs wrote either by Jonas or Myself)

"Stay put.." Baile warned the Warden as his finger closed in on the alarm button. One of Baile's guns was aimed directly at the Warden's head. Baile's free hand grabbed the gear and tossed it on the desk in front of the Warden. Soon he wore the sleeveless black leather coat again and the guns on a holster on each thigh. With a sly grin he placed the goggles over his eyes and looked at the Warden. "Now, Fatty.. I think it's time you and me had a talk.."

"I.... can't... imagine... what about." Élevée gargled since the stylus was still in his neck and every time he spoke he tasted blood.

Anna looked down at Julie when she felt the girl pat her back. Stepping in front of the girl, something inside her didn't want the girl to see what Baile would do to the warden once he had everything he wanted. Anna never turned away, she wanted to watch even if she couldn't do it herself.

Hearing Warden Élevée's words made him smile. "That's your problem, Fatty.. not enough imagination.. But that's alright Fatty.. I got enough for both of us.. "

Baile holstered the gun and pulled his knife. "I have two things that have been with me since I started.. my hat.. and this.. " He turned the blade until the edge itself seemed to split the light in half. Suddenly he moved, almost becoming a blur and the blade buried itself through the Warden's hand and down into the desk, effectively pinning him there. He leaned in closer to the Warden. "Don't worry, Fatty.. there's enough drugs in this room to keep you alive while we talk.. "

Élevée couldn't say anything as the pain shot up his arm and sounded every nerve cell in his hand. His instinct was to pull his hand, the pain was to much to bare. He just looked at Baile with fear and didn't say anything at this point as the pain seemed to almost over take the man.

"Torture, Fatty.. is an art form.. " Baile whispered to him. "You know, during the Dominion Wars I was told you couldn't make a Ketracel-head scream.. then someone showed me how to make them howl.. But you are one lucky donkey, Sparky.. I don't have the time to show you." He could practically see the soft spot on the Warden now. The place where the killing touch would be applied. "Ever studied human history, Fatty?"

Élevée shook his head slightly, indicating he hadn't. He wasn't in the job of learning about species, he was just in the job of supple the demand for them to the Hydrans. Looking up at the man that would kill him he saw the face of a creature that heaven didn't want, and hell couldn't contain.

"Humans are a fucked up bunch.. They tell everyone just how much they have evolved, but you start poking them with a stick and they're like a Tiger with a rat up its ass.. There's not a single species that knows as much about hurting each other like humans.. " His hand grabbed the handle of the knife until his knuckles turned white. "Persians, Chinese, Spaniards, Egyptians, Norse, Mayans, Inca.. they all knew how to make men scream, break them down with pain but not kill them.. " With a quick motion he pulled the knife out of the table and neatly cut through the Warden's hands.

Élevée screamed, but it was a sickening. More like a deathly gargle then a scream. Looking at his hand the tears burned his eyes as pain shot through his body. He then looked at Anna who stood there, emotionless. Élevée eyes looked back to Baile. He then managed to choke out, "What... more... you want?"

"I could say your soul, but you don't have one, Bub.. You think you know what I am and what I'm all about.. but let me tell you, Fatty, you don't.. if you knew what I am you would have hightailed your ass out of here the moment I landed on this planet.. " he spoke low to the man, not wanting Anna to hear what he was saying. He patted the fat man on the shoulder and then, with one swift motion he stabbed the Warden in the chest. A strong hand forced the Warden to sit still. "You should have taken your chances with the prisoners.. they wouldn't have been able to cause you a tenth of the pain I just did.. " He leaned in closer and practically breathed in Warden's ear. "You're going to drown in your own blood, Fatty.. and it will be painful.. very painful.. " Before he finished speaking he stabbed the man one more time, this time near the spine. Taking a step back he looked at the immobile Warden. "You're getting off the hook easy, Fatty.. "

Élevée just looked at him, he couldn't say anything and knew he was going on to die. He then looked at Anna and then back to Baile before his eyes slowly began to close. A man who had handed out so much death and pain, his death wasn't as hard as some he had handed out.

"Baile... can we leave?" Anna whispered, the injection she'd gotten from 'doc' was the only thing keeping her going and she knew she had to get moving other wise she would be dead weight on the marine.

He turned his head and looked at her. He could smell how weak show was. Before Maya could say anything he nodded and walked past the two that relied on him to get out of the hell they had been placed in.

Suddenly two guards appeared, but they kept their hands well away from their guns. One of them looked at the dead guards outside the door leading into the Warden's office and then at Baile. "Sir, Warden Reidun wants to inform you that preparations for your departure are complete. The ship is waiting in orbit for a prison transfer."

Baile looked at the guards without a trace of emotion. Then Reidun walked into the corridor with a dozen guards behind him. "I hope you forgive my... precaution.. You have left a trail of dead guards after you. I do hope you take this the right way, Mr. Baile - May I never see any of you again." He nodded to a guard who pressed a button on his radio.

"Prison transport. Three to beam on my mark. Lock on. Mark."

Zanna looked up at Jo'rel. "He's ready for them to beam up." She reported to him and he nodded. "Roger that... Good Fortune is standing by." Jo'rel replied and then glanced at Matheyus. "Make sure the holding cell is ready... we are so close to having everything we want. Lets not loose it now." Jo'rel stated.

The trio waited for the transporter to finish the drop off. Taking prisoners from Vaden was a walk in the park. Vaden was perhaps the worst penal colony in the known universe, but they never missed securing the prisoners. A blind man with a toothpick could escort prisoners from Vaden without problems.

The blue beam faded and Matheyues nearly chocked. It was the same damn prisoner they had delivered to Vaden! The problem was he was now free, armed and was aiming at them.

"Good morning, party people.. " Baile chuckled while keeping the two guns trained at Jo'rel and Matheyus.

"The Ties That Bind" Pt 5

1st Lt. 1st Lt. Jebidiah Baile
Lt. Cmdr. Brianna O'Shea
Julie (wrote by Stuart)

(all other NPCs wrote either by Jonas or Myself)

"What...." Jo'rel couldn't believe it so Zanna stood up and finished. it. "The bloom hell..." The green haired cyber punk out woman said. Matheyues looked at Jo'rel wondering if he was going to try and rush the prisoner and the woman and child with him.

"Told you I'd see you again, Maggie.. " Baile said to Jo'rel. He pressed the triggers a little more and the laser sight, an old relic from wars past, turned on and a dot suddenly appeared on Zanna's and Matheyus foreheads.

Jo'rel looked at the lights and then looked back to Baile. It then all clicked. Baile had arranged all this. "what do you want?" He said then.

"First.. put the artillery on the deck. You have five seconds or I'll kneecap one of them."

Looking at him he then flicked his hand. Zanna and Matheyus began to unload their weapons onto the floor. Jo'rel then unloaded his and never taking his eyes off Baile. "I gave you a fighting chance when we sent you down there... this is how you repay us?!" He yelled.

Not saying a word Baile walked up to him, holstered one of his guns and punched Jo'rel in the stomach hard enough to lift him an inch off the deck. "No shouting.. you're scaring the kid.. "

Matheyus started moving forward but was rewarded by the dark hole of a barrel just in front of his head. Zanna faced the same predicament and it had happened faster than they had been able to react.

Anna had to sit down at this point. She then looked at Baile and then looked down at the floor.

"Your lady friend looks sick..." Zanna stated. "Probably brought a friggin virus aboard." Matheyus chimed in. "Would you both shut up..." Jo'rel said still looking now at Baile. "As I asked...... what do... you want?"

"I'm offering you a deal.. You bring them back to the Starfleet ship Galaxy and you get your two million credits and another million just for the fun of it.. " Baile explained with some dark amusement to his voice. "And you keep her alive long enough for the quacks onboard the Galaxy to take over."

"We can't trust him... he is a prisoner... he will say anything to get away from Vaden." Zanna chimed in.

Jo'rel ignored her. "What assurances do we have that you won't kill us once we get you to the Galaxy?"

"The alternative is that I kill you all right here, right now and pilot this piece of junk there myself - or you feel lucky and take your chances.. " Baile replied with a sly smile that didn't make any of the people present any calmer.

"How do we find this ship you want?" Jo'rel asked.

"We could try the network... it's a Federation starship, those don't go unnoticed." Zanna stated.

"Find it." Jo'rel commanded.

The ship broke orbit a few minutes later. Baile found a cabin and laid down on the bunk, resting in the darkness, but his guns was only a few inches away from him, ready to be used in a second.

Jo'rel patted the bunk in the make-shift sickbay and motioned for Anna to lay down on it. Zanna had taken the little girl away to get her something to eat. It had been a long time since he had seen anyone in such a bad shape as Anna. Only the worst refugees had looked like that during the war. "Don't worry.. I won't hurt you." the mercenary leader assured her.

Looking at him she didn't trust him, yet also didn't have the energy fight back at this point. Laying down she laid there, "You know him... don't you?" Anna asked.

The mercenary stopped what he was doing. "Know him? Not really.. I ran into him and his.. crew.. during the Dominion Wars." he explained after a few seconds. Running a hand through his grayish hair he laughed a short sarcastic laugh. "Some friends you have.."

"He's.... my best friend." Anna said, then turned her head to him. "He's always there... when I need him." Anna said and groaned when he touched her side.

"Careful.. " he looked at her battered body and the readings the medical scanner in his hand gave him. This was way beyond his skills to fix. He would maybe be able to keep her alive for a while, but nothing more than that. He shivered. When she died they all died. Baile would make sure of that. "Funny... I've never seen him as the friendly kind.. so what did you do to get stuck with that guy then?"

"Just a simple engineer that he trusts..." Anna said, she then closed her eyes as she bit her lower lip. She didn't go into telling him how she'd served briefly with the Crows, that wasn't any of his business.

"I have their position... setting intercept course... maximum warp." Zanna stated through the intercom.

"The Ties That Bind" Pt 6

1st Lt. 1st Lt. Jebidiah Baile
Lt. Cmdr. Brianna O'Shea
Julie (wrote by Stuart)

(all other NPCs wrote either by Jonas or Myself)

"Alright.. make haste, Zanna." he replied and shut the intercom off. "This might sting a little.. " he said and pulled the cap off an old-fashioned injection needle and spit the cap out. "Your friend and the people he served with are some piece of work.. butchers the whole lot of them.. " The needle sank deep into Anna's thigh. "Oh the stories I could tell you about the glorious Spec-Ops.. "

Anna groaned feeling the needle going into her skin and muscle. Gripping the table she looked at him. "You.. were... special ops?" She asked.

He nodded. "For a short period. Then one day I took a look in the mirror and didn't like what I saw."

Brianna's eyes began to close and hand began to relax, only when he spoke to her and patted her face did she open her eyes.

"Nope, little sister... not time to sleep yet. He checked the readings on the scanner. Someone had cocktailed her. If the injuries didn't kill her then coming down from one of those would. "I take it you met his CO, what was his name.. Smith?"

"Smith..." She repeated and then nodded slowly. "Yes.... " Anna stated then looked at Jo'rel. "I remember him."

"Hard to forget a man like that.. " he pulled a chair closer to the bed and sat down. "I don't think I've ever met someone that scared me as much as he did." he admitted to Anna, mostly just to keep talking to her to keep her from falling asleep.

"Baile... and the others, kept me from him..." Anna said, shook her head slightly. "I was small and insignificant... in their eyes... they protected me... showed me a few things. Smith... didn't like that."

"You know.. you hang with the wrong people.. Baile may be your friend, but he's a cold blooded killer. Believe me.. I've seen The Crows work."

She nodded, she'd known that, but also she had seen them sit around and laugh and joke. Something most people hadn't seen. Anna then looked over at Jo'rel and looked at his face. "He... was talking to... someone... before. Someone, not there, who was it... who was the person inside him?" Anna asked.

Now she was rambling. "No idea. It wouldn't surprise me if he heard voices considering how many cocktails those bastards shot up." Voices in his head? Oh this was bad. Very bad.

Just then the ship dropped from warp. So much so Anna opened her eyes having felt the sudden change and dampers compensating. It sent adrenaline through her body and she forced herself to sit up. "Where... am I?" She asked, then looked at Jo'rel as the speaker came online.

"We are within transporter range of the federation Starship... I've hailed them and told them we have medical emergency, they are denying transport until they have more information... what do I tell them?" Zanna asked,

"Get Baile. He can talk to them. I just want to get them the hell of my ship." he checked the screen for their location. "Zanna! Why the hell didn't you tell me we're in Romulan Space!?!" he barked out.

"You didn't ask... you said make haste!" She stated over the intercom.

"Goddamnit Zanna! We'll be sitting ducks here!" he excused himself and hurried to the bridge, praying they were still running silent and with the cloak engaged. That thing had cost a fortune and if it broke down now the merc swore he was going to track down the seller and stab him to death with a crystal rod.

"Would you relax... the cloak is engaged and we are running silent... that's what the problem is with the Galaxy... they can't see us, yet we are hailing them." Zanna said.

"The Ties That Bind" Pt 7

1st Lt. 1st Lt. Jebidiah Baile
Lt. Cmdr. Brianna O'Shea
Julie (wrote by Stuart)

(all other NPCs wrote either by Jonas or Myself)

He slipped down and into his command chair. "I'll take the controls. Stand by to make star dust in case any Birds comes crashing down." This was making him nervous. One really big Starfleet ship and lots of really big Romulan ships or whatever they called themselves these days. "Are they responding?"

Matheyus shook his head. "They will not allow transport without proper ID and creditdentials!" He snapped. "I thought they were the do-gooders, don't they care we brought them a injured woman?!" Matheyus yelled. "Federation Starship, we come in peace... we are cloaked because we are hunted by the Romulans. We have an injured human woman onboard, and a human male... we are seeking authorization for transport." Matheyus said.

"You really think that's going to work?" Baile voice pierced the silence following Matheyus plea. No one had heard the marine enter the bridge. He sounded more amused than anything. Walking up to Matheyus he quickly tapped in a new frequency. "Baile to Marine watch."

There was a long silence, then a voice chimed in. "Sir, 2nd Lt. Lyons speaking... can you confirm your ID tag... now?" He asked and waited until Baile punched in his code.

"ID-tag confirmed, Lt. Got broken luggage with me." For the first time since leaving the mission team Baile had no idea what he was going to do. It was a fair guess Security would toss him in the brig for a while. He was AWOL after all. And Anna. He had no idea what would happen to her. Test after test most likely to make sure she was really the missing Anna. It would be easy to slip away after they beamed Anna and the girl onboard the ship. Jo'rel would accept a man with his skills easily and willingly although he'd make a show about it. But would that solve anything?

"Confirmed ID... welcome back Sir... send the coordinates for the one seeking medical attention, I'll beam them to sickbay..." Lyons stated, as he alerted security just as a standard precaution.

He nodded to Jo'rel to fulfill the request. What now? Return? He wasn't sure he could.

Maya stood next to him, gently touching his shoulder. "You have to, Killer. For now."

Baile looked at the ghost of his tortured soul. She was right. He had to. For now. "Stand by, Galaxy."

"Woman received..." Lyons reported and then stood by as he was told. Thing was Baile had made the marines loyal to death on the Galaxy.

Jo'rel looked at Baile. "Baile... that woman will need you." He said, rather quietly so no one else would hear.

"It's... complicated." he replied silently, leaning heavily against the console. The air felt hot and stuffy inside the ship.

"That's makes it right and good though isn't it?"Jo'rel asked.

"Like I said.. it's complicated.. " Baile replied. "I'm not sure I believe in the Federation any more."

"You believe in her?" Jo'rel asked. "Messed up as she is... she believes in you." He said then folded his arms over his torso. "Or... I can say the word and we'll be out of here before anyone realizes it."

He stood silently for a few seconds, with both Jo'rel and Maya watching him while a thousand questions stormed through his mind. Leave. Stay. Run. Attack. He wasn't the running kind, but fight for something he no longer believed in? He believed in the Marines, but was that enough? Was he the same man? No he wasn't. He stopped being that man months ago. Finally he shook his head. "There's still things I need to do. Send them my coordinates." Baile opened the channel again.

"Marine Watch.. one to beam over."

OOC: Honey!!! We are home!! :)

"Timestorm - Part 1"

Ensign Keldan

Crew Quarters, Deck 14

Calm permeated the dark room. The sleeper lay serenely in his bed, the aftermath of a double shift being slowly etched away from his tired body. Dreams came peacefully and were greeted happily; his unconscious thoughts turned to the warm waters of the Southern Merai Peninsuala on his homeworld of Talaria; the balmy coastal breezes of Kauai’s Hanamaula Bay on Earth; the soft white sand of Kaestra Major on Risa. The dream-air was warm, but felt cool as he inhaled deeply, expanding his chest to its full width and depth before releasing it in a long, slow exhalation.

A resonating snore obliterated the silence of the room, its heavy reverberations cutting through the room with the rhythmic pulse of a Talarian military precession. Fortunately for the inhabitants of the quarters adjacent to his, the reinforced walls absorbed the sound to the point where it could be easily mistaken for the gentle hum of a slightly overcharged power conduit.

The heavy sound did not awaken the sleeper. Of course, if asked if he snored he would flatly deny it, and had in the past often claimed to be a light sleeper. Neither were true in any sense of the word. During his Academy tenure, he had gone through several roommates, each of whom had requested new accommodations based on the inability to get a good night’s rest. Medical tests consistently came back negative, only reinforcing the idea that it was some kind of practical joke and that the other students were making up the stories just to see him hooked up to all kinds of sensory equipment for apnea tests and sleep studies.

Little did anyone realize that the unique structure of his cranial plates and sinus cavities were creating a wind-tunnel effect with all the subtlety and charm of someone letting loose with an air horn in a library study alcove.

So it was no small surprise that when the small electrical spark flickered on the comm panel on his bedside table, it went completely unnoticed.

Another spark lit up the panel next to the replicator, and then another. A flash of electricity arced in the replicator alcove, and for a moment it looked like a glass of water, similar to the one Keldan had requested before retiring to his blissful slumber, was going to materialize. But the image faded out in a cascade of blue sparks.

His workstation was affected next. Electrical current surged through the console, dancing from panel to panel, and various control configurations flashed across the surface. Information began appearing, random files accessed bringing up data on stellar cartography, propulsion, and environmental control. It would have taken someone with far greater acuity and speed of perception to read the data as it scrolled down the display, jumped from one console to the other, and seamlessly overlapped itself.

A nimbus of blue light illuminated the room as more and more information sped through the console. Electricity crackled and the odor of ozone filled the air. And then, just as quickly and unexpectedly as it had begun, it ceased.

The room was dark, and the air still. Keldan slept on, dreaming of Risa and its brilliant setting suns.

And another resonating snore erupted in well-ordered time and perfect cadence.

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