USS Galaxy: The Next Generation Sim Log
Stardate: 60803.30 - 60804.05
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| "Confronted"
Nathan Everett Nathan stepped into Ten Forward, intending to grab a quick lunch before making his way back down to the CAG's office--no, his office. He still wasn't used to calling it that. Hopefully, Command would send Quattro's replacement soon, and Cowboy wouldn't have to worry about it anymore. He only got a few steps into the lounge before he froze. "Damn," he muttered as his gaze fell on a certain person he hadn't seen in quite some time. Cowboy took a step back and then turned, heading for the door. He moved slowly, as if he were trying to avoid being spotted. "You're acting like an idiot," A semi-amused voice called from behind him. He stopped, wincing, and turned back around. "Arel!" he said, forcing a smile. "Good to see you. How's the back feelin'?" "Better than your head is going to feel in a minute," Arel answered as she pushed the next chair out from the table with her foot. "Sit. Now." Given the choice between doing what she said and dying painfully, Nathan quickly sat down. "Look, about the other day. I didn't know it was your room ..." She started. "Whoa, hey, stop right there," he answered, raising a hand. "What's that got to do with anythin'?" "You've been avoiding me ever since," Arel said. "Ah didn't know you missed me so much," Nathan joked. She shot him a look. "So I'm sorry if you were ... grossed out or anything but ducking around corners is childish and stupid. And it might hurt my feelings. I don't like when people hurt my feelings." Nathan sighed. "Alright, fine. Maybe Ah've been actin' somewhat immaturely," he conceded. "Somewhat?" "Well, c'mon, how'd you expect me to behave after seein' what Ah saw?" he asked as he shifted uncomfortably in his chair. Arel frowned. "What? Me having sex, having sex with your best friend, or having it in your bed - which I didn't know at the time." "All three of 'em! Ah mean, don't get me wrong, Arel, Ah'm glad you finally got a little action, but why him? Did you lose a bet or somethin'?" She shrugged. "He was just in the right place at the right time." Nathan shook his head. "Look, Ah'm sorry fer freakin' out, alright? It's just...seein' you lahk that, it..." He hesitated, clearly not wanting to finish his sentence. "Like?" "Well, it kinda...brought back memories of, er...y'know." Nathan cleared his throat awkwardly, his face reddening. "Of who ... oh, EW," Arel scowled. "That's just wrong, Cowboy." "Hey, gimme a break! It's not mah fault y'all're practically identical!" "It's not mine either," Arel scowled. "Ah guess not." He cleared his throat again. "So, that's pretty much why Ah've been avoidin' you lately. Sorry. Feel free to kick mah ass if you still wanna." Arel thought about it. It was appealing but even better ... "No, I'll just tell Rena you're still daydreaming about her." "What?! Ah'm not daydreamin' about her!" Nathan protested. "Yeah?" Arel shrugged. "She'll kick your ass anyway, I suppose." "Not a chance, the poor woman's still too smitten with me," he said smugly. "Yeah, I'm sure she's trying to fight her way past the hordes waiting for you in the flight hangar." He hesitated before replying. "Y'think so?" he asked, trying not to look like he was avoiding looking at her. Arel paused, noticing the abrupt change of mood. "I was just teasing you, Nathan." "Yeah, Ah know," Nathan replied unconvincingly, tapping his fingertips idly on the table. "So are you going to tell me what's up *now* or do I have to beat it out of you," She asked seriously. He slumped in his seat and shook his head. "Hell, Arel, Ah dunno. Ah've been kinda feelin' lahk this fer a while, now. After leavin' the Miranda, Ah tried to go back to the way Ah was before Rena and Ah got together, but it isn't the same anymore. Ah never realized how...hollow mah life's been, 'til now." She raised an eyebrow. "You mean you want to abandon your whorish ways?" Nathan shrugged. "Maybe. Somethin' wrong with that?" "No," Arel replied. "It's just a strange thing to picture." He laughed self-consciously. "Ah know, isn't it? Maybe Ah'm just gettin' old. Ah'm almost thirty, y'know." He looked around Ten Forward and then leaned over the table, speaking in hushed tones. "You won't tell anyone, will you?" She shook her head. "No, I won't tell anyone." "Good," Nathan replied. He sat back again and smirked at Arel. "Fer a second there, Ah was afraid Ah'd have to get yer promise through some obscure Klingon ritual." "I'm sure I can think of something," Arel replied dryly. "It wouldn't happen to involve a good sparrin' session, would it?" Cowboy asked. "If Ah recall correctly, it's been a while since our last one. Some trainer you are," he teased. "I've been busy," Arel shot back. "Besides, you might be a lost cause." "What's that s'posed to mean?" "You got as much skill as a Ferengi," She said with a smile. Nathan's eyebrows went up, and he smiled right back at Arel. "Care to test that theory?" "My Mother's Shroud" Shiarrael i'Rhehiv'je Terrh'vnau **** "Personal Log" <device beeps> "She's finally asleep." "It's been two days since we received the call from that doctor aboard the Galaxy - Buhr'tohn I think her name was - and she hasn't slept in all of that time. I think that her body just ran out of energy and turned itself off regardless of what she wanted it to do, leaving her sitting there in the pilot's chair, asleep. I moved her back to the living compartment and covered her up with a blanket, and then came back up front to sit in her place." "I don't know why." "Not why I moved her, but why I covered her with a blanket. It just seemed... the correct thing to do." "I don't have any experience in dealing with older people, much less older humans. Or is she even old? What's old for a human? Sixty? Seventy? A century? How old is she? How old is... he?" "How long will he have to live like that, awake and aware, and... immobile?" "I've never even met him, and now... now I never will. Not really. Not while he's whole... Not while he's like he should be, like he was when my mother fell in love with him. Like he was when she fell in love with him. When... June did." "What did I do to deserve this?" "What?" "Why do the powers that run the Universe hate me so?" "My mother is dead... my home destroyed... my *world* is destroyed... and the only place I have to turn, the only one I have to go, my father, is... paralyzed. A cripple. Little more than a head on a stick. Because... because I... Because I...." "Because I what? What did I do? What did I do that I have to be punished like this? What sin did I commit that requires that I must endure this? What... did... I... do?" <long silence> "I hate the waiting. I hate sitting here on low power, pretending to be just another bit of trash in the oort cloud, slowly spinning around the system of the Bald Whores, knowing that my father and his ship are only a short distance away but unable to go there, unable to go to him." "She... no, I suppose I should use her name... June... June feels the same way, I think. Perhaps more strongly, since she... since she loves my father in a different way. In the way that my mother did... only ... only she was the one that had him. She was the one that had what my mother wanted. She was the one that...." "That doesn't have anything to do with this." "Nothing." "No, everything." "I see her pain. Her worry. Her fear. It's plain in her eyes, in the way she walks." "It's my mother's pain." "Not literally; not really. But it's the pain that my mother wore like a shroud when she was at home and no one could see her." "No one but me." "It's the pain of knowing that the one that you love needs you, that they're injured or alone or lost and that if you could only reach them, could only be with them, could only touch them... then their pain - and thus your own - would be lessened." "I want to hate her..." "But I can't." "She had what my mother died wanting. She had him, had his love and his touch... and his daughter." "All mother had was me." "And her memories." "And..." "And... now I have the pain." "Why?" "I've never met him. Never seen him in person. Never...." "...loved him." "Why do I feel like this, then? Why does my soul ache for him? Why do I feel this... hollow pain inside me? Why...." "Why have I inherited my mother's shroud?" OOC: Takes places some hours after "A Time To Shit..." "Smells Like..." Lieutenant Dhanishta Eshe Michael McDowell With a short appearance of: *** Deck 8, near Eshe/McDowell's Quarters *** Michael dragged himself forth, meter by meter. This passed day, correction...this passed night and day, had been grueling. He had been all over the ship. Running from one section to another to repair a whole range of things. Actually, patching them up was more like it. And now, after pulling a triple shift, there was nothing else on his mind then a hot shower and his own nice, warm, comfortable bed. The door opened with the usual, comforting hiss. Then, before Michael could even set foot inside the door, Peckerwood slipped passed him with a rush. "Peckerwood, come back. Peckerwood! Stay!" Michael rolled his eyes. ~Not again. Not now!~ Peckerwood was known to sit right before the door and wait for Michael to get home. Sweet, one would say. But he did that for a totally different reason. It was not really Michael he was waiting for, but for a chance to get out and get right down to Main Engineering to look up Dhani. Because, lets face it, that was his 'mommy'. ~Oh, screw it...~ The next surprise came shortly after Peckerwood's escape. First Twister ran by shortly followed by Salem. This was something else. They never escaped out of their quarters, at least not before they’ve had something decent to eat. "What the...?? Hey, come back you two!" Yelling didn’t help and Michael knew it. The two felines quickly vanished around the next corner. He sighed a very deep sigh. "Whatever. You guys have fun out there. I don’t care. Not now." And then, finally, he stepped inside the room. It smelled strange there. Like...like someone, or something, had... Michael's eyes grew wide but before he could even say 'Lights!' he slipped and landed hard on his back. The fall slammed the air out of his lungs. "Compu-... Computer..." Michael fought for every breath of air as he tried to give an order to the computer. "Computer...Lights!" The lights turned on instantly and pierced his eyes. He blinked several times before he could see clearly again. One look at the room and himself was enough. Michael went near nuts and could only scream, "SHIT!!" Not one second later he hit his combadge. "McDowell to Eshe!!" "Eshe here, go ahead," her weary voice replied over the comm. after a few seconds delay. She was back in Main Engineering now, reading up on the latest reports with a cold half full cup of coffee. She wasn't sure whose it was. It could be hers, but she couldn't remember. Looking back into the mug dubiously she took another sip and grimaced. ["Listen, whatever you're doing, just drop it and come to our quarters! We have much bigger problems on our hands!"] Dhanishta looked back into the coffee mug; she could swear there were things floating around in it. Now 'that' she was prepared to drop, but looking around the cluttered desk, the never ending list of things to do, the latest requests - why was it that everyone had a problem that had to be dealt with 'first'? Sure the department was large, and with running only two shifts there were more people on duty at any given time than usual, but she still didn't have enough engineers to fix every-ones issues at the same time. She checked the time and sighed. Michael had accused her not long ago of ignoring him and shutting him out of things. Granted that was about something totally different than the current scenario, but he'd hit a chord that still reverberated. If it was anyone else making that call she would have been off her chair already, but because it was him, for some reason it made whatever he had to say less important. "I'm coming." she replied quickly. He was important to her, work was important to her, Kala was important to her. Putting them in some form of order was nigh on impossible. She shook her head and tried not to think about it as she left Main Engineering, handing over to the nearest available person. A few minutes walk and a turbo lift ride later, she was walking down the corridor of deck eight. She hadn't been to their quarters in ages, and right now it felt like such a tease. She had a million and one things to do, sleep and relaxation had to wait until she found enough courage and gall to toss the never ending list into a black hole, or just turn a blind eye to it. She really was piling it all upon her own shoulders. She felt like she had to, that she couldn't stop till it was all finished, until the ship was all shiny. Being pulled away, by Michael no less - to their quarters - a place that she thought she really shouldn't be in because she should be working. this was really stupid, no one could work 24-7. The smell was what pulled her away from her thoughts. A pungent odor that made her nose wrinkle, mentally she pulled up a list of who lived down this corridor and which ones might eat something that smelled this bad, or could produce something that smelled this bad, or perhaps something was wrong with the environmental control. she groaned ~please Kahless, please, *not* something 'else' to fix!~ She prayed, ~and if he's just called me down here 'just' to fix something - I'm gonna kick the sh.~ "WHAT THE..?" she cried standing in the open doorway, hand covering her mouth as her stomach fought the urge to bring up the remnants of the bit filled coffee. Michael turned when he heard Dhani’s voice. "My thoughts exactly! Who the HELL did this!!?" He looked at his uniform again. "Holy shit, just look at me! Whoever did this is going to be so sorry when I find him...or her!!" Dhanishta's face cracked behind her hand as he did a pirouette whilst craning round to see his back. He was covered in the stuff. Though what stuff she wasn't sure but he did look funny, like a dog chasing his tail. "Hey where's the dog?" she asked randomly as she gingerly stepped forward to peek inside the room. "What? Here we are, our quarters is a total mess, I'm also covered in that stinking brown goo...and you’re thinking about Peckerwood?? Wonderful. Thank you for your concern!" Dhani frowned, "You mean this wasn't him?" she asked confused. Secretly she'd been looking for a reason to get rid of the mutt. Michael seemed to think she had a soft spot for it, frankly she didn't see the point in having one. They were stupid animals. You threw something away and it went and brought it back. She shook the thoughts from her mind and begrudgingly stepped closer to Michael to take a deeper whiff of... oh mother of. Dhani gagged. Nope that wasn't dog shit. Uh-uh, but that meant… No way. Not possible, no one would. "The cat's." Dhani half questioned hopefully on the exhale. "This thick and this much?" Michael pointed to a thick long brown line at the middle of the table. "Nah... not in a million years. Besides, they don't do that. They know just where to go." Dhanishta nodded soberly beside him. Her eyes cast around the room, drinking it all in, wondering when she was going to wake up. She hadn't slept much in the last few days, it was possible that she was still in the Engineering office, or even at Kala's bedside still, sleeping - dreaming. No one on the ship would really do this. It was sick, beyond a joke. "Okay I'm ready to wake up now," Dhani declared to the room, "any time ya like though preferably NOW!" Of course, nothing happened. Michael looked at Dhani, who was still hoping to wake up from a bad dream. "No, this is not a dream. I can assure you that. It's all too wet and sticky for it to be a dream. Oh, and then that smell..." Dhanishta turned full circle to face him, her nose still wrinkled. She shook her head slowly and just flapped her arms meekly at her sides and shrugged. "I can't believe anyone would do this," she said frowning, "it's just." she turned and looked around the room again, "sick. I'm the chief engineer damn it, that counts for something doesn't it?" she asked him. "For any sane person, yes it does. But not to the one who did this." Michael said while starting to get rid of his duty jacket. "My sister is in sick bay. The ships in tatters, the Captains life hangs in the balance, Oh that reminds me I need some help on the do-dar Kimmie wants to save his life," she added absently, "Branwen is missing, and I've volunteered to go on her rescue mission by the way, and now this." Wow, now that was a way to break the news that A) the Captain was still alive, if not critical, and B) that she was planning on going on a suicide mission deep into Hydran space to save her friend. She nodded slowly at the shit – not bad shit after all. Wiping the ghost of a smile off her lips she looked up at Michael with sorrowful eyes. She could cry. But she was too tired. Michael looked back and saw it in her eyes, but he even felt it more strongly through their telepathic bond. Although, like her, he was tired too, right now he was more concerned about Dhani. "You need to sleep. I'll get us another quarters. That shouldn't be too difficult if I tell Operations of this mess." Dhanishta nodded numbly. "I have to get back to engineering," she said lethargically stifling a yawn, "there is so much to do still. This is just." she flapped again, "not funny. Though I'd keep that on if I were you," she said fingering his jacket, "before we do anything we're gonna have to wash the dog and the cats," she sagged, "at least Jii doesn't have fur." she offered a weak smile. Having to put on the jacket again wasn't really what Michael wanted to do, but if they were to clean all their three pets then it was the best option. "Jii? What about Jii?" "Doesn't have fur." she repeated with a slight frown. "Well, that's stating the obvious. It's only that I don't see what Jii has got to do with this." Dhanishta rolled her eyes, "It's nothing Mikey, I just meant that at least we didn't have to clean him up too, or even look for him cause it's unlikely that he's been padding through this room and got... crap in his fur that we're gonna have to clean up before we can even think about eating or sleeping or anything else for that matter." She patted his arm carefully, "let's go find the mutt. And the cats." she groaned, "Which way did they go?" she asked him feeling less than enthused about hunting them down. With the way Dhani was behaving and radiating her unhappiness with the situation, Michael began to feel kind of guilty for letting the animals escape. He let out a sigh. "I think Peckerwood can be found somewhere Main Engineering. Salem and Twister is another story. They disappeared around that corner near to the Turbolift." Michael pointed to the right of him. A yawn escaped him while he did so. "Let’s hope we catch our furry housemates soon. I'm in no mood to run around the ship for hours." "Forced Decision" An orion looked at her appreciatively. "I have not expected the Hydrans to have taste. You don't look bad for a human, slave. What are you called?" Beckett wondered why an Orion was in this room and obviously he wasn't a prisoner as he was not shackled as her wrists were. "Corporal Samantha Beckett, Starfleet Marine Corps." she replied simply. "Very nice. A woman who thinks she can be a soldier." He smiled condescendingly as her. "Samantha, yes, that name will do. Slave, sit down at the table." Smantha glared at the Orion before her. "I'm not a soldier...I'm a Marine, and I'd prefer to stand." "Sit slave. You are mine for as long as I am at this base. My property. Don't make me punish you, female!" Beckett moved to sit as she was told as she didn't think she could take much more abuse. "Good. I was told that you have not been trained yet. I like that." Another big smile. "we will have dinner first and I expect you to be a good companion. Later I will teach you to be a good bedmate, human." "I will not be your bedmate!" she protested angerly. "Of course you will. You are a female, what else will you do." The orion ship captain said curiously. "Now behave, girl!" Samantha wanted to jump across the table and strangle the Orion, yet she knew her body was in no shape for a fight. She would have to simply wait it out as she remained silent. "Good, a little rough, but trainable. Now eat, you look famished, human. And we need to get your strength up for the rest of the night." He pushed some of the dishes towards her. Samantha slowly began to eat what was on her plate. She admitted that the food was good...alot better than the slop that she was fed to by the Hydrans. "Better. Now, human, tell me about yourself. " It amused him to hear women talk, and she had a nice voice. "I'm a Starfleet Marine and I was born on Earth," she said simply as she swallowed some food. She wasn't about to give away her life story to this...thug. "I don't understand how those humans put their females in danger. You should not have ended up here, human. It is no place for women. The hydrans don't know how to treat women." He said it with some disdain. "And Orions do? You sell your females as slaves. And I chose this profession," she stated firmly, staring at the large Orion. "But we treat our women well, they lack for nothing, and as long as they behave we don't put a finger on them. You on the other hand." He shook his hand. "You look mishandled." "I'm a Prisoner...how would you think I would be treated?" she asked as she finished her plate of food. "You call taking females from other species and forceably selling them into slavery to the highest bidder as treating women well?" "After they are sold they usually lead much better lives then before, they are pampered by their owners, and cared for. Wouldn't you for something you paid a lot of money for. It's not a bad life, and our slavers are not like these Hydrans. I hope to show you before the night is out. Would you like some wine, my dear?" "You are still forcing them into slavery, and no, I do not want any wine." "Our women don't know any better, and the ones we capture settle in soon enough, most of them. You would have a much better life with me then with the Hydran. I could try to persuade them to sell you to me. You would have a life of luxury, free of pain and beatings." "No. I belong to the Starfleet Marines and I will not be anyone's slave. Especially yours," she replied defiantly as she stared at the large Orion. "Do you find me that repulsive?" He had to laugh at that. "More so then your Hydran hosts?" Samantha remained silent in protest. She was not going to let this Orion have her as his slave. He shoved some more food her way. "You know, I could have you taken back and ask for another girl. You would be severely punished." Samantha was full and didn't fill like eating anymore, as she pushed the second dish away. "I've had enough. Then why don't you? I doubt any female you'll find here would willingly sleep with you." "Maybe I like a challenge." The man turned serious. "And maybe I feel sorry for you." "Ah, you feel sorry for me, so to make me better, you are attempting to force me to have sex with you?" she also laughed at the Orion. "I could show you pleasure." He smiled, sure of himself. "Sorry, but I'm sure you meant show yourself pleasure. I doubt I would get any pleasure from you," she replied sternly. "Why don't you try to find out. I can assure you that it gives me pleasure to bring a woman pleasure." His voice was like velvet. "And I have made it my duty to learn what makes a woman smile." "No thanks," Samantha replied simply, crossing her arms and staring at the Orion. "You don't know what you are missing." He stood and walked behind her, tenderly he caressed her bare arms. Samantha shivered at the man's touch as she pulled away. "Sshhhhh. Close your eyes and enjoy. Try not to judge. I will not rape you, woman." He said softly. "I find that hard to believe. I will not have sex with you!" she said loudly. "Then go back to your hydrans and let them kill you. Is that an intelligent choice?" He raised an eyebrow. Samantha closed her eyes. She thought of home....to be away from this place. Besides, if she went back, this Orion would simply prey on some other unfortunate female. The words that came out of her next sickened her. "Very well...." "A wise choice, dear." He kissed the top of her head. "Would you like more wine?" "No," she said softly, as she stood and faced the Orion. "We have time, human. Like I said I am not out to rape you. There is no joy in it." The captain said honestly. Sighing and resigning herself to the inevitable. "Lets get this over with." "Explaining the Unexplainable" (Takes place after 'Wading In') Lieutenant Victor Krieghoff **** USS Galaxy Something was wrong in Security. Victor was used to people blanching when he walked into Security Main. He wasn't surprised when conversations stopped, or people turned and walked the other way, or simply stared at him warily. He'd had a lifetime to get used to that, after all. His promotion just before the Battle of the Kateren Nebula hadn't changed that despite the several days that had passed since then, nor had his official designation as the Assistant Chief of Security and his brief stint as Acting Chief of Security when Commander Corgan had been struck down by a seizure just before the battle had commenced. If anything, it had made things more likely to remain the same, just adding another reason for the behavior. But today, something was wrong in Security. The stares were there, just like always. So were the whispers, and the subtle and not-so-subtle edging away. But something new was there as well: smirks and anticipatory grins. He wasn't sure why; perhaps it was the investigation he'd taken on to catch the individual the department had cleverly dubbed 'the Pooping Phantom', perhaps something else - but he was sure that when he found out it wouldn't be pretty. Being the trained combat veteran that he was, Victor instantly sensed that all was not well in Krieghoff-land the moment the door hissed open. Clue number one was the rather shapely looking female backside bent over in front of him swaying slightly from side to side. A bottom... a bum... a nice ass depending on your how you referred to such things. Properly notable only for the facts that: 1. The bottom did not belong in Vic's office... bent over and swaying or otherwise. 2. Said bottom was wearing a very short and flashy skirt... this wasn't necessarily a tactical detail, but Vic's mind categorized it anyways 3. Said bottom... nice as it was... was not something Vic should be standing around making lists about. Zoom out focus a bit. The wiggling backside expanded into a full female form of somebody... somebody young and healthy obviously... focus... somebody bent over away from him doing something to his floor. Examining it maybe? The intruder suddenly seemed to notice the much famed Krieghoff aura o'doom, and in a shimmer of glitter speckles and too much hairspray, a young blond girl jumped to her feet at whirled around to face Victor. There was something in her hand...... ~~Weapon!~~ Victors mind screamed, ~~NO wait... not weapon... paintbrush?~~ Crewman Allison stood before Victor wearing a cheesy lipstick smile and a painfully colorful off duty skirt and T-shirt combination, while in her right hand she wielded a dripping yellow paintbrush. The phrase >> WHO'S YER DADDY?? << proudly announced itself from her chest while little spatters of yellow goo dribbled off the brush to splat on his floor. "Vic!" Alli cried happily, and with waaay too much familiarity due a mere crewman, "You're just in time for the final touches... come on in." "The... final touches?" Victor had never really had a problem with Allison - odd as she was, she had always been capable of talking to him in exactly the same manner she talked to everyone else, and that bought a lot of space for individual eccentricity from him. Besides, he wasn't exactly the one to start throwing stones on the topic of individual eccentricities in the first place. "Nice to see you Mr. Grumpy Gills... whoa there... back off a bit, you got your heebie-jeebie generator on maximum overdrive right now." Alli took a step back herself, pausing to examine the goosebumps rising on her arms. "Jeez Vic...you're positively spook-a-riffic....wonder if this thing opens up skin pores too... handy for exfoliating..." "I couldn't say," Victor returned. "It didn't exactly come with an instruction manual." He considered his options, and decided that continued calm, reasonable conversation offered the best chance of his actually figuring out what was going on. "Now, back to my earlier question... 'final touches?'" Allison smiled "Why your office silly; I'm redecorating." she waved her skinny arms expansively to indicate the space around her. Egad... it was different. If not for the power of the swaying tush, Victor would have noticed the changes right off. Warm colors... soft lighting... a new plush couch with a few decorative throw pillows. In the corner, a step-pyramidal arrangement had been made from the potted plants Angelienia had brought in, and behind the desk hung a painting... a splash of bright colors and warm hues that depicted... a puppy dog? Topping it all off... and oddly out of place... was the bright yellow dashed line that Allison had been in the midst of painting across his floor. Speechless, Victor stood and stared, before a sudden thought struck him and he looked to the side of the door. No, the prayer mosaic Angelienia had made for him was still there, although cleaned and polished to a gleaming finish. On second glance, his other pictures were still there too - some shifted around, but all there... and, oddly, all seeming a bit more 'right' in the spots that they'd been moved to. The arrangement "Zarky stuff aint it?" the teenager gushed bouncing happily. There was probably an appropriate answer to that question, but at the moment, Victor was absolutely clueless as to what it was. So he said the only thing that he could think of while trying to figure out what it might be, "There's a yellow line on my floor." "The line?" Alli examined the yellow paintbrush curiously. "That's the best part... and exactly why you're just in time. I need you to go sit in your new chair... Italian leather by the way... while I measure exactly how far out your creep-factor extends... then voila!" she beamed, "I paint a bright yellow warning line, and people know not to At some point, Victor was certain, this whole, surreal moment was going to suddenly snap back to reality and start to make some sort of sense. And it wasn't going to be any too soon. "Did someone... tell you... to redecorate my office?" he asked carefully. He'd just been promoted, and couldn't claim to be the most popular man in the department, much less on the ship, so a certain amount of hazing was to be expected - and that certainly explained the smirks outside.... "Tell me?" Allison looked hurt. "No silly, I just sorta got carried away." "Thing was, just well....I kinda needed to let off some steam to somebody that wasn't a complete poopy-head, and guess I fell back on old habits. I came down to have a chat-fest, but Hel-lo you were off killing lizards or something....and I was like thinking your eau d' horrorshow kinda puts a nix on having a heart to heart anyways, but that maybe it has a radius see?" Old habits? What old habits were those, Victor wondered. And why was she talking about letting off steam to him? Angelienia did that, but she was really the only one that... Wait, had the Crewman transferred her crush on the Commander to...? She indicated the little yellow line. "Well after moving the desk and couch around to be as far apart as possible.....oh by the way Ensign Smith hurt his back moving your desk so he won't be in today.......anyhow after moving them I was like Hel-lo Allison! You just totally spazzed the man's Feng shui... so I had to like harmonize the area 'kay? " Victor continued to stare for a moment, and then blinked, and held up a hand, "Wait one, please." He tapped his combadge, "Krieghoff to E'xch. Shuffle today's schedule to cover for Ensign Smith, and have someone make sure that he actually goes to Sickbay and gets his back looked at - thanks.." Lowering his hand, he nodded to Alli to continue, "You were harmonizing the area, and...?" She shrugged, "One thing led to another, and pretty soon I maxed out my IKEA card." "You maxed out your..." Victor looked around the office and abruptly realized that the redecorated room was growing on him. "You paid for this with personal credits?" How much paperwork was he going to have to fill out over that? A command officer, receiving gifts from a crewman? Of the opposite sex? Paid for with said crewman's personal credit allowance? The list of forms he was going to have to complete was "Don't you like it?" Allison looked around to see what she had missed. She'd spent the better part of a day in here while everyone else was off running cleaning up after the battle or moving Hydran EPW's to the new cell block or some such nonsense. "I tried hard. I mean it was mostly for me, but I still wanted to do something nice for you. You know...say thanks for being there." "For... being there?" Victor was pretty much positive that he had, in fact, never 'been there' for Allison - in any literal or figurative sense of the word that he could wrap his brain around. He frowned at the smaller girl. "Just so we're both talking about the same things here, when, exactly, did this 'being there' occur?" Was she really switching her fixation from the Commander to him? Was he going to have to sedate Angelienia when this came up over dinner tonight? Should he just call the JAG office now to head off the rumor mill? Alli smiled an evil little smile. "That's for me to know and for you to lie awake at night wondering about.....okay enough questions." Picking up a broom, she made little 'shoo-ing' motions at Victor, careful not to get inside the Fear Zone. "Now shoo.....go over and get comfy in your new chair.....you did hear me say it was Italian leather?" She poked him with the broom. "Go on now; I need you to hold still while I figure out exactly where to draw the line......." Lie awake at night? She wanted him to lie awake at night and...? Victor grasped that thought firmly by the throat, tore it out, dismembered it, and then scattered the pieces. There was only one woman he lay awake at night and thought about, and she was *not* Allison. "Chair," he repeated, walking around his desk and sitting down, frowning as the seat, back, and arms adjusted themselves to his body automatically for the most perfect fit he'd ever had from a chair aboard ship. How much had this thing cost? And was there a form that allowed him to keep it? Allison made a series of experimental steps towards and away from Victor, watching how her goosebumps rose and fell depending on proximity. "Maybe I should make two lines," she mused. "One for totally comfortable......and another for merely intimidating......might be useful for yelling at the employees." Victor rubbed his forehead for a moment to stave off the impending headache he felt coming. Was this what the Commander had been putting up with? "I try not to yell at people," he said absently. "They're already bothered by my presence most of the time anyway, yelling at them is like kicking them when they're already down." He thought about that for a moment, and added up the number of people that he had, in fact, kicked while they were down in fights. "Kicking them *unnecessarily,*" he corrected. "Whatever...."Alli dismissed, totally engrossed in her experiment. "Okay....like when I stand here, I am pretty comfortable right?" She took a few steps forward, and watched her goosebumps rise. "But when I stand here I am definitely creeped out......Howzabout I paint a little 'X' on the floor so you can have people stand here if you want to intimidate them or something?" "Let's just stick with the lines for now," Victor replied with more calm than he felt. "Why don't you have a seat and explain what led up to this decision, all right?" "Oh yeah....." Alli added as she retreated to a more comfortable distance, "What would you say to something on the level of a little mood music in the background?" "Mood music?" Cameras. There were cameras in here. This was really an elaborate hazing stunt! That explained everything! Victor relaxed slightly and considered the idea as Allison continued to speak. "Y'know....something light and airy to soften all those 'Mr. Grumpy Pant' rough edges you got." Alli tossed her hair and shrugged. "Now normally I'm a big metal fan and wouldn't be opposed to some background ballads or killer riffs, but I think for your needs we could go with some soft Barbara Streisand or some Pat Boone." Definitely a hazing stunt. Possibly the most elaborate he'd ever seen, too. The department deserved an award for this one. "No, let's hold on the music," he told her. He wasn't sure who any of those people were, and wasn't going to bet that he could think, much less speak, with them on in the background. "Whatever......think about it then." Abandoning her paintbrush, the blond teen flopped herself onto the couch well outside of the 'fear zone' and kicked her shoes off onto the floor with two twin 'plops' "I guess the original reason I'm here is just to sort some things out like y'know?" Laying back onto a pillow she crossed her hands over her chest and stared at the ceiling. "All this 'boldly going' and 'new life and new civilizations' jazz can get a little overwhelming at times... real heady stuff, and when you throw in all the interpersonal Victor was nodding slowly when the problem with that statement came to him. "'Handled' it?" "Handle it....sorry. Hel-lo.... I get my tenses mixed up." "Does that happen often? Or is it me? I've noticed that a lot of people occasionally suffer verbal lapses when they're forced to spend too much time around me." As well as other physiological lapses that he didn't care to dwell on. "Verbal lapses?" Allison blinked innocently. "I don't think I've ever been accused of having problems speaking. Mom always said that I ran like one of those chattering teeth toys that you wind up, but I'm like Hel-lo...Mother... I am the very image of discretion y'know? Right? ... Right. So anyways......." She paused to examine one of her fake aluminum nails... maybe time for more glitter? "...So anyways I was just like... I dunno frustrated y'know with Dad's... er... Commander Corgan's uptightness. He's always like so frazzing Emo y'know?... He's like......I need love... but don't talk to me... or be quiet I'm talking to the voices in my head... or potty mouth this or potty mouth that...... He curses a lot have you noticed?" Dad... Corgan... Love... Cursing... Victor nodded along with her until, once again his brain caught up with the words that Allison was speaking. Dad? Corgan? He blinked once, tried to reconcile that idea with both the Commander's and Allison's age and blinked again. James had always had a reputation as a ladies man, but Victor hadn't considered that it had started so early. "Ah... yes, I had noticed that," he agreed, trying to buy time to wrap his brain around that concept - and wonder if this was, really, a hazing stunt.... "Right......I guess he thinks it's manly and will attract the girls.....I sure hope he grows out of it. Mom and I may not agree on much.......like proper skirt lengths and what shades go well with Autumn colors, but one thing she taught me was a potty mouth is a potty head. Right? Right." "Right." Really what else could he say? He studied her face, and allowed himself a frown. No, this wasn't a hazing stunt, not based on what he saw in the girl's face. Memories of his life as Chulak resurfaced, and the faces of the children he'd had with Sakonna overlaid themselves on Allison's face, merging into her, becoming her, all their faces looking at him simultaneously. Needing... help. "The Commander's vocabulary isn't really the problem, is it?" he asked quietly. A look of depression passed over Allison's pale Nordic features, changing her noticeable from her usual giddy self. She hugged one of the little throw pillows closely. "I guess......Like I dunno.....I guess that I'm wondering if I should leave now. I pretty much got what I came for.....or what I thought I was here for.....closure y'know." she sniffed, " I guess if things are like If this was a hazing stunt - something that Victor thought less and less likely with each passing second, then someone was going to way too much trouble. "Just so I have everything straight," Victor said slowly. "You're here, not just in Starfleet, but aboard the Galaxy, to try and connect with... your father? And he's not who, or what, you'd expected him to be?" Allison looked at Uncle Vic as if he'd grown a third head. "Well.....duh. What do you think I've been blathering about for the last ten minutes? Honestly Vic, if you're ever gonna communicate with your kids you're gonna have to learn to read between the lines." She spread her arms to indicate the newly redecorated office. "If a gal talks throw pillows and Feng Shui, its code language for 'I need a hug.'" "Talk to my kids?' For a moment Victor thought that she was talking about the children that he'd had as Chulak, the sons and daughters that he'd raised with Sakonna - but it passed as he realized that there wasn't any way for Allison to know about that. She was just speaking metaphorically, about the children that he would have later on, once he and Angelienia were married. It certainly wasn't a secret that the two Alli rolled her glitter speckled eyes, "Well maybe not a literal hug from the local Uncle Frankenstein, but Hel-lo......a little princess moment here." "Uncle Frankenstein?" That was a new one. Even odder, it didn't sound as if she'd meant it as an insult, but rather as some odd form of endearment. Victor brought up a hand and rubbed his forehead, erasing the frown building there. "I'm not trying to be deliberately obtuse, but do you think that it might be possible to start portions of this Allison opened her mouth and took a deep breath, ready to explain everything in great detail......only to be interrupted by a shrill buzzing from one of her skirt's hidden pockets. "Hold that thought Vic...." she said holding up a single finger to 'shush' his protests, as she dug out a slim credit card sized communicator decorated in little pink sequins. "Yo....speak to me." She commanded holding the device up to her ear. "No....get out....OMG...I am so gonna like die....he SAID that?" Allis bounced up onto her toes, the startling change of demeanor noticeable. "OMG girl you so have to tell me every little detail and......uh...like hang on a sec." Taking a deep breath, Alli braved the bone chilling fear exuded by a confused Victor, and bounced over to give him a kiss on the cheek. "Mega thanks Vic.....totally zarky of you to come through for me like that.....gotta warp now." Turning on her stylish heels, Alli bolted for the door chatting away. "So anyway girlfriend then I was like.....whatever...y'know?" Victor watched her go, almost as confused as when the whole episode had started. He waited for three breaths, looked around the room again, and keyed the intercom. "When you all stop laughing out there," he said, with absolute certainty, " and don't try and deny it - I can hear you through the door - will someone please bring me copies of all the relevant forms I'm going to have to fill out to explain this?" While he waited for the laughter to stop, he looked around the room again, and made a note to bring Angelienia down later that evening after he'd explained the incident - what he understood of it, anyway - to her. If she liked the chair, he'd consider getting one for his cabin as well. The sound of the arriving document chime on his LCARS brought him back from thoughts of Angelienia sitting in his lap in a chair like this one, looking out at the stars. He sighed, opened the first of the twelve that had landed so far - leading him to suspect that someone, probably O'Rourke, had been waiting for him to ask with the necessary papers queued up to send - and started to try and explain the unexplainable. "Images Seen Through A Moving Veil" (Takes place after 'Explaining the Unexplainable') Lieutenant Dhanishta Eshe ***USS Galaxy, Deck 12, Sick Bay*** It was quite late, or early depending on what your outtake on life was. Dhanishta sat on a small chair next to Kala's bed. This must have been the longest time she'd ever spent in the Galaxy's sickbay willingly. Though seeing how her sister had put her life on hold for her when she had been in a coma, it was the least she could do. he was torn though, felt guilty every time she went back to work, and then every time she left work to see Kala. Somewhere in the middle of it all she had managed to sleep, well if one could call resting your eyelids for seconds at a time sleep. She was feeling the exhaustion yet her mind felt clear, clear as crystal. She let her body sink into the chair, trying to find that slightly comfortable position, though in these chairs that was nigh on impossible. The Federation was very concerned about comfort, they cared about their officers, liked to give them good sized quarters, lots of recreational facilities, yet still somehow the design of chairs over the last century had not come as far as she would have desired. It was strange how she was mulling over chairs as her sister lay in a coma next to her. She wondered if these were the sorts of things that went through Kala's mind when she was at Dhanis bedside years ago. Dhani liked to think that it was years ago - but it hadn't been. It was still fresh, raw... tender. She rolled her neck, feeling the muscles pop and crack, grate and crunch, she really needed a massage. She let out a stifled sigh. What was it about silence that made it so uninviting? Yes it was late, but still, when one walked into a hushed room you suddenly felt self-conscious and afraid to break that silence... why did they call it 'breaking' silence? It just seemed to add to the notion that it was solid, uninviting, cold.... Victor hated to disturb Dhani, especially considering the situation that had brought her to Sickbay, but there was, at least something that he could do to alleviate it... and any help was better than not knowing. He'd seen her as he was departing Sickbay after a check on the progress of his evidence analysis, and had known without asking that this was what had pulled her away from the EPW holding facility construction project. He paused a full three meters away, hoping that was far enough that neither she nor her sister would feel any ill effects, and spoke up quietly, "Lieutenant?" A genuine smile waxed across Dhanishta lips. "Krieghoff," she breathed slowly without turning. It was surprising that she knew it was him, even though she had felt nothing, heard nothing behind her. Perhaps it was his tone; the strange way his voice sounded like two at once, full and demanding yet low yet subtle, a whisper on the wind. She let her head glide to one side, her ear turned towards him, her eyes cast out over her left shoulder, yet he was not even a shadow in her peripheral vision. "She's too deep to feel you," she stated in a voice that broke between a whisper and a croak. "Probably for the best," Victor agreed, "since she's in no condition to retreat if she needs to," He studied the woman on the bed for a moment. "She's not going to die," he added with a sense of certainty. "I'd know... and she's not leaving you." Dhanishta head snapped round with a whip like crack. Her eyes narrowed on him dangerously, "You said that about Ahdjiia," she told him venomously, swallowing hard. She stood up quickly, quicker than he anticipated and quicker than she would have liked, something pulled within her body - yet she ignored it. Face to face with Victor her lip almost curled into a snarl, "You dare change your mind about that and Her head twitched noticeably, and just as sudden as the anger had come, it left. As if she had never spoken Dhani blinked with mild confusion and then turned back to Kala. She smiled softly reached out and tugged the blanket up to Kala's chin, tucked it around her twin with an almost maternal touch. "Were the cells up to your standard?" she asked in a hushed voice, just like when she had first spoken, as she smoothed her sister's hair and brushed her cheek affectionately. "They were," he nodded. "You and Cadet Sullivan did an excellent job." He paused, "And this isn't like it was with Ahdjiia - there was no refusal granted to be rescinded... because none was needed. Your sister is too stubborn to leave just yet." Dhanishtas head tilted to one side as she regarded the sleeping beauty before her, "And you've never even met her..." she said softly, permitting herself to chuckle at that. Turning round to face Victor, she perched on the side of Kala's bed and let herself take a deep breath. It was nice, or at least slightly refreshing, to talk to someone else for a while. The last few days were a blur of barking orders, checking reports, crawling through Jefferies tubes, banging her head under consoles and stealing moment away to just sit here, by her sisters side. Throughout it all she couldn't recall a single conversation that was about anything other than those two topics, engineering or Kala. "So," Dhani ventured, "what brings you down here?" "I was checking on some evidence that the staff is analyzing for me," Victor explained, deciding to leave out the exact nature of the evidence in question. "Ordinarily I would have just commed them, but I've noticed that my projects seem to mysteriously move to the top of the queue when I start to drop in and check on them in person." he shrugged. "Perhaps a great misuse of my 'vast cosmic power' but it gets the job done." He nodded towards Kala. "Then I saw you here with your sister and stopped to tell you that she wasn't going to leave you." Dhanishtas eyes softened, her gratitude conveyed through them and the halting of her voice as it was caught off guard by the sincerity and thoughtfulness of Victor. "That's really sweet," she said quietly, trying to ignore the moisture that gathered in her eyes. She sucked in a breath and turned her face from his just slightly. She wasn't embarrassed, just frustrated. Annoyed that she couldn't control herself, couldn't even anticipate her own reactions anymore. Nor for that matter his. "Thank you," she said in a clearer tone after a few seconds passed. "You're welcome," he returned with a small nod, giving no indication that she was acting in any way other than normal. "But you probably shouldn't use words like 'sweet' when referring to me - both because someone might overhear, and I have a reputation as a monster to uphold and because someone might overhear and decide that you needed intensive counselling for your dangerous delusions regarding myself." Dhanishta chuckled some. They all thought she needed intensive counselling already, she doubted that by openly praising Victor they would force her into it, besides Kimberly had already tried that and look where it had gotten them. "I never thought I'd hear the day that you made jokes, or even understand or sympathise with other people's feelings..." Dhanishta suddenly stopped, her eyes cast to the floor. Victor had changed, changed from the cold, literal thinking person he had been. Most on the ship knew what he was, if not in concrete terms, at least in thought. Some were too afraid to say it aloud, to voice their thoughts on the matter. Others did not care to linger on it, some tired to ignore it - yet each and every one of them knew the truth - whether they admitted that fact or not. But he had changed, grown. He was gentle, soft, sincere, his understanding of those around him had grown into comprehension – he reciprocated feelings now, rather than just letting them be swallowed up by the nothing inside. Why was it then that she was so resistant to change within herself? If Victor could embrace what he was, learn to be something that he inherently wasn't - yet still take that into himself willingly, why couldn't she? "Victor..?" Dhani said softly. She frowned and looked at him. "May I call you Victor?" she asked. "I ..." she trailed not really sure how to express what she wanted to say. When was the first time that they met? She couldn't recall and found that strange. Had she always known him? Sometimes it felt as if she had. Like when she first met Michael. She already knew him, through the link with Suder. She recognised him, called his name, knew his tastes before she even realised that she had. But Victor was different. Everyone knew Victor, because everyone knew what was waiting for them in the darkness. She shook her head, gave up on trying to verbalise what she was thinking. "I don't see why not," Victor replied. "And if it helps, there was a long time when I didn't make jokes... at least, not to people I wasn't trying to kill at the time. As for other people's feelings..." he thought about that for a moment. "I always knew that they were there, and, to a degree, did care about them, but I was so disconnected from everyone around me that I found it impossible to tell people that." He shrugged. ''I'm better now." "Better?" Dhanishta questioned squinting at him. "I'm connected now," Victor explained, "to people, I mean. Because of that, I can talk to them now; tell people the things that I couldn't before because of that. All things considered, I think it's an improvement. I'm never not going to be what I am, and I doubt people will ever stop reacting to me the way they do - but I don't have to let that drive me away from the ones that are reaching out to me anymore." ~Wow~ Dhanishta thought; it was humbling to hear him say such things. "What about those who reached out to you before this..." she wasn't quite sure how to phrase it, or even what it was that had sparked the changes within him, "... happened? What about them?" she asked, her mind reeling back to events that happened long ago, events that had been erased from time and space but not her mind or heart. "You loved people before this, you cared about them before... this." She said with a frown. He'd had this conversation with Angelienia already but it seemed odd to be having it again, here, with someone he wasn't so intimately connected with. "I didn't know what to call it then," he replied, "but yes. Back then, there were enemies, people that I talked to, and...everyone else. Enemies were just that. People I talked to... that made sense if you understand that there are more people aboard Galaxy right now that can talk to me without fleeing in fear or attacking me than I've known in the entirety of my previous life. Since I was so disconnected, I placed everyone that I was connected to in any positive way into that category...." He shrugged. "It wasn't very accurate, but it was what I had at the time." Dhanishta's frown lingered. "Why was it then, that you and Ella never..." she trailed some. She didn't know either of them very well, and she hadn't at all back then. But she had always wondered what drove him to be with her when he died, if not out of love, then what? And why didn't they remember afterwards? She shook her head, "It doesn't matter." She said. "Why was it that Ella and I weren't closer than we were? Weren't as close as almost everyone assumed that we were?" Dhanishta half nodded, though that wasn't quite what she meant. "You have to understand, before coming here, outside of my family, there were a total of five people I'd known in my life who weren't Vulcans that could stand to be in the same room with me for longer than a few minutes. Only two of them were women, and one of those was, in her own way, as damaged as I was. The other... the other was a user, someone that decided I was sexually exciting and said all the things I thought that no one would ever say to me... and then discarded me in the morning, more broken than I'd been before. After that... after that, I just shut down inside. Even though Ella and I could have been... what everyone thought we were... it never happened, because I didn't know how to say the things I needed to say to unlock the doors I'd closed inside myself." Well that was much more information than Dhani had *ever* anticipated that he would share with her. She balked some, steadying herself against the bed. Blinking she looked back up, "That's not... not quite what I was..." she stopped herself, not wanting to embarrass him after opening up to her. She sucked in a breath, "Do you remember the first time you met me?" Dhani asked looking into his eyes. "The first time I met you, or the first time we were introduced?" Victor asked. "Not the same thing, you know. Or did you mean, perhaps, the first time that we... spoke?" Her eyebrow rose, curiosity piqued. "All of the above then," she requested somewhat cautiously. She couldn't ever remember being formally introduced to him, nor could she really recall the first time 'he' met 'her'. She could though remember the first time they had a conversation... did he? She began to shake some on the inside, only now feeling conscious of the fact that her sister lay next to her. No one had ever really established if people in comas could hear what was going on around them, but from Dhanishtas personal experience she knew it was possible. She stiffened slightly, nervously awaiting his reply. Victor closed his eyes and thought. "The first time I met you was at Ahdjiia's funeral services, where I offered a sentiment that wasn't appreciated by the rest of the attendees. You were angry, and someone pointed you out to me as one of her friends. No words were exchanged, just an angry glare as you turned your back on me. The first time we were introduced was when we were assigned to the rescue mission where we posed as pirates and had to travel together pretending to be crewmen aboard that old clunker that Starfleet intelligence loaned us. The first time we spoke..." He paused and seemed to withdraw into himself somehow, his body language shifting, becoming more like it had been the night she'd invaded his quarters. When he spoke, it was in a different tone, almost a different voice. "The first time we spoke was at a... private affair. It was a short conversation, but a memorable one. Something about people and who they were inside as I recall..." Victor shook himself, like an animal shedding water from its coat and was abruptly Victor again. "I think that covers them," he finished, as though he had no idea anything had happened - or was pretending that it hadn't. Dhanishta waited for the hairs on the back of her neck to descend before she spoke. He did remember. Or at least that half of him did - the half that still made her quiver inside. How well he did to shield it now, how well the mask of humanity covered the beast within. She found her tongue then, resting in a shallow pit of saliva in the depth of her mouth. "The first time I met you, you were dead," she said in a voice that sounded like sand spilled from it, husky and dry. She let her eyes trail up his body from the floor where she had come to find them after he... switched. She'd looked into the eyes of death many times, every time she looked into the mirror. She remembered what he had told her, what he had confirmed for her. She took in another breath and continued evading 'that' conversation. "The ship, the Galaxy, had crashed into Quentin," she recalled, her gaze resting on his face yet not seeing him, "you had been skewered by a fallen support beam. Ella was trapped too. Near you, but the distance was far, further than you would have liked," she raised her eyes and looked into his, seeing them, feeling them, "this I knew from the entrails left along the beam as you had obviously dragged your body along it..." her eyes glazed again, "your arms were entwined around her, and hers yours. I buried you two together.... it appeared to me that is what you wanted, what she wanted..." she stopped and let herself focus on him, unsure of what or who she would find when she did. Victor looked at her for a long time, trying to remember anything about what Dhani was saying. "I... don't remember that," he finally admitted. "But... it sounds... familiar, somehow." Dhanishta nodded slowly, watching his face carefully, looking for the recognition she longed to see. No one really remembered it; she hoped that he had, that somehow he could. She pressed on, "It was in twenty three eighty," she said, "my third mission, the one right after the Upanishads came to visit, the ones that spoke of past lives. You remember them?" she asked slowly, still watching him intently. "Yes," Victor nodded without hesitation. "I remember them." "It was a first contact mission, the people of Quentin had achieved warp capability and we were to welcome them into the Federation if they wished..." her eyes narrowed, "you remember that don't you?" The events surrounding his death had been erased, but the mission... well the mission to them had been a success, for her it was a nightmare, one that lasted a life time and refused to remove its claws from her skin so that her wounds could heal. She waited a beat, and then two, "It was M'Kantu's first mission with us." Now 'that' he was sure to remember. "I remember the mission," he said slowly. "That wasn't what I meant earlier when I said that I didn't remember; I meant that what you were saying, the part about the beam..." He closed his eyes and concentrated, pushing at the curtain over his memory, until it lightened, becoming a filmy, gauze curtain of green instead of the opaque green velvet wall it had been. "That's... familiar... like in a dream that I can't remember completely..." "Yes," Dhanishta replied softly, nodding, "the past was changed." She looked into his eyes again and decided upon what she found there that it was the time to tell him the truth. "We arrived at Quentin, an away team was sent down, full of dignitaries, negotiators, ambassadors, liaison's, counsellors and what-have-you. The planet blew up, just as if we had fired upon them. And it looked like we had. After a second team was sent to investigate donned in hazard gear the USS Hood, the Nimitz and Pershing showed up to give us marching orders back home. M'Kantu tried to buy some time so that we could find out for ourselves what happened. Somewhere along the line the fighters were deployed and someone had an itchy trigger finger." "They let rip, three against one. M'Kantu called for all hands to abandon ship, no one made it....." she offered up a soft rueful smile, "except me," she concluded somberly. Victor tried to pull the curtain aside and failed, and then pushed to see past it, to make out the dim shapes moving on the other side. "I... we... crashed?" he said softly. "On... a planet.... Not the whole... the saucer...?" A dull throb started in the back of his head and he closed his eyes to aid in concentrating. "I... I'm... I'm going to miss that arm?" he asked in a whisper, his brow furrowed. "I... No," he sighed. "That's all... just that." Dhanishta rested her hand on his arm, "Don't force it," she cooed gently, "if you were meant to remember then you would have," ~if your path was to be with Ella, then you would remember~ she corrected silently. "I'm sorry," Victor apologized. "It's... like trying to see through a moving veil. I see shapes and bits of things, but..." He frowned. "I'm not even certain that I'm *supposed* to remember this, much less how I do; if what you say is correct, it's from a different timeline, one that's been erased now. If I keep pushing, I may give myself an aneurysm if I try too hard - or worse." He blinked. "I may try again later, see what I can remember - but no promises that I'll get more. Sometimes... sometimes that's all memories are, images seen through a moving veil." "Home" Lt. JG. Ophelia Zamora Location: Personal Quarters, USS Galaxy ---------------------------------------- In the big picture, she had not been away for very long. Yet, as the time seemed short, the emotional toll she paid was one that she would never forget. Her memories would be emphasized on the fiasco that occurred at the trial that brought everything to a screaming conclusion. Replicating a cup of plain black tea, she sat expressionless on her sofa. The word 'free' bounced around in her head much akin to a giant beach ball. She should be smiling, dancing for joy, and drinking herself into content oblivion. The woman could not show any emotion on her outward features except tiredness. Her tears had long since dried, her resolve resurfaced, and her anger at Fay had died when she viewed McAlister's body cooling and still on the tiled floor of the courtroom. Ophelia shook her head. Death had been visiting her too often lately. First with her ex husband, now with McAlister. As much as she did not *like* those two, no one deserved to have their lives ripped away from them, no matter what they did. Even Faylin deserved retribution. She wondered where Fay ended in the afterlife. Perhaps Hell, partying with the Devil himself. Tilting her head slightly to the side, she worked out the tension she felt that rested in the tight muscles that created her neck. Tomorrow was her first full duty shift back in her department. The department that would be hushed with rumors of her whereabouts. She would make it so. There was plenty to occupy the legal and diplomatic teams with now a days. Unrest appeared to be the order of the day with the initial reports she had received. Ophelia thought back on her time. The incarceration, the counseling, the back plotting, and drama that made up Starfleet legal. Something was constantly amiss. A non dramatic attorney was no attorney at all. You had to get fired up for your client. She was looking forward to doing that someday in her future. Her senses automatically perked when she had entered the various court room sessions. There was something about the smell of justice that turned her on in a non physical way. The law was her passion. Now, it could be also classified as her savior. tbc |