ON:

Ens. Theron Storme felt more than just a little nervous. He had been instructed to report to an office in the Command Sector of the station. He had been temporarily re-assigned to Starbase Protector following the attack on the research station, located on a small moon in the Darren system. Work here on Starbase Protector had been easy. It had been almost a month ago when he had been assigned to Shuttle maintenance. He was quite pleased with his work, and the night-life here on the station was exceptional.

Ens. Storme entered the Offices of Rear Admiral Jessica Cutler. He had read that most of her time was aboard her flag ship the USS Niagara. “May I help you?” the young brunette woman asked him from behind the desk.

“Hello. Yes.” Storme said nervously. He noticed how nicely she fit into her fleet uniform, but then noticed the Lieutenant rank on her collar. “I have an appointment at 16:00 with Admiral Cutler.”

She looked down and asked, “Your name?” as she reviewed the list before her.

He replied still nervous, “Storme, Ensign Theron Storme.”

She looked up at him without a smile, “Yes, Ensign, you are expected.” Sounding pleased, “And right on time as well.” She rose from her seat, activated a button, and instructed, “Please follow me.”

Theron followed her across a large room with several desks and many people going to and fro, and then stopped before a double door, holding her hand toward the door, “You may go in.”

“Thank you.” Storme responded and walked toward the door, which opened with a *whoosh* and entered.

The young woman then smiled sweetly and raised her eyebrows in interest, before returning to her desk.

Theron entered the office, walked briskly to across the desk, came to attention, and reported, “Ensign Theron Storme, reporting as ordered.”

The middle aged woman sitting in her chair showed no emotion, but had watched the Ensign intently since entering her office. She had some very good news for this officer, but was not prepared to show her hand just yet. “Thank you for being so . . punctual Mr. Storme.” She looked down and moved a couple PADDs about ignoring him for a few seconds, as he remained at attention.

Theron thought, Oh God. What did I do now? He was even more nervous. He was here on time, yet she was ignoring him at the moment. He didn’t know what Admirals did, but having Ensigns just stand in front of them was not one of them, he was sure.

Admiral Cutler then crossed her arms and leaned back in her chair, “Ensign Storme, I have been asked to provide you with new assignment. This is not something I usually do myself. How do you know Admiral Webb?”

Theron had been nervous, then very nervous, but now he didn’t know the answer to her question. His eyes darted about hoping to find a clue. “I . . ah . .do not know that person, Admiral, Sir.” He closed his eyes for a second in an attempt to calm down. He looked again at Admiral Cutler, who showed no emotion, almost like a statue.

She continued, “Admiral Alexander Webb has asked me specifically for a favor, to provide you your new assignment.” She paused again picking up a PADD, looking at it. “After 3 years you are still an Ensign. I see that there are many notations on your record about unauthorized use of equipment and apparently in the habit of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

Theron couldn’t help but close his eyes in humiliation. He had no idea that this Admiral was going to ‘dress him down’. At least it was not in public.

Jessica stood with PADD in hand and stepped away from her chair. She walked around to the other side of the desk and stood facing his side, “It says here that you have received a commendation of valor.”

Storme’s face became serious and stern, because he had not ever heard about that.

Jessica elaborated further, “The story goes that you piloted a shuttle with 16 personnel on board away from a research station that was being attacked. I am sure we should have heard about this to confirm the validity of this ‘story’.” She then raised her voice a little, “Because Ensign, all the rest I read in your file is about a screw up!” She ended up standing right next to him when she asked emphatically, “Would you mind explaining that to me?”

Ens. Storme feared to turn or give details. His mind raced back to a class at the Academy on diplomacy, “I am not sure if I am the proper person to make such an explanation. I do not know Admiral Webb and do not know anything about a commendation.” He closed his eyes again and breathed to try to relax.

Cutler turned away, walked around, and back to her chair. “Apparently, you are believed to have some wonderful piloting skills. I have been asked to provide you an assignment where you will be able to show them off.” She sat down and signed off on the large PADD and then extended it across the table, “Here. You have been assigned as Helmsman of the USS Islandica.”

Storme extended his hand and accepted the PADD without looking at it. “Yes Ma’am.”

Cutler sat gently into her chair, looked up giving a gentle smile, and said, “You will be shipped directly back to Earth. You have just enough time to get there before they are scheduled to leave orbit." She hesitated a moment, then added, "I’m not sure what you did young man, but someone wants to thank you . . , apparently.”

She didn’t say anything for a couple seconds as Storme stood there sweeting. He didn’t know what the Islandica was nor where in the quadrant it might be headed; a garbage scow in the badlands for all he knew.

Admiral Cutler, still with a pleasant smile, said “Mr. Storme, you are being given a tremendous opportunity here; to show just what kind of officer you can become. Please do not screw this one up. Check with operation about transit to back to Earth. You are dismissed.”

There were so many things spinning through his mind, Storme had paused longer than he had intended.

Irritatedly and loudly, the Admiral said, “Ensign! Get out!”

Storme immediately turned with PADD in hand and walked out of the office. As soon as the doors closed behind him, he stopped and closed his eyes. There was so much pressure; he tried to slow his heart from racing. Just then he felt a gentle touch at his elbow. He opened his eyes to see the brunette Lieutenant standing there holding his elbow gently with one hand and a cup in the other.

“Here drink this.” She said with a kind voice. “It will help.”

Storme accepted the cup and took a drink. It was cold and sweet and bubbly and quenched his thirst. He didn’t know what it was, but he was feeling a lot better by it. He then noticed that the woman was no longer wearing her uniform, but a civilian dress of pastel green; his favorite color.

The brunette glanced down shyly and then said, “I just thought me wearing this would be more appropriate and nicer when we go out for something to eat.”

Theron wasn’t sure what to say. “Okay.” He finally said hesitantly as they began to walk toward the main entrance. As they passed the different desks those personnel stood to attention and gave him a nod of approval. These were ensigns, lieutenants, and lieutenant commanders all giving him respect as he walked by. He was a little uncertain what this was all about. He looked to his guide for understanding.

The woman then said, “Oh. I may have read your file and told a few people what you did. I’m Sandra, by the way.” The double doors opened out into the main corridor.

OFF:


Ens. Theron Storme
Helmsman
USS Islandica

ON:

Ens. Storme had been knocked off his feet by the violent lurch of the ship. He now found himself floating about his quarters and in total darkness. This was a fine mess. He thought. With the power out and at red alert, he knew he needed to get somewhere and help. Unfortunately the doors didn’t like to move without power. After a couple minutes Theron was able to wedge the door open enough to squeeze through and out into the passageway on deck 2.

Theron thought that he could be of help most in Engineering, so he needed to make his way aft and down 2 decks. With the weightlessness, the ship's personnel were floating about corridors. Some were much more capable than others. The turbolifts would be down would be down for a bit, so it would be best to use the ladder access points and Jefferies tubes.

He pushed off from the bulkhead in the dim light, floating down the passageway. Theron came in contact with the wall again and re-oriented himself and kicked off again, moving further down the passageway. His zero-G training at the Academy had gone off without a hitch. It seemed 2nd nature to him. He actually had not done much of it since in the last 3 years. Other crew members about him were also trying to get to where they could help, but many just hung to the wall. He was surprised that he had not heard any cries for help or screams from panicked crewmen.

By the time Storme had made his way aft, an announcement had gone out to move all personnel toward the center of the ship. He didn’t think that this was not instructions for him, but believed that his help in Engineering would be needed. He accessed the ladder and made his way down 2 decks. He found it interesting that he was pulling himself head down, in relation to others that were moving up. Theron knew that some people had an issue and confusion with Zero-G dynamics.

Once Ens. Storme arrived on Deck 4, the power and artificial gravity came back on. He heard the instructions for Engineers to put on an EVA suit. Theron found the locker nearby and pulled out the last one there. He certainly didn’t want to take anyone’s responsibility away from them, but felt this was his priority.

A passing engineer paused when he noticed the young man in command red donning the EVA suit and approached.

"Excuse me uh," He paused, reading the rank. "Sir." He finished. "You should be joining the rest of the crew in the inner decks. Why are you donning an EVA suit?" He asked while adjusting his own.

Storme hesitated and then replied, "I thought I could be of help here in Engineering." Yet he understood and handed the suit to the engineer crewman, turned, and headed toward the computer core at the center of the ship.

OFF:


Ens. Theron Storme
Helmsman
USS Islandica

IC:

Shae was swift and silent as she moved through the forest. She dressed like the natives and moved as though she belonged in the forest, yet there was a longing in her eyes as she looked back at the officers she had left behind. She had once been an officer, she wanted to be one again, but she was afraid to leave this world. Would they even take her if she asked? They would want to know who she was and that would cause nothing but problems. No, she would be staying here, although perhaps she could ask them to relocate her to another location on this world, some place where she would not be pained by the array. Or perhaps she could simply ask them to deactivate the device? No, that would lead to more questions about who she was, it would be simpler to just go somewhere else...

As they crept up to the caves, Shae gestured to Myomoto to remain low, and cautiously drew them closer.

"That man," Shae whispered to Myomoto, pointing to the single guard at the mouth of the cave, "can you stun him?"

Myomoto checked his phaser setting before taking aim and hitting the man with a stun burst. He then quickly ran out and drug the man into the bushes. He pulled out some restraints and attached then to the man. Ripping his uniform pants he quickly fashioned a gag and gagged the man in case he woke up. This all took less than a minute and when completed he looked up and Shae and asked "What next?"

"Undress him," Shae said as she began to shed her gear and layers of fur until she was in nothing but a simple linen shirt. "I can get in under the guise of one of them, I believe I can get your Commander out without causing any alarm. You are welcome to join me, but it will complicate things."

Myomoto looked at her somewhat taken aback, but she hadn't mislead him yet. He quickly uncuffed and stripped the man then got him back into restraints. Casual nudity (or near enough) was not new for the marine, in the field you stripped down to clean and maintain your gear; he still kept his head down and eyes averted respectfully. He wasn't sure her feelings on the subject. "I will await your return. Once you are back start heading back to our hiding spot. I will cover our trail." It wasn't combat but he finally got a chance to use some of his special Escape and Evade training... Very basic but hey, practice was practice.

"Stars above, he has lice!" Shae visibly shuddered as she started to put on the man's clothes. "You Commander better be worth this..." she muttered as she finished dressing, her skin already crawling with the feel of the little nits finding their way onto her. Shae stared at the naked Vo'Zak lying on the floor, studying his features. And then right before Myomoto's eyes she began to shift and change, her distinctly vulpine features melting into more humanoid features as she quickly became the man they had incapacitated. She had grown in size, maybe an inch shorter than the Vo'Zak she was impersonating, but she had reached her full height and could grow no taller. Hopefully the other natives would not notice the difference. "I will return soon," she said with a now masculine voice.

"Holy sheep shiiiii..... WOW!" To say Myomoto was surprised was like saying space was cold. "We are going to have a chat after this!" he said severely. And then jokingly he added "You looked better before. Now go."

Shae chuckled softly. His initial reaction was right on par with other reactions she had seen in the past, but that last line really caught her by surprise. She turned and trudged toward the caves to find Myomoto's missing Commander. As she passed the area where the man had fallen when Myomoto stunned him, she found his spear and picked it up, then headed inside. She passed by a few other guards making their rounds through the caves, but at this time of night there were only a sparse few.

It took Shae a while to find where the Commander was being held. The Vo'Zan didn't often have to deal with prisoners, so there was no set location or means of handling those detained. Apparently, they were getting the Matriarchs involved. Shite... This was going to complicate things. As she ventured deeper into the caves where the prisoner was rumored to be, Shae knew she would have to come up with a plan, but for the life of her she was coming up blank for now. No matter, she had a tendency to work best on the fly; she would think of something once she found the Commander...

***Meanwhile***

When the away teamed beamed down to the planet they did so in front of a small hunting party hidden under a rock overhang which hid their life signs from the ship. Not knowing what to make of this magic they saw natives chose to keep their distance. Calling them the "blue men" due to the color of orbs they appeared in. The natives followed and observed. However, when it became clear that the Blue Men were heading to the Humming Tree action had to be taken.

They could not allow such wizards to harm the god. The attack was fast and executed as they had done many other times in the small skirmishes with other groups. The Victory of the battle was great however, not only did they defend the Humming Tree but they also captured a Blue Man.

As they Dragged the pointy-eared wizard away the Natives stripped her of all her magic devices and tossed them in a passing camp fire. They had myths of wizards in their lore, people who could shoot arrows without bows or who had tamed large metallic flying beasts. Every story always ended in the death of the Vo'Zan and fear which lead to the burning of the belongings.

The Hunting Party dragged their prisoner to the Grounds and from there down a small cave to a small room. Closing and locking the door they left the wizard here, as they went to go find a Mother who would know what to do.

As the world of consciousness returned to her, Se'Lah she let her senses awaken. First things she noticed were the splitting headache, and the pain in her hand. The next thing she noticed was that she was lying flat on her back in silence. She opened her eyes, slowly moving her head around to look at her surroundings. "Just my luck..." She said, as she noticed the closed door.

It did not take long for several Matriarchs to be summoned. What was to be done with the pointy-eared one would be up to a vote of all the Matriarchs, a primitive yet advanced system giving the natives were only in the stone age.

Shae, in the guise of one of the cave guards, managed to work her way through the hunting party who were guarding Se'lah, peeking in through the slats of the haphazardly constructed door. "Is it true the wizard made a man sleep with just a touch?" 'he' asked, feigning a state of awe.

"Yes, and her blood is strange," one of the hunters replied, not realizing that he was not speaking with a real Vo'Zan. "She bleeds green."

"What kind of magic does that?" Shae replied.

"Maybe the Matriarchs will know," the hunter replied, spying the Matriarchs approaching. Shae fell in line with the hunters.

Opening the door 6 men all with spears entered and surrounded the Vulcan without a word. Moments later three Matriarchs in their simple yet elegant garb walked into the room. They stared at the Vulcan looking her up and down but not saying anything, other than whispers between each other.

As Shae and the hunters held their spears on Se'Lah while they waited for the Matriarchs to finish their appraisal of this stranger, Shae quickly went through her options. Five hunters was a lot to take out on her own, and the enclosed space was not helping matters. Plus, she didn't want harm to come to the Matriarch; she was here to free the Commander, not kill people. It would help if she could tell Se'Lah that she was here to help, but she couldn't, not without giving herself away. Best to see what the Matriarchs said first, then she would go from there.

One of the many things that was ingrained into all Starfleet officers was that contact with other species should always be as peaceful as possible. Se'Lah was no different. Being surrounded by guards, she slowly got to her feet. With her hand still bleeding, she looked directly at the matriarchs, not taking her eyes away as she ripped a piece of her uniform tunic, and wrapped it around her hand. She turned around slowly to asses the threat that these men posed, but stopped as she saw something distinctly different about one of them, causing one of her eyebrows to shoot upward. While it usually meant surprise from Vulcans, it was also her way of saying 'Hey. I notice you.' "This could be bad..." She said, looking back to the Matriarchs.

The subtle gesture was not lost on Shae, who knew that Vulcans were supposed to be an example of logic and emotional control. She answered Se'lah's glance with one of her own, just a brief widening of her eyes to acknowledge the woman. Then she glanced to the Matriarchs. This could get bad, but she couldn't acknowledge the statement without giving herself away. Now she just needed an opening to strike...

Se'Lah hadn't heard any of them speak, and she decided to take a calculated risk. "I don't know if you can understand me, but I mean you no harm." She said, looking to the Matriarchs.

The Matriarchs looked terrified as the wizard spoke. The scope of its power was unknown, although they did understand they did not respond right away. The middle one took a moment, before whispering something to the other two.

"You will be presented to the gathered Matriarchs tomorrow at dawn," Stated on of the leaders before all three of the turned and walked out of the room. The three of them were unsure what to do and did not wish to upset the others by acting without giving them a say. They had chosen it was best to wait and deal with this as one unit.

"Wait!" Se'Lah said quickly. She moved to take a step, but the guards raised their spears in a threatening manner. She put her hands up defensively. "You've already taken my belongings. Would it be too much to ask for medical attention as a show of good faith? Without it, I may bleed to dead before dawn."

The last Matriarch out of the room stopped and pointed to one of the guards, Shae, "See that it remains alive,"

"It will live to know the Matriarch's justice," Shae replied respectfully, keeping her eyes trained on Se'lah so the Matriarchs wouldn't notice they were wrong. Using their spears, Shae and the other hunters backed her up against the stone wall as another went to fetch supplies to tend to the injured woman.

Keeping her hands up defensively, Se'Lah made no move to offer any resistance, though she did keep her gaze on Shae.

"Leave, I will tend to it myself," Shae bade the other hunters once the supplies were at hand.

"But what if she uses her magic touch to make you sleep?" One of the other hunters ask. Shae remedied this by tying Se'lah's good hand to a post.

"There, now she cannot touch me or flee," Shae said with confidence, enough so that the other hunters felt comfortable with this measure. "Even if she makes me sleep, you will wait outside the door, she will be unable to escape." Assured by her words, the other men left, leaving Shae and Se'lah alone.

"Myomoto is waiting outside for you," Shae said in a soft tone she knew Se'lah's Vulcan ears would pick up, speaking in English so Se'lah would know that Shae was not one of the natives. Shae untied Se'lah from the post and began to tend to her injuries. "I am to bring you to him if I can get you out."

"Your eyes are different from the others." Se'Lah replied in a tone low enough that only Shae would hear. She watched as Shae began to dress her wounded hand. "Tell me who you are."

"Shae," Shae replied simply. "We are lucky they have not noticed my eyes yet, but I think I can still get you out. How good are you at improv? Can you pretend to be an evil wizard?"

"I can." Se'Lah replied simply. "Perhaps you should fill me in on your plan, before we make our move."

Shae finished binding the bandage around Se'lah's hand. "You will turn me into a monster, I will attack the guards and cover our exit," 'he' replied cryptically. "Once we're free of the caves, we'll meet up with your crew. From there, I can take you all to a safer location and hopefully reestablish communication with your ship."

"You're serious..." It was more of a statement than a question as she raised an eyebrow. She looked at him for another moment, before tugging at the rope he tied loosely around her good hand to free herself from it. "Take two steps backward, and call for help. When they come in here, quietly turn around, and let them see your eyes..." She gave him a light smirk. "Then just play along."

*****
Lieutenant Commander Se'Lah
Executive Officer

1st Lieutenant Joseph Myomoto
Assistant Chief Security/Tactical Officer & Intel Officer

Lieutenant JG Kalin "Shae" Brennan
Science Officer

Natives
Played by Commander Vene

***Jeffries tubes***

Despite the smaller size of the ship, the going was slow. With the power suddenly going down, all the jeffries tube doors had automatically shut to prevent accidental containment release. Jacob and his team, though unhampered by gravity in their travels found it frustratingly hard to open the doors to each level. Muscles aching, they eventually managed to pry the doors open into the shuttle bay and pulled themselves into the open. The shuttlebay doors were thankfully closed as the magnetic containment field would have been deactivated with lack of power. Before them sat the large frame of the Volga class runabout.

Ramirez carried a large loop of cables on his shoulder while Sprigg carried a large box of adapters. Jacob held tool boxes in each hand as they floated towards the craft. The temperatures were already dropping, with Jacob estimating the shuttlebay to be at about seven degrees celsius. Once they reached the doors to the craft, Jacob pried open the control panel, grateful to find that it was still powered. He tapped a few commands into the system, causing the door to slide open. Ramirez set the cables into the runabout first, the artificial gravity within pulling the cables to the ground as Sprigg placed her box in as well. The trio finally made the transition from zero gravity to artificial gravity within the runabout and rubbed warmth into their shoulders. Jacob blew air into his hands to warm them before looking around, his eyes scanning the internal bay of the Runabout.

"We should get some EVA suits on while we work. It's only going to get colder while we work the cables and the magnetic boots on the suits will give us some assistance while we work in the bay." He said shivering. "By my estimates, we're down to the last two emergency batteries."

"Setting up the power transfer will take sometime, assuming that the junctions don't blow when we do." Sprigg said, her normally bright features pale due to the cold.

"Let's hope they hold." Jacob said grimly. "The junction box is on the far side of the shuttle bay. Let's get the adapters and cables ready before heading out. I'll power up the system and ready it for power transfer."

"Understood." Sprigg and Ramirez nodded in unison.

***Main Shuttlebay***

The work was slow going as the three engineers prepared the runabout to act as a power generator for the stricken Islandica. Jacob stood inside the runabout's engine compartment while Ramirez and Sprigg, wearing EVA suites, were preparing the cables and adapters for the transfer. Jacob brought up the runabout's readouts and began powering the reactor and additional fusion reactors to begin the transfer.

Reaching over, he powered up the systems to maximum as the nacelles on the side of the runabout lit up. Keying the comm, he tapped a few commands, reading everything.

"Power systems online. I'm reading maximum power output. Based on my calculations we should have enough power to run life support functions and basic systems." He called out.

"Cables are set and adapters are primed. We're checking for any loose connections now." Ramirez replied over the comm."

***Bridge***

It did not take long for Vene to get on the Bridge after running into the Crewmen on deck 2. Not having to climb due to 0G was very convenient. Once on the bridge Vene looked around only to see all of the crew gathered around one station.

"Report," Vene called out as she floated to the Emergency station. The crew was surprised by her sudden arrival and took a moment to respond,

"Ma'am, this station seems to have the last 5 min of computer and sensor data," the Ops officer reported, this was something Vene already knew but she let the young lady continue, "It looks like the computer just shut everything down at once," Vene tried not to roll her eyes,

"Is that all we know?" she asked hoping there was more,

"Yeah, and it is pretty odd," The young lady seemed unsure of herself but continued anyway, "It seems whatever did this originated in the Intel office,"

"What?" Vene asked confused

"Well ma'am the power surge started at the Intel office and went from there directly to the main computer core once there to the backup core and then moments later everything went black,"

Venes mind raced, she was in the Intel office not 20 min before this all happened. The Intel officer and herself had been attempting to decrypt the signal from the array, with not much luck. She had left when it became clear that it was going to take a long while.

If he had cracked it perhaps whatever was in the signal had made its way into the ship computer. Vene shook her own head at that thought. There was no way that could happen and even if it did, there was no way this would all result. But Vene was not a computer expert and honestly wasn't sure if it was so farfetched.

"I don't know if this is possible, so if I sound crazy let me know," Vene stated directed to the Ops officer, "If a foreign file was opened in the Intel office. Could it, and this is the crazy part, Make its way to the computer core and cause all this to happen?"

The Ops officer seemed sceptical and took a moment to think before responding, "It would have to be very advanced to get past our firewalls, but it is possible. If that is what happened ma'am it would also account for the power surge. It could have been this virus adjusting to our systems. But I don't see why anyone would do something like that,"

"The why does not matter," Vene stated, "If..." Vene made sure to keep using that word, "a Virus did get in our system and cause this, in the way I described, How would we remove it?"

***Main Shuttle Bay***

=^=We're good to go!=^= Ramirez called out over the comm. Looking down, Jacob did a final check through all the systems on the runabout before nodding to himself and bringing up the power control systems.

"Alright, starting power transfer now." He replied.

=^=Sir, please be aware that these cables aren't meant to handle more that fifty gigajoules. Anymore and you risk blowing the adapters.=^= Sprigg warned him from outside.

"Understood." Jacob nodded, his fingers hovering over the console. Slowly, he brought the power levels up, drawing electro plasma from the runabout's reactors and transferring them to the shuttlebay conduit.

There was a slight flicker as power ran through the distributors. Jacob could see emergency lights flickering on, bathing the shuttlebay in a red glow. From outside, he could hear a sudden thump as the cables that once floated out of the runabout fell to the ground.

Gravity plating up. Emergency power to lights coming online. He thought to himself. He set the power transfer rate to forty gigajoules before pulling out his tricorder and checking the atmospheric composition in the shuttlebay. While they were safe here with the runabout and EVA suits, he was more worried about the rest of the ship and the falling temperatures. He detected a slight decrease in carbon dioxide and increase in oxygen, which was a good sign.

Setting the tricorder down once more, he pulled up a readout for the Islandica's systems. He could see that power was being routed through the ship at a slow rate. Not enough to activate the myriad of life support systems, but at least emergency lights were coming online from decks one through four.

Opening another tool box, he removed an emergency console unit. It was meant to take the place of a blown console on a bridge in the event of an emergency, but he figured this counted as one. Plugging the console in, he powered the unit and waited for it to fully load up. The console didn't give him much control, only simple commands for rerouting power as well as diagnostics on the ship's computer.

=^=Looking good chief.=^= Ramirez called out. =^=We've got gravity.=^=

Jacob ignored him and continued to delve deeper into the power units. With only forty gigajoules, he knew that he couldn't power much more than the four decks he had already done. Fifty might give them another deck, but that was pushing their jury rigged system to the limit. He tapped a few commands in, signaling the computer to transfer power to life support and gravity plating across the four decks. As he went to hit the execute command, he paused.

Something isn't right here. He thought to himself. The computer was siphoning power from the decks he was powering up. While that was not unusual during normal operations, his orders to reroute power did not include the main computer.

"Computer." He called out to the Runabout. "What is the protocol for computer viability during an emergency power scenario?"

"Main computer will run on it's own backup generator until main power is back online." The computer replied.

"If emergency power is being used on board a vessel, is the computer allowed to siphon from it? Especially when that power is being redirected to life support functions?"

"Negative."

Jacob frowned at that. Something was definitely wrong. Pulling up the Islandica's cross map, he looked for the internal communications system. He was stuck in shuttlebay two with little to no direction. He needed to talk to people. Pushing the power transfer unit to forty five gigajoules, he redirected the extra power into the communications grid before tapping a few commands into his console and opening a channel.

"Thortin to Islandica bridge. Can you read me?" He called out hopefully. "I repeat. This lieutenant Jacob Thortin to the bridge. Can you read me?"

***Bridge***

As Gravity came back online Vene and the other crew members returned to the floor. At first there was sigh of relief from Vene, for this meant the engineering staff had fixed something. But her relief did not last long as she quickly realized she was unable to hold her own weight. It seemed the loss of gravity had allowed her to hold her own due to lack of strength. Before anyone could notice a voice came over the comm.

Warrant Officer Arae, an Arkenite operations officer took his seat at the Operations station. Responding, the Arkenite looked at the Captain with a slight nod. "Yes, Lieutenant...Islandica receives you. This is Mister Arae at Operations, the Captain is here as well" replied the Arkenite male in a calm, collected tone of voice. It was one of his stronger attributes, a sort of grace under pressure.

"Mr. Arae," she called out from her position on the floor, "Have him reroute life support to internal sections. That's where the crew has been ordered to go,"

She then took a deep breath before speaking up for the comms to pick her up, =/\= There is Virus in the main computer, Originated from...the Array on the planet....Computer core to be purged,=/\= Vene knew that order was no small task and it would take an operations teams more than an engineering team but she was feeling weak and needed to get the order out, in the event she blacked out or power was lost again.

In honesty she wasn't really sure if that would work but she thought it sounded good and she hoped the Warrant Officer and Lt. Could translate the order into what needed to happen.

"Aye, Captain" replied the Arkenite, looking back to see the struggling Commanding Officer. "You are not looking so hot, Captain" commented Arae calmly.

***Main Shuttlebay***

Virus? Computer purge? Jacob blinked. The communications was coming in with some interference. Looking over at the power levels, he increased it by another two gigajoules and transferred that power to the communications array.

"Bridge, I have a maximum of fifty gigajoules of power that can be transferred through the ship. I have prioritized life systems and the magnetic containment units in main engineering. However, I can only give four decks power. Please get the crew to those locations. Any engineers that can be found are to get into EVA suits and to return to engineering to continue their work." He said, hoping the message got through.

"Prioritize as needed, Lieutenant. I will see if I can rally some additional engineering personnel for you. However, the Captain is directing all other personnel to the internal portions of the starship. Please reroute as much as you can to life support in these areas" directed the Arkenite.

"Understood bridge, Thortin out." He said closing the comm. If a virus was the cause of the problems, then they'd have a lot of work ahead of them. He was no computer specialist and that meant getting one to the main computer room with all that was going on. Shutting down his tricorder, he turned and grabbed his EVA suit and began putting it on. Sprigg's head appeared at the doorway, her helmet off now that the lifesupport systems in here were online.

"We going to work boss?" She asked.

Jacob turned and looked up at her as he shrugged the suit on.

"How are you with computers?" He asked.

"I'm certified?" She said, confused.

"Good, we have a virus to purge."

***Bridge***

Vene wasn't feeling well but she aware of what was going on. She knew the bridge was basically useless at this point. With no power systems everything was word of mouth and the large orders have already been giving.

"Warrant Officer," She called out, "Get down to the computer core and help them out," She knew they would need an operations officer, "The rest of you, get everyone to areas with life support, deck by deck if you have to and if you see the doctor send him up here,"

The Arkenite was certainly feeling discomfort, but he was not allowing himself to show it. He stood up and vacated his station as the captain was ordering him to proceed down to the computer core. "And you Captain? Pardon my directness, but I do not feel comfortable leaving you. However, I will do as ordered" replied the warrant officer before proceeding.


****

Commander Vene
Commanding Officer

Lt. Jacob Thortin
Chief Engineer

Warrant Officer Arae
Operations Officer
NPC -Played by Beh'ruken

Fagh walked down the corridor rifle in hand. She was getting tired of this. Every time they allowed those rats belonging to the Silver group, a small trading company in the area, on the station trouble was dug up. At the moment, she was on the hunt for on the groups hired security guards.

According to eyewitness reports, the young human lost at the dabo table and chose to attack the Dado Girl. Now he was on the run and that young girl was out of a job. Or at least would be shortly, with what was left of her face there was no way she meant the requirements to be a dabo girl anymore.

As Fagh walked around a corner her visor, which was equipped with thermal detection, alerted her to an abnormally large heat signature behind one of the bulkheads. Fagh took aim without a second thought and fired. Sparks flow as the plus melted the bulkhead and entered the cavity behind it. With no sign of movement or noise, Fagh walked and pulled off the paneling.

"Damnit," She said out loud as she pulled what was left of a large rat-like creature out of the wall and dropped it.

Without a second thought about the bloody carcass in the hall, Fagh continued on her way. The man had to be in the area, she had sealed this section of the base so unless he had a way to transport he was screwed. The longer he mad her look the more pain he was going to be in. Fagh loved her job, but she hated cowards. So many honorless people ran from her an act she had no respect for.

When she was with her own people no one would dare to run from a fight. The Klingon people took responsibility for their actions, something Fagh respected and wished more races would do. Going on these hunts might have made her remember the hunting trips her older brother brought her on when she was a girl. But they were nowhere near as much fun.

Fagh rounded the last corner to the last possible location the human could be hiding, a cargo bay. Calling this a cargo bay would give a bad name to cargo bays, this small room was big enough to hold about 10 good size creates nothing more than n oversized closet compared to most storage areas on the station. But calling this oversized closet a cargo allowed it to be rented out for a much high rate. Which was the main goal of this station, to make money.

Fagh walked up to the door she decided she had enough of this. She was not in the mood to play hid and seek, followed by a walk back the brig listen to the man cry and beg. She had better things to do, like sharpen her blades and get someone to deal with that rat problem she just found out about.

After, Taking a moment to make sure the goods the "cargo bay" were not sensitive or alive, Fagh sealed the bay and began to vent the air. As the oxygen levels dropped Fagh turned and walked away. Her problem was solved, she would send someone else to gather the body while she handled less petty of crimes.

*****
Fagh
Head of Station Security
Glebben Station

ON:

‘Rodent!' 'Thief!' 'Gutter snipe!’ These were words that Freckles had heard and put up with a lot over the last several years. None of them kind; always cruel and unsympathetic. Sometimes the criticism was merciless and always discouraging. But this time, the young Twillix thought, This time will be different. He had been brought aboard Glebben Station by the Daimon; the one person in charge of this space station. He recalled the words vividly, ‘I will have use of your type of services.’ With that, Freckles was happy. Those words would help him through the difficult times.

The agreement was that he would be provided a meager allotment and ration aboard the Glebben Station and the rest was up to him. He could look to find work on the side, but when called upon, he agreed to come and preform the requested task. When a job was done he would be paid; paid in latinum. For Freckles, so far, so good. He preferred courier work, but was more than willing to follow people and report back what they said and did. Freckles felt very confident with this agreement. Yet . . . he knew that he would always need to have an ‘escape’ planned. Ferengi were known for their love of money and acquiring of wealth. As long as he helped with that end, he would be safe. But, for some reason, he knew he would have to have an exit strategy ready.

Today, Freckles had made his way down to the lower levels. He had walked quietly along the lower passageways, keeping mostly to the dark corners, trying not to draw any attention to himself. Here is where the unwanted would hide away among recycling systems and waste storage. He preferred the industrial area, several levels above them, with their replicators and cargo bays. There, more people move about. Most were easy to prey upon. But since coming to the station, Freckles had tried very hard to not steal from the guests, the important owners, or any of their workers. That was one of the agreements with Daimon Zylanis; ‘Keep your little rodent nose clean’, she had said.

So, for now, he was just watching as he squatted in the shadows; watching and waiting, he knew not what for. In some ways he actually preferred the lower levels. The lights were usually kept dim and he did not have to wear his goggles. The eyes of a Twillix were very sensitive and not use to bright lights like most species. So, here with the lumens lower, goggles didn’t have to be worn. He could watch with fresh air on his eyes. Well, fresh air for being in the pit-hole of the station. Freckles also incorporated some infrared sensors into the goggles so he could see in almost complete darkness. He latest addition was to incorporate a digital recording device; audio and visual, the full spectrum. Not only could he watch and report back to the Daimon, but provide evidence as well.

From time to time Freckles had seen a couple workers walk by; no doubt going about their expected duty. He had seen several large men with guns run through about 30 minutes ago. He always made a couple quick note about things like that on his PADD. The PADD was just one of the many things that he kept on his utility belt or in a pocket of his cloak. He had four pouches on his tool belt and many pockets in the cloak to keep the things he felt he needed. He had gear like tools, cutters, a small power converter, spicing wire with clips, and a phaser. The small phaser was something he had stolen from a Starfleeter a year or so back. He tried to never show it to anyone. He feared that it would disappear as soon as it was used. Freckles actually preferred to use a stunning device that he traded from a Bolian. Bolians are always into those non-lethal things. He shrugged. It was no bigger than a sonic screwdriver, but with the many levels of stun. He found it very useful. Freckles also had a station issued communicator, that way he could be contacted for a job or report something urgent or relevant at once.

All this was kept under a heavy cloak. Freckles was very pleased with his dark brown cloak, mostly because he had made it himself. Well, not really made it, but redesigned it, for his needs. The hood covered his head and face, so no one would recognize him. When he moved quickly it was off the deck and did not flap in the breeze. When he squatted, the cloak touched the deck about him, this helped keep out the drafty cold. The exterior was dirty and scuffed, so not to attract attention. The truth of the inside was a contrast. Freckles kept it clean and tidy. He liked to keep his fur clean and this meant for the interior of the cloak as well.

---

Freckles’ stomach grumbled and he realized it was getting close to end of shift. More personnel would be moving about soon, and he too would get out of his little spot and make his way up to one of the eateries.

He was about to stand and peak over the crate, when a person fell on the deck before him. He did not move out of the shadow. Freckles watched and realized that it was a woman, human in appearance, but what did he know? They all looked alike to him. She laid there dirty, wearing just rags, and seemed out of breath. In her hand she clutched something with a chain dangling from her fist. She pushed herself up, looked behind her and cried out softly in anguish. She got to her bloody knees, looked down at the object in her hand, then back again behind her.

Freckles dared not to look or expose himself from the shadow. He could now tell that the figure before him was a woman of age, yet slender. He slid his goggles down into position and activated the recording device.

The woman got to her feet, looked back in the direction she had come, the other direction, and then about her surroundings. She took a step toward a vent at the bottom of a wall covered by a mesh grill. She yanked on it, but it would not move. She then saw a small panel to the side of it. It was a long narrow panel, probably designed for a tool to be placed there. She looked once more at the token in her hand on the chain before placing it at the bottom, inside the panel and closed the cover. A crate was next to it and she slid it over in front of the panel. She heard a noise, from the direction she come, and fear filled her face, as she raising a hand to cover her face. But that didn’t last long as she jumped up and began to run again down the dimly lit passageway.

Freckles was intrigued by what he had seen, yet knew better than to move. And as expected, in less than a minute two large men ran down the dark passageway. They passed him quickly. He could not tell what race they were let alone be able to describe them. He hoped the recording would provide those details later.

Freckles’ heart was racing with excitement. After about an hour, he finally chose to stand and carefully look around. No one else had followed or returned. He knew that his best option was to retrieve the trinket, whatever it was, and then get out of there and up to where he could blend in with others.

The Twillix walked over carefully toward the vent, moved the crate, and opened the narrow panel. Freckles looked both ways before he leaned down and picked up the trinket and chain. He didn’t even look at it before putting it in his cloak pocket, though he felt the cold metal in his hand as he put it away. He quickly returned the panel and crate to their position. Again he looked both ways and then walked quickly down the dark passageway.

OFF:


Freckles
Hand for Hire


OOC: Is there anyone interested in helping me finish this story?

The evening was dragging by at a snail's pace. Guarding a prisoner was not all that enthralling. If anything, it was not something any of them wanted to do, and certainly none of them envied their man inside who was tending to the wounded prisoner. This wizard, this thing... was far too much trouble and none of them wanted to have anything to do with it. They preyed for dawn to come quickly so the Matriarchs could come to a decision on what to do with it and they could be done with this mess.

But dawn was a long way off and none of them had any clue about what was happening on the other side of that door...

"Help!" came from the other side of the door. It was the other hunter who was tending to the wizard! "Help me!"

The hunters rushed the door, barging into the room with their spears ready, and what they came upon was something they could not explain. The hunter inside stood hunched in front of the wizard, holding 'his' head as if pained. Upon hearing the others rushing in, 'he' turned sharply with a feral growl, the light from the torches in the hall catching off 'his' blue eyes creating an eerie glow. It wasn't exactly what Se'lah had suggested, but 'he' hoped she wouldn't mind that 'he' took some liberties with the idea... With a menacing grin on 'his' face and a low, predatory rumble, 'he' took a step forward and the hunters took a cautious step back, fearful what what this wizard had done to their comrade.

As he turned to face the other hunters, Se'Lah held her good hand towards Shae. As they took a step backward, she took a step towards the 'monster' that they thought was their fellow hunter. "You made one mistake little underlings..." She said, giving them what she hoped was a mischievous grin. "You left me alone with him, and now he's mine... Go. my minion!"

Shae roared, 'his' appearance becoming more animal-like and wild. 'He' even dropped down onto all fours for an even more intimidating look, then 'he' lunged at the warriors. Fearful of what had happened to their man and what could happen to them, they bolted from the room, slamming the door behind them. Shae stood with a huff.

"Come, that won't buy us much time and they will return in greater numbers," 'he' said, 'his' voice gruff from the partial transformation.

"After you." Se'Lah replied, gesturing towards the door. She knew she wouldn't be able to get it open if they locked it. "You might have to take the door off first."

"Not a problem," Shae replied and proceeded to charge through the door, leaving it in splinters on the cold cave floor. 'His' eyes darted around, looking for anymore hunters. There were two attempting to remain at their post, but the sight of Shae bursting through the door looking like a monster-ized version of one of their hunters had them running. Shae could scent the sharp tang of ammonia in the air; hot damn, she'd actually gotten one of them to piss themselves! 'He' chuckled softly and led Se'lah down the passage that would lead them to the exit where Myomoto was waiting for them.

As they moved down the passage, Se'Lah heard something from behind them. She turned in time to see one of the hunters rushing towards her with a spear.

Shea heard him too, but the hunter had more experience with moving within such confined spaces and got to Se'lah before she could intervene.

Se'Lah brought her wrapped hand up, cupping it just behind the stone spear head, deflecting it and causing a spark as the tip hit the cave wall. As soon as she heard it collide, her other hand came up to hit the center of the wooden pole, causing it to snap. She promptly slapped him across the face. "You missed." She said simply. "Now run, or I'll feed you to your friend."

Shae didn't wait for the hunter to give a response. She completed her transformation into something monstrous, something the hunter would not be able to recognize but that Se'Lah would recognize right away: Shae had become a sehlat, falling forward on all fours with a mighty roar, her clothes falling away from her. Defenseless, the hunter ran and Shae pursued to give Se'lah a chance to escape and reunite with Myomoto.

With her Vulcan control in place, Se'Lah managed to suppress a laugh as she turned, and bolted the other direction. With the hunters busy dealing with Shae, Se'Lah made it to the exit unimpeded. She bolted from the cave, running at near full speed. She skidded to a short stop just outside the entrance to the cave, looking around to get her bearings, and hopefully discover Myomoto.

Myomoto heard a strange roar and started to get ready to run in and investigate when he saw Se'lah burst out of the cave. He quickly ran forward and got her attention and signaled her to follow. When they got to the woods he stopped and said "You go ahead I will wait and cover our trail. I am assuming that... Person that helped us can make her own way."

Said person, currently in the shape of a sehlat, bound out of the cave and towards the trees, skidding to a stop near Myomoto and Se'lah. Shae grabbed her gear and started dragging it over to bush.

Se'Lah couldn't help it. She brought her hand up to her mouth and started giggling. "We'll go after Shae gets dressed." She said, looking at Myomoto. "And then we can also discuss what just happened."

Shae growled in frustration as she changed back into her natural state, quickly throwing her garb on, angry that she had lost her last shirt. "You guys owe me big time for this..." she grumbled as she stepped out, once again clothed and sporting all her gear. "Let's go, your people aren't far from here," Shae said to Se'lah. "Oh, and don't forget your cuffs, Lieutenant."

"You're an interesting sort." Se'Lah said with a light smirk, as she waited for Myomoto to retrieve his cuffs, her Vulcan training the only thing keeping her from laughing. "Did you enjoy that as much as I did?"

"There is something liberating about letting go like that, but I don't like being seen as a monster," Shae said softly, a hint of sadness in her tone. This was hardly the first time she'd been called a monster.

Myomoto was already on his way to remove the cuffs. It didn't take but a second and Myomto placed them back in his vest. Looking up, down cave entrance, Myomoto heard the noise of footsteps and muffled yells, "Sounds like they have regrouped," he reported,

"It's not safe here. We should move." Se'Lah said, looking at the two of them. she settled her gaze on Shae. "I think we should talk, when we're away from here."

Shae nodded mutely and led them through the forest and to the rest of the away team. She knew as soon as she changed her shape in front of them that she would have a lot of questions to answer, but for now she was content with the silence.

Myomoto followed closely behind keeping his hand on his weapon just in case. These natives ambushed them once he wasn't going to let that happen again, not on his watch.

Shae's ears were erect and alert, swiveling to follow every sound that came from the forest as she led Myomoto and Se'lah back to the other team members. Upon entering the clearing where they had left Jameson and St James, Shae turned to face Se'lah and finally broke the silence. "You should be safe here for a while longer, but I would recommend moving on before daybreak. The Vo'zan will come looking for you. All of you. You've defiled what is a sacred icon to them and they believe you to be wizards, like the ones that brought them here."

Hearing this, Se'Lah instantly put two and two together, surmising that whoever placed the device here, also put these primitives here. "From the looks of you, someone obviously brought you here as well." She replied simply. Despite the fact that Shae had just helped her escape a situation that could've easily resulted in her death, if Se'Lah's weapon hadn't been destroyed by the hunters, she would be pointing it at Shae right then. "Tell me who you work for."

As the tension increased Myomoto slowly moved his hand to his weapon. Unsure of where this was going but not wanting to be caught off guard.

From the hard edge in Se'lah's tone, Shae could infer the intent behind the statement. Just the idea that this woman would draw her weapon now if she had one made Shae scoff; she had received much worse treatment over the years, so this move was hardly anything surprising. Shae looked off into the forest with a heavy sigh.

"I do not work for anyone, not anymore," Shae said, unable to hide the intense sadness she felt. "I brought myself here years ago, though I've lost track of how long it's been exactly. I didn't mean to come here specifically, but my navigational array had been damaged and... I had been an Astrophysicist before the war with the Dominion, so I looked out the window, got my bearings and pointed myself away from Earth and kept going until my shuttle gave out and I crash landed here. This place is my penance for the things I've done, but it's also my haven, hiding me away from the people who made me do terrible things."

Se'Lah looked at her quietly for a moment as the information sank in. "You, them, and that device being here are all a clear violation of the Prime Directive." She finally said. "Not to mention what took place in those caves."

"I have reason to believe that these people and that device predate the Prime Directive," Shae informed Se'lah in a blunt tone. "And how would you propose we enforce the Prime Directive? It doesn't matter that these people are a contaminant to this world, they have been here for generations and have bred with the native population, they are fully entrenched and accepted, to interfere with this established culture would prove to be an even greater violation. And I could argue the point of my presence being a violation considering I was just another Vo'zan to them until just recently. I've been careful not to reveal information or knowledge that could further interfere with their development. It's you and your team who have been the true disruption here."

"Your logic is flawed." Se'Lah said simply, her Vulcan control keeping her emotions on a tight leash. "The Prime directive still applies in this situation... It simply might be more damaging to enforce it."

"Some concepts are beyond logic," Shae replied. "So, do you intend to enforce the Prime Directive and take me away from this place that has been a home to me for more than a decade?"

"That is not my call to make." Se'Lah replied. She sat down, carefully removing the medical dressing from her hand, examining the cuts on her hand left by the stone throwing knife. She replaced the field dressing, and looked up at Shae. "That decision is up to my Commanding Officer."

Shae nodded as she watched the Vulcan work. "What do you wish to do from here?"

"Our ship was sent this way to chart, and investigate a dangerous, and uncharted region of space nearby." Se'Lah explained. "We stopped to investigate the device, when we learned that not only doesn't belong here, but it is sending heavily encrypted transmissions into that same area of space. If you know anything about the device, it could be helpful."

"I can't get close to the device, but there are some observations I've made over the years, inferences I've been able to make based on local legend. And I've got some sensor readings from my shuttle when I crashed landed. I can take you there and you can see what you can make of the sensor data. Actually, it wouldn't be a bad idea to go there anyway, you might be able to scavenge some equipment to contact your ship. And then you'll have its coordinates so you can recover the wreckage when you leave," Shae said.

St James was more than happy to hear they would be moving out. He wanted to get a far away from these people as he could. In fact he wanted more to get onto the bridge safely at his tactical station. Without being told began to pack up what supplies they had laying around.

*****
Lieutenant Commander Se'Lah
Executive Officer

1st Lieutenant Joseph Myomoto
Assistant Chief Security/Tactical Officer & Intel Officer

Lieutenant JG Kalin "Shae" Brennan
Science Officer

NPC Lieutenant JG James St James
Tactical Officer
Played by Commander Vene

***Computer core, middle section***

The computer core for the ship was thankfully on the same deck as the shuttlebay. With the small size of the Islandica Thortin and Sprigg were able to make it there in due time. He had left Ramirez with the runabout to monitor power levels while they pried open the doors to the shuttlebay. With minimal power restored to the upper decks, they were able to bypass the seals on the main doors. They still wore their EVA suits, but moved quickly with the restored gravity towards the computer core. They found the doors to still be sealed, even resisting their efforts to bypass it manually.

***corridors on deck 4***

Jason had woken up after the ship shook. After hearing the com page for all ops personnel to report to the computer core he starts making his way there. When the power went out he was momentarily lost, but when the power came back he continued on his way. Making his way to the main core he finds the doors are sealed and there is Lieutenant Thortin standing there.

"Lieutenant Tannon reporting sir. Do ya mind if I take a look at this door? It should never have sealed this way."

After a moment he pulls the door panel off the wall and pulls out his tricorder.

Theron walked up upon several officers at the computer core. He noticed that they had emoved the panel to access the door controls. "I'm Ens. Storme, if I can be of any assistance." He stood to the side just a step away and tried to not get in the way.

Jacob looked at the two new arrivals as he and Sprigg were working on opening the doors in the side panels. The manual release switch wasn't responding to them. Looking over both Tannon and Storme, he began a plan in his head.

"Lieutenant Tannon, Ensign Storme, we're going to have to wedge the door open after disrupting power to the magnetic seals on the door." He said. "Think you're up to it?"

Storme looked to Lt. Tannon and gave an affirmative nod. Theron then moved to one side of the door to help wedge it open.

Arriving at the scene, the Arkenite looked around. "How may I be of assistance?" asked the warrant officer.

Standing there with his tricorder, Jason gets a very confused look on his face. Muttering to himself “These readings don’t make any sense. How can that even happen?”

Turning around he looks at Storme and Arae. “Have either of you ever tried to unlock a deadlocked door? From the Wrong side?”

Arae looked around hesitantly. "Yes, but I would not advise repeating said instance. I used small explosive devices" explained the Arkenite.

Looking over at Thortin and handing over the tricorder, Jason shakes his head.

“According to my readings these doors are deadlocked from the inside. I didn’t think that was possible to do on these doors, but I suppose the computer can make that happen on any door. It is possible to override, but it might take some time. And a bit of …. unorthodox procedures. Especially with the main computer down. What do you think, sir?”
Jason steps back from the door and scratches his head.

Storme crossed his arms and took on a grim face as he thought through the puzzle of a situation before them. His engineering experience was more related to power systems and not mechanical door locking mechanisms. Yet, there was always a way to go around an obstacle; possibly reset the protocol or put into test mode or cause some other reason so that the system would need to open the door based on a higher priority.

Thortin accepted the tricorder and did a quick read through over the information presented. A frown began to grow on his face as the nature of the situation became apparent. The deadbolt lock on the door was a protocol meant to be used when the ship was boarded as a last line of defense before the core would wipe itself.

Handing the tricorder back, he leaned into the now open panel and looked inside, trying to figure a way around this new obstacle.

"According to the Captain, there was a virus introduced into the ship's computer. It might be the cause of our worries." He said from the panel. "If we could trick the computer into thinking that there was no one on board, the deadbolt protocol might be rescinded." He looked towards Arae, Tannon and Storme.

"Anyone here able to trick a computer's sensor readings?"

"A Virus?. Hmm..." Jason looked at the door some more. "I don't think the captain wants us to blow holes in this new ship. new ship...This is a new ship!"

With a grin, Jason starts to poke his hand in the door control circuits. Looking over his shoulder briefly, he looks at Thortin. "Has this ship gone through it's official shakedown cruise? I was not on board until just prior to launch. If it hasn't then the internal sensors might be able to be tricked into thinking that this is a simulation and programmed to ignore life signs. It would eliminate the ability for us to track anyone aboard the ship, but if i'm guessing right, gaining access to the core is a top priority."

"We have had a three day shake down period." Thortin frowned. "I wanted the standard six months, but the Captain told me that we were being rushed out to this area of space. She..." He paused for a moment, running the idea through his head. "Actually, that might work." He blinked. "Actually it could work. Simulation for running the ship without a crew. It's possible." He nodded.

After a moment, Jason spoke up. "We will need a sensor module from the ship stores, a sim module from the holodeck because the main computer is not trustworthy at the moment, some optical cable and a ODN access tap". Thinking some more, Jason added " and an EPS power tap. I know we need to be conservative on energy usage, but we can try to access the battery stores from the main computer. that will help drain its reserves."

Jason looked over at Arae "do you know where these things are? I can prep the access panel if you want to hunt down the equipment."

Jason turned to Storme "Do you know how to program a sim module?"

Theron looked at Lt. Tannon and nodded affirmative, "Yes Sir. That shouldn't be a problem."

"Warrant Officer Arae, you will be working with Sprigg in collecting the necessary materials for this endeavor." Jacob said taking command as easily as he did in his department. "I will be coordinating with the runabout to give us some power before tap into the battery. Meanwhile, let's get that program together on the PADD before we transfer it to the computer."

Ens. Storme gave a nod of understanding and took a few paces over to a LCARS display panel a couple meters down the corridor. He began to formulate and bring together a program that would do what the Lieutenant was asking for; to make the computer think that the ship was in training simulation, where it would not then be concerned about who was accessing the computer core, since that was typically part of the training.

He found it interesting that he was using the computer to create a program that would then be used against the computer to gain access to it. Of course, if he used the computer to create the entire program, it would understand what he was doing and make necessary changes to protect itself. So, Storme developed and transferred over the parts of the program, a bit at a time, to a non-linked PADD. There, he would bring the program together, and then install it into the sim module, when it arrived.

Jason worked at setting up an ODN access port. At the same time he started unlinking the force field emitter from the main computer. That way the system would not be able to further delay their access to the core. glancing down the hall at Storme and noticing the PADD, he smiled. *Good*, he mumbled to himself, *a thinker.* Now all he needed were the parts and he would be able to rig up a little parlor trick for the computer. Now you see us, now you don't.

Getting the Simm Module from the holodeck was not an easy task giving the state of the ship, but at least there was some light and gravity thanks to the shuttle. After cutting himself attempting to remove the Module and almost dropping it twice down the Jeffries tube shafts crewmen Sprigg arrived with the Module, "Anything else we need sirs?"

"No." Jacob said shaking his head and taking the heavy module from her. "Good job Sprigg." He nodded as he set it down and pried open the access panel. "You didn't tear apart the holodeck too badly did you?"

"No sir. Just creative removal." Sprigg smiled.

"Ah." Jacob nodded as he removed the powercell from his tricorder and set it into the device. It hummed to life, lights blinking as it began the boot up sequence. "Alright. Ready here."

Storme had seen a crewman deliver the needed Sim Module to Lt. Thortin. Storme thought, Wow. Great timing. Then looking at his PADD, Ens. Storme walked over slowly as he made a few last minor changes to the program. He looked at the Chief Engineer and smiled slightly, "I believe I have my part done."

"Very good." Dorian nodded.

Storme held up the PADD and connected a manual link between the PADD and the Module. "This should take just a few seconds to upload."

Jacob made sure that everything was powered up correctly before pulling open another panel and readying the device for attachment to the main ODN network.

Jason looked over at Thortin as he pulled the panel off. "I have set this door so that when it opens it will lock open. I think we should be able to get in and execute a core shut down with out too much trouble once the doors do open." Jason he said, packing his tools back into the kit and readying himself to get into the computer core.

Theron stood back to the side. They had things well in hand, but who know what would happen next.

Once activated it took a moment for the program to take effect. Longer than they would have expected in fact. After about forty five seconds the officers heard the sound to the magnetic locks release, followed by the physical seals. It took another few moments before the door began to open, getting about 3 feet before stopping ajar.

Jacob turned towards Sprigg and nodded. "We're going to need the pneumatic jack from the Runabout. Get it quickly before these doors close." He said sliding his toolbox between the doors to wedge them open.

Sprigg turned quickly, running down the now gravity returned hallways towards the shuttlebay, leaving the men behind.

"Well gentlemen, whose brave enough to try to squeeze through?" Jacob asked with a grin.

Theron looked at the Engineering officer and Operations officer. Both of them were taller than he, however Thornton looked much thinner than he. Theron took a breath and volunteered hesitantly, "I'll go." Storme then took a couple steps toward the door, with seriousness to the words asked, "What exactly do I need to do?"

"The easiest thing to do at the moment would be to cut all power to the core. Then we would be able to manually restore systems and power as needed without worrying about a core virus" Jason said. With out thinking about it too much, he grabbed a decoupler and a hyperspanner and handed them to Theron. "That should be all you need. Just make sure to ground yourself and try not to electrocute yourself."

Theron accepted the tool, but the idea of electrocuting himself seemed to distract him into hesitation.

"Also," Jacob added holding up a PADD and showing a schematic. "Make sure you don't sever these conduits or we won't be able to get the system back online without returning to a starbase." They didn't have all the spare parts they needed and without those, they couldn't get the replicators running either."

Storme answered slowly, "Right." . . "Gotcha" . . . "Cut power, don't sever the wrong system, and don't kill myself." He took a deep breath, "Yep. Nooo problem." With that said he stepped toward the door and quickly stepped through the hatch.

On the other side of the hatch is exactly what the officer would expect, a computer core. The room would normally be lit up like a Christmas tree and the sound of large cooling fans would drown out most outside noises. But with the power down the room was quiet. But with the power off you could hear a pin drop and only a 2 or 3 indicator lights were on. It was a sight that most engineers would never see unless there were dealing with half built or decommissioned ships.

The power relays needing to be severed where clear, not even a first-year cadet could miss them. The problem was the light to do the job and accessibility. They were not designed to easily be taken off.

Tag

There really isn't much room in here. Storme thought, This place was definitely made for small people. He finally located and stood in front of the 6 main power connections to the core.

Theron grounded himself with the harness and cables to the frame and casing. He raised his voice so that they could hear him outside the Core hatch. "I have located the main power. I am disconnecting it now." The main power switch was already off. He released the two connection clamps and grabbed the thick cable with both hands and pulled gently, yet firmly.

"Gentle, there are two clamps that need to be wiggled off so that they don't snap off." Jacob called through the small opening.

It took a little more wiggling of the connector, but Theron was able to twist, lift, and then unplug each cable for the main power to the Core. With a raised voice, "I have manually unplugged the main power."

"Good." Jacob called back, confirming it on his tricorder. Setting it down, he grabbed the power cable they had brought with them from the runabout and plugged it into the mains that worked the doors. Using a bit of power he slid the doors to their full open before locking them in place. As he stood, he reached over and grabbed his tricorder before entering the computer room and examining the massive core.

"Alright computer guys. Get to working on isolating whatever is causing us grief. You have Fifteen minutes."

Theron had to move out of the way quickly as a couple tech scurried past him. Looking at Lt. Thortin he asked, "How else can I help Lieutenant?"

"Head down to the shuttlebay and help Ramirez maintain a stable power flow from the runabout. If things get dicey in here, I want two people in there to make sure that the power doesn't get interrupted." Jacob replied as he looked through the information on his tricorder.

"Yes Sir." Storme said smartly and quickly left the computer core, heading for the Shuttle Bay.

With the doors open, Jason finally entered the computer core. It was very quiet because the core had been powered down. He began isolating systems and manually purging the memory core. Starting with the power systems, he began to reload all of the operating software from the protected archives. He mumbled to himself "Let's see, Power, propulsion, shields, weapons...don't forget communications. This is gunna take a while". Raising his voice so he could be heard by Thortin, he asked "Any system you would like first, after main power? It looks like the core will be down for a while but the engineering systems can be brought online in manual mode." Still hammering away at the console, he glanced up at the computer core and shook his head. "What a mess."

"Auxiliary power generators and full control directed to Main Engineering. I can take over from there." Jacob said.

Jason quickly powered up the auxiliary generators and restored partial main power. He transferred the power control to main engineering and turned to Jacob.
"Partial main power restored. we can take her off life support now. All power systems are under control of main engineering. The core will take a while to rebuild, but we have isolated it so it can't do anything any more for now."

"Excellent." Jacob nodded. "I'll be down in engineering if you need me." He said packing up his tools and equipment. He stood up and looked once into the computer core room before heading back to engineering with Sprigg.

On:

As the Operations off to purge the core Vene was getting weaker fast. Unsure what to do the young helmsmen was worried for her life. He knew the Captain had ordered them to send a Doctor but he was unsure if they would do so, or if the computer core was more of a priority. Not wanting to risk the Captains life the helmsmen set off to find the doctor. First stop, Sickbay.

***Sickbay***

Sickbay was a busy place, Vene was not the only one to be hurt when the power failed. The helmsmen looked around, he had heard the Doctor was a large dog looking man, and it did not take him long to spot such a man.

"Doctor I need your help," The helmsmen stated as he stepped next to the Chief Medical Officer.

Dr. Beh'ruken was tending to two patients when more patients arrived. He quickly spun around and had a look at the incoming. "What do we have here?" he said in a quick, gruff tone of voice. He grabbed a medical tricorder and approached curiously.

The helmsman froze for a moment not sure how to handle this. The doctor was an intimidating man or dog, he wasn't sure, but the Captain's life was at risk. After taking a breath, he reached out and grabbed the doctor's arm, "I need your..." At that moment, he knew he made a mistake

The Chief Medical Officer reached out and grabbed onto the helsmen's arm, trying to steady the officer. "It would seem that you need a better equilibrium" said the Antican shaking his head, directing the helmsmen over to some bio beds. "Try to explain what happened" directed the Doctor.

Out of fear the Helmsmen did not say anything until he was sitting on the bio bed, "It's...it's not me it's the Captain, She is on the bridge, she hit her head, there is blood and..."

"Captains tend to be hard headed creatures by nature" said the Antican calmly as he looked around the Sickbay, signaling a nurse to come over and tend to the helmsmen. "Nurse Blaschak will look you over. I will head to the Bridge and see what I can do for the Captain" commented the Chief Medical Officer.

***Bridge***

Vene had noticed the crewmen leave the bridge, she was oddly aware of what was going on around her. Dizzy but aware which was saying alot. What worried Vene the most was being alone, without someone keep her mind working she thought things might get worst faster.

As if by coincidence, a crewman entered the bridge. Quorin had a frightened look in her eye, and a blanket she'd taken from her quarters loosely wrapped around her. It wasn't cold enough yet that she'd need it, but she didn't want to be unprepared. Seeing the captain, a wave of relief washed over her face.

"Captain! Oh, it's great to see you," Quorin said, exasperated, "all the power went out and, well, you probably know more about it than I do, considering you were the one on Comms. I-I just hadn't seen anybody else. I guess I've been trying to get to Engineering, since I'm Ops, but I still haven't gotten used to this ship..."

Indeed she hadn't. This was her first mission on this ship, and already something this scary happened. After getting her blanket, she'd crawled around in the Jefferies tubes to get to Engineering, but she hadn't found anyone and had gotten a little lost in the process. Eventually, her fear got her to just head to the bridge. There'd always be people (and power) there.

"Is there anything I can help with, Captain?" Quorin continued nervously, finally noticing the bit of blood in Vene's hair, "I can head to Engineering if you really need it, but, uh, you probably need some people on the bridge as well."

This was the first time Vene had seen the blue Lt. in person but she remembered the Bolian from the personnel files. With only 125 people aboard a Bolian stood out. Knowing she had to keep her mind active Vene attempted to recall the Operations officers name.

It took her a moment before responding, "Lieutenant JG Quorin Nox .....Bolian, Female, transfer from....USS Tempest, Operations officer," Vene stated these facts with no real intent other than to keep her mind active,

"It is worse than it looks," she added moving her hand to her head, "The doctor should be on his way," Vene was unsure if that last statement was true but God she wished it was, "Let keep me awake...and talking until he arrives," even when hurt Vene kept a level headed mind a trait she never understood about herself for she always wanted to panic on the inside.

"O-okay." Hearing that the wound was worse than it looked made Quorin even more frightened. How long would the doctor be? She tried to run through her basic knowledge of first aid in her head. Well, injuries could cause shock, and people in shock needed to be calmed. Vene already looked calm. They needed to be breathing and have circulation. Vene wouldn't really be conscious if she didn't fulfill those criteria. They also needed...warmth! The blanket! Quorin offers her blanket to Vene, while coming up with a way to keep her talking.

"Uh, y-you're an El-Aurian, right? You like experiencing stuff and hearing experiences from. W-well, I really enjoy talking with people. I enjoy it more when there's no intimidating alarms going on, b-but that's not really that important I guess." Quorin realizes she was going a bit off topic. Vene was supposed to be talking, so that she could stay conscious. "M-maybe you'd enjoy telling me a story, I know it always calms me down to tell and to listen to stories."

Being asked to tell a story made Vene draw a blank or it was the head wound, she hoped it was being put on the spot. 640 years of history and nothing, her mind was blank, "I'm sorry, I am drawing a blank. Umm....What would you like to hear?"

Quorin turned a little bluer, embarrassed at not specifying. She knew how hard it could be to pick a story on the spot to tell. "Hmm, I don't know that much about you, how about something from when you were young? Old technology has a fascinating quality to it, and it's fun to imagine how things were like back then. Tell me about one of those moments where something amazed you."

"I wouldn't call my races technology old," Vene states with a smile, "but I was back on earth before there second world war. Now that technology was old and impressive,"

"I-I didn't mean to say..." Quorin cut herself off. There was no need for her to babble, the captain was smiling, a sincere smile meant not offended. "Yeah, the technology on Earth is what I meant. I don't really know that much about Earth's history. What kind of stuff did they have during this second war?"

"In their second world war over half the planet was at war, a charismatic dictator managed to conquer most of the industrial world. It was pretty impressive. I was living in the unofficial Capital of the 2nd largest nation fighting the dictator. The government converted every factory and industry to the war effort. Every man able to fight was drafted," Vene smiled has her mind jumped to get own people, "My people did the same thing when the Borg attacked, It is not easy to do. But anyway, the technology. Earth wasn't nuclear yet every battle was done on foot or with inaccurate aerial bombings. It was bloody. The leaders of both sides needed a way to end the war and they started experimenting with splitting atoms. If there was one thing I learned about the Humans in the 20 years I spent with them before that is that they liked overkill and when..."

Vene Stoped talking and focused on breathing for a moment.

It had taken significantly longer to get from point A to point B given the present situation that the starship was in. However, a determined Chief Medical Officer would not simply wait, not when someone was injured. Having finally arrived on the Bridge, Dr. Beh'ruken proceeded over to the Captain, removing the medical kit that had been swung around his shoulder. "For future reference, Captain, I am not fond of making house calls" said the Antican as he looked over the woman's injuries.

Zev glanced up from the tactical console at the doctor's announcement. Personally he wouldn't have dreamt of saying such a thing to the CO, but that was the difference between command officers and enlistemen, he supposed.

"Well, I am not very fond of sickbays, Doctor, so perhaps we can find some neutral ground," Vene joked

The Antican grunted and nodded. "Perhaps, we can simply hold medical consultation meetings in the Mess Hall over a warm delicious meal" joked the Chief Medical Officer, his stomach already rumbling.

"I will never deny a good meal, but it needs to be cooked," She smiled and before glancing at Nox and back to the doctor, "soo...whats the damage Doc?"

"You live to command another day" replied Dr. Beh'ruken. The Antican shook his head "Will hurt like hell in the morning for sure, but I'll give you something for the pain" added Beh'ruken as he opened the medical kit and took out a hypo. He pressed it against the woman's neck. Pain should subside momentarily, but have a concussion for sure and their will be some bruising on several parts of your body in coming hours and days. If you stop by Sickbay, I'll take care of the cosmetic damage easily. Though I'll stick by an old time saying 'take it easy and try to get some rest'" added the Antican.

"Perhaps you could remain here to monitor the situation," Zev interjected. Chances were that the Captain would prefer to remain on the Bridge, so precluding that argument seemed the best course of action in his mind.

"Lieutenant K'war-in--" Zev stumbled through her name, his Ferengi tongue was unfamiliar with the syllables "--please return to your station. All departments: report," the Ferengi ordered.

"Thank you doctor," Vene responded, with the only crew them 4 on the bridge and communication down Vene was unsure who Zev was asking for reports for. They were all waiting for engineering to purge the core. Once that was complete they could get back to a somewhat normal ship,

Just at the moment power came back onto the ship, "Thank god for engineers," Vene stated with sigh,

=/\= All Crew, this is Commander Vene speaking, Main power seems to be back online. Those needing emergency medical attention please go to sickbay. All other minor needs please go to the mess," Vene looked at the Doc as she spoke, " Gamma shift to the bridge, =/\=

It was a long walk over rough terrain to get to the shuttle craft that Shae had crashed in many years ago. They had to stop briefly along the way to tend to Ensign Jameson's leg wound, but soon they were back on course and closing in on the shuttle.
Even after all these years, they could see evidence of where there had been damage to the forest and terrain. They could even see where Shae had tried to conceal pieces of the ship. Over the years she had buried a fair amount of the wreckage to hide it from the natives, but she had been in no rush to finish the job; the natives never came out this way and it would probably be another generation or so before they ventured out this far.

The main body of the shuttle was partially buried under rock, the result of a small rockslide from when the hull of the shuttle scraped against the rock face during it's descent. The shuttle was small and laying on its side under the rubble, though Shae had no issues climbing up onto the wreckage and slipping into cockpit through a torn piece of the hull. It was a tiny space inside to begin with and being partially crushed from the crash and the rockfall made it even smaller, but Shae managed to maneuver around without a problem, pulling up the deck plating to access the emergency beacon, which she had intentionally left deactivated, to power whatever was left of the computer. The sensors weren't likely to be functional, but if the sensor logs were intact then it would be useful to the away mission.

As Shae entered into the shuttle, Se'Lah followed suit, carefully climbing up to where the torn piece of the hull was. It took her a bit longer as she wasn't used to the climb like Shae was. Once she got to the opening, she knelt down, looking inside. "Looks like you had a bit of a rough landing." She said simply, as she looked down at Shae.

"Yeah," Shae replied. "It was already in bad shape by the time I made it here, but when I picked up the signal coming from the planet, something went wrong with my computer and I lost control of the helm. I was lucky to come out of it alive."

Myomoto had pretty much been a fly on the wall to this point but took his eyes off the surroundings to turn and ask "Yeah, but can it fly? Grounded shuttles don't help much." He turned back to surveying around for danger his hackles almost visibly raised. He was a man on edge and when he got like this he could be a little testy. He either needed to unwind in a safe area or do some violence... Soon. "We need to go." He said, stating the obvious.

"I doubt this thing would ever fly again," Shae replied, glancing around at the wreckage as she worked. "But it gets us sensor logs that could be useful. Plus, it'll be safer hiding here than where we were." she finished hooking the power cell from the unused emergency beacon to the computer, and the console in the cockpit lit up. "There, see if there's anything useful in there," she said to Se'lah.

With all of her things having been taken from her, Se'Lah turned to Hanna, who was standing with the others on the ground. "Ensign, hand me your tricorder." She ordered simply. With a Tricorder, Se'Lah, or Hanna could look over the logs without being inside the shuttle.

With her injured leg, there was no way Hanna was getting inside that shuttle, so she passed her tricorder into shuttle. "You wouldn't happen to have an emergency medkit in there, would you?" she asked Shae.

"Yeah, I'll get that to you in just a minute," Shae said, glancing around to try to find it. It wasn't in its compartment near the transporter controls because she had needed it when she crashed, and after so many years she couldn't remember where she dropped it.

Se'Lah took the tricorder as she started messing with the computer. The setup was fairly old, but it was one she was familiar with. After a few moments of messing with it, she closed the tricorder, and moved to hand it back to Hanna. "This computer has been compromised." She said simply. "I was able to get some of the sensor logs, but I noticed something... Parts of the compromised code are identical to what you and I were looking at on the Bridge."

Hanna took the tricorder and looked over the readings. "If this little bit of code could compromise a shuttle and do this..." Hanna gazed over the wreckage then back to Se'Lah. "What if the same thing is happening on the ship? What if Islandica's computer has been compromised?"

"It certainly could explain why we are unable to reach them." Se'Lah replied, then raised an eyebrow, looking at the others. "We should face the possibility that we may be stuck here for a while."

"Good, now I'll have some company," Shae said as she found the medkit and crawled out of the shuttle to bring it to Hanna.

Se'Lah moved out of the shuttle right behind Shae, standing off to the side. "While this may be good for you, I have no intentions of staying on this planet any longer than needed." She said simply. "If that Array is emitting such a dangerous signature, it may be best to shut it down, or destroy it."

"Wish I could help, but I can't get near it," Shae murmured as she knelt beside Hanna to deal with her leg wound.

Myomoto's ears perked up at that "Destroy?" He sounded almost happy. "I can do that. And yes I can arrange it to happen at night when no one will be near it." He began going through his checklist in his head of materials and tactics he would need. So far his first away mission was not what he imagined it would be, but he was glad it wasn't typical. "Ok, give me my mission parameters and objective." His voice lowered to almost a growl and his eyes shone as he finished  with a grin, "I got this."

"Are we certain this is the best option?" Hanna asked while Shae worked on her leg. "If the natives view the array as some sort of religious icon, then destroying it would be disruptive to their culture. And there's no guarantees it would fix the problem; the code is already on the ship, so stopping the signal won't make that code inert, will it?"

"Even if it didn't fix the damage to your ship, the destruction of the array would prevent similar damage to other ships in the future," Shae pointed out. "Though I do have to agree with her point about the destruction of a religious iconography. Maybe there's a way to shut down the array without actually destroying it?"

Myomoto shrugged his shoulders and said "It doesn't really matter to me either way. I would just rather be doing something than  nothing." He turned back to scanning the surroundings and muttered "Anything is better than sitting and waiting." He knew that the others were doing their best to resolve the situation, he just didn't like not having something to immediately contribute. "I'm going to walk a 50m radius perimeter. I'll be right back." He opened his tricorder and set it to scan an additional 150m out from his position and set out.

"Then perhaps we should simply disable it." Se'Lah said, turning back to Shae, and Hanna. "If we can disable it, without destroying it, then they will still have their religious icon, and we will have saved others from a similar fate."

"How do we disable it?" Hanna asked, wincing as Shae dressed her wound. "When we were there earlier, I couldn't see any sort of access interface."

"My closest guess would be that there is a touch interface somewhere on one of it's sides, hidden in the same way the lights are, until they light up." Se'Lah replied logically. "It is logical to assume that if we can locate that interface, then we can shut it down."

"We would need a fair amount of time to thoroughly examine the array to discover the interface, then time to figure out how to disable it. Barring that roadblock, I'm okay with this plan," Hanna replied.

"Maybe I can give you time," Shae said, packing away the medkit. "Perhaps I can provide a distraction to get the sentries away from the array so you can have the time you need."

"The other thing I'm worried about is food." Se'Lah replied without missing a beat. "Since we may be here a while, food, and water should be a high priority."

"I can handle that," Shae said, grabbing her bow. It was just as well that Se'Lah was bringing this up now, Shae was starving! She had been on the move since being forced our of her territory the other day and had eaten very little; add to that the amount of shapeshifting she had done tonight and she was sorely in need of a good meal. She was also exhausted, but she would deal with one issue at a time. "I hope you don't mind, but I'm gonna go take care of that now."

"Maybe I could help?" St James piped up, raising a nervous finger. He really wasn't sure what he should be doing at this point, but figured it would be best to stay out of Myo's way.

"No offense, but do you even know how to hunt and forage?" Shae asked. "i can move faster on my own, and if it looks like you're going to be stuck here for a while I'll show you what's safe to eat, but for now I've got this handled."

"If you'd like to be helpful, perhaps you should stand guard." Se'Lah told St James. "That is what Security officers are for, is it not? To provide security?" She looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, yeah, technically," St James replied with a shrug.

"Technically..." Se'Lah repeated. She straightened up slightly as she turned to face him more fully. "Lieutenant, is this your first away mission?"

"Technically..." St James repeated before allowing his reply to trail off, making an ambiguous gesture.

Barring simulations and controlled expeditions at the Academy, and that one time that he beamed down to repair the minimal tactical systems on a ship in distress, this could be considered his first away mission... and he felt like he was doing terrible at it.

Shae sighed. This was turning out to be a mess. An injured Ensign, a junior Lieutenant who couldn't seem to figure out what he should be doing... But at least the Commander and the 1st Lieutenant seemed to have their heads on straight. "I'll be back shortly. If you can, try to have a fire ready," Shae said softly, then darted off into the forest to hunt.

Se'Lah sighed heavily, shaking her head. "Just relax, and do your job, Lieutenant." She said as she began working to prepare a fire pit. She was debating in her mind whether this man would be useful in any future away missions. He was certainly still green, despite his rank.


Lt CMDR Se'Lah
Executive Officer

1st Lieutenant Joseph Myomoto
Assistant Chief Security/Tactical Officer & Intel Officer

Lieutenant JG Kalin "Shae" Brennan
Science Officer

Lieutenant JG James St James
Tactical Officer

Ensign Hanna Jameson
Science Officer
Played by Shae

'I've been alone for so long, I should be glad that I'm not anymore,' Shae thought as she ran through the forest, tracking the scent of an elk-like creature that migrated nearby. 'So why does their presence fill me with dread?'

'Probably because you know that even if they get stranded here, it will not be for long. Starfleet will come for them, and when they do...' a voice answered from the darkest recesses of her mind. And Shae knew this answer to be true; once Starfleet came to reclaim their lost officers, she would be found out. 'Would it really be that bad to go home? Surely it could not be any worse than another hundred years of loneliness...'

'I don't want to be alone anymore, but what if...' Shae shook her head to dismiss the thought. Nothing was certain right now. She would just have to take things one day at a time, and the first order of business was to help provide for the Away Team. The Chameloid woman found her prey and slowed to stalk the creature, but another scent on the wind sent the derk running. Growling softly, Shae changed directions to seek out this intruder that had caused her to lose her prey. She found him with tricorder in hand, still performing his patrol. She move silently through the forest, watching Myomoto as he checked the area for any dangers.

Myomoto had his attention divided between his tricorder and his natural senses (and augmented hearing, which was dialed up at the moment). While his tricorder wasn't showing any humanoids it did confirm his other senses warning him he was being followed... Just not by anything "human". He had a pretty good idea of who it was though. "Hello Shae" he said in a quiet tone, testing to see if he could figure out how good his hearing was.

His hearing was good, almost as good as hers, and he displayed a remarkable awareness of his surroundings. Shae was definitely impressed. She moved closer, silent like a whisper, and with barely a though she stopped concealing her biosignature to allow him to get a reading on her. "You are a marine," Shae commented as sidled up beside him, peeking curiously at the readings on his tricorder.

Myomoto was not at all surprised by her approach but was surprised by the rapid readout change on his tricorder as she approached. His combat readiness dialed to the max just in case. He was fairly certain it wouldn't come to that but better safe than dead. His training and experience has taught him that more than enough times. "I am indeed a marine." He responded "Nothing else to be in my opinion." he finished with a little chuckle.

"Marines are ground troops. Why would Starfleet, essentially a stellar 'naval' operation, need ground troops when they already have their own security and tactical departments?" she asked, her tone almost innocent. When she had served in Starfleet, marines were a very rare sight, usually only used individually for a specialized skill, typically intelligence operations. Perhaps that was the case here.

Her tone may have sounded innocent but the question in and of itself was revealing, she had a pretty good idea of how starfleet opperated, but he played along. "I am kind of a special case. Because of some of my past experiences and training I can be of extra help to our ship and her crew where we are going. Marines still are not a common site on a starfleet vessel unless they are being transported somewhere." He looked at her out of the corner of his eye and called her out. "What about you? What did you do in starfleet before you ran?" It was more than a half guess but he was observant and good at extrapolating from limited data.

Shae nodded at his explanation. That made sense. "What makes you think I was ever in Starfleet?" she asked.

"Alot of what you have said is pretty common knowledge but they way you say it says alot as well. You pretend to ask about something that you know the answer to just to see how we will answer. Prime directive everyone knows about the the confidence with which you talk about it, and how contamination has affected these people and how to avoid furthering it, shows me you know it better than average people. Officer knowledge." He paused for a second "There are a few other little things that added up, plus, like I said, I have training. And experience. My job for a long time depended on reading people."

Shae offered just a hint of a smile before replying. "Well, I've already said I was an astrophysicist before all this. After completing my training at the Academy, I was stationed at Alpha Centauri to continue my education. I was working on my doctoral thesis before..." Shae grew silent and she looked away from him, her whole demeanor changing. This topic dredged up a great sadness within her and now he would no doubt have questions for her, questions she would much rather remained unanswered.

"Hey," he started out gently "We have all done things that we aren't proud of and seen things that will haunt us forever. You don't have to tell me anything you don't want to. Hell we don't even know each other. The captain however, she will want to know it all if you want to stay on the ship. Of that I am quite sure." He paused before continuing. "I do have one question however. In my official capacity as assistant chief of security. Is there anything from your past that will or could endanger the ship and her crew?"

"I can't answer that," Shae said sadly. "Too much time has passed, too many things I don't know... If it makes a difference, I don't want to be a danger to anyone..." She was hesitant to say anymore, though part of her wanted to. She wanted to leave this world, but she didn't think she deserved the kindness of a rescue. More to the point, if Section 31 found out about her... She had learned the hard way that there was little they wouldn't do to achieve their goals, and if she again became one of their goals, she didn't want to endanger this crew.

He felt a little bad but he had to harden his tone as he continued "Can't or won't? Look, too much time has passed doesn't fly with me. Not wanting to hurt people is a great intention, you can use that to pave a road to hell." he wasn't sure if he got the old term right but he remembered hearing something like it before, either way his point was made. "I can't allow you onto the ship unless you can convince me it is safe to do so. There is absolutely nothing personal in what I am doing, security is my responsibility, I take it very seriously. And there are alot of things about you setting off all kinds of my alarms."

"Like the fact that I'm a changeling?" Shae pointed out. "And we were at war with Changelings... Though I'm not the same as the Founders, someone in Starfleet thought I could be a danger, or at the very least useful. It didn't matter that I had been raised on Earth by a human family, that I had been a loyal officer, they didn't give me any choice in the matter, they..." Shae's ears were laid back and her tail was limp, and her face was a reflection of the pain she felt. "If I leave this world, if they find out where I am, they might come for me and I can't risk that. I won't be responsible for anymore pain and suffering. I will stay here once you and your team return to your ship."

"hmph" He said thoughtfully. "You almost sound like you are talking about the old Section 31. Sounds like something they would do. They went a little too far during the Dominion War and got cut way back to just intelligence gathering once the dust settled. Thank god for that. They were a menace."

"You know of Section 31?" Shae asked, looking up at him with a mixture of hope and relief that his words were true that Section 31 no longer had the power and influence they once did. And her response essentially confirmed that he had hit the nail on the head. "They used to be little more than a myth."

"They are kind of the secret everyone knows about now." He scratched his nose thoughtfully. "Well not everyone but alot people. Starfleet is not proud of what what Section 31 had done so they took a laser cutter to them and paired them down to a bunch of analysts and intel gatherers and kind of doesn't talk about it anymore. I think that if they were your worry... then you should be ok."

"I see..." Shae took a deep breath as she struggled to reign in turbulent and confusing emotions, but she was positively elated that Section 31 was not the concern they once were. More than that, she was simply relieved. "I... don't know what awaits me if I leave this world. Probably a court marshal... When section 31 took me, Starfleet declared me AWOL. After all this time, what would even be the point of going back to Starfleet?"

"The point of going back to Starfleet is that it is your duty. If you are court marshaled, which I honestly don't know if it will happen, then cross that bridge when you get to it. In the mean time talk to our captain. I am sure, hell I know, she knows more than me on things of this matter. I am at the end of any help I can be at this point. I fight, I report, I protect. That's about it."

Shae's ears again drooped at the unmistakable censure at his tone. She didn't like the implication that she was somehow abandoning her duty because she ran away. She abandoned nothing, Section 31 had taken that from her. Her running had nothing to do with duty and everything to do with survival. "I have to go," she said uneasily. "Your Commander tasked me with providing food for the team," she quickly added to disguise her unease.

Myomoto sighed in frustration. He sucked at his crap. He preferred a nice quiet spot behind and to the right of his principle, a back to watch and an occasional ass to kick. "Look," he said "I don't people well ok? I am not really trying to tell you what you should do. I am just saying what I would do. I don't know anything about what happened to you or the circumstances of your flight from Starfleet." He paused awkwardly "Being alone sucks. Talk to the captain. She is good people."

"I never ran from Starfleet," Shae said softly. "I just feel I need to clarify that. I ran from them, from Section 31. I over heard some talk about sanitizing the project, and I know what that means... So I ran for my life."

"I'm sorry. I honestly don't know what to say..." He shuffled a little awkwardly. "Like I said before I am not good with people. I don't know how to console or comfort or share or any of that stuff. I can give you an in depth, highly detailed, description of our mission so far. Quote most conversations verbatim. Hell I can probably guess what is happening back at the shuttle right now... Sigh maybe I shouldn't have taken this assignment." He wasn't sure why he said that last bit and seemed kind of surprised by the fact that he did.

"I used to be good with people..." There was a distant look in her eyes as she looked off into the forest. Her ears swiveled to follow the sound of the derk she had been stalking earlier; it had returned and now she needed to go after it. "I will speak with your Captain."

"Good. Happy hunting." He turned back to return to his patrol. "See you back at the shuttle" He had some extra tension to work out so he decided to turn it into an exercise. He took off at a full sprint making very little noise as he ran and dodged through the woods. Am I ever going to be able to talk to people normally?... Do I even really want to? I like my world, my work...

Shae loped off towards her prey, feeling strangely better about things now. She hadn't anticipated how cathartic it could be to reveal even the little bit she had told Myomoto. Not just that, but there was something about him, something... disarming? She didn't trust him, she'd only known him for a short while, but there was a sense that he could understand her situation in a way that few others could and that made him approachable. And there was something else that Shae could not define, and it definitely piqued her curiosity...


1st Lieutenant Joseph Myomoto
Assistant Chief Security/Tactical Officer & Intel Officer

Lieutenant JG Kalin "Shae" Brennan
Science Officer

As Jacob entered main engineering, he watched as the Engineers continued to work their magic. With power restored and control to the units centered in Main engineering, they could get a lot of the systems that had been taken down or even damaged working again.

Making his way through the busy room, Jacob took a seat in front of a console and brought up the information regarding the primary and secondary power grids as well as a status report on the reactor and the auxiliary fusion generators.

The auxiliary power was up once more, generating the power necessary to restore life support and most system onboard the Islandica. That meant that the magnetic controls and fields were being powered and the threat to the core and even the ship averted.

Finally, some good news. He thought to himself as he went through a systems checkup across the ship.

Standing from the console he held his hands up to cup around his mouth before speaking.

"Alright!" He roared. "We have power restored to the ship on all decks. We have multiple areas and systems that require repairs. Break into pairs and get to it. If this ship isn't pristine by the time the away team returns, none of you are sleeping! I'll have assignments ready for you when you get your gear."

The engineers moved quickly, spurred to action by Jacob's orders and knowing that the Chief expected a whole lot from them.

As they moved on, Jacob began to delegate repair duties, each deck and their teams being prepared in his head as he sent the information to their PADDs from his console.

As they teams filed out, Jacob leaned back into his chair began work calibrating the reactor back to what it was before the power went out. He could feel exhaustion creeping towards him, but he had to hold it at bay. The ship needed him alert and ready to address any issue and he'd be damned if he slept while she still needed repairs.

***Bridge***

After getting power back it did not take long for the bridge staff, that which was still on the ship to makes its way back to the bridge.

"Let us start by getting our away team back," Vene stated as she attempted to ignore the pounding which was still in her head.

Pressing the comm next to her chair Vene opened a channel,

=/\= Islandica to the Away team...Commander Se'lah are you there? =/\=

***In the woods***
The sound of the captains voice over the coms almost made Myomotos knees weak with relief. Thank God He thought with relief. He turned and started to run back to the shuttle to regroup, but on his way back he remembered that Shae did not have a com badge and had no way of knowing that they had a way back. Turning around he headed off in the direction he had last seen her traveling and picked up his pace.

***Bridge***

Without a response right away vene started to feel concerned, "Are we transmitting?" She asked looking over to the ops officer.

=/\= Islandica to away team, Anyone can you read us,=/\=

A few more quiet moments went by, before an answer finally came.

=/\= Se'Lah here, Captain. You are indeed transmitting. =/\=

"Give me a status report, Commander." Vene said.

=/\= Our situation here has become somewhat... complicated in more ways than one. =/\=

From the Tactical station, Zev glowered at this announcement. Considering all that had been going on aboard the ship, he'd hoped that the Away Team had enjoyed a quick easy mission, met some natives, and enjoyed a bit of the local cuisine without incident. So much for that...

"Can you elaborate, Commander?" he asked, glancing at Vene in hopes he hadn't overstepped his bounds.

***Planet Surface***

Se'Lah used a phaser to light the camp fire she had been preparing, before replying to Zev. "The device we detected from orbit, is some type of communications array, which appears to be highly advanced, and apparently destructive to computer systems. The locals here are also not exactly locals. They were apparently placed here when the array was." She was silent for a moment, as she thought about her next words. "We've also met someone... A Starfleet deserter, who has been here for more than a decade. Along with them, we are planning to disable the array."

Hanna Jameson carefully rose from the log where she had been sitting, careful not to disturb her leg wound too much so it wouldn't start bleeding again. "With your permission, Commander, I would like to return to the ship," Hanna requested respectfully. "I know my injury is not severe, but I'll still slow you down."

"Considering the situation, I agree." Se'Lah replied, knowing those on the Bridge could hear their conversation. "Ensign Jameson, and Mr. St James are beaming back to the ship. We should have the array disabled shortly. Se'Lah out." She tapped her COMM badge off without even waiting for a reply, then turned to James, and Hanna. "You two return to the ship, and present that information to the Captain. I'm going to go find the others, and get this taken care of."

"Yes ma'am, right away," Hanna replied, then tapped her comm badge. =/\="Jameson to Islandica, two to beam up." Then she and St. James disappeared in the blue shimmer of the transporter matter stream.

***Islandica - Bridge***

"I'm going to sickbay." Vene said. "Zev, you have the bridge." She said, then she disappeared into the waiting turbolift.

It had only been a short time since the COMM with the ship had taken place. With Hanna's phaser still in her possession, ran off into the forest to find the others.

Moving silently under the cloak of night fall, Se'Lah moved through the forest, allowing her senses to carry her. She knew there was movement in multiple places in this forest, most of it by the wild life there, but they were not who she was hunting for.

Shae knew what it felt like to be hunted, and she didn't appreciate being stalked by the vulcan woman she had just saved. She set down the derk she had managed kill, and drew her bow, sending an arrow right over Se'Lah's shoulder.

The sound of something flying through the air towards her at high speed made Se'Lah simply react. Just as she had at the start of the encounter at the Array, she brought her hand up, catching the arrow, and ignoring the fresh round of pain it caused her already injured hand.

Still holding the arrow, Se'Lah turned around bringing the phaser to bear in the direction it came from, barely making out Shae in the dark forest. "A most unwise decision on your part." She said just loud enough for the changeling to hear her. "This phaser is set to maximum power. If I were you, I'd lower your weapon, because I don't want to have to kill you in self defense." Despite her Vulcan mannerisms, Se'Lah truly had no intentions of shooting an innocent, and she very much hoped that Shae would comply.

"Self defense?!" Shae already had another arrow drawn and she had no intentions of putting it down. "Do you usually go stalking the people who risked their own lives to save yours, with a phaser at maximum setting?! That's quite a way to show your appreciation and thanks, I'll have to try it if someone ever saves my life!" That marine, she had been so foolish to believe his lies! No, not foolish, just desperate. Tears formed in her eyes as she replayed their conversation in her head. Section 31 wasn't dead; either this woman was one of them or she was just a tool sent by them to collect her. Shae growled; her paranoia was getting the better of her, but it was what had kept her alive for so long.

"I am not your enemy, and I do not want to fire this weapon." Se'Lah explained. She could tell the woman was distraught, and paranoid. She stood there for another moment, before taking a calculated risk, and placed the phaser inside her jacket pocket, putting her hands on top of her head, and lowered herself to her knees as if being arrested. "What will you do, Shae of Starfleet? Will you kill me to protect your secret, or will you lower your weapon, and talk to me?" Se'Lah asked, her words showing that she was aware that Shae had once been a member of Starfleet.

Shae was really conflicted. She didn't want to kill anyone, it was a matter of necessity! But now that Se'Lah had come looking for her as she had, it had broken what little trust Shae had in these people, and now all she could see were ploys. It all made sense! Se'Lah knew Shae was out there and made herself vulnerable by getting captured, to force Shae into helping the Away Team. But she didn't want to kill this person! Even if she was right, she would just be playing into Section 31's hands; and if she wasn't right, then she would be killing an innocent woman... But even stronger was the desire to believe that Section 31 was no more, that this was a simple misunderstanding and that it was safe to go home. She was so lonely, she really wanted to believe, but there were too many risks...

"Take out your phaser, remove the power cell, toss them both towards me," Shae demanded, a small waver of doubt in her voice. If this woman really was an agent of Section 31, then she new Se'Lah could kill her quite easily without that weapon, but Shae had to start somewhere.

Se'Lah silently did as instructed, removing the power cell from the phaser, then tossed them both the short distance to land at Shae's paws. A moment later, her hands were back atop her head just as they had been before. Although her Vulcan control was in place to suppress her emotions, Se'Lah was afraid behind the mask of logic. She found herself wondering just how many times in her career she had been faced with death. "If you kill me in cold blood, you will never forgive yourself." She finally replied simply.

"It wouldn't be the first time I've been forced to do something unforgivable," Shae said sadly, but she lowered her bow and loosened her draw. "You may get up, just be careful how you move; you may have caught my arrow earlier, but that was just a warning shot, I can assure you that if I mean to kill you that you will not get a chance to repeat that feat."

Se'Lah visibly sighed in relief, letting her emotions go. She'd had her control in place for some time, and she couldn't hold it further. "Based on your skill set, and your knowledge of my tactics, it makes sense to assume that you were no ordinary Starfleet Officer." She said as she slowly got to her feet. "If I had to guess, I'd say Starfleet Intelligence."

"Not even close," Shae replied with a pained expression. "Before the war, I was an astrophysicist, but you should know that if they sent you... Either you're playing dumb or you're just a pawn," Shae said as she padded closer to Se'Lah, sizing the woman up to try to figure out this woman's angle.

"I am a Starfleet Intelligence officer, but they did not send me." Se'Lah replied, and then hesitated. Her mind went back to comments Shae had made earlier about the length of time she had been here. "Or are you referring to Section 31?"

Se'lah's question immediately had Shae on edge, her fur bristling as a low, dangerous growl escaped her. "You can tell them I'd rather die then go back to them," Shae replied in a hushed tone.

"I was not sent here by Section 31, nor would they even have the power to send me here, even if they wanted to." Se'Lah explained. Her hand throbbed, and she could tell by the slight warmth at her fingertips that it was slowly bleeding again, but she ignored it due to the danger she now faced. "Based on my findings over the last few months, Section 31 has been reduced to nothing more than intelligence gathering. They can no longer pose a threat to anyone, including you."

"Your marine said the same thing, yet here you are at my mercy after you came after me with a phaser," Shae said with a snarl. "What am I to believe after something like that?!"

"I came searching for both of you, because contact has been established with my vessel." Se'Lah replied, without missing a beat. "Had I intended to kill you, you would already be dead."

"You know what I am and you're in my territory; if I thought for second that you wanted to kill me, you wouldn't have even been able to find me," Shae growled back, her eyes narrowing. "It's good that you've restored contact with your ship. That means you can get the hell out of my forest. You can take the wreckage of my shuttle with you, but I am staying. I told your marine I'd be willing to speak to your Captain, but she can come to me if she wants to speak to me that badly, but I am not going anywhere with you."

Se'Lah stood there for a quiet moment, as she thought about the best way to handle this. "What can I do to prove to you that I am not your enemy?" She finally asked. "I have already given you my weapon, and even gave you the option of taking my life, without resistance, yet you still believe that I intend to return you to an organization that has apparently become defunct."

"As a scientist I know that the absence of evidence is not evidence of absence, and as a former Section 31 asset I know that self sacrifice is a tactic of deep cover operations," Shae said, turning to walk away from Se'lah. "They say that you only get one chance to make a first impression and what a first impression you've made. At this point there's nothing you can do to prove to me that you are not my enemy." She stopped to pick up the phaser and the power cell. "You can have your marine or your Captain come get this from me once you are off this world."

"You are correct in one aspect of your reply." Se'Lah replied, not bothering to take even one step towards the Changeling. "I was a deep cover operative for Starfleet Intelligence, until two months ago, when an explosion took all of my memories." Under normal circumstances, Se'Lah wouldn't reveal this to a complete stranger, but she felt honesty might be the best idea. "Until a week ago, I spent the last two months in recovery in the infirmary of Starbase 122, a fact that Mr. Myomoto, and my Commanding Officer can verify." She didn't bother waiting for a reply, as she continued on. "The USS Islandica is not here for you. We are here to explore an area of space known as the Erebus expanse... The same area that the array is transmitting into... besides that... considering what the array did to your shuttle's computer, and my ship, it is highly unlikely that anyone else even knows you're here."

Shea looked back at Se'Lah, staring at her as if to gauge the sincerity of her words. After a moment's thought, she tossed the phaser and power cell at Se'Lah's feet. "Now go and leave me be," Shae said softly, kneeling by the deer-like creature she had killed and lifting it easily. Since the away team now had contacted their ship, they no longer needed this, but she could still make use of it, and there were plenty of caves here where she could establish a new den...

Se'Lah didn't bother picking up the items just yet, as she had one more question to ask. "Why can't you go near the array?"

Shae sighed, her shoulders sagging. She set down her kill and pulled aside some of her hair to reveal an implant on the back of her head. "I was unwilling to be among their ranks, so they used this to control me. It was damaged when I escaped," Shae explained. "It's stuck on now, delivering signals directly into the pain centers of my brain. but there's something about that array and the signals it puts off, makes the implant go crazy and gives me seizures."

"I see..." Se'Lah replied, as she studied the device from where she stood. After a moment, she finally picked up the phaser, and it's power cell, placing them in her pocket. "Thank you for answering my questions. I will leave you in peace." With that, Se'Lah quietly walked off disappearing into the shadows of the forest without another word. She now knew what had to be done, and she intended to make it happen, even if it cost her own life.

Shae wasn't certain she had made the right decision letting Se'Lah leave like that, but she was certain she did not want to end another innocent life. Besides, her desire to believe that Section 31 was now defunct helped ease any discomfort she might have felt. She reclaimed her derk and bound off into the forest, in search of a new den to call home and hoping to never see another Starfleet Officer ever again...


Lieutenant Commander Se'Lah
Executive Officer

Lieutenant JG Kalin "Shae" Brennan
Science Officer

After Se'Lah had left Shae alone in the forest, she'd decided it was time to take matters into her own hands. Instead of heading back to the shuttle crash site, she silently headed in the direction of the array. She knew that what she was about to do would be extremely risky, but she also knew that it was the right thing to do under the circumstances.

Joseph had his implant turned up for his patrol and had unfortunately heard the entire exchange between the two women. They both showed borderline insane intensity. Now he found himself torn for the first time in a long time. Duty commanded he follow and assist his commander. Personal interest and unknown feelings drew him to the strange woman.

Shae was simply glad that the Vulcan woman was gone and paid no heed to the fact that she headed away from the away team and down to the array. Gone was gone in Shae's mind, and she was too focused on finding a new home notice the danger of the situation.

As the Vulcan woman made her way, she also put the phaser back together, as it would be needed for this plan. She quietly approached the clearing, making sure to remain in the shadows, long enough to determine that the area was clear of the primitives that had previously captured her, before stepping into the clearing.

He followed his duty and felt a tightness in his chest as he did. He may never see her again and find out anything more... but that is the price of duty sometimes. He set off at a run to catch up to Se'Lah.

Se'Lah approached the array, studying it, as she ran her fingers along it's smooth surface. The array had a beauty all it's own; a shiny smooth surface with lights that lit up from time to time, and a primitive race that had been placed here by it's creators to guard it. She inwardly wondered what the array was sending, and where it was sending to, as she searched it's surface for a touch panel.

After several minutes of searching the surface of the array, Se'Lah decided that she wasn't going to find what she was looking for. She stepped back, pulling the phaser from her pocket, and adjusted it to the maximum setting, before pointing it at the array. If she was right, the array would be destroyed by a sustained, high yield phaser blast. If she was wrong, then it would remain standing... Either way, she figured that once she fired the weapon, the locals would converge on her within minutes.

After several quiet seconds of standing there, Se'Lah finally managed to get the nerve to follow through. She pressed the trigger, causing the phaser beam to lance out at the array. She would hold it either until the phaser ran out, the array was destroyed, or she was dead... preferrably not dead.

Joseph burst into the clearing just as Se'Lah fired her phaser. He had no idea what was going to happen next but he knew what he had to do. He ran to stand behind Se'Lah with his phaser drawn. "Sorry I am late ma'am. But I am here and I got your back."

Se'Lah looked at him, giving him a nod as he approached. "Destroy it." She ordered just loud enough for him to hear her over the sound of the phaser.

Joseph obeyed and turned his phaser to the beacon and fired.

As the two fired their phasers at the array, the silence of the night was shattered by it loud noise. not only did it scare off the wild life, but it alerted everyone within a wide radius to their location.

Shae's ears stood erect at the sound that reverberated through the hills, a chill of dread running through her. She took off through the forest, abandoning most of her gear in favor of lightening her load so she could run faster. Something was wrong, something was very, very wrong! She could feel the jolt of pain in her head increasing in intensity as though she was standing closer to the array, but she was too far away, it shouldn't have this kind of range. What was that stupid Vulcan doing!

Between the damage she knew it could do to a vessel, and the pain it was apparently causing Shae, Se'Lah'd had enough. Along with Joseph, she continued to feed phaser energy into the array, watching as it built up to what she assumed would be a critical mass. Glowing with various colors, and putting off a great deal of heat now, she knew that whatever was going to happen would happen any moment now.

Shae stopped at the edge of the clearing, holding her head as though something was trying to force its way out of her skull. She'd never known pain like this before; it was ringing in her hears and drowning out her other senses, blinding her. Even still, she managed a few steps closer to Se'Lah and Myomoto before collapsing to her knees. "Stop!" she called out to them. "People... in the caves below!" If the array exploded, it could destabilize the caves and kill the Vo'Zan living within. But before Shae could give voice to those concerns, the array released a shrill sound, sending out a burst of signals that caused the Chameloid woman slump to the ground, unconscious. Seconds later, the earth shook as the array erupted in a spectacular explosive display.

Myomoto saw Shae stumble into the clearing and colapse. He realized that what they were doing was somehow hurting her and she had yelled something about people below the array. Before he could do or say anything however the relay exploded. Acting without thinking he grabbed Se'Lah, threw her down beside Shae and jumped to cover them both.

Se'Lah stopped firing at the moment she was grabbed. She let him get her out of the way, noticing what the others hadn't in the chaos. The Vo'Zan had heard the sounds of phaser fire too, and were running to protect the humming tree. They had gotten close enough to see the evil wizard woman with one of her minions shooting fire into the Humming Tree, but couldn't stop them.

The array had been designed to try to absorb any energy given to it, but even something of this nature had it's limits. Having absorbed all it could, the array finally gave out. The resulting explosion sent shards, and a shock wave in all directions. A few of the Vo'Zan were killed instantly, but the rest were thrown hard to the ground by the sheer force.

As soon as the shock wave passed, Se'Lah moved under Joseph to tap her COMM badge. "Se'Lah to Islandica. Medical emergency. Three to beam directly to sickbay." Moments later, they vanished in a familiar blue haze.

As the Vo'Zan survivors regained their bearings, and got to their feet, they saw that their sacred Humming tree was destroyed, and the wizards were gone. Now they had to figure out what to do next.

“Chief’s Log: Supplemental.

Y’know, I knew something like this would happen. I’ve been around long enough to know when something like this is going to happen. There you are, looking at a list of ships you could apply for – nothing more than their name, mission, serial number, and command manifest. Sometimes they’ll tell you where they’re going, other times they’ll tell you how long you should expect to be ‘out of port.’ Some will tell you both, but then there are those that tell you just enough to know that it’ll be interesting.

That wasn’t the case here. I was selected. The Cap’n saw something in me, and said “Hey you, you’re workin’ fer me!”


=/\= Bridge, USS Islandica

“Okay,” Zev sighed as the Captain moved past him en route to Sickbay, the words “Zev, you have the bridge…” ringing in his ears.

The only reason they rang so was the way she sounded: internal injuries, stress, fatigue, altered heartbeat, the sloshing sounds of hemmorage… Bones and cartilidge were singing a song that may have her off her feet for quite some time. Until then, he had the Bridge.

“Chief, Lieutenant St James and Ensign Jameson have arrived in Sickbay,” the Operations Officer reported. “Awaiting your orders.”


=/\=

St James should have been up here. He was the one who’d been groomed for this sort of situation. When it came down to it, I was a recently-promoted Armory NCO, and he was a specifically Command and Tactical Officer. I should have been down there blowing shit up. He should have been up here running the ship. Unfortunately, this is just how things had been working out since we began our association—admittedly, this was our first mission, but at the same time, it was becoming a trend: regular command-level officers were off-ship, in Sickbay, or somewhere in between.


=/\= Bridge, USS Islandica

“Let’s get a lock on the remainder of our away team, the array, and the surrounding area: I want to know what’s going on, as it happens,” Zev began as he stepped down from the Tactical station and toward the Command Chair. “It didn’t sound like Lt St James sustained many injuries while he was on the planet; have him report to the Bridge immediately.”

The chorus of ‘Aye, sir’s/Chief’s’ was somewhat comforting as he took a seat in the Captain’s chair once again. “We’ll need hourly status reports on all departments,” Zev continued. “Half-hourly on the medical status of our comm—“

“Chief! They did it!” The voice of Lieutenant St James (and the accelerated heartbeat which most-only Zev could hear behind it) exclaimed. Glancing back, he could see the man was fine, and just barely arriving at his station as he made the seemingly-random exclamation. Thankfully, James St James was more than competent when it came to his abilities as a Tactical Officer.

“We’ve just detected a massive explosion at the site of the array…” His hands moved quickly across the console.

“Se’hla to Islan—“

“Locking on!”

“—edical emergency: three to beam—“

“Got ‘em!” St James exclaimed.

Without missing a beat Zev turned from glancing behind him at the Lieutenant at Tactical, to the one sitting at the Helm: “Get us out of orbit!” he ordered. “Leave the system, maximum impulse. James, didn’t I read something about a Starbase in the area?”

James licked his lips nervously as he stared at his display. He hadn’t been up here in what felt like days, and after all he’d been through on the planet he felt like he was on the cusp of familiarity and complete ignorance. “Aye, Chief – I’ve got it on long-range sensors. Some kind of… derelict. It appears to be run by either pirates, privateers, or mercenaries… Either way, it’s next on our itinerary.”


=/\=

So, you can see why it seemed like the next logical choice.

They were our next stop. We’d been heavily damaged—mostly repaired, but damaged just the same. Our Command Team was down for the most part, and my closest link to anyone who thought like them knew the place by name.

I’ve met a number of Vulcans in my day, and I’m pretty sure they’d call me pretty logical. I’ve met some Klingons; if they’d thought I was dishonorable, I probably wouldn’t be talking to a monitor, half-naked on my mattress right now. I just wanted to get this all written—well, spoken—down before I have to answer for the choices I made.


=/\= Bridge, USS Islandica

Zev closed his eyes for a long moment. He needed to center himself, listen to the world around him.

When he opened his eyes, he had a clear course of action in mind. “We can come back later to deal with whatever happened here,” he decided as the words fell out of his mouth. “Set a course for Glebben Station; warp 5. Engage.”

"... and this is all the data we got from the shuttle," Hanna said in conclusion of her report to Vene, handing her Commanding Officer the tricorder with the shuttle data. "Commander Se'Lah had a theory that the signal from the array is what caused the shuttle to crash. I checked the Stardates of the logs leading up to the crash; that deserter has been there for almost 17 years, but as far as I can tell she's made very little impact on the primitives on the planet."

As Hanna gave her report, she watched the doctor tend to her leg wound. The strange woman on the planet had done a good job with primitive resources, but Hanna was glad to have a doctor with a dermal regenerator.

"The Commander's theory is the right one. Engineering went through hell to get it straightened out." Vene replied as she looked at the information on the Tricorder. "Before you upload this data to the ship's computer, I want it isolated, and checked, so we don't have a repeat."

"Yes ma'am, I'll run a full diagnostic on it with a terminal separated from the main computer system. Maybe this way we can get a better analysis of the signal, or at least find out what it was meant to do other than cause chaos," Hanna offered.

Vene was about to respond, when the COMM activated.

=/\= "Se'Lah to Islandica. Medical emergency. Three to beam directly to sickbay."

Dr. Beh'ruken was in Sickbay when the call came in. He had been in his office, but quickly shot to his feet and bolted out towards the biobeds. =/\= "Sickbay standing by" responded Beh'ruken as he started snatching up medical equipment that he thought could come in handy. He had also made a quick summons for two nurses to get ready for incoming wounded, unknown how bad the injuries would be.

A moment later the blue shimmer of a transporter beam materialized three being laying on the deck. Myomoto was covering Se'Lah, and Shae. As they finished materializing, Se'Lah looked at Myomoto.

"You can move now, Lieutenant." She said simply.

Myomoto pulled himself up obviously in some pain but simply rolled his shoulders, bent over to scoop up Shae and took her to the nearest bed to lay her down.

As Joseph moved away, Se'Lah looked at the Doctor. "This woman has a device on her neck that is doing irreparable damage, and should be removed." Se'Lah explained. She didn't know much about the device, but she knew it was now doing more harm than anything else. She would've said more, but didn't think it was appropriate just yet.

Dr. Beh'ruken looked at the device around the woman's neck and shook his head. "Do I look like a damn Engineer?" asked the Chief Medical Officer in a near growl. His sharp teeth showed and his lips rose slightly, bearing his teeth. "I am a physician, surgery is one thing...foreign devices are another, but I will see what I can do" said Beh'ruken.

He took a tricorder and began a sweep around the woman's neck. "Explain to me what this device is doing...or what function it is supposed to serve."

"It serves as s sort of shock collar... so to speak." Se'Lah replied simply. "It was originally used to deliver some sort of shock directly to the pain centers of her brain. However, it has malfunctioned, and will kill her, if not removed."

"Crude device" said Beh'ruken shaking his head. "I've seen similar devices used on Orion slaves. Some Ferengi have in the past made a habit of purchasing such devices to keep their females in line" commented the Chief Medical Officer. "I do not believe that this will be all that difficult to remove. Does she speak?"

"When she's conscious." Was Se'Lah's simple reply. "Unfortunately, this device was constructed by a member of Starfleet. However, it's specific origins are... classified."

Beh'ruken held up a hand in protest. "Say no more. Some demons are best left unnamed" added the Chief Medical Officer as he walked over to a storage area that had additional medical tools. "The alloys of this device do not appear to be all that strong. I suspect a good high power laser scalpel may be worth trying."

Myomoto stepped next to the table "I will stay close in case she wakes up. She is very paranoid and distrustful. I am the closest thing she has to... well not friend but at least not enemy." He looked down at her and his face softened a little. "This is going to be rough no matter how it goes down doc. Be ready to jump back if she comes to. Poor woman." The last he said barely above a whisper.

Poor woman indeed! Hanna had seen and heard everything from where she was sitting across the small bay. Why would anyone ever use such a barbaric device on anyone?! She knew the Orion made use of similar devices in their slave trade, but such practices were frowned upon within the Federation, as slavery was illegal. It made Hanna wonder how this woman came to wear a device of slavery that originated from Starfleet? It got her thinking, and she pulled a PaDD out of her jacket to try to find out who this woman was.

Beh'ruken nodded. "That would be wise and appreciated. I would rather not put her under any sort of medication until I better understand what exactly her systems are like" commented the Chief Medical Officer.

Oh the table, Shae was swimming in agony. She couldn't think and all she could feel was the pain being forced into her head by the device. As she slowly came to, all she could offer was a hoarse whine in her distress.

The Antican made some grunting noises as he trying to work the laser scalpel with excellence.

Se'Lah hadn't failed to notice Hanna's keen observations, and assumed that the woman was trying to get information on Shae. Se'Lah made her way over to where Hanna was messing with her PADD, and spoke just loud enough for only Hanna to hear. "What you're looking for is classified." She said, glancing at the PADD's content to confirm what she already knew. "Unless you want some very unwanted attention, let this go."

Hanna wasn't about to argue with a superior officer, especially not in front of their Commanding Officer, so she just nodded, hopping off the biobed she had been sitting on. "I have data to analyze," she said as a way of excusing herself.

"Ah here we go" commented the Doctor as the reddish orange beam of the laser began to slowly but sufficiently cut through the device. "One more moment...just about..." added the Chief Medical Officer, followed behind a small snap and the powering down of the hand held laser scalpel. "There were go. Our friend here should be free of this crude devices effects."

With one final whimper, all the tension in Shae's body relaxed as she incoherently repeated "thank you" over and over in a whispered tone.

Se'Lah turned to Vene at that moment. "I think we should talk in private." She said simply. "Ialso believe it may not be wise for me to be here, when she regains consciousness."

Vene looked thoughtful for a moment, then turned to Joseph, and Beh'ruken. "Lieutenant, stay here, and keep an eye on our guest." She ordered, then gestured towards Shae. "Doctor, keep me updated." With that, Vene, and Se'Lah exited sickbay.

Beh'ruken had nodded and then looked at the woman with a peculiar gaze. She looked rather thin, bony...not very appetizing. Truthfully, Beh'ruken was more interested in something aquatic. Where's the meat? he thought to himself, shaking his head. "What is your name? I am Dr. Beh'ruken" he said to the woman.

Shae was groggy and disoriented, and it took a moment for his words to make sense. Her eyes slowly opened, but then she winced at the light of the bay. Her senses were all distorted; why couldn't she smell the forest anymore? "Shae... my name is Shae," she said softly.

"Shae" he repeated, making a note of her name. "What are you?" he asked the woman. She was clearly not human and if he had better understanding of what she was, he would know what he could and couldn't give her when it came to medications.

"What... am I?" The question confused her. Why would he need to know what she was? What she wanted to know was where she was! She couldn't smell the forest at all and the air smelled overly processed. Was she on their ship? Her heart began to race as that possibility began to sink in. "Where am I?"

"Relax, Shae" said Beh'ruken in the least threatening of a voice as he could manage. "You are safe here. This is my medical facility" explained Beh'ruken, not wanting to say too much to the woman.

That was the wrong thing to say. As soon as Shae heard 'medical facility', she growled and pulled herself from the biobed where she lay. She was still disoriented and her movements a bit uncoordinated, but she could still hold herself up and move away. "No! You can't keep me here!" she said in a panicked tone, growling defensively as she managed to put the biobed between herself and Myomoto and the doctor.

"Doctor, move away for a moment," Joseph cautioned, positioning him in front of the Antican for his protection. He had seen some of what Shae was capable of, but as much as it was his duty to protect the crew, he wanted to protect Shae as well. He didn't know why he was drawn to her, but he wanted to protect her. He hesitantly reached out and placed a hand on hers. "Shae, we talked on the planet, do you remember?"

Shae flinched at the contact and pulled her hand away, holding it to her chest. She stared at him for a long while, her vision still blurred, but she could recognized his voice and his scent on her hand. "You are the marine," she said guardedly, then started looking around trying to see if she could find an exit despite her blurred vision.

"Yes... yes its me. You are back on the Islandica. Our ship. You are totally safe I promise you. I won't let anything happen to you. The device is gone and the good doctor will help you." He kept his voice low and calm so as not to alarm her. "I'm going to talk to him now. I'll be right back." He patted her hand before taking the doctor by the arm and leading him away.

"Real quick doc. Save the who and what she is for later. Treat her as best you can. Best I can offer you right now is she is a shape shifter and other than that... classified. I'm not being a her I honestly don't know more and that's the reason. Kid gloves." He felt bad talking about Shae like this but he wanted to get things calmed down as quickly as possible. "I'll stay as a familiar face and do my best to diffuse anything that comes up."

He walked back over to Shae and slowly moved to stand next to her. Not too close but close enough to be available.

Shae kept stepping away as he got closer, her eyes darting between the doctor and the marine. "I can't be here, you have to send me back."

Myomoto looked at her questioningly "You were trapped there for decades and sounded eager to leave. Why do you need to go back?"

"If I leave..." Shae paused. She seemed almost afraid to speak any further, like the words were trapped in her throat. "My daughter is still down there," she eventually said.

=/\= Myomoto to the captain. Shae has a daughter in the surface and she is alone. Request permission to return to the surface with Shae and bring her aboard.=/\= His request was automatic and without thought. No one left behind was one thing but a child alone and scared? Not going to happen. "We will go get her." He headed to the transporter room assuming she would follow. He was pretty sure Vene would approve... He hoped.

Shae was surprised that he was so readily going back to the planet, but she did not hesitate to follow him to the transporter room. "The place where we talked, that's where we need to go. She was not far from there, I had just checked on her when you passed through the area I was hunting in."

There was a moment of silence before they received a reply, but it was Se'Lah's voice and not the Captain's. =/\= We have apparently left orbit. Please stand by, Lieutenant. =/\=

Shae growled and backed away from Myomoto, looking like she had been betrayed. She had said she would speak to the Captain, and she even understood them bringing them onto the ship to remove the slave device, but she never agreed to go with them! "What is this?!" she growled at Myomoto. "Why have we left orbit?! I never agreed to this!" Shae's heart ws racing. How long had they been moving away from the planet? How long would it take them to return?

=/\= Myomoto to bridge please turn us a round. Our guest appears quite on edge and may, understandably, become a little hostile. I will continue to the transporter room. Please notify us once we are back in range.=/\=

Myomoto turn to Shae and spoke simply and reassuringly "Someone on the bridge acted hastily and broke orbit before being informed about your daughter. We will turn around and go back for her. Let's just go to the transporter room and wait for confirmation." He wasn't sure how she would react but he was ready for anything. Not wanting to show distrust or hostility he didn't put his hand directly on his weapon but he made sure he could get to it quickly.

On some level, Shae knew his words made sense, but she wasn’t exactly using reason at the moment. She felt trapped and betrayed, and seeing his hand inching toward his weapon only solidified that feeling. "You would shoot me?" she asked. "Is it Starfleet policy to shoot innocent people when they've done nothing wrong?"

Instead of going for diversion or distraction he answered bluntly "I will shoot only if I believe that the ship or crew are in danger. It's my job. I will help you but not at the expense of ship and crew safety. Your move."

Shae growled as she considered her options. Finally, she answered, "I wish to speak to your Captain."

Myomoto considered for a second and finally said "Fine we will go to the bridge and see her." He turned to lead the way. 'Why Is this so complicated? ' he thought to himself. 'I just like action not drama.' He sighed out loud as he walked away.

As Shae followed, her thoughts were running along the same lines as his. She didn't want drama, she just wanted her daughter, and to be left alone! She didn't want any of this mess....

A few moments after the Islandica left orbit of the planet, the turbolift doors opened, and Se'Lah stepped out onto the Bridge.

=/\= We have apparently left orbit. Please stand by, Lieutenant. =/\= She said, then tapped her COMM badge off as she stepped down to the Command deck to look at Zev.

=/\= Myomoto to bridge please turn us a round. Our guest appears quite on edge and may, understandably, become a little hostile. I will continue to the transporter room. Please notify us once we are back in range.=/\=

"Helm, come about and return to the planet." She ordered, then turned to Zev. "Your choice to leave orbit was logical, but our guest has some unfinished business on the surface."

Ens. Storme altered course bringing the Islandia about. Theron loved the way this small vessel handled. Most of his piloting experience had been with shuttles of all kinds. He had helmed a couple larger vessels, but nothing as powerful and agile it truly was. "Return course set Sir."

"I'm sorry, Commander," Zev replied coming to his feet and stepping away from the command chair, deferring to the ship's XO. He was uncertain as to where he should stand (or sit?) at that point, but that was of little matter.

The ship shook slightly as the inertial dampeners kicked in for the rather sharp u-turn in space. Se'Lah stepped down to the Command deck. "Resume standard orbit, when we arrive, Ensign."

"Aye Sir."came the appropriate reply.

"With everything going on I felt it would be best to regroup before taking further action," the Ferengi continued. "I don't know how to say this otherwise, and your course of action is clear, but... I'm guessing you wanted to hang around the dangerous planet that incapacitated the ship and required destroying an apparently religious icon of the already hostile natives for some reason?"

On such a mall ship, the trek from Sickbay and the transporter room did not take long, and just as the doors opened to let Shae and Myomoto onto the bridge, Shae was able to catch part of Zev's question. "We are going back because I never consented to leaving with this ship," Shae said with a growl as she took in the details of the bridge. "Not to mention my infant daughter was left stranded there, so that should be a pretty good reason to go back, don't you think?"

Myomoto could cut the tension with a fingernail at this point and that worried him a little since this particular situation involved his boss. He moved to the side so that Shae and the Chief could have their 'discussion'. But he was more than ready to act if needed.

"No, not really," the Chief replied simply.

As he heard the heartbeats and respiration of most everyone involve begin to accelerate, indicating anger, stress, and a mother's murderous rage, Zev realized that now would be a good time to elaborate. "We need a plan of attack; we need to circle the wagons. If the child you left behind is the major concern, let's grab a squad and hop in a runabout--" Zev returned his attention to Se'Lah. He didn't take orders from ... whoever this woman was. "Endangering the entirety of our already compromised ship just to pick up one child is..."

Dare he say it? He couldn't think of anything else. With a heavy sigh, the final word of his mini-diatribe was expelled: "... illogical."

"You know what I find illogical?" Shae said as she padded closer, slowly like a predator approaching her prey. "That the away team would transport down to a planet without making an attempt to blend in amongst the locals. That's standard procedure for making contact with pre-warp civilizations, and yet the team went down in full uniform and approached a religious relic to the locals thus inciting attack. And you want to add fuel to the fire by sending down another team when I could go down and be back in less than 15 minutes?" This man was a fool, and Shae looked about ready to rip his throat out.

This situation was getting well out of hand, and without watning another moment, Se'Lah approached Shae, and simply slapped the woman across the face. "We are going to get your daughter back, and we will see to your safety. Your hostility, paranoia, and other such emotional instabilities will only serve to compromise the situation further. In short... Get a grip." She said simply, then turned to Zev. "Perhaps you're not accustomed to taking orders from someone that you may see as... illogical... However, while the Captain is occupied elsewhere, I have been placed in command of the ship, and my orders will be followed. Do I make myself clear?"

Myomoto was fairly sure he knew what was coming as the commander approached Shae and tensed to respond as the slap connected. THIS is taking control. His respect for the Vulcan skyrocketed as she did what was needed and screw who didn't like it. He grunted his approval as he moved next to Shae incase she retaliated.

Shae held a hand to her stinging cheek, completely dumbfounded. That was something she had not expected, especially from the Vulcan. Part of her wasn't quite ready to let go of her anger at Zeb and she growled at him one last time before recomposing herself and moving on. "Emotional instability aside, it's not reasonable to send down a full team," she replied more calmly to Se'Lah. "Your marine has the coordinates in his tricorder for the area we need to be in, and I can move faster if I don't have a full team with me." She preferred to go down alone, but she knew that would be an unreasonable request. "I know the area, we can be back in just a few minutes."

"Then go, but you need to know that the chief is also right." Se'Lah explained. "From what the Captain has told me, this ship needs repairs. If your ultimate wish is to stay, then we can return you here before we continue our mission. For now, we will be departing as soon as you return."

"No, it's not safe for me there anymore," Shae replied. "Once the Vo'Zan realize that I'm the one that rescued you, I'll have to travel too far to find safety from their hunters; it would just be best if I left entirely. Anyway, there's been enough cultural contamination, it's time to move on. I will speak to your Captain later about what I will do afterwards, but once I reclaim what's mine then I will leave with you."

Myomoto blew out an exasperated breath. "Crap sakes lets just get this done. I will take Shae and another security officer with me on a runabout while the ship stays at a safe distance. We will beam from he runabout down, retrieve her child and beam back to the runabout. When we get back to the ship we can sort this crap out on the way to the station." His frustration was really beginning to crack through to the surface of his voice. "Let's go." He growled as he he turned to leave for the shuttle bay. "I leave as soon as the shuttle is ready. Be on it or yell at me through vacuum I don't care."

"Wait." The word was simple as it came from Se'Lah's mouth, but it also held it's own weight. "It would be more efficient if the two of you went alone, and just used the ship's transporter... since you're going to be transporting anyway, why not make it easier on yourselves."

"Thank you," Shae said uneasily. She still didn't know how to process Se'Lah's strike or how she felt about the woman after their meeting in the forest, but at least the gratitude was genuine. "We will not take long," she added softly, turning to follow Myomoto back to the transporter room.

"You're welcome." Se'Lah replied, and as the two stepped off the bridge, she turned to Zev with a sigh. "The religious artifact that I destroyed was the source of the transmission that disabled this ship. The ship is no longer in danger from the planet."

"Commander..." Zev replied in a level tone. He considered his words carefully, but wasn't the best at controlling his facial expressions. He was doing his best to project "professionalism, empathy, urgency, and top-notch customer service." The smile/smirk was a (s)trained response, and with every word he spoke, he backed one step closer toward the nearest turbolift exit.

He'd spent enough time on the bridge, and after being publicly humiliated in front of *both* of his Lieutenants, more than enough gossipy Crewmen, the entire Bridge Crew, and a bitchy hitch-hiker who couldn't keep a leash on her progeny he had no intention of remaining there any further. "I have responsibilities in other areas of the ship that require my attention; Lieutenant St James is our most experienced, and senior Tactical Officer; I believe he would be of greater assistance to you than I at this time." Truer words were never spoke! He tried to hold it in, reword it, something... it came out just the same: "May I leave?"

"You are dismissed." came Se'Lah's reply. She'd been asked to investigate Zev's behavior over the last few days, but now it seemed pretty clear to her what was going on. Apparently Zev didn't like bridge duty. "Mr. St James, please take the Tactical station."

As he'd been standing there since beaming back to the ship--a fact that made both himself, and The Chief more comfortable--James wasn't really sure what to do at that moment in time. Something told him that based on their interactions up to this point, the XO thought he was a jackass. "Yes... ma'am," he replied, quickly busying himself with something at his console.

ON:

Boredom, that was what Ramirez was feeling at this particular moment. Aside from orders from Lieutenant Thortin, he had little to do then sit back and monitor the power levels from the Runabout to the Islandica.

"Honestly, who hooks up a runabout to a Starship?" He asked to no on in particular. He threw his feet up on the console and leaned back into the seat.

"Jacob 'freakin' Thortin, that's who." He griped as he shook his head. He had been working on Sprigg since they left dock, and he was sure he was getting close. Then Thortin had to impress her with his creative thinking.

Storme heard the last comment as he walked up the ramp and into the shuttle. He wasn't sure if he should be cheerful or critical for talking bad about a superior officer or just taking a few steps back, and stand outside the shuttle for a couple minutes. Theron decided to continue on into the shuttle, "Hi. Lt. Thortin sent me to help . . . here if I can." He looked about the cockpit area, a little uncertain. He wasn't sure if his engineering skills were going to help any in this very stable situation. They might just cause some emotional upheaval.

Ramirez, turned towards the new arrival and pulled his feet down from the console.

"Ah..sir!" He said standing quickly. "Sorry sir, I was just relaxing." He said quickly. "Crewman Ramirez reporting sir."

"Relax Ramirez," Storme calmly as he leaned on the back of the other cockpit chair.

"Ah, yes sir." Ramirez nodded, relaxing slightly.

Storme continued, "I've never seen a shuttle used to power a starhip before. Very creative." He looked down at the display of power levels. He asked, "Any issue when the power began to be drawn off?"

"To be honest sir, I've never seen anyone power a ship using a runabout. I mean theoretically it's possible, don't get me wrong. As to issues as long as we keep the power transfer below 50 gigajoules, then we don't blow the cables and transfer units."

Storme moved around the seat and sat down opposite Ramirez, "Well, I guess we will be here for a bit until they deal with the main computer." Theron leaned back and looked right and left at the controls about thim. "Do you do much flying?"

"No sir." Ramirez shook his head. "I'm more of a grease monkey myself."

Theron leaned forward looking over the controls of the shuttle, "Ya, well, I've flown more that I would care to mention. Of course, I would rather be in engineering. Nah, I take that back. I truly love to fly, but it always seems to be milk runs." He leaned back a touch frustrated with memories of failed assignments.

"At least those jobs are standard operating procedure. Ever have the magnetic containment fields AND the back up generators offline? That's not a fun day." Ramirez chuckled softly.

Theron rolled his eyes at the issues with that situation. He nodded, "I'm glad I'm not dealing with that one today."

After a minute or two of silence, Storme asked, "So . . how long have you been in Starfleet?"

"About four years sir." Ramirez replied. "Ever since I finished training."

The 'Sir' seemed to nag the back of Theron's neck, but knew that Ramirez was just following protocol. He considered just having Ramirez call him by his first name, but maybe that would be for a later time. He looked to the crewman and with a smile said, "While we're alone, why don't you call me Storme?"

"Uh," Ramirez paused. "Yes sir...I mean Storme..sir..sorry." He blushed.

Theron waved a dismissive hand to the concern or appropriateness the crewman was trying to make. He looked out the viewport of the shuttle, at nothing in particular, "Sometimes I wonder why I every went to the Academy. I don't really fit in with the other officers very well." He shrugged.

After a minute of quiet, Storme said, "Four years, eh?" He turned his head glancing toward Ramirez, "What other ships have you served on?"

"I served on the USS Valiant, a defiant class and the USS Excalibur." Ramirez explained. "You have doubts about your academy choice?"

Theron hesitated when asked about the academy, but then said, "A defiant class. A powerful beast they are." He checked a couple readouts casually with his fingers on the display and added, "I've never been on one, but heard many a story."

"The defiant's are amazing ships. A pain in the bum to maintain, but good overall. Though I wouldn't want to be posted on one for long. Those bunks aren't very comfortable." Ramirez said allowing Theron to sidestep the Starfleet question. He wasn't about to question his senior officer on this.

Theron picked up on the word 'maintain'. That was right up his field of interest. He tried not to look too interested but asked, "What kind of maintenance issues do they usually have, well, out of the ordinary?"

"Well, the ships burned through ODN and EPS conduits like they were paper. The magnetic field devices as well as the impulse drive chambers would also be burned out rather quick." Ramirez explained. "And with the small size of that ship? Getting to the areas that needed repairs was a pain in the butt."

Theron tried to picture all the issues in his head as he described and saw a very overwhelming repair nightmare. "I see your point. I'm certainly looking forward to helping here on the Islandica."

"If you don't mind me asking sir, do you have engineering experience? I mean outside of what was taught at the academy."

Theron paused for a moment. He wasn't sure if he wanted to go through all the last several years of meager positions he'd been asked to do. Nodding his head slightly he replied with somewhat a mono-tone, "Oh yes, many actually. From repair stations to distant research facilities, I've been the do-it-all repair man . . . and pilot." he looked over at Ramirez, "But you don't probably want to hear about all that?"

"That's what I hear most ensigns get put through." Ramirez nodded. "Any particular department you want to be assigned to?"

Theron sighed, crossed his arms and thought. With out turning to Ramirez, he replied, "I've always enjoyed working with the impulse systems, more than the warp systems." He perked up, looking over and added, "But a chance to pilot the Islandica would be an awesome previlage. Actually, bringing her planet side would be a true joy." He shrugged, "But who knows."

"I'm not sure that this ship was designed with planetside landings in mind." Ramirez looked up. "But I can imagine the enjoyment people can get from piloting a starship."

Theron became very interested, turning slightly and leaning forward, "Oh yes. The Diligent class starship is definitely designed to land planetside." Turning back to face the controls, "Of course it's not really necessary with the transporter, but capable just the same."

"Well, with what I read about Voyager's travels, being able to land planetside is definitely an advantage. Though I've never seen the schematics for the landing struts on this ship." Ramirez replied. "Though I imagine with us being in unknown territory, having them would give us a chance to do some heavy duty work if needed."

Theron chuckled slightly, "Don't get me wrong. I'm certainly not wanting to go atmospheric a lot. I'm just saying, when it's necessary, I wouldn't mind being at the controls."

"I see." Ramirez nodded. He turned to check the power levels coming from the runabout when full power was suddenly restored to the shuttle bay.

"Well, it looks like they won't be needing this little battery anymore." He chuckled softly, patting the console in front of him. "I'd say it's time we pack up here and get back to engineering, see what needs to be done."

Theron glanced up to see the power draw from the shuttle had stopped. "Yep. Looks that way." Ens. Storme then went through the sequence to reduce power and deactivate the shuttle.

It had been sometime after the latest meeting in the observation longue, that Dr. Beh'ruken found himself rummaging around his qurters. The meeting with other members of the crew, mostly the senior staff had left the Chief Medical Officer in a bit of a mood. It was not necessarily a bad mood, but it wasn't one of pleasure either. His temper had reared it's head once of twice during the meeting, and he had said some things that he felt presented himself as xenophobic.

So, he had retired to his quarters after his shift in Sickbay ended. He found himself searching around for something, anything that would serve well for an oak leaf, an olive branch, a peace offering. The Chief Medical Officer felt as though his words had been rather sharp during the meeting, and his suspision of the Ferengi's intentions may have struck a nerve with Chief Petty Officer Zev, the Islandica's Chief of Security.

Not known for having the best bedside manner, Dr. Beh'ruken was not a stranger to offending people or causing others to take offense to something he said. Though he usually just blew off these offenses, not really carring whether or not he was liked or disliked. The Islandica was an entirely different story than his previous postings. Beh'ruken pulled out two bottles of Slug-O-Cola, the slimiest cola in the galaxy, and a small platter of tube grubs from his private stock. He did not have very many tube grubs left, but this was for a good cause.

Beh'ruken took the two bottles and platter and headed out his quarters. With a Diligent-class starship, you could almost hold your breath getting from point a to point b. So, in a matter of a few minutes Beh'ruken was outside of Zev's quarters hoping that the Chief Petty Officer would answer.

Having just come back from a run--more on this later, as the Chief was getting frustrated with that situation--Zev patted his face with a towel as he literally turned 180 degrees, and tapped the button to open the door. "Doctor," he said, brow furrowing in confusion briefly.

There were a number of questions that ran through his mind, the Antican physician being the last person he expected to see at the moment. Was he lost? More choice words about the Ferengi people? Had Zev come down with something that required immediate medical attention? Was there some sort of Security threat that the Doctor needed to inform him of? Yes, there were many questions, but they could be answered whether he let the doctor in or not. Since he couldn't stand being sweaty, the Ferengi turned and moved into his room glancing around for a different shirt. "Come on in. What can I do for you?"

Noting the Doctor's bottles of something green and whatever those insects were, the Chief cleared a space on the table as he continued moving through his cluttered quarters. While he'd been authorized for Officer's quarters he was more comfortable on the Enlisted deck, and as such, enjoyed the modest accomodations of a Petty Officer, Second Class.

Dr. Beh'ruken entered the quarters and was a bit taken aback by the small quarters and limited living space. Having been the Chief of Security, Beh'ruken expected the man to have officer sized, senior staff quarters. These quarters most certainly were not. However, it was not the doctor's place to ask questions. With his hands now free off the cola and grubs, the Antican looked at the Ferengi, whom he towered over.

"I enjoy Ferengi food from time to time. I brought some aboard before we left, and I believe that my actions and behavior in the meeting earlier were offensive, or at least perceived as such. I would like you to accept these items as an apology" said Beh'ruken with a slight bow of his head. "I did not intent to insult the Ferengi people with my words, and I did not mean to insult a fellow officer" added the Chief Medical Officer.

"Thank you, I appreciate that," the Chief replied, picking up a bottle of the green beverage and inspecting it's label. "I'm..." he paused. Up to this point it hadn't really come up very often--so seldom in fact, that it'd somehow become regarded as a bit of a secret. "I'm not really familiar with anything Ferengi, so I'm not sure what any of this is." He couldn't read the language. He'd heard of Slug-O Cola, and was pretty sure that's what he was holding at the moment, but really it was an aesthetically pleasing bottle with bright colorful writing.

"Do you have time to give me a crash course in Ferengi cuisine?" Though space was limited, and the Doctor was an individual of impressive stature, Zev gestured toward the couch and coffee table, inviting him to have a seat.

"Cuisine is something that I enjoy" said Dr. Beh'ruken gruffly, but it was just the typical sounds of an Antican. He nodded in response to Zev's question, though it brought Beh'ruken to have some questions of his own. "I have plenty of time, Chief. Though I haven't met any Ferengi who did not know their cuisine" said the Chief Medical Officer.

"You were not born of Ferenginar?" asked the Antican, looking at the Ferengi.

"No," the Chief replied, shaking his head. "I was an orphan--escape pod baby--until adopted by a human couple living on a small trading colony. It was off the beaten path, and considering the size of our family we didn't travel much. I've met a handful of Ferengi, but never dined with them or anything."

Honestly, he had grown a little uncomfortable around 'his people' over the years as the perceived distance between him and his culture continued to grow. This station they were heading to provided an interesting opportunity to interact with other Ferengi frequently... even if he was arresting them or investigating them or something.

"Ah, I see" said Dr. Beh'ruken, now understanding why this particular Ferengi was a little different than any he had met before. "It is my personal opinions that Ferengi are more than excellent businessmen albeit a bit shady by Federation standards. They also have excellent taste in food and beverages. That green liquid in those bottles...that's Slug-o-Cola, the slimiest in the galaxy. Yes, I know to humans and most species that doesn't sound the least bit appealing. It's an acquired taste to say the least."

Taking it as an invitation, Zev opened the bottle and sniffed the liquid. It was definately slimy, and smelled not unlike a swamp. Strangely, the Chief found himself salivating, though the smell of the libation gave him pause. "Cheers," he said, raising his drink to the Doctor and taking a sip.

It was an experience unlike any he'd had before. As if he'd finally found something that he never realized had been missing.

It was the best thing since warp drive.

If Zev were to die a wrinkled old man, having never known true love or the joy of parenthood, he could still say he lived a happy life as long as there was Slug-o-coloa. Should the Islandica be destroyed with all hands (except for him, of course), the Federation disbanded, the space-time contiuum tuned on it's ear, and all civilized life erradicated, it wouldn't matter--as long as there was Slug-o-cola.

It coated the interior of his mouth, flooding his senses with taste, feeling, and the essence of life itself. He could feel the living algae seducing his tastebuds, dancing across his tongue. The bacteria hugged his gum line, before tipping it's hat and leaving gracefully. The only thing that could have made it better was... nothing. It was perfect, just the way it was.

"This is... amazing!" the Ferengi exclaimed. "It's like everything I've ever looked for in a beverage!" He took another sip. Something about it was familiar, like a distant and long-forgotten memory. Maybe he'd had some as a child, before whatever disaster left him an orphan on the colony known as New Bellevue.

Beh'ruken smiled widely, the fur around his lips did not conceal the pleasurable expression on the Chief Medical Officer's face at seeing a Ferengi enjoy what possibly could have been his first Slug-o-cola. The Antican chuckled mildly as he watched and listened to the smaller man. "Perhaps the Ferengi in you has been longing for a Slug-o-cola all these years" joked the Chief Medical Officer.

"I would be more than happy to assist you in recapturing some of your cultural heritage, Chief. I may not be a Ferengi, but I do know my way around most menus in the galaxy, and Ferengi cuisine is one that I am more familiar with" offered the Antican. "That and Klingon" the Doctor added.

"I may have to take you up on that," Zev took another slow sip, savoring the slimy texture. "Klingon..." he pondered. "I'm pretty sure I've had one or two varieties of gagh before, and it was pretty good. Wouldn't reccomend the blood pie, though." As a grin began to grow across his face he continued: "or the blood wine, for that matter. I learned that one needs to've achieved a certain tolerance if they plan to finish a full glass."

The Antican let out a loud chuckle. "A glass of blood wine" said Antican shaking his head. "There's an old Klingon Saying. It roughly translates to when dining, a an alien drinks a glass of blood wine. A warrior drinks the rest" said Dr. Beh'ruken. "Though given your stature and body weight, I wouldn't recommend drinking any more than a glass of that."

"Before I enlisted I used to be a bartender at a trading post in a part of space noone's ever heard of; you'd be surprised," the Ferengi replied with a wink. "Speaking of which, how did you end up here? In the 'Fleet, on the ship, whathaveyou?"

The old Antican let out a good scoff. "Me? My story is as old as time or so it sometimes seems to me. I enrolled in Starfleet Academy as a non-Federation civilian. My people, the Anticans were involved with ongoing violence with our neighbors, the Selay. I believed in the unpopular peace movement and those like me felt the Federation was our best bet. While I was in the Academy, the Federation finally hosted members of the Selay and Anticans aboard one the their startships. It was a failed effort of diplomacy as members of my species ate one of the Selay delegates. Needless to say, this made my time at Starfleet Academy difficult. What kept me going and continued my service with Starfleet was the Dominion War. I was tired of seeing so many lives taken for nothing."

Myomoto walked into the transporter room with his outer calm returned but his mind was a little tumultuous, why had he been so frustrated, and why did it actually show?.. He shook his head 'game face' he thought to himself.

He pulled out his tricorder and spoke to the operator. "I am forwarding the target coordinates to you now. Once we are ready send us there and we will signal when we are ready to return." He stood on the pad and waited for Shae to join him.

Shae was just a minute behind him. During the walk back to the transporter, she had calmed significantly. She still looked defensive and slightly on edge, but she no longer looked as though she was about ready to attack everyone around her. "Are we ready?" she asked as she joined Myomoto on the transporter pad.

"Yup" He said looking at her and smiling, hoping it didn't look as forced as it felt. Turning to the officer at the controls he said "Energize," and they disappeared down to the planet surface.

As soon as they materialized he drew his weapon and scanned the area. "Clear." He said simply to Shae. "Your turn. Lead the way."

Shae nodded a led Myomoto through the forest. Her eyesight was still slightly blurred from the jolt the slave device had given her earlier, but she could still see well enough to get where they needed to go. It also helped that she knew this area so well. "Please be vigilant," she cautioned Myomoto softly, just to be on the safe side, "my senses are somewhat subdued and distorted from earlier. I will not be able to easily detect if anyone approaches." She hoped he would be able to appreciate the trust she was placing in him.

Myomoto kept his tricorder out and senses alert as they proceeded through the forest. He hoped that the child was safe and sound waiting for her mother. "I'll make sure you get to her." He smiled reassuringly at her.

True to her word, they didn't have to hike far from the coordinates where they transported. At the base of a tree growing amongst rock was a small burrow. Shae pulled away some thick foliage she used to hide the entrance and crawled in. The entrance was barely big enough for her to fit through, there was no way Myomoto could get in, not that he needed to. Inside the tiny space was Shae's child, Aoife. The tiny child was swaddled up in furs, sleeping peacefully as she awaited her mother's return. Shae sighed in relief, taking the child and holding her to her chest.

"Forgive me for leaving you alone for so long, little one," she said softly, planting a gentle kiss on the child's forehead. Shae gathered up what few belongings she had left and rolled them up in one of the pelts she slept on and tossed it out of the hole, then carefully maneuvered herself out with her daughter in her arms. "I am ready," she said to Myomoto once she was free of the burrow. He could see the child now, she couldn't have been more than a few months old, but she was definitely Shae's; though her hair was of darker coloring like that of the Vo'Zan, little Aoife had Shae's rather distinctive ears.

Myomoto was shocked at how young the child was. He assumed she would be at least a toddler. He moved in more protectively before leading the way to a clearing to transport out. He looked at the child again and smiled "She is adorable." He started blushing as he said that.

Shae didn't notice the blush, she was focused on Aoife. "Thank you," she said with a warm smile. "It hurt my heart to be away from her, but I couldn't bring her near the Vo'Zan, or your team without knowing your intentions. Oh, I'm never leaving her alone ever again..." She still wasn't sure if she could trust these people, but she had few options; it was either stay and risk being captured by the Vo'Zan, wander the planet until she found a place of safety, or take her chances with Starfleet.

When they reached the transport site and beamed back to the Islandica, Aoife started crying. The poor little thing didn't know how to process the strange sensation of transporter matter stream, of being deconstructed on the planet and reassembled on the ship. Shae was quick to gently shush the child, rocking the babe to calm her. Aoife's cries quickly subdued to mild fussing, then Shae looked up at Myomoto. "I'm sorry, I guess she didn't like that to too much," Shae said a bit sheepishly. "Perhaps you should find me some quarters so she doesn't cause more of a disruption than I already have."

"Of course, right this way." He turned to lead the way to her new quarters. "Do you think she will be ok adapting to a totally new environment?" He asked, genuine concern on his voice.

"She'll be fine," Shae answered honestly as she followed Myomoto. "I spent my early years in space, so I don't see why she shouldn't adapt. I think the feel of the transporter just startled her."

When they arrived at her quarters hey keyed the door open for her. "Here you go. If you need anything... at all. Please let me know." He smiled warmly at her and tentatively reached out to touch the baby gently on the head. "Anything." He whispered before blushing and turning to leave.

After the day she'd had, Shae expected herself to react defensively to Myomoto touching her child. She expected a gowl or at least a flinch or an attempt to pull away from him, but she didn't. She tilted her head curiously as she watched Myomoto smooth his hand of Aoife's downy soft hair, and somehow she was okay with it. "Thank you," she said softly. "And... I'm sorry for my outbursts earlier. I did not mean to let my fears get the better of me." And she knew that he would understand better than most what those fears were.

"It's pretty easy to understand once we found out about..." he nodded towards Aoife. "A lot of tensions were high because things went belly up so soon after our first launch. No one saw it coming and a lot weren't ready. It's nothing personal." He looked her in the eyes and he had the feeling she could tell something was personal... He blushed again.

"Still, the level of everyone's frustration-" especially yours "was not lost on me. I could have handled a lot of things better. But the past is past, we're here, we're safe, and I will do better. But I have lived wild for a very long time, it will take time for me to readjust to being around people; I will make mistakes, and I feel the need to apologize in advance for those as well." Shae didn't know what to make of his blush; memories of that reaction were so distant. Was he embarrassed? No, he didn't seem to be the kind of person to embarrass easily. So then why was he blushing?

"You have a lot of extenuating circumstances. Don't worry about it. Things will settle down soon." He hesitated a little "in the mean time I'll do what I can to assist you and Aoife adjust to ship life." He didn't mention that this was his first ship posting so he probably wouldn't be much help. He just hoped for the chance to spend more time with them.

"I appreciate that," Shae said with a warm smile. Now it was her turn to blush as she turned to enter her new quarters. She hesitated just inside the door; for just a moment, she wanted to turn and say something to him, but she decided against it, stepping in to the room and letting the door swish closed behind her.

Myomoto looked at the door regretfully. 'Should I have said something more?' He wondered to himself. Well there will be lots of opportunity to try again later. He walked away humming slightly feeling better than he had in a while even though it had ended awkwardly.

Shae was beyond exhausted, but when the baby is awake it means mommy has to be awake too. Shae rubbed at her heavy eyes as she watched the stars fly by at warp. The small portholes in her quarters hadn't offered much in the way of a view, so the Chameloid woman had opted to visit the mess hall. It was the middle of the night, so she had it mostly to herself, save the few crewman working on repairs who would come in every now and then for coffee and then leave as quickly as they came. So far no one had bothered to speak to her, and for now she was okay with that. She wasn't certain she was ready for social interaction right now.

Aoife was completely oblivious to her mother's distress, far too interested with all the new things to see. Her little wobbly head peeked over Shae's shoulder so she could look around with bright and inquisitive eyes and watch as people came and went. She had never seen other people before, so of course it was exciting to her. The transporter had been an unsettling experience, but once she had been calmed down, fed and bathed, the unpleasantness of the transporter had been forgotten and now all she could do was take in all the new stimuli around her.

Both mother and infant had shed their garments of furs. Properly bathed, groomed, and in civilian clothing, it was almost hard to believe that this was the same woman who had stormed the bridge and given the Command Officers a tongue lashing. But her features were quite distinctive, so even though she no longer dressed like the wild woman, there was no mistaking who she was. And Aoife looked cute as a button in her little footie pajamas, her little tail wagging away as she lay on her belly against Shae's chest, drooling on Shae's shoulder as she watched people pass by.

For his part, Zev was always most comfortable at the bar. Sure, his quarters were fine for sleeping and other personal, private stuff, but throughout his teens and twenties most of his hours had been spent where there was always someone new to meet, great food, and a hearty beverage. He'd worked at various bars on New Bellevue before finding the catering-gig that lead to his enlistment in Starfleet. As such, he'd grown as familiar with the lounge's staff and late-night patrons as they had with him.

Two minutes before somewhere around the time that he normally showed up, Oenomaus, the bartender, cleared the Ferengi's favorite spot--corner seat, end of the bar, from which he could see just about everything that was going on in the room--poured his favorite beverage, left two styluses and a blank pad, with a side of dried roots from the Zaram trees of Hiriculous IV for the Chief to chew on. That last item wasn't illegal within the Federation--yet. There was currently a pool going on to determine when and why they inevitably would.

Oenomaus was surprised to see the Chief arrive early, but the look on his face did not depict the normal fatigue and continued attempts to process his unfinished business of the day. Nor was it the jovial party-starter that had made him soooo much money on several occasions since they'd met back in spacedock. No... he'd seen this look before, and quickly realized that today he'd need to pull that bottle of authentic Naussican liqueur from the back room. He was in such a hurry to replace the beverage already poured, in fact, that he didn't even notice the focus of the Chief's gaze.

For his part, Zev had calmed down significantly since being thrown under the bus and run over several times on the Bridge that day. One of the great things about being a senior officer was that you were always on duty, most of the time--sometimes, you could decide that you just weren't; this was one of those times.

With Myo--who was on his list--having resolved things with Shae-the-Stowaway, and St James finally stepping up as Tactical and Officer of the Watch on the Bridge, Zev could concentrate on the things that he didn't feel either completely frustrated with, or grossly underqualified for (in that order), like paperwork, ship-wide training drills, and trading recipes with Oenomaus.

Unfortunately, the sight of Shae and her progeny gave him pause. No, he didn't like the way that she'd spoken to him earlier that day, but he was glad to see she got her kid back without getting everyone aboard the Islandica killed. No, he wasn't happy to see her kid in the lounge, but at least the ship had a lounge. Every cloud had a silver lining, he supposed, and with that, he made his way over to his usual seat.

"Glad to see we were able to retrieve your child," Zev stated flatly as he passed their table. There was no reason not to acknowledge the two of them--this is a joint post, after all--and for that matter, he needed something from them anyway. It was this something that caused him to stop, raising a finger as if he'd just remembered something: "As you've worked most closely with Myomoto, please be sure to have have him add both of you to the ships roster while we wait for a transport to come collect you as soon as possible."

"Oh, thank you," Shae said softly as she snapped out of her daze and looked up at Zev. "And if it's alright with you, I would like to remain off the roster for now. I know it's a lot to ask, but you'll have to report the change in roster to Command and I'm not ready for them to know that I've been found." She knew it wa a lot to ask and that he wasn't likely to be amenable to such a request, but it couldn't hurt to ask. She just wanted to avoid contact with Command for as long as possible.

"It's not," Zev replied. As a person who never expected to become anything close to a figure of authority, his plan had been to follow the rules as closely as possible--he didn't want to end up as the fall-guy.

"However..." he added. "I've asked you to make the appropriate arrangements, and will note that fact in my log. When you get around to it is something you'll have to work out with the Lieutenant, who's about to be a *very* busy man."''

"I understand, thank you," Shae replied. Aoife's head wobbled as she strained to turn to get a better look at Zeb. "I will make arrangements to disembark once we arrive at the station I've been hearing about. Glebben is it?" It sounded Ferengi, but she wasn't going to say that in front of the Ferengi Petty Officer she'd insulted earlier. Though now that she thought about it...

"And for what it's worth, I am sorry for my behavior on the bridge," Shae added softly as she sat her daughter in her lap so she could have a better view of Zeb since he seemed so interesting to the infant. This pleased Aiofe to no end. Oblivious to the tension between the two adults, Aoife fixed Zeb with a drooly grin, fascinated by this man with such big ears. "I originally had no intentions of coming aboard, I was only beamed up with the away team because of a medical emergency. So when I came to in Sickbay, my first reacions were purely survival. And Commander Se'Lah had no way of knowing about my daughter; I had kept her hidden in a safe place when I decided to rescue Se'Lah. I have been on that world for a very long time, there's not much room for civilized behavior when you're surviving on a world like that, or protecting your young. And I don't say any of this as a plea for sympathy; it's merely my hope that understanding will make it possible for you to accept my apology. The way I behaved was... unnecessary, disrespectful, and I made such a fool of myself, but that was just years of survival talking."

"Thank you, I appreciate that," Zev replied, leaning back slightly as the infant?--toddler?--larvae?--extended a hand and toothless smile in his direction. Children--especially the very young--made him uncomfortable; their parents even moreso. Children's parents were more irrational than the undeveloped beings they were attempting to nurture, protect, and develop--assuming they'd gotten that far. Zev had grown up as the only Ferengi on a fringe colony world, with no idea who his biological parents were. Over the course of his previous career(s), he'd dealt with 'dedicated' parents who were just on the other side of fanatical.

Decades of customer service training and interaction, followed by a couple years at Starfleet's Bootcamp were the saving graces of his composure. "Just... keep her closer next time. 180's are bad for the engines, structural integrity... people with space-sickness... navigational logs."

Shae offered a small smile and just a hint of a laugh as she nodded. "I will not let her out of my sight," she promised Zev, though it was not simply to accodmodate his concerns; she wasn't sure if she could trust these people yet. "Anyway, thank you for your consideration, but I do not wish to hold you up any longer," Shae added, glancing to the bar where the bartender had a drink ready and waiting for Zev.

"Nor do I wish to be held," Zev replied instinctively--his mouth and his customer-service training were known to butt heads as words left his mouth. He, himself, was surprised by the response--as such, once he realized what he'd said, he had little choice than to hide the look of shock his face bore by turning his head to move swiftly toward the aforementioned beverage.

Shae did not like sickbay, and the last time she had been in this particular one, she had very nearly attacked 1st Lieutenant Myomoto and the doctor tending to her. She just hoped the doctor wouldn't hold it against her as she timidly padded into the infirmary.

The Chameloid woman looked drastically different than the last time she'd been here. Before she was feral and wild and wearing fur garments, but now she looked like a proper civilian, albeit a bit anxious. And in her arms was her infant daughter rescued from the planet. The little girl held a wide-eyed and inquisitive gaze, a stark contrast to the guarded demeanor her mother wore.

"Excuse me," Shae said timidly to a nurse. "Is the doctor available? I have a bit of a headache..."

"My dear, the Doctor is always available" said Beh'ruken exiting from his office, responding to the woman before his nurse could. Dr. Beh'ruken, the elderly white haired Antican moved with aged grace but still quite swiftly as he navigated around a biobed. "A headache you say?" he asked as he got into a cabinet with medical tools and various equipment.

He retrieved a medical tricorder and opened it as he moved towards the woman. "Ah, yes, my favorite little patient. You were the one with that savage device on you. It's no wonder you'd have headaches from that barbaric thing" commented the Chief Medical Officer as he moved the tricorder around the Chameloid's head. "Any nausea or vomiting?" asked the Antican.

"N-no..." Shae replied, nervously shying away from the tricorder for a moment before finally remaining still so he could get his scans. "No nausea or vomiting. Really, it's not even all that painful considering what the device used to do to me, nothing I haven't learned to live with, but I thought it might be wise to have it checked out in case it was a sign of bigger problems," she continued softly.

"Well, either you are stronger than you look or you are a naughty little liar" said the Antican making a sighing sound and shaking his head. "My little device here says you are dealing with immense amounts of pain. Your nerves are...and look at these levels" growled the Chief Medical Officer. He closed the tricorder and let out a grunt and a few snorts. "Not good. Not good at all" he added.

The Antican walked around the woman and then looked her in the eyes. "It is a bigger problem. You my dear are a stubborn whatever the hell you are and I as ship's Chief Physician do not like it one bit" he said.

Shae's tail puffed up in agitation, but otherwise she showed no other reaction to his statements about 'whatever the hell she was' and how she was lying. "What is wrong?" she asked, concerned. "Whatever it is, can you fix it?" She was hiding it well, but she was downright scared that something was seriously wrong, but her fear was less for her own well-being and more about what would happen to her daughter if the doctor couldn't fix the problem.

"Yes, if we can fix you and your stubbornness. I would suggest you seeing the Ship's Counselor. However, you did have the common sense to at least come see me about the pain" replied the Antican. "If you feel any sort of pain or discomfort, please come see myself or anyone under me immediately. Now, let's see what we can do for that headache" added the Antican as he walked over to the cabinet and put away the tricorder, but came out with two vials. One had a yellow liquid and the other a blue liquid.

"I fail to see what me and my stubbornness has to do with fixing the problem," Shae said, again feeling a bit ruffled. "And what are those?" she asked, looking at the vials.

The Antican looked at the woman and snarled. "These? Your medication and you will be taking it unless you want to be visiting me more often" said the Antican as he poured the blue liquid into the yellow and shook it until the contents blended into a lime green. "Drink this" he said presenting her the vial. "Your stubbornness is the problem. You've become too used to pain that you are at serious risk to yourself if you push yourself to just tolerate pain" explained the Antican.

"I have been living with the device for an excess of ten years with no options for pain relief. I can assure you, I do not have to push myself to ignore this," Shae said, but she took the concoction. She growled at its potent and stomach turning scent, but she brought it to her lips and tipped the vial back nonetheless, shuddering slightly as the the medication went down. "So, what is causing the pain and how will this help?" she asked, handing the vial back to him.

The Antican nodded. He understood quite well. "Your body has become so used to that damn device and the pain it inflicted, that your body is actually causing you to feel phantom pains. What I gave you will dull the pain. I want you to see me twice a day for continued treatment. Your body should sort itself out within a week or two."

Shae growled at the idea of continued visits to Sickbay, but forced herself to reply, "That is not unreasonable." Aoife whimpered in response to her mother's growl, clinging tightly to Shae's tunic. Shae sighed, suppressing the urge to growl at the Antican any more, then continued in a more relaxed tone, petting her child gently to calm her. "Thank you, Doctor. Is there anything else?"

"Yes, actually" he said looking at the woman. "You have a daughter and as ship's Chief Physician I must remind you that everyone aboard is under my care. She is new to the ship and I must see her to ensure she does not have anything that would be a risk to the crew."

Again Shae growled. This was even more bothersome than she anticipated. "I don't suppose you'll accept 'no' for an answer?" she asked, but moved closer to a biobed and lay her infant daughter down for him to examine.

"Ooh not unless you want your hand bitten, dear" replied the Antican. "I must see the child" added the Chief Medical Officer. His mind then went back in time momentarily, remembering his time on a previous posting... a space station where a part-Vulcan Commanding Officer had a little sister. The child looked so delicious. Beh'ruken caught himself salivating from the mouth.

Shae's growl deepened into something he would recognize as a clear warning. "Mind the gaze and the salivation, Doctor, she is not for eating," Shae said, her ears laying back and the fur on her tail raising as her agitation grew. Aoife grew very still and very quiet at the sound of her mother's growl. Though she looked on the verge of crying, Aoife wouldn't utter a peep until her mother had assured her it was safe to do so, demonstrating that like Shae she had primal instincts guiding her behavior.

"Sorry, sorry, sorry" began the Antican shaking his head. "Please, forgive me. I haven't had anything all day. I am so hungry, I could eat a dozen Tribbles" he said. MMM Tribble

"It's alright, just no more leering at her that way..." Shae gently pet Aoife's downy hair in an effort to calm her. The baby whimpered softly, but still did not cry. instead, Aoife settled on chewing on her fist while the strange man looked her over.

"I promise" said the Doctor with a grunt. He looked around and then at the woman. "Shae, you are free to leave. If you feel like returning to your quarters or go wherever you wish. Your headache should subside soon" directed the Doctor with a pleasant nod.

Shae nodded and picked up her daughter. "If you're certain," she said, then started to walk away, pausing at the door. "Thank you," she added softly.

OOC - Kinda an awkward starting point to get rolling again, but I figure this is the better way to go. If you see someone who should be added to this post, please add them for me!

*** Islandica - Bridge ***

After the small incident on the bridge a few minutes before, Se'Lah and the bridge crew had waited for Myomoto, and Shae to return to the ship.

=A= Transporter room to bridge, they're back aboard. =A= came the call to the bridge.

=A= Acknowledged. =A= Se'Lah replied, then tapped the COMM again. =A= Bridge to engineering, what is the status of the warp engines? =A=

=^=The ship's engines are at full readiness. You have full warp capabilities.=^= Came Jacob's reply. =^=Though I would be easy on the maneuvering. Some of the inertial dampeners are still offline in parts of the ship=^=

=A= Understood. =A= Se'Lah decided to get the ship moving. "Helm, plot a course for Glebbin station, best possible speed."

"Aye Sir," came the appropriate response from the Helm.

James St James felt more uncomfortable here, right now, than he had on the planet. He was convinced that Myomoto and Se'lah both thought him incompetant; at the same time, he really wasn't. Having attended both Starfleet Academy, and the Andorian War College, he was the most well versed tactical officer on the ship.

Unfortunately, the Lieutenant was also socially awkward. Based on the Bridge officers present, he was most likely supposed to step up as Acting Executive Officer. "Would you like me to hail them, Commander?" he asked as he began to step down from Tactical toward the Command deck--then thinking better of it. Probably best to stay where he was.

Ens. Storme at the Helm announced, "We are at a cruising velocity of Warp 6, Sir."

Se'Lah gave him a slight smirk. "You might want to wait, until we are in range, Lieutenant." She told him. "No point in bothering them, before we're ready to dock."

Meanwhile Captain Kagami Izumi aboard the USS Missouri ordered her operations officer to hail the Islandica. The Missouri had been dispatched to assist the Islandica and her crew with diplomatic relations in regards to the use of Glebbin Station until a more suitable Starfleet Annex or base could be constructed nearby.

"That's... exactly what I meant, ma'am," James replied. "We should call them first, let them know we're on our way and a list of services we would need ready..." Though people started looking at him as he continued talking--making him nervous, and therefore more verbose--he continued.

"Y'see, back when I was in the Academy, whenever I brought the Parises Squares team down to the townie-bar, they appreciated a call first. We don't really know these guys--" his console started beeping. Without breaking eye contact, he continued speaking as he silenced the alarm.

"--and I'm certain that a rogue station run by a shifting conglomerate of less-than-reputable... umm... repute wouldn't appreciate two Federation ships showing up out of the blue. Speaking of which, the USS Missouri is hailing; Captain Izumi commanding. She'd like to speak with you."

Se'Lah raised an eyebrow at the mention of another Fedaration ship out this far. "Put it on screen." She said, turning to face the screen as the image of another woman appeared. "I am Lieutenant Commander Se'Lah, Executive Officer of the Islandica." She said simply. "How can I help you, Captain?"

A young looking woman appeared on the screen, she had the traditional Japanese style of facial features and rather unusual light purple hair. "Is your commanding officer available?" she asked.

Theron looked up at the oriental woman on the view screen. He found her very lovely, but realized she no doubt outranked him, by a lot.

"Unfortunately, the Captain is not available at this moment." Se'Lah replied simply. "I'm sure I can help you with whatever you need."

"Hmm" she said clearly thinking. "I'm here to meet you at Glebbin Station. Starfleet wants to use the base as a... temporary home port for your ship until we can get something more permanent set up in the area. The Missouri is here to oversee that process" she explained.

"The more the merrier," St James commented to himself quietly with a smile as he began a background check to confirm what the Captain was saying. Sure, they'd arrived in an Intrepid-Class Federation starship, and it was clear that they appeared to be legitimate... but Starfleet was a massive organization, and there had to be some record of this change. As the Tactical Officer, James knew that he would have been appraised if the 'Fleet was sending someone for any reason. Apparently he'd been made, though, as the Missouri's Tactical Officer sent the documents over.

Se'Lah's acute Vulcan hearing didn't fail to pick up St James' quiet comment, but she chose to ignore it. "We were not made aware of this change, and it is rare that other Federation ships come out here." she explained. Maybe it was the situation they were in, or maybe it was her paranoid nature, but she was not about to just take this woman at her word. "If you could send over verification of your credentials, and the change in orders, then we can continue this conversation further."

Theron sat at the Helm and tried not to laugh at the verbal exchange. He couldn't help but smile a little.

Kagami turned to face someone off screen for a few seconds. "We're sending you the orders on an encrypted data burst" she said. "The Islandica should change course for the set of co-ordinates in the orders where we will rendezvous in three hours"

"Commander," St James said, waiving at someone off-screen to take his place at Tactical as he headed toward the Command deck with a PADD in hand. "This is exactly the same information they sent over a moment ago. Their CTac sent it to my station directly a few seconds ago." He handed her the PADD.

This situation was becoming more and more suspicious by the second. As if those who were writing the sequence of events hadn't read what had been written before them: the information had been sent, recieved, and acknowledged. Then, sent again... Clearly: these people were not who they claimed to be.

While the records of the USS Missouri had checked out, and the orders they'd transmitted had been proven legitimate to the best of Lieutenant St James' ability... it seemed almost as if they, themselves, were trying to convince themselves of their own identity. How many times had that happened in Starfleet history?

The answer was: many.

James narrowed his eyes at the woman on the viewscreen, before making a throat-cutting gesture to the person who'd taken over his station, thereby indicating that the transmission should be muted. "Ma'am, I know that I didn't do so well on away-duty, but..." he gestured to the PADD he'd handed her moments before "...something doesn't add up. I recommend yellow--if not red--alert."

Se'Lah read the contents of the PADD, then gave her thumb print to show that it had been checked by a member of the Command team. She handed the PADD back to St James. "Yellow alert." As she said it, the computer picked up her command. While Captain Izumi watched the silent view of the Islandica's bridge, the lights lowered, and the alert lights began to blink yellow. Se'Lah patted St James on the shoulder, before gesturing to his Tactical replacement to unmute the transmission.

"Captain, our main systems are still damaged from an incident earlier, leaving us without shields, or weapons." Se'Lah lied. She too saw the discrepancies that St James had pointed out, but she was not about to point them out in case these suspicions were correct. "At my Tactical officer's suggestion, it would probably be better to meet at Glebbin station, so that we are no longer undefended."

Kagami turned to face someone off screen.
"Changing course now would just be unproductive" Kagami said. "We've increased speed, something I didn't want to do in this region. We can have an Engineering Team on standby to assist with repairs on our arrival" she explained.

*** Main Engineering ***

"What in the hell?" Jacob blinked as the lights dimmed. "What's happening now?" He rushed over towards a console, tapping a key to open the comm.

"Engineering to bridge, what the hell is going on?"

=A= "Stand by, Lieutenant." =A= Se'Lah's voice rang over the COMM system, and then her voice could be heard again as she was talking to someone else. =A= "Captain Izumi, I understand that orders are orders, but due to our current situation, I will not follow your last order." =A=

*** Bridge ***

"With all respect Commander. These orders are from Starfleet Command and I am the ranking officer here" Kagami said simply crossing her arms. "I am also the senior officer in this region of space. Inform your commanding officer immediately of these orders and we'll skip the court martial this time".

Though she was suspicious, Se'Lah showed no emotional signs of it as she kept her Vulcan control in place for the moment. "I will inform my Commanding Officer of these orders, and explain my decision to her." Se'Lah continued without missing a beat. "In the mean time, we will be arriving at Glebbin station in just over 4 hours, and we can rendezvous there. Islandica out." With that, Se'Lah turned and gave the cut signal to the officer who had taken St James place at tactical.

Wow! Storme thought. He had seen power plays before, but had not been this close to one. He knew that giving up control of a ship to unverified orders was a big deal. The Ensign glanced over his shoulder for a second at Se'Lah and saw a perfectly straight face. He knew that 'Vulcan' non emotional stuff must have been taking place. Theron knew it didn't need to be said, but just for moral purposes he stated, "Steady on course for Glebbin station, Sir."

"Glad to hear it, Ensign." Se'Lah replied simply. "Keep this course."

"Bridge to Engineering." Se'Lah said into the COMM again. "Can you rig the ship to make us appear to have no shields, or weapons without actually disabling them?"

=^=Uh,=^= Jacob's voice said coming over the comm. =^=The systems can be pre-prepped, but the minute we want to fire they'll know. Sensors aren't easily fooled. As for the shields, there's...I can try.=^= He said finally.

"You have 4 hours to make us look defenseless, without actually being that way." Se'Lah explained as she looked over at St James. "Our lives, or careers may depend on it."

Myomoto was pacing around one of the personnel quarters decks his mind in turmoil. If anyone were paying attention his pacing looked random but he always passed a certain door at least once every few minutes. That quarters occupants were the reason for his pacing and his turmoil... He couldn't stop thinking about them. Shae in her vulnerable strength and the baby in her innocence. He was drawn to them for some reason.

As he passed the door for what seemed the hundredth time he finally stopped... but didn't know what to do next.

Shae had been passively aware of the traffic outside her door, but not the who or the why. She had just assumed there were a lot of people passing by, she had no idea that it was the marine pacing, and she remained oblivious as she sat at the computer interface supplied in her quarters, updating herself on recent history as she hummed a simple tune for her child sleeping in her bassinet nearby.

Myomoto drew a deep breath and reached out to request entry.

Shae looked up from her console, her ears standing erect at the sound of the door chime. It took her a moment to remember what the sound meant and what she had to do, but eventually she rose from her chair and padded over to the door. To say she was surprised to see the marine standing on the other side of the door would be an understatement. "Oh, hello," she said shyly, shifting on her feet uncomfortably for a moment before she remembered she was supposed to invite him inside. "Would you like to come in?" she asked, stepping aside to let him in.

Myomoto stood awkwardly at the door but managed a polite "please" before following her into her quarters. He stood inside the door and saw the baby sleeping. "I'm sorry is this a bad time?" He spoke softly. "I just wanted to see how you two were settling in."

"It's alright, I don't mind the company," Shae said, moving over to the replicator to refresh her tea before sitting back down at her console. Her fur garments had been replaced by a simple linen tunic and leggings, and her hair and tail had been properly groomed and now had a wonderful sheen. The 'wild woman' was gone and in her place was a civilian who felt terribly out of place. "And we're settling in fine, I suppose. Aoife is still sleeping a lot; she doesn't care if that happens in a cave or on a ship," she said with a smile cast towards her sleeping child. "And I was just trying to get caught up on recent events. Apparently I've been on Psi Gamma IV for 17 years... That's a long time to be out of the loop, I've got a lot to catch up on," she added with a hint of sadness.

Myo looked thoughtful for a moment before saying "Yeah. That is a lot." He moved to stand nearer to her trying not to seem intrusive. "May I speak openly for a moment?" His voice shook a little.

Shae nodded slightly, motioning to the chair on the other side of the table, inviting him to sit.

Myo sat and clasped his hands on the table in front of him. "I have no clue how to say this other than... There is something about you Ms. Shae. I don't know what it is but I like it. I like you and your daughter and I would enjoy more time in your company. I know this sounds weird as we just met but it was eating me up not saying anything."

"Oh my..." That certainly was some revelation! Shae gazed into her teacup with a pensive stare as she considered how to respond. She was silent for a long time, but finally she took a sip of her tea, then smiled at him. "Kalin. My name is Kalin Brennan," she said as a way of breaking the uncomfortable silence. "I was Shae when I was little, then I was adopted by a family on Earth and they renamed me, but I still prefer Shae. I just thought that if you were going to spend more time with me that you might like to know my full name."

"S-so you are ok with us spending more time together?" His voice was a little timid but his happiness was evident. "I am Joseph Myomoto... but I think I told you that already. .. Anyway I hope to help in any way I can." He smiled at the end with mixture of hope and warmth.

Shae smiled warmly. "I have been isolated for far too long, and I enjoy your company, so yes, I am okay spending time with you," she said, then her smile faded slightly. "Though, I would advise you not to get too attached. I don't know how long I'll be staying. I'm not sure what's safe anymore, though I'm fairly certain that Starfleet is still not safe for me, it's best if I just keep moving for a while until I can find a place where I can settle down."

"Well if you stay here I can keep you guys safe... Plus the crew will as well. We are going to explore previously unexplored areas of space son of course some danger is expected but we work together to keep everyone safe. Please don't go running off." He looked down at his hands as he quietly said that last sentence.

"What would I even do on this ship?" Shae asked. "I'm not Starfleet anymore, I have no rank, I'm terribly out of date on procedures and protocol, and the science... It would take me forever to get caught up on all the scientific advancements. And then when Starfleet finds out about me, what if they recall me to Earth?" Her tone was becoming more frantic and panic began to set in. "What if they want to hold me responsible for the things I did during the War? They'll take Aoife away and send me to a penal colony, I can't let that happen!"

"So it may take a little work to get back into the swing I'm of things. It will be worth it. Section 31 is gone, I am sure you will be acquitted especially if you become a contributing member of an active crew. Work for a life instead of running. Is a life of running really better for Aoife?" His voice grew in intensity as he continued and he finished the last as a hoarse whisper. He looked at Aoife and his face softened in compassion.

"It's not so bad... I remember when I was a wee little thing, living on a ship with me parents before they died. They were smugglers, not that I would do anything of the sort now, but... who knows, maybe I could get a small ship and we could be happy," Shae said, her natural Irish lilt slipping out. She had suppressed it to match the dialect on the planet, but now that she was speaking English again it was coming back. "Anyway, I didn't make much of a good impression when I stormed tthe bridge. The Ferengi Petty Officer I argued with, i don't think he likes me very much, and I had something of a disagreement with the Commander back on the planet. None of this will reflect positively on me if i were to approach your Capptain about staying."

Myomoto sighed "you know you are being way too hard on yourself. What kind of people do you think are on this ship that would judge you like that. We understand your circumstances and the captain will take it all into consideration." He growled a little in frustration. "You really have nothing to lose staying aboard here. But ultimately it is up to you."

Shae sighed as she looked over at Aoife; she had everything to lose, but Myomoto certainly had a way with words that compelled her to give this matter some serious consideration. "I will consider staying," she said softly. "But please, don't get your hopes up. It's a big enough change to be off that world and being around people again, but conforming to Starfleet lifestyle is a bit of a steep challenge," she added, looking back at Myomoto.

Myo nodded slightly and then smiled a little. "About the starfleet lifestyle... why be in Starfleet at all? We need a science officer. Be a civilian consultant on board. Start with a limited time contract and if it's not working you have no obligation to stay. Just a thought. " Myomoto was happy she was at least considering it and did his best not to get too hopeful... but couldn't help himself.

"Well that's not a bad idea," Shae said as she thought it over. Starting as a civilian consultant would give her time to readjust. "You've given me a lot to think about," she said with a small smile. "Thank you."

He reached out and companionably put his hand on hers and said "You are welcome. Again I am here if you need"

Shae quickly pulled her hand away from his, looking at his hand like it was there to hurt her, but she knew he wasn't going to hurt her. Hesitantly, she placed her hand back on the table, slowly inching her way closer to Myomoto's hand. "I'm sorry, it's been so long since I've been able to enjoy casual contact with others," she said softly as her thumb brushed against one of this fingers. She was a broken woman who had known so much abuse that it was a wonder she could have any hope of a normal life at all, but here she was, trying her hardest to let herself do something that most people took for granted.

Myomoto sat still as she reached back out to him and just smiled at her. "Take your time. I am here with you the whole way as long as you let me." He looked over to Aoife who had begun to stir a little. He looked at Shae questioningly as he moved slowly towards the child to comfort her.

"I'll get her," Shae said quickly. She had been okay with him touching Aoife before, but she wasn't ready for anyone to hold Aoife just yet. She gathered her daughter up, making soothing sounds as she rocked Aoife. "Why are you so willing to give me a chance?" Shae asked as she settled back in her chair with the slowly waking Aoife."You've been so... accommodating. Why?"

Myomoto shook his head a little as he thought. "I am honestly not sure. I am usually a very withdrawn and private person. I mean I would normally feel for someone in your situation and do what I could to help. I am not heartless. I would just keep from getting personally involved." He ran his hands through his hair as he continued. "But you... You drew me out... And then in, to you. I don't know how because I am very certain it wasn't intentional. But I am not going to ignore it even though it frightens me a little."

Shae looked down at her daughter with a sigh, then shifted her pensive gaze out the window as she let his words roll around her brain. She didn't know how to respond to his confession; she certainly hadn't tried to lure him in! If anything, she had been trying to keep her distance and not get too comfortable here, but there was something about him that made her feel safe.

After a while she returned her gaze to Joseph, and to their hands on the table. she hadn't even realized that her free hand had returned to the table and was again reaching for his hand in an attempt to make contact. Ever so slowly, Shae let her hand creep closer and closer to his until finally they were agin touching. And then to her surprise she laced her fingers with his. Why had she done that? She looked to him. With no words to say, she smiled slightly, then looked back at their joined hands, pondering what this meant...

Myomoto returned her smile as their hands touched and spoke softly "I have no idea where this is going or how we will get there... But this is a good start." He stood and raised her hand and touched it to his forehead "I should return to duty. I hope to see you and Aoife again soon." He released her hand and went to the door to leave, his bearing was one of confidence and assurance. The future was uncertain but he wasn't, he knew what he wanted.