Nexi wandered down the hall, a priceless bottle of well aged whiskey in her hand and two glasses in the other; she'd nicked the bottle from Enalia's private stash and decided to take a stroll down to Sickbay to check in on their resident jarhead who was recovering from his injuries incurred on the Cardassian penal colony. She strolled in, freshly showered and in clean clothes, nothing uniform though, she was avoiding wearing the uniform as long as possible; instead she wore a plain black shirt and baggy cargo pants, and her trademark leather jacket styled after the Starfleet uniform, her long curly hair spilling free down her back.

"Hey, wake up," Nexi said as she approached the biobed where Cato lay, pulling up a chair to sit and then setting the glasses and the whiskey on a side table.

Cato hated sickbay, the only place where they'd wake you up to give you a hypospray to help you sleep. Eyes cracking open to see Nexi and the bottle, he sat up with a grimace. Dermal bandages on his ribcage from where he hit the deck, other than that his upper body was bare. The 'art show' was visible for anyone who would look now, including some of his soon to be new scars. "Thank god, real medicine." He moved to adjust his left leg, dermal wrap freshly applied from surgery earlier. "So, how pissed off is she that I used airburst rounds and a plasma grenade? On a one to ten." he cracked a smile that quickly turned into a half grimace.

"On a one to ten, mmm, maybe a seven?" Nexi replied as she popped the top on the whiskey, taking a sniff and smiling approvingly. "I think more than anything, she's upset we lost 3 men on this mission, which isn't anyone's fault," Nexi then said as she poured the smooth drink into each of the glasses, then offered one to him. "Not to mention, this guy, whoever he is, we keep finding these experiments of his and we can't seem to do anything to stop him. Oh, and he knows who we are, or at the very least me and my sister, and yet we know next to nothing about him. Of course Enalia's pissed, I am too."

Remaining quiet, Cato reached out and took the glass with his left hand. Moving to 'clink' glasses with her, he perked a brow "Heres to almost being number four." he took a sip, the smooth familiar taste made him so happy. A big smile crept over his face before he continued "Cliche time." he took another sip of that lovely drop of whiskey that was in his glass "Don't get angry, let's get even." Cato paused and made sure hey was looking right into Nexi's eyes for this next part "O'Shea, Dover and De'Ath died honorably. Yeah, it pisses me off too. But the best thing we can do is figure out a way to shut this motherfucker down. Permanently. Focus on things that he shouldn't know."

"Yeah, I'm familiar with that one; pettiness is a common thing in my former line of work," Nexi said with a chuckle, then finished off her glass. She waited until he was done to give them both a refill. "As for what this guy shouldn't know... he shouldn't have known I even had a sister, how did he know? Something I intend to talk to Enalia about to make sure there ain't been any leaks in our Intel." She took a swig of the whiskey, holding it in her mouth for a moment to savor the flavor as she considered whether to tell Cato. Clio knew, she was Nexi's superior, she was entitled to know the motivations of her subordinates, and Mal knew because he was the new XO, but Nexi was still fearful of letting too many people know the truth, which was why Enalia promised her the truth would never leave the Hera.

"Aewia Larani, daughter of a prominent Betazoid house, she was medically retired from her service in Starfleet Intel after having part of her brain cut out in a Reman prison. The info her team initially recovered was what led us to one of the stations this fucker set up. I've kept my connection to Aewia secret because I'm her illegitimate half sister, I didn't want to tarnish her family's reputation or want her in any danger because of my former lifestyle; I trust you know how to keep a secret," Nexi said with a serious gaze.

He laughed at the pettiness comment and then switched gears to just listen intently while she spoke. Coming to her secret, Cato gave her a single nod and swallowed the sip of whiskey he had in his mouth. "I'll take it to my grave, you have my word." he replied in all seriousness. Cato was a vault, even though he had his flaws he was good where it counted. "When you had a chance to go right for the runabout, you went for me first. You dragged me off that station. yIn SoH jIH" which the translator pumped out to I owe you a life he took a quick sip of liquid courage before he continued.

"You and I maybe have one thing in common. We get shit done our own way." he paused "We're going to hunt this son-of-a-bitch down and when the time comes, I'll make sure you get to him and you get a chance to even the score; Or I'll die trying." he grimaced as he shifted in the bio bed. "All I need is for you to have my back when it counts."

"Yeah... I'm still getting used to caring about other people," Nexi confessed, pouring them both another drink. "The life I lived before was a very lonely one, and I wasn't lying when I said the transition from profit to duty ain't easy... I've lost people before, but never anyone I was close enough to miss, and since working with Hera I've lost too many teammates; it's like now that I care, I can't shut it off and I don't know what to do about this pit I feel in my stomach." She wasn't afraid of confessing such a thing to a guy like Cato because she had a feeling he was a lot the same way. "As for evening the score, I've seen more than enough death, I don't need to take his life to find closure, I'll be content just to know he's dead."

He bit his lower lip and took a deep breath, Cato didn't really talk to people anymore. This new trend aboard the Hera was different territory for him. Nexi was different "I know, I get it. This life is lonely plain and simple. I'll tell you now, that fuckin' pit never goes away. It's always been easier for me to check out and not give a fuck about anyone or anything." he took another deep breath, showing her the tree branch tattoo on the inside of his left bicep which continued over his left pec (above where his heart was). "When you care, you stop losing teammates and start losing family." he paused and took another sip "I've lost enough." he took another sip. "You start to forget the things you should remember... And you can't stop remembering the things you should forget."

"Yeah, yeah..." Nexi replied softly with a nod; she understood, even if this was still something new to her. "I thought joining Starfleet was something I could do, but... days like this, I question that decision. It would be so easy for me to jump in my ship and disappear. Aewia's the only reason I ain't left yet, and only time will tell if the decision to stay is a good one." Nexi finished off her drink and set her glass aside. "You want another before I return this? I snuck it from Enalia's quarters, I should probably return it before she has a chance to notice... It's old as fuck on your Earth calendar, 1980-something, hope she don't mind..." She looked at the faded label on the bottle, trying to read the old Earth fancy writing.

Cato just about spat the final sip from his glass out, he chuckled and shook his head 'no' before handing her his glass back and swallowed that last sip. He didn't even remotely want to comment on the fact they were just drinking epic whiskey. "You know, I tried the running thing once... Bitch served my heart up to me on a silver platter during my first year at the academy, I dropped out and I just started running and haven't looked back since." they were at the tail end of their opening up and having a heart to heart. "Joining Starfleet isn't about you, it's about standing for those who don't have a voice. It's about sacrifice and challenging yourself" he stopped himself, suddenly realizing he sounded like his father. "blah blah fuckin' blah. You get the idea."

Nexi laughed at his reaction as she took his glass from him and set it aside, then laughed again at his 'blah blah'. "Yeah, I get the idea. At first I joined for Aewia because she deserves more than I can give her, and then I decided to do it for myself, not just for the challenge but because I wanted something better for myself. I never wanted anything for myself before, not really. Sounds strange, before it was about the profit and and making ends meet, and that sounds selfish as hell, but I had all this money and nothing I really wanted to do with it. Now I want something; don't rightly know what that is, but here I am."

He smirked "Well, you sound like everyone I've ever known. I don't know what I want either, I feel like I'm fumbling through my life and career most of the time. But I do know that I look cute in my uniform and I love to blow shit up." he smiled and shot a wink in her direction, just because. "You don't sound selfish, well, you aren't selfish. If you were, we wouldn't be having this conversation." he laid his head back on the shitty sickbay pillow "We need a bottle of something less exotic, the edge of being a chew toy for an overgrown fuckin rat was finally going away."

"And here it is," came Enalia's voice from the entry to sickbay. "Good thing I have a tracker and an alarm on that bottle. And I think I have a good idea why both of you joined. The same reason I did. To see what you can become. To push yourself to be better and see what's worth living for in this universe. Does that sound about right?" Walking over to the two, she offered them a rather large jug of Trill scotch.

Cato looked at Nexi and laughed-smiled as he shook his head "Smooth." looking past her to Captain Telvan "Something along those lines Ma'am." He paused eyeing the large jug of Trill scotch in Enalia's hand "You saved Nexi the long walk to grab a bottle of macallan from my quarters. Not quite the same league as your 1980 mac-daddy, but 2250 was a pretty decent year."

"Helluva lot better than the homemade brew I've been working with one of the crew to make down near the deuterium slush tanks; that stuff can strip the grease off of parts better than industrial solvents, and me and O'Connor tested it one night and after just two hits, we couldn't remember what happened that night; all we knew is he woke up naked in the Captain's chair and I was wearing EV grav-boots and stuck to the ceiling in a Jefferies tube." Nexi handed the whiskey back to Enalia with a grin. "I got a line on that brandy you like if you want me to replace that; it was very smooth, by the way, definitely recommend taking your time with what's left of it."

"If you want to make amends, I have a teacup I'd like sitting in the Louvre on Earth. And if you want home brew, visit the empty quarters next to mine and get another bottle of this. Don't touch the ale though. It's not ready." Enalia replied as she popped the stopper on the gallon and a half jug. She then offered to refill the empty glasses. "It may not be as smooth, but it's real and it'll help ease what pains you."

Cato smiled, he suddenly found that he had landed himself on the only flying distillery in Starfleet; Using his best fake scottish accent he said "I like this ship." he paused "Enough scotch to make us forget about the good choices and remember the bad ones." fake accent off. "First CO I've had that tracks down a stolen bottle of whiskey with a gallon of scotch." He gave a nod in Enalia's direction "I like your style."

"Oooh, and I get to do another heist! Is it my birthday?!" Nexi pulled Enalia into hug and even rested her head on Enalia's voluptuous breasts. "You really know how to cheer me up- hey, did you get a new corset? These are perkier than I remember..." Nexi snuggled up to Enalia's breasts with a goofy grin.

Enalia giggled a bit before gently pushing Nexi away. "I'm a married woman now. I have to look good for my wife, you know." grabbing a stray cup from a nearby station and pouring herself some of the scotch. "We can talk about that job later. For now... I still expect your reports on my desk as soon as possible. I've reviewed some of the EV suit logs and the data recovered and I think I know where we're headed next at the very least." With that declaration, she tipped back her cup and drained it in a flash before pouring some more.

"Enalia, the voice, it knew about Aewia," Nexi cautioned, growing serious once again. "And it said something weird, that I was on their Facility One in 2160."

"Sorry, I misspoke... I know when we're going. Starfleet Intel is still tracking down the where." Enalia was grim at the mention of Facility One and the year. "They have records of similar facilities that were destroyed in the past and apparently we get to go back to 2160 and visit the first labs. But for now, Facility Six is officially destroyed and we can rejoice that it only cost the lives of four of our brave crew."

"Time travel, again?!" Nexi grumbled, but then something odd occurred to her. "Wait, four? But we only lost the three Security Officers we brought with us," she pointed out.

Cato got quiet, suddenly sobering up rather quick. He listened to the conversation and became a wallflower, for the moment. Time travel and then hearing the bit about four, he had this sudden sinking feeling in his stomach that he was going to be the fourth for some sketchy one way black ops assignment. He took a breath, that buzz he had been working on was now gone for the moment "What did you have in mind, Ma'am?" Cato wasn't one for subterfuge.

"Crewman Daniels didn't make it either. A new EPS conduit blew up in his face on deck twenty six," Enalia clarified before downing her own drink again. "As for plans, we're going to be taking on one of the lovely gentlemen from the Office of Temporal Investigations and heading into the past as soon as we have a plan and a location. Don't worry - you should have plenty of time to heal up."

Cato nodded, "Sounds like a plan, you mentioned that you've review some of the EV suit logs. Have you finished pulling the logs from mine? I'd like to get my armor down to engineering to have it repaired and modified." he questioned, fully well knowing that he was going to have some explaining to do either way about his fairly radical (by Starfleet standards) tactics during their CQB engagements.

"We'll need to talk about that in private later. All of your gear is still quarantined in shuttlebay two but I'll let everyone know when it's released." Enalia poured herself another drink and handed the jug off to Nexi.

Nexi took the jug and poured another round for herself and Cato. "I think it's about time I retired my suit; that old Ferengi tech just can't keep up like it used to, and if I'm really gonna Enlist I'll be issued some shiny new Starfleet tech, right? And do we know if the Selune is gonna survive?"

"She won't be the same, but I'm sure she'll be fine. She's built tough." Enalia sipped at her drink this time, rather than just knocking it back. "There's a giant tooth in quarantine if anyone collects trophies."

Cato took his freshly poured glass and took a sip. "Dibs." he stuck his tongue out at Nexi "That's getting framed and mounted on the bulkhead next to the Andorian Snow Anacdona fangs that almost ended me." Cato liked his, um, sentimental value items.

"All yours," Nexi said with a chuckle, sipping at her drink with a grin. "Hell, I'll even go down there and get it for you so no one else can claim it while you're stuck here."

"That would be super, I like reminders of my mistakes. That way I don't make them again." He slammed the remainder of his glass, working on getting to his 'happy place'. "Or just random spooky shit on the wall to show a date when I bring them home."

"Alright," Nexi replied simply with a nod and a laugh, knocking back another drink.

"That's a policy I can get behind," Enalia muttered before finishing off her drink. Reclaiming her four hundred year old bottle of Dalmore whiskey, Enalia nodded meaningfully to each of them and left without another word.

After Enalia walked out, Cato looked at Nexi slightly puzzled "Am I losing my shit or did you just tit-snuggle the CO?"

"Yes, and it was fan-fucking-tastic," Nexi replied with a big grin. "Under her uniform she wears these corsets, for the support because her boobs are so big," she said factually. "I'm her favorite, after her wife that is... and we did a lot more than 'snuggle' before she got married, so there's definitely some awesome chemistry there; anyway, she likes me so much 'cause I amuse her and I get her things, rare things, like impossible to get things."

He laughed "Well, all of that made sense and put it all together surprisingly." Suddenly, everything fit about her relationship with the CO. "Since we're telling secrets, I'll tell you one." he polished off his drink before continuing "Rare things huh? What about getting a rare thing for someone else?"

"Depends on the what and the who," Nexi replied with a shrug. "What do you need?"

"Doubtful it's in the realm of possible..." his voice trailed, almost taunting "I think the next time we go out, airburst rounds and plasma grenades aren't going to cut it... So I need a weapon befitting of stealth. I used to have a plasma infused katana, red handle, red plasma along the blade and around the tip. Where it went after being stolen, who knows."

Nexi narrowed her eyes over her drink as she considered the task. "I'll look into it," she finally said after some thought, and coming from her that was as much as an iron-clad guarantee of success! "A weapon as distinctive as that, shouldn't be too hard to find," she said with a nod. "So, you were about to start spillin' secrets?"

Cato bowed his head just slightly in thanks, holding his glass out to the bottle master for a refill before he bluntly stated "Well, I'm fucking the Chief of Security, for one." his voice trailed off "Gonna have to watch my step and not get my ass hit with a fraternization charge... I'm sure Eneas would love that..."

"Oh that's all? I was living with the last Chief of Security," Nexi countered, topping off his glass.

"Thank you" he said in regards to the refill "Ahh, but you're a contractor. When you're enlisted and fucking an officer, it's a bit different." he shifted in the bio-bed, getting comfy again. Resting his head against the bulkhead "At least I don't have to worry about you, thank god you're not like every other fleeter girl around here." he smiled with his eyes closed, taking a sip of that scotch.

"Hey, I'm tryna enlist! In fact, he's the one that talked me into it! But he wanted more from 'us' then I was able to give, and uh... well, he chose a transfer, didn't want to make me and Aewia feel like we had to be the ones to leave," she explained as she refilled her own glass, then took a drink. "Was probably for the best, I ain't exactly 'wife' material..." she said somewhat bitterly.

Cato got flirty when he had been drinking, mixed with some pain meds and god knows what else in his system and you got drunk truth "Pfffttttttt, it absolutely was for the best! Fuck him, clearly he didn't know what he had. Explain, what do you mean by wanted more than you were able to give? How so? and Wife material? Fuck that shit, I'd totally marry you. I'd probably also be scared you'd cut my balls off if I got out of line, too." he smirked before taking a sip of his drink.

"He wanted to marry me, the desire for kids was also on the table, something I have no interest in, and he was Betazed with no female siblings, hoping that maybe one day his wife could inherit the titles that were endowed to his family... But if it ever got out my connection to Aewia, it would hurt both houses. So I moved out of his quarters and he requested a transfer the next day," Nexi explained in a somber tone, her black eyes staring into her glass as she swirled the scotch around. "I knew he was looking for someone to be an inheritor, but his feelings were real, I could feel them, and by the time he asked me to marry him I knew he didn't care about the titles or the status, but the result would still be the same, I'd be under a political microscope and I couldn't take the chance I'd hurt either him or Aewia with the secrets I've buried. Anyway, people like me don't get happy endings..."

Cato listened intently "That's bullshit." he sat up and eye locked with Nexi, "If you don't get a happy ending, then what the fuck hope is there for the rest of us?... You made another hard choice, I respect that. You continue to put your sister above all else, I can't even begin to imagine what that's been like for you." he was absolutely sincere. "You are a rare woman of even rarer character. You say that you're not wife material, I say bullshit. You're a caring, strong, independent, badass woman." he raised his glass to clink with hers "It's been a privilege SO far."

Nexi offered a lopsided grin when he toasted her. "Don't really consider myself all that 'caring', only with Aewia..." Nexi said with a laugh. "But for the rest, thanks, and you're not too shabby yourself. In fact, I'd love to go a few rounds with you on the sparring mats once the doc gives you the all clear."

"Oh yeah? Be gentle with me, I'm fragile. I mean, a tiny vole put me in sickbay." he chuckled. "I'm game, though. Full contact though, I don't pull punches. I wouldn't expect any less of you. No blades though, shit gets messy when we play first draw." he smirked. "But wait, a fight without something to lose is no fun... Care to up the ante?" he perked a brow.

"I'm not betting my ship," Nexi said right at the get go, chuckling with amusement. "But sure, what do you have in mind?"

"No, no that's too easy" You could almost hear Cato's brain working to come up with something fun. "Dinner." he got a wicked smile on his face. "I win, you wear a dress." he smirked "You win, I'll wear one." he busted out laughing.

"Oh, you're on!" Nexi said with a laugh. "I'm thinking something with lace... you would look great in lace."

He laughed harder, suddenly grimacing from the pain in his side from broken ribs that had been set and regenerated but were still sore. "Fucker. When you're laid up with recently broken ribs I'm gonna come make you laugh." he smirked before finishing off his current glass. "I'm simple, I see you in something with side-boob, knee high leather boots and some black eye makeup. MUAH!"

"Uhg, make-up...." Nexi said with a shudder. She knew how to dress up, she'd done it for jobs where she was trying to attract attention, but she hated doing it. Besides, those were jobs, she didn't know how to be 'just Nexi' in normal dress up situations. "Not gonna be an issue, I won't lose," she said nonchalantly, pouring them both one last glass before capping off the scotch; it was late and he was injured, it was about time to call it a night.

Cato smiled at one more glass before he watched her cap the scotch "Right, so, a quick bedtime story. My grandpa was this crazy badass Major General with the MACO's and retired before the Dominion War started. When I was growing up, every day we'd go to the mat with six of his best students. I swear to god, I had a fat lip and a black eye ever day until I was twelve years old. I got my ass beat by these big ass cadets. My grandpa called it 'spartan training'. Whatever, more like giving me a predisposition for violence. Anyway, by the time I got to Special Warfare training with the MACO's, I was still undefeated in unarmed combat." he perked a brow "Got myself a boy-scout badge to prove it, too." he said with the first sign of overconfidence / cockiness he'd shown in a long time.

"Oh yeah? I don't know what a boy-scout is or why they have badges, but it won't help you on the mat," Nexi said with a grin, making a mental note to look up 'boy-scout' in the ship's computer. "And you get to fight with other big guys like yourself, it's a whole different field of play when you face off with someone smaller than you; I got a whole bag of tricks you don't even know about, not to mention I used to be a bounty hunter, I fight dirty!"

Cato laughed and then took a sip of his drink "You think I clawed my way out of a Tal Shiar torture camp after being held captive for seven months and dragged two of my brothers out because I'm not used to dirty?" his eyes narrowed, but he still had a smile on his face. "Honestly, if we're gonna grapple and play the ground game, I hope you don't mind me being on top." he grinned before taking another sip of scotch.

"Oh, you think you're going to be on top? Yeah, that ain't happening," Nexi said with a snicker, then finished off her drink. "You better hurry up and get better fast, otherwise I'm gonna start thinking you're a little wuss," she challenged as she rose, putting her chair back where she found it.

Polishing off that final glass, he passed the empty one back to Nexi. "Yeah, yeah. Give me a few weeks, I'll be back. No way in fuckin' hell am I missing you in a dress." he said with a hint of taunt in his voice.

"In your dreams, maybe," Nexi replied, grinning at his taunt. She took the bottle and the glasses and headed for the door. "See you around, Boy-scout."

Cato smiled, totally looking at her ass as she walked out of sickbay. At least now he would be able to pass the fuck out. Better medicine came out of those bottles than what come out of those hyposprays earlier.

Cato had been off his feet for a few days and was going stir-crazy. Having finished and submitted his after action report the night before; He went over the details one more time on the PaDD to ensure everything was correct with his story and the report. Closing his eyes, Cato stood for the first time in days on his own two feet. Grunting, he donned his uniform jacket and picked up the PaDD shortly after. Limping out of sickbay, every time the fabric of his uniform pants touched the dermal wrap he could feel it. Having once again said no to the dermal regenerator, a memory of his grandfather yelling at him when he broke his leg when he was nine years old popped into his head. Stepping into the turbo-lift"Pain is just weakness leaving the body, use it, learn to love it! to say his 'childhood' was rocky was often a stretch. "Bridge" Cato stated continuing to read over that PaDD one more time.

The turbo-lift doors opened and revealed the Bridge, being this was his first time on the Bridge he took a quick glance around as he headed for where he thought Enalia's ready room was. Guessing right, he pressed the chime on the door and awaited entry.

"Come in," Enalia called, looking up from her desk terminals. She was rather haggard and it seemed she had images from the EV suit recorders burned into her retinas. "Chief, excellent. You're right on time. I need some clarification on a few things in your report. Grab a drink and have a seat." Motioning towards the replicator, Enalia went back to staring at her terminals.

"Thank you Ma'am" He said, hobbling over to the replicator and tapping on the keypad before stating "Coffee, black, hot.". The aluminum coffee mug materialized in a swirl of blue and teal light, taking the cup and moving to take a seat as gracefully as his leg would allow. Placing his PaDD on the table and his coffee mug next to it. "I figured you'd have concern over the use of force and tactics, which is why I was as detailed as possible in the report."

Enalia pulled a small bottle of irish cream out of her desk and offered it to Cato as she started talking. "First off, I wasn't aware that MACO had already modded the TR-116C already. I expected you to use a modified proton rifle or something that's been around more than a couple years. Second off, I know MACO tactics differ considerably from standard security protocols and SOPs, but I'm hard pressed finding justification for using the level of force you used. Most of it was ineffective against the... given targets... But even so, it was dangerous what with being in a confined area like that. You're lucky no one died from your actions. Just from being underprepared for an insanely crazy situation."

Cato nodded and accepted the bottle from Enalia, adding a shot into his coffee mug before returning the bottle to her. Taking a sip, he listened as she continued. He was set to start in the beginning "I was fortunate enough to be issued one of what is now identified as a TR-116C2. My team got a case of the 'working' prototypes, after the dissolution of MACO they were lost in the shuffle and I didn't say anything. I continue to hold an Expert Rating with the TR-116 and all variants" he added before taking another sip. "As for justification, I too am struggling with finding any. That was the first time during an operation that projectile weaponry had little to no effect on an enemy combatant. Working from my playbook, full auto is justified to achieve fire superiority/suppression in a close quarters engagement."

He continued "Our position became compromised, by an unknown enemy force of unknown strength. Melee distances when we were stacked in that hallway didn't seem plausible due to how the turrets were positioned. The chances of being overwhelmed during melee combat were high." shifting in his seat, Cato took a sip from his mug "You're absolutely right when you say that my actions were close to, if not crossing the line. I can't deny that my judgement wasn't questionable" he sighed taking another sip from his mug "As for the use of 18mm airburst rounds, my use would be the first reported in a CQB scenario. However, use of a modified plasma grenade has been successfully executed before. It was my belief that the use of such ordinance would allow us to push through enemy combatants while maintaining a controllable kill box and safe direction of fire. While at the same time allowing us to push forward to gain ground."

"The grenade I'm not so worried about. Nexi carries charges on her for her particular style so I assumed you had some sort of explosives on you as it was. Besides, logs show both explosions to be the right course of action." Enalia punched up an image from the EV suit recorders of the second explosion on her terminal. "Hell, that's a quicker death than I'd have given them..." she muttered.

Cato nodded "I was trying to work as quickly as I could to advance the teams position with minimum loss of life from our side." he took a swig of irish coffee instead of a sip. "My methods are questionable, but they are usually effective. Walking into that situation, I had no idea that tritanium rounds and 18mm airburst would be so ineffective. If I had, I would've taken a few more plasma grenades."

"Next time may require a great deal of stealth and guile and green paint." Enalia clicked off her screens and leaned back in her chair a moment before looking into her own empty coffee cup. "Anyway, since you refuse proper medical treatment, I think the Doctor will have plenty of extra duty for you for a while. If you take too long to heal, you'll get left behind. Also, when you're not on duty or attending to the Doctor's wishes, you're confined to your quarters for the next month."

Cato nodded finishing off his cup of irish coffee, standing offering to take her empty mug "Refill?" He asked before moving to the replicator.

"Please," Enalia replied, handing her empty mug to Cato.

"Don't worry, if it gets too close I'll call it and let the doctor work his magic. But, I've been down this road before; I'll be fine Ma'am." He stated moving to the replicator and tapping on the panel. "As for record of punishment, official or off the books?" He inquired, curious as to her response.

Enalia was silent for a moment before she spoke. "Why would I punish you for a mission that never happened? And what could you have possibly done wrong on a standard survey mission near the badlands? I'm sorry, I don't understand the question."

He grinned, placing the empty mugs into the replicator. Tapping on the replicator key pad, he recycled them. "Coffee, black, hot." two fresh mugs appeared. In his hands he hobbled back over to her desk gracefully. Passing one of the mugs to Enalia, he placed the other down in front of where he had been sitting. Plopping back down. "Thank you, I appreciate that. At some point, I'd like to find a road to get my commission back. But ranking up is so far down on my priority list, at this point. I've started to just focus on fighting and not give a shit anymore."

"In that case, I recommend keeping your nose clean and paying attention to the rest of your performance report. Well rounded individual and all that." Enalia commented. "As for this, this is all unofficial. I'm sure I don't need to tell you you'll never be able to talk about this whole mission with anyone outside of the command staff and your department."

"Aye, I'll do my best to remain well rounded." he paused "No Ma'am, I know the protocol." He stated "How long do we have before our little venture back to 2160?"

"We're still awaiting official word, but I'm expecting it to be in the next six weeks. Calculations are being done for the slingshot now." Enalia poured a bit of the irish cream into her mug and sipped at it again. "Nothing like a good irish cream to make any coffee better. My wife prefers I not drink it, but you have to have a little something now and then, right? Besides, the coffee evaporates the alcohol away instantly."

He chuckled "Absolutely right." He reached for the irish cream and gave his mug a splash as well. Taking a sip, he continued their conversation "With respect to T'Pral's department, security isn't equipped to handle away missions like the one we just had. Three lives is three too many. I know Commander Eneas won't like the fact I'm suggesting this, but I still know where a few of my boys are." he handed a PaDD with three service records on it; all of whom had served underneath Cato in Special Warfare. "These guys are the real deal." he said "Crazy, slightly less reckless though."

Enalia glanced the PaDD over and sent the data to her own terminal before handing it back. "Thank you. I'll take it under advisement. I'm not sure I can get any more crew though, let alone get more former MACOs. We'll likely have to make do with who we have at the moment."

"Very well." Cato slammed the remaining coffee in his mug before standing "If there's nothing else Ma'am, I'm due back in sickbay." Cato stated picking up his PaDD from her desk.

"Work on healing then. Dismissed," Enalia nodded.

Dressed in black shorts and a grey tank top, T'Pral sat on a mat, attempting to meditate. Surrounding her was a beach on Vulcan that she remembered enjoying as a child. The three deaths in her department bothered her. She had sent three trained officers and none made it back, though she was proud of O'Shea's final action that allowed the team to escape, there was a raw, burning anger boiling under her surface as she attempted to suppress it. She felt personally responsible for their deaths--they should have been better trained. A 100% casualty rate was unacceptable on any terms and she knew the captain was not happy about the casualties.

She hopped to her feet, not feeling any different as she felt her anger rise. "Computer, activate three Jem H'dar warriors, level ten, melee weapons only."

The computer chirped it's acknowledgement as three Jem'H'dar soldiers materialized with bladed weaponry in their hands and began to advance towards T'Pral. T'Pral got into a stance and waited as her muscles tensed with frustration and anger. "Come on!" she roared.

All three rushed her at once as the first to reach her swung a long bladed sword at her. She stepped to the side as the sword came to within mere centimeters of her. She grabbed the forearm of the Jem H'dar, pulling him off balance as her right foot slammed into the side of the Jem H'dar's knee, who let out a scream in response. T'Pral twisted and shoved the injured Jem H'Dar into the second as the two fell to the ground. T'Pral didn't miss a beat as she continued her attack, slamming her heel into the wrist of the Jem H'Dar with the sword, grabbing it out of his hand as she rolled under the attack from the third Jem H'Dar. Coming up to a kneel, she spun on her heel and swung her sword as it dug into the third Jem H'dar's leg, severing it just below the knee. Coming up to her feet, T'Pral thrusted her sword into the back of the Jem H'dar. The other two were now getting up with the first Jem H'dar, standing despite his injured leg. She swung her sword again before the first Jem H'dar could defend against it as it decapitated the the Jem H'dar. Bringing the sword around, she thrusted it into the chest of the second Jem H'dar just as he raised his weapon. She twisted the blade and withdrew it as the second Jem H'dar collapsed to the ground.

T'Pral's chest heaved as she attempted to calm her breathing. Closing her eyes, she felt better--calmer than before but felt more alive. Her father would have disapproved of her choice to deal with her anger but using violence to calm herself rather than meditation was her way to calm down--in fact, Vulcans before the teachings of Surak embraced violence. T'Pral was not like many vulcans, she embraced her emotions--yet also knew of how dangerous she could become if those emotions were left unchecked. Her hand gripped the grip of the sword in her hand tighter. "Computer. Recreate three Klingons, Level 10 with melee weapons."

The computer once again chirped its response as three Klingon warriors materialized.

T'Pral's lips formed a grin as she took a stance with her sword as the three klingons rushed her.

Cato had wrapped up his meeting with Enalia earlier in the day, then reported back to sickbay. After being poked and prodded by Doctors for who knows how long, he hobbled his way over to make amends with Clio. "Computer, locate Commander Eneas." the computer replied "Lieutenant Commander Eneas is on E-Deck". But before he went charging into E-Deck with the intentions of peace, he made a detour to his quarters to snag a 'white flag'. His prized bottle of Mortlach 70 and two glasses, only sixty bottles were released every 70 years. Soon enough, he had hobbled his way to E-Deck via the turbo lift. Limping down the corridor to one of the intel labs where she was probably busy going over recovered data from the away mission. Cato entered his code into the keypad, the doors swooshed open. He rested his right shoulder against the arch of the doorway as held up the bottle. He smiled "Don't make me drink alone."

"I'm not certain you should be drinking in your condition. Shouldn't you be in sickbay?" Clio looked over her shoulder at him, not quite recognizing the bottle he carried other than being able to tell it carried something alcoholic. "Sit down before you fall over."

Cato took a seat, more like plopped down. "I consider this alternative pain medication." He smirked, handing her an empty glass before removing the top of the tear-drop shaped bottle. "As for sickbay, not really my kind of place." he grinned as he poured her a glass, then himself before recapping the bottle and setting it out of the way on the floor. "To a job well done." he raised his glass to clink with hers.

"You and I have different ideas of 'well done'." Picking up the offered glass and gently clinking it against West's, Clio smelled the liquid before taking a sip.

He took a sip, something about 70-year old whiskey just burned so good. "No, we don't..." His voice trailed off, and he paused by taking another sip. "You know, it's been five years since I was in a cluster fuck of chaos like that..." He continued "Who knew that tritanium bullets or 18mm airburst rounds wouldn't work against un-armored, un-shielded biological targets. I didn't, did anyone?" he perked a brow.

"About that... don't do that in enclosed spaces anymore. I still can't hear out of my left ear." It was a reprimand, but a gentle one. Clio didn't approve of reckless - or boneheaded - MACO behavior, but she was trying to be nice about it.

"Yeah, I'm sorry." he lowered his head slightly, with a sigh. An apology from someone like Cato was almost as rare as the whiskey they were drinking. He was serious and sincere when he said sorry "I've got my balls in a sling for the next thirty days for unjustifiable force." he took a deep breath before leaning back in his chair slightly. "Usually there would be brig time, so I'm assuming you went to bat for me. Which means you don't hate me as much as I originally thought you did."

"I told Telvan that you are undeniably insane, utterly reckless, and a stupid brainwashed jarhead. But also that you are my stupid brainwashed jarhead in my department and I will handle you as I see fit. That being said, you're restricted from away team duty until cleared by medical anyway. And I will personally decide which missions to turn you loose on. Sometimes that spirit might come in handy." Clio was nothing if not honest, and she saw no point in keeping secrets of her opinions in this matter. "You're not a bad person, West. Damaged and a little reckless, sure. But not bad. And believe me... I know when someone's bad."

He smiled at what she said followed with an "I believe you." he nodded in agreement, taking a sip. "Look, all bullshit aside I'm not here to rank-up or put a check mark on my service record. I'm here to fight the fuckin' enemy, just point me in the right direction and let me loose." he added "I work better alone because I've mostly worked alone. I'm going to take the next thirty and get myself strong, both ways." he said, polishing off his glass. Going for the bottle on the floor, he popped the top off and refilled his glass.

"You'll have to learn how to function as part of a team. Nexi's a lone wolf too, so you can support each other's education in that matter." Clio paused for a moment. "I don't send anyone in alone. That's how people end up getting killed."

He moved to top off her glass before recapping the bottle and placing it on the floor again. He smiled at the mention of Nexi after her visit in sickbay "I'll look into spending some time with her." he said with a quick addition of "Training wise I mean." he took another sip before continuing "Anyway, did we get anything useful from that station?"

"I'm not really sure yet. We barely got forty percent of the data, and I wasn't on the original mission so I don't know how much of it is useful." Beyond figuring out that the two facilities were somehow connected, Clio wasn't exactly certain what they'd really uncovered, other than some extremely twisted people doing highly illegal experiments.

"Well, I'm not fantastic at analyzing data but since I'm off my feet. If I be of use, let me know." Cato said polishing off his glass. "I'm short a melee weapon, I asked Nexi to find something that was once mine a long time ago. Do we have a intel armory onboard?" Cato inquired.

"Not exactly." There was no hiding the fact that the Hera had some unusual weapons on board, seeing as how West had seen the energized mek'leths in the field already. But Clio also wasn't eager to round up the necessary people to go back into the Section 31 armory. That place made her feel uneasy in more ways than one. "If Nexi can't find what you're looking for, we may have it. But the location of our special armory is somewhat secretive, and it requires my command code plus two others to open. It's a very short list of who's allowed inside, so you'll have to speak with Captain Telvan about that."

"Fair enough." He paused and took another sip from his glass. "How would you feel about pulling a couple of my boys in to take over additional personnel requirements from security?" he asked openly. "I still know where a few of them are, they're... More normal than me, if that helps." he winked at Clio before taking another sip.

"I'm fine with it as long as Lieutenant Jordan doesn't mind." More normal than West didn't mean much, but Clio did smile a little at the thought. She was pretty sure she was more normal than West, and not once had anyone called her 'normal' in her career. "She's half Vulcan, so I'm not sure how many shenanigans she can put up with before she nerve pinches them all."

He chuckled. "I'll smooth things over with T'Pral. I mentioned it to Captain Telvan and she said she didn't know if we could get them re-assigned. Additional crew balance and all." He paused before smiling "But I bet we could figure something out."

"Well, y'know. Fleet politics. If it works out, great. If not, don't push it too hard." Clio still wasn't entirely sure what her opinion of West was, but at least he was trying. It was more than she could say for other MACOs who had tried to reintegrate on other ships.

"True enough." he shrugged "Another one or are you done?" He held up the bottle.

"It's best that I don't. I haven't been feeling well since we came back, and more than one might be a bad idea. I appreciate the offer though." Clio smiled slightly, finishing what was left in her glass.

"Alright, alright." Cato said grabbing the bottle and standing. Offering to take her glass. "Before I go, I want you to know... If you ever let me off this ship again and run point, I'll try not to blow up half of wherever we are." he smiled.

"Do it again and I'll stun your ass. Just so we're clear." Sensing they'd come to some sort of agreement on that at least, Clio handed him her empty glass. "Get some rest, Chief."

He smiled "Aye Ma'am." taking the glass and then walking out of the intel lab, heading back to his quarters.

Between Nexi and Enalia last night, Cato was already feeling the pain of all the booze they consumed. Cracking his eyes open, he felt like hammered shit. Normally he'd PT the booze out of his system after some hair of the dog, but that leg of his was going to keep him in this bio bed until he got better. Sickbay had kept a zero-visitor policy for the first 18 hours since Cato had been in and out of surgery to repair his leg. So, technically this was the first chance anyone normal had to visit him. It was so early, the lights were still kept dim like they were during the evening hours.

T'Pral entered sickbay. "Where is Chief Petty Officer West?" she asked one of the nurses.

"He's right over there, ma'am." the nurse pointed in West's direction.

T'Pral nodded. "Thank you." She then made her way in the direction that the nurse pointed. Soon, she caught West's name on the side of the door to the small room. Entering, she grinned at seeing West well and awake. "It's good to see that you are well," she commented, moving to the side of his bed.

"Well, that's a word..." he said, "Computer dim lights to 10% of normal" the lights in the room fell even lower. No doubt his eyes would take a minute to adjust. "Alive is closer to it..." he eye locked with T'Pral "Couldn't save your men, I tried..." His voice trailed "O'Shea is the reason we all made it back, good man." he got quiet, not being able to speak about specifics. "How was your end of our 'survey'?" he smirked.

T'Pral nodded as she thought about O'Shea, DeA'th, and Dover--she would have to begin training her department better. "Nothing we couldn't handle. Destroyed a total of thirty heavy weapons platforms." She just hoped the data that was retrieved was worth all of this.

He sat up a little in the biobed and straightened up "Don't be hard on yourself, they performed to the best of their ability. Believe me when I say that what happened could've happened to any one of us on that run." He stated firmly before before somewhat noticing something else was off... "We do need to talk, though. Things got... Rough, on my end..." he was being ominous "I did what I had to do, but I made a questionable call during the course." he continued as he sighed "Best case scenario, no big deal and you'll be getting to know me professionally. Worst case scenario brig time."

"What happened?" T'Pral asked, wondering what West could have done.

"I survived." he said through his teeth. A darker side of him had suddenly shown. "Basic instinct kicked in and reverted to what I used to be." he paused, his energy had become darker than it was before he had left. As if a switch had been thrown and a whole different person returned in his place. "I'm glad that thing blew, fuck that station."

"I've read the after action reports. You did what you had to, Cato," she placed her hand on his chest. "The station sounded like it was awful and I am glad it's gone too...and you still owe me dinner," she smiled, hoping to lighten the mood.

He nodded silently "Sorry, that's going to have to wait. My report is due and I'm stuck in here." he took a deep breath and grimaced from the sharp pain still in his ribs. "Then we'll see what Commander Eneas and Captain Telvan want to do with me. If I somehow get through this without brig time, then we can." he placed his hand on top of hers while still on his chest.

"Well, I'll still get to see you in the Brig as that's my department," she winked and leaned down and kissed him.

He smiled "Yeah, that is true." When she leaned in to kiss him, he returned it just as passionately. "So, what's your post-operation plan? for your department?"

"To better train them with melee weapons and hand to hand. They're too reliant on technology and energy-based weapons," she stated.

"You should talk to Nexi, I won't be on my feet for at least a month." His voice trailed off "Also, I'd like to bring some old teammates of mine aboard to fulfill future additional personnel requirements on the more demanding away missions. I don't want to see your people get killed again."

"My people realize the risk," T'Pral said. "I was thinking of something similar with Security personnel but I am open to your idea. Who are you thinking of bringing aboard?"

"A few MACO's that were Special Warfare, served under me. Good men, rough - but good." he added before continuing. "There's three of them, they transferred to a Spectre Team after MACO went down. I tried to better my life by going through OCS, finding a better path." he continued.

"Don't put yourself down, Cato. You are a good man," she replied with a grin.

He laughed "Yeah. Honestly, I'm a piece of shit... But that's sweet. You've known me all of a few weeks." he perked up a bit, shifting a bit in the bio bed. "Do you know how I got my nickname, ares?... I was on Tamora Prime in a bar, working counter-terrorism. Killed my mark with a metal tea cup." he perked a brow.

"Sounds like an interesting story. However, killing does not make you a bad person," T'Pral replied, wondering why Cato seemed to be trying to push her away. Perhaps this was why he had so many problems with women, she surmised.

He shrugged and nodded "Eh, you're right." he paused "Anyway, I need an official statement entered in that you've approved additional personnel for Intel." he continued "As soon as I'm on my feet, I want to hunt them down and get them aboard."

T'Pral nodded. "You will have it when I get back to my office...and I am trusting your word on the quality of these men," she said as she held his hand.

"Thank you." Cato said, holding her hand. "So, talk to Nexi about training your people?" he smiled.

"I will. I suppose I should let you get some sleep," she said with a smile as she leaned over and gave him one last kiss.

Cato returned the kiss passionately before giving a kiss to her hand that we was still holding. "As soon as my meeting with Captain Telvan is over with and that away mission debrief is over with, I'll make dinner up to you."

"I look forward to it," she said with a smile before turning and walking out of the room.

It had been a few days since the Hera had been made completely livable again during the refit and Enalia Telvan had heard a rumor that the new sickbay had been finished and her new Chief Medical Officer was aboard and in that new sickbay.

That's what brought her to the entryway of sickbay, only to be blocked by a crate of some sort with Breen markings on it. She wasn't sure what it was, but it was bound to have something to do with cold things, judging by the frost on the top.

"Doctor Dodger?" Enalia called, moving around the crate towards the office area. "If you have a moment, I'd like to discuss a few things with you."

Ian looked up from what he was doing to the looming form of his new captain, setting down the tricorder he'd been fiddling with and rolling down his sleeve over the biosynthetic arm he'd been fitted with soon after coming aboard the Hera. "Oh, hello Captain... Telvan." He said, ducking his head and standing to greet her. He shouldn't be on duty so soon after losing his arm, but he'd insisted. For many men, the feeling of doing something constructive was a mechanism for coping with loss. "I think I can scrounge up more than a moment for you. What brings you here?"

Enalia smiled politely and took a seat across from Ian, relaxing into it in that special way that experienced captains always seemed to do. She hadn't wanted to disturb him - heck, she didn't even expect him to be aboard yet. But here he was, already diving into his work. "Mostly just a social visit. I wanted to see how you were doing. Is your new arm working well? Are you settling in ok? What's in that Breen crate? That sort of thing."

Sitting back down again, Ian pressed his wrist PaDD to his sleeve, the backing of the device making a tiny hiss as it adhered itself to the fabric like a commbadge. "I'm settling in, as you could probably tell." Because of the added clutter, no doubt. He spared a glance down at his arm and gave a minute shrug. "It itches. Rather terribly, like I've been rubbing it with mosquitoes and poison ivy." He had stayed aboard the Katana until his staff and the few patients they'd been brought had been evacuated to the Hera, but the real reason he'd been wounded was that he'd then run back to his quarters to save his cat. "But it functions as well as the biological arm did. Now it's just a matter of calibrating the neural interface to get rid of the static. As for the crate? That's a, um... Soda jerk with integrated ice cream maker." His cheeks took on a slightly lavender hue as he confessed this -- his hobbies always seemed to come off a little childish to career fleet officers.

Enalia's eyebrows raised in surprise at the mention of ice cream. "Then I think you'll be a very popular person aboard the Hera. When you get a chance, look over Aewia Larani's file. She was involved in an Intel operation that went south and we had to rescue her from a Romulan prison. Unfortunately, they practically lobotomized her prior to her rescue so she often acts like she's six years old. And she loves ice cream."

"Well, we all scream for ice cream, or so they say." Ian said his brows knitting a little as the captain told him about Aewia. "I can give it a look." Naturally, he felt compassion for the woman, even if the thought of having an adult be childish in his presence was disconcerting. He got along fairly well with children in small doses, but always felt a little baffled about how to relate to them. Probably the side-effect of having never had much interaction with them, even when he was a child himself. "And, of course, she's welcome to all the ice cream and soda she wants when I get everything set up." Secretly, Ian was just slightly paranoid that the systems failure that had destroyed the Katana had been the fault of his previous ice-cream maker, and as such, had bought from a different vendor this time. But there was no escaping Breen cryonics -- thy were the best at chilling ice cream to just the proper temperature for creaminess without too many ice crystals. "There have been great strides made in the field of neurological repair using cultured stem cells in a biomimetic gel, but repairing the brain doesn't bring back everything that's been lost." He murmured regretfully.

"Indeed it doesn't. She's regained some of her telepathy, but her mind and most of her memories are gone. To make matters worse, her parents passed on while she was incarcerated and her only living relative is aboard the Hera." Enalia thought about it a moment and glanced back to the Breen crate. "The auxiliary medbay office should have enough room and a good adjustable power tap if you want to convert it into a cafe of a sort. I can ask the refit team to lend a hand as well. Might as well use their industrial replicators for new furniture while we can."

"That's unfortunate indeed. Is... she considered to be mentally competent to make decisions on her own behalf, or is she a ward of her relative?" Ian asked, trying to be as delicate as possible when wording it. Being the ship's doctor, the question was an important one. Although medical propriety was no longer the fuel of a cottage industry of parasitic lawyers, Starfleet did maintain a rigorous medical ethics review process; one he did not wish to run foul of.

"She's well enough off to live on her own but her sister has to confirm all of the more important decisions. She has moments of clarity where I think she understands more than you or I about things, but most of the time, she's like a twelve year old girl." Enalia explained. "And I think her empathy is returning thanks to a clever procedure Starfleet Intel recommended. What it's taken to rehabilitate her borders on outright genetic manipulation, but the specialists in your department as well as your predecessor have been careful to go slow and only try to bring her up to the level she was at prior to her mission."

Ian frowned a little more and nodded slightly, his mind rattling off the sorts of treatments that were effective in cases of traumatic brain injuries. The Vulcans, in particular, had psionic treatments that could restore knowledge, but not personal experiences. Betazoids probably could, too, but he tried to maintain a distance between himself and psionics. "Yes, and Intel has made some rather cutting edge technology available to this ship, stuff that I have had to sign confidentiality oaths to be able to access." Which scared him shitless considering that it could mean a significant term in a penal colony, or another twenty years in Starfleet if they weren't happy with his use of it. "But I don't wish to treat any patient unless there is a need and a desire for treatment."

"I completely agree," Enalia replied. "And yeah, we have a lot of new tech at our fingertips. We could grow a Khan Singh or a Julian Bashiir in your labs with all that we have at our disposal. Scary thought, isn't it?"

"Oh, not quite so scary. Anyone can do it with our present level of non-spook technology." Ian mused with a smirk. "Except that most Federation cultures have had similar experiences to Earth's Eugenics Wars, and most of them know better." He tapped at his wrist PaDD a few times to refer to some texts he had stored. "And every medical school worth its salt spends at least a semester drilling into your head the evils that unethical medical practices can do to a world."

"Can most cultures do it in about two weeks?" Enalia asked bluntly, before suddenly standing. "Sorry, I didn't mean to imply anything." Turning to leave, she reached into her pocket for a small black box. "Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you that you're out of uniform. Congrats, Lieutenant." With that, she set the box on the doctor's desk and again made ready to leave. "If you'll excuse me, I have some inspections to look over."

Ian shrugged. Was the captain bragging about that ability or cautioning about its potential misuse? He wasn't sure, but he had no intention of misusing the ship's resources to create some sort of hybrid monstrosity. He looked at the box she set on his desk and picked it up, opening it up with a deft thumb. "Did I offend you, captain, with my "spook" comment?" he asked curiously. "I didn't mean it as a pejorative."

The full Lieutenant pips inside the box twinkled out at the Doctor as Enalia replied. "I'm very hard to offend and if you had, I wouldn't have just given you that. Spooks and spook pilots are a breed apart and we tend to keep to ourselves I sometimes forget there are still normal people in this world."

Enalia was pretty sure she had everything she needed but a few more things had to fall into place before their next mission could take off. She also needed to go over it all with her Intel Chief and XO. "Computer, please have Commanders Xustos and Eneas meet me in Conference Room Two to discuss our upcoming mission."

She then went to the replicator to get a fresh mug of coffee, leaving several dozen PaDDs and holographic displays scattered around the table and the representative of the Office of Temporal Investigations at the other end.

Mal stopped plucking his lyre when the computer passed on Enalia's request. He set down the instrument, put on his uniform jacket and left his Ready Room headed for Conference Room Two. He was there in short order.

"You summoned me to your august presence, Captain?" he said.

"Yes, we all need to make sure we're all on the same page for this mission." Enalia said, returning to her seat with her coffee.

The man at the other end spoke up, drawing out his words like an old school proctor. "Premeditated or not, time travel is rarely without risk and I'm here to ensure the continuity of... said... con-tin-uity..."

"And that dour gentleman is Agent Alden Engstrom the thirteenth from Temporal Investigations." Enalia introduced the man joylessly.

Clio was a bit slower getting to the conference room, but once she arrived she gave the Temporal Investigations agent a critical look. She knew their type, always sticking their noses in other people's business for the sake of 'continuity' while ignoring that their own presence destroyed the continuity they claimed to protect. "Does he have to be here? He's only going to complicate things."

Enalia stared into her mug silently a moment. She knew all too well what kind of complications Clio was referring to. "Unfortunately, to even get clearance to go on this mission, I had to agree that Mister Alden Engstrom the thirteenth be a part of the planning of this mission. Now that he and I have... discussed... the mission, it's your turn."

"Sounds like a bull-- er, a nonsensical excuse from his department so they can meddle if you ask me." Though she'd censored her words, it was clear what Clio's opinion of Alden's presence was.

"Regardless," Mal said. "It appears that Mister Alden Engstrom is an unavoidable fact, as evidenced by the fact that there have been thirteen of him so far, with no end in sight. Shall we proceed?"

"Please," Enalia pleaded as she picked up a PaDD and clicked to the projected timeline. "In two weeks time we're going to the Bepi 113 system. We've been provided the coordinates and calculations to do what that sun is perfect for. Slingshot effect time jump. We'll have to load the flight plan into the computer and let it do it. When we wake up, if all goes to plan, it'll be the year 2160 and we can begin our journey to the target location. An Orion spaceport. More precisely, an Orion research facility housed under that spaceport."

"2160?" Mal said. "That would be the year that Earth's war with the Romulan Empire ended. Approximately one year later, the United Federation of Planets was born. Tell me, the date we are travelling to, will the Earth-Romulan War have already ended, or will we arrive in its final moments?"

"Immediately after," Enalia answered. "History tells us that that entire spaceport was vaporized in an accident of some sort. We'll be arriving a week prior to begin reconnaissance. All team members will be painted green and have to pass as Orions."

"You mean I get to wear a sexy armored bikini while fighting bad guys? Sounds kind of awesome to me." Clio grinned a bit, thought it wasn't entirely clear if she was joking or not. "Can we take Commander Xustos? Because that sounds like fun, making Dodger try to make him look Orion."

"While I would pay latinum to see Clio in an armored bikini," Mal said. "No one is removing my horns no matter how temporarily, or shaving my legs, and I think it's fairly impossible to convert digitigrade legs to humanoid legs and even if you could, I have no idea how to walk on humanoid legs. My that was a long sentence! No, unless I can pass as someone's exotic bodyguard or heterosexual sex slave, it looks like I'll be back on the ship...again."

"Hey, the Orions do trade some pretty exotic stock." Though she pretended not to notice Mal's comment about paying latinum to see her in a bikini, Clio felt a trace of color rise on her cheeks. "Anything they think will sell, and people are into pretty kinky stuff..."

Alden piped up at that moment. "As true as that is, the Commander's homeworld won't be discovered for hundreds of years after this mission so as... exotic... as he may be... he will be required to stay... on... the shi-p..."

Enalia waited painfully for Alden to finish his sentence. For a TI Agent, he wasted more time with his words than she cared to spend listening to them. "I have to concur. I'll be leading the ground teams while Mal coordinates from the ship. With our stealth plating, no one in the galaxy should be able to detect us so while the Hera will have to maintain a high polar position, we'll have timely support if needed."

"Okay, fine. Spoilsport." Clio frowned a bit, not liking Alden's logic. Enalia's homeworld wouldn't be discovered for quite some time, and her own people hadn't been fully discovered until rather recently. With the logic applied by the TI agent, he could easily bar all of the most qualified people from even going on the mission.

Alden continued. "Captain... I would find it most helpful if you could share your own knowledge of this era. You are joined, correct? How far back does your... lineage... go?"

Enalia glared daggers at him for a moment before replying. It wasn't that she tried to keep it a secret that she was the first Telvan host, but it wasn't something she brought up often. "My joined status has no bearing on this mission."

"Are you sure?" Alden pressed. "Any details you may remember from a past life may be helpful."

"Leave her alone. She doesn't want to talk about it." The more this guy talked, the more Clio disliked him. She didn't know or care how many hosts the Telvan symbiont had in its past and didn't think it relevant either.

Mal frowned, his generally genial demeanor vanishing. An angry satyr was almost as intimidating as a an angry minotaur.

"Move on, Agent," Mal said in a menacing tone. "Before I rid us of your odious presence and move on to Alden Engstrom the fourteenth!"

Alden raised his hands in defeat and Enalia looked back down at her PaDD. "After some recon and some espionage, the base is destroyed, killing one point two million civilians."

"So we have to get out before that happens," Mal said. "Wait, are we supposed to blow it up? What if it's us who blew it up in the first place? Uch, time travel makes my horns itch!"

"We won't know that part until we get there, just like the Enterprise didn't know they were part of first contact with the Vulcans until it was about to happen." Clio wasn't overly fond of the time travel aspect of the mission, particularly the apparent predestination paradox they might find themselves in. "Or, you know, that time when the Hera was part of a historic battle..." She hadn't been on board, but she'd read about it. It had been interesting reading.

Alden spoke up again. "Historical records show..."

Enalia cut him off before he could take an hour to explain the situation. "They show that residue from a twenty fourth century explosive was used to destroy the facility. Specifically, three tri-cobalt devices that match the residue patterns of those carried aboard the Hera. The spectral analysis patterns reveal that those explosives were even most likely replicated with the Hera's current industrial replicator."

"So we're going to murder all of those people to maintain the timeline?" Mal said. He sighed. "This sounds like a self-fulfilling prophecy to me. We have to blow up the station because we apparently already did blow up the station but we don't know yet if we are blowing up the station just to blow up the station or if there is another, at least remotely legitimate, reason for us to use not one, but three weapons of mass destruction on all of those people. And we have to all of this with Alden Engstrom the Umpteenth looking over our shoulders, telling what we can and can't do and otherwise getting in the way? Lovely."

"...bloody fucking hell. Why does your ship keep getting tangled in these weird quantum paradox catastrophes?" Clio sighed, somewhat regretting that use of colorful language but forging onward anyway. "Wait. Research facility under a spaceport? Does... does this sound familiar to anyone else?"

"Not offhand..." Enalia furrowed her brow in concentration, trying to remember any similar incidents.

"Hm. Could just be me then." Clio shrugged, chalking it up to having carried out a lot of similar missions in dark or strange places. Though they had just been at a research facility that had been rather odd. "I've done a lot of undercover missions to research labs in weird places. Don't mind me."

"Fair enough," Enalia replied. She couldn't think of anywhere the Hera had been that had a spaceport on top of it like that, but who knew all the places they'd been. "This research facility is known as Facility One. We've destroyed Facilities Five and Six. Facility One was destroyed during Earth's Eugenics Wars. Facility Two was officially taken out by the Enterprise under command of Captain Jonathan Archer. Facility three was taken out during the Four Years war. Facility Four is still unknown but records recovered from Facility Six say that it was destroyed in 2305. Facilities Seven and Eight are still operational according to those same logs. Unfortunately, we don't know where either of them are, nor do we know where this 'Master' is."

"...aww, hell. Not more of that. Nexi's going to murder you if you send her into another one of... those." Clio shuddered slightly. While she hadn't been as traumatized as Nexi, she wasn't looking forward to whatever monstrosity this new facility held. "Do we... have to be the ship to do this?"

"We know that the Hera... and Nexi... were... or will be... there..." Alden punctuated.

"Damn it," Clio muttered. Normally there might be an argument that it was just a ship like the Hera, but now the ship was unique. There weren't any ships similar enough to her for someone else to go.

"Who are you planning on taking with you on the Away Team?" Mal asked. "Or will that be Away Teams?"

Enalia nodded and pointed to a PaDD. "Myself, Clio, and Nexi will each lead a mixed team of three. The other six will be at your discretion but I prefer volunteers."

"Are you gonna tell her or are you gonna make me tell her? Because she will lose her shit, I am not kidding." Clio decided not to mention her own misgivings about leading her own team again after that last disaster, not with Alden the greasy in the room.

Enalia brushed off the question. "I'll leave that task to Mal. By the way, Nexi is scheduled for her bridge stress response exam soon, right? I want you and her to do it in the nude."

Mal blinked once, then twice.

"Are you serious?" Mal said. "I have no problem with nudity, but isn't that a little...odd? I mean, wouldn't that be better suited to a course called Nudist Colony Operations?"

"You're ok with nudity and she worked with Ferengi, whom prefer women naked. It might give her a confidence boost." Enalia replied.

"Uhm...Alright," Mal said, a little unsettled. The kind of orders he normally gave naked women while he was naked were most likely against the Starfleet Code of Conduct and the Uniform Code of Justice but he'd have to adapt.

At least after she said we had to do the test nude she didn't say I had to take Nexi aside and get something straight between us!

Somehow, Clio kept a straight face through all of that. "This is probably a conversation better suited to another time."

"Indeed," Enalia tossed her current PaDD aside and picked up another. "We know a lot about this mission already, but we don't know some of the most crucial details. Any thoughts on how to proceed?"

"Yes," Mal said. "Select your away teams now. They'll need to start preparing for their mission immediately. The technology will be different, the culture will be different, the languages of course, and the slang, even the food, some of which may be toxic to Cervans, Brekkians, Trill, or Humans."

Enalia nodded. "And we'll need pheromone blockers. Like I said - I'd like the rest to be volunteers. If we don't have six by morning, I want you to select people. We'll begin training tomorrow on holodeck six."

"If I may suggest," Mal said. "Take Rasputin with you. He doesn't need make-up to look like an Orion and he'll be good in a tight spot. For the other five, what skillsets are you looking for?"

"People that can work under pressure in difficult situations. Intel, science, and tactical skills. Anything that might come in handy," Enalia replied.

"Alright, I'll look into it," Mal said. "Anything else?"

"Skill in hand to hand combat or bladed weaponry." After reviewing the logs, Clio had determined that a large part of why the recent away mission went so badly is the security personnel relied too heavily on their rifles. They hadn't trained for the possibility of extremely close quarters. "And if we're going to be Orion slave girls, people who already have dancing ability will have an advantage."

"Speaking of which, I need to discuss training with T'Pral. See if she needs anything. I don't want to lose that many people again." Enalia set her current PaDD aside and picked up another. "If there's nothing else, in a week's time we're going on lockdown and briefing the crew. let's be ready to go at that point so that our trip to the BEPI 113 system is just building on our training."

"If she needs help incorporating blades or hand to hand, I can help her. I'd rather not repeat that experience." A week wasn't much time to prepare, but if all the team members were diligent about their training, Clio thought it would be sufficient.

"I'll track down some Filipino martial arts training programs," Mal said. "Fast-track versions. If they train everyday, they should pick something up within the two weeks of training time we have between now and the actual slingshot. Also, I'll track down some appropriate dancing programs for the Holodeck so you ladies can practice getting your dance of the seven veils on. I'll have to observe, of course, to make sure that everything is going as planned, and provide constructive criticism."

Mal took a moment to look at Enalia.

"Captain," he said. "We need to talk after this meeting regarding your orders to me about Nexi. I have serious concerns."

"Any sane person would," Enalia replied. "Should we adjourn now then?"

"I think so," Mal said. "Commander Eneas?"

"I don't have anything further." Though she'd found the orders about Nexi's exam amusing, Clio didn't really want to be involved in that discussion. She also wanted to get away from the exceedingly creepy Engstrom, and the easiest way to do that was to get back to her usual duties.

"Then this meeting is adjourned," Enalia declared. "Please spread the word that there will be a staff meeting at oh nine hundred tomorrow morning. Mister Engstrom the Infinite, I assume you know your way back to your quarters." Not looking up from her current pad, she waited while Clio and Alden filed out, then finally let herself relax and laid her head on the table with a sigh.

The Orion woman was dressed in a grey Starfleet tank top and black shorts. In her hand was a Earth sword called a Katana. She held the sword low with two hands as she and her enemy, a Nausicaan circled one another. The Nausicaan held a double headed axe-looking weapon.

The nausicaan roared and charged. Moving quickly and smoothly, the orion woman sidestepped, bringing her sword up, that contacted with the nausicaan's left arm, severing it. Following through, the sword effortlessly decapitated the nausicaan, whose headless body fell to the ground and then dematerialized.

"Very good, Ensign Shavni," T'Pral complemented from the doorway.

Shavni smiled. "Thank you, ma'am. I didn't know you were watching."

"I was," T'Pral replied as she approached the officer. "Your footing and technique was nearly perfect."

Shavni continued to smile. "I have studied Kendo extensively...I just seem to have an affinity for the Katana," she said as she held up the sword.

T'Pral nodded. "I have approached you in order to put together a specialized group of security officers that are highly trained and to train as a team." While it was true Cato said he was bringing on a few people he knew to specialize in high risk away missions, she still deemed it necessary for Security to have a similar team. She wanted people she knew and could trust. "And I want you to be a part of that team. The training will be extra hard and long. You will train with two others, myself included."

Shavni smiled. "Count me in, ma'am. I enjoy a good challenge."

T'Pral nodded. "Very well. Our first team meeting will be in two days. I will leave you be." T'Pral then turned and exited the holodeck.

Shavni smiled brightly as she watched T'Pral leave. "Nice ass," she commented as the holodeck doors closed. She turned back. "Computer, restart Program at Level 12 and begin."

Cato after seeing his injury was going to take him out of the 'game' for too long, he submitted to regular treatment. However, he did so with the promise of 'sloppy work' to leave some resemblance of scaring on his leg for his reminder. Using his confinement to get strong, he focused on making his weak points strong. To the point of pissing off the Doctor on more than one occasion. Having been a ghost the past few weeks, not only around the ship but on E-Deck in the Intel pod as well. Cato had been busy pushing himself hard, harder than he ever had before.

He had replicated a heavy bag and hung it in his quarters since he was confined to them when he wasn't on duty or in sickbay. This thing had been beaten to shit, duct tape was everywhere. Cato had worked that bag with with his bare knuckles until they bled some nights. He ate alone in his quarters, kept his head down and had been avoiding everyone since his release from sickbay. During the past three weeks, he had trimmed the fat and bulked up considerably in a short amount of time; and was starting to resemble those 'cardassian strippers'. This was his process of healing.

The sound of that bag being pounded to shit and low, thumping bass from Survival by Eminem blasting spilled out into the corridor outside Cato's quarters. Who would've taken Cato as an 'oldies' man.

Nexi stood in the doorway, leaning against the doorframe with her arms crossed as she watched him going to town on the bag. How she had even gotten into his quarters, she wasn't about to tell, but there she was anyway, just watching him.

Cato style was a blend of boxing, tang soo do, krav maga, jiu jitsu, hapkido and Taekwondo. Elegant? Sure. Sexy? Absolutely. Dog tags bounced against his chest, hanging from a chain around his neck. Body glistening from sweat in the light of his quarters, delivering an absolutely brutal front leg round kick to the bag, it split open and began to make a mess in his quarters. "Computer, pause music." Cato barked, eyes shifting to Nexi standing in the door as smile crept across his lips "How long have you been standing there?"

"Long enough to know that you favor your left side because you're right handed," Nexi replied with her trademark smirk. "And that you we should have had our match already."

He grabbed his gallon jug of water off the table, popped the lid off and slammed a few big gulps. Wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, he smirked "Yeah? I'm still confined to quarters for going bang-bang crazy. But you know what, fuck it. Let's go." Cato was feeling pretty, um, pumped up. "I'm probably going to get brig time for this, but seeing that ass in a dress will make it sooo worth it." Sarcasm was flowing out of his bones like booze from a drunk on a five day binge.

Nexi grinned. "Star, make us disappear," she said, and they were whisked away in a wash of blue light, the transporter matter stream depositing them in the familiar grid of the holodeck. "Computer, give us some mats for sparring," she said, and the computer made it so. Nexi removed her jacket, and her pike, and her daggers, and more daggers, and holy hell where was she even hiding all these blades?! Once all her weaponry had been tossed to the side and her boots removed, she stepped onto the mat. "Let's dance," she said to Cato, grinning mischievously.

"A mat, really?" He narrowed his eyes at her as she disarmed. Cato barked "Computer, initialize program Cato 14 Bravo-Echo-Alpha-Charlie-Hotel." suddenly they were standing on a small atoll about 20 meters by 25 meters. White sand, palm trees and crystal clear blue water for mile and miles. 80-degree weather and 80% humidity. "Terrain is your enemy." he snarled. Suddenly, Nexi was the enemy and one could visibly see a switch had flipped inside Cato. He always trained in his 6" tan UDT shorts, hand moving up to grab his dangling dog tags; Snapping them off his neck and tossing them into the sand. Moving quickly, the verbal jabs would flow "I'm gonna beat those cheeks until you call me Daddy" Cato made a kissy face at Nexi, charging, faking as if he was going to go high, but instead he dropped and used the sand to his advantage. Allowing his bulky body to slide, he moved to wrap his legs around her and get her down to the ground.

"Not happening!" Nexi went down as he intended, but what he probably didn't intend was for her to get her legs around him and twist him so he was laying face down in the hot sand with her sitting on his backside. Under those baggy pants, she was pure, lean muscle! "You know, forget the lace, I'm thinking leather corset, that would really accentuate and lift those pecs of yours," she taunted as she gave him a slap to the thigh.

Talk about a tease with the slap to the thigh. He laughed about the leather corset, turning underneath her so she was now sitting on top of him cowgirl style. "Yeah? If that happens, you gonna break out the black strap-on named Rocco?" he remarked sarcastically before throwing a brutal forearm in the direction of her stomach (not ribs).

The blow was enough to knock the air from her, but she was able to diminish some of the force of the blow by rolling back with it, tumbling off to the side and onto her feet. "So you like chicks with strap-ons? Interesting..." she said with amusement, hopping lightly on the balls of her feet in the white sands, excitement exuding from her very being. The energy and intent she was picking up from him was intense and infectious and it made her all the more determined to win. "I'll be sure to tell a certain Chief of Security that," she taunted with a 'come hither' crook of her finger as a dare to give his brute force tactics another go.

Cato grinned wickedly "You mean my lil vulcan freak? Oh, she's much more flexible than you." he retorted. Brute force? No, he moved in and began his tasmanian devil (Capoeira) shit. All of a sudden, his big, bulky frame was hurling through the air, moving to gracefully throw a front side round kick to her face. Very few people knew that Cato practiced capoeira, he originally took it up because he fucking hated yoga.

Nexi didn't know what the hell Capoeira was, but she could see the kick, the unusual coordination of the body to produce such a move, and she was only narrowly able to avoid the hit, only to find his other foot making contact with her chest as his body finished the rotation. What the fuck was that?! She wanted to learn that!!! And so she did, bobbing and weaving as he attempted to strike her again and again, only for her to start picking up the nature of his movements and mirroring them, making up her own moves to complement his, like some sort of crazy fast-paced dance.

She was a quick learner, Cato would give her that. But it took more than a split second to get it down. She pulled it off and made up her own moves, which was insanely impressive. Cato waited until she was mid air before he moved to leap and grab her ankle with his left hand. Attempting to pull her left leg into a knee lock (between his legs) and take Nexi down to the ground.

OOF! She went down with a slam, and the force of him coming down on her and getting her into a lock knocked the air from her. He had her, she wasn't afraid to admit it, but if she was going down, she was taking him with her! She reached out and grabbed him by the junk, and suddenly sparks started dancing across her sweat slicked skin as she grinned at him, the threat clear in her eyes; he had better let go or his twig and berries were gonna get a jolt he wasn't going to forget anytime soon!

Having wrangled her to the sand, "TAP THE FUCK OUT" Cato yelled, applying pressure to her left knee even though she and him by the balls, literally this time. His field of vision was blocked and he couldn't see the sparks coming from her skin. His legs were wrapped around her left thigh and her left hand had ahold of the admiral. "Come on, Nexi!" he said, apply a little more pressure to her knee, not enough to injure her; Just provide an unpleasant amount of pain / pressure.

Nexi grunted as he applied more pressure, but didn't wince or show any signs that what he was doing was paining her, though it was. No, she was not letting go until he did, so she tightened her grip and let the current flow through her and into her hand, nothing too powerful, but just enough that he could feel it tickling over his skin.

Sure, tickling but that was it. Cato was sadistic and masochistic. We're talking about a guy who takes pride in learning from painful wounds healing slow. She was going to have to jolt the living fuck out of him to get him to release his grip. "OK, HAVE IT YOUR WAY!" he snarled while he grit his teeth. Applying twice the amount of pressure than before, going for a nerve cluster at the back of her knee. He wasn't going to let up until she tapped out or called him daddy.

That finally got a reaction out of Nexi! "Fuck!" she cried in pain, then decided to go for broke and released a jolt into his nads.

And that's when Cato decided to release her and roll back screaming "MOTHERFUCKER!" he danced around holding onto the the admiral and his fleet "SON OF A MOTHERFUCKIN' BITCH!" Cato continued "That shit is NOT even REMOTELY fair." he rolled back into the warm salt water, as if that was going to give him some relief from the shock he just took to his nuts. Slicking his long wet hair back, he continued to just sit there about three feet deep in water. "I had you..." He grinned.

It started slowly, a slight snicker that grew to a chuckle until finally Nexi was caught in a full belly laugh as she lay limp in the sand. "I told you, I fight dirty," she said with a wide grin once her laughter had calmed enough for her to speak.

"That's not dirty, biting is dirty... That's just mean spirited!" he laughed "Fucker..." He couldn't be mad for too long at her. "So go get changed, motherfucker! Remember, side boob, black eye makeup." he grinned.

"Hey, the type of dress was never stipulated in the bet! Don't worry, you'll get a dress..." Nexi grumbled. "And I am not wearing that shit on my face! Nuh uh, no way!" she said, rolling to her feet. "Anyway, can't do it right now, I don't have a dress, and you need to go get one too! Dinner after your confinement's up, it ain't too long and it'll give us time to find something to wear."

"Oh hell no." Cato said, standing up out of the water, dripping wet. "You're calling THIS a fuckin' draw?!" he exclaimed, grunting and taking a deep breath... "Fuck..." he muttered. "Where and when, I have four days left..." the enthusiasm had been stripped from his voice, completely monotone. Kind of like a kid who just had his favorite toy taken away.

"Hey I'll admit it, you had me, but I never tapped out," Nexi said with a grin, shaking sand out of her hair and dusting off her clothes and body. "And we can haggle over the time and place later, right now I want to get all this sand off me. You mind if I just get us back to your quarters or do you need to simmer a little longer over there?" she asked as she gathered her weapons up inside her jacket and tucked it all under her arm.

"Let's do it." he said, walking out of the water and back towards where she was. Some of the things she could pull without setting bells and whistles off impressed him to no end. "On you."

"Computer, end program. Star, take us back," Nexi called out as she picked up her boots. The water and white sands disappeared just as they were transported away, back to his quarters where this all began. "Alright, I'm going back to my ship for now. Holler if you need anything," she said casually as she walked barefooted and still quite sandy towards the door.

Cato looked at the mess the punching bag had made and then back to Nexi "I'm straight." he said as he started to clean up. He too was still covered in sand. "Goodnight." he said plainly, he was a little bitter about things as they were. He was going to wear a fuckin' dress... On a technicality... Son of a bitch...

"Later" Nexi said with a wave and sauntered out of his quarters. Was she as bent out of shape about losing as him? Hell no! She liked to win, liked it a lot! But she knew that a person couldn't win all the time, and she at least got the satisfaction of shocking his nuts, so that had been fun. It sucked that she had to wear a dress, but at least she wasn't the only one!

The night before...

As soon as Nexi walked out of his Quarters, Cato barked "Computer, seal the door" the audible click of the door locking could be heard. He moved to his terminal and began tapping away with both hands to bring up the internal sensors from his quarters. Quickly, he worked and managed to pull a signal origin from the transporter signal that Nexi used. Quickly honing in, (like it was hard), he smirked seeing that it was inside the cargo bay bulkhead. "Yeah, right." he muttered to himself. This ship was full of secrets, but this one was easy enough to crack. Cato didn't like to lose, he didn't like it when people got the drop on him like Nexi had before their fight. After noting the information on a paper pad he kept (just in case someone deleted data), he went about cleaning up his wreck of a quarters.

The next day...

Cato had only a three more days of confinement left, it had been a rough time for him. Quieting his mind gave him too much time to think, but that's probably what the point was. Cato had been completely good during his confinement, no bullshit no slippery tactics. Until tonight... After he wrapped up his visit in Sickbay and got the all clear to return to away team status, he headed back to his quarters. Pulling his uniform jacket, vest and duty shirt off he tossed it all on his couch. Pulling a slightly faded black t-shirt from his bedroom, he threw it on. MACO Special Warfare insignia on the left chest, his name on the right, Starfleet insignia on the right sleeve and MACO on the left. Placing his commbadge on the table in his quarters, Cato picked up the tricorder next to it before turning and walking out.

Soon enough, he had found the cargo bay in question and entered. Looking around, visually it didn't look any different. "The fuck..." he said under his breath as he opened his tricorder up and began getting his bearings for the origin of that transporter signal that was used last night. "Come out, come out wherever you are..." His voice trailed off, following his tricorder to one of the walls in the bay; He looked up and down it. The readings were consistent with a real wall, but something was off about it.

It only slowed him for a minute or two. Eventually he found the door that was so well hidden, it almost eluded even him. Bypassing the all too familiar security system rather quickly, the door opened somewhat silently. Cato flipped his tricorder closed, stuffed it into a pocket and moved inside absolutely quiet. Contrary to popular belief, this jarhead did have a 'stealth' setting. Thinking to himself, 'secret squirrel spook shit'. His eyes darted around the hidden, large bay. Eyes falling on an Orion Class Runabout, he saw the rear hatch was open. But then next to it was Nexi on a mat, luckily for him she was facing away while she was working out.

Silently, Cato approached and took cover at the nose of her runabout. He watched her silently, like she had done to him last night...

Nexi was on her workout mat by her ship, sprawled out in a split. She was wearing her usual baggy pants, but instead of her usual black long sleeve shirt she instead wore a simple tank to give her arms more freedom. Her boots, jacket, and weapons were nowhere to be seen, most of which had been left in her shuttle for the time being as she relaxed into her stretch on the mat. Then she pushed up onto her hands, slow and controlled movements as her body rolled into an upright position with her legs remaining in the split. Slowly, she brought her legs together and remained in the handstand for a while before once again lowering her feet to the ground and standing upright. She strode over to what looked like a rope that was suspended from the ceiling over the middle of the mat; the rope above her head was actually a set of straps, which she separated and worked both ends around her wrists. She put her weight on the straps to ensure her grip was good, then tucked her legs to her chest and began lifting her body while hanging from these straps to work the individual muscle groups in her arms, slow and with precise control over her movements. After the first set was complete, she moved right into another, this time raising her body while her legs were straight and extended, pulling herself up until she was hanging straight upside down. Once she repeated this move several times to complete that set, she let herself hang upside down for a little while, her eyes closed and her hair swinging in its loose braid, slow and steady breaths. Unlike with Cato's workout, there was no music to pump her up, only her own steely discipline as she hung from these straps.

"I know you're there, Cato," she suddenly said without any warning, her eyes opening to reveal an intense focus. "Did you forget I'm telepathic? I could sense you approaching," she said as she rolled her body back down into a tucked position and began rolling her legs from side to side, ending in positions that couldn't possibly look comfortable for her shoulders, and yet she was completely relaxed. "Also, the bay doors, not exactly silent," she reminded him with a grin.

"I know you're there, Cato" he said mockingly under his breath. Before a loud wolf whistle was let out as he moved around the nose of her ship. "You know..." he said running his hand along the angled, sleek hull of the runabout "I take back what I said, maybe you are just as flexible as T'Pral." he paused before changing the subject "So, this is where you run off to every night. Not bad, I'd probably disappear here too if I could." moving around to where she could see him. His eyes continued to look around and before they fell back to Nexi "We need to talk..." his voice trailed off, somewhat ominous in tone.

"No, a tactical kilt does not count as a dress," she said in reply to his 'We need to talk', grinning as she continued her exercises. She didn't know if that's what he actually wanted to talk about, but she knew it was on his mind. "Also, I don't 'run off', this is my home," she clarified.

"It's a figure of speech, I know you don't actually 'run' off... Hell, this is better than my quarters. I'd rather be here than in that fuckin' box." he paused before walking over and taking a seat in front of where she was doing her exercises. "How are you coming with the procurement of my item?" he perked a brow, it was overtly clear he was avoiding something he didn't want to tell her yet.

"I may have a lead on where it's at," Nexi said, grinning as she rolled back down and let go of the straps. She walked over to the side of the mat where she had left a water bottle and uncapped it to take a drink. "Why don't you tell me whatever it is you're dancing around and I'll tell you where your sword is."

"A brother of mine went missing seven days ago. I just got the message, probably because of what he had dug himself into after the MACO's got disbanded." He took a deep breath before continuing. "Spectre teams make me look about as reckless as a teddy bear." he said, giving her a comparison she could possibly relate to. "I managed to get the mission profile from a friend at Starfleet Intel. When I requested leave from Starfleet for a personal matter, it was denied. Motherfuckers act like they OWN me. No one fuckin' owns me!" he snarled through his teeth. "I'm resigning and going after him and no, I haven't spoke to Enalia... Yet..."

"Damn, you're an idiot," Nexi replied with a shake of her head and started walking to the rear hatch of her shuttle.

"Yeah? You got a better plan?" he barked, getting up from where he was sitting and started to walk after her at a normal pace. "Because I'm running out of options and time." He followed up with "It's not far from where we are, another god damned station. It's an experimental weapons research facility owned by Aspid Corporation and something fucking happened." Aspid was about as savory as a Ferengi who owned a pawn shop.

"Yeah, I got a better plan; here's your sword, by the way," Nexi replied as she passed through the back end of her ship, picking up his katana where it lay on her workbench and tossed it to him, then continued on through her ship without missing a stride.

Cato followed her into the runabout, catching his old red plasma infused katana... "No fuckin' way..." he smiled, glancing to his weapon for a second as he continued to follow Nexi through her runabout. "Then what the fuck are we gonna do?"

"We're gonna go get your friend," Nexi said simply, passing through her living area to the cockpit and took a seat in the forward station where she typed out a quick message:

'Enalia, going out for a bit, springing a friend from Aspid Corp, taking the jarhead with me.'

After sending the message to Enalia, she put in the notice with flight control to open the hanger doors, then started warming up the Wandering Star.

"Not wife material my ass..." he smiled before moving forward with her into the cockpit, but the orion was a single seater up front. Cato didn't like to ride back of the bus, so while Nexi was warming up her ship he threw his Katana over his head and under his left arm. "I guess this is going to be a never ending thing of me owing you."

Enalia was in her ready room when she got the message and had a message of her own. After having the shuttlebays locked down, she hailed Nexi. =/\="Please return the jarhead to his quarters for now. We happen to be heading to the area you're going for some... recon work..."=/\=

"Fuck, why you gotta ruin my fun, woman!" Nexi said with an exaggerated groan of frustration. "How am I supposed to run off and be a naughty if you keep legitimizing my field trips? I wanna kidnap me a jarhead!"

Enalia had to chuckle over the comm line. =/\="Because it'll take you what? Three days to get there? Two at best? The Hera will be there in six hours so we can secretly... Catalog a gaseous anomaly. That sounds fun, right?"=/\=

"I guess, mom," Nexi replied with a roll of her eyes. "But I can pretend I'm kidnapping the jarhead?"

=/\="As long as you take adult supervision,"=/\= Enalia declared right before cutting the comm line. She then sent appropriate orders to the bridge.

Nexi grumbled in Ferengi under her breath as she rose from her station. "She's just gotta suck all the fun outta everything!" she said with a scowl. "I'm gonna go take a shower... ya know, since we got like 6 hours..."

Since she stood up from her station and probably turned around... Cato wasn't far away, he removed his Katana and tossed it into the corner behind the flight station. "You're right, we have six hours." he bit his bottom lip. In the past month, Nexi had... Dragged his ass into the runabout while almost dead, visited him in sickbay with a stolen bottle of 400 year old whiskey, found his prized sword he stole from a Klingon General and in return had stolen out of his quarters aboard the Rodger Young AND was going to risk her life and her ship to save his friend just because?... "Why?" he asked, moving a step closer to her. Since she was telepathic, she'd be able to pick up on exactly what he was thinking and what he was feeling. Fuckin' humans and emotions.

"Why?" she repeated like she didn't understand the question. "Why not?" she then said in reply, then brushed passed him.

"Wait..." he gently stopped her, left hand on her right shoulder. She knew what he really wanted to do, what he was thinking... But something inside of him restrained him from being a dumb shit and fucking things up."Don't..." he moved in as if he was going to actually kiss her, but instead placed a soft kiss on her slightly sweaty forehead. "It's been a long time since I trusted or cared about anyone as much as you." He placed his hand on her heart and said "yIn SoH jIH" (I owe you my life). After that, he pulled away and grabbed his katana.

"Pfft, you don't owe me nothing," Nexi said as she continued on her way to her bunk, pausing at the door to look back at him. "I've lived my life out of ledgers, always owing just one more debt; now that my tab is cleared, I sure as hell ain't keeping anymore. I do what I do now because it pleases me to do so, not so I can hold this over you. Your life is your own, so live it, stop wasting it." And then she disappeared into her room to shower.

After that, he wasn't going anywhere. He followed her into her room, right behind her "The fuck do you mean stop wasting it?!" his eyes narrowed as he stood in her doorway. "I seriously wish I was telepathic half the fuckin' time so I could read you or at least know how you feel about me..." he paused as he took a deep breath "Nevermind, I'm a fuckin idiot. See you in a few." Not like he gave her a chance to respond... He turned and headed for the rear hatch of the runabout.

At this particular point in time, all she felt was that she needed a damn shower! Finally alone, Nexi took her time cleaning up, and when she finally came out of her room she was in her usual garb, weapons and all, wandering out the rear hatch to find where Cato had wandered off to.

Cato was using an equipment cart to do a workup on his newly refitted hostile environment combat armor. He and the Chief Engineer had been hard at work modifying the hell out of it after his encounter with the vole. Matte black, the menacing matte tungsten punisher skull was where the starfleet insignia would be and sported again on the left shoulder. That TR-116C2 had been cleaned up and now sported a matte black and matte tungsten color scheme. "got you a plasma rifle..." He said blindly, pointing to a rifle laying against a second cart; having heard Nexi move behind him. He was quiet and had a cooler sensibility about his emotion. He loaded his newly-updated plasma grenades and energy magazines with replicator matter onto all these new nifty pockets on his armor.

"I don't do rifles," Nexi said as she watched him work. "The only reason I was carrying one last time was because I needed to get used to Starfleet tech instead of my old Ferengi stuff; Enalia's been working on getting me a new weapon with the power of the TR-116 but in a smaller handheld form. Probably won't have the range or the gyro-stabilization, but weapons like this are too bulky for what I usually do."

"Ok." he replied before stripping his t-shirt off, along with his dog tags. Tossing them on the deck, he began to perform a sync with the biometric integration of his suit. "No communication with the station since the spectre team went aboard. Probably a biological weapon that broke containment..." He stated "Your old suit was trash, so after Thex modified mine, I had her scan and duplicate most of the components and whatever we couldn't duplicate, we found a suitable replacement. I built it off your measurements." he motioned with his head to the second cart again. "Was going to be a surprise after our date, but I figured that it'd be more useful now."

"Don't usually use the suit either," Nexi said, looking at the suit. "Only used it because- hey, what do you mean date?" she asked, giving him a funny look. "I thought it was just dinner on a bet! And what do you mean my suit was trash?! You had better not have touched my personal cloak or I will skin you alive!" So what if her EV suit was old and ready to be retired, who the fuck did he think he was doing this for her?! If it was to be HER suit, shouldn't she have some say as to what went into it or how it was designed to fit?!

"Shut... Up..." he said "I didn't touch your suit, or your cloak. You can do whatever the fuck you want with this, I don't give a flying fuck. It's a gift from me to you." he paused before continuing "Do you know why we use them? Just in case there's something that will kill us or worse on that station... Do you really wanna roll the dice? Because I don't." he eyed her as the computer in his HECA sounded "Biometric integration complete, don when ready". He set everything down and turned to face her. "It's dinner on a bet, unless you'd like it to be more than it is. Otherwise, don't get worked up for no reason." he said, grabbing his armor and throwing it over his shoulder "Yeah, I care about you more than I fucking should! Yeah I trust you with my life. Don't fuckin' break my heart or get me killed." Cato turned, heading for the rear hatch on the Wandering Star..

"Break your heart? You wuss," Nexi said with a scowl. "How can I break your heart when we're just friends? Yeah, I could sense you wanted to kiss me before, but I thought you was holding back because you knew there was a line there, like there should be; we gotta trust each other with our lives out there, there ain't no room for complications in what we do," she barked at the back of his head. "Attachments get you killed, and I ain't about to have your life hanging over my head. And take this other suit out of here, I'm working on a new one with Enalia."

"Recycle it." he yelled back at her. Stepping aboard he put his gear down in the aft area on the floor before walking back out without saying another word until he was closer to her. Grabbing a large backpack and throwing it over his shoulder, then grabbing his TR-116C2 with his right hand "Attachments... Yeah, about those." funny, she was going on a mission to rescue someone Cato called a brother yet had no blood relation with. "You told me to stop wasting my life, what did you mean by it?"

"You said you started running and never looked back; at some point you gotta stop running and figure out what you wanna get out of all that effort," Nexi said cryptically. "What do you want, Cato? Not from me, not from Starfleet or Intel. What do you want out of life? You decide what that is, you go for it and you don't make apologies. Doing anything else is just wasting your time and everyone else's."

He laughed "You know what, Nexi..." he wiped his mouth with the back of his left hand. "If I told you what I wanted, what I really wanted. You'd just start going on and on about attachments again. Yet here we are, going after one of my brothers from Special Warfare. So fuck that bounty hunter attachments will get you killed bullshit." he paused "I'll tell you what, we both make it back from this and not killing each other at dinner while wearing dresses... Maybe I'll just go for what I want and get my nuts zapped again." he smirked before walking away from her, again. Moving to load up the last of his gear aboard the Wandering Star.

"I know what you want right now, but I'm no one's joyride," Nexi said, then turned to leave the hanger bay.

Joyride... That struck a nerve with him to the depth of his core, dropping his gear onto the deck with a loud echoing crash he turned around and walked after her. "You think I just wanna fuck you?!" he bellowed "Bullshit!" he continued "You keep being there for me no matter what." he paused still going "You think I want you because of that? HAH! You know what I want? I want to flip the switch that sends me back to being a heartless fuck. Like you said, caring about someone fucking sucks." he turned and started to walk back to where he dropped his gear. "Oh! I do want you... But not like that! Like you said, you aren't wife material for him, but you might be perfect for this jarhead."

"You don't know me, Cato, you don't know a damned thing about me," Nexi said without halting her stride; no yelling, just a calm resolve as she walked away from him. He didn't know her, how could he feel those things for her? He was just a player, and she didn't need this mess in her life...

Nexi found herself wandering the halls after the most infuriating shouting match she'd ever had, compliments of certain jarhead that she was now regretting saving. She couldn't believe some of the things that had come out of his mouth and now she didn't know what to do with this new information she had. Her only option was to talk about it, but to who?

"Nexi to Telvan," Nexi said with a tap to her commbadge. "Enalia, I need to talk to someone, you got a few minutes?" she asked.

"Yeah, I was about to take a break. Anywhere you want to meet? Observation Lounge 3 perhaps?" Enalia replied.

"Can we meet in the hidden armory? I need to get my new gear, if it's done," Nexi replied.

Enalia leaned back in her chair, eliciting a squeak from the hydraulics. "Nothing in there has been made recently. I've been waiting on your clearance paperwork. I've gotten you temporary clearance at least, so it should be enough. Meet me on E deck of the pod and I'll explain further."

"Then where the fuck is my new stuff?" Nexi snapped, then winced. "Sorry, just having a day... just tell me where I need to go to get the new weapons that were being developed for me," she continued in a defeated tone.

"Stand by for a site to site transport." Enalia replied before firing off a message to Ila Dedjoy and programming in a three way site to site transport. Soon they were all standing in front of an ominous door with a security terminal next to it. "Everything you could possibly imagine... and more... are in here. Ila, if you could start the entry process?"

Ila didn't hesitate to place her hand on the biometrics pad and declaring her intentions to the computer. "Computer, begin unlock sequence. Crewman Ila Dedjoy Command code shadow three one one niner seven." The first of three locks turned from red to green.

Enalia stepped up and placed her hand on the scanner. "Captain Enalia Telvan. Command code Telvan delta seven seven one." After the second lock turned green, she motioned for Nexi to do the same.

"Uhh, Recruit Nexi, command code Far Distance four two nine eight," Nexi followed suit, her command code being uttered in Ferengi; 'far distance' was an obscure Ferengi term, roughly equating to the human phrase 'going the extra mile', which explained why it fell into obscurity with a culture that revolved around greed, but it was the one thing that Nexi believed in above all else was if one is going to do a job you do it right, and sometimes that meant going the extra mile to make a client happy. As the doors finally opened with the acceptance of their security codes, Nexi looked over to Ila; she had been hoping to talk to Enalia alone for a minute, but she guess that would have to wait a moment...

As the three filed into the now open room, Ila took up a position at the door and resealed it from the inside. Enalia activated the console in the middle, then the lights throughout the warehouse-like armory, weapons mounted in racks on the wall and stacked up in cases almost to the ceiling. "Now then. What is it you'd like to talk about?"

"Uh, it can wait a bit," Nexi said, casting an uneasy glance to Ila. "Did, uh, my new pike get made?" she asked instead, looking around at the impressive array of weapons. She gave a low whistle as she admired the selection, being drawn like a magnet to handgun looking weapon. The pike in question was more or less a replica of the pike she already wielded, which normally Nexi could have fabricated herself, only she didn't have the technical expertise to manage the plasma mono-filament thingamabobbers. "And hows the new suit coming along? Is it ready to be used on this, uh, 'recon' mission or have I got to use my old suit?"

"Your new suit is ready to be fitted and is in Engineering lab three on deck twenty three. As for a pike..." Enalia pulled up the registry of bladed weapons and found the location and case number. She then headed into the back and pulled a long case out of the pile. "Let's see if this fits you." Setting the case on a workbench, she popped it open and motioned to Nexi.

Leaving the gun on the rack, Nexi joined Enalia where she had pulled out a case and opened it. Nexi looked inside and there it was. "What a thing of beauty," Nexi said with a grin, taking the pike out of the case and activated it. While the style was almost identical to her old pike, the blade was remarkable different and understandably so given the pale golden glow of the plasma illuminated mono-filament edge. "It's a little bit lighter than I expected," Nexi remarked, giving the staff an experimental twirl. "Perfect," she added with an approving nod, deactivating the blade edge and collapsing the staff. She found a new sheath in the case as well, and removed the sheathed pike she was wearing so she could fasten the new sheath to the old, layering the two so she could wear them both. "Hey, what's up with that weapon over there, looks like one of them ancient hu-mon designs," she asked, nodding her head towards the pistol style weapon she had been admiring earlier.

"That... I need to look up." Punching it up on the main console, Enalia unlocked it from its rack so Nexi could get a better look. "It's a piece of twenty fifth century tech made for time travel to early Earth. It mimics the form and function of a pistol known as a desert eagle but with far more than six shots."

"Can I give it a go?" Nexi asked. Normally, she detested anything not bladed, and since her Ferengi whip had been lost on the Borg cube they encountered and she couldn't stand the Starfleet phaser rifles, she was looking for something different, and this certainly fit the bill; there was something about this weapon that really appealed to Nexi.

"Go for it. Just don't go shooting up anything in the armory." Enalia requested.

"Right," Nexi said with a nod and strode over to a small firing range to give it a test. She had never fired an ancient hu-mon handgun before and wasn't prepared for the kick it had. Pulling the trigger, it nearly took her hand off when it replicated a round and sent it hurtling down the barrel using elecromagnetic force, but then again she was kind of holding it like one would hold a disruptor pistol which had no kick to it at all! It wasn't as bad a kick as a real desert eagle, of course she had no way of knowing that, and it was loud, having a sound generator to emulate the real thing, all of which caught Nexi completely by surprise, and yet it also had her grinning.

"I like it!" she said with a huge grin as she took a more reinforced stance now that she knew. Her first grouping of shots were a little wild, but it didn't take her long to figure out the intricacies of this rather unique weapon and soon the paper targets at the end of the firing lane were littered with well-placed lethal groupings, except for the last one which had a cluster of holes at the crotch and a frowny face. "Can I get one of these?" she asked, looking back at Enalia.

Enalia was grinning ear to ear, expecting just that reaction. She'd already downloaded the replicator pattern for the cartridges and the manual on operation and reloading the replicator matter magazines and offered it to Nexi. "I've already registered that one to you. The holster and spare magazines, you'll have to replicate yourself but the main armory can refill the magazines with replicator matter as needed. Just talk to T'Pral."

Nexi accepted with a nod the data rod with the manual and replicator patterns. "I'll go there next; I need to pick up my new armor," she said. "Anything else you got for me?"

Enalia stared off at a far wall nervously for several long moments before replying. "I have something Section 31 came up with that fits your particular idiom." Turning back to the console, she unlocked the tiny chrome weapon and brought it over to Nexi.

Nexi cast the tiny weapon a dubious gaze. "What am I supposed to do with this thing?" Nexi said, giving the weapon an experimental prod. "I feel like I'm gonna break it just by looking at it..."

"It's a more durable weapon than you'd imagine. Inspired by the Borg, it fires a half inch nanotubule needle filled with the deadliest neurotoxin known to the Federation. It only has fifty shots though, so I'd use them wisely." Enalia headed back to the terminal and looked through the registry for anything else that might be useful.

"Ooh, nice..." Nexi said as she took the weapon. "You mind if I restock my explosives while I'm here? Just need a few small charges, nothing crazy."

"Unless you need micro-quantum torpedoes fired from a shoulder launcher, I recommend you get those from the main armory." Enalia replied, shutting everything down and heading to the door. "Keep in mind that this armory is filled with what Section 31 considered to be either too dangerous or too useful. There's a TR-116 replica here that can take down a runabout. There's a probability device that has a ninety nine percent chance of twisting fate so that a target dies of an accident in the next three minutes. If they don't, it kills the user. You've got three of the least scary things in this room."

"I'm in the wrong line of work..." Nexi replied, taking one last look around the room. "But I'm happy with what I got, so I guess I'm done. Once, uh, once we're 'alone' alone, I still need that talk."

"I'll do your EV suit fitting then. Shall we?" Enalia asked as she headed out of the armory and waited for Nexi to follow her out. Ila stood there and stared with a blank smile, waiting to resecure the vault like room.

Nexi followed behind Enalia, waiting until they had put some distance between them and the vault and Ila before she started talking. "I got a problem," Nexi said uneasily as they walked, but failed to elaborate; even though Enalia was the one person that had seen how upset Nexi had been when she and Daln had broken up and Daln transferred off afterwards, it was still hard for Nexi to open up and talk about certain things.

Coming up to a turbolift and glancing back at Ila as she resealed the vault, Enalia hit the call button for the maintenance turbolift. The doors instantly opened and she entered with Nexi. "Deck twenty three. Does it involve a certain jarhead and commitment?"

"What- How-" Nexi stammered, then scowled. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were a telepath," she grumbled. She tried crossing her arms to look tough and guarded, but it didn't go so well with the handful of weapons she held. "I thought he was just a player, but it seems he's interested in more than a one night stand. And after Daln..." Nexi sighed. "I don't know what to do, Enalia. I ain't trying to lead him on, but it seems that anything I do just makes him more determined!"

"He's confined to quarters. Anything he does outside of there and work is logged. It doesn't take much to put things together." Enalia leaned against the turbolift wall and thought it over a bit. "He's an interesting person, isn't he? Since he won't seem to take no for an answer, go on this rescue mission with him and see how that goes. Maybe go on a date with him. Show him the real you. You'll either end up an unattainable fruit or shatter his ideas about you."

"We... kinda already have a dinner lined up?" Nexi said with a wince. "I thought it was just as friends; he challenged me to a fight, loser had to wear a dress. I lost, ain't afraid to admit it, but I got even, got to shock his nuts, and we called it a draw so now he has to wear a dress too. I was gonna come to you to ask for help with what to wear, but we ain't set a date for the dinner yet, and now that he's interested, I don't know what to do... I honestly ain't given any thought to whether I'm interested or not; I'm just not sure I'm ready to give this a try after the way things ended with Daln."

"Not every relationship is the same... wait... both of you will be in dresses? mind having your date with Maica and myself?" Enalia was grinning at the realization. "Anyway, not all men are the same. Most are, but some are different. You'll never know how different without a little emotional risk. Besides, the rewards can be more than worth it."

"I would rather serve a Bridge shift naked than to take an emotional risk or have spectators at this dinner," Nexi said bluntly.

"Mal is going to administer your bridge stress response test soon, isn't he? I'll request he do it with both of you naked." Enalia declared.

"You would do something like that, wouldn't you..." Nexi grumbled. "Fine, we'll have this stupid dinner at your place...." she relented begrudgingly. "You'll still help me pick something to wear, right? 'Cause I don't wanna look stupid, or like I'm selling myself."

Enalia nodded. "I have a Tholian silk dress that should fit you perfectly. Unfortunately i don't exactly fit into it. It was supposed to be a gift for a girlfriend back in my academy days, but that never happened. We had some good times but in the end, she preferred men. And anal."

Nexi shuddered. "Some people are just weird..." she muttered as she considered the offer. "I'll give the dress a try, though, thanks," she said, so sheepish about showing gratitude over something like this. "And, uh, I'll let you know when we set a date."

"Whatever you decide, good luck," Enalia offered a smile as the turbolift doors finally opened. "Shall we then?"

"Yeah, let's get this over with," Nexi said, stepping out of the lift and advancing down the corridor towards the armory.

"As with all super secret intel agents, you're being issued a special suit. It'll look really strange, but after the fitting you'll see what I mean." Enalia led them down the hall to Engineering lab three and headed straight in. It was already set up and waiting at her request and she nodded to the crewman on duty, dismissing them. Once Enalia and Nexi were alone, she opened a case and pulled out a simple grey undergarment. "This is your new pajamas you'll have to wear under the suit. It has sensors placed in it to monitor your vitals and can keep you from bleeding out if you suffer a major injury."

"Yeah, I know how this goes; I had a suit I wore with my old EV suit, but it didn't monitor vitals," Nexi said.

Handing that to Nexi, she moved over to the main suit hanging in a rack sort of assembly. Rather than the sleek armor panels that Clio's suit had, it was a dull grey leathery material covered in large ceramic blocks where the armor plates would normally be. "As soon as you get changed, we can begin."

"Uh.... I don't mean to question your design choices but... yeah, I'm totally questioning this: what the hell! I do sneaky sneaky stuff, what's with all this blocky shit!" Nexi asked as she started taking her clothes off, not even bothering to worry about modesty in front of the Captain.

As Nexi changed, Enalia went on to explain the capabilities of the suit. "During fitting, the computer will remold and compress the armor plating from these ceramic blocks into actual armor. A computerized assistant will monitor your vitals and recording devices are located on each shoulder and each hip. If you need to transfer data from a computer, the primary contact point for that is between the thumb and index finger of each glove. The system is designed to work faster than other available systems and is able to hold several databases in distributed storage systems inside the armor plates themselves. The plates also provide a certain level of sensor scattering. Also, we've engineered a socket for add ons, including an interface and array for your personal cloak." Setting up the fitting chamber, the suit was pulled open so Nexi could step into it from behind easily. "Also, during the fitting, you might feel a mild burning sensation as the ceramics are compressed and molded to your body. We'll go over the helmet after the suit is complete. When you're ready, we'll begin."

Nexi finished snugging the undersuit into place, then stepped up into the bulky armor. "Alright, let me know when you're-" her words were cut off at there was a loud noise and suddenly it started getting quite warm. "Oh, okay, here we go," Nexi said, and closed her eyes as she relaxed her stance, focusing on patiently enduring the building heat as the chamber compressed the ceramic to mold against her body perfectly. Fuck, Enalia wasn't kidding about the burning, but she could do this...

Enalia grinned as she monitored the system as it did its thing. "The full cycle takes about ninety seconds. Also, if you gain or lose more than about twenty pounds, we'll have to redo the suit for you."

"What do you think I'm gonna do that's gonna make me lose or gain that much weight?" Nexi retorted with a grin.

"You never know..." Enalia chuckled softly. "Almost done."

Nexi waited until finally the chamber released her and she was free to move. She stepped out of the chamber and began to move around, testing her range of motion. "This feels good, very light, not at all cumbersome" Nexi admitted as she moved and stretched. Then she reached for her weapons and began affixing them to her suit, pleased to find that there was enough room along some of the armor plates on her legs for a couple of daggers. "Oh yeah, this is great," she affirmed once she felt the familiar weight of her pikes (now plural as she had two, that would take some getting used to) at the small of her back, practically giddy to discover that her arm movement was no longer restricted, allowing her to draw and wield one of the pikes with ease. Now she just needed to replicate the holster and mag holster for her new gun! "How do I look?"

"Deadly," Enalia replied, resetting the equipment and pointing over towards a rack of helmets. "The helmet is over there. Give it a try and make sure it seals right."

"Were you able to get the HUD to display a Ferengi translation overlay?" Nexi asked as she snugged the new holsters into place, then quickly braided her hair so it wouldn't get in the way of the helmet. "I know I'm supposed to be perfecting my English, and I'm working on it, but I still have trouble with some stuff.... In fact, I think I misunderstood something Cato said earlier and we ended up yelling at each other," she admitted as she picked up the helmet and tried it on; it fit like a glove!

"The computer does its best, but don't count on perfect Ferengi. It might display things in both common and Ferengi." Enalia finished what she was doing and headed over to take a good long look at Nexi. "You know, you almost look like an actual member of Starfleet with that."

"Fuck, I do..." Nexi said with false dread as she looked down at herself. Then she snickered. "Well, I couldn't stay a bum forever," she said, then replicated a few extra clips for her new gun and tucked everything away. "Anything else?" she asked.

"I think in a few hours you, Cato, and myself will look our best storming a research facility." Enalia replied with a grin. "Now we just have to find a way off the ship without Mal or Clio catching on."

"Oh, so we are being sneaky sneaky!" Nexi said, excited to finally be doing a mission with Enalia! "Well I go out all the time, I could just say I'm going out on one of my jobs," she suggested, then removed the helmet. It almost seemed a shame to take the armor off now that she was all cozy in it, but she didn't really want to wear this for a few hours waiting to arrive at their destination.

Enalia nodded and headed towards the door of the lab. "I'll meet you at your ship in my own armor and gear when we get there. The crew is assigned to go full stealth and scan some ship wreckage near a spacial anomaly so they shouldn't be in the way or noticeable, but will be nearby if things go south."

"Alright, I'll have Star warmed up and ready to go. If Mal or Clio ask, I'm off chasing a bounty," Nexi said as she pulled the armor off. She opted to keep the undersuit on just for simplicity and pulled her pants on over it.

"And I'm just going for a walk," Enalia replied with a wink back at Nexi as she walked out the door.

Nexi grinned and followed soon after she had collected all her stuff, then headed for her docking bay. Now, what to say to Cato about their dinner becoming a public spectacle...

Akira Zhuri was only a matter of weeks old, and she'd recently undergone a traumatic experience that culminated in the loss of her 'father', at which time she'd absorbed his memories and experiences. One of her 'mothers' was aboard and presumably was, with the help of Captain Telvan, looking after her. That said, Mal wanted to look in on her himself. He was pleased to see that the young holographic lifeform had taken quarters. While she could reside in a data bank and create a palatial estate to live in, choosing to live in quarters made her more accessible and would help her learn to interact with the crew socially. Mal arrived at Akira's quarters and hesitated. If she wasn't materialized, how would she know the chime went off? He tried the chime anyway.

Akira was in her quarters, and she wasn't alone; Andy Carter was there doing some maintenance on Akira to make sure that the absorption of Ari's data wouldn't cause any negative long term effects for Akira.

"Come in!" the ginger ex-Borg barked out as she worked on some code at Akira's desk terminal while Akira herself appeared to be asleep on the couch.

Mal entered and saw to his surprise that Akira already had company.

"Chief Carter," he said quietly. He wasn't sure if Akira was really 'asleep' or just looked that way. In fact, he wasn't sure if you could wake up a holographic life form with noise. Better safe than sorry. "I didn't know you were aboard. Is everything alright with Akira?"

"Yeah, she's alright, just making sure she'll stay that way when it's time for me to leave," Andy replied with a lopsided grin. She finished what she was working on and sent the modifications back to Akira, who promptly opened her eyes and sat up.

"Oh, Commander, hello," Akira said softly, a stark contrast to Andy's gruff demeanor.

"Relax, I think he's just here to check up on you," Andy said with a grin, continuing to look through some data she had saved for future modifications. "You want me to leave or stay?" she asked her 'daughter'.

"I do not mind either way," Akira replied, then rose from the couch. "What can I do for you, sir?" she said to Mal.

"Your mother is correct, Miss Zhuri," Mal said. "I am in fact here to check up on you. You've had a bit of a rough ride getting here. I've come to see how you are settling in."

"I'm alright," Akira replied in a subdued tone. "I miss Father; I know he is always with me now, but it's not the same. But the crew has been nice, I'm adapting to my new roll here, and the computer feels different than the Katana's computer but I feel more secure here."

"And Maica made her go see the Counselor," Andy chimed in. "Akira says she's fine, but after all she's been through it's better to be safe than sorry. Anyway, we also made her go to establish a rapport with the Counselor so she'll feel comfortable asking for help when she needs it."

Mal nodded.

"And you can always come to me if there's anything you need," he said. "If you're having any issues at all fitting in or finding your way, or you just want to talk something out, problem solve, or just have someone listen to you."

"I appreciate the consideration," Akira said with a grateful nod. "I must admit that I am having difficulty adapting to social interactions, and Father's experiences haven't really helped all that much," she admitted.

"Social interactions can be difficult even for people who've had the chance to grow into them," Mal said. "The ship has clubs, classes, and social organizations you can join. It will be almost painfully awkward at first, but joining one or two could be a good experience for you, socially. It would expose you to different kinds of people in social situations and give you an opportunity to try out different kinds of things, to figure out what you enjoy doing."

"The Counselor has suggested much the same," Akira stated. "I have also started exploring the interests of my parents; Mother Maica has made a violin for me and Mother Andy is teaching me to play, and I often find myself reading in my spare time, as Father used to do."

"That's good," Mal said. "I play several instruments, a few different kinds of flutes, the aulos, the kithara, and the lyre. Music can be great fun and it is especially satisfying when you master a piece you've been working hard on, no matter how simple the piece is. So, what have you been reading?"

"Oh, a novel that Father never got to finish, A Tale of Two Cities," Akira replied. "I'm finding it to be quite illuminating, and while Father preferred the solitude of his quarters to read, I'm finding that I rather like going to the arboretum to read, it is... peaceful there."

Mal smiled.

"Yes," he said. "It is peaceful there. Chief Carter, how long will you be with us?"

"Well, Maica's gotta go back tomorrow; the Merlin can't run itself," Andy said as she leaned back in her chair and gave the matter some thought. "As for me, I can afford to take more time away to take care of Akira. I hadn't really given a time frame much thought, but I was hoping for at least another week to ensure Akira is settled in and stable."

"Whatever it takes," Mal said. "Well, I suppose I should leave you to it. If there's anything you need, feel free to come to me and I'll see if I can make it happen. It was nice to meet you, Chief Carter, and it was nice to officially meet you, Miss Zhuri."

"It was nice to meet you as well," Akira replied with a slight nod. "And I think I would like to hear you play music sometime," she added with a slight smile.

"I would love to play for you," Mal said. "We'll make a time soon or you can just come and find me. I'm always willing to play a tune. Again, a pleasure to meet both of you."

Mal turned and left Akira's quarters. It seemed the little holoperson was settling in well. He decided that he'd check in again soon, just to be sure.

Mal knew that Clio was not going to like the conversation he had in mind, but that was not something he could do anything about. He could, however, be pleasant about it. So, clad in a skirted, short-sleeved tunic, with a simple rope belt around his waist, a lyre in one hand, and a bottle of Agiorgitiko wine in the other, Mal presented himself at Clio's door and rang the door chime.

Who the bloody hell is ringing my doorbell? Woken from a somewhat restless sleep, Clio made a growling sound more like an animal than a person as she scrambled up from a nap. She wasn't dressed for company, but at least slept with clothes on. Some people slept naked, but she'd always thought that a bad idea on a starship. "Computer, lights." As the lights came on, she made a token effort to try making her hair not look like she'd been sleeping only a moment before. As usual, it remained in its barely contained mess of tumbling waves. She settled for snapping an elastic around it to pull it into a ponytail before glancing at the door. "Come in."

Mal entered and immediately looked sorry.

"I apologize," he said. "I thought I had given you enough time to rest. I didn't mean to wake you."

Clio had done a terrible job of hiding that she had just been in bed.

"I brought this," he said, proffering the bottle of wine. "It's quite good. I thought we might drink it and talk a while."

Mal indicated his lyre. "And I thought a little music might brighten your day, maybe help you relax. But I seem to have ruined your rest. Would you like me to come back another time?"

"No, it's all right. Please, stay." Despite Mal's friendly tone and offer of wine and music, Clio had a suspicion that the conversation would turn to the disaster she'd orchestrated with the giant voles and 'roid rage Cardassians. It wasn't a conversation she wanted to have now or ever, but the wine looked interesting at least. "Is that Agiorgitiko?"

Mal smiled.

"It is," he replied. "Now, we do have to talk about something before I switch completely to friendly, cuddly, satyr mode. Would you like to open this now, or as a celebration when we're done with that conversation and have moved on to good company, good wine, and, if I do say so myself, passably good music?"

"I prefer to keep my head clear for this conversation." Clio didn't need her telepathy to know what this was about. Mal was the ship's executive officer, and he handled personnel issues like that catastrophe. You'd have to be pretty dense in the head not to figure it out.

"That sounds like a sensible plan," Mal said, setting down the bottle and his lyre. "So, we might as well get this out of the way. What are your thoughts on how you handled the Away Team?"

"I did a piss poor job, and I'm well aware of it. As I've told countless people before you, I am not the type of officer you have leading away teams. I have no patience for people who go running down hallways before guidance is given, and less than zero patience for reckless officers who ignore what guidance they're given. And before you start saying I didn't give them guidance at all, they got their mission assignments in writing before we even left." He asked what she thought, and Clio gave him an honest opinion. "Also, you weren't there, so I don't think you're qualified to judge my reaction or anyone else's when we saw what we were dealing with."

"There was someone on your team who possesses small unit leadership skills," Mal said. "Would things have gone differently if you had asked Chief West to get you where you were going, rather than each of you acting on your own? Chief West is an infiltration specialist. Getting you where you need to be is his job, after all. It's Nexi's as well, but she does not have the leadership skills. You admit that leading an away team is not your strong point. However, it would have shown good leadership if you had utilized your staff in a more efficient manner."

"Actually, Chief West was in the point position for most of the mission. I assigned him there, intending to make use of his skills. You'll notice that backfired spectacularly." Clio might not be a good away team leader, but she did know what she was good at. And what she was good at was finding patterns. "He took unnecessary risks, fired his weapon recklessly, and kept going forward against an enemy his weapons did not harm. We should have fallen back and found a different route, and an infiltration specialist should have known that. I trusted him in that position, and that was a mistake."

"I concede the point," Mal said. "Last question: Looking back, is there anything you could have done differently?"

"I could have left West on the ship," Clio replied cheekily, taking Mal's questions good-naturedly. She grinned a bit at her own stupid joke before continuing. "In all honesty, I should have taken the time to familiarize myself with West's history before giving him so much responsibility. I thought he could handle it, but he defaulted to brainwashed MACO operating mode. Which I am going to work on with him before taking or sending him into the field again. He may be a reckless, stupid jarhead but I'm responsible for him. And I will do what I can to repair what the MACO training has done to his brain." Clio did not have a favorable opinion of the MACO training or how MACO operated. That was inherently clear. "Could also have asked him to switch roles with Nexi when his jarhead tendencies surfaced. She was doing pretty okay once we were on the same page. Though there's not much I could have done about those security crewmen. They weren't ready for a mission like that..."

"I concur," Mal said. "Here endeth the postmortem. Shall we open that bottle of wine?"

Mal paused a moment and looked Clio in the eye.

"I'm really very happy that you returned from this mission in one piece," he said. "I was...concerned there for a moment. It might have been two or three moments, actually."

"I've looked death in the eye a few times, but never so closely as I did on this mission. There was a moment when it looked like none of us would make it back." Well that was morbid. She sure did know how to rain somberness and dread on a conversation. Clio shook her head slightly. "Sorry. I'll get some glasses, and I have a corkscrew next to them." Leaving him for a moment, she rummaged through a cabinet and procured two wine glasses - made from transparent aluminum - and an antique-looking corkscrew. Carrying all three items proved somewhat troubling until she plunked the corkscrew in one of the glasses and rejoined Mal at the couch.

"Excellent," Mal said. He did the honors and popped the cork. "Let's let it breath a moment."

Mal picked up his lyre and started plucking away.

"Minotaurs," Mal said. "I think I can handle giant space rats and even 'roid raging Cardassians, but minotaurs..."

He shuddered.

"They are the stuff of nightmares," he said. He put down his lyre and poured each of them a glass of wine and handed one to Clio. He held his wine glass out to Clio. "To good company."

"I have no desire to meet a minotaur. I've had more than my share of strange creatures hellbent on eating me lately." Clio took the offered glass and raised it toward Mal before taking a sip. The wine was fruity with a pleasant amount of body to it, and she savored it appreciatively. "You have excellent taste in wine. This is the best I've had outside of fancy joints on Earth."

"Thank you," Mal said. "It's very similar to our wine on Pomtol. I'm glad you like it."

Mal picked up his lyre and started plucking away again.

"I'd love to hear more about your people," Mal said. "If you don't mind me asking. You're the first Cervan I've met."

"I don't mind you asking, but I didn't grow up among them. I may not be the best source of information." Clio sipped some more of the wine before continuing. "A lot of our history is obscured, even to us. Written records weren't well kept during the Sundering, and many ships were lost. There's also been quite a bit of interracial mixing with other races as we fought early on to survive."

"So your people were among those Vulcans who rejected the teachings of Surak?" Mal said. "Fascinating. The Rihannsu, the Debrune, the Rigelians, your people. The Vulcan Diaspora spread wide and created many cultures. If you know, can you tell me what makes Cervans different from the other off-shoots?"

"If you can believe it, our entire population stems from one ship. They'd stopped somewhere, probably to exchange goods and some sort of pathogen made it onto the ship. Killed most of the men and several of the children. They'd have been done for if someone hadn't happened along with a treatment and saved who was left." This was a part of her people's history that Clio didn't necessarily like, but there was no point lying about it. "Rather than being grateful, when the women regained their strength, they killed the females of the other ship and took the men as slaves. Some time after that, they discovered the Gekli and a living ship species similar to the ship the Federation called 'Tin Man'. Since their own ships were failing, they began capturing and breeding these living vessels, training them in the arts of war and espionage. We're still a primarily nomadic species, actually."

"Hmm...should I be worried about you capturing me and turning me out to stud?" Mal asked with a grin. Then he sobered a bit. "I don't want to make you uncomfortable. I can refrain from statements like that if they offend."

Clio grinned and chuckled. "Like the vast majority of my people, such statements do not offend me. We're a very sexually liberated race. However I have no plans for conquest or forceful bonding like other Cervan women."

"I don't know whether to be relieved or disappointed," Mal said. "You grew up on Earth, right? Tell me about that."

"It's... kind of a strange situation. Some Federation ship found me in an escape pod. Alone. I think I had a blanket and a few toys. Naturally, they took me aboard and took me back to Earth with them when they couldn't figure out where I came from." Clio paused to drink some of her wine, recalling some of her earlier life. "Brian and Camille adopted me and raised me like I was their own kid. I mean, obviously I wasn't human. But they didn't care. Other kids cared sometimes, but I was kind of solitary."

Mal stopped playing, deciding to sip at his wine for a bit.

"How old were you when they found you?" he asked.

"According to the blanket with my name and birthday stitched into it, three. And that sounds about right... old enough to talk some. I picked up Standard pretty well... had to learn Cervan when I got older. It's a little strange having your own native tongue be your second language." Clio was well versed in being strange, however, and such facts didn't seem to bother her. "I honestly don't remember much about the bioship I was born on. I remember seeing it explode but not knowing what that meant."

"How did you reconnect with your Cervan heritage?" Mal said after taking another sip of wine.

"Oh now that's the fun part. In 2378, I came back from a classified mission and was assigned to the starbase Republic, in orbit of the planet Timorel. Class M, no indigenous population. With Republic being a joint effort with the Romulans, a Federation-Romulan colony was planted and... well the Cerva didn't like that." Clio chuckled at the memory, shaking her head a bit. "We didn't know it, but Republic was squarely in their territory. And Timorel... that's like... holy ground. It's sacred. The gods and goddesses were thought to have walked and lived there. Actually the faith teaches they're still there and will come to you if you spend enough time in battle or meditation on the planet's surface. But, y'know, it gets weirder than that."

She paused, taking a few sips of her wine and settling into a more comfortable position on the couch. "Of all the people they could send to this place to make their point, they sent Eneas Adonia. She's high priestess of one of the spiritual warrior clans, so she's the best choice to really drive the matter home."

"A relative of yours, I presume?" Mal asked. "I assume you had the opportunity to meet her, yes? What was she like? Was she able to tell you about your family?"

"She's my mom. And like, she knew who I was on sight. And she hadn't seen me in nearly thirty years. I don't know how she knew, but she did." Sure, Clio knew her people were telepaths. She dealt with that herself. But she didn't think just telepathy was in question there. "We still write to each other, when she can get away with sending me a letter. The upper echelon of the Cervan government doesn't like her associating with Starfleet officers."

"Hmm..." Mal said. "I'm glad you were able to reconnect with your Cervan family, even in a small way. Family is important, both blood and adopted. I take it that the Cervans are not friendly with the Federation?"

Clio shook her head a bit sadly. "Not even close to friendly, no. They especially don't like that the Federation is friendly with the Romulans, and most of them consider me a traitor."

"I'm sorry," Mal said in a gentle tone. "That must be very difficult for you."

"It is. But Starfleet and the Federation is the life I know, and I intend to stay where I am. My mother understands that. Her clan understands that... hell, they even offered to figure out how to send packages stuffed with the natural medicines and teas they use. I only refused because I'm pretty sure the Federation would see that as illegal importation." Which was a bit sad, seeing as she'd run out of her stash of Cervan tea several years ago. But Clio didn't like to take that sort of chance with the reputation she already held.

"That's too bad," Mal said. "I'm fortunate enough to be able to get my hands on most delicacies from my world. This wine is actually my world's version, very similar to that which is made in Greece on Earth today. And my mother makes a very tasty baklava. I happen to have some in stasis if you ever want to try it."

Mal regarded Clio for a moment as he sipped his wine.

"I enjoy spending time with you, Clio," he said. "You are an interesting, intelligent, and beautiful woman."

Clio stopped with her glass halfway to her mouth, slowly lowering it back to her lap. She liked to think she wasn't modest, but she could feel a blush of color on her face. Blushing! Like a schoolgirl! She tried to ignore it, but there was little doubt that Mal would see it. "I enjoy your company," she said after a moment or two of awkward quiet. She did find his appearance intriguing, but that sounded rude when she thought it to herself. it just wasn't as nice of a word as the words he'd chosen. "You put me at ease in a way that other people don't."

Mal smiled at Clio. Her words and blushing cheeks made him happy.

"I'm glad," he said. "You seem like you're carrying a lot of tension in your shoulders. If you'll sit in front of me, I could help you with that...if you're willing."

"You noticed that. It does get uncomfortable, but it comes from a lifetime of being wound like a spring. Ready to get out of dodge at any instant." Clio was used to how it felt, but it would be nice to be rid of it for even a few minutes. "You wanna give fixing it a shot, be my guest." Unlike some other Vulcanoid races, the Cerva were not averse to touch, and Clio had often found that touch had a healing or restorative quality that medicine often lacked. She turned and slid on the couch until Mal would have easy access to her shoulders, pulling her hair forward over her shoulder and out of the way.

Mal set down his wine glass and clapped his hands together, rubbing them together until a noticable heat came from them. His slid his hands up to Clio's shoulders and began to massage her neck, shoulders, and back. He took his time, working on any knots he found, alternating between kneading with his fingers and thumbs and sensuous strokes of his hands and fingers. He didn't ask Clio how what he was doing felt. This wasn't his first time and he could tell that she was enjoying it. He wanted to let Clio lose herself in the sensations. He was confident enough that he didn't feel the need to disturb her just so she could stroke his ego. Now and then Mal would slide his hand or hands up the back of Clio's neck and into her hair and massage the upper part of her neck and her scalp.

It was immediately clear that Mal knew exactly what he was doing. He didn't say a word as he worked, but she was okay with that. People who talked all through a massage did so to cover up their clumsiness while a good masseur didn't need words. The long-held tension fairly melted out of the muscles, and Clio leaned back slightly to take better advantage of Mal's careful explorations. She didn't need the wine to relax, but she quietly finished the glass anyway before tucking it safely in her lap where it wouldn't fall on the floor.

Mal kept massaging Clio, not rushing. He enjoyed the feel of her body beneath his hands and fingers. Firm in all the right places, soft in all the right places...well, all the places he was touching. It wasn't like he was feeling her up. He wanted to let his hands and finger roam more widely, but didn't feel like Clio would appreciate that just yet. He did, however, give into the urge to place a light kiss on the side of her neck. Just one, enough to convey affection and a slight bit of intimacy without going over the top.

Though slightly surprised by the gentle kiss on the side of her neck, Clio also kind of knew that's where this was going. She wasn't so naive to think that close, intimate touch would stop with just touch. Especially when there was alcohol involved. Enjoying the lingering massage too much to turn and face him at that moment, she caught one of his hands and just held it for a moment.

Without letting go of Clio's hand, Mal slid towards Clio so that he was nearer to Clio, near enough for each to feel the heat coming off of the other's body. He began to caress the back of her neck up into her hair with his fingers. soft, sensual strokes over what most humanoids felt was a sensitive area of the body. When he spoke, he spoke softly and gently, his care and respect for Clio obvious.

"Are you alright?" he asked, his breath hot against her ear, his soft, short, beard tickling her neck. "I desire you Clio, but I am also enjoying just being close to you."

There was no point in denying that he desired her. It was physically obvious at this point, though Mal did his best to be discreet about it.

"If I wasn't all right, you'd know. Trust me." She knew already about his desire, with its physical manifestation rather hard to mistake. But Clio was never one to discourage how someone chose to express such things. The brush of his beard tickled and she couldn't quite suppress a giggle, though she didn't pull away. Rather, she slid just a bit further back - not that there was much room for such maneuvering on the couch.

Mal nuzzled Clio's neck and kissed her there again. He hugged from behind for a moment, basking in her closeness, then rose from the couch and held out his hand and helped her rise, leading the way to where Clio's bed was located.

Well that point was certainly clear enough. Clio let him pull her up to her feet and went with him to the bed, flipping the blanket back out of the way to expose the smoother fabric of the sheets below. She took a moment to loosen her hair from the elastic so that it again tumbled free.

Mal calmly undid his rope belt and removed his tunic. He stood there before her a moment then stepped in close and kissed her, lingering a moment, then kissed her more deeply.

The moment he gave her a moment's pause, Clio peeled her shirt off over her head with a graceful swiftness. Dumping it on the floor, she loosened the drawstring on her pants and let them fall on their own, stepping out of them as she pulled Mal into bed with her.

Quite a while later, they were cuddled together in Clio's bed. Mal's horns made it difficult for him to lie comfortably on his side, but he managed to find a good position to spoon with Clio in. Despite the fact that their lovemaking had been quite satisfying, the heat coming off of Clio's body and the softness of her skin as she cuddled close to Mal excited him, a fact that was painfully obvious. He wasn't in a rush, though. Neither one of them had to be on duty until the next day. They could rest awhile. Mal lazily caressed the length of Clio's body with his fingertips, enjoying the simple intimacy of touch. If his touch woke her, he wanted the experience to be pleasurable for her. Giving into an urge, though, he kissed Clio's bare shoulder lightly several times before laying his head back down and pulling her close.

Clio had drifted in and out of a more restful sleep after their lovemaking activities, nestled securely in the warmth radiating from Mal's body. The gentle kisses against her shoulder roused her slightly, and she twisted to look back at him. "Well. I don't know about those statues, but the myths seem accurate enough to me."

Mal chuckled.

"You flatter me," he said. "And flattery will get you almost anything. I'm glad you enjoyed yourself, because I really enjoyed making love with you."

Mal kissed Clio on the neck and held her close, letting his hands roam a bit, exploring, enjoying the feel of Clio, but not demanding anything from her.

"We consider sex as one of the arts. Not such a fine art as painting or sculpture, but one to be enjoyed nonetheless." Even as liberated as she claimed to be, Clio's face flushed slightly as she said those words. While they were accurate, it wasn't an attitude she'd honestly been raised to portray. She snuggled back into him, her thoughts briefly wandering to his gentle touching and caressing.

"Well, in that case, I compliment you on your artistic skills and talents," Mal said. "Pomtoli are encouraged to explore their sexuality from the time they become aware of it. Starting slowly of course. We gradually ease into it and, in doing so, learned to give and accept pleasure."

As if in demonstration, Mal applied caresses to places on Clio's body that she seemed to enjoy the most.

"So, my dear Clio," Mal said. "Not to ruin the mood, but where shall we go from here? Besides perhaps my spending the night and joining you for breakfast in the morning."

Mal kissed Clio on the nape of the neck and gave her a gentle squeeze.

"As you can tell," he continued. "I very much enjoy being with you, so I don't want to push you away by asking for anything from you that you are not ready to give."

"You are more than welcome to stay and join me for breakfast, but you might find breakfast to be a bit... underwhelming." Clio didn't often have visitors, and she certainly didn't cook. Her breakfast was usually something from the replicator that could be eaten quickly before attending to her duties... when she remembered to eat breakfast at all. "It certainly won't be as enthralling as lovemaking." She shifted her weight slightly, leaning into him while he continued his explorations.

"Oh," Mal said. "I was planning on more of that as well. And you dodged the question, but we'll get to that later. You are simply too beautiful and feel too good for me to ignore."

"You'll find I'm very good at dodging questions." Clio grinned a bit before rolling onto her belly so she could look at him directly. She was relaxed and comfortable, clearly not feeling any sort of undue pressure. "I fully intend to carry on with what we've started tonight. It's rare that I find someone who looks at sex the same way I do, and I plan to keep you as long as you'll put up with me." There was just a tiny bit of trepidation as she finished that sentence, but she continued smiling anyway. "Now, if you had any other activities in mind that might require nudity... now seems to be a good time."

"Oh," Mal said. "I definitely have plans, and the motivation and means to carry them out..."

"Then this meeting is adjourned," Enalia declared. "Please spread the word that there will be a staff meeting at oh nine hundred tomorrow morning. Mister Engstrom the Infinite, I assume you know your way back to your quarters." Not looking up from her current pad, she waited while Clio and Alden filed out, then finally let herself relax and laid her head on the table with a sigh.

"Am I doing the right thing? Is this all worth it?" Enalia muttered. She then raised her head and looked at Mal, seemingly having aged several years in the span of that sigh. "Is all of this time travel and secretive shit worth our lives? Is there another way to do all this? Please tell me that we're not going to kill over a million people."

Mal went over and put his hand gently on Enalia's shoulder.

"I can offer no such promises," he said. "We shall have to...cross that bridge when we come to it."

"Yeah... That's true. Time will tell what happens more than what it already has." Enalia leaned back in her chair and recomposed herself. "Anyway, you wanted to discuss something."

"Yes," Mal said. He sat on the edge of the table near Enalia. "Your orders regarding Nexi...if you were serious, they are, in my opinion, highly inappropriate."

"The option is available by the regs. Make sure she's aware of it and that it's her choice." Enalia explained. "Seriously, Mal... You of all people should know that I can't order anyone to get naked other than for medical necessity for a sterilization chamber. I just wanted to see if temporal agent the infinite responded to it. He didn't."

Mal chuckled.

"Well," he said. "You successfully trolled me. In all seriousness, my concern was that as I understand things, Nexi was acquired by the Ferengi at a young age, given that she speaks and understands Ferengi better than Fed Standard. I don't think she was asked if she wanted to parade around naked for a bunch of lecherous Ferengi men and their guests and clients. I think she was forced to, and I can only imagine was some of those men might have done with a young, attractive, Human girl. To order her to do the test nude would only serve to re-victimize her. Perhaps I'm reading too much into this, but even the idea of ordering her to remove her clothing offended my sense of honor. So thank you for not insisting that I give that order."

Mal looked at Enalia a moment.

"I don't want to kill over a million people either," he said. "Or stand by while they are killed. That might be even worse. I don't envy you having to make that call, and, selfishly, I hope I don't have to make it. If we do have to launch those tri-cobalt devices, please try to back on the ship before we do. If I end up having to give the order, I'd rather not kill my friends in the bargain."

"Thank you for understanding. As for the explosives, we have a dozen on hand that match the blast records in the armory. Not torpedoes, but backpack sized demolition charges." Rummaging for the right PaDD, Enalia sighed. "Here it is... Please put all twelve on lockdown and check to make sure their trackers are active."

"Of course," Mal said. "I just remembered another officer aboard who might be useful on this mission. Ensign Shavni. She's Orion and therefore is another person who can fit in where you're going without surgery or heavy make-up."

"Excellent. Let's see if she can help with integration as well. I don't want anyone to stand out in any way." Enalia replied. "The chief flight controller... I don't think she could pass no matter what, but I want her and a shuttle prepared just in case."

"Of course," Mal said. "I'll have her on standby for emergency extraction. I'll also start looking around for a museum peice that she can use for the extract. If something goes wrong, we'll want to leave as little of our technology behind as possible. It can't be an Earth Starfleet shuttle, because why would one be out this far? I'll see if I can find something appropriate. I'll also see about using our replicators to create period weapons that, with a few modifications, will be powerful enough to be effective, without giving away any 24th Century technology should they be confiscated. The imminent demise of everyone you'll encounter gives you a little bit of leeway as far as lethal force is concerned, but, since we don't know what they are supposed to do before they die, even stunning them will cause changes in the timeline, unless your interactions have already happened, which we'll have no way of knowing. Subtlety will be key. You might want to beat that into Cato's head, and Nexi's, for that matter."

"I'm not worried about Nexi. Ask her about mayonnaise sometime. As for West... I'll personally make sure he's aware of the stakes." Enalia replied. As for a shuttle, check with the Ori-Kli Shipping and Trade Company. They have a ship graveyard that might have what we need. If not, I bet they know who does. I have a personal stockpile of latinum if they need something for it and their silence."

"Mayonnaise?" Mal said. "No, don't tell me. I have to work with her. The last thing I need stuck in my head is an image of Nexi covered in sandwich spread. I'll look into Ori-Kli and see what they have. Do not worry. If...when the time comes to make the decision about the Tri-Cobalt devices, if it is indeed us who uses them, I'll be with you, in spirit if not in body."

"Thank you," Enalia smiled up at her goatyman XO. "You know what? I'm looking forward to a nice long massage from my wife this evening. If you ever need a skilled masseuse, she has a small office just off our quarters."

"I just might at that," Mal said. "Will there be anything else, Captain?"

Enalia shook her head no. "No, I think that's it. Thank you."

"My pleasure, Captain," Mal replied.

Most Captains wouldn't deign to visit each individual deck like Enalia did, but then Enalia wasn't most Captains. She had a background as a pilot and an Intel officer. She was a joined Trill. she was the wife of a holographic lifeform. This is why she preferred visiting every office at least once a month and what brought her to the Security offices. She had been mingling with the crew in the outer offices, seeing how things were going and making a few mental notes when she excused herself and headed over to T'Pral's office. Rather than pressing the door chime, she knocked and waited.

T'Pral looked up from her terminal screen curiously at the door. Why would someone knock instead of using the door chime? Was it broken? "Enter," she called out as she stood up behind her desk.

As the doors opened, Enalia stepped inside. "Hey, how have you been? Everything going ok?"

T'Pral was curious as to why the captain would check in on her. She hadn't missed a shift on the bridge so far. "Everything is as good as can be expected, captain. I have my department focusing on melee and hand to hand tactics with their training. I was currently going through our melee weapons supply and noticed that it needs expanding, which I plan to do so with the replicator later today. Is there something I can do for you, captain?"

Pulling out a data chip, Enalia handed it to T'Pral with a deadly serious look on her face. "These are the replicator patterns for an array of plasma infused monofilament bladed weapons. Don't tell anyone outside the Hera I gave these to you, but replicate as many as you need. They'll take a while, so get started as soon as you can." Pausing a moment, she relaxed her posture. "I was more worried that there was something I could do to help you out. I know most ships, every senior officer is kept in the loop on every mission, and that's normally true on the Hera as well... But with so much super secret squirrel BS floating around, I've been ordered to keep a lot of things as low profile as I can and I apologize. I wish I could tell you that in the next couple weeks we're going to use a slingshot maneuver to take the ship back to the year 2160 to infiltrate an Orion research facility under a spaceport or that you'll need to train people for that sort of scenario, but I just can't. I'm sorry. If I could tell you that we need people that can pretend to be Orion citizens of the era and fight accordingly if needed, I would. What I can tell you is that hand to hand combat and tricobalt explosives will be crucial."

T'Pral took the chip and thought about what the captain was saying--she didn't like being kept out of the loop, yet wondered if the Captain was unofficially trying to tell her what to prepare for. "So you can't tell me what the mysterious Cardassian on that penal station was doing there and what three of my officers died for, captain?" There was almost an edge to her voice as she fought an internal struggle with her rising anger and frustration.

"It involves several similar stations doing similar research. We're trying to track down the one behind it all and shut him down. We suspect that he's a remnant of the Eugenics war on Earth." Enalia replied apologetically, hoping that at least gave T'Pral something to ease her mind a bit. "We've lost a lot of people to this already and I'm betting we'll lose more no matter how careful we are."

"Great...how many more times must innocents die because of the ignorance of humans?" Although half human herself, T'Pral had always despised Earth's past--the Eugenics War especially. It was humans attempting to play God and it ended up biting them in the ass in the end. Who knows what would have happened to the Human race had the Vulcans never made first contact and help unite Earth. T'Pral sighed, "I apologize, Captain. I know you are doing only what you are allowed to by those above you."

"And a lot of these answers will come at the staff meeting scheduled for tomorrow morning. As for the ignorance of humans... I'm aware of over a hundred known races that have had similar events to Earth's Eugenics Wars. It's just the most violent example I can think of." Enalia shook her head apologetically. "And as for the dissemination of information, there are only a dozen people on this ship with Sigma Nine clearance and normally there are only one or two. Starfleet Command is... Jittery... about that, more than anything else, I think. If any of them were captured, the secrets they could reveal... Congrats on your upgrade to Sigma Nine, by the way. You now have access to a secret armory that needs three security codes to open. I'll run you through that procedure later, if that's ok."

T'Pral nodded and smiled slightly. "Thank you, Captain. This assignment has been...different than any of my other assignments. I am not used to the Intelligence Department having so much control of a ship, but I will adapt. How are things with you, Captain?"

"Beyond stressful. The lives of potentially billions hinges on my decisions during this next mission." Enalia replied. "Do you drink much tea? I have an extensive teacup collection and I really just want to go play with them."

T'Pral raised an eyebrow. "I am mostly fond of green tea, and vulcan tea. Yet I am willing to try something new."

"We'll have to share a cup of tea some time then. I have some white tea from Trill that I think you might enjoy." Enalia smiled softly, wishing she could forget the rest of her day and go enjoy a cup.

"I would appreciate that, Captain," T'Pral replied. "You look like you could use some rest."

Enalia shook her head and grinned wearily. "No time to rest right now. I have to make sure everyone on the ship is ready to risk life and limb to preserve the ideals of the Federation. Maybe when we're done, though."

"My department and I are ready, Captain. You have my assurance," T'Pral said. "I should get to work on replicating the needed melee weapons."

"I'll leave you to it then. If you need anything, please let myself or Mal know." With a nod and a polite smile, Enalia excused herself so T'Pral could get back to work.

T'Pral entered the ship's armory, carrying a PADD in her left hand. In the armory were Warrant Officer Cerus Reed--a male Betazoid, and Chief Petty Officer R'Tor--a male caitian who were both busy cleaning their phaser rifles.

R'Tor looked up. "Hello ma'am. You're not here to clean weapons too are you?"

T'Pral was serious as she ignored the question. "I'm glad I found you two. I want you to join a proposed team of four highly trained security officers, to aid the Intelligence Department's team and to take on high risk away team missions. So far the team consists of Ensign Shavni and myself."

R'Tor produced a toothy grin as his tail flicked back and forth excitedly. "Count me in, ma'am."

Read also grinned. "I'm up for it," he said, ravishing the thought of getting to work closer with T'Pral and Shavni.

"Good. Meet Ensign Shavni and myself in Holodek One at 1630 hours. Come in training gear," T'Pral said as she turned and exited the armory.




T'Pral was already in the holodeck, which was set up with a arrid background of desert and rocky mountains. Ensign Shavni, CPO R'Tor, and Warrant Officer Read entered, all wearing tank tops and shorts. "Reporting as ordered ma'am," Ensign Shavni reported.

T'Pral nodded. "Welcome. I have selected you all to be a part of a highly trained security team that is ready and capable to deal with any situation that may arise. You will have the opportunity to select specialized weapons later but today I want to judge your basic skills and begin to get used to working together as a team--to act as one. You all have excellent phaser qualifying scores. However, we will be focusing on hand to hand and close quarters combat against any opponent from Orion pirates to the Borg to augmented soldiers to dangerous wildlife. First, to illustrate the need for teamwork, rank is not present from within this group. In this group, we are all equal and you will answer to me and me alone. Am I understood?"

"Yes ma'am!" the three officers replied in unison.

"Good. Choose your weapons from the weapons rack," T'Pral gestured to the replicated rack holding various melee weapons from a variety of species.

Ensign Shavni picked up a Earth Katana sword, while Warrant Officer Read chose a Klingon Mek'leth. Chief Petty Officer R'Tor chose extended claws from Cait.

"Good. You have chosen weapons you are all familiar with," T'Pral complimented. "Computer load T'Pral training scenario Beta One. Level 12 and begin."

The holodeck was replaced by the interior of a Borg Cube as red lasers shone in the team's direction, ignoring T'Pral as several Borg Drones moved in on the team from all directions.

"Shit!" Shavni exclaimed, turning and seeing that they were surrounded, holding her blade in a ready position. "What's the plan?"

R'Tor produced a toothy grin as he hunched over, his tail flicking from side to side. "We fight!" he growled before his legs sprung him in the direction of the closest Borg group as his claws tore through flesh and circuitry.

<15 minutes later>

"Computer, end program," T'Pral said as the environment returned to the holodeck. On the deck, Shavni, Read, and R'Tor all laid, gasping for air, sporting bloodied/torn clothing and a few bruises.

"Shit, it hurts to move," Shavni groaned from her back on the deck.

"Hell, it hurts to breathe," Read commented as he forced himself to sit up.

R'Tor was taking a knee, taking in several deep breaths. "What was the point of that program, ma'am?" he said, looking up at T'Pral as she approached the group.

"I wanted to see how well you did in a onslaught of enemies, which is a scenario if we ever are forced to board a Borg vessel. I am impressed that you all managed to defeat thirty-five Borg before being overwhelmed."

"We will meet daily after your duty shifts to train. Tomorrow we will begin physical training so I advise that you all get some medical aid and plenty of rest."

T'Pral then turned and walked out of the holodeck.

Read chuckled as he slowly got to his feet and extended his hand to Shavni. "What do you two think?"

"I don't know," Shavni said as grasped Read's hand and was helped to her feet. "But I am still here. We're here because of Dover, O'Shea, and DeA'th. I don't plan to let them down."

R'Tor nodded as he and the other made their way to the holodeck's exit, "same here. Now, if you two don't mind, I'm going to grab me a Nip Shake."

Read looked confused. "What's a Nip Shake?"

Shavni laughed. "A catnip scented milkshake."

Mal entered the holodeck he'd chosen for Nexi's bridge stress test and activated the program he'd selected. The simulation took place on the Hera's bridge and would involve an attack by multiple Jem'Hadar attack craft. Once Nexi got that situation under control, a Jem'Hadar battle cruiser would be added to the attack, then another. If by some chance the simulated Hera had not been destroyed at this point, a third battler cruiser would be added to the fight. Even if Nexi had the skills, talents, experience, training and luck of Garth of Izar, or any of the current renowned tactical geniuses, there was no way a Nebula Class starship could stand up to a squadron of Jem'Hadar attack ships and three Jem'Hadar battle cruisers. However, Mal was prepared in case it looked like Nexi was getting the upper hand after the arrival of the third battle cruiser. From that point in the simulation on, the number of ships added to the enemy forces would double every time. So two battle cruisers, then four, then eight.

To keep her from running away, there would be a ship with high value passengers to rescue and the warp engines would fail early on in the skirmish. Nexi would be told none of this in advance. Of course she was coming to the test understanding in a general sense what was supposed to happen, but Mal would not be giving her any specifics in advance. The simulation was set. All that was missing was Nexi, and Mal expected her to arrive any minute.

Mal smiled, remembering Enalia's suggestion that they do this test in the nude. Mal was fine with nudity, but he was more comfortable with it in social situations. Lounging around his quarters, even in the outdoors on Pomtol. But even the Pomtoli put on clothes when there was work to be done. Besides, as he'd told Enalia, Nexi was forced to be naked around men when she was just a child. The Ferengi were not known for their decent treatment of females. There was no way Mal was going to order Nexi to do the simulation naked and he didn't feel that a superior officer asking a subordinate if they 'felt like getting naked' was appropriate. So Mal had been very relieved when Enalia finally admitted that she'd been trolling him and the temporal agent.

Nexi strolled into the holodeck wearing a trainee uniform; since she would have to wear a uniform for any Bridge duty shift, she was assigned a uniform to wear, similar in style to the Cadet uniforms but for the Enlisted trainees instead. But the derned thing was so uncomfortable, she was tempted to do as Enalia joked about and do this test naked; she was definitely going to be having words with Enalia later about this uniform...

"Uhhh, hey," Nexi said in an uneasy tone and an wary shift in her gait. "Uh, I guess... I don't know what you want me to do for this thing. Enalia said I'd be an acting pilot from time to time, but I know you gotta test me doing other stuff too."

"Actually," he said. "I'm going to put you in the center seat. At some point I'm going to have to test your ability to obey orders, something that I know will be a challenge for you. I mean no offense by that statement. I am simply stating what I think we can both agree is a fact. But in this scenario, all I really want to learn is how you handle pressure. Are you ready?"

"No offense taken; you're right, I do have issues with following orders," Nexi said, tugging at the uncomfortable collar of her uniform, but she stepped forward to sit in the big chair. She had sat in this chair more than a few times as an act of defiance towards the Chain of Command (and Enalia thought it was funny), but now she was actually supposed to be running this thing, and that was actually kind of intimidating; in this simulation, she was responsible for the lives of the Hera, and being responsible for other people was still a new thing to her. "Any advice before we start this?" she asked.

"Yes," Mal said. "Winning isn't the object. Keeping your cool is. Computer, activate simulated bridge crew."

Helm, Operations, Tactical, and Engineering were now all manned.

"Remember," Mal said. "For all intents and purposes, this is the USS Hera, with all of its crew...and its passengers. Any other questions before we start?"

"No, I think I got it," Nexi replied, looking at the crew she had to work with; no one she knew, so either new crew or random creations specifically for this simulation. She took a breath to center herself, then nodded. "Let's do this," she said with determination.

Suddenly the bridge shook, the Hera taking fire from some unknown source.

"What are we dealing with?" Nexi said to her Tactical Officer.

"Jem'Hadar fighters," came the response from Tactical.

"Alright, bring us around and return fire," Nexi ordered, looking at the Jem'Hadar fighters on the main view screen. But then she noticed something else, another ship, Starfleet in origin. "Wait, what is that?" she pointed out, addressing Mal directly.

"Captain!" the Tactical Officer cried. "we're receiving a distress call! That ship, Ma'am, it's some kind of hospital ship. They are carrying a shipload of...of children. Apparently they are orphans from a nearby conflict. Their engines are damaged. They need time to repair them so they can get away from the Jem'Hadar!"

"Tell them to hang tight, we're on our way," Nexi replied. Orphans? That sneaky son of a- "Helm, lay in a course to intercept, keep us between them and the Jem'Hadar. Tactical, return fire when you can. Ops, monitor the hospital ship in case they require en emergency evacuation," she ordered. There, she had covered all the bases, right?

There was a chorus of 'aye, ayes' and everyone got to work. More of the fighters turned from the hospital ship and moved in on the Hera. The smaller ships were fast, maneuverable, well shielded, and could deliver accurate fire rapidly. The Hera shook as the enemy's phased polaron weapons blasted it's shields.

"Shields down to 85%!" said Tactical. "But they're holding! Returning fire!"

There were several misses, but one of the fighters exposed the weak point in its shields and was destroyed by a well aimed shot. Given enough time, the fighters could nickel and dime the Hera to death...more like quarter and fifty-cent piece. Either way, she only had to hold the fighters here while the hospital ship warped out.

"Captain!" Tactical called out. "Sensor contact! Jem'Hadar battle cruiser!"

"What the hell!" Nexi blurted out as the battle cruiser appeared on the screen. "Uhhh, don't let them get to the hospital ship," she said, hoping that would mean something to the officers on the bridge.

Helm placed the ship between the battle cruiser and the hospital ship. The battle cruiser fired on the Hera which shook violently under the assault. Conduits around the bridge exploded, sending out showers of sparks.

"Shields down to 40%!" said Tactical.

"Warp engines are offline!" said Engineering. "Diverting auxiliary power to structural integrity field!"

Helm looked like they were about to say something but was cut off when they were electrocuted by their console.

"How long until the hospital ship can go to warp?" Nexi called out as she jumped up from the Command chair and removed the deceased helmsman from the CONN, then placed herself in the now vacant seat to continue maneuvering the ship. "And what the hell are we doing, shooting the Jem'Hadar with pea shooters?! Do some damage to them!"

"Yes, Ma'am," Tactical responded. "Uhm, may I suggest that we activate the point defense system? It will deal with some of the polaron torpedoes they're firing at us and take some of the pressure off of our shields...maybe give them a chance to recharge?"

"Yes, do it!" Nexi said, maneuvering the Hera into the path of another volley of weapon fire aimed at the hospital ship. "Ops, how much longer does the hospital ship need?!"

"Ma'am," Ops replied. "They say they need five minutes and their engines will be back on line...Ma'am, five minutes is like a lifetime while we're taking this amount of fire!"

There was panic in the young man's voice.

With the point defense system activated, the torpedo fire was being shot down before it reached the Hera. The polaron beams were another matter.

"Yes!" cried the tactical officer. There was one explosion each off of the port and starboard bows. "That's the last of the fighters. Now we've just going the big one to deal with. Oh no! The battle cruiser has targeted the hospital ship and is charging it's main cannons! All those orphans!"

"Put everything we've got left into the shields and the point defense system," Nexi commanded as she attempted to keep the Hera between the battle cruiser and the hospital ship. "We just need to hold out for five more minutes!" she said to the crew. She knew with such an order, they were essentially on a course for suicide, but she could see no other way out; as long as the kids were able to make it to safety, that had to count for something, right?

The battle cruiser opened fire just as the Hera moved in. The polaron beams hit the Hera, which shook more violently before. Consoles around the bridge exploded, conduits fell from the ceiling, extraneous crewmembers were flung around the bridge. There was the wet sound of meat smacking metal, and the sickening smell of burning flesh. The overhead lights, what was left of them, were flickering.

"Ma...Ma'am?" said the Engineering Officer. "Shields are down, but give me a few seconds and I'll have them back to 30%, maybe 35%. A full ten seconds, and I might be able to get...there. Shields at 43% and holding. Uh...it looks like warp engines are offline, not sure how long that will take to fix or even if we can fix it under fire. We took some serious hits in the moments after our shields went down."

"That big bitch is coming around again," Tactical said. "I'm trying but she's heavily shielded and she hasn't taken as much damage as we have. Wait...YES!"

There was a noticeable explosion on the battle cruisers port nacelle. Then a flash of light and another battle cruiser appears.

"Aw, come on!" the Engineer said.

There was a heavy sinking feeling in Nexi's gut when she saw the second battle cruiser drop out of warp. "Alert the hospital ship to go to warp as soon as they're capable," Nexi said as she brought the Hera around to face off against this new battle cruiser. But the Hera couldn't go to warp to continue to protect the hospital ship, so what to do? They couldn't let the battle cruiser pursue the hospital ship, not after all they had done to keep the ship safe. "Inform Command of Jem'Hadar incursion and alert all nearby Federation vessels of the threat... Then prepare for collision with the battle cruiser," Nexi ordered in a somber tone.

"Computer," Mal said. "Freeze simulation. Restore bridge to normal operating condition and remove simulated crew. One glass of sweet iced tea, please."

A glass of cold, sweet, iced tea appeared in his hand. Mal walked over to Nexi and placed a hand gently on her shoulder.

"You did well," he said gently. "Drink this. You'll feel better."

"I'm not really the 'tea' sort of person," Nexi said, but she took the glass anyway and hesitantly took a sip, a relief to her now dry mouth. "So, how badly did I mess up?" she asked. She was no tactician or strategist, she knew there was probably a million different ways she could have made this simulation end a little differently, but she had still done the best that she could.

Mal chuckled.

"I could make it a...oh, what do the humans call it? Yes! A Long Island Iced Tea!" Mal said. "No tea in that! Finish what I gave you first, though. Stress is dehydrating. Then we'll both have one. And I said you did well. I wasn't judging you on your tactical skills, but on your ability to handle stress in an unfamiliar situation. You handled it well. You only lost your temper with the crew once. You'll have to watch that. It's counterproductive in a team environment. Otherwise, you did fine. Anything you want to ask me about?"

"Did I do the right thing?" she asked hesitantly.

"Do you think you did the right thing?" Mal asked.

"I don't know," Nexi answered honestly. "I feel like there was something more I could have been doing, but this was all I could think of to ensure the hospital ship got away safely, and even then I don't feel confident about my choices, because what if another ship showed up?"

"Then it is likely that all of those orphans would have been killed or taken into custody by the Jem'Hadar," Mal said. "Or maybe those engineers would have gotten their engines online faster than estimated. Some things are beyond our control. When you've exhausted all reasonable options, and even a few unreasonable ones, then you may have to offer the ultimate sacrifice. It's one of the things we do in Starfleet. We try not to play that one up too much on recruitment drives, but there it is. I might have tried to hold out a little longer than you did, maybe give non-essential crew and passengers a chance to evacuate, but I'm more familiar with the tactical capabilities of Federation starships than you are, and I have more command experience."

Nexi nodded as she listened; he made valid point, but she still couldn't help but feel like she had failed. "I kept getting the sense that there would be more; I guess I was picking that up from you since you designed the simulation, so I had to remind myself that if this was real that I would have no way of knowing if more enemy ships were coming or not, that I had to deal with what was right in front of me," she said.

"Hmm..." Mal said. "My apologies. I should have taken you psionics into consideration. I mean, I did, of course, but I didn't think about you being able to read me. Thank you for pointing that out. But back to your point, you do have to deal with what's in front of you, that's true. In an enlisted or junior NCO position, you're assigned a task or objective and you have to use your resources to accomplish that objective. Many times it's about trusting the orders of your commander. But developing an instinct about what's coming next, being able to think one or two moves ahead is good, too. Just as long as you don't get so focused on the next move that you miss the one in front of you...and I think I just repeated myself. I do hope that made sense. I'd hate to think I've just been nattering on here without making any sense."

"Nah, I get it, foresight is good so long as it doesn't come at the cost of what's happening now," Nexi said. "With my old line of work, it was all about adaptability; sure, I'd have to plan for a bunch of contingencies before hand, but mostly I'd go in without much of a plan, I'd have to make things up as I go along. I guess I kinda fell back onto that in this test."

"Well," Mal said. "I didn't really give you much to go on, so flying by the seat of your pants was to be expected. It all seems very contradictory when I say it out loud. 'Be adaptable!' 'Follow the plan'. No you like working freelance and solo. Ah, well...Computer! Corner table in a quiet bar and two very cold Long Island Iced Teas, please!"

There was a flash and now Nexi was sitting at a corner table in a quiet bar. On the table were two drinks. Mal slid into the seat across from her. He raised his glass at her.

"I did promise you something stronger, did I not?" he said with a grin. "And I know you're not a tea person, but this isn't actually tea, so clink your glass against mine and drink up!"

Nexi gave the drink an experimental sip, the grinned. "This is more like it!" she said, the took another good swig. "So, did I pass?"

Mal took a sip of his own drink and sighed.

"Ahh..." Mal said. "That is better! And yes, you passed. Congratulations. One step closer to becoming an official member of our highly dysfunctional family."

"Like I'm a picture of stability?" Nexi countered with a chuckle. "Dysfunctional or not, it's still more than I had before. That's enough for me."

Clio was generally not the type to seek out the Chief Medical Officer and report for her mandatory physicals early. She usually waited until she had no choice, but with her recent medical issues on the Katana she'd decided not to take that sort of chance just now. So as soon as she'd left Intelligence Lab 3, she'd headed to sickbay to find out who the new Chief Medical Officer on the Hera was. She'd read something about Doctor Chaparral being reassigned but no mention of who had replaced him... unless she'd just missed it in the onslaught of information and requests that had been plaguing her since the Katana's destruction.

Sickbay was fairly quiet when she arrived, though like all Federation sickbays the lights felt like they were nearly on the stun setting. Why the sickbay lights had to be so bright as to blind some races, she had no idea. But she didn't find much point in complaining about it either, so she pretended to ignore those intensely bright lights as she looked around for some clue as to who she was supposed to be talking to.

"What?" Ian asked as he came out of his office, "You again?" It was a mild attempt at humor; no sharp edges at all, because he remembered the last time Clio had come into his sickbay. On the late starship Katana. Doubtless, she probably felt the destruction of the Katana more keenly than he had. "Seems like I just saw you a few days ago." He added teasingly. In truth, he welcomed seeing a patient, as the number of things needing tweaking aboard the newly-refit Hera comprised a three-page list on his wrist-PaDD, and that list was ever-growing, because Ian was quite particular on how he wanted things to be done.

"That's because you did." Though she generally didn't like doctors, Clio did like Ian and she brightened instantly when she realized he was still going to be her physician. "I'm not sick this time. Just Starfleet and their insistence on new physicals on new assignments. Well..." She paused for a moment, deciding it would be better to be completely truthful. "I do have a headache, but it's not one of the bad ones."

"Ah, the old shuck and jive." Ian said with a soft chuckle. "If not for boarding exams, I would never see 80 percent of the crew." He called up Clio's physicals from the Katana on his wrist PaDD and transferred them to one of the nearby biobeds. "Hopefully, you won't be wearing so many hats on this ship." He wasn't one to be confrontational, but he'd been tempted to give Captain Meowlith a piece of his mind for lumping so many responsibilities on Clio's shoulders... Before finding out that the two were lovers. Not that it made it ok, it at least showed that their previous CO did have a vested interest in her well-being. "Why don't you hop onto this biobed over here and let me take a look at your vitals?"

"Just the one hat here. The one good thing to come out of the Katana blowing up." Clio sat down on the indicated biobed, sliding back as far as she could without lying down.

Ian grimaced as she said that, and pulled a tricorder and scanning peripheral out of one of the cubby-hole niches next to the bed, running baseline scans of Clio and comparing them to her last physical from the Katana. "Things are looking better than they were from your last scan. Blood pressure, neural activity, stress levels seem like they're slightly lower than they were." If only slightly, perhaps it was because of the loss of the ship and the stress of upheaval. "Your headache seems to be stemming from inflammation of the optic nerves... I'm going to guess that they have you reading a whole lot of classified stuff they don't usually pack aboard a ship this old. I can give you a mild analgesic if you'd like."

"You have no idea how much reading I've been doing since I came aboard." Again, Clio found herself somewhat surprised by how quickly Ian was able to diagnose a problem and propose a treatment. She was not, however, surprised to hear that her vital signs hadn't entirely stabilized to their normal levels. "An analgesic would be good. Nothing narcotic though... my shift isn't over yet."

Ian strolled over to a nearby supply cart and pulled out a hypospray, fitted a vial into it and dialed up a dosage. "Mild anti-inflammatory." He replied, pressing it to her deltoid and triggering it with a hiss of compressed air. "Normally I would just suggest a neuropressure technique I learned from the Vulcans, but that involves applying pressure to the big toe, and I just really can't be arsed with asking you to take off your shoes and socks."

Clio chuckled, relaxing a little as the anti-inflammatory started to work. "Perhaps I'll try it myself next time. Are there any red flags on your exam I should be worried about?"

"Well, your body could still use more sleep, but I'm not going to lock you up this time to see that you get it." He shrugged slightly. "This time, at least. In the absence of more sleep, more relaxation time to recuperate your resources. You still have a lot of stress in your body, so I'm again going to suggest something like deep tissue massage, yoga or the like to release it. But these are just suggestions for better quality of life, not requirements. Starfleet doesn't care if you're miserable as long as you get the job done, and by their standards, you're fit for duty. I, however, do care, and will probably nag you about it if I have to."

"I've been trying to learn how to meditate, and I've been sleeping more. I could probably stand to relax a little more though." Clio knew better than to argue with doctors about that, and Ian was right. Starfleet didn't care a bit if its personnel felt like they were dying every day. "I won't force you into nagging me about it."

"That's good." Ian remarked quietly. "I have mild difficulties with adapting to sudden changes of billets. Such things were common during the Dominion war, but in times of relative peace -- If you can call anything peaceful in these times we live in -- it is hard to uproot your life and start all over again. It's good... no, it's comforting to know there are a few people out there who know what you're going through."

Clio nodded slightly. "You're right... that's comforting. I don't sleep well to begin with, but I'm not ready to turn to drugs for that. Last thing I want to do is get dependent on a substance."

"Welllll." Ian said, hiding a smirk behind his hand. "You mentioned trying to learn how to meditate. My ex-wife once gave me a number of Tiburonian guided meditation recordings. They're made with tuning forks and singing bowls and soothing voices... Something I'll admit annoys me more than relaxes me. But perhaps they'll help. If they can't help you achieve a meditative state, perhaps they'll bore you right to sleep. I'll send them to your computer and you can figure out if they're something you enjoy."

"I'd appreciate that, thank you. I'll give that a try when I get home." Clio wasn't sure if such guided meditation would work for her, but it certainly couldn't hurt. "Is there anything else we should discuss?"

"I think that about covers it." Ian responded, quirking his lips and cocking his head with a partial shrug. "I'd like to have you check in again in a month or so to monitor your progress, but that is purely voluntary. I can always activate the bio-monitor in your combadge to check on you, but I prefer not to enact Orwellian measures on my patients."

Clio snorted at him. "I won't push you to that. One complete breakdown is more than enough for a lifetime. I don't intend to repeat that performance." Hopping off the biobed, she grinned a bit. "See you in a month or so then, unless something comes up. Later, doc."

Ian moved aside a little so she could make her exit, nodding and sending the readings the biobed had taken to the central computer to be transcribed into her medical records. "I'm glad. Take care until then, commander. I've sent orders to your quarters' replicator for your prescription refills." She could probably refill them anyway with her clearance, but why make it difficult for her?

"Thanks, appreciate it." With that she was gone as quickly as she'd arrived, leaving Ian to handle his other duties.

As soon as Nexi had left the bay, Cato finished loading his gear aboard the star. Walking back over to where he had thrown his shirt and dog tags down, he picked them up and looked for a minute. The pressed letters were worn down from being against his skin for so long. They were from a different era of his life, his life as a MACO. He didn't have to wear them anymore. But like a old dog who didn't know any better, he placed the dog tags back around his neck and tucked his t-shirt half into his left pant pocket. Still shirtless, he moved to where the second cart was. Grabbing the suit he had built, threw it over his shoulder not breaking stride. He headed for the industrial replicator in the bay and chucked it inside. "Recycle" he stated coldly as he turned, dog tags bouncing against his chest as he headed back for the Star.

Stepping back aboard, he eyed the cages in the back of the runabout. Almost instantly, he had a flashback to his time being held captive by the Tal Shiar... Growling like an animal, he kept himself in check and restrained himself from punching anything inside the Star out of respect. His eyes started to well up, remembering all of the bad shit that had happened when he was held captive. Clio was right, he was damaged. He dropped to his knees on the deck before taking a moment to just focus on balancing his emotions from the past few hours. Taking time to meditate, Cato focused his mind. While he wasn't telepathic or empathic, he always joked about having been able to see a few hours ahead. When he actually applied himself and focused during meditation, he could actually see things. Some of them were real or came true, some were what you could call a daydream.

With no concept of how long he had been focused for, he saw Dahl, Greer and Laurent captured aboard the station; Being held in individual cells in the security foyer of the station's security division. One of the unknown spectre team members was being tortured for information by someone, he couldn't see who... They were using brutal MACO methods to extract information from this poor guy and beating him to a pulp.

Suddenly, he was no longer watching from a third point of view... He was the unknown teammate getting beaten to a bloody pulp. Cato's eyes snapped open, pupils dilated and his heart pounding through his chest as he fought to catch his breath and get his bearings. Whatever that was, it was stronger than anything he had ever felt before.

And suddenly he realized Nexi was there, her equipment strewn about like maybe she had dropped it running into the ship.

"Cato! Cato, are you with me?" she called out, releasing an exhale of relief when she saw his eyes snap open. "Fuck, whatever that was, don't do that again!" Nexi said with concealed concern. She had been calling him, over and over, and she even shook him a couple of times, but nothing could seem to snap him out it!

"Sorry, sometimes when I meditate my mind goes places. Most of the time they're placed you don't want to go." He smirked eyeing her gear all over the place outside the rear hatch "What time is it? When I started trying to get myself in check and my mind quiet, you had just left."

"I- I don't know, an hour, maybe a little more?" Nexi said with some hesitation as she didn't know exactly how long she had been gone. "I know we're still a few hours out from our destination. Uh, are you gonna be okay?" she asked. She got up from the floor and went out to collect her gear, hanging her new suit by one of the holding cells in her ship. "Or I guess I should ask, are you gonna be okay to go out on this mission?" she clarified as she worked.

Cato stood to his feet and glanced at her as she brought gear in "I'm fine." He moved to his suit on the ground and hung it next to hers. "I'm sorry about earlier..." he said bluntly "didn't mean to blurt out what I did." He turned and started getting his undersuit on so he could don his armor.

"Don't worry about it," Nexi said, somewhat evasively; she really didn't want to revisit this topic... "Oh, uh, I have bad news and worse news, which would you like first?" she asked as she took her new gun to her workbench, plugging in the datachip Enalia gave so she could learn how to break down and maintain this new weapon.

"Well, you visited the armory I'm still itching to go to; at least judging by that new weapon anyway. So, I'm guessing Captain Telvan was involved. So, what did you two do now?" He narrowed his eyes at her and repeated himself in a serious tone "What did you do..."

Nexi flashed him an 'innocent' smile, which given the fact that she was trying to stop herself from giggling did not bode well. "Enalia is coming along with us. Oh, and we're having dinner at her place," she said, giving it her best effort not to laugh.

Cato nodded quietly as he stood and zipped up the under suit. Silently he began the process of donning his armor. "Sounds like a plan." He replied somewhat monotone in his voice. "No seafood, not a fan. Nothing alive, either. I'm done with Klingon food" he said, continuing to don his armor.

"And no grubs," Nexi added, breaking down her new gun relatively easily and then began putting it back together. "Given any thought to what you're going to wear?" she asked just to mess with him.

"Fuck if I know..." he said, slightly colder than he had previous been to her. He was watching his emotions and doing a piss poor job of it. "Wait, why is Captain Telvan coming with us?" He was almost there, clicking the last bit of his suit together and beginning a systems startup. His gloves were 30% tighter and thinner on his hands than previous, to improve dexterity. But it didn't stop there, touch sensors were there to download things from almost any computer core. Limited functionality, but good enough to get system codes, deck layout, security protocols etc. His helmet had been heavily modified from it's previous version and now sported a polarized orange-red lens instead of clear. A HUD had been implemented in the new lens. It was still hanging near Nexi's suit.

"Because apparently we require adult supervision," Nexi said with a snicker, then looked back at him. "Honestly, I think she's bored. I don't mind humoring her," she said with a grin, then went back to learning the ins and outs of her gun. Disable sound emulator? Yes please!

He smirked "Yeah, that'll help." a sarcastic tone laced his voice as he finished his systems check and the sound of the suit tightening the armor to fit his form could be heard. Underneath, an EXO suit had been implemented into the structure of the armor for added endurance, speed and strength. Downside is his once streamline armor had now been bulked up and added about two inches of his height. He was now resembling one of those cardassian strippers if they had been armed to the teeth and armored.

"Well, I trust her with my life and I certainly ain't gonna turn down her help, especially when she can put my ship on lockdown," Nexi replied. Finished playing with her new toy, she got up from her workbench and started to remove her jacket and pants to reveal her new undersuit. "I'm hoping I can get her to stay on the Star and run logistics for us, but if she wants to come out into the field with us, I ain't in a position to stop her," she added as she started to put on her armor.

"No explanation needed." he smiled and moved to place a gloved hand on her shoulder, acting as if he was going to help her get her armor on. Moving a step closer, real close so only an inch or so was left between them. Fuck it he thought and suddenly that hand slid past her left cheek to the back of her neck. Pulling Nexi into a deep, passionate kiss. His lips slowly caressed hers, dancing, teasing, he wasn't rushed. He kissed like a man in love, it was truly the best kiss he could ever pull off. The term 'hanging one on her' came to mind.

Nexi wasn't at all surprised; she had sensed his inner turmoil boiling up and finally over until it provoked him to act, and she not only allowed the kiss to happen, but she reciprocated, met the intensity of the kiss and even gave him some tongue. And when the kiss finally ended and they pulled apart to gaze at each other, their breath heavy from the kiss, Nexi grinned wickedly.

"That's the only freebie you're gonna get, Boy-scout; you're gonna have to work hard if you ever wanna do that again," she said, pulling away to finish getting ready. "Now get your head in the game, we can talk about this after we get your brother out of trouble."

"Hey, you're the one who said no regrets and to stop wasting time." He grinned before moving to grab an apple and a pair of Oakley plaintiff silver mirrored aviators out of his backpack. Putting the apple in his mouth while he threw the glasses on his face. He took a seat on the floor, putting his back against the bulkhead. The sound of the weight creaking a bit as he put pressure on the deck plate.

"Why do you think I let you do it?" Nexi countered as she adjusted her armor and got everything snugged up. "I'll be up front getting Star ready. Enalia should be along soon, we'll leave as soon as she's here."

He grinned "Because deep down, once we get past that dark chocolate shell... You're one big warm nougat of a girl." he kicked back, one leg fully stretched out and the other bent at the knee. "Oh, for the record. Next time, you're gonna kiss me." he winked at her this time.

"And I'm getting a holo of it," Came Enalia's voice. Walking up the ramp was a pitch black mass that neither of them could actually see or focus on - just a humanoid shaped... emptiness. She then clicked a control on the arm of her suit and the vantablack camo depolarized and her helmet screen popped up out of the way. "Ready when you two are."

"That looks fucking awesome, and the holo is not happening," Nexi said to Enalia, then she looked to Cato. "In your dreams, and I have no idea what nougat is, but I'm pretty sure I won't like it if it has anything to do with chocolate." Without waiting for either to reply, she headed up to the front of the ship to get things under way.

Eyes shifted over to Enalia behind his sunglasses, he smiled "I need it, want it, gotta have it." he didn't move "Thank you, by the way. I appreciate the assist." he gave a nod in her direction as he took a bite of his apple again.

"Yeah Starfleet Intel made some interesting modifications to the MACO Tactical armor. Polarized vantablack paint, localized gravity shift, wrist phasers..." Enalia trailed off as she glanced up at the HUD on her helmet screen. "As for helping out, I have my own objectives. You and Nexi can work out who is in charge and I'll do what I can, but when my goal is in sight, I'm going after it."

Cato stood and took his sunglasses off for a second to take a closer look. "Here I am, having modified mine for direct action combat and regretting not getting all the cool toys" he paused before continuing "Underneath this, an EXO suit. Six-Percent boost in speed, agility and strength. Couldn't do more than that without bulking this armor up even more... We'll see how the reliability of it is along with interface response." he paused before moving to stand across from Enalia. "If possible, I'd like to get some specs on that so I can cherry pick the modifications." He moved to where his TR-116C2 was, grabbing the rifle he did a quick check before attaching it to the integrated single point sling on his armor. "As for your objective, can you enlighten me?"

"Once you have Sigma nine clearance with Intel, you can have both specs and enlightenment. In the meantime, you have a good set of armor that should last you several years." Unclipping the proton rifle from her back, Enalia added it to the collection of other weapons, then started peeling out of her suit. "Starfleet shouldn't even need these suits... They should have stayed relics of history."

"Us lowly priority three guys..." He smiled "Alas here we both are, old dogs of war finding use in the new Starfleet." he continued "I hear we're having dinner, soon. You're going to break Nexi's heart when you tell her I'll be doing brig time for violation of confinement."

"It's your department head that you should be more worried about," Enalia replied ominously as she readjusted her suit and sealed it back up. "When does your next shift start?"

"I'm not expected anywhere until 14:30 tomorrow. Commbadge is in my quarters, doors are sealed and would require a command or security override." He grinned "Well, what's left of this Spectre team will need to be explained. Unless you have another idea?" he perked a brow.

Enalia winked and started going over her weaponry. "We're an Intel ship. Nothing is ever fully explained."

"True." he shrugged before picking up his katana and placing it on his back, stowing it in the matching port lock on his back. "Nexi, if you ever want to see me in a dress let's dust the fuck off!" Cato yelled in the direction of the cockpit. Moving to grab his helmet, he clipped it off on his armor dangling it a molle strap.

"You wanna fly this thing?! Good luck if you can't read Ferengi!" Nexi yelled back. "Hera only just dropped out of warp and it takes 90 seconds for the hanger and cargo bay doors to open, so shut yer pie-hole, I don't take kindly to back-seat pilots!" Amidst the grumbled Ferengi, the Wandering Star finally lifted off the deck. Nexi cloaked her ship as she maneuvered it out of the secret bay, so by the time they were in the cargo bay and passing through the external cargo bay doors, the ship was little more than a whisper of nothing. "Okay, we're on our way. Happy?"

He smirked, taking another bite of his apple. "ETA to destination?" he asked as politely as he possibly could muster. Prepping a few more weapons, he slowly holstered everything. Cato had asked Thex to make him a monster and she had built him armor fit for a demon.

"Hour, two tops," Nexi said as she took the Star away from the Hera, jumping to warp as soon as they were clear of the impressive Nebula class starship. "I can only do warp 6 while cloaked, any faster and Star's warp signature will give us away. But she can haul ass at warp 9.6 if we need to make a quick getaway," she assured him. "Uh, if either of you wanna take this time to talk strategy, the rear console are still standard Federation displays, you should be able to use them to look up info about the station," she suggested as she monitored their flight path.

"Enalia has her own plan and so do we..." Giving a nod to Enalia before hauling a suppressor from a pocket on his armor. Screwing it into his TR-116C2 with that all too familiar metal on metal sound. "You'll follow my lead, I work better alone... But I'll need your help, this time." finished with his rifle, he let it hang from the single point sling. "We'll data share the map via suit HUD's. I know where I'm going, because I've been there before." Even Cato had secrets.

"I'll act as a diversion and rendezvous with you when my task is completed." Enalia was checking her weaponry as well, though they looked far less deadly. "I should be able to cause a fair bit of confusion and make your task a bit easier. That's what my suit is designed for."

"Sounds good." he turned his voice back towards Nexi "Our objective is to retrieve our new team members as quickly as we can. I'll be carrying the goodie bag for them. We're going to fight out way out and once we get our reinforcements out of holding. Our primary objective is to successfully rescue Chief Dahl, PO Greer and PO Laurent. Any other members of the spectre team are optional." he added.

Enalia piped up. "And if you find anything super weird, let me know."

"I was planning on taking a few things for myself." Cato shot Enalia a wicked grin. "But if we see something, we'll let you know."

"You should stop worrying about souvenirs and start worrying about how we're even gonna get inside the facility," Nexi said dryly. "I've done work for these guys and their security is tight. They ain't just gonna let us dock and waltz on in there without an explanation for us being there."

Leaning in, Enalia typed a passcode into a terminal. "Use that and tell them that General Cartwright is here to inspect the Gemini project."

"Wait a minute, we both have prior ties to Aspid Corp? How the fuck does that work?... You did security, I was a former... Guest of their program." his voice trailed "That will work, Gemini is a Cerberus project upgrade." he smiled wickedly. "We need to use stealth to our advantage. Once inside, can we do a sight-to-sight transport and put the ship on autopilot to land?"

Enalia nodded. "Actually, I used to ferry the General back and forth in my earlier days. Nexi is the only pilot on the Hera that might be better than me and Cartwright put those skills to good use. As for the Gemini Project... The one I witnessed killed a crew of over fifteen hundred. Either way, they'll let us land and we'll either be welcomed by a team of admins or a team of a hundred mercs."

"Yeah, like that makes it any better," Nexi remarked with a roll of her eyes. Was she the only one taking this seriously? "You're both forgetting the obvious tactic; I'm a fucking bounty hunter! Both of you would have a huge payout from a corporation like Aspid, especially considering you both have ties to the place. I bring you in as prisoners, they take you to the detention block, you break out of the restraints, kill the guards, free your buddies, then haul ass back to the Star where I'll be counting the latinum I just conned off of Aspid."

"I doubt they'd accept a pair of well armed prisoners of unknown origin easily." Enalia replied with a chuckle. "But this op is up to the two of you. I'll follow your lead."

"Yeah, last time I tried something like that, didn't even come close to working..." Cato said bluntly. "I'm not going in with no armor and no weapons... Fuck that. We'll transport in, sight to sight. They have no security measures monitoring that internally. They're not Starfleet." he paused "Who wants to be the General?" he grinned.

"Jeez, you two lack imagination..." Nexi grumbled. "First off, I tell them that I overheard you two talking about the Gemini project; seeing as how I've done business for these guys and I know they appreciate discretion, they'd love to get their hands on a couple of guys who not only know about this project but are openly talking about it. Second, I never said nothing about 'no armor'; I just tell them I had a hard enough time subduing you two and just barely managed to get you into my holding cells, that I removed the power cells to your suits while you were unconscious but I ain't had a chance to remove the armor yet, only I don't remove the power cells so you have one up on your guards. But sure, ain't like I've never done something like this before, so let's just beam in, we'll be fucked if they decide to raise shields."

"One of the reasons I love having you around is your creativity. Seriously... Mayonnaise..." Enalia replied, chuckling at the memory.

"Best expense tab ever," Nexi said with a grin. "Seriously though, we can do this your way, but there's considerably more risk to it."

"Fine, we'll do it your way... I don't get to use my new toys..." Cato sorta pouted, "Fuck it, I'll take the lead once onboard. You carry the bag of thunder then, they won't question you. I'll keep their hands full." Cato grinned. "If you wanted to tie me up, all you had to do was ask."

Enalia cleared her throat. "I'm just an intel officer and a pilot. You two are the infiltration experts. However you decide to do this, I'm up for, just let me know so I know how I'm getting off the station."

"You're also the Captain, and I ain't gonna let you take a risk you don't think you can handle," Nexi retorted. "As for the plan, these are your buddies, so it's your call, I was just pitching an alternative plan; you chose what we're doing and we'll make it happen," she then said to Cato.

"We'll go with yours, it's better. Just don't lose our bag of weapons or let them get a close look at my face." Cato said as he pulled his TR-116C2 and Phase Pistol off, tossing them gently into a large bag of other weapons. "They recognize me, the Section Chief will want a word with me."

"Alright, Enalia, punch him in the face, rough him up a little to obscure his features; should add a little credence to my assertions that the two of you were hard to take down," Nexi suggested.

"Just do it and get it over with." Cato smirked as he unclicked his helmet and placed it down on the floor. "Let's go." He waved Enalia on as he put his hands behind his back and stuck his face out mockingly.

"Watch your tongue," Enalia replied right before she belted him with a series of three left rabbit punches followed by a right backhand.

Armored hands on bare human skin felt like shit, Cato took the hits like a man. Spitting blood out onto the deck of the star, he smirked a bloody smile towards Enalia. "Even me out."

Enalia shook her head no. "As much as I'd love to, I think that's good enough, unless you want me to break a rib or something."

"Tainted love." he spit more blood mixed with saliva onto the deck. Wiping his mouth with the back of his hand and slinging the drops of blood onto the deck. "They get out before I do, it comes down a choice... It's them." he paused "ETA?"

"Ah, you can't pay for entertainment this good," Nexi said as she watched Enalia beat on Cato. "We ain't far now, so get anything you want with you that you gotta leave behind, like the weapons and the helmet, on the transporter pad. I got a transponder thingy that'll activate the transporter and beam your weapons to you when you activate it." Nexi reached for something sitting on her console and handed it to Cato; it was round and smooth, and smaller than a standard commbadge. "Tuck this in your armor somewhere they an't gonna find it and don't lose it; in case of an emergency beam out, I can use it to find you. Once we're there, I'm gonna put some restrains on you, ain't gonna lock 'em though, then you're going in the holding cells so I can show Aspid a live feed of you two 'unconscious'. Once the deal is made, I'll beam you two over and you'll take it from there. Sound good?" Clearly, she had done this a time or two...

Reaching for the small, round smooth thingy, he took it and stowed it in a secure spot on his armor. "You won't be able to beam us in, you'll have to land in one of the shuttlebays. They have strict protocol on transporters now, more than likely because of my last visit." Cato paused "Once you land, they'll want to do a hand-to-hand transfer of HVT's. No doubt, whoever is around will want to congratulate you one way or another. Expect it, mercs are always invited to stay, get their fill of booze, drugs and blow all of their latinum."

"Feh," Nexi huffed with disgust at the mention of drugs. But she could adapt to the hand-to-hand transfer; it wasn't like she'd never done one of those before either... "Alright, get your gear ready, we'll be dropping out of warp soon," she cautioned them, then looked around for her cuffs.

Cato quickly tossed everything into this extra large black duffle bag. Helmet included, grenades and other goodies as well. Pulling things from pocket was always easier than putting them in there. Before taking a moment to take a deep breath, he was about to go back down an old path. Dipping a toe back into this circle meant he was going to be pulled back in faster than he could escape it. "Nexi." he moved to stand next to her while she continued to dig around looking for her cuffs. "If it comes to it, don't let them take me alive. Yeah?" Suddenly there was something more serious and dark about his tone.

"Only outward weapons I have are the proton rifle and collapsible zanbatou," Enalia commented as she unclipped an ornate four handed sword hilt and set it next to her rifle. "As for taking us alive... We all come back in one piece. That's an order."

"Aye Ma'am." Cato gave a nod in her direction, fully well knowing that when he was scanned, they'd take him again. It was a risk that he owed to someone who once risked their life to save him. He couldn't quit, he couldn't just not go, it was a debt that had to be repaid.

"Wow, 'don't take me alive', what a wuss," Nexi said with a roll of her eyes, pulling out two pair of cuffs, she input some commands on the security locks, then turned to put them on her captives, Enalia first. "Alright, now once these are on ya, go chill out in the cells in the back and look unconscious. I'll make contact with Aspid and we'll get this party started," she said. "I'll run interference when and where I can, and don't lose that transponder!" she reminded them. Once she was done with Enalia, she cuffed Cato and sent them on their way.

Once they were gone, Nexi stood up from the cockpit chair to shimmy out of her armor; for this to work she had to be Nexi the Collector, not Nexi in Starfleet. To save some time, she simply threw her clothes and a beat up jacket (not her starfleet inspired jacket) over the the undersuit, then popped back into the cockpit chair just in time to drop the ship out of warp. Still cloaked, she let the Wandering Star coast along closer and closer to the Aspid Corp. station. This was it, do or die...

With one swift move, she opened a hailing frequency with the station.

Sitting in his office, Jean-Baptiste sat back in his chair. A monitor popped up on his desk "Sir, we have an incoming hail from the target vessel. They're cloaked." a smirk cross his smug lips as he flipped his black hair out of his face. "Oh... Is that so." he replied, the southern drawl in his accent laced his voice like a bad rash you just couldn't get rid of. "Patch it through." he sat up in his chair and faced the monitor as operations switched the channel. "Unidentified vessel, this is Aspid Research facility Paradise, how may we help you?"

"Jean-Baptiste, it's been a long time," Nexi said as her face appeared on his monitor. "Put on a few pounds, I see. I told you to watch it or as soon as you hit 40 it'd all go downhill," she said to the familiar acquaintance.

"The flattery. Such sweet words could only come from you, Miss Nexi." he smirked "What have you brought for me today?"

"I think you're going to like this catch," Nexi replied, opening a live feed from the cells in her cargo bay to show Enalia and Cato, bound and seemingly unconscious. "I found these two while on another job, and I heard one of them drop the name Aspid and then bragged about some project called 'Gemini'. And since I know how much you appreciate discretion, I thought you might like to handle these two personally. So once I was done with my job, I... 'acquired' them, just for you."

"Well, look at that. I very much appreciate your canny with the situation." he smiled wickedly, Jean-Baptiste was known for his flamboyant personality and style. "Why don't you land your ship in bay four, I'll meet you there with a detail. We can rid you of your unpleasant company. Then we'll have ourselves a beverage, for old times' sake." he grinned.

"Oh no, you are not going to ply me with liquor and get out of paying me my fee," Nexi said with a grin. "Latinum first; I believe you have my account on file..." Well, she'd never be able to use that account again; good thing it wasn't her only account...

"After all this time, you still think I'm fixing to cheat you. Decloak your ship, prepare for tractor and automated landing protocol. Funds will be transferred momentarily." he quietly picked up a PaDD and transferred the required amount of latinum to her account. "Check your balance."

Nexi waited for the funds to hit her account. "Aww, and a bonus? You really do know how to speak my language, don't you..." Nexi replied with a smile and immediately decloaked her ship. "Coming about to hanger four. I'll see you momentarily."

As soon as she cut the feed, she opened the comms to the cargo bay. "Alright you two, the game is on, we're going in," Nexi said to give her teammates some warning before she raised the cell shields and released control of the Wandering Star to be docked via tractor.

Jean-Baptiste smirked as she cut the feed, the channel switched back to Operations. "It seems Ares has found his way home. Get fourteen of our best to meet me outside shuttlebay four. If you want something done right, you've gotta do it yourself!" standing and shoving his chair away he began to walk fast, his black hair bouncing as he walked briskly out of his office. Soon enough, he had arrived outside of Shuttlebay four.

While the tractor beam drew the Wandering Star into the shuttle bay, Nexi finished getting ready, quickly tying up her heavy work boots and securing her weapons. When the Orion class runabout finally touched down, she was ready, and lock down her ship so that if any sneaky Aspid toadies decided to poke around they wouldn't get very far. Then she moved to the cargo bay, standing between the two cells and her teammates as she waited for the loading ramp to lower.

"Showtime," Nexi said as warning to her friends, then put on a smile when she saw Jean-Baptiste and the compliment of soldiers awaiting them. "Oh, all these men just for me? Makes me all hot and bothered..." she said in an amused tone. She wasn't quite 'flirting' with Jean-Baptiste, but she definitely wasn't the usual Nexi that Enalia and Cato had come to know; she was warm and personable, but it was just a mask she wore when dealing with clients, she didn't know how to be genuine about it, there was always an angle to work when she played this game. She had tried to use this mask on Enalia once, but she had seen right through it, thought there were extenuating circumstances at the time...

"I'm sure you boys know the drill; don't touch anything except the prisoners," she instructed as she entered the codes on the cells to lower the shielding. "They had this armor stuff, never seen anything quite like it before. I couldn't get it off them, but I was able to remove the power cells. Lemme tell you, they were tough to take down, that one especially," she said, pointing to Enalia. "I could barely get a hit in on her, and the other one was fucking tank, he just wouldn't go down! I had to dope them both, so be careful if you decide to give 'em another dose."

"I know." Jean-Baptiste smirked, a cigarette dangled between his lips; the smoke filling the air like a hazy poison. His men moved past Nexi to board the wandering star. "That one." he motioned towards Cato, his slight southern drawl managed to make simple words feel dirty. "I'm surprised you managed to get him down at all." Six of his men began to wrangle Cato's limp body out of the holding cell. His eyes scanned the form before a wicked smirk crossed his lips. "Take this one to the Hades Project, Cerberus tasking. Tell Doctor Sinclair that I'll be along shortly." one of his men gave him a nod and began to carry Cato off the ship. "That one can go to holding with the rest of the Starfleet trash." he pointed towards Enalia. "As for you Miss Nexi, our beverage." he gestured for her to go first, off the ship.

"She's Starfleet? Huh, guess that explains the designs on the armor," Nexi remarked. "As for the other one, no man can withstand a strong enough strike to their pride; apparently his armor don't protect him from a shock to the nuts," she added with a chuckle, recalling the memory of their spar to make the laugh real. Although this was a problem; she was anticipating that Cato and Enalia would be kept together, otherwise she would have given Enalia a transponder too! "Now let's go get that drink! If you're interested, I've got a case of some Devronian Brandy, very good year; been saving it for a certain client, but I could be convinced to part with a bottle or two."

"I've got something more special in mind." he smiled before turning his gaze to the team carrying Cato off the ship."Wait a minute..." His voice trailed. "Restrain him." he moved to step off the ship, pulling restraints off of one of his men. Double securing Cato's hands with his restraints. "Continue" he said in an arrogant tone. Eyes darting back to Nexi. "If you want something done right, gotta do it yourself." he once again motioned for her to exit. "Shall we?" he motioned.

FUCK! "I know, sometime people just ain't got the sense to do things right!" Nexi said in agreement. "Well since you're restraining him, lemme go ahead and get my cuffs back," Nexi said, unlocking her cuffs around Cato's wrists, taking the time to get a look at the Aspid Corp cuffs. Tritanium, locking mechanism resistant to overloads, and won't unlock if powered off; this just kept getting better and better! She could try to slip a pick into his armor so he could pick at the mechanism pathways and get it open, but Jean-Baptiste was watching Cato like a hawk, there was no way she'd be able to slip the pick to him without attracting notice! "Here, let's get her too," Nexi said, stepping over to Enalia and removing her cuffs, using a bit of sleight of hand to pull a pick tool from her jacket cuff and hide it under an armor plate on Enalia's glove. She got a set of Aspid cuffs from the guard and made a show of securing them (for real, she couldn't leave these unlocked like she had with her own cuffs) and showing Jean-Baptiste to appease him. "Now, how about that drink?" Nexi said, tossing her cuffs into one of the cells and following the guards out as they carried Enalia and Cato off.

As soon as they'd left the hangar bay and were far enough down that hallway to not be too obvious to the people outside the hallway, Enalia sprang into action, her wrist phasers powering up in one point two seconds and burning her restraints off neatly. She then grabbed the two guards carrying her and, getting her footing, slammed their heads together hard enough to make a hollow thunk. Before they had hit the ground, she'd turned and fired both wrist phasers into the two carrying Cato, putting them down, likely for good. Then there was the sound of a door opening and boots on the deck from the far end of the hallway.

Security was there.

Sighing, she raised her left arm towards them, wiggled her fingers, then clenched her fist. A small rack popped out of the forearm of her armor and half a dozen small micro-torpedoes shot out of the rack and zoomed towards the incoming troops. Needless to say, there was a big boom and the security forces had been neutralized.

As soon as Enalia had taken out the team holding Cato, his body hit the deck. Pulling the transponder out of the pocket on his armor and activating it. Letting the ball roll on the deck, soon enough the bag of goodies materialized on the deck where the ball was just a split second before. "Jesus, those were worse than my airburst rounds!" he grinned. Holding his restrained hands up so she should shoot those restraints off.

Which Enalia made short work of before grabbing her helmet and weapons and clipping them back in place. "A little gift from Aspid a few years back. I just wish I had more than two sets of them." She then readied herself for a bit of an onslaught.

Cato had quickly made his way to the bag, snapped his helmet into place and began rigging his load-out almost as quickly as he had gotten the bag of goodies. TR-116C2 in hand, setting the sling integrated into his armor."I want that." he motioned with his head as he stuffed the last magazine of replicator matter into a mag-pouch. Re-zipping the bag with remaining weapons in it, he slung it over his back. "Security Center is this way. See you on the other side." Cato said through his helmet comms as he turned and began to sprint down the corridor faster than a human should.

Enalia, on the other hand, polarized her vantablack camo and strolled casually, shooting out the lights with her wrist phasers as she went. She knew where she was going and she knew why they didn't care about her. It didn't matter though - she had a job to do.

Soon enough, Cato was at the Security Center. Battling his way through what passed for the security detachment for Paradise Station was a joke. Moving into the center, he quickly dispatched the six guards with great ease. Dropping the bag onto the deck, he approached the cells which held Laurent, Greer and Dahl; All of which were looking at him.

Dahl canted her head to the side, looking at the armor clad madman. "You're either shit hot, or fuckin Ferengi stupid."

"I'm the rescue team." Cato said through a modulated PA which deepened his voice and made him sound demonic. Quickly tapping on the controls and dropping the forcefields for the cells. "Weapons are there" he motioned towards the bag with the muzzle of his TR-116C2. "You three all that's left?"

Greer meanwhile went right for the bag and began to pull three compression rifles from it.

Laurent in his thick accent replied "Yes. We were on an assignment to eliminate a construct. Aspid security overwhelmed us and got the drop on our location."

Cato smirked "You're getting rusty, old man." he let his TR-116C2 dangle from it's sling. His hands moved to un-click his helmet, pulling it off his head. "I mean, so far this has been a walk in the park." he grinned wickedly.

"CATO!!! YOU MOTHERFUCKER!!!" Katee yelled with happiness, grabbing his face with both hands, kissing him hard on the lips before smacking the shit out of him after breaking the kiss. "That's for not calling first!" she smiled before walking back over to the bag and grabbing a rifle and type two phase pistol.

Laurent smiled "Brother West." he moved to give him a hug. "This armor isn't standard, even for us. What have you found yourself into that you rescue ghosts?" he said, moving to the bag and plucking weaponry from it.

"Same shit as the old days, let's get the fuck out of here, shall we?" he said, re-clicking his helmet and gripping his rifle. "Follow my lead." he said as they began to file out from the Security Center to pay a visit to an old friend.

It was then that the lights on the station dimmed and klaxons sounded. No announcements unlike Starfleet, just pipe hitter mercs from the corners of the galaxy getting geared up and ready to descend upon the escaped prisoners.

---

Meanwhile, Jean-Baptiste and Nexi had been enjoying some 400 Year old single malt Macallan scotch. As soon as the lights dimmed and klaxons sounded, he knew what had happened. "Here we go, again. Miss Nexi, did you actually drug them or are we just playing games?"

Nexi scowled at Jean-Baptiste and pulled down the collar of her shirt to reveal a nasty bruise she had earned while sparring with Cato. "Does this look like a game to you?" Nexi replied sternly. "You know how seriously I take my reputation; you may not have contracted me, but you still paid me and that's good enough for me." Then she straightened out her collar with a huff. "I gave the woman a lighter dose because I could sense she was joined and I've had Trill die on me because their symbiotes don't react well to the sedatives. You've paid for my loyalty, now let me uphold my reputation and set this mistake right."

"Two prisoners, two million, ZERO PRISONERS, ZERO MILLION." he bellowed, which was uncharacteristic for Jean-Baptiste as he rarely ever raised his voice. Flipping his hair out of his face and regaining his composure "What the hell am I supposed to do with Ares running around, blowing up my station for a second time? Hmm? " He said to himself, his southern draw more heavily accented than before "I don't care about the woman... I have unfinished business with Mister West, however unpleasant it may be." he shifted his eyes to a security playback on his monitor of Enalia blasting the security detail in the corridor "I don't like warriors. Too narrow-minded, no subtlety. And worse, they fight for hopeless causes. Honor? Huh! Honor's killed millions of people, it hasn't saved a single one..." he stood "Kill the woman, drag Ares... Cato West..." he said, through his gritted teeth "By his hair to the Cerberus Lab, ALIVE. You have one hour."

The sound of phaser fire echoed outside of his office. Jean-Baptiste canted his head to the side, standing from behind his desk and hauling one of the new Aspid ARG 7 integrated weapon platforms to his shoulder. The sleek weapon's scope raised from the top quickly as a suppressor extended from the muzzle of the weapon. "Death is... whimsical... today." a green laser put a dot on the door leading into his office.

Cato moved through that office door rather quickly while Greer, Laurent and Dahl secured the corridor from any others attempting to join the party. "No spray and pray?... I expected more John-Baptiste. Tsk tsk." Cato said

John-Baptiste snarled looking at Cato in his armor, in his office. "Ares, you came home to finish what you started." he said, keeping a weapons lock on Cato with his right arm extended, one-handing the rifle.

"Oh look, he came to us! Now I don't have to go looking for him," Nexi said playfully, drawing her new pike and extending the staff with a well practiced snap of her wrist, the plasma mono-filament blade igniting with an eerie blue-green glow. She turned the blade on Cato, levelling the weapon with a grin. "And he brought friends! You want them dead or alive? No extra charge, of course..."

Jean-Baptiste smirked "Alive, of course. What use are they to Mr. Shadow if they can't serve the cause." a cryptic statement, he continued to keep his aim and vision locked on Cato.

As soon as the order was given, Nexi sprang into action; but instead of attacking Cato, in one fluid movement she drew her shiny new gun and unload a single round right into the ball and socket joint of Jean-Baptiste's shoulder. The sound emulator was off, so it barely made a sound as it propelled a .50 round into his shoulder, turning bone into dust. As Jean-Baptiste staggered back and cried out in agony, Nexi looked at the gun with a grin.

"I really love this gun," she said, planting a kiss on the barrel and then holstered it. Then she moved again, grabbing the front of Jean's shirt with her free hand and practically throwing him against his desk, slamming him against the desk's top with a satisfying thud. She hopped up in his lap straddling him, then she pulled a dagger and slammed it into his good shoulder to pin him to the desk to keep and him from moving.

"Do you have any idea just how much I loathed working for you?" she said, grabbing a fistful of his greasy hair to force his gaze onto her. "Can you even fathom just how hard it must be for me to work for someone that puts Ferengi to shame?! I mean Grek was greasy, but you are just disgusting!" She said to him. Gone was the flirty Nexi he had known and worked with for years, and gone was the terse thrill-loving Nexi that Cato had come to know; as she stared down at Jean-Baptiste with her lethal gaze, there was a madness that danced in her eyes. She raised her pike and began to scrape the plasma blade over his scalp, burning off greasy hair and skin until there was nothing left but a patch of freshly cauterized flesh. All the while she just grinned, the madness growing evermore.

"And I don't just mean the hair, JB, you are slimy even to the depths of your soul! I only took work from you because you paid so damned well, but I guess it's good for me that I found something I value more than money, because now I never have to work for you ever again!" Nexi said with glee. "Try to offer me money now, I dare you! Let's see how far it gets you," she added with a dark chuckle as she as she attempted to make another pass with her pike.

Cato had let Nexi go native for a moment. The first pass was understandable, but before she could make another pass he locked onto John Baptiste. His right index finger fired three precision shots; Two in the chest - center mass and the final one splattering his freshly scalped head all over his desk. "We don't have time for this native shit." The sounds of phaser fire echoed the corridor outside. "We need to go, NOW.". The words had barely left his mouth when Greer, Dahl and Laurent all suddenly retreated into the office laying down heavy suppression fire back into the corridor.

"You moron!" Nexi said, taking a swing at Cato. "I was killing time until we got a signal from Enalia that she was done with what she had to do!" she barked out angrily. She took JB's hand and placed it on a biometrics plate next to his computer terminal, silently praying it would still work. "Why do you think I didn't just kill him the moment I got him alone in here?!" she added in a surly tone as she attempted to disable the automated weapons as well as the security force fields and tractor beam so that they wouldn't have any trouble escaping; thankfully she got that much done before the biometrics system recognized poor little JB as dead. "Don't ever interrupt my fun again!"

Cato quickly removed his helmet and right glove from his armor before he tossed it atop desk. "Don't ever speak to me that way again." His tone wasn't anything she had become accustomed to, Cato's switch had been flipped and the softer sweeter man that had said 'I love you' the night before was gone. Moving to where she had placed Jean-Baptitse's hand just a split second before, he placed his hand atop and closed his eyes. The biometric scanner turned green, accepting his hand print.

"Initiate Ares protocol. Authorization Ares Bravo-Foxtrot-Six-Six-Six." Suddenly, the station's soft hum turned into nothing. The sound of power, lights and systems shutting down echoed. The secure areas stayed secure, they had secondary systems. But all of the automated weapons and measures to prevent their exit seen and unforeseen were eliminated. But, it came at a price, they were now in pitch black darkness.

"Theatricality and deception are powerful agents to the uninitiated... But we are initiated, aren't we?" he narrowed his eyes at Nexi, the glow from the suppression phaser fire being laid down by his teammates provided enough light to guide him to his helmet and glove. Quickly putting clicking both pieces in, his hands gripped his TR-116C2. Cato switched to the 18mm micro-airburst rounds, stepping out into the corridor he began laying down suppression fire.

The modified airburst rounds tore through Aspid Security like a knife through warm butter. Six rounds later, nothing but silence echoed the corridors. Activating his suit lights as he stepped back into the office, "Let's move." Cato said through his suit PA, which made him sound evil. Cato quickly went back over to John-Baptiste and picked up the ARG-7 that laid on the floor with blood splattered all over it. He needed a new toy, anyway.

"Let's get one thing straight," Nexi said as she strode beside him, her senses open and alert for anything he might have missed, "I don't do theatrics; I am whatever I need to be for a job. And I will talk to you however I damned well please. Don't forget, I got us here and if you don't like the way I talk, then you can just stay here; pilot sets the rules, shotgun shuts their pie-hole." Nexi had once heard an Earth phrase, 'Keep your head high but your middle finger higher' and felt that in many ways it applied to her; well, a person in her line of work really should keep their head down, but in terms of dignity and pride, the saying really was fitting to her way of life... And so she did as the Terrans did, kept her head high and proceeded to raise her middle finger at him with a grin.

"Next time, I'll fly." Cato said, biting his tongue. If she was anyone else, he would've been dead as fried chicken. But back to the Wandering Start they went, making decent time...

---

"Oh look, more playmates," Breaking her stroll for a jog, Enalia activated the gravity plating manipulators and ran up the wall at an angle as a dozen mercs stormed through a door towards her. Once she was running along the ceiling, she almost took her time phasering each guard, shooting each in their confused faces. She then continued along the ceiling and turned down a corridor marked Echo Tango, shooting out lights there as well.

Enalia had nothing to do with that office door though. She was heading for a door deeper in the facility and soon, after taking down another dozen people, she was in front of the right door.

She opened it and entered, depolarizing her armor and popping her helmet screen up to reveal her face.

Across the room was a woman secured to a chair, covered in scars and wearing thin medical robes. The same face stared back out from under unkempt hair.

Enalia raised her proton rifle at the woman with her face... and paused.

She knew what she had to do.

But she hesitated.

"Are you going to kill me?" asked the figure in the chair, glaring at Enalia through unkempt hair like a stray demon.

Enalia re-aimed her rifle. Try as she might though, it wasn't as easy as she had thought it was. She knew that this person had to die. That they shouldn't even exist. Yet it felt wrong. Like if she did it, she would lose a very important part of herself.

Then she made up her mind and squeezed the trigger.

She didn't shoot the figure... But the equipment she was hooked to. She had let the demon free and biohazard klaxons blared annoyingly to punctuate the bad decision that that was.

"Come with me if you want to live," Enalia said as the figure slowly stood. She then turned back to the door and started making her way back to the Wandering Star, the sound of bare feet pattering against the floor behind her.

---

As the new alarm sounded off, Nexi looked at Cato. "See! This was the signal I was waiting for!"

Cato glanced at her and remained quiet for the moment, she had royally pissed him off. But Greer, Laurent and Dahl were all in tow. That's who he came for and they were almost the fuck off this station. "What's her twenty?"

"I can sense her, she's not far," Nexi said, then paused in her stride. "And she's not alone, but... something feels off." Her eyes narrowed as she tried to pin down what was so wrong about this other person she felt with Enalia. Then she looked up Cato. "Remember how I got mad at you? I think I'm about to get pissed again; I have a very bad feeling about the reason she came here..."

"Yeah? We all have our secrets. Who cares, not our fight." Cato said looking at Dahl, Greer and Laurent. "We'll stay here, you guys go ahead and secure the shuttle bay. If you get jammed up, fall back here. We're going to wait for our last man."

Laurent nodded before Greer and Dahl began walking away down the dark corridor. Weapons lights lighting their way as they continued.

"They'd better get here soon then," Enalia called from an adjoining corridor. "Friendly approaching, please don't shoot me." As she stepped out into the main corridor, a face peered around the corner with her that vaguely resembled Enalia, or a demon from classic pop culture that climbed from monitors and screens.

Nexi was quick to raise her pike and level it at the Enalia-demon thing; she could get over the sense of 'wrong' that she felt when looking at her. "Enalia, what is this?" Nexi demanded, unwilling to let this thing on her ship until she got an answer.

"Let's just think of her as an evil clone created from a failed project. Lock her in a cell if you have to." Enalia explained before shooting a trio of guards behind her in the face without even looking.

Well, she did have cells in her ship for a reason. "I don't care what she's promised you, I will not hesitate to space you if I think you're an imminent thread," Nexi said in a cold voice to the Enalia-demon, then lowered her pike. "Let's go, I'm ready for this day to be over." And with that, she turned to lead Enalia and her clone back to the Wandering Star, that disturbed feeling clawing at her. She looked over at Cato; people were allowed their secrets, but Nexi was of the opinion that this one should have stayed buried...

Cato remained silent, again. Turning and walking shoulder to shoulder with Nexi, the sound of his armor on the deck as he walked quickly. TR116-C2 at the ready as they walked. "Not our fight, Nexi." Cato said to her in his head, knowing she might pick up on it. Approaching the shuttle bay, it was completely empty save for the Wandering Star which had been secured by Laurent, Greer and Dahl.

Nexi did pick up on the thought directed at her, and she cut her eyes at him as they made their way to her ship; she wondered if he would feel the same way if this secret came to bite them in the ass... But now wasn't the time for such discussions, they needed to get out of here and back to the Hera! They arrived at the hangar bay and there was her ship, safe and unharmed. She could feel Cato's three friends, one of which (and she couldn't tell who just yet) was frustrated with the inability to access the Star's controls. While somewhat annoyed, she was not angry; it was unlikely that Cato had the chance to warn his companions that this wasn't just a ship, it was her home, and she also knew it was mostly likely their SOP to try to make ready to leave. They would get one warning, same as everyone else got! Nexi strode up the ramp into the rear of her ship and prepped a holding cell, looking back to Enalia and her copy.

"Get in, before I change my mind and leave you here," Nexi said coldly to the Enalia-demon.

The Enalia-demon padded her way into the cell and stared out at her apparent new captors. "Will I get food and water?" she croaked out eerily in Enalia's voice.

"Yeah, once we're underway I'll get you something," Enalia replied, finally setting her rifle aside as Nexi secured the cell.

"You can see to her comfort once we're back; I ain't opening this cell 'cept to transport her directly to one of your brig cells," Nexi said to Enalia sternly as she locked down the holding cell. Enalia may have been her superior on the Hera, but on the Wandering Star, Nexi wasn't taking any chances with their safety. "Cato, make sure your people are ready to go," she said in an aloof manner as she headed for the front of the ship.

Enalia nodded and spoke to the demon-clone again. "Sorry, captain said no. You'll have to wait until we're ablard the Hera."

The Enalia-demon grinned and chuckled like a box of rocks. "The Hera... I remember the Hera... So much blood..."

"They're ready to go." Cato replied, watching Laurent, Dahl and Greer strap in. Unclicking his helmet and placing it on the ground, his hazel eyes shifted to look at that demon-thing in the holding cell. Nexi wasn't wrong, he too had a bad feeling. "If that thing boards the Hera, the risk is monumental."

As Nexi sat in the cockpit, she wiggled in her seat uncomfortably; someone else's ass had been in this chair! Sighing at the prospect of getting the chair to once again mold perfectly to her ass, she lit up the consoles and fired up the Wandering Star's engines. Within seconds, the Star was lifting off and peeling out of the hanger bay, cloaking and going to warp just as they cleared the bay doors. She leaned back in her chair, relieved that this mess was all over...

It had been quite some time since Clio had danced for any reason. She wasn't a social dancer, and that left her skills a bit rusty. So while she certainly wasn't ashamed of her body, she opted to practice alone in her cabin before moving into more public areas. Or, heaven forbid, trying to teach the other women how to dance like an Orion slave girl. She wasn't sure she could pick the dance up again, let alone teach it.

Knowing that a degree of authenticity in practice would later lead to a better performance, Clio swapped out her uniform for a barely-long-enough crop top and form-fitting shorts before turning on the music file she'd selected. After just listening for a moment to find the underlying rhythms, she gingerly started her practice, hoping not to make a fool of herself later.

Suddenly there came a ringing from her door - the door chime was going off in a strange manner.

"What in the hell?" Distracted by the very odd sound of the door chime, Clio misjudged a step and found herself plunked down on her rear like a clumsy child. "Oof. Computer, pause music." Scrambling to her feet, she went to the door to inspect the noise-making panel. It wasn't the normal sound the device made, and she tapped it gently, though she wasn't sure what that would accomplish. "Uh... come in?"

That was what Maica III had been waiting for so she materialized into the middle of Clio's quarters dressed in a bronze styled Orion bikini. "Madame Commander," she began, bowing gracefully. "I come to offer my services to you and yours in dance dance preparations."

Unprepared for someone to suddenly materialize inside her cabin, Clio spun away from the door and skittered backward a bit before fully realizing that the green woman standing before her was non-threatening. "Have you... been watching me?"

"Not at all," Maica replied as she posed like a swan. "I merely wrote an algorithm into the computer to alert me to the most opportune time to offer my services to you. If you feel like you're being watched, then blame the internal sensors."

"How the devil did you even know to offer any services? I don't think we've even met... and here you are... randomly appearing in my cabin..." Clio wasn't entirely sure if this woman was flesh or hologram, but at least this was a peaceful encounter. She supposed it could be worse.

"My apologies then. I presumed my reputation preceded me when it seems it does not." Bowing again, Maica III introduced herself. "I am the sentient photonically generated entity Maica three, fork forty seven, consort and wife to Captain Enalia Telvan and ship's masseuse. A pleasure to meet you, Madame Commander Eneas Clio. Enalia has bid me offer my services as they are to you for training for an upcoming mission involving traditional Orion dance styles. Henceforth, my services are yours to do with as you please." Finishing her introduction, she bowed gracefully for a third time.

"Maica..." That was a name that Clio had heard a few times, but she didn't think this particular Maica was the one the others on the Katana had spoken about. "And of course. Enalia sent you... I should have guessed. I suppose she would have figured out eventually that I'm a little... rusty when it comes to pretending to be an Orion woman."

Maica III chuckled softly. "That possibility may have been brought up, yes. With your ears and complexion, with a few olive highlights in your hair and cheeks, you could pass for one of the Orions from the southern Islands, at least. Cool weather and long winters, but a plentiful fishing season, they tended to live long and rugged lives. Their dance styles are also somewhat similar to those from ancient Earth or ancient Trill - what was once called belly dancing. I can teach you those skills if you so please, but it won't be easy. Another option is the more traditional dance of the era."

Unfamiliar with the diversity of Orion culture, Clio took a moment to let that sink in. "Actually, that might be easier for me. My own people have a variation on what humans call belly dance, and the bright green Orion makeup usually looks at least a little fake with my complexion. Why don't we try it?"

Maica's pleasant smile widened into a grin that was either seductive or predatory. "Computer, I need makeup kit thirty three alpha." After a chirrup and a few seconds, the replicator spit out the requested makeup kit. and Maica took it and handed it to Clio. Just light dusting over the cheekbones and eyes. You'll also have to do anywhere else your flesh is a bit pale, like over your hip bones and your collar bones. As for the dance, do you want to start practicing that now?"

"Yes. I'm sure I can pull it off, but practice is pretty important for something like this." Taking the makeup kit, Clio opened it briefly to find the tones within were vaguely similar to shades and tints she already wore. Setting it down on the table, she carefully closed the box back up. "We have different evolutionary backgrounds, so really I'm glad you're here. You'll see the small things that would otherwise give me away."

"You are most welcome," Maica III replied, bringing her arms up into a 'genie's dance' pose, her belly shimmying and swaying as if with a life all its own. "I've also heard that you'll all have to use Klingon-Orion language sleep training devices. I'll have to tweak yours of the southern islands, but it won't be too different. Just some grammar differences, for the most part."

"I've done sleep training before. It's actually the best way to learn a new language." Watching Maica III for a few moments, Clio attempted to mimic her. But where Maica III's body moved effortlessly, Clio's did not. It seemed knowing the basic elements of belly dance wasn't quite enough. Despite her usual grace, Clio felt stiff and clumsy.

Pausing in her own dance, Maica motioned towards Clio's head and belly. "Mind if I touch you? I know a few pressure points that'll help loosen you up."

"Touch is not a thing that bothers me. My people are very tactile, and I've experienced the power found in both our healing arts and reiki." Clio wasn't sure if Maica would know what reiki was, but she hoped that would get the point across. "Please, if you have any ideas to help I am open to them."

"Excellent. As a holographic life form, I can't do proper Reiki, but I can do something similar. This may feel a bit odd..." Wiggling her fingers, Maica's form shimmered slightly and she literally reached just barely inside of the base of Clio's skull and exerted just a minute amount of force there, then moved to several points down her spine, doing the same. She then moved to the muscles on the front of Clio's belly and applied a bit of internal pressure at their nerve centers as well. Finishing up, she wiggled her fingers again, re-solidifying her form. "That should give your muscle control much more flow and relax you properly."

"Okay, you're right. That feels weird." It was indeed an odd sensation to have someone's holographic fingers reach inside your body. Painless but odd. Still, Clio was willing to try odd things if they meant success. "Let me try again." Standing still, she didn't feel any different, but when she started to dance she did feel looser and more fluid. While she wasn't on Maica's level of skill, she at least felt more natural!

"Excellent!" Maica exclaimed before resuming her dance. "Now try adding a bit more hip shimmy. You want your butt to wiggle just a bit."

"I'm not sure how wiggly my butt is." Clio couldn't help giggling a little at such non-technical talk, though she did try to follow Maica's instructions.

"You're well toned, but if you do a slight lift at the end of each shimmy, you'll get the wiggle and the movement you want in your belly." Maica demonstrated with a somewhat exaggerated flair.

That made sense enough, so Clio tried it, with somewhat favorable results. She'd never thought she could be too fit to do something convincingly, but she'd never had to really convince someone she was Orion either. "This is harder than it looks."

"It's good exercise too," Maica commented. "Practice this just 30 minutes a day and you'll be a pro within a week."

"Thirty minutes a day isn't bad." It certainly was good exercise, as Clio found she was already starting to sweat. And she could think of other situations such a dance might be useful in.

"You'll be pretty sore tomorrow so I recommend a nice liniment oil to help with that. Just keep up with practice though. I can give you recommendations for outfits as well, if you like. The Orions of the southern islands tend to wear more fur based outfits and slightly less skimpy than their northern counterparts. And you'll need to be able to trill your tongue to call your pet polar bear."

"I keep plenty of liniment and ointments around. I train hard, so I have a nice selection of different types. As for calling the polar bear..." Clio had no earthly idea if there were even polar bears on Orion to begin with, but she was willing to play along. "I'll figure it out. Might not be perfect, but these people will likely have no idea how it's supposed to sound anyway."

Maica chuckled softly. "This is true. As long as you get close, you'll be fine. Most would rather not stick around to see if a three ton saber-toothed demon bear covered in white fur actually shows up."

"Sounds like my kind of pet. I thought about asking Enalia if she'd let me have a vivver cat, but since they're known for attacking and eating people..." Clio shrugged a bit. "Anyway, I really appreciate your help. Even if these guys have never seen a southern Orion, I want it to look good."

"You are very welcome," Maica replied with another graceful bow. "As for a vivver cat, why not have a holographic one? I can have a holomatrix replicated for you in a few days and it can interface with the ship wide holoemitters."

"That might actually be a good idea. At least a hologram can be programmed with safeties." Clio thought about it for a moment, realizing how that would eliminate the problem of the cat attacking the crew. "That would be awesome."

Maica bowed again. "Madame Commander, I shall craft for you a vivver cat and an orion polar bear for your new holomatrix. The best you've ever seen of each. Is there anything else you desire of me?"

"I don't think I need anything else, but please. Stop calling me 'madam.' My name is Clio." Clio smiled a bit, appreciative of the respect Maica had shown her but not feeling truly worthy of it.

"Commander Clio, it is then," Maica replied with a smile and another bow. "If you need anything at all, please do not hesitate to ask. For now though, I must take my leave and allow you to practice in private."

Not long ago, she might have corrected someone for 'Commander Clio', but Clio had since given up on that front. "I'll call if I need you. Thanks, Maica."

With another bow and a smile, Maica vanished into thin air.

As Maica disappeared, Clio went back to her practice, focusing more on her hips and letting the rest fall into place. She had a lot of work to do before the ship went back in time.

Petty Officer Tarn, a bolian rushed the klingon with a Bet'leth in his hands and swung the sword at the Klingon who dodged the strike, striking Tarn with the blunt edge of Bet'leth , knocking him to the ground as the Klingon followed through as the holographic blade "pierced" into Tarn's chest.

T'Pral walked over to Tarn, still lying on his back on the ground as the Klingon vanished from sight. "Congratulations, Petty Officer, Tarn. You are now dead. Your attack was sloppy and ill-planned." T'Pral then looked at the gathered group of security officers. "From my observations, you are good with energy-based range weapons but there are times that will call for you to engage the enemy in hand to hand combat or with melee weapons. In the previous away team, Petty Officer De'Ath, Crewmen Dover, and O'Shea all perished because they encountered an enemy that was not conventional."

As if to emphasize this point, another trainee was knocked off his feet by an invisible force, and in the span of a blink Nexi was standing over him with the blade of her pike pressed against his neck.

"And it's not enough to merely be prepared for the unconventional, you must always be on guard, even on the Hera," the Brekkian woman cautioned. She pulled the blade away from the trainee's neck and offered him a hand up. "Sorry to bust in on your lesson, thought you could use some help," Nexi said to T'Pral.

T'Pral nodded. "Your help would be beneficial.". She then turned to the group. "This is Nexi, an Intelligence Infiltration Specialist aboard the Hera. You would be wise to listen to her. As Nexi said, do not relax your guard even aboard the ship."

"And notice I don't wear a Starfleet uniform. Yet. I have a rather unique skill set that comes from my former line of work that Captain Telvan has seen fit to make use of, and I don't want none of you tryna pull rank 'cause I'm a civvie contractor, I will drop your ass to the deck plating just as easily as I did him," Nexi cautioned, pointing a thumb at the crewman she drew her weapon on earlier. "A lot of what I used to do involves patience and thinking outside the box; sometimes to find an opening, whether it's in a fight or infiltrating a location, you gotta wait for the right moment to act, like hiding out in an air duct for a week to wait for the right hole in a guard rotation so your presence remains unnoticed. This is a hard concept for some people to grasp, especially when you're in a hectic situation, like taking enemy fire, but rushing in can get you killed."

"Always try to make your opponent make the first move," T'Pral stated. "That is enough today. You are all dismissed." T'Pral watched the group leave the holodeck before turning to Nexi. "You are quite skilled and I would appreciate it if you could help out in training whenever possible."

"Yeah, Cato mentioned that you could use a hand. Sorry, Chief West, fuck, I'm still getting used to the whole 'duty formality' thing," Nexi replied, collapsing her pike staff and tucking the blade in its sheath at the small of her back. "But you seemed to have the right idea, tryna prepare them for what's ahead; I can help you plan a few simulations to give them an idea of the kind of missions we've done."

"I would appreciate that. In regards to rank formality, you are not Starfleet and do not need to address Chief West by his rank. Call him whatever you'd like," T'Pral grinned.

"How about 'arrogant ass'?" Nexi said with a chuckle. "Nah, I shouldn't do that, I'm trying to enlist, so I need to get into the right kind of habits or I'll never get accepted," she added with a sheepish grin. "Anyway, I'll swing by your office sometime to work on those simulations with you. My schedule is kind of all over the place, so let me know when is a good time for you."

T'Pral nodded. "I will do that. Why are you enlisting in Starfleet if you don't mind me asking?"

"Lots of reasons, mostly personal ones," Nexi said, not feeling much like going into details at the moment.

"I see. The reasons are your own, then, as long as they are good ones," T'Pral said before grinning. "Care for some sparring?"

"Normally, I'd love to, but sparring for me usually doesn't end until both opponents are good and bloody, and since I have somewhere I need to be soon, probably not a good idea to show up looking all beat up, so I'll pass for now," Nexi said with some amusement. "But next time, definitely," she affirmed with a grin.

"I will look forward to it," T'Pral said. "Computer, end program." She then turned to Nexi and nodded. "Good day, Nexi." She then made her way to the exit.

"I look forward to it too," Nexi affirmed, then headed out.

Enalia tapped on her command chair consoles, looking over the status of anything that might distract her from their upcoming time jump. Slingshot maneuvers were outlawed for a reason and for the Hera to be about to make one now was not only insane, but problematic. They had taken on a supply of dilithium and antimatter a week prior that could have resupplied an entire solar system, but they'd need to burn almost every scrap of both for this jump as well as the return trip. The calculations to open a time-space rift big enough for the Hera herself was logistically unsound and though the calculations were complete for the return trip, they'd have to begin reverification based on conditions in the target year once they arrived.

Thus, they were approaching the small orange sun, lining up for their first run when the officer at the helm spoke up. "Now at three thousand kilometers from flight plan position alpha."

"All stop," Enalia commanded, keying the intercom. "All hands, this is your Captain speaking. In the next few minutes we will begin the slingshot maneuver. You've all been briefed on potential side effects and mission parameters as needed, but as a reminder, for the duration, there will be a complete communications blackout other than tightbeam comms to away teams. Also, keep in mind that it is most likely that everyone will be knocked unconscious because of the mechanics of how this works. Secure yourselves and all equipment and check in with your departments. Telvan out." clicking the intercom off, Enalia stared at the monitor for a moment, the orange orb dominating the screen. "All departments, check in when ready."

Her hands flying over the console for the warp core Thex opened her comms. " Everything looks fine down here captain. Warp cores purring away down here. " She said her eyes beaming at the humming engines.

"Thank you, Lieutenant," Mal said from his chair. "Are you ready for this, Ensign Gonadie? If you're not, this is going to be a very short trip."

"Sorry sir, but things being what they are, most of this trip will be piloted by the computer," Gonadie replied with a hint of a smile. "I will have my fingers on manual adjustments though, just in case there's a massive solar ejection."

T'Pral stood at her station, checking the ship's weapons and defensive systems. "Weapons and shields are operating normally. All security stations report ready status."

"Aknowledged, Lieutenant T'Pral," Mal said. He turned to Chief Paire. "Ree, how do things stand with Damage Control?"

"Teams are distributed throughout the ship," Chief Ree Paire replied. "Fire control teams are standing by as are hull breach sealing teams."

Though she was always game for dressing up to go undercover, Clio was no fan of the slingshot maneuver. Having already secured the intelligence areas before reporting to her bridge station, she took the extra precaution of sending notifications to both Nexi and West, warning them to strap in and hold on. "I'm not sure I'll ever actually be ready to go slingshotting around a star..."

"The mechanics are not that complicated; perhaps if it was better explained then you would be more prepared?" Akira offered from the Ops station, not really understanding what Clio was so apprehensive about.

"I know the mechanics of the maneuver. Believe me, it doesn't help." Clio knew Akira just well enough to know that she wouldn't understand the emotion behind any such feelings just yet. "Maybe I'll explain it to you later."

Enalia turned to Akira to address her. "Anything that can knock out my entire crew with one exception is worth being wary of. Akira, you'll be the only one awake during the actual jump itself and you'll have to make sure the ship isn't detected and everything is safe while we all wake back up."

Enalia then turned back to the viewscreen and confirmed final checks were done across the ship on her own readouts. "Ensign Gonadie, please engage our programmed course at your leisure."

"Aye, Captain. Engaging course now." As Gonadie tapped a single control, several consoles across the bridge lit up with life and the ship started moving, quickly building up to full impulse and diving seemingly right into the sun before them. Soon, the impulse was at max and the star was pulling them in, the RCS thrusters and metaphasic shielding at max output to keep the behemoth ship on course and less than toasty. "Point nine light speed. Point nine three. Point nine five... Nine seven... Nine nine. Now at one point one light speed. Warp engines engaging."

The starlines and sheer shock and strain of being thrown through time was a great strain on the hull, but a greater strain yet on her crew. As expected, everyone was knocked unconscious, but soon would wake.

Akira monitored their trajectory as the Hera performed the slingshot maneuver; she was no pilot, but she had enough information about this maneuver to monitor their progress and keep them on course as they rocketed through time. As soon as the Hera was thrust out of the sun's gravitational pull, she found the nearest stellar body, an asteroid, and put the Hera in it's shadow so that they wouldn't be detected by any nearby sensors, then proceeded to calculate the stardate to confirm they had arrived at the appointed time. She then blinked herself into main engineering to check on the dilithium and antimatter chambers; as expected, the crystals were ruined, but thankfully they had enough antimatter reserves to rebuild the crystals and get them back home. So, she set the warp drive and generators on idle to cool down and recover from the massive power drain, then began the process of rebuilding the dilithium crystals. That process would take several days, but it was nothing they weren't prepared for. With the computer now working on that, all that was left was to monitor the condition of the crew; Akira returned to the bridge and monitored passive medical scans of all the life forms on the ship, watching and waiting for someone to wake.

Clio wasn't exactly sure how much G-force was generated during the slingshot maneuver, and she didn't care to ask. It was, however, obvious it was significant. She blinked a few times as she slowly came to her senses, otherwise not moving until she'd taken stock of her situation. Recognizing the tingle of the inertial dampener field built into her station, she gingerly sat up in her chair and looked around.

"Move slowly until you adjust," Akira said from her station as she watched Clio slowly stir. "I've set the EMH to make rounds throughout the ship until the medical staff can wake and help out, and he cautioned me that the crew may experience some disorientation or even nausea."

Well the EMH was right about that. If she hadn't known that the dampener kept her firmly in her chair, Clio would have sworn she'd hit her head really hard. "I don't suppose he left you any drugs to fix any of that."

"Not exactly," Akira said with a curious tilt of her head. "But he did upload a replicator pattern to all available replicators. Would you like me to replicate a hypospray for you?"

"Unless you want me to puke all over you, that would be a really good idea." Normally Clio would just do it herself, but she wasn't sure she could stand up just yet.

For the Bridge, the nearest available replicator was in the Captain's Ready Room, so that's where Akira went to replicate a hypospray and a number of extra vials for the rest of the Bridge crew, then returned in a swift manner to administer a dose into Clio's arm. Though she wasn't rough, Akira was definitely lacking in any polite bedside manner, but then again she was still developing her social interaction skills.

"We're starting to get responses from all over the ship, the crew is waking," Akira reported once she returned to her station to monitor their progress.

"Ow," Clio said under her breath, rubbing her arm as Akira went to monitor the rest of the crew again. She didn't feel much better, but the immediate need to vomit went away. That was something.

Mal's horns hurt. That was the level of headache he was experiencing. And the room wouldn't stop moving. And his stomach didn't feel good.

"Akira," he said. "I think I heard, over the pounding in my head, something about an anti-nausea hypospray? Would you be so kind as to bring me one as well? Thank you."

"Yes sir," Akira replied, taking the hypospray and making her way around the stations to the Command platform to give Mal a dose. "Everything seems to have gone as intended; Stardate calculations indicated that we are within the expected time range, and I have have made sure we remained unseen. Also, the maneuver tapped our power reserves, so I've set the ship to operate on minimal power with the focus being on life support and the repair of our dilithium crystals until the generators can cool off," she reported.

"Acknowledged," Mal replied. "As soon as there is enough power to run our poor man's cloaking device, turn it on. I'd like to be running silent as soon as possible."

T'Pral pushed through the disorientation at first when she woke, blinking several times and taking in a slow deep breath. She looked down at her console and ran an internal scan. "The crew appears to be coming around, Captain," she reported, studying the life sign readings aboard the ship. Switching to external sensors, she initiated a passive scan on the area. "No vessels in the immediate sector."

"As we hoped would happen," Mal said. "Everyone assigned to an away team will now call for relief personnel to man their stations if at a primary station. Take some time, gather your wits, and be ready to depart in thirty minutes."

An alert sounded in Enalia's office, letting her know it was time for the staff meeting she'd scheduled. Grabbing a cup of coffee, she headed out of her office and crossed the bridge to the back doors and headed into the conference room. Interestingly enough, she wasn't the first one there - she had been preceded by the Temporal Investigations Agent, Alden Engstrom the thirteenth. Nodding to him, she sat in her usual chair and waited for the senior staff to assemble.

Stepping through the door came the ship's engineer. Smiling the andorian nodded politely to the captain and the stranger before taking her seat.

Mal walked in and took his seat at the table.

"Greetings, Captain, Lieutenant," he said. "And to you as well, Alden Engstrom the On-Going."

T'Pral entered, scanning the room and noticing the Captain, Thex, Commander Xustos, and the man she knew as the Temporal Agent, Mr. Alden Engstrom. She nodded towards the captain. "Captain," she greeted. She then turned to the other three. "Commander, Lieutenant, Mr. Engstrom."

"Lieutenant T'Pral," Mal said. "How's that team of yours coming along?"

"They are coming along satisfactorily, sir. I believe they are ready for their first mission if needed," T'Pral stated as she took her seat.

"Excellent," Mal said. "I had hoped to keep you here on the ship with me, but if this team of yours is showing promise, I suppose I'll have to do without you! My loss is the mission's gain!"

Clio was never the first to arrive to these briefings, and for once she was glad about it. The less time she had to spent with Engstrom the Infinite, the better! Slipping into the room, she secured a seat at the table, though she didn't greet anyone as she entered. She wasn't that social to begin with, and Engstrom's presence seemed to put a dark cloud over her head.

Once it seemed like everyone had arrived, the blue-skinned Akira vanished from her station on the bridge, only to reappear in the briefing room; all the necessary preparations for their impending trip were well on their way and could do without her attention long enough to get this meeting out of the way. She took a seat at the briefing table to await discussion.

Meanwhile, in the shadows of the room, another figure lurked with a grin, leaning against the bulkhead with her arms crossed over her chest; there was no telling exactly how long Nexi had been there, but she did love how Enalia always left a shadowy corner for her to hide in as was her habit.

"As most of you know, the office of Temporal Investigations has sent us an agent." Enalia began by motioning to Alden as a way of acknowledging the elephant in the room and quickly moved on. "As for our mission, it's mostly planned out thanks to Mister Engstrom's assistance and historical records. There are a lot of things we don't know, though. We know that the Hera travels back in time to destroy a genetic research facility working on Gorn and Orions and somehow that leads to three of our tricobalt devices being used to destroy that facility and killing several million people."

Pausing a moment to let that sink in, Enalia made eye contact with everyone before proceeding. "As for the unknown part, we'll be sending three teams of three to four people each to survey and investigate. The team leaders will be Nexi, Clio, and T'pral. Mal is in charge of team assignments so if there's anyone you want specifically, take it up with him. Very few races aboard are known to the Orions in this era, so the list of people that can go is short. Basically, you have to pass as either Orion, Vulcan, Nausicaan, or Gorn. Klingons are not on friendly terms with the Orions, though I'm sure you'll see some of them. Captain Ka'lar's ship is the one that gets the best sensor readings of the explosion so he may have crew on shore leave."

"Transporters will have to be disguised and while our stealth plating will shield us from too much curiosity, we'll still have to time our beaming to a six minute forty seven second rotation in the isolinear security grid to avoid detection. As a backup, we have obtained a shuttle of the era and one of our best pilots will be ready to go in if need be." Pausing another moment, Enalia leaned back in her chair. "Questions? Comments? Vicious outbursts?"

Chief Warrant Officer Daytona Ral entered the room quietly and unobtrusively in plenty of time to hear the Captain's words. He nodded to Enalia and took a seat.

"The teams will be as follows," Mal said. "Nexi, Chief West, and Chief R'Tor. Commander Enaes, Ensign Shavni, and Chief Warrant Officer Ral. Lieutenant Jordan, Lieutenant Thex, and Warrant Officer Read. Team leaders please meet with your teams and get prepared. Any further questions?"

While she could think of plenty of vicious outbursts that Enalia would no doubt enjoy, Clio kept those thoughts to herself. In mixed company, her less-than-professional demeanor sometimes got her in trouble. Besides, the door opened just as Enalia finished speaking, and Clio turned to see who was joining them. Intelligence black with chief warrant officer pips, but not anyone she knew. Deciding to figure that out later, she turned her attention back to the briefing. "Not a question but a comment. Anyone tasked to play an Orion woman should expect to meet with Maica III and myself for a crash course in Orion dance. Hell, make the men come too. We'll turn it into a general Orion culture class."

Nexi cleared her throat, then spoke up. "I can help with that," she said a bit uneasily. "I've had to pass myself off as an Orion a time or two, and I've worked extensively with the Syndicate, so I can give you an idea of what to expect."

"Consider yourself drafted then." Clio wasn't blind to how uneasy Nexi was about the conversation, but she wasn't going to acknowledge it either.

"Never expected anything less," Nexi replied with a smirk. Honestly, with all the preparations made, it was a lot more than what Nexi was used to, but then again she was used to flying by the seat of her pants, making things up as she went along, and while that had its advantages, it also had its drawbacks, so she could definitely appreciate how much effort was going into this mission, especially given how much was at stake. "Is there a backup plan?" Nexi asked out of the blue. "You know, that if for some reason we ain't able to get back to our time, do we have a plan for what happens to us?"

"If the Hera is destroyed or for some reason has to leave the away teams behind alive," Mal said. "You will have two choices. First, you can try to find a warp-capable ship equipped with technology sophisticated enough to allow it to survive a sling shot maneuver. If that is not possible or if you determine that doing so will cause too much of an impact on the timeline, then you will make your way to as insignificant a place as you can find, as far off of the trade routes as you can find, and settle there, doing nothing of note through to your dying day. I suppose a third alternative exists. You could find a way to put yourselves in suspended animation for two hundred some-odd years. If the Hera is too damaged to make the sling shot maneuver, I'm not certain what we are going to do. I'm open to suggestions on that one."

Mal turned to Clio.

"Commander Enaes," he said. "Chief Ral is too modest to brag, but he has over a century's worth of experience with the Orions, as a soldier, an intelligence officer, a police officer, and finally as an intelligence operative yet again. He's been assigned to your team, so feel free to utilize him."

Daytona grinned. "You pimping me out, Commander?"

"For everything EXCEPT that, thank you very much in advance," Mal replied.

The rigelian intelligence officer raised an eyebrow in a very vulcan-like manner. "Is that so? Don't worry, I've got your back."

It was Mal's turn to grin. "As long as you're not trying to get my goat!"

Daytona laughed. "You said it, Commander, not me!"

"Alright everyone," Mal said. "Last call for questions. None? Alright then. Dismissed."

This was Enalia's life. This was what she did. She collected teacups. Mostly Trill teacups, but her collection included several hundred Earth, Bolian, Andorian, and other teacups from dozens of other races. She drank tea in some of them. Most she kept in storage on Earth, which they were close to at the moment.

This is what brought her to Nexi's ship with an overnight bag over her shoulder. Tapping out an entry request, she waited for Nexi to let her in.

Normally, Nexi kept the hatch open in case Aewia wanted to stop by, but she had just returned to the Hera after taking care of a job and had neglected to open the hatch before turning in for some sleep, thus demanding that Nexi get out of bed now to see who was bugging her. Running a hand through her sleep tousled curls, she offered a heavy yawn, then tapped the controls on the access panel to open the hatch.

"Hey you," Nexi said sleepily when she saw Enalia. "You want some coffee?" she offered, nodding her head towards the kitchen as an open invitation to enter. "And by coffee I of course mean sex," she added jokingly.

Stepping aboard, Enalia grinned wickedly. "My wife might take you up on that offer. I'm here for another reason, though. I want you to take me to Earth so I can get a teacup."

"The Louvre, right?" Nexi said, making her way to the kitchen and started to make some coffee. "I looked into it, security is tight, and it's high profile; I can get in there and get that teacup, but it's gonna be tricky."

Enalia was still grinning. "I don't think that'll be a problem. I finished the purchase of it yesterday and now I need you to take me to Earth so I can take delivery and transfer it to my private collection in Sweden and act as private security."

"Ah, well... I feel somewhat cheated, I was looking forward to breaking in there," Nexi said candidly, pouring coffee into a couple of mugs, then handed one to Enalia. "If you wanna do this now, I need a few minutes to wake up before I jump into the cockpit," she warned Enalia.

"The sooner the better," Enalia replied as she looked for a place to stow her bag. "I'm on three days of leave so we'll have to be back in 72 hours. Sorry for waking you up, by the way. If I thought I could trust Securitech, I'd have gone on my own with Ensign Radcliffe and let him regale me for hours on end about a culture of Andorian mold found in some ice shelf."

"Enthralling," Nexi replied with a huff, then nodded in the direction of her bunk. "And you can put that bag in my room, if you want. I'll start warming up Star, we'll leave once I've had a couple cups of coffee," she added.

"Thank you," Enalia headed off to the bedroom and stashed her bag, retrieving a bottle of irish hazelnut cream from it before heading back to Nexi's kitchen area. "I brought this for you, if you're interested. It's a liqueur for coffee."

"I-rish," Nexi read from the bottle, "thems the hu-mons that like to drink, right? Fucking amazing people, mixing alcohol and coffee," Nexi said with a chuckle, pouring some of this hazelnut stuff into her mug and then giving it a taste. "Fucking hell, that's... that's life-changing right there," she said, giving the gift an approving nod.

"We'll have to get a case of it when we're on Earth. Congrats on being assigned a team leader in the next mission, by the way. Big responsibility." Enalia headed to what she guessed was a living room and sat down.

"Ain't like it's the first time I've led a team, just the first time in Starfleet," Nexi said with a shrug. She put the bottle of Irish cream away and led Enalia to the cockpit where they could continue talking while she warmed up her ship. "Wasn't too keen on the Orion disguise idea, but I know we gotta blend in."

"Yeah... On top of that, I have a confession to make. We're going to violate the temporal prime directive." Enalia pulled out a PaDD with her accounts' entire history in it and offered it to Nexi. "I wondered who in 2160 would open a high interest rollover account in my name with some crazy message. I'm pretty damn sure it was you."

Nexi snickered. "So this is how you can afford to pay me for all these crazy tea cups you're having me acquire," she said with amusement as she looked at the PaDD. Then she started laughing her ass off when she read the message that had been left for Enalia:

'Enalia, if she hasn't already, your girlfriend is going to dump you because she likes dick in her ass. Don't get rid of the dress you bought for her, you'll find a use for it later. Also, get used to the name Telvan, and when you're in orbit of Faltan 3, take a chance on the stranger in your cargo hold, it'll pay off big time.' Nexi read from the PaDD amidst continued snickering. "Fucking hell, so that's why you asked for my help?! Oh man, I had no idea you were sitting on this, you hid it well."

"Explains a few things, doesn't it?" Enalia asked with a chuckle. "Anyway, for temporal BS reasons you'll have to use latinum obtained in 2160. You'll also have to do it in the week we're sitting around monitoring things between your team's shifts."

"Ain't a problem, I can get this much latinum easy, no problem," Nexi replied, looking at the deposit used to open the account. "Anything else I need to be aware of doing this?"

"No idea. You now know as much as I do." Enalia replied.

"Fair enough," Nexi replied, pocketing the PaDD so she could commit to memory all the tiny details so she would be ready when they made the trip back through time. Having consumed enough coffee to be alert enough to fly, Nexi started warming up the Star and requested clearance from the Hera to leave. While they waited for the doors to open, Nexi looked back at Enalia. "You sure you don't want me to steal this tea set?"

Enalia shook her head. "I've already bought and paid for it and it's non-refundable. The Yakuza are likely going to try to steal it anyway. Plus we'll have to use transport scramblers for the safety of the set."

"Great, Yakuza..." Nexi replied with false enthusiasm. "Well, let's get this show on the road; the sooner we get there, the sooner we can kick some Yakuza ass," she added, trying to look on the bright side. The bay doors finally opened and the Wandering Star lifted off the landing pad and glided out of the bay. "Alright, well make yourself comfortable; ETA on Earth is better part of the day," she said as she took the ship to warp.

"Thank you for this, by the way. The last thirteen owners have been killed and you're the only one I can trust." Enalia headed back into the ship and settled in for the trip.

"What's the hu-mon phrase, unlucky thirteen? At least that wasn't you," Nexi stated.

"Yeah, there is that at least. Fourteen is an unlucky number for my family though, so who knows." Enalia replied.

"Yeah, but you got me to help you out, where could this go wrong?" Nexi said with her trademark lopsided grin.

"Thank goodness..." Enalia muttered as she dozed off where she was.

Nexi smirked, stepping away to get a blanket from her bedroom and draped it over Enalia, then she returned to the helm to keep an eye on their heading...

Some time later, they arrived at Earth and received special clearance to land in the Louvre shipping lot, right up against one of the delivery docks.

Nexi plotted the course through the atmosphere and started to take them down, peeking back at Enalia who was still sleeping at one of the rear consoles. "Hey girly, time to get up, we're almost there," Nexi called out.

Starting slightly, Enalia woke up to find she'd dozed off and been covered with a blanket. Quickly folding it, she set it aside and headed to the cockpit. "Excellent. Soon the tea set will be mine and I'll be able to laugh nefariously for some reason. Just wait until you see this thing in person."

"Anything that requires this much effort has got to be worth seeing," Nexi remarked as they made it through the upper atmosphere. The clouds parted and there was Earth, or to be more specific Europe with a direct heading for France. "We'll be touching down in 5, so if you wanna go wash those crusties out of your eyes then you'd better hurry."

"Thanks. I'll be in the fresher then." Enalia replied, turning and heading to use the loo.

Nexi nodded and guided the Star along to their, landing at the Louvre shipping lot without any incident. So far so good... She put the shuttle in standby mode so that it would be ready for a rapid departure if such was required, but also locked down all the consoles so no one could mess with her ship, then she proceeded to get ready. She hadn't put on much since Enalia woke her and she'd only had a few cups of coffee and decided she now needed a little something to eat, so while Enalia was still freshening up Nexi replicated something to eat while she got dressed in her 'kitchen'.

Enalia wasn't long and when she came out of the fresher, she was at least a little made up, her hair in a bun and her uniform replaced with a Tholian silk pantsuit of a decidedly victorian leaning. "Ready when you are."

"Wow, I feel underdressed," Nexi said around a mouthful of some kind of ration bar. She hastily swallowed her food with a wince, quickly taking a swig of coffee to help wash it down, then finished putting on her jacket and then weapons. "Ready," she then said with a grin. "I'll follow your lead, boss."

"There's no real dress code for security, though you might be overarmed for that," Enalia added as she headed to the main hatch and activated it. The administrator and two very large men were waiting for her.

"Princess! It is so good to see you again!" the man exclaimed, motioning to Enalia for a hug.

"Monseirre, you persist with that even now?" Enalia replied, seemingly with a royal air about her as she went in for a hug.

"Of course," he replied, breaking the hug and motioning towards the doors close by. "Everything is ready for your inspection. I assume it will be heading to your private collection on Trill?"

"Thank you, and yes, I do plan to have it transferred to the libraries there for public exhibition." Enalia replied, following along into the property transfer bay.

And there it was. The tea set. The administrator spoke up as Enalia admired it and pulled out a specialized scanner to verify it. "Created by artist Luis Alberto Quispe Aparicio. It consists of 16-pieces carved with ruby matrix and decorated with 18K gold vermeil mountings and accents.The set includes a covered teapot with a carved dragon on it, four dragon-carved teacups, a creamer, a chocolate pot, four claw-foot small dishes, some serving accessories and a carved dragon centerpiece. It also includes a tray made out of ruby zoisite."

Wow, this was it? Nexi was afraid to touch it, let along drink out of these dainty little cups! She crossed her arms over her chest as she watched with a predatory gaze as the administrator handed over the scanner to Enalia so she could verify it. Her senses were open and wide, cautiously searching for any sign of foul play; everything seemed on the up and up, but after what Enalia said, Nexi wasn't taking any chances.

Scanning the set, Enalia nodded in satisfaction and handed the scanner back. "Everything checks out. Monseirre, thank you. If you would be so kind as to pack it up?"

"Of course, Princess," he replied as he snapped his fingers to call over an assistant who then gloved him and brought the packing crate closer. He then began packing the pieces in very carefully, one at a time. "You know, we still have that Bolian lazurite piece you were so interested in. I would allow you to take it for a significantly lower donation than usual, if you like."

Enalia chuckled softly as she watched the packing with eagle eyed precision. "If that donation wouldn't wipe out my entire remaining fortune and force me to sell an entire library, I would consider it. See Monseirre? royalty has no limits to their wealth. Mine is and I know those limits. No, this may be the last piece I rescue for some time, I'm afraid."

"And I know how you loathe the loans system, Princess. I can't blame you. Interest was outlawed and yet here we are asking for compounding donations." As the administrator finished packing away the last piece, Enalia pressed a rather understated signet ring into the locking mechanism and the crate sealed itself up tightly. They then offered the hovercart and all to Enalia and Nexi. "You will have to excuse us, but with how the rumors have been around this particular piece, our services and involvement will have to end here."

"Perfectly understandable. Until next time, Monseirre." Enalia gripped the rails of the hovercart tightly as she motioned for Nexi to lead the way. The once sunny day was now deeply overcast and there was a low growl of a hum coming from the sky. The Yakuza were fast and they had a modified air-schooner hovering a hundred meters over the Louvre, clearly violating airspace restrictions. No one was doing anything about it though. "It's your show now."

"You know, I miss the days when I used to steal things all quiet-like..." Nexi said with a sigh. "Let's go back inside where it's safe and I can torture whoever they bribed." And with that, she practically pushed Enalia and the hovercart back inside the building.

Once the doors were safely shut, Nexi led Enalia back to where they had inspected the tea set with the administrator, looking intently for said administrator. "Monseirre!" Nexi called out, not realizing that was not his name. "Mr. Monseirre, you have a problem! Someone on your staff is taking bribes from the Yakuza and I want to know who!"

Nexi was taking a huge chance on this tactic as opposed to facing the Yakuza directly; she was banking on the fact that the Yakuza weren't going to risk a protracted battle or that they weren't willing to attack the Louvre directly, otherwise they wouldn't have waited until the tea set was on the move to finally steal it. But Nexi wasn't going to start her new career with Starfleet by killing Federation citizens, and Yakuza or not they were still Federation citizens, so if she didn't have to kill them then she was going to avoid it as long as possible. Besides, this way was more her style anyway...

"Considering he and security were the only ones that even knew what day the transfer would take place, odds are good that he's the one that took the bribe," Enalia commented, noting a distinct lack of any members of the Louvre staff.

"Yeah, that had occurred to me," Nexi said as she looked around. "Enalia, do they store any of the exhibits back here or do we have to go into the Louvre?"

Enalia motioned to a few doors with hefty security systems. "They keep artifacts being transferred in those rooms and do the transfers in this room. Considering none of the force fields are up, this tea set is the only artifact being transferred today. Likely to not endanger the rest of the artifacts..."

"Well, if Mr Monseirre thinks he's gonna get away with getting in bed with the Yakuza, he's got another thing coming," Nexi said with determination. "Looks like I get to break into the Louvre after all," she said with glee as she looked around for anything that resembled a security terminal. "Okay, while I'm working on this, I want you to take the tea set out of the nice box. We're gonna put something else in there and pass it off to the Yakuza. I'll put the tea set in a bag and put my cloak on it; it won't be as safe as the nice box, but it should allow us to get back to the Star before they notice we pulled a switch on them."

Enalia peeked into a storage closet and found a knapsack big enough for the tea set. As Enalia unsealed the crate, the sound of low yield disruptor fire against duranium could be heard. "I think they're getting impatient," she quipped as she started transferring the wrapped pieces into the knapsack. "You realize they won't be happy until I'm dead, right?"

"You know I won't let that happen," Nexi said as she worked at an access panel that led to the Louvre. These Yakuza were determined, she'd give them that, but would they really risk attracting the attention of the local officials or even the Federation military presence on Earth? Something like this was bound to stir up media attention, there was no way this was going unnoticed!

"Got it!" Nexi called out with success as she broke through the security and opened the door into the Louvre. "Alright, go find something that will fit in the box, the more expensive, the better," she said, then started bagging up the tea set and setting her personal cloaking device on it. The bag disappeared and she tucked the back into the back of her belt.

Enalia headed out into the Louvre and grabbed a Ming vase that was over six thousand years old, disconnecting the security on it as quickly as she could before returning. "Will this work?"

"If it fits in the box, it will work," Nexi said with a grin. "See, I'm turning you into a proper criminal!" she said with a chuckle, but then grew serious. "Okay, when we get out there, try to protect the box like it's your tea set; this is your tea set, your pride an joy... You have to believe it or they won't," she said as Enalia put the vase in the box and locked it back up. "Now, I can't do a site to site transport in here, there's transport blockers, but if we can get close enough to Star, then I can beam us to safety and we can get out of here. With any luck, they'll be happy with their score and won't come after us, and if they do, well, I can cloak us and haul ass. Sound good?"

Enalia nodded as she tucked the vase into the box and resealed it. "Just try not to let me die, ok?"

"Of course not, who else would I pester if you died?!" Nexi replied with a grin, a grin that diminished somewhat as she heard more disruptor fire. "Damn, this is pretty ballsy of them to be sticking around this long! Even if they bought off Louvre Security, there's no way the local authorities ain't seeing this!" she remarked as she cracked the door ever so slightly to take a peek outside.

After a few more disruptor blasts to Nexi's ship, the air-schooner started circling the landing pad and warming the area with their engine wash. Catching a whiff of the fumes, light as they were, Enalia wrinkled her nose. "They're going to try to fumigate us, aren't they?"

"Yeah, looks like..." Nexi said. She zipped up her jacket and then pulled up the collar to cover her nose to help giver her some reprieve from the fumes, watching as Enalia did the same. "Okay, forget the trolley, grab the box and run, I'll cover your escape," Nexi said, fully prepared to take a disruptor blast for dear friend. Though she did draw her shiny new gun, meaning she wasn't going down without a fight! "Okay, whenever you're ready, and I've sent a signal to Star to begin transport as soon as we're out of range of the transport inhibitor, so just run."

Enalia nodded and grabbed the box, diving out of the doorway and running towards the Star amidst poorly aimed stinger laser fire.

Nexi was right behind Enalia, covering her escape with fire from her shiny new gun, and in that moment she decided that she needed a second one, one for each hand; she'd always been partial to her pike and assorted bladed weaponry, but this damned gun was so fucking satisfying to use, she just had to have another one! The Pirates were swinging down on repelling lines, going after Enalia and the box she guarded. Nexi picked them off one by one, avoiding lethal blows by shooting out knees or taking out their repelling lines until there was a trail of bloodied pirates behind them.

One lucky pirate make a mad dash and actually managed to lay a hand on Enalia, grabbing her by the arm and causing her to drop the box; such an offense deserved a head shot, spraying a fine mist of blood and brain matter over Enalia. Free of the pirate, Enalia did her part and tried to retrieve the box like it was her precious tea set, but Nexi grabbed her around the waist and pulled her away.

"Ain't worth your life, let's go!" Nexi said, just loud enough she knew at least a few pirates would hear, popping off a few more rounds as she pulled Enalia closer to the Star. Finally leaving the transport inhibitor field, the Wandering Star was able to lock on to Nexi and Enalia and begin transport, and the last thing they saw as they were enveloped in the blue matter stream was the remaining pirates going after the abandoned box.

Finding themselves once again in the Wandering Star, Nexi held Enalia for a moment, checking her over to make sure that the blood on her was only from the enemy.

"Hey, you alright?" Nexi asked, but without waiting for an answer she pressed her lips to Enalia's, delivering a smoldering kiss in her relief that Enalia was okay. Reluctantly pulling her lips away from Enalia's, she retrieved the cloaked bag tucked in her belt and decloaked it, handing it to Enalia. "Make sure your prize survived, I'll get us out of here," Nexi added, then quickly turned for the cockpit.

The kiss seemed rather electric mixed with the taste of blood after that excitement. She set to work examining the tea set with the scanner she'd lifted off the Louvre immediately though.

Firing up the engines, Nexi quickly lifted off and guided the Star out of the port, but they were not alone; one of the skiffs was in pursuit, firing on the clearly superior vessel without regard for the safety of the surrounding structures.

"Fucking Hu-mons, I thought they were above all this bullshit," Nexi grumbled as she took the Star up higher into the atmosphere to take them away from populated buildings, cloaking the ship as she did so. The skiff was able to stay on their trail, following the vapor trail from the atmospheric thrusters. "Shit, these guys ain't as dumb as I thought they were. They must really want you something fierce!" she commented as she increased her speed; this skiff was pretty maneuverable and fast and had some decent weaponry that could really put a hurt on the Star if she wasn't equipped with the best shielding that Starfleet had to offer, but as the air thinned out and Nexi switched to impulse engines, the skiff no longer had a trail to follow and soon they were left behind.

"Sending a notice to the local authorities, but I ain't sticking around for an official investigation, if that's alright with you," Nexi called back to Enalia as she took the Star to full impulse to take them out of the Sol system.

After having checked her tea set, Enalia packed them back up in the bag and stashed them in a safe place in the hold. Heading toward the cockpit, she saw they were headed out of the Sol system. "Per contract, they're supposed to be stored on display at my Sweden castle, but considering the circumstances, I think a breach of contract is worth it. It'll have to stay on the Hera until I can relocate them to my floating fortress over Manech Nine. Also, I'm going to have to ask you to set up a second account... under a different name and setup... And I don't know about it yet..."

Nexi nodded at the mention of a second account; she had already planned to set up several accounts, not just for Enalia, but for herself and Aewia as well. "If you wanna go back, we can," Nexi said. "We lost our tail and we're cloaked, so they shouldn't be able to follow us. On the other hand, if they knew to wait for you at the Louvre, they could just as easily hang out at your place in Sweden... But I'm good to turn us around if you wanna go back, or I can lay in a course directly for Manech Nine."

"No, I'm betting they have people waiting everywhere but on the Hera itself. We'd best head back to the ship for now. Besides, this tea set cost a tenth of what my floating fortress did. I'd like to fondle it for a few days, if you know what I mean," Enalia replied with a sly grin. She did indeed have plans for it - like removing the deadly neurotoxins the teapot was laced with.

"Okay," Nexi replied with a nod. "We'll be out of the Sol system shortly, then we'll jump to warp, should be smooth sailing from there." Nexi paused, then looked over at Enalia with some hesitation. "And sorry about letting that one guy get to you; I didn't mean to let him get so close and I definitely didn't mean to make such a mess of it when I took him out. He didn't hurt you, did he?"

"Perfectly fine. And thank you. It's just too damned hard to hide any weapons on me when I visit these places. I'm expected to be a princess and all that, you know," Popping the hidden buttons on the back of her outfit, Enalia practically let it fall off of her, nothing but her 'restraining undergarments' holding her back as she let out a sigh of relief. "That feels better..."

"What are you?" Nexi asked curiously. "Joined Trill and Starfleet, even the Intel work I get, but why do you seem to be so... connected?" Nexi had been curious about this for some time, but out of respect for their friendship, she had refrained from nosing around too much, choosing instead to place a greater value on Enalia's privacy.

Enalia chuckled softly as she folded her outfit and stashed it in her bag and pulled out her uniform. "If I told you, I'd have to kill you, yadda yadda yadda... Anyway, if I actually told you, I'd have to induct you into the Order. Are you willing to fight for the preservation of historical artifacts and possibly even give your life for a teacup?"

"Seriously?" Nexi said with unconcealed surprise. "I like you, woman, but I don't like you that much," she continued with a chuckle and an amused shake of her head.

"Fair enough," Enalia chuckled softly, pulling on her uniform and zipping it up. "If it's ok, I'll still inform them you're an ally of the Order of Whispering Willows. You might get a few odd job requests from some very obsessive people, just as a warning."

"As long as they know and accept my rates, I don't mind running a few errands for your 'order'," Nexi said with a grin. "At least it's honest work compared to what I'm leaving behind," she mused aloud as her console chirped at her; they were clear to go to warp, so she engaged the warp engines to take them back to the Hera. "Alright, course is laid in; same as before, we'll be in transit for a while, so get comfy."

"Thanks again. I really appreciate it." Enalia headed into the back to get comfortable and wait until they made it back to the Hera.

Mal sat at his desk reviewing various details for the upcoming mission. He was frustrated that he would need to remain on the ship, but he knew it was for the best. His part of the mission would essentially involve preventing the Hera from being detected by the locals while laying in wait near enough to the Orion facility that he could come to the aid of the Away Teams if need be. To be honest, he was just killing time. He'd been over and over everything time and time again. At this point, there was nothing to do but wait. An alarm on his scheduler broke his train of thought. He looked at his day planner and found a welcome distraction from his worries over the Hera's impending trip through time. The Hera had just taken on a new Chief Science Officer, a lieutenant named Misty Stormes, and he was scheduled to meet with her. Mal cleared up the clutter on his desk and zipped up his jacket. He made sure that his utilikilt wasn't riding high, because, well...that would be awkward. Satisfied, he sat back and waited for Lieutenant Stormes to arrive.

HALLWAY

Misty strode through the ship, her ultimate destination being the XO's office. When she had first received orders for her new assignment, the first thing she had done was learn the layout of the ship; after all, it wouldn't do to get lost.

In addition to learning the physical layout of the ship, she also learned the social layout, most particularly that of the command group. Word on the XO's physical attractiveness and sexual skill bordered on legendary; more than one colleague had half-jokingly said she should prepare to start birthing children like a starship firing photon torpedoes.

She reached the XO's office and activated the door chime, curious as to how the next few minutes would play themselves out.

XO'S OFFICE

Mal touched a control on his desk and was rewarded with the image of Lieutenant Misty Stormes standing outside of his office. He made one last check to make sure that nothing classified above the lieutenant's level had been left out. Satisfied that nothing had been, he invited the attractive young lieutenant in.

"Enter!" he said, rising from his chair.

Misty casually entered the office and saluted.

"Sir, Lieutenant Stormes reporting for duty," she said.

Mal returned the salute casually.

"Commander Mal Xustos," he said. "A true pleasure to meet you, Lieutenant Stormes. Please have a seat. May I get you something to drink? To eat? I have actual tea and coffee if you'd like either. I find that the real stuff is much better than the replicated stuff when I can can get it."

She dropped her salute and took the offered chair.

"Yes please," she said. "Tell me about the Hera."

"First things first," Mal said. "Coffee or Tea? If coffee, then dark, medium, or light roast? If tea then black or green...or, believe it or not, we grow a tea leaf on my planet that produces a purple tea. It contains caffeine, but it's very gentle. Strong, but gentle...which rather describes my people, both the satyrs and the nymphs. Anyway, would you like to try it?"

Misty considered the offer of beverage while also wondering if he was already trying to initiate a sexual relationship with her. She doubted it--it would have been difficult for him to reach his rank if he fraternized with his subordinates.

But she did find herself wondering nonetheless.

"I've never had purple tea before, so I'd like to try that," she said.

"Excellent," Mal replied. "I'll be right back."

Mal went to a side table where he kept his tea and coffee and implements and vessels. He took a pouch of tea and placed it in a ceramic tea pot. He placed the pot under the water dispenser and tapped a few controls. Boiling hot water poured down into the pot. Once filled, Mal pulled the pot away from the dispenser and placed it on a tray. He gently held the tea pouch by the string attached to it and dunked the pouch in and out of the pot several times to get the process of brewing started, then let the pouch sit in the water. He placed the lid on the pot, then placed honey and other sweeteners on the tray along with two cups and spoons. Finished, he looked over his handy work a moment, then brought it to his desk, where he placed it down gently before taking his seat.

"We'll just let that sit a moment or two," he said. "So, you were asking about the Hera I believe? Well, we are not your average ship, though I suppose everyone says that about their ship. In fact, I've been a Starfleet officer for around twenty years and I have never reported in and had a captain or executive officer tell me 'Oh, you know, we're just your average, ordinary ship'. So I suppose we are ordinary in our uniqueness! In all seriousness, we are assigned to the beck and call of Starfleet Intelligence. We are assigned very secretive and very dangerous missions and we usually operate without outside support. That, I believe, is one of the reasons a ship this size has been given this duty. We are capable of carrying enough personnel, equipment, and support vessels, and are equipped with the necessary technology, to act independently for long periods of time. Even the pod we are currently equipped with is designed to be used for intelligence gathering purposes. You, as I understand it, are no stranger to special assignments. You were previously assigned to the Borg Task Force prior to coming to us?"

“Yes sir,” she said.

Focus…

“I believe they’re the single greatest threat facing us,” she said. “With other races, there’s the possibility of negotiation, but the Borg absolutely aren’t. They’re completely devoted to the idea of assimilating everyone, and the only way they can be stopped is by killing them.

"Anyway, you mentioned we mostly carry out missions as directed by Starfleet Intelligence," she said, deftly changing the subject. "Are we currently engaged in one now?"

Mal noticed the seemingly deft change of subject. The Borg were a sore point then. Only natural. Lieutenant Stormes was, after all, El-Aurian. If anyone had a right to hate the Borg, it was the El-Aurians...and the countless other races, planets, and civilizations the Borg had destroyed in the process of assimilation. Mal decided to let it go for now.

"Yes," Mal said. "We are. You'll have to forgive me because I was assigned as first officer only a short time ago, so even I am not entirely clear on the details and asking too many questions is not always wise. One might not like the answers. Essentially, the Hera and her crew have been involved in an on-going mission to seek out and shut down a series of secret laboratories where genetic manipulation has taken place. Our most recent raid nearly resulted in the loss of the entire team. As it was we lost several masters-at-arms and one of our intelligence NCOs suffered a severe injury, one he has now recovered from thanks to the miracles of 24th Century medicine. After infiltrating the seemingly abandoned facility, one that was protected by orbital defense platforms of Cardassian design, the team encountered several very dangerous genetically altered beings, including two quite massive creatures that were at one point Cardassian males. They were resistant to phaser fire and Chief West's projectile weapon did much less damage than might be expected. There were also a pair of rodents larger than me. To make matters odder, the base's AI seemed to know one of our intelligence staff, a contractor by the name of Nexi. This is apparently not the first time Nexi and the crew have encountered this issue while on this mission but they have been able to discover no new information. We extracted our personnel and destroyed the base before anything there could get out and hurt anyone else. Our current mission is even more dangerous, but for different reasons. Temporal Investigations and Starfleet Intelligence have located one of these bases near the BEPI system...in the year 2160. We've been asked to sling-shot back to 2160 and investigate. Why do we have to go back, you ask? Because it was destroyed that same year. There's a paradoxical problem, though. You see, it may have been us that destroyed it. If that makes your head hurt, you're not the only one. So we are going back and several teams in appropriate disguises are going to infiltrate an orion run facility in the BEPI system and, hopefully, find the base hidden beneath it. I am unable to go, as my species had not had contact with the Orions or any of the major Federation races at that point. In fact, the Federation didn't actually exist in 2160. The Earth-Romulan War had just ended. In 2161 the founding members of the Federation would sign the Federation into existence, but in 2160...no Federation, no unifying body, no real interplanetary law and order."

"Time travel..." she said thoughtfully and took a sip of the tea.

"Quite good," she said. "But getting back to the mission. Temporal mechanics has never been a strong suit of mine, but from what I recall of the policy on travelling to the past means we need to avoid any temporal contamination at all costs.

"This may be a bit premature sir, but am I being assigned to one of the away teams?" she asked.

"Would you like to be?" Mal asked. "Because of the nature of the assignment, someone with a scientific background would be very useful. It would be rather pointless for the team to infiltrate the base and then have no idea what they are looking at. I would very much like to assign you to one of the teams."

"I suppose this is what the humans call 'being thrown into the deep end', sir," she said. "Count me in."

She took another sip of the tea.

"This really is quite good, sir," she said. "Is this available elsewhere around the galaxy, or are you the sole source?"

"I'm glad you like it," Mal said. "As for whether you can find it elsewhere...purple tea, probably, but this particular purple tea...I'm not sure. I don't know if anyone has ever tried to grow it somewhere else. We haven't traded in the seeds, but I suppose someone could try and clone the dried leaves. I'm not much of a scientific mind, but I don't think that would work very well."

Mal sipped his tea, then went on.

"You might find it interesting to know that we have another El-Aurian aboard," he said. "Chief Warrant Officer Daytona Ral. He's half-Rigelian and as far as I know he's never been to your home planet. His mother was El-Aurian. She fell in love with and married Daytona's father and lived on Rigel V until her spouses died off, then moved on. He's a bit over four hundred years old."

"Interesting," she said, taking another sip of tea. "Tell me about the captain. What's he like?"

"She's an interesting woman," Mal replied. "Dedicated, fiercely loyal, and a bit unorthodox. She spent some of her career as a pilot flying support for intelligence operations. Her familiarity with Starfleet Intelligence is, I assume, one of the reasons she was assigned to command the Hera in the first place. Personable as well. She has a decidedly quirky sense of humor and an unusual spouse. She's married to a sentient hologram. Oddities aside, if I was in trouble, I'd feel better knowing that Captain Enalia Telvan was on my side."

Misty's cool demeanor cracked, her eyebrows flying up in surprise and her eyes widening.

"Married...to a sentient hologram?" she said, her mind racing. "And here I thought my first starship assignment was going to be boring. Anything else about this ship and her crew that I should be aware of?"

"Well," Mal said with a grin. "Some of the crew take a little...getting used to, especially while they're getting used to you. Some of them are perfectly normal, as far as normal goes, while others, well...let's just say it takes a certain type of off the wall person to do the type of off the wall work that we do. If you need to talk about anything or run into any problems, my door is always open...just be sure to knock first."

Mal smiled at this last remark to show he was trying to be clever.

"Oh," Mal said. "Nexi, the contractor from Intelligence. Her half-sister is aboard. Aewia has suffered severe brain damage as a result of torture. She is rather simple, though I believe more clever than people give her credit for."

Mal turned a photograph on his desk around so that it faced Misty. It showed Mal and Aewia at an ice cream shop making funny faces at the camera. Nexi sat with them, a grumpy look on her face, clearly wondering why she had let her sister talk her into bringing some idiotic goat person with them to get ice cream.

"Aewia's the one with ice cream on her nose," Mal said. "The one with the horns is me, of course, and the grumpalumpus sitting with us is Aewia's sister Nexi. Nexi is very protective of Aewia, so just keep that in mind if you encounter one or the both of them. Nexi is a very dangerous woman to have as an enemy."

"Good to know, the last way I want to wake up is with a slit throat," she said. "I'm all out of questions for now, do you have anything else for me?"

"Nothing but this," Mal said. "Welcome aboard, Lieutenant Misty Stormes. I look forward to working with you."

"Likewise, sir," she said, and smiled.