Enalia was tired but happy to finally be home. Actually home. On the monitor was her orbital fortress that she not only grew up in but had now inherited since her parents had retired. Since then, she had ordered a special docking station for the Hera be installed so that any ship with a saucer of similar dimensions could pull up and plug in with full interactive interface at the side saucer hatches as well as the hatches on the secondary hull.

Ensign Gonadie had the docking instructions and as the 120km wide domed structure filled the viewscreen, she cut speed back automatically as docking beacons lit up the area, guiding them into the cradle awaiting their arrival. "Now running on maneuvering thrusters. Distance 100 kilometers and closing."

Mal leaned in towards Enalia.

"Happy to be home, Captain?" he asked.

"Very happy," Enalia replied, grinning at Mal. "Will you join me for a tour of the family museums later?"

"It would be my pleasure," Mal said, grinning in response. "Thank you. Both for the invitation and for bringing the crew here. This will be good for them. I just hope that Lieutenant Jordan and I don't have to bail too many of them out of the local drunk tanks. There are some very...colorful places nearby for them to visit."

"And many of them are used to getting a little extra latinum on the side. If you run into any trouble, tell them that you're the XO of the Hera and that you're guests of the Artan family and that should help. If not, let me know and I'll make a few calls." Enalia still had a few ties in the system she could flex if she needed to if push came to shove.

"Ten kilometers and closing. Now surrendering helm to tractor control." Ensign Gonadie called out.

Enalia nodded in acknowledgement. "We're in safe hands. Prepare for docking. Initiate opto-data couplers at all docking ports and prepare the holomatrix linkup system. Akira, if this works you and Maica will both be able to walk freely anywhere between the Hera and my home without transferring your programs so make sure it's stable, ok?"

"Yes ma'am," Akira said dutifully, yet unable to hide the enthusiasm and excitement this visit evoked. As they were pulled closer, she coordinated with the station flight controller, and once the ship was properly seated and moored to the gangway, she initiated the umbilical link. "We are now securely moored. Establishing the link up now," she stated as she continued to work. A moment later, the ship's alert lights began to flash blue, indicating their docking status. "The Hera is now integrated with the station's systems and operating on umbilical power, and I'm reading that work crews are already being deployed to initiate repairs," she reported cheerfully. "Holo-systems and Transporters are now fully synced as well."

"Excellent," Enalia grinned from ear to ear. She just had a few more responsibilities to take care of. "Attention all hands. Welcome to the Artan Family Orbital Fortress. I extend my warmest welcomes to every crewmember and hope that everyone has a good shore leave. The plan is for minimum manning for two weeks at half shifts. The first week, half the crew will be completely off and those that are may travel the system. Those that are not off, may make full use of the services of my orbital fortress while off duty. The second week, we will swap which half is working half shifts and who is off. Remember that the alcohol is real in this system and that hangovers are no excuse to be late for a scheduled shift. Enjoy some time off. Captain Telvan out."

"If I may add," Mal said, opening the channel. "The venereal diseases in this system are real as well and some of them are treatment resistant. You've done amazing work and you deserve an enjoyable leave. Just be careful not pick up a gift that keeps on giving. Now, go have some fun!"

"The gift that keeps on- oh...." Akira's eyes were wide as she realized what that meant. "That sounds... unpleasant..." And in the moment she was doubly glad that she was a hologram.

"Yes, I'm sure it is." Enalia stood and stretched as she headed towards her ready room. "Ensign Gonadie, the ship is yours for this first week. Take good care of her while I'm gone."

"Aye, Captain," replied the ensign with gusto as she shut down her station and headed to the Captain's chair.

Mal also rose from his chair. He wanted to meet up with Clio and explore the fortress.

"Good luck, Ensign," Mal said. "I expect to find the ship in the same or better condition than I left it when I return, so whatever you do, don't press the red button!"

The brightly colored Miradonian looked up at Mal confused. "But sir... Half the buttons on the ship are red!"

"If it helps you feel any better, I don't get it either," Akira said as she logged out of her console to hand it over to a relief Officer, having been promised to get her leave time with Daytona on the first shift.

"I'll just have to burn that can of worms when the bovines come home and drink," Ensign Gonadie said with a chuckle. "Or whatever the humans say at times like this. Crew are now authorized to disembark from both airlocks on deck ten, if you'd like to join them. I'm told there's a tram from the main gates to the castle that goes right between a lake and a golf course."

Tags

Clio had decided it to call it a day, so Daytona was now free to relax a bit. It felt good to get out of the Intelligence Center for a while. He arrived at his quarters, entered, and looked around. He wondered what he could do with his precious spare time. Akira came to his mind quickly, but, out of fear of bothering her too much, he tried to think of other activities. It didn't work. His mind and his heart kept coming back around to Akira. So it looked like he was going to try and track her down and see if he could entice her to spend a little time with him.

Daytona's muscles were sore and he felt like he needed a shower. He went to the head and stripped down. He took a sonic shower, letting the sound clean him, letting the vibrations relax his muscles. After a while he shut down the shower, stepped out, and got dressed into some comfortable civilian clothing, casual, but nice. A somewhat baggy, white, collarless shirt that buttoned up the front. He tucked this into a pair of loose, comfortable looking khaki colored pants. On his feet he put a pair of comfortable sandals.

Daytona thought about what to do with Akira, then the idea hit him. He'd use the holoprogram of his clan's land on Rigel V. They kept riding kesheks there. He could take her for a ride...and there was a cave with hot springs. The clan had carved tubs into the pools so people could sit comfortably in them. And there was a lake, if they just wanted to go swimming...yes, this might be fun, for both of them. Daytona went to his computer and called up his electronic mail program. He typed a message to Akira.

Hello, beautiful. Commander Enaes has set me free for the day. Can you get away from work for a while? If you can, I have a surprise for you.

At his call, Akira immediately appeared in his quarters. "I am supposed to be off duty, but I've been assisting with the repair efforts of the Beta shift crew, although we have hit a lull, so I can spare a moment while we wait for supplies," Akira said factually, as though there was nothing wrong with her sudden appearance.

Daytona was startled at Akira's appearance, but pleased that she felt comfortable just popping into his quarters. Daytona walked over to Akira and pulled her gently into a hug, then kissed her sweetly on the lips.

"It sounds like you've been busy," he said, still holding her. "If you truly have a moment...well, maybe several moments, then come with me to the holodeck. It's on its own power source, so it won't drain any power from systems we need. You've been working very hard these last few days. I think you need a break. I know I do. Sorting through incomplete records that pre-date the Federation, going down numerous rabbit holes only to find that we've hit a dead end, or just taken the wrong path, is getting to me. So, I would like to take you away to do something you've probably never done before. Are you interested?"

Akira smiled sweetly in response to the kiss. "The Hera took a lot of damage, but she's stable for the moment, and until Warrant Officer Nexi returns with supplies, there's not much that can be done for a while," she said. "And I appreciate that you want to take care of me, but I do not require rest." Even still she smiled again for him. "But I have enough time to see what this surprise is."

"Excellent," he said. "I need to change into a different pair of pants and shoes. Stay here just one moment."

Daytona stole another quick kiss and then dashed off to his bedroom. He took off his sandals and his pants. He quickly put on a sturdier pair of pants made of a material similar to denim but still khaki in color and a pair of what appeared to the Rigelian version of 'cowboy boots' made of hide from some sturdy animal native to Rigel V.

"Okay," he said. "You'll want to wear something similar...well, I suppose you could keep the uniform if you're attached to it, but when we get there, you're going to at least want boots similar to mine. Oh, and I know you can blink down to the holodeck, but if you're willing, I'd love to walk there with you."

Now Akira was really curious! She looked at his attire, analyzing it so she could approximate appropriate clothing for herself. With a shimmer, her uniform was replaced by dark blue denim pants and a simple loose tunic style shirt printed with a purple paisley pattern. "Is this better?" she asked.

"You look fantastic," he said, taking in her appearance with an approving glance. "Absolutely perfect. This should be a lot of fun. Shall we?"

Daytona offered Akira his arm.

Akira smiled and hooked her hand in the crook of his arm. "So what is this surprise?" she asked with the insatiable curiosity of a child.

"Now Akira, my sweet," Daytona said with mock seriousness as they exited his quarters and headed for the holodeck. "If I told you what the surprise was, it wouldn't be a surprise, would it? You'll just have to wait until we get there!"

Akira is so beautiful when she smiles. I wonder if she knows that I am completely at her mercy? Am I being a fool? Maybe. But, if so, I'm a happy fool for the moment!

Akira pouted adorably; but she wanted to know now! She had never considered herself to be all that impatient before, but walking from his quarters to the holodeck was taking FOREVER!

Oh Gods, that pout! Be strong, Daytona! Just keep thinking about the look she'll (hopefully) have on her face as you reveal the surprise! Don't give in...don't give...I think I can...I think I can...

"We're almost there," Daytona said. "Look there's the door now! Alright, give me just a minute..."

Daytona tapped a few of the controls on the panel outside the holodeck. Once he was satisfied that the correct program had loaded and was up and running, he opened the door. Daytona held out his hand to Akira and when she took it, he led her into a holographic world she'd probably never seen before. There was a farmhouse, a large one, with corrals and a barn. Various domestic animals, analogous to bovine, porcine animals on earth, as well as something like Earth's goats and sheep, and even several somethings that resembled chickens running about. The animals in the corrals drew most of the attention. The equines within resembled a cross between Earth horses and Earth Zebras, but their colors were more vibrant. There were white, dark and light brown, buckskin, and black. but there were also a few blues, reds and purples. The color of the animals' stripes always seemed to compliment their dominant color. Some of them nibbled at hay, while others periodically pranced majestically around their corral.

Around the farm were a few hands tending to things. They seemed happy and they'd been programmed to be helpful, with a few exceptions for flavor, but they were also programmed not to crowd visitors. The farm was set in a clearing. There were fields of various crops seen in the distance. It seemed that the farmers had only cleared the areas they needed of trees. Trees could be seen all around, bordering the cleared areas.

"I grew up here," Daytona said. "Nearby, there's a lake and also a cave with hot springs in it. I figured you'd never seen a place like this before. I also assume you've never been riding before...I mean that you've never ridden an equine. When you get your mobile emitter sorted out, I'll take you to my real home, if you'd like. Until then, though, how would you like to learn to ride a keshek? Those are the equines in the corrals. They can be incredibly ornery, but if you train them from a young age for riding, they can be very gentle. Most of ours were that way. So, would you like to go riding with me?"

"I've never been off the ship before," Akira remarked as she took it all in with wide-eyed wonder. She knew the sky wasn't real, she was painfully aware of the boundaries of the walls, but it was still beautiful, and for a moment she could imagine it was real. She approached the corrals, watching the beasts within with rapt fascination. "You mean we can ride these?" she asked, pointing to one of the colorful keshek. "What is the purpose of doing this?" she asked with curiosity.

Daytona smiled. It looked like his plan was working.

"Well," he said. "Once riding keshek was a common mode of transportation. In some areas of the planet, riding a keshek, or riding in a wagon or cart pulled by one is still a common mode of travel. That's especially true on the larger homesteads and ranches. They can cover a lot of terrain, including some places that it would be difficult to get to in a vehicle. They're also useful for herding other domesticated animals, like the bovines. Herders ride them for such a purpose. But it's also just a lot of fun. The animals will get their exercise and we'll have an enjoyable evening. Here, wait a moment."

Daytona put his hands on the top of the corral fencing and pushed off, gracefully swung his body, legs first, over the top of the fencing. He stuck the landing, something he was grateful for. He hadn't done that in a while and it was equally likely he could have broken his ass attempting to show off for Akira. He picked up a bridle and walked slowly up to a purple keshek, speaking soothing words to it as he got closer. The animal looked wary, then changed its mind and let him approach. He slipped the bridle over the keshek's head and set it in place. Then he led the gorgeous animal over to fence near where Akira was standing.

"Come on over an meet Kiaera," he said. "She's as sweet and as gentle as...well...you. If you reach inside that box hanging off the fence there, you'll find a treat we sometimes offer these animals. Feed her one and pet her and she'll be your friend for life. Seriously, the software is programmed so that the animals and the people remember what happened on my previous visits. Go ahead. It's perfectly safe, well, here anyway. If you ever get to see the real thing it would be good to be a bit more wary. We have a saying: no animal bites until it does. But, never mind that. In here, they're completely friendly."

Daytona was babbling a bit, and he knew it. Akira made him want to share everything with her, including his secrets. He'd have to be careful about that.

Akira was wary and nervous, so the beast was likewise wary and nervous, but she did as instructed and reached into the box for a treat, pulling out what looked to be a piece of some sort of root vegetable. Akira hesitantly stuck her hand through the fence, offering the vegetable to the beautiful creature. Akira squeaked in surprise when she felt the silky soft of Kiaera's muzzle against her hand, the beast sniffing for the treat, eventually gobbling it up right from her hand. Akira quickly drew her hand back, her eyes wide with surprise.

"She tried to eat me!" Akira insisted, uncertain if she wanted to give this riding thing a try.

Daytona laughed.

"No...oh my," he said. "No, she didn't. She was eating the treat. She's an herbivore. She doesn't eat people...well...she might eat a plant person if she thought they would taste good, but she's certainly not going to eat you. I promise. Here, come closer."

Daytona brought Kiaera's head close to the fence so Akira could reach her muzzle.

"Go ahead and pet her," he said, a gentle smile on his face, the affection he had for Akira evident in his expression. Daytona was clearly enjoying sharing this new experience with her. "Her muzzle is very soft. I swear she won't try to eat you."

Akira reached through the fence to try to pet the keshek, squeaking when her hand came into contact with the soft muzzle. The keshek mouthed around looking for another treat, causing Akira whine softly. But Kiaera didn't try to eat Akira, instead she simply rubbed her muzzle against Akira's hand to try to get a nice pat from the hand when she didn't find food. Akira eventually quieted down and started to rub her hand along the keshek's nose and then up to her forehead. "Wow..." Akira said in amazement as she continued to pet Kiaera.

Score one for the quadragenarian!

"See," Daytona said. "She likes you. Would you like me to bring her out so you can get to know her a little better? You could even curry comb and brush her if you'd like. She'd love that."

"O-okay," Akira said, still wary of the keshek. Akira stepped away as Daytona opened the enclosure and walked Kieara out; somehow the keshek seemed bigger now that the safety of the fence had been removed. Daytona had do more coaxing with Akira than Kieara to get them back together, but soon Akira was getting up close and personal with this majestic beast! "So you grew up doing this?" Akira asked as Daytona showed her how to brush the keshek with long strokes to remove dirt and shed hair, making the purple striped coat shine.

"Yes I did," Daytona replied. "It was a good life, but I always felt that I belonged somewhere else. Sometimes I go back, in fact, I make a point of going back periodically, to say goodbye to the elders, to congratulate the adults on their successes, and to meet the children who will be the adults and elders someday, so that there will always be someone there who remembers me. But yes, I did grow up doing this, and I loved it. It was hard work at times, but I loved it."

"To say goodbye?" It was more of a thought than an actual question, but she paused and looked up at Daytona. "Because you live so long?"

"Yes," Daytona said. "My father's people live a good two hundred years or more. There was someone in my family who lived to the ripe old age of two hundred and seventy-seven. So when I meet a young Rigelian family member, I have quite some time with them...so to speak, but eventually they pass and another generation moves in. I'm only four hundred and twenty-two, as you know, so it was only around two hundred years ago that my siblings and childhood comrades passed. My parents, except my mother, of course, a bit before that, my grandparents some time before that. But some of my nieces and nephews are still around. They are pretty elderly, but I visit them sometimes. And I'm known to their children and their children's children. So I maintain the connection to my family."

Daytona grinned at Akira.

"So," he said. "It looks like you two are getting along great. Shall I saddle her up for you? I'll lead you around the corral at first, till you get used to it. If you get comfortable enough today to go for an easy ride on the property, I'll saddle up my own ride and we can take an easy ride around the property. Kiaera is well trained. She'll just follow my horse in the absence of any instructions from you. But I'll teach you all about that. So, what do you say? Want to give it a try?"

"Mmm, okay," Akira said, still uneasy about this whole thing. She moved stiffly off to the side while Daytona saddled the keshek, then brought over a step stool to help her mount up. It took her a few tries and a few laughs to get her up in the saddle, but she made it up there, looking more than a little frightened, especially when Kieara started to move on her own. "Oooh, OOOH! Daytona, help!" Akira exclaimed. In truth, the keshek was behaving beautifully and had only moved a matter of inches, still well within reach of Daytona, but it still gave Akira a scare, enough so that she held tight to the saddle with trembling hands.

Daytona laughed, but kindly, with Akira and not at her.

"I've got you," he said, taking the reins firmly in hand. "Now, just set your feet in the stirrups like...yes, that's it. Perfect. Now, this may feel a bit weird at first, but just relax and your body will start to roll with Kiaera's movements. Ready? Here we go."

Daytona started walking and made a clicking noise with his tongue. Kiaera followed dutifully along behind him at a slow and gentle pace, as though she sensed Akira's nervousness and was adjusting her pace and movements accordingly. As they clopped along, several of the farm hands waved to Daytona and to Akira. Some made encouraging comments to her or told her how well she was doing.

Well, no one has said anything about her falling out of the saddle, so...

"How's it going back there?" Daytona called over his shoulder. "Feeling anymore comfortable?"

"Uhhh, I don't think so, no," Akira said as Daytona continued to lead her around. She was still very stiff in the saddle and she had not yet figured out how to 'roll' with Kiaera's movements as he instructed. "How is this supposed to be enjoyable?" she asked.

Daytona stopped Kiaera at the nearest post and tied her off. He walked back to Akira and put his hand on hers.

"We can stop if you want to," he said. "I thought you might like this, but if you don't, or you just don't want to do this anymore right now, that's fine. Besides, there are other nice things about this place I can show you that don't require equine power to get to...especially because I control the entire environment here. So, would you like me to help you down?"

"Yes please," Akira said readily, holding her arms out to Daytona so that he could get her back on solid ground. "I'm sorry I do not like the keshek riding," she said, saddened as though she had somehow disappointed him.

Daytona lifted Akira down to the ground. When she was on solid ground he hugged her.

"You have nothing to be sorry about," he said. "You don't have to like everything I show you, and I'm not upset. Part of getting to know someone is figuring out what they like and don't like, sometimes by trial and error. If you have time, we could take a walk, or I could just adjust the program so we're at the lake. It's very nice over there. we could relax there for a while, we could go in the water if you'd like, all the way in or just wade in and get our feet wet. But no more keshek, I promise!"

"It's hard to know what I like and don't like; I haven't tried many things yet," Akira said, holding him tightly. "But a walk does sound nice. And what is so nice about a lake? Why are we getting our feet wet? That doesn't sound very practical, walking around with wet feet..." Not that wet feet would really bother her all that much, aside from feeling weird, but Daytona was a biological, wet feet surely could not be good!

Daytona smiled, careful not to laugh, and held Akira. After a moment, he kissed her on the top of the head, but he didn't let her go. He wouldn't, until she was ready to relax the powerful grip she had him in.

"You are correct, my dear," he said. "Wet feet are not very practical. But, on a warm summer's day, wet feet are one of the joys of life. Lakes, well, lakes are nice because they look pretty and are fun to swim in or sail on or just splash in along the edges, and because a nice breeze usually blows off of them to cool you off. But we'll take baby steps. Your Aunt Maica warned me about getting you over stimulated. So let's just walk to the lake and see what there is to see. If things start to seem overwhelming, well...you can grab me and hug me like you're hugging me now and I'll hug you and things will feel better for both of us."

Warm, cool? She could name off the temperature in Fahrenheit, Celsius, and Kelvin, but she couldn't say with any real understanding if it was warm or cool. "Aunt Maica thinks you're my boyfriend," Akira stated as they started walking. "I don't know what that means. you're male and I would like to think that we are friends, but the way she said it seemed to imply more than just your gender and the status of our friendship. Also, it is my understanding that babies are not capable of walking, that when they take their first steps they are called toddlers, hence the etymology of the name, they 'toddle'."

Daytona took a brief moment to stop himself from guffawing so loudly that he was certain Akira would never talk to him again.

"Ah...okay...where to start?" he said, taking her hand in his as they walked. "Let's start with the phrase 'baby steps'. It's a figure of speech. Humans use it quite a bit, but even my people have a similar phrase. Babies take very hesitant, slow first steps before they figure out how to toddle around and become toddlers. So a baby step is basically a tentative act that is the first stage of a...well...a challenging process. You seemed to be finding the idea of going to the lake challenging, or at least overwhelming, so I suggested that we work our way up to it slowly, by taking a leisurely walk there and seeing how you felt when you got there, rather than planning anything out in advance. As for the concept of 'boyfriend' that's a little weird in Federation Standard. On the face of it, boyfriend sounds like a 'boy' who is your 'friend'. In fact the female version of the word can be used to refer to a 'girl' who is your 'friend', but that usually only if the person using the term is female, and then not all the time. The terms 'boyfriend' and 'girlfriend' usually imply an...uhm...well...a romantic relationship."

Daytona wasn't sure what was going to happen next. He was a little afraid Akira was going to laugh at the idea. That would hurt. Or that she might say something about how the idea was absurd, and that would hurt just as much if not more. He quickly asked a question in the hopes of forestalling any heartbreak he might be about to suffer.

"Uhm...what were you two talking about when she said I was...uhm...your boyfriend?" he asked.

"I'm sure the lake is lovely, I just don't understand what's so great about being wet," Akira replied bluntly. "I'm sorry, I am still learning to understand colloquialisms, there's just so many, but your explanations make sense. As for what Aunt Maica and I were talking about, she made a comment about my appearance and I mentioned that I showed you my altered appearance, she asked if you were my boyfriend and then I told her how you touched my butt; she said I'm in love," she continued to rattle off. Then she paused and looked at him. "So we are in a romantic relationship? We are courting?"

"I hope so," Daytona said without hesitation. "Spending time with you makes me feel alive in a way I haven't felt in a very long time. Holding your hand, touching your face, kissing you...these all send thrills through my body like nothing I have ever experienced. Your laugh brightens my day and when you smile, particularly when you smile at me, I am completely at your mercy. The way your mind works is at once intriguing to me and a bit perplexing, but that just makes me want to know you even more. I know we haven't had much time to get to know each other yet, so I am trying to take that time. These all indicate to me that I am at least courting you. What you told your aunt about how I make you feel, that tells me that my affection for you is well received. Whether because the feelings are new and you like them, or because you are truly attracted to me...I can't answer that for you. That's part of what getting to know each other will help both of us figure out."

"You make me feel things too, a lot of which I don't understand, but I like it," Akira said to him with a shy smile. Hesitantly, she reached out to take his hand as they had done on their arboretum date. "I like getting to know you, Daytona; I want to do more of this courting."

"I'm glad," Daytona said, smiling. He took her hand in his, brought it to his lips and kissed it, before lowering to his side and walking with her hand in hand down a path leading away from the farmhouse."Because I do too. So, tell me about something interesting about your day. Anything at all. Personal or work related. If it's something technical, something about the work you did today, don't worry about whether I'm going to understand it or not. If I don't, I'll ask questions."

"Oh, uh... well, what qualifies as interesting?" Akira asked. "I have done a great deal of work today, much of which I find utterly fascinating, but I've been informed that much of what I consider fascinating is rather mundane for biologicals, like installing new EPS conduits. So if I'm to answer this question without listing everything I have done today, I need to narrow the parameters."

Daytona chuckled. Nothing was ever simple with Akira.

"Hmm..." he said. "Parameters, parameters...okay, tell me about an interaction you had with someone. Someone in your department, some other department, someone you bumped into in the corridor, anyone. Tell whether or not you enjoyed the interaction and why, or if the interaction confused you. Does that help?"

"Hmmm...." Akira hummed as she thought about this. "Well, there was this individual in Main Engineering, he spoke quite strangely; he was speaking Standard English, but with an inflection and speech patterns that were definitely not normal. Oh, he made the warp core activate which allowed the ship to go to warp, even though it shouldn't have been possible! I still do not know how he did it, the results defy all known laws of physics."

Daytona nodded in understanding.

"That," he said. "Was a Scotsman, that is to day, he or his family originate from the country in the British Isles known as Scotland. For some reason, Scottish engineers are able to perform great engineering feats, most often in less time than they told you they would be able to do so. The most famous of them so far is Captain Montgomery Scott, former chief Engineer of the USS Enterprise 1701 and 1701-A. He was active from the 2240s through the 2290s. It's my understanding that Captain Picard and Company found him saved in a transporter pattern buffer on the ship that was taking him to a retirement colony. The thing had crashed on a Dyson Sphere or something like that. They got him out and loaned him a shuttle and he took off to find new adventures. If he's still alive, he's got to be about one hundred years old, give or take. I met him once, actually. He was on leave on Rigel II when I was assigned to the system by Starfleet Intelligence. I recognized him right away. All of the Enterprise senior staff of that era were famous by then. Anyway, I bought him a drink. One drink turned into two, two into three, etc. I soon realized that if I didn't stop, I was going to get very, very drunk. So I made some excuse about having to leave and made a hasty retreat. So, did our Scottish engineer tell you how he managed to get the warp engines online? Or did he keep that as a trade secret?"

"Well, he tried to explain it to me, but between the speech patterns and his choice of lingo to refer to some of the technology, I just couldn't understand him!" Akira replied. "I didn't get to talk to him for long, I had plenty of work that demanded my attention, but that was still interesting. Later during repairs, I found a spatula being used as a conductive shunt. I thought that was rather odd, but I replaced it with the proper materials. For some reason, I kept the spatula; I don't really know why, but it was amusing and now it's sitting in my quarters."

Daytona laughed. He was glad he'd gotten Akira talking. He'd been worried that she was going to shut down on him.

"A spatula?" Daytona said. "Now that is amusing. I suppose, if you need a conductive shunt in an emergency and a spatula is all you could find, then why not a spatula? Where did you find the spatula being used as a conductive shunt? And if it wasn't in someone's personal quarters, the mess hall, or the lounge, why was a spatula there to use in the first place?"

"That's the truly perplexing thing, it was in a Jefferies tube, but it wasn't on the residential decks or near the mess hall or the lounge! I plan to scour the logs later to see when it was placed and by whom, but with such an unusual repair, it's unlikely we'll ever know how it got there." Akira smiled as they neared the lake. She was still painfully aware that it was not real, but it was based on a real place, and given its significance to Daytona's upbringing, she felt something... honored? Yes, she felt honored that he was sharing this place with her. "You were right, the lake is beautiful," she remarked softly.

"I'm glad you like it," Daytona said. "If you ever want to give swimming a try, I'll gladly take you here. Or if you ever want to try soaking away your troubles in a hot springs, there's a cave up that path. People usually find soaking in the springs relaxing...but, actually, I have no idea how you experience things like temperature. I know you have a sense of touch. I can tell that you react positively when we hold hands and when we kiss, but I don't really understand how all of that works."

Akira looked up at him with a perplexed expression. "You know, I don't understand how that works either," she stated. "I know I have both sensor capabilities and sensory perception, but some of the sensory perception is closed off until I reach certain stages of development that can handle it. When I was created, I had access to my full sensory capabilities, but Mother Andy realized that it was too much sensory information and it was slowing my ability to process new input because I was fixating on sensory experiences, so she created gateways to limit the sensory input, several of which I have developed far enough to unlock. And I cannot fathom how your touch causes me to react the way it does; I understand in concept the biochemistry in play for biologicals, and I'm amazed... but I have no idea how it works for me."

"Well," Daytona said. "I'm just glad that it does work. My ego would be terribly bruised if my kisses had no effect on you."

He gave Akira a squeeze and smiled at her to let her know he was joking...mostly. For a moment Dayton just held her and looked out at the lake. It was peaceful and the sun was just starting to set. After a moment, he spoke again.

"I'm sorry," he said. "About the keshek. In retrospect, that was really thoughtless of me. I wanted to give you an experience that you'd never had before, but I didn't think about the fact that since you had never seen an animal up close before, Kiaera might be a bit intimidating. I should have started with kittens. Small, cute, fluffy, cuddly, kittens. Would you like to meet a kitten? Or maybe a cat if there are not kittens aboard? I'd be happy to check around and see if anyone has a domestic feline kitten, or at least a cat that you can meet. They're small and generally friendly, though at times a bit stand offish when they grow to adulthood. However, if they're socialized well, they are usually friendly and often cuddly, even when they grow up. What do you think of that idea?"

Akira thought about this for a moment. "Yes, I would be willing to try interacting with a cat or a kitten. The way you describe it does sounds fascinating and enjoyable! As for the keshek, I am sorry as well. I had no idea I would react as I did, but I just did not know what to make of her, and riding her was not all that comfortable, but I suspect that was because I was not doing it right. I fear that all that stems from... something else." Akira paused, looking away from Daytona with a hint of embarrassment. "I didn't know if I should tell you; you went through so much trouble and I didn't want to appear ungrateful, but I am finding the holodeck to be wholly unsettling. Because I too am a hologram, I am hyper aware that this setting is not real. And... The last time I was in a holodeck, I was trapped as the Katana's systems failed. I was so scared; Father had already disappeared and the environment was crashing, I knew I would be next at any minute! Then he reappeared and held me, but then... I do not know how to describe what I experienced after that, but... our matrices crashed, and an Officer was able to retrieve us from the holodeck's memory and transfer us to the Hera, another holodeck where Father and I could be untangled and put back together. The limbo we existed in, it was..." Akira shivered with a soft, frightened gasp as for a moment she relived that feeling.

Daytona gently pulled Akira into a hug and held her close. He ran his fingers through her and kissed her on the forehead.

"I am so deeply sorry, Akira," he said. "I should have realized. I never would have brought you to the holodeck if I knew that was how you felt. We can leave right now if that would make you feel better. We could go to the Arboretum again, or...maybe listen to music in my quarters for a while or in yours...or...whatever you'd like to do, even if you just want to go back to work. And you should never be afraid to share your thoughts and feelings with me, especially if I've do something that makes you uncomfortable...I hope you know that I would never intentionally do anything to upset you."

"I did not know it would feel this way until now," Akira admitted, sniffling in his arms. "I am sorry, I just wanted to see this secret, and it was so sweet and thoughtful, but I do want to leave."

"Absolutely," Daytona said. "Computer, end program."

Daytona's holoprogram ended, exposing the blank walls of the holodeck. Daytona escorted Akira to the door, which opened when they got in range of the sensor and they exited the holodeck.

"Again," he said. "I'm very sorry. I promise, I'll make this evening up to you. Would you like to do something else? Or do you need to get back?"

Daytona was heartbroken by even the idea that he had caused Akira pain. If she wanted to spend more time with him that evening, he'd let her pick something she'd like to do. If she needed to get back to work, or wanted to because she just needed to get back to something she understood, Daytona would be sad and a bit discouraged, but would not let those feelings keep him from his pursuit of Akira.

"I... well... Can I just spend some time with you?" Akira asked meekly, already feeling more at ease now that they were no longer in the holodeck. "We can go to your quarters or mine, or even the arboretum, I have no preference at the moment."

"I'd like nothing more," Daytona said. "Why don't we go back to my quarters? I'll put on a little music, dim the lights, and we can sit together, maybe talk, or maybe play a game. Just a nice quiet evening. How does that sound?"

Daytona smiled as he waited for Akira's response, but successfully held back any laughter or chuckles.

Even money she's going to ask me what the purpose of dimming the lights is. She's really so adorably clueless sometimes.

"I fail to see what the lack of intensity of light has to do with anything," Akira remarked curiously, as predicted. But otherwise his suggestion sounded nice. "What kind of music do you listen to?" she then asked as they started walking.

"Tonight," Daytona said. "I think...Earth Jazz. And the lights...you know, I made a bet with myself that you would say something about that. Bright, artificial lights can seem harsh and glaring. Lowering the intensity of the lights in a room creates a more relaxing and intimate atmosphere."

"Oh," Akira replied, then nodded in acceptance; who was she to argue, he was the one with all the life experience. "Tell me about Earth jazz, I'm not sure I've come across it yet."

"It's a genre of music that started in New Orleans, in the state of Louisiana, in the United States of America, in the late nineteenth century," Daytona said. "Jazz is characterized by swing and blue notes, call and response vocals, polyrhythms and improvisation."

Daytona chuckled.

"That barely means anything to me," he said. "I imagine that just sounded like a bunch of words to you. Jazz is...difficult to describe to someone who hasn't listened to it. For example, Fats Waller, a jazz musician who played a type of jazz known as swing jazz was once asked by a woman to define the swing as it applied to his kind of music. He replied by saying 'If you gotta ask, you'll never know!' Jazz is...a feeling deep in your soul put to music or, rather, brought to life through music. It can be fast, slow, erratic, organized, disorganized. It can be sad, happy, joyful, hopeful, sorrowful, angry, even silly. For example there's a song that was recorded in the twenty-first century by two bassists and a drummer called 'Taco with a Pork Chop' of all things. It can't really be described. It needs to be experienced."

"I will have to take your word for it, because I don't understand a thing you just said," Akira said with a giggle. "Without any context, I'm afraid, I just won't be able to understand. But I am looking forward to listening to some of this!"

"Good," Daytona said. "I look forward to sharing it with you. And here we are. I'm afraid my quarters aren't as grand as yours, but...what's that Terran phrase? Home, be it ever so humble? Please, after you."

The doors to Daytona's quarters opened and they entered. Daytona's quarters were rather simple. He'd accumulated a few things over the years, but most of those he kept in storage. He traveled light by necessity. This was really his first time being assigned to a starship for any length of time in over a century. His quarters were like a small studio apartment: a small main room and a separate bedroom. As a Chief Warrant Officer with more time in grade than anyone on the ship, he was the more equal pig, and therefore was afforded slightly better quarters than the other single warrant officers aboard. There was a couch on one wall, and there was a small table with a few chairs that he took his meals at if he didn't use the mess hall or lounge, or played solitaire. Ever since he'd learned that game, he'd loved it. Playing alone occupied his mind and challenged his memory. It was a good escape. Playing head to head solitaire against an opponent could also be challenging and it was a fun way to while the hours with a friend or someone closer. Daytona gave the computer instructions to dim the lights, then selected a song to listen to.

"Computer," he said. "Play a selection of Ahmad Jamal's music, including his performances with his trio. Include Ahmad's Blues, But Not For Me, and Poinciana. Turn up the bass a bit. I want to feel the music as well as hear it."

The music started and Daytona closed his eyes and moved his body to the rhythm of the music, snapping his fingers to the beat for a moment.

"Ah..." he said. "But For Me. So, shall we cuddle up on the couch and listen to the music? Or if you'd rather, I can teach you a card game I like to play. But...maybe one new thing at a time? Your call."

Akira smiled as she heard the piano and the bass, and she watched with fascination as Daytona swayed and snapped his fingers. Attempting to do as he did, she swayed, but she didn't understand that she was supposed to move to the beat, and when she attempted to snap her fingers, they made no sound. Curious... She was performing the same motion, why did her fingers not make that pleasing clicking sound?

"Hm?" Akira looked at Datyona, realizing with some delay that he had been speaking to her. "Oh, uh, I'm sorry, what were you saying?" she asked.

Daytona looked at Akira trying to do what he was doing and smiled, his affection for her evident in his expression.

"Here," Daytona said. He moved close to her and took her right hand in his left and slipped his right hand around and put it on the small of her back. He held her close and just swayed with her to the music. "Just follow my lead. Move with me...that's it...good."

Akira tilted her head curiously and moved with him as the music continued to spill through his quarters. "You are moving in time with the beat of the music," she remarked when she realized this, then smiled. Though as they continued to sway, she became more and more aware of their closeness and her cheeks grew rosy. And there was a sensation... She couldn't with any certainty say what this feeling was, but it was remarkably similar to feelings of ambient warmth she felt before Mother Andy gated those sensations. But the odd thing about it, the temperature in the room hadn't changed, so why was she feeling warm?

The temperature had gone up for Daytona as well, but he knew exactly why. Holding Akira like this, feeling her move so near him, it was maddening, yet it felt so good that he wanted it to never end. He pulled her a little closer so that their bodies were touching.

"You're...." Daytona said. He was having a little trouble getting words out. He swallowed and tried again. "You're getting it now. You're doing great."

Daytona decided that he could kiss her. That wouldn't be too much stimulation would it? Besides, if anyone was being overstimulated at this point, it was probably Daytona, wasn't it? Daytona leaned in and kissed Akira, a bit more passionately than he intended, but not harshly.

Wow, he had never kissed her like this before! And Akira had all this information in her matrix about intimacy, but she was finding that the experience itself was so different than information stored in a database. She was tentative yet responsive as Daytona explored her lips with his own. Then one of her hands, as if with a mind of its own, came to rest on the back of his neck as they continued to kiss.

Daytona pulled Akira in closer to him and continued to kiss her, breaking now and then, both to catch his breath and to nuzzle and kiss her neck. She may not need to breathe, but he did. Her 'skin' was soft and very smooth as were her lips and her tongue. Kissing Akira was like kissing satin, if satin were alive, and warm, and so very beautiful. Just as exciting was the feel of Akira's hand on the back of his neck. He was very sensitive back there and the feel of Akira's fingers resting there was very enjoyable.

While she didn't need to breathe, Akira's chest still rose and fell as though her breath was quickened by the heat of the moment. "I feel strange..." she said in a breathy tone as he nuzzled into her neck and her fingers found their way into his hair. "Warm..." Their lips met again and for a moment it felt like her knees were about to give out on her. "Is 'fuzzy' an adequate description of how one feels?," she continued when their lips parted again. Her other hand came up to gently trace his lips with her fingertips, her eyes full of so much wonder and amazement. "My head, it feels kind of light and... spinny."

"Mine," Daytona started to say. He cleared his throat. His voice still sounded hoarse when he managed to speak again. "Mine, too. And...fuzzy, yes...that's an...adequate description of this feeling."

Daytona stood there for a moment and let Akira's soft fingertips caress his lips and face. He kept his right hand on the small of her back to hold her close to him, but brought his left up to her face and caressed her cheek gently. His hand trembling slightly, he glided the pad of his thumb across her lips.

"You are so beautiful, Akira Zhuri," he said.

"Am I?" she asked softly, her blue cheeks beautifully flushed and rosy from their activities. Then she noticed his hand trembling and she took his hand in hers. "You are shaking; are you unwell?" she asked curiously.

"Ah," Daytona said. "No. I'm just very...aroused by you, by all of the kissing and touching. This is a good thing. I'm also a bit nervous, afraid I'm going to do or say something that's going to cause this feeling between us to end, that might push you away."

"Aroused is good?" she asked with curious tilt of her head.

Daytona laughed.

"It is," he said. "Especially if your partner feels the same way. And, from what you described, you are feeling that way, at least you were a moment ago. How do you feel right now?"

"I feel..." Akira said, ever so softly, "like I want to do more of this kissing."

Daytona chuckled. He leaned in close to her, resting his forehead on hers for a moment.

"So would I," he said. He led her over to the couch and sat down, pulling her into his lap in a bold move uncharacteristic of their relationship so far, so that she was astride him, facing him and began kissing her again. As if they had a mind of their own, Daytona’s hands began to roam over Akira’s body.

Akira's cheeks flushed crimson, but she responded eagerly when Dayton kissed her again. This certainly hadn't been how she expected this evening to end, but she was not going to complain, not one tiny bit!

“You are attempting to initiate sexual relations,” she remarked softly, clearly not a question, but still being new to this whole thing she needed to say it to help her process the moment.

“I am,” Daytona said.

But there wasn’t enough room the way they were, Daytona couldn’t get to enough of her, so with surprising grace he rose from the couch with Akira in his arms and carried her to the bedroom where Akira was more than eager to find out what would happen next.


[LATER]

Daytona was dreaming. It was something he did with some frequency. Well, he probably had more dreams than he remembered having. Much of the time, that was for the best. Many of his dreams were not very nice. This one started out very nice. He was with Akira at his home on Rigel V, for real this time. He had no idea how it was that Akira was there, but she was and that was all that mattered. One of the homestead’s felines had given birth to a litter of kittens and he was introducing them to Akira, watching her laugh as the kittens climbed on her and tried to snuggle with her in bizarre positions. She looked up at him, with kittens hanging all over her, and smiled at him. It wasn’t the smile she shared with everyone else. This was a smile for him and him alone and when she smiled at him like that, all was right in the world. Then he heard someone call his name. Actually, they called him Detective Chief Inspector Ral. Suddenly, it was the late 2150s and he was in the old apartment he'd rented in Rigel V’s capital when he was a policeman there. He was trying to make out what they were saying...then he recognized the dream. It was the one where he was called to identify the body of an unidentified woman. They weren’t going to tell him more than that, but he knew who it was. This was a memory. He would go to the morgue and they would pull back the sheet and there would be his battered and bruised and very dead daughter. He knew this dream. He started to move strangely in his sleep and even whimper. He didn’t want to see this, but suddenly he was in the morgue standing near the table. Like always, there was a body under a sheet...only...the body didn’t look right. It was the wrong size. It was too small to be his daughter. The profile looked familiar. He knew this body intimately, but he couldn’t remember where from. The medical examiner asked if he was ready. He wanted to scream that he wasn’t but he felt himself nod yes. The medical examiner pulled back the sheet from the body’s face and...no! This wasn’t his daughter’s face...and his daughter didn’t have spots...it was Akira! Like his daughter she was battered and abused. Something he had done, probably something pig-headed, had gotten Akira killed. Daytona collapsed to the floor, screaming in horror, begging the universe to give Akira back to him, promising the Prime Number anything, even his life to bring her back.

Back in reality, Daytona tossed and turned more violently and muttered to himself. If anyone was awake to listen, they would have heard the words: Akira, No, Please, and the phrase: Please don’t leave me…

Akira was dreaming too, only she’d never done it before, so her subconscious (yes, she had one of those) was still trying to figure out how this dream-thing worked, and so she was simply doing some maintenance in a Jefferies tube. Nothing complex, but she enjoyed things like this, even the stuff most people found tedious, and she could often be found humming a little tune, as she was in the dream now. But then she heard something, a voice and it was… begging, no pleading, and calling out for her! Akira dropped her tools and started to search the tubes, only to realize that the voice was not in the crawlways, there was no echo of it existing in this space; in fact, it was almost felt like she was being squeezed, and she could hear the voice as though the person was speaking right into her ear!

It was then that she snapped awake with a gasp and she sat up, her eyes darting about. Where was she? Then she saw Daytona and it all came rushing back to her. But why did he look so distressed? He was calling out to her, but she was right here!

“Daytona,” she said in a soft, frightened tone. “Daytona, wake up,” she continued, nudging at his shoulder, but it was not enough to free him from his nightmare. “Daytona, I’m here, you’re not alone, I’m here,” she said a bit louder, tears springing to her eyes. With both hands on his shoulders, she moved him a little more, certainly not trying to hurt him but she needed to get his attention to break whatever cycle his brain seemed to be stuck in!

In his nightmare, Daytona was sobbing and calling out to Akira, begging her to come back to him, begging the doctor to bring her back to him. He was sorry, he was so sorry! He felt hands on his shoulders. He thought someone was trying to restrain him, to take him somewhere that he could fight out his grief frenzy, but they just seemed to be moving him slightly. Suddenly he heard Akira’s voice. He looked frantically around for her. He began to search the room, but the lights dimmed and it was pitch black. He saw a door... a Starfleet door, like a holodeck exit suspended in an active holosimulation. The door opened and Daytona saw a small woman with dark hair like Akira’s walk past the open door. She was alive? He had to know! Daytona ran for the door, but it was as though he was running through some kind of viscous matter. It seemed to take forever, but he finally reached the door. When he stepped through there was a flash of bright light and suddenly he was awake, sucking air and looking around frantically. His eyes fell on Akira and before he knew it he had pulled her to him and was holding her tight against him.

Akira was surprised when he grabbed her, but she did not try to fight it or pull away. She had never tried to comfort anyone before, but she’d already had a few good examples set for her by her Father and Mother Maica and Aunt Maica, so she put one arm around him as best she could and started to run her fingers through his hair. “I’m here, Daytona, I’m here and I’m not going anywhere,” she said softly, biting back the shudder in her voice. She was crying as well, but she didn’t want him to hear it in her voice, she was supposed to be comforting him.

Slowly, Daytona’s breathing and heart rate began to return to normal, and he eased his death grip on Akira. This was one time where Akira being a photonic lifeform had spared her from painful broken bones. Daytona had been frantic when he awoke from his nightmare. He’d hugged her like he would hug another Rigelian, one who had the stronger bones and muscles to withstand the pressure of such a hug. If Akira had been flesh and blood, she’d likely be nursing a few broken ribs right now. But now Daytona relaxed his grip. With a shudder he got himself under control. He held Akira and arms’ length for a moment and looked at her. She appeared to be unharmed. He touched her face with a gentle caress that would be familiar to Akira by now, and pulled her into a much warmer and gentler hug.

“I’m sorry if I frightened you,” he said softly. Concern for Akira was evident in his eyes and his tone of voice, as was a touch of fear. If she knew what he had been dreaming about, would she think him a monster? “I didn’t...I didn’t hurt you, did I?”

“No,” she replied softly with a slight shake of her head. She was still combing her fingers through his hair, willing his body to relax. “You are hurting,” she said, not a question but an observation.

Akira’s fingers in his hair felt fantastic. Her touch soothed Daytona and his body began to relax.

“You are correct,” he said. “I was having a nightmare about something bad that happened a long time ago. The dream is about...is normally about...my daughter. You know Deshok was responsible for her death. Well, when they found her body, I was called to the morgue to identify it. I have this dream from time to time. The sheet over her body is pulled back to reveal her face, I cry. I blame myself. I beg the Prime Number and even the old Vulcan gods to return my daughter to me, that I”ll do everything differently this time around if they give me another chance. I wake up in terror. That’s the usual pattern. But this time...when they pulled back the sheet...it was you on the table, in your Asian, very unblue, form. I knew when I saw you that you were dead because of me, just like my daughter. Then I heard your voice and I went frantically looking for you. A holodeck door opened and I saw you, or someone who looked very much like you, walk by, but when I tried to pursue you, I woke up here.”

“Her,” Akira said, still holding him, still tenderly stroking his hair. “You said you were called to the morgue to identify ‘it’, I assume you mean ‘the body’, but just because she died doesn’t mean she stopped being your daughter.” that was probably the wrong thing to say, but she didn’t know what she was doing. “What you saw sounds unsettling, and I’m sorry that my presence in this vision caused you additional distress, but I am here and I am fine. I wish I knew what to say to make this better, but… I don’t… I don’t know what I’m doing…”

Daytona tensed when it sounded like Akira was saying that the battered and bruised corpse he’d seen in the morgue two centuries ago was his daughter. That couldn’t have been his daughter, anymore than the one in the dream could have been Akira...not really. His daughter had been, and Akira was, so much more. Then he relaxed, the tension in his muscles easing. Akira was trying her best. Given her lack of experience, she was doing a fine job.

“Shh…” he said. “You’re doing fine. I’m already starting to feel a bit better. That wasn’t my daughter on that table two hundred years ago. Whatever my daughter was had left that body. Nor was that corpse on the table in my dream really you. You...you are so much more than that. I…”

Daytona kissed Akira on the neck. “I thought I’d lost you. I thought some damned fool thing I had done had resulted in your death, just like with my daughter. I thought...I thought I’d lost you, so soon after finally finding you…”

“You have nothing fear in finding me like that; I cannot be damaged in that way,” Akira said. No, he only had to fear a cascade failure that could shred her matrix like her Father’s… “Daytona, I have a question to ask, one I have a feeling you will not want to answer, but please feel free not to if that is what you wish, I do understand,” she started with some hesitation. “All those years ago, the you on the station, you went there to kill Deshok… What did you feel when you found him dead?” she asked.

Daytona was silent for a moment. What had he felt? He’d felt…

“Lost,” he said, finally settling on a word. “My daughter had been my anchor and my arrogance had cost her her life. Her death filled me with anger and rage, which I directed at Deshok. When I found him dead, there was no one left to direct that anger but at myself..”

“Did you help Deshok hurt her?” Akira then asked.

“No...but,” he said. “Deshok and the Syndicate went after her to get to me, because I wouldn’t take bribes and I didn’t respond to their other threats.”

“So that’s it, then?” Akira asked with a curious tilt of her head. “You are responsible for his actions, all of his actions, including the ones that led up to bribery and threats, therefore you are responsible for her death?”

Daytona disengaged himself from Akira’s grasp and looked at her strangely.

“Yes!” Daytona said. “I mean...maybe? If I hadn’t pursued Deshok and the Syndicate with such vigor, they would have simply written me off as the cost of doing business. All I needed to do was keep my head down, solve a few crimes here and there, arrest a few criminals, get a few stray convictions and otherwise just go with the flow. But...I couldn’t. I felt the need to do something and was arrogant enough to believe that I could make a difference. That earned me special attention from Deshok and the Syndicate. That was what made them decide to go after my daughter. No, I’m not responsible for Deshok’s other crimes. He would have committed those anyway. He was a criminal. That’s what criminals do. But it was the actions I took against him in response that brought him to my daughter’s doorstep.”

Daytona was starting to feel a bit foolish as he began to see his private logic through another’s eyes.

“So you are not responsible for his actions, except when they affect you, and you should have not done your job and allowed others to get hurt?” she asked to be sure she was hearing him right. “Meaning Deshok was not responsible for any of his actions, his victims were… I see now.”

“What?” Daytona said. “No! I mean...by the Prime Number, I must appear a complete idiot to you right now!”

Daytona sighed.

“It’s not that I should have let others be hurt,” he said. “It’s that in trying, not even in succeeding all the time, but just in trying to keep others safe, I put my daughter at risk. I brought the evil that I tried to protect my daughter and others like her from into her life. At least I feel that way most of the time. But what really makes me feel that I’m responsible is that when she was abducted, I refused to back down and instead attempted to find and rescue her using all of the resources at my disposal. They...abused her to punish me for that. And then, when she couldn’t take anymore, she tried to escape and was killed in the process. That decision, that arrogant belief that I was so good at my job that I could find my daughter before it was too late, that is what I am truly responsible for. I made a judgement call, it was the wrong one, and, whether this is true or not, I feel like it cost my daughter her life.”

“‘The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing’,” Akira quoted as she laid back on the bed, looking up at him with sad eyes. “I suppose you think we also should not go after the Master. After all, it was our pursuit of him that cost the lives of a number of Officers, not to mention the lives of Selen IV.”

“What?” Daytona sputtered. “No! We didn’t kill them! The demon killed them! I mean, we brought her there, and she got the weapons from us...but...but…”

Daytona gave up. He smiled and shook his head.

“Clearly,” he said.”You aren’t going to let me wallow in my own self-pity this morning.”

Daytona lay down next to Akira. He leaned over her and kissed her deeply.

“Thank you,” he said after pulling his lips reluctantly away from hers. “I think I feel a bit better now. In just a little bit, I’m going to do my level best to encourage you to engage in an old Rigelian cure-all for bad feelings. Don’t worry, it will be fun for you, too. But first, how did you sleep? This was your first time sleeping, wasn’t it?”

Akira hummed into the kiss, pleased that he was relenting to her logic. “I am glad you are feeling better, and I did not mean to upset you, but… it just seems to me that if you are going to have a philosophy or belief, even if it is the belief that you are somehow responsible for something that you are not, it must apply for all aspects of your life or it means nothing,”Akira said with a weak smile. “And just know, if something were to ever happen to me, I would never find you at fault,” she added, hoping that would appease his injured pride. “As for sleep, I do not know how to respond; I have never slept before, so I do not know if I was doing it right.”

Daytona smiled down at his lover.

“You can’t really do it right or wrong when you sleep,” Daytona said. “It just sort of happens. You can do things to tire the body and relax the mind and spirit that can help you have a better night’s sleep. If those don’t work, you can try other tricks, incense, soft music, various teas, even chemical sedatives…”

“Or a Rigellian cure-all” Akira chimed in.

Daytona laughed.

“Or that,” Daytona said. “We did that last night and I don’t know about you but my body was tired and my mind and spirit were relaxed when we were through.”

Daytona’s eyes had been drinking in Akira as they talked. They finally settled on her feet. Why, Daytona wasn’t sure. Maybe it was her toes. She had cute toes. He leaned over and kissed Akira’s toes one by one.

Akira squeaked, her toes wiggling at the tickling attention. “What are you doing?” she said with laughter.

Daytona grinned.

“I can’t help myself,” he said. “You have very adorable feet and toes. I noticed last night but I was a bit preoccupied. Now, how else can I make you laugh?”

[LATER]

Daytona lay down on his side, pulling Akira down next to him, her back to his chest, her body pressed close to his, his arms around her, and just held her while the both of them came slowly back to reality.

Being in his arms like this… Akira felt so adored in the loving tenderness of his embrace. She just wished she could tell him so, but she was so past incoherent that words would not be possible for a while longer.

Daytona drifted off to sleep holding Akira close. His mind was completely clear, his spirit at peace, his heart warm. He felt safe with Akira here with him. He had woken them both up far too early to worry about work, so they would be able to grab a few hours of much needed rest. Daytona slept very well, and didn’t have even one nightmare, but rather dreamed of pleasant times ahead with his heart’s mistress.

Enalia was finally home after all these years away. Most people grew up on a planet or in a colony but this orbital fortress was where she grew up. There were no seasons. No classrooms full of rowdy students. She had private tutors and eternal spring for seventeen years. Looking out over the balcony of the twenty third floor of the central castle, she listened to the sounds of the main commons area behind her and enjoyed the artificial breezes and the view of the lake and forest on this side of the biodome that she had so missed. for sixty kilometers in any direction from the silver castle was a naturalist's wet dream. While the castle itself extended up past the actual dome and into space a few decks, that was still over two hundred floors of usable space and each floor had more floor space than deck ten of the Hera. As for the sub levels and the cellars... There was just no comparison. The Arton family name carried a fair bit of weight and this station backed that weight up quite nicely. As proof, the food and alcohol was real and the only concession to modern convenience that had been made was that the staff had to have been replaced some years ago because of her mother's negligence with holo-servants. Otherwise, this whole place would now be in shambles and unlivable. Thankfully, the Nova series singularity reactor was as stable as ever. The engineers that maintain it told her that that thing would outlast the sun the fortress orbited, it had been built so well and that they didn't even need to come back to check on it but once a year to check the backup batteries in the consoles.

Yes, this was still home. She was just now able to appreciate it more fully.

Thex like most of the crew was appreciating the shore leave though this place was leaving her in shock. Her own family compound could have fitted onto the bottom floor of this place with room to spare. Hell, the broom closets were larger than her room had ever been.

Her antenna sensed some of the hidden machines that kept the place running as she walked down the corridors simple amazed someone could own all of this.

As she walked passed one of the doors she noticed the captain standing on one of the balconies. The andorian walked over slowly grinning slightly to herself. " Captain i have no idea how your family built this place, but it amazing. " The young engineer said.

"Thank you. My great grandmother actually paid for it with the resources she salvaged from the planet we just watched blow up in 2160, if you can believe it," Enalia replied with a lopsided grin. "And it only took her three years of salvage operations to do it, too. For better or for worse, the years after that cemented my family's position in the aristocracy. Either way, this is home."

Turning to face Thex, Enalia grinned wider. "Is there anything I can do to make your stay more comfortable? Any questions I can answer?"

" Unlesss you have something to speed up my immune system to deal with this...." Thex replied holding up her arm where the medical rejuvenator was still attached to help her body deal with the bacterial infection from on the genetically modified creatures bites. " i'm okay. I'd like to know more about this place though. I mean what shielding does this place have so it doesn't get fried when a big solar flare goes off. " She asked politely the engineering side of her taking over and allowed her to ignore the itching on her arm.

"You could try the hot springs out at sector nineteen or the rejuvenating baths on deck sixty... something... I think.. The maids will know where they are..." It had been too long since Enalia had been back, it seemed. She only remembered the location of the hot springs because she'd been dying to go soak in them for months now. "As for the shielding, other than the normal planetary grade ray shielding, there's an electromagnetic field keeping a cloud of radiogenic particles around the dome similar to the Van Allen belts around most class M planets. Unless the local sun has a really bad day, we're perfectly safe. Even then, we have an early warning system and the power to move out of the way in time or at least evacuate, if it's absolutely necessary. In fact, I'd say we're safer here than on almost any Federation starbase."

" Sounds like your family thought of everything whilst building this place. If my antenna didn't pick up some of the noise, I wouldn't know where the machines were. Your a lucky woman captain growing up my room was smaller than the broom closets in this place. " The andorian replied grinning to herself.

Enalia grinned and stared out across the lake and forest again. "Lucky in many ways, yeah. In others, I'm not so sure. The only people my mother allowed me around were the staff and the aristocracy that came visiting until I was nine years old when I started looking into what it would take to run the family business. Even then, I'm pretty sure she did her best to keep me in a sterilized view of it. My tutors made sure that didn't happen though. Thank goodness."

" I know how that feels. All four of my parents wanted me to be a good little andorian extremist so i was locked inside the family compound and forces to do whatever I was told to do. " Thex replied looking out over the station's environment.

"It's funny how parents try to mold their children into replicas of themselves and Starfleet comes along and the next thing you know, we're nothing like them." Enalia scoffed lightly at the thought and turned back to Thex to try to change the subject. "So is there anything in particular you're hoping to do while you're here? Anything new you want to try or something nostalgic?"

" Well, as soon as my arms healed I plan to get in some swimming. The place has plenty of pools and the lake. After that, i was planning on heading out to the systems. There a fight pit one on of the planets and I'd love to get in some matches. My only decent family members said he'd meet me there as well. " Thex replied smiling to herself. " What about you Telvan you have plans?"

"I'm probably going to stay around here and enjoy being home. I haven't really been back since I joined Starfleet." Enalia smiled brightly as she straightened up and tugged down on her shirt a bit. "Besides, I need to be available just in case someone gets in trouble. I may have four pirate crews on my family's budget patrolling the system looking out for my crew, but that doesn't mean trouble can't still happen anyway. There are aristocrats out there that look down on my family even now because of our history as pirate hunting pirates, privateers, and mining entrepreneurs. Mostly the ones with ties to the Syndicate, of course."

" The ever annoying problem that is the Syndicate. No matter what we do they always seem to come back. My first ever intelligence job was dealing with them and they still plague the galaxy." Thex responded memories of her earlier life coming back.

"They'll likely be around for a few hundred more years too. As long as corruption persists, filth will linger in the shadows." Enalia was actually quoting her grandmother, but it applied to the Syndicate quite well.

" Indeed. Still, the galaxy has us to make sure they don't stray out of the shadows." The blue engineer replied with a grin.

"Thank goodness. I can't imagine a galaxy ruled by them and I sincerely hope they never do." Enalia grinned back.

" I doubt they could hold a stable government together for more than a couple of years before infighting started. Still, you are right I hope they never get any serious hold on power. They're bad enough just skulking in the shadows. Still, i'll go and find that pool you mentioned. Talk to you later captain. "

Daytona looked at the image of a strange starship leaving Selen VI just before Evil Enalia blew it up. He'd only just arrived to work when Clio said she had something to show him and than presented him with the image he was looking at now.

"Uhm..." he said. "What exactly am I looking at? I mean, I believe that's Selen VI and that starship appears to be leaving the system. The time stamp on the sensor log says our sensors captured this image shortly before the planet was destroyed. But as far as I can recall, I've never seen this ship before in my life. What made you think to ask me about it?"

"It's the only one we spotted leaving and you haven't disappeared." Clio wasn't always so direct, but the faster they solved this mystery the sooner they'd get a break. "I don't much care how your younger self escaped. But I need to know who was on this ship, and if it wasn't you... it may have been Maas Teranja."

Daytona looked at Clio strangely.

"The pharmaceutical tycoon?" he said. "What does he have to do with any of this? Ugh, we'll get to that in a minute. As I said, to my knowledge I've never seen that ship before in my life and I have no idea who is...was...is? Oh for the Prime Number's sake! Now I'm doing it! Anyway, I don't know who's ship it is or who was aboard it. I caught a ride with a Yridian information broker who was visiting the station to mine it for...well...information."

Daytona left out just how his passage off Selen VI was arranged, in part because he was a little hazy on that himself, and in part because what he could tell them, if Temporal Investigations and Starfleet Intelligence hadn't ordered him not to except in the most extreme of circumstances, might distract them from the matter at hand.

"Now," he said. "Back to my question. What does Maas Teranja have to do with all of this?"

"Mal-- I mean, Commander Xustos and Captain Telvan think that's who the... uh..." Clio wasn't really sure what to call the 'demonverse' version of Enalia. She didn't know for sure if it was really a demon or just some sort of twisted shapeshifter. "The thing. The one that looked like the captain. Who it was after."

Daytona looked thoughtful.

"Her psychotic babbling did seem to indicate that she was looking for someone," he said. "And it did appear that she had located a secret elevator. Even at the time, with no other proof, I assumed the elevator led to the Master's lab."

Then Daytona looked at Clio askance.

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me!" he said. "Maas Teranja...Maas Ter...Master? Really? Why in the name of the Prime Number would a Rigelian abbreviate his name to a word in Federation Standard? Fed Standard is Earth English!"

Daytona shook his head.

"Not to over use the Prime Number," Daytona said. "But what, for the Prime Number's sake, is going on here?"

"I wish I knew, but I don't. Trying to figure it out is making my head spin." Clio had no idea why a Rigelian pharmaceutical tycoon would be involved in this mess or why he'd use a Federation Standard word as his nickname.

Daytona took in a breath and then blew it out slowly, letting the action relax him.

"Alright," he said. "There aren't going to be any records from the spaceport. The whole place was destroyed. All that's left is debris and scrap. Alright, how about this. If we can get a possible heading on that ship, we could dig through historical records and try to narrow down the most likely destinations and then, we dig through the records regarding those planets and see if there's any mention of a ship that matches the description of the one we're looking and maybe a man that fits Teranja's description. If we get really lucky, maybe there's an image file somewhere. That's going to be very time consuming. If you think that's a good use of our time, I'll do what I can..."

Daytona's voice drifted off for a moment.

"You know," he said. "I have what might be a really bad idea. In fact, I'm certain it presents a direct threat to the space-time continuum. How badly do we need to know where this ship went and who was on it?"

"Enalia seems pretty intent on finding out why her demonic self was after Teranja and wants to know for sure if he was on that ship. Since it wasn't you on that ship... she's going to assume it's him and want us to find him at all costs." Clio wasn't sure she liked the sound of 'direct threat to space-time continuum', but she didn't like the idea of spending days or weeks tracking the ship down either. "What did you have in mind?"

"Okay," Daytona said. "But remember, I told you this was a really bad idea. I left the Selen VI with a Yridian information broker named Yanski. How I found Yanski in the first place is classified, but I went on to work with him for several years as his partner and sometimes as his muscle. Anyway, we could contact him and offer him something, a piece of information or perhaps even just money. He wasn't adverse to accepting latinum as compensation. We could contact him and ask him to see what he can find out about our mystery ship. We could ask him to keep young me in the dark as much as possible but...it could change my past. Give me information that I didn't have before we ask him, information that might change something important. Or, being really pessimistic for a moment, both Yanski and young me could get killed. Either way, we could change everything I've done over the last 234 years. We're not even going to be here that long. He'd have to leave the information for us somewhere...somewhen, that we wouldn't get it until we get back from this little adventure. Yanski is clever and a bit greedy. If you offer him enough, he might be able to find a way to keep young me out of the whole affair...still that's going to change my history...ugh! This is a really terrible idea!"

"Oh hell no. Change your entire history and possibly damage the timeline for the sake of our curiosity? Not going to happen." More time travel paradox gobbledygook. Clio wasn't sure how much more of it she could take. "It's not worth it. Too big a risk that we'll alter something critical to our timeline."

"I did say it was a terrible idea," Daytona replied. "Well, I can start looking into this Teranja and Teranja Pharmaceuticals and see what I can discover about him. Would that help? I'll start with what we have in the ship's computer. When we get back I'll access outside sources. If necessary, I can go on a few...excursions to see what I can find out in person."

"That helps a lot, actually. Whatever we can find is what we'll take... and honestly you'll probably have better luck than I would anyway. I'm not well-liked in most communities, especially with the sort of reputation I've garnered over the years." Clio smirked a bit. "I'll see what I can find out about our little mystery ship. It might have something unique to it that I can trace."

"Sounds good to me," Daytona said. "If it's alright with you, I'll get started on sifting through the information in the ship's library computer right away. Is there anything else?"

Clio shook her head slightly. "No. Just keep me updated."

Daytona nodded.

"I'll get to work then," he said. He walked over to his work area and began his search.

As Daytona started on his work, Clio busied herself with the details and analysis of the ship they'd picked up leaving orbit. With any luck, the two of them could find a lead sooner rather than later.

Mal looked at his chronometer and realized that it was around dinner time. He'd actually fallen asleep with his head on his desk and his neck muscles hurt. Tomorrow, he'd see Maica about a massage. Even though his neck and shoulders were conditioned to his having horns on his head, if he fell asleep in a stupid position, like sitting in a chair, face down on his desk, it could put a real kink in his neck.

Speaking of kink, Mal thought. I wonder if Clio has had her evening meal yet? I suspect that she is still in her office, though she's probably being more productive than I was being just now.

While Mal would have plenty of Command and Control functions to support the upcoming mission, he would have no direct role on any of the Away Teams. He'd been finishing up some of these mission support details when he'd apparently fallen asleep. Looking over his work, he realized that he was only one signature shy of having completed it all. He added the signature and uploaded all of the files to the computer to be sent to their various recipients.

"Computer," Mal said. "Please give me the current location of Lieutenant Commander Eneas Clio."

"Lieutenant Commander Eneas is on deck thirteen, intelligence offices," the computer replied, confirming Mal's suspicion that Clio was still working.

In fact, it wasn't unlike Clio to work late. She liked to have as much of the annoying paperwork finished as possible so she wouldn't have to deal with it early in the morning. At that moment, she was painstakingly adding her signature on multiple forms, taking care to ensure each matched exactly. While some Starfleet departments cared little about such detail, a long career in intelligence had taught her that even minor variances brought scrutiny to the papers.

"Thank you, Computer," Mal said.

"You are welcome, Commander Mal Xustos," the computer replied.

Mal shrugged at the computer's response and rose from his desk. He exited his Ready Room and made his way through the corridors to Deck Thirteen, eventually arriving at the Intelligence area. He tapped his commbadge.

"Commander Xustos to Commander Eneas," he said. "I have arrived to rescue you from the turbulent sea of paperwork I assume you are drowning in."

Though she hadn't been expecting a visit, Clio also wasn't surprised to hear Mal's voice come over her commbadge. Finishing the final signature, she tapped the badge to reply. "You've come to save me? How sweet." She couldn't help laughing a little. "Let me get everything secured and I'll join you."

"Fantastic!" Mal said, happy that he'd been able to get Clio to come out of her lair. Spending time with her would be the perfect end to a stressful day. "I'll be waiting. If I told you that all I was wearing was a fig leaf...a very large fig leaf, would that hurry you along?"

In fact, Mal was in his uniform, complete with utilikilt, but he filed the jumbo fig leaf idea away for another time.

"Like the Greek statues?" Clio snickered, though she had to admit that the idea of Mal in nothing but a fig leaf was... stimulating. With a practiced ease, she powered down all the systems in the intelligence area and secured any loose PaDDs in locked drawers before opening the door. "You tease! You're still dressed!"

Mal gently pulled Clio into his arms and kissed her for a long moment.

"We both are," Mal said when he broke the kiss. Still holding her, he smiled seductively. "If I may be so bold, that is a state of affairs I plan to address...or rather undress...before the evening is over."

"Oh really? Sounds like you have a fun evening planned then." Clio kissed him again, a seductive smile of her own on her lips. "But first, dinner. I'm starving."

"Absolutely!" Mal said. "I came here fully prepared to feed and water...er...wine and dine you before I swept you off your feet and carried you back to your bedroom where we will hopefully take turns having our way with each other! So, to dinner. Ship's lounge? Or something at home? We could swing by my quarters and pick up a bottle of that wine you like."

"Something at home sounds nice. I'm not feeling especially social today." To be perfectly honest, Clio wasn't especially social most days. "But let's definitely get that wine first."

"Your wish, my command," Mal said. He held his arm out to Clio. "Walk with me, lovely lady, and tell me about your day. It had to have been more exciting than mine. My weapons used to be my fists, my hooves, a hand phaser, the ship's weapons systems, those were the days. Now I find my self armed with a stylus most of the time, fending off piles of electronic paperwork. I was so swamped that I couldn't get away to watch you practice to be a convincing Orion slave girl! Actually, that probably would have been a bit creepy for the other ladies, so perhaps that was for the best."

"They'll have to get used to creepy. And my day wasn't that exciting. A fair amount of paperwork and some... dance practice." Clio wasn't normally shy about such things, but the thought of Mal watching her mimic an Orion slave girl made her a bit self-conscious. "I'm not certain you'd have enjoyed it. I haven't quite got the grace of a real Orion girl."

Mal smiled at Clio.

"You're plenty graceful for me," he said. His demeanor became serious for a moment. "James Kirk said 'risk is our business', and I know your work is risky, riskier than mine these days at least. I respect that and I respect your willingness to throw yourself in harms way. But, please, do try your best to come back in one piece. My life is considerably better with you in it."

"I'm not easy to kill." Clio kissed his cheek in an effort to reassure him. "I can't make any promises to avoid injury, but I will come back alive."

"That's all I ask," Mal said. He leaned in and kissed on the cheek as well. For a while they walked, enjoying being close to each other. They reached Mal's quarters and he keyed the door so they could go inside and grab the bottle of wine. "After you."

"Greek mythology doesn't do the satyrs justice. No one ever mentions how chivalrous you are." Clio couldn't help laughing a little at his insistence that she go through the doorway first, though she was happy to oblige him, slipping through the door. It dawned on her then that while he had visited her on occasion, she'd never been inside Mal's quarters. She looked around a bit, taking it in. "Nice place."

"Thank you," Mal replied. "Please, have a seat. I'll get that bottle of wine. If you don't mind eating here, I'll open it now."

Mal went over to his wine case and pulled out a bottle of Agiorgitiko. He picked up two glasses and a corkscrew. He placed the glasses on table and stood before Clio, the corkscrew in one hand, the bottle in the other.

"What do you say?" he asked.

"Here's good. No point in leaving just to go to my place... your cabin's nicer anyway." With a grin, Clio took her uniform jacket off and hung it over the back of a chair before sitting down.

"Excellent," Mal said. "Now, I am going to open this and let it sit a moment. While it sits, I am going to change out of my uniform. If you'd like to do so as well, I'm sure I have something comfortable you could wear. If you want to replicate something, my replicator is your replicator. If you want to grab a shower, my shower is your shower. Be back in a flash."

Mal went clopping off to his bedroom to change. Once inside, he disrobed, then, after a moment's thought, jumped quickly into the sonic shower. it swiftly vibrated all of the dirt and sweat off of his body and out of his hair. Clio was waiting for him, so he got out as soon as he was clean and walked out into his bedroom. He quickly combed out his long hair and put on a wraparound loincloth, almost the color of light khaki, something that might be considered normal, everyday, civilian clothing on his planet. Satisfied with his appearance, he returned to Clio.

Hearing the sonic shower kick on, Clio figured she might be alone for at least a few minutes. While she and Mal were of a similar build, she had a feeling most of his 'comfortable' clothing tended toward traditional Pomtoli clothing, which wouldn't quite hang on her correctly. So she'd consulted the replicator to find something more comfortable for herself. Occupied with that, she only noticed Mal's return from the sound of his hooves on the deck. Having just replicated a set of leggings with a long tunic, she glanced over her shoulder to acknowledge him.

Only that glance turned into a lengthy gaze. Maybe loincloths were normal on Pomtol, but not anywhere else. She couldn't help but notice how such attire put Mal's well-muscled body on display.

Mal smiled as Clio's eyes traveled over his body. He'd chosen to wear what he was wearing primarily because it was comfortable and because it was what he usually wore when he was off-duty, at least when he was in his quarters. However, when he chose to dress as he was dressed now, he was not oblivious to the effect it would have on Clio. He let her look for a moment, the slowly walked over to her and pulled her into a kiss.

"Hmmm. Why do I get the feeling you're trying to skip dinner and get straight to business?" Clio wasn't as oblivious as she occasionally seemed; she knew exactly what Mal was up to, and his choice of casual wear had her somewhat wishing she'd chosen something sexier than her usual comfortable lounge wear. Of course, she hadn't changed into it yet, so she could always choose something else. That is, if clothing was going to continue being a feature in this evening.

"I promised I'd wine and dine you first, but..." Mal kissed her again. "If you want to work up an appetite first, I'm fine with that, too. Either way. Just as long as you know I'm not letting you go tonight until we're both too exhausted to move."

"I think the original plan is good." Clio tugged him close and kissed him, leaning into him for a moment. "Why don't you find us something to eat while I borrow your shower?"

"Absolutely," Mal said. "Any preferences? Or should I just feel free to come up with something?"

"I'm allergic to nightshades. Other than that, I'm not terribly picky." Gathering up her replicated clothing, Clio slipped away into the bathroom to shower and change.

Mal decided on a bit of Greek food. The food was roughly analogous to what he was used to eating and the replicator did a better job with that than it would with Pomtoli specific food. He quickly replicated small plates and dishes of food. Some dolmathakia (stuffed grape leaves), a small bowl of keftethes (a kind of Greek meatball) with a pair of small forks for picking them up, and some tzatziki (a creamy cucumber-yogurt dip) with some warm pita bread on the side. Once he looked at it, he realized it might be too much, BUT, thankfully, the replicators could also recycle anything they didn't eat so no replicatable matter would be wasted. For a bit of sweetness, he added some grapes. Satisfied with the display of food, Mal then quickly replicated small candles and candle cups and set them all around the room, including in the center of the table, and lit them. For the final touch, he dimmed the lights, and waited anxiously to see if Clio liked what he'd done.

At home she usually lingered in the shower, but because she knew Mal was waiting for her, Clio was quick about it, scampering out of the sonic shower unit as soon as she was clean. Once she was dressed, she raked her fingers through her hair and went to rejoin Mal at the table. Familiar smells of Mediterranean fare tickled her nose, and she grinned. "Smells fabulous."

"Thank you," Mal said with a quirky grin. "I replicated it myself! Please, sit."

He pulled out a chair at the table for her. Once she was seated, Mal topped of her wine glass. and took a seat himself. He looked at Clio with an affection that was clear in the expression on his face.

"Eat, drink, be merry," Mal said. And then he remembered the rest of that phrase. Tomorrow we die. He didn't want Clio to die. He wanted her alive and well and close to him. But Mal would never try to stop Clio from doing her duty or try to impede her independence. The fact that was both fiercely independent and highly capable made her even more attractive to him. "And tomorrow we will, Pan willing, eat, drink, and be merry some more!"

Clio was familiar with the original phrase, but she knew Mal wouldn't have meant anything by it. So she smiled, took a sip of her wine, and cheerfully loaded her plate with a little of each dish on the table. "I hope you don't find this rude, but I've been curious. Do the Pomtoli still worship Pan and the other gods?"

Mal also filled his plate and began eating, stopping to answer Clio's question.

"Hmm..." Mal said. "To a certain extent, yes. Pan, or the being that called itself Pan, founded our society. He literally created us, both satyr and nymph. Through Pan, we are descended of Hermes, and Zeus. Remember, these 'Gods' were actually living aliens. We were raised on Greco-Roman mythology, but we learned it as history. So we revere these figures as historical figures, not actual gods. We also fear some of them. Hera, as you may know, was neglected and otherwise treated poorly by Zeus. As we are descended of Zeus, we are not her favorite people. It is unclear if she is still on this plane. She was earlier on in our history, because her minotaurs attacked us. A minotaur is a vicious, brutal beast. They are larger and stronger than us, and though less developed intellectually than us, can and do make up for this deficit with their brutality and brute strength. After my ancestors drove them off, we never heard from them again, but the idea of the minotaur in Pomtol society is similar to Earth's boogeyman. Best behave, children, or the minotaur will come for you! I've never seen one, and I hope I never do, but as I said it is unclear if Hera left with the other gods or whether the other gods might come back someday."

Mal shuddered and took a drink of his wine to calm his nerves. The talk of minotaurs had clearly unsettled him.

"I see. I ask because my people are very spiritual and many of our gods bear the same names as those of ancient Greece. Different hierarchy though, what with us being a matriarchal people." Clio paused to eat some of her dinner. "Pan is one of those who has fallen out of favor in Cervan religion, though I'm not entirely certain why. Artemis is highly treasured, as is Aphrodite. Hera... we just try not to piss her off."

"Pan, at first glance," Mal said. "Does not seem very...progressive when it comes to women, and he was the son of Hermes, who Zeus fathered on someone other than Hera, so I can understand why a matriarchal society might not really approve of him. I'm glad that doesn't seem affect your feelings for me. I'm curious, though. How did your people come to revere Earth's Greco-Roman pantheon?"

"I'm not really sure. There are a lot of theories... the primary one being that they weren't gods at all but the same beings who created the Pomtoli. You'd think we'd worship the old Vulcan gods, considering that's where we came from." Clio shrugged a bit, clearly not terribly bothered by the mystery. "I do know that many Cervan names are also Greek. Mine means glory, if translated to English. But I don't know if we ran into these aliens early in our development or if one of the races we absorbed had worshiped them."

"Interesting," Mal said. "Both possibilities seem plausible."

Mal looked at Clio a moment and smiled.

"Glory is certainly an appropriate name for you," he said. "You mentioned the meaning of your name once before. I was curious, I'm often curious about you, by the way...anyway, I was curious, so I investigated the meaning of the English word 'glory'. The noun has two popular definitions. High renown or honor won by notable achievements is one of them. You definitely deserve high renown and honor as far as I can tell. The other is magnificence or great beauty. You are by my estimate and others, from the scuttlebutt I hear, both magnificent and a great beauty, both inside and out. It's also a verb. To take great pride or pleasure in. As someone who is close with you, I can tell you that I take great pride in having earned your trust, respect, and dare I say, affection? And I take great pleasure in knowing you, being intimate with you on more than one level. Physically, of course, but also emotionally and intellectually. So, 'Glory' is a perfect name for you in my humble opinion."

"Are you sure you're talking about me?" Surprised by such glowing praise - even from Mal - Clio wasn't sure she'd heard him correctly at first. "Honor and renown... you make me sound like so much more than I am." But it was obvious she was flattered by his words, a slight glowing blush appearing along her cheekbones. Sure, she'd been stared at often enough. But few thought to take such care with words. "But trust, respect, affection... you've certainly earned those. Perhaps a few other feelings I don't know the words for too..."

Mal was touched by Clio's response. While she could be affectionate, her everyday demeanor was often no nonsense and professional. She had to be, of course. Not only was she the head of the ship's intelligence department, but she was also the ship's second officer. She couldn't afford to appear to be too approachable, too easy. But as she and Mal had gotten to know each other, she'd been showing him her softer side. Not at work, of course, but when they were off-duty and especially when they were alone together.

"I hope I will continue to do so," he said in response. He smiled at Clio. "You know, when you look at me like that, I am completely at your mercy."

"Is that so? Maybe I should look at you like this more often then." Clio smirked at him, enjoying the control she seemed to have over Mal when they were alone.

"Hmm..." he said. He took a drink from his wine glass. "Maybe you should. But if you're going to tell me about your day, you should do that first. That look also makes me want to make love to you so much that I can hardly concentrate on anything else."

"Normal day at the office, really. Nothing exciting." There wasn't much Clio could talk about that was work-related with the sort of work she did. Vague descriptions would have to do. "Meant to get some time in on the firing range, but there aren't enough hours in the day."

Mal knew Clio was glossing over her day for security concerns, but he didn't bring it up. He might be cleared for what she was doing, and he might not. He'd let Enalia decide. He'd eaten a fair amount and didn't want to stuff himself. Mal finished the wine in his glass, then stood and walked over so he was behind Clio. He worked his hands under her hair and onto her shoulders, which he began to massage. He leaned in and kissed Clio on the top of the head.

Clio, too, had eaten enough. As she picked up her glass to finish her wine, Mal started to massage her shoulders, and she melted slightly. Somehow he always knew when she was more tense than usual, and he always knew how to fix it. "Okay, that... you can do that as long as you'd like."

"As you wish," Mal said. He continued to work the muscles in Clio's neck and shoulders. "Would you like the full treatment? I don't have a massage table, but my bed is comfortable enough. You deserve to be pampered a bit, especially since you've got a stressful mission coming up."

"That sounds like an excellent idea. Especially the part about a comfortable bed." Clio tipped her head backward just enough to look up at him. "Lead the way."

Mal bent down and kissed Clio, lingering a moment before rising and taking her by the hand. Mal led his lady back into his bedroom and slowly and gently helped her out of her clothes.

"Lie down, lover," he said. "And I'll get to work."

2168
------

Enalia Artan was out patrolling her family’s holdings with her personal solar sloop accompanied by the frigate Akamatsu commanded by Captain Gilroy. Normally, this was perfectly safe and usually if they found anyone they’d just fire a few shots and they’d run off like scared pups. This was the day that was different.

As they looped around the outer asteroid belt something unusual popped up on sensors.

“Captain, I’m picking up unusual energy readings near the asteroid cluster near point four one nine.” Reported the first mate, one Mister Neru.

“Probably scavengers trying to hide. Let’s go scare them off,” Enalia replied, checking her navigational sensors and adjusting their course.

It didn’t take long until they had zoned in on the power signatures and found the ships - Enalia had gotten good at that after salvaging so much of Selen VI.

Enalia found three of them - a corvette and two freighters. While her escort ship came around to flank the corvette, the first freighter blew open its doors to reveal a fully charged starbase class disruptor cannon.

Sweat beaded on her brow as a cold chill ran down her spine all the way down into her black boots. “It’s a trap! Signal for backup!” she called out to her first mate as she spun the rather archaic looking sloop’s wheel so that it turned sharply starboard, the green disruptor beam slicing through the rear shields and melting the outer hull plating off of the tail end of the beautiful ship.

“Shields are down! Life support on batteries! Engines two, three, and four are gone! Solar sail deployment system welded shut!” Called the first mate just before his console exploded in his face, killing him instantly.

Enalia steeled herself and reached up to the helm controls above her and redirected power to the remaining engine, steering her ship towards the recharging cannon. “Roberts, target that freighter and put that cannon out of our misery. Gunderson, what’s the status of the Akamatsu?”

“Captain… The other freighter had a cannon as well. Captain Gilroy was able to steer into the corvette at least.” Gunderson reported, checking sensor logs.

Enalia counted her blessings, small as hey were. That was about when she finally got the nose of her solar sloop pointed back at the first freighter. “Fire at will, Roberts.”

Roberts pulled the triggers.

Nothing happened.

“I can fix this… I can fix this!” Roberts called out as he leaped into action, realizing too late that when the first mate’s console blew, his console lost primary power.

In the meantime, the barrels of both cannons were taking aim and starting to glow bright green.

Enalia was starting to get a little nervous. “Roberts…”

“Got it!” With that Roberts sat back up and pulled the first set of triggers, firing the ship’s starboard plasma cannons, sending a stream of supercharged gasses into the first cannon and turning the freighter into fireworks.

Retargeting, he pulled the second set of triggers just as the second canon began its firing sequence.

The second freighter turned into equally impressive fireworks.

But not before the first traces of disruptor energy leaked out of the cannon, melting the port side docking hatches and venting the atmosphere of the solar sloop instantly.

2394
-------

Enalia Telvan stood on the bridge of the old solar sloop right where Enalia Artan once stood and died, a morose expression on her face as she thought about both her family's history and her own. This ship had been here in a semi-stasis field since her great grandmother had been killed and though she'd visited the old vessel a few times before, this was the first time it truly held meaning to her. Gently placing her left hand on the wheel, she looked up at the helm controls and readouts above her. "Nexi... If she were here now, what do you think she would do about the Master?"

For a long while, Nexi remained silent, instead taking in the sight of the sloop that only a few days ago (at least from her perspective) was beautifully refurbished and functional, and she regretted not bringing her camera because the sight of her Enalia standing at the wheel looked just like when Enalia Artan stood there.

"What would she do?" Nexi echoed as she thought about what she knew about both women who bore the name Enalia. Nexi hadn't been around Enalia Artan for long, but she didn't really need to, the woman was who she was and she made no apologies for that, just as Enalia Telvan was now. "I think she was a force to be reckoned with," Nexi finally said as she came to stand beside Enalia. "I think she would give him hell, leave no stone unturned searching for him. People like her, like us... ain't afraid of death; life is the ultimate goal, but when death comes, people like us don't shy away, we greet it like an old friend. But the Master, he's afraid, a coward, so he... he does some scientific magic-stuff to himself to cheat death; it's knowing that life is not permanent that gives life its value, and without death life has no meaning to him, and so he'll keep going on perverting life the way he does. I ain't afraid to die if it means taking him with me, and I think your grandmother would feel the same; she wouldn't let this monster roam free, and neither will you."

With a lopsided grin, Enalia nodded and pulled the massive hand cannon from the holster hanging from the bridge railing, hefting the massive 'pistol'. "You know, I think you're right. That's probably why she carried this thing everywhere she went." Slipping the eighteen inch weapon back into the holster and flashed a shit eating grin at Nexi. "You know, I think I hear hell calling his name. How about you?"

It was currently the night cycle for Enalia's orbital fortress and while some of her crew were still enjoying themselves, she knew many would be asleep. She just hoped Mal and Clio would not be asleep... or too busy... She had a guest and some news that both of them needed to hear about a soon as possible. Hence she was now sitting before a rather large fireplace snuggling with her wife in silence after only hearing part of it while her guest sat in an armchair to her left and enjoyed a stiff drink. Two identical chairs sat across from theirs on the other side of the low table stretched out before the fireplace awaiting their arrival. That is, if her holo-servants could locate them both and escort them here.

As the light from the fireplace cast shadows about the six story library, it made the millions of books seem as if they were alive, the chandeliers and now tinted windows refracted the yellow light just enough to make every curved spine dance as 'Nia sighed and sipped from her glass. "Enalia... you have an orbital fortress with limitless holo-servants, a beautiful wife, the option of taking over the family privateer business, and more luxury than even the last ten Grand Naguses. Why are you in Starfleet and why do you normally hide all this from people?"

"Because when you live like this, you have no idea how real people live their lives," Enalia replied softly. "You don't know what a callous is. You don't know the look in a child's eyes as a beloved pet passes on or even realize that that pet was a full family member. You don't know what it's like to have to eat replicated food or rations or go hungry or sleep in the rain because you're homeless. Refugees and colonists are just a distant statistic. Even to my own mother, the number of Syndicate her people have killed is just a number. She hasn't led a crew since I was born, and even back then, it was rare. I swore to learn how to care after I visited the Artan Privateers mining colony on my ninth birthday and saw how they... our own workers... lived and were treated. What were once built up and amazing accommodations and working conditions thanks to the hard work of my great grandmother and grandmother, my mother all but ignored the maintenance of. They were overcrowded, broken down, and unfit for vermin."

"It took me some time, but eventually, my mother retired with some... persuasion... and I've been funneling my personal wealth into the company. I just hope it's enough to save what's left of it so at least they can carry on carrying on." Enalia's words drifted off as one of the holo-servants walked up from behind them and cleared her throat.

"Princess, We have located your companions and they are being escorted to this location now. Shall I fetch refreshments for them?" Asked the catgirl Trill maid.

Since there were no replicators on the entire fortress, it was best to have the drinks prepared now since the kitchens were nearly twenty decks away and the cellars over two hundred. But what would they prefer? Enalia would just have to guess. "Please prepare four mugs of hot chocolate liqueur for myself and my guests this evening. And please check the library's bar and make sure it has a bottle of 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon in the wine chiller just in case."

"Very good, Princess." As the holo-servant went about her duties, 'Nia couldn't help but chuckle.

"I'm sorry Princess, but that was quite the little display of power after such a noble speech." Still chuckling, 'Nia finished off her glass of brandy and headed to the library's bar to refresh her own drink, having refused help with that earlier. "And what's with the black and white catgirl maid outfits? The tails and ears even wiggle."

"One of the perks of owning your own home, I suppose..." Enalia replied somewhat smugly. "Commodore..."

Mal strapped his black leather belt around the waist of his Greco-Roman style tunic as he looked at himself in the mirror. The belt had gold studs on it and a gold buckle. The tunic had gold around at the hem of the skirt, the neck, and at the openings of the sleeves. Satisfied with how his clothing looked, he picked up a brush and began to work on his long, dark hair. It was still damp from the shower, but had been toweled dry. He brushed it until it was nice and shiny and tangle free, settled it with a shake of his head, and then turned around to find that Clio had been sitting on the bed watching him. He smiled at her.

"Don't you look lovely," he said. "How long have you been watching me?"

"Long enough to know what you're wearing under that tunic." Clio smirked at him, getting up from the bed. She didn't own anything quite so fancy as Mal's tunics and hadn't wanted to replicate anything new just to visit Enalia's fortress. Now she was wondering if she should have. Her black slacks would match anything, but the slight shimmer to the sky blue sweater she'd found didn't quite match up to the luster of gold trim. "You're making me feel a little under dressed."

Mal smiled and walked over to Clio. He pulled her close and kissed her gently.

"As I said, you look lovely," he said. "And you know that when I wear the plain tunics most people say I look like I'm wearing a burlap sack. Actually, I have several that don't have such fancy trim. Would you like me to change into one of those? I think I even have one that matches your outfit, if you want to be like one of those couples."

Mal winked to show that he was kidding about the matching outfits...sort of. He actually did have something that might match!

"No, I like the gold. Brings out the lighter colors in your hair." Clio kissed him and smiled a bit. "We should get going. Enalia will be wondering where we are."

The Trill catgirl maid holo-servant waiting outside their expansive chambers to escort them could wait quite awhile for them to get ready, but their hostess and her guest likely could not. Thus she knocked on the door and opened it ever so slightly. "A thousand pardons for the intrusion, honored guests, but are you prepared to depart? The Princess should not be kept waiting much longer. Also, if we do not depart soon, the refreshments she has ordered may grow cold."

"We are ready, Mistress Cat," Mal said, showing the holographic cat girl the same respect that he would have if she were flesh and blood. "Please, lead the way."

"Please follow me, honored guests," replied the catgirl maid as she led them through the labyrinthine maze of a castle to the main turbolift system into the Grand Lift - an all transparent and platinum gilded monstrosity of a turbolift that ran along a corridor on the outside of the castle and was reserved for the family's use only. It was a room unto it's own, with transparent chairs for passengers to await their floor in style, if not extreme luxury.

"We will be arriving at the Princess's private library shortly." The holo-servant then busied herself with programming the turbolift for the destination and it set off moving upwards, the only signs of this being the fact that everything outside was in motion.

Mal surveyed his surrounding, taking in the vastness of it all. It wasn't clear to him if Enalia was showing off or if it was just that there was no way to invite her friends here without awing them with the grandeur of her home.

"This place is fancier than my mother's worldship..." Somewhat awed by their surroundings, Clio couldn't help but stare at it all. Enalia hadn't let on that she was heir to such an expansive place, let alone such a luxurious home. She also couldn't tell if this was showing off or just... how things were at the fortress.

Near the top of the castle, the turbolift slowed and came to a halt, the double doors opening. "Honored guests, I welcome you to the Princess's private library." As the holo-servant spoke, she curtseyed and motioned for them to exit the Grand Lift into a library so big it looked like you could fit the entire pod section of the Hera in it with a lot of room to spare. Enalia (snuggling with Maica) and Farenia were over by a massive lit fireplace that looked like it had been pulled straight out of Valhalla waiting for Mal and Clio to join them in some of the most posh chairs they had yet seen in this palace of wonders.

Mal looked around, impressed. Not even Daytona could read all of the books Mal saw in the library in one lifetime. He took a seat across from Enalia and Farenia.

"So," Mal said. "If the Commodore is here, should I assume this evening is not all about pleasure?"

Another maid offered Mal and Clio their refreshments on silver platters. "Idanian spiced cocoa with Earth marshmallows topped with shaved Betazoid chocolate."

"Yes, unfortunately we have much to discuss before the orgy," Enalia replied with a grin.

Farenia just playfully slapped her on the shoulder and shook her head. "No, there's no orgy scheduled. Not that I know of anyway... I'm here to apprise you of a few things you should be aware of."

Mal accepted the drink.

"No orgy, eh?" he said, grinning wickedly. "Oh well, I'll just have to wait until my next trip home."

Mal took a sip of his cocoa.

"This is fantastic!" he said. "Clio, my dear, you have to try this!"

"If you want me to maintain any sense of dignity or decorum, that is not a good idea." Clio hadn't shared that interesting quirk of her biology with Mal yet, and she didn't remember if she'd told 'Nia or not. "Especially not with both you and 'Nia here..." Farenia's presence hadn't gone unnoticed, but it felt ever so slightly awkward to have both her and Mal in the same room. She didn't think either Rigelians or Pomtoli placed much stock in monogamy, but she didn't want to explain this situation either!

"Perhaps you should mention his planet first..." Enalia mumbled mysteriously.

Farenia sipped her own drink before beginning. "First off, I want to thank you for your hard work on your recent mission. Your crew obtained a lot of important information that we'll no doubt be analyzing for years to come. We've identified your next target already, but I'll get to that a bit later. Enalia's right that I should mention Pomtol. It may be nothing, but we have a courier that we occasionally contract work out to code named Hermes and he's reported sightings of a creature called a... mini-taur? He also mentioned Hera and Pomtol. The message may have originated from Nimpella three, near here, but it was so garbled, that's all we could make out though all the cross encoding and fade-checking. We've dispatched the USS Amaterasu, a Miranda class ship, to check on Pomtol just in case and Commander Yurika Misumaru would like a cultural reference from you before their arrival."

Mal looked stunned. His eyes glazed over as he remembered some older kids trying to frighten him when he was young.

If you're not careful we'll take you out in the dark forest and leave you there for the Minotaur to eat! Some of them got away, you know! And now they live in the forest and eat little kids who wander to far into their territory!

Mal shuddered.

"To Humans," Mal said. "A Minotaur is a myth. A creature of legend. Half man, half bull. They find him in their mythology textbooks and holovids. But to the Pomtoli...to us, Terran mythology is history. Yes, there is a great deal of legend in our history, but there's a great deal of fact there as well. Minotaur are part of that fact. The angry goddess Hera uses them as foot soldiers. Some of them stumbled on Pomtol early on in our history. Their leader, a vile harpy...I mean that literally, she was an actual harpy...anyway, she knew how much Hera despised Pan. Hera hated him because of the way she perceived that his satyrs treated the nymphs, not to mention any other woman they managed to seduce, and also because he was the son of Hermes. Hermes was one of Zeus's illegitimate children. My people fought a great battle. The Minotaur are larger and stronger than our satyrs and definitely so with our nymphs, but they are not as high functioning intellectually. In other words, they're big, dumb, brutes. They lift heavy objects, break things, hit people, and try to skewer people with their horns. They can be outmaneuvered, but they are as tough or tougher than a Pomtol satyr, and we can take a great deal of punishment. We fought a prolonged battle, but were able to drive them off. Hera and her harpies and Minotaur are the stuff of nightmares to us. There existence is used to frighten the young. 'Watch out! if you don't behave, we'll feed you to the Minotaur!' But..."

Mal hesitated.

"We all train for the day that they might return," he said. "We practice with weapons developed by Pan, frictionless blades that can slice cleanly through anything they can cut into like I hot knife through butter. If this Hermes has seen Minotaur, then Hera may be up to something. Hera is very dangerous, Commodore. Unlike the Greco-Romans, I know she is not a god. But she is a highly intelligent, long lived, alien with access to highly advanced technology and weapons. We need to find this...Hermes and discover what he knows."

"He has a habit of slipping past the people I send to find him... Even knowing where this message came from, which is rare, won't help." Farenia replied morosely as she finished her drink and headed to the bar and began refilling it with ice and amber booze older than dirt.

"If this really is the same Hera, she's not to be tangled with. Even my people know that, and we think of war as the most beautiful art that can be created. Hera is on another level entirely." While Clio may not have ever met a minotaur, the legends about Hera were all very clear. You did not trifle with the woman and survive.

Turning from the bar, 'Nia headed over to Mal and Clio and slipped in between them and hooked an arm around each of theirs, her cheeks slightly more flush than normal - a sign that she might be on the verge of getting drunk. "Unfortunately, we have no way of knowing if he means Hera the ship or Hera the entity. With the lack of any proof of sightings of the latter, I'm hoping it was a reference to the ship and to inform the three of you. If so, my job is complete."

Mal shook his arm free from Farenia's.

"With all due respect, Commodore," he said icily. "There is absolutely no reason to believe that this Hermes, whoever he is, even knows that this ship exists, let alone who any of the three of us are. There's absolutely no reason for him to be sending us a message. The only logical conclusion is that he is talking about the 'goddess' Hera. I'm sorry, but you can't seriously expect me to sit here in this Mad Hatter's tea party and do nothing about the information you just shared with me. If you aren't going to do something about this, I am. If I have to resign my commission to do so, so be it."

"I'm fairly certain he knows who you are , but fair enough. As for me doing something, this is where the Artan family Privateers come into play," Farenia replied as she took the hint and left the two of them alone and heading back to the bar, but not before slipping her full glass into Clio's hand. "Enalia, you should know better than serving a Cervan chocolate. Shame on you."

"Right... Forgot about that..." Enalia replied sheepishly. "Anyway, I have a small ship you can use at dock nineteen if you want to go investigate. It's Romulan built but registered to the Artan Privateers so you should be fine. Just try not to scratch the paint. I recommend taking a few people with you though, just in case you run into trouble."

Mal still looked angry, but he thought about what Enalia said.

"Daytona, Nexi, and Cato, and maybe T'Pral," he said. "But only if they volunteer when I ask them. Otherwise, just me and whoever you can get to volunteer to crew the ship. Weapons, Engineering, Helm, Operations, and at least one of the Independent Duty Hospital Corpsman for medical support. This is going to be a short, quick, trip."

Mal turned to Farenia.

"Commodore," he said. "If you know something that connects this Hermes person to any of us, I would appreciate knowing...now. If you choose to withhold this information, you risk endangering everyone on this little side mission and in doing so you will lose my respect. At the moment, I assume that means nothing to you. Prove me wrong. Who is Hermes, Commodore? And why would he know any member of this command team."

"I transmitted a sterilized report about the Master to him just before your last mission asking for his help and he saw your signature. He claims to be your great grandfather or something." Farenia admitted before turning back around, her fresh glass still empty. "As for your respect, you're right. At this moment it does mean nothing to me because I'm too worried to care. Tomorrow I get to go to a six hour meeting with a Vulcanoid Rigellian named Kyrios Topnic... Supposedly one of my own people... from my own tribe... He's the Chief Manager for the main branch of the iConsortium Medical Group. Take one guess who we think he is."

That's impossible! It couldn't be...could it? Hermes is...Hermes? Ridiculous! Mal thought.

"You know," he said. "We keep having these meetings in the absence of the oldest Rigelian in Starfleet, one who worked the Rigel System for about half of his life. Just saying. Anyway, I assume you are implying that you believe this person to be our friend the Master? Clio? How does that fit with what Daytona was able to dig up so far on Maas Teranja?"

"Fits his modus operandi." Though she wasn't sure what the liquid Farenia had handed her was, Clio took a sip of it and found it to be a warming liquor with a hint of spice to it. "I can't say for certain that it's him, but it certainly seems to fit."

"On top of that, I don't remember growing up with him so his public bio is obviously fake," Farenia added as she filled her new glass with the same amber liquid as before, draining the expensive looking decanter. "Enalia, I'm sorry. It seems I owe you a bottle of... What was this?"

"Nine hundred year old spiced Tellarian ale," Enalia clarified as she craned her neck to check the bottle Farenia was dangling.

"Well fuck..." 'Nia muttered as she set the bottle back down and sipped at her glass. "At least they have shorter years..."

"Well of course his bio is bogus. None of his other identities panned out correctly either." Clio gave the empty bottle and then her own glass a sheepish look. She'd had no idea how expensive the ale was.

Enalia saw the look on Clio's face and grinned knowingly. "If you prefer, there's a bottle of cheap Earth wine chilling under the bar. It's only around four hundred years old and only slightly less irreplaceable."

Mal's mind was on the next day already. He wasn't in the mood for social pleasantries. On the other hand, he didn't want to ruin anyone's evening. He sighed and decided that he, and whoever he could get to go with him, would leave later than dawn. He would give them the rest of the evening to themselves. He'd leave messages for them that they would receive in the morning. Nexi probably wouldn't check hers, but Cato was Starfleet and used to checking in regularly, even on shore leave. He'd let her know what the deal was. He'd gather them as early as was reasonable in the morning, explain the mission, and ask for volunteers.

"So," Mal said. "What is our next step with our mysterious mad scientist?"

Farenia sipped her drink a bit more before replying. "I and every member of my team will be doing everything we can to plant a tracker on his ship and on him. I'll also be transferring a dermal tracker to him when I make contact. Even if I die, you should at least still have that much. Admiral T'narp also promised me a posthumous two rank promotion, but I'm not sure if that was a form of encouragement or his calculations for my survivability. Also, as much as I'd love to borrow Aewia..."

"No." Enalia didn't even let Farenia finish the thought before she had the words out. "The resources of my entire crew are at your disposal, not the civilians that are aboard the Hera. Aewia is still considered a civilian, even if her security clearance has been reestablished and she's doing limited duty in our Intel offices."

"Yes..." Farenia scowled and sipped her drink as the fireplace crackled. "Out of respect for all the help the Arton family has been lately, I won't press the matter. Her profiles on the Master are sufficient. For now."

"I doubt Enalia's going to let you have her in the future either, 'Nia. Aewia's been through enough trauma to last anyone a few lifetimes, and the last thing she needs is to be forced into the field. Let it go." Clio wasn't really sure whether Farenia was trying to cause trouble or not, but with both Mal and Enalia angry at her, things could go south really fast.

'Nia shook her head. "It's not field work I want her for, but a a support and monitor role on a remote station. Either way, it's a moot point, so let's not worry about it. For now let's adhere to an ancient Earth philosophy - tonight we drink for tomorrow we die."

"Now that's a policy I can agree with." Clio grinned a bit, clearly a fan of drinking heavily before possibly facing one's death.

Daytona was walking through the corridors pushing a anti-grav pallet ahead of him. On the pallet was a large bag of kitty litter, a bag of kitten food, pieces of some cat climbing/scratching structures that would need to be assembled, and a box. Every now and then a meow could be heard from the box.

The ship was enroute to Enalia's fortress. Repairs were done for the most part, at least everything that could be done until after they'd docked. The schedule on the ship was relaxed. Still, Daytona wasn't sure if Akira would stop working for the day on her own. She enjoyed her work very much and, if left to her own devices, might just keep working round the clock. But, as her shift was over now, Daytona hoped he'd be able to drag her away from whatever she was doing. He had a surprise for her, one that she was sure to like much more than the keshek! Introducing her to a keshek had been a total disaster. To make up for that debacle, Daytona had promised Akira kittens, and Daytona was a man of his word...when he wasn't working. Unfortunately, his job required a working knowledge of dishonesty. Daytona tapped his commbadge.

"Ral to Akira," he said. "Are you in your quarters?"

=/\="I am," came her chipper reply. "Do you need me to meet you somewhere?" she asked.

Daytona grinned.

"Nope," he said. "I'm right outside. All I need you to do is let me in! I have surprise for you! And it's not an equine, I promise!"

Daytona felt giddy as he imagined the look on Akira's face when he revealed the surprise. This was going to be fun!

A surprise? Well, he said it was not equines, so... Akira set her violin on it's stand and the bow across the sheet music she had been practicing from and went to the door to open it. Then she saw Daytona and the lift loaded with... stuff; what was all this stuff for? And was the box making sounds?

"What is all this?" Akira asked as she let Daytona into her quarters.

Daytona grinned like the cat who ate the canary.

"Here," he said. "Let's sit on the floor. Oh! First you might want to put your violin away!"

He moved the anti-grav pallet into the room. He picked up the box and set it on the floor.

"When you've got that put away, come sit across from me on the floor and I'll open the box," Daytona said.

"Oh, okay..." Akira wasn't entirely certain as to what he had in that box, but she did as told and put her violin in its case, then stowed it in her closet, after which she moved the sheet music to her desk. "Is that good?" she asked, sitting on the floor across from him as he instructed.

"Perfect," Daytona replied. "And now watch the box."

Daytona lifted the lid from the box. At first, nothing came out. Then one small paw reached up and grabbed the edge of box, then another. Finally, the head of a Maine Coon kitten peaked over the edge.

"I promised you I'd introduce you to a kitten," Daytona said. "Well, this is a kitten. A Maine Coon kitten to be exact. Go ahead. Hold your hand out so it can sniff you."

Akira's eyes were so wide with wonder; the kitten looked so adorable! She held out her hand to let the kitten smell her, giggling when it began to lick at her fingers; when the keshek had eaten treats out of her hand, she had been afraid it would take her fingers off, but she had no reason to fear the same result now with such a tiny animal. "It's so cute!" she declared with a big smile.

"Yes," Daytona said. "It is. It is a female kitten, by the way. It doesn't have a name yet. I think you should give it one. That way you won't have to say 'hey you!' every time you want it's attention. Actually, felines ignore their people nine times out of ten, but still, I think she should have a name. After all, she's yours, if you want her that is."

"A name?" Akira looked at the kitten with a curious tilt of her head, gently stroking the top of the kitten's head. "A name... What does one name a kitten?"

Daytona chuckled.

"Whatever one wants to," he said. "People give their felines all manner of names. Everything from given names of their species or others to proper names of people or even places, to names of favorite characters from books or from history or mythology, or they just make up something that everyone else thinks is ridiculous. This kitten is female, so it might be appropriate to give it a name that indicates that, but beyond that, it's really entirely up to you. So, if you're thinking of names, I guess that means you want to keep her?"

"I don't know, I've never cared for a biological life form before," Akira replied. The kitten was attempting to climb out of the box, so Akira carefully lifted the tiny ball of fur out of the box and brought her to eye level to really get a good look at her. The kittens eyes were like a forest, so many greens, and her fur was like the forest floor, so many hues of brown. "Would you like to stay with me?" Akira asked the kitten, to which her only response was to sniff at the blue face peering at her. If she kept the kitten, that would mean Akira would need to make an effort to return to her quarters more often as the kitten would need care and social interaction, but since her night with Daytona she had been taking more personal time, so she felt confident that she could manage.

"Moriko," Akira finally declared with a smile. "She looks like a forest, or at least pictures I have seen of forests, and Moriko means 'forest child'," she explained as she pet the kitten.

"A perfect name," Daytona said. "Looks like she's really warming up to you. So, you may have noticed that I brought a few things with me. There's food designed for kittens. There are feeding instructions there on that PaDD, along with lots of other kitten-care related information. She'll need food twice a day, roughly 10 to 12 hours apart, and you'll need to give her fresh water twice a day at least. She may not drink it all, but she'll get food and fur and saliva in it. My general rule of thumb with felines' water bowls is that if I wouldn't want to drink from it, they probably wouldn't want to either. And of course since she'll be eating and drinking, she'll be expelling waste. Speaking of which, we should take care of that now, so she doesn't urinate on your floor."

Daytona took a litter box off of the pallet. He filled it with litter.

"Kitten waste is generally fouler than cat waste, so don't let the smell scare you off," he said. "She'll grow out of it. This should go somewhere she can have a little privacy but also somewhere she can easily find it. This has a cover with a hatch in it so she'll have privacy almost wherever you put it. Maybe somewhere in the corner of this room? You could also put it in the head, I suppose."

Daytona paused and noticed that Akira was distracted playing with Moriko. He smiled. She looked so adorable with her new friend.

"Sorry," he said. "A lot of information at once. For the moment, just focus on where you want me to put this so I can show you how to teach her to find it."

"No no, it's not too much, I understand that this is how biologicals function," Akira assured him. Though she seemed distracted, she was still listening. "You're a ferocious little wildcat, aren't you!" she said cheerfully to Moriko who had started to bat and chew Akira's fingers. Then Akira looked up at Daytona with a smile. "I suppose the box can go in the bathroom? I don't need to go in there, so she should have plenty of privacy."

"Sure," Daytona replied. "So, pick up Moriko and come with me to the head. Oh, and she'll like you more if you hold her in a way that she feels safe and secure rather than letting her legs dangle."

Daytona went into the head and set down the litter box and waited for Akira and Moriko.

Akira rose and followed Daytona. After letting Moriko explore the litter box and then Daytona showing Akira how to clean up after Moriko, they returned to the main room lay out the food and water bowls, again letting Moriko explore to learn where everything was. As Akira watched Daytona show her how much to feed the kitten, it occurred to her that being a biological was really high maintenance! She had observed food consumption before, but it seemed to be really impacting her how important all this stuff was now that this tiny life was in her hands.

"And as she grows, her biological needs will require more nutrition and at different ratios, so over time I will need to compensate with her diet?" Akira said as she watched Moriko nibble on some kibble.

"Exactly," Daytona said. "She'll be eating a fair amount while she's a kitten and she'll need it because she's growing and she'll be very active. As she get's older, she'll be less active and require less food. There are some toys in there to use to help her get exercise. If we were on a planet she could probably roam around, but this is a big ship. She could wander into a turbo lift and end up anywhere on it and not know how to get back. So she'll need to stay in your quarters. She's not old enough yet to be spayed, so you'll need to see the ship's vet about that when the time comes. It made not sound very nice, but trust me when I say you'll both be happier once it's done."

Moriko had eaten her fill and then immediately pounced on Daytona's foot, holding it in her front paws, nawing at it with her teeth and trying to scratch his boot with her hind legs. Daytona chuckled.

"Okay, Killer," he said, bending over to pick his attacker and cuddle her. "Yes, you are very cute. But let's not let you get too much into the habit of doing that, shall we? It won't be as much fun for your mother and me when you weigh twenty pounds."

He walked over to the pallet and reached into a bag. He pulled out a small rubber ball. Setting the cat down, he bounced the rubber ball, sending it flying around the room. Moriko was fascinated and suddenly sprang up and started chasing the ball around the room.

"Oh my, I had no idea that a kitten could move so fast!" Akira exclaimed when Moriko darted off. She had records within her Science database including felines, both domesticated and wild, in motion and it was impressive, but it never occurred to her that their young would likewise be so fast, she thought it would take more time for them to gain the coordination! "I have a lot to learn, don't I?"

Daytona leaned over and gave Akira a kiss on the cheek and then slipped his arm around her.

"You have quite an adventure ahead of you," he said. "I think taking care of a living creature will be good for you. You'll have another excuse to take time off and Moriko will teach you the value of play and silliness. And she'll help me reinforce the value of cuddling. Oh, and I can help you assemble that cat tree for you if you'd like. Felines like to climb and they can also strip off the dead layer of their claws by digging their claws into the carpet material on cat tree and then yanking. With some work, you can train...or maybe just encourage, Moriko to confine her scratching to the cat tree instead of the carpeting on the floor of your quarters or your furniture. Or I can just assemble it while you play with Moriko. Once it's together and in its proper place, you be able to start convincing her to use it by putting her on it a few times. After that, if she scratches something you don't want her to scratch, just pick her up and put her in the cat tree. Hopefully, she'll get the point after a while."

"Positive reinforcement and conditions responses through which she will learn that the 'cat tree' is hers," Akira said to Daytona to affirm that she understood what he was trying to explain. She looked in the box of supplies and found a stick with a line of string with a bell and a cluster of feathers at the end. Confused with the purpose of this item, she quickly figured it out when the jingle of the bell caught Moriko's attention and she bolted over to pounce on the brightly colored feathers. Akira smiled and teased Moriko with the toy. "But right now it looks like you just want to learn to be a hunter, don't you?" she said to Moriko.

Daytona watched as his paramour played with her new feline companion. Akira looked like she was having a wonderful time. A vain man would have said something like 'So, this is better than a keshek?' in order to fish for a compliment. Daytona was pretty certain that he was as vain as the next person, but at this moment, seeing Akira and Moriko enjoying themselves, see Akira learn to play and be silly, that was compliment enough. Daytona let them play and went about assembling the cat tree. He'd made one that was larger than a kitten would need because he had learned that Maine Coon cats could reach lengths of over forty inches and weigh over twenty pounds. This 'tree' was large enough to accommodate Moriko as an adult. Akira could very likely assemble the tree on her own, and much faster and more efficiently than he could, but he liked that she was letting him do it. Daytona liked just being with her, sharing her space, with no pressure to say or do anything. It felt...domestic. He also enjoyed working with his hands. It took him back four centuries to his family's homestead on Rigel V. Daytona didn't sit about wool gathering for long, but instead kept working on assembling the tree. Every now and again there was the sound of a small power tool as Daytona fastened the pieces to each other.

Akira adored her new pet, and she was having so much fun playing with Moriko! As Daytona finished with the cat tree, she used the feather toy to lure Moriko over to explore this new thing. "How can this one tiny little creature have me so captivated?" Akira asked as she coaxed Moriko to climb up one of the levels of the cat tree. "She is so adorable, I love her; thank you, Daytona." Then she leaned over to give him a kiss on the cheek.

"That makes it all worthwhile, my love," Daytona said. Whoops! Maybe he shouldn't have said that! Oh, well. Maybe Akira would be so entranced by Moriko that she wouldn't notice. Maybe. "I'm looking forward to seeing your aunt's fortress. We'll be able to go off ship together and go exploring...maybe have a picnic? Would you like to try eating? Maica, your Aunt Maica, told me about the replicator setting she uses to create holographic food for herself. We could use that."

"I am looking forward to it as well," Akira said with excitement, making no indication that she heard his 'my love' slip. "I have never attempted to eat anything before, but I know I am capable of processing input from holographic foods as though it is real, so I am willing to give a picnic a try." Moriko was starting to wind down as Akira spoke; she had been fed, she had a chance to run around, now it was apparently time to groom and settle down for a nap. As Moriko lost interest in the feather toy, Akira stopped teasing her and eventually put the toy aside and simply pet the little kitten.

"Great," Daytona said. "Any thoughts on what foods you might like to try? We could look over some of the foods available to you and pick some that interesting to you."

Daytona took a seat across from Akira on the floor and watched her play with Moriko while he waited for her answer.

"I have no idea where to begin," Akira replied, looking at Daytona. "What do you like to eat?"

Daytona thought a moment.

"Sandwiches are always good for a picnic," Daytona said. "You know, I've traveled quite a bit and nearly everywhere I've been, the people have figured out that it would be a good idea to put some kind of protein between two slices of bread. It seems to be a sort of universal constant. Or...some kind of cooked poultry. I'm trying to remember that your food won't 'spoil' or get cold so you can have just about anything and that I'm going to have to...okay, your Aunt Maica suggested that you start with something like a cheeseburger or a pasta dish or bolian finger foods. Here come over to the replicator with me."

Akira gave Moriko one last pat, then rose to join Daytona at the replicator. "I still have no way to fathom where to begin. If you put something in front of me, I will try it, but until I try something, I have no way of knowing if I will like it or not," Akira stated simply. "Also, you did not answer my question: what do you like to eat?"

"Over the years I've learned to eat just about anything," Daytona replied. Then he grinned. "But I never learned to like everything I've had to eat. I do draw the line at creatures that are still alive. I once almost caused an interstellar incident because I refused to eat gagh, which is a sort of Klingon worm/snake thing that's served while it's still slithering."

Daytona shuddered.

"It looks dreadful, and it smells worse," he said. "And they're really long. The Klingons hold them up above their heads and lower them down into their mouths and bite into them, killing them with the first bite, the disgusting creatures' life blood spilling all down their chins. Thoroughly nasty. However, not all food is like that. For example, we have a fruit on Rigel V that is very much like an Earth Rainier Cherry. I would eat them by the basket full. Juicy and sweet...alright, now we're going to need to get some for both of us. We'll have to make sure we know which is which, but they're on the menu. And...vegetables, pita, and humus. Again, we'll have to keep mine and yours separate, but you'll like that. And cheeses! There are some wonderful cheeses we could try! And other fruits! Yes, I have an idea now! You will enjoy this, I think, hopefully as much as meeting Moriko, definitely more than the keshek debacle, which I suppose isn't saying much."

Akira smiled at the exuberance Daytona displayed as he went on about different foods, and it occurred to her that this is what he must feel when she talked about some of the more complicated aspects of her job, uncomprehending yet still enjoying that infectious energy.

"I already dislike the idea of eating anything live, so gahg is definitely out," Akira affirmed as he looked through the replicator patterns. "But with the way you describe everything else, I'm definitely interested in trying the rest. Can I try something now?"

"Absolutely," Daytona replied. "Let's start with something simple."

Daytona messed around with the replicator programming, adding a program he had for the cherries he liked to Maica's holographic food program and then coaxing said program to produce the holographic fruit. A moment later, a holographic version of a small bowl of Rigelian Cherry analogs appeared. Each cherry was a mix of yellow and red in coloring. Daytona removed the bowl, which was blue, and handed it to Akira. A few more taps, and an actual bowl of replicated cherries appeared, this one green. Daytona took the green bowl. He then replicated a small bowl of water.

"Come," he said, walking over to the couch. He set his two bowls on the little table in front of the couch. "Come sit with me and I'll show you how to eat these."

Akira happily took the bowl over to the couch, setting the blue bowl on the table. While she waited for Daytona to join her, she picked up a cherry and looked at it. "This has a seed inside, a pit, it is not meant for eating," she remarked curiously.

"That is correct," Daytona sat down next to Akira. He picked up a cherry. "These should be sweet and juicy. Theoretically, you can hold it by the stem and try to nibble the fruit off the pit, but that has always seemed awkward to me. I just hold the cherry like this and take a bite, making sure not to bite the pit. They're very hard, and while I don't think they'll break your photonic teeth, the sensation of unintentionally biting down on one is very unpleasant."

Dayton picked up a cherry and bit into it. He managed to work the cherry around in his mouth so he removed all of the fruit from the cherry without biting the pit. Before chewing the cherry, he took the pit out of his mouth with his fingers and placed back in the bowl.

"Hmmm..." he said. "Almost as good as the real thing! Your turn!"

Akira nodded at his explanation and watched as he demonstrated how to eat it. Then she took the cherry in her hand and looked at it for a moment, contemplating this curious little fruit. She decided to simply remove the stem and simply placed it in her mouth. At first, it didn't taste like much, and the sensation of having something foreign in her mouth was rather odd, but then she bit into the juicy flesh of the cherry and her eyes went wide; the explosion of flavor had all her senses abuzz! It was sweet, it was tangy! Mindful of the pit, she kept chewing until finally the pit was free of the rest of the cherry, and she carefully split it out, placing the pit into the bowl. Chewing was an altogether interesting experience in itself, and she wondered how long she had to chew before it was time to swallow. Well, the cherry flesh was thoroughly decimated by now and no longer had that intense punch of delightful flavor it did when she first bit into it, so working on the assumption that it was indeed time to swallow, she did, and then shuddered; while the flavor was indeed enticing, the mechanics of food consumption would take some getting used to...

Daytona grinned.

"Well?" he said. "What do you think? I'm betting that swallowing is going to take some getting used to. Don't worry, with time and practice it will become second nature to you."

"It... yeah," Akira said with a soft laugh, but she picked up another cherry anyway. "I do like the taste, though! I did not expect taste to be like that, it was very... oh, I do not know how to describe it, but I like it very much!" she continued, then popped the cherry into her mouth.

"I'm glad," Daytona said. He bit into another cherry, spit out the pit, and chewed and swallowed the fruit. "If you'd like, we could find another food for you to try after you've had your fill of cherries. Otherwise, you can just tell me about your day...uhm...between cherries. Chewing with your mouth open is considered impolite. Essentially, no one wants to watch someone else's food getting mashed up in their teeth. Food can look good and food can taste good, but never both at the same time."

Akira thought about his statement as she chewed, spitting out the pit once she'd separated it from the cherry and tossing the pit back into the bowl. Once she finished chewing, she again shuddered as she swallowed. "I think I would like to try more foods. As for my day, it was nothing really spectacular, just a routine day; there's still a great deal that needs to be done in terms of repairs, but those are the big repairs we'll be undergoing once we dock at Enalia's fortress. Oh, and I was able to practice on my violin before you arrived, though the highlight of my day was you bringing Moriko, and now the cherries," she stated, then popped another cherry into her mouth.

Daytona chuckled. Akira could be so matter of fact, but in a very cute and adorable way. He rose and walked over to the replicator to find something else for her to have. Since she liked fruit, Daytona selected a small fruit plate for her to try. It materialized and he brought it over to her. He placed it on the table and returned to his seat on the couch and went back to eating cherries. This holographic food was going to make things much easier. While it would be terrific if he could live off of the radiance of Akira's smile, and other things he did with Akira, he needed to eat and sometimes held off doing so when he was with her because she couldn't eat. Now, at least, they could approximate sharing a meal.

"These are other fruits," he said. "Most of them are sweet to varying extents, some might be a little sour. Try some of them. It's the only way we're going to find out what you like and what you don't."

Sour, Akira learned very quickly, was not all that pleasant, especially if there was no sweetness to counteract the sourness. Each fruit had different flavors and textures, like the apples were bright and crisp, but the peaches were mellow and juicy, and melons- oh goodness, so many more fruits to chose from! And then there were different flavors even within the same kind of fruit, like the green apples were too tart and the red apples not tart enough, but the apples that were both red and yellow were just right, indicating that she was developing a fondness for tartness. She ended up liking the cherries, strawberries, kiwi, and nectarines, although she kept going back for more slices of pear and mangos, but not at the same time, she almost immediately declared that mangos and pears did NOT taste good when eaten together!

Since she liked strawberries, Daytona attempted to try chocolate covered strawberries, which had mixed success. After giving a chocolate covered strawberry a taste, she insisted on trying chocolate without the strawberry, and then different kinds of chocolate, eventually settling on dark chocolate as her favorite, both on and off the strawberries, though she and Daytona would find a pattern for thin bars of dark chocolate with a raspberry filling that she liked even more.

While Daytona started running leftovers back through the replicator and finding more tasty things for Akira to try, Akira decided to check on Moriko, who was sleeping in a hammock-like part of the cat tree. Picking her up gently, Akira brought the kitten back to the couch where she could pet her some more while she and Daytona tasted food.

"Well," Daytona said. "We've gone through fruit and chocolate...I guess we should find you something that's more solid. Let's try some cheeses. I'll replicate some crackers as well in case you want to try them together."

A few taps at the replicator and a cheese plate appeared with several different kinds of cheeses on it. I cheese knife had been included. Daytona removed the plate and then tapped the controls a few more times. A bowl with some crackers appeared. He brought these over and set them down on the table in front of Akira. On a whim, he replicated two glasses of Muscato wine, a white, sweet wine good for cheeses and fruits. A desert wine, served cold. Since they'd started with desert foods, it seemed appropriate. One was 'real' and one was 'photonic' so Daytona made sure he knew the difference before he carried them over to the table.

"Okay," he said sitting down and taking a moment to scritch Moriko behind the ears. "Since we're doing fruits, chocolate, cheeses, we seem to be in a cross between a desert and an appetizer mood. This wine is called Muscato. It's made from white grapes, is sweet, and is meant to be served cold. It should compliment what you've been eating. Try it. Even replicated, it can be quite lovely."

Wine? Oh goodness! Akira leaned over to take the glass of wine, being careful of Moriko who was in her lap; Moriko was already spoiled rotten, laying on her back and purring loudly while Akira rubbed her belly with her free hand. With wine in hand, Akira noticed right away that wine and some of the cheeses had more permeating scents. She held the glass to her nose for a moment, really taking in the scent of the wine; the fermentation of the grapes really did have a big affect on the smell, it smelled nothing like the grapes she had eaten earlier! Very cautiously, she took a sip and immediately her face scrunched up.

"No, no... not for me," Akira stated as she quickly put the glass back on the table; alcohol, or at the very least wine or possibly just this blend, was not for her! Akira kept smacking her lips in an attempt to get rid of the taste in her mouth. "Ugh, that was awful! And people actually like that stuff?!"

Daytona laughed.

"Well," he said. "It's an acquired taste. But, if you don't like it, you don't have to drink it. Here, I'll get rid of yours."

Daytona picked up the holographic glass of wine and returned it to the replicator, then returned to his seat. He watched Akira trying the cheeses with one hand and petting Moriko with the other. Sometimes Daytona would be nearly overwhelmed with the desire to touch Akira and to be touched by her. Other times, like right now, he really enjoyed simply watching her explore new experiences. He sipped his wine and smiled.

"So," he said. "What do you think of the cheeses?"

Akira finished chewing on the bit of cheese in her mouth and swallowed. "Mmm, some of them smell really bad but taste alright. Some of them taste... I don't know how to explain it, but it's really strong and... " She smacked her lips again as she tried to figure out how to describe what she was tasting. "Maybe dry? Uh, sharp! Ah, one of Father's memories, he liked one that was very 'sharp', but I don't think I like this quality," she stated, finding a cracker and scooping up a bit of goat cheese, so soft it was like a cream or spread; she had eaten quite a bit of this goat cheese already, which was a pretty good indication that she liked it.

"And you're not flinching as much when you swallow," Daytona replied. "It seems maybe you're getting used to the sensation. I don't know if photonic lifeforms can get tummy aches eating holographic food, but you've consumed quite a bit. Would you like to take a break? If you want to get yourself over stimulated, I can think of more enjoyable ways than gastrointestinal distress."

"Oh my stars, is that what I'm feeling?" Akira replied, putting a hand on her belly. "It's quite an odd feeling, I was wondering what it meant... Although I think I feel something else as well..." She brought her fingers to her lips as she tried to decipher this sensation. "It... I responded to the wine, but I didn't drink much so the feeling didn't go away... I think I'm thirsty?"

"Ah," Daytona said, rising from the couch. "Yes. Wine, most fermented beverages, don't really quench your thirst. Let me get you some water. Unless you'd like something else? Peppermint tea? Or maybe Ginger tea? Both are said to help with an upset stomach and tea can be very refreshing. It can be served hot or cold, sweetened or unsweetened. What do you think? I realize you have no idea what any of these things taste like, but take a guess."

"Uh, I don't know if my stomach is 'upset', but I will give a tea a try," Akira said. "I don't know what kind or how to have it served... Though I think I like sweetness, so maybe something a little sweet?"

"Excellent," Daytona said. He coaxed the computer into producing a holographic ginger ice tea with a bit of honey mixed into it. The sweating glass appeared. He ordered a real one for himself, then brought both of them over to the couch. "Here. Tell me what you think of this."

Daytona sat down and took a sip from his and enjoyed the sort of relaxing sensation in his stomach.

Akira sipped at the tea; drinking was a different mechanic to eating, but she was figuring this out pretty well, or at least she thought so. "It's interesting... I can't tell if I like or dislike it, but it is interesting," Akira said, then too another sip, and before she knew it she had downed half the glass. But it had sated the strange sensation she was feeling, and her belly felt... still quite full, but it was not uncomfortable. "All these new sensation are all quite strange, I do not understand how biologicals can deal with it!"

Daytona chuckled.

"We don't really have a choice," he said. "But also, we come to these sensations gradually...well, most species do. The mammalian ones. As infants we are dependent on breast milk from our mothers as our only source of sustenance...well, that or some artificial formula. Breast milk is considered best, though. As far as I know, anyway. As we mature, solid foods are slowly introduced. We learn to swallow, for example, first by swallowing breast milk, then soft, mushy solids, then firmer foods. After a while, what you find almost overwhelming, we find commonplace, so much so that we don't even notice most of the time. I mean, we notice the taste of a food or drink item, but the act of eating it; chewing, swallowing, etc, becomes second nature to us."

"Yes, I understand there is vital biochemistry in the brain that develops during infancy that is crucial going into adulthood, but it is still odd to me, especially feeling thirst as I don't require hydration and yet I still felt the desire to drink," Akira replied. Moriko was peacefully content in Akira's lap, and Akira leaned back to relax into the couch as she continued to rub Moriko's belly. "There is a certain contentment I feel now that I have eaten, and it's almost like I'm feeling drowsy. Is that normal?"

"Yes," Daytona replied. "Most people feel drowsy after they've eaten a lot. Do you want to go lie down? If you do, could I stay with you? I was just thinking it would be nice to cuddle up with you and Moriko."

With a big smile, Akira scooted closer to Daytona on the couch and cuddled up to him. "There, is this better?"

Daytona put his arm around Akira and gave her a gentle squeeze.

"Much," he said. Daytona sighed contentedly. He leaned in and kissed Akira on the temple. "I'm always better when you're close to me."

Daytona reached over with his other hand and gave Moriko a scritch.

"You, too, Moriko," he said. Moriko batted playfully at Daytona's fingers. She caught one of them in her paws and began to lick it. "Ah, cat slobber. One of life's simple pleasures."

Enalia had graciously offered Mal the use of one of the small conference rooms she had available in her huge castle. Mal had accepted the offer with equal grace and appreciation, in part because this mission he was about to set off on was off the books. He was nervous and pacing as he waited for his chosen ones to arrive. Could he talk them into helping him? To them all of this talk of Greco-Roman alien gods and goddesses probably sounded like myth and legend. But if Mal's suspicions proved to be warranted, his planet, indeed both the Alpha and Beta Quadrants, might be in grave danger.

Was this Hermes THE Hermes? Had he not left this plane with the others? Obviously Pan hadn't left, neither had Hera. If they were still around, who of the others stayed behind...and who might have come back. These 'deities' weren't quite on the level of a Q when it came to omnipotence, but they were very powerful.

As one of the maids escorted Schwein Alcott to the briefing room, she adjusted her eyepatch over her left eye and tossed back her dangerously long platinum hair. Though she was wearing what looked like a grey camouflage uniform, it was actually a rather stylish Earth-German facsimile that had all of her medical supplies hidden in secret pockets. Now ready, she nodded and entered the briefing room, the maid announcing her presence.

"Master Xustos, may I present to you, Her Royal Highness's personal entourage Third class, Baroness von Schwein Villionette Alcott of the late vessel Queen's Desire." The Trill catgirl maid proclaimed.

Schwein blushed slightly and looked up at the chandelier as she was announced so formally. "Thank you... That was... Unnecessary..." Recomposing herself, she walked over to Mal and offered her hand in a less formal handshake, smiling up at the taller man. "Hallo, it is a delight to meet the famous goatyman of legend at last." Her blush was still present and she internally chastised herself for letting her German accent to thicken even just slightly at the prospect of meeting a real life satyr.

"It's nice to finally meet you, Baroness," Mal replied, grasping and shaking the offered hand. "Captain Telvan speaks very highly of you. I'm very pleased you'll be joining us."

As Schwein's blush deepened, she brushed her hair back in an attempt to disguise it. She couldn't get the old stories of Satyr sexual prowess out of her mind for some reason. No! She had work to do! "Please Herr Xustos, you may call me Schwein. I will be your medical health professional on this adventure, so I insist upon a more relaxed atmosphere."

"Schwein," Mal said. "Of course. Thank you very much for joining us. Please, take a seat. I notice that you aren't Trill. How did you end up with the Artans?"

"Ja, Herr Xustos," Shwein began as she took a seat. "Frau Artan personally saved me when my colony was massacred by the Syndicate when I was a child. Thus I owe her and the Prinzessin my life and will do anything in service to her and her family."

"That's awful," Mal said. "Not that the Artans saved you, but rather that you had to be saved at all. I'm so sorry you lost your parents so young."

"We all have hardship to bear and things turned out for the better in the end," Shwein replied, gingerly touching her eyepatch. "What about you, Herr Xustos? How is it you came to be in the service of the Prinzessin?"

"Oh, nothing so grand and dramatic as your story," Mal said. "While I can indicate a preference in where I wish to serve, ultimately the decision is not mine. Likewise, Captain Telvan can say she wants me as her executive officer, but the ultimate decision is not hers. In this case, when the position of executive officer became open on the USS Hera, she was sent the personnel files of several available officers, including my file. She chose me over the others and Starfleet informed me of her interest. The Hera is unique in that there's no way for a prospective officer to select the Hera as a preference for assignment. Starfleet, in consultation with Captain Telvan, comes to you if they think you fill a personnel need on the Hera. They came to me and, as I thought the work sounded both important and interesting, I accepted the offer they made. Rather a boring story, actually. This mission we are planning here, this is very far outside of my normal work, which is why I'm bringing several of the crew with me. People who are more experienced in this sort of thing."

Shwein thought about that for a moment before replying. "Ja, standard for Federation, then. But knowing the Prinzessin, I think she chose you because you were the least Starfleet of her choices. As for taking me along, why did you not instead ask for one of your own medics? Why would you decide to involve an unknown outsider like that?"

"Well," Mal said. "Where we are going, the less 'Starfleet' everyone looks, the better. I'll explain more when everyone else arrives."

Shwein grinned brightly as she glanced to the maid standing by the door in the hopes she was about to announce the arrival of more people. "Then I look forward to the explanation, Herr Xustos."

T'Pral arrived, donned in her standard duty uniform and Type-2 Phaser holstered at her waist. As the doors to the room slid open, she took in the image of the young woman by the door and an older woman wearing an eye patch sitting at the table, along with Commander Xustos.

"Master Xustos, may I present to you, Starfleet Lieutenant T'Pral Jordan, Chief of Security of the Federation starship USS Hera." The Trill catgirl maid proclaimed.

"Welcome, Lieutenant," Mal said. "Thank you for coming. Please, take a seat. We'll give Chief Warrant Officer Ral, Staff Warrant Officer Nexi, Warrant Officer West a bit longer and then we'll begin."

As if on cue, Daytona was led in by one of the cat ladies.

"Master Xustos, may I present to you, Chief Warrant Officer Daytona Ral, Intel Officer of the Federation starship USS Hera." The Trill catgirl maid proclaimed.

"Good morning, Commander, Lieutenant, and...lovely pirate lady?" he said. "Love the eye patch. What's up, Commander? Your message mentioned something about needing to handle something on the sly. That's a bit out of character for you. This must be something serious."

"It is potentially very serious," Mal replied. "Have you ever heard of an intelligence source code-named Hermes?"

Daytona was silent a moment.

"Some kind of off the books courier, right?" he said. "He's a bit of a...well...I think the term is train wreck, from what I've heard, anyway. In debt up to his eyeballs to the worst kind of people. When he's not at the helm, and sometimes when he is, he's half in the bag, sometimes more than half. The only reason SFI uses him is that he manages to make his deliveries faster than any other courier they use. I take it he has something to do with this little get together?"

"Yes," Mal said. "Yes, he does. Let's give your comrades in the black bag department a few more moments, and if they don't show I'll assume it's just the four of us. Please, sit."

Daytona took a seat next to Schwein.

"Daytona Ral," he said, introducing himself.

Shwein took in all this information calmly, logging it away for later use. She then turned to Daytona as he greeted her. "Shwein Alcott, Baroness third class in service to the Prinzessin. I am your medical support and can fill other roles as well. if you desire." With the mention of desire, she glanced towards Mal, though she was still speaking to Daytona, her German accent not quite as thick as it was earlier as she was trying to enunciate clearer for their sake.

"Very pleased to meet you," Daytona replied with a smile. He forced himself not to laugh when he caught her glancing Mal's direction. Rigelians had a bit of a reputation when it came to sex, but Mal's sexual rep as a satyr outclassed anything Daytona had going.

It must be nice to have statues of members of your race all over the place with their...members prominently displayed for all to see. On the other hand, it does cause there to be certain expectations...

It was about that moment that Nexi came walking in, but before the cute cat maid could announce her, Nexi leaned in to whisper something in her ear, to which the girl nodded in acknowledgement.

"Master Xustos, may I present to you, Staff Warrant Officer Nexi, Infiltration Specialist of the Federation starship USS Hera, Captain of the Wandering Star, and Duchess of Mayonnaise." The Trill catgirl maid proclaimed, causing Nexi to grin as she popped the collar of her leather jacket and sauntered into the conference room.

"What's up, bitches?" Nexi said as she joined her crewmates at the conference table, clearly in a good mood.

Mal chuckled.

"I prefer 'son-of-a-bitch', for future reference," he said. "Makes me sound less like some convict's ass monkey. Thank you for joining us, Nexi. Please, take a seat. We have much to discuss."

"Noted," Nexi replied with a chuckle and found a seat to get comfortable in. "Enalia didn't give me any details, just told me I should show up. Please tell me we're stealing something, I've been itching for a good heist."

"Unfortunately not," Mal said. "I think we'll start. If Mister West arrives, I trust you can catch him up, Nexi?"

"I- what?" Nexi said with a perplexed expression, sticking a finger in her ear to fiddle with the device embedded within. It was also quite possible that there might have been a slight coloring of her cheeks, maybe. She reset her translator and had it repeat the last thing translated. "Uh, sorry, weird translation... Uh, yeah, I can get him up to speed, let's just get going."

Just then, a chirping sound came from one of Shwein's many hidden pockets. Pulling out a Trill PaDD, she looked over the message on it. "If you will excuse me for just one moment please, Herr Xustos. I really must reply to this immediately." As she spoke, she was composing a reply with a stylus and soon it seemed she was satisfied so she pressed her thumb to the screen to sign it. "My apologies..." she began, but was immediately interrupted by the maid in the room, much to her surprise, eliciting another blush as her promotion was immediately announced.

"Master Xustos, may I present to you, Her Royal Highness's personal entourage Second class, Baroness von Schwein Villionette Alcott, Personal Attendant to the Princess." The Trill catgirl maid proclaimed.

"Please excuse the interruption, Herr Xustos," Shwein added, hoping the maids wouldn't announce the rest of the news so blatantly.

"Furthermore..." The maid began.

"Dummkopf!" Shwein yelled as she stood and flipped her eye patch up to reveal her glowing golden cybernetic eye so she could scan the holo-maid and get her registry number. "Computer, transfer holo-maid six nine four one to waste reclamation."

Before the maid finished Shwein's name, she had vanished and presumably been transferred to the requested area of the orbital fortress. "Again, I apologize. My personal drama will not bother any of you again," Shwein said as she closed her eyes, flipped her eye patch back down, and resumed sitting.

Daytona frowned. Ever since meeting Akira, he disapproved of treating photonic beings badly.

Mal shook his head.

"Fine," he said. "Let me lay this out for you. In Earth's past, a group of aliens with extremely advanced technology posed as the Greco-Roman pantheon...as gods and goddesses. They left when the people stopped worshiping them. Supposedly, most of them left this plane of existence. James Kirk and company encountered Apollo, though he later left. The 'God' Pan chose to stay behind in this plane, settled a planet, and created my people. My people encountered the forces of Hera, but managed to drive them away. For whatever reason, Hera has chosen to stay away and live quietly...somewhere. No one knows where, and no one has heard anything from or about her...until now."

Mal rose and began to pace as he talked.

"What I am about to tell you is highly classified," he said. "Starfleet Intelligence uses a freelance courier who they have code named Hermes. He sent a message, a garbled message, to SFI recently. The words Minotaur and Hera were clear. SFI doesn't think it means anything, or at most Minotaur is code for something, because they don't believe that Minotaur exist. I am here to tell you that they do. We have visual records of our people fighting them. They are usually minions of Poseidon or Hera. I think in this case we are talking about Minotaur in the service of Hera. We, my people, know that she also has Harpies and Amazons in her service."

Mal stopped pacing.

"I strongly believe that this 'Hermes' is the alien god pretender Hermes," he said. "And that he has word of Hera's return. Apparently, a Starfleet operative showed Hermes a report of mine, I have no idea why it was relevant to him, but be that as it may...supposedly he saw my signature, recognized the language, and referred to me as his grandson. For those of you who don't know, Hermes is Pan's father and Pan is the father of my people."

Mal sighed.

"I realize this is a lot to take in," he said. "The important thing to understand is that Hera and those like her possess powerful and advanced technology and they see themselves as gods. If Hera is making a move, it won't be good for my people. It might present a threat to the entire quadrant. We need to find this Hermes and learn what he knows. We have his last known location. It is very close to here. Enalia has been kind enough to loan us a Romulan runabout to travel to Hermes' last known location, where we will track him down, get him to give us whatever intelligence he has, and if necessary take him into custody. If he's who I think he is, brute force might not be the answer. However, I've asked for your help because you can effectively search for Hermes as well as provide security. It's possible that we may encounter some of Hera's people. They are formidable opponents."

Even thinking about Minotaur, Harpies, and Amazons gave Mal the willies. Well, maybe not Amazons. In truth, he had always wanted an opportunity to try and seduce an Amazon. They were reputedly very fierce lovers. Teenage fantasies aside, the Minotaur and the Harpies still gave Mal the willies. He settled himself before speaking again.

"This is a volunteer only mission," he said. "I insisted on that. No one will face any repercussions if they decide to walk away now. Thoughts? Questions? Comments?"

"I'm in," Daytona said without hesitation. "These 'gods' aren't exact a Q level threat, but their entrance on to the interstellar stage could change the balance of power in the quadrant. We need to get out in front of this."

"I've heard of this Hermes, he's legendary for how quickly he can cross space; there's no way I'd pass up an opportunity to see the guy, or his ship," Nexi said with a grin. "I'm in!"

Shwein didn't even need to think about her response either. "Herr Xustos, Ze Prinzessin asked me to lend you support of my own free vill and I vill not pull out now or ever. Whatever position you demand of me, I am yours."

T'Pral looked at the Baroness and then to Mal, Nexi, and finally Daytona. Logically, she would have stood up and left had the fact that James Kirk had encountered like beings during his travels. Her duties aboard the ship weren't paramount as long as the ship was docked. "I will go with you, Commander," T'Pral spoke.

"Thank you, Lieutenant," Mal said. "Gather what you need and meet me in the docking bay in an hour. I want us to be on our way soon. We need to catch Hermes away from his ship. Speaking of which...hmmm...I need to speak to our engineer. Make that two hours. Thank you all. This means a great deal to me and my people. Dismissed everyone."

Daytona walked down the corridor, a spring in his step, whistling. He hadn't walked around whistling in...far longer than he could remember. His budding relationship with Akira was filling his heart with joy. All felt right in the world. Because he was musing about Akira and smiling like an idiot, he wasn't paying attention to where he was. So, if one were to think about it, Akira could be assigned blame for what happened next.

Nexi had been pacing about like a caged tiger; even after nearly a week in a shuttle with Aewia, her fury had not cooled at all in regards to Daytona and that surprise he had sprung on the Away Team on the planet. It had been beyond reckless, and maybe if he had said something to them, then maybe, just maybe, she would have been able to focus on what she was supposed to be doing, like looking for the Master so she could prevent his escape. So when she finally returned to the Hera, she got his location and hunted him down. As she made her way through the corridors, the anticipation just kept growing, building more and more anger for the Rigelian, and so when she turned a corner and there he was, she didn't hold back; she walked right up to him, drew her arm back, and WHAM! right to the face.

Nexi's punch landed on Daytona's jaw, catching him completely off guard and knocking him off balance for a moment until he regained his balance. When the punch connected, it made a sickening crack, telling him a bone or bones had been broken. His mind multitasking, he quickly realized that his jaw wasn't broken, meaning that whoever had punched him had broken their hand. These thoughts occurred in the second it took Daytona to regain his balance and move to counterattack...Nexi?

"You have got to be kidding me," he said. He shook his head and laughed. "I suppose I had that coming."

Daytona shook his head and sighed.

"Let me take a look at your hand, you half-wit," he said. "I'm pretty sure you broke it."

If she broke her hand, Nexi didn't even notice, or maybe the pain simply hadn't caught up with her yet. "I'm not letting you look at anything, you fucktard! You had no right to leave us in the dark back on Selen VI. Instead of doing my job finding the Master and his lab, I was focused on you. We could have caught the guy, but now he's out there! Which to me makes you responsible for what he did to Aewia. He mutilated my sister because we couldn't stop him on Selen VI, and that's on you," she said, her words full of venom. "Every life lost to this monster in our time, your fault."

Daytona looked at her for a moment, then shook his head.

"You don't get it, do you?" he said. "Think for once. You go back in time and kill the Master. The Master doesn't do any of the awful things he's done. Starfleet doesn't send you back so you can kill the Master because there's no Master as far as they know. But, because you didn't go back and kill him, he lives and goes on to do all of the awful things he's done, so Starfleet sends you back in time, where you kill him again, and erasing all of the awful things he's done AND Starfleet's reason to send you back so you don't kill him and the whole process goes round and round. It wouldn't have worked, Nexi. Blame me if you want to, but that's a waste of time."

Nexi glared at him. "I fucking hate time travel," she said, like it was his fault, but she couldn't deny that he has a point. "That don't change the fact that you blindsided us with a detail we shoulda been told about during the briefing BEFORE the slingshot. You had no right to withhold that information! Forget my bitch about the Master, I still wasn't able to do my job because I was busy playing with you. We shoulda known, we coulda had eyes on you to make sure you made it off the planet safely, it was reckless and stupid to leave it all to chance, Ral."

"You're not listening, Nexi," Daytona said. "I had orders. I followed them. That's what we do. We don't have to like them or agree with them, but we do have to obey them. You may be correct that I, on my own, had no right to withhold that information, but that's irrelevant. I was ordered to withhold the information. My only choices were to obey or to resign. If I resigned, I'd likely have been killed in the explosion here in 2160 and everything I've done since would have been undone. So I was motivated to obey."

Daytona sighed.

"Look," he said. "I know that you were put in a tough position and, for what it's worth, I'm sorry. Now, will you please let me walk you to Sick Bay? Your hand is swelling up and turning pretty colors."

Nexi looked down at her hand, which was still clenched into a fist at her side. Sure enough, it was discolored and swelling, as as she opened her hand to flex it a few time her eye twitched a few times as indication that she was definitely feeling pain from the gesture. "Fuck," Nexi blurted out as she stared at her hand. But then she looked at Daytona with a scowl. "You are not walking me anywhere; there's a terran term, dog house or something like that... Well you're in it; orders or not, you still coulda given us a discreet heads up before I spotted you in the spaceport."

Daytona shook his head.

"Kids," he said in a stern, commanding voice. "No, I couldn't have. They're called orders, not suggestions. The first you have to obey, the second you take under advisement. And you want to keep me in the canine domicile for a while, fine, as long as you restrict that to off-duty time. On duty, I outrank you and I'm your immediate superior. I give orders, you obey. Like these orders. Go directly from here to Sick Bay. Get treatment. Have whoever treated you contact me to confirm that they treated you. When asked what happened, you will tell them that you got angry and punched a bulkhead. The worst that will happen to you is that the Acting CMO will order you to have an evaluation and maybe some anger management counseling. If you say that you hit me, either I'll have to file charges or you'll end up doing forty weeks of Domestic Violence Intervention Program or both. Have I made myself clear, Staff Warrant Officer Nexi?"

Daytona grinned.

"I've spent much of the last century working alone," he said. "So I don't get a lot of practice giving orders! How'd I do?"

"Clear, sir," Nexi said simply, then turned to leave. "Doesn't change the fact that you're a dick," she added as she walked away.

Daytona sighed. This was clearly going to have to be resolved at some point. Until then, Daytona decided he'd make the attempt to put up with Nexi's disagreeable teenager routine. He touched his jaw and winced. Nexi didn't hurt his jaw bone, but she did bruise the flesh covering it. Daytona sighed again. He tapped his commbadge.

"Daytona Ral to Sick Bay," he said.

=^=Sick Bay, Corpsman Jacobs. Go ahead, sir.=^=

"Two things, Corpsman," Daytona said. "Staff Warrant Officer Nexi will be arriving soon. She seems to have broken several bones in her hand. Please treat her and then contact me to confirm for me she's been treated, even if she doesn't ask you to do so. Don't tell her I called you. Secondly, can you have someone discretely meet me in my quarters with a regenerator? I appear to have walked into a wall and I've got an ugly bruise on my jaw that I'd prefer no one asked me about."

Corpsman Jacobs had been around long enough to make a pretty good guess about what was really going on. He'd also been around long enough to understand what he should do.

=^=Of course, sir. There's a doc here that can handle the Staff Warrant Officer's injury. I assume she got angry and punched a wall. That's what the report will say. And I'll come down to your quarters myself. See you shortly, sir.=^=

"Thank you, Corpsman," Daytona said. "See you soon."

Believing in obeying orders didn't mean Daytona wasn't willing to game the system to help out a young, hard-headed, officer once in a while.

Shwein had finished packing again and was heading out again when she bumped into a curious... and soft... young girl in the halls on her way to the Romulan shuttle. "Pardon me, young Frau..." Then recognition dawned on her as the woman cleared her uncovered eye. "Ah, dis ist zhe Chief of Operations of zhe Prinzessin's ship, zhe Hera, ja? Please allow me to introduce myself. I am Baroness Shwein Alcott." Shifting her bag, she offered a smile and her hand to Akira.

Akira looked at the hand extended to her with curious fascination, then at the owner of said hand, even more fascinated by Shwein. "Curious!" Akira exclaimed with a smile, then with no sense of personal space, she moved closer. "Fascinating, what nationality or dialogue does your accent represent? And your eye, what happened to it? Oh, and your hair is so pretty, is it naturally this color or do you get it done?" Akira rattled off with unrestrained excitement.

"I... ist..." Shwein blushed slightly as she slowly retracted her hand and composed herself in an attempt to answer the questions before more came. She knew the woman was a young life form, but this was an almost child-like innocence she didn't expect and it caught her a bit off guard. "German human, that of a colony world. My eye was lost to Syndicate pig-dogs and the cybernetic replacement can be unsettling to most so I leave it covered most of the time. This ist my natural hair color."

"Amazing!" Akira said with a cheerful giggle, but then she realized how uncomfortable she was making Shwein and took a step back in an effort to calm herself. "I am sorry for my behavior, I did not mean to make you uncomfortable, I just get really excited sometimes... And to answer your original question, I am Akira Zhuri and I am in charge of Operations for the USS Hera," she continued, offering a sheepish smile at the end. "Is there something I can help you with?"

Taking a deep breath to steady her words, Shwein smiled anew and nodded. "It is a pleasure to meet you. As I have been assigned as the Prinzessin's personal entourage for the Artan family once she leaves again, you and I will have the opportunity to work together to support her in our own ways."

"Ah, wonderful! I can always use the help, there's so much to see to, it seems like the work is never done," Akira replied with a brighter smile. Then a blank stare briefly formed on her face as she accessed the computer directly to check on quarter allotments. "It seems quarters have already been assigned to you; would you like me to show you to your quarters?" Akira offered once she was done with her direct connection to the computer.

"Thank you but no. That will be unnecessary as I will first be going on a secret mission with Herr Xustos," Shwein replied apologetically, impressed with Akira's efficiency. It put her own to shame.

"Oh, I heard there was a trip in the works! Well, I can take you the shuttle bay where the shuttle is being prepped, or perhaps if you do not want an escort then simply ask the computer once you are aboard the Hera and it will provide directions for you," Akira explained.

"Yes, actually, the ship ist one of ours." Shwein paused a moment to let that sink in. "I'm on my way now to moor eighteen where we are departing from. As I understand, you are seeing a member of this mission, ja? Herr Daytona Ral? I spied you and he elsewhere in the fortress."

"Oh yes, he took me on a picnic in the garden!" Akira replied with a blush. "The garden was quite lovely, I'm so pleased that I was able to come aboard to see it. It's the next closest thing to going outside that I've had the opportunity to experience! Oh, but I should not hold you up if you are headed for the ship now; please excuse my enthusiasm, everything is still quite new to me and I do not mean to go on like this."

Shwein shook her head. "Nein, young one. It ist perfectly fine. You are young and in love. Perhaps some day you will not be shackled by your emitters, but for now please take advantage of the Prinzessin's kindness. Such as the delights of the baths on the sixtieth floors. Once we return, i recommend you take your love there."

"Ooooh, that does sound interesting!" Akira said with wide-eyed interest. "I will definitely look into this, thank you! I will let you go now since you have someplace to be; please make sure Daytona comes back safely! Well, I would like all our people to come home safely, but I can't deny I have a vested interest in Daytona's safety."

"Ja, I will make sure all return safely. I am an accomplished medic, after all. Especially with this." With that, Shwein lifted her eye patch to reveal her slightly glowing golden cybernetic eye, giving Akira full access to seeing it, and her full access to scanning Akira with it, both eyes widening as the full scans came in. "Gott in Himmel... You are more complex than zhe Prinzessin's wife..."

"Oh, it's so pretty!" Akira said with a smile when she saw the cybernetic eye, but she grew stiff and wary when she registered that Shwein's eye was scanning her, only to hear her assessment of how complex she was. "Um, thank you?" Akira said awkwardly. "Honestly, I try not to think about it... I love Aunt Maica, and though the composition of my matrix may be more complex, she is still far more advanced in terms of social development."

Flipping her eye patch back down, Shwein sighed heavily. "Dis ist complex issue, I presume? Which ist best? Apples or oranges?"

"I like apples," Akira said, clearly not comprehending what Shwein actually meant.

"Ja, apples are nice. Solid white sweet meat throughout." But then Shwein grinned. "But then the orange is easy to eat and just as sweet, no? Just peel it and segments come apart in easy bite sized pieces? Complex yes, and different. But no less delicious, ja? The apple you can just bite into... And the orange you may have to learn how to eat... But in the end they are both delicious fruit."

Akira nodded enthusiastically, but she still did not grasp the parallel that Shwein was making. "I had to get Daytona to help me figure out how to eat an orange, but it was very good. I also like nectarines and mangoes, but I cannot decide what is my favorite just yet," she said cheerfully. "And he gave me cheese! That was very interesting!"

"You are the orange and Lady Maica ist the apple." Shwein was blunt and waited for that to sink in, ignoring what Akira was saying. "You are complex and need instruction on daily life while she is less complex and came with instruction built in. You are different but both delicious fruits."

"Yes, I am delicious, Daytona said so," Akira asserted, but then she blushed crimson when she realized exactly what she had just admitted to. "I mean- I don't-" she sputtered as she tried to figure out how to talk her way out of this blunder. "Y-yes, I see what you're saying now," she said with an embarrassed squeak.

Shwein blushed slightly as well, but quickly stepped forward and licked Akira on the cheek before stepping back. "Ja... Delicious... Very fruity..."

Akira rubbed at her cheek where Shwein had licked her. "Do not tell Daytona you did that; he is very protective, I do not think he would appreciate someone else licking his girlfriend."

Shwein chuckled softly. "Nein, I will not tell unless you do."

"Good," Akira said, still blushing. "Well, this exchange has been... informative... I think I will leave you to carry on with your, uh, whatever you were doing..."

"Going to a secret shuttle to depart on a secret mission," Shwein reminded Akira. "It has been an honor meeting you, Akira Zhuri. I look forward to meeting you again soon." With that, Shwein offered Akira another handshake. She hoped Akira would accept this one.

Akira looked at the outstretched hand with confusion, then remembered what she was supposed to do. "Oh, right," she said, then reached out to take Shwein's hand and give it a shake. "I look forward to interacting with you again!"

By the time the Hera's Folly returned to the Artan Orbital fortress, Nexi was in bad shape. She was tough as nails and hanging in there, but maintaining blood pressure with such blood loss was challenging, and she was not reacting well to the stimulants Schwein had given her. But she was not giving up, and she was still conscious by the time she was transported to the Fortress' medical center.

The hustle and bustle of the medical staff, holographic though they may be, was as lively as any living hospital. The living staff was being called in but time was of the essence. a few specialists were also being called in from the Hera's crew, but the only one they could get in touch with was Crewman Ila Dedjoy, someone that had previously scanned a rogue element that had been immediately been detected in the patient's remaining blood.

"Nurse 003, get a blood sample and replicate three pints of blood!" called the actual doctor once he finally arrived. Placing a reassuring hand on Nexi's good shoulder, he leaned over her so she could see him. "Don't worry. I'm Doctor Tuborno. Schwein may not be the most gentle medic out here, but she's the only one that could have kept you alive from something like this long enough to get you back here to us. You'll be fine."

"Doctor, there's a contaminant that's making replicating her blood difficult," The holo-nurse replied.

Looking over the replication matrix, the doctor manually deleted the unknown elements and pressed the replicate command himself. "She's half Betazoid and half Brekkian. As long as the genetic markers are the same, it'll work well enough. Now start replicating Brekkian electrolytes. I'm not reading enough in her system to light up an isolinear chip."

It took a few more minutes, but they soon had a fresh supply of her own blood slowly filtering into her and the doctor gave her a hypo countering most of those stimulants that Schwein had given her to keep her going. In the meantime, Crewman Ila Dedjoy had finally gotten there and was looking over her scans as well, her scowl deepening as she brought up more scans.

For a long while, Nexi simply lay limp on the biobed, blinking at the lights shining in her eyes; they weren't even all that bright, but they felt blinding to her. But as the stimulants were flushed out of her system and new blood and electrolytes filtered in, her mind grew clearer, and she began to take notice of what was going on around her. Lots of medical people, which was to be expected, but why was the Science chick here? And why was she scowling?

"Hey," Nexi said in a raspy quiet tone. She turned her head slightly to get a better look at Ila. "What are you doing here?"

Setting aside her PaDD, Ila headed over to Nexi's side and smiled as best she could, considering the circumstances. "They found a contaminant in your blood they couldn't scan and since I seem to have a reputation on the Hera for scanning unscannable things, they called me in." Taking a deep breath, she continued. "Remember that black blood you brought back from the Master? I've been able to come up with a scanning technique that can penetrate it. The contaminant in your blood is almost identical. Your blood is now essentially point three percent the same as his."

"What!" Nexi rasped out. her heart started racing the monitors around her starting sound off alerts. "That monster- he.... it's in me?" she stammered, struggling to contain her panic. "Get it out of me!"

"Calm down. It's ok. That's what we're working on now." Ila motioned to a few other monitors on the far wall that displayed a fair number of experiments in progress. "I had to invent a quasi-dimensional quantum discriminator to even get this far... but we'll get it out of you. Don't worry."

One of the holo-nurses came over and also tried calming Nexi down.

"You're working on it, but it's in me, I want it out!" Nexi bellowed, or she tried to but it came out weak and raspy. Then she looked at Ila with death in her eyes. "You said I was clean!" she said accusingly, her hands fisting at her sides. She was trying with all her might to summon a current to attack Ila for this oversight, but not only could she barely move but she couldn't conduct a current yet and trying was only hurting her more.

"I'm sorry. I was wrong." Suddenly, Ila was interrupted by another more ominous alarm and she rushed to another monitor. After studying it a moment, she turned back to Nexi. "Please calm down. If these readings are correct, you being upset like that is feeding the black blood, especially being as weak as you are."

Hearing that her anger was feeding this thing inside her hit her like a punch to the gut, but try as she might, Nexi couldn't stop the racing of her heart, and slowly sparks started to jump off her, not her usual golden-white, but rather a menacing red-black, and it hurt! But, her current never hurt her before! "Get Aewia!" Nexi gasped out. Aewia was the only person in existence that could calm her from this frenzy.

Ila nodded to one of the holo-nurses to go and fetch her from the waiting room. Within moments Aewia was there, tears in her eyes and one hand over her mouth, her other hand tentatively reaching for Nexi. Steeling herself, she threw herself on top of her sister and held her tight. "It's ok! I'm here now!" As Aewia did her best, Ila just stared at the black cell count rising.

Red sparks were still flying off Nexi, but she did her best to direct them inward so she wouldn't hurt Aewia. After a moment, she mustered enough energy to put an arm around her sister, and soon after the sparks ceased. Slowly her heart rate calmed until finally the alarms stopped, but Nexi knew the damage had been done. "I'm okay..." Nexi lied softly into Aewia's ear. "I'll be alright..."

Aewia was crying softly. Not from the pain of the electrical burns but from the emotional strain of what they had both just gone through. "I know. It'll be alright. You're nothing like him. You'll be ok."

Ila mumbled to a few of the holo-nurses and fired off a report to be up-channeled, a flashing 7.39% on her readouts. It was also showing signs in her flesh as well as her blood. They'd have to come up with something soon before it took over all of Nexi.

Nexi's heart rate and vitals continued return to normal (relatively speaking considering her condition), and after a while her eyes would close and breathing slow, the monitors indicating that she was asleep, exhaustion having finally taken hold of her. But at least now she was finally calm and resting.

Many hours later, Nexi slowly stirred. The first thing she noticed as she slowly came to was that the lights were dim, for which she was grateful, and secondly that Aewia was still at her side, in a chair and resting her head on the biobed so she could stay close to her sister. Nexi managed to crack a weak grin and lifted her hand to stroke her fingers through Aewia's crazy hair as she slept; this kid was something else!

Enalia was sitting on a chair on the other side of the biobed, her hair down and disheveled for the first time in practically forever. Her hand was gripping the hand of the occupant of the other biobed though - Farenia. "Welcome back to the world of the living, Nexi. It seems you and 'Nia have something in common now."

Nexi turned her head to find the voice, but her vision was a bit blurry so she had to squint slightly to see Enalia sitting there. But then her brow furrowed as the words hit home; was Farenia infected too? "Enalia?" Nexi said, still trying to make sense of what she was seeing, because it wasn't like Enalia to look so disheveled. As for Nexi, there was a little more color in her cheeks now that she'd had the benefit of several bags of blood being piped into her as well as getting some much needed rest, and though her voice was soft, it didn't sound strained or raspy. "What's going on?"

Enalia's voice was as tired as she looked. "While you went looking for Hermes, Commodore Farenia Meowlith here had a secret meeting with a pharmaceuticals bureaucrat we suspected was the Master. We were correct, there was a fight, and he outright bit her, infecting her with that same black blood. Ila and several other specialists have been working hard on a cure but it may take some time."

"Wait, this thing is that infectious?!" Nexi said disbelievingly, her heart rate shooting up, but Aewia was there holding Nexi's hand, and even if she didn't wake, she reflexively squeezed Nexi's hand to help bring her back to the moment. Nexi swallowed hard as she remembered what happened last time and took several measured breaths to calm herself, slowly bringing her heart rate back down to (relative) normal. "Sorry, I... didn't mean to go off like that, it's just... things have been, uh, happening between Cato and I; I thought I was clean at the time, but he should probably get checked out."

"I'll test him personally," Ila replied as she stepped out of one of the labs she had been working in. "Test sequence twenty three alpha failed. Bravo, charlie, and delta look like they'll at least narrow down a few other options but it's starting to look like we might just not have the technology."

Nexi bit back the urge to say something scathing, but she knew it would only feed the anger which would then feed the black blood, so she let things simmer down a moment before finally replying. "Let me tell him," she finally said. "Things have been so hot and cold, for the longest time he didn't know if I was coming or going... Fuck, I didn't even know. I should be the one to tell him; after the chase I put him through, he deserves that much..."

"In that case, I'll have him summoned so you can chat with him." Enalia squeezed Farenia's hand as she shifted a bit in her sleep and muttered something about a giant black dog. Sighing, Enalia tucked Farenia's hand back under the biobed blanket and got up to get a drink from... Why was there a bar in every freaking room in this place? Seriously, the Artan family had to be nothing but drunkards. At least this one looked more like a soda bar than an alcohol bar. "I guess you never get completely over your first love, do you?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Nexi said evasively as she glanced away, trying her best not to think of Daln. Thankfully, something else was weighing on her mind. "So.... what do we do from here?" she asked. "I don't want to be sidelined; once I've recovered from the stabbing, I want to get back to work, but whatever this is inside me, I don't want it to endanger the safety of the crew."

Ila answered that question. "Doctor Phlox and I have come up with a solution to that at least. Using my scanning technology, he's off crafting a waistband that should be able to prevent the black blood from feeding off of your negative emotions and energies for the most part. I'm sure you'll still be able to overload it in combat situations, but at least it'll keep the infection from either growing from the current 7.39% or to other people."

"And that's the best we seem to be able to do for the time being," Enalia replied before taking a drink from her... pink... bubbly... whatever that was in her glass. Making a weird face, she continued. "Ila, have 'Nia's levels finally stabilized?"

"Yes Ma'am. At 23.4%." Ila replied softly. "I'm not sure we'll even be able to cure her even if we find a way to at this point."

Nexi's eyes grew wide when she heard Farenia's prognosis; this was what she had to look forward to if she reached 23%?! Nexi turned her desperate gaze to Enalia as her monitors sounded off with her elevated heart rate, but thankfully it was fear and not anger causing this excitement. "Don't let me turn into one of these monsters," Nexi pleaded softly. "I know it's a lot to ask, and I ain't gonna hold it against you if you.... if you can't.... but I don't wanna lose who I am to this thing, I'd rather die still me. And if it comes to that, promise me you'll take care of Aewia."

"I'm still me," Farenia said weakly as she rolled her head towards Nexi, now awake from the talking. "Just maybe a bit different, is all. Maybe a bit more. Were you able to reattach my arm ok?"

Rushing back to her side, Enalia took 'Nia's hand again. "There were a few complications, but nothing they couldn't handle. Everything is fine now. Everything is fine."

"No, nothing is fine. I could see into his mind when he bit me. He's a demon. Literally a demon. Aewia was half right. He is Iconian. But he's their version of evil incarnate. Whatever it took to kill that demon version of you won't be nearly enough to kill him." Farenia was starting to go into a panicked state and the monitors were starting to alarm out but Ila stepped in and gave her a hypo so she could sleep some more, dropping the room back into silence, save for the beeps and whirring of machinery.

Farenia's reaction despite her assertion that she was still her wasn't helping Nexi's confidence. "I don't want to be a demon," she said in a panicked tone.

"She's been through a strenuous ordeal and isn't a demon and her ratio is higher than yours. Neither of you are going to become a demon. She just has unresolved PTSD right now and is freaking out." Ila prepped another hypo just in case and set it next to Farenia's biobed before heading over to the monitors showing the progress of her experiments.

"She's right," Enalia added, resting a hand on Nexi's shoulder. "You're not becoming a demon. You're going to stay you and we're going to make sure of that."

"But if it does happen...." Nexi insisted. "Please, I don't wanna be a monster, if it happens, just... If it never happens, then we don't have to worry, I just need to know you'll do what's necessary if it changes who I am."

"If it comes down to it, then your contract with Starfleet will take effect and everything will be taken care of." Enalia replied. "Don't worry though. Just let us take care of you for now, ok?"

Nexi nodded hesitantly, but accepted Enalia's offer. "When will that waist thingy be ready? Will I be able to leave once it's done?" she asked, finally calming down.

Enalia smiled politely. "I'm sure there'll be a few tests to run first, but yeah. I'll have to order you on light duty for a while because of your shoulder and I'd prefer if you avoided sexual contact, but you'll be free to return to duty and do whatever you'd like."

"Light duty, joy..." Nexi grumbled, but she could live with that. "I guess this means I won't be going to Pomtol anytime soon... I was kinda looking forward to that."

Enalia chuckled softly. "You should be healed up by the time we get there. First we need to go after one more of the Master's labs. And you'll be on bridge duty this time."

"Yay, I don't have to go into another one of those hell-holes!" Nexi said with subdued enthusiasm. On the one hand, light duty meant Bridge duty, which sucked equine ass, and she didn't like sitting on the sidelines, but on the other hand, it meant she wouldn't have to face another lab or the Master so soon, because she didn't know if she was ready to deal with that right now. She'd had so many bad breaks lately, she needed to take a step back and evaluate what she was doing. "I'm sorry; this wouldn't be a problem if I hadn't let myself get injured. I was careless, I won't let it happen again."

"These things happen. Don't worry about it." Enalia sipped at her drink again, then made another weird face. "Just make sure you heal up well and train to fight Amazons next. Thanks to Schwein, your shoulder should heal up perfectly."

"I'll be ready," Nexi promised. "And that woman is crazy, by the way! I think her treatment hurt worse than getting stabbed!"

Enalia chuckled softly for a moment. "Yeah Schwein is a bit unusual. You'll have to forgive her though. She was raised in a supersoldier program disguised as an Earth-German orphanage colony. When it was destroyed by the Syndicate, my mother saved her for what I'm sure were selfish reasons... But she's family now, and crazy does run in my family, as I'm sure you've noticed."

"Yeah, but it's a good kind of crazy, my kind of crazy," Nexi said with a weak smile. "So, any chance I could get something to eat before I pass out again?"

"Yeah. I... There's some tuna sandwiches in the cooler, if that's ok. If not, it might take awhile to get something prepared and up here from the kitchens. You know how us rich fucks can be - not a food replicator in sight." Enalia headed back to the bar and opened the chiller underneath it and pulled out a sealed box with a pair of tuna sandwiches with condiments and pickles on the side and brought it over to Nexi. She then raised up the back of the biobed so she could eat a bit more comfortably. "High in protein, if a bit bland."

Nexi's shoulder protested the movement, causing her to wince, once she resettled herself so that she was comfortable she extricated her good hand from Aewia's grasp so she could eat. "Bland I can live with," Nexi said as she took a sandwich and bit into it. "Yeah, much better bland, especially compared to Aewia's food; you should see what she puts on her stuff!" she commented around a mouthful of tuna. Her stomach was growling pretty fiercely, so the sandwich didn't last very long. Glad to have something in her stomach now, she relaxed her head back onto the bed with a contented sigh. "You will take care of her if anything happens to me, right?"

"As long as she'll let me," Enalia reassured Nexi. "She is her own woman, after all."

"That she is..." Nexi said, looking at her sleeping sister with a fond gaze. "But she still has these moments where she gets so lost, I can't help but worry about her... Still, she has come a long way..."

"That she has..." Enalia mumbled as she packed up the used sandwich pack, nibbling on the uneaten pickles before she tossed it in the nearest trash bin.

Nexi looked over at Enalia, her eyes growing heavy as the urge to sleep started to descend on her once again. "Hey, thanks for... well, a lot," Nexi said awkwardly. "Before I came across your boat, I never had a friend who'd sit by my bedside to take care of me. There's a lot I never thanked you for before, but I am now."

"You've grown a lot from that Ferengi bounty hunter that snuck aboard my ship a year and a half ago. I wouldn't have sat by her bed. Yours? It's an honor." Enalia smiled happily.

"Awww, I'm hurt. I rather miss Bounty Hunter Nexi," Nexi replied with a chuckle, but then winced as it irritated her shoulder.

Enalia finished her drink and returned her glass to the bar. "Try not to aggravate your injury too much and get some rest, ok? I should probably try to get some rest as well. Both of you should be transferred to private rooms within the hour, so if you fall asleep and find yourself in a new room, that's why. I'll make sure Cato comes to see you as soon as possible."

"Thanks, I appreciate that," Nexi said, then let her eyes close; she was feeling better, but life just got so much more complicated...

The Hera's Folly entered Nimpella Three's orbit. Schwein was at the helm and Nexi was in the co-pilot's seat. Nexi hadn't liked being the co-pilot, but Schwein was more familiar with the repurposed Romulan runabout. T'Pral was at Tactical. Mal and Daytona, having been summoned to the bridge, were standing.

"Mister Ral?" Mal said.

Daytona started, as though he had been daydreaming.

"Right," he said he leaned in over Nexi's shoulder and called up an image of the planet below. "According to the most recent information Starfleet Intelligence has on Hermes' last known whereabouts, he may be somewhere down there. He made a delivery here recently. A friend at SFI did me a solid and had word sent to Hermes that their might be another job for him in a day or two and asking him to stay put. The planet is sparsely populated, mainly a haven for smugglers, pirates, thieves, and various and sundry other criminals. There's a spaceport town...here. That's where we think he is."

"Right," Mal said. "Nexi, contact the spaceport and find us somewhere to park and then you and the Baroness can set us down. Then we start hitting the bars and brothels until we find Hermes."

"Bars and brothels, so glad I joined Starfleet to get away from all of that..." Nexi said dryly as she opened a line with the spaceport. "Nimpella, this is Hera's Folly requesting permission to dock."

"Please stand by," came the gruff response from port control. "Hera's Folly, you are cleared for bay 13 landing pad 4." And with that, navigation coordinates were sent to the helm that would direct them to the appropriate bay.

"There," Nexi pointed out the location to Shwein. "Looks like we gotta come in from the east."

Shwein pursed her lips as she studied the weather patterns and their approach vector. "Those pig-dogs have us flying through a storm. Fools to them and luck to us." Flipping up her eye patch, Shwein expertly began the landing procedure, but instead of following the flight plan exactly, she came in low and left a sensor shadow where they were supposed to be with the runabout's singularity core. "Sneaky-sneak, ja? My old ship could do this too."

"Can't do that in a Federation runabout!" Nexi said with a grin; she really liked Shwein's style!

"Ja, I just wish we could take this with us on the Hera." Shwein grinned as her hands glided across the controls. This ship was a fair deal smaller than the converted Romulan freighter she had, but almost everything was the same, really. Once they found a design they liked, the Empire tended to stick to it.

"Hmmm..." Mal said. "I'll see what I can do about getting Enalia to let us keep it or at least borrow it. I have a feeling this vessel could be very useful. Nexi has her own ship, but Mister Ral might need transportation from time to time. Okay. I'm assuming I can trust you three to set us down without screwing the pooch, so I'm going to go gather my things. When we land, we'll head out."

[Later at the Spaceport]

The weather was bleak as the group walked the streets of the town of Eos Misely. The sky was dark gray with no hint of the sun to be found anywhere. It was early afternoon, but seemed like late dusk. A mist of rain fell on the pedestrians on the street while a moderate wind blew the mist into their faces.

Shwein had donned a cloak to keep out the damp and she pulled it tighter around her as the wind pelted her. "It stinks more since the last time I was here... Please watch yourselves, ja? Dis ist a den of scum and villainy most wretched."

Mal wore a cloak as well, Greco-Roman in design, over his tunic and leather-style armor. The Greco-Roman style armor only looked leather. It was actually made of a much stronger material. In addition to being resistant to solid weapons such as blades and arrows, it was also resistant to energy weapons. Beneath the cloak he carried a kopis style frictionless short sword, designed to slice through flesh, muscle, bone, an several other materials like a hot knife through butter. They were particularly effective against Minotaur, if you could get close enough to use them without getting gored or pummeled to death. Not wanting to appear too 'Starfleet', he had a phase disruptor pistol on his belt as well. It was not the most pleasant weapon he'd every used, but he'd learned to use one in a foreign weapons familiarization course years ago. It had several settings, each one more unpleasant than the next. It was currently on it's lowest setting, neural disruption, which disrupted the target's voluntary nervous system which essentially dropped them like a puppet whose strings had been cut. The next one up shut down both the voluntary and involuntary nervous systems, resulting in the target dropping dead. There was a setting up from that which disrupted the molecular bonds keeping the target together and causing their molecules to explosively fly apart. Depending on the level of this setting, it either caused major tissue damage or completely destroyed the target.

"So I've noticed," Mal said, trying not to be irritable. Hermes hadn't been in the first two places they'd looked. Maybe the third would be the charm. Suddenly, a shadow seemed to fly by overhead, a bit to fast to be a passing cloud. Mal looked up and around, but he didn't see anything or anyone. He frowned.

"Baroness," he said. "How close are we to the next location on our list?"

"Zhe Gilded Boar ist just ahead past zhe blue box on zhe corner," Shwein replied as they rounded a corner, recognizing the sign for her crew's old haunt instantly. "I know this one well. I'll handle security."

Nexi kept pace with the team, undaunted by the misty rain around them; she simply pulled up the collar of her leather jacket to shield her face from the mist and carried on. It felt strange to be back in an old haunt like this; though her enlistment with Starfleet was still recent, she had been with the Hera for about a year now! "I might have a few contacts that could help us find him. You want me to see what I can shake loose?" she offered as they trudged along.

"Alright," Mal said. "Do it. Be cautious. Be smart. Find out what you can, but do not go after Hermes by yourself. I don't want him getting spooked and making a run for it. We'll never catch him if he bolts. And Nexi, remember that we may not be the only ones looking for Hermes. Even her Magna Roma followers, who are basically Human, will be armed with advanced tech, making them dangerous. The higher tier followers are far more dangerous. So, again, be cautious. I don't want to have to explain to your sister how I ran off and let you get yourself killed."

"Puh-lease; as hard as I try to keep my line of work away from her, Aewia knows exactly what I do, so if anything happened she wouldn't blame you," Nexi said with a grin. "But I'll be careful, so don't worry," she added as she peeled away from the group to make her way down one of the side streets.

Mal looked at Daytona.

"Go with her," he said. "I know she can handle herself, but she's impulsive and this is not situation in which any of us can risk getting in over our heads."

"Of course," Daytona said. He turned and faded into the shadows as he took off after Nexi.

Shwein felt the tap of the long barreled polaron rifle resting gently at her waist as they walked. The Artan Privateers were her family so she was slightly envious, but she knew that if it came down to it everyone here would have her back just as she'd have theirs. Pulling out her Artan Privateer ID and a few slips of latinum as they entered the Gilded Boar, she flashed her ID and dropped the latinum into the palm of the beefy looking Regulan bouncer. "Flex, it is good to see you again my friend. We are here on official business." With a nod, the apparently silent mountain of flesh allowed the party to pass unhindered.

"Well," Mal said. "Let's start asking around. Time is of the essence."

T'Pral had remained silent as she listened to the conversation carry on between the Commander, the Baroness, and Nexi. She was dressed in tan utility pants, leather belt, holstering a Type 2 Phaser, and a black t-shirt with a grey/black shawl worn around her neck, with her hair pulled back to hide the tips of her ears as from what she read in regards to James Kirk's encounter, Spock had reminded Apollo of Pan and did not want him on the planet so she took it as these people either didn't like vulcans or preferred not to be associated with them for some reason. T'Pral nodded. "I will start in the southeast corner."

"Good," Mal said. "I'll start over there."

Mal strolled over to a group sitting at a table and took a seat.

"Gentlebeings," Mal said, using the non-gender specific pronoun. "I'm looking for someone. There's a little something in it for you if you can provide me with something that sounds credible. Latinum, not Fed credits, which would require Federation bank accounts, which I'm assuming you lot can't get without getting arrested."

Mal reached into a pouch at his belt and pulled out a PaDD. He'd specifically picked a commercial model, one that didn't look Starfleet issue. He called up the most recent image of Hermes he could find and showed it to the group.

"I'm looking for him," Mal said to the surly group. "He's a courier. Takes jobs other people won't. Known for getting his cargo where it's going faster than anyone else. He likes to hit the bottle and probably spends some time with prostitutes, when he's sober enough to get it up. Speak truth and get paid. Lie, and I walk. Do something stupid and I end you, right here, right now."

The men and women looked at each other, then leaned in and whispered to each other. Finally, they turned back to Mal. A woman, at least Mal thought it was a woman, spoke.

"Show us the scratch first," she said.

Mal did nothing for a moment. There were three thugs at the table. Mal reached into a pouch and pulled out nine strips of latinum and lay them down on the table. The woman's eyes narrowed.

"You trying to be funny?" she said.

"Is making your brain work so difficult that it demands higher pay?" Mal said. "If you want real money, get off your ass and work for it. This..."

Mal gestured at the strips of latinum.

"This will pay for a meal and a room for the night," Mal said. He wrinkled his nose. "Preferably a room with a shower, which you all need to take really, really, badly. So, you talk sense, I give you the latinum."

The woman hesitated. She was clearly gauging whether or not she should just kill him and take all of his money. She'd never seen any beings like Mal before, never heard of anything like him. For just a second, she considered having her companions attack the Pomtoli officer. In that second, she saw something in the satyr's eyes that told her not to trifle with him.

"We know who he is," she said. "But we ain't seen him today. Heard he was in town..."

"I know that already," Mal said. "Give me more."

The woman licked her lips nervously and she and her companions whispered to each other again. They all nodded to each other and then the woman turned back to Mal.

"You ain't the only one looking for him," she said. "There were three females asking about him."

Mal controlled his reaction, so his informants didn't notice that he tensed at the news of others looking for Hermes.

"What kind of females?" Mal asked. "What race? What did they look like? What were they wearing?"

"Like big, Human, females," one of the men said. "Really built up. Lots of muscle. They were dressed a bit like you. A little more exposed flesh maybe. An Orion tried to hit on one them. She beat him to death. I ain't seen nothing like that before!"

Amazons? Three of them? This isn't good.

"If you had to guess," Mal said. "Where might the courier be now?"

"He runs the circuit of bars around here," the other man said. He looked at his chronometer. "I'd say he's about to leave the Spotted Dick now. He'll probably hit the Bolthole soon. There's a girl there he's sweet on. She usually takes pity on him and throws him a mercy poke here and there."

Mal slid the latinum strips across the table to the informants.

"Thank you," he said. "You've been very helpful."

The three greedily grabbed the money and split it between them. They talked among themselves and decided on a place they could get a warm meal, a warm bed, and a shower for three strips of latinum a piece, then quickly left the bar.

Mal put his PaDD away and went to see how Schwein and T'Pral were doing.

Over in the corner of the bar where T'Pral had gone to inquire about Hermes, a bulky male Orion stood and sauntered over to her.

"Looking for a good time, Sweet Cheeks," he said. "That wasn't a question. I'm looking for a good time, Sweet Cheeks. You won the lottery. What do say we get out of here? We can go back to my room or, if you're in a hurry and filth doesn't bother you, I don't mind giving it to you in the alley behind the bar."

T'Pral looked up at the Orion and grinned. "Oh, really?" she paused before continuing. "I doubt you could handle me, so the answer is no."

Shwein sidled up to the bar next to one of her old contacts she recognized and dropped a few latinum strips on the bar. "The usual. And don't water it down." After the barkeep slid a glass of clear smokey alcohol in front of her, she glanced to the rough man to her left before taking a drink.

"You know something about Hermes, don't you?" Shwein asked in German.

Glancing over his shoulder back at her companion, he nodded and replied, also in German. "Yeah, I know something. I know a Pomtolli when I see one. I also know a harpy when I see one. Look... Little piggies shouldn't get involved in this... I wish I hadn't but it's too late for me. We were comrades once, which is why I'm telling you this. Run away. Run far away."

Turning to face her, he pulled part of his shirt aside to reveal a brand freshly burnt into his flesh by something that would, by her knowledge of technology, be called magic. "Hera's Amazons will be back here in the next hour and I'll have to tell them you're here looking for Hermes. I'm sorry."

Her eyes widening at the realization of what her old friend had just said, Shwein flipped her eye patch up and scanned the brand just to confirm it and indeed it was far beyond her comprehension. Sighing, she downed her drink in one go and hopped off the bar stool.

"I'm sorry too..." Without hesitation, Shwein pulled her rifle free, shot him in the head one handed, and reholstered her weapon all within one second. Before his body had hit the ground, she had flipped the bartender an Artan family pirate mark. "Sorry about the mess."

Turning to meet Mal, her eyes were a bit moist but otherwise she was composed, her eye patch still flipped up from her scans a moment before. "He had been taken by the enemy's power and they likely know we are here."

"Hmm..." Mal said. "According to what I found out, there was a trio of Amazons here a bit ago. They're ahead of us. But I know where they're likely to be headed next. Come on. Let's collect T'Pral and..."

Mal looked over to where T'Pral was being sexually harassed by a large Orion.

"Uh oh," he said. "This isn't going to end well..."

The Orion now put one hand on her arm and the other on her left breast, squeezing it. T'Pral looked down at the Orion's hand as rage and pain filled her, biting her lip to keep from crying out in pain. T'Pral's leg snapped forward striking the Orion in the groin as he howled in pain, releasing his grasp on her. Not done yet, she grabbed the Orion's right wrist, twisted it as she pulled down and towards her as her other arm struck the elbow with full force, causing an audible crack as the arm was broken. As the Orion stumbled, barely standing and crying out in pain, her leg snapped out to the side of his right knee as another crack could be heard, sending the Orion to the floor in agony.

Mal drew his disruptor pistol quickly flicked the setting to molecular disruption and fired off a shot into the floor. The target area glowed for a brief second and then exploded. Everyone in the bar froze.

"Show's over," he said. "Anyone who disagrees with that, I'm happy to use this pistol on them. Ladies, let's go. We are making our exit."

[Elsewhere...]

Nexi was a little bit miffed that of all people Mal had sent Daytona to accompany her; if he felt she needed supervision, why couldn't T'Pral come with her? But done was done and Nexi would make the best of the situation. She made her way through the side streets to a small bar; it didn't have any signage, but she knew the name, it roughly translated as Bolthole, and she passed through the dimly lit and tiny establishment to a table in the corner. Glancing over to the bartender, they each acknowledged each other with a nod, then Nexi held up two fingers to indicate she needed two orders of whatever brew they had on tap, then Nexi took a seat and watched the patrons while she waited for their drinks.

Daytona took a seat with Nexi and looked over the patrons of the Bolthole. At first glance, he didn't see anything that stood out. Still, he continued to observe without looking like he was observing, a skill he'd picked up over the centuries.

"I've been to this place a few times in the past," he said. "Some of those times were WAY in the past, like over two hundred years ago. But my work has brought me here more recently. If this doesn't pan out, I might have someone we can talk to. She's not the most trustworthy sort. She'd sell her own children if the price was right...and if any man was insane enough to breed with her."

"I got a guy here, if he shows," Nexi said as a cute little waitress with blond hair and the bluest eyes anyone had ever seen came over to set their drinks on the table. "Thanks, cutie," Nexi said to the waitress as she leaned forward to take her drink, 'accidentally' brushing her fingers over the hand of the gentle young woman, and quite intentionally sending a slight pulse of current through her hand, which the young girl experiences as a pleasing tingle, causing her to blush. "Any of these rough boys give you a hard time, you let me know," Nexi said to the woman with a subtle smoldering gaze, then leaned back in her seat with her drink and returned her attention to Daytona while the blushingly adorable waitress continued on with her service to the other customers.

"My guy, he's an information broker; he only trades information for more information or a favor. I've brought him a lot of information over the years, so I got a few favors saved up with him, but it's been somewhere around 6 years since I've dealt with him, so that currency may not be good anymore," Nexi explained, sipping at her beer here and there. "He's got this whole spaceport under surveillance, so if he decides to honor those favors, he'll come around soon."

"Here's hoping," Daytona said, taking a drink from his mug and then grimacing. "Ack! I swear, the swill they serve on this planet get's worse every year. My first trip here, the brew was pretty good. Then again, I didn't really give a damn about anything at that point in my life, so I doubt I would have noticed if it was terrible. If I did and it was, I probably thought I deserved to be served brew that tastes like it's been strained through someone's very dirty socks."

"Yeah, it is pretty bad," Nexi said with a grimace as she looked into her mug of swill, and yet she just kept on drinking. "I think if it weren't for cutie over there this place would go under," she added, then took another swig.

They stayed there for a few more minutes longer, and just when Nexi was about to suggest they move on, another patron came through the door. The figure wore a cloak and had his hood pulled up to obscure the details of his face, but he strode right up to Nexi and Daytona and sat at the table across from them.

"What do you need?" he asked with some agitation, looking back at the door for a moment to make sure that he hadn't been followed.

"Hey, take it easy, Bodie," Nexi said, glancing at the door as well. This wasn't anything new, her contact was always a little on the paranoid side. "We're just looking for someone; think you can point us in the general direction of a guy named Hermes?" she asked.

"Maybe, but not for free," Bodie replied, glancing back once more, but this time he was looking at the waitress. "What do you want with him?"

"Nothing bad," Nexi assured him. "If he is who we think he is, then there's a situation going on that could benefit from his assistance. I don't have any information to trade right now, but you know I'm good for it."

Bodie made a move for a switch on his wrist band. Daytona quickly reached into a belt pouch, grasped a device and activated it just as 'Bodie' pressed the button he was reaching for.

"Huh," Daytona said. "It worked. Good thing Thex had enough spare parts to make two of these comm jammers."

'Bodie' looked like he was going to rabbit, so Daytona rose and laid hands on him, or tried to, 'Bodie' was really fast...too fast. He rose and sidestepped Daytona.

"What the...?" Daytona said. Just then, the saloon doors burst open. In walked three tall, Humanoid, women, dressed in Greco-Roman armor. They had short swords on their belts and their wrist bracers looked...strange, as though there might be some technology in them, hidden in the ornate designs.

"We come in the name of the Goddess Hera!" the lead Amazon said. "By order of our queen, Hippolyta, we are here for the fallen god Hermes! Deliver him to us and be spared our wrath!"

'Bodie' made a run for the door, faster than anyone should have been able to move. He made it past the Amazons, but collided with male bovine monster over seven feet tall that was now standing in the doorway. He bounced off and hit his head on a table, knocking himself unconscious.

"Ha!" cried one of the Amazons. "Leave it to a man to panic and attempt to flee!"

"Indeed," said the lead Amazon. "Men are sniveling cowards."

"Uhm...hold that thought, please, ladies," Daytona said. He tapped his wrist comm. "Commander, Nexi and I are in a dive called the Bolthole. We need help...really, really fast. Oh, and I think we found your...friend."

"How dare you give instructions to an Amazon, sperm-donor!" one of the Amazons said.

The leader put her hand on her comrades shoulder to restrain her.

"Did you notice how fast that sniveling scum moved?" the leader asked. "Minotaur! Pick that pathetic excuse for a god up we will now return to our vessel!"

"Sorry," Daytona said. "I can't let you do that."

Daytona drew his disruptor pistol.

"Nexi," he said. "If we let them leave, this will all be for nothing."

"And just when I thought this trip was going to be boring!" Nexi said with a big grin on her face; she was already on her feet and drawing her pike. As she ignited the plasma blade, she leveled it at the Amazons. "Never killed an Amazon before, or a Minotour; at least one of you better be a challenge or I'm gonna be pissed."

Shwein and the others had just left the Gilded Boar when they got the call for help. Putting a finger up to her earpiece to hear better, she mumbled some german curse under her breath. "Keep up if you can," she called out as she took off towards the Bolthole. If she read that tone of voice right, things just went south in a very bad way and they needed backup in an even worse way.

Hoping the other two were still with her, Shwein turned the last corner and caught sight of a mountain of a beast - a minotaur. "Verdammt..." Rather than reaching for her polaron rifle, she reached for her short sword at her back. Pulling it free, she used her left eye to scan for a weakness in the few seconds before she was upon the beast. Finding what she hoped was one, she leaped across it's back and sliced in a circular motion across the back of its neck, hopefully slicing both jugulars and its spinal column in the neck around the third and fourth vertebrae.

Her landing was perfect... However the supporting structure was not and it collapsed and she found herself inside of a fried foods cart so she couldn't even see if she had killed the beast as she had hoped, or if she hadn't cut deep enough and just pissed it off.

The Minotaur was apparently not impressed with Schwein's blade. There was a cut, and it was through several layers of skin, and it even drew a little blood, but it wasn't deep enough to do much damage. The beast bellowed and started moving towards Schwein. Mal drew his frictionless blade, but instead of using it, he put his head down and charged the Minotaur, hitting it amidships and knocking it off balance and away from Schwein.

"Pull yourself together," Mal said, going over to the downed pirate. "Go help Daytona and Nexi with the Amazons. This beast is mine. T'Pral, go with her."

The Minotaur was back on it's feet now. It snorted with rage and shook its head about, brandishing its horns. The two half-men circled each other, Mal moving away from Schwein so she wouldn't get gored or trampled. The Minotaur suddenly lowered its head and charged at Mal. The nimble satyr sidestepped and swung his kopis. The blade, which was designed to be nearly frictionless, designed especially to fight Minotaur, cut through the side of the bovine's chest. Unfortunately, in order to avoid being gored, Mal stepped out far enough that while the cut was serious, it wasn't immediately terminal or even disabling. The Minotaur let loose a bellow that would have chilled Mal's heart if he wasn't already resisting the urge to void his bladder and bowels right then and there and run away. They circled each other again, then the beast pulled a mace from it's back and charged at Mal. Again Mal stepped to the side. This time he swung his blade up, seemingly to block the strike by hitting his sword against the Minotaur's mace. The Minotaur realized what Mal was really up to at the last minute, but he couldn't stop his forward momentum in time. He was only able to redirect his blow to avoid losing a limb, but not enough to avoid being cut deeply.

Another deep but not particularly fatal wound. This is ridiculous! What am I going to have to do? Kill him with the death of a thousand cuts?!? We don't have time for this! Come Xustos, get it together.



Meanwhile, outside, a Harpy suddenly began an attack run on T'Pral. It was swooping in quickly from behind her, talons bared, ready to strike! As she got closer, those on the street could hear a terrifying shriek.

T'Pral turned upon hearing the shriek in time to see a Winged creature diving at her. She ducked to the side into a roll, but not before one of the Harpy's talons ripped into T'Pral's shoulder. T'Pral drew her phaser as she kept her attention on the Harpy as it raised and banked to the right into a tight turn for another attack run. T'Pral, guessing the creature would have the same attack pattern as many birds of prey on various worlds, fired her phaser where the creature should be at the moment of impact. The Harpy spun and dived but the beam struck the Harpy's wing, causing her to fall to the ground. T'Pral fired again to make sure the Harpy stayed down.

Pulling herself free of the fried goods cart, Shwein tossed off her cloak, her golden eye glinting like a beacon as she nodded to Mal and headed inside to assist the others with the Amazons. It seemed her sword wasn't enough to do more than scratch such a monster, even with her strength so she had no trouble leaving it to Mal since it seemed he had the skills and tools to fight it properly.

Quickly assessing the situation inside, she pulled free her polaron rifle and fired a three round burst straight into the back of the nearest Amazon. "Oi! Sau! Your mother was a pig's plaything!"

The polaron bursts dissipated against the Amazon's armor. She grunted, indicating that she may have felt some of the effects, but certainly not enough to slow her down. She spun around to the right, turning her arm, deactivating the wrist shield and switching to the energy weapon. She let several fly pulses fly in Schwein's direction as she charged forward with her sword.

With her golden cybernetic eye, Shwein dodged the pulses with ease as the Amazon charged her. Steeling herself, she braced herself as the Amazon tried to slice her in half with a two handed strike starting from where she parted her hair. Her sword may not have been the sharpest there was, but it was made of some pretty solid metal. So was she. The look of surprise on the Amazon's face as a woman over a foot shorter than her stopped her blade with little more than a grunt was somewhat satisfying. Especially since she did it one handed. Leveling her polaron rifle at an unguarded part of the Amazon's leg, she pulled the trigger.

The pulse from the polaron rifle burned a large hunk of flesh from the Amazon's leg. She screamed in pain and shock. Furious, she sent a powerful backhand slash of her sword at Schwein while she struggled to keep her leg from buckling. She failed and went down on one knee.

The strength of the swing from the Amazon was far from what it was and Shwein barely even had to knock it aside with her own short sword as she now looked down on the dying Amazon. The shadows in the bar almost made her look demonic as her face was dark save for her golden glowing cybernetic eye. "Odin danke dir für deinen Tod." With those words, she swung her sword with all her strength into the Amazon's neck, sending her now lifeless body the rest of the way to the floor.

Meanwhile, Nexi and Daytona were facing down two very perturbed Amazons.

"You have never killed an Amazon, disgrace to women everywhere!" the lead Amazon said. "And you won't kill one today, whore! But, if I have anything to say about it, you will be killed by these Amazons! Attack, my sisters! Leave no survivors!"

Daytona politely waited for the Amazon leader to finish her rhetoric, then fired his disruptor pistol at her. The bolt flew through the air, but just as it closed on its target, the Amazon raised her left hand and crouched slightly. A force field in the shape of a shield manifested, apparently from her left wrist bracer. The bolt ricocheted off of the energy field and hit a bystander, who dropped like a rock. Luckily for him, Daytona had reset the weapon to neural disruption.

Daytona expected the Amazon to go for her sword, but instead, still protected by the shield, she raised her right arm and aimed her fist at Daytona. Daytona was confused at first what she was up to, but when she pointed her knuckles down, he figured it out.

"Oh, crap!" he said, diving to the side at the last minute as a bolt of energy flew through the area his chest had been in a split second before.

The other Amazon activated the shield on her left wrist and drew her sword as she moved in on Nexi.

"Why do you service the needs of this man," she said. "You don't have to be a whore, whore! Selling your body and soul for the approval of a man! Use your power! Free yourself and we will teach you to be a real woman!"

By this time, Daytona had rejoined Nexi, ready to fight. He was carrying what amounted to two long knives, Filipino in origin. They were called Kambantuli and were used primarily by the Moro tribes in the southern Philippine islands. They were nineteen point five inches in total length with thirteen point five inch blades that were wider as you neared the point. They were nasty looking things, designed for hacking and slashing but with enough of a point to stab with if he could find a large enough area of exposed flesh.

"You probably don't need too much help here," Daytona said. "But why don't I take one of them anyway? Just so I can feel useful, you understand."

"Enough talk!" the lead Amazon shouted. "Attack!"

She deactivated her left wrist shield and turned that arm so she could aim her energy weapon, all as she began to move forward. She gave a battle shout and began firing at Nexi as she charged forward with her sword.

All this 'free yourself' man-hating talk had Nexi all fired up inside; sure, she thought men were the weaker sex as well, but they had their uses, and life would be kind of boring without them, so their offer fell on deaf ears.

"I'm all too happy to put you in your place: the kitchen," Nexi said with a grin, just to piss off the Amazons and to build their rage thus forcing them to attack first. The Amazon still holding her sword charged at Nexi; Nexi blocked with her pike staff, but her eyes went wide when she felt the amount of force these Amazons could impart with their attacks. It felt like getting struck by a runaway boulder, her arms were buzzing with shock! She pushed back, then swung the butt of her staff into the Amazon's head; it made contact, but most of the force was diffused by the energy shield protecting her. And so Nexi began testing the limits and boundaries of these shields, rapidly swinging her pike at the Amazon, barely letting her get in any counter attacks. Then suddenly, the Amazon charged with her energy shield, throwing Nexi across the small pub and against a wall. As Nexi returned to her feet, she found the Amazon there, again using her shield in a charge, but this time to trap Nexi against the wall, her piked being held uselessly between their chests. Then burning, searing pain! The Amazon had brought down her sword for the kill, but Nexi managed to deflect the jab with her own blade to pass relatively harmlessly into her shoulder; still, it hurt like hell, and something about this blade just burned! Releasing her pike, Nexi grabbed the Amazon by the neck and released everything she could into the woman. The Amazon howled in pain, but the charge surging through her had her paralyzed, she couldn't pull away; Nexi doubled down and increased the intensity of the current and soon Amazon slumped to the ground, her now hollow eye sockets smoking. The resulting drain to Nexi caused her knees to give out, but the blade in her shoulder was embedded in the wall, preventing her from falling. Nexi cried out from the jolt it sent through her shoulder, and she grabbed the blade and pulled, slicing her hand open as she yanked the blade free. Now now longer pinned to the wall, she fell to the floor beside the dead Amazon.

The other Amazon followed suit, firing at Daytona while charging him. Daytona rolled out of the way of the bolts, ducking behind a table. After her last shot, Daytona stood, flipped a chair into the air in front of him with his foot and then kicked it at his opponent. The Amazon reactivated her wrist shield and hunched behind it. She wasn't quite able to brace her self properly, though, and the force of the impact knocked her off balance.

Daytona charged forward, blades flying around in front of him. The Amazon recovered just in time to put up a defense. She tried blocking with her sword, but the two weapon technique reduced her to enlarging her wrist shield and huddling behind it. At first Daytona was pushing her back, but then the Amazon began to push back and began to work in jabs with her sword which were either evaded or parried by Daytona. One of his parries left and opening and the Amazon backhanded him with her shield, knocking him down. Daytona snapped back to his feet and the two began to circle each other looking for an opening. While Daytona could match the Amazon in strength and speed, there were a few disadvantages that might just get him killed. The Amazon had energy weapons in her wrist bracers, while his pistol was in its holster. All she had to do to open fire on him was point her wrist at him...either wrist, while protecting herself with the shield on the opposite wrist. Daytona needed a way around the shield. It was time to do something different...and possibly suicidal.

Daytona charged ahead, banging on the energy shield with his weapons, driving the Amazon back. The shield began to flicker. In response, the Amazon reduced it's size. Apparently it was weaker the wider out it was spread. This Daytona could use.

As soon as the shield reduced in diameter, Daytona feinted high with one blade, then dropped low and spun his leg around, knocking the Amazon's legs out from under her. Springing forward and going in low, he got in inside the Amazon's shield arm and sword arm. Now sitting on her chest, he used the two Kambantuli in a scissor configuration and severed the Amazon's head. Breathing heavy, he rose to his feet in time to see Nexi fry her opponent. At first he thought she was fine. Her jacket was dark and he didn't immediately see the blood. Sheathing his knives, he ran over to Nexi.

"Schwein!" he called out. "Get over here! Nexi's been hurt."

Daytona felt around the back of Nexi's shoulder and saw that it was a through and through. He pulled two handkerchiefs out and applied pressure to both sides of the wound.

"You'll be fine," Daytona said. "You're far too tough to let a little arterial bleeding slow you down."

"Yeah, still sucks, I really liked this jacket," Nexi said with a grin, but it was clear that she was forcing the pain down, trying to ignore it but failing.

"The jacket will have to be removed," Shwein said as she rushed to Nexi's side and pulled out several tools from her hidden pockets, her eye already scanning away at the hole in her patient. She slapped a neuro stabilizer on Nexi's forehead to help ease the pain, then gave her a hypo of a cocktail of meds before cutting the jacket and shirt off her shoulder with a laser scalpel and slapping a quickseal patch on her back so she'd at least have a bit more time to work before her patient bled out.

"No real bone damage... Just everything else. Next time, I recommend doing the stabbing, ja? Not so pleasant, the stabby-stabby." Shwein tried to at least distract Nexi as she shoved a deep tissue regenerator into the wound and clicked it on. It wasn't a pleasant device, but in a combat situation it would get her back on her feet in a matter of minutes.

"GAH!" Nexi cried out as Shwein shoved the regenerator into the wound. "I think I prefer the stabby stabby to what you're doing now," she squeaked out. "Note to self, never give Pig a reason to use this thing ever again."

Giving Nexi a funny look, Shwein continued to work on her. "My name is Shwein, not pig. Also, I am sorry pirate medicine is not up to Federation standards." As she spoke, she pulled the tissue regenerator out, wiped it clean, and started working with a normal tissue regenerator on the damage closer to the surface. Once that was done, she slapped a bandage over the whole thing and rolled Nexi up on her other side so she could use the standard regenerator on her back as well.

"Yeah, all I hear is 'Pig', my translator probably don't recognize your name as a name, whatever it is." Nexi grunted and winced as Shwein moved her around, but she was still glad she wasn't going to bleed out. Although she was starting to breathe heavy and her vision was growing dark and fuzzy. "I need... uhg, can't think... Uh, sugar, I need sugar, and... it's, uh, electro- something... I'm crashing..."

Finishing up with Nexi's back, Shwein slapped another bandage on it and pulled out another hypo and a pack of ampules. Loading up the first one, she injected it right into Nexi's neck. The second into her chest. The third, she injected into her thigh. She loaded up a fourth, but just kept that one at the ready. "Nexi, I just gave you enough energy boosters and electrolytics for three people. You may be a little jittery for a few days as your body processes them. We will need to get you back to the ship soon."

As she felt the first and then second ampule being injected, Nexi recognized the affect as the chemicals entered her bloodstream, and she tried to push Shwein's hand away to prevent her from injecting her a third time, but the gesture was so feeble and she ended up getting that third injection anyway. "No more," Nexi gasped out. Her heart was racing now, but she didn't feel any more energetic, it felt like her heart was going to explode! Whatever it was about Brekkian physiology that allowed them to conduct and expel a powerful current, it didn't like synthetic stimulants, and while these boosters also contained the much needed glucose and electrolytes she requested, the stimulants in the cocktail weren't helping. "No more, no more," she continued to ramble incoherently, her body shaking in a combination of shock and stimulant overload.

Scanning Nexi a bit more with her eye, Shwein adjusted the neural stabilizer to help with the stimulant overdose. "This will make sure you survive with so much blood loss. Please bear with it, ja?" Indeed, it was the only thing Shwein could have done to keep her blood pressure high enough for long enough to get her back home alive.

Nexi managed to nod, though she said nothing in response; she just kept shaking and shivering, unable to move herself from where Shwein had moved her.

"She can't stay here," Daytona said. He deactivated the jammer from before, just in case, and started fiddling with his wrist comm. "It doesn't look like the others are hurt...give me one more second..."

Daytona frowned.

"It seems we're not the only ones who thought to jam comms," he said. "Well, since it appears we can't do this the easy way..."

Daytona effortlessly scooped Nexi up in his arms.

"Just relax and leave everything to me, Nexi," he said with a grin. "I bet you were hoping you'd never hear me use that phrase in regards to you!"

When Daytona didn't get a snarky response, he looked down at Nexi.

"I've got you, little one," he said in a gentle tone. "Just relax. Doctor Pig, if you want to stay and see to the others, I'll take Nexi back to the Hera's folly."

Shwein just facepalmed. "Shwein Shwein Shwein Shwein...." she muttered as she headed over to the bar and slapped down an Artan token. "Sorry about the mess."

"Let us get out of here, Herr Nascar," Shwein said as she returned to Daytona's side. "We must hurry before the enemy goes hog wild."

Daytona was familiar enough with Federation Standard to get the pig/hog/Schwein pun, and he'd heard NASCAR jokes ever since he joined Starfleet because of his name. He rolled his eyes.

"If you're saying we need to unass this area, I'd already figured that out for myself," he said. "Lead the way and don't get too far ahead. I'm not going to be able to fight mythical creatures while carrying this precious cargo."

"Ja, we must ankle," Schwein replied with a nod before leading them out of the bar.


Outside in the street, Mal still had his hands full with the Minotaur. He was faster than the beast, especially now that the bovine nightmare was cut and bleeding, but the creature was still very strong. He attacked Mal with a combination of powerful swings with his mace and slashes and jabs with his horns. Mal had scorned a few more hits to the beast on its thighs and arms, but the monster was still frustrating his attempts to score an immediately fatal blow. Mal wondered for just a moment how the others were doing. This was a mistake. The bull man swung his mace and, while Mal saw the swing in time to avoid the brunt of the blow, he did take a hit to the horn on the right side of his head, which rattled him. He barely recovered in time to see the Minotaur make a sweeping movement with his torso and head, very nearly goring Mal in the process. All was not lost, though, as Mal scored another deep cut to the Minotaur's shoulder, this one down to the bone.

Okay. I clearly can't dance around with this thing until it bleeds to death. Time to finish this!

The Minotaur raised his mace above his head, charged at Mal. This time the satyr didn't dance to the side. Instead, he met the beast's charge head on. In one simultaneous movement, Mal blocked the blow from the incoming mace, hitting the Minotaur's forearm with his, and at the same time thrust his sword forward into the beast's heart, letting the Minotaur's forward momentum add to the force of his thrust. The frictionless blade pierced the Minotaur's thick hide and slid through its ribs and into its heart. Mal twisted his blade, then yanked it free, stepping out of the way and letting the Minotaur fall to the ground. The beast twitched a moment and then died.

The phaser in T'Pral's hand was forceably kicked out, her hand stinging from the impact as T'Pral turned to face an Amazon who had rushed up on her. "Let's see how good you are without your energy weapon!" the Amazon challenged, with her sword in mid swing at T'Pral.

The blade missed T'Pral by less than an inch as she jumped backwards. The Amazon pushed her attack as T'Pral did the unexpected and moved forward as the Amazon swung again. T'Pral dodged the swing, ending up inside of the weapon as she struck the Amazon's wrist, causing her to drop the sword. The Amazon saw her opening and struck T'Pral with her shild with the other arm. The blow staggered T'Pral as the Amazon delivered a kick to her chest that sent T'Pral falling on her back as the Amazon let out a scream and jumped at T'Pral with her shield. T'Pral slammed her feet into the shield instead that sent the Amazon back and stumbling. T'Pral jumped to her feet and delivered a hard blow to the woman's solar plexus that caused her to drop to knee as she struggled to catch her breath just as T'Pral's fist connected with the woman's jaw, sending the Aamazon to the ground unconscious.

Mal, breathing hard, his head ringing, turned back towards T'Pral just in time to see her put down an Amazon. He gave her a once over and determined that she appeared to be fine.

"Let's go see if the others need help," he said to T'Pral. As he entered the Bolthole, he saw a man on the floor being tended to by an attractive bar wench. There was a mask on the floor next to him. As Mal passed he caught a glimpse of the man's face and stopped.

"You!" he said. Before he said anything else, he reached into a pouch on his belt and activated Thex's device. "I would have words with you!"

"If you just turned on a jammer," 'Bodie' said. "That wasn't necessary. Your Rigelian friend already did that. It's working, too. My compliments to whoever designed it. It's not only jamming my comms, but it's making it difficult for me to draw power from my ship. And, since your friend was obviously able to contact you, your engineer must have found a way to exclude your comm frequency from being jammed. Very clever."

'Bodie' sighed. "I suppose this was inevitable. I drink too much and when I drink too much I get sentimental. That's why I sent that cryptic message about my father's wife and her Minotaur. That, and...well, my son Pan created a nearly ideal society for his children...my grandchildren, I suppose you'd be. I guess I just couldn't stand to see that world destroyed."

"Hermes..." Mal said. "Grandfather..."

Mal sheathed his blade and crouched down by his grand patriarch.

"I have a million questions," he said. "But unfortunately time seems short and I have to stick to the ones relevant to the danger I'm perceiving here. What is going on, Grandfather? Is Hera back? Has the angry goddess returned? Is Pomtol in danger?"

Hermes shook his head and chuckled, then laughed. It wasn't a pleasant sound.

"Is Hera back?" he said. "Is that what you think? That Hera is back. Well, short answer, yes Hera is back and Pomtol is in danger."

Mal felt a cold dread come over him.

"What's the long answer?" he asked the grandsire of his people.

"Ah," Hermes said. "More than just a pretty face I see. Intelligence as well as beauty. My son did well. You are correct, little one. There is a longer answer. And here it is: They are ALL back! Every last one of them. Far more than just Pomtol is in danger!"

Mal looked shocked for a moment, then, ever the professional, regained his senses.

"I need to get you back to my ship," he said. "I need you to help me convince Starfleet of the danger we face."

"I can't leave my ship here unattended," Hermes said. "Even with our technology protecting it, someone could access it and you know as well as I do that we can't let that tech fall into the wrong hands."

"Even if I let you go," Mal said. "Won't Hera just track you down again? What is it she wants with you? And why now?"

"If you know your history, you know she hates me," Hermes said. "I am the bastard child of her husband from the wrong side of the blanket. I'm a loose end that she's always wanted to clear up. I'd been pretty good about staying out of sight, but I guess I got careless."

Mal hesitated.

"Get out of here," he said, turning off his jammer. "Go back to your ship. Here, take this."

Mal handed him a PaDD.

"There's information on how to contact me," he said. "I won't be able to convince Starfleet of the threat unless you come in. Promise me."

Hermes looked at Mal, then nodded.

"When I can come in safely, I will," he said. "You have my word."

Hermes turned to the bar wench.

"And you, my dear?" he said. "Are you finally ready to let me take you away from all this?"

The young blond beauty stared at Hermes with awe and wonder. All this talk of Pomtol had been confusing, but she had heard talk that this 'Hermes' and 'Hera' were gods; was her dear Bodie a god?!

"You really mean it?" the young woman, Lyra, said with a gentle smile; she had been waiting what seemed like ages for him to do more than simply flirt with her, and god or no god, he was still her beloved Bodie. "But where will we go?"

Hermes smiled and gently caressed the young woman's face. He pointed up at the sky.

"Out there," he said. "Travel the stars with me. My ship is comfortable, room enough for two people, more than two actually. Plenty of creature comforts...and we'll have each other. Let me take you away from this terrible world and show you the majesty of the galaxy, my love."

"Yes!" Lyra replied with blushing excitement. "Yes, I will go with you!"

Hermes pulled Lyra in for a kiss. Mal gave them a second, then cleared his throat, getting Hermes' attention.

"Grandsire," Mal said. "Please don't let me down. I need you...Pomtol needs you...the entire quadrant needs you to come in from the cold and tell your story to Starfleet. You know how powerful your family and friends are, and how fickle they are. On a whim, for some sleight real or imagined, one of them could declare war on the other. Not only would the collateral damage be severe, but they could very well drag some of the lesser species into their petty squabbles. Please, Grandsire, do not betray us."

Hermes looked at Mal. A change came over the fallen 'god'. It was as if his pride and sense of duty were returning.

"Do not fear, grandchild," Hermes said. "I will honor my promise. I will not abandon you."

Mal nodded.

"Then we must leave," he said. "More of Hera's minions could be near and we're not equipped or staffed for an extended street fight against a superior force. Go. If you keep your word, we'll meet again soon."

Hermes nodded, a determined look in his eye.

Lyra said nothing, keeping her worry of her beloved's 'family' to herself; this whole situation seemed to impossible, but she trusted Bodie- no, Hermes, and she trusted these people who defended them so valiantly. Instead of letting herself fret over things she had no control over, she beamed brightly, letting her heart soar at the idea of going off to see the galaxy with her love.

Hermes turned to Lyra.

"We're going to have to go right now, my love," he said. "Don't worry about bringing anything. I can provide you with just about anything you need."

Hermes turned back to Mal.

"What is your name, my child?" he asked.

"Mal Xustos," Mal replied. He hesitated. Then he went on, the pride evident in his voice, both in his accomplishments and in being able to share them with Hermes. "Commander Mal Xustos, United Federation of Planets Starfleet, executive officer of the USS Hera.

Hermes smiled. He placed his hand on Mal's shoulder.

"I am very pleased to finally meet one of my son's children," he said. "And I am very glad that the first one I've met is you, Commander Mal Xustos. Farewell. I will see you soon. You have my word. Come, Lyra, let us away!"

Hermes let go of Mal's shoulder and rose, pulling Lyra up with him. He attempted to signal his ship again. Nothing happened. Frustrated, he tapped his wrist comm again. Nothing.

"Hmm..." he said. "It appears Hera is trying to keep me from leaving. No matter. Come Lyra! Let us away, take two!"

This time Hermes scooped Lyra up in his arms and suddenly dashed off so fast that all Mal saw was a blur as Hermes zipped through the streets, headed towards the spaceport.

Now it's time for us to make our exit.

Mal turned just in time to see Schwein move quickly past him, followed by Daytona carrying Nexi.

"What?" Mal said. "Is she..."

"Schwein stabilized her for now," Daytona said his concern for Nexi's well being clear in his tone of voice and the expression on his face. "But I've got to get her back to the Hera's Folly and back to the fortress as fast as possible."

Mal faced Nexi and gently brushed a lock of hair out of her face.

"Hang in there, Nexi," Mal said. He turned to Daytona. "Go! T'Pral and I will be right behind you!"

Daytona nodded and took off at a steady, brisk pace, a powerful sense of urgency evident in the way he moved and carried himself.

"T'Pral," Mal said. "If you're done playing with that one, we should break camp out of here. The locals I talked to mentioned three Amazons. Yours makes four. That, and the fact that something is jamming our comm frequencies tells me we should unass this area RFN before anyone else shows up."

T'Pral nodded. "Agreed. I will cover our rear."

T'Pral was looking forward to some time off finally. It had seemed that whenever she was ready to go on leave, there would be some security or tactical report needing approval, approval of weapons inspections and loadout inspections. As she walked into her quarters aboard the Hera, her comm badge chirrped to life. "Bridge to Lieutenant T'Pral."

Letting out an audible sigh, she slapped her comm badge in frustration. "Go ahead," she managed to reply in a calm voice.

"There is an incoming transmission from an Ambassador S'ark."

Her father was calling her? She wondered what this could be about. "Put it through to the terminal in my quarters."

"Will do. Bridge, out."

T'Pral walked over to the monitor and activated it. The Federation logo screen was soon replaced by the image of an onlder Vulcan male with white hair dressed in traditional vulcan robes. "Father. This is unexpected," T'Pral greeted.

"I know." There was a pause as S'ark looked to be thinking of what to say next. "Your mother and her ship, the USS Indianapolis has gone missing."

Disbelief filled T'Pral. "What do you mean her ship disappeared?"

"I received a message from Starfleet Command that contact with her ship was lost as of 1100 Hours yesterday. They inform me that there is a search ongoing for the ship but so far, there are no reports of finding her ship. It was last reported near the Badlands." Sarek responded.

T'Pral was silent as she went over the information given to her. Growing up, her mother was her biggest supporter--had it not been for her, she would likely have never been accepted into Starfleet. Inside of her, emotions raged from fear, to sadness, to anger, to confusion. She took a deep breath and cleared her throat. "Have you told my brother, T'Rel?"

"Yes. He is doing well by the way. You should take time to speak to him--and to me sometime," S'ark replied.

"Why should I? He is like you and you never gave me support. T'Rel had always been your 'pride and joy' as the saying goes," T'Pral said with anger edging in her voice.

"Is that anger I detect, T'Pral? I would have thought that you would have learned to control your emotions by now. When will you mature and act as a Vulcan should?"

The anger inside of T'Pral now exploded into rage. "Perhaps you have forgotten but I am not fully Vulcan!" she screamed. "If you cannot accept me for who I am, then you are advised to get out of my life! I will find out what happened to my mother without you. Good bye, father!" T'pral angrily hit the disconnect button for the terminal. She was now seething as she paced her quarters. Her mother was missing and now her father had insulted her. On top of it all, West was away, likely with some woman! 'Was he with that bitch Nexi?' T'Pral thought just before sending her fist into a nearby vase, causing it to explode into hundreds of pieces. She had nobody to talk to or turn to--she was alone. She stormed out of her quarters at a fast pace, shoving a crewman out of the way as she did so. She needed to calm down and focus her thoughts as she headed for the holodeck.

T'Pral took in the decorations and surroundings of the castle. The captain did indeed have interesting tastes as castles aboard a space station were a rare commodity with many choosing far more modern living arrangements. However, she could appreciate the decor of the castle. The Terran Renaissance Era is often portrayed by many media outlets to be romantic with handsome knights rescuing damsels in distress by overcoming impossible odds spawning legends such as Robin Hood and King Arthur. The reality however, was far less romantic as she moved to study and ancient sword mounted on the wall.

Of all the over two hundred massive floors of the castle built as the core of the one hundred twenty kilometer wide orbital fortress, it seemed a lot of the crew seemed to prefer the lower, vastly more expansive floors the most. Enalia couldn't exactly blame them - the first thirty floors or so were veritable museums. Thus she found T'Pral on the ground floor admiring the various medieval decor.

Walking up next to her, she commented on the piece she assumed T'Pral was admiring. "That is supposedly a sword from the era of the Vulcan-Romulan Sundering. It's definitely made from minerals and with designs found natively to Vulcan and the quantum dating matches the estimated dates and it was recovered on Dewa III in Romulan space, so archaeologists believe it's the genuine article, but it could still all be coincidence."

"Unlikely," T'Pral replied, turning to look at the captain. "I must admit that this place is amazing. Where did you get the resources and funding for a place like this with all of these artifacts?"

"The Vulcan Science Commission had the same response, hence why it's here rather than in a museum." Enalia chuckled softly as she turned to face T'Pral. "As for funding, my great grandmother happened to be lucky enough to claim salvage rights to the recently destroyed remains of the planet Selen VI back in 2160 mere hours after its destruction. Within five years the Artan family had enough spare resources to outright buy this place, though it was new and rather bare at the time. As for money since then, privateering, piracy against the Syndicate, and deep space mining can be lucrative. As for my personal touch... the thirty third floor houses my personal collection of over thirteen thousand teacups."

T'Pral raised an eyebrow. "That is alot of teacups," she commented. "Do you ever host tea parties then?"

Enalia grinned widely. "What good is a teacup if it's not used to either impress guests or serve them tea? Aboard the Hera, I serve all my guests in replicas from either my collection here or from the one in Switzerland on Earth. Here though... I'd like to eventually hold teacup viewing ceremonies where we drink from teacups as we talk about the more priceless ones in my collection and see if anyone else has anything similar in theirs. I'm told that's normal aristocracy stuff but honestly, most of the local aristocracy has always avoided my family. Something about common blood of a pirate or something..." As her words drifted off, Enalia glanced off towards one of the tackiest chandeliers in the entire castle.

T'Pral knew well what Enalia was talking about. Growing up, she always despised formal social functions that her father held. She took after her mother who believed that many such social functions, were a necessary evil. Her mother always seemed to remind her of the one time when T'Pral was two, she snuck away from the sitter in search of her mother who was attending such a aristocracy event, dressed in her PJs made her way into the event, and had incident in her diaper that according to her mother made a Betazoid dignitary faint. "You have the blood of a commoner, Captain? How scandalous," she grinned as she followed the captain's gaze.

"I'm sure it doesn't help that my family is still considered nothing but common pirates." Enalia giggled softly as she pointed to the chandelier she was looking at. "That chandelier in particular was one of the first gifts from another aristocrat. We found over a hundred monitoring devices in it. Rather than removing them, my great grandmother ordered them left in and just disabled the feeds, having thousands of hours of children's programming fed to them instead."

T'Prall stifled a laugh. "I'm sure the person listening in was confused...just ignore those who say such derogatory comments about you and your family, Captain. They are only jealous," she offered but in reality, she would likely hunt them down and beat them with her bare hands--but that was her.

Enalia chuckled softly as well. "She did steal this place out from under that same family, after all. I suppose they would be jealous since they were still saving for the down payment and she bought it outright. Baron von Scrufflebutt wasn't so high and mighty after that incident. Anyway, a family feud ensued... Eventually he hired syndicate assassins to kill my great grandmother while she was on a patrol so my grandmother personally wiped his entire lineage from the galaxy."

T'Pral nodded in approval. "Go big or go home," she commented with a grin. "I would have loved to have met your great grandmother, Captain." T'Pral was silent as she thought about what she would do if threatened or her family threatened. She had nearly killed a fellow student on Vulcan for simply bullying her little brother. Vulcan children were often very critical of those not of pure Vulcan origins. Though she now kept that violent version of herself at bay with constant mental exercises, it was still there, waiting to emerge again--and a reason why her father was ashamed of her. "You've had a very exciting life thus far it seems."

"I have a feeling you'd fit in very well with the Artan family, if you ever decide to leave Starfleet. My mother is finally retired so if you ever want a position, it's yours." Enalia didn't exactly run the family business while she was in Starfleet, but she knew her second in command wouldn't object to anything she asked of him like that.

"Thank you, Captain. However Starfleet is my life at the moment," T'Pral replied, looking at the woman.

Enalia returned the look and nodded. "Indeed. If that should ever change though, please keep me in mind."

"I will. May I ask what your plans are for this shore leave?" T'Pral asked.

"To relax, enjoy some time off, and make sure my crew do the same without getting into too much trouble." Grinning widely, Enalia snagged one of the holographic catgirl maids. "Please prepare my private library for dining tonight and have Maica decide on the menu." With a bow acknowledging the order, the maid returned to her duties. "And how about you?"

"I am unsure as of yet. Commander Xustos has asked me to join him later in the conference room aboard the Hera for a meeting. What it is for is unknown at this time," T'Pral replied.

"Ah yes, a personal mission came up. It's completely voluntary so please feel free to go or not as you please." Enalia replied. "As for the details, those are up to him to reveal

T'Pral let out a sigh. She thought about Cato and wondered if he was indeed true to his intentions towards her or was she simply another woman for him? She had heard rumors of him being close with Nexi. She had never regarded those rumors with much merit but lately he had been distant towards her and she was beginning to wonder if the rumors were true. "If I may ask, have you ever wondered about the faithfulness or honesty of a lover, Captain?"

"Not really. I monitor the movements of anyone that might be in that position." Enalia didn't always do that, but was prone to investigating and/or stalking people for fun. "Why? Do you want me to investigate someone for you?"

"No, thank you Captain," T'Pral replied. She wasn't completely sure but she did know that West and Nexi had been spending quite a bit time together...with her own relationship with West bordering the line of fraternization, she didn't really want the Captain to know. Especially since the Captain and Nexi appeared to be rather close. 'Perhaps it simply wasn't to be,' she thought. "I should depart for that meeting before I am late. Thank you again, Captain."

Enalia nodded and smiled and went back to wandering the halls of her youth, reminiscing about things only she knew.

The station's lake waters shone as the sun rippled over many directions as the water broke as the ship's engineer pulled herself out the water and onto the beach. She wasn't having as much fun as she normally would with her right arm still in its medical rejuvenator from the bite mark she'd received from some of the genetically engineered animals. It had been a trying job getting into her pink bikini and boyshorts for one thing.

Still, even that wasn't keeping her down as she was very happy as she sat on the beach looking over the amazing artificial station. This place could be called paradise.

"It appears we had similar ideas," T'Pral appeared through a path leading to the beach. Dressed in a blue bikini and carrying a towel over her shoulder. "How is your arm?'

"Hurts like hell. Doc says the rejuvenator will keep going through random settings until it can kill the bacteria in the mouth of that creature. Too bad, I didn't get a look at which one it was. How you doing T'Pral?" The andorian asked as the hybrid walked towards her.

"I am doing well," she replied, laying the towel down on the sand. "The medical staff in the infirmary were able to heal my wounds and I have been busy setting up training schedules for my department."

" Good. At least we can get some time off while the ships being repaired. I hope the captain doesn't intend for us to go through another time jump for a while. " Thex responded grinning.

"I agree, though knowing the Captain's somewhat reckless behavior, I would not put it past her," she commented as she thought about O'Mak. The woman left behind everything she had known to come with the crew. Doing so was reckless in her part, however, O'Mak seemed happier here. "Did you have any activities planned other than swimming?"

" As soon as my arms fixed i'm going off to one of the small nearby starports to meet someone. " Thex replied

"Oh? Who are you meeting? Family? Friend? Lover?" T'Pral questioned with a slight grin.

" Family. My great great grandfather to be exact." The andorian replied before she notched T'pral look of confusion. " It's a long story, short version is he's my great great grandfather who's an alien species know as a valon. They look like giant jellyfish. Well I think they do I've never seen another one other than Vash."

"Sounds fascinating," T'Pral commented.

"That it does," Warrant Officer Read commented as he approached the two women, dressed in black/red swim trunks and a tank top.

"What are you doing here, Read?" T'Pral asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, I couldn't pass the chance to swim at a real beach and the fact that it has two beautiful women on it doesn't hurt," Read smiled.

" One beautiful woman and an Andorian cripple." Thex replied jokingly holding up her arm.

"Ok, then. A beautiful cripple," Read chuckled with a smile and gesture towards Thex.

T'Pral studied Thex for a moment. "I believe Thex is in need of cheering up," she said to Read.

"I believe so too," he replied as he picked her up over his shoulder and ran towards the water. T'Pral watched as Read ran into the water as she followed closely behind.

The andorian laughed as the betazoid picked her up and ran towards the water. As they hit the water she was able to wriggle free and swim off. Even with her arm not functioning she was a talented swimmer and was able to move underwater and come up behind them. Using her good arm she sprayed the betazoid and hybrid with water.

Read and T'Pral laughed as they splashed back. T'Pral didn't normally let her emotions go but this was one time she concluded that it was alright for her to let her Vulcan logic go--something she had never been very good at maintaining.

Read counted himself lucky to be in the company of two beautiful women--however one was his boss, yet the other one was free game as far as he was concerned as water was splashed at him from T'Pral's direction.

Thex smiled as she let out another splash before leaned back and allowed herself to float on her back. Her blue eyes gazed up at the artificial sky that covered the dome of the station letting her body free up and relax.

"It is a beautiful view...nice to see a sky after being aboard the Hera so long," Read said as he swam next to her.

" Yeah, it is." Thex replied softly as she looked up at sky. " You forget how it looks after being down in the ships belly for so long."

"I bet. Your version of a sky is warp core," Read joked.

"USS Hera Security to Lieutenant T'Pral. Your presence is required," came the announcement over the station's intercom.

"I should allow myself to be kidnapped next time," T'Pral grinned as she joked about being out of touch. "You two have fun," T'Pral said as she made her way to the shore.

" We will." Thex replied before looking at Read. " So Read think you can beat a cripple to the other side of the lake?" she said joyfully to the betazoid.

Read grinned. "Only if you're up to it. Wouldn't want to embarrass you," he winked.

" Oh, I'm up for it." Thex responded as she swam slightly to get alongside the security officer. " On three?"

"Sure. One...two...three." Read counted down.

" Go." Thex yelled as she started powerful strokes propelling herself forward and across the lake. She could feel her heart pounding as her body started working overtime to keep her moving. Even with her arm being held back she was made for this. She shoots through the water heading for the opposite shore.

Read did his best to keep up with Thex. A part of him already regretted challenging an andorian to a swimming contest, especially Thex who seemed to be part fish. Half way in the race, his arms and lungs burned as they worked overtime to keep up Thex's pace.

Noticing Read dropping behind the andorian slowed in case something happened to him. " You okay Read." She called back over her shoulder.

"Don't worry...just waiting...to make...my move," he called between breaths as he closed the distance.

Waiting for the Betaozid to catch up Thex started again making the last stretch in a very short time. Turning she looked back at the security officer who was staggering out of the water after her. " Little too fast for you Read? " She asked her voice showing a slight sound of concern.

"Nah, just getting warmed up," he said with a grin as he walked out of the water towards Thex. "How'd you get to be such a fast swimmer?"

" My..." Thex said before pausing looking for the correct words given the security officers species. " Well my Chan and Thann would regularly make us swim a decent chunk of the andorian ocean. I was rather good at it. One of the few times i could get away from them."

"That must have been a cold swim," Read remarked. "I take it you didn't get along with your parents?"

" Get along? After what they did to me I'll be happy if i never saw the four of them again." Thex replied bitterness rising in her voice.

"I'm sorry," Read said, sensing her anger. "Let's talk about something else--you're too beautiful to be angry."

" Thanks. My past isn't exactly the most pleasant of topics. You really think I'm beautiful?" She asked inquisitively?

"I wouldn't say it if I didn't mean it," he said, taking the few seconds to take in her fit form.

" Well..." the andorian said as she moved slightly towards him. " How about we swim back get our things and go back to my quarters so we can get to know each other?"

Read hadn't been expecting that response but he wouldn't turn it down either. "Sounds good," he smiled as he stepped to her, wrapping his arms around her and kissed her.

Thex returned the kiss hoping the alien taste wouldn't put him off. Grinning she stood up and headed back to the water. " Ready for round two?" She jokingly said.

"Of course," he grinned as he followed her into the water.

Mal looked around until he found the person he was looking for, Lieutenant Thex sh'Zoarhi, the Hera's chief engineer. Mal hated disturbing the young woman on her down time, but he needed a favor.

"Lieutenant sh'Zoarhi?" he called out, announcing his presence. "One of those holocat maids suggested that I might find you here. Do you have a moment?"

"Sure what can i help you with?" Thex asked politely.

"I'm sorry to bother you on your time off, Lieutenant," Mal said. "But I need a favor. I need a way to disrupt communications in an area, so that a person can't use a transporter to beam away from me. It has to be portable, I mean like small enough to be carried on my person. I'd really prefer pocket sized, but keep in mind that I have large pockets on on utilikilt and even if I'm just wearing one of my tunics, I can attach a decent sized pouch to a belt and carry it in there. And before you ask, I don't have any details about the kind of technology this device will have to interact with, but assume a range from below our level of tech to far higher than our level of tech."

"Should be easy enough for me to build though who is it you want to prevent beaming out?" Thex inquired.

"That..." Mal said. "I can't tell you. Oh, and you have an hour and a half at most to put this device together and show me how to use it, so...no pressure."

"Very well give me a replicator and a soldering iron and i'll have something made in twenty-five munites. " The andorian said already knowing what she needed to get one built.

"Excellent," Mal said. "I knew I could count on you. Can you meet me at my quarters here at Enalia's castle in say, forty-five minutes, an hour at the outside, and bring the device with you?"

"Sure I'll see you then." Thex replied.

"Come to think of it," Mal said. "See if you can make two. The group might need to split up. See you in a bit."

[Later]

Mal finished packing the last of his things. All that was left was for Thex to drop off the tech she'd said he would assemble for him.

The door buzzed as the andorian pressed the alarm. She had the device in her hand and just needed to hand it over.

Mal went over to the door and opened it.

"Welcome, Lieutenant," Mal said. "What have you got for me?"

" One jamming device. Should stop any communications you need to stop. Just use the switch on the side and it will switch on. " The andorian said as she handed her commander a small black box no bigger than a matchbox.

Mal held one of the devices in his hand.

"Perfect," he said. "What kind of power cell life are we talking about? How many times can each be used and for how long?"

"I used the most powerful cell i could find. One hour life though you could set it up to transmit power wirelessly if you need a longer charge." The andorian responded.

"Great," Mal said. "Again, thanks for the hard work and creativity on such short notice. I'd invite you to stay and chat, but I've got to go."

Mal picked up his bag.

"Come, Lieutenant," he said. "I'll walk you out."

The andorian nodded and followed the commander.

Daytona sat by Nexi's bed as she slept and read quietly. Cato had been sitting up with her for a while and clearly needed a break. It took some convincing, but Daytona was able to convince the former MACO to at least go eat something and then close his eyes for a little while. That took more time than it should of because Daytona wasn't high on Cato's 'People I Trust' list at the moment. Finally Daytona's arguments won out, though the Rigelian had to suffer through a fair amount macho posturing on Cato's part before finally left to eat and sleep.

Daytona found himself dozing off so he put down his PaDD, stood up, and stretched. When he was done, he walked over to the side of Nexi's bed and watched her for a moment as she slept. He wished there was something he could do to ease her pain, but all he had to offer was his company. Daytona smiled. Nexi really didn't like him at the moment, so maybe his company wasn't really a good thing to offer her?

"Lotta testosterone in the air," Nexi suddenly mumbled, her eyes still closed. "Did you and Cato get into a pissing contest?" Her eyes finally opened and she looked at Daytona, and somehow she seemed less 'Nexi' now, like just knowing that she had this thing inside her was leaving her feeling defeated. But why shouldn't it? She had so much anger in her, even with the countermeasures Dedjoy had come up with, it was only a matter of time before this black blood took over.

Daytona smiled.

"Well," he said. "Cato did most of the pissing. That scent of ammonia in the air is from him marking his territory. Thankfully he only pissed and I was spared having to listen to him moan as well. He'll be back in a little while."

Daytona reached down and brushed a lock of hair out of Nexi's face, then pulled his hand away before she could protest.

"I'm wise enough never to tell a woman she looks like crap," Daytona said. "So let's compromise and I'll tell you that you look like you feel like crap. Would you like something to drink? I'd offer booze, but I think that might be ill advised at the moment, so you'll have to make do with water or maybe some juice or soda."

"Yeah, I do feel pretty shitty," Nexi said with a slight nod. "And Enalia said there's no replicators, you'll have to send someone to the kitchen, but I'm still feeling sluggish, I could use something to perk me up," she replied.

Daytona pressed a control on the side of the bed. A holonurse entered.

"You rang?" she asked pleasantly.

"Yes," Daytona said. "Thank you. Nexi would like something to drink and a little something to eat. I've got some water here, but maybe you could bring her some ginger ale if it's not too much trouble? In a cup with ice and a straw? I'll leave the food choice to you since you know what she can eat and what she can't."

"Of course, sir," the holonurse replied. "I'll be right back!"

"Thank you," Daytona said.

"You are welcome, Mister Ral," the holonurse said. She turned and left the room to fill Daytona's requests.

"Do you think you can sit up?" Daytona said. "I can bring up the head of the bed so you're in a sitting position, but you're going to want to skooch back a little or you'll be uncomfortable...well, more uncomfortable. I can help you if you'd like. I promise I'm not recording any of this to use as blackmail later."

Daytona grinned to let her know he was joking, but there was a bit of hollowness to his grin. Nexi really didn't look good and he was worried.

"Yeah, Enalia helped me sit up before," Nexi said, curling upright with a pained grunt, then as Daytona lifted the head of the bed, she scooted back to rest comfortably, rubbing at her sore shoulder as she relaxed. "Speaking of, she said light duty once I'm released. And we'll have to be careful 'cause apparently I got the devil in me and anger makes it worse."

"So I've heard," Daytona said. He poured her a glass of water and brought it over. "And I'm confident that we'll figure a way to get 'the devil' out of you. At least that's what I tell myself so I don't do anything rash, like threaten to create an interstellar incident by sharing the dirty little secrets of a number of 'important' people if they don't focus the entirety of the Federation's scientific and medical resources on making you well again. That...and I know there are already lots of people working on the problem, which takes me back to being confident that we'll figure out a way to make you better. Here. Are you steady enough to sip from the glass? Or would you like the straw."

"I'm good," Nexi assured him, then took the glass with her good hand to take a drink, just enough to wet her dry mouth then handed the glass back to him. "And I had no idea you cared so much, or were you simply threatening an interstellar incident because that Ferenia Commodore chick is infected too?"

"Actually," Daytona said, taking the glass from Nexi. "I'd forgotten about her. I suppose we should help her, as well. No, this is because I care about you, Nexi. I'm not even entirely sure why. You're often rude, crude, and a tremendous pain in the ass. Maybe you remind me a little of me. Maybe I'm just taking my responsibilities as your immediate superior too seriously. Regardless, I do seem to care about you so you're stuck with me."

"Uhhh, thanks?" Nexi said with uncertainty. "Wait, what do you mean I remind you of you?" she asked.

Daytona laughed softly.

"I don't suppose I've told you that after growing up on a farm, I joined a monastery?" he said. He laughed again. "Don't look at me like that! It was a Rigelian monastery! I wasn't expected to be celibate! Anyway, that's where I learned to do this, among other things."

Daytona held his hands up in front of him, palms facing each other about eight inches apart. First there were a few sparks and then there was a steady, visible, and powerful electrical current flowing between his hands, like the electricity flowing between two towers of a Van der Graaf generator. Slowly, Daytona powered down.

"And this," he picked up her water glass. He let go of the glass and it remained suspended in midair. Then what could only be described as balls of water rose up out of the glass. Is less than a second they were solid ice. Daytona let them fall back into the glass and he handed the glass to Nexi.

"And," he said. "One more trick..."

He looked around the room for something...there! There was a plant and some of it's leaves had died and fallen off. He picked some of them up and held them in the palm of his hand in front of Nexi. The leaves began to smoke and caught on fire and soon burned to ash. Daytona cleaned his hands by brushing them against each other.

"That's the parlor tricks version of what I can do when I literally put my mind to the task," Dayonta said. "Electro-Kinesis, Telekinesis, Hydro-Kinesis, and both cryo and pyrokinesis, which I sort of lump into 'thermokinesis'. I can achieve more impressive results if I really get to it. My people are an off-shoot of ancient Vulcans. We kept their more deadly mind arts, but, sadly, we seem to have lost any talent at telepathy."

"Okay..." Nexi replied with a quirk of her brow. "So you've got some fancy tricks, big deal. You forget I was born being able to do that first one, right? Now what's all that got to do with how I'm some sort of reminder?"

"I'm getting there," Daytona replied. "And for the record, I was born with the potential to do all of that stuff, too, but if no one had taught me how to use that potential, I might have never been able to use those abilities...or I could have really hurt everyone around me. I was taught as a child in the beginning, a few times a week. When I became an adult, I decided I wanted to really focus my studies. However, I made a terrible monk, so I left and joined the army. Cold drink?"

Daytona not only handed Nexi the glass of water with the ice cubes he'd made in it, but as a special touch, frosted the glass.

"Showoff" Nexi remarked with a grin, but took the glass for another sip then returned it.

"I was a nice enough kid when I joined the military," he went on, the sound of his voice and his word choice becoming rough. "I was just under forty, so real young. I started then to toughen up. It wasn't immediate, but before too long I was sort of a badass. Then I went on to Intelligence. More of the same, only I used my wits as much if not more than my fists. Then I became a cop and that's when I started becoming a loner. It became clear almost immediately that I couldn't trust anyone. So I did my own thing, went my own way. Somehow I still managed to get promoted, but still, I was damned cynical by then. My daughter's death..."

Daytona closed his eyes a moment, then opened them. When he spoke, his voice was more refined.

"I'd been headed down a dark path for a long time by the time I encountered you on Selen VI," he said. "When Deshok was killed, remember I didn't know I'd done it at that time, I had nowhere to direct that anger. I'd burned all of my bridges at home and I had nowhere to go. I got passage out of there with a Yridian information broker. We traveled together a while, but the darkness inside me at the time...he wasn't comfortable with the chances I was taking...or the body count. I spent the next fifty years tough as nails, trusting no one, taking crazy risks, spitting in the face of authority, and hiring myself out to fight for any cause that would have me. Sound like anyone you know? I know, I know, you've grown a lot since you joined this crew, everyone says so. But still, you remind me a little of me. So, unless it bothers you to have me in your corner..."

"Fucking time travel..." Nexi grumbled at the mention of Selen VI and Deshok. But there was a change in her eyes and the way she looked at him. "I was a slave," she admitted with great reluctance. "Only ever told Enalia and Aewia, ain't worked up the nerve to tell Cato yet... My boss, Liquidator Grek of the Ferengi Commerce Authority, was actually my owner, he acquired me when he absorbed my mother's debt when she died. I was just a dumb kid and.... he put a lot of fear and anger in me, and I felt helpless because he made me wear this... collar, it nullified my natural immunity to my own current, so if I tried to use it against him I'd hurt myself. And then this guy, a bounty hunter who did a lot of work for Grek, offered to train me in the trade, negotiated a deal so I could work off my mother's debt. Honestly, he wasn't much better than Grek, and he wouldna done it had I not gone back in time to open an account that would pay out big time; that's how Enalia got all the money she's been burning through, if you were at all curious." Nexi laughed, then winced as pain shot through her shoulder, and she continued talking as she rubbed at her shoulder. "Anyway, he taught me to use that anger, it's been a big part of who I am for so long, it's kept me alive, but now it could kill me, and I don't know how to do what I do without that anger."

Daytona put the glass of water down on the table again and took Nexi's hand.

"I know that wasn't easy for you to say," Daytona said. "Especially to me. So, thank you. I appreciate your trust. And I know this situation must be, now don't punch me, frightening for you. I'm guessing you feel like you're being asked to cut off your dominant arm."

"I don't have a dominant arm," Nexi said, and she didn't, she use both hands with equal dexterity. "Really, I feel defenseless, like I'm wearing a collar again, only this one will be around my waist and it may never be able to come off. How am I supposed to live like that?"

"People like you and I do what we need to do, Nexi," Daytona said. "Always have, always will. And you won't be alone. You have Cato. I'll see if I can help you pull his head out of his ass so he can be there for you more completely. He was going on about this somehow being his fault, how he wasn't there for you when you needed him, he'd let you down, etc, etc. I tried to explain that he needed to focus on you and not his own feelings of inadequacy, but I'm not sure if I got through to him. Nonetheless...have you ever noticed that only truly pompous asses use the phrase 'nonetheless'? Anyway, he'll be there for you in his own brooding way. And I will, too. Whatever you need. And Enalia...and Aewia...and so on and so forth. Unlike when you were a slave, you have people who love and care for you here. Perhaps that is even more frightening for you? The thought of having that terrified me for decades, though I didn't really understand that was what I was scared of."

"Oh I know it terrifies me," Nexi admitted candidly. "First time I was on a team with the Hera, we lost people to the Master's Borg-zombie dog-things, and it hit me harder than I thought it would. I've lost partners on jobs before, but I never cared, you know... But this, it's like when you start caring, then everything hurts. Still does..."

The holonurse entered the room carrying a tray with a steaming bowl of clam chowder, a can of ginger ale, and a glass filled with ice. Daytona moved the table so that it was across the bed over Nexi's legs. The nurse set the tray down on the table.

"Thank you," Daytona said.

"Of course, Mister Ral," the nurse said. "Miss Nexi, I'll be back around in a little while to check your vitals and clear that tray. If you get done before I get back and you'd like the tray cleared, just hit the call button."

"Got it, thanks," Nexi said with a nod and pulled everything closer.

"Here," Daytona said. "I hardly get to use my abilities anymore. Too flashy, too recognizable. Allow me to make your drink more enjoyable."

Daytona picked up her drink and frosted the can, then picked up the glass and frosted that. He opened the ginger ale and, tilting the glass to the side to cut down on the foam, poured the soda into the glass. He set the drink and the can back down on the tray in front of Nexi.

"Weirdo," Nexi replied with a shake of her head, then started eating, quite rapidly as she was very hungry.

Daytona chuckled, then smiled at Nexi as he watched her eat.

"You're right," Daytona said. "When you start caring for the first time, everything does hurt, because that's the feeling that stands out, the one you focus on, the one you were expecting to feel. You believe caring hurts, so when you care and it hurts, you feel validated and sometimes when that happens you ignore the positives. But I bet, if you're mindful of what you've been feeling and of what feelings you encounter as you go forward from here, you'll find that caring, and being cared for, can also make you feel happy, joyful, adored, perhaps even safe."

"Nah, I never felt 'validated', I wasn't really expecting the hurt because I hadn't really thought I cared until those first Officers were gone," Nexi replied in between mouthfuls of soup. "And ever since then, I can't shake the guilt I feel; I know I'm not responsible, but I always wonder if there was more I coulda done to save them."

"Hmm..." Daytona said. "Well, that's normal. We all wonder if there was more we could have done. That's not as bad as wondering if you could have done something different, because of course you could have done something different. Would it have mattered? Who knows? The only thing you can do is try to make the best decision possible and then live with the consequences...which is harder when people you were responsible for didn't live to live with the consequences of your decision."

"Yeah, I think you meant for that to be more encouraging than it came out," Nexi said bluntly. "And I get it, I do, I've questioned myself before, but it never hurt like it does now. Just not used to caring... I mean I like it, I kinda miss who I was before but I don't regret this change, I like knowing I have people I care about and who care about me, I'm just not used to it yet."

Daytona nodded.

"Well," he said. "We're going to start repeating ourselves any minute now. Would you like me to stay while you finish your meal. I have something to read if you just want some quiet company. Or would you like some time to yourself? Or I could let Cato know you're awake and 'suggest' he come and see you. Or I could get your sister. I sent her home to rest as well, but she went more willingly and earlier than Cato did. Or I could get them both for you. What do you say?"

Nexi chuckled, then once again winced. "Some silence would be nice. You can stay if it would make you feel better," she replied, then continued eating, not that she had much left at this point, but damn did it feel good to have a nice warm meal in her stomach!

Daytona heard the distinct sound of Mal's hooves in the corridor headed towards Nexi's room. He picked up Mal's voice, as well as Hermes.

"I think you might need to wait to have some silence," he said. "You're about to have a couple of visitors."

As if on cue, the door opened and Mal stuck his impressively horned head into the room.

"Can we come in and say hello?" he asked. "Hermes and I have have been anxious to see how you were doing!"

"Uhh, yeah, come on in," Nexi said, trying to sit up straighter. "I'm uh... I'm alright, I guess, or I will be. They've been filling me back up with blood, so I'm better," she rambled, a little excited to see Hermes; she still couldn't believe Bodie was the guy they had been looking for!

Mal entered followed by Hermes. The two men went immediately to Nexi's bedside. Mal had been informed of her situation, but had waited until she'd had some time to rest before coming to visit her.

"Well," Mal said. "You look better than you did when we brought you in."

"I think you look just as lovely as ever!" Hermes said with a grin. "Say the word and I'll kick Lyra out and you and I can go explore the galaxy together! Or all three of us could go exploring together, if you're into that kind of thing. She said you flirted with her when she waited on you. I can't believe you tried to pick up my girlfriend!"

Mal shook his head and chuckled.

"Hey, I didn't know she was yours, and I do that with anyone who looks like they might have trouble dealing with a rough crowd, it helps to form contacts wherever I go," Nexi said in her defense. "Anyway, I can't exactly jump ship to go party with you, I got responsibilities now!" she continued, shuddering at the thought of her being 'responsible', it was just so odd! "And I'm kinda sorta seeing someone, so you'll just have to wait in line..." Then she grinned. "I still can't believe you're the guy we were looking for! Can I call you Bodie or do you prefer Hermes?"

Hermes thought about that for a moment.

"I think I'd like it if you called me Hermes," he said. "Bodie was a mask I wore to hide myself from who I am. A pretense. It's difficult for a pretense to be a friend, and I value your friendship. Hermes...well, it's not really my name, but you'd never be able to pronounce my real name. Our language is...well...it's awful. We don't even like using it. It sounds awful, it looks awful, it's confusing. No, I think Hermes will do nicely. Though, you may want to introduce me as 'Bodie' to anyone not in the inner circle of this defense we're mustering. My people...well, godly pretenses aside, our technology doesn't make us exactly all knowing and all seeing, but but we do have highly advanced surveillance equipment. I won't be able to stay here too long for that reason. I don't want to draw them here."

He walked up and took Nexi's hand.

"I hear you've got an affliction of some kind," he said. "Something you picked up on a mission?"

Nexi nodded at his explanation, and she understood well the need to hide who he was outside the circle, she did the same thing... But when he mentioned her 'affliction', her disposition couldn't help but sour somewhat. "Uhh, yeah... Not this mission, but we've been hunting this guy, the Master, he makes these monstrosities in labs scattered all over the place, and apparently he's a Vulcan that remembers when the Romulans split off, and yet his blood says he's Iconian... There was another woman, the only thing we know to call her is a demon, she used her black blood to do some crazy shit, something about summoning hell hounds. The Master had it too, I fought him and we got a bit bloody, I thought I was being careful but whatever this black blood is, it's in me now and anger makes it spread faster. Have you ever heard of this, or know of any way of fighting it, curing it?" she asked.

Hermes frowned.

"Just as we took on the form and figure of gods," he said. "So have others taken the form of demons. It sounds like he's done something to himself, genetically. Either he was Iconian and masqueraded as a Vulcan, or he's a Vulcan who messed around using Iconian DNA. I don't remember the Iconians being 'demonic' though. Never mind that. We need to get you well. With your permission, I will take all of your medical information and everything your people have on this 'black blood' and seek out Asklepios. He is the son of Apollo and was the Greek god of Medicine, or if I can't find him, then perhaps his teacher, the Centaur Chiron. Between the two of them exists more medical knowledge than is contained in all of the Alpha Quadrant. Convincing them to use their knowledge...well, you're not Human, so you have that going for you. Humans turned their backs on us. Neither Asklepios or Chiron would be eager to help a Human, but they may feel more inclined to help you. Just leave it to me. I'll convince them!"

"Well, you have my permission, but some of the information is classified, so Mal or Enalia would have to release those bits to you. I hate having to call in my favors on something like this... probably wouldn't if you hadn't asked, but... I don't want to be whatever this Master guy is; I don't scare easily, but this terrifies me," Nexi admitted. "Thank you," she then added softly, giving his hand a weak squeeze.

"Of course, my dear," Hermes said. He supposed he didn't really sound like the man he was when he'd first met Nexi, but as he had stated, that was a charade. This was the real him. Among other things, Hermes was the god of tricksters. Faking being Bodie came easily to him. Lying came easily to him. But he wasn't lying to Nexi. He would find a way to help her if he could. "I really must go. Be well, little one. If I find any information that can help you, I will inform your doctors immediately."

Again Nexi nodded. "Hey, before you go, I gotta ask... If the Amazons hadn't busted in and blown your cover, would you have arranged a meeting to, well, meet you?" she asked curiously.

Hermes grinned.

"I don't really know," he said. "I knew they were after me and I was going to run. I was just working up the liquid courage to ask Lyra to join me. I only agreed to meet with you because of our history...and maybe because I was more than a little drunk. So...Maybe? Eventually? Maybe this experience will make me a better man than I've been this last millennium or so. Farewell, Nexi. I'll see you again soon."

Hermes turned to leave.

"I'll be right there," Mal said. Hermes nodded and left the room. Daytona looked at Mal and Nexi for a moment, then walked over to Nexi and, knowing she would hate it and need it at the same time, gave her a kiss on the forehead before leaving her alone with Mal, who spoke once the others had left. "I'm very proud of you, Nexi. You handled the mission on Selen VI well, despite unplanned for events, and we would have failed without your contacts and your experience. So...thank you."

"You better watch yourself on the practice mats, because as soon as I get out of here, your ass is mine," Nexi said bluntly to Daytona when he kissed her on the forehead. She brought up her good arm to try to wipe the kiss away, but it didn't make that feeling of weakness go away. Then Mal spoke and she gave him her full attention. "Uhh, you're welcome?" she said with uncertainty; she wasn't used to having her skills being so appreciated; or at least appreciated with words and gratitude instead of latinum. "I, uhh, I'm just glad it paid off; it was a lucky break, a weird stroke of chance that my contact was Hermes. Doubt we'll ever get that lucky again, but we keep trying, right?"

"Of course," Mal said. "Nexi, I've got to go, but I want you to know that everyone is pulling out all of the stops to find a way to help you. I'm betting Daytona probably didn't say anything about this, but he's been pulling on nearly every string he knows about, from the legitimate to the shady, to try and find a way to make you better. So is Enalia, and now Hermes. We will find a way to make you better."

Mal chuckled.

"Don't be too mad at Daytona for that kiss on the forehead," he said. "Rigelians are very physically affectionate. He meant no offense. He cares for you, and, though he probably won't admit it, I think he feels bad for springing that surprise on you during the Selen VI mission."

Mal looked at his chronometer.

"I've got to go, but if there's anything you need, while you're going through this or after you're better, don't hesitate to ask."

"I'll just be glad when when the nurses ain't sticking me for blood samples every hour," Nexi admitted. "But thanks, I'll... I'm getting better at asking for help," she added with a weak grin.

Mal smiled.

"You're doing fine," Mal said. "I'll check in on you later."

Mal left Nexi to get some peace and quiet.

Materializing in what they'd hoped was a deserted section of the unimatrix vessel, Clio quickly activated the bio-dampener strapped to her wrist. Mere seconds later, a pair of drones rounded a corner and marched past her, so close they brushed against her on either side. She held her breath, expecting to be snatched up and taken to an assimilation chamber.

The drones kept marching onward, oblivious to the woman they'd nearly collided with. Clio slowly let that breath out, steeling her nerves before creeping out of the quiet section toward a more populated area of the ship. The mission was a simple one, on paper. Get in, download as much information as possible, and then retreat back to the beam-in point for extraction.

The mission planners at Starfleet Headquarters were, of course, idiots. If she survived this suicide mission, Clio intended to tell them so.

Fortunately, the bio-dampener she'd been supplied with seemed to work. None of the drones looked at her, even when their paths crossed hers enough to bump into her. That, at least, was reassuring.

Taking care not to jostle the drones too much, Clio briefly consulted a tricorder before realizing it would be little help in finding whatever passed as a computer terminal on a Borg vessel. She was unfamiliar with Borg technology readings, and all of the readings looked the same to her unpracticed eye. She did, however, have some idea of what such a terminal would look like and where it might be.

So she moved cautiously toward the center of the ship, sidestepping various drones on her way there. It was easy enough at first, until she got close. When she neared the center of the ship, the high rails on either side of the walkway abruptly disappeared. She balked, taking several steps backward to the relative safety of the railings and clinging instinctively to the rail nearest her. She was half tempted to say 'screw this' and go back to the beam-in point, but she was no quitter. Swallowing her trepidation, she inched out onto the bridge leading to what seemed to be a control node.

Creeping slowly along, she made it to the node and fished the recording device out of her pocket. It took her a moment to figure out how to interface with the node, but soon she was downloading the requested files. Most were heavily encrypted, but breaking the encryption would be a job for someone else. Back on Earth. If she could get the information to them.

The download was agonizingly slow. The drones tasked with maintaining the node arrived and began working around her, seeming not to notice her intrusion. One of them moved uncomfortably close to her, and Clio took a half-step sideways to avoid him. Slowly, the download ticked onward until it flashed a 'download complete' light. Snatching it from the node, she tucked it back into a pocket and headed back out onto the bridge that led back to relative safety.

So focused on getting across without falling, she failed to notice one of the drones swiftly leaving the node behind her. He slammed into her and kept going, sending her sprawling... right off the edge of the walkway. With a startled shriek, she grabbed for a handhold... any handhold. By some miracle she caught the walkway's edge, slamming into it with a good deal of force. She clung precariously to the cold metal, trying to pull herself back up as her feet kicked at nothing. Her heart pounding, she clawed her way up a bit, trying to swing her legs up onto the walkway. Just as she thought she might manage it, she ship shook sharply as if under weapons fire. The sudden rocking of the ship shook her free from her already tenuous position and send her hurtling downward .

There wasn't time to scream before Clio slammed into the metal decking several meters below, landing with most of her weight on her left shoulder. She groaned as the shock of the impact wore off, rolling onto her back before trying to sit up. The effort of movement sent her vision white hot and stole her breath away again, but she wasn't ready to give up. She was not going to die or get assimilated on this godforsaken ship!

There was no hope of reaching the beam-in point, which left her one option. Gingerly moving in centimeter increments - with her jaw clenched - she ran the fingers of her right hand across her left forearm, finding the embedded emergency beacon and activating it only seconds before her world completely blacked out.

The Commodore was ill and unavailable, so Mal and Hermes had to meet with Enalia to make their report. Everyone had recorded detailed accounts of their encounter with Hera's minions for Enalia to send back to Starfleet Command and Starfleet Intelligence, along with Mal's account of Hermes explaining that all of the aliens who had impersonated gods on Earth had now returned. This meeting was set aside to debrief Hermes. A record of this debrief would be sent along to SF Command and SFI as well.

Mal and Hermes entered Enalia's private library, escorted by a holocat.

Enalia was uncharacteristically alone and standing next to one of her reading tables with an antique looking book open in her hands. Several sitting chairs had been pulled up around the reading table and quite a few books had been piled on top of it. As the Holo-catgirl maid began to introduce her guests, Enalia put up a hand to silence her and turned to face them as she finished reading a passage. "There's so much in mythology that contradicts itself, I'm not sure what to believe." Setting the book down on the table, it showed a rather unflattering picture of Hermes as his trickster self on one page. "And I suppose you're not here to give us any such enlightenment."

"I can provide some clarity here and there," Hermes said. "But more importantly, I can confirm Commander Xustos' concerns about Hera being back and up to something, and raise you one. They're all back, Captain Telvan, all of them. We didn't just impersonate Greco-Roman gods, we impersonated the gods of many other races. Celts, Egyptians, the Northmen, and others. I'll put together a database of sorts from what I can remember, so you'll have some idea of what you're up against. It will be by no means complete, but it may help. And I'll be consulting with my faction's God of Medicine as well as his teacher, the centaur, Chiron, regarding Nexi's condition. I'll contact Commander Xustos if I discover anything. I'll see what I can find out from the other factions...those that I can make contact with."

At that moment, a holocat maid let Daytona Ral into the library.

"My apologies, Captain, Commander, Hermes," he said. "Clio should be along, but she might not be able to make it. She's been alternating working and playing and while working today, she thinks she may have found a lead on the Master. She's working on it now. She asked me to cover until she is able to get here."

Enalia grumbled slightly as she nodded to Daytona and turned her attention back to Hermes. "Yeah, I have a meeting with Odin and he's promised to be far less helpful. Something about ice giants? Thank you in advance for anything you can provide."

"Oh?" Hermes said. "How do you know the Allfather? He's not my favorite person, but I suppose he's worth contacting."

Enalia pointed to the rather immense ornate fireplace that looked like it had been pulled straight out of Valhalla. "He's helped my family a time or two in the past. In fact, he directed my mother to the super-soldier factory disguised as an orphanage right after a Syndicate attack just in time to save Schwein. If he hadn't delivered the message by raven... Through space... She might have gotten there sooner..."

"Hmm..." Hermes said. "I'd heard rumors that the Allfather hadn't left with the others, but, as I said, he and I don't exactly get along. So, I assume you have questions?"

"I do, but I'm not entirely sure where to begin. Is there anything you're willing to volunteer first?" Enalia asked hopefully.

"Well," Hermes said. "I'm not sure what Hera is up to. I mean, she hates all the illegitimate children of Zeus, but I don't know why she's after me specifically. Despite their differences, Zeus, Hera, and Athena are the royal family of our faction. They usually find a way to work together for the common good, but...everyone's had a long time to plan their next move. I have to tell you, I discovered that everyone is back when two of the other trickster gods made their presence known to me, namely Abarta of the Celts and Prince Loki of Asgard. They contacted me shortly after their return. They were intent on some mischief but since I wouldn't commit right away to join them, they wouldn't share the details. Those are two you should definitely be on the lookout for."

Enalia made a mental note of those two names and pressed forward in her questioning. "With all the deific types back, does that mean all the demonic ones are back as well? Baal, Abbadon, Gremory, Asmodeus... What about them? I know we're tracking the Master, whom seems to be an ancient Iconian Demon Lord of some sort according to new information, and we had a demon-verse version of myself on my own ship for a while... Do we need to worry about other demons coming out of the deck and attacking us?"

Hermes shook his head.

"My people left Earth when Christianity became a thing," he said. "We were already falling out of favor. Judaism and science had taken their toll. Christianity was the final straw. Once the Romans stopped feeding Christians to lions and instead became the Holy Roman Empire, we knew we were done. None of our people impersonated Judaeo-Christian 'demons'. That said, you'll need to watch out for people like Hades and Hela and other underworld gods and their minions."

Daytona listened closely. Not only was his specially designed intelligence tricorder, tucked safely away in a pocket, recording this whole conversation, but he was also making a mental note of everything. Later, he would go over the conversation, looking over everything said, ever facial expression, any body language cues.

"We'll keep an eye out. Next question. How do we kill a god?" Enalia let that question sink into the sudden silence that permeated the room.

Hermes was silent for a moment.

"You don't have to kill my people, Captain," he said. "And I won't help you do that. You don't even have to drive them off of this plane. They have a right to exist. We just have to find a way to keep them from meddling too much. To defeat a god...you need to find their power sources and disable them. They have both stationary and mobile power sources, ships, bases, devices, etc, and they can wirelessly transmit power to themselves if they are close enough to their power sources. You might be able to interfere with that wireless transmission of energy. It won't be easy. The signal is very powerful. Otherwise, devise a way to interfere with their technology. Captain Telvan, some of my people may go too far, and I understand that you may have to deal harshly with them. Others, though, mean well and while you may have to deal with them, killing them won't be necessary. And remember, they often counter each other, cancel each other out. Find those connections and you won't need to kill them."

"I have to agree, Captain," Mal said. "I won't go along with simply hunting them all down and killing them indiscriminately. We must deal with each individual based on the threat they represent."

"I concur, Captain," Daytona said. "Playing them off of each other is a better use of our resources. Trying to kill them all will result in greater loss of life and could take decades, if not centuries."

Enalia shook her head wearily at all three of them before pointing to Hermes and scowling. "Anything that can easily kill you probably has a fair chance of killing the Master. But no, you all jump to the conclusion that I'm planning genocide on some nearly immortal race. My ship is named after the woman causing trouble. I'll deal with her in my own way and I'm sorry, but even with marauding Amazonians, minotaurs, and harpies, my first concern at the moment is still the Master. At least with him, we have solid intel and research. Even with one of them standing here in my private library, all we have to go on for the so called gods is legends and myths that weren't even written down very well in the first place. On top of that, we have orders for our next mission and we may very well find ourselves face to face with the Master. AGAIN! What are we going to do if we have no way of killing him or even a way of detaining him? Nexi tried that. Farenia also tried that. It didn't work out so well either time, now did it? DID IT?"

Enalia's voice had been rising, growing louder and angrier as she spoke, but now she was silent and seething. She was obviously upset at what had happened to both Nexi and Farenia. She'd also lost a crew that she had sent with Farenia, but the others likely didn't know that yet. She was still trying to piece together what happened on her meeting with the Master as well. Trying to calm herself, she turned from the others and gripped the back of one of the sitting chairs and took several deep breaths.

Hermes looked taken aback. Had he been right ally himself with these people? This Captain Telvan sounded no better than Hera.

Mal and Daytona looked at each other. Daytona raised and eyebrow and after a second, Mal nodded.

"We can take a break if you need to, Captain," Mal said.

Having come into the room just in time to hear the tail end of Enalia's apparent outburst, Clio honestly debated sneaking back out and pretending she hadn't seen anything. Unfortunately for that plan, Mal would have seen her enter and there was no chance he'd let her leave again. "Is... something wrong?"

Enalia was somewhat more calm now. "What's wrong is that I lost an entire crew of Artan Privateers to an ancient Iconian demon, Farenia may not live much longer, Nexi's condition is dependant upon unknown deific beings that have no known affiliation with the Federation, we have no plan for either killing or detaining the Master and may be facing him directly in the next two or three standard weeks, and the entire race of deific beings has returned to our plane of existence. We know this last one because the one standing in this room with is has told us so." Pausing, Enalia turned from the group. "Also, pursuant to Regulation six one nine, I am emotionally compromised and do not feel I am able to make rational decisions at the time. Commander Xustos, are you able to take command of the Hera? Or is this a bit too close to your heart as well? If so, Commander Eneas will have to take command."

"Let's not make any rash decisions about this. Farenia was my girlfriend. Do you really think I'm in any better shape to lead than you are?" Where Enalia had yelled and raved, Clio's voice was quieter than what might be considered normal for her. "More to the point, if you let Mal and me take your ship, we're likely to get in trouble. Like... a lot of it."

"And if Lieutenant Jordan takes command?" Enalia asked. "She's next in line. Ah but she's having emotional issues too. What about Lieutenant Thex sh'Zoarhi?"

"I am not emotionally too close to anything, Captain," Mal said. "Pursuant to your orders, I hereby assume command of the USS Hera. If you think you can handle it, Captain, you may remain a part of this debriefing. If not, we can move this debriefing to another room here at the fortress or even to the Hera. Commander Enaes, are you also unable to fulfill your duties? Or can you continue? I believe Lieutenant T'Pral, despite the fact that Cato West is trying to date both her and Nexi at the same time, can be trusted to handle the job of second officer if needs be and Mister Ral can hold down intelligence. Does anyone else want to have a meltdown? Or can we get on with our jobs now?"

"I'll be fine." Clio's tone was somewhat clipped and quite tense, but without any obvious anger to it. "I studied under a Vulcan master. I can handle myself."

Mal glared at all of them for a moment before speaking again.

"Enalia," he said. "I'm sorry you lost your people. That never feels good and nothing, not even revenge makes it feel better."

"Nothing except time," Daytona interrupted. Mal gave him a look that suggested he wasn't in the mood for quadracentarian bullshit at the moment. Daytona held his gaze without flinching then spoke. "Sorry, but it's true."

Mal shook his head.

"Clio," Mal said. "I'm sorry about Farenia. I know you two were close. If you need a minute, take it, but then I need you back on the job. All of you: there are a lot of people depending on us right now. Hermes, after we're done here, if you could put together that database, I would greatly appreciate it. For the moment, if you could stick around, listen in and provide us with any insights you might have, that would also be appreciated."

"Of course, Commander," Hermes said.

"So," Mal said. "Does anyone have any questions for the grandfather of my people? If not, I'd be interested in hearing more about the Commodore's encounter with the Master."

"I do want to know how your people and mine apparently had run-ins with Hera and her friends but no encounters with each other," Clio suggested somewhat humorously despite the grim mood in the room. "But that's better saved for another time, I think."

Enalia took a deep breath and began telling what she knew, only half turning towards the group. "The whole meeting was a trap. We thought we had set a trap for him to collect information but it was a trap for us to send us a message. Rather than negotiating relief medical supply deliveries, he was there with a pair of hellhounds. Baskervilles or something. Giant dogs with more red eyes than I care to count. We have the security footage from the station feeds if anyone wants to watch... The dogs attacked and killed the crew to the last man and woman while that bastard attacked Farenia. She's got some electro-kinetic psychic power - showed me in the Academy a few times. He brushed it off like it didn't even tickle and she was generating enough energy to fry consoles. He bit into her and..."

Pausing, she took a few more deep breaths. "He left her there. She managed to drag herself back into the ship I assigned her and make it back here." Picking up a PaDD from the table, she offered it to Mal. "Here's the list of names. Memorial services will be held in two days. I grew up with most of those people and Schwein served with quite a few of them as well so if you see her..." On the top of that list, the Captain of the vessel was listed as 'Regina Artan - Deceased'.

"Baskervilles are fictional. A myth." The words were out before Clio quite realized what she was saying, and she backtracked a bit. "I suppose that doesn't mean anything anymore. We've got satyrs, minotaurs, and Greek gods. The Hounds of Baskerville may as well join the list." She paused, glancing at the list but not wanting to read it. "I hate to ask... but did anyone get a picture of these things? A tricorder reading? Anything?"

Enalia nodded. "The ship logs have full records of the station logs while they were linked. They've been forwarded to the Hera's Intel databases and should be available."

"I'm sorry for your losses, Enalia," Mal said. "The Hellhounds are disturbing, but not unexpected. We know he uses genetic engineering and manipulation to create soldiers. That he has in common with Hermes' people. They also use genetic engineering. Pan and my people are examples of that."

Enalia nodded and since Mal didn't seem to want it, retracted the offered PaDD, staring at the names - especially the first name on the list. Shaking her head, she tossed the device aside, letting it bounce off the edge of the table and to the floor. "And I'm sure they've gone well beyond what the Federation considers legal as well, though after seeing the works of both deific peoples and the Master, I think the Federation would have a cautious but diplomatic stance with Hermes' people if they ever chose to pursue relations. We all know their stance on the Master."

"I'll take that PaDD now," Mal said. "Sorry, I forgot to ask for it."

"The next time I see this 'Master' he'll die. That's a promise." A promise Clio intended to keep. "Let him send his hounds after me. I'll enjoy the challenge."

"Hmmm..." Mal said. "Yes, well, for that to happen, we need a way to kill him, which we currently don't have."

"Well," Hermes said. "What is keeping him alive? Once you've answered that question, then you attack the problem of how to neutralize that."

"He recovered from massive tissue damage very rapidly, back on Selen VI," Daytona said. "I shot him multiple times with a disruptor pistol."

"How quickly?" Hermes asked.

"Right in front of my eyes," Daytona said. "The tissue just grew back."

Hermes thought for a moment, then hesitated.

"Grandfather," he said. "If you have something, please tell us. This 'Master' is a very dangerous being."

Hermes sighed.

"Hephaestus could probably craft you a weapon that would negate the cellular regeneration process," Hermes said. "But that would mean you'd have to be damned careful not to cut yourself with it. The wound would never heal and if it kept getting infected, even a small wound could kill you."

"I haven't injured myself with my own weapon yet, and I don't intend to start doing so now. I would need to speak with Hephaestus, I assume? So that he would know what sorts of weapons I am proficient in using?" Clio had never met the god-being, but she knew his specialty would be with bladed weapons. Something she already favored in close combat. "I won't ask him to craft more than one. Should such a weapon be lost, the damage it could cause in the wrong hands is... unthinkable."

Picking the PaDD up off the floor, Enalia pressed it to Mal's hands. She spoke softly, finally calm enough. "Services start at noon for Regina Artan and everyone else's will proceed after hers in order of rank." She then glanced to Clio. "You get that weapon, you get close to him, and you kill him. No hesitation. That's an order."

"After what he did to Farenia, hesitation isn't a likely outcome on my part." Though she loved Mal dearly, it was obvious Clio still had a special place in her heart for Farenia too. "He'll wish he hadn't tangled with us."

"I'll arrange a Starfleet honor guard to attend and I will have the senior staff and some others attend to represent the crew of the Hera and our respect for the Artans as our hosts and allies."

"Commander Enaes," Hermes said. "I'll try and find Hephaestus for you. He's likely to have regrouped with his cyclopes assistants by now, at with Brontes, Steropes and Pyracmon. The real question is if they are going to choose a place to be Olympus. If so, we'll find many of them there...at least the ones who get along well enough for a planet, or maybe even a solar system, to be big enough for them."

"Actually," Daytona said. "I might have an idea about where they might start. How many of you have heard of Magna Roma? It is an 'Empire' of sorts in the 892 system. The main planet of this petty 'Empire' is 892-IV. The Enterprise encountered them in the 2200s. They found that a parallel of the of the Roman Empire had risen there. At the time, there was a parallel to Christianity as well, The Children of the Sun. James Kirk and Ambassador Spock believed it was possible that the Children's religion would spread and take over the empire. What actually happened is that there is a power sharing of sorts between the monotheists and the polytheists. The arrival of Hermes' people would definitely tip the balance in favor of the polytheists. It might be worth a look, anyway."

"I think my mother would appreciate that. Thank you." Enalia nodded as she stepped away from Mal and slowly headed towards the main fireplace, leaving any further planning in his hands.

"When Hephaestus is found, please let me know. As far as Magna Roma... I've heard of it. That could very well be where most of the god-beings have been for a long time." Clio paused, gathering what little composure she could hope to maintain. "I have work to do related to finding the Master. If there's nothing else pertinent that I need to hear, I'd like to get to it."

"Maica is handling arrangements for the service. If anyone would like to attend, please send her a message through the maid network." As Enalia spoke, rather than reaching for the booze, she poured herself a glass of water from a pitcher. Plain ordinary water.

"I will, Enalia," Mal said. "Hermes, if we wanted to contact Hephaestus, how would we go about it?"

"Well," Hermes said. "Presuming these Magna Romans are analogous to Earth's Romans, then he would be called Vulcan there. The god, not the species. I know they have a temple to Mercury because I can sense them praying and making offerings there. If I can sense them at the temple to my Roman self, theoretically Hephaestus will sense our request for an audience, now that he's back. That's if we can convince him of our adoration, or maybe just our need if we're lucky. He might come for the challenge of making a weapon that will kill a being that is essentially immortal. He'll need all of the details. You'll have to record everything about the Master, all of the science you've figured out about him. Every last bit of it. Remember, our magic is really just very advanced science."

"Okay," Mal said. "Time is of the essence here. Hermes, I need you to travel to Magna Roma with Clio, Daytona, T'Pral, and the Baroness. I know you said you'd look for a cure for Nexi. I want that possibly more than you do. But it's going to have to wait. She's not in any immediate danger, but in about a week, we're going demon hunting and we need something to kill said demon with. Clio, I know you have work to do, but you're going to have to leave it to Aewia. She's good at her job and she's pretty stable now. She can handle it. Daytona, I know you were looking forward to some time with Akira..."

"We had a very enjoyable afternoon and evening," Daytona said. "And a fun morning, too. Do I have time to stop by and let her know that I'm off again?"

"Of course," Mal said. "All of you can take the rest of the day. You can leave this evening, if that's alright with you, Hermes."

Hermes frowned.

"I'm not happy about it, grandchild," Hermes said. "But I see the wisdom in your decision. I'm...very proud of you, Commander, proud to be related to you. So, I'll go and get my ship ready for our little outing and I'll see you all this evening."

Mal nodded.

"Thank you," he said. "Everyone is dismissed. Clio, a word please."

That could be either a good thing or a bad thing. Clio wondered if perhaps she'd been a bit too eager to take on such a challenge. "Of course."

"Don't worry," Mal said when everyone else had left. "You're not in trouble. I'm going to give you one of my frictionless blades. They are very effective against Minotaur. I assume they would have the same or similar level of effectiveness on any cyclops you might encounter attempting to contact Hephaestus, however...you're going there to ask for his help. Killing or maiming his workers won't earn you any good will from him. I have a kopis and a gladius. I was thinking we could visit the holodeck and get you familiar with whichever one of those you feel more comfortable with."

Since they were alone, Mal was free to take liberties that he wouldn't otherwise take. He took Clio in his arms.

"I'm not just asking as your commanding officer," he said. "But as your lover who has a stake in you coming back in one piece."

"You had me worried for a moment. Though I suppose if you were going to yell at me, you'd have used my rank." Clio leaned gently into Mal's embrace, enjoying the warmth radiating from him. "I don't intend to hurt any of the cyclops workers. I won't make any promises though, seeing as how they might take issue with my presence. I will, however, not start any conflicts." She'd had no contact with any of the god-beings besides Hermes, and she'd certainly never met a cyclops. But she knew if she came peacefully, most people would at least be willing to listen. "I've never used a Pomtoli frictionless blade... and I'm not familiar with the kopis or gladius. So some practice would definitely help."

"We can play 'The Lecherous XO and his Naughty Subordinate' after we're done getting you up to speed on the frictionless blade," Mal said with a mischievous look in his eye. "In the immediate, however, I'll let you try both blades and then you can borrow the one that works the best for you, then we'll really practice. Our frictionless blades were meant to slice through Minotaur. As you can imagine, they'll go through your flesh and bone or the flesh and bone of your allies like a hot knife through butter, so you'll have to learn to be very careful when you use one. Can you meet me on the Hera's holodeck in about an hour?"

A knife slicing flesh as easily as butter sounded interesting, if a bit dangerous to wield. The description reminded Clio of the monofilament mek'leths she occasionally carried. "I should be able to. For once, I don't think I have a mountain of reports to finish."

"Great," Mal said. "I'll see you in an hour then."

Now that she actually had people working for her, Clio had found her paperwork drastically decreased, along with the general workload she'd gotten used to. She actually had time to do other things, like reviewing duty schedules or catching up with reading sensor reports. Reviewing the schedules really took very little time; she just liked to know who was requesting days off and whether all the requests were able to be filled before forwarding the document to Mal. There wasn't actually much she could do with it anyway, other than tag which requests overlapped. Finding no such thing, she shrugged and sent the document on its way, instead focusing her attention on sensor reports.

Cosmic dust.

A stray asteroid or two.

Small increases in radiation that didn't honestly amount to anything.

Absolutely nothing of interest, which was just as well. Deciding to leave the sensor reports for the scientists to muddle through, Clio pulled up some information on Magna Roma and started skimming over it. She'd never been to the planet, but everyone knew the basic story. It was just something to do until something else came up to occupy her attention.

Aewia was nervous and excited. It had been a few years since she'd worn this uniform. There were no pips, but she decided that she'd best wear an intel uniform anyway, just to help keep herself focused. Checking to make sure her uniform and comm badge was straight, she pressed the door chime on Clio's office door and waited.

Clio wasn't expecting any visitors, but she set her PaDD down and checked to be sure she had the door unlocked. Since she hadn't been doing anything remotely classified, it was indeed open. "Come in."

Walking into the office, Aewia offered Clio a small PaDD. "Commander, I've been assigned to your department as a data analyst. I know my medical needs are great, but I hope to help out however I can and I hope that my personal knowledge and experiences with the Master can be an asset in the upcoming missions."

"Believe me, I welcome the help." Taking the offered PaDD, Clio skimmed over the information there. A fair amount of knowledge and considerable experience, and then her eyes fell on the name. Aewia Larani... Now that was a name she hadn't expected to see, not reporting in her department anyway. "I've heard stories about you, mostly from Nexi. Mostly I assume she exaggerates, but having looked at the reports that Fairchild, Stanson, and Santiago left... I'm a little surprised you stayed on board."

"I doubt she had to embellish anything at all. And those things they fought... I saw how they were created so with what coherence I had, I had a vested interest in seeing them stopped. That's why I'm still here." Aewia took a deep breath before continuing. "And now we're close to cornering the very source of those nightmares. I can almost feel him still in my mind at times. Watching and waiting. I mean, yeah I'm sure he kept the pieces of my brain he lobotomized, but being able to read my mind here from them is literally impossible so I'm sure it's just PTSD. Still, it's something that bothers me when I'm trying to sleep alone."

"Well. Commander Fairchild's notes are... rather graphic, let's leave it at that. As far as stopping the Master... I hope we can. I believe if we have the right weapons we can mortally wound him. If he doesn't bring his hellhounds with him." Reading about the apparent Baskerville hounds had been quite bad enough. Clio hadn't quite mustered the strength of will to watch the video of their attack. She didn't want to see them mauling Farenia... or anyone else for that matter. "PTSD is something I'm quite familiar with. I understand that sort of paranoia, probably better than most in the fleet. You'll get no judgments for it in this department, that I can promise."

"Thank you for that," Aewia replied with a grin. "And I promise to try not to read too many minds. The doctors were able to do some pretty miraculous things regrowing the parts of my brain that were removed and though a lot of memories are lost, I'm regaining a lot of my natural Betazoid talents and I was blessed with an overabundance of them. Unfortunately, that means relearning how to control them as well. Hence why I know a lot of little secrets about the entire crew. Crewman Swiron's mother is in the hospital and he's compiling data on the geopolitical state of Magna Roma for you rather than taking his shore leave to distract himself, for example."

"Really? Then why am I bothering to read this?" Clio indicated the PaDD on her desk with a little hint of a chuckle. "Just use your powers for good and try to stay out of my head. I have some Vulcan training, but I'm not as hard to read as an actual Vulcan. Obviously." She paused for a moment. "I do hope you don't already have my secrets."

Aewia chuckled softly. "I apparently pulled secrets from the head of an ancient Iconian demon so there might not be much hope of that. I'll do my best though. Really, unless I'm trying, it's just things that people are preoccupied with. So... On the schedule I received, I have mornings off and only work afternoons to accommodate medical needs. Is that ok? I can stay late now and then, if you need me to. It's just that no one wants me to push myself too hard yet, is all."

"Iconians. Ugh." Iconians were often more trouble than they were worth. Clio didn't have to actually meet any to know that. "Your schedule's fine with me. On my assignment previous to the Katana, I worked half shifts for at least six months. So if anyone wants to complain, I'll shut them down. I doubt anyone will though... we're a pretty laid-back bunch for an Intelligence department."

"Excellent," Aewia smiled again. "I assume my first assignment will involve the Master. I've already updated our info on him with what I've remembered several times, but is there anything you'd specifically like me to tackle? I've completely lost all memory of my academy years but I still have more knowledge of data analysis on the subject than anyone else in the department. I could also do data mining in the recovered databases, if you prefer. I know that's a lost art and I doubt even Daytona is very experienced at that."

"If you could help Daytona with the mining and analysis, that would be great actually. He's done all right so far, but it would go faster if he had some help, I think. I tried, but staring at a screen for that amount of time... I just can't do it anymore." Clio decided not to elaborate on why. She didn't discuss her health problems with many people; even Mal didn't know the specifics of why she had to take a break from lighted screens after a few hours. "Besides, I'm sure he'd appreciate a break now and then."

"Ah yeah... migraines can be nasty like that. You should probably get that checked out." Aewia couldn't help but pick up on that little tidbit of info - it seemed harmless enough to her. "Back on the Spectre, I could sit in the datamining terminal for twenty six hours straight without breaks once a week. Farenia was part of the team back then and we were training for the mission into Romulan space that started this whole thing for us. Fun times indeed."

"I've had it looked at. Everyone says the same thing. Too much stress, not enough water, make sure you eat at regular intervals, rest when you need to, blah blah, more unhelpful medical-ese. Sometimes they treat the pain... sometimes they don't. All I know is doctors tend not to listen so well." Clio was willing to overlook that tiny intrusion, seeing as how that tidbit was going to make its way to Aewia's ears at some point anyway.

"That's... unhelpful..." Aewia frowned for a moment, trying to think of some way she could help, but nothing came to mind.

"It is, which is why I don't go to them unless I absolutely have to. Anyway." Clio cleared her throat. "You didn't come here to discuss my problems. I'm sorry I brought it up."

"Oh no, it's perfectly fine. Anything I can do to help, I'll do." Aewia grinned again, a bit more goofily this time, but quickly recomposed herself.

"Well, there's not much you can do about any headaches, but I appreciate the sentiment." Clio grinned. She couldn't help it; she liked Aewia and all of the woman's little quirks. "I was serious about us welcoming any help we can get. For a while, it was just me and Nexi... and then just me and Nexi with a little help from our resident crazy jarhead that somehow we've all come to love. I got used to it, but it's still nice to have the work shifted around a little."

"Yeah nearly eight hundred people aboard and finally after this last refit we actually have people in the Intel department aboard an Intel ship assigned directly to Starfleet Intel Command. Technically, there are one hundred fourteen Intel agents aboard the ship... But not all of them are assigned to your department. One of them is the Captain, of course. Some, like Crewman Dedjoy, are technically sleeper agents..." Aewia was rambling now, finally comfortable in 'letting her hair down', as it were. "Anyway, it's a pleasure to be working with you, Ma'am."

"Exactly, and I know all about Ila. I haven't found the others yet, but I will. And it'll be a pleasure to work with you too... between the two of us, we should be able to drive Nexi absolutely crazy. It'll be fun." Maybe it was unprofessional to torment one's crewmates, but Clio wasn't exactly a paragon of professionalism.

"I look forward to it," Aewia replied with a lopsided grin. "She hates anything with flavor, by the way. If you eat anything with a spicy aroma near her... Anyway, I should probably get my desk setup and let you get back to work."

"Yes, please get your workstation set up the way you like it. If you need any special accommodations, let me know. I can get Mal to authorize any changes we need to make." Clio had been enjoying the conversation, but there was always work that needed done. And they'd have plenty of time to socialize along the way.

"I will, thank you Commander." Nodding, Aewia excused herself and headed out of the office and claimed her new desk and began reconfiguring the terminal and familiarizing herself with the new touch interface design.

As Aewia headed out of the office to begin setting up her personal workstation, Clio went back to her reading about Magna Roman. While Crewman Swiron's notes would no doubt be helpful, she needed to know as much as possible before going there.

"Well," Hermes said. "We're here...well, we're outside the system. Decision time. If I land in their primitive excuse for a spaceport, we're going to have to go through customs and they're going to check us for weapons. If I cloak and land us somewhere outside the capitol and beam us into the city from there, we avoid the questions about weapons. On the other hand, if we get caught we're going to have a great deal of explaining to do."

"They're in negotiations to become a member of the UFP," Daytona said. "I'd hate to cause an interstellar incident, but I'd also rather not be unarmed if we run into anymore of Hera's foot soldiers. It's your call, Commander Eneas."

"Normally I'd be up for causing interstellar incidents, but if we want to get close to Hephaestus we'll have to go by the book." Clio was obviously uncomfortable with the idea of having all of her weapons taken away, but if she had to be unarmed to meet Hephaestus, she'd take the chance. "T'Pral, you should be allowed a phaser if we tell them you're our security escort. I'd expect them to ask the rest of us to leave any weapons behind. I'd suggest not arguing with them over it."

T'Pral nodded. "I can take the phaser but relinquish it to someone who will need it more than I once we pass Security as my anatomy allows me to handle Hera's soldiers more easily than the rest of you," she stated. before continuing after a brief pause. "Or, we can be equipped with transponders that can transport weapons to us once activated should we need them. Such transponders can be easily concealed from many standard security scans.

"Huh,' Hermes grunted. "That gives me an idea. Lay all of your weapons out on the table in the main cabin. I'll be back in a flash."

There was a blur and a rush of wind and Hermes was off.

"Well," Daytona said. "Let's get to it."

Daytona went to his cabin and retrieved his Kambantuli knives and his pistol. He brought them out into the common area and lay them on the table. Hermes was already there.

Clio wasn't sure what Hermes was up to, but she dutifully retrieved the small armory that seemed to accompany her wherever she went. Next to Daytona's knives and pistol, she laid a pair of throwing knives, a 'pocket-sized' phaser, and her favored revolver. It might be old-fashioned, but it worked well when energy weapons weren't favorable. The last item she added to the table was Mal's friction-less kopis, which looked a bit out of place next to her usual stash. It was the one thing she hoped the Magna Romans would let her keep, seeing as it wasn't exactly hers.

Schwein shrugged and added the pair of short swords and the long barreled polaron pistol she wore to the lineup as well. She then started digging through her many hidden pockets, taking every medical item she had into consideration. Almost everything she had could be used as a weapon, but was technically a medical instrument so she poked everything back where she got it. "Ja, those are the only true weapons I have other than my own muscles."

Then another thought occurred to her and she pulled off her eyepatch, stowing it in one of her pockets as well. Glancing around the ship, she blinked a few times at everyone, her golden cybernetic eye glowing like a gemstone as it scanned her surroundings and the people around her. "They may misconstrue hiding it as something bad, but if I'm open about it and they ask me to cover it, I can..." Trailing off, her eyes came to rest on Clio. Squinting, she began digging into her pockets for another scanning device. Motioning towards Clio, Schwein asked forgiveness. "May I scan further?"

"Uh... I guess?" This was Clio's first close encounter with the Baroness, and she wasn't quite sure what to expect. And she certainly wasn't sure why she was being scanned. "Just don't shine any of the scanner's lights into my eyes. Tends to be unpleasant for all involved."

Looking closer at Clio's eyes and scanning with the conical scanner, Schwein hummed a little. "Commander, you need to see a doctor. You have a mild infection in your optic nervous tissues disguised as common bacteria."

That was a bit of a surprise. Clio just kind of... looked at her for a moment. "You found that with your eye? That's... impressive and a little scary, actually. But there's no time for doctors at the moment. I'll see one when we return from Magna Roma."

"Ja, please do. It may be unpleasant if it stays. I may be a medic, but it would be best to wait for a doctor's treatment. You may need an eye like mine if I were to treat you." Tucking her conical scanner away, Schwein turned back to the rest of the group and waited.

There was a gust of wind and Hermes appeared from...somewhere.

"Okay," he said, handing handing out bracelets to everyone. They were of various widths and no two pairs of bracelets were the same, each having different designs or decorations on them.

"Put those on, and observe," Hermes said. Everyone put them on obediently and Hermes picked up some kind of hand scanner. "You're first, Commander."

He scanned Clio's weapons one by one, then aimed the scanner at her bracelets individually letting the beam linger on each one for a moment.

"Now," Hermes said once he was done. "Hold out your hand and think of one of your weapons."

Clio quirked an eyebrow at him, wondering what sort of technological trick this was but knowing better than to ask. Hermes and his kind were far more advanced than the Federation, and it wasn't likely they'd share the secret of the device. Curious as to whether she could figure it out, she focused her thoughts on the kopis she'd borrowed from Mal.

The kopis in question appeared in Clio's hand.

T'Pral was fascinated by this technology. "Where did you get these?" T'Pral asked.

"Remember, we impressed the ancient peoples of Earth by performing what appeared to be miracles," Hermes said. "The ability to make things seem to appear from thin air with just a gesture of the hand went along way towards cementing us as deities in our subjects' minds. You're next, Lieutenant. Then the Baroness, and finally Mister Ral."

Hermes got to work setting up the rest of the bracelets.

"All finished," Hermes said when he was done.

"Thank you," Daytona said. "I assume these just show up as fashion accessories if scanned?"

"You are correct, Mister Ral!" Hermes said. "You'll also notice that no two pairs of them are the same. I thought it would look odd if you were all wearing the same bracelets. They should look like jewelry."

"Perfect," Daytona said. "Alright. These people are still rather primitive by our standards. Their native technology is about 300 or so years behind ours. However, they have recently broken the warp barrier and are opening trade relations with nearby planets and governments, including the Federation. The very first thing the Federation did when negotiations opened was to help them construct an appropriately secure spaceport to funnel visitors through so security will be very good. However, one thing the Federation has not provided the Magna Romans with yet is weapons tech. This means they have no phasers to set to stun. This means they're still using bullets. This means we should avoid shoot outs locals, whether good guys or bad guys, if possible. If you get shot, you're not going to wake up in an hour with a phaser hangover, but rather get a very nasty bullet wound that might just kill you before we can get you proper medical attention. Commander, if we're going to go in uniform, might I suggest we wear command red instead of Intelligence gray? Usually, if I have to appear somewhere officially, I wear red and travel as someone's administrative aid or dog-robber."

Schwein smirked and headed to her duffel, pulling out a long fitted coat with huge tasseled shoulders and enough decorations that really did make her look like a pirate Baroness. Tossing it on and slipping some pristine white gloves over her hands, she then pulled out a matching military cap and plopped it on her head. "Ja, it is rare that I wear all this... But I may make for a good distraction. As for bullet wounds, I have skills in treating them, but please do not test those skills."

"Red is probably a good idea, actually. I've had an assignment or two where the CO had us wear red. Tends to lessen suspicions." Clio was pretty fond of her black uniform, but she wasn't opposed to changing colors when necessary. "T'Pral, probably best you stick to yellow. Might make it more believable that you're escorting us."

"That was my intention," T'Pral stated simply that seemed more cold in nature than a normal vulcan response. With the recent issues between herself, Nexi, and West, she wasn't generally fond of the Intelligence Department at the moment.

Hermes looked from T'Pral to Clio and back again.

"Okay then," he said. "Everyone suit up while I take us in."

There was a gust of wind and Hermes was gone from the main cabin and at his station in the cockpit.

"Uhm," Daytona said. "How are we going to explain the Baroness?"

Donning a haughty air of superiority, Schwein fluttered a hand as if to brush it off. "There is nothing to explain, ja? I am a Baroness and a representative of the Alcott Holdings, an investor in the futures of the planet. I go where it pleases me, with whom it pleases me. It distracts myself and others as it pleases me. Ja?" With that, she pulled a small gold plated flask out of an inner pocket of her jacket and started waving that around similarly. "And if that is insufficient, then it will not please me and great trouble will be had with our governments, ja?"

"I would advise you to keep the attitude in check, Ms. Alcott," T'Pral said. "We do not need an incident with these people."

Tag Clio, Schwein, T'Pral, Whoever has a good idea

"Uhm...right," Daytona said. "Let's try to get along. Squabbling is going to attract attention. If you'll all excuse me, I'm going to go and get dressed."

Daytona left the main cabin and went to get into a Command red uniform.

-3 weeks ago on the USS Firehawk-

Nathan was in his quarters packing to leave. His transfer had been approved and he was finally going to serve on a capital ship after all these years serving on frigates and corvettes. His reverie was interrupted by the door chime. "Enter," he said and was pleased when Lieutenant Andrus Jaxx walked in looking as handsome as ever.

"Are you ready, Nate?" he asked.

"Actually I'm getting there, Andrus. Are you here to help or supervise?" Nate quipped.

Before Andrus could reply, Nate grabbed his and kissed him deeply. At first, Andrus fought the kiss but finally relaxed into it. Since Nate was already naked from the waist up, it didn't take either of them to get naked and...

-Later that same day-

"Nathan?" a voice from behind him said.

"Yes Sir?" he answered by reflex.

"Look, I just wanted to apologize for denying your transfer before this one. I was only looking out for you and was waiting for the right posting to come available."

"I understand, Sir, and I hold no grudges. In my family, they were considered anathema. So you approve of my leaving for 'greener pastures'?"

"Of course, I approve. You wouldn't be leaving if I didn't. Now come here and let's shake to your new assignment."

"Aye Sir," and Nate walked over to the door and shook his captain's hand very firmly.

-1 week ago Runabout Kyrie-

Nathan sat at the controls of the runabout given to him by his now deceased uncle. It pained that this was the last memory of a great man who died well before his time. He paid silent homage to Lieutenant Commander Raymond Grey. After his silent time was up, he brought his attention back to the control panel. "This is Runabout Kyrie requesting permission to get underway," he said with a heavy heart.

"Runabout Kyrie, you have permission to disemark. Godspeed and good luck, Lieutenant. We well all miss you," he heard the voice of his friend and mentor, Commander Tucker say.

"Thank you and no moreso than me, Commander. Summers out," and with that he cut the connection and fought back tears. Was he doing the right thing by leaving? He thought so. His career depended on this move. Since there were only so many command positions available on the Sentinel-class ship, he knew he had to leave if he was ever going to make it to Lieutenant Commander.

But was that the only reason for his leaving, he thought to himself. Finally he had come up with a good enough excuse for that; Andrus Jaxx. He wasn't willing to settle down right now and probably wouldn't ever be. That hurt Nathan deeply. Evidently, the love the two young-ish officers wasn't enough to keep them from growing apart.

-Present Day Runabout Kyrie/USS Hera-

It had taken him a week to make it to the Hera's present location and he was very excited to finally make it here. So after receiving permission to enter the flight zone, he banked his runabout and entered the main shuttlebay. Landing on the deck, Nathan stepped out and almost ran smack dab into a very handsome deck chief. Blushing, the non-com said "Excuse me, Sir. I wasn't watching where I was going."

"No harm, no foul, Chief. Carry on."

A holocat maid escorted Mal to Enalia's private library and announced him.

"Princess," she said. "I present to you Commander Mal Xustos of Pomtol, Acting Captain of the USS Hera."

Mal winced. What in Hades had prompted that bipedal photonic feline to say something like that?

"Actually," he said. "That's why I'm here. We need to talk, Enalia."

Enalia nodded as she sipped from her glass of sparkling water. "Yeah I suppose we do. After all, it's not like I was close to my sister or anything. Neither was my mother, whom did not show up to her funeral and she gave birth to her. So... What specifically would you like to say?"

"I'm sorry," Mal said. "And, if you really need to sit up here and drown your sorrows in that expensive booze you drink, I'll stay in command of the Hera. As long as you need. That said, I have to point out that we have work to do, very important work, work with very serious consequences, and your place, if you don't mind my saying, and even if you do, your place is to command the Hera, not wallow in self-pity."

Mal knew he was being harsh, but someone had to give Enalia a kick in the pants.

"I'll take the day to day off of your hands for the time being," he said. "But this nonsense about you being unfit for command is...well, it's just that: nonsense."

"Booze? Is that what you think of me?" Enalia asked, standing and walking around her desk with her glass in her hand. "I haven't touched a drop of anything but water since then." She wasn't angry or raising her voice, but something about her seemed larger than normal. More powerful. "What we will need to do will need a clear head and booze prevents clear heads from prevailing even at the best of times."

Setting the glass of sparkling water aside, Enalia continued. "Then again, we could do absolutely everything perfectly and still lose. That too is life. Farenia and my sister found that out the hard way."

"I'm one of those people that refuse to accept that a no-win scenario can't be beaten though. We've made the impossible possible before and we'll do it again." Tapping Mal's chest lightly, Enalia punctuated her point. "Hence, no booze now."

"Good," Mal said. "Glad to hear it. We're going to need that attitude, that grit. Does this mean you feel fit to re-assume command of the Hera?"

"That's actually up to you," Enalia replied. "Do you think I'm more charged with Starfleet Duty or Revenge? After all, my ex-lover from the Academy was nearly killed and my sister was killed by the man we're going after, not to mention all the other damage he's done."

"Well," Mal said. "Which one are you more charged with?"

"I actually didn't know my sister had a middle name until the funeral." Enalia frowned and turned back to her glass of water and took another sip of it before continuing. "Strange as it may seem, the crew of the Hera is more of a family to me than my own blood relatives now. I still love my Artan family... Corporal Fortral... The three Baronesses that raised me... But the crew of the Hera... There's something special about them to me and my duty to them and in turn to Starfleet. I think it starts with no one calling me 'princess' and continues with treating me like a normal person..."

"You're a joined Trill married to a hologram, the sister-in-law of a hologram, and the aunt of a hologram, and head of a family of pirates," Mal said. "You are far from normal. As for not calling you Princess...I think 'Captain' is a much better fit than 'Princess', don't you?"

Enalia had to chuckle softly. "So no matter how much I want to be normal... Oh well. And yes, I prefer the title Captain as well. So...I guess as of meow, I'm resuming command of the Hera." With a sidelong glance to the catgirl maid, the maid gave a nod acknowledging the statement.

Mal smiled.

"I'll make a note of it in the log," he said. "Hermes, Daytona, Clio, T'Pral, and Schwein are on 892-IV by now. That's the home of the Magna Roman 'Empire' such as it is. A bit more of a constitutional monarchy as I understand it. Anyway, they're on radio silence at the moment. Thex says the repairs will be completed in short order, so we should be ready to leave when the time comes. Aewia is working on the Master investigation. Oh! And there's a new Chief Science Officer scheduled to arrive shortly..."

Mal looked at the PaDD he was carrying and called up the information that had been sent regarding the new addition to Hera's senior staff.

"Summers is his name," Mal said, handing Enalia the PaDD. "Lieutenant Nathan Christopher Summers. If you want to read up on him before he arrives, you can keep this PaDD."

"That's ok, I'll pull it up when I get to my ready room later. Thank you though." Enalia finished off her water and set her glass aside. "We'll have to transfer Nexi to the Hera. Make sure all the equipment we developed to work on this black blood is copied and taken aboard. Med lab nine should be suitable and should be close enough to the science lab we've been working on it already."

"Of course," Mal replied. "I'll see to her transfer myself when the time comes. We have just over a week left before we're scheduled to leave. Do you think she'd be more comfortable in the fortress medical center for now?"

"Yeah, but I'm sure she'd rather be out and about not worrying about all this at all." Enalia couldn't help but shake her head and wonder how much this time in a hospital bed bothered Nexi. "How about we leave that decision up to her? Besides that, the doctors on the Hera will be less insistent on bedrest 24/7."

"I'll take care of it," Mal replied. "Anything else?"

"What do you think of having part of the maid system here transferred to the Hera? Too much?" Enalia asked teasingly. "No, that's it, I think."

"Well..." Mal said in mock seriousness. "I remember this CGI they did of me at the academy when they thought it was funny to make CGI pornography staring me, where I was having a romp with a trio of naughty house maids in very sexy maid costumes, short skirts, garters, fishnet stockings, you know what I mean. But I don't think that would be a very fair to the straight women and gay men on the ship. Maybe if we added some sexy butlers as well? Just kidding! There's enough frigging in the rigging on the Hera as it is. Let's not add to that. So, I guess I'll be off then. I'll check back with you soon. When Clio gets back, we should enjoy another meal together, the four of us: you, Maica, Clio, and I, before things get really hectic again."

"I look forward to it," Enalia replied with a smile. "And if you need me, I think I've had enough of my own orbital fortress for now. I'm going to relocate back to the Hera."

Daytona was looking forward to getting back to shore leave. Unlike a lot of Starfleet officers, he was a firm believer in work life balance, probably because he’d seen in himself what happens when a person became obsessed with their work. He knew that he didn’t like the kind of person he became when he had to do that. Sometimes service in the fleet required that kind of obsession. Today, it didn’t. Yes, a race of godlike aliens had returned to this plane of existence and yes they presented a threat, but the threat wasn’t immediate and there was nothing to be done at this exact moment. This was all a long line of reasoning that lead Daytona to the conclusion that he could spend time with his lover without feeling guilty.

Daytona and Akira had been sharing quarters while at the fortress. For Daytona, it was a matter of wanting Akira around as much as possible. He suspected that for Akira it was more of a practical issue. She didn’t actually need quarters of her own at the fortress. All of her physical belongings were on the ship, she didn’t need clothes, and as far as Daytona knew, she rarely slept while manifested except with him.

Daytona entered the quarters he shared with Akira.

“Anyone home?” he said. “Preferably the incredibly beautiful, smart, and funny Akira Zhuri, thrilled that I’m back safe and sound, and, if I’m really lucky, naked?”

Akira had been elsewhere on the station, just walking around taking in the sights and working out how to get to the hot springs that Schwein had suggested, when she heard the ‘summons’ and immediately materialized into their shared quarters. Then she heard ‘naked’ and blinked at him in surprise, but she couldn’t suppress the smile that formed on her face.

“I can make myself naked if that would improve your day,” Akira offered cheerfully. “But I am very happy that you have returned and that you are safe. I was quite worried when I heard the Hera’s Folly was bringing back injured, so it is a relief that you were not the one injured.” Then she frowned. “Is it bad of me that I am glad you were not injured? It’s like being happy that the other person is injured, it doesn’t seem right.”

Daytona walked over to her and pulled her into a kiss, taking a moment before speaking.

“Being glad that I am unharmed is not the same as being glad someone else was harmed,” he said. “But that feeling does sometimes come with a side order of guilt. Speaking of naked, I need a shower. Care to join me?”

Akira nodded, accepting his words about guilt; it made sense, and he did seem to know what he was talking about. “If you wish to relax, I have been reliably informed that the Fortress has some hot springs, which I understand are supposed to be relaxing. But they are not really for washing…” she offered in return.

“Actually,” Daytona said. “That sounds great. Give me five minutes to wash the grime of Nimpella III...er...that’s a planet, not a woman. I haven’t been running around on you. Anyway, five minutes”

Daytona leaned in and kissed Akira once more before running off to the shower. Five minutes later Daytona reappeared in comfortable, easily removable clothing and sandals, his hair still damp, a sparkle in his eye.

“As promised,” Daytona said. “Five minutes. Lead the way!”

In those five minutes, Akira had browsed through logs of swimwear that would be appropriate for this kind of thing. When he came out, she was wearing her white sundress, and underneath was a swimsuit, a cute little two piece that she was excited to show off. She looped her arm in his much as they had done on their first date, and she led him through the gardens to the caves where the hot springs were. The walk itself was leisurely and relaxing, and gave Akira for more of that small talk-thing that she needed practice with.

“So, did you find the person that you were looking for?” she asked as they walked.

“Yes,” Daytona said. “Along with other disturbing information that I’ll let your Aunt Enalia fill you in about as she sees fit. Needless to say, this galaxy has become a more dangerous place. It was an incredible mission, though. I encountered Earth’s mythology in my travels quite a while ago. Books, holovids, things like that. Religions sometimes interest me. I was a monk once...did I tell you that? A Rigelian monk, of course, so I wasn’t expected to be celibate. Well, I was more of an acolyte. I wasn’t monk material, though. I mean, I learned my psychokinetics well enough. I can do somethings with electricity, combustion, temperature, I can move things with my mind if I want to. I used these abilities on Rigel or when I was stationed in the Rigel System, but not outside of it. It makes me too memorable and my job requires anonymity. Anyway, I was hopeless with my own religion, numerology, and I later devoured what I could find on the gods of the ancient Vulcans. I guess I found Earth mythology equally interesting. Well, on this mission, I actually fought an Amazon! Like, a Greco-Roman Amazon! And I won! It wasn’t the kind of interaction I’d fantasized about when I read about Amazons, but they were awesome to see in action.”

“Yes, you’ve told me,” Akira replied with a smile, listening with great fascination as he continued on. She had to pause for a moment to look up Amazons so that she would have some context, but it only served to impress her further. “It sounds so exciting! In a way, it makes me want to learn to do some of the things you do so I can see some of these wonders for myself, but I doubt I would be all that useful outside the ship, even with a mobile emitter…”

Daytona touched Akira’s hand, turned his head, and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

“You sell yourself short, my love,” Daytona said. “The physical skills you can learn...well, not the psychokinetics, but the hand to hand combat. If you ever want my help with that, I’d be more than willing. But it’s your mind that makes you valuable, and your compassion. I can handle myself physically, but that Amazon was as strong as I was, maybe more, and her tech was better. I didn’t beat her down with brute force. I outsmarted her. You have the brains, I know from experience how strong you are…”

Daytona winked at her.

“All you need is experience,” he said. “That comes with time.”

Akira blushed adorably with his kiss. “I know I am smart, but sometimes I feel... “ Akira sighed as she tried to find the words to accurately describe how she felt. “Inadequate… I look at other Officers, real people with so much experience, socially and on the job, and sometimes I feel like I cheated to get my job, like just because I’m essentially a super computer and I’m indirectly related to the Captain, I was just handed the job. And, I can’t lie, sometimes I get a little jealous because I can’t leave the ship yet. I know, I know, I’m on the station, but that’s only because it is so well equipped with holo-emitters, but I’m still confined, you know.”

“Just because your origin and your connections got you your job, doesn’t mean that you don’t deserve it,” Daytona said. “Some people are born smarter than others, learn faster, adapt better, and that puts them at the head of the line, sometimes regardless of experience. And people’s connections get them in the door for jobs they wouldn’t otherwise be able to get all the time. It’s what you do when you get there that counts, and you prove yourself worthy everyday.”

Daytona slipped his arm around Akira’s shoulders and let her slip her arm around his waist as they walked.

“And,” he said. “I know that being limited to areas with sufficient holoprojectors is difficult for you. I can’t imagine what that’s like. I won’t patronize you by trying to convince you that you aren’t missing anything. You must feel like a bird in a cage sometimes. No matter how nice the cage is, it’s still a cage. I often wish I was a brilliant engineer so I could whip up a solution for you, but I’m not. So I try to bring some of the outside world to you whenever I can. I would have brought you back something from Nimpella III, but it was a really gritty, dirty, place and it didn’t have much going for it. But the next planet I visit I’ll bring you back something, I promise!”

“Thank you, that is sweet,” Akira said with a soft smile. “And I am working on a solution, it is just slow going; the Captain gave me the plans for a mobile emitter, but most of the circuitry is too small for the replicator, even the industrial replicator resolution is not high enough to accurately recreate the necessary components, so I am having to do it by hand, which is time consuming,” she explained. They were coming up on the caves and she could already smell the minerals from the water. “I am nervous about trying the emitter once it is finished; the one in use by the Voyager’s EMH was far more advanced and had a bigger capacity, I worry that the plans I am working off of won’t be able to support me because I consume far more resources than the Doctor.”

“Well,” Daytona said. “I don’t want to hold you back, but I’d appreciate it if you didn’t put yourself at too great a risk. As you may have noticed, I’ve grown rather attached to you. Besides, I have faith in your abilities, and in you. You’ll figure it out.”

“I have grown quite fond of you as well,” Akira said with a blush. “I don’t plan to do anything reckless, so you have nothing to worry about.” The caves they were entering only went a short distance and then opened up into a series of heated mineral springs. Akira beamed brightly at the sight, excited to give this a try; truth be told, she had been interested in trying this in Daytona’s holo-program, but she chickened out before they could get there. “Oh wow!” she said in breathless amazement as looked over the springs, running her fingers over some bamboo that was being used as privacy screens. “This looks like so much fun!”

Daytona watched Akira explore, enjoying the look of wonder on her face, letting the feelings of love and tenderness he felt for her overwhelm him for a moment before getting himself under control. There was such a thing as too much affection. It could get annoying. All things in moderation...well, sort of.

“Well,” he said, seeing one that was off a bit from the others. “That one seems to be empty. Shall we get in?”

“Yes, let’s!” Akira said eagerly, practically pulling him along the combination of cobblestone pathing and boardwalk to a small area where they could disrobe and store their clothes. Akira, of course, technically didn’t need to disrobe or store her clothes, but she did so simply to blend in, letting her white sundress to slip from her shoulders and to the floor. Underneath was a white halter top and boy-short swimsuit to show off her slender frame. Offering him a bright smile, she found the towels and waited for him to disrobe before heading over to the empty pool. Akira gazed into the water curiously, watching as steam floated up from the water’s surface. Curious! She wondered how this would interact with her matrix! Setting the towels aside, she held his hand to keep her steady and cautiously offered a foot to the steaming water, then another, slowly wading deeper and deeper. It was so warm! But there was something else about it, something she couldn’t really describe, almost like the water was… thick? Was that it? Analytically, she knew it had something to do with the minerals in the water, but she was trying to ‘feel’ and not overthink things. “Oh wow,” she said as she sat on a ledge within the murky pool, submersing herself to her shoulders. “This feels incredible!”

Watching Akira let her dress slide off of her, seeing it glide across her skin, made Daytona weak in the knees, but he recovered quickly. He removed his sandals, shirt, and pants. He folded the clothes and put them on a shelf, then helped Akira into the pool. Once she was in, he joined her, sitting next to her on the ledge, sighing as he felt the tension of the last few days melt away.

“This does feel fantastic,” he said. “This was a good idea. And to think, you couldn’t understand the big deal about getting wet! Next we have to teach you to swim.”

“I must confess, I have no idea why this looked so appealing when the lake confused me before; it may possibly be a residual impulse from Father’s memories, but now that we are here I really am enjoying this!” she said. She hadn’t realized it before, but her matrix could emulate muscle tension and body fatigue, and even the relief the heated pools could offer, but she was starting to realize it now as she started to feel a relaxing contentment and drowsiness. She rolled her shoulders as she felt this relaxing effect on what should have been very tired and knotted shoulder muscles if she had them. “Mmm, I would be willing to brave the holodeck to make this a regular thing,” she stated, then rested her head on his shoulder.

“I would like that very much,” Daytona said. He closed his eyes and enjoyed the heat of the water and Akira’s closeness. He let his tensions melt away in waves. There had been a great deal on his mind lately and he really hadn’t realized how tense he’d become. Fighting it out with an Amazon warrior didn’t help. He simply sat and breathed deeply in and out, becoming more relaxed as he did so. He reached out and placed a hand on Akira’s leg, almost possessively, but not in a negative sense, and caressed her leg with his thumb, nothing more. Just some added contact, something to show his affection without being demanding or pushy.

Akira hummed with a pleased smile at the gentle contact, then her hand found his and laced their fingers together. But she could tell there was still so much tension in Daytona, he still felt so stiff beside her, so after a moment she moved in the water, sliding into his lap to straddle him, then she extricated her hand from his, bringing both hands up to begin exploring the muscles of his neck and shoulders, finding knots and gently kneading them out. “I always wondered if Mother Maica’s rather extensive database would ever come in handy,” she commented idly as she worked to help relieve the tension plaguing her lover.

“Hmmm…” Daytona said. Akira’s sudden move startled him but he liked it and he loved the way her fingers felt as she explored his neck and shoulders. He let his hands rest gently on Akira’s thighs.“That feels nice. Ah...yes...right there...oh I have missed you.”

“I missed you as well,” Akira replied, applying more pressure to a particularly tough knot. “I found it difficult to get through the day; no duty shift, no work, there’s only so many times I could practice my violin or walk the gardens before I just got lonely. Playing with Moriko helped, but I ended up shutting myself off when she didn’t need me,” she confessed.

“I’m sorry, my love,” Daytona said. He let his hands roam a bit as he talked. “We need to get you more friends to spend time with. Some men’s egos would be inflated by the idea that their lover’s life revolved around them, but I don’t think that’s fair to you. I admit that I’m glad you missed me, that you thought about me, but not that you were so lonely you had to shut yourself off. Have you ever thought of spending time with Thex? I’ve heard that she’s very easy to get along with and she’s an engineer. You could break the ice by talking to her about your mobile emitter. I hear she’s pretty bright, and she was able to put together two very small, but very powerful jamming devices on short notice. And...you’re both blue, so you have that in common.”

Daytona kissed Akira and winked at her to make sure she knew he was kidding about the skin color comment. He pulled her just a little closer to him. He massaged her back and legs as she worked on him.

Akira pouted, but then she saw that playful wink and she smiled. “I have been meaning to talk to her about helping me build something; with the power fluctuation that happened over Selen VI, there were concerns about my efficacy during a power outage, so it was suggested that I build a computer for me to inhabit, linked with but separate from the main computer and working on an independent power source, and since the holo-emitters also work on their own internal power cells, I would be able to continue to function even in the event of a full system shut down,” she said. “I was also curious about finding that Scottish fellow… he seemed interesting.”

“Hmm…” Daytona said. “You feel nice. And anything that helps keep you functioning is a good idea in my book. I’ll admit, I worry about you when there’s an issue with power or the main computer. That settles things for me. You should definitely talk to Thex. Invite her out for a drink. You can have the bartender in the lounge make you a holo-drink. Doesn’t have to be alcohol, but it could be if you want it to be. Or invite her over to your quarters to look over your ideas. It might be fun. If you want to do it over shore leave, there’s a nice bar here. If you want me to come with you, we could take her out for a drink together the first time.”

“It’s the water; the heat and the mineral content improve the feel of the skin,” Akira replied with a smile, working up his neck right to the base of his skull, and the way she kneaded at him caused the muscles to go completely lax to the point that she was supporting his head. “And after the wine you gave me, I’m not overly eager to try anything alcoholic again, but I think I would still like to give the bar a try; I’m always willing to try new things, and I can definitely bring some of my plans along to show Thex.”

“Hmmm…” Daytona said as he lost himself to Akira’s massage. “Thex...yes...we’ll...ask her…”

Akira’s massage was relaxing the muscles in his neck and shoulders...and arms...but her closeness was having the opposite effect on him, made more evident when she worked the back of his neck up the back of his head with her fingers. He was very sensitive there and despite the warmth of the water, Akira’s touch there sent shivers down his spine. Daytona pulled her closer to him..

“Oh!” Akira exclaimed as he quite suddenly pulled her close. “Am I to understand that you like what I was doing?” she asked playfully as she let one of her hands find his ear, her deft fingers gently tracing along the pointed pinna.

“Mmmm…” Daytona said. “That...liked...yes…”

====Later====

“My love,” he said. “Unless you want poached Rigelian for dinner, I’m going to have to get out of here and cool off.”

Akira nodded in acknowledgement and released her lingering grip on him so he could set her on the ledge. “Mmm, I hate to see you go, but I do love to watch you walk away,” she said, shamelessly staring at his ass as he stepped out of the pool. After the words left her lips, she blushed slightly, somewhat startled that she had even said something so… lewd. But it was appropriate, he did have a very nice looking backside… Slowly, she motivated herself to get out of the pool, sitting on the surrounding stones for a moment while her knees un-jellified.

Daytona almost tripped when he heard Akira compliment his ass, but recovered quickly. He went over to an ornate basin with a faucet by the wall. He activated the faucet and, as he’d thought, the water was cool. He cupped his hands under the faucet and drank some of the water, before scooping out handfuls and splashing it all over himself to cool himself down. He’d really been in the pool too long. Not that he was complaining. He picked up a towel and dried himself off. In a moment of goofiness, he made sure to position his body to give Akira the best view. He put on his pants, deciding that he didn’t want to wear a wet bathing suit under his pants so he just went commando. The pants were soft enough that his rather sore member wouldn’t be too inconvenienced. He slipped into his shirt but left it unbuttoned, and put on his sandals. He grabbed another towel and walked over to Akira.

“You,” he said, offering her a hand up. “Are absolutely gorgeous just the way you are but some people are particular about others not walking around naked. I know you can dry yourself off with a snap of your fingers, but if you want to do it the old fashioned way, I could give you a hand.”

“Oh goodness, I am not that bold… yet,” Akira said with a blush when he suggested she walk around naked, but she did stand and let him wrap the towel around her. Then she rose up on her toes to offer a kiss to his lips. “I’m really glad we came here, I had a wonderful time,” she said sweetly, intending it to be completely innocent, but then she blushed again when she realized how un-innocent that may have sounded. “Oh my stars, you are having a rather… interesting effect on my thought processes,” she admitted with a giggle.

“I like the effect I’m having on you,” Daytona said. “Though you did catch me completely off balance with that comment about hating to see me go but loving to watch me walk away. Neither one of us has to be polite or proper all the time. I certainly don’t mind you talking dirty to me.”

Daytona took Akira in his arms and held her close.

“I’m glad you invited me here,” he said. “I really needed to be with you. Thank you so much for sharing yourself with me. So, here are the racy thoughts that have been running through my brain. Are you going to snap your fingers to dry your suit and put it on under your dress? Are you going to snap your fingers, disappear your suit and manifest dry underwear for yourself? Or and this is the option that’s been pinging around in my brain because these days, if there’s a kinky thought in there, it’s about you, Are you going to wear your dress with nothing under it as we walk back to our rooms?:

Daytona winked at Akira and grinned mischievously.

“Oh my! I- I hadn’t really considered what I was going to do, but… if you really want me to… I suppose, maybe, I could, uh, wear nothing…. Under the dress…” she stammered, blushing crimson.

Daytona gave Akira a gentle kiss.

“While that would be a tremendous turn on for me…” he said. “You know, I’ve never really considered why that’s so erotic. Ease of access, maybe? Anyway, you are never required to dress a certain way for me, never required to wear or not wear something for me. I hope you know that, Akira. Dress however you feel comfortable. If I were a woman, I might feel a little awkward with nothing under my dress out in public, too, so please, as I said, dress in whatever makes you comfortable.”

“Thank you,”Akira said bashfully, and when she pulled the towel away she was wearing dry undergarments. She returned to where they had set their clothes and pulled her dress over her head. “But in the privacy of our quarters, now that I know you have interest in this, perhaps one day I will surprise you.”

“That would be fun,” Daytona said, opening the door to the enclosure. “You look fantastic in that dress. I think I forgot to tell you that before. If there’s ever anything you want to see me in...well, it doesn’t hurt to ask. And Akira: You never cease to surprise me, always in good ways. Now, I could use some food after all of that exercise. Do you mind if I grab something on the way back?”

Thankfully it seemed no one else was in the springs at the moment, at least not near enough to have heard them making love...twice...well, maybe if they just walked through, no one would notice them as they left.

“Uhm…” he said. “I feel it only gentlemanly to point out that we got a little loud at a few points earlier. I can’t guarantee that no one heard us. If you just want to blink home, I’ll understand. Not that we have anything to be ashamed of.”

“Oh, well…” Akira said, looking over at the empty pools in thought. “I wasn’t really thinking about if anyone would hear us… That would be quite embarrassing if we did run into anyone who might have heard, but… But I am not ashamed of what we did! I will go with you to get food,” she declared, looking at Daytona with a smile.

“See,” Daytona said, grinning and offering his arm. “Always surprising me. I definitely make out on this deal. I get to escort the most striking woman in the galaxy around Artan Fortress! Let’s go dazzle the natives, my love.”

Akira smiled brightly and hooked her arm in his. “You surprise me as well,” she said as they passed through the caves that separated the hot springs from the rest of the gardens. “Every time you allow yourself to be vulnerable with me, it makes me feel so special,” she said softly. “You are always so open around me, and if the closed off personalities of Warrant Officers Nexi and West are any indication, being in Intelligence doesn’t offer much in the way of a ‘trusting’ atmosphere or lifestyle.”

“You’re correct,” Daytona said. “There are few opportunities to trust someone. That’s why I take advantage of being able to trust someone when I can. It’s...it’s been awhile since I’ve felt comfortable enough to trust someone like I trust you. I’m learning that I can tell you anything, but also that I don’t have to tell you everything. To someone like me, someone who often has information he can’t share, that’s important.”

Akira nodded knowingly. “I can’t imagine what it would be like to keep such secrets. It seems to be it would become tiresome after awhile.” She offered him a warm smile and leaned in closer, resting her head on his arm. “But I understand, and I’m here for you.” In whatever way he needed her, especially the pleasurable ways...

“It does become tiresome,” Daytona said. He knew she was there for him, and that it wasn’t only moral support she was offering. He felt himself stirring again, the warmth of Akira spreading from his arm to his chest and through his body. He was starting to think food was overrated. “But it comes with the territory. And I do know you’re here for me, and I appreciate it.”

Akira’s skin carried the scent of the mineral water they’d been bathing in. Daytona remembered the taste of the mineral rich water on his lover’s skin and started thinking about licking her clean when they got back to their rooms. Food was seeming less and less important.

They walked in silence for a while, on their way to an eating establishment where he could ‘refuel’ all the while Akira was smiling happily. But then a glance his way and she caught a certain gaze, a gaze with intent and hunger, and not for food.

“Why are you looking at me like you are about to eat me?” Akira asked.

Daytona grinned mischievously.

“Allow me to escort you back to our rooms and I’ll show you!” he said. "And by escort, I mean...THIS!"

Without giving her a chance to answer, Daytona picked his tiny, young lover up and put her over his shoulder. Akira squealed in mock terror and then giggled madly as Daytona carry her off to their rooms. They got some strange looks, but Daytona didn't care, and Akira was giggling too much to notice.

====Later====

“So,” he said. “If you don’t mind, I’m going to have the holocats bring me something from the kitchen...probably something with lots of protein...nevermind. Anyway, I’m going to have them bring me something to eat, if you don’t mind. I was thinking...if you’d like, we could cuddle here for a while? We could pick out a book and read to each other if you’d like. I just...want to be here with you.”

“You need to eat, so please, eat!” Akira stated with a knowing smile. “If you can bring me a book, I will read to you while you eat, then we can cuddle, how does that sound?”

Daytona smiled and gave Akira a kiss.

“Sure thing,” Daytona said. “And thank you for not getting offended when I eat in front of you. That makes things much easier.”

Daytona quickly ordered some food and while they waited, he just held Akira close and ran his fingers through her hair. When the food arrived, he placed it on a sort of breakfast in bed type thing. He looked over the books on the wall and found one that might interest Akira’s inquisitive mind. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.

He brought the book over and handed it to her, then climbed into bed sitting up and pulled his dinner over to him.

“That will either intrigue you or drive you nuts,” Daytona said. “As a former detective, I found them to be a lot of fun to read.”

“Sherlock Holmes?” Akira read off as she took the book. Then she snuggled close to Daytona once he was situated with his meal and began to read aloud. Though after a bit she came to the conclusion that this was going to drive her nuts. “And then he noticed-” she continued to read, several pages in, but then suddenly stopped when she saw something utterly ridiculous. “Oh, now there is no way he can notice all that from across a room! I’m practically a walking sensor array supercomputer and even I wouldn’t notice something like that!” she criticized with a pout. “And this is supposed to be high literature to the humans?”

“Yes,” Daytona said. “Sherlock Holmes has studied everything to do with crime. All of the literature, every case file he could find, every scientific theory and practice related to the solving of crimes. He’s even studied all of the different kinds of cigar ash so he can determine by sight and smell and texture the kind of cigar a pile of cigar ash came from. He knows where to purchase every known type of cigar. In a way, he’s sort of a sensor array/supercomputer himself, only his sphere of knowledge includes only that which he thinks will be useful in the solving of a crime. As a detective, he knows what to look for at the scene of every crime. I know, it’s a stretch, but Holmes is, by the author’s intention, better than other men.”

“Actually, he seems like a terrible person,” Akira remarked, then continued to read.

“Hmm,” Daytona said. “I should have specified that he is smarter and more observant than other people, but as a whole person, he is somewhat less. Because he is a genius, he doesn’t suffer fools. And, you will find, he is addicted to cocaine, a powerful drug. So, no, he isn’t very nice. That’s why Watson is in the story, to give the reader someone they can relate to, someone fairly normal.”

Akira acknowledged his explanation with a grunt. “I see that,” she replied. “I still don’t see how this series is as popular as it is, how can people like this when many of his deductions make no logical sense!”

“Most of his deductions were possible with the scientific and medical knowledge available at the time,” Daytona said. “Deducing height and weight from length of stride and depth of footprints is done today. We can deduce the kind of ash we find at a crime scene, we just use a computer to find the information, while Holmes uses the information stored in his mind. I admit, he makes some leaps, but isn’t completely insane.”

“Yes, yes, and I can do these sorts of calculations and references to databases of information in a fraction of a second, but I am not a biological and I have access to vasts amounts of information, it’s strains credulity for him to know many of these things in the length of his life thus far! Of all the things he has studied, when does he have time to sleep or eat… or get high?” Akira suspected that her issues with the book, well namely that titular character, were amusing Daytona, and she would keep reading if for no other reason than he was enjoying the story, but it was not one that she would be adding to her collection.

Daytona looked at Akira for a moment, then shook his head. He leaned over and kissed her on the forehead.

“You make some excellent points,” he said. “We don’t have to read it if it’s unpleasant for you. Tell you what: why don’t you go put that back and see if there’s one on the wall that interests you. If there’s nothing there, my reading PaDD has a ridiculous amount of material on it. It’s right here on my night stand. Maybe there’s something on there you might like. I haven’t read all of the stuff on there, so maybe we’ll find something new to both of us. Go on, I’m not angry or upset.

“Are you sure?” Akira said, closing the book. “I know you enjoy this one, I really don’t mind reading it to you. I can even keep my commentary to myself so I don’t disturb your enjoyment of it.”

“No,” Daytona said. “I’ve read them before. I want to read something with you that you find enjoyable.”

“If you insist,” Akira said, rising from the bed to go get the PaDD, leaving the well worn book behind on the night stand. Then she returned to his side to browse through the entries stored within. As she snuggled up to him once again, she couldn’t help but reach out to steal a morsel from his plate; she normally consumed holographic foods so she wouldn’t have to worry about the logistics of disposing of the masticated remains, but she had still consumed real foods a time or two out of sheer curiosity, and the meat on his plate smelled so good, she was delighted to find that it tasted wonderful too.

“Alice in Wonderland…” Akira said softly as she read the synopsis of the book. “Curious,” she added with a small smile, then chose that entry to begin reading.

Daytona settled back and finished his dinner while Akira read to him. Her voice was soothing and he liked hearing it so he refrained from showing the slightest sign that he thought Alice was as dumb as the day is long. The story was actually a lot of fun, silly, and silly could be a good thing. When he was done eating, he removed the tray and then quickly went back to cuddling with his little blue paramour.

“Shall I take over?” he asked.

“If you wish,” Akira replied, handing him the PaDD and snuggling back up to him. She liked it when he read because he did voices! She so enjoyed these quiet times when they could simply relax with one another, and she understood now why biologicals required so much down time.

Daytona started reading, doing voices for the different characters and making Akira smile when the door to the bedroom, which was not all the way closed, swung in a bit. Daytona noticed and was alert for trouble but continued to read as though nothing had happened. Suddenly there was a ‘mew’ and Moriko appeared in their bed. She walked up Daytona’s chest and sniffed his face. Satisfied that this was someone she liked, she turned around on his stomach three times, and flopped over on her side, apparently having determined that Daytona’s stomach was a good place to lounge.

Daytona chuckled softly.

“Hello, little one,” he said and he scritched the kitten behind the ears.

Akira smiled and reach over to pet Moriko as well. She adored Moriko, and the rapidly growing kitten was teaching her more and more about biologicals than she would have thought possible. “Such a conspicuous entrance, I wonder if this cat is about to lead us astray,” Akira said with amusement, as if to compare Moriko to the Cheshire Cat.

Daytona laughed, softly, so he wouldn’t send Moriko scurrying.

“Well,” he said. “I’m only going to start worrying if she starts appearing as a disembodied head.” Daytona yawned.

“Wow,” he said. “You, young lady, have tired me out. What do you say the three of us cuddle here and take a little nap. You have my word that I will finish Alice in Wonderland with you tonight.”

“Mmm, that does sound like a good idea,” Akira replied, yawning as if on cue. She was quite tired, and being so warm and comfortable snuggled up to Daytona was making her even more drowsy. “But don’t forget to finish the story!” she insisted as she pulled up the sheets to cover them.

Daytona squirmed down into a more comfortable napping position. Moriko just went along for the ride, content to cuddle with her mother’s lover who was nice to her and pet her and played with her and cuddled her and sometimes gave her treats. Daytona leaned in and kissed Akira on the side of the head.

“A promise is a promise,” Daytona said. “There will be times when I won’t be able to keep promises because of what we do for a living, but I don’t think this is going to be one of those times.”

Daytona wriggled a little to cuddle in closer to Akira, careful again not to unseat Moriko, then relaxed and closed his eyes, the scent of her hair in his nose and they lay together.

Moriko apparently thought the sheets over her head were part of a game and she played around for about a minute, thankfully avoiding any swipes of her claws to Daytona’s boy parts. Then, apparently done with being covered in a sheet, she shimmied out from under them. She sniffed Daytona again and licked his nose a few times, then did the same to Akira, before finding a comfortable place between and above them on the pillows. She set herself down her digitigrade back legs supporting her and her front paws tucked underneath her. She had already decided in her kitty mind that when they woke up she’d act very cute and play with her people. She liked playing with her people and, if she was cute enough, maybe she’d get treats...or maybe it would dinner time when they woke up! The breakfast and dinner here on Artan Fortress were even better than on the Hera!