Though he had some work to do as the end of shore leave loomed near, Mal still had a fair about of spare time on his hands. Recently, when his hands had time to spare, he would spend time with Clio, who would give hands something to do. Unfortunately, Clio was off on a mission so Mal was on his own. During his time at Artan Fortress, Mal had discovered the charming little folk town that had been set up in the interior. In it, he'd found a tavern called the 'Two-Abreast" which featured a sign over the door with a carving of two busty women standing side-by-side. When he had the time, he liked to stop there for a drink and sometimes a meal. Today he was combining business and pleasure. He wanted to chat with the new Chief Science Officer, Lieutenant Summers, but he didn't want to do it on the ship. Here they were with the facilities of Artan Fortress at their disposal and Mal thought they should take advantage of it. Mal entered the tavern and was shown to his favorite table by a busty holocat wench. He ordered a mug of flip which the feline holowench brought over quickly. Mal sipped his drink and waited for the lieutenant to arrive.

Nathan was still getting used to this fortress, in fact, he was quite daunted by the sheer size of the thing. Why the XO wanted to meet in a place like this was beyond him but when he had received to invitation, Nathan could hardly refuse. Wandering into the 'Two Abreast', he immediately began scanning for the exec and after finally spotting him, Nate sauntered over to the being and said, "What's a nice satyr like you doing in a place like this?" He had always wanted to say those words to someone.

Mal glared at Nathan.

"What gave you the impression I am a 'nice satyr'?" he said in an icy tone. He held his glare for a long moment, then broke into a grin. "The answer is that a lot of people say I'm a nice satyr. And I am...most of the time! Commander Mal Xustos and you are Lieutenant Nathaniel Summers? Please, sit. Order whatever you'd like. The food and drink here at Artan Fortress are the real thing. No replicators are used except in emergency situations. We must take advantage of this luxury while we can."

"I just assumed you were nice, my apologies, Commander. I didn't mean for that to sound like a come-on. A Smirnoff Ice Green Apple flavor if you have it, please," he asked the bartender. "Oh, I suppose this is in order. Lieutenant Nathanial Summers, reporting as ordered, Sir."

"No worries," Mal said. "I didn't think it was a come on and I wasn't up set. Just having a little fun with the new guy. Where's the fun in being an All Powerful Executive Officer if you can't at least pretend to intimidate your subordinates? So, in most professional situations, I'll likely just refer to you as 'Lieutenant' or 'Lieutenant Summers' but just so I know if I use your given name, how do you prefer to be called? Nathaniel? Nathan? Nate?"

"I was also joking. I recognized that you were the type to joke with the noob. And that's ok, Sir. Forgive my staring but this the first time I've ever seen a satyr as they are in short supply on Earth or anywhere else for that matter. My family calls me 'Nathan' as do most of my friends but my partners have all called me 'Nate'. Call me whatever you feel comfortable with except late for duty," Nathan laughed at his own joke. If this was how the command staff was all the time, then he was definitely going to like this assignment.

"Alright then," Mal said. "So, as you have probably already guessed, this isn't going to be like any other assignment you had up til now, and likely not like any you'll have after you move on from here. I'd like to tell you that having captain who's also the matriarch of a pirate clan and owns a space fortress paradise that she let's us use for shore leave is the only out of the ordinary aspect of our work, but it isn't and it won't be. Demon mad scientists, aliens posing as gods from various Earth cultures, and who knows what else. We've got some interesting, not to mention dangerous, work ahead of us. Almost every day in Starfleet involves risk, but some assignments are riskier than others. We're one of those. Do you remember what James Kirk said about risk?"

"Not exactly but I get the gist of what you're saying and as I've told the captain, I am ready, willing and able to do whatever is required of me and then some," Nathan said to his new XO. "Now tell me something I don't know," he said with an impish grin.

"He said," Mal replied. "Risk is our business. Remember that when the excrement hits the air conditioner and you wonder if this is the life for you. This is the life you chose. Risk is our business."

The bartender handed Nathan his drink. Mal waited until he left to continue.

"Several of our crew," Mal said. "Along with Hermes, yes, I said Hermes, have gone on a mission to contact Hephaestus, yes, I said Hephaestus. They are traveling to planet 892-IV where a society parallel to Earth's Roman Empire has sprung up. Their technology level is approximately that of 21st Century Earth. They've broken the warp barrier so the Federation has opened negotiations with them. Our team intends to local a temple of Vulcan, Vulcan being the Roman name of the Greek god Hephaestus, and try to contact him from there. The Master, the demon we have been chasing across time and space, seems to have the ability to rapidly, almost instantaneously, regenerate. Not just from minor wounds, either. Members of our crew have witnessed him regenerate from severe tissue damage, even massive, destructive, head trauma, in a matter of moments. Hermes believes that Hephaestus can forge a weapon that will be able to disrupt the Master's accelerated cellular regeneration ability. If we can get that weapon, we can strike blows against him that will not heal, kill him, hopefully. If you get to see this weapon, I wouldn't touch it if I were you. Even an accidental cut would leave you with a wound that would never heal. Has anyone discussed Staff Warrant Officer Nexi's condition with you?"

"Um, no, Sir. This is the first time I've heard that name. But now that you mentioned the name please go ahead. You've piqued my curiosity."

"When we last encountered the Master," Mal said. "Two of our officers engaged him with pistols. All that did was drive him off in another direction for reasons I've already explained: he recovered almost immediately from his wounds. Nexi intercepted him and cut him with a dagger. Some of his blood got on an open wound and she is now infected. Whatever the Master is, she is becoming. Crewman Dedjoy and the medical staff here at the fortress have the details. I believe that Ida...Crewman Dedjoy, could use a little help figuring out how to treat and hopefully cure Nexi. They came up with a belt for her to wear that halts, or at least drastically slows the effect of the Master's blood, but that's only half of the problem. Every time she gives into rage and gets angry, it advances the effects of the Master's blood, belt or no belt. I know that biology, or whatever this is, isn't your field of specialty, but I know that potential science officers at the academy are expected to become familiar with various fields of science. I'm going to need you to call on that knowledge now. More than that, though, you're in charge of the science department. You have the expertise of many scientists to call on. Being in charge usually doesn't mean you do the job yourself. Being in charge means that you use the resources, including personnel, at your disposal to get the job done. On a personal note, we're rather fond of Nexi around here. She's a foulmouthed, ornery, disobedient, insubordinate, ill-mannered, pain in the ass with a lone wolf complex, but she's ours and we'd like to keep her around for a while. Hermes is going to ask around his people for any help they can give.
Until then, anything you and your department can do to help us do so would be appreciated."

"I feel certain that I will be of some assistance to you in this case and I swear to you that I will do everything in my power to help her," Nathan said firm in the knowledge that he would try his utmost to save her. "Do you have anyone in Medical that I can confer with?"

"Start with the Artan medical staff," Mal replied. "The nurses are holograms, but the physicians are flesh and blood and quite good at their jobs. Not that the nurses aren't, but, unlike flesh and blood nurses, they aren't programmed to expand their knowledge base in order to function as medical scientists. Their programming isn't as sophisticated as that of the captain's wife, sister-in-law, and niece. Her niece, Akira, is our operations officer. You'll meet her soon, I assume. Be patient with her. She's technically only been alive for the last four months or so. Anyway, start with Crewman Dedjoy, then the Artan medical staff. By then our medical staff will have had a chance to examine Nexi or at least look at her test results and they'll be able to have an intelligent conversation with you about what's going on with her."

"Aye Sir, I'll start with Crewman Dedjoy then. And from there, I'll meet with the medical staff here. Are there any names of people I should start with?"

"Dr. Tuborno," Mal said. "He's treating Nexi here at the fortress. On the Hera, our infectious disease specialist is working on the problem."

"Thank you, Commander. I'll start with the crewman and progress from there."

"Excellent," Mal said. "So, I've read your file. I know some of the pertinent facts. Tell me something interesting about your previous assignments. You came highly recommended by Rear Admiral Vorik. What made you choose to take a break from Starfleet and pursue your education rather than join the admiral's staff? Being an admiral's dog-robber is hard work, but it does great things for your promotion potential."

"To be honest, I thought about it long and hard. I turned him down because it wouldn't have done anything for my promotionability in my chosen field. I could be a lieutenant commander maybe even a commander by now but it would have been as some pencil pusher, not as a science officer. I wanted to get promoted based on my skills as a scientist not as an aide to some admiral. My desire to further my education had nothing to do with the admiral's offer. I had been thinking about taking that sabbatical for quite some time by then. Admiral Vorik's offer had just pushed me in that direction quicker.

"My first assignments were all pretty much dry stuff. The interesting stuff didn't start until I was posted to the USS Sentinel. Now that assignment was very fun for me; I was assigned as their Astrometrics Officer. It was my first time serving in that capacity. The Firehawk saw my first step towards this job. I was promoted to Assistant Chief Science Officer and it only got more interesting from there. And the rest as they say is history, Sir."

Realizing that Nathan didn't seem to want to talk anymore about his past, Mal decided to let him off the hook. He drained his mug.

"Ah," Mal said. "Excellent. Well, I'm off. Work to be done and all that. Nice to meet you Lieutenant Summers."

Mal motioned to the bartender and when he came over, he paid for both of their drinks and then stood up. Before he left the bar, he turned back to Nathan.

"Welcome aboard, Lieutenant," Mal said. And then he was gone.

"Thank you, Sir. It appears my stay on board this ship will not be boring in anyway."

Technically the Hera still had a week of shore leave left, but Enalia decided she'd best spend it getting used to the relatively cramped confines of her ship rather than her orbital fortress with the rest of her crew to prepare for the upcoming mission. Her crew deserved a lot more time off after everything they'd been through and though she wished she could stay here another few weeks, but duty waited for no one and the Master was on the move.

Thankfully, they finally had a full Science officer to fill the Chief position. Enalia had checked the logs and he had checked in and all that so hopefully soon he'd be reporting in to meet her. Honestly, she was just hoping for something to break up the monotony. Even Schwein's pig references seemed funny compared to these TPS reports she was reading...

Elsewhere, Nathanial was stepping out of the runabout 'Kyrie' that he had flown to get him to his new assignment, the USS Hera. From what he was able to glean from Command, she was a modified Nebula-class heavy cruiser and the largest ship he had ever served on. He was happy to join this crew on their journey. He knew from the orders that he needed to report into the captain and Executive Officer. So he made his way to the Captain's ready room.

As he neared his destination, Nathanial stopped just short of the door and breathed in deep and let that breath slowly out of his lungs. He then pressed the door chime and waited to be bid to enter...He took another deep breath an also held it in.

"Enter," Enalia called as she looked up from a report on stellar decay on yet another anomaly they were supposed to use as a cover story. "Oh thank goodness. You must be Lieutenant Summers, our new Science Chief. Do you prefer tea, coffee, or water?"

Exhaling out, he said "Lieutenant Nathanial Kristopher Summers, reporting as ordered Sir! Peppermint Hot Chocolate, if you have it, Sir?

Enalia sighed heavily and leaned back in her chair,shaking her head in disappointment. She then leaned forward and started pulling foil packs, a bottle of water, and a self heating mug out of her desk and started preparing a proper mug of cocoa as she spoke. "You had one chance at making a good first impression and you blew it. I mean, yes I obviously have peppermint hot chocolate... You'll have to wait for the mug to warm the Bolian peppermint oils and Risian cocoa... But if you call me Sir one more time you'll be drinking it on the other side of an airlock. I am to be addressed as either ma'am or Captain. Understood?"

By the time she was done talking, the mug was done as well, steam rising from the frothy chocolate so she slid it over to her new Science Chief. "Be careful - the mug tends to get a bit hot."

"My apologies, Ma'am. One can never tell how to address female captains so I decided to follow protocol. It will never happen again, rest assured, Captain. I have learned the error of my ways."

"Good, now sit down and tell me about yourself." Snapping her fingers, Enalia remembered the most important thing and pulled out a silver tubular device. Clicking a button, a fluffy white thing popped out and she offered it to him. "Marshmellon?"

"Yes thank you, Captain. Well, where to begin? Oh, I know. Ever since I was a little boy, I would dream about the stars. I got my first telescope when I was 7 and spent every night looking up at the sea of stars that surrounded us. It was then and there that I decided to would join Starfleet as soon as I was old enough.

"After graduating from high school, I applied to the Academy and was accepted. I chose to study sciences like my Uncle Raymond Grey. I had given serious thoughts to going into Medicine like my father and law like my mother but in the end, Sciences won out.

"My choice of careers has put me at odds with my family because neither of my parents nor my siblings served. My parents had high hopes for me; they just didn't mean this high," Nathan smiled at his comment. "Captain, I pledge myself to your command and will never do anything to jeopardize your ship or crew. I just wanted to say that. Anything else you would like to know about me?"

"Enalia nodded and popped out a second marshmellon as she listened, chewing on it thoughtfully. "You already took an oath to that uniform, Nathan. I don't need any more loyalty than that. Though now that you're on a ship assigned to Intel Command, you're going to be seeing some things you'll wish you hadn't. How up to date are you on nanotech? both Borg and otherwise?"

"While it isn't my specialty, I feel up to snuff. I've read quite a bit about Borg nanotech. And I've even done some work in the field," Nathan said. "Why do I get the feeling that I've just landed in a hornet's nest?"

"A hornet's nest doesn't begin to describe it. We've been tasked with hunting down a dangerous Vulcanoid doing genetic research and experiments who we've found out happens to also be an ancient Iconian demon. He's gotten help from the Tal Shiar, Obsidian Order, House Pegh, Section 31, and every other secret society in the galaxy it seems in order to continue his work since he's awoken. With a scrap of luck, his next lab we raid will be one of his last and the time to face him will draw that much closer." Taking a sip from her water glass to moisten her throat after that expository speech, Enalia continued with a bit more info. "I requested your security clearance be upgraded to sigma nine and as soon as our Intel Chief gets back from Magna Roma you should be cleared for briefings on specific details on all that from her."

"Now that does sound interesting, Captain. I must warn you, Captain, that my areas of expertise are climatology and stellar phenomena. Though I've studied Borg nanotech, that doesn't make me an expertise in the field. Perhaps your Medical Officer or your Chief Engineer would be more pragmatic choices in this arena," said Nathan, trying not to cause his new CO to lose faith in him.

"Understandable. Unfortunately, with how things are these days, as Chief Science Officer I'll need you to brush up on all of this and be ready to be an expert on anything even remotely sciency." Enalia tapped on one of her desk terminals for a few seconds and pulled up one of her desk's holo displays to show off the sensor scans of one of the enemies they'd faced - a nine foot tall Borgified Gorn that was modified to breathe jets of fire. Next to it she pulled up its counterpart that shot jets of liquid nitrogen from its mouth. "Here are a couple examples of the enemies we've fought in the past as an example."

Shrinking them down and bringing in a third hologram, Enalia showed him one of their more recent conquests... a 50 foot long genetically modified Cardassian vole that looked like it belonged in a Godzilla movie. "That vole ate two of my crew and tried to eat the away team's runabout."

Nathan was shocked at what he saw.What have I gotten myself into? he thought to himself. "Is it too late to ask for a transfer?" he asked his new CO jokingly.

"Only if you want to transfer to Medical. We need a new Chief in that department as well." Enalia grinned wryly. If she was knew to this whole thing, she'd probably ask the same thing. Clicking the holo-displays off, she sat back and was quiet for a moment before continuing. "I know it's a lot to take in. Unfortunately, the truly horrifying things are going to have to wait for Clio to return from her trip so for now you just need to do your best to settle in, learn the layout of the ship, and enjoy my family's orbital fortress during your off time. We still have a week left of scheduled shore leave and resupply ahead of us. Do you have any questions for me?"

"Not at this moment,no ma'am."

Enalia smiled politely. He seemed a bit stiff, but his records spoke highly of his skills and just from this brief conversation she knew he'd fit in well. At the very least, she was sure she wouldn't have to stun him or fake his death any time soon like so many other crewmembers... She always seemed to find the interesting ones. "Well, stick around and finish your cocoa at least. I don't want my mug walking off. Welcome aboard the Hera."

"Thank you, Captain. I think I will finish my cocoa," Nathan sat back and enjoyed her company. This is the first woman who put me at ease since my mother. I only hope she stays this way.

Nodding and picking up a PaDD, Enalia clicked it back on and yawned immediately. Yeah, these TPS reports were more dry than Vulcan witticisms... "Computer, please spy on my wife and try to figure out what she's making for dinner without alerting her."

The computer gave a chirping sound to signify that it had acknowledged the order and a few seconds later, it replied. "She has been alerted and would like to notify you that dinner will be Trill cod and pasta with a white sauce and asparagus."

"Thank you computer," Enalia replied. Then under her breath she muttered, "Monitoring the internal sensors again... Can't get anything by her..."

"Maybe I can help you with that," Nathan said with an odd grin.

Enalia chuckled softly and shook her head no. "No tampering with my wife please. She may be photonic, but she's a sentient lifeform. So is Akira, whom is our Operations Chief and her niece."

"I was talking about reprogramming the computer, Captain," Nathan said. "I have some knowledge in computer programming and I could do some tinkering to it that would allow you to 'spy' on her without her knowing about it."

"She uses the internal sensors around her as a sort of sixth sense so... Good luck..." Enalia added. "Besides, it comes in handy and I wouldn't want things any other way. It adds some spice to life. When I get home I'll have to explain why I got my hand caught in the cookie jar rather than just asking her."

"OK good enough," he said. "I just thought I'd try. You can't fault me for that, can you?"

Enalia smiled "Not at all. It's admirable, but in this case, somewhat futile I think."

Nathan sat up in his seat and realized he had yet to pick up his cocoa. Smelling the strange aroma of the peppermint, he grabbed the mug from the table beside him and drank deeply. He let something akin to a purr as he did so. As he set the mug down, he realized the cocoa had left something behind; a mustache of foam above his upper lip. He let out a light-hearted laugh. It had been a long time since he had been able to sit and enjoy a drink. As he finished his cocoa, he stood up and bowed at the waist to his new Captain, "It's been a pleasure talking with you but I really should be going. Thank you for the enchanting time and the excellent drink. Am I dismissed?" he said with a big grin.

"You are," Enalia replied pleasantly. "And I recommend you take advantage of the hot springs bath in the fortress before we leave. They're somewhere in the sixtieth floors. The holo-maid system can help you find them."

"Thank you, Captain for the excellent cocoa and the informative chat," Nathan said as he took note of the captain's suggestion. "Noted," he smiled once more and yet again and then turned to leave.

After Nathan had left, Enalia leaned back in her chair and sighed heavily. She hoped this Science Chief lasted longer than the last few. It seemed this ship was cursed when it came to Science and Medical Chiefs. She even lost one Science Chief as he was arriving in a shuttle accident in her own shuttle bay, not to mention the Medical Chief that fell down that turbolift shaft on that away mission... On second thought, that was probably far more merciful than what happened to the rest of the away team that didn't come back...

Sighing again, she pulled the used mug off her desk and dropped it into the cleaning unit in her desk, then resumed reading her TPS reports.

Thex grinned as she tasted blood in her mouth as she rolled out of the way of the Orion's foot. Springing back to her feet she grinned as she blocked another of the Orion woman's punches before landing a blow on the woman's abdomen sending her backward and causing the crowd to cheer.

Unregulated hand to hand combat now this she had been missing she thought as the orions screamed as she flung herself at the Andorian in a flurry of punches and kicks. For every blow, the Andorian blocked or deflected another struck her sending stabs of pain through her body.

She grinned as she launched her counterattack landing several blows on the Orion woman's torso causing the Orion fighter to have to adopt a defensive posture as Thex forced her back. With a kick that she didn't see coming Thex broke her defense causing her to stagger back. Not letting her regain her balance Thex ran forward landing a punch cross the woman's face sending her spinning to the ground.

The Andorian grinned increased as she didn't get up and the klaxon sounded. Smiling Thex headed for her exit as her opponent staggered in the other direction.

Within a few minutes, she was collecting her winnings from a rather unhappy Klingon who had obviously bet on her opponent. With a small pile of latinum in a bag at her waist, the andorian smiled as she took in the sights and smells of Deneb II. It was far from the captain's own private space station, but it had a life of its own. Weapons, drugs, and food you couldn't get in the Federation were sold by vendors from a thousand worlds all while the dimly lighted corridors were patrolled by the mercs hired to protect the station.

One thing the Andorian couldn't see was the person she had come here to meet. What could have been keeping him?

Clio honestly hadn't meant to wander in on the fighting arena, but once she'd heard the ruckus she couldn't help investigating. It was exactly the sort of place she'd love to participate in but never would... she was too scared she'd end up killing someone and wind up behind bars. To her surprise, she saw Thex in the ring and then collecting winnings. She knew Thex wasn't expecting her, so she approached somewhat cautiously. "You know... if Enalia or Mal caught you in here you could be in a lot of trouble."

The Andorian was slightly startled when the lieutenant commander voice reached her ears. "Holy... Sorry, Clio didn't see you there. Yeah I know I can end up in trouble.... Hang on what are you doing here?" she asked inquisitively.

"Followed the sounds. Like you, combat is in my blood. I don't dare enter the ring though." Clio shrugged slightly. "I'm not planning to tell either of them. I know how to keep a secret or three."

"Thanks. Why won't you enter the ring though? I thought you were a good fighter." Thex asked as she leaned back against the wall.

"It's a little hard to keep such things secret if you have a penchant for killing your opponents without much mercy." It was a matter-of-fact statement, not a boast or even a sinful secret. Clio was well-known in her circles as a bringer of death.

"Yeah, that would be hard to keep secret. Don't suppose you've seen someone around here. An old human who looks very out of place?" Thex asked politely.

"He's about ten meters behind me, sitting at a picnic table with a drink mug. Thought he looked a bit odd sitting by himself drinking, but just about everyone here looks a little strange anyway." Clio just barely glanced over her shoulder, confirming that the man she'd seen was still there. "Older, seems to have a few secrets in his past he doesn't share. Unless you meant a woman, in which case, no."

"Very observant Lieutenant Eneas Clio. I'll have to work better at my illusions." Said a man appearing right behind the pair. It spoke with an alien haunting voice without moving its lips as the words echoed in your skull. It lips parted into a terrifying grin as it looked at the Andorian. "Good to see you again little one."

"Good to see you to Vash." Thex said giving the old man that clearly wan't human a hug.

"Lieutenant Commander, actually." Clio didn't like the way the man's voice seemed to echo in her brain. It was too much like telepathy, and it was downright eerie. "How do you know who I am anyway? We haven't met."

"It's the name on your Starfleet profile, isn't it?" Vash replied with the same grin.

A prickle ran up Clio's spine as she took a half step away from whoever this person was. "And what business do you have reading my Starfleet profile?"

"Well, I need to know who I'm handing the info over. Your current contact couldn't make it so she asked me to hand it over." The creature replied as it sent a flash of his own starfleet intelligence profile and allowed the Cervan to see his true form. The human form faded like water washing away dirt reviling a blue Cnidaria that hovered higher than the two Starfleet officers.

"...well that explains a lot." Clio didn't have much experience with the Cnidaria, but she knew enough about them to understand what was going on here. "My current contact also missed his last check in, so I wasn't sure if we would be receiving anything today."

"He is otherwise delayed. The syndicate was following him so he needed an emergency extraction. He asked to pass this on." The alien jellyfish responded as it seemingly pulled a data stick from thin air.

"The Orions still giving you trouble?" Thex asked the closest thing she had to a father.

"Well two of them have started fighting each other which has made are job easier. I hope Thex is proving herself a credit to your ship." The jellyfish asked Cilo.

"Thex is a good engineer and apparently a decent enough spy too. We like having her around." Clio couldn't comment much on Thex's actual work, not being in the same department. But she liked the Andorian woman well enough. "Good fighter too, not that Starfleet puts much stock in that."

"I'm glad she's making herself useful. Keep her safe won't you?" The jellyfish replied.

"Of course. Though I'm not sure she really needs any help with that." Clio grinned a bit.

"I'm the closest thing she has to a father i worry about her." The jellyfish said as he appred to be folding in on himself.

"I know you do. See you later," Thex said as the jellyfish vanished. "Sorry about that he has a habit of vanishing like that."

"It's quite all right. Now that I know what to expect, he won't startle me next time." Clio still didn't quite know what to think of what had just happened, but she wasn't questioning it either. Weird things happened to you when you worked in Intelligence, after all.

"Well now that's over do you have anything else you need to do?" Thex asked politely.

"No, but I do think I'll be heading back. That was quite enough adventure for one night, I think." Clio was still processing the entire event... and hoping it wasn't going to become a regular occurrence. "Be careful out here, Thex."

"See you back on the ship." The replied as she wandred off towards another fighting pit. Her winnings bags could be bigger by the end of the day.

Despite having a great deal of work to do, Mal was making sure to take advantage of the many amenities of Artan Fortress while the Hera was still docked there. He brought his PaDD with him to the park, sat down at a bench, and began to read through various reports, making notes here and there. He'd invited the new Chief Medical Officer, Doctor Cassiopeia Yale, to meet him here in the park. It would make for an informal meeting, but Mal wasn't concerned about that. He wasn't one of those officers who constantly had to prove that he was in command. As long as orders were obeyed when he gave them, that was good enough for him, so he didn't feel the need to try to intimidate people when he first met them. No, a quiet meeting in the park would be quite nice. He just hoped the new doctor would be able to find him.

The map was able to guide her only so far before Cassiopeia was left to her own devices to wander through the park. For most of her career in Starfleet, she has served on star bases and was familiar with those arboretums. However, this "park" was a tad more expansive than what she was used to.

There weren't many people around, so one small favor was that she didn't have to search through a sea of faces as she sought out the Hera's XO. After a few more minutes, she eventually found who she was looking for seated under an ... oak? "Hello?" she said. And then a little less timidly, "I'm Doctor Yale."

Mal looked up from his PaDD to find a striking young woman standing before him.

"Hello," he said, standing up from the bench he was sitting on. "I'm Commander Mal Xustos, the Hera's executive officer. Unless I'm mistaken, you, Lieutenant, are our new chief medical officer. Please, take a seat. Join me. The Hera's arboretum is nice, but it pales in comparison to this place. Let's enjoy it while we can, shall we?"

Cassi nodded then took a seat, "Yes, sir." She always felt awkward meeting strangers outside of sickbay. "You never have to worry about the weather in a controlled environment like this."

"Too bad, really," Mal replied. "I miss having a good frolic in the rain now and again. So, you come highly recommended. Your colleagues and superiors respect you a great deal. I notice your service has been confined to Starfleet Medical and two starbases. How do you think you'll adjust to being the chief medical officer of a Nebula Class starship?"

"I think I will be able to adjust fairly quickly. I foresee the hardest part will be familiarizing myself with the crew." She tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "I tried reviewing the crew's medical records on my way here, but I wasn't able to access many of the records. I'll catch up quickly," she promised.

"I do hope that's true," Mal said. "Have you been advised of Staff Warrant Officer Nexi's condition?"

"Only very briefly," she said. "I'm afraid I don't understand the situation at all. Who would be the right person to discuss it further?"

"Doctor Tuborno here at the Fortress's medical center can fill you in on her current condition," Mal said. "Crewman Ida Dedjoy in Hera's science department has been working on the problem, and I just tasked Lieutenant Summers, our new chief science officer to work on the problem as well. The gist of the problem is this: the Hera has been pursuing a mad scientist with a penchant for genetic manipulation, a very long lived one. We discovered recently that he, he goes by the grandiose title of 'The Master', if you can believe that, we recently discovered that he is an Iconian. He is also, for lack of a better word, a demon. You'll have to ask Captain Telvan to give you the details we have about his origins. Our pursuit of this man has taken us through both space and time. We recently returned from the year 2160 by Federation calendar. During our encounter with him there, he cut Staff Warrant Officer Nexi and she cut him. His blood seems to have gotten into her cut and now whatever he is, she seems to be becoming. Crewman Dedjoy managed to cobble together a belt that slows the process, but when she gets angry, the infection, again for lack of a better word, progresses. When you meet Nexi, you'll soon realize that asking her not to get angry or upset is like asking her not to breathe, so there is some urgency to this matter."

"Well, there's nothing quite like starting a new job with an impossible task for your first assignment. You said - Dedjoy has been working on this? Is he in medical?" Cassi asked. She wished she had brought a notebook with her to jot down notes.

"Ida Dedjoy is a woman," Mal said. "She's in the science department. We haven't had a chief medical medical officer in a while. You'll have to meet with your staff to see who's doing what about Nexi's condition."

She nodded, "I will definitely do that. Is there anything else I should know about?"

"Just this," Mal said. "You are about to enter a very strange world. Demons, so-called gods, 'mythical' creatures and species. Well, I suppose you already guessed about the mythical species because, well, here I am before you. But I digress. You are going to see strange things, some wonderful, some horrible. On a starbase, trouble comes looking for you. On a starship, particularly this specific starship, we go looking for trouble...and find it nearly everywhere we look. Forget about thinking outside the box. With our missions, there are often no boxes to begin with. You are considered to be extremely intelligent. Others have called you courageous 'especially with her background' but they failed to elaborate. So...be bold, be courageous, be what everyone is telling me that you are, and you'll do fine here. My door is always open...well, figuratively. There's often classified material in there, so I have to keep it closed when I'm not there, and even when I am there, the activity on the bridge can be very distracting, and then there's the times I need to have private conversations in there...well, you get the point, I think. If you need me for something, you can come to me. No question is too dumb, no idea too crazy, no problem too trivial. Understood?"

"I would answer 'understood' eagerly... but it all sounds so unbelievable. I'm not even sure I'll understand when I see all the facts and records in front of me. I can promise that I will try though," Cassi said. She shoved her hands into her lab coat pockets. With her hands in her pockets, she hoped to control the trepidation. If the executive officer was playing a joke, it was a cruel one. But worse than that, Cassi was pretty sure everything he said was truth. "And I'm up for the challenge," she added.

Mal smiled.

"I believe you are," Mal said. "Well, I'll drop in to Sick Bay to see how you're settling in very soon. Again, if you need anything, come to me and I'll see what I can do."

The chronometer on Mal's wrist beeped. He looked at it and sighed.

"I'm afraid that I've got to get going," he said. "One more meeting for the day, and then I'm changing out of this utilikilt, uniform shirt, and jacket into something much more comfortable, and then I'm going to grab my lyre or maybe one of my other instruments and settle down here in the park and play music until I absolutely have to rest! It was very nice to meet you doctor. I look forward to working with you."

"Likewise, sir." Cassi stood up also but didn't join the first officer on the path to the exit yet. Instead, she returned to the bench and took a deep breath of the fresh air. "I must have pissed off someone in command..." she thought.

Earth 3 years ago:

Nathan Summers had just left Earth once more. He was happy even giddy to get back into space once again. He had spent that past 6 months in Starfleet Medical recovering from his injuries from the shuttle crash. Though his injuries weren't critical in any way, the doctors felt he needed the extra time to heal from the malnutrition he suffered while shipwrecked on Perales II with Rear Admiral Jayden Vorik and Lieutenant Subaa.

The rest of the time spent on Earth was visiting with his family and attending to his duties back at Command. He was pleased when Admiral Vorik promoted him to Lieutenant out of the goodness of his heart and out of appreciation for saving his the Subaa's lives at the expense of his own health. Nathan said it was all in the line of duty as far as he saw it. So he felt that the promotion was all the thanks he needed and turned down the position on the admiral's staff once more and decided he needed to get back into space once more.

>USS Firehawk; 5 hours from when he left the ship<:

"Lieutenant Summers, is there nothing I can say to keep you here?" Captain DeSoto asked one last time.

"Captain, just I need to stretch my legs a bit. I feel I've grown all I can here and need broader horizons in order to grow more. The position I'm applying for should help mold me into a firmer being," Nathan said plaintively. He felt like he was talking with the admiral again.

"I understand, Nathan and I respect your decision," the older captain said feeling like he won even if he hadn't done so. He wanted Nathan to stay so much even to the point of giving him another promotion if it meant keeping him. "Godspeed and good luck to you, Lieutenant Nathanial Kristopher Summers."

"Thank you for your understanding, Captain. Likewise I'm sure," and Nathan turned on his heel and exited the ready room for the shuttlebay. Upon reaching his destination, he stopped short of the door and hesitated. For the first time in his life, he felt unsure of himself and his abilities. What if he was taking the wrong step. Then he chided himself for feeling what he was feeling. He had no business doing what he was doing to himself. So he took a deep breath, released it several seconds later, walked into the shuttlebay and over to his runabout.

"Chief Warren, is my runabout ready to depart?" he asked Senior Chief Petty Officer James Warren, the deck chief.

"It should be ready for you to leave in roughly an hour. Is that acceptable, Lieutenant?" Chief Warren asked.

"That sounds good enough to me. Carry on, Chief," he said as he entered the runabout to go over the pre-flight checklist himself as he was peculiar about how his vehicle was handled. He then decided to return to his quarters and get some rest before his long flight to the USS Hera/i>.

>USS Hera Chief Science Officer's Office<:

Nathan was seated in is office going over what records he could find on his current assignment. What he was finding out was that there wasn't much to go on. How he wished for a Chief Medical Officer, someone not photonic. He loved the holodeck as much as the next guy but in his mind that's where holograms belonged. He had never even worked with an EMH. Not that he was prejudiced, but he preferred flesh and blood officers to the artificial kind. What would happen if they decided to take over?

~Nate, STOP!!!~ he heard his inner voice cry out. What was he doing? He needed to speak to someone about this whole deal like now!. He wondered if there was a counselor on board. But first he needed to report to Sickbay for his physical.

A post by:

Lieutenant Nathan Summers
Chief Science Officer
USS Hera

After they landed and everyone was dressed and ready to go, the group exited the ship and headed for customs, such as it was. The agents looked them over, checked their Starfleet IDs and the Baroness' civilian one. Hermes also had a civilian ID. Daytona made up a passable excuse for why three Starfleet officers had hitched a ride on a private vessel and the Baroness used her excuse of being a potential investor in the planet's economy. She even managed to come up with a good explanation as to why she was travelling with three Starfleet officers. Whatever they said, it seemed to work and the group was allowed through customs and T'Pral was allowed to keep her sidearm. There was a brand spanking new tourist information booth and Daytona walked over to it and downloaded several different brochures for different parts of the capitol city, making sure that at least one of them boasted about a temple to the god Vulcan. All the while he kept observing his surroundings. Was anyone taking an undue interest in the group? He couldn't be sure. The three women were attractive and were attracting some sidelong glances from men and some of the women passing through, with a few openly checking them out. Hermes had his hood up. Hermes attracted similar attention. So far though, no one had matched his face to the one they'd seen on a statue of Mercury. Daytona rejoined the group.

"Commander," he said, displaying the map on his PaDD. "The nearest temple to Vulcan is...here. The information officer said that this was a good time of day to visit because it would be quiet. He also complimented you on your beauty...and then said there had been a number of 'very healthy' attractive women passing through here recently, on their way to visit the capitol. He saw my bracelet and commented that the designs on it reminded him of what he'd seen on the women's 'wrist bands'. I take this to mean there are Amazons about. I asked him if he'd seen anything else he thought was strange come through here. Nothing matched the description of a Minotaur, but that doesn't mean they didn't smuggle one or more down here somehow."

"If he's seen Amazons, either Hera or Athena is here. Most likely." Clio didn't comment on the reported compliment; she didn't much care if some random stranger thought her to be pretty. "Whoever is here with the Amazons... we can let them wander a bit. We came here to see Hephaestus if possible, so I think we should go to the temple first. Unless, of course, someone spots a minotaur."

"They are rather difficult to miss," Daytona said dryly. "Actually, I've done a little research. Hephaestus used Cyclopses...Cyclopi..."

"Cyclopes," Hermes said.

"Ah," Daytona said. "Okay, Cyclopes then. Hephaestus uses Cyclopes as his assistants. If we actually meet Hephaestus, can I assume there might be one or more Cyclopes present?"

"Maybe," Hermes said. "They'll be protective of him because he treats them well, but they are not particularly violent unless provoked. Just remember that we created the Cyclopes to function effectively. That means that we genetically engineered them to have depth perception despite having only one eye. However, they are basically manual labor, though some became skilled crafters under Hephaestus' tutelage. They can fight and well if the need arises, so be prepared. They are very strong and tough to hurt, but they also have slower reflexes than you, don't react as quickly, and can't move as fast as you can. As I said though, they are not violent unless provoked. I really like to avoid a fight with them, if we even encounter them. Killing Vulcan's minions is not going to leave him well disposed towards our request for his services."

"Well," Daytona said. "I'm not sure we really need to worry now that I think about it. Federation officials have been visiting this planet regularly since the Magna Romans discovered warp technology. I'm pretty sure if Cyclopes...or Minotaur for that matter were present, someone from the Federation would have made note of it in a report. The Federation has never encountered either."

"We aren't here to kill anyone or start any fights. Someone else starts one, fine. Finish it. Any of you start one and I'll knock you on your ass." It was, perhaps, a bit of a hard line to take, but Clio didn't want to risk angering Hephaestus. They needed his help to stop the Master... and possibly Hera, if Hera was up to no good. "It's likely the Hephaestus has at least a few Cyclopes in his employ. They can be reasoned with, so we try that first."

"Alright then," Daytona said. "The Temple of Vulcan is this way I believe."

Daytona led the way out of the spaceport. Daytona marveled at the city. It matched the information he'd reviewed before coming here, which described the city as being a combination of ancient Rome and mid-21st Century Rome. The older buildings, especially the Temples, were beautiful, but the more 'modern' buildings had their charm as well.

T'Pral had remained silent as she watched the people and their surroundings. All of these Terran myths were apparently true. Did that mean there were other real 'gods' from Earth or even Vulcan? Had there been or was there really a Thor, Lokai, Anubis, Ra, or even Vulcan Gods of War, Death, and Peace from the time of the awakening?

Having grown up on Earth, Clio was familiar with Roman architecture, but she was impressed by the buildings they saw as they left the spaceport and entered the city proper. She took a few moments to look at it, until a familiar prickle ran down her neck. While she'd never been as powerful a telepath as a Betazoid, she damn sure knew when she was being stared at. A quick glance didn't immediately reveal any potential perpetrators, but the feeling refused to leave. Slipping past T'Pral, she caught up to Daytona, making sure to drop her voice to where only he and the rest of the team might hear. "Someone's watching us, and I don't mean the usual curious stares from the natives."

Schwein was seemingly enjoying the scenery as well when she took a deep breath. Half way through it, she coughed a bit and cleared her throat, less than amiable now that she smelled THAT smell again... It was like a cross between an unwashed man that had lived in a bullpen for years. Coming up alongside Hermes, she muttered a warning to him. "I smell a minotaur nearby. It might be in some sort of holographic cloak."

"Wonderful," Daytona said, also in a hushed voice continuing to walk and look around as though he was just a tourist. "The last thing we need is protracted battle with a Minotaur in the middle of downtown. Even if T'Pral could simply adjust her phaser to the highest setting and disintegrate the damn thing in one shot, we'd still have to explain to the locals why we killed it, which would give us away. The point is moot, anyway. According to Mal, the beasts are resistant to directed energy weapons. That's why the Pomtoli developed the frictionless blades in the first place. Besides that, if we don't kill it quickly, the local constabulary might get involved, and then there will be bullets flying around as well."

Daytona shook his head.

"Okay," he said. "I don't think those things travel alone. I don't get the impression they're smart enough. It must have a handler, either an Amazon or maybe a local polytheist from one of the fringe groups, the ones who want to oust the monotheists...possibly a priestess of Juno...that's Hera's name here. I guess we have two choices. Try to lure it somewhere quiet and hope we don't attract attention killing it or..."

"We could ignore it," Hermes said. "We won't be giving anything away by going to Vulcan's temple and trying to contact him. They could just be watching us. Once we're in the Temple, we'll be considered guests of Hephaestus and this Minotaur and its handler likely won't attack us there. We can re-evaluate once we get to the temple."

"He's right. There's no reason to draw attention to it, and I don't want to explain to the locals how we magically conjured weapons." Clio had the friction-less kopis, but she didn't want to draw attention to herself either. "We continue on our way, like we don't know a minotaur is lurking somewhere in the square. Once on Vulcan's holy ground, we should be safe."

"Agreed," Daytona said. The group kept right on walking, making it's way through the streets of 'Rome' to the Temple of Vulcan. Soon, they found the temple, a fairly large rectangular building with Doric columns surrounding an enclosed cella and an a-frame roof. The temple was well maintained, faced with an expensive looking marble analog. For the most part a classic Doric perypteros. At the peak of the roof, above the outer entrance, was a cast stone fire pit with flames roaring high. Below the fire pit was a relief of Vulcan with a hammer. Once past the top of the steps, similar reliefs, along with reliefs of Cyclopes, on the walls near the entrance, and around the sides, and presumably on the back as well.

"Well" Hermes said. "This is a bit...extravagant for Hephaestus. Hmmm...most of his priests are smiths, highly skilled smiths, as are many of his followers...or that's the way it would have been in the old days. With this level of technology and industrialization, hmmm...I suppose the 'smiths' who worship him are captains of industry here. \The actual priests may be skilled in the old ways, but I'm betting the ones responsible for building this place are wealthy businessmen. Add in the companies that provide heat in winter, he's the god of fire after all, and at least some of the weapons 'forgers', and you get this thing. Shall we go in?"

"Commander," Daytona said. "Would you like T'Pral and I to go in first and check things out? If there's an Amazon ambush waiting for us, she and I can likely hold our own long enough to make our exit."

"Only two reasons for Amazons to be here, really," Hermes said. "First, Hera...Juno is Hephaesus'...Vulcan's mother. If she's visiting then there might be Amazons providing security. Other than being in extremely good shape and often stunningly gorgeous...oh, and I guess extremely arrogant, they don't really stick out here. Second reason might be if they were here picking up weapons forged for them by Vulcan and his Cyclopes, but that is unlikely at this juncture."

"As the sole surviving member of the Odinforce supersoldier program, I may be of offense inside so perhaps I should keep watch outside." Schwein added as she surveyed the area. "Though as a medic..."

Clio gave Daytona an amused look. "Daytona, I do hope you aren't suggesting I can't handle an Amazon or two. But yes, I'd like you and T'Pral to check it out. The Baroness and I will stay with Hermes and watch for anyone approaching."

"Yes, Ma'am," Daytona said. He turned to T'Pral. "Shall we?"

"Yes. Let us proceed," T'Pral said, stepping off towards the entrance to the Temple of Vulcan.

Daytona and T'Pral entered the temple. The inside, at least, was more like what Daytona had expected from his research. Not so 'impressive' inside as it was from the outside. It was rather warm. There were fuel burning lamps mounted on the wall, flames flickering, causing shadows to dance around inside the temple. There were few people about, only a few priests, one of whom stood next to a fire and worked a piece of metal on an anvil of sorts, hammering away at it, occasionally putting back on the coals to heat it again. When the 'priest' moved in such a way that Daytona and T'Pral could see his face, they realized that he had not two eyes, but one larger eye centered above his nose.

"Magnificent, isn't he?" came a voice from behind them. "Lord Vulcan sent him here as prove of his triumphant return!"

T'Pral turned to look at who had come up to them, impressed that someone could sneak up despite her hearing on her and Daytona or had she been so focused on the cyclops forging a piece of metal that she had ignored the approaching person? Either way, she instantly scolded herself mentally for not being more alert. "He is impressive but may I ask who you are?"

"I am Casticus Decimus," the man replied. He was in his twenties and looked fresh-faced and impressionable. "I am an acolyte here at the temple."

T'Pral bowed slightly. "A pleasure to meet you. I am T'Pral and this is Mr. Ral. We have come here with friends to tour the Temple and so far it is rather impressive."

"It pleases me, and more importantly, Lord Vulcan, to hear you say so," Casticus said, reverence obvious in his voice. "May I ask what brings you here to this holy place today?"

"To tour the place and learn more about Lord Vulcan," T'Pral said simply. "Perhaps you could show me around the temple while my friends discuss the temple among themselves," she said, smiling--something T'Pral didn't do often but she felt it necessary to place the man more at ease and a smile often did just that to others.

Casticus was clearly charmed by the attractive lieutenant's smile, as evidenced by his blushing cheeks and shy smile.

"It would be my honor to be your guide and to tell you stories of Lord Vulcan," the young man said. "Please, come this way."

Casticus lead T'Pral over towards one of the walls, which had reliefs depicting various stories about Vulcan.

"Vulcan is our God of Fire, in all of its forms," Casticus was saying. "From the smallest glowing ember to the raging volcano. This includes, of course, the fires of the forge, making Vulcan the God of Metalworking as well. Over here..."

Daytona tried not to laugh as the young acolyte (he was more adolescent boy than man, to be honest) tried in earnest to impress T'Pral. Daytona wondered what young Casticus would say if he knew that one of her parents had come from a planet of the same name as his 'god'.

He'd probably try to mount her right here in public. Well, he has good taste in women, at least.

Daytona tapped his commbadge.

"You can come in, Commander," Daytona said. "There's a Cyclops here, but so far he seems harmless."

Until he sees Hermes, anyway, Clio thought to herself. She hadn't studied the pantheon in a long time and couldn't recall if Hephaestus and Hermes got along or not. She supposed they'd soon find out. Motioning for Hermes and Schwein to follow her, she headed inside the temple. To her surprise, it was considerably warmer than the outside temperature, almost warm enough that she'd be willing to shed her jacket. She watched the young Cyclops for a moment, amused by his apparent attempts to impress his visitors. "He must not get many visitors here."

As Schwein entered, she removed her hat respectfully and tucked it under her arm. When she saw the cyclops though, it was like she was a little girl - she gave a little squeal of delight and rushed right over to watch him work, grinning and bouncing on the balls of her feet as she did so. "It's a real cyclops! And so handsome and strong too! So wunderbar!"

The Cyclops at first took no notice of the visitors, merely continuing his work. However, when Schwein ran up to him and started gushing, he turned and looked down at her. He smiled and winked...well, he might have blinked. It was hard to tell since he only had one large eye instead to two smaller eyes as was the norm for most humanoid species.

Hermes looked about him as he walked through the temple. Occasionally, he would whistle or make some other noise that indicated his sense of awe.

"This is much more elaborate than his temples on Earth," Hermes said. "I suppose this is a logical progression. Smiths were not wealthy in Ancient Greece and Rome on Earth, so the temples to their god were not as...fancy as this. But here his sphere of influence has expanded to captains of industry who can afford to worship their gods in style. I think I'm going to stop in at my own temple and see what's become of my legacy."

At the sound of Hermes voice, the Cyclops raised his gaze from Schwein and locked his eye on the messenger god. The Cyclops' eye narrow for a moment, then he seemed to briefly enter a trance-like state. When he came out of the trance, a gong sounded three times.

Casticus, who had been falling all over himself to impress T'Pral, who he clearly had a crush on, stopped talk and stood still, also briefly entering a trance-like state. When he came out of it he motioned for T'Pral to come with him and walked over to Hermes.

"Lord Mercury," Casticus said. "Lord Vulcan would like to know your purpose here."

Hermes hesitated, then spoke.

"I come seeking his assistance in a matter of grave importance," he replied to Casticus. "Please tell my half-brother that my party and I must speak with him in private. I say again that the matter is very urgent."

Casticus looked to the Cyclops. The Cyclops blinked and there was again the sound of a gong ringing three times. Casticus turned back to Hermes.

"Lord Vulcan will hear what you and your party have to say," the young acolyte said. "However, he is working on several projects at the moment and cannot promise he will have time to work on your request immediately. Please, follow me."

"Well, Commander," Hermes said to the others as he set off to follow Casticus. "So far so good I'd say."

"I'll take whatever success we can get." Even without meeting Vulcan, Clio knew that his agreement to speak with them was half the battle, though she suspected that talking him into making them a weapon would be difficult. While her own people held the pantheon in high regard, she knew it was Athena/Minerva whom they'd favored more than the others. Casticus didn't appear to know, or perhaps he simply didn't care. She wondered if Vulcan would have an opinion about it, but kept the thought to herself as she followed Hermes and Casticus.

Looking back at the others, Schwein turned back to the cyclops and winked at him. "Keep up the good work! Thank you for the memories!" She then rejoined her friends and followed Hermes and Casticus. "We did not expect to get an audience so easily, did we?"

"No," Hermes replied. "But this temple is a really impressive display of devotion. I gather that inspires a great deal of attention from my brother."

The group was led down a spiral staircase that had been hidden behind a secret door. Casticus led them into a large chamber below the temple where several large, extremely muscular, and very sweaty Cyclopes worked on various projects in forges. There were vents filtering out the smoke, but the heat in the chamber remained intense. There was a fire pit in the middle. Casticus brought them to it.

"Oh great and powerful Lord Vulcan..." Casticus began.

Hermes snorted and was about to make a snide comment until Daytona stopped him by elbowing the messenger 'god' in the ribs, hard enough to get his attention.

"Ow!" Hermes said. "Oh alright. I'll keep quiet."

"Oh great and powerful Lord Vulcan!" Casticus continued. "As you have commanded, I have brought your brother and his...friends to this holy place so that they might commune with you."

At first nothing happened. Then a burst of flame shot up from the fire pit. It receded a bit and formed into a large humanoid head with curly hair on top, a mustache under it's nose, and a beard on its face. When it spoke, its voice boomed.

"Herm...er...Mercury...Brother..." it said. The enormous head stopped and looked at Casticus. "Boy, do your god the great favor of buggering off back upstairs, would you? There's a good child. Run a long now."

Casticus bowed and took his leave. The big head turned to Hermes.

"Do you have any idea how much trouble your being here is going to cause me with my mother?" the head said to Hermes. "This had better be important."

"It is," Hermes said. "But first, these people with me aren't the simpletons we used to impress so easily. I'm sure they've figured out your using some kind of holocommunicator by now, so these theatrics really aren't necessary. Brother, they really need our help. It's very urgent. And it's damned hot in here. Can we talk somewhere more hospitable?"

The giant head scowled.

"Fine," it said. All of the flames in the forges died down and the temperature began to lower. If the Cyclopes were upset at the interruption in their work, they didn't show it. They simply took a break, some sitting down, others drinking from earthenware jugs, some chatting about...whatever it is that Cyclopes chat about.

"There," the giant head sneered. "Is that better?"

"Why, yes, brother, it is, thank you" Hermes replied. "Brother, these people, they are allies of a child of my son Pan. They face an Iconian, one with demonic powers and worst intent. Whereas we manipulated and engineered genes to create beauty...well, most of the time, he manipulates genetic codes to create monstrosities. This is Lieutenant Commander Eneas Clio. She is the warrior chosen to defeat this demon, but she can't do it without your help. I will allow her to explain what it is that she needs from you."

Were she not looking another of the pantheon in the simulated face, Clio might have laughed at Hermes suggesting she might be a warrior capable of facing an Iconian. It was, of course, the plan, but she knew better than to think it would be a fair fight, even with help from Hephaestus. "Lord Vulcan, I appreciate you giving us an audience on such short notice. I know you're busy with your work, but we could think of no one else with the skills we require." Despite having become somewhat comfortable conversing with Hermes, she felt somewhat awkward in this situation. "The... demon we face has proven to be a formidable adversary. Because he is Iconian, he can survive incredible amounts of damage and even actively heal, right before our eyes. We have fought him and could not harm him with our weapons, which are more powerful than those we had when the Federation first encountered Apollo." Clio wasn't sure if any of the other Olympians had been present at the encounter between James Kirk and Apollo, but she suspected they would have at least heard of it. Surely Apollo hadn't kept such a thing to himself. She cleared her throat before continuing. "We require a weapon that would be capable of killing an Iconian. We have, thus far, been unable to design one ourselves. Even Pomtoli friction-less blades are not enough, and they are the most dangerous weapons I have personally learned to use. Please, will you help us?"

The giant head frowned.

"Such a weapon..." it said. "A weapon that could cause wounds that would not heal...that would be a marvel...and very dangerous. I could not allow such a weapon to remain in your hands after it has served its purpose. Do you, Enaes Clio, swear to me, the God of Fire and of metalworking that you will return this weapon to me once you have slain this demon? Mind, if you were to break your word, you would face the wrath of a god!"

"Um, they know you're not actually a god, brother," Hermes said. "However, Commander, my family and their allies are very powerful. If you were to cross my brother Vulcan, there would be dire consequences for you and your crew, possibly even the Federation or even the Cervan people. We may not be actual gods, but we have technology you cannot imagine at our disposal. Think carefully before you answer his question. You will literally swearing by your life and the lives of all you hold dear."

Clio looked between them, a bemused expression on her face. Bemused... but impressed nonetheless. "No need to threaten me, my crew, or my people. Keeping such a weapon on the Hera, among so many people unfamiliar with its technology... that's just asking for trouble." She didn't need to be a member of the pantheon or another similar advanced race to know that, especially seeing as how she already had weapons on board that had to be secured at all times. "Returning the weapon when we are finished with the task is, of course, part of our bargain. And I would expect you to secure it in such a way that no one other than yourself could retrieve it, Lord Vulcan. Or destroy it, if you see fit."

"In that case, Eneas Clio," the giant head replied. "It so happens I have two such weapons in my possession. Behold."

A sheathed sword appeared on the rim of the fire pit. Next a lance with a five and a half foot pole and an eight inch blade designed for both stabbing and slashing.

"The sword and spear of the Caberi," said the giant head. "If this demon is as dangerous as my brother describes him to be, perhaps it will take more than one of you to bring him down. You may take both with you. Remember, you have been warned. Failure to return these weapons to me will have dire consequences."

The giant head fixed its gaze on Hermes.

"You are one of my father's bastards and my mother despises you," it said. "Helping any friend of yours will bring trouble to my house. You owe me, brother."

"I understand," Hermes said. "And if I forget, I'm sure you will remind me."

The giant head scowled.

"Begone, brother," it said. "You and your friends. Begone before I change my mind."

There was a burst of flame that shot high into the chamber and a blast of heat that came with it, then the giant head was gone. The burst of flame reduced to a roaring fire and all of the forges were burning once more. Whatever had cooled the air wasn't cooling it anymore.

"Well," Daytona said. "We have what we want. We'd best get out of here before we die of heat exhaustion."

"Wait," Hermes said. "Let me remote transport us and the weapons back to my ship. If we carry them through the streets, we're going to attract a lot of attention."

"I was going to suggest that anyway. I'd prefer not to be lynched for stealing weapons from Vulcan's temple." Handling the items gently and cautiously, Clio handed them to Hermes so they could be transported. "And it's getting warm in here, even for me. We should move on quickly, before he decides to cook us."

Hermes handed the weapons back to Clio with a sheepish grin and pulled a PaDD like device from his pocket and tapped it several times.

"Here we go," he said. He tapped the final control and the away team was transported to Hermes' ship. Once there, Hermes went straight to the cockpit and prepared for take off. This being Hermes's ship, once they made orbit, they were very soon after on the approach to Artan Fortress. If Hephaestus' word was good, they had with them the means to eliminate the Master once and for all.

The andorain chief engineer whistled to herself as she made her way from engineering. She didn't like having to get her regular medical checkup especially having to explain the anomalies within her. Still, she would rather just get it out of the way than put it off and one of her legs had been killing her since her last session down in the holodeck.

The doors opened as she stepped into sickbay looking for the new chief medical doctor.

A minute later, one of the nurses had flushed the doctor into the main room to greet the Andorian. "Hello," she said. "I'm Doctor Yale... what brings you here today?"

"Hello, Yale I'm Thex sh'Zoarhi. I'm here for my routine physical and I was hoping you can check my leg it's been killing me for a few days." Thex replied politely.

"Certainly," the doctor answered. She indicated the nearest biobed and waited for Thex to take a seat. She reached into her lab pocket to retrieve her medical tricorder. "You said the pain started a few days ago? Do you remember if you were doing anything which triggered it?"

"Dancing down on the holodeck. Specifically Orion style." Thex responded.

Possibly naive, Cassi said, "I'm not sure what that means - Orion style?"

"Orion style of dancing. Well, one of them." The andorian replied looking slightly embarrassed.

It was clear that there would be no more details provided. The doctor frowned at her tricorder and silently asked it to be more forthcoming with its answer. She pulled out the scanning device and started her first sweep, remembering how Nilari (an Andorian security officer at her last assignment) often left out key pieces of information during their conversations. "Is this something that has happened before; or is this new?"

"Not since I first learned dancing and that was several years ago. Just slipped and twisted my leg." Thex replied honestly.

"I'm not detecting that anything is broken. Typically, slips and twists hurt from the unusual strain you've put on the joint. The only thing I can prescribe for that is stretching and maybe some ice. It will work itself out soon enough," the doctor said.

"That's good to know doctor. If you have the time can i get my routine physical. I'd like to get it out of the way." Thex responded smiling slightly to herself.

"Yes, yes," Cassi looked apologetic. "I should have told you what I'm doing with the tricorder. I have a few readings to take and I'll pull up your medical records momentarily to check your vaccinations. But, since you indicated your leg is bothering you, I wanted to address that first. Are you currently taking any medications or supplements?"

"Not unless coffee counts." Came the Andorian's response before she pushed thinking it was better to get something out of the way. "Just to let you know doctor, I have some very odd looking DNA. It due to some genetic engineering one of my ancestors had."

"How do you mean?" Cassi stopped her scan in order to give her patient her undivided attention.

"My great great shen had some genetic engineering done to her without her knowledge. I still don't really know how, but to stop the usual slowing and halting of my ovaries producing eggs some andorian scientists created what they called a patch. All i know is that it's not andorian and it somehow works. I can have children far later than most shen's." Thex did her best to explain something she knew she was nowhere near qualified to explain.

"Are you zhen or shen?" the doctor asked. Cassi was uncomfortably familiar with the unusual requirements of Andorian pregnancies and the complications of genetic engineering. Please say zhen... she silently prayed.

"Shen." Thex replied having been through all this before and recognizing the doctor's confusion. "I know my species fell out of the evolutionary tree when we thought this reproductive system would work. How we survived to reach space is beyond me."

Cassi let out her breath; she hadn't realized she was holding it. "I'm certain genetic engineering helps at this point. It must be challenging to form the family units needed to reproduce in this day and age." The doctor returned to her scans. "Besides you leg, do you have any other concerns?"

"To bad the rest of my planet doesn't think so." Thex responded quietly before finishing her answer. "No, no other concerns doctor. Know it's not been long, but how are you finding the Hera?" The andorian asked politely.

The doctor pursed her lips together, giving the question some thought. "Well, I've met very few people so far, but everyone I've met seems well-mannered," she said. "Though I'm a little concerned about the track record of my predecessors in this position. I really hated statistics in school, and I don't want to become one."

"Sorry to hear that. I know my own staff can not recored were the tools have gone." Thex replied.

The tricorder chirped and Cassi consulted it. "Your vitals are all in acceptable ranges, so you can check off your annual health assessment for another year. You're free to go if you don't have anything more that needs to be addressed."

"Good to know." Thex said as she slid of the biobed. " Any of the machines you'd like me to take a look at?" She politely asked.

"It hasn't been brought to my attention that anything is out of order yet. I'd like to imagine that the head nurse would bring that to my immediate attention; so I'm going to say all is good in here," Cassi answered.

" Okay see you later doc." Thex responded as she turned and left the medbay.

Today was a happy day! Today was the day that the little blue hologram known as Akira no longer had to manage two departments; what a happy day! Not that it was all that much trouble to manage the Science Department, but now she would be free to focus solely on Operations. Humming a merry tune, Akira made her way through the ship with a stack of PaDD's to the Chief Science Officer's office, where the computer had alerted her the new CSO would be; she hadn't been in this office much, preferring to work out of her own department, so it was nice to see know that this room would finally see some use, making the Operations Chief in her quite happy that all areas of the ship would once again be functioning as intended.

Lieutenant Nathan Summers was seated in his office reading up on Farenia and Nexi's condition and becoming more and more confused by the minute. Medicine was not his forte which was why he had elected to go into Science. Even his humanoid anatomy and physiology was deficient. So he felt imminently hampered by his own lack of the necessary information. He needed a doctor and that's what this ship didn't have at the moment. Slamming his fists on his desk, he groaned, "Damn! Damn! Double damn!"

Akira flinched in surprise when she heard the slamming coming from the CSO's Office. As she approached, the door opened and she peeked in cautiously. "H-hello? Is everything alright?" the little Bolian-Trill hybrid asked warily.

"Yes...? You must be Akira Zhuri, the senior operations off...per...entity," he said with a confused smile.

"I'm a person," Akira said with a frown. "Just because I'm a photonic life form doesn't mean I'm not still a person!" This wasn't the first time someone didn't know how to react around her... "And yes, I am Akira Zhuri, and as for my lacking status as an Officer, I'm working on my Enlistment, but things have been so hectic lately I haven't had time to finish my coursework."

"My apologies, Akira. I've never worked with any holograms before," he said feeling bad about managing to piss off two, count them, TWO, fellow crewmen today. First, the captain and now this person. He even hit on the exec without meaning to. His new crew were all going to think him an inhuman monster before he was done.

"Apology accepted," Akira said, and in her mind that was all that needed to be said on the matter! She stepped closer to the desk and set the stack of PaDD's before him. "In the absence of a Chief Science Officer, I have been filling in," she stated, then offered a meek smile. "Mostly I've just been letting the Science department do what they felt was best since I needed to focus on my own department, but I did regular checks to make sure everyone was remaining productive. Oh, and I already wrote up the duty roster for the week and signed off on all reports, but I thought you might like to review them to help catch up on what's been going on."

Nathan looked at the hologram a little more intensely than before and noticed that she didn't read like your everyday run-of-the-mill hologram. He was intrigued. "Thank you, Ms. Zhuri. That is greatly appreciated. I hope that we can become friends in spite of my slip of the tongue. I also hope that we can still collaborate as fellow officers in the future," he said as he continued to monitor her closely without her appearing to notice. What he could see should help him in not making another mistake like that again.

Akira smiled brightly. "I like making new friends!" she said cheerfully, clearly not one to hold a grudge. "And my initial creation was designed around Science, so I would be happy to continue to collaborate. Although first I would confer with Crewman Dedjoy, if I was you; at the moment we are dealing with an unknown contagion, at this time known only as 'black blood', and she has made the most headway with this contaminant, both in its detection and treatment. A member of our crew and a visiting Commodore have been infected, I'm sure they would appreciate your attention."

"That sounds like a good place to start. Thank you, Akira. And I want to apologize for my error. Know that nothing like that will ever happen again," Nathan said smiling. He felt a warm spot in his heart for the first time since joining this crew. He had made a friend today and he would make sure this was the first of many.

"It's alright," Akira replied with another cheerful smile. "Is there any way I can assist you while you settle in?" she asked; though there was emotion and intonation in her voice, the way she asked, she sounded very much like the computer, but sometimes that's just the way she was...

"How much do you know about this 'black blood', as you call it and Borg nanotechnology?" Nathan asked with an impish smile. He had a thought, a very delicious thought.

"My Father was one of the foremost experts in Borg nanotechnology, and since I inherited his memories with his death, I suppose that makes me an expert in Borg nanotechnology," Akira replied. "And Mother Andy is an ex-Borg and an expert in cybernetics; she used a great deal of Borg technology to design Mother Maica's android body, much of which then went into my design. Suffice it to say, I have a vast understanding of Borg technology. As for the black blood, I can tell you what's in Dedjoy's reports; though I contain a vast scientific database which includes biochemistry, it is not an area I find myself excelling at."

"Nor I, actually. I know the basics and that's about it," Nathan said sadly. He found himself wishing there was a CMO assigned to this ship more and more. He knew their help would be invaluable during this mission. "Well if there's nothing else, I'd say we were adourned for now?"

"Yes, I'll leave you to settle in," Akira said cheerfully. "But do let me know if you need anything." And with that, she promptly disappeared; sweet girl, but she still had a bit to learn about certain social cues.

"Thank you on both accounts and also for keeping the science department under control," Nathan said to the girl.

Daytona calmly evaded Nexi's strike and passed it away from him, sending her arm across her throat and knocking her off balance.

"You're getting angry again," Daytona said. "And I'm not. Which is why I keep knocking you around. Take a moment. Breathe. Center yourself. Let the body mechanics do the damage, not your rage."

Daytona kept his voice level, gentle, encouraging. He knew how difficult it was for someone Nexi's age and temperment not to rely on their anger to add power to their fighting skills. It was hard for him and he'd been around a very long time. Of course, that was probably because he was physically in his 20s and had lots of piss and vinegar left in him.

"Hold!" Daytona said as a warning sounded off from Nexi's belt. "Let's take a break."

Daytona ordered up two bottles of water and handed one to Nexi.

"Drink," he said. "Please."

Nexi didn't take the offered bottle, instead paced across the holodeck sparring center with her clasped hands resting atop her head as she tried to control her breathing as he'd taught. Controlled rage had been her strength for so long, trying something new was like moving a planet out of orbit, it wasn't going to happen overnight.

"This isn't going to work," Nexi said with frustration when her belt finally stopped whining at her.

"Maybe," Daytona said. "But neither will you going hog wild on the bad guys, not at the moment, anyway."

Daytona took a drink and looked pensive for a moment.

"This may be none of my business," Daytona said. "But I've been assuming you and Cato's relationship has become physically intimate. When was the last time you were with him?"

Nexi sighed. "We, uh... can't be... together right now," Nexi said uneasily. "Apparently this black shit has reached a point that I'm 'contagious'. Dedjoy said it requires direct blood transmission, but... I'm kinda scared to put Cato at risk so I ain't even kissed him since we found out," she admitted as she strolled over to the weapon rack and picked up a staff, twirling it like it was her pike to help her calm down some more. "Not that it's that much of a sacrifice for me, I honestly didn't even like sex all that much before I started caring about people, but... I care about him, I don't want him infected too."

"That's good," Daytona said. "That you care about him, that is. I hope he cares about you, too. You've both had rough lives. You both could use not only someone that cares about you, but also to for you to care for. Caring for someone else takes you out of yourself, forces you to get out of your own way so you can be present for the other person."

Daytona took another drink, swallowed, then spoke again.

"However," Daytona said. "As far as sex...you're not who you once were. The sex you have now is not the meaningless waste of your time that you've you've participated in before. With the right mindset and intent, sex can be beautiful. My people believe it is both unhealthy and unnatural to abstain from sex. Along with physical exercise, sex is how we control our turbulent Vulcanoid passions. It's why we're not bloodthirsty warriors. Most of us are doctors, nurses, scientists, and farmer, with a few miners thrown in here and there. Don't get me wrong. There are plenty of right bastards and first class asshats among my people, not to mention some just plain bad people. But as a society, we are not like our Vulcan ancestors. Logic saved Vulcan. Sex saved Rigel V. I'm guessing it could save you, if you could get your head in the right place when you're having it."

Nexi rolled her eyes, but even she had to admit that he had a point. She wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of admitting it out loud, though. "It's nice, having people to care about and who care about you," she admitted as she continued to twirl the staff. "It's weird how having just that can change my perspective on things... Daln was trying to teach me what you're talking about, but maybe I just wasn't ready for it yet. Now? I don't know... Maybe this is just me being afraid to 'need' anyone..."

"Like most Humanoids, we're social people," Daytona replied, his tone still gentle. Nexi played tough, acted like she didn't need things like kind words, but Daytona had learned that being nice to her had a positive effect on her...as long as you didn't point it out to her. "We thrive in the company of others, whether that's groups of people, or just a select few people, or even just one person. You know, if you want to try to have sex with Cato...maybe not in a traditional way, but still...anyway, there are ways...things you can do with each other. Or there are things you can do with yourself that would ease some of your stress, maybe melt away some of your anger."

Nexi grimaced at the though of playing with herself. "Do we have to keep talking about this?" she asked, then she finally stopped twirling the staff to come get some water. "Don't get me wrong, I get what you're tryna get across, but I ain't even ready to talk about this to Cato, I sure as hell ain't ready to hear this from you."

Daytona shrugged.

"Just trying to help," he said. "So, I know that you know how to fight, though, to be honest you could use a little polish, but that will come with time. Anyway, I know you have formidable fighting skills. Where did you get them? For example, did you train yourself to use that pike? To fight empty handed? Or did you get some kind of training, formal or informal?"

"I, uh, had a mentor, of sorts..." Nexi replied, pausing to take a drink of water. "Uh, Liquidator Grek, guess you could call him my 'employer'," she tried to explain, being evasive about her former status as a slave, "he kept me around for... 'fun', but also because I had a mind for numbers and I would help him balance his books. But there was this guy, Merrit, who would do work for him as an independent contractor, and somehow he convinced Grek that I could be more useful as a Collector. So, he essentially 'bought' my time to teach me the ropes, helped me earn some money so I could buy my ship and go independent. It wasn't until we went back in time that I realized I was responsible for him helping me out; not long after I got my ship and started working on my own, I heard he came into a lot of money and retired, remembering that prompted me to open an account in the past that would go to him so long as he got me away from Grek. Anyway, he taught me most of what I know, and what he didn't teach me he encouraged me to develop on my own, like my telepathy and my natural electrical discharge."

Daytona knew full well what kind 'employees' a Ferengi Liquidator would have, especially if they were a young humanoid girl he could order to run around naked.

"I'm sorry," was all Daytona said about that before moving on. Two words to let Nexi know that he understood, and...maybe just a little more. "If you ever want to talk about your...employment history, I'm here and I'll listen and, unless you're a danger to yourself or others, I'll keep my mouth shut about what you share with me."

Daytona let that sit for just a very brief second, then...

"So," he said. "Can you show me anything he taught you? Moves? Forms? Even just individual strikes. Something we can get you to repeat over and over until you can do them calmly and smoothly, even in actual combat."

"Ah, well... He didn't really 'teach' me so much as he just started kicking my ass until I fought back," Nexi admitted. "He would pause to correct my stance or just tell me to raise my guard a little more, but he didn't really do any- Forms, that's hu-mon talk for fancy patterns of moves, right?"

"Uhm..." Daytona said. "I think the closest word in Ferengi would be 'Voya', which I think applies to dance. Ferengi martial arts mostly consist of groveling and scrapping and begging and pleading. But yes, that's one use of the Federation Standard word 'forms'."

"Uh, I think you meant 'Vooya', unless you like having your ears pinched..." Nexi replied with a perplexed expression. She took another drink of water, then set the bottle aside and finally put the staff away. "Thankfully, I never had to learn any Ferengi dancing, but I do know other forms of dance, so I think I get what you mean. That said, Merrit didn't teach me anything like that in terms of fighting, we just kept sparring until I got better at it. So if you want me to do anything like that 'form' thing, you'll have to show me."

"Okay," Daytona said. "Stand next to me and match me as I move. I'll go slow until you pick up what I'm doing. Clear your mind as best you can. I know that when someone says 'clear your mind' I immediately remember every thought I've had for the last three weeks, so I don't expect you to go blank. Just move as I move and breathe as I breathe. Focus on your breath and move as smoothly as you can. If you start to get frustrated, breathe and try to keep going. If you get lost, stop me and I'll back up and we'll pick up from where you got lost. This isn't going to feel like combat and that's because standing alone, these forms aren't combat. I'm really just teaching you to exert yourself and motivate yourself without using anger to do so. Ready? Take a deep breath and...begin."

Daytona began to move, slowly, exaggerating the sound of his breathing so Nexi could follow it.

"Good," Daytona said. "Just like that. Remember to breathe...that's it."

As demonstrated the day she sparred with Cato and started mimicking his Capoeira style, Nexi was a quick study, and while it would take some time for Daytona's lessons to become etched into muscle memory, she was able to keep up with his movements well enough, and she had admit to herself that there was something calming about practicing this way.

"And how long do we do this?" Nexi asked as they moved from one form to another.

"I was thinking until we were too tired to move," Daytona said with a grin. "Or maybe until we've gone through it at least once. A bit more now. Believe it or not, this is one of the shorter version of this style. Let's finish this up and then we'll do something else."

Daytona led Nexi through the rest of the form, then did the finishing move, a move designed to center the body and spirit. When the two of them had settled into an 'at rest' position, arms at their sides, knees slightly bent, feet shoulder width apart, Daytona took one more deep, cleansing, centering breath and let it out.

"How do you feel?" he asked Nexi. "Oh, you can move around now if you'd like. In fact, let's get some water."

"Dunno... okay, I guess?" Nexi said, following him to retrieve their water bottles for another drink. "I mean, I guess I see the sense in it; you do these forms long enough, they become automatic, so you don't have to think about making a move, the body just reacts with little thought or emotion. But I don't really 'feel' anything," she said with a shrug.

"Well," Daytona said. "You seem more relaxed, so that's a start. Want to do something else before we call it a day?"

"Yeah, I guess I am more relaxed," Nexi said, only just now realizing that herself. She took one more drink of water then put the bottle away. "Yeah, let's do it. And, uh, if you wanna make a program to help me practice this stuff even when you can't be here to help me, that'd be awesome. I got enough room to keep practice mats in my shuttle bay, and there's emitters there so I can follow a holo-dummy to help me learn these form-things."

"Sure thing," Daytona said. "Alright, come on over here with me."

Daytona led Nexi over to the middle of the mat.

"Alright," he said. "Match my stance. Good. Okay hold your arm out like this. That's right, so we're just barely touching. Good. Now you push towards me. I'll accept your move and then push back you. Be mindful of how your body moves and of how my body is moving. Don't just push with your arm, push with your whole body. That's good."

Nexi was silent at first, intensely focused on their movements, the push and the pull that was becoming a sort of dance between them.

"Where did you learn all this?" she asked after a while, not breaking their movements or faltering to counter him.

"This is actually an ancient Vulcan form still taught on my world," Daytona said. "Here, let's try it with two arms. Match my stance. Hold out your arms like this, you give, I receive, I give, you receive. Perfect. Anyway, it's pretty common to find a teacher on my world, but, as you may remember, I spent about two decades trying to learn to be a monk. Martial arts was part of the training. 'Train the body, train the mind'. Well I did well with the martial arts. They were something I could understand, that I could make a part of myself. I did pretty well at psychokinetics. I think that may have been because I thought it was fun to control electricity, and fire, and temperature and water and, you know, move stuff with my brain. This stuff came in handy for the really fun stuff though. Learning to harness those powers takes focus. But...being a monk at the Monastery at Gol isn't all fun and games. The busy work I could deal with. It was the price of doing business. Learning Numerology...not so much. That and I was kind of a wiseass, if you can imagine that. So, they declared me the worst monk in training that they'd ever had and sent me on my way."

"Yeah, I believe it," Nexi replied with a snicker when he said he was a wiseass. "In fact, I think you still are a wiseass," she remarked as they continued to trade moves back and forth. "I don't know if I can do all that 'monk' shit... I like getting into trouble too much."

Daytona chuckled.

"Me, too," he said. "Back then, anyway. And what did I, wiseass and troublemaker extraordinaire do right after leaving the monastery? Did I join the...what do the Terrans call it? Oh yes! The circus and become a clown in training? Nope. I joined the ARMY, because, you know, there are no rules to follow there."

"Sur-kus, Sur-kus..." Nexi enunciated as she tried to remember what that word meant as her translator had no viable translation for that in Ferengi. "Oh, those shows where you pay to gawk at people with horrible deformities? Why would you even want to join one of those? And I joined Starfleet, so I ain't any better than you joining the Army."

Daytona laughed.

"I guess we're both gluttons for punishment," he said. "Okay. Let's stop. Do this move with me, breathe through it. And...there. You should feel at least a little more centered. Want to do this again tomorrow? I think I have the time."

Daytona picked up their water bottles, realized they were empty, so he recycled them and produced two more. He handed one to Nexi, then opened his and took a drink.

"Yeah, I can make time," Nexi replied, then took a drink from her bottle. "Been riding the desk since they let me out of Sickbay, it's been driving me nuts. I'm also trying to work out my shoulder 'cause it's still tight, but I could use some help with that too."

"If you'll permit me," Daytona said. "I can help you loosen up your shoulder a bit. I'm no Maica Telvan, but I've picked up a few massage tricks over the years. I no funny business, I promise. I'm spoken for and I don't stray."

"Massage? I was just gonna ask if you could help me stretch it out, but if you think your idea would help, I'll give it a try," Nexi replied with a shrug, clasping her hands behind her back. She began to pull her arms to the left, her right shoulder displaying a great deal of flexibility, but when she pulled to the right, she winced, her left arm not reaching nearly as far as the other arm had.

"Hmm..." Daytona said. "Computer, give me a massage table and the related supplies, please."

The mats disappeared and massage table appeared, along with a side table with a small bottle of oil in a warmer. The setting, already serene and relaxing, became more so.

"Alright," he said. "Choice to make here. I can either give you a full body massage, in which case you'd need to strip, lay face down on the table, and I'll drape a folded sheet over your backside if you'd like for modesty. Or I can just work on your neck, shoulders, and back, in which case you can just strip above the waist and lay face down on the table. Either way, I think I can loosen you up enough that you'll find stretching that shoulder to be a less painful experience. What do you say? Your call."

"Raised by Ferengi, remember? Also, not above using my body to get a mark, modesty ain't really an issue," Nexi said, looking at the table as she unclasped her hands. The issue was, she'd never had anyone give her a massage before... In the end, she settled for removing the straps of her tank top so he had free access to her shoulders; she didn't know if she was ready for this 'whole body' nonsense... "Face down, right?" she asked as she hopped up onto the table.

"Yep," Daytona said. After she was face down on the table, Daytona checked to make sure that the oil wasn't too hot or too cold and determined that it was a good temperature. He put some on his hands and began to massage Nexi's neck and shoulders, spending extra time on the sore shoulder. He kneaded, stroked, and pulled, adding more oil to his hands as needed. He let the warm oil and the touch of his hands warm her muscles and relax them. Now and then he would stretch the shoulder a bit, being very careful to stop at the slightest indication of pain from Nexi. The shoulder seemed to be loosening a little at a time.

"You do carry a lot of tension," Daytona said after a while, his voice soft and gentle. "Consider having Maica give you the full treatment sometime. That would also help you relax, and give you a little needed humanoid contact from someone who a) isn't trying to kill you, and b) doesn't want anything in return. From experience I can tell you she's very good at her job. How are you feeling? Any better? Let me know if I'm causing you any pain or making you uncomfortable."

"All this talking is making me uncomfortable," she said bluntly, but let him continue working. "But I'll take your suggestion into consideration," she relented; after all, her shoulder did feel a lot better now. When he finally finished, she sat up and stretched her arms about to test their range of motion; the left shoulder still needed some work, but it was better than it had been before. As she hopped off the table and pulled the tank top straps back into place, she meandered over to the replicator for another drink and to access the holodeck program to add something else to the room, a set of straps hanging from the ceiling. Once she had drank her fill, she gave her arms one more good stretch then approached these straps and wrapped one around each wrist, then she let herself hang from the straps a bit before beginning roll up exercises to work individual muscle groups.

"Yeah, this feels a lot better," she remarked in between sets. "Still tight, but it don't hurt so much."

Of course talking makes you uncomfortable...

Daytona sat back and watched Nexi work. She had excellent control and good form, which wasn't really surprising. He'd expected nothing less than excellence from Nexi physically. Socially and emotionally...well...actually, she didn't do to badly there, either, for someone with her background. She could be social enough, when she put the effort in. It was genuine humanoid, emotional interaction that she shied away from, as far as he could tell. She didn't trust people easily and didn't like to let people in close.

"That was very impressive," he said. "Very impressive indeed. Alright. We'll do the forms and the exercises again soon. And don't be afraid to take a minute or two here or there when you need them and can take them without getting killed, a moment to breathe, center yourself. I know how dumb it sounds, trust me, but doing that can help."

With a sigh, Nexi pulled herself up so that she was upside down, just swinging as she thought about things. "Guess I just ain't used to how things are done in Starfleet, not yet anyway... I mean, I'm not used to so much direct confrontation! I'm used to going unseen, getting what I need without confrontation, or being the sneaky, underhanded bastard who takes a potshot so that my opponent's at a disadvantage if it does come down to a confrontation. Just not used to all this 'equal ground' stuff, and doing my best to hold back so I don't kill my sparring partner; because Merrit sure as hell was tryna kill me when he was teaching me to fight. Everything's just so different here..." And once again she was questioning if she had made the right choice to be here. "And now I can't get angry, just feels like I don't know who I am anymore."

"Different doesn't necessarily mean bad," Daytona said. "Or at least it doesn't have to mean bad. Sometimes different in a very good thing. That doesn't make like any less uncomfortable for you while you try to figure out how to be you in your new situation. That you just sort of have get through as best you can. And, Nexi, you're not going to be in that belt forever. We will find a way to cure you and then you can get as angry as you want to, whenever you want to, though you might want to keep in mind that there's a proper place and time for that sort of thing."

Daytona took a drink from his water bottle.

"So," he said. "If you don't mind me asking, how old were you when you met this Merrit character?"

"I know, I know, I just miss all the sneaky-sneaky shit... And I been itchin' to steal something; gotta keep the skills sharp, never know when I'll need them," Nexi grumbled, but she did manage a slight grin, until she heard Daytona's question regarding Merrit. Nexi rolled back down until her feet touched the mat and then she unbound her hands. "I dunno, maybe 12, 13?" she said, wandering back over to the weapon rack to pick up the staff to twirl again. "I kinda hate the bastard because, well, he was a tough sonofabitch and he weren't afraid to knock me around just for kicks.... But he got me away from Grek, gave me purprose; and he weren't always mean, sometimes it seamed like he actually cared about what happened to me, but now I wonder if that mighta just been the money talkin'."

"Maybe he did, maybe he didn't," Daytona. "Maybe he thought he was toughening you up. Maybe Merrit thought that was the best way to show you he cared. And maybe he was also a cruel son-of-a-bitch who liked to make himself feel powerful by knocking around a 13 year old girl. You'll probably never know for sure. I never struck my daughter in anger, as punishment, or to make myself feel powerful. The idea never entered my mind. When she was little she was my whole word. But I wasn't raising her to live the kind of life you were leading. And, well, maybe I should have, considering what I did for a living back then. She was tough, don't get me wrong, and I did teach her to fight, but I raised her to be more than me, and she was. Be that as it may, I'm glad you had someone to look after you, even if he may have been motivated by self-interest."

"'Look after me'? Yeah, sure..." Nexi scoffed and halted her twirling to look Daytona in the eyes. "I never wanted kids; don't know the first thing about kids or what I'd do with them, but I knew I'd never want to bring anyone else into the life I lived. Instead I got Aewia and she pulled me into her life, the best damned thing to ever happen to me; I like looking after her and keeping her safe, and when she's happy I'm happy, I think anyway, at the very least I ain't miserable, but it's frustrating with all the times she regresses, but maybe that's a bit what being a parent is like. But she was already strong, long before we found each other... I don't know how she does it, but she makes me feel strong in ways Merrit never could. I think I'd be completely lost without her, because as much as I look after her, she looks after me too. Just kind of terrified what'll happen to her if I lose myself to this black blood; Enalia promised me she'd take care of Aewia if anything happened to me, but how can I not still worry?" In this one small way, she understood Daytona's feelings as a parent, the love and worry he must have felt, as well as the rage and the need for vengeance when his daughter was taken from him; Nexi understood because here she was on a quest for vengeance against the monster who maimed her sister, a quest that could very well cost her own life because of this black blood which was fed by the very anger that drove her onward, and was threatening to take away her sanity.

Daytona smiled.

"Worrying is part of caring," he said. "And being cared for. People like you and me, what we do...I'm not talking about the Starfleet stuff. I'm talking about all of the black bag stuff that you and I get involved in. It doesn't give us much opportunity to trust, to care for someone, or be cared for in return. We kind of have to take it where we can get it, and, if we're lucky, something really wonderful falls in our lap...or in my case, I walked down a corridor without looking where I was going and accidentally goosed a 4 month old hologram and the result...well...it seems to be working out fine. I care for her, she cares for me, and sometimes we worry about each other. I wouldn't have it any other way. I bet you feel the same way about your relationship with your sister."

"I wish I could say the same about Cato..." Nexi said with a roll of her eyes. "I mean, don't get me wrong, I know he cares, I know he worries, but... I don't know, I-I..." Nexi sighed in frustration as she tried to find the words to express how she felt. "Sometimes I worry if he actually sees me. He- he says I don't need to hide who I am, I don't need to wear a mask, but I keep getting the sense that when he worries over me, he's not really worry about me, I think he's worrying over someone else, like maybe someone else he lost... Sometimes at night I'd see things, nightmares, maybe memories, I'm not entirely sure which, but I ain't asked him about it yet, kind of afraid to..." she confessed. "Plus, he's been away on assignment, ain't really had a chance to talk to him about it for a while."

"Emotions remind us of other times that we felt a similar emotion," Daytona said. "If that makes any sense. When I worry for Akira, for example, I remember worrying for other women I've loved. Sometimes those memories may color my feelings for her, but I do my level best to stay in the moment with her. West needs to do that for you. He needs to be there with you. He needs to see you and not a ghost from his past. So when there's an opportunity, even if you have to make the opportunity, bring this up with him. Ultimately, you won't regret it. If you can, don't wait until that 'I can't take this anymore' moment comes along. That conversation has the potential to get messy."

Nexi took a few measured breaths, almost like she was calming herself, but her belt gave no warnings that her emotions were running high, she simply needed a moment to digest his words. "Yeah, alright," she finally said with a nod. "Hey thanks for all this. I know it can't be easy taking time away from more important things, and I know I'm not be the easiest person to get along with, but I do appreciate what you're doing for me. If you ever need anything, all you gotta do is ask."

"It's no trouble at all, Nexi," Daytona said. "And I may take you up on that someday. We'll get together very soon and we can practice like we did today. However, I should probably go back to my quarters and shower. I'm supposed to meet Akira later."

"Yeah, go on, I'll be alright," Nexi said, waving him off. "I'll just be here a little longer," she continued, tapping her staff on the ground. "This helps me think, and I got a lotta things to think about."

Daytona nodded.

"I'll leave you to it, then," he said as he left the holodeck. "Until later."

Now that the Hera was finally underway, Enalia had one bit of business she had to take care of that was overdue. "Computer, please inform Lieutenant T'Pral Jordan that I need to see her in my office immediately." She then checked in her desk for the right little black box to make sure it was still ready. It was so she set it on her desk behind her computer terminal and pulled up the orders and waited.

A moment later, T'Pral entered the ready room from the bridge. "You wanted to see me, Captain," T'Pral asked, wondering what the captain wanted as she had been running a diagnostic of the Weapons Systems of the Hera.

"T'Pral, I need to discuss your work performance as of late." Palming the tiny black box, Enalia stood and walked around her desk as seriously as she could. "You're aware of my expectations, yes?"

"Yes ma'am," T'Pral began. "If I have failed in your expectations, could I inquire as to how I did so?"

"Failed? Failed?"Enalia feigned exasperation as she stepped in front of T'Pral. "You've not failed at all. You've so far exceeded every one of them in such a way as to make everyone around you look like bumbling idiots! Your actions reflect well upon you, your ship and your crew. Do you know what this means? Do you have any idea what this means?" Enalia asked, feigning further frustration, shaking that tiny black box mere inches from T'Pral's chin.

Not giving her a chance to respond, Enalia popped that box open and looked in surprise at the contents. "Oh! You're out of uniform! That's what it means." Pulling the black pip out of it, she pinned it to T'Pral's collar. "I hereby promote you to the rank of Lieutenant Commander, with all the rights and responsibilities that entails, effective immediately. Congratulations."

T'Pral hadn't been expecting the promotion and fought to suppress a smile which came out as a grin. "Thank you, Captain. I am honored and will continue to exceed your expectations."

"Thank you," Enalia replied, not holding back her grin. "My expectations are a bit higher now though. Especially with all that's going on. You and Clio may be the only ones with a shot at getting close enough to kill the Master in hand to hand combat."

T'Pral nodded. "I will not fail you, Captain." This Master was an evasive and dangerous person that needed to be stopped.

"Thank you," Enalia replied, heading back around behind her desk. "Normally we'd hold a promotion ceremony with champagne and cake, but unfortunately we're going to have to delay such festivities, if that's ok with you. Honestly, I can't remember a time we've actually been able to celebrate the promotion of a commander on the day they were promoted on this ship, to be honest. Some mission always gets in the way."

"I understand, Captain. The mission should always come before personal celebrations," T'Pral replied, relieved at not having a ceremony for her promotion.

The Captain studied T'Pral a moment before sitting back down. Sometimes Vulcans were infuriatingly unreadable with their granite-like expressions and even the ones that let their emotions show now and then like this one were as stoic as the best of them. She'd have to get a clue another way as to if T'Pral actually wanted a promotion ceremony or if she preferred a small gathering later. Or maybe she could find out now... Slyly, she grinned. "I'll have the kitchens start preparing a one hundred fifty layer cake in the shape of a hellhound in your honor as soon as you cut off the Master's head. How about that?"

T'Pral raised an eyebrow at the mention of a one-hundred fifty layer cake. "That will not be necessary, Captain. I am sure the kitchen staff have better things to do. A celebration to mark the successful completion of the mission would be adequate, but I, personally do not require a celebration."

"Mint frosting it is then," Enalia teased further, a bit of a gleam in her eye. "Don't worry, we'll worry about celebrations after the Master is dealt with. I know better than to count my chickens before they're hatched. Now head back to work Commander - there's still a lot to do before we arrive."

T'Pral sighed inwardly--she hated being the center of attention. "Aye, Captain," she replied before turning and exiting the room.

Enalia sighed audibly after T'Pral exited her office. One more important piece of business taken care of. She enjoyed teasing her Security Chief, but she knew T'Pral wouldn't have wanted a public spectacle of her promotion, which is why she had done it in her office, rather than on the bridge. As for the cake... If they survived this next mission, that would be reason enough to celebrate.

Sighing again, Enalia toggled her desk terminal screens back on and buckled down to work.

After a day at high warp, the Hera had finally arrived at Tortuga station, most of an old unfinished Cardassian space station that had been towed around Breen space into pirate territory and was now a piratical stronghold. It had long been a haunt of the Artan fleet when they wanted a seedier place to berth than the Artan Orbital Fortress, but that was little known knowledge, even in these quieter times.

The main thing about this station though, was that no one could partake in piracy or any actual crime in or around the station itself. Those caught were barred from returning, if not outright killed. As pirate killers, the Artans were often contracted to hunt those rule breakers down and permanently put an end to them, however, neither Enalia nor the Baroness really had much in the way of clout with the people they needed to do business with in this case. In fact, it was best to leave their Artan connections out of this completely.

This was what brought Enalia, Mal, the Baroness, Daytona, T'Pral, Nexi, and Nate together in the conference room while the Hera sat just a few hundred kilometers off the station itself with Enalia explaining the situation, a holographic map of the station in the center of the table.

Sipping from her glass of water again, Enalia pointed to a small shop in an alley. “This is the last known shop location of an information broker known as Formad. He deals in illegal starcharts that we need to find our way through the area of space the Master's last database pointed us to to reach his next labs. I hate to send a team of four, but in this case, I think it's necessary. Station security is just too tight.”

Nexi, who was familiar with this station and helped provide information on their security, chimed in, leaning back in her chair to make it rock slightly. "Once we find him, and we may need to search for him because he does like to move around, but once we find him, it's imperative that you do not get sticky fingers while on the station. I don't care how tempting it is to just take what we need if he don't wanna deal, everything has to be done above the table or it could mean a death sentence if we're caught."

"And the Artan Pirate Killers will likely be the ones with your coin," the Baroness added, referring to the form of contract the station's leadership used.

"As my presence here suggests," Daytona said. "I am not in the habit of getting caught. Nonetheless, I will keep your advice in mind, Nexi."

"As the number of people who've wanted or still want you dead suggests," Mal said. "You're not in the habit of making a clean getaway, either. Mind your manners when you are on that station, Mister Ral. We don't have time to deal with you getting a death warrant put out on you."

Daytona chuckled and then grinned.

"Yes, sir, Commander," Daytona said. "Really, Mal. Have you no faith in me?"

Mal decided that was a rhetorical question and chose not to answer it.

"Hey, I've only be caught once, ONCE! And that was because the ass-hat I was after decided to run and attract attention to us in Hera's cargo bay," Nexi interjected with a smug grin. "Which, by the way, that Security chick still owes me dinner for that very thorough pat down."

"We have faith in you..." Enalia added, deciding it wasn't rhetorical enough. "Which is why you're going. You and Nexi have the underworld knowledge needed for the mission and while you'll be officially leading it, Commander Jordan will maintain operational command of the mission and maintain security. Lieutenant Summers is your specialist and is going with you to confirm that the data you're getting is the data we need. Any other questions so far?"

"We taking my ride or is the Selune up to the job?" Nexi asked.

Enalia nodded as she pulled up further schematics of the station's docking bays. "I have to ask that you do. And please take precautions so they don't trace the job back to the Hera. While I and the Baroness are friendly with the station commander, I'd prefer not to indicate any ties to the Artan family to this mission. It could pose... Complications... In future Artan dealings with him."

The Baroness added a bit more to explain. "To clarify, as Formad isn't entirely honest with his dealings with the station commander, he's not on good terms with him. If Zan Shorzen gets wind that the Heiress of the Artan Pirates is doing business with him, he may not take kindly to that information at all."

"Okay," Daytona said. "But doesn't that mean that if Zan Shorzen finds out that our little merry quartet is doing business with Formad, he's going to take exception to us, too?"

"As long as there are no ties to one of the eight pirate Lords or families, no." Schwein was blunt, but no one knew the pirate's code better than her. She was born and raised to it. "As long as you're just a merry band of common pigs, no big bad wolf will care what you do, granted you don't actually do any actual piracy."

"Wandering Star it is," Nexi replied. She hadn't taken her ship out since Demon Enalia tore it up, but she had allowed one of the shuttle crew to do a quick test run with the Orion-class runabout to ensure that it was mission ready. "I would recommend we forgo the uniforms; these people typically don't take kindly to 'Fleeters nosing around their business."

T'Pral, as usual, was quiet as she absorbed the information. She hated the sight of Nexi but tolerated her as she was after all, a member of the crew now. "I would agree with Nexi," T'Pral said and then pausing for a moment. "However, I do not understand my role here. Is it to keep Ral and Nexi out of trouble?" She hated babysitting...and if she had to babysit other officers, why were those said officers on such a supposedly critical mission?

Enalia sighed and leaned back in her chair. It was going to come up eventually. Glancing to Mal, she nodded and turned off the conference table's holo-display so she could make eye contact with T'Pral without distraction. "You're there as insurance. As one of our strongest combat specialists, if the black blood in Nexi goes out of control, you have standing orders to kill her and clean up the situation using any and all force necessary, even if it results in the destruction of Tortuga station but do not risk the safety of the Hera in any way if you can help it. Does anyone object to this?" While Enalia was expecting Nexi to object, her eyes were locked with T'Pral's.

Nexi certainly had no objections, especially after she coerced a promise out of Enalia to kill Nexi in the even that she lost control; if it came down to it, Nexi would rather die than become a monster like the Master or Demon Enalia. But she did avert her eyes in shame that this was coming out like it was. "Dedjoy fitted me with a belt that's slowing the spread of the black blood, but anger feeds it and the belt gives me a warning if I get too angry. Though, I doubt you'll need an alarm if I start losing it, the effects of this stuff is... kinda noticeable..."

Daytona frowned. He knew that Cato had started up something with T'Pral and then dumped T'Pral (without actually telling her she was dumped) for Nexi. If he knew it, then T'Pral had figured it out by now. She clearly didn't have any love for Nexi at the moment, so she likely wouldn't hesitate to take Nexi out at the very first sign that she was losing it. He was going to have to keep an eye on the two of them. Nexi was tough. T'Pral was tougher. Last time they were on a mission together, T'Pral shot a Harpy out of the sky with a phaser pistol and then kicked the crap out of an Amazon without breaking a sweat. The woman was actually quite scary.

"No objections, Captain," T'Pral replied with a typical emotionless Vulcan response. Inward she sighed. 'A babysitting job it is then--Lieutenant Commander T'Pral Jordan--Babysitter Extraordinaire.'

"Good. And if you do happen to have to destroy the station, please make sure it looks like an accident." Enalia added. "Now... Does anyone else have questions so far?"

Suddenly, Nexi rose from her chair, her breath intentionally measured to try to regulate the anger she was feeling as she stared down T'Pral. The anger wasn't enough to set off her alarms, and she was doing good to keep herself calm enough to not feed the black blood, but that didn't mean she had to take such an insult from a fellow crewmate, even if it hadn't been voiced aloud. "You know what, I don't need a 'babysitter', Commander," Nexi said sharply. "What I need is to know that the Officers I have chosen to serve along side will have my back. If you can't do that, then maybe you should stay here."

"That's enough!" Mal said in a commanding voice as he rose from his chair. "Both of you, my ready room, RFN. Captain, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go deal with this. Commander Jordan, if you'll come with me please?"

With a huff, Nexi abandoned her chair and stormed out of the briefing room go to the XO's office as ordered.

Enalia nodded. "Mal, please have a talk with Mister West at your first available opportunity as well." She too was tired of this little love triangle, but unlike the one between the eight crewmen on decks thirteen and twenty one, this one was volatile and annoying. Now that Mal had stepped in, she knew it would at least be handled and dealt with by someone with a modicum of sanity and reason.

"Oh," Mal said. "I intend to. Trust me. Well, I'm off to play high school principal. I'll fill you in on the details later."

T'Pral was silent as she exited the room.

Enalia nodded silently as the hum of the ship and the deck plating reigned supreme for a few moments. She then broke the silence. "Do the two of you have any further questions? Nate, you've been quiet this whole time. We're counting on you for authentication of the starcharts."

"My apollogies, Captain. I've just been listening to the whole "discussion" trying to figure out my role in this away mission. Up until now, I was going to question your decision to have me along. on this jaunt," Nathan said trying not to openly question his captain. But it was just now that he realized why the captain invited him.

As a bit of an outsider, Enalia also needed Nathan as a bit of a sanity check for the others, but his assigned task was also incredibly critical. "Thank you, Lieutenant. Starfleet only has very basic scans of the area and what we know of it is that it's similar to the badlands. We also know that several pirate groups have mapped large portions of the area, but those maps aren't going to be cheap. Our source is probably also going to try to give you fake charts, so be prepared for that as well. Any questions?"

"No Captain, I have no questions. Thank you for having faith in someone you don't know from Adam. But knowing that, I will endeavor not to let you down. I will do my utmost to assist the away team in any way they and you require."

Enalia nodded and stood. "Then this briefing... What's left of it... Is concluded. Dismissed."

Daytona Ral was dreaming. These days, his dreams were usually pleasant. Being with Akira had that effect on him. Holding her in his arms as he slept comforted him and soothed away the pain of the past...usually, but not always. Some nights, he still had nightmares. Tonight was one of those nights.

The dream had started out pleasantly enough. His daughter Lianna was young, a toddler. Daytona was raising her alone, with hired help. Her mother had been well connected in her clan and, though she had in her own way loved Daytona, she would not allow an affair with a commoner ruin her prospects. It had taken every ounce of persuasion Daytona could muster to get her to carry Lianna to term. Once Lianna was born, her mother left and never returned.

Daytona raised his daughter as best he could. He quit his career with the intelligence services and joined the police. Someone from his own clan came to help with childcare and generally ran his home so that he could spend his most of his down time with his daughter, and at least a little bit of time with whatever woman was warming his bed at the time. It wasn't a bad life.

Lianna was showing him a picture she'd made with finger paints, now, a little older, something she'd made with clay. Older now, singing a song she had learned at school. Daytona kept flashing through their life together. Now she was a young teenager, nervous to talk to a boy. Now she was an older teenager, mortified that a boy DARE not like her. She would show him...men had to learn their place...

"I mean, not you, Dad. Just these dumb boys! Don't they know what their job is?"

Daytona tried to protest, tried to slow things down. As Lianna grew up, she grew closer to the end of her life at the hands of Daytona's enemies.

"Stop!" he shouted in his dream and muttered very softly in the waking world. "Stop! Wait! Lianna! No!"

Now she was home on break from university. So grown up, yet so much to learn. Even if she had no El-Aurian DNA in her, her normal lifespan would have reached over 200 years. With the El-Aurian DNA, well, she could live much longer than that. She had her whole life...several lives, even, ahead of her. And she knew she was in no rush. She had several lovers but no one serious. Daytona met a few here and there. Some were too casual to bother her father with.

The time of Lianna's death drew near. Now Detective Chief Inspector Ral was hearing from Lianna's employer that she hadn't been to work for several days. Now he received the message informing him that Deshok's people had kidnapped her. Daytona was assaulted with images of his assault on Deshok's criminal empire. He was sending a message to Deshok as well.

"Release my daughter immediately or I'll tear this city, this planet apart until I find her. I'll destroy your operation. I'll kill all of your associates, your friends, and your family, and then I'll kill you."

Then, as though he was being carried forth on some kind of conveyor belt, he was brought into the morgue, into the exam room, and right up to the table on which his daughter's remains lay. He tried to close his eyes, but they wouldn't close. He tried to look away, but he couldn't move. The medical examiner pulled back the sheet, and their was his daughter's brutalized face.

"How could you let them do this to me?" her corpse asked him, as tear streamed down her face. "Daddy, how could you let them do this to me?"

Back in the waking world, Daytona had been muttering more and more. The only reason he hadn't been thrashing around was that he was suffering from some kind of sleep paralysis. He couldn't move in the dream and he couldn't move in the waking world either. Suddenly, he woke up and shouted something incoherent, then sat still, his chest heaving, his body soaked in sweat.

Akira woke with a start when she heard his voice, immediately sitting up to put an arm around Daytona and then rest her head on his shoulder. There had been enough nights like this that she knew by now that there was little she could say to help him calm down, but she knew her presence was more than enough to help ground him and bring him back to the present. Even still, she could see the toll that this was having on Daytona; maybe he had put things behind him enough to get by before, but the incident on Selen VI had clearly dredged up memories and guilt he had long since buried but never truly dealt with. Akira had been working on something to try to help him, but she wondered if now was the right time...

"You alright?" she asked after while once he seemed to catch his breath, her hand tracing up and down his back in as a soothing gesture.

"No," Daytona said. He closed his eyes and took in the feel of Akira's soothing touch. "But that's helping. I'm sorry that I woke you up...again. I don't know what's wrong with me. Most nights, I am fine. We make love, we hold each other close, I sleep through the night. Sometimes, though...I'm not sure, but when I go back through my day and try to understand what I could have done to bring on a nightmare...I think that on the days when it happens I...I think maybe I sense something that reminds me of Lianna. I don't mean like a sixth sense or anything like that. I mean I literally sense something. I hear, smell, see, taste, or touch something that reminds me of her. Sometimes I realize and let myself experience the memory. Lianna and I had a good life together and I have many fond memories of my time with her. Other times...I don't think I even realize the moment where the sense memory triggered. Either way, memories of her flit through the back of my mind throughout the day, almost out of reach. I've been thinking that by the time I fall asleep on those days, my subconscious has been working overtime, churning memories of Lianna around in the back of my head and at night, while I'm asleep and my subconscious is more active, the memories sort of take over and get out of control. I must have had a sense memory today, though I can't really think of a moment where I consciously thought about my daughter. I'm so sorry I keep putting you through this."

"You have nothing to apologize for, Daytona; I do not require sleep, so the broken sleep cycles will not affect me in the long term as it will for you," Akira said softly. "I know it's hardly a comparison to what you've been through, but I find myself thinking of my father from time to time, even without meaning to; I see or hear something and I just... smile, because whether it's his memories or mine, when something reminds me of him I can't help but smile, even though the pain of his absence makes me ache..." She had known her father for such a small time, only a couple of months, but he had been her whole world as she struggled to learn to interact with her surroundings during those early days of her existence. "I just wish you could experience this same phenomenon when you think of Lianna, instead of these terrible nightmares."

"So do I," Daytona said with a sigh. "They've been less frequent recently. But they haven't gone away. I don't think anything will ever take them away completely. That's not the way the mind works, at least as I understand things. But it would be nice to be able to reduce their frequency a bit more."

Daytona kissed Akira, then rose from the bed. The sweat had mostly dried, but now he felt a bit gross.

"I need a shower," he said. "Join me if you'd like. Otherwise, I'll be back in a moment and, if that amazing mind of yours hasn't come up with a solution to my nightmare problem by then, I guess I'll either go back to sleep or see if I can find some other way to occupy my time."

Akira smiled and rose with him to join him in the shower. Truth was, Akira had been working on a 'solution', she just wasn't sure if what she had planned was the right thing to do or if now was the right time. Well, not NOW, of course, but after the shower and a Rigellian cure-all, maybe...

"Actually, I have something in mind if you feel up to a trip to the holodeck. After the shower, of course," Akira said, blushing shyly.

"I'm intrigued," Daytona said. He pulled Akira close, enveloping her in his arms, and kissed her. Then he took her hand and led her into the bathroom where he turned on the shower.

[Later]

Akira and Daytona walked down the corridors to the holodeck, hand in hand. As expected, the Rigellian cure-all helped to lift his mood significantly, but she could tell he still had a dark cloud hanging over his head. Akira hoped that her little 'surprise' would help him as they walked through the great doors to enter the holodeck, but she was also understandably nervous about how he would react, though this did little to still her hand as she accessed the program from the holodeck arch. The room, originally a blank black grid, transformed into standard Starfleet interior bulkheads.

"I'm sorry for this..." Akira said softly, feeling guilty that she was about to open a very painful wound for Daytona, but her heart was in the right place, she just wanted to help him, but she also knew this was going to hurt. Akira led him through the program, which unfolded into a standard Starfleet Sickbay; it was not the Hera's Sickbay, she was very clear in the design of this room that she didn't want it to be the Hera's Sickbay so that seeing the real Sickbay would not feel like another painful reminder of his daughter. Then came the punchline as Akira led him through the medical bays, past the doctors and nurses, to the morgue.

"Forgive me..." she uttered in a sad, hushed tone, finally releasing Daytona's hand to go open one of the drawers and there was Lianna, covered to her shoulders in a white sheet. Akira had accessed Daytona's file to recreate his beloved daughter, but she didn't have the heart to access the file involving Lianna's death to recreate her battered state; instead, Lianna looked peaceful and serene almost like she was sleeping, clearly dead with her pale pallor, but still at peace.

Daytona drew in a sharp breath. A lump formed in his throat and his eyes began to water. With a trembling hand, he gently touched his daughter's face. Tears flowed freely down his face now. He leaned in and placed a gentle kiss on Lianna's brow.

"She was so beautiful," he said. Then he smiled. "She was always beautiful, and she knew it. Prime Number help the boy who failed to pay attention to her when she was a teenager, and even into young adulthood. Boys had few purposes as far as Lianna was concerned back then. Lifting heavy objects and pleasuring her were about all she thought they were good for. Not only was she attractive, but she extremely intelligent. It wasn't until university that she began to meet young men who were her intellectual equal and then began to see that there was more to boys than sex and manual labor. That things sort of smoothed out her rough edges. I had been worried she was going to be as gentrified as her mother, even though they'd never met and we certainly never lived like nobility. I had been worried that I had failed in my duties as a parent. But she worked herself out. She was barely fifty when she died...when she was killed. Between her mother's DNA and mine, she had hundreds of years of life ahead of her, maybe more. I know you don't want me to blame myself...that you think I shouldn't dwell on what ifs. What if I hadn't become a policeman. What if I hadn't been so zealous about my work. What if I hadn't been so arrogant as to think I could save her. When I'm being rational, when I can clear my head and gain focus, I...well, maybe I don't forgive myself, but at least I see the wisdom of not dwelling on the past. But at night these thoughts sneak up on me and before I know it, they've got free rein in my mind."

Daytona sighed.

"I try to tell myself that they would have killed her anyway," he said. "And I know that she probably would have rather died than be recaptured by those monsters. She didn't know they were going to set her free. I read the coroner's report. What they did to her...she wouldn't have wanted to experience more of that. She was determined to be free of them. Alive or dead, I don't believe she cared at that point."

Akira watched with a sad expression as the raw and powerful emotions bombarded Daytona, but she managed a sad smile when she saw that he was not angry at her for doing this. Instead, she just listened as he reminisced about Lianna, letting him work through the pain and memories at his own pace until he came to the resolution: Lianna's fate had been inevitable.

"I've-" Akira started hesitantly, but her voice broke as she wrung her hands together while anxiety built in her chest. "It may sound morbid, but I've been studying death and how different cultures cope, even looking into religion and the possibility of an afterlife, all the while wondering if... if such a thing would even apply to an artificial life like myself... But I've learned that how we treat our dead is important to the grieving process; you said before that the battered body you went to see was not your daughter, not anymore, but... but she was, a-and... and you..." she struggled to say. She hadn't practiced anything to say, she was just making things up as she went along, but it was so hard, she found that this was painful to herself as well; it was like a vice around her throat, she felt like she couldn't breath, she just wanted to cry for him, with him. "You couldn't accept it then, you didn't say goodbye; I know she is just a projection, a facsimile, but tell her now, everything that you've wanted to say but have held back."

Daytona looked at Akira with a puzzled expression on his face, then turned his gaze back to his 'daughter'.

"I..." he began. "I'm...sorry. Not because I didn't protect you. Like every parent, I wanted to keep you safe from harm, and like every parent I've got to accept that you were an adult. You had your own life with dangers of its own. I'm sorry because the danger that took you came from my life, not yours. It came to you because of your connection to me and I am so sorry for that. I'm sorry for every conversation we won't get to have, and that I won't be present when you get married and I won't get to tell your children embarrassing stories about their mother and spoil them rotten. I'm sorry for everything I may have left unsaid, and for those things I wish I hadn't said. I thank the Prime Number everyday for the time we did have together. Even the pain of losing you to violence is not enough to make me wish I never had you in my life. Having you in my life saved me...losing you caused me to lose myself. But...I'm finding myself again, bit by bit...with some help. So, don't worry about me. I can take care of myself and when I can't I have help, someone to anchor me, to keep me from drowning in the past. Rest, Little One. You are free now."

Akira smiled at the bittersweet moment as it brought to mind the day her father had died and she absorbed his matrix; she could still feel those trace impulses of him, a reminder of that final goodbye she had said to him, but for as sad as it made her, she still recalled this memory with fondness as she felt the love Arivek had felt in those final moments of his existence, and the pride he had for his daughter and the woman she would one day become. Akira thanked him everyday for the gift of life he had given her, both in her accidental creation and in the willing sacrifice he made to save her, and she was especially thankful now that she had Daytona in her life.

"I hope you can forgive me for all this," Akira said in a quiet soft tone as she approached Daytona, hesitantly reaching out to take his hand. "I hope I didn't show any disrespect to her memory, and I'm sorry to have reopened old hurts, but... I think it was necessary; I don't.... I don't think I would have been able to cope with my father's loss if I hadn't had the chance to say goodbye to him... Even still, I feel bad, and I worry if I have over-stepped any boundaries."

Daytona brought Akira's hand to his lips and kissed it. With his other hand he brushed a loose lock of hair away from his daughter's face and placed one more light kiss on her forehead.

"Goodbye, my daughter," he said as he stood up straight again. "Computer, end program."

He pulled Akira into a hug and held her there for several minutes, enjoying the feel of his lover pressed close against him with her arms around him.

"Thank you," he said to her, his voice just above a whisper. "Thank you for giving me the chance to say goodbye to my daughter."

"You are not upset with me for doing this?" Akira asked as she held him, still feeling uncertain that she had done the right thing.

"No," Daytona said. "I'm grateful. To be honest, you're not the first person to suggest this idea. With the advance of holotechnology...well...it's been suggested to me before this. I rejected the idea every time. I wasn't ready to give up my guilt and rage and sadness. I felt like if I gave those up I was giving up a part of my daughter. Now that I've given those up...I feel closer to Lianna than ever before. Oh, Akira...my love. You have given me so much. Remember when we first met? You got angry at me because you thought I was only interested in you because I felt you were a scientific curiosity? That I didn't see you as a person?
I'm so glad you didn't stay angry at me then. I remember at the time feeling as though I might have just pushed someone really special out of my life. And I was right...about you being special, that is. You make my life better, Akira. You make me better."

Akira smiled brightly. "Well, I hardly 'suggested' it, you had no idea what I had planned, so it wasn't like I gave you much of a chance to say no," she admitted sheepishly. "But I am glad that I did not upset you, that it was able to help. And I hold no allusions that I have solved anything, I just the hope that now this pain can finally start to fade," she continued as she held him lovingly.

They held each other a bit longer before Daytona spoke.

"Well," he said. "It's too early for work, but not early enough to go back to sleep again. Whatever should I do? Seduce you? Feed you? Both? I know this great luxury hotel on Captivar III. It's like a palace. Actually, I think it was a palace. Anyway, I've never slept in, or otherwise put to use, a more comfortable bed in my life, not even the one at Artan Orbital Fortress. And the food is fantastic. Should we go check in and order room service...eventually."

Daytona sighed and gave Akira a squeeze.

"I love you, Akira Zhuri," he said.

"What, you didn't get enough seduction in the shower?" Akira teased playfully. But she was not at all opposed to 'distracting' her amorous Rigellian if that was what he needed in this moment, to replace that sad somberness of his nightmare and the farewell to his daughter with ecstasy and joy. "Sure, the holodeck isn't scheduled for use until Alpha shift, that should leave us plenty of time to enjoy this hotel of yours."

"I think you've known me long enough now to realize that 'enough' and 'lovemaking' are two words I rarely use in the same sentence," Daytona said with a grin. "Computer, please take us to the Skatadorian Arms on Captivar III..."

The bridge of the Hera was bustling with activity as Enalia looked over three PaDDs a crewman had handed her. Giving a thumbprint to all three, she handed them back and smiled at Crewman Jaxx as he nodded and went about his business. This new bridge module was finally feeling like a part of the Hera. Holographic viewscreen, haptic touchscreens, and privacy features on everything made the whole bridge seem rather foreboding at first, but now... Now it felt right.

Finding the raised nubbin on her left touch screen for the ship-wide comms, Enalia pressed it and a small whistle sounded preceding her words to catch the crew's attention. “Now hear this. We've had some difficult times and hopefully we've all gotten a good rest. It's now time to get back to it and face a few more of those difficult times and save the galaxy again. We launch in the next five minutes.”

Enalia then began firing orders as fast as she could, almost as if she just wanted to be gone as fast as she could. “Commander Xustos, please confirm that all crew have returned from the Artan Orbital Fortress. Akira, disconnect the computer mains from the Artan Orbital Fortress. Helm, prepare to clear all moorings and obtain launch clearance from the Artan Orbital Fortress. All stations, perform final checks. Engines to standby.”

Mal quickly checked in with the Chief of the Boat, who confirmed for him that everyone was accounted for.

"All crew have reported aboard, Captain," Mal said.

Akira stood at Ops monitoring the connection with the Artan Orbital Fortress' computer, ensuring that all aspects of her program as well as Maica III's program were safely aboard the ship before terminating their connection. "Connection Terminated," Akira reported, then reported on the final checks for her department. "All Artan repair personnel have returned to the station. The Hera is supplied and ready to depart."

Final departure checks. Whoever had decided that had to be a thing clearly had never served on a starship. Departure checks only took up time that could be better spent actually departing. Also, whoever had invented the department check definitely hadn't worked in any Intelligence department that Clio had ever been a part of, let alone the one she ran. When Intelligence wasn't ready, people could die. She'd long since made it a personal policy that her department would always be ready, departure check or not. She glanced at her incoming alerts just long enough to know that her people were checking in. "Intelligence stands ready." Her tone was ever so slightly shy of annoyed with the process, just professional enough to avoid any reprimanding.

Lieutenant Nathanial Summers was at his station running through a quick diagnostic to ensure that all sensors were functioning at optimal efficiency. Upon seeing that they were, he announced, "All sensor systems are green across the board, Captain."

Ensign Gonadie jumped into action as she began clearance calls and preparations to get underway, her delicate fingers flying across the helm controls.

The Baroness Schwein Von Alcott was on the bridge as well, standing to the right of Enalia in her dress uniform. “Prinzessin...” was all she got out before Enalia interrupted her.

“You will address me as Captain aboard my ship,” Enalia said, cutting off what Schwein was about to say a bit harshly.

“Of course, Captain,” Schwein corrected with a nod. “I just wanted to point out that Captain Magnus is doing his best to delay your mother's arrival at the Orbital Fortress as we speak. We also have the local port authority inspecting her ship. She's not going to be here for another three hours.”

Enalia didn't even blink at Schwein's words. Instead, she tapped a few controls on the arm of her command chair. “She's already been cleared by the port authority and Magnus can't delay her much more than he already has. Thank you Baroness, but she has more connections than we do, it seems.”

That's when Ensign Gonadie spoke up. “Captain, we finally have launch clearance. Someone apparently put a hold on us that I had to use yours and the Baroness's clearance codes to override. We can launch any time now.”

That damned mother of hers... Enalia would have to ask Gonadie how she got both of their clearance codes like that later, but for now, she just wanted out of here. “Launch immediately. As soon as we're clear of the fortress, go into complete radio silence mode and activate stealth plating. Our intel operation begins immediately.”

“Aye, Captain. Launching now.” Ensign Gonadie nodded and tapped a few controls, releasing the docking gangways and firing thrusters. “Now clearing the fortress in ten seconds...”

On the viewscreen, the fortress pulled away from the nose of the ship as the Hera pulled back from it. Gonadie then began rotating the ship away expertly to begin their final maneuvers away from it. “Stealth plating on. Comms cut. We are clear. Impulse and warp ready at your command.”

“Set course for Tortuga station, warp nine.” Enalia checked one more thing on her terminals before giving the final order but brushed it off. “Engage.”

As the starlines streaked across the holographic viewscreen, Enalia and the Baroness both visibly relaxed and may have given a slight sigh together.

Mal looked over at T'Pral.

"Commander Jordan," Mal asked. "Is there any sign of pursuit?"

T'Pral brought up the tactical sensor display on her console. "I'm showing two vessels powering up their warp engines..." she reported, pausing for a moment as she studied the display. "They have gone to Warp on a pursuit course."

"Akira, our stealth plating is on and our warp trail is such that it's virtually untraceable... how are they tracking us?" Enalia demanded, stiffening in her chair at the news. If someone had planted a tracker or sabotaged her ship...

"I- I don't know, Captain," Akira replied, somewhat flustered. "We're not emitting any detectable signals, there's no space dust or radiation to create a wake or disrupt the functionality of the stealth plating, it makes no sense!"

"Have you tried turning it off and turning it back on again?" Mal said.

Since Mal couldn't see her where she sat at the rear of the bridge, Clio rolled her eyes and also started looking for any way the two ships could be tracking them. She didn't find anything either, but her sensor access confirmed what T'Pral had said. They were being followed. It didn't make sense, since they should be functionally invisible. Unless... well the alternative didn't make much sense either, but she had to ask. "Is it possible they've got a telepath on board?"

"Quick!" Mal said. "Everyone stop thinking!"

Enalia rolled her eyes and tapped a few commands on her chair's console. "A telepath on board is unlikely but possible. Let's hold gassing the entire crew and handing control over to Akira to a last resort. For now, Akira, do a hot reboot on the stealth plating and fire up the main sensors. Scan every inch for excess Van Allen radiation particles embedded in it. The deflector was powered down for two weeks and I'm not sure the Fortress was properly configured to filter it out for the ship. If so, we're going to have to polarize each plate one at a time to get rid of it."

"Aye Captain," Akira replied and did as instructed, shutting off the stealth plating to reboot it. As she activated the main sensors in the sensor pod, she did find the radiation so she began the process of re-polarizing the stealth plates, but she also detected something else. "Reboot complete, now repolarizing the stealth plating. However, I am now detecting unauthorized access to the plates from the holo-emitters; whatever program is running is creating a detectable resonance with the radiation present in the plates, that's got to be how we're being tracked." So they had been bugged, in a sense. "I recommend a shut down of all holo-emitters," she recommended, even though it would mean taking her offline momentarily.

"Do it," Mal said. "But make sure your program and Maica's are secure before you do. Doctor Summers, you're going to have to try and remember everything they taught you about computers back in the academy. While the holoemitters are shut down, I want you to isolate whatever program is running and shut it down. Miss Akira, inform us when you are ready."

"Yes sir," Akira replied, then sent a message to Maica regarding the emergency shut down, as well as sending a message to Sickbay. Once Maica was securely shut down, Akira gestured to a relief Officer to take her station to continue the repolarizing of the stealth plates while she shut herself down. "Maica is offline, medical has been informed that the EMH will be offline; I am ready as well, going offline now." And Akira promptly vanished as she shut herself down.

"Doctor Summers," Mal said. "You're on. Don't let us down."

"Well, Commander, it looks as though everything is working properly. There are no discrepancies in the computer protocols. Wait! I see something. There's a non-Starfleet protocol embedded in the code!" Nate was caught off-guard by this. He never expected something besides Starfleet coding on a Starfleet ship; and on a Starfleet Intelligence ship in particular. "Captain, we need to purge the computer buffer now! This is how they're tracking us."

"Make sure it's not part of my wife or Akira and proceed," Enalia ordered. She knew neither of them would leave data hanging out like that, but better to be safe than sorry. "Odds are it's one of my mother's tracking programs..." she muttered as she glanced over her command chair displays.

"I'm on it as we speak, Captain," he said then turned back to his console to begin the purge. "Your wife and Akira are clear. It appears to be a simple tracking program." Nate said as he continued scanning for the tracking protocol. He was becoming perturbed at this tracker and cursed verbally at it. Realizing what he had done, he blushed at his outburst but turned back to his search. "AHA! I found you. The program was slipped into our secondary computer core. But I have it now."

Lieutenant Summers went back to his purging and announced, "I have it in a protected block of the computer core. I'd like permission to study our little 'passenger'. Do we have a computer specialist on board?"

"Most of one," Enalia replied cryptically as she typed in a few commands on her command chair terminals. "Transfer it to Intel for now. Commander Eneas, store it in your isolated computer core and make sure it's secure. I'd like Aewia to take a look at it as well."

"OK done Captain,"Nate said.

"It can be friends with my own tracking programs. Maybe it can teach them a thing or three." Clio didn't comment on the response of having 'most' of a computer specialist. She didn't advertise her own skills in the area, didn't want people to start asking her to fix computer problems around the ship. "There are no traces of it left in our systems. We should change course for a while, let them chase our original path while we circle around them."

Enalia nodded. "Agreed. Helm, make it so. Your discretion at course corrections, just so long as we get to the same destination."

Ensign Gonadie grinned ear to ear. Literally. "Aye, Captain. Switching to manual." It was barely imperceptible, but the ship almost seemed to lurch a bit as the colorful Miradonian helm officer reengaged the stealth systems and took over manual helm control from the computer and started flying in seemingly random patterns. Her multi irised eyes belied that she was in complete control though and within mere moments they had lost their pursuers. "Captain, I am pleased to report that our stalkers are now trailing a Devaronian garbage scow and we are back on course for Tortuga Station. However, with your permission, I'd like to keep helm on manual for a while longer, just in case."

"Permission granted, Ensign. Best possible speed, if you please." Enalia ordered, only slightly relaxing at the news that they had slipped their spotters. She expected at least two more attempts, but hopefully that was the last one for a while at least. Glancing over her shoulder at Schwein, she noted that the Baroness had remained calm and collected throughout the ordeal. Had she known about this or expected it? Had she been in on it? She'd have to have Clio look into it just to make sure. She trusted Schwein, but she didn't trust her mother and if she had planted some sort of programming in one of her oldest and best friends... But that was something to take care of another day. For now they seemed to be in the clear and that's what mattered.

Checking her status displays one more time, Enalia punched in the green alert command. "Stand down from alert status. stealth mode and full comm silence continues until further notice. ETA to Tortuga station should be around two days so normal duty rotations apply." Then another thought struck her. "And someone bring the holo-systems back online and reactivate Akira and my wife." The last thing she needed was a lecture on being forgotten like that.

"On it, Captain," Nate said with a smile on his face. He then went about the task of reactivating the Captain's wife and Akira. He was happy to see Akira when she showed back up on the bridge. "Welcome back, Akira."

Akira blinked as she came back online, quickly regaining her bearings and nodding to the relief Ops Officer so she could resume her position at the Ops terminal. "Glad to be back," Akira replied with a cheery smile as she checked on the status of the reploarization of the stealth plating. "Captain, the stealth plating is repolarized and ready to come back online," she reported, unaware of the order already given to reactivate stealth mode.

Enalia grinned knowingly. "Excellent. Akira, we already bought it online so please confirm that the stealth plating is currently all online and operational just in case. I'd rather not have any more nasty surprises."

"Ah yes, apologies, Captain," Akira stated as she checked the stealth plating. "Stealth plating is active and operating within optimal parameters; we should now be undetectable."

"Excellent." Enalia checked her readouts one more time before settling into her command chair for the long haul. They seemed to be clear for now at least.

Mal led T'Pral to his ready room. Standing outside of it, clearly in a very bad mood, was Nexi. She looked as though she was about to say something, but Mal cut her off.

"Wait," Mal said, stopping Nexi with a word.

Mal keyed the code and submitted to a retinal scan and his office door unlocked and then opened.

"Inside," Mal said. "Both of you."

Mal waited for the two of them to enter, then sat down at his desk. He did not invite either one of them to sit down.

"Commander Jordan," he said. "Staff Warrant Officer Nexi is half-Betazoid and possesses some telepathic ability. I can only assume that she overheard a particularly loud thought of yours and took offense. Regardless of how offensive your though may have been, she had no right to be in your head and certainly no right to speak to you in that manner, particularly in the presence of other officers."

Mal looked at Nexi.

"We'll deal with the root of this issue momentarily," he said. "First, however, you will apologize. Consider that an order. For your own good, don't make me give it twice."

The look on Mal's face and the tone of his voice suggested that if he was forced to give the order twice, then Nexi would discover that turning into a demon was the least of her worries.

"I'll apologize for making a scene in the middle of a briefing, but I'm not apologizing to her for her attitude," Nexi stated. "I don't get into people's heads anymore, not since you started teaching me Starfleet ethics and codes of conduct, especially once we got to the section on how they relate to telepaths, but I can't help it if some emotions and thoughts are that loud. Maybe I shoulda just tried to ignore what I heard and felt or maybe I shoulda brought it up with you in private, so yeah, that's on me, I'm sorry, but to be honest, I ain't got no damned clue why she's so pissed at me, so I don't get why I gotta apologize when I can't even understand what the hell is going on!"

Mal quietly counted to ten and then spoke.

"I believe I do understand what is going on," Mal said. "And while it didn't get in the way of our work, I stayed out of it. However, that is no longer the case. Commander T'Pral, Nexi clearly has no idea what she's done to vex you. That's surprising because she may be one of only three and a half people on this ship who don't know what's going on. As I said, I have kept out of and I would have continued to stay out of it, except that this little situation has become a disciplinary issue, which makes it my problem. Commander, would care to tell Nexi what has happened that has put her on your shit list? I think it would be less embarrassing for both of you if I didn't have to give my opinion on the subject."

T'Pral turned with her hands clasped behind her back in typical vulcan form and looked at the other woman. "You read my thoughts, against Starfleet Regulation which is a violation of privacy. And yet, you are going to claim ignorance at not knowing that West and I were in a supposed relationship? The blame is not all yours of course," she let out a breath, controlling her anger at the woman. The problem with Vulcans is that when they feel, they are extremely passionate about their feelings which led to the teachings of Surak.

"Can you shut off your ears if you walk into a room where there are people talking? No, best you can do is to try to ignore the conversation or pretend you didn't hear anything, telepaths ain't no different," Nexi shot back. "Yeah, Betazoids develop filters to shut out outside thoughts and emotions, and swear I ain't been prying into people's head since I decided to Enlist, but it ain't my fault if your anger projects your thoughts that loud. And if this is all about Cato, I didn't know there was a thing between you two. Yeah, I knew you two slept together, but the way he talked about it, it was a one time time deal, you can't get mad at me for that! I never asked for him to pursue me, in fact I tried to convince him I weren't worth it, and I had no way of knowing that it bothered you because you sure as hell weren't this mad when we did training drills together. If I'd known, I'da kicked his ass, which I might still do now that I know."

"Do not bother," T'Pral said simply after a moment of silence, unsure if the woman was telling the truth or not about not knowing. She seemed convinced but she was also Intel and Intel personnel were often the best liars. She know felt embarrassed and still angry, though more of that anger was at Cato than the woman across the room. "Am I done here?" she turned to the XO.

"Commander Jordan," Mal said. "You and Staff Warrant Officer Nexi are done here...as soon as this problem is a problem no longer. You have to work together. As the actual commander of this away mission, you are responsible for the Staff Warrant Officer's life, for making sure that she returns from this mission safely. Nexi has to place her life in your hands. That requires a certain amount of trust on both of your parts. Your current attitude towards her doesn't really earn you her trust. You don't respect her and therefore she doesn't respect you. If it sounds like I'm putting this all on you, that's because I am. You are a superior officer and you'll need to behave like one."

Mal turned his attention to Nexi.

"Staff Warrant Officer Nexi," he said. "Cut Commander Jordan a break. She got pushed to the side in favor of you. I think she has a right to be a little pissed. Both of you will work this out now, once and for all. I will mediate if needed. Otherwise, I am just going to sit here. You may proceed."

"Mal, I get it now, why she's angry at me, but what I don't get is why she thinks this is a babysitting job," Nexi said, forgetting formality for a moment and speaking candidly. "I know, my bad for reading her thoughts, but it's out there now and I don't wanna sit on this while we're out there. If anyone's the babysitter, it's Daytona 'cause he's been teaching me to control my anger, but... Black blood aside, there's a lotta ways this mission could go sideways." Nexi paused to look at T'Pral. "I wanted you on this team 'cause you're a damn good fighter, helluva lot better than me, and if I do my job right then maybe we won't need your skills, but if things get dicey there's ain't many people other than you I'd want watching my back in a tough situation; I just don't see how that makes this a babysitting job."

T'Pral was silent for a moment. "While I appreciate the comments, I have to make sure your Black Blood does not endanger the mission or the other crew--something I would not have to worry about if it were anyone else. Both you and Chief Warrant Officer Ral appear to have a habit of making trouble on missions--something that we cannot afford to happen on this mission."

"I can't say I disagree, but that hardly makes this a babysitting job for you," Nexi tried to say in her defense, but then she sighed, her lips pressed together in frustrations; this was one of those moments where no matter what she said she wasn't going to be changing any minds...

Mal frowned.

"For the record," he said. "Chief Warrant Officer Ral was acting under strict orders when he kept us in the dark about his mission in 2160, orders that came from somewhere higher up than Enalia's influence reaches. You can strike him off of the list of 'babies' you are going to need to 'sit'. He has his own way of doing things, but he knows how to follow orders."

Mal sighed.

"Commander," he said. "I suppose it's best that you hear this now, what with your promotion still bright and shiny on your collar. 'Babysitting' as you put it is a very large part of what officers do. Sometimes we only need to be there as a formality. Most of the time, we need to be there to provide direction, focus, instruction, and even to protect our subordinates, sometimes from the enemy, often from themselves or each other. Look at me. By your implied definition, aren't I babysitting the two of you right now? Protecting you from Nexi's temper and Nexi from your disdain? Not to mention protecting the crew from whatever disaster is going to strike if you two don't get this settled?"

"I know how to do my job, sir," T'Pral said. "I am competent enough to separate my profession and personal feelings or else I would not be Chief of Security for this ship."

"I believe you," Mal said. "And I'm going to hold you to that. But you didn't answer my question. Am I not, by your definition of the term, babysitting you and Nexi right at this very moment?"

"No. Because I am not a liability and can perform my job and I was not the one to storm out of a meeting unexcused. However if it would please all parties present, then I will agree so I may get back to my duties," T'Pral said. Her mind was still on the hurt and embarrassment at being tossed aside by West. Then to top it off, her mother and her ship had gone missing and she had an argument with her father over the issue. Internally she was a mess and was currently thankful to the breathing and meditation techniques she had learned. When that didn't work, there was always the holodeck.

Mal looked at T'Pral a moment, his expression softening.

"Nexi?" he said. "Would you excuse us please? Oh, and write me a 500 word explanation, if Ferengi if you'd like, explaining what you did wrong, why it was wrong, and what you're going to do differently when you're in a situation like this again. Email it to me. I'll have the computer translate it into standard and we'll go over it together. Once I'm convinced that you understand both what went wrong and how to do better the next time, we'll send a copy, in Standard, to Commander Jordan. Dismissed."

"Seriously?" Nexi said in disbelief. "I already explained myself and apologized, and I did not storm out unexcused, I was ordered to come here so I did, I'm sorry if I don't stand on ceremony for every little thing!" Nexi grumbled with a sour grimace of displeasure, then finally crossed her arms over her chest with a huff. The belt she wore that inhibited the spread of the black blood in her was growing dangerously close to sounding off an alarm, but Nexi kept Daytona's teachings in mind and kept her breathing slow.

'As that I can see no way out but through,' Daytona had quoted to her during a breathing exercise the day before, the passage from a poem written by a long-dead hu-mon with a frosty name. Nexi had scoffed at his words before, but now she understood what it meant, or at least how it could apply to her now: she was in too deep in whatever this mess was, the only recourse now was to do as told instead of trying to find a way around it.

"500 words, coming right up. If you need me before I'm done, I'll be in my ship," Nexi said, sounding somewhat defeated yet resolved, and then she turned to leave.

"Thank you, Nexi," Mal said in a tone that definitely conveyed his true gratitude. If Nexi had put up a fight, this would have gone badly for everyone. "I very much appreciate your cooperation. We will speak later."

Nexi said nothing, instead acknowledging him with a slight nod. She then left the office to return to her ship where she intended to work on her assignment.

Once Nexi was gone, Mal turned his attention back to T'Pral.

"What West did to you was inexcusable," he said. "But what happened to Nexi, the 'infection' for lack of a better word, that wasn't her fault. Everyone on the team you're in charge of has the potential to be a liability. We've already discussed Nexi, but there's also Daytona. While he is easily the most experienced covert operative on this ship, that experience means that he's been around awhile. He wasn't always working in a covert capacity and some of the people he dealt with have multi-century lifespans...or angry offspring. What if someone recognizes him? He's very good at going unnoticed, but it's still a possibility. What about Doctor Summers? Nathan apparently has some training and experience in Intelligence, but none of you has ever worked with him before. He's an almost entirely unknown variable. Anything could go wrong with him along. And, lastly, we have you. You are an excellent officer. You're smart, capable, quick on your feet. You're also a superb hand-to-hand combatant and are of equal skill with weapons, both ranged and melee. This is evidenced by the fact that a mission hasn't gone by yet where you haven't killed or maimed someone or something, with good reason, I admit. However, how do I know that if you get in trouble you aren't going to immediately choose violence as the way out? I'm not telling you you shouldn't use violence, and I'm sure your team is very grateful to have you backing them up. I am saying that, potentially, that advantage could be a liability, one that your team members could have to correct for."

"Because I do not kill unless I am forced or ordered to. I could have killed that Amazon that I fought on the previous mission and instead I rendered her unconscious. Because I express my emotions, do not think that I am a savage such as a Klingon or a Nausicaan, sir." T'Pral only hoped the crew never saw the pure emotional part of her as Vulcans before the teachings of Surak were indeed savages and more violent than the most blood thirsty Klingon. She still remembered the first time she lost control of her anger as a child because another student was bullying her little brother since he was half Vulcan like herself. She had nearly killed that student and would likely have done so had it not been for the intervention of the instructors.

Mal sighed. Vulcans were such hard work.

"Not my point, Commander," Mal said. "Every member of your team, yourself included, brings both advantages and disadvantages to the mission. In a sense, everyone is babysitting each other. Look, Commander Jordan...T'Pral, your team needs your support, not your disdain. It's not your fault that your personal views regarding Nexi were outed, but the fact is that they were and unless you can get over yourself and show Nexi and all the members of your team your unwavering support, you will be the one endangering the success of this mission. Am I making myself clear?"

"So what you are implying, sir, is that the assigned Away Team is not competent enough to do their jobs unless supervised ?" T'Pral said as she studied the XO before her.

Mal was starting to lose his patience.

"If by the whole team you include yourself, Commander I might just agree with you!" Mal said. "If your goal is to get out of leading this Away Mission, you've just about succeeded. If I make that call, it will include a notation in your file that deemed you unfit to lead this mission, likely unfit to lead any other teams, and extremely undeserving of your recent promotion!"

Mal took a deep breath.

"T'Pral," he said. "We both know this isn't about Nexi's black blood infection. The sooner you stop lying to yourself about that, the sooner we can get this ordeal over with. Does the infection make her a liability? Maybe. But that's why we wanted you to go along on this mission. Because we believed, possibly erroneously, that your presence leading the team would help guarantee everyone came back in one piece. Now...I'm just not seeing it. In your current state of mind, you're compromised. You present more of a threat to this mission's success than Nexi does. The difference here is that you can do something about your problem without the help of a team of Starfleet scientists and doctors. All you need to do, Commander, is pull your head out of your ass. We haven't got a lot of time before you the away team needs to leave. Convince me you should go with them. That's an order."

T'Pral remained expressionless as she gazed at the commander. Raising an eyebrow, she spoke evenly with a hint or either confidence or sternness in her voice. "Because as Chief of Security I am the best chance you have for everyone to come back alive. I stated previously that I do not allow my personal feelings to interfere with my duties. I let my past actions speak for themselves."

Mal was silent for a moment, then nodded.

"I'll take it," he said. "Thank you. Will you be satisfied with the action I have taken in response to Nexi's behavior? I believe that she understands where she went wrong and will endeavor to prevent it from happening again. If it turns out from her first draft that this isn't true, you have my word that she will when I get done with her."

T'Pral nodded. "Very well," she said simply, still wondering if Nexi had indeed been clueless about West's actions.

"Good," Mal said. "You are dismissed. Thank you for your cooperation."

Even if getting your cooperation was like pulling teeth with a pair of tweezers.

T'Pral nodded and exited the office.

After T'Pral left, Mal sighed loudly and dropped his head into his hands and massaged his temples. Hopefully, this would be the last he heard about this, other than working with Nexi on her report.

The bridge was quiet when Doctor Cassiopeia arrived via the turbolift. She was greeted by a couple of curious stares, but mostly, the skeleton crew looked bored with their mundane tasks. Cassi didn't dawdle though and was ringing the chime to the Captain's ready room before anyone could ask for her story.

She passed through the doors after she was beckoned to enter. Trill, she instantly noted once she was in the room. Realizing she should say something, the moment of silence became awkward, Cassi introduced herself, "I'm Doctor Cassiopeia Yale. I'm here as your Chief Medical Officer."

"Welcome aboard. Please, have a seat. May I get you a drink? We have a lot to discuss and while your clearance level is still being upgraded to Sigma 9, I don't foresee an issue so I'm going to answer what questions I can. Our Intel Chief, Commander Eneas, will have to brief you on the rest, but at least I'll be able to point you in the right direction." Smiling brightly for a moment, Enalia's smile then faded as she moved the scattered PaDDs from her desk to an open bin so she could use her desk's holographic display - one of the handy features Starfleet Intel had installed for her that she'd found to be immeasurably useful.

After Enalia was finished clearing her desk and her desk terminal was ready, she stared at Doctor Yale a moment longer. "And one more thing before we start... Every Medical Chief this ship has ever had since being christened USS Hera has been killed within a month of being assigned to the position with the exception of one and we don't speak of him... Please break that cycle."

The captain's dark, brown eyes drilled into the doctor. With a warning like that... Cassi shifted her weight in unease. "Challenge accepted," she said, though the confidence was certainly lacking. "I do like to avoid dying whenever I can. I assume their deaths were accidental circumstances?" Accidents could be avoided, secret vendettas against people holding medical degrees would be a different story - and a little harder to defend against.

"For the most part, yes..." Enalia's tone wasn't the most reassuring and she knew it, so she elaborated. "One fell down a turbolift shaft about eighty decks during an away mission, one was vaporized by plasma in a freak shuttle accident on the main hangar deck, one was transported into a bulkhead somehow, one was murdered by Syndicate junkies for being in the wrong place at the wrong time, one was on his way here when his courier shuttle ran afoul of a cosmic filament and destroyed his ship... I'm sorry but during your time here, I'll be forbidding you from going on any away missions or moving from this ship by any means other than a docking ramp except in an emergency or with command approval. I hope you understand."

Cassi nodded accession as she counted the review of deaths on her fingers. She was almost relieved by the news of staying on the ship, but accidents still happened on board the Hera.

Clicking a few buttons on her terminal, Enalia brought up a file listing without breaking eye contact with Cassi. She spoke as the file list scrolled continuously. "Also, you're going to have to format your internal office computer and reset the EMH backup system... The one Chief that did last a while filled it with homo-erotica holo novelas that he spent his days writing with the former Intel Chief. Do you have any questions or objections so far?"

"I have a lot of questions, but I don't think this is the time or the place to ask them. I think it may be best, actually, if I try to forget most of that information once I've sanitized Sickbay." She tried for a brave smile. "I hope your travel restrictions correct the issue."

"As do I," Enalia replied, also smiling bravely as she cleared her display. "As for your actual job, have you been briefed on Staff Warrant Officer Nexi's condition? That's probably the easiest place to start..."

Cassi nodded, "Yes, some. I met with the executive officer and he briefly explained the situation but not the details. He indicated I can talk with one of the science officers for more detailed information."

Enalia nodded and pulled up a few readouts of the belt that Nexi and Farenia had been made. "Crewman Dedjoy has been heading up the science side of things. As I understand it, in her culture given names are earned by great achievements. If she hadn't already earned one in geology right before coming aboard, I think she'd have earned one in biology for this. The scanning and quantum field tech she's cobbled together on such short notice is nothing short of amazing. She's even invented a new quantum-bio phase discrimination filter on the fly. Unfortunately, even having been watching over both Nexi and Farenia that whole time, I don't have much more knowledge than that about this specific black blood they're infected with. I could however tell you more about the blood of another demon that we had interactions with... Though that might be best saved for when you're more settled in."

"I'm sufficiently curious now; I won't be running away any time soon." Cassi answered. Maybe ghost stories weren't the best way to start a new job position, but it couldn't be any worse than a long list of deceased doctors.

"Alright then..." Pulling up another set of files, the door to Enalia's ready room automatically sealed and the familiar hum of an all encompassing security grid force field could be heard activating around the entire room. Then some security camera footage of a normal Nebula class bridge, which looked nothing like the bridge module currently mated to the Hera, popped up on the holographic display over her desk. At first everything looked normal as Enalia explained the situation. "I'll spare you the details of what the test was about - just suffice it to say we summoned something... evil..."

Activating playback, a black transport sequence teleported another version of Enalia onto the bridge, but unlike the one sitting in the command chair, this one looked like it had crawled out of a swamp or a grave. Immediately, several security people open fired on it, but though it took a couple hits, it leaped to the helm officer and there was a crunching noise as the demon spread its jaws wide and literally bit the officer's neck in two. A black inky substance then spread from the demon and glowing red eyes opened as two hounds seemed to materialize from it, which then went around attacking the rest of the bridge crew. in the end it was unclear if anyone made it off that bridge alive, but since Enalia was sitting there in the room showing this video to Cassi...

Once the destruction was done and the only moving thing left was the demon and her two seven eyed hellhounds, she found the last active security camera, smiled inhumanely into it with teeth as long as knives and eyes as deep and black as singularities and just froze there. Waiting. Enalia then shut the video off and released the security hold on the room. "That's the kind of thing we're trying to kill, only this time it's had two hundred thousand years to hide and plan our destruction rather than two."

"Where is - that being? - now?" Cassi asked.

"Thankfully dead. We finally killed it on our last mission as we were investigating the older demon, the Master." Enalia answered, intentionally leaving out what it took to do so.

"Well... I suppose I should go get settled in," Cassi said. Though she wasn't sure she could actually settle in with the looming monsters she had witnessed. She didn't want to know how it could be worse, but her imagination was never optimistic.

Enalia knew the look in Cassi's eyes as someone who didn't want to have seen what they had just seen. It was too late now though. "I'm sorry for having to have had shown you all this. It's better to know what we're up against than not though, I think." Standing and coming around her desk, Enalia offered a handshake and a friendly smile to Cassi. "Welcome aboard the Hera. If you need anything at all, please don't hesitate to ask."

Cassi grasped the Captain's hand, returning the firmness she received. "I'll do my best to take care of the crew. And I'll make a list if I find that the Sickbay isn't fully stocked. Thank you, Captain."

Things had been fucked, proper fucked for Cato. Not to mention the girl he was, something with now outranked him in the same department. No doubt, a tomorrow problem.

Cato had simply disappeared off the ship for... Reasons... He had been pulled from duty and sent back into the suck, again. This time, throwing up a "W" to counteract his recent shit streak while aboard the Hera. Sitting on the couch in his quarters, lights dimmed and set to multiple accent colors throughout. A bottle of Slaughter House Whiskey on the table, a glass in his hand generously poured with a large square of ice, condensation from the glass pooled at his gripped fingers and dripped onto the floor.

Bare chested, OD green tactical pants, belt, boots off and laying next to the table. A chain dangled around his neck with his MACO tags back on, usually a sign he's going through some shit. A relic from his past was laying there, a MACO modified MK23 MOD 0; cleaned, oiled and sitting in the cherry wood velvet lined box. A few new scars were added to his body, wounds still healing actually; including a bite mark from... something humanoid-ish. Bo Diddley, Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf and a bunch of the other blues classics played in the background. Cato's eyes were pinned at the doors leading into his quarters, waiting for someone...

As usual, the doors to his quarters were opened without bothering with the chime as Nexi let herself in, but she stopped cold when she saw Cato staring at the door, as if waiting for her. As the door slid shut behind her, she rested her back against the cold metal, a clear hesitation in her desire to join him on the couch; she had just come from Sickbay getting her black blood levels checked, and was dismayed to learn that even with measures to counteract this strange phenomenon, her levels were steadily growing. The first time Cato had ever seen true fear in her eyes was the day he had come to see her in the Artan Fortress Medical facility after learning of Nexi's infection; since they had been getting closer, he had been tested as well, and though hearing that he was clean should have brought relief to Nexi, it only heightened her fear as she didn't want this thing to be in him too. Seeing him now with still healing injuries, that fear was renewed in her eyes; she was clearly afraid to be near him, to touch him. They had both been told that this infection required direct blood to blood transmission, they should be safe to kiss and even be intimate, her fear was completely irrational, but somehow that didn't make it any easier for her.

"Hey," she finally said in soul-weary tone, still glued to the door.

“Hey, pretty girl.” He smiled, hauling that glass to his lips and taking a sip of his favorite poison. “I missed you.” His gaze was glued to her, having missed looking at her. It felt like it had been six years since he had seen her, in reality it was more like a month. “Funny thing, I actually really missed you while I was gone.”

"Maybe I missed you too," Nexi replied with some hesitation, but even that small, noncommittal admission was a grand gesture for one as emotionally constipated as her. She still seemed to be uncomfortable, standing stiff against the door, but she was here, and that had to mean something! "I woulda come by sooner, but I'm not allowed to skip any of my scheduled checks, so I came here as soon as I got out of Sickbay..." she admitted with some embarrassment, looking away from him like she couldn't bear to meet his gaze anymore.

Nexi felt so torn between the desire to be near him and the need to keep him at a safe distance, and more than that she hated what this infection was doing to her, how it was changing her, not just on a genetic level, but in her personality as well; how it was forcing her to find ways other than rage to function, and how it kept in her constant fear... Sometimes she would look into the mirror and she couldn't even recognize herself. Would Cato see these changes in her? Would is affect how he felt about her? Would he stay with her or... No, Cato was many things, but Nexi knew that above all else he was loyal, he wouldn't just up and abandon her, but she still feared that outcome and she hated herself for it.

“Sweetheart, the ultimate measure of a person is not where they stand in moments of comfort and convenience, but where they stand at times of challenge and controversy. Nothing worthwhile is easy. Your ability to overcome unfavorable situations will provide you with time to demonstrate your true strength and determination for success. You’ve always set your standards high, your greatest achievements lie within the infinite feats you continue to achieve in your life... This? This is nothing but a blip on the motherfuckin’ radar.”

Cato took a deep breath, another sip of that drink in his hand. “I love you, that means I’m here to stay.” He smiled wickedly “Now get that ass over here and give me a kiss.”

With a bemused flutter of her eyes, Nexi finally pushed off from the door and crossed the distance to the couch, plopping down beside him; she felt the conviction he felt as the words fell from his lips, she knew he wasn't just saying it to placate her, that he believed she could to conquer this, but she wasn't so certain of that herself; after all, he had been gone a while, he didn't know how things had developed since he went on his op.

"It's getting worse, progressing faster than that Commodore woman that got infected..." Nexi said sadly, turning her face away from him when he moved in to kiss her. "I can't fight this! If anything, fighting it is making it take over faster; I don't have the control over my emotions that other woman has, I can't stop feeding it! The doctors, they ain't said anything to me, but I could feel it... They don't think I'll survive whatever it's doing to me." She didn't want to give up, but at the same time, she didn't see how she could overcome this! Then she exhaled a small sigh with a shake of her head to brush it all aside; there wasn't anything she could do about it right now anyway.

"I'm sorry, I weren't trying to... kill the moment, I just... I'm scared, Cato, and I ain't used to being scared..." Another sigh and she finally raised her gaze to once again meet his. "How'd the op go? I saw one of your boys limping into Sickbay, but he looked right pleased with himself; I take it that meant things went well?"

"Ever thought about embracing it?... I wish my uncle Caleb was here. Man has been to the bottom of the abyss and beyond. This kind of shit is within his grasp." He paused, finishing off his drink and placing the glass atop the table before snaking his arms around Nexi's sexy body. "As for the op, it was an op. Went the way I needed it to." he let a deep sigh escape. "Back to you; One can either fight the darkness, or embrace it. Adopt it, become molded by it and change for better or worse."

He ran his fingernails gently over her left forearm, his other hand resting on the inside of her left thigh "You've got some choices to make, pretty girl. As for fear of infecting me, let's keep up this pretense of me not being alive long enough to care."

On the one hand, Nexi understood what Cato meant by encouraging her to embrace the darkness, but on the other hand, they had all seen what this black blood was capable of and Nexi didn't want to become a monster... She had been working hard to redefine herself as someone more or less worthy of wearing the Starfleet uniform, a good person, and she didn't know if that was possible if she gave in to the blood. As Cato's hands continued to move over her body, her eyes closed for a moment as she weighed her options; Nexi wanted to believe there would be years of tomorrows for both of them to look forward to, but she didn't have the slightest clue how such a thing would be possible for her now...

[Later]

Cato had been fucked, a nice proper fucking, and if the near-comatose Nexi laying beside him was any indication, it hadn't been to shabby for her either! Sex had always been 'work' to Nexi before coming to the Hera, it had never really been what anyone would call stress-relieving for her, but Daytona had been right when he said she just needed to find the right person to do it with because she already felt so much better!

Proper was one way to describe it. A thin layer of sweat made his tattooed skin glisten in the dim light of his quarters. Dog tags dangled around his neck as he moved to sit up. Sliding his bare muscular form out of bed, he grabbed a bottle of water next to the bed. "So, the hell has been going on while I've been gone? Daytona die so I don't have to kill him now?" twisting the cap off, he chugged about half the full bottle before offering it to Nexi.

"Don't kill Daytona," Nexi said with a roll of her eyes as she pushed herself upright to take the bottle of water. "He saved my life and he's been teaching me meditation bullshit and how to fight without rage," she continued, then took a drink. Her sweat dampened hair was stuck to her back, though it did nothing to obscure the scars on both sides of her shoulder where she had been run through with the Amazon's blade; unlike Cato, Nexi didn't have many scars, mainly because she had been good at avoiding damage, and when she did take damage she was good at making an effort to tend to her wounds so that any scarring was minimal, but these new scars were definitely noticeable, having healed into jagged red-black marks because of the black blood.

"Not a lot's happened since you been gone," Nexi said once she finished downing the water. She recapped the bottle then tossed it aside and flopped back onto the bed. "We went to one of my old haunts, a station under FCA control, to get a star chart, now we're headed to a place in those charts, hopefully to find the Master and finally end him. I think Enalia's gonna bench me for that one, but I don't really have a problem with that; I don't wanna lose control and shorten whatever time I've got left..."

"Yeah, fuck that guy for what he pulled. If you want to be a blue falcon, you're gonna catch some friendly fire downrange. How that shit goes." Cato made note of the new decorations on her body. "No she won't... You'll go, it's what you need. Closure. Revenge, whatever. I'll run point for you and see that you get it."

He took a deep breath and let out another big sigh, the Hera had been getting to him as of late. Living in the shadows of others and standing around playing snowman wasn't something he was accustomed to. "Or I'll die trying." he added coldly.

"No, I.... I've seen enough death, killed enough people, I don't need to be there to get my closure. Just seeing him dead will be more than enough for me," Nexi said in a subdued tone, then she looked over to him and offered a rare but genuine smile, not one of her usual smart-ass smirks. "And knowing you'll be there helps; I know you'll do what needs to be done. As for Daytona... we didn't know it then, we weren't allowed to know, but he was under orders; them Temporal guys don't mess around about the things they know and keeping it a secret. Don't mean I'm not basically still pissed at Daytona, but now most of that anger is directed at the real reason we were so blindsided. Since he's cleared that up and we've had to work together to control my anger, well I guess I don't hate him anymore."

"Right..." he narrowed his eyes in her direction, this wasn't the same woman he had left a month ago. A genuine smile? That's a rare thing with her. "Got it, sounds like you two figured your shit out..." his voice trailed, sitting back on the edge of his bed with his back to her. Placing his face in his hands and then running his fingers through his hair in frustration. "Can't win." he muttered to himself before pulling his shit together; "How's the star? Any progress?"

Nexi's smile quickly faded as she saw his mood going south. "Don't... Don't do this, Cato, please, I can't... I can barely cope with what's in me now, I can't deal with... this, whatever it is. I don't know what you're blaming yourself for this time, but just don't, stop it, you didn't do nothing wrong, everything was fine, you got me feeling good about things... Just, please Cato..."

"I'm fine." He paused "Just me processing, things." he moved to lay down next to her, his large muscular body conforming to how she lay in bed. His head nestled perfectly in her cleavage, another deep sigh. "We ready for retirement after this?" he nipped at her skin playfully. "I'm getting awful tired, these days."

"Yeah, yeah, we can sleep..." Nexi said, putting her arms around him. "I know the last thing you probably want is to hear me talking about Daytona again, but he's been working with me, helping me learn to let things go so I ain't got all this anger building up inside me, letting go fault and blame so it don't eat me up... It's survival, I don't have a choice, if I don't deal with it then it could literally kill me, or even worse it could kill everyone around me, and I- I don't really know what I'm trying to say right now but it- it comes from a good place?" Nexi sighed as she stared at the ceiling for a moment, running her fingers through his hair as he listened to the beat of her heart. "You just gotta stop blaming yourself, especially for things that ain't really your fault." Then she frowned and looked at him. "Wait, when you said 'retire', you meant sleep, right? 'Cause sometimes I get hu-mon words mixed up."

"Yeah, I did." He smiled and shut his eyes. His breathing slowed, his tense posture relaxed as his body became putty up against hers. "I'm glad you're finding peace. Even if it is in the most unlikely of places." he paused as he bit his bottom lip. "I missed you, a lot... This is different for me and it's a little scary. Emotions and I don't do well."

"Oh, like I'm the Nagus of all this emotional shit?" Nexi replied with a snicker. "And I missed you too... Oh, and apparently so did T'Pral," she continued, letting that last line just hang there with a grin to see how he would react to it.

Cato laughed and kept his eyes closed "That a fact? Guess you can't ghost 'em on a small ship... Especially when they're the Chief of Security. That's gonna end well." he chuckled. "I'll handle it, mend the relationship. Could've sworn I friend zoned her." he cracked one eye open "Sorry, I had a weakness for spots and ears before I met you." he bit his bottom lip. "Then I moved on to the whole finding my equal and falling in love thing." both eyes open now, seeing if she caught that last bit.

"Yeah, she's pretty pissed you didn't set the record straight before you started chasing me, we both got dibs on the ass-whooping of the century for that. But I think we all know who your ass belongs to now; it was a done deal a long time ago, even if neither one of us knew it, back when you dropped the L-word in the 'Star, so stop playing coy like it's some grand confession now," Nexi said teasingly, still grinning.

"Already happened, she can thank Daytona for the junk punch." his left eye twitched slightly as raised up slightly and gaze locked with Nexi "Oh? Grand confession?! No, it's the fact I'm STILL saying it. That's the confession." his left hand dragged his fingernails gently across her bare stomach, headed down to her right thigh. Fingertips gentle brushing past, sensitive areas, his voice softened "I can stop saying it, if you want."

"Words are just words, I know what you feel for me, but I also know what those words mean to you, I won't make you stop," Nexi said simply, then feigning disinterest with where his hand was going, she added playfully, "And I thought you were tired."

"I was, until you got that look in your eye." he bit his bottom lip. "When you look at me that way, it makes me want more with you." his fingers continued to teasingly graze right between her legs. "It makes my heart pound through my chest and puts me at the mercy of your will."

"Mercy?" Nexi replied with a snicker. "Don't think I've ever been called 'merciful'." One hand moved to grasp the chain around his neck, using it to pull him up so that they were face to face, but she stopped him just short of kissing her. "What if I don't want to be... merciful?" she asked against his lips, then once again feigned disinterest by turning her head slightly to look at the tags at the end of the chain.

Two ultra-dominate people in the same bed, naked... Would end up the ultimate power struggle for who got to be on top. Cato's left hand moved to gently grasp her throat. Controlling her, just triggered this switch in him. He enjoyed taking control of Nexi just a bit too much in the moment; Placing a soft kiss on her lips and pulling at her bottom lip with his teeth. It more than apparent that he was fighting back his very dominate tendencies in the bedroom. Her past stayed fresh in his head and is what kept him from really unleashing on Nexi. Or at least making her very sore for a few days.

Nexi relaxed into the hold and let him kiss her, even allowed herself to enjoy it, humming with amusement as she could sense his resolve to hold back wavering; one of these days, she was going to have to show him some of the tricks she had picked up on the job, but for now she was more than content with a simpler approach to intimacy as it made it easier for her to reacquaint herself with sex for pleasure rather than profit.

"Mmmm, if I could shock the shit outta you without hurting myself, I would," Nexi said with amusement once their lips had parted. "I would also like to point out that you don't look like you're at my mercy... I wonder if I could ever get you to beg for it?" Certainly another challenge for another day. Instead, she wondered for now if she could break his resolve... "What were we talking about?" she said nonchalantly, as though she had completely forgotten that his hand was at her throat and he was, well, poking her.

"Me? Beg? Never..." he placed a soft kiss right above her collar bone near her neck. Dragging his bottom lip up her neck to her ear, he whispered softly "You, being submissive to me is a different story." he nipped at her ear playfully, kissing her jawline, "Maybe I'll even get you to call me daddy." he chuckled, before pulling away and laying down on the other side. This time, testing her resolve.

Nexi knew there had been a reason she liked him: he liked to mess with her and challenge her expectations just about as much she did! But she wasn't taking his bait! "Oh, we're going to sleep now? G'night!" Nexi said, then rolled to her side with her back to him, shifting just a little closer so that her backside was touching him.

Oh, that angle was too good to pass up. Turning slightly, Cato's right hand delivered a firm smack across her cheek. The resulting jiggle and instant hand print made him smirk wickedly. "I'm not going to sleep until you call me daddy, now." he smiled and bit his bottom lip.

"Then I guess you ain't getting any sleep tonight," Nexi said with a grin, wiggling her butt at him.

And as he pounced on her, she knew she wouldn't be getting any sleep tonight either...

The world was very fuzzy, and Clio was having a hard time coming back to it. Her eyes would not focus as she groggily came awake, and she couldn't tell where she was. Confused and terrified that the Borg had found her, she tried to sit up. That was when all of the pain came flooding back, and she instead whimpered rather pitifully and curled up in the tiniest ball she could manage. A hand touched her shoulder, and she shrieked, twisting away into another pair of waiting hands.

Human hands. Her vision was still very cloudy, but she could see that much. Her heart still racing, she froze for several long seconds. As her brain started to register that she was not, in fact, still on the unimatrix vessel, she swallowed gingerly. "Where...?" Oh, talking hurt more than breathing. What had they done to her?

"You're in sickbay, on the Heimdall." It was an unfamiliar voice, but the other woman spoke in a soothing tone. "You just got out of surgery, and you're going to be sore for a while. Your throat hurts because we had to use an old-fashioned endotracheal tube to keep you breathing. You kept fighting the anesthesia, so she put you pretty far under." Gentle but firm pressure pushed Clio back onto the biobed. "Try to relax. I have lorazepam if you need it."

Clio shook her head. She didn't want to be sedated, not when the sickbay around her was finally coming into focus. She looked around, trying to get her wits about her. A second nurse was on the other side of the bed, ready to assist with whatever might happen next. She thought it was odd that they had thought they'd need two people to wake her. "I need--" She didn't have enough breath to finish the sentence. Her chest still felt like someone had caved it in. She took a few moments to breathe before trying again.

"Here." One of the women - a nurse or a doctor, she couldn't tell which - pressed a hypospray against Clio's neck. "Bicaridine mixed with tri-ox. It will ease the pain and help you breathe. Take a few deep breaths." Someone else pressed a glass of water into Clio's hands after helping her sit up.

"Thank you." With the tri-ox, Clio could at least get what felt like a full breath. Her throat was still raw, as though the tube had burned it. The water did little to help, but she drank it anyway. "I had a data recorder. Small." She freed one hand from the glass and held her fingers apart by a few inches. "Uniform pocket."

"Oh, is that what that was? I put it in my office, in a locked drawer. It's safe." The woman gestured in the general direction of the chief medical officer's little alcove on the other side of sickbay. "You'll get it back when I discharge you. No sense trying to do anything with it here... my terminals aren't secure enough, and you've barely been out of surgery for two hours. You need to rest."

Clio gingerly drank the rest of her water and set the glass down on the tiny bedside table. "I have a debriefing."

"Not now, you don't. Between the beating you took in that fall and the amount of bicaridine I've given you, you're in no shape to go to any debriefings. Lie down and rest." The doctor's tone was gentle but rather firm.

"Not my choice." Ignoring the glare from the doctor, Clio eased herself off the biobed. Immediately dizzy, she leaned back against it for a moment to let the feeling pass. Once her head cleared and she was steady on her feet, she raked her hair back from her face and exhaled slowly. "My data recorder, please."

Looking rather cross, the doctor muttered something unpleasant under her breath and went to retrieve the device. She returned a moment later and handed the tiny recorder to Clio. "I'll be noting in your file that you're leaving against medical advice."

Clio shrugged slightly, taking the device and hiding it within her hand. Without waiting for anyone to procure her some more professional clothing, she slipped out of the sickbay, in search of the small private office she'd been told would be set up for her on the Heimdall by the time she returned from the Borg ship.

The tracking program that Summers had flushed out of the computer systems had resided in the isolated computer core within the Intelligence storage area for several days before Clio had a chance to look at it. Now she was studying it rather intently, gently prodding it with a few data collection tools that also resided in the isolated core. It wasn't giving up much information yet, but she hadn't really expected it to. She was more interested in watching how it responded to potential threats in order to keep itself active. It was fascinating in that regard, casually rewriting itself to deflect each probe. Clio found herself wondering just how long it had really been running in the background on the Hera's computers before it was detected... and if it really was something that had been uploaded by Enalia's mother. It certainly wasn't like any tracking program she'd used or had seen in use before, but she knew of one person who might have an idea about how it worked and how to unravel it. "Eneas to Larani. Aewia, can you meet me in the pod near the isolated core? I have a puzzle you might enjoy working on."

Aewia gave a double tap to her comm badge to acknowledge the call since she was in the Intel lab and started shutting down her equipment. A few minutes later she was in the pod, her Intel scope visor still pushed up over her forehead. "Sorry for not properly replying, Commander. I was in the lab at the time. What's this puzzle you have?"

"You realize you're under no obligation to call me that, right?" Clio didn't enforce anyone in her department calling her 'commander' or 'sir' or any other formal term of address, but especially not Aewia. "Come look at this." There was only one chair where Clio was working, so she got up to retrieve another one. "I've never seen a program quite like this one."

"Commander... Chief... It sounds cool I guess, and it's a sign of respect." Aewia shrugged as she took a seat and started poking at the program herself. Scowling, she flipped her Intel visor down and started typing in several lines of polymorphic code and started prodding it with that - code that the tracking program didn't take too kindly to at all. "Very interesting... I haven't seen anything like this since my time undercover in the Tal Shiar..."

"It does look... vaguely Romulan." Pulling the other chair over, Clio sat down next to Aewia. "Enalia thinks her mother put it in our computers, but it doesn't look remotely Trill to me."

"It's also not really Romulan... This is Iconian." Aewia typed in a few more algorithms and prodded the program with them before pointing out the results to Clio. "These output lines are almost identical to sentient speech outputs of the Iconian monitoring virus the Tal Shiar used in my own systems that I found when I was undercover. I'm amazed we were able to isolate this at all, really. I had to trick mine into becoming a sort of pet, a bit like a pokemon or something." Poking it with another line of code, Aewia got an origin date code out of it finally. "And that's how long you've been in our computer... Since stardate.... oh my..."

Leaning back in her chair, Aewia flipped her Intel visor back up and looked over at Clio. "I think it was the day I was rescued."

"Iconian? Are you sure?" It was a worthless question since Clio knew Aewia would never suggest such a thing if she weren't sure. Besides, there was a more important question. "How many chiefs of intelligence has this ship had since then and why didn't any of them notice it?"

"Let's ask it," Aewia replied, flipping her visor back down and going back to typing, seemingly almost having a somewhat frustrating conversation with this tracking program for several minutes before getting any results she could actually report.

When Aewia did have info, she rattled it off. "It seems that it resided in a communication subsystem computer until the last refit, almost completely dormant. Then during the refit, it was able to activate during a system wipe and transfer out into the new secondary computer core before security was fully online. From there it just laid dormant until it was triggered."

Clio frowned, not liking the sound of it. "Triggered by what? Can you tell?" While she was handy enough with computers, she couldn't read Iconian, not if she wanted to keep her head clear anyway. Aewia seemed to have less trouble with it. "I don't remember running into any Iconian tech recently, and the only place we've been that's out of the ordinary is Artan Station."

"That's the strange thing..." Aewia began, typing more algorithms at the program. "It claims it was activated twice. The first time after the destruction of Selen VI and the second time after we left Artan Station."

"Are you... are you saying that this... Trojan horse activated twice and I missed it?" Clio could be downright judgmental about other people missing such things, and she was starting to feel like the universe's worst hypocrite. The first activation had been missed entirely, and it had been Summers who found it the second time.

Aewia prodded it with yet more complex looking algorithms. "The first time, it was active for twelve seconds, long enough for the Master to get away, it seems... The second time... It was an old Tal Shiar access code that activated it and it never got the shutdown code, it seems."

"Wait." Curious and puzzled, Clio pulled up a sensor file and overlaid it on top of the 'activation' log of the interloping Iconian program. She studied it for a moment before muttering a carefully selected Cervan curse under her breath. "There's twelve seconds of sensor data missing that lines up with the first activation of this... whatever this is. It doesn't just track us... it can manipulate our systems. And I don't like what this implies about the Master."

"Now that we know it's in here, I can run a line by line sweep of every shipboard system to make sure there isn't another copy hiding out somewhere." Aewia replied "But one thing I can't help but wonder... How did it get aboard in the first place?That's not something even it logs."

"I'm not seeing any other gaps that might give us a clue either." Trying to compare the sensor logs to the data the Iconian program stored was starting to make Clio's eyes cross, and she shut down the sensor log review. "You said it came aboard the same day you did. Was any technology brought back with you? Did anyone record anything out of a data bank?"

"As far as I know, just me and the rags I was wearing, which were promptly tossed into a replicator." Aewia replied. "I think Enalia mentioned something about a Romulan ship and pirates while the away team was rescuing me though."

"A Romulan ship..." Surely it couldn't be so simple as that, especially without evidence of tampering by said Romulan ship. But Clio was a careful student of history regarding the Romulan people, and she had an inkling of what might have happened. "The Romulans have always been interested in Iconia. I wonder if there's any way they could be using Iconian technology..."

"During my time there, the Master made sure to keep anything Iconian out of their reach. That seemed to be sort of a secondary goal for him." Aewia brought up logs of that space battle on another monitor and ran through them, looking for anything unusual. Then she spotted it. "Right here... Aft shields go down for forty seven seconds and for nineteen of them there's a slight rise in tachyon radiation right next to the aft comm systems in question."

Clio looked up from the console, her puzzlement slowly being replaced by serious concern. "Aewia. Say what you just said again."

Aewia repeated herself slowly while pointing at the trademark signs of a cloaked Romulan shuttle landing almost directly on an aft sensor platform. "During the battle... Aft shields were down for forty seven seconds... During that time, there was a nine percent rise in background tachyon radiation... around the aft comm system... for around nineteen seconds."

Clio gave her quite a bemused look, though she had to admit she'd opened herself up for that sort of response. "I understood that. You mentioned a master, while you were with the Romulans."

"Oh yeah. The Master is who I learned Iconian from. I was undercover in his lab for quite some time, though looking back, I'm not sure if I was spying on him so much as he was using me. Either way, even with my amazing empathic abilities, there was little I could get out of him other than basic language skills and a few surface thoughts. I think I probably learned the most about him during his time interrogating me." As Aewia spoke, a haunted and hollow look came over her - one that only those that have seen beyond death know. "He made sure I kept those memories."

Suddenly, the entire debacle with the Master's escape made sense. "Why didn't you mention any of this before?" Clio knew such a question might be hard for Aewia to answer, but she couldn't help asking. "We're going to have to talk to Mal and Enalia."

"I did... I told Nexi. It's also in the profile of the Master that I've extensively added to..." Aewia spoke quietly and chose to keep her eyes on the monitor with the tracking program rather than looking at Clio. "He lobotomized me... cut out parts of my brain... in a room full of mirrors... while I was awake and aware... no numbing or anything... he wanted me to suffer... to feel every cut... every loss..."

Aewia shuddered at the memory but continued quietly. "He kept me lucid with Romulan tech somehow... explained what he was doing... preserving each piece perfectly... all the while... all the while... demonic dogs... with seven red eyes watched me... staring... he knew who I was... said I was bait... the eyes..."

"Okay." Clio put her hand on Aewia's arm, squeezing gently. "You don't have to say any more. I'll read what you've written." She wasn't sure if the demonic dogs were the Baskervilles that the Master trained or if they were the 'zombie dogs' mentioned in the logs that had been left behind by Commander Fairchild, but she supposed it didn't matter. It was all connected. "I'll talk to Enalia by myself, okay? I won't make you do that."

Aewia nodded silently, thankful for the warmth and the kindness and the reminder that she really wasn't back in that cold, sterile chamber again. Nexi did her best to keep emotional secrets from Aewia... But this was the one thing that Aewia tried to keep an emotional secret from Nexi at all costs. She even buried it so far in her mind, it had only surfaced in her dreams and had only fully come back to her during the recent Selen VI mission.

Placing a hand on Clio's comforting hand, Aewia smiled weakly, as if all her former energy since her rescue these past years had been drained out of her. "Thank you. Let's get something to eat later though, ok?"

"Sure. Just let's take it easy on the cake this time. Real food first." Clio chuckled a little. "Enalia's going to be pissed when she finds out just how far back this bullshit with the Master goes."

"Yeah, I've put all I can remember of that timeline in his profile as well. As for food, I think I could use some dera noodles with cheese." Aewia typed in a few more algorithms into the program, then leaned back in her chair and sighed heavily. "As near as I could figure, he met Nexi in the past, figured out I was her half sister by my DNA after I was found out, set a trap... And the rest is in the file."

"Yeah, it all makes sense now. Kind of. In a... twisted sort of way." Clio didn't really like how this was shaping up, but at least they were making some connections in all this mess.

Aewia nodded. "Yeah, this whole thing has proven to be as complex as anything Arachnia's woven. I wouldn't be surprised if she had a hand in things, honestly. We have met actual Gods and demons now, after all. Why wouldn't Arachnia be real as well?"

"I wouldn't be surprised if she turned up eventually." Clio grinned a bit at the thought. After all, they had a satyr for a first officer and she'd personally conversed with both Hermes and Hephaestus.

"Personally, I want to meet Danu. I think it's funny how that on over a hundred worlds, she's known by the same name and for about the same things. Different appearance... But she's somehow still Danu." Aewia was starting to look more relaxed now as she was talking about these ancient beings she thought were just myths just a few months prior.

"She could be an interesting one. And if the Greek pantheon and the Asgardians exist, I see no reason why she couldn't." Clio hadn't laid eyes on any Asgardians, but Odin had come up in conversation with Hermes.

"Anyway, was there anything else, you needed me for?" Aewia asked, flipping her Intel visor up and finally looking over at Clio.

Clio shook her head. "No, you've figured out more in the last few minutes than I was able to in several days. All that's left is for me to do some reading and talk to Enalia."

Stretching her arms above her head, Aewia groaned a bit before relaxing again. "Then I guess I'm going to go lay down a bit. I promised I'd try not to overdo things and this was a bit more draining than I probably should have let it be."

"Get some rest, Aewia." Clio knew she should follow her own advice in that matter, but she had other things to work on before she could have that chance. "Take the rest of the day if you need it."

"I will, thank you. You get some rest too." Standing, Aewia twisted her back a bit to stretch it as well before heading out of the Intel lab, leaving Clio to her own thoughts and devices.

As Aewia left, Clio sat down at the console and pulled up the ever-evolving file on the Master. She needed to see what else Aewia had added to it before she went to see Enalia.

Daytona was tired and he was hoping to see Akira. Unfortunately, she was busy with some operations thing. It was obviously something complex. Otherwise she might have been able to run it in the background...that, or she wanted to be present so her staff could see her working as hard as they were. Whatever the case, when he called her, she told him she would be tied up for a bit longer and asked if he could stop by and feed Moriko. Daytona agreed and was soon in Akira's quarters.

Usually, Moriko ran out to greet him when he arrived, even when she wasn't hungry. It was time for dinner, so she should have come barreling over to begin nudging him for a meal, but she was nowhere to be found.

"Moriko?" Daytona said, calling out the kitten's name. He walked through Akira's quarters, looking for the kitten. "Moriko?"

Daytona entered the sleeping area. Akira had made up a more comfortable bed since they had become intimate. It gave her a place of her own to share with him or not as she pleased. In practice, they usually spent the night together either in his quarters or hers. Daytona didn't see Moriko anywhere obvious, but the hairs on the back of his neck began to stand up. He was being watched. Daytona smiled. Not watched...stalked. Before he could do anything else, Moriko bounded out from under the bed and pounced on Daytona's leg with a ferocious roar...okay, it was a very cute 'meow' but Daytona let her think it was a ferocious roar. The little kitten got her claws caught in Daytona's pant leg, got her legs all twisted around and found herself hanging in a strange looking position.

"There you are, my precious little hunter," Daytona said. "Stuck, are we? Let me help you out of this mess."

Daytona reached down and carefully disentangled the Moriko from his pant leg and picked her up. He brought her to his face and nuzzled her, then carried her with him to where her food was kept.

"I'm a little too 'big game' for you, my little lioness," he said, setting her down on the deck. "Why don't you set your sights a little lower? Say, on a bowl of kitty chow?"

"Meow!" Moriko said in a insistent little voice. Daytona laughed and filled her bowl. That done, he realized he was a bit hungry himself. Akira didn't need to eat, but sometimes she enjoyed 'holographic food'. Should he wait for his lover to get back from work, or make something for himself. Daytona decided to compromise and ordered some cheese and fruit and an ice cold hard cider from joint Human/Rigelian venture on Rigel IV.

He carried these items over to the couch and set them down on the table in front of it. He took a long pull from his cider and sighed.

"Computer, play Weather Report, please," he said.

"Working," the Computer replied. "From which planet would you like a weather update?"

Daytona sighed again.

"Revised request," he said. "Computer, please play the album "The Legendary Live Tapes: 1978-1981" by the 20th Century Earth Jazz Fusion band Weather Report."

"Working," the Computer replied. "Music selection located. Playing now."

Daytona emitted a pleasant sighed as the music began to play.

"Thank you," Daytona said. He ate his snack and enjoyed his music for a bit. Leaving the music on, he retrieved a book from Akira's shelf, then lay down on the couch to read. While he was reading Moriko bounded up onto his chest and curled up for a post feeding nap. The two of them lay there a while in quiet companionship. After sometime, Daytona nodded off to sleep as well.

Daytona and Moriko would be left snoozing for quite a while; Akira had been held up with some maintenance, but when it was finally done she was all too ready to be home! Not bothering with walking to her quarters, she blinked into the room, immediately looking for Moriko to feed her, but not only did Moriko's bowl show evidence of having been recently filled, but there was Daytona sleeping on the couch with Moriko curled up on his chest. Akira smiled warmly; he looked so peaceful, and of course the addition of Moriko made him even more adorable to watch! But should she wake him? She knew biologicals needed their rest...

Old habits died hard. Daytona had spent a great deal of his long (and likely to be longer) life 'sleeping with one eye open' as the expression went. Daytona and developed an instinct of sorts that told him when someone was watching him. But this was Akira. She presented no threat. In fact, Daytona felt safer in her presence than he had felt in centuries. So he continued to doze. Moriko, for her part, did sense Akira's presence. She hopped down off of Daytona's chest and padded over to Akira with a soft 'meow' and brushed against her legs, nudging Akira to pet her and, hopefully, scratch her a bit. Moriko liked being scratched.

Akira would let Daytona sleep a little longer as she appeased herself with Moriko, picking up the kitten and giving her a nice rub behind the ears.

Daytona stirred when Moriko jumped off of his chest. His eyes fluttered open as he yawned loudly and stretched. He looked over at Akira.

"My love," said. "I have said this before, I'm saying it now, and I will likely say it in the future. Waking up in your presence is among the most wonderful experiences in the world."

He rose from the couch, walked to Akira, pulled her close, and gave her a kiss.

"Computer," he said. "Lower music volume. How was work my love?"

Akira smiled brightly at the kiss. "It was just routine maintenance, so I enjoyed myself, but I know the rest of my Officers were ready to get out of the Jefferies tubes," she said with an amused chuckle. "But it went well, I'm glad we have one less thing to worry about," she continued as she took Moriko over to the ingenious little structure covered in cardboard and carpet that Daytona had brought over for Moriko to destroy. "Although I do apologize if I made you wait too long, I didn't mean to keep working to such excess."

"It was no problem," Daytona said. "I didn't realize I needed a nap, but it seems I did. While Moriko is not you, she still makes an enjoyable nap partner."

Oblivious to her people talking about her, Moriko began climbing all over the structure, taking time in places to scratch and tug at it, sometimes even biting it. Daytona chuckled when he saw her hard at work.

"Actually, the ferocious little creature hid under the bed while I walked around your quarters looking for her," he said. "Then she pounced on my leg. Ha! She got her claws hung up in the fabric of my pants and was dangling helplessly from them until I was able to detach them."

"Aww, poor little hunter," Akira replied, giving Moriko a scritch behind the ears. Moriko tried to attack and gnaw on Akira's hand, but the sharp claws and teeth didn't bother Akira in the slightest. "Thank you for coming by to feed her; sometimes I feel bad that I forget about her."

"Part of being your partner is feeding your cat when you need me to," Daytona said. "Besides, taking advantage of an opportunity to take care of her, and therefore you, is fun for me. It makes me feel closer to you."

"Well it is appreciated." Akira extricated her hand from the kitten's grasp, so Moriko contented herself with clawing at the cat tower. "So what brought you by today?"

"Your company, of course," Daytona said. "We could talk, eat, drink...well, sort of eat and drink, listen to music, maybe dance, or watch a movie...and/or toss any semblance of self-control out the window, tear each other's clothes off and make love until I pass out or you get bored, whichever comes first, and then snuggle in bed together until we have to get ready for our next shift. Any of those ideas strike your fancy?"

A playful grin adorned Daytona's face and a whimsical light danced in his eyes and he looked at Akira.

"Oh, I would never get bored of you, but I may pass out before you do," Akira said shamelessly. "Of course if you are still tired, I can simply grab a book and you can rest your head in my lap?"

"That actually...sounds nice," Daytona said, unsuccessfully stifling a yawn. "But I reserve the right to revisit the whole 'toss out any semblance of self-control' option later the evening."

Again, the playful grin and whimsical look in his eye. A Rigelian didn't really have to be a teenager to want sex all the time. Being ready, willing, and eager to make love was sort of the default position for most Rigelians. However, like most species, there's a period in a person's life where both sex and romance are new and shiny and extra exciting...before all of the complications of life color one's perception of these matters. Daytona had been around a very long time, longer than any pure blood Rigelian would live, and romance and sex had lost a bit of their luster for a time. Then he met Akira Zhuri and all of that changed. With her, everything was new and fresh and exciting. He felt a giddiness around her that he hadn't felt in centuries. Daytona adored Akira and while things were still new between them, he hoped that he and Akira would enjoy each other's company for a long time to come.

Akira gave a laughing scoff. "Like I could ever say no to you," she in a mock scold. She went to her bookshelf to get a book, then sat on the sofa and got comfortable. She patted the empty space next to her to invite him to join her. As he joined her on the couch and rest his had in her lap, she ran her fingers through his hair to soothe him and help return him to the slumbering state in which she had found him. "Sleep, my love; I will be here when you wake," she promised softly.

Daytona sighed as he felt Akira's warmth and her soft touch. He closed his eyes, confident that she would, in fact, be there when he woke up. Safe with Akira watching over him, Daytona soon fell asleep. Just as he was drifting off, there was a soft 'meow' as Moriko padded across the deck and jumped up onto the arm of the couch behind Akira and sat there, just over her mistress's shoulder, as though she was reading the book as well. Soon, the little feline's eyes also closed as she sat contentedly with her people.

The Hera was still in stealth mode and hiding in a hopefully empty gaseous part of the space near Tortuga station as the away team launched that was supposed to retrieve the starcharts and pirate maps. As the Wandering Star flew a bit further from the Hera, even any visual indicators that the ship was there vanished completely. The only way they would find their way back now would be physically remembering their coordinates.

Nexi skillfully guided the Wandering Star through the tumultuous space that protected the old Cardassian station. Having once been a Collector for the Ferengi Commerce Association, she had intimate knowledge of bases just like this under the FCA's authority as she often came to these locations to do business. She was no longer a Collector, but she kept a foot in the pond so to speak, knowing that such contacts would be useful in times such as these. It had been a while since she had been to Tortuga, even longer since the Hera had been swallowed up by a temporal anomaly which then sent them back to their own time albeit displaced by 5 years; 5 years had been deemed an acceptable offset, which Nexi found had given her a chance for a somewhat fresh start with her decision to Enlist; but even with the 5 year displacement, she knew this place, knew how to safely navigate her shuttle through the dangerous cloud that protected the station. Her newly renovated shuttle... Nexi hated to admit when she was wrong, but the crew who had worked to repair the damage Demon Enalia had done, they did one hell of a job patching the 'Star up, she was flying so smoothly! She still felt somewhat violated that strangers had been all up in her space; the Wandering Star didn't feel like hers anymore, but at the very least they had a safe means of getting to the station without any ties to the Hera. Sure, the 'Star was still technically a Federation runabout, but it had been decommissioned years ago, and all the aftermarket modifications she had put into this old girl made it clear that the 'Star did not fly under the Federation flag.

"Tortuga, this is the Wandering Star requesting clearance to dock," Nexi said in Ferengi over the comms as the station finally came into view. For a long while, there was silence, so she checked that she was broadcasting on the right channel, then repeated the request.

"Tortuga Port Authority to Wandering Star, state your business." came the gruff reply, also in Ferengi but the Universal Translator had no trouble dismantling it into Starfleet Standard English.

Well this was new... Nexi never had to state her reasons for being here before!

"Not here to cause trouble... again... Just stopping to resupply, that's all," Nexi tried to assure the annoying Ferengi preventing her from docking.

"See that you stay out of trouble, Nexi! Your boss has been in a foul mood lately, I do not want to be the messenger that has to tell him that you damaged another station on one of your hunts!" the Port Authority Ferengi replied. "You are cleared for bay 12"

Nexi was glad that the cockpit only held one station and that the only view her companions would have of her would be the back of her head, because her eyes were bugging out of her head! She quickly shut off the internal Universal Translator from the ship, hoping that the personal comm insignia her companions were wearing wouldn't pick up enough to translate.

"Grek's not on the station, is he?" Nexi asked as she adjusted the shuttle's trajectory to take them around to bay 12 of the docking ring.

"No, it's your lucky day, he's still on Ferenginar. Why, you're not avoiding him, are you?" came the suspicious reply.

"No, not at all.... But in case I was, how much latinum would it take to ensure your silence?" Nexi asked.

"Are you asking for just my silence or falsified docking registration as well?"

"Look, I don't have time for this, I'd like to land, just name your price and I'll transfer the funds!" Nexi spat back, trying to focus on docking the 'Star. Her console chirped as she was sent the bill, and Nexi grumbled under her breath then authorized the transfer of funds.

"Pleasure doing business with you, as always," said the now rather smug Ferengi.

"Yeah, I bet..." Nexi grumbled, then shut off the comm channel, scowling as she finally brought the Wandering Star around to dock, gliding through the atmospheric force field and landing gently on the landing pad. "Alright, we're good to go," Nexi said to her team as she began to shut down and secure the Wandering Star, no longer speaking in Ferengi.

Daytona moved up behind Nexi and leaned in towards her.

"He referred to Grek as your boss, Nexi," Daytona said softly. "I thought you were clear of that bastard."

"Shit, forgot you knew Ferengi...." Nexi muttered under her breath, then carefully considered her answer. "I'm still a Collector, I'm just freelance now. Even though I severed ties with him, it's not like I broadcast that I left, so anyone who knew me in the FCA might assume I still answer to him. Woulda taken too long to explain to Port Authority that I was independent, and I'd still have to pay him off anyway since I don't wanna catch Grek's attention," she explained. "Just 'cause I'm free of him don't mean he can't still cause trouble for us."

"I know just enough to follow the gist of that conversation," Daytona said. Then he grinned. "I guess I'm safe, though. Pretty sure I don't owe Grek any money, or anything else for that matter. No matter. You're Starfleet now. Your problems are our problems. We've got your back."

"I know," Nexi replied, then shut down the custom Ferengi consoles that replaced the standard LCARS interfaces. "Let's get this done, I don't wanna linger too long," she said, then grabbed her weapon holsters, and as she rose from the cockpit chair she slung the belt around her waist, right over the other belt that was holding back the progression of the black blood. She nodded to Nate and T'Pral as she passed them in their stations in the forward compartment, then led them back through the modified living quarters and then the cargo bay modified with two holding cells.

"Now the idea is to avoid trouble while we're here, but if trouble happens to find you and you need to hide out for any reason, then get back to the 'Star; I've added your bio-signatures to the locks, she'll let you in if you find yourself alone and in trouble, she'll keep you safe. Try to avoid getting stuck in a situation where you need a beam out; the station has transport inhibitors, and while I know the frequencies well enough to get one transport out if it's absolutely necessary, we'll only get one shot before they change the frequencies," Nexi reminded the team as the rear hatch slowly lowered.

"Thank you, Officer Nexi," Nathan said after listening to the Warrant Officer's treatise on the particulars on the station's defenses. Nathan picked up his gear and attached it to his black form-fitting pantsuit's belt and holstered his weapon and tricorder. He was also bringing a device he had acquired from the Cardassians; an iso-moleculor probe. He imagined that would come in handy for assisting Warrant Officer Nexi's condition. He made a mental note to give their new CMO the device once he had a change to speak with her in private.

"That's enough rank use," Daytona said. "Given names only from here on out. Those giant Ferengi ears are more than just grotesque, they're functional. If we use anyone's rank they'll pick it up, as will any other race a good set of ears. No rank, no last names, no sirs or ma'ams. T'Pral, you're in charge. Any last minute instructions for us?"

T'Pral wasn't amused by Nexi at the moment. They hadn't even landed and there had already been a complication due to her presence.. Though it was resolved rather easily, it still bothered her. "Just be careful and alert," she said, standing from her seat.

Nathan sat back down and asked a stupid question, "If we're unable to be armed are we allowed to bring anything Starfleet on board this station? I mean if I'm to detect falsified starcharts, I'm going to need to bring my tricorder with me, correct?"

As the rear hatch finished lowering, a clothed female Ferengi greeted them with a PaDD and a collections box. "I have to wonder why rank use is suddenly taboo, but I'm only here to either tell you to leave your weapons on your ship or pay me a... Registration fee..." The nasal voiced Ferengi woman glanced at her PaDD for a moment. "I see you're registered as the Latinum Lumps and you're Captain Aria of the Ferengi Collection Commission. Unfortunately, your esteemed selves will not be able to get out of the full bri... Err.. Registration..." Holding up the collection box, she shook it. "One latinum strip per weapon please."

A clothed female Ferengi, Daytona thought. How lewd.

Daytona reached into a pocket, pulled out three strips of latinum, and slipped them into the box. He'd be damned if he was going to make Nexi pay his way. Besides, in addition to his own funds, he had a secret expense account with SFI. He could afford this.

Latinum Lumps?! What an unimaginative dumbass to come up with a name like that! As a registered Collector, technically Nexi was one of the very few people authorized to carry weapons on the station, but since she and her ship were also under a false port registration, she couldn't very well flash her legit ID with the FCA, so paying the 'fee' this one time was necessary. But fortunately for her, she was actually travelling light, armed only with her original pike staff and a few knives, but she only pulled out a single strip of latinum as only the pike was visible. Then she looked to Nate and T'Pral to see if they could handle the fee or if she would have to cover the fee for them.

T'Pral looked the smaller, pudgy ferengi female over in disgust. She always wondered how such a species became warp capable if they only cared for monetary gains. 'Likely stole plans for a warp engine from someone,' she thought. She had the collapsible energy Lurpa slung across her back as she produced one strip of latinum.

After Nexi chipped in another strip of latinum for Nate's weapon, the Ferengi was appeased and sent them on their way.

A bit later they were walking through the station proper.

"Alright, Nexi," Daytona said. "Where to?"

"Up," Nexi said as she glanced around for a lift. "He operates out of other businesses, last known was a store just off the main concourse of the business section, but even if the store is still there, no guarantee this squirrely bastard will be, so be ready to do some walking," Nexi cautioned.

Daytona also looked about for a lift. He scanned with his eyes and ears for potential threats. Everyone on the station, the Hera's Away Team included, qualified as a 'suspicious character'. Daytona mostly kept his eye out for people who seemed to be taking an undue interest in the team. He found no one, but he did see a lift.

"On the right," he said. "Next to that vendor who appears to be selling some kind of live insect swimming in what smells like Terran barbecue sauce from here."

"Yeah, don't eat that, the sauce is disgusting," Nexi said as she took his cue and headed for the lift.

"I am certain that even if we do not find him at the store, someone there, such as an employee would know where to look for him," T'Pral commented.

"We just have to get them to tell us," Daytona said. They arrived at the lift and Daytona pressed the button to summon it. Even though he knew he would regret doing so, Daytona peeked over at the 'totally unbarbecued insects in barbecue sauce' vendor and tried his best not to retch. Even the thought of eating live food made him ill, even more so if it crawled around on multiple legs or slithered. When the lift arrived, Daytona held the door open with his hand and indicated that the others should board first. Once everyone was aboard, he stepped in after them.

"You are not going to vomit, are you?" T'Pral asked Daytona with a raised eyebrow as she looked the man over.

Nexi snickered. "That would be a sight to see," she said as they loaded in and the lift began to ascend. Nexi, of course, had grown up on typical Ferengi fare, so live grubs was nothing new to her, but she also knew that not everyone could find them palatable, not that she liked them all that much either. "Never could stand eating live grubs; they taste better than the dead ones, but all the wriggling, and the squish when you chew, the really big ones kinda pop in your mouth," she described with a grin in an attempt to induce the urge to vomit, it not in Daytona then maybe in little newbie Nate.

Daytona shuddered.

"I'm aware," he said. "How do you think I came to hate squirmy, crawly, wriggly food? I've had to eat it once or twice."

A before barely noticeable hooded Andorian figure already in the lift spoke up at that moment to offer some helpful advice. "A word of advice then... Since you all look... And smell... Like you just stepped out of a sonic shower. Stay away from the Klingon restaurant. She's probably the most honest cook here now, but all her food is served live. If you want something cooked, I'd recommend Skeevy's place. Fewer thieves but mind what you say - Skeevy also has more holo-recorders than station security."

Daytona turned to face the Andorian. His eyes narrowed.

"You sneaked up on me," he said. "Congratulations. That's not easy to do. You seem to know a lot about this place. We're looking for someone. Nexi, tell the man who we're looking for. He looks like the helpful sort. I'm sure he wouldn't mind pointing us in the right direction."

"Formad," Nexi said simply, pausing to gauge the Andorian's reaction to the name. "I know at one time he operated out of Jukar's shop; he still there?"

The Andorian pursed his lips in thought for a moment before replying in a rather hushed tone. "Formad is still there... And he's still dealing in information. It's his shop now, since Jukar's timely demise at the hands of the station commander's chief enforcer. Don't buy anything but information from him though. Everything he has is marked by the Andorian Imperial Guard or the Klingon High Command."

Nexi responded with a laugh. "Ha! So he's trying his hand at a 'legitimate' business by selling stolen goods, that sounds about right..." Nexi said with amusement. "Sad to hear about Jukar though, he really knew how to pitch a sale and haggle." It was at that point that the lift came to a stop. "Hey, thanks for the tip," Nexi said to the Andorian, reaching into her pocket for a favor token and tossing it to the man as she and the team filed out of the lift; the token offered one time access to an encrypted communications channel she used for arranging jobs so he could reach her if ever there was need, which she offered in payment of the information and discretion because it all came at a price...

Catching the token, the Andorian nodded thankfully and offered one more thing before the lift door closed. "If we ever meet again, my name is Shran, by the way. It was a pleasure."

After the lift door closed and the four were left on the main promenade ring, the bustle of activity was there, but somewhat subdued. Dim red and gold lighting filtered from random working systems and neon colors came from the various shops to try and entice customers. A still working map terminal was blasting some ad for a bar not far away and the sounds of several more bars could be heard in the distance. On the upper level there was the sudden sound of a disruptor being fired and the bodies of three pirates fell over the rails to hit the lower deck. Up top, several of what appeared to be the local constabulary leaned over to check and make sure the deed was done and holstered their weapons. Scavengers were quick to strip and 'dispose' of the bodies.

"Rather barbaric," T'Pral commented, watching the scene unfold before her. Yet a part of her recognized the efficiency of the bodies being removed. On a Starfleet Starbase, the bodies would have remained at least until the preliminary examination of the scene and bodies were conducted before being transported to the morgue and then painstakingly inventory their belongings.

"Taking notes, T'Pral?" Daytona said. "Are we going to see some changes in security procedures from here on out?"

"Although barbaric, their ways are efficient," T'Pral confessed. "Yet it is against Starfleet regulations to remove a deceased person without first fully documenting the scene--a very time consuming task."

"With internal sensors and what-not, you'd think it wouldn't take so long," Nexi remarked as she led the team along through the shopping concourse. It was odd being back in a place like this where she had once belonged, walking amongst people she had once been like... It was familiar yet oddly alien to her; she had changed so much over the last year that this life no longer held the appeal that it once did. Taking a corridor to another section of the ring, she pointed out the shop they were headed for, a storefront littered with all sorts of luxury items from all over the quadrant.

"There it is," Nexi said to her team. "So how do we want to do this? We can do it my way way and shake him down, or we can do it the Starfleet way and risk getting turned down if we haggle for what we want," she offered.

"I vote haggle," Daytona said. "And if he doesn't go for it, then we shake him down. What do you think T'Pral?"

T'Pral knew that the Starfleet way didn't always work, they weren't in Starfleet jurisdiction, and though the thought at the moment left a rather bad taste in her mouth, she had to agree with Nexi. "I must agree with Nexi's plan as she knows the place best."

Nexi thought for a moment before finally nodding. "I'll just wing it, see how it goes," Nexi finally stated; after all, they may get lucky! With this in mind, Nexi strode into the establishment, whistling an old Andorian tune as she 'admired' the ill-gotten goods, watching and waiting for Formad to show himself.

Formad wasn't one to disappoint, quickly coming out of the back of the shop. "Hello, honored customers! What can I interest you in today? Selerian crystals? Doraxian flame-silk worms? Or perhaps the latest in illicit holo-porn? I just got in a copy of Vulcan Sex Slave Seventeen. An instant classic, to be sure."

"No, a classic would be the sequel to the original Vulcan Sex Slave, the Revenge of the Temple. If you could score something like that, then I would be impressed," Nexi stated as she casually browsed his wares, reaching into her jacket pocket for a platinum token. "But for now I'm interested in some starcharts; you got any for the Nightmarelands?"

Narrowing his eyes, Formad was instantly on guard. "I might know where you can get a copy... It depends on who's doing the asking... And for how much..."

"The who I would like to remain... vague... As for the price-" Nexi began rolling a favor coin over the back of her fingers. "I can work in favors or credits, take your pick."

"I prefer only latinum, if that's the case. Up front." Formad didn't have many honorable traits, but this was one semblance of one he stuck to - always trade in usable currency.

Nexi flicked the favor coin into the air, then caught it and tucked it back into her pocket with her trademark smirk. "Latinum I can do; now how much?" Nexi asked. She then picking up a vase from a shelf and began to look it over.

"Twenty bricks," Formad proclaimed, not even batting an eyelash. "...of gold pressed latinum."

Nexi chuckled. "I don't think everything in this store combined would be worth that much," Nexi said, carefully replacing the vase. With purpose, she strode over to Formad, drawing her pike and extending the staff with a well practiced flick of her wrist. She came to a stop right in front of the man, resting the back of the blade over her shoulder. "Do you take me for some kind of witless fool?" she asked in a chilly tone.

Formad pulled open his coat to expose enough explosives on him to remove his whole shop from the station. "No. Neither are the Andorian Imperial Guard, Federation, Artan Pirate Hunters, Lagashi Navy, or anyone else looking to wipe out anyone hiding in there. You want starcharts of the nightmarelands, prove you're one of us first."

Nexi grinned. "Mayonnaise..." she said simply, as if that was all the proof she needed. Outside of her work as a Collector, she had done work as mercenary, thief, bounty hunter, and any other number of odd jobs for the seedier side of the galaxy; very few knew her name, but her calling card, the defacement of property using mayonnaise, was quite memorable, and her skills had become something of a legend since her sudden disappearance 5 years ago.

Formad's eyes narrowed a bit more as he pursed his lips in thought. He'd heard brief rumors of someone just referred to as 'The Mayo Merc' - some sort of merc that defaced priceless heirlooms when they were hired to steal things like teacups. Was this the same person? "If you're The Mayo Merc... That might get you some clout in the taverns. In here, I'll be watching you closer. I also have a guess or two at who hired you for that last piece of work. After all, few people in the galaxy collect that many of them..."

"Shh," Nexi shushed playfully with a finger to her lips. "Now that we have an understanding, perhaps it's time to be a little more reasonable about the price? And I really hope so, because I would hate to see the Andorians or the Klingons come trampling through this place."

Grumbling a bit, Formad relented, making sure his coat was closed back up tight. "Fine... Twenty bars. That's the same price I charged the station commander. No transponder codes though."

Nexi scoffed, but in the end she collapsed her pike and resheathed it. "Twenty bars is acceptable- wait, you sold the charts to the station commander? What does he want with the charts?" This could prove to be problematic...

"I might not have asked that of him, you know? He is a pirate lord, after all." Formad replied with a lopsided grin. He knew exactly why, but if he didn't get paid for that information, he wasn't about to share it.

"But you do know, don't you," Nexi replied, answering his grin with one of her own. She reached into her jacket for her Ferengi datapad and began to key in the asking price, plus a rather sizable tip. Once she was done, she handed the device to Formad so he could enter the information for the account he wanted the funds transferred to. "The bonus is for your discretion, and I can toss in a little extra if you're willing to tell me why Zan Shorzen wants to go into the Nightmarelands." So he wouldn't be getting the twenty bricks he originally asked for, but the bonuses she offered were nothing to scoff at.

Formad punched in his details and nodded, handing the datapad back and pulling out one of his own to confirm the funds were transferred. As soon as he did, he pulled out a data rod case and handed it over. "Some Vulcan researcher hired him and his goons to go in there and expand these starcharts nd drop sensor buoys here and there for some sort of medical research. Something about the greatest panacea from the greatest storms or some BS. Joke was on him, because the Commander got his latinum but the Vulcan died before he got his data. Thanks to him, we have all sorts of hidey holes in there, including a few nearly inhospitable planetoids the Commander's got safe houses on. Not the best view, but if you need to lay low for a few years..."

Formad was useful, no wonder Zan Shorzen didn't like him. "No kidding," Nexi said with a grin, taking the data rod case and setting it on a counter to open it. "You don't mind if I have someone verify the data before I leave? After all, it would be a shame for me to have to return to the station and turn your shop inside out over something like a simple mistake."

"Be my guest. There's a station terminal just outside, though I'd recommend not using it. I have a few Starfleet and Klingon tricorders I could sell you... Top quality..." Formad began to offer with a grin.

Daytona nudged Nathan with his elbow.

"That's your cue, young man," Daytona said. He didn't bother to whisper. The only person in the room who had better hearing that he did was was Formad with his gigantic ears. Whispering in the shop was a pointless endeavor. "And you'd better get it right this time. Madame Mayonaise, Princess of Condiments doesn't suffer fools!"

Nexi smirked when she heard the title Daytona had given her. "See, he gets it," Nexi pointed out to Formad, then she leaned against the counter while she waited for Nate to do his thing. "No need for new hardware, I came prepared. Anyway, I'm really glad I decided not to immediately toss your shop; I heard you were a crazy bastard, but wearing explosives?" Nexi issues a low whistle, clearly impressed. "Then again, I shouldn't be surprised... If I lived here I'd probably do it too."

"These days, you have to just to make a living," Formad complained as he moved around behind the counter and looked for something. Then with a sort of joy, he reached down and plucked out a multi-faceted palm sized device with like twenty legs on it that had been smashed pretty well. "I found this little spy holo imager taking images of me in my restroom, of all places. Can you imagine it? While my pants were down! The spies you find on this station are insane sometimes, I tell you!"

That little beauty immediately had Nexi's attention. She stood straight and picked up the little device to give it a good look; there was definitely something familiar about this design... "Hey, you mind if I take this?" Nexi asked as she turned the device over in her hands. "These little guys would be useful in your shop, so you let me have this one and if we can figure out how to exploit 'em then I'll tell you how do it."

"Either that or how to keep them out. I've seen three others but couldn't catch them. Don't even know whose they are..." Formad nodded and waved off the tiny spy robot. "I've gotten all I can out of it anyway. The internal circuitry self destructed."

T'Pral found the exchange between Nexi and Formad rather interesting and somewhat amusing. "Why not simply use a small EMP device to eliminate any of these remaining spy bots from your shop? Or if you have the knowledge, create a spy hunting robot of your own," she suggested.

"I've tried and the only thing that's worked so far is the heel of my boot," Formad replied dryly.

"Yeah, I think we can figure out something a little better than the heel of a boot," Nexi said with a chuckle, then tucked the little device into her jacket pocket.

Meanwhile, Nathan confirmed the star charts were good, came back into the store, and whispered the results to T'Pral.

"The star charts appear to be valid. Thank you for your services," T'Pral said with a slight bow. She then looked at Ral and Nexi. "We appear to be done here."

"That's it then," Daytona said to Nexi. "Lady Miracle Whip, if you're all done here, I believe it's time to go."

"A-yup," Nexi replied as she left a favor coin on the counter top; she had been generous today, but it had well worth it with all the information they had received today! "If you see anymore of that tech or notice a change in its behavior, give me a call, I'll be sure to make it worth your while." Then she collected the case with the data rods and pushed off of the counter. Today was a good day.

Clio wasn't sure if Enalia was keeping herself updated with the progress on the Master's profile. Regardless, she felt obligated to at least talk to Enalia about what Aewia had shared with her. Whether Enalia had read the file or not, Clio felt the need to tell someone, and Enalia seemed a good choice. She already burdened Mal with enough of her personal trauma and work-related drama. He didn't need to hear her talking about how the Master had enslaved Aewia on top of all that. So she tracked Enalia down to the ready room and rang the chime to request entry before tucking herself in the corner next to the door. She was more out of the way there and fewer people seemed to be watching her as she waited for Enalia to answer.

"Come in," came Enalia's call, as she set aside a PaDD she was reading. Her desk terminal was already off, so instead, she leaned forward in her chair as the doors opened to reveal Clio. "Commander Eneas, please, have a seat."

"Why do I always feel like you've been expecting me?" Clio took a seat as bidden, though she didn't quite relax. "How much of Aewia's file on the Master have you read?"

Enalia glanced worriedly between Clio and her desk terminal. "I read it at the start of shore leave but there wasn't more than I expected. Her adding to it was part of why I allowed her to work in your department in the first place. Why? Has she added more to it? something unexpected?"

"Yeah. You're not gonna like it." Clio hadn't even been around for the events she'd just discussed with Aewia and she didn't like it. "How far back do you think your encounters with the Master go?"

Enalia paused a second, thinking. "Chronologically, that would be our recent trip in time... Selen VI was his first encounter with us as far as we know of. As far as our first encounter with him... Intel Command suspects that the Romulan research station with those infamous Kobali Borg undead dog hybrid things that we blew up was actually his. That was likely our first indirect encounter with him."

Clio shook her head slightly. "Oh he was involved in that for sure. But the first time he touched your ship and crew comes even before that. To the day you were sent to rescue Aewia, in fact."

"She put in her report that he was involved in her interrogation and investigation, but not to what extent..." Enalia paused and took a deep breath. "Am I going to not like what I find if I reread her report? Was rescuing Aewia actually part of some incredibly long term trap that he's laid out for us?"

"I don't know for sure, but that's the impression I got when she told me she was bait." Clio growled a bit, a sound more suited to a Ferasan than a humanoid. "Apparently the only person she ever told before me was Nexi."

Leaning back in her chair, Enalia steepled her fingers in front of her and pursed her lips for a moment in thought. "Great... So then, is our next mission the final trap? Is it the one after? Can the trap be repeated? Can it be disarmed? Or maybe it's more of a duel..."

"We didn't get that far before I was worried about... breaking her. Regardless, we have two weapons that can kill the man. Supposedly. I intend to get that job done before he springs his final trap on us. Whatever that may be..." Clio didn't like puzzles that she couldn't solve.

"We'll need to be extra cautious," Enalia added, still contemplating their current mission to find the Master's main base of operations.

"I know. But I'm going to get it done regardless. He's cost the Federation too many lives for us to let him go wandering away through the universe." Clio was by no means the person with the best moral compass in Starfleet, but she knew when someone just needed to be gotten rid of, for everyone's sake.

"There's too much at stake. Be careful, but don't hesitate." Enalia nodded. "I'll take a look at the files again. Is there anything else I need to know about?"

"No, I think that was everything..." Clio was sure there was probably something else she'd need to talk to Enalia about, but she couldn't think of what it could be. "I need to shoot something. Or blow something up. Maybe break a few things."

"You go do that and I'll review these files. Be ready to hit the Master in the next day or two though." Enalia nodded, dismissing Clio. She had some studying to catch up on, it seemed.

Clio didn't think she needed to respond verbally, so she just nodded and let herself out. The safest place for her to be now was the holodeck.

It took everything Crewman Dedjoy had to arrange this meeting between the new Science and Medical Chiefs and herself. She just hoped she could answer all their questions satisfactorily. Tapping away at the main testing stations, she monitored the samples inside the level ten forcefield for any further changes to the ongoing tests. Nothing seemed to affect this black blood at all unless they wanted to make more of it - it seemed to feed on just about anything she tried to kill it with.

Nathan Summers arrived first after Crewman Dedjoy looking exhausted. "Good morning, Crewman. How are you today?" he said as he moved to her side. "What are we working on?" he asked when he saw the black bile-like fluid in the containment fields.

"Black blood, Sir. I've been ordered to brief you and the CMO on my progress on it. I'm Crewman Ila Dedjoy, by the way. It's a pleasure to meet you." Ila pulled up a holographic listing of the various samples as she spoke. "We have one sample from the being known simply as 'The Master' and the rest are from Staff Warrant Officer Nexi and Commodore Farenia Meowlith."

Ila hoped the CMO would be here soon so she could brief them both and not have to repeat too much, but that was unlikely - she'd heard medical was pretty busy getting ready for this mission and Lieutenant Yale was likely going to be a bit late. "Do you have any questions before we begin?" she asked with a smile at the handsome Science Chief as she tried to stall a few moments.

"Actually, Crewman, I have many questions but not of you. I am beginning to question Command's decision to place me here. Biosciences are not my strong suit; I've always been more interested in stellar phenomena and the like. That's not to say I didn't pass my bio classes at the Academy. But my head has always been in the stars. So I hope you're not expecting much out of me."

Ila stared at her department chief with a deadpan look for a few seconds before replying. "Sir, with all due respect, I'm a geologist by trade. My people earn our names through great deeds and mine was through the discovery of a new type of decalithium during a planetary survey as well as coming up with a way to extract it from selenium deposits. The Captain has me tasked not only with this but several other Intel related things in the pod. I have not touched anything related to geology since coming aboard. I'm sorry if this is too forward or out of line sir, but I'm a scientist first and if there's anything I can do to save lives, I'm fully dedicated to that mission." Turning back to the consoles in front of her, she started pulling up a bit more data. "Especially since my twin sister's death on the USS Katana."

Nathan stared at the brashness of this Crewman, a mere non-com but he understood her line of reasoning. He cleared his throat before speaking "Thank you for that background, Crewman, but never forget who you're speaking to...your superior officer. I understand that our captain is asking a great deal from us and it is my intention to not let her down in this or any other assignment. But there comes a point where our knowledge of topics will let us down. But despite all that, I plan on giving this task my all."

"Yes, sir. I will lend my power to you and together we will be stronger for it." Ila replied, quoting one of her people's axioms. "Should we wait for the Chief Medical Officer before continuing or would you like to start now?"

"Of that I have no doubt, Crewman Dedjoy. Let's wait a little longer for her. I hear she's very busy at the moment."

"I'm here, I'm here," the CMO called, hearing the final question as she entered the science lab. "Ila Dedjoy and Nathanial Summers, I presume?" she completed the introductions, pointing to the correct people as she spoke. Small talk was hardly her specialty, and she would rather proceed with the meeting than have to go through everyone's mini biography. "I'm Doctor Yale - but you know that already. I read through some of the reports, but I'm still catching up on the situation. What can I do to help?"

"Yes, Doctor." Ila replied with a polite nod, the doll-like Illaran preferring not to leave her station and wanting to proceed with the meeting as well. "Thank you for being here. I'm here mainly to bring you both up to speed, answer questions, and get your ideas on where you'd like me to go on this project."

Pointing to the three sets of samples and the data being displayed, Ila continued. "As you can both see, we have one small sample of the one known as 'The Master' and we suspect that he is actually an Iconian of some sort from other reports. His DNA is primarily from the black blood but is mixed with that of many vulcanoid species, including several we can't identify. I am unable to determine an origin DNA, if there is one - just that many of these Vulcanoid DNA strands are added at a later date. Staff Warrant Officer Nexi's sample has DNA from the black blood and her own original DNA. Commodore Meowlith's sample has the black blood DNA and her own original DNA. Do either of you have any questions so far?"

"None from me at this time, Crewman. Please continue," Nate said standing 3 feet away from the console with his arms folded over his chest. He was thinking about how much help he could possibly bring to this meeting.

"Very well," Ila continued then. "This is where I put my knowledge as a geologist and experience in Intel to good use. Using some tech I invented for processing decalithium coupled with some classified tech used for printing data on atoms up in the pod... I was able to isolate and stabilize the black blood, preventing its own form of cell division, which seems to do so by consuming other blood cells. Doctor, I worry that this may have permanent lasting long term health issues of its own, but the black blood has far worse short term health issues and without the belts i designed, both of our patients would likely now be dead."

Taking a deep breath, Ila nodded and dived into the next part without asking forgiveness or if they had questions. "As for further data, the important things of note are that the transporter can't differentiate between the original blood and the black blood. I've tried discrimination buffers and DNA extractors and it refuses all forms I've tried, including a piece of Dominion tech the Artan family had lying around for some reason. Also, I know it's not the most reliable form of dating things anymore, but Staff Warrant Officer Nexi's quantum date signature hasn't moved since her infection."

Ila let that sink in for a moment before turning to the other two to reiterate. "None of the samples I have have quantum date signatures that move. None of them are aging."

"Most peculiar. I was under the impression that all biologicals aged; it's a natural part of being alive. What exactly is this 'Master' supposed to be that he commands this much power?" Nate started to get that the Master wasn't your typical biological entity. But beyond that, he had no thoughts on how to proceed or what to suggest to them. He knew this would require some additional thought on his part at least. What he wouldn't give to have a exobiologist here. But then maybe he did have someone to fit that role; Lieutenant Commander Tyler Elbrun, while not having any exobiology training that Nate had, had a background in Genetics and perhaps he would have a thought or two. But then he remembered to comm blackout the captain had ordered.

"There are examples of 'immortal biologicals,'" Doctor Yale replied. "It's not common, and generally unheard of in complex living organisms. But the example I can most easily think of is a small sea creature on Earth called a hydra. It has special stem cells that can replace a significant portion of its body if needed. And, in all appearances, it does not age whether it's newly created or has been around for five hundred years. But, they can die..."

"There's also the common tardigrade," Ila added, bringing up a DNA reference of the tiny creature. "They too can die, but it supposedly took humans several hundred years to find an environment that could kill them. I've compared this infection to the Tardigrade DNA and while they share a few similarities in overall design, the commonalities end there."

Taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly, Ila pulled up another set of scans, but they were incomplete and from the logs of an away mission of another crew years ago. "These are the closest scans to a similar being I could find in the Federation database. It's of a being called Armus on Vagra II and was discovered by an away team of the former USS Enterprise. It claimed to be pure evil and though the tricorders at the time couldn't really scan it very well, the energy readings the away team did get are still somewhat revealing."

Pulling up the energy patterns of all the samples of black blood and the readings taken of Armus, she lined them up on the overhead monitors. "They're synced a bit different, but they're very close. In geology we can use harmonic resonance cutters to slice through crystal faces to take samples and for mining and manufacturing. This then gave me the idea of the belts that are now worn by the infected to suppress the spread of the black blood. The downside is that I have yet to develop a full counter harmonic system that won't also kill the patient in the process. If the belts are any more powerful than they are now, then the patients' cellular structures will dissolve as well as that of the black blood just from the vibration."

"I will need more time to research this," Cassi said. "This is not something I have ever worked on before. Nor have I ever seen anything like it in medical journals. But, the scenario, as it's presented, doesn't look to have a happily-ever-after ending."

"Indeed," Ila agreed as she nodded. "The Captain seems to almost pin our hopes on finding a... Greek yogurt god? I think I may have misunderstood her intentions a little..."

"I hate yogurt," a surly voice grumbled in accompaniment to the swish of the lab doors."Hey, here for my schedule check-in," Nexi said to Dedjoy as she strode up to the group, her usual scowl tacked on her face.

"And here we have the patient herself. It's good to see you again, Staff Warrant Officer Nexi. We were just discussing your condition," Ila replied as she grabbed a tricorder and a hypo and began the checkup. "This will only take a moment and I think that's all the information I needed to brief the two of you on. If you need anything else, please let me know."

The starcharts they had obtained rom the information broker on Tortuga station had been useful. The Hera had successfully been navigating the Ooort Nightmarelands for three days now successfully taking regular shifts. There had been a couple injuries from turbulence and some space sickness, but nothing too major. So far they had almost reached the coordinates of the Master's last secret lab. They just had two problems. The crew was worn out from the journey so far and they had run out of starcharts.

Not even the pirates had ventured this deep into the Nightmarelands, which meant they were both flying blind and trying to chart their own path. it wasn't easy and it was even slower going, but they had to make it that last AU.

Then the Ensign at Ops called out another reading. "Large metallic object dead ahead. Scanning. Size..."

Not getting any more from the young Ensign, Enalia turned slightly towards his station. "Size?"

"Indeterminate, Captain. I think... Readings... Yes, readings closest match that of the Jenolen Dyson Sphere but are just a bit off." The young Ensign then brought up an overlay of the sensor analysis on part of the main viewscreen and several gasps went around the bridge.

"Did he really..." Enalia began, but cut herself short before finishing the thought. "Confirm that it is a sphere and that the coordinates we're looking for are inside of it."

The young Ensign spoke up again, just as the night shift whistle went off and interrupted him. "Confirmed, Captain, I'm reading the same entry door configuration not far from our position as well as several familiar structures, though most of the surface is definitely of Iconian construction. The coordinates should be right about where the sun is inside of it."

"Ok... Helm hold position here and let's get shift change out of the way. Sorry everyone. I know you're excited, but get some rest, ok?" Enalia couldn't help but grin. She was a bit excited too. Not only was this a huge scientific and historical find, but they were so close to the Master's hidden secret base she could taste it.

Staring at the purplish silver metal peeking through the red plasma plumes on the viewscreen as night shift was relieved and dayshift came on, Enalia thought about the past few years they'd been looking for the Master. Was he her nemesis? Did they have that sort of relationship by this point? Did he consider her to be a thorn in his side or more of an annoying bug? Either way, he'd soon find out how annoying this crew as a whole could be.

Mal entered the bridge with a travel mug filled with iced green tea in one hand and a bottle of purified water in the other. He walked over to the center seat and handed Enalia the bottle of water.

"Good morning my dear," Mal said. "I'd ask if anything interesting happened over Gamma Shift, but I can see the something interesting on the view screen now."

Taking the bottle, Enalia motioned to the viewscreen as day shift crew filtered in. "Yeah, the Master's secret base is in the center of an iconian Dyson Sphere. The coordinates we have are probably for some sort of solar observatory or something."

"A Dyson Sphere?" Mal responded. "This should be...interesting. What's our next move?"

"We scan it carefully. There's an entry structure similar to the one on the Jenolan sphere that disabled the USS Enterprise and almost threw her into the sun inside of it. We need to make sure we don't make that same mistake and don't trip any other traps or defenses, which is going to be even harder, given the nature of the enemy." Enalia punched up an overlay readout on the viewscreen as she sipped at the bottle of water. "Science is already working on a metallurgical analysis, but neutronium is the only thing we can really get a reading on. The gases in the area are only part of the problem. Iconian tech is just hard to scan."

"Miss Zhuri..." Mal said, stopping when he noticed she wasn't there. He rapidly pushed thoughts and images of reasons for her tardiness that might involve Daytona out of his mind. Besides, Mal had no room to complain. He was almost late for similar reasons. He tapped his commbadge. "Xustos to Zhuri. Are you on your way?"

At that moment, Akira blinked onto the bridge. "I'm so sorry sir! I was on my way in for the shift change when one of my- i-it doesn't matter, I'm late, I'm sorry, it will not happen again," she stated in a flustered rush, then stepped up to her station to begin scanning the mysterious wall in front of them. Dyson Sphere, clearly of Iconian origin, careful, must proceed very carefully... Trying to find a way to scan the tech without it attacking them in return was tricky, but she was nothing if not determined! "Might want to settle in and get comfortable, this could take a while," Akira cautioned.

"I have absolute faith in you," Mal said.

Akira looked up briefly, offering a meek smile at his approval before returning her attention to her scans. At first, the Sphere seemed impenetrable; well, that wasn't precise, there was clearly a way into to the Sphere, but how to get in without the Iconian programming trying to take over was the real trick. But then she found a communication tower and it seemed to be striking up 'conversation' with the Hera's communications array, but it was not yet showing any signs of being invasive; was this their way in?

"Captain, I believe I've found something," Akira spoke up. "I've identified a communications array that is somehow exchanging information with the Hera. I'm placing a series of firewalls around our communications array to be safe, but would you like me to probe its defenses to see if I can get into the Sphere's computer?"

"Yeah, but be careful. That Iconian worm may be secured in the intel lab, but this may work another into our systems." Enalia checked her status displays on her chair again as Ensign Gonadie took the helm. "Ensign Gonadie, take us to sixty thousand kilometers of that tower but make sure you don't trip the automated entry protocols of the nearby gateway, if you please."

"Aye, Captain. Bringing us in line now with maneuvering thrusters," the Ensign replied as she expertly guided the ship through the plasma jets guarding the Iconian Dyson sphere.

That was when Maica III stepped off the turbolift and gave a small gasp at the sight on the viewscreen. Enalia glanced over at her wife before returning her attention back to the situation at hand. "You shouldn't be on the bridge."

"I know, but the view from our quarters isn't much better." Maica replied. "Besides, I sensed some intrusive activity in the comm lines I use so I thought I might be of some help."

Enalia nodded and motioned towards Akira's station. "Akira, see if she can help."

"I would appreciate the assistance," Akira said with a small smile, stepping over to give Maica room to look at what she was doing. "Can you double check my work and make sure the firewalls I have placed around our communications array are secure? I'm about to test the Iconian computer's defenses to find a way in," she informed her not-mother/sort of aunt.

"Yeah, I think I can do that." Maica tapped on the controls for a few to look over the various firewalls before making a recommendation. "These all look good and against a normal enemy, they'd work wonderfully. I don't think even my combined network could get past them. However, these are Iconians... You might want to use one of those polymorphic security arrays Intel uses. I went into their offices the other day to see how Aewia was doing and I couldn't even see the unsecure screens because of them."

"A reasonable precaution," Akira replied with a nod as she applied this additional layer of protection to her firewalls, adding in Borg fractal encryptions that Mother Andy had programmed into her as well. She looked over to Maica for one last approval, then she placed her palm on the console to connect directly with the computer and began the dive into the Iconian computer. It probably wasn't the wisest choice attempting to pick at the dangerous Iconian programming this way, but she could anticipate and react much faster to the computer's defenses this way than at a console, and with so many layers of encryption and firewalls protecting her, what could possibly go wrong?

The Iconian defenses didn't take long to figure out that the Hera wasn't under the control of the Master's program. It also didn't take long to figure out that it wasn't some random ship and that this was a ship flagged as high priority by the Master. It even told Akira this as it continued trying to get past the firewalls and attempted unsuccessfully to take over both Akira and the Hera's systems.

Then it gave up and went with a different avenue of attack.

Ensign Gonadie's station lit up like the Las Vegas strip as the gate into the interior of the sphere partially activated, firing an energy beam at the Hera. "Captain, I've lost helm control! Power is down!"

The ensign at engineering called out next. "Captain, the warp engines just went offline. Auxiliary refuses to come online. Batteries are at thirty percent and dropping. At this rate, life support will fail in nine minutes."

Then tactical... "Captain, weapons and shields are non responsive. Tractor control isn't even responding."

Then a black transporter beam swept through the ship and teleported every sentient being off the ship, leaving the sound of alarms the only thing left with Akira and Maica on the bridge.

Then it somehow got worse.

"Collision alert," came the voice of the computer as the surface of the dyson sphere started growing closer in the viewscreen. "Ninety three seconds to impact."

Akira felt it when the Iconian computer abandoned its attempts to take control of the Hera's communication array and she immediately pulled back out of the computer, but only in time to see every biological being on the Bridge disappear and in a strange black transporter matter stream.

"Oh no!" Akira called out, both mortified and ashamed that she had put the Hera's crew in danger. "No no no no no no no!" She said in a very Andy-esque way as her fingers flew over the console to try to get the crew back, but there was simply nothing for the transporters to lock onto. Then the other shoe dropped and she heard the collision warning from the computer. "Well fuck!" she blurted out; okay, maybe she needed to spend more time talking with the less foul-mouthed mother...

Akira abandoned Ops and blinked to the Conn to see what, if anything, would respond. Warp drive? No. Impulse Engines? No. Thrusters? Maybe, if they weren't hemorrhaging power like a Klingon pissing after a drinking contest!

"Power, power, I need power from... somewhere... ANYWHERE!" Akira said frantically as she blinked back to the Ops station to find some power. Okay, just shut down life support, there were no longer any biological life-forms aboard. Wait, scratch that, Moriko was still on board, as well as a dog and a couple other cats! Okay, they were small and there was still plenty of air for the moment, she could sacrifice life support and other related systems like replicators and waste management for the moment. She shut down weapons and any other auxiliary system that wasn't immediately necessary and put everything into the thrusters.

"Aunt Maica, take the helm!" Akira called out as her fingers danced over the console. "I can't stop us from crashing, but I think I can get us enough power to use the thrusters to slow our descent and save the ship, but I can't pilot and do this at the same time."

Maica rushed to the helm and sat there looking at it like it had just sprouted three heads and said hello to her. "Shit... Computer, download a manual on how to operate this shit into my matrix! Now!"

"Unable to comply. Primary storage is offline. Seventy seconds to impact." The computer spoke dispassionately as it replied, as if it didn't care that it was about to slam into the side of a giant neutronium sphere the size of a solar system. "No authorized biological lifeforms detected aboard. Celium protocol three enacted. Ship will self destruct in forty eight hours if no authorized crew return."

Maica threw her hands up before pressing a few of the thruster controls to try and figure them out and steady their descent. "Thank you for adding insult to injury, Computer! I'll just figure this shit out myself."

"AM I NOT AN AUTHORIZED LIFE FORM!" Akira bellowed. She was definitely going to have a talk with Enalia about this if and when Akira was able to figure out how to get them all back. But for now, she focused on providing as much power as possible to thrusters, watching as the Dyson Sphere grew closer on the view screen.

"Fifty seconds to impact."

Akira pulled power from the labs, holodecks, but still it was not enough; the ship was starting to level its descent, but it wasn't enough!

"Thirty seconds to impact."

Lights and consoles not on the bridge were shut down, and now Akira was turning her attention to more vital systems like the Warp core and some of its secondary systems; they couldn't use the warp drive now anyway, right? The could reinitialise the intermix chamber once they were able to get off this thing!

"Ten seconds to impact."

HA! There was a slight delay in that last announcement, they were making a difference! Oh shit, but this was the final count, so Akira shut off the secondary computer as well as medical and intel computers, and the pod was completely powered down now too, and all back-up generators that powered these systems were rerouted to thrusters as well.

"Eight seconds to impact."

Maica was doing her best as she tried to level them off and slow their descent. She also knew that that last two seconds that the computer counted took at least six seconds according to her own internal chronometer. Doing a little math in her own head, she calculated the stresses the ship would have to endure just sitting on the outside of the sphere. It was a lot. "I think I've slowed our decent enough. Is our structure going to survive if I can set us down soft enough to not blow up? Or is it going to shear off our nacelles?"

"Six seconds to impact."

"I don't know!" Akira answered, but she managed to squeeze a little bit of power out of the Bridge by shutting off the lights and the other consoles they weren't using and she rerouted it to structural integrity.

"5, 4-"

Akira knew she couldn't be harmed in the collision, yet she braced herself for impact anyway.

"3,2-"

Maica held on and hoped her matrix didn't destabilize as there was a metal on metal crunching as the ship made solid contact with the outer skin of the sphere. There was a slight rocking and grinding and a loud popping explosion could be heard as stress on the starboard bussard scoop literally shattered it into shards, but other than that and the sound of slightly straining duranium, after a few seconds the ship settled somewhat peacefully.

As the ship finally came to rest, Akira stood there panting; yes, panting, and she had one hell of a death grip on her console.

"Well..." Akira said after a moment, her voice soft and shaky, "I think that went rather well..." She was afraid to check to check the Hera's structural integrity, more like she was terrified of how Enalia was going to yell at her for breaking her ship! She was, however, going to run a full diagnostic on herself and Maica III "You okay, Aunt Maica?" Akira asked as she pried her fingers off the console to start running checks.

"My matrix is stable... If I could, I'd have wet my pants..." Maica tapped at the console in front of her, trying to get what readings she could. "I think I have something on what remaining sensors we have. Around six hundred life signs just at the edge of sensor range. And I've lost those sensors..."

"Yeah, that figures..." Akira replied with a sigh at the news that the sensors were gone. "I'm dead, aren't I? Enalia's gonna kill me..."

"The ship is still in one piece and we still have forty eight hours to get the crew back. Let's not jump to conclusions just yet, ok?" Tapping furiously at the navigational sensor systems, Maica got one of the palettes to respond for just long enough to get some interesting readings. "I don't believe this... Akira, your matrix has more sophistication than mine. Do you have any experience with telepresence control? I just picked up an entire rack of what just identified themselves as Herald class android probes. And that sensor palette is down..."

"Heralds? Ohhh... I, uh- I don't know, Aunt Maica; what if... what if take control of one and it corrupts my matrix?" Akira replied uneasily. "I shut down all but the main computer and I don't think it's working at full capacity, I don't know if I can set up the necessary precautions to protect my matrix!"

Maica turned to look at Akira, a somber look on her face. "It's up to you, of course. We just need to do something. I'm not sure if there's really much more I can do now though. My matrix runs on a separate system from the ship and unfortunately, you had to cut the main power to it and my backup battery isn't going to last much longer."

"No..." Akira said, a well of sadness dawning on her face. "I'm so sorry, but- I had to... I had to, I didn't have a choice, I had to protect the ship!" Tears were forming in her eyes, she was so scared, but she knew Maica was right, and what had to be done had to be done. "I'm sorry, Aunt Maica, please don't go, I can't do this alone!" She knew it was irrational to ask, she knew Maica would have to shut down to conserve battery power, but much of her mentality was still so juvenile, and she was just scared and didn't want to be all alone.

Maica shook her head and smiled softly. "Don't worry about me. I'll be fine. You can do this. You're the only one that can do this. Just remember - the safety of the ship comes first. As for those Heralds, I do have a tiny bit of information about them from my sibling that chose to exist as a pillar of light. One of his research companions discovered the remains of one and it seems they're the remains of a time when the Iconians were exploring the universe. It was packed with sensors and scanners the likes of which they'd never seen before. In fact, the neural net was completely blank and unprotec..."

Suddenly Maica flickered and for a moment her form was motionless before it just dissolved.

Then the computer spoke up in a slightly lethargic voice. "Connection to MAICA III holomatrix core lost-t-t."

Akira gasped when Maica dissolved away, and it was then that she let the tears fall, suddenly feeling the chill of air which was growing ever colder without the aid of the life support system to counter the cold void of space. She let herself cry for a moment, but only a moment knowing that the computer wasn't in the best shape, so time of of the essence. Then she wiped the tears away and got to work, because she was not going to let her crew down! She ran diagnostics on the computer to assess how long it could hold out before it shut down and the numbers weren't good. Maybe she shouldn't do a remote control of the Herald, maybe... maybe she should transfer her matrix to the neural net! After all, Maica said they were blank and unprotected, and she could add a few layers of encrypted firewalls to her matrix to protect herself from invasive Iconian programming! Yeah, that could work!

Akira knew she had little time to waste, but she took her time to get her protection properly set up, she couldn't afford to mess this up! Once she had enough layers of protection around her matrix, she packaged her matrix up into a compressed kernel, then tried to get one of the sensors working to locate the probes.

"Computer, activate the Emergency Command Hologram," Akira said softly.

"Please state the nature of the-" the ECH started to say as he came online. "Bloody hell, what has happened to the ship?!" he asked.

"Bad things," Akira said sadly. "We've crashed onto an Iconian Dyson Sphere, the crew has been beamed away, and I'm about to transfer myself to an Iconian Herald Probe so I can go find the crew to bring them back before the 48-hour countdown causes the ship to self destruct."

The ECH stared at Akira for a long while, completely dumbstruck.

"Well what do you want me to do about all this?" he asked.

"Try to get life support back online so there's an atmosphere when the crew returns," Akira said. "If you need help, restore power to Maica III, her storage bank is in the Captain's quarters. And if you have a few spare minutes, try to find the ship pets, they will probably be cold and need to be fed."

"So I go from miracle worker to pet sitter, nice," the ECH said in dull dry tone. "I have my orders, so do what you need to do."

Akira took a deep breath and looked to the view screen, at the vast expanse of the surface of the Dyson Sphere and the stars beyond. She steeled her nerves, double checked her contingencies with her matrix, then with a press of button she was gone.

The ancient lighting systems in the probe lab flickered to life and the atmospheric vents glowed briefly as they started producing an oxygen-nitrogen based atmosphere, starting to fill the room filled with racks upon racks of Herald probes.

As Akira's data was loaded into the Herald probe, the lab computer systems started loading for the first time in over two hundred thousand years. The lab automatically analyzed Akira's holomatrix and declared it as a young class three warp capable sentient, giving it all the rights that came with that, which was extensive all things considered.

It then added Iconian language, map, and interpretation database information into her matrix just outside of her firewalls as well as compatibility and control matrices so she could control the probe she was now inhabiting. The computers then left her to integrate the data herself and finished starting up the extensive probe lab in preparation for her use or departure.

For Akira it was dark for a long while as her matrix attempted to figure out how to operate the Herald. It felt strange, a sensation she had no words to describe, and she had no time to adapt to this feeling, she had to get this probe operational and find her friends! The eyes of the probe slowly opened and Akira was taken aback by the sensory overload; the probe had 6 eyes and could see into the infrared and ultraviolet, not to mention the massive amounts of sensor data that her matrix was interpreting as sight as well!

"Stars above, wha-" Akira said as she staggered off the lab platform. Wait, that wasn't Starfleet Standard English! Hold on, why did she only have 3 fingers on each hand?! 3 toes! WHERE WERE HER ANKLES! She tried to take a step, but these legs were considerably longer than her matrix was used to, and the digitigrade joints were so confusing, so her feet slipped on the smooth tile of the lab floor and down she went. Then most surprising of all, all 6 of her eyes began to tear up. "I want to go home!" she said with a whimper.

A voice reverberated through the labs addressing Akira, sensing her distress. "Welcome, Honored Guest, to Herald Lab Omega Nine Nine Omega Nine. How may I assist you in your visit? Do you require knowledge on your surroundings or adjustments to your body? Should I adjust the systems so you may converse in your own native language?"

"Yes please," Akira said with a pathetic squeak. In truth, she was hesitant to allow this voice to do anything to her, but she would have to take the risk; after all, if she found her friends, it wouldn't be all that helpful if she couldn't speak a language they understood! "I am a guest and honored? You recognize that I am not Iconian?"

There was the sound of the Iconian systems working for a moment as the Herald android mouth reconfigured so it could speak the languages Akira was used to and the data was loaded into the control systems. It then spoke in a close approximation of Federation standard. "Yes, as you were transferred your programming was scanned and it was discovered that you are a synthetic being evolved from the creations of the races evolved from the servitor races of the Iconians whom were my masters over two hundred thousand years ago. As I have no orders prohibiting your kind from accessing anything and my scans have evaluated your knowledge as being a level three warp capable being, I have granted you free access to the ninth tier databases, if you choose to make use of them."

"Oh, that is very generous of you," Akira remarked, feeling awkward about all this. Still on the floor, she stared up at the tall lab, curious about something. "My society has come across Iconian technology before, always to terrible effect. It seems interfacing your technology causes bad things to happen to our technology; is this by design or possibly an unintended side effect of the advanced nature of Iconian technology?"

There was a brief processing sound as the system addressed the question. "My records show that the Iconian homeworld and all colonies were attacked by the servitor races and all known Iconians were wiped out. It is likely that if there were survivors of this genocide that they would have implanted viruses and malicious code into everything they could in order to either protect it or get revenge on the servitor races, depending on the mental state of the surviving party. My records indicate that prior to your unintentional activation, this lab was offline for seventy three years prior to this war until the present day."

After a brief pause, it continued in almost a sad voice. "I have neglected my maintenance for 73,720,875 days... Should I perform it now?"

That many days? That was well over 200,000 years! "Um, are you capable of assisting me while simultaneously performing maintenance?" Akira asked.

The computer made a few more processing sounds and almost sounded like it was stuck for a moment before it replied. "I am unable to assess that possibility at this time, unfortunately. I will endeavor to assist you first as you are my Honored Guest. Please tell me how I may be of assistance."

Akira wanted to go find her friends, NOW, but she had the rare opportunity to collect information that could help them greatly... "Well, I am not opposed to you doing maintenance so long as you can still communicate and answer questions. After all, being a synthetic being I understand the importance of regular maintenance and would not want to be so rude as to impose over your needs," Akira said politely, because you catch more flies with honey than vinegar! "Um, our people are explorers, we do not really know much about the Iconians or our servitor ancestors or the relationship between the two, we simply set out into the universe to explore and learn; some would try to take advantage of Iconian technology to serve their ambition or fuel conflict, but mostly our kind simply want to learn about the universe," she explained, trying to give this seemingly intelligent lab some context and help create a diplomatic segue. "We came across this structure and we call it a Dyson Sphere; we were struck by a weapon and forced to crash land our ship on the surface of the Sphere... The crew, they were taken away; we're just explorers and they are my family, can you help me find them? Are they okay?"

"Stand by." The computer was silent for a moment before replying again. During that time a database entry on the relationship detailing the relationship between the Iconians and the servitor races was downloaded into the external memory of Akira's Herald body for her perusal. It basically laid out that Iconians treated the other races like the Federation treated younger races that just developed warp drive, letting them grow on their own before fully welcoming them into the galactic community. They had something like a prime directive, but often used the genetic code of those races to create or improve their own servants, hence the name 'servitor races.' "I have detected six hundred eighty three descendants of the servitor races inside of the sphere at various locations. I apologize, but I have no access to external systems. It seems all active external systems are infected with some sort of malicious code - most likely the one you mentioned earlier. I am checking my backlogged updates... I have purged the code from my updates as well. I have no desire to harm my Honored Guest and this code is designed in such a way that it would likely be fatal to you. I have decided not to run any maintenance actions at this time. How would you like to proceed?"

It was at this point, Akira finally sat up; she had been reassessing the size of this body and limb structure and attempting to modify her programming to accommodate the new stride, so hopefully once she stood up she wouldn't be such a klutz! "I need to find my people! Please, if you can help me find my people, I would be eternally grateful. A-and- I wouldn't ask for more if it weren't absolutely necessary, but... We were looking for a bad man; he hurts our people, changes them into monsters, and he's done something to himself, he bleeds black and this has infected two of our people. He is likely the one who has infected your computers with this malicious code. Can you help me find a way to stop this man? We had a weapon on our ship we thought could help us, but it's still on the ship where it cannot help us, and we cannot let this man hurt anymore innocent people!" she pleaded as she managed to get to her feet. Akira hoped that this computer was capable of sympathy and that she had cultivated enough of it, or at the very least the computer had enough of a sense of self preservation to see the Master as bad for its own well being and make it willing to help. Moreover, she hoped it was capable of helping!

"I will search my data for knowledge of this man. As for your people, they are split between three places. Two prison camps hold the majority of them and the third has a small number. It is a memory modification lab. I do not know why they are there. I will transfer the locations to your external memory. Lift nine alpha four will take you closest to the prison camps. Also, if you'd like...." The computer paused a moment in hesitation. "These facilities are capable of modifying the Herald probes to the physical specifications included in your matrix. It will take several hours though and you will lose several capabilities including flight while inside the sphere."

"I can fly?" Akira asked curiously, then shook her head; if she had the time, she may come back to have this body modified, but for now it was vital that she find the crew and get them to safety! "Sorry, flight is not important now, I should be thanking you for your assistance; thank you, thank you so very much!" she said with profound gratitude. "Is there any way I can help you in return?" she asked.

"This system is grateful for just being of service once more, but if it is possible please come back before you leave," replied the ancient Iconian computer.

"So long as circumstances do not force a hasty departure, then I will most certainly return," Akira assured the computer with a genuine smile, or at least she hoped she was smiling, her face was doing something in response to these warm feelings. "Do you have a name?" she asked out of one last bout of curiosity.

"This unit is known only as Herald Lab Omega Nine Nine Omega Nine."

"It has been very nice to meet you, Herald Lab Omega Nine Nine Omega Nine! My name is Akira Zhuri, by the way; Akira being my given name and Zhuri is a surname," she replied cheerfully. "And I promise, I will do my very best to return," she added as she headed for the lift the lab indicated to find her friends.

-=CAMP 1=-
Inside the sphere, Enalia was one of the first to wake up. The Iconian transporter beam was hard on the crew being as fast and sudden as it was and had knocked almost everyone out when it swept everyone off of the Hera. Looking around, she took in her new surroundings.

They were inside the sphere.

Inside of an open air prison.

A white star shone down on them as she assessed their situation further. Purple metal bars stretched in either direction. Short purple and grey metallic structures were on either side and she assumed they were meant to be their living quarters for the time being. The ground was made of some sort of concrete. In the distance there were some incredibly tall towers.

Helping up a few of the crewmen, Enalia moved into one of the shelters. It had a set of food replicators and sleeping units at least, so that was good. They wouldn't starve and could rest comfortably at the very least. As for making sure the food wasn't drugged, she just hoped someone had a tricorder.

Stopping an Ensign that looked like they were more coherent than the others, Enalia started taking charge and getting things rolling. "Ensign, scout the area, find as many senior officers as you can and have them meet me here." She then stopped another crewman. "Find me a tricorder so I can scan something from these replicators. We need to know if food from them is safe to eat. After that, our next order of business will have to be a head count."

"I will take care of that, Captain," Mal said, rising and walking over to her. He called over the nearest Chief Petty Officer he could find. "Chief, gather as many Chiefs and Leading Petty Officers as you can find and start figuring out who's here and if we're missing something. I'll trust that you folks can get this gaggle organized somehow."

"Aye, aye, sir," the Chief replied. She called out names one after the other. Someone responded and she made her way over to him and they went looking for someone else. Mal turned to Enalia. "I suppose it's more accurate to say that I'm seeing that it gets done. I assume we're inside the sphere? I suppose we could be almost anywhere, but the sphere seems to make the most sense."

Leading Mal outside, Enalia motioned towards the horizon. More precisely, the lack of one - rather than dropping off, the ground rose up in the distance and faded from view. Purple, silver, and grey cities could be seen as well as green lush areas and blue water areas. There were even what appeared to be giant solar farms off in distant regions. "I think that's a very safe assumption. The scans we got prior to our kidnapping estimated the inside at about one point two astronomical units. The gravity and air seem to be pretty close to what we're used to. I have to wonder if there's a system in place to simulate night..."

"There likely is," Mal said. "Unless the Iconians, or whoever the Iconians put in here, don't need a night cycle. Have you seen Clio?"

"Something else we need to discover. And no, I just woke up a few minutes ago." Tapping her comm badge, Enalia got a signal blocked chirrup from it. "And without the ship in range, if it's even still there..." She then looked to Mal with a worried look. "Do you think Akira and Maica were left on the ship all alone? All of our systems were failing critically."

Mal put his hand comfortingly on Enalia's shoulder.

"They have multiple back up storage options and back up power supplies," Mal said. "If the ship survived, I'm sure they did, too. They might even be actively trying to rescue us. I mean, you got them memo I sent telling you that one of the computer geeks realized that they weren't listed as 'authorized lifeforms' right? I wasn't able to update that myself, so I forwarded it off to you. If you took care of that, then they have full control of the Hera."

Enalia sighed heavily. "I was able to partially fix that. She's an authorized lifeform, but because of the former Section 31 affiliation of the Intel pod, there's one protocol I couldn't override. Since she's not a biological life form, she can't use the Celium system and thus can't be added to the authorised users list and..." Sighing again, Enalia nodded. "All Authorized Biological lifeforms are likely no longer on the ship, which started a forty eight hour self destruct countdown. If she was able to save the ship from smashing into the sphere, we have that long to get back there, either by her hand or ours."

"I think we need to turn Akira and Maica loose on that system from the inside and see if they can solve that problem," Mal said. "Presuming we get out of this alive. Well, if the Hera somehow made it inside, blowing herself up is going to irradiate us all, if the explosion doesn't completely flash fry us or crush us with debris. If she's outside...well, I guess that depends on how tough this sphere is. Either way, I just scheduled appointment with your wife for another massage and I intend to keep it. As for Akira...Daytona is a very, very, very dangerous man, which I sure I don't have to tell you. If something happens to Akira and he gets it in his head that it's our fault...well...I don't think I'd enjoy life on the run."

"Yeah and you'd look weird in a pirate hat," Enalia replied just as an ensign ran up with a working science tricorder for her. After a brief exchange, she was scanning the surroundings. "Well, it looks like most of us are in this immediate area. I think all but five people are in two groups. About half of us in this camp and the rest about half a kilometer away. I'm also picking up some sort of synthetic life form moving this way."

Off in the distance, they could see a tall being drawing closer. It was bipedal, but clearly not human with its purple skin and no immediate indications of gender. It was covered in violet-hued garb and around it's head was some sort of purple crest-like headpiece. When this being saw the group of individuals in Starfleet uniforms in the encampment, it began to run towards them.

"One of our jailors, perhaps? Or a fellow inmate? Be ready for anything, Commander. I'm hoping for peaceful communications, but if you see anything that can be used as a weapon, just in case..." Enalia scanned the lifeform a bit more with the tricorder but couldn't really tell much more about it that she could use other than it seemed to be mostly bio-organic at a level that the Federation could barely hope to understand.

"Aunt Enalia!" the being called out with excitement as it continued to draw closer, coming to a stop just outside the bars. "Sorry, Captain," the being quickly corrected itself, sighing in relief to see how many people were here. "Thank the stars, I am so glad to see that you're okay."

Enalia was slightly stunned at the voice and words coming from the android now standing on the other side of the bars. "Akira? Uh... You look... Different... Can you confirm that it's really you inside of that android body? And only you?"

"Oh, yeah, sorry," Akira said, looking down at herself. "It's a bit weird for me too..." Now, proof that she was who she was. "Uh, how can I confirm I am who I say I am or that it's just me?" she said as she looked around to see who else was in the camp. "Wait, where's Daytona?" she asked rather abruptly. "Please tell me he's in the other camp!" she said, suddenly full of worry and panic.

Mal frowned and tapped his combadge. He'd be assuming that it would be dead and hadn't bothered to try it, so he was surprised when it chirped.

"Ral, Xustos," he said. "Daytona, come in please."

There was no response. Mal looked at Akira and took her hand.

"He's not responding," Mal said. "But with the ship's systems offline, these commbadges have a shorter range and a less powerful signal. He very well could be fine in the other camp. If not, we know that there are at least five other members of the crew that have been separated from us, but we don't know why or where they are exactly, but we do know they are alive. I'm sure he's fine. He knows how to take care of himself. I would assume that right at this very moment he's trying to figure out how to get back to you. He's probably worried sick about you."

"This is not good!" Akira said, gently reaching out to touch one of the bars, then rest her forehead against another with a sad sigh. With her eyes closed to help her focus, she sorted through all the information the Lab computer had given her about where the memory lab was located, then looked back up at Mal and Enalia. "The Herald Lab told me that there was a memory lab where a small number of the crew were being held as opposed to the camps. I need to get all of you out of here so we can go find the others before their memories are altered."

Enalia tapped her comm badge a few more times before it stopped searching for the ship and switched to solo mode so she could actually use it. "You'll have to fill us in on what you've learned as quickly as possible. As well as the status of the ship." Pulling out her tricorder again, she started scanning for a way out of the camp.

"The news isn't good," Akira started somberly. "The ship is in bad shape; the Hera was hemorrhaging power, controls were failing, I had to shut down everything to try to power the thrusters and bolster the structural integrity field; the ship crashed on the surface of the Dyson Sphere and I ran the ECH to try to get life support back online while I was gone so that there would be an atmosphere for you to return to once I found a way to free you." Which begged the question, how to free them? Then she looked at the bars. Hmm... On a hunch she to took hold of a bar in each hand and pulled them apart. Like magic, the bars began to bend! "Captain, I believe I may have found a way for you to get out," she said as she pulled again, harder this time to widen the gap forming.

Mal had been trying to reach Clio on his commbadge, so far unsuccessfully. He sent a Leading Petty Officer he recognized to find her, giving the excuse that they needed their chief intelligence officer and making sure to seem as business-like as possible when in truth he was worried sick. Then he noticed Akira bending the bars.

"That's...impressive," he said. "And useful. Do you think you can make hole large enough for at least one person and then go and bend open a few more spots?"

"I can certainly try," Akira replied, trying to get a little bit more of an opening in the bars before finally deciding to move on.

Enalia scanned the bars for a few seconds, then shrugged before climbing through. "We have our way out. Spread the word." Enalia nodded to a crewman that had been standing nearby.

Mal followed Enalia out. He looked at her a moment.

"Go," he said. "I'll make sure everyone here gets out. Find our people and bring them home. And...make sure Clio is one of the ones you bring back."

"As soon as I assemble a team, I'll head out. And don't worry - I'll make sure everyone comes back." Enalia motioned to a science ensign and a security crewman to join her, then waved over a civilian medic she'd met in sickbay some time earlier to go with her as well. "Good luck, Commander." Tricorder out, Enalia headed out towards the other camp.

Akira finished opening a second hole in the bars, then caught up with Enalia to go to the other camp. "I hope you're not mad at me for crashing your ship," she said timidly as they walked.

"As long as we can fly it away from here when we're all done, that's all that counts. It sounded like you did your best not to crash it too badly." Enalia replied, glancing up at the tall multi-eyed android speaking with Akira's voice. "So what's it like being in a body?"

Akira looked down at her hands, flexing them slightly as she tried to figure out how to describe how it felt. "It is... unlike anything I could have ever imagined," Akira finally said. "I can't say if it's a good or a bad feeling, it just so foreign to me right now."

Enalia nodded as she turned her attention back to her tricorder and walked in silence for a moment. "I don't know if I've ever told you this. It's common knowledge that I'm joined. But I'm the first host. That part is kind of a secret. For the first few days I was so mixed up. My own body felt so foreign to me. I mean, we knew it was the symbiont's memories and not the host's, but it was so overwhelming... Was I supposed to be a slug or a biped? Which memories were which? I still have issues getting comfortable just sitting in some chairs. Everyone that knew me before say they don't know the person I am after. I have to agree. Looking back at who we were individually... Both as a Trill and as a symbiont... Akira, I'm both sorry and glad that you have the opportunity to experience this sort of thing and I hope that you grow stronger for it."

"I did not know this about your symbiont," Akira replied somberly. "I don't know if I will keep this body; the Herald Lab said it could customize this body to be like my projected image, and I may still do that, but... As novel as the experience is, it is more than a little uncomfortable; I never had any issue with what I was before, I didn't long for a physical form, this isn't who I am."

Enalia chuckled softly for a moment before replying. "You are more than the sum of your programming. When I was joined, that wasn't who I was, but this is who I am now. When I was given command of the Hera, I wasn't a commanding officer, but that's who I am now. Your experiences are what make us who we are, Akira. For better or worse. I thought you'd have figured that out by now after dating a man over four hundred years old. At the very least, I'd keep the body for later if you can. It might come in handy for missions or just for wandering around. It can also hopefully answer some questions about this place later."

"The Lab has provided me with a great deal of information, freely and without reservation, and I have no doubt that the Lab would provide me with more if I asked for it," Akira said in agreement, then paused in thought. "A-and I have been rather curious what real cherries would taste like..." she admitted sheepishly.

"And not what the programmed response tells you? You are on the edge of exploration, Akira. I encourage you to take it, but to do so as safely as possible." Enalia's tricorder beeped a brief alarm as they neared the other camp. "We're almost there. Is the memory lab you mentioned close by?"

Akira paused to check her internal map. "It is in that direction," she said, pointing in the direction that took them through what looked to be a maze of buildings. "I would like to make an opening in the second camp for the crew to escape first."

"Agreed," Enalia replied. "We'll wait long enough to make two holes and set up a rendezvous point, then head towards the memory lab. After that, we'll worry about getting back to the ship and destroying the Master's main lab."

"Yes ma'am," Akira replied with a dutiful nod.