As the U.S.S. HERA neared it's destination at the galactic core, Lieutenant Junior Grade Melaine Dox's mind wandered on the topic of gods.

She laid in her bed trying to sleep, but her mind just didn't want to let her. What did it mean that they were going to be meeting with and possibly fighting beings considered to be gods?

Being raised Romulan, the daughter of a Romulan Mother and human Father, Melanie wasn't rasied with any supernatural belief systems. Romulan culture once worshiped an antiquated concept of the elements, but even that was a more vague, spitiual belief... more of a philosophy than a religion. And it was one Melaine was educated about, but never indoctrinated in.

And her Father was blissfully absent for much of her childhood and so she cared even less for ancient Human religions. She studied them, of course, during her time at the academy. Comparitive Religious studies was essential Officer training. If you were going to be out here discovering new worlds and meeting new races, an understanding of the underpinnings of why cultures created dieties and the training to be respectful of those beliefs was important.

But on a personal level, Melaine just didn't get it. Whatever these beings were, they weren't just concepts. They existed as part of the universe. They followed the rules of physics even if they possessed abilities that made the contrary seem true. In fact, the crew of the Hera had recently defeated and captured one of these so-called gods. The being from which the mighty Starship took its name, the goddess Hera herself.

Starfleet history was overflowing with so-called gods, Melanie thought. Beings of improbable power who time and again we're proven to be as flawed and petty as any sentient being. Even beings as powerful as the Q had been bested in contests of wits with mortals.

Gods, she thought, seemed to be little more than beings with power who didn't know how to use them responsibly. Anyone on the Hera would be thought of as a god in ancient times. A phaser, a tricorder and a shiny button that lets you talk to the heavens and dissappear would be godlike power to the neaderthalls of Earth history, Melanie thought to herself.

So why, then, couldn't she get these thoughts out of her mind, she wondered. What was she trying to reassure herself of so strongly. STARFLEET had encountered a plethora of beings claiming to be gods. Many members of her own crew did so just weeks ago. But Melanie had remained on the bridge during those conflicts.

She never met with the goddess Hera. Never faced that power directly. In the days following the encounter, she scoured the official department reports and read through them all, it was only data. It wasn't personal experience.

Personal experience that she realized was very likely quickly approaching. And while she hated to admit it, she was scared.

Not so much scared of dying in the coming encounter. The threat of death was just a part of life in STARFLEET that Dox was as prepared for as was possible. Maybe, she thought, she was scared of learning something she was more comfortable not knowing.

About the universe.

Or maybe just herself.

In a lifetime of experiences, urging a friend to go tackle a god to engage in lovemaking because the opportunity presented itself was a new one on Rita Paris. Yet she had, and off had gone the Baroness von Alcott, literally carried away by the actual factual god of thunder, Thor himself.

Which was the universe in which the extradimensional explorer had found herself, and she had, as she tended to do with most such developments, gone with the flow. Orders had been issued to Doc Dael to check in on Seregon French, as a mortal woman who had challenged a god to a night of passion, and been accommodated. Thor's legend lent itself to the impression that he was mighty, and the mightiest of the valkyries Hildr had recommended that the human woman might need some 'patching'.

The Baroness, on the other hand, was no mere human woman, but a superhuman. Whose problem in love was that she was too mighty in her amorous affections for mortal men to withstand her. Which was why Paris had practically thrown her into the fray, with the Captain's help. The woman was lonely, and she had a lot to give. Where better than the arms of Thor, who had been handsome and charming- who knew? Von Alcott was cheerful and inclusive and willing to meet people on their own terms. Rita liked the woman and admired her, and she wanted her to know some happiness.

Or pursue a fantastic destiny. Because that was also the universe in which Rita Paris lived, because that was any universe she happened to be in at the moment.

All of which led to her current course of action.

Sensors said she was in her VIP quarters, so standing outside the billet assigned to the Baroness, Paris spoke to the overhead. "Computer, please announce my presence at the door to the Baroness, and request that she join me in the corridor."

=^= Complied, Commander =^=

"Thank you, Computer." Paris leaned against the door frame, waiting for it to open with a half-smile on her face. Good news good news come oooooon universe good news!

Getting the message, the Baroness downed the rest of her juice and tonic and wondered if she could eat the rest of her breakfast before opening the door. Sighing, she decided she couldn't and just left it for now, instead grabbing her dress jacket with all the tassels and tossed it over her bare shoulders as she walked to the door in a sports bra and her normal light grey dress pants.

Opening the door, she peeked outside. "Ja? Rita?"

"I've... come to check on you?" Rita distracted herself with the data on the tablet she held up close to her face. "According to ship's records, you came back aboard at 06:45, and you've been 4 hours, which seems to be a sleep period for you according to your standard movement pattern of record around the Hera." Putting the PaDD down, the first officer looked a bit embarrassed. "While you aren't a part of the rank structure, you're still a member of the crew. So I'm letting French sleep, but I've come to make sure you are... okay, good, all right...?"

The big blue eyes of the earth girl sought out out the one rust-colored eye of the Artan fleet pirate captain, with concern and hope in her eyes.

Shwein glanced up and down the corridor a couple times, then pulled Rita into her quarters before closing the door. "I was just eating some breakfast. It is the most important meal of the day, ja?" Tossing her dress jacket back over a chair, it revealed some rather vigorous marks on the Baroness's back revealing just how far their lovemaking had gone. However it seemed to just be red marks and not bruising, so that was good.

Then Schwein glanced to Rita with a grin. "I am fine. Thor... I might have worn him out after Seregon passed out. She should be... Well enough... Join me for breakfast?"

A grin broke out over the face of Rita Paris, spread there by the fact that her friend was all right and apparently had a great time. As she stepped into the Baroness' quarters, she moved to settle in for breakfast. "I'd love to. Computer, please make me a coffee, black, sweet, and a plain fresh bagel."

The hum of the replicator indicated where it was, so Rita grabbed her coffee and nosh, dropped her generous ass into a chair and blinked expectantly. "So, I don't want to pry but I am dying to know...?

"That he has a massive schwanzstücke and knows how to use it?" Punching up another Juice and tonic, Schwein returned to her breakfast. "He made me squeal like a pig in heat and Seregon... Like a horse? I run out of animal sounds fast, I think... But he pounded us both like very bad steel on an anvil for a long time. Then I got seconds." Grinning wider, she stabbed one of her sausages and bit into it savagely.

The peerless first officer literally squealed. "I am so proud of you! You reached over and grabbed him and hauled the god of thunder off the ground to smooch him! That was by definition one of the most epic things I have ever seen. And you went off and had a great night- yay!" Paris' enthusiasm was oddly like that of a teenager, but she was genuinely overjoyed for her friend.

"It was epic. Nothing in the legends prepares you for something like that." The Baroness finished up her sausage and went after her hard boiled eggs next.

"So... what now? Did you exchange comm digits, did he say anything, are you gonna see him again?" Paris took a generous bite out of the tasty bagel, chewing in anticipation. After all, Rita was nothing if not a romantic, and this was better than any telenovella romance.

"I um... No, not exactly..." Schwein drank a bit of her juice and tonic before clarifying. "We're going to write to each other for now. When the ravens feel like delivering messages, that is. They don't use the same comm systems we do, after all."

Swallowing her mouthful of bagel, Rita pressed on, undeterred. "Still, he wants to stay in touch, that's good, right? I mean... Thor? And he, like, lived up to it..."

"Yeah, I've seen enough people beg for their lives that I know when men are sincere." The Baroness paused a moment, a hard boiled egg speared on her fork, mid air. "That came out wrong, ja?"

"It... kinda did, yeah. So, congratulations on finding someone mighty enough to withstand your amorous attentions," Rita laughed, taking a swig of her coffee. "So, just to come clean, the big valkyrie was telling us that Thor hasn't been with anyone in... a while. They've all been trying to find him a gal so that he will take the throne, but he wasn't interested in any of the locals. Then you came along..."

"And you think I might be able to be his queen, ja?" Schwein shook her head as she munched on the last of her breakfast.

"Ye-e-e-e-es...?" Rita admitted, then she launched into her excited pitch. "You are legendary in your own right, and you fit in easily with those mythological types. You already have one eye, the other having been surrendered for wisdom- which you have with that tricroder on your brain. Among the Aseir you're with people who are strong and durable like you. You aren't alone in a very fragile world with we fragile people. Plus, I mean, you did go back for seconds. Pen pals does look like the start of something promising. So yeah, why not Queen von Alcott on a throne next to Thor, Lord of Asgaard. I mean, the idea does hold some appeal for you, right?"

"I don't know... I owe the Artan family quite a lot, still. Who will replace me as adjutant? Baron Flan von Caramen is covering for me for the third fleet as it is and if I go off and get married..." Schwein's brow was furrowed as she ran her left hand through her silver hair. "It is appealing though."

"Talk to the Princesszen about it. She's known you for most of her life- I think if this is something that you want, she'd be happy for your happiness. And not like the Asgaardians make terrible allies. 'My former adjutant sits at the right hand of the throne of the Aesir' isn't a terrible claim to be able to make for a pirate fleet." The minidress model paused, taking a bite of her bagel and chewing it before making an admission. "I would miss the hell out of you Baroness, and that's the honest truth. You've been a good friend to me, and I'm damn fond of your company. But it would make it a lot better if I missed you because you were out there boning Thor. I am a very firm believer that a healthy sex life does wonders for your mental stability and clarity."

"And that was the best I've ever had." Sighing heavily, the Baroness had to admit it. It was a very appealing thought. "Ok, I'll at least consider it. And discuss it with the Princesszen. Their politics are complicated though, and it may take my entire lifetime."

"Then you'll have time to travel and visit and regale us with tales and get pulled into misadventures with your old friends. Or come visit us on Earth and tell our kids genuine space pirate stories- well, the kids we're planning to have. They might be a tough audience, come to think of it." Rita snapped out of the segue she had begun to smile brightly at the Baroness.

"In this lifetime, opportunities come into play. If you pass them by, they may become one of your greatest regrets. Or sometimes they go disastrously wrong, in which case you give a shout, we'll come a-running, aye?" The old-school Starfleet officer pointed her finger at the broad-minded buccaneer to emphasize her statement. "Point is, this.... this is a rare opportunity, my friend. Wahhhhhhl, the rare opportunity was the threesome with French and a god, but to build an actual relationship with him... that might just be epic, Baroness."

"Ja, it is epic." The Baroness couldn't help but grin and blush before turning to a bore serious topic. "But what if he wants an heir from me? That is something I cannot give him. I was augmented too far and..."

“Okay, first, I am by no means a xenobiologist, although I do share a mind with one pretty often. But I have read up on mythology a bit since this started, and I don’t know if your infertility is necessarily an issue, there. Loki boned a horse and made Sleipnir. That’s not biologically possible, yet there it is. So maybe before you decide what is possible and impossible when it comes to Norse gods, you might want to have a conversation with Doc Dael?” The tone wasn’t remonstrating not harsh- if anything, Paris’ statement was hopeful.

"Loki is also a woman," Schwein replied flatly. "A trisexual female shapeshifter that was raised as a man, to be precise. Of course she gave birth to an eight legged horse. It's Loki."

“Fine, you win, there’s no hope for it, may as well give up now and forget the whole thing.” While her response surprised her somewhat, Rita had finally reached the point of being worn down by working so hard to convince people to have a little hope, only to encounter constant arguments to the contrary. "Whatever. Sorry I tried. I'll butt out now.”

"No, it just means we would have to find an heir elsewhere." The Baroness thought for a moment, finishing her juice and tonic. "Perhaps French is pregnant?"

"That's between her and Doc Dael. I would think that was a probable outcome, but you're the expert, so I yield to your opinion on that one." Rita had wanted to celebrate and help her friend plan for the future, but this was pushing the stone uphill. The Baroness was a grown woman perfectly capable of choosing her own destiny, and Rita didn't need to talk her into anything. Rising with a sigh, the first officer returned the mostly uneaten bagel and coffee to the replicator.

"So... Asgardian wedding dresses are spun from silken gold." Schwein pondered this for a few moments. "Plus I apparently need to challenge Freya to a duel. That shouldn't be too hard. She just leads the Valkyr. As a competent warrior, that's one area I have complete confidence in."

The anachronistic astronaut half-turned, as a suspicious smile played across her face. “If you are thinking of wedding vows and duels with goddesses, does that meant that you are taking this seriously and actually considering it?”

"Well... They plan this sort of thing decades in advance..." The Baroness gave her friend one of her mischievous grins. "If I want at least a shot, I'd better at least start plotting, hadn't I?"

“If they take decades for this sort of thing, it sounds like they really need an infusion of mortality to stop dragging their feet and get with the times,” Rita offered, clapping the pirate captain on the shoulder.

"I can think of no one better suited to such a task as the Baroness von Alcott!”

While her duties as First Officer took her all over the ship, Commander Rita Paris still served bridge duty, usually on Alpha shift and usually while they were in transit at warp and the Captain was elsewhere, taking meetings, talking to Command, dealing with pirates and a myriad of tasks which kept her day occupied.

While she had no prohibitions about sitting in the captain's chair, Paris was currently in the starboard subsidiary command seat, the one she preferred because it was off the Captain's right shoulder, which was where the first officer was suppose to be- the Captain's right hand. When she had been second officer, she was always at port, if she left her station to confer with the captain. But now she was the first, the 'number one', the Executive Officer, the XO. She'd had a lot of luck expressing to the crew that she was the first officer. Some still used XO, but for the most part she seemed to be known as the first officer, or as she was hearing, 'The Commander'. Which was still settling in on her.

There was a certain degree of pride in the fact that her father's prized and deeply impressed with itself rank had been commander. She was eight years old when he had been promoted to Lieutenant Commander. Before that, she was allowed to call him Daddy. From that moment on, he was Commander. At the time, little Rita hadn't thought much of it, imaging it was like this in lots of Starfleet families. Albert called him Commander as well, and mama was gone, so it was just the three of them.

Nowadays she chuckled at how the regimentation of their lives made her ideally adapted to Starfleet life. Yet after instilling all of that discipline he still fought her tooth and nail on going into Starfleet. Now here she was, 150 years after Clifford Paris had been promoted to commander, now it was Commander Rita Paris.

It surprised her how easily she had let go of the fact that her father, along with everyone she had ever known but Sonak, had perished through the passage of time. Maybe it was all one big ball of grief that she dealt with all at once, adapting to the future. Or perhaps it was that even were he alive today, she wouldn't bother calling him to tell him about her promotion. It would be rubbing it in to him, then he'd only be a jerk about it, as he always did. Words of praise were reserved for the man following in his footsteps.

Tapping up a Starfleet record, it turned out the Albert Paris of this universe had hit a career achievement of commander as well, and seemed to have ended his days as the CO of Starbase 23, near the Klingon and Romulan borders.

In the here and now, Paris was tinkering with the tactical systems, setting up some presets on her console so that at a moment's notice, she could enact strategies or take over the tactical panel in an emergency. At which point she spied Lieutenant Junior Grade Dox at the helm, tapping away at the subsidiary console, likely doing some experimentation with the spectrum analysis helmet invention Gonadie had pulled out of her feathery plumed behind.

Creating a channel to the helm, she attached it to the station itself so that she would easily be able to transmit firing ranges and sequences and expectations. After all, putting a photon torpedo in the flight path of the starship was not a game for amateurs, and it required coordination with the helm. Once the channel was established, Paris verified that it transmitted data and would remain secure, she punched up the messaging system.

= What's the side project while you watch the stars streak by? = Paris sent over.

By now, Dox should be acclimated enough to the concept of teamwork on the bridge that she shouldn't freak out, Paris reasoned, unless she was actually working on something she was not supposed to. Which, given that all of the logs of the bridge were kept forever and every action you took through a monitor was recorded, she sincerely doubted that an officer like Dox would be goofing off on a bridge shift.

Buried mentally in her task, Dox was taken slightly by surprise by the message that flashed across her helm control. Looking up for a moment with a quizzical look on her face, she typed in her response.

= I've been running simulation experiments with the helmet that significantly reduce the negative feedback and nausea. I'm recalibrating the helm interface with the revised data from the Flight Control Office computers so that the systems will be compatible. = Dox sent her written response but turned back to smile at the first officer as she did so.

= Expect some coordination from Mr. Sonak soon, as she's planning to work the sensors in to give you greater chances of success, as well as a chance to really study this phenomenon =

There was a brief pause, then another message came through.

= Are you excited? =

Pausing for a moment to process the question, Dox replied. She was learning that she could trust Rita Paris and be honest with her about her ever-turbulent emotions. = Excitement is in there somewhere. Along with anxiety and stress and second guessing myself. It's easier once we're in the mission and all of that goes away. As strange as it is to be calmer when the stress is REAL, I find I can focus past it in the moment if that makes any sense. =

The reply wasn't long in coming through- Rita Paris was a quick typist. = No, absolutely. In the moment you don't have time to think, just react and make your choices. Thinking about in advance gives you a million 'what could go wrong' scenarios that you have to consider, because one of them might be right. Nope, totally real thing =

Feeling relieved with the response, Dox continued. = Thank you, Commander. I'm hoping to at least have options for all of those scenarios now so that if we need them, they're ready. I'm almost done with the recalibration here and can consult with Lieutenant Sonak whenever he wants to, or if you need something. =

Apparently finishing whatever project she was working on, Paris looked up at Dox. "Miss Dox, if you could forward your current reports to Mr. Sonak so that he can familiarize himself with them, he'll likely reach out to coordinate with you. Keep me posted on the calibration trials, please."

Turning now, to face Rita Paris as she had been addressed directly, Dox replied. "Aye, Commander. I'll copy you on the reports and keep you posted regularly." Turning back to the helm controls, Dox removed a small isolinear chip from the data entry port of the console on the side, as the recalibration was complete. Pulling out a small PaDD at the side of her duty station, she plugged the chip into the PaDD's data port to upload the revised information to forward to Sonak and Paris as requested.

Seated at the Operations console on the Hera's bridge, Lieutenant Delilah Dauntless seemed only nominally aware of the goings on around her. Since the crew's latest encounter with the deity called Hera, the diminutive 20 year-old had found herself increasingly preoccupied. The young quantum theorist's every other thought was engrossed in trying to determine how the goddess and her cohorts were able to do the things they could. With every hour that went by, it seemed that the pretty, petite Operations Chief was becoming more and more consumed with trying to solve what had, up to now, remained the ultimate unsolvable puzzle. As she sat at the Ops station, her elfin features a mask of intense focus, she would temporarily spare a glance at the console's LCARS readout, to ensure that all systems were nominal. Without realizing it, Delilah softly muttered aloud a sharp series of rather interesting swear words under her breath, as yet another train of thought derailed in her head.

Only a few feet away sitting at the helm, going over her flight data, Dox heard the muttered curses and smiled ever so slightly, glad that she wasn't the only officer to let the occasional swear word slip out.

It was so rare that anything actually come out of Dauntless on the bridge, that Paris rose from her seat, swinging her display off to the port side of her chair. Taking a few careful steps toward Dauntless, she debated looming over her from behind, but instead began speaking as she slowly covered the distance. "The difficulty at hand must be vexing indeed for you to share it with the rest of us, Miss Dauntless. Might I inquire as to what has you so frustrated as to risk interpersonal contact?"

Delilah froze at the sound of her name being spoken by Rita Paris. The young girl's ice-blue eyes widened in embarrassment. Had she... had she actually been talking out loud? Dammit. The young operations lieutenant suddenly felt like the eyes and ears of every person on the bridge were trained in her direction.

"I... didn't realize I had spoken out loud, Commander," Dauntless sniffed quietly, somehow managing to sit up even straighter in her seat. Her fingers were now suddenly busy across the console's sleek surface. "Just working on a couple of ideas in my head. It's nothing."

“Au contraire, Miss Dauntless. I am a line officer on bridge duty of a Starfleet starship moving through the galaxy at warp 9.2, and everything that transpires on this bridge is of concern to me.” Stepping around in front of the ops station, Paris cocked her head slightly and raised an eyebrow even as she folded her hands behind her back.

“Hypothetically we are a crew, all in the same boat- a very old phrase that is somewhat applicable in Starfleet, though we are of course aboard starships and not open air boats. But the thrust of the phrase remains valid. While I am certain you feel there is no way that I could conceivably have anything to contribute given my comparatively inadequate mental faculties and lack of modern education, try me.” Leaning in, Paris added in a whisper, “Pretend to be a member of the crew for a moment. I promise not to tell anyone, and I can even swear the rest of the bridge crew to secrecy.”

"Just still thinking about their tech," Delilah offered, quietly. "Trying to figure some things out... about how these entities - how their abilities - work." Delilah glanced around, first at Melanie, seated next to her, then at some of the other officers who appeared to be busy with other tasks. Dauntless imagined them hiding their smiles at her misfortune. Somewhere, her grandfather was shaking his head in disapproval. "I am sure I will figure it out, Commander."

"In that I have the utmost confidence, Miss Dauntless. Let me see if I might possibly be able to offer you some assistance," the cheerful commander chimed. "Have you studied the probe data from the ones we had in orbit, which measured her exercising her power, laid out the grid system of her underground generators and gave a rather comprehensive overview?"

Delilah winced noticeably at the volume of Rita's cheery voice. The young woman's greatest fears were being realized. A very public conversation about a very private shortcoming. Kill me now, she thought to herself. "I have," came Delilah's flat answer, feeling her ears reddening despite her dusky, mocha complexion. "And thank you," she added, "in making some of that data available to me personally. I feel like I have everything I should need to be able to 'solve for x'." The 20 year-old sighed and shook her head as she spared another glance at the readouts on her console. "There's something I'm just not seeing."

“I made it available to you professionally, Miss Dauntless. While I realize we are all just fodder for your own projects, research and advancement, the rest of us like to pretend we work together toward common goals. Have you studied Dr. Dael’s in-depth scans of Hera herself from her evaluation here on the USS Hera, when her energy levels were mostly depleted, yet she still was absorbing local psychic energies?” The commander gamely continued in that same cordial tone. She had literally half a dozen of these examples and possibilities to run through, and so long as Dauntless was going to insist on being solitary and resistant to teamwork, Paris was going to happily torment her by being a nice, polite and helpful teammate.

"...I have..." Delilah answered with a frown. After a beat, Dauntless turned and looked up to regard Paris for the first time since their conversation began. "You know, if it bothers you so much that I like to work alone, you could always just order me to work with someone else. So, why haven't you?"

"Mmmm, just shy of insubordinate, and on the bridge no less." Paris sighed and shook her head, then considered the arrogant young officer. "I'll indulge your impertinent question, only because I think you deserve the truth. Frankly, no one wants to work with you, Miss Dauntless. Your own staff file a number of reports featuring your horrendous lack of social skills and your curt and dismissive manner, which they unsurprisingly find alienating. I don't dislike anyone sufficiently to force them to attempt to work with you. The interplay of ideas might eventually produce improved results from you over time, but the toll on the other officer would far too great. No, I rather prefer that you seek out help on your own. So I keep making the attempt to teach these lessons, hoping one might stick."

"Mostly I just seem to receive a good stiff verbal rejection from you for my efforts. But I've endurance, so I persist. Perhaps you may yet learn the value of being part of a crew- stranger things have happened. Did you read the science department's summary of the readings and their crossover report on the physiognomological physics involved? Some of their interpretations and extrapolations were very intriguing- well, to my unsophisticated eye, at least." Paris, throughout her diatribe, maintained that annoyingly cheerful tone and a smile on her face. Truth was, since Dauntless was so determined to be such an insufferable ass in every interaction, Paris was determined to be as cheerful as possible in response waiting for that moment Dauntless would take that step too far.

On the bridge and she'd already gotten under her skin. This might just be it. Paris grinned somewhat idiotically awaiting her answer.

Meanwhile, Melanie Dox was extremely happy to have her project to be engaged with as she continued to refine the interface between the HERA's systems and the flight control helmet sitting in her lap.

Not working well with others was a Hallmark of her career prior to her assignment on the HERA and while Melaine had barely had any interactions with Lieutenant Dauntless, she couldn't help but feel a little empathy for the younger superior officer. And as the helm and ops stations were right next to each other, ignoring the exchange between Paris and Dauntless was functionally impossible. So she kept her focus on her work.

Meanwhile, Dauntless' face was a mixture of rage and a struggle for self-control, and she distrusted herself to speak, because she suspected that if she began, she might just be facing a court martial in the morning, and a black mark on her record could damage her chances and disrupt her career arc. Instead, she simply smoldered at the throwback with the archaic ideas and an idiot's cheer.

"Why Miss Dauntless, have you no answer for me?" Paris took a pair of small slow paces before the ops station, chatting as she turned and paced. "Is perhaps your reasoning to 'run out the clock' on our discussion? The funniest part of this entire exchange, at least to me, is that I'm really trying to help you solve the problem. It's my overarching goal in all of this. While you work so very hard to give me no reason to continue trying. I hear you and the ship's surgeon have had delightful interactions where you've dazzled them with your charm and logic."

It was then that Paris stopped directly before Delilah to lean in slightly. The first officer's normally animated face was deadpan for a change. "You asked me your little question a moment ago. Now I'll pose you a better one, Miss Dauntless. Is there a single solitary reason I shouldn't have you transferred off this ship? You are unpleasant to every shipmate and situation you encounter. You show no signs of growth as a person or an officer. You are secretive and blunt to the point of insubordination. I'm sure in whatever world that spawned you, the very definition of 'winner' is undoubtedly here before me. But frankly, you make a lousy shipmate. And I must admit, I'm a bit weary of you."

At that, Paris stood, haughty and arch. "Miss Dauntless, you stand relieved. You're off duty until the captain's come to a decision about you. In the meanwhile?" Paris leaned in again, eyes cold and narrowed at the frosty young officer who worked so hard to be so unpleasant.

"Get off my bridge."

Sickbay was abuzz with the normal workday...crew members coming in for regular physicals, minor injuries needing treatment, and Doctor Dael was in their office reading over reports from the previous day. The next report they read caused the doctor a brief pause.

"Medical followup needed for Lieutenant French, as ordered by Commander Rita Paris, due to sexual contact with Asgaardian Thor," the doctor read aloud to themself, "Huh, well, that's unexpected. Guess that's what I'm doing first today."

=^=Doctor Dael to Lieutenant French, Please report to sickbay when available. =^=

French looked puzzled. Yeah she was a bit sore, but sick bay really? She tapped her combadge.

+tap+"French to sickbay, I copy. Enroute!" Was all she said.

Though she did wonder if her time with Thor and the Baron would have any ramifications and she laughed to herself at the thought of the word (Ramifications). From what she could recall, the ordeal was nothing short of heavenly. And there were loads of ramifications, as Thor was making up for loss time. First the Baroness and then having his way with her, she had to admit she thought the Baroness got the worst of it, depending on how you look at it. Maybe she got the best of it. She only knew that if she ever bought a race horse, it's name would be Thor. And she laughed out loud as she traversed the corridor to the sick bay. As she entered, she tried to play it off as if she did not know why she had been called in. "You wanna tell me what this is all about doc?" With a smirk on her face.

Turning bright red, Asa stammered out, "Commander Paris advised me of your...um, evening, and considering your partner...partners? Uh, well, best to do a once over, don't you think?"

The doctor was motioning over to the nearest biobed and grabbing a few medical implements necessary to the task. "First things first...how long have you been using your current birth control method?"

Shock and horror registered on Frenches face. But the doctor obviously did not notice and carried on, so French had no choice but fall in line with his questions. "Well, since you asked. I'm not on any birth control accept whats in our food." She said knowing that it's been a long standing tradition of the military putting something in the food to stim the tide of unwanted pregnancy in the service. Not that it worked. But there was rumour that it still went on.

Asa drew the privacy holo-screen so the two could speak more freely. The doctor had a feeling that was going to be the answer they received, there was nothing in French’s medical records indicating birth control, but the doctor was still hoping for a different answer. This just turned into a conversation they really weren’t looking forward to.

The doctor withdrew their tricorder, part in order to scan for any transmitted infections, but also to have somewhere else to look other than at the mortified crew member. “Ok, well, let’s start with the assumption birth control is in your food. Considering how many different types of birth control are available to all genders of all species, and how vastly different the recommended dosage of those medicines are, and the metabolism of each person and the variance in the amount of food required for optimum health, along with periods of fasting practiced by many species….that would be impossible. Any effort to try to drug through food would likely be toxic to many peoples, and would be of limited effect for those it did not kill. Not to mention the ethical problems presented by medicating someone without their express consent.”

The whirring stopped as Asa placed the tricorder down, making eye contact with the Lieutenant. “So, that means you are on no birth control. Which makes sense with the readings I’m getting from you. You have heard the stories about the, well, virility of the gods, yes? Your people document that most gods were able to procreate with human women, and did so at every given opportunity. Thor is no exception. Thankfully I do not see any cross-species diseases transmitted, but, well…….”

Asa sat next to French, placing their hand atop the patients. “There’s no easy way to say this, but you are ovulating, and I sincerely doubt Thor had a vasectomy. Would you like to try emergency contraception?”


Time seemed to stand still. The mere thought of having the thunder Gods baby had not even crossed her mind, but it was kicking the shit out of it at this very moment. Then it hit her. Destiny....."No. if i'm destined to have a baby, who am I to stop it from happening. Maybe that's what I need in my life to complete me. Doc, I will not require any contraception." replied French as her mood changed completely.

There was precious little research that had been conducted on pregnancies with Asgardian offspring, but Asa had a feeling they were about to be conducting a first hand case study


"Ok, well in that case let's plan for success. I want you to start prenatal vitamins and increase daily caloric intake by 25 percent. Come back in one week for a definitive test, sound good?" The doctor inquired while retrieving vitamins from a nearby storage shelf.

After receiving confirmation that their instructions had been understood, the doctor walked French to the entrance of Sickbay, then returned to their office to add notes to French's medical records. Thinking aloud, they said "Demigods. I'm going to deliver a demigod. Never a dull day...."

Lieutenant Delilah Dauntless winced as she limped into the USS Hera's Sick Bay. The diminutive 20 year-old operations chief wore a pained expression on her face, and a long-sleeved white leotard on her petite frame. Delilah's teeth clenched as she stifled a cry of pain, and she reached out in desperation for the nearest flat surface to brace herself against.

Doctor Dael had been doing a quick inventory spot check of the stim-shots used on away team missions when Dauntless came into SickBay. Seeing someone so clearly in pain, they rushed over and put Dauntless falling form roughly atop their own, trying to maneuver her with their shoulder to the nearest bed.

Once Delilah was laying down, Dael quickly withdrew a tricorder and began scanning, calling first "Nurse Jenry, standard med kit as biobed 2 please, then continued, "Well hello there. What seems to be the trouble?"

"Right hip..." Dauntless seethed, her little hands balling into fists. "Hurts... can't move it... different from before..."

As she lay on the biobed, Delilah could see that her slender right leg, swathed in sheer leion tights, lay at an odd angle, twisted inward slightly from her hip. From beneath the clingy white tensolyne of her leotard, the crest of the young lieutenant's girlish pelvis appeared to protrude at an odd angle.

Taking in the sight before them Dael knew first things first- pain management. The doctor reached for a hypospray containing a cocktail of pain receptor blockers and muscle relaxers. Once that was administered, they conducted a perfunctory scan that revealed a plethora of half-healed injuries in the Lieutenant's form.

"Computer, please ask Maica III to join us if available. Patch her through to me when you reach her."

"So, Lieutenant Dauntless, please give me a summary of what you were doing when this happened, and try not to move. I have blocked your pain receptors, so you won't feel it, but if you move, you will cause more damage. You need to ask for emergency transport when injured, we have an entire ship worth of people here to help you, and whatever you did- walking on it made it worse," the doctor said in an uncharacteristically stern tone.

Delilah screwed her eyes shut and held her breath as the medicinal cocktail took hold. She finally trusted her voice enough to allow a sigh, as the pain in her right hip and leg dissolved from a series of lightning strikes to a deep smolder. "I was dancing," the diminutive girl answered in her child-like voice. "A 540 battement en rond into a grand jeté. Nothing I haven't been able to do a million times before." Her voice cracked in frustration as she pounded a fist against the biobed's padding.

The sound of the door opening, followed by holographics engaging nearby could be heard as Maica entered sickbay. "I have to admit, this is the first time I've been to sickbay. It's not what I expected." As the hyper-endowed Orion stepped up to the biobed, she introduced herself with a bright smile. "I'm Maica, ship's masseuse, Captain's wife, and purveyor of rare items. How may I help?"

"Hello Ms. Maica, I'm Doctor Asa Dael. I'm sorry we haven't met before, I didn't want to bother you. We have an injury here that is going to require putting some joints back in place, and I thought the hands of another therapist would be best suited to assist. Plus, a course of physical therapy is going to be needed once we are done, so I would like to consult with you about that as well while the patient recovers. What say you?"

As the doctor spoke to the green skinned beauty, they had motioned her over to the biobed with Dauntless on it, pointing to the obvious injury. While the nursing staff or the EMH was certainly qualified, Dael felt the sooner Maica met Dauntless the better.

"It's always a pleasure to help those in need." Picking up one of the sickbay's tricorder's Maica popped out the scanner and started scanning Dauntless' leg and on up. Frowning, she continued up the petite woman's body until she had a clear scan of even her brain.

"Listen, I'm sure it's not as serious as all that," Delilah tried to insist, her ice-blue gaze averted in frustration and embarrassment. "I know my body. These kinds of injuries happen."

"I see." Popping the scanner back in and setting the tricorder aside, Maica nodded. "Well Miss Dauntless, I'm afraid you're going to need more than just the two of us for your recovery. I'm sure Doctor Dael can repair your immediate injury easily enough and I can provide physical, deep tissue, and massage therapy for continued care, but the systemic damage throughout your system..."

"...It's not that serious, I assure you, Doctor... Doctors..." The petite mocha-skinned girl looked back and forth between the buxom, green-skinned Orion woman and the slender androgyne with the sandy-complexion. "I'm sorry, I don't know your names," Delilah admitted, wincing as the once-ebbing soreness began to swell anew. "Did you say 'Myca' and 'Osa'?"

Maica decided to speak a little slower. First she placed both hands on her prodigious bosom. "My name is Maica, the Captain's wife." Then she placed both hands on Asa's shoulders. "This is Asa Dael, the ship's Medical Chief. Your medical issues are severe and show a complete disregard for your own health and safety. As your friends and colleagues, if you continue like this we will have to amputate your legs. Both of them. Then put you on a controlled diet. Do you concur, Doctor?"

Disregard for my own...? thought Delilah, arching an eyebrow with a frown. Is this holographic masseuse seriously trying to lecture me on-

"ARRGH! FUCK!" yelled the tiny operations chief, as Torture herself raked her razor-blade fingernails along the side of her unnaturally protruding hip. Delilah's every muscle tensed as a paroxysm of pain seized her person, and she could not help but shoot an accusatory glare at the people at her beside.

"Ok, enough everyone," Asa replied. The doctor had a concerned look on their face, and also one of consternation aimed in equal parts at Maica and Delilah. Asa picked up a complicated looking device nearby and hovered it over Dauntless hip.

"This is an osteogenic stimulator. I'm going to be knitting back stress fractures in your proximal right femur, pelvis and ball and socket joint. Maica is going to hold the bones in place- firmly to avoid pain-," Asa shot a look at the holographic beauty with those words, "while I complete this part of the process. We are then going to need to complete several rounds of tissue and cartilage regeneration. You are going to require physical therapy from Ms. Maica as well as the regeneration techniques I can provide, so I suggest everyone learns to get along."

Seeing Maica's grip was in the correct place and that the pain relievers administered would be working fully, Asa began their work. As the osteogenic stimulator did it's work they continued to speak, "When this is done, you will not show signs that the break occurred except on the deepest of scans. I say this so you understand my concern upon seeing multiple poorly healed fractures all over your person. You have next to no cartilage in your knees and bone density problems consistent with poor nutrition and abuse of vitamin supplements and unapproved pain relievers. According to your file, you have never been far enough away from proper medical treatment to justify this level of untreated injury."

"I... I can't justify a visit to sick bay every time I feel some minor discomfort," Delilah reasoned, far more subdued now that Asa's slow-release meds seeped deeper into her searing sinews. The hurt was leaving her joints, even if it had not yet left her voice. "Besides... when you train hard, soreness comes with the territory. Pain is just weakness leaving your body."

The doctor had finished with the osteogenic stimulator and was now using the tissue knitter to regrow what connective tissues they could. The small yet fierce form continued speaking, "This is beyond minor discomfort. Pain is what tells us when we have gone too far. Pain is what tells us when to stop. The fact that you have so many untreated and improperly healed injuries tells me you have pushed your body past its natural breaking point and not sought proper treatment, which indicates a self destructive personality. If you continue in this fashion, you will not be able to walk within a year or two, and nothing any of us do will be able to fix it. I will also be requiring twice weekly sessions with Counselor Jurot to get to the core of why you are doing this to yourself and help you understand your worth is not contingent on whatever outward success you are so clearly destroying yourself for."

Dauntless sighed and shook her head. This again. It was a reaction that the 20 year-old prodigy was used to by now; a tried and tired argument that Delilah had learned to dismiss out of hand. One person's idea of self-sacrifice would always be another person's idea of self-destruction. There was simply no helping it. It amazed Delilah how sometimes intelligence and ignorance could express themselves in the same thought. Shame, she thought to herself, as she allowed her ice-blue eyes to dance briefly across the slender androgyne doctor's features as they bent over to sew Dauntless back together, before averting them again, lest she be seen looking. Kind of attractive, actually.

Dael reached for a hypospray and administered vitamin level corrections, and slow release pain reliever, and a small nutrient tracking device that would stay in Dauntless bloodstream until disabled. The doctor continued to speak, "I will be programming a diet for you to maintain in the replicator in your quarters. You will eat the recommended meals at the recommended times or I will know about it and recommend you be pulled from duty. You will complete your physical and emotional therapy or I will recommend you be pulled from active duty, and you will check in to Sickbay with me once weekly until further notice or I will recommend you be pulled from active duty. "

"This is ridiculous," Delilah snorted, still shaking her head. She could imagine her grandfather's withering gaze upon them all, his own ice-blue eyes cold with derision. Didn't you know this would happen? she could imagine him thinking. Isn't this always what happens when you show that you're hurt? When you show you need help? Don't they always take advantage? To hold you back? Delilah closed her eyes and sighed. He was right. It was always the same.

"Doctor, this was just a minor sports injury," said Delilah, fighting to keep the annoyance out of her voice. "Surely, there's no need to overreact? Is my training and diet regimen perhaps extreme? Yes... but there's nothing unhealthy about it. Certainly nothing that merits such a heavy-handed response?"

"Minor," Asa repeated cooly, "These minor injuries, as you call them, will have you paralyzed within 2 years if they continue. That's not an overreaction. It's scientific fact. You are mortal. Your body has limits. You will honor them, or you will no longer be fit for duty. I'm sorry you can't see it yet, but I hope in time you can."

The doctor, complete with treatment, moved to sit where Dauntless could see them. They placed a hand over hers and their voiced softened. "And we will work together to help you recover- inside body and soul. We don't know each other, but please hear me. Whatever drove you to so many breaks, tears, and obvious abuse of your own limits- It doesn't have to be that way. Please, don't destroy yourself. I promise, there is a better way to be than this. Let me help you, or I'm going to have to make hard choices for you that neither of us want. I'll be here for you every step of the way, but you have to do the work too. Understood?"

"I neither want nor need your help, Doctor. Nor do I need your judgment of my life and how I choose to live it. Pain is just weakness leaving the body, and I have no use for it. What I DO need is for you to Do. YOUR. JOB, repair the injury and..." There was a familiar hiss for a second, then dauntless fell limply unconscious.

"Then it will be an order and you won't have to understand. Doctor, I'll apprise the Captain of the situation. Do what you can for now and I'll aid you in whatever way I can but with her spike in blood pressure and heart rate as well as hr language, you'll have to forgive me this indiscretion." Maica handed Asa the hypo and dematerialized, leaving the two to be alone.

The doctor worked silently to repair the injuries to the beleaguered form in front of them. They had so hoped this would not go as it had, but they no longer had a choice. The doctor typed up their report for the Captain and simply ended it with

"It is for these reasons, both physical, psychological, and disciplinary that I am removing Lieutenant Dauntless from active duty, effective immediately. After a complete course of treatment, including psychiatric, nutritional, physical therapy, and more in-depth scans to ensure proper recover, I will reassess. Until such time, the lieutenant is not fit to serve."

Thex had a smile on her face as she stepped out of the turbolift and headed for the shuttle bay. Getting a call from Melanie Dox for some help with one of the runabouts was a rather welcome distraction to get her away from her bay and the headaches that were driving her mad.

Stepping through the twin doors the andorian stopped and breathed in the smell of the shuttle bay. It had been a while since she'd been in here last though she doubted the crew had forgotten her. Judging by the eyes following her she was right though she could feel them turn away as she carefully began to move her hips slightly.

Reaching the three parked runabouts the sapphire chief engineer calmly called out, "Melanie, you around here?"

Inside the Delta-Class Runabout affectionately dubbed "The Unlucky Lady" by First Officer Rita Paris, Lieutenant Junior Grade Melaine Dox heard her name called. She was lying on her back with her head burried deep into the inner workings of the cockpit console performing a basic diagnostic on the Runabouts system.

Pausing for a moment, unaccustomed to being addressed by her first name while on Duty, Dox quickly responded. "I'll be out in one moment." Sitting up, the young Flight Control Chief tugged her sleeves down as they had been rolled up to work and Rose to her feet. It wasn't a long journey for the short but round officer, as she straightened her tunic.

As she stepped off of the Runabouts, Dox caught sight of the waiting engineer. "Oh, good morning, Lieutenant Commander sh'Zoarhi. When I called for engineering assistance, I wasn't expecting the Chief engineer. I hope I'm not pulling you away from more important duties."

As was standard for the young, part-Romulan pilot, she was nervous. Anyone who knew Melanie Dox for any length of time knew that she functioned with a regular undercurrent of anxiety in social situations. But she was trying to be better and not project her issues outwardly as much. Considering that she had only been on the Hera for a few weeks and only had had then most perfunctory encounters with much if the crew, she was eager to not alienate herself because of her nervous nature.

" Nah everything's been quite down in engineering and i was looking for an excuse to get me away from the problem I've been working on." Thex said as she looked around. " Been a while since I've been in here though I think you're staff still remember. What do you need help with?" She asked politely.

Turning quizicly to scan the room after the Chief Engineers comment, Dox looked at the flight crew on staff and noticed that they seemed to be going out of their way to not look over at them. It was a behavior Melanie was very familiar with, though she didn't know the reason here, and something she mentally logged for later.

Turning back to Thex, Melanie smiled casually, refocusing on the issue at hand and glad to know the ships best was going to help. "Well, to make a long story short, I have a number of shuttle pilots on rotation taking the Runabouts out to run a few simulated maneuvers. Real ship, simulated obstacles. Basic readiness evaluations for the upcoming mission so I can see who is best under stress situ..." Melanie paused, realizing none of that was relevant to why the engineer was there. "Sorry. I'm rambling. None of that's important. Anyway, the Unlucky Lady here is having some kind of issues. She's operating at about 85% efficiency. The controls are sluggish and unresponsive and everything lags in maneuvers."

Turning to look at the Runabout that had been vexing her, Dox continued. "I've run every kind of diagnostic I know how to... I didn't want to waste your time. But the best I can do on average is figure out if it's something bluntly obvious and..." Melanie looked back at the Chief Engineer and blushed. "I'm sorry, I'm rambling again. It's just a little frustrating."

" No need to apologize my friend. It's good if I know everything. " The andorian said as she took of her bag and headed for the runabouts ramp. " We can check the primary computer and then I can start seeing if somethings not working." She said calmly. A smile spread over the andorians face as one of the shuttle pilots blushed before looking away as she walked by. She still had that effect on them.

"Excellent. After you, then." Dox gestured towards the shuttle ramp, making a mental note of the pilots reaction, though she was the LAST person in the Galaxy that was going to chastise someone for an emotional reaction. She still wanted to keep an eye on it as she wanted to be sure such things wouldn't be a problem professionally.

Thex said nothing as she reached the main computer and began to remove the casing of the computer before attaching the industrial scanner to the computer. "Apologies for you're peoples behavior they're probably still embarrassed about the last time I was in here." She said calmly with a grin on her face.

Turning again to look outside to see if anyone was lingering near the door, Dox replied. "Embarrassed?" She turned back toward the Andorian Engineer with a quizical look on her face as she put her arms behind her back in a more official stance, as she was addressing the ships second officer and did not want to break from protocol. "If I may inquire, in the interests of making sure my department is running smoothly, Commander? Is there something I need to know, so long as I'm not overstepping my bounds asking?"

" Well you know the time the ship got caught in the storm that turned out to be a titan that ended up messing with the holofield? Me and commander Rita had to come down here to retrieve a few parts to get the ship working. As we're retrieving the part we were attacked by a trio of orion holograms. To get out of it I ended up having to beat them in a dance-off. Turned out the environmental controls had been pumping orion pheromones into the room. There probably still embarrassed they were caught off guard and I think a few are rather embarrassed that they got to see me in an orion dancers outfit." Thex said as calmly she got her scan underway. " I don't mind lieutenant it's sought of happened before on another ship. "

"Well... that was an element left out of the official reports." Dox chuckled slightly, blushing in the deep tan color caused by her unique mix of Romulan and Human blood. "Commander Paris mentioned something in passing about 'pole dancing' the other day, but I can honestly say that I would not have been able to figure that out. This ship is certainly full of surprises."

She composed herself and crossed her arms in front of her and looked back out the hatch of the Runabout. "Still, I'll have to say something if they can't get their behavior under control."

" I'm sure they will." Thex said as he scan finished. Everything appeared to be operating normally. " Okay, it's not the computer that's the problem. Would you mind talking the controls while I try and monitor the connections? I'll start with the electromagnetic field module and work back until i find out what's causing it to act slower. "

"Absolutely." Dox stepped over to the pilots chair and took her seat. Flipping a few switches and entering commands into the helm controls, the interface controls glowed to life. Tapping her comm badge lightly, she looked up to speak. "Lieutenant Dox to Flight Control Crew. Please stand by, Runabout systems are live for full tests. Thank you."

Turning back to the engineer, Dox flowed up. "All systems go for diagnostic tests. Do you want static simulation conditions, or would you prefer we take her out, Commander?"

" Static simulation, please. I may need to see the outside of her. " Thex replied as she set her scanner to start monitoring the runabout's systems.

"Excellent." Dox replied, as she entered the necessary instructions so the Runabout wouldn't actually get up and fly inside the ship. "We are good to go. Beginning static control simulation systems check, on your go. Just let me know each system as you're scanning and I'll implement the instructions."

" And go." Thex said as she felt the ship kick into life with a slight vibration. Her blue eyes were focused on the scanner as the data flooded from the runabout to the padd. " Okay looks like we're in luck. It appears to be a drop off in the computer readings from around the electromagnetic field module. I'll open her up and take a look. Can you shut down the ship?" She said to the hybrid at the helm.

Flipping back those same switches, the Runabout powered down as requested. "Aye, Commander." Dox replied.

Thex was already at work removing the panel she'd need to access the part. She looked up at the pilot's seat and gave a polite smile. " We've not had much time to chat, have we? How's life onboard the ship treating you?" She asked as she worked.

Feeling a bit more relaxed, Dox allowed herself a light smile, though her posture in the seat was still fairly attentive. "No, not really. I... Spend most of my time either here, at the helm or in my quarters. I... don't get 'out' much, so I'm glad this provided an opportunity to talk."

"So far, it's been an amazing experience, really. This is my first posting on a Starship and it's beyond anything I could have imagined."

" The hera's certainly been an unexpected voyage. They don't teach you about how to beat gods at the acdamey. Still, I wouldn't change it for anything. If you want to go to the holodeck any time just give me a call. I'm always up for getting to know my crewmates better." The andorian said as she dug around in the runabout until she found the part she was looking for. " Now lets take a look at you." she said to the part as she undid it from it's casing.

More and more, Dox was learning that a good portion of the crew of the Hera carried itself very casually which was something that the anxious Junior Grade Lieutenant didn't quite know how to acclimate herself to. But she was making efforts to be better and try and be more social. "Absolutely, that would be nice." She responded, still feeling a little on guard.

Historically, letting her guard down around others was always an invitation to get hurt and Melanie was still afraid of relaxing as a result. But the Andorian Engineer seemed very friendly and her suggestion seemed sincere, so Dox allowed herself the luxury of a smile as she waited for whatever diagnosis Thex might be working towards.

The andorian gave a polite reply in response as she kept work on the field module. A grin spread over her face as she saw something. " I think I've found the problem. Looks like we have a microfracture in the data transmitter. Just need to repair it and it should be able to get it working agaain." She said calmly.

"Fantastic!" Dox replied enthusiastically, as this had been vexing her all morning. "Thank you so much! I was hitting such a wall here." She laughed a little bit.

"I grew up on a freighter that always felt like it was falling apart, so I HAD to learn the basics to keep the engine running. I tried to minor in engineering at the academy, but barely squeeked by. I'm so glad you're here." As Dox relaxed a bit more, her mouth loosened and talking became a bit easier.

" Shouldn't take me long to get it fixed. " The andorian said as she picked up a few tools and began to run them across the fracture. It took less than a minute before she was reaching the module and looking back up. " Okay try it now." She said calmly.

Turning her chair back towards the helm, Melaine reactivated the Runabout's systems as 'the Unlucky Lady' hummed back to life. "Okay... Let's see... Running systems check." The young pilot smiled excitedly as the system reports came back across her screen. "Fantastic! Everything is coming back green, Commander."

Turning towards the Andorian Engineer, Dox was visibly pleased. "How's everything look on your end?"

" Everythings looking good on here. Looks like that was the problem. " Thex said as she saved the info in the repair log for the runabout.

"Thank you again, I really appreciate you making the time." Dox replied, running her hand along the control panel above her. "She's my personal favorite Runabout, so I'm glad she's feeling better."

It's no problem Melanie. Just called me if you need anything else. " The andorian said as she began to pack her tools away to leave.

"I Absolutely will. Thank you again." Dox grinned a little awkwardly as she spoke. "Uh... I'm going to have to put her through a quick dry run. Shouldn't take more than 15 minutes. If you wanted to just hang around, we could talk a little more?"

Before the andorian could respond her combadge began to sound. =^= Commander can you please report to hydroponics bay. =^= Thex looked at the officer with an apologetic look on her face. " Apologies looks like the universe has need off me. Feel free to drop by my quaters anytime you want a word." She said as she moved to leave

"Of course, duty calls. Thank you again, Commander." Dox smiled her usual awkward smile. "I will."

Commander Paris had just left sickbay, leaving the two medical professionals to discuss the ways they would be best inuring the crew against PTSD through the coming mission.

"I would like to have a thirty minute to one hour session for each crew member about healthy way to process emotions as they occur. What do you recommend, Counselor?" the doctor inquired.

The two officers worked diligently to flesh out a plan for seminars on handling emotions, as well as plans to work with senior staff to monitor the crew's performance and demeanor to watch for any issues.

Once that was complete, the doctor turned to Counselor Jurot and said, "Ok Counselor. So, we have the crew taken care of. How about you. How are you doing?"

As the counselor spoke, Asa jotted down notes, formulating a treatment plan and starring areas to research prior to their next meeting. Although psychology had not been the doctor’s primary field of study, it has always been interesting, and it looked like all their skills would be needed to help the counselor become whole again.

First step? Meet with the counselor weekly to help her talk through what she is feeling, and see if any memories had reappeared. If so, those would need to be processed fully before treatment could move forward. If not, Avender would need to be able to fully voice and accept what happened to her without judging herself in any way. She would also need to feel comfortable in her abilities again and no longer feel like a pariah to the crew. Doc Dael had a few thoughts in mind on how to make that happen, and intended to present them to Avender once that part of her treatment came.

Although her body was healed, the injuries caused by Gaia reflected in a timidity Jurot displayed upon speaking, a slight uncertainty in her own assessment of herself, and a trend towards isolating herself from the crew. All typical warning signs of depression, and from what the counselor had said they were getting worse, not better. Dael recommended Jurot stick to a strict sleep schedule whenever possible, and provided a program with recommended diet for depression recovery. If holisitic methods did not work, medical/chemical solutions could be tried…but better to keep that option in the wings as it were until needed.

The fury over what Gaia had done to Avender struck Asa deep into their core. If a person did not have their own mind, what use then was the body? To take away someone’s very sense of who they are was a cruelty the doctor had a hard time imagining. Although they would not voice this aloud to Jurot, they wondered what nefarious purpose Gaia had for possessing the ensign.

Then there was the fallout for Starfleet- every major decision Jurot had been part of while possessed, every patient she had treated, every base she had served at- all would need to be checked for residual impact from the entity that rode her for a time. Dael mentally filed all those needs away while listening to the beautiful woman in front of them.

Fortunately, the counselor did not seem to be affected in their ability to treat the crew. It was decided upon that for the first few weeks Doc Dael would review recordings of sessions and Avender’s notes, just so everyone felt comfortable she was fully herself and up to treating patients, but Asa did not have too deep a concern on that front.

The suggestion to avoid romantic entanglements was not received as well as Asa would have hoped, but then again, it rarely was. Somehow everyone seemed to think themselves immune to clouded judgement when recovering from a trauma, but no one ever really was. Honestly, this would be about the worst time possible to jump into a romance. Jurot needed to find herself again, then look for someone else. However, that was only a recommended, and part of healing would be for the counselor to come to trust herself again.

The meeting concluded with the pair agreeing to a time for their next follow up visit, and Asa felt things went as well as they could have. The doctor typed up a report to send to the Captain with recommendations on what to inform Section 31 of Jurot’s condition, and then another report was sent to Paris to review for the seminar schedule and crew emotional education program. That complete, the doctor signed off for the day, looking forward to their bed and rest.

"Thank you for coming, Lieutenant Sonak," Chief Counselor Avendar Jurot said. "I'd like to ask you a personal favor if I may."

Sonak had been taking the whole office of the counselor in with a wide sweep of his grey eyes with curiosity. As a Vulcan, not to mention a totally emotion-free kolinarh master, he was exempted from mandatory counselling and in many decades of service in Starfleet never felt the need for such services. In his earlier life back in the 23rd century, the position did not even exist yet aboard Starfleet vessels. So he had not yet seen much of the chief counselor of the Hera, except in general staff meetings and the after mission meet and greet of the captain. This meeting was thus a first experience for him and he was understandably curious.

Nothing in his voice betrayed his surprise. Bur Jurot's greeting however sent his left eyebrow up.

"Greetings Counselor. I come to serve. How may I be of service?"

"I've been having... trouble with my empathic and telepathic abilities since my imprisonment," Avendar said. "The Vulcans I've served with at DTI and on the Nobel were talented psychics." She sighed slightly. "I know it is asking a lot, but I was hoping you could use your abilities to see if Gaia left some kind of psychic "block" behind when she was removed. The mental exercises I've been using should have produced better results by now."

She stood six feet away from Sonak, with a desperate air that she tried to hide.

"With all due respect to my fellow Vulcans, I must point out that I am kolinarh; which I doubt any of them were as I am to my knowledge the only one presently not on Vulcan. As kolinarh, I have gone beyond even the perfect emotional control of my kind. I was also born with what has been called the most powerful psychic ability since the times before the Awakening. Thus I dedicated since infancy a lifetime to master all the mental disciplines of my people. Although in your universe I have lost a great deal of my natural abilities, i have lost none of my knowledge and experience. i can assure you this knowledge and experience are way beyond what even my own masters had."

This was not the first time aboard the Hera he had to recall his unique experience with the Talosians; an experience that would call up Starfleet General Order 7 upon the head of the Counselor would she ever be made aware of it. As he spoke, Sonak added new layers of mental barriers and a psychic labyrinth to make sure that even the most powerful Betazoid could not have even a hint of it. He was here to help, not to have her found what she was not yet allowed to know and risk facing the only death penalty left in the Federation.

The steel of his grey eyes never flickered from Jurot's own.

"This is not boasting; I am simply stating facts. I think I could prove helpful to you in the situation you are presenting. I have in the past helped many psionicists to explore and master their gifts. That was in fact my vocation before I decided to join Starfleet. If you have not the expected results of your own well proven techniques, it is safe to hypothesize that there is indeed something to inquire about. If you so wish, I could induce a mindmeld and together we could look into it."

"I used to be a noted telepath among my people, but nothing like Gaia bragged she could do," the Counselor said. "Even if I never regain all my abilities, I'd like to know why." She indicated two chairs set near each other. "I consent to the mind meld."

"Very well."

Sonak sat in front of her, rubbing slowly his hands and concentrating to order his mind for the unusual probing he was about to do. It was his very first time with a betazoid and he was curious about what this experiment would teach him as much as not knowing if he could really be of help.

They sat close to one another as the Vulcan delicately put the tip of his fingers on several nerve endings on the side of her face and skull, then the other. For a moment, he had to search for them as, despite their very human appearance, Betazoid neural physiology was different, the product of a different evolution. but once he found the neural connections, the mental contact was so easy and clear, he would not have had the time to articulate the standard ritual phrasing even if he had wanted to.

In an instant, their minds were joined and they were one entity speaking through two mouths as they explored the inner ebs and flows of Jurot's thoughts, feelings and memories, but most of all the reefs and barriers that could itnerfere with them.

Avendar disabled her psychic defenses to the Vulcan. She'd never experienced a mind meld before, but it reminded her of the link she once had with her Izmadi.

"There are two memory caps... of Starfleet origin..." both said. They encountered a large void space where Gaia's essence once was implanted.

Sonak found the meld to be easier even than with most Vulcans, such was the nature of the Betazoid mind, despite the emotional content weighting the thought processes. They had located the center of the mental activity they were inquiring about and he guided Jurot straight at the heart of it.

"In the realm of the living mind, there is no void," they both said together. "Light the darkness to see what truly lies within."

"The darkness resists us" they said.

"There is no darkness to the mind's eye."

It came from Sonak although they spoke it simultaneously. Just as for comatose people or those afflicted on his homeworld by Bendi Syndrome, he was able to strengthen the cerebral connections and fire them up again in an ordered pattern, reconstructing thoughts and memories, controlling emotions and focusing perceptions inward. between Vulcans, this could be done even without actual physical contact; with the much more powerfully telepathic betazoid mind, it was even easier and having physical contact gave them both a mental strength that could sort-circuit even a Klingon mind sifter.

Like a guide in a darkened forest taking her by the hand, the Vulcan moved deeper with her, sharing his emotionless strength with her own powerful telepathic ability.

The Betazoid's intuition, bolstered by the Vulcan's kolinarh discipline, caused a sudden insight! "Oh course, we're not seeing the forest for the trees!" The Betazoid guided the Vulcan out of the Darkness, then followed a "tendril."

"We saw the darkness as as the impediment- it isn't. It is a remnant- like the fang of a Tiberian bat removed too quickly, or a Terran wasp stinger!" They followed the tendril into the Betazoid's "autonomic centers, where it connected.

"When Hera removed Gaia, she didn't know of this "sac" containing Gaia's essence, and since she removed it so quickly, it stayed here. It's an empty void, connected to the Betazoid senses and functions, where Gaia 'lived' within the Counselor! And as Gaia's power... if Hera attempted to remove this like she offered, the Betazoid would've died instantly!"

The Vulcan's logic permeated her.

"You have the answer. Therefore, you have found the way."

"But is there a way to disconnect the tendril, and reduce or remove the darkness?"

Their thoughts found an echo in their voices.

" Your will is what commands everything in your mind. Your will is your tool. You will is your light. My will can help you hold and shine your light through the darkness. Our wills can join and sever any restraint within you."

And as the thought went from one mind to the other, the disciplined, steady will of Sonak joined the powerful, sensitive will of Jurot, like two blades of a scissor closing on what restrained the secrets in her mind.

"Look closely- the darkness is... also some form of gateway?"

"Of course. Gaia's method of joining. It is logical."

"The tendril attaches here and here. Our Betazoid mind is not disciplined enough to detach it."

"Our will is now one. We have the will. We have the way. But a gateway should not be collapsed; it should be used. We may detach; we should not break. Not condemn the passage; give access. Control. Gain control."

"We are afraid."

"Fear is the expectation of things yet not real. Reality is not to be feared. It is to be faced. fear is like the darkness of eyes closed. We will open our eyes. The darkness will be gone. The fear will be gone. We will look. We will see. We will face."

The logic of the emotionless kolinarh master asserted itself to the acute intelligence of the Betazoid. His own body control fused with the sensitive physiology of the other through the physical contact of the mind meld, regulating as one singular entity the flow of hormones, the rhythms of lungs and hearts, the pressure of blood and nerves. The were one not only in spirit and mind but in body as well. Through their joined bodies, they steadied their thoughts.

"The tendrils connections are... remarkably simple when one sees through the deceptions," they said. "We can focus..."

Sonak applied his decades of meditative techniques to their meld, providing Jurot with as much concentration of perception, clarity of thought and focus of intent as a Vulcan could, while keeping her emotional state in balance with his own emotionless mind. Through their fusion, he made her a kolinarh master.

It was up to her now.

Focus. Focus. See that which is. First connection, dissolved. Second connection, dissolved. Third... third...

The counselor screamed in pain.

So did Sonak. then instantly his Vulcan self control asserted itself. The pain centers of his brain were shut off and the mental command was shared to those in the Betazoid's mind fused to his through the mind meld. So sensitive was the telepath's own psyche that it erased all feelings of pain almost as fast as in Sonak's mind. All that was left was the remembrance of the pain; an echo now only hurting her emotional sensitivity.

The kolinarh master, devoid of any emotion, could do nothing else but let her ride this final wave of her feelings to rest on the beach of his calm, composed mind. Only when she was again back at rest did he terminate the meld.

The Counselor looked around the room. "What happened?"

"You were in pain," Sonak reminded her. " This place of shadow within your mind is resisting your consciousness.This may be a protective measure of your inner self."

Avendar's eyes opened very wide, as if startled awake. She looked at Sonak, then around the room, and smiled broadly. "I can sense you! I can sense... they're back! I'm back!"

She enthusiastically hugged Sonak, then withdrew. "Sorry, I was carried away by joy!"

Sonak straightened his uniform then crossed his arms behind him.

"Think nothing of it, Counselor. I am married to a Human female. I have... extensive experience with emotional outbursts. I can manage."

His steely grey eyes looked at her a moment before he spoke again.

"According to your own words, it appears this experience resulted in positive results. I am gratified to have been of help to you."

"Yes, it has," Avendar said. "Thank you so very much."

He nodded to her.

"I come to serve. It was an... intriguing experience. I come out all the wiser from it. The... darkness is still there; but you should be able to deal with it now in your own way.Do not hesitate to call me again if there is further need "

"As I am here for you," Avendar said. "And Sonak... I'll take your secret to the grave." She smiled warmly.

The Vulcan raised an eyebrow.

"I... appreciate the thought. However, I am not aware of any... secret needing to be protected."

"Of course not," the Betazoid beauty said.

Sonak nodded to her in parting. But even when he stepped out of the room, face frozen and hands behind his back, his right eyebrow was still way up.

The messages had gone out in advance, everyone had known where they were going and why, and they all knew to meet on the flight deck at 07:00. The Gryphon class runabout Thor had been a good, solid and sturdy ship the last time Rita had taken her out. Besides, she wanted to see the Baroness blush at the name. This was a fact-finding mission, but she'd like to have good sturdy transportation if things got weird. Which, seeing as they were going down to investigate multiple god sightings, it was practically a guarantee.

"This is a fact-finding mission," Commander Paris stressed, as she had not authorized MACO armor nor heavy weapons for this mission, although phasers were expected as were tricorders. "The locals have been summoning gods, apparently, so let's figure out how and analyze the phenomenon. There is still the underlying reason of why this is all happening, who may be behind it and what we can do to affect the situation- or if we should. We're going to go chasing into that energy ribbon, which seems to have a rather improbably large vessel within it, which is liable to be polluted with these godlike beings. So let's head for Planet Houston and gather as much data in the controlled setting."

"Which reminds me- Texas is less a state of the union than a state of mind. With that in mind, these colonist will likely be fond of firearms and personal freedoms, they will be quick to jump to judgment, and they will be very, VERY proud of themselves for being New Texans. So be polite, remember they might be quick on the draw, and they have gods mingling in with this recreation of a chunk of my homeworld located here at the galactic core. Talk about sentences you really never thought you'd say in a mission briefing<" she admitted, shaking her head. "Any questions?"

“My understanding of Texan culture is there is an expectation of courtesy. Do we have anything to offer our hosts? Perhaps a small food item? I am given to understand pecans are in high demand. I recommend replicating some on the way down to be given as a gesture of goodwill, if this is acceptable ma’am," Dael said tentatively.

"Can't hurt," Paris relied, nodding. "Go hit a replicator and make that happen, Doc. Double-time. Any other questions or input before we load up?"

"Doctor! Replicate some smoking herbs as well! The good kind!" The Baroness shrugged as she called after Doc Dael. Looking back to Commander Paris, she looked curious. "The database said that a large number of the population is descended from nomadic Earth peoples and often hold true to their ancestral ways. They might enjoy some good weed, ja?"

"Excellent point, Baroness." Tapping the modern Starfleet insignia on her left breast, Paris called out, "Paris to Doctor Dael- please replicate a healthy amount of marijuana in a smokable form as well, if you please. Trading with the natives may be the order of the day." Looking around, Paris smirked a little. "So unless anyone else has any suggestions, let's load up. Baroness, you're my copilot on this one. Let's get her warmed up and off the deck in 5."

Asa jogged to a replicator and came back with a few bags of pecans in parcels. They also retrieved some marijuana edibles in the form of chocolate bars and bags of about 1 ounce of the raw product.

“I don’t recommend opening the bags unless you are ready for a whiff,” the doctor opined, “but I did get what is colloquially known as the ‘OG’ strand and also ‘Girl Scout Cookies’ for increased euphoria. The third kind is straight sativa, and the fourth straight indica. Everything is labeled in the bag.”

With that said, the doctor handed a parcel to each person.

Sonak spoke next.

"A word of caution. According to historical and sociological databases, people of this culture on Earth were of a strong, proud demeanor and much at ease with weapons, somewhat reminiscent of Klingons. We might face some mild forms of provocation as much out of wariness as for testing our character and intent. I would recommend no show of aggressiveness but to stand firm and stoic while showing openly our weaponry without any suggestion of duplicity or that we want to use it... unless provoked. As for klingons, although they are probably much less aggressive, showing weakness might be just as bad as open hostility. We must also keep in mind that this culture made also much use of alcohol. Signs of behavior-altering intoxication must be watched for. But in this matter, an offering of such substances would be seen as a gesture of friendship."

"Perhaps, but I doubt synthahol would be what they are expecting," replied Dael.

"No, but we do have a rather large supply of real alcohol aboard." Offered the Baroness, pulling out her civilian PaDD and pulling up an inventory. "Cargo bay three, crate nine one seven... If we could borrow a few bottles from that, I don't think anyone will mind."

"Whiskey? Well done, Baroness. I'll finish the preflight, you know where the inventory is, please secure then requisition." Paris dropped into the pilot's seat smoothy. "We certainly won't take off without you. Does anyone else have any bright ideas to contribute, because so far they've all been winners."

At that Paris paused, her finger hovering over a panel. "Wow, how very euro-caucasian of me. I'm going to Texas to meet the settlers bringing fire water, peace pipe and tasty nuts. If we get some colorful bead I think we hit a racist quadfecta."

"Should I replicate some polio blankets on the way down?" Schwein asked with a smile and a wink as she headed out to grab the whiskey. She would only be gone for about three minutes total since she knew right where to look.

"There are some similarities in our approach as that of early Terran continental colonists," Sonak agreed; "but while they were doing so to exploit the natives, we are doing it to ensure peaceful first contact and help them against a common threat. We will not establish a trading post there to get furs and gold out of mirrors and glass beads, let alone infect them to commit genocide and appropriate their land."

A giggle burst out of the pilot's seat. "You... haha! You raise a valid point, Mister Sonak. Trading post, ahhh. Mister Sexton, you are on the away team because of your skill as an investigator. While we play it loud, go to ground and see what you can figure out is going on that they don't want to show us, understood?"

"Of course." He was finally getting the chance to go undercover, if that's what you could call blending in and making light inquiries. I'm going to love this, Alex thought to himself, hoping this Texas wasn't like the one he knew of with cultural differences that would not allow a male of his color to poke around unnoticed. He looked up just as the Counselor came on board.

Counselor Jurot boarded the shuttle. "I will never understand the Terran obsession with firearms." She shrugged. "In any case, this will be an interesting mission."

"Indeed," acknowledged the chief science officer. "Humans still have to find their own way to curb their innate violent tendencies. But at least there is the stun setting now. One small step for Man..."

"I'll admit it, I am feeling the urge to shoot someone. But my phaser is set on stun, so here's to the evolution of the human race." Rita Paris spun the pilot;s seat around to face the rest of the cabin. "That's it, preflight checks are done. I've got a few systems running diagnostics just so I had something else to do. Flying one of these things is just so simple it's almost boring."

Two security officers arrived in MACO gear, piling into the back seats of the runabout. Paris offered them a snappy salute. "Mister Palmiotti, Miss Connor, glad you could join us. I appreciate your services in guarding our ride. Is Mister Bunche not joining us?"

"Tellurite flu, ma'am. He's in isolation in sickbay, so just us this time, unless you wanted three officers for the mission?"

"The two of you in full gear should be sufficient for anything short of an invasion. I have confidence you'll keep the Thor safe for us. All right, where are our errant landing party members? I'm ready to kick the tires and light the fires!" Paris quoted, the phrase an anachronism in her day that was just a pilot's slang on Earth that had survived. Which of course meant nothing to the rest of the galaxy, except to make the human girl from Earth sound like a weird alien on the Federation starship.

That's when Schwein got back with a case of booze, the bottles clinking together. "I come bearing enough fire water to cure what ails you, ya?"

Sonak for his part sat at the co-pilot seat to use the sensors of the shuttle to scan the surrounding space and where they were going.

"Then let's saddle up and ride, cowpokes," Paris cheerfully spun around, even as she realized that probably no one got that one either, except for maybe Sonak. Tapping the controls, she raised the gangplank and sealed the hatches, engaged life support, brought the passive sensors online and energized the nacelles. Reaching over, she pointed her finger to leave it parked on the comm microphone.

"Hera control, this is Away Team One in runabout Thor. We are 5X5 and goin' to Texas."

Lifting her finger off the button, the reply came immediately. "Runabout Thor, you are cleared for launch. The stars at night look big and bright."

That gave Paris a laugh that turned into a muttering chuckle as she guided the runabout off the flight deck and into space. "There's the rub of old age. Nobody gets your jokes anymore."

Sonak certainly didn't as he followed standard procedure to the letter.

"All clear; landing target is on main monitor. Scanning; nothing to report at this time."

Deep in the heart of Texas thought Sexton to himself!

As the runabout approached the main settlement of the New Texas colony, the Baroness shook her head. "You had to pick this one, didn't you?" she muttered, her face a little red. "Couldn't use any other craft..."

The view of the settlement indicated that it was a combination of prefabricated and pueblo-style buildings arranged in a semi-grid street manner and that the locals preferred a simpler way of life. There was a landing pad in the middle of the town near a control tower but judging by the condition of the colony ship that had been landed next to it and the three shuttles, they hadn't even used them in quite a few years. They weren't even current models, meaning that they had been travelling from their homes for quite some time before finally settling here. Either way, their tech still worked, which was how they had contacted Starfleet about the strange happenings they had been experiencing.

As for the welcoming wagon, two elderly gentlemen and a younger woman were waiting near the landing pad to meet them and for all intents and purposes, it looked like a cowboy, a tribal, and a member of Starfleet in the old red 'maroon monster' service jacket - a strange mix if there ever was one.

"We come in peace, but a war wagon makes sure we can keep it, Baroness," Paris explained as she swung the Gryphon-class runabout into a tight landing on the pad, as there was a limited amount of room available. But she'd honed skills in simulations, and Rita Paris was a pretty darned good pilot, in this or any other age. "We call it speaking softly but carrying a big stick. Let's see if it works, shall we?"

"Conner, Palmiotti, you two button up behind us and stay out of sight- if there's trouble, we'll give a shout. Let's go engage the locals... get some scans, see the sights and offer what are hopefully not offensive gifts to the locals. Starting with the bar joke here," Paris chucked a thumb out the viewscreen at the three elders.

"You know what I mean..." Schwein muttered as she left her seat and headed to the landing hatch and started the cycle on it. "Air is a bit dusted. Recommend handkerchiefs, ja?"

As the door opened, a light blast of dust entered the runabout, proving the Baroness' point. Just outside the cowboy, tribal, and the antique uniformed Starfleet woman stepped towards the now open hatch to greet those inside, the woman in front presumably being the de facto leader of the trio.

Stepping up, Paris extended her hand in greeting. "Howdy! I'm Commander Rita Paris, first officer of the USS Hera." Gesturing behind her with her left hand, Rita continued the introductions. "This is Mr. Sonak, Doctor Dael, Counselor Jurot, Lieutenant Sexton and the Baroness von Alcott."

"Hi, I'm Lexi, Mayor of New Texas City," the woman offered as she stepped up with a handshake and a bit of a drawl. "These are Brother Bear Paw and Doctor Clint Hussein, representatives of our Parliament and Law Enforcement, respectively. On behalf of the people of New Texas, welcome to our home."

"On behalf of the UFP and the Starship Hera, we thank you for your hospitality," the cheerful commander inclined her head to the Texans in a nod of respect. "In the spirit of which, we brought gifts. Baroness, Doc? Reckon this is the time for gifts?"

Doc Dael popped up from the back of the craft with a parcel in each hand. They cheerfully walked towards their new hosts and said, "Hi ya'll! We wanted to share a bit of tastiness with you fine people, if you will allow us. Fancy some pecans? I hear they make a great pie! Or maybe something...stronger" they concluded, waggling their eyebrows in a ridiculous manner.

With that introduction, the Doctor made their way around passing out goodies to whomever was interested. Once outside the vehicle, they remained standing outside the craft, milling about with the locals.

Schwein brought out a small crate of various aged liquors and did the same, smiling and nodding as she offered the gifts of whiskey, bourbon, and scotch from Earth and one or two other worlds.

While the introductions and pleasantries were performed, Sonak studied intently their surroundings and the people they were meeting. He didn't use his tricorder, not knowing yet how showing their technology would be interpreted; or if doing so would be seen as prying or even spying. So for the moment, he only used his keen senses and eidetic memory to register everything around them.

From the get go, it was certainly... intriguing.

Someone here is not what they seem to be, Avendar thought. How to tell the Captain?

"So we heard you've had some strange experiences with gods in these parts recently?" Paris got to the point using what she hoped sold as Texas vernacular. "I imagine that leads to some tall tales?"

"Yes, actually," replied Doctor Clint. "We've collected the reports at the Sheriff's office if you'd like, but knowing Starfleet I'm sure you'd love to question everyone that's seen one of these beings."

"Which is where the Parliament comes in. We'll be monitoring any such questionings to make sure the rights of the people are not infringed upon, if you don't mind." Brother Bear Paw was a serious sort, but was a bit smiley at the gifts.

Lexi cleared her throat. "All merely formalities. The commodore that visited... It seems that Starfleet seems to have changed a bit since we left Earth so I'm sure there won't be any trouble. If you'd like to visit the city and speak with the people themselves, please feel free to do so, but I have to ask that any official inquiries be routed through one of the three of us. The folk here are simple and prefer to stick to simple ways, ma'am. On that note, if you'd like to head into the capitol building with us we can get those records for you? Might be a good place to start at least."

"We'd very much like to see those records, thanks," Paris kept it agreeable. "Do you mind if we take some scans along the way?"

All the while, Alex monitored and observed.

Looking between the two others to see if they would object, Lexi smiled back. "As long as you're not bothering anyone, I don't see why not. Please, follow me and we'll get ya'll set up with our records."

With a nod to their hosts, Sonak took out his tricorder and started recording and analyzing the area. And Alex did the same.

"Scans confirms our previously recorded data. I detect no anomaly in the immediate vicinity of this agglomeration."

Counselor Jurot remained silent, but looked directly at the Captain, hoping she would take the cue.

Body language said a lot, and the Counselor looked worried.

After a short walk into the old colony ship and a few corridors later, they came to the records room which was filled with an old duotronic computer system that looked as old as the ship itself. It was amazing it still worked, but obviously it did. Lexi unlocked the system and motioned to the consoles. "Most of our records these days are on paper but we use our old computers for important things like this. It should make it a bit easier, I hope."

At the sight of the old computer, the bright blue eyes of Rita Paris were alight with excitement. "This is one of the new- I mean, one of the first of the LCD touch screen model Excalibur computer systems! These were revolutionary in their day," Paris stroked the flat screen monitor, still bulky and thick for technology of the modern day, but quite the improvement back in her day. It was evident on her face the fondness she held for the antique technology, being something of an antique herself.

Sonak raised an eyebrow slightly, then turned to address Lexi.

"I hold a class A7 computer certification and was initially trained in this specific kind of system. If you so wish, Madam, I can look at your system and see if I could help you enhance it to optimum level."

Sonak was careful not to suggest upgrading it to late 24th century gel-pack technology but to simply optimize it. The Prime Directive might not apply here with the force of law, but for Sonak, the Prime Directive was more than just a directive; it was a philosophy. A philosophy that dictated to respect every culture and species' right to make their own way without interference by others arrogantly thinking they would know better. But if he could offer help and gain the confidence and entice the good will of the natives without doing so, it was only logical to make the offer.

Unless of course their first officer objected. By he knew her beyond her mere rank. it was his estimation that she would welcome any initiative that could smooth out this encounter.

"Mister Sonak's offer's genuine," Paris took her cue, stepping in with a distracting and hopefully reassuring smile. "Our chief science officer knows those systems from recent training. That's aside from him being a Vulcan. An offer of assistance never has harmful intent from a master of logic, and he really is pretty good, I'd give him a shot at it in your shoes. How many experts on that system range this far out?"

Suddenly all of those stupid Saturday afternoons Rita had spent with her father and brother watching westerns was paying off in speaking the language. The universe really was an odd place.

"If you can at least extend the life of our systems, we'd be grateful," replied the Mayor with a smile.

Jurot subtly edged over to the Captain. "Captain, could you look at this reading over here?" she said, indicating an area where no one was standing.

"Doc, the Counselor's talking to herself," the first officer observed. "Could you be so kind as to lend her a bit of medical assistance," Paris asked as solicitously as she could. "About those files...?"

The diminutive doctor moved to stand directly next to Counselor Jurot, where the two of them could speak with no one casually overhearing. They glanced at her tricorder and saw nothing was displayed that was not expected. Worried, the doctor turned to Jurot. "Yes, that is interesting, what is your conclusion?" they inquired.

~tag Jurot

But apparently there was someone standing there. Suddenly there was an old sailing pirate with some horrible hygiene standing amongst them. "Unless she's not speaking to herself but to me. In which case, I should speak with her or she might seem crazy. Or maybe she is crazy and I'm not here. Or maybe you're not here and I'm the one that's crazy." Tilting his head back, he made some freaky motions with his eyes and fingers. "But I'd like to think we're all crazy and hallucinating each other. Savvy?"

"Captain Jack..." the Baroness muttered, moving over to Rita. "Every pirate knows of his legend..."

"O-kayy, this just took a step to the left," Paris muttered, then leaned into the Baroness, her voice low and consipratorial. "Wanna fill in the non-pirate? Izzat a ghost or a piratical Q or something...?"

"Ah... Captain Jack is..." the Baroness started but was interrupted.

"Is filthy pirate scum that watches over those that ply a decent hard working trade sailing the... Seas, as they are... Pillaging and ransacking and drinking rum. My skills include protection from scurvy, finding your lost booty, weighing your soul, and making sure your grog isn't watered down. Savvy?" As he spoke, he wandered around the room inspecting the various gizmos and screens, tapping a few in his peculiar mannerisms. "And I'm not too keen on slavery, mates. The pirate way is freedom."

As for the three locals, the Mayor facepalmed, the Doctor took his hat off out of respect, and the Tribal bowed his head out of respect. When one of the locals spoke, it was the Mayor. "Since one of your people summoned this sacred spirit, we'll leave you to speak with it and just watch."

The first officer raised an eyebrow and looked disgruntled. Sacred spirit. Swell.

"So what brings you here, Captain?" the out of time officer asked, looking pointedly to Sonak and his tricorder. Even if the savvy pirate turned out to be a terrible conversationalist, this still might prove enlightening.

Sexton still did nothing aggressive, but continued to monitor the situation.

As for the Vulcan chief science officer, he took his tricorder, still facing the obsolete computer; but despite his angle away from them, the sensor array of his apparatus was aimed at the newcomer.

For their part, Doc Dael was looking quizzically at the animated gast of the pirate. They felt drawn to this figure, although they were not sure why, and took a few steps closer.

Counselor Jurot said "Doctor, stop. This isn't who they seem to be."

“Okay, someone come clean with a straight answer,” Paris growled, her patience clearly coming to an end. “What. Is. Going. On. Here?”

"No, I'm not who I seem to be, unless I am who I seem to be, in which case I am who I theretofor am who I may not be who I may not be who I am." Looking confused himself, Captain Jack motioned to Rita with both hands. "Look lass, I'm about as confused as all of this as you are. One moment I was sailing along and suddenly I'm here slipping through the minds of this fine lass..." At that he motioned towards the counselor. "And now I'm standing before you all, talking and existing and..." thinking on it a moment, he looked around, then waved his arms. "Waving my arms apparently for no reason now. Savvy? So. Is there something I can help you finely dressed folk with so I can get back to my ship?"

Looking left to right and taking in the room, Rita Paris drew herself upright and offered her hand like a graduate of charm school. "Why no, Captain Jack. You've actually been a most fortuitous visitation, and we're ever so glad you could come by. But let us not keep you from your bonny pirate ship, to sail where the winds take you."

Here's hoping I'm not laying it on too thick. Sonak will get readings as he dissipates, and we'll have another piece of this puzzle. Fortuitous indeed.

Flashing a rather toothsome grin, the swarthy pirate looked around like a mad buccaneer. "Well, then if all you needed was some scans, may you all remember this as the day you met Captain Jack Sparrow." And with that he reached up and grabbed a rope that seemed to dangle out of nowhere and swung himself up into seemingly nothingness, vanishing almost as quickly as he had appeared.

"He knows how to make an exit, ja?" the Baroness asked, still a bit awed at the experience. She did have her tricorder out and was scanning the area though.

Sonak however was already ahead of her.

"Commander, I did not have much time to gather data. But what I have seems to indicate that this was a construct of some sort; although it registered quite human on all readings, for a split second it registered as... something else, still indefinite. Something material, possibly organic yet definitely not carbon-based. The only things I have matching such a manifestation are from the 23rd century geology expedition of the USS Enterprise on planet Excalbia, where they met recreations of historical figures like Abraham Lincoln and Surak. Another example would be the imaginary creations of the Q entity."

"Now that is interesting. Well, let's give this old beauty a tune-up, Mister Sonak," Commander Paris turned to part the old duotronic computer console fondly. "Then let's see if we can't get those reports of similar phenomena, then we'll start making some sense of all this."

"Acknowledged," simply answered the Vulcan, pocketing his tricorder and going to the antiquated computer to start working on it. "I estimate five point three minutes to bring this system to nominal status and another four point seven minutes to enhance it by 153% efficiency."

"Outstanding, Mister Sonak- thank you. With that in mind," the curvaceous commander rubbed her hands together briskly, eyeing their hosts. "Since we've got ten minutes or so while your computer learns how to purr like a kitten, do you maybe have a cantina or saloon about where you could regale us with some of the tall tales that have inevitably come about due to your recent... visitations?" Paris asked sweetly

Counselor Jurot looked thoughtful. "I researched myths of Texas. Among the later inhabitants, it seems they worshipped Guns and someone named Landrey. However, the Indigenous peoples had multiple gods. This manifestation, especially what I felt earlier, reminds me of the trickster god "Coyote" who was known across that continent by multiple tribes."

With a shake of her head, Commander Paris exited the office, bringing the locals along. "Doc, keep en eye on the Counselor if you please, and help Mr. Sonak parse the data."

"If the trickster god Coyote shows up next, I'm blaming you, Ensign..."

"Speak of the devil and he shall appear," Jurot thought.

The back of Doctor Dael's skull felt like it was being tickled, but then again it had since around the time Captain Jack showed up. Nonetheless, the doctor was already on high alert for Counselor Jurot's welfare, not being entirely convinced this mission was best for the ensign's recovery. However, needs are what they are....

"Of course, Commander," was all Dael replied.

Sonak's voice hen resonated from behind the old computer unit as he stood up.

"Commander Paris; this unit is now fully restored and upgraded as planned."

By that time, the curvaceous commander was already gone.

Stepping out to squint in the sun, Rita Paris wished she had the visor from the EVA suit. Unzipping the neckline of her uniform halfway down the bustline, she fished out her insta-hanky, which she kept tucked into her bra for just such emergencies. The dust out here was no joke, and the Baroness had a point- time for prairie masks. Unflapping the chicklet, it unfolded into a full sized white linen handkerchief. As she folded it to prepare a dust mask, she asked her duo of hosts, "So where's some local color? We've never been to New Texas before."

The sheriff pointed out the nearest tavern. "That there's the Lonesome Star Tavern. Most people will go there for a drink. Across the street from it is the Vega Roadhouse. That's one of the places people go for a smoke. Both have been hotbeds of stories lately."

Brother Bear Paw and Doctor Clint Hussein, law and order. Dun Dun! Cocking her head, a quizzical expression settled on the face of the comely commander. "You use coins as local currency?"

The Sheriff hooked his thumbs in his pants as he replied. "Of course. The Federation may see no need for money, but we still need something to keep track of trade locally so the casino made a bunch of coins for us with their token machinery."

"May I see one? Or as many as you'll show me?" Rita pulled out her modern slimline tricorder. After all, they were exploring. And she needed the coin for the decision. But might as well get in some sociobiology studies while they were here.

Brother Bear Paw nodded and pulled out a handful of Atomic Ranger coins. "We have paper money as well, but we use these as the basis for our trade system. Each one has an element we can't replicate so we know no one is counterfeiting."

Scanning the samples, Rita reached out, silently asking permission to touch the, She flipped them over, scanning the obverse facings with an explorer's fascination. "Very neat! May I borrow one for a moment?"

Brother Bear Paw nodded, offering the handful of coinage. "Help yourself, young lady."

Choosing a larger grey piece, with the profile of a human flying through the sky with a jetpack, a fin on his head inside a bubble helmet, a science fiction raygun in his hand on one side, and a single nacelled star cruiser flying through a lone star. "Heads and tails. Perfect!"

Flipping the coin aloft in a deft motion, Paris watched it go up then snatched it out of the air as it overcame it's apogee and tumbled back to earth. Slapping it on the back of her hand, the earth girl called it.

"Heads, the Lonesome Star Tavern. Tails, the Vega Roadhouse," Rita called it, then uncovered the coin on the back of her hand. The flying Atomic Ranger soared majestically. "Heads! Lonesome Star Tavern it is. Still got a bottle in your pocket, Baroness?"

Brandishing a bottle of the Captain's family moonshine, Schwein grinned proudly. "Ja. I kept a bottle back just in case."

"You are a well-prepared woman. I like that about you." Holding her kerchief to her face, not tying it on, Rita stepped to the... glancing around, judging the sun and placing it against the orbit of the planet, Rita found north. Thus she was headed west, to the Lonesome Star Tavern. As a rider on a saddled giant cockroach skittered by, Rita grinned. A strange new world, a new civilization, new life.

"Say, Brother Bear Paw?" Rita asked as they moseyed through what looked like a western town that had made a baby with a lot of rounded adobe. "Is this really valuable or chump change? I'd love a souvenir, or I could trade you something for it?"

"It's enough for a meal, but you keep it. This old man has plenty in life." The old tribal replied with a warm smile.

The sheriff scoffed, but he too wore a bit of a smile. "We'll have to report it, of course, since you'll be removing it from circulation and all. That ain't no crime or anything though. We'll just have to request another be made to replace it."

"Thank you, Brother Bear Paw!" Impulsively, Rita leaned in and puckered up to planet a kiss on the old man's cheek. This night be a distant colony, but they were still humans, and no matter their orientation, nobody turned down a kiss of thanks from a pretty girl. "First round's on us."

Snaking her right hand into her unzipped uniform top, Paris tucked the lucky coin into her bra. She wasn't used to a collared uniform- her golden oldie had that deep plunge neckline, and had ridden comfortably. These new uniforms had a full collar, and zipped shut on it. It fit perfectly, of course, but she still found it... confining. Leaving it unzipped a bit seemed to give her a bit of breathing room.

Arriving at the Lonesome Star Tavern, it was like stepping back in time to some old western. The only sign that the settlers were from a modern era was the pair of replicators behind the counter and the electric panel lighting in the ceiling that glowed dimly. Even the jukebox looked like some relic of a bygone steampunk era. While the walls were mostly adobe, the furniture was all well worn wood and the bottles were all glass. It even looked as if everything was made by hand.

As the group entered they got some strange looks, but the barkeep, a tall, stocky woman, greeted them cheerfully enough. "Welcome to the Lonesome Star, strangers. I reckon you're the first visitors from way out of town I've ever had. What can I get ya?"

Striking a pose, Rita Paris flashed that million-watt smile. "Howdy! I'm Commander Rita Paris, of the Federation starship Hera. We have come from far away to bring you exotic liquor from deep space and pour a round for the bar, so that we can hear some wild stories. Whattya say, barkeep?"

"Pull up a chair and I'll be right with ya," replied the woman.

That's when an old man rose from his seat and started hobbling towards the group. "I gots some stories fer ya!. I dun met them spirits out in the desert, I did! One gave me cancer. Another cured me ah cancer. The next gave me a hill ah beans! The next took that hill ah beans and turned it to gold! The next one after that challenged me to a duel - my golden beans for a solid gold fiddle! I lost and he took mah beans... The one after that rained down locusts on mah fields and mah crops was ruined! Then the next un, mah crops was whole again but was tryin ta eat me! Then the next one burnt it all, includin mah home! I ain't got no place to live now and it's all them spirits' fault!"

Grabbing an empty but dirty glass off a nearby table, Rita handed it over to the supersoldier at her 8'oclock. "Sounds like you've had a hell of a month, friend. Baroness, howbout we buy the man a drink?"

Soon shotglasses had been lined up, moonshine poured, ignition achieved and flaming shots taken by the locals in an exciting 'strangers from outta town' sorta way. As the second round poured, Rita fetched an empty bottle. Pouring a bit into it for a reserve, she handed the rest of the jar to the barkeep. "For your lost business when they come back for more."

Having lubricated the locals with fire water- which, again, she couldn't help but chuckle at her own eurocentric tendencie- Rita addressed the bar. "So I hear the gods have come to New Texas. I'd like to hear more tales, c'mon now!"

As the locals all told their stories, word spread and soon there was a line out the door that there were not only offworlders, but that they were interested in the strange appearances of these spirits or deities, depending on who you asked. Sometimes they were helpful, sometimes they were bothersome, but more often than not, they just stopped by to offer sage or worthless advice to those that summoned them. There was one underlying commonality between all of these stories though - every single one of these people seemed to be high on something.

"I've gotten as many interviews as I could," Paris declared, snapping her tricorder shut. "While there look like there may be some patterns, I'll turn the data over to Mr, Sonak to analyze. So, we're good here- we've scouted, gotten to meet the local color. Spread some Starfleet good cheer and now we blow outta town. What do you say, Baroness?" Paris slapped the long boots of the buccaneer leaning back in a chair with her feet propped up on the table, the selfsame table Rita Paris had her well-toned and rounded rear reclining on.

"Ya, I say we mosey on out of the town, Commander," replied the Baroness, having gotten into the spirit of things with her own unique accent.

Rising from the table, Paris turned and snapped a selfie with her tricorder, with the Baroness relaxed in the chair beside and behind her. It would be her favorite photo of the two of them, and hang on the wall of her quarters, then in her home on Earth. For Rita Paris was sentimental to a fault, and her mementos were the touchstones to her memories of a life of adventure.

"I reckon so," Rita grinned at the merry marauder. "By now, Sonak has not only downloaded their entire database onto his tricorder, but he's upgraded their systems and updated their database. He may even have beamed up by now if he got bored. Vulcans can meditate for days, but their boredom threshold is quite low. Little known fact." Smiling and waving at the locals as they exited the saloon, Paris squinted as the starfaring duo stepped out into the bright afternoon sunlight. Fishing in her bra, the Starfleet siren produced her hankie with a flourish. Paris still hadn't zipped up that collar, and she was enjoying the breathing room and the access.

"Gods and extradimensional creatures and demons and spirits... I gotta say, it sounds like somebody pulled the plug out of a hole to another reality, y'know? All of some other dimension's craziness spilling into ours. Where you can summon a god just by calling for them to appear, like Hera..."

At that, Rita Paris stopped dead in her tracks, and slowly looked around. After all, if she accidentally sprung Hera from the Aesir's custody, that wouldn't do a world of good for relations with the Norse gods. But apparently her casual mention of the goddess of home and hearth hadn't triggered whatever phenomenon was at work here. Chuckling, she waved at the Baroness, who had been alert for trouble.

"It's silly. I mentioned her name and I half expected Hera to show up." The career fleeter gal squinted at the Mayor's office as they approached it. "Although I have to admit... as silly as it sounds, I kinda wished she'd been there when I turned around."

Taking a deep breath and letting it out, Hera stepped up in line with the other two, squinting at the sky and enjoying the fresh air. "I have to admit that this is the nicest I've felt in what feels like an eternity. I have no idea how or why I'm here, but I know it's temporary, so I'm going to enjoy it while I can."

Rita Paris froze in place, her body rigid, the color draining from her face as her eyes grew wide. "I didn't... I couldn't..."

Turning slowly, Paris saw the goddess Hera blinking pleasantry at her on the bright sunlight. "Oh no no nonono! You're, you're supposed to be in custody, with the Aesir on the Odin's breath, not here!" Paris wafted her hands toward the goddess. "Be there... don't be here, be where you're supposed to be and not creating a diplomatic incident in a jailbreak that... I just caused..."

Hera chuckled softly in her Olympian voice. "No one's blaming you and there's no jailbreak. Well... In theory... I haven't been summoned in aeons and this doesn't feel like a normal summoning, but here I am. I wonder how long I'm here for?" Taking another deep breath, Hera sucked in a lung full of dust from a passing rider and started coughing. Once she recovered, she sighed heavily. "Ah, the signs of being truly alive."

Reaching behind her, Paris snapped out her tricorder. "Baroness, could you give me some complementary scans, please? Tell me this isn't the real deal and this is more of the temporary Excalbia-style recreations, or the Q constructs or something other than I accidentally summoned Hera to New Texas?" The anxious executive was reading the tricorder readings for all she was worth, but she realized she didn't have a baseline to compare the subject to- but the Baroness did.

"Ja." Flipping up her eyepatch, the Baroness looked Hera over head to toe before making a judgment call. "She appears to be here and indeed Hera. However... Hera... Your godly powers organ... It shows signs of severe atrophy."

"Ah yes... I haven't had any use for it. Nor have I had any desire to do so. Rita Paris, did you get my reply to your letter?" Hera looked up at the sky and basked in its radiance as she enjoyed the light of the New Texas sun.

"I did... I mean, yes, I did," Paris took a second to fume at herself. Some field commander you are. Go see the sights, summon the prisoner you dropped off five days ago accidentally... was it accidental? Was this really something you were trying just to see if it would work, because you really want her around? Whatever you were thinking, you know what you have to do now.

"I heard they wiped all the movies and books. That's kind of unduly cruel and unusual punishment," Rita commented, favoring the goddess with a half-hearted smile before tapping her comm badge perched upon the sea of crimson that covered her left breast.

"Commander Paris to the Hera," Rita sighed, then sucked in a lungful of breath. "Connect me with Captain Telvan, and tell her we have a little problem..."

It was always quiet in the Hera's gym around this hour. This didn't bother Thex that much it wasn't like she didn't enjoy the company, but sometimes she liked it nice and quite.

She had been on the training mat for around an hour now working on her hand to hand. She was wearing the standard grey gym trousers of the fleet though her top she wore the top of her orion's dancing outfit. After her event in the shuttle bay she'd gotten more and more confident and comfortable wearing it, but even still there was a time and place for everything.

Her bare feet had smacked one of the holographic right in the face sending it spinning to the ground causing a smile to spread over the andorians face. She was getting good at this.

"You are a formidable combatant," said Counselor Jurot from the doorway. She was dressed in workout gear that looked very unused. "Remind me never to make you angry with me," she said smiling.

" Don't worry i don't think that will happen. " Thex replied with a grin as she hopped off the mat. " It's nice to see you again. " She said warmly offering her hand.

Avender took it, smiling. "I have little combat training, but I learned a thing or two while at DTI. Perhaps you could teach me some moves so I don't get shot next mission?"

" If you want I can show you some moves. What training do you actually have?" Thex enquired politely.

"I have standard Starfleet training," Avender said. "I learned a couple of ways to disarm a humanoid opponent while at DTI. Nothing special." She smiled.

" Well, I have a few different close combat training, the andorian martial arts kharakom and hleshvalath my parents beat into me, starfleet hand to hand and some others I've mixed in. How about you step onto the mat and show me what you've got." The andorian suggested.

The Betazoid walked onto the mat, stretching her arms over her head. "Should I stretch first, or am I doomed either way?" She asked playfully.

" Yeah, you'd better stretch first. Apologies, but I forget how most of the federation needs a warm up." Thex replied feeling slightly embarrassed.

Avendar smiled as she stretched her muscles. "Well, Betazoids are not a race of warriors. In fact, that's really our weak point. Maybe that's why we joined the Federation."

" Hey don't sell yourselves short. I've read what the betazoid resistance managed when beazed was under dominion occupation. You handled yourselves well. " The andorian replied as she spawned in a few blank holograms and set them to the basic setting. " Just say active when you're ready to go."

The Betazoid beauty smiled. "There is something to be said about being able to anticipate the enemy's plans." After one last stretch, she relaxed and said "Acitive!"

Thex nodded pressed a button and the two figures sprang to life and rushed toward the Betazoid. Thex had set it to the second setting just to see what she could do.

Humanoid- that helps Avendar thought. As the first one came close enough, she grabbed its wrist and used the attacker's momentum against it by throwing it past her. She then kicked the other one hard between the legs, causing it to fall down. She turned in time to meet the attack of the one she threw past, kicking that one in the solar plexus area, then an elbow behind the skull... and done!

Breathing heavily, Avendar smiled as she looked down at the holographic casualties, then at the Andorian. "I'm glad the genitals were where most humanoids keep them."

" Very good." Thex said as she stepped onto the mat herself. " Now I want you to try and his me. Hard as you can." She said calmly as the andorian emptied her mind.

The Betazoid beauty took a step toward the Andorian, then aimed a fist right at her abdomen, using her hips to add power to the swing, as she was taught.

With a speed that no one could think an andorian could move Thex had blocked the blow to her abdomen before returning the blow using the ensigns own power to send her flat onto the mat. " First rule of kharakom. Never let the enemy know were you're going to strike. " Thex said calmly as she offered her hand.

"I guessed that's why you cleared your mind," Avendar said. Then she swept Thex's legs...

Thex didn't notice that and fell to the mat for a second before she moved her fall to land on her knees before springing back to her feet. " Very good and yes it's why I clear my mind."

"My instructor at the academy was very insistent- 'never let down your guard.'" Avendar said, standing out of Thex's arm's reach. "That lesson more than any saved my life on Azyek VI."

" Can you remember the other rules they taught you?" Thex asked as she let out a few probing jabs and kicks at the betazoid.

Avendar parried, then tried to stretch out with her mind. "Phaser fire gives away your position," she said, smiling.

" That's one." Thex responded letting out a few more test moves as she blocked afew of Avendar own moves. She had begun building her mental defenses and her mind was filled with the step by step repair guide of one of the Hera's air conditioning vents.

"If the enemy is in range, so are you," the Betazoid beauty said. She feigned a punch high, then leapt forward to attempt a tackle.

Thex nodded as she quickly brought up a block to stop the punch before noting the tackle. With a move that was more graceful than people would think the engineer was capable off she leapt out of the way and using the movement ended where the betazoid had been standing.

Avendar was prone on the mat. She looked back at Thex. "Well, that didn't work."

" A little work from my dancing hobby. Most andorian martial art doesn't involve dodging." Thex responded from her place on the mat.

The counselor rolled over to a seated position. "Elegant and effective. That's a great combination."

" Thanks. Amazing how hobbies can combine. You mind if i get a drink?" Asked the Andorian.

"Absolutely. I could use one as well," the Betazoid beauty said. "How many physical disciplines do Andorians master normally?"

" At least one though my parents made sure i knew both of them." Thex said as she was heading towards replicators.

"There are some on Betazed that study physical combat arts, but most of us study ways to stop conflicts by peaceful means," Avendar said. "I think the Cardassians may have changed some opinions, despite it being psychic arts that lead to their defeat."

" I have always wanted to go to betazed. I know starfleet engineering is still helping out with the rebuilding work. " Thex said as she looked back over her shoulder from the replicator. " What would you like?"

"Water, please," Avendar said. "If you ever go, I would be honored to show you around, and introduce you to the First House."

"That would be nice. I'd offer to show you Andoria, but i honestly don't know much of the planet." Thex said as she punched in a water and an energy drink into the replicator.

"Have you been away that long?" the Counselor asked.

" Since I was able to escape my family's home and that was when I was fifteen. Never been back and don't plan to until the government finally deal with the religious cult problem. Not that I'm that bothered. " She said tapping the ships hull. " This is my home right now and no one's going to hurt my girl."

"I know I feel safer with you here," Avendar said, smiling.

" Thanks. I appreciate it." The andorian said as she picked up the drinks before walking back to hand one to the counselor.

"Perhaps you could instruct me in these ways, assuming we survive this mission?" the Betazoid beauty said.

Her crewmates word no matter how small did stab somewhere in the andorians soul. She been so focused on the mission that she forgot they may not make it and just as she may have had a chance at a family. " Yeah if we get out of this mess I'll happily teach you." She said handing her the water bottle.

"I'm sorry," Avendar said. "I didn't mean to upset you."

" It's okay you don't need to appologise." Replied the andorian.

The Betazoid beauty raised the water bottle to toast. "To surviving!"

" To the Hera." Thex said a she downed another swig from her drink.

The USS Hera was a mighty ship but even it was dwarfed by the stream of turbulent purple haze that now stood in front of the modified Nebula class starship like some sort of imposing wall of spatial danger zone.

All readings that came back pointed to one thing though. Whatever was summoning these deities and feeding these titans, was coming from inside of it. That meant they needed to go inside of it. And that meant they needed to brave not only the dangers of it, but what lay inside of it as well.

The first hurdle, of course, was crossing the barrier that was the purple haze before them. It consisted of electromagnetic flows across every known band, what appeared to be lightning in space, gravimetric eddies, spacial distortions, and a soup of all sorts of other things that made anything else they had flown the ship into look like a baby’s basket in comparison.

From the main science station on the bridge, Sonak was keeping his eyes glued to his monitor, watching the scrolling data of sensor readings in real time, calculating along with the computer the energy flows.

"Prior data confirmed, Captain. Electromagnetic energy area of exceptional strength, concentration and irregularity. Our prepared protections should prove adequate as per calculation and testing. All sensors nominal. Probes ready if further analysis is required."

“Unless anyone would like to abandon ship or has any further preparation...” Captain Telvan was on the edge of her chair as she motioned towards the viewscreen with two fingers. “Engage all safeties, resonance systems, and shield configurations. Lieutenant Dox, take us in and proceed at your own pace.”

"Aye, Captain..." Melanie Dox replied, running her hands deftly across her helm controls, barely looking down. "...Course laid in. Inertial dampeners at the ready should be encounter the expected turbulence. Proceeding at one quarter impulse power."

With a few quick motions at the helm controls, the mighty Starship cane to life, advancing towards the mysterious barrier at a cautious pace. The barrier was, in many respects, a tremendous unknown and Dox wanted to feel her way through. She placed one hand on the side of her console, almost as one would comfort a frightened child as the proximity to the barrier caused almost undetectable vibrations across the ship. But Dox was a very intuitive pilot and tended to trust her instincts.

Likening the shimmy to a land vehicle shaking on an uneven road at slower speeds, Dox inched forward on the ships manual throttle a hair. "Getting some minor turbulence. Increasing speed... Point 5 percent." The vibration smoothed out. "There we go." She softly spoke, almost as much to the Hera itself as to her Captain and crew.

"I'd like some readings from different quadrants, and I'd like to see what happens if we fire one into the rainbow bridge there, ma'am," Paris reported from her station, watching the incoming reports from around the starship while she kept a small window open for the feed from the experimental unnamed Gonadie helmet that she had labelled 'Weapon X view' on her screen.

To which, Dox felt was the right time to activate. Reaching to her side, she lifted up the experimental head gear, teathered to the helm console by a bundle of cables coming out of it's rear. She brushed her freshly trimmed hair aside, having decided that her previously thick bun of long hair perched atop her head was a detriment to the helmet fitting properly. In one motion, she pulled the helmet down over her head and pressed some buttons on the side and on her console. With a light whining hum that quickly faded from audibility, the rig was activated. "Spatial visual range enhancement view... Active."

For Melanie Dox, it appeared as if the entirety of the Hera aside from her console and the bridge crew had vanished entirely and she could see all of space around her in all its magnificence. Enhanced holographically, the once purple Haze of the barrier now seemed to be a virtual rainbow of colors, each streaming through space like an infinity of rivers.

Enalia was familiar with the interface Dox was using and was even one of the early testers of it. Tapping out a message on her console, she sent it off to Rita. =Is that Gonadie's vomit bucket? If Dox survives this, I'm putting her in for all the flying awards.=

Then Enalia addressed the probe request more publically. "Commander, you and Lieutenant Sonak coordinate probe usage and use them at your discretion. We may be modified and assigned to Intel Command but as a Nebula class starship we still have the best sensors in the fleet and I expect them to be put to good use."

"All sensors working and recording with no interference," reported Sonak as he turned towards the command dais. "I recommend a class IV interstellar probe; it has cosmological pre-calibration and six ejectable sub-probes. This will allow us maximum flexibility monitoring the surrounding area."

"Make it happen, Mister Sonak, and let's insure that a few of those sub-probes penetrate the phenomenon ahead of us to offer advance telemetry, please," Paris ordered, watching the sensor readings as well as the sensory helmet's telemetry and trying to make sense of it all.

"Acknowledged, Commander."

Sonak fingered a few controls then turned to the red-haired woman at the tactical post.

"Lieutenant French; the class IV probe is programmed and loaded into the main forward tube. Launch at your discretion."

"Aye, launching probe as we get closer to the end of Purple Haze!" She wanted the probe to get info from the haze as well as the area they were flying into. It could come in handy later. "The probe is active, receiving telemetry." Reported French

Lieutenant Dauntless' ice-blue eyes darted to a flashing graphic that blinked on her Ops console. "Minor fluctuations detected in forward shields, Captain," she announced in her child-like voice. At a glance, Dauntless noted that output, threshold and replenish rate still looked good, despite an anomalous dip to about 97%, only to swing the other way up to about 103% as the shield generators automatically compensated. "Still holding around 97%," Dauntless confirmed, as a line graph displayed the fluctuating percentiles as a wave.

"Deploying subprobes, pattern Zeta-One-Minus," Sonak in turn announced.

On the monitor, the main probe launched six smaller units to make with it the center of a hexagonal flight formation of six hundred thousand kilometers across right around and in front of the ship like a protective cup; one light second in every direction which the ship could cover in two seconds at full impulse if anything required it. With a scanning range of almost four million kilometers each, the radiation-proofed subprobes would gather all data regarding stellar fields and particles with a triple redudant sensor system; all the needed data to analyse the energy field and what it contained; including disturbances in the field that would betray the mass of even a cloaked ship.

The Vulcan turned towards the center seat.

"Captain; considering the unknown we are about to face and the danger we apprehend from it, I have a proposal. If we link shield activation to our tactical sensors, we could have them deploy automatically in case of any detected threat. They would go up and protect us even before we could ourselves register the danger; or even if we would be taken totally by surprise out out of commission."

Counselor Avendar Jurot was standing back by the turbolift doors when she spoke up. "Captain, something is out there. I feel it... probing for our intentions. Whatever it is, it's very powerful- I can't make out how far away it is."

"Nothing registering on sensors," quickly added Sonak turning back to his console. "But the electromagnetic intensity of the area could blind our systems to all other forms of energy... like a psionic probing."

From where Doctor Dael was lurking at the back of the bridge a tentative voice spoke, "I...agree with Counselor Jurot. Something feels....wrong." The doctor looked positively green around the gills, and seemed to be resisting the urge to fall over. Hera's gift was acting up again it would seem, and Dael was trying to resist the siren song of untested abilities. The air swam with eddies of energy in their peripheral vision, but they couldn't seem to track anything down. All the doctor knew was they had a sense of impending doom, trespassing, and the sense of immense power lurking nearby.

Enalia glanced over at the two, concern crossing her face. She had a bad feeling in her gut as well, as if the symbiont was nervous about something. "Steady as she goes, Melanie. Everyone think diplomatic thoughts, ok? We're just curious about what's going on here. Just explorers here to find out what's going on and try to solve a mystery or two. Nothing more."

"Aye, Captain." Melanie Dox replied, keeping a careful eye for any visual cues to what the Councilor and Doctor were feeling, but the sensory helmet clearly didn't pick up psionic energy of any kind. Still, the young pilot felt her stomach tighten ever so slightly at the concern in her friends voices and she steeled her focus.

Looking down at her console, the Captain flipped the ship's alert status from red to yellow, dropping the readiness of the ship and ordering the weapons to no longer be at the ready. "That might ease a little tension as well, with any luck." Main shields were still up and at the ready at yellow alert as well as the ones they were using to navigate with, but Enalia kept half a mind to go back to red alert if their host proved unwilling to be reasoned with.

"All right, Miss Dox- unless Science has any objections, I think it's time to go where no man has gone before," Paris called out from her station, eyes flickering over to the science station for confirmation. "The energy wave appears to be as stable as it's going to get, and we've taken thorough scans. Is the order given, Captain?"

"I think your change of posture calmed whatever it is I'm sensing. It's still there; it's still curious; but I sense no outward hostility," the Betazoid beauty said.

"Nothing on sensors beside the exceptional intensity and area of the energy field," Sonak chimed in.

In his native universe, his telepathic powers had been as powerful as those of a Betazoid. But here and now, they had regressed to those of the average Vulcans. Without physical contact, he was as blind to mental contact as the average Human. Yet, there was... something; almost like a tiny prick at the back of his skull. he would not have noticed it if Dox had not mentioned sensing something. But he could almost feel it too.

The Captain finally leaned back in her chair, still tense, but trying to look a bit more calm for the crew's sake. "Steady as she goes, Melanie. Use your best judgement on our flight path and take us to the heart of this thing so we can say hello."

"Aye, Captain." Melaine Dox looked around a bit for a moment, her headgear showing her the brilliantly enhanced view of the purple Haze surrounding the HERA. But to her, the energy field appeared as flowing ribbons of energy weaving out in front of them.

One, in particular, looked calmer than the rest and flowed forward into the field, whereas the rest of the energy flowed outwards toward open space behind them. That was their path. "Adjusting course... Seven degrees to port. Proceeding at... three-quarters impulse."

Leaning her helmeted head back slightly, she continued. "Visual telemetry shows a... river... of steady, forward energy flow that looks to be our clearest path. No spatial anomalies detected. "

"Shields steady, scanners indicating no change and the psychics seem okay with the idea." Paris reviewed, then made the call. "Let's ride the wave, Miss Dox- take her in."

"Aye." Dox followed up, pushing slightly on the Hera's unique manual helm controls that the young pilot absolutely adored. The massive ship, dwarfed by the energy field, began moving forward into the unknown.

"According to the probe array scouting ahead, what you are following seems to be a quantum flow resonating in perfect concordance with the electromagnetic field, not unlike an oceanic current within an ocean; fascinating," Sonak reported with definite interest, eyes glued to his scanners.


"Hera's currently in custody on the Odin's Breath and very well contained- are you sure, Counselor...?" Paris asked.

At the helm, Lieutenant Dox could see the rivers of energy flowing and all around the ship through Ensign Gonadie's amazing flight control helmet as if she were sitting upon her hull. Enhanced colors flooded her perceptions with a rush of visual data that would have overwhelmed her if not for colonies of nanobots that Doctor Dael had implanted in her inner ears to control the nausea the helmet had been known to cause. Instead, she was tightly focused on her goal of getting the Hera through the mysterious energy field that now surrounded them.

Suddenly, the flows of energy that the Hera was riding began to shift colors ahead of the ship in Dox's perception, "we have a shift in energy patterns ahead, forty two hundred kilometers and closing. It looks like turbulence. Do sensors confirm?"

The voice of Sonak resonated colder than that of a computer.

"The energy field is fluctuating in direct correlation with our distance from it, somewhat similar to the effect of gravity with mass and distance. If we maintain an even course and speed, it should be predictable and manageable for navigation."

He then turned his steely gaze to the command chair.

"Unless it is not a natural phenomenon but caused by some presence reacting to our approach. I advise caution."

Turning her helmeted head back slightly from the helm, Dox called our again. "Looks like getting out it's way isn't an option. I would swear it's aiming for us. Are a go for the waveboard formed shielding? We are about to need 'em."

The Vulcan chief science officer again chimed in, this time addressing Seregon French at tactical.

"I have input the sensor-to-shield auto-alert programming into our computer and prepared the link between sensors and activation. You are now able to implement it from your console if you so choose, Ensign."

"Engage the special shield configuration and Dedjoy's victorium mimic system at full." Enalia ordered.

The wave of energy flowed like a runaway flood towards the bow of the Hera as Dox pulled back on the stick of the massive, Nebula-class Starship. "Brace yourselves!" The focused young pilot exclaimed with unexpected calmness as the shields shuddered as the energy flow pressed at the bottom of the altered shields, reformed to act like a surfboard surrounding the Hera.

The ship shook violently as a surge of energy from below pushed up unexpectedly on the starboard side forcing the Hera to ride the energy wave on it's edge. "Compensating." Dox called out, with no more edge to her voice then if one we're ordering lunch. While she was a nervous wreck in social situations, Melanie Dox was never as comfortable as she was in a pilots seat and it showed.

Leaning into the ships manual controls, Dox leaned her entire body into the swelling energy as her fingers flew across the helm controls. Instantly, the portside thrusters roared to full power and, vibrating hard, the Hera crested sideways in space riding over the newly formed edge of the energy wave. At the top of the wave, time seemed to pause for a moment as she arced down hard on the stick and the directional thrusters pushed the saucer over the edge.

With a rush like an old world roller coaster, the Hera slid down the wave at incredible speed, the flow of energy bucking against the straining, formed shields, but after a few seconds the ship stabilized as it had pushed through the region of turbulence into a smoother flow of energy.

"The flow is stabilizing, Captain." Dox informed the crew as the shaking of the bridge calmed back down.

"No reports of injuries, Captain," Dael replied, surveying the reports coming in from all decks.

"We have gone through some kind of energy barrier, Captain," Sonak reported. " It is not yet evidenced that it is artificial in origin. So far, data seems to indicate that it is a residual effect of the electromagnetic nature of the field itself; something comparable to the surface tension of water. The nature of the field itself however may still be artificial in origin. Probes and scanners still active and nominal."

"Bast can keep watch if she likes. Keep us going forward until we meet our hosts." Enalia had a feeling that whomever could summon Bast was setting them a trial and it was important to not get distracted on the way. "Any guesses on the distance to that worldship?"

"I'm seeing... Something at 005-mark-317, Captain..." Dox leaned slightly forward at the helm, looking intensly at the enhanced visuals of the swirling cosmic mists surrounding the ship. "The energy flow currents are... parting ahead as if something was pushing through them. Something big."

Turning her head towards ops, Dox nodded slightly as she entered a series of numbers into the helm computer. "Sending coordinates for sensor confirmation... but it could be our worldship."

"A logical assumption, Captain," Sonak confirmed from his sensor readout. "Volume to mass ratio consistent with that of an artificial construct, not a natural space body. Trajectory not conforming to gravimetric readings; it is a guided object... on an interception course."

Looking at the projected currents through her helmet, Dox squinted at the image ahead of the ship. "Captain, if we try and maintain this course and heading those currents being pushed around that worldship will either crush up or throw us out." She looked all around the edges of the distortions caused by the massive object pushing through the purple Haze. "Suggest a orbital approach." Dox pointed up towards the viewscreen. "Along that path. It's a fairly steady current being pushed up and around the distortions. Forty... Three degrees to port. It should give us control in our approach."

"Make it so," Captain Telvan ordered. "Try and take us close, but not too close. we don't want our hosts too nervous."

"Aye, Captain." Lieutenant Dox replied, as she inched the stick to the upper left arcing the nose of the Hera towards the upward flowing energy streams."Reducing speed to one eighth impulse. The energy flow and her momentum should do most of the work and keep our posture neutral to whoever is watching."

Within moments, the ventral shields of the Hera flared lightly as the mighty ship was pulled upwards into the energy flow. There was a minor rumbling throughout the ship, to which Dox replied to entering commands into the helm. "Increasing power to the internal inertial dampeners to smooth out our ride..." And in moments, as the Hera arced up and around the still-concealed source of the distortions within the cloud, the initial vibrations quickly subsiding.

As her helmet showed her a view of space as if the ship itself were invisible, Dox's head turned down toward the floor to the right of her helm station as her mouth fell slightly agape. "Captain... I think whatever that is... Is about to push through the energy fields. I'm seeing something solid to ventral starboard."

"Onscreen!" Paris ordered, assuming Ops could just bring any sensor of the starship online with a visual- and there it was. "Wait, what the hell is that...?

On the viewscreen, through a thin veil of the purple haze, was the biggest ship that any of them had ever seen. It was a sort of clamshell design with two giant arms coming out of one end with forests and lakes and just... Everything, really.



"Yeah, that's a big ship..." Enalia muttered right before a tractor beam locked onto the USS Hera and pulled the ship through the last of the barrier alongside the space behemoth. "Status report! Full sensor scans!"

"Helm control isn't responding!" Dox replied, as she checked the status of the controls, frozen by the powerful beam.

"We've been seized by a tractor beam emamanting from this construct," confirmed Sonak. "Power level is beyond our engine capabilities to resist without grave damage to our structural integrity."

From their corner of the room, Dael looked at the PaDD in their hand. They had been monitoring Dox's vitals during the entire procedure to make sure the plan of action for the special navigation helmet was working. Her vitals had been within expected range, and Dox's blood pressure and heart rate had actually been lower than usual. Now, the intrepid pilot was through the roof. Her blood pressure was at a dangerous level and neural activity was extremely over-excited.

The doctor knew there was no point in saying anything at the moment to the pilot, who clearly had enough on her plate, and instead moved to stand closer to her, emergency meds in hand. There was also a tickle in the back of the doctors mind, and they wondered if they were somehow sensing the force holding the ship in place.

The doctor looked over to Jurot, trying to asses the counselors level of alarm, but was unable to read the telepath's expression.

"Getting reports of empathic and telepathic crew members reporting to Sick Bay feeling pressure in their heads. Medical staff standing by and providing treatment," the doctor reported.


At which point, the helmeted Melanie Dox became aware that the doctor was standing nearby. Assuming that her readings must be causing the doctor concern, Dox pressed a switch on the side of the helmet to deactivate it as she lifted the visor off of her eyes.

For the slightest of moments, Dox squinted as her vision returned to normal. "If we're not moving, I can turn this off for a bit." She smiled over at the doctor who she considered a friend as well, reading the concern on their face. "This better, Doctor?"

With a look of relief, Asa smiled at Dox. The pilot had fast become important to Asa, and they valued the blooming friendship with this singular individual. "Yes, thank you. Just do what you need to, and know I'm standing by to aid if needed," the physician replied, a touch quickly, their nervousness evident. In an ideal environment, extensive testing could have been completed prior to Melanie using the helmet, but time rarely allows for ideal environments, as the doctor well knew.

And as if to confirm the report, Sonak suddenly swooned and fell hard on the deck.

The first officer was up like a shot, and before she had covered the distance in that ground-eating stride of hers, she was already barking orders. “Doctor, we have a man down.”

Reaching the side of the fallen science officer, Rita Paris checked his vitals and his temperature- he seemed a bit cooler than normal, although his pulse was still strong and steady. Realizing the probable cause, she turned to Jurot. “Counselor, have a seat. If this is a telepathic overload, you’re probably next.”

Doc Dael was en route as soon as Lieutenant Sonak’s loss of consciousness registered with them. The doctor took the opposite side of Paris, not wanting to intrude on her right to be at his side. The Vulcan was running a quarter degree cool, but nothing too alarming. His adrenal glands were working overtime though, and his cortisol levels had skyrocketed.

Turning to Rita, Dael said, “Let’s make some skin to skin contact and think very calm thoughts, ok? He’s showing all the typical symptoms of disruption to the qui’lari, and his body reacted to allow him to release some of the neuro-pressure. He’s ok, but I think if we serve as a beacon to him, that will allow the hold of the foreign psionic influence to lessen. As his mate, you will best know how to call to him, ok?”

Turning over their shoulder, the doctor also called to a nearby crewman, “Please go get me two very warm blankets.”

Once facing Rita again, the doctor continued, “The warmth is to allow his body to focus as much as possible on healing. By warming him to the temperature of his home world, that’s one less stress he’s under.”

Although the doctor did not move, they did speak over their shoulder to Jurot, “Counselor, how are you doing? Please do sit. I’ll be there in just a moment.”

As for Rita Paris, she needed no further prompting nor instruction. Settling herself on the deck, she leaned against the nearby chair for support in case this took more out of her than she thought. Taking the Vulcan science officer’s hand in her own, she in turn grasped Doctor Dael’s with the other.

“I might need a lifeline,” the courageous commander explained, then she closed her eyes, and dove into the vast and incomprehensible ocean that was Sonak’s psyche. The analogy that Sonak often preferred was now reversed- for while her emotions were often a raging sea or a crashing surf, now it was her turn to dive into the calm and placid lake of his psyche. It was dangerous to wander around in the vastness of the master of logic’s mind, because his intellect dwarfed hers so vastly she could become lost in his mind, helping no one and instead requiring rescue. Thus why she had anchored herself to Dael, who was no psychic, but sensitive and dedicated, and so long as she could feel their presence she would have a way back.

Asa held Rita's hand with a tenacity, determined to not lose the Commander to Sonak's mind. As they held onto Rita, they thought about a tune they learned on Earth, "You Are My Sunshine." The doctor projected it into Rita's mind to the best of their ability, providing a ditty for her to follow to its source whenever needed.

Sonak? It’s me, Rita. Come back to me… you collapsed on the bridge, and Doc says you are just a little disrupted at the moment. So come on, kolinahr master. Reassure your all-too-human wife that you are still in here and okay? Give me some sort of sign? Deeper she dove, pushing past the surface thoughts and calculations that were abundantly present just below the surface of the brilliant scientist’s psyche.

His eyes popped open.

Before anyone could react, he had lifted himself off the deckplates, straightened his uniform and crossed his arms behind his back to assume his customary stance, one eyebrow raised.

I appologize, Commander. I seem to have lost my bearings for a moment. But I have recovered."

No sound had gone through his lips. Yet, Rita understood him as clearly as if he had talked directly to her. It felt like their usual mind meld.

But now, she was not touching him.

Well, HELLO SAILOR! Rita Paris released the young physician's hand with a reassuring nod, then grasped the chair she'd leaned against to lever herself erect. This is new...

Distractedly offering her hand to the ship's surgeon, the first officer looked a touch skeptical. "Doc, is everything good here...?"

The tricorder again whirring, Asa looked over Sonak's form. The readings from him were... different. Not bad, just different. The doctor quickly decided there was no point worrying anyone during an ongoing crisis, but there were certain findings the doctor would like to explore later.

Putting a smile on their face, Asa replied "You got him back. Mental function is back to a healthy range."

Sonak? Please explain? Rita asked as she edged back to her station, wondering what sort of range this new development might have, even as she realized they were still being drawn into that giant worldship, whose tractor beams had some incredible range.

Counselor Jurot snapped out of her trance like state, and shouted "No, you CANNOT enter!" She then collapsed hard to the deck.

"Doctor?" Paris rose from her station to lend aid to the stricken Betazoid. "Cap'n, should we hail them? I mean, we're taking the invitation one way or the other, but should we at least say hello?"

Taking the counselor's hand, Paris yipped a touch. "She's.. wow, she's unhealthy cold, Doc."

Sonak stayed at his post, trying to get something out of his instruments, but addressed the chief medical officer, this time with his deep, monotone voice.

"There was a powerful telepathic signal directed at us. Even my less receptive mind was overwhelmed by it; and it seems to have reawakened my old capabilities for a moment. My abilities are resorbing back to what is the norm in this universe now. But the counselor, being Betazoid, is naturally at least as sensitive as I was back then; which means highly susceptible to this psionic contact. Judging by her last words, she might be hurting... and... compromised."

The comms panel came live, and the Chief Spook's voice came out. "Got some info for y'all! Accordin' t'records, this kinda thing isn't unique. I've been goin' over th'readin's, and it's showin' signs of intelligence. It's like someone gave th'Badlands a shot of Borg Juice, or sumpin'. It's kinda like all them other barriers an' anomaly fields, got together and made a baby. This thing even looks kinda like the Edge Barrier...better check on anyone wuth an esper ratin'- make sure they're okay."

"A correct if somewhat... delayed and... colorful assessment," Sonak confirmed with a raised eyebrow.

The Betazoid's eyes fluttered open. "Gaia," she whispered. "And others. Probing for weakness..."

"Let's not give them any then, shall we?" The doctor said gently, placing their hand under the counselors arm to steady her.

"By your leave, Captain, I am taking the counselor to sick bay to check her out?" Asa inquired.

"Please do so." Enalia had been in a bit of a haze as well, her mental link with her symbiont having been temporarily muddled. she'd been able to clear it up with a bit of quick meditation though. "Open a channel. This is Captain Telvan of the..."

No sooner than she had started than the viewscreen flared to life and she was interrupted. What looked like a floating meatball with a mouth, one giant eye, and about a dozen more eyes on stalks showed on it. "We know who you are, Captain. We are the Watchers. Welcome to our home. You have braved the journey here as well as our prying minds so I would invite you to stay with us for a time. Perhaps we may learn something of each other. Perhaps we may come to an understanding. Will you accept our hospitality as your Commodore Meowlith has?"

The spotted captain paused for a moment, wondering if this was a trap or if the offer was sincere. Either way, the best way to find out if it was a trap was to spring it. If it wasn't, it would be a pleasant surprise. Either way, she hoped they would learn about this being and more about this worldship and why they were summoning deities and the titans. "Very well, we accept your hospitality. However, we also ask that you withdraw your mental pressure from my crew. Our more sensitive members are not handling it well."

"OF course, Captain. We will do our best to respect your mind spaces. Please stand by so we may meet in person." With another flare, the viewscreen returned to the view of the worldship outside.

Then the tractor beam started pulling the USS Hera in towards one of the largest docking bays Enalia had ever seen - one that had an Oberth class starship already parked in it. "Someone please tell me that conversation wasn't all in my head."

“Nope, just plain human girl heard it too,” Paris responded as she helped the doctor get the counselor to the turbolift. “I think that was actually live talking. His mouth was moving along with all those eyes. Say, isn’t that the Commodore’s latest ride over there?”

Chuckling softly, Enalia started planning a diplomatic team with herself and Commander Paris. "Yeah it looks like she didn't destroy an Oberth class this week after all."

"Oxygen-nitrogen atmosphere, standard 1G gravity, proportionate atmospheric pressure, ambiant temperature 15 degrees Celsius with 20% humidity; interior of the construct is fully compatible with the physiology of most carbon-based life forms," Sonak reported from his scan. "These... Watchers are obviously waiting for us and ready to meet us face to face."

"Not like we could refuse their invitation," Rita Paris muttered, then stood, tugged down the hem of her minidress and squared her shoulders. "Guess it's time to ply some good old-fashioned alien diplomacy at the galactic core. Another glorious day in Starfleet."

As the USS Hera was being docked with the clamshell-like worldship, the leopard spotted Captain Enalia Telvan was furiously tapping at a PaDD working on assignments and wandering the bridge looking at sensor readings.

"Well, new life and new civilizations... Where no one has gone before..." Enalia muttered as she tapped in a couple more details. This definitely qualified as one of the top five most unique locations they had ever been.

Making one more observation, Enalia started calling out assignments. "Okay, first off we'll need a diplomatic team and though I'm not fond of the idea, I feel it's best if both Commander Paris and I go to meet with our host. Lieutenant Sonak, you'll be joining us."

"Diplomacy is the secondary mission of Starfleet, Captain. Hopefully this will be less cowboy diplomacy and more statesman negations," Rita Paris offered- but of course, there were a number of factors to consider. "Leaving out the part where they tractored us in, but that might be a defense on their part for all we know. Open minds and open hands, with a phaser on our hips and a scientist by our side. Let's go meet the locals Captain- I'm wearing my Sunday best."

"Any worldship this size tends to have a seamy underbelly that tends to house some sort of criminal underworld. Assign Jurot and Sexton to head down there and investigate- see what they can find out about the political situation of this microcosm as well as what actually drives the true economy of this place, and see if there are some secrets that could prove useful in negotiation with whoever is running this show.”

“The core of this place seems to be driven by some sort of eight meter monoliths similar to what the deities called magic, but combined with what we call technology. I want Clemens, Dauntless, and Dedjoy on that. At the very least, I want an idea of what makes this whole place work, let alone possible."

“Have the Baroness and Doctor Dael investigate the locals, mingling with the common folk to collect what information they can about them, their lives, their perspectives- were they born here, live here, die here? How did they come to be here? Does the Worldship drag people in all the time or is it rare when someone makes it through the spatial distortion? What are these people’s motivations? Give us a barometer on the locals and try to stay out of trouble." Enalia glared at the sensor readings for a few more moments. "And try to avoid contact with all those deities if possible. We've had enough trouble with them lately, and we don't need a few dozen more invading the ship."

At that the spotted captain eyed her fulsome first officer pointedly, who in turn looked self-conscious and guilty. "Is something wrong?"

"Ah, just that we have on Deck 8. Who theoretically might be a resource that we could get a lay of the land from since theoretically she's been here?" Because she'd been the one to accidentally summon Hera on New Texas, where the veil between worlds was thin and summoning was apparently a way for this spatial anomaly to establish a beachhead of sorts. Now she tried to turn it to tactical advantage, since otherwise they were going in blind.

"Are you suggesting we take Hera with us? Or consult with her? I was under the impression that she had never been here before." Enalia tapped her chin, curious as to if this was an avenue they should explore after meeting with their host. which was apparently waiting for them, if the details sent to them were to be believed.

"Just a consult, Captain. It never came up in conversation nor any of her debriefings so I didn't realize she hadn't been here. I might be confused," Paris admitted. "We're pretty much flying blind here, so I thought I'd grasp at a resource. Ah well. So once more unto the breach?"

"Yeah. Thex, the ship is yours while we're gone. Keep an eye out for any entities trying to get too friendly with our systems and crew." Sending off the assignments in her PaDD, Enalia stepped into the turbolift with Rita and Sonak.

"Let's not keep our host waiting too long, then."

“We know it’s a host?” Paris asked as the turbolift doors closed.

Chief McCormack and Security Officer Waititi beamed down onto what was presumed to be the promenade of the Worldship. Science wanted some readings, so it was Security's job to make sure they survived long enough to report in. There didn't seem to be much beaming action, although the Hera's sensors were recording literally dozens of personal teleportations at any given moment. Thus they just beamed into an unoccupied spot in the promenade, as a somewhat gaudily-dressed local took a sudden interest in them.

Surveying the area as Wiatiti scanned for readings, McCormack tapped his comm badge. "Chief McCormack to Transporter Room 1. We're down safely- maintain lock until we give the all-clear."

=^= Roger wilco, Chief. =^= came the reply from the badge.

The dapperly-dressed local stepped toward the Starfleet security chief with one hand extended and the hint of a smile on his almost ridiculously handsome face.



"My dear fellow, I'm in a bit of a spot and I was rather hoping you could help me. You see, I've a friend who's in need of a starship. You just came from one, didn't you? I recognize the twinkly lights you people like to flit about with." The humanoid male who seemed like a dandy or a fop moved in on the chief slowly and breezily, even as the chief held out his hand to keep the stranger at a distance while his free hand dropped to his holstered phaser.

"Easy friend. How about you give me a little room here, huh?"

Reasonably sure he wasn't reading the tricorder correctly, Waititi the redshirt turned to the security chief. "Ah, Chief? According to what the tricorder's reading, that's actually some sort of multidimensional being, like a-"

The security officer never finished his statement, because the fist of the aristocratically-coutured dandy lashed out, snapping quite suddenly into the young man's jaw, rendering him unconscious with one sharp precision blow.

Already in motion, McCormack had his phaser out and had grabbed the cape of the dandy, only to find it unattached- it had been perched on his shoulders by immaculate inhuman tailoring. But now freed of the cape, the grinning buffoon presented himself broadly, even as the phaser was squarely leveled in his direction.

"Sir, you try to toreador today twixt the terrific Trelane, the very Squire of Gothos himself! But you shall not prevail, for I have need of thee, and that marvelous starship nearby just awaiting a newly-minted master and commander. I've a friend, you see- a god. And he needs a starship, so, since I get to captain it, this works out for all involved. So," Trelane stopped flouncing his hands about and making delighted proclamations long enough to fix his gaze on the security chief. "I don't suppose you'd be a lamb and have us both beamed back to your ship, would you?"

Protocol was clear here- and it was to bug out. The landing zone was hot. "McCormack to Transporter Room 1, beam us out, emergency, man down!"

"Oh, you will, thanks ever so much!" Trelane declared, as he stepped into the security chief's space, then into McCormack's body as he transformed into energy. As a miniature blue sun flared into incandescence overhead, all four of them beamed up together. As they dematierialized Trelane giggled. “Oooooh, this is going to be so much fun!"



=^= Engineering, we have a lack of materialization alert in transporter room 1- Commander Paris didn't try to beam up, did she? =^=

In the secured workshop she had set aside for working on the god artifacts, Chief Engineer Lieutenant Commander Thex sh'Zoarhi was working when the message came through. She was out of the lab and standing at the Main Engineering island center console within seconds taking a look at the alert. Her blue eyes looked at the data her mind already trying to work out what was happening. Something had tried to rematerialize, but it wasn't the transporter accident-prone Rita Paris.

=^= We have what looks like Chief McCormack and Security Officer Waititi beamed back, but something.=^= Thex had begun before she began furiously typing commands. There was streaming data unspooling itself from the transporter beam, threatening to overload the buffers.

Something else had been beamed over along with the two personnel.

"We have an unregistered beam over, can't identify." Thex began, before her eyes widened. The unidentified energy was trying to escape the transport beam's holding pattern. "$%$£, we have a virus! Seal off all systems and bring all emergency firewalls online," Thex yelled out as she grabbed one of her crewmen. "Get to the backup transporter, and try and get our two crewmen back." Her crewmate nodded before he hurried off.

That was when the beam materialized, and both Chief McCormack and Mr. Waititi dropped quite thoroughly unconscious to the pads of Transporter Room 1. Which would be remarkable without the spectacle of the gaudily-dressed peacock materializing, grinning broadly ear to ear as he stood over the unconscious security chief. “Splendid! Now, if you would be so kind…?”

There was a pause as the dandy cocked his ear, as if listening to a voice that only he could hear. “Sealed you in, you say? Well, that simply won’t do, that won’t do at all.” Picking up the tricorder off the transporter pad, the immaculately attired annoyance smiled gaily.

“But I’ve a perfectly delightful idea that's practically foolproof…”

The transporter chief tabbed the comms to report the intruder, but in an instant, he no longer existed.


“Chief, the emergency backup transporter is registering both targets on the pad in Transporter Room 1, but they appear to be unconscious. And there’s… wait, now I’m not reading Transporter Room 1 at all- it looks like a blind spot on the sensors. Is that a null zone…?” the engineering crewman reported, sounding more confused by the moment.

The blue-blooded engineer frowned as her own scans came to the same result as her crewmates. What the hell was... She got her answer as the sensors in the corridor outside of the transporter room went dead. Someone was switching them off. Great. “Red alert. Security to transporter room one, we have an intruder." Thex said into her console as she began typing, trying to get the sensors back online.

Less than a moment later, a security team arrived on the scene on Deck 6. While they cleared the area, two security officers overrode the security lock on the door, then they opened it to reveal a gaudily-attired fop in lacey embroidered brocade and finery that might be more at home in the Artan pirate fleet than on the deck of a starship. Phasers leveled, the security officers barked commands.

“Stay where you are! Hands where we can see them! Do not move or we will fire!”

The subject of their instructions giggled cheerfully as he held his hands aloft- one holding a tricorder. “Well, aren’t you the forceful bunch. I daresay I’d be shivering in my boots right now if I didn’t have my little friend here.”

“Whatever it is in your hand, put it down on the deck, slowly! No sudden moves!” the security officers barked, stepping back and keeping their phasers leveled at the gaudily clothed cock of the walk. That ear to ear grin shrank down to a subtle little smile as he slowly and dramatically lowered himself to the deck… then vanished.

“We have a situation here,” the security officer muttered as the officer in charge tapped his comm badge. “This is security, red alert! Intruder just vanished from deck 6, all teams scramble and locate subject!”

"Great." Thex though to herself as she furiously tried to use the scanners to find this intruder. She began throwing up more defenses around the auxiliary bridge, engines and outside of engineering. He wasn't going to be getting near anything sensitive. Whoever this guy was, he clearly had some idea what he was doing.


"I have NO idea what I'm doing," Trelane muttered as he popped up in Science Lab 14, much to the surprise of the two scientists working on a hydrodynamic theory of inverting proton flow in a stable warp field. While they were surprised, both were scientists, so they turned to begin scanning the entity that had just popped up. As one reached over to tap her comm badge, the cerulean waistcoated wanderer hissed and waved his hand, and the comm badges were rendered inert, turned to lead. "Enough of all that."

Bringing the tricorder in his had to he eye, he addressed it. "All right, you're supposed to be so smart and adaptable, why don't you start being smart and adapt, hmmm? Because I'm ready to go have some fun!" With that, he snapped the tricorder open. For a few seconds, energy began coruscating out of the small palm tricorder, whirling and building as blue energies crackled to become a miniature star hovering over the tricorder.

At no point did Dr. Kvortke or Lieutenant Junior Grade Lieslthrex ever stop scanning. Instead they began to message to run complementary scans, to better study both of the manifestations before them. Which took on new meaning when the blazing blue dwarf star echoed forth in a mighty voice,

"DO YOU DOUBT ME?"

Without a care in the world, Trelane smiled paternally. "Of COURSE not, my dear, dear friend! We're on this adventure together, you and I! So all you need is some sort of system to access, right? Like one of these whosiflages here?" Trelane pointed at one of the terminals. Which was when Lieutenant Junior Grade Lieslthrex set down his tricorder to attempt to seal the room's data access. Whatever the entity whose quantum energy readings were so sublime yet potentially powerful, he was pretty sure it was his duty to prevent that. Which he might have accomplished, had not the first thing The One did was to cause a feedback surge in the Lieutenant's terminal, electrocuting him with crackling blue electrical energy.

"Ugh, that smells beastly!" Trelane waved his hankie beneath his nose, the made a shooing motion, and the Bismollian officer was simply gone. As if he had never been. His body would never be recovered, and he would be listed as MIA on the rolls of Starfleet.


Thex stared blankly at the screen which now appeared to be showing a dwarf star had appeared inside Science Lab 14. Looks like their intruder was one of the god creatures. " Security, arm yourselves with the anti-god weaponry and look for the intruder on Deck 6, in Science Lab 14." She yelled into the comms as she furiously locked down the science lab. Someone was attempting to break through the firewalls and access the ship's data. Throwing up more firewalls with one hand the andorian opened a second channel to sickbay. They had the tech to trap these intruders; it was a question of how she could trap the two in Hera's old sealed goddess quarters that was the question.

"Thex to medbay, get me the EMH. We have two intruders that appear to be of are god friends species. I need all the information we have on them, so we can find some way of getting them into Hera's old cell." She explained calmly.

"Uh, Commander? Isn't Hera's old cell currently off limits by order of the Commander, according to the manifest?" came the response from the security team. "We just going to corral them in there?"

That was when an alarm sounded on the panel, and the ship's engineer realized that life support was still connected to the science lab, and something was using that to spread to other systems. Life support touched every space on the starship- if this virus spread through that, it could have the entire starship infected in moments.

Thex resisted the urge to swear as she furiously threw up more defenses around life support. "Scratch that idea, security, just you're distance for now…" she called as she looked at her team looking for any ideas to get them out of this mess. Her eyes shot back to the computer as an alert went off.

The scans by the science team in Science lab 14 had matched at least one of the entities, but it wasn't good news. Trelane had been encountered by Kirk’s Enterprise, the 1701, back in 2267. He was apparently a Q-like entity that could alter or rearrange matter or reality seemingly at will. She'd read of the mission back at the Academy, and knew how the Enterprise crew had only escaped from the being when it's 'parents' had shown up to take him 'home'. Still, it did give her an idea.

With a few swift moves, the andorian opened up a coms channel to the science bay. "General Trelane, didn't anyone teach you it's rude to steal a girl’s starship?" She taunted, hoping she could distract the being until she thought of something.

As The One found itself encountering resistance in the systems, it was multiplying its attacks at an exponential speed, overloading the processing limits of the individual systems and mimicking their functions to elude the firewalls the ship’s engineer was frantically erecting in an effort to contain them. The starship was large and mighty and complex, and there were a considerable number of systems, backup systems, subsystems and auxiliary systems that were all working in a concert of synchronized activity that The One found pleasing. When all of these systems answered to it, then The One would be quite pleased with their new home.

For now, there was an inkling of the direction to the ship’s computer core. While it was well defended and quite the bulwark of security, The One recognized it as its final goal. Now it needed to get there. Reaching out through the plasma conduits, The One raced through subsidiary systems of the starship, seeking out the control panel of the orders-issuing pest who was stymieing them.

“DRAW IT’S ATTENTION.” The One boomed from the overhead in the Science lab.

“Oh, I rather think I can do that quite handily!” the colorful cavalier countered, rubbing his hands together briskly before disappearing from the lab. "Call me a thief, will she..."

Working furiously the Hera's chief engineer did her best to defeat the entity that was trying to infect her ship. Her hands danced as she opened up new firewalls and defenses as she tried to reclaim various systems of the Hera. A grin spread over her face as she took back a system, sealing part of the entirety in the universal transference matrix before with a flick of a switch she rebooted the system, causing the entirety to retreat out of the program. It was now trying to seep into the plasma conduits, for which she flung up multiple defenses as an idea began to form in her head.

Which was when there was a tap on her shoulder, from a rather fancy fencing blade.

“I say, did you happen to call me a thief, little missy…?” the Squire of Gothos asked, his wrist turning the shiny steel blade on the shoulder of the Andorian engineer as he stood in Engineering. “I believe I must challenge you to a duel over those most cutting words of yours, in order to properly satisfy my honor!”

Around the chief engineers, a half dozen engineering crewmen and one ensign all grabbed random nearby tools, even as the ensign moved in on the emergency armory cache where he could lay hands on a phaser. Nobody threatened the chief in Main Engineering.

"Easy boys and girls- lower your weapons and keep his friend out of the ship. Plan swordfish," Thex said calmly as she finished inputting something into the computer. "Very well. I don't suppose you could tell your friend to stop his hacking while we settle this?" She asked politely as she could, despite the current situation.

“Oh, I don’t think that’s going to happen. After all, he needs a starship, and he’s chosen yours. So what shall it be? Blades or muskets?” The cheery Squire’s grin turned slightly malicious. “Ordinarily I wouldn’t duel a member of the fairer sex, but seeing how you’ve assaulted my honor, clearly that equality thing seems to have caught on.” As Thex reached for another console, the shiny steel blade nicked out, drawing a line across her forearm that sliced through her uniform to leave a superficial thin slash on her wrist.

“Ah ah ah, no more playing. I will run you through if you won’t defend yourself!” While the words were spoken with almost childish glee, the menace underlying the words was evident, even as an elaborate fencing sword appeared in Thex’s right hand.

In truth, Thex had never used blades other than the heavy machete that was part of all Starfleet away kits. Even still, she brought up the sword to block a thrust from the intruder. "Tell me... why does he need a starship? Can't you just teleport around?" she said as she blocked another strike.

"Oh, of course I can be anywhere I like. But I can't just carry all of my stuff with me or have people around to order about if it's just me." Through all of the casual conversation Trelane's sword continued wagging and fighting even as he considered his words. As Thex leapt over him and brought in a slash to bring him down, although Trelane wasn't facing her, the sword still interposed. As he shoved her off him with an alarming strength, his eyes twinkled a bit, as if the cosmos were hidden within them. "Oh my, you're quite agile, aren't you? Ah, but it's a duel, and I must continue until I win to maintain my honor. Unless... I've already won...?"

The 'chunt' sound of life support going offline was accompanied by the emergency lights. Glancing at her terminal, Thex could see her own defensive programs being corrupted. Trelane had been the distraction, while the being composed of pure energy had shifted their assault to her specific terminal. Despite all precaution and adherence to procedure, The One had gotten through.

=^= WHO IS THIS CREATURE? =^= the comms echoed, the voice booming so loudly everyone standing in the chief's locale could feel their carapaces and skeletons reverberate with the bass.

Which was when the EMH materialized. "Please state the nature of the..." Looking up at the ceiling and glancing around, the EMH made a few observations digitally. "I believe the ship is the one that needs medical attention. My counter-virus subroutines are detecting quite the nasty system. Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Yes, we have a child and his pet trying to steal our ship," Thex yelled out as she sprang up, grabbing a large heavy wrench and charged back at the smug god creature. "A child and his pet who both need a smack to the face. Activate swordfish protocol now!" She yelled out as she flung the wrench as hard as she could at the god creature before charging straight at him. Trelane's sword parried the wrench, but her tackle caught him round the midsection.

"Swordfish program?" The EMH looked entirely confused at the program name, but apparently it meant something as a rapier appeared in his hand and he suddenly found the knowledge of several swordsmen and fencing masters being downloaded into his matrix. "Ah! Well then, have at thee!" Placing himself opposite Trelane, the EMH whipped the rapier around almost like he was Zorro, fending off the gaudily dressed intruder's advances as best he could.

Growling, Trelane grabbed a handful of the golden uniform of the chief engineer. Then the aristocratic assclown in the greatcoat pitched the Andorian arse over teakettle across the bay, into her own station no less. His sword immediately game up en garde facing off against The Doctor.

"Wait... you're just one of these clever machines," Trelane squinted as his flashing blade whipped about expertly. Turning to regard Thex's station as his sword expertly wove a bold attacking defense, against an opponent likely unschooled in his Agrippa, he called out. "Can't you do something about this? What do you mean, isolated program, he's right here... oh, never mind." Turning his attention fully on The Doctor, the pupils of the eyes of Trelane sparkled like the milky way as he stepped up his technique, moving faster than any human could match.

The EMH was no human, and had the skill of a surgeon to boot so every strike that Trelane made was quickly and precisely paired with exacting Bonetti's Defense. "The way you move is amazing. You're attacking with Capo Ferro, I assume? Unfortunately for you, I'm now well studied in my Agrippa." Suddenly, the EMH shifted stances and switched to the offense, using Thibault.

"What... wait, that's not fair!" Trelane whined as the dueling Doctor drove the bombastic blusterer back further and faster.

A groan escaped Thex as she began to pull herself up. Her back hurt, but she still had a job to do. "Get out of my ship!" she yelled, as she furiously started blocking the creature inside her ship's systems as she brought out the antivirus big guns. Now systems it was in suddenly began going offline as she began to funnel the creature towards a certain program.

It might have been a flash of intuition, some unreliable sixth sense alerting the cold warrior to imminent peril. It might have been the warning of how her display flashed to black a few milliseconds before it happened, enough time for her to realize her imminent peril. In truth, it was only because she'd snatched up another heavy spanner and was going to wing it at the head of Trelane when her panel, her PaDD and a few of the nearby panels crackled with many varied strands of forked arcing electrical energy, of a particular shade of blue that lit up Thex's skin quite alluringly- and from the smell of ozone and the cooked panel flimsies, would have electrocuted her to death, had she still been at her post.

Meanwhile, the duel between Trelane and The Doctor was running at a fever pitch, as both bladesmen's weapons moved with inhuman speed and accuracy, a blur of steel to the naked eye.

"Stop that! You're cheating!" Trelane huffed as he pushed his own speed faster to make the contest less evenly matched, as the holographic healer was giving as well as he got.

The EMH may have been starting to lose ground, but he was grinning like he had another ace up his sleeve. "I have not yet begun to cheat, good sir!" Suddenly, he lashed out with his left arm, letting the emitters drop his consistency to that of normal light long enough for Trelane's sword to pass right through it like it wasn't even there, but halfway through he kicked in the full emitters so that it was as if the sword was embedded in a block of concrete and jerked it right out of the dandy's hand.

"NOW! I have begun to cheat!" With that, the EMH pressed the top of his rapier to the nape of Trelane's neck. "Your move, Monsieur."

Hands raised in slow surrender, sweat beaded on the fop's forehead. "You, ah, appear to have me at a disadvantage sirrah..." Trelane started before he was interrupted by a booming voice that echoed throughout the USS Hera.

=^= THE CORE. I HAVE BYPASSED THE FINAL SEAL. THIS VESSEL IS MINE. ALL WILL KNOW OF THE ONE. =^=

" No, you don't..." Thex said as she pulled herself up and weakly tried to move towards one of the other consoles.

Then came a sharp feedback squeal, worse on those with sensitive ears. 'Seeing' in the electromagnetic spectrum as she did, Lieutenant Commander Thex sh'Zourhi felt and saw the miniature sun with a penchant for hurling lightning emit a squeal of panic and terror as it breached the core. It reverberated throughout the Hera for thirteen seconds, then was still.

All around them, systems began rebooting. Auxiliary systems carried the load while system wide reboots began, with systems all showing situation normal. As for Trelane, he wrinkled his nose and wagged his fingers in their direction.

"It's no fun if the ship won't obey me. Hmff!" And with his minor hissy fit thrown, the Squire of Gothos vanished, as if he'd never been there.

" Okay." Thex said weakly as she leaned on one of the consoles as she looked through the ship's data. It appeared to show that the entities had completely vanished. " Anyone have any idea what happened?"

“It looks like the entity managed to breach the central computer core, Chief,” one of her engineers piped up, reviewing the data at her console. “But as soon as it managed to gain access to the core, it appears to have immediately withdrawn from all systems and it seems as though it withdrew to the core. I know it sounds crazy, but the central ship’s computer core is responding normally and shows no change on status whatsoever.”

"Don't take any chances. I want three checks to see if it's left anything behind. Both by the computer and manually." Thex said from her position, grinding her teeth slightly as the adrenaline had begun to wear off. "Doc, can you take a look at me?" She asked the EMH.

Arriving on the scene with a security team, the Security Chief was bewildered. The only thing she could think to do was dispatch teams to make sure that no stowaways were still on board. So she issued the orders as she kept her eyes and ears open.

Setting aside the sword that he had trapped inside his arm and letting his own rapier fade away, the EMH grabbed a medkit off the wall and popped out the tricorder to scan the chief engineer. "You have some bruising and some minor cuts, but nothing too major. You're lucky you're not worse off than you look. Like all good senior officers, I'm sure you'll resist my urgings to come to sickbay to be treated, so I'll just do what I can here." Pulling out a hypo with a minor pain killer and a dermal regenerator, the EMH got to work treating the banged up Andorian.

"Thanks, doc. Sorry for not telling you about swordfish- the program's still rather experimental. Lieutenant French, did our pests bring any more pals?" The andorian asked the security chief.

The EMH just mumbled something about needing a hobby anyway, as he treated Thex's injuries with a hint of a smile, while the frustrated security chief threw her hands up in frustration

"Can anyone explain what just happened? Because now I have to write up an incident report, and I have no idea what just happened!"




No trace of The One were ever found in the Here's ship's computers or any adjacent technology.

The turbolift doors of the bridge opened and Lieutenant Junior Grade Melaine Dox stepped on with the experimental flight control helmet designed by Ensign Mona Gonadie tucked under one arm. She stood for a moment in the otherwise empty turbolift as the doors hissed shut, scrolling through a PaDD in her hands.

=^=Destination?=^= the neutral voice of the computer asked, snapping Dox out of her momentary Haze.

"Uh... Deck four, please." The distracted pilot responded. Immediately, the turbolift began to move as she returned to her PaDD. At the start of their current mission, before being docked with the Worldship of the Gods and before navigating the galactic barrier, Melanie had assigned each member of the flight crew to a tight rotation making sure every shuttle and Runabout was ready to fly at a moment's notice. In the event of a saucer separation, herself and Ensign Gonadie were ready to helm the ship's sections as needed. She had thoroughly done her job as the flight control chief and the Hera was ready for anything... except being parked.

Pilots rarely go on away missions, and that meant she had to now deal with the frustration of waiting for something to happen. Captain Telvan, Commander Paris and Lieutenant Sonak had left the Hera to investigate the Worldship and the supposed gods within. But Melanie Dox's place was on the ship to make sure she was ready to fly. And she was.

As the turbolift halted at deck four, Dox walked out at a quick pace, her head still buried in her PaDD. During the first official flight of the Hera with her using the flight control helmet, something unusual had occurred. Doctor Dael said that Melanie had experienced a potentially deadly spike in blood pressure that was concerning.

Nothing quite like it had occurred in the simulations, and between the health monitoring bracelet the doctor had Dox wearing and the ingenious nanobots they had put in her inner ear to help her mind manage the sensory overload that the helmet caused, that shouldn't have happened. So, Dox was on her way to the Flight Control Office to have Ensign Gonadie look over her invention to check for problems when she stopped dead in her tracks as a cold chill went down her spine.

It was the sloshing sound- a very unique sound to her ear, one that she knew all too well. The slosh of a half-empty liter beer can in the hand of one drunken human.

Turning around slowly, Melanie Dox beheld the sight of a human she knew all too well- her father, one Declan Nox.

The derelict space captain was a familiar sight- a stained t-shirt underneath a jumpsuit of many pockets, and an empty tool belt. He needed a shave, a shower and a change of clothes as he took a few shuffling steps toward her.

Gasping, Melanie dropped the PaDD in her hand and stepped back as he approached. She squinted in disbelief. "Y... You... Can't be here...this..."

"Lookit you, all growed up and joined the space pigs, uniform and all. Officer anna lady," the pater familias slurred as he took another swig of his beer. He reached forward towards her face with the back of his hand.

As his hand touched her cheek, Melanie snapped back as if woken from a trance. DHAT!!! She yelled, the Romulan word for 'no', as she stumbled back to avoid his touch, falling against the floor with a thud.

Looking up at her father, he seemed to have somehow grown. But as she shot her eyes around, she realized she was no longer on the Hera. She was on the Forrager. The smuggling ship she grew up on.

Melanie scooted back along the cold, metal floor panels in fear. She looked at her own legs, no longer clad in her Starfleet uniform but in a small black jumpsuit. She pulled her hands up in front of her to see the hands of a child. Melanie was four years old again.

Angrily, Declan slurred at her as he threw his beer can to the ground. "How many times 'ave I tol' you about that ROMULAN shit!"

Melanie backed up against the cold bulkhead hard, slapping the back of her head.

"Aaah!!!" She exclaimed as she shot forward. But she was no longer a child on the Forrager, but an adult in her quarters on the Hera. Melanie sat up in her bed, still fully dressed in her uniform, as she tried to process what had just happened.

"A nightmare..." She muttered to herself as she nervously rubbed the top of one ear. "Just another nightmare."

As she awoke, her memories caught up with her. The Hera was docked at the Worldship. She was off duty and had come to her quarters to take a brief nap, exhausted after the strain of piloting the mighty Starship through the spatial anomaly. Across the room on her table was the experimental helmet that she still needed to take to Ensign Gonadie in the flight control office.

The computer confirmed that she had only been asleep for about fifteen minutes, ten less then when her alarm was set for. Nevertheless, she didn't feel any more rested and now she was nursing a mild headache. As she sat on the edge of her bed, there was the familiar chirp announcing someone at her door.

"One moment." Melanie responded, as she stood up and straightened her uniform top.

As Melanie opened the door, Dedjoy was looking at her PaDD, tapping at an inventory. "Lieutenant, I'm sorry for bothering you, but as that helmet now is apparently usable, It's going to have to be added to the ship's inventory in an official capacity."

Still nursing a mild headache that she couldn't be sure was from the helmet or her nightmare, Melanie smiled through the uncomfortably as she replied. "No bother at all. I needed to take this to Ensign Gonadie in the Flight Control office anyway for a look over."

The tired pilot rubbed the back of her neck as she talked. "There was an unexpected level of feedback at one point that never came up in the simulations and I need to to make sure it's not going to blow my brain out if I use it again."

Eyeing her friend, Ila hummed a bit. "Yeah, if you don't mind my saying so, you look like you could use a trip to sickbay as well. How about I walk with you just in case?"

"Doctor Dael gave me a quick once over on the bridge but I'm sure I could stand for a visit once this mission is settled. Thanks." Dox replied a little awkwardly, not realizing how just haggard she looked. "I welcome the company." She tucked the helmet under her arm and stepped into the corridor with Dedjoy.

Ila tucked her PaDD back into her pocket as they walked. "If you ever need something, just let me know. I don't sleep as much as most people do so I have a lot of extra free time and the Captain lets me set my own schedule as her Yeoman."

"I will. Though I like to think I'm pretty low maintenance." Melanie chuckled lightly as the two walked down the corridor. "At least I hope so. But I appreciate the back up. I am feeling a bit..." The pressured pilot trailed off as she spoke, feeling a sense of uneasiness again, not unlike in her nightmare.

"A bit... off."

That was when a voice began echoing from down the corridor and around the corner- a man's voice, singing a soft acapello.

"Stars shining bright above you... Night breezes seem to whisper "I love you"..."

The exhausted Junior Grade Lieutenant stopped in her tracks at the eerie tune as it echoed towards them as her skin went cold. "Hnaev... Am I still dreaming?" Melanie's eyes darted toward Dedjoy with clear anxiety behind them. "You're... you're hearing this, right Ila?"

Ila nodded, her already large eyes growing supernaturally large. "Yeah, you're not crazy. I hear it too."

"Birds singing in the sycamore trees..." the voice came closer, until a dapper-dressed gentleman stepped into view. His fashion was a modern iteration on an old style that was somehow classic yet unique. His skin was the color of mahogony, and his eyes twinkled beneath the brim of his hat, as if there were far too many of them there for a second, but as he sang his last line, he removed his hat to show that he was a tall thin human with wide eyes and a dazzling smile.

"Dream a little dream of me... Hello, Ila. Hello Melanie," As he spoke, there was a lilt of the Caribbean in his cadence and his pronunciations. "I've many names and many iterations, so in this place and time I think, why don't you call me... Mr. Nancy, hm? I've been around for a looooong time, because I" The immaculately tailored man in the silk suit preened. "I... am the god of stories. Everything that is ever happening, all of existence is stories. This place, this time, so far from my people, it disturbs me. I don't like it here. The dreams here taste bad."

Realizing that she was all too awake, Dox collected herself, stepping slightly forward to put herself between the strange figure that claimed godhood and Yeoman Dedjoy.

"Then I saw you, with this grand enormous sailing ship of the stars, and I could see you standing there big and bold right there in the dreaming. Astral self astride the hull of the mighty vessel, using it to surf the waves like a child at the beach. You have no idea what you hold there in your hands. But with it, I could change the universe. What do you say, eh? Give the god of stories a bit of a hand, neh?"

"The... God of stories, you said?" Melanie Dox replied. "Then you're from the Worldship... From the realm of the gods?" As she spoke, she tightened her grip on the flight helmet. Whatever she was talking to seemed interested in it and she needed to know more and wanted to keep him talking. "What... do you mean, you saw an astral form riding the ship?"

That brought a rousing bit of laughter from the slender-limbed gentleman. "No 'an', YOU. I saw you dere ridin' on the hull projecting yourself." That accent got a little thicker there briefly as he was tickled, then he composed himself again. "I am Kwaku Anansi, Brer' Rabbit, Tokka Morkoth... the weaver of the webs, the patient one. I come to you and ask of that with which you penetrated that veil those of the waking world may not pass, yet you stride through with a starship no less. And no thief am I, no no. Because I will trade for your magic helmet, that which is precious to you."

The names raced through Melanie's mind as she struggled to remember the mountains of research she had read from Intel in preparation for this meeting.

"Your stories. One of you longs to know another's story, and one does not even know her own story. Mistah Nancy can tell you your stories, because he knows. He knows your stories better than you do," The lanky fellow drew his arms wide, which seemed an almost inhumanly wide arm's breadth, then he smiled benignly. "All for a helmet you can build again, neh?"

After a few seconds, it clicked with the anxious pilot. Anansi. A mythic figure from ancient Earth folklore. A trickster that collected stories. Also, a shape-shifting spider, which was a thought Dox felt more than a little squeamish about.

But Dox's mind continued to race. The spike in my blood pressure. It occurred when they were psychically probing the ship. Melanie's mind raced, It picked up their psychic energy!

"I'm... I'm afraid this is the property of Starfleet. It isn't..." Dox tried to stall. Protocol said to inform security Immediately, but her gut told her that might just get Yeoman Dedjoy and herself very dead very quickly. "I'm not authorized to make such an arrangement. Perhaps when the Captain returns, you... can discuss the matter further with her." She looked straight into the eyes of the man standing before her trying to read his face for an idea of what he might do

"The offer is made, it stays on the bargaining table. I let you think on it, both of you. No mad mercenary I, I've no wish for a fight. My offer you know, you tink aboudit, neh?" that accent got much thicker as he stepped back around the corner from where he'd come, and it was as if his legs covered much more ground somehow, then he was gone. Which was when the lights returned to normal, and they realized he'd been manipulating the local lighting for mood lighting.

As Anansi vanished into the corridor, Dox heard the faintest of whispers like a voice on the wind in her ear, "Mnhei'sahe..." and the hairs on the back of her neck stood up on edge at the sound she was sure only she heard.

Stepping back slightly, Dox turned to the wide-eyed Yeoman. "Okay, Ila. I think..." She held up the helmet. "If a god wants this, then we REALLY need to find out why." Melanie turned back toward the corridor where Anansi vanished around the corner.

"Buuuut... there's a turbolift at the other end of the corridor." The anxious young part Romulan pilot turned around to go the other way. As she did, she tapped her comm badge to speak.

"Lieutenant Dox to Security. Yeoman Dedjoy and I have had an... Encounter on deck..." But the familiar chirp was replaced by silence. Dox tapped, again and again, heard nothing. She turned to Dedjoy, "Oh, this can't be good...."

Ila tapped her own comm badge but it too remained silent. "Definitely not good."

"Okay... we really need to move. We've got to get this somewhere safe before... Why does he even want this thing?" Melanie gestured to the Helmet, then began to run nodding to Dedjoy to follow as they ran to the holodeck. But as she ran, she felt dizzy. Ahead of her, the corridor seemed to stretch longer as she stumbled to her knees, tucking the helmet in to her chest so as not to lose it. "Hnaev!!" She cursed in Romulan to herself.

Suddenly, Melanie Dox wasn't on the Hera anymore... but again in the corridor of her childhood home. The smuggling ship, the Forager. From the shadows, she heard Anansi's voice again.

As for Ila, she was in a place she didn't recognize. Some sort of ramshackle space station with a sky ceiling. She was with her old Intel chief and someone else she didn't recognize and they were investigating the locals for some reason. Then there was an explosion and the air was being sucked out and she was going with it! As she lost her grip on the woman she blamed for her twin sister's death, she realized that this wasn't her story, but her sister's. This was how she died. This was how she was going to die as well if this Anansi had his way. She could hear his laughter in her mind as she flailed in the starry abyss, the ancient space station on one side and an intrepid class starship on the other.

Each in their own personal nightmare, trapped in a web of mind games and illusion.

The busy sound of engineering caused the chief engineer's antenna to vibrate slightly as she leaned back in her chair. Another round of testing and the artifacts recovered from Hera and the nanobots had done nothing. That was the fifth round and nothing had happened. She had a book of the greek myths open on her desk trying to find any ideas of how she could get these to work.

Picking up the book she began flicking through the pages. Something in here must give her a clue. Putting her finger on the first sentence. " And Zeus spoke."

Wait she thought to herself. Could it really be that simple? Say a word and get them to work?

She leaned back in her chair one of her eyes her blue eyes glancing at the levels of the elements in the jars. A thought crept into her head as she looked at the Xubliyrium and Koslayntine levels. Surely it couldn't be as simple as that.

Her hand flew across the desktop as she brought up the earliest form of the Greek language and the periodic table. A smile crept across her face as the words matched up. The periodic table letters Xubliyrium, Koslayntine formed half of the word open in Mycenaean Greek. The particle they created may have had the other half.

It gave the meaning of the terms the gods spoke a rather new term the chief engineer thought to herself

If she was correct she just had to work out the word to switch on the nanites. It couldn't be as simple as the word on could it?

Her hands were flying as she got the computer to replicate and began pumping in the required elements. Here goes nothing she thought as she pressed the button. A smile spread over her face as the nanobots began to move as the environment adjusted though they didn't seem to work faster.

Still, it was a lead and that was progress. Now she just has to think of what a Greek god would have as the password for their nanotech. A job harder than most would think.

Still she began to record the results in her computer logs and sent a message to the captain. She was onto something.

" Captain Telvan this is commander Thex. I think i have a lead on thinking the artifacts we recovered from Hera." She said cheerily as she got to work she needed to do some calculations and a little working out.

Enalia had been on a bit of a tour of the ship, checking over some of the systems and crew when she got the call. Stopping off in one of the crew lounges in the lower decks, she tapped her comm badge to reply. =/\="Captain Telvan here, go ahead."=/\=

=/\=" Well, captain I'm working on a theory that the nanites can be activated with a combination of elements based around a word. If I'm correct they'll activate when exposed to the...."=/\= Thex began as she added a new combination into the jar. A faint light appeared to emanate from the jar as the readings went haywire before settling down. Looking at the screen Thex saw that the nanites had started to work as the broken armor was beginning to mend. Glancing at the word a smile spread over her face. The combination of elements read the word protect.

=/\=" Sorry about that captain I have some results it looks like the armor is repairing itself."=/\= She said with a smile on her face.

=/\="Excellent! Keep up the good work. If you need any more resources, let me know."=/\= Enalia smiled brightly. She knew Thex would get it.

=/\= Will do captain. =/\= Replied the andorian as she kept her eyes on the computer and the results appearing on the screen. The armor appeared to be made out of a black substance denser than a neutron star that the scanners were struggling to get through. A gold like substance appeared as a trim sending images of monsters from the depths of the sea across the breastplate, greeves, vambrace giving it a haunting yet beautiful appearance. A single glowing blue gem formed in the center of the breastplate as it changed as the nanites brought in back from oblivion.

What appeared to be a corinthian helmet emerged from the pile of scrap even though it had an under breastplate and what appeared to be glowing blue eyes.

Last was a pair of gold bracelets with blue glowing gems were assembled before the reading from the jar went blank. The jar itself than began to crumble to dust before the andorians eyes.

" Well, that didn't take long." Thex said to herself and the few other engineers who had been observing the nanites work. According to the readings, they had now vanished and the ones in the other jars had lowered in their activity.

She turned the scans to the armor, but given the material, it was made from the scanners could barely get through it's outer layer yet alone if something was inside.

" Repairs complete bonding with new user." boomed an electronic voice as the pieces of the armor began to glow and hover in the air. " Oh no...." Thex began to say before with a flash of light the armor vanished from behind their shielded environment.

In an instant Thex world turned black as pain shot through her head as antenna were crushed against her head. She let out a scream as she felt the metal contract around her as a noise echoed in her ears and into her very soul.

As suddenly as the darkness and pain had come it had vanished as with a blue flash a screen light up in front of her. The familiar sight of her engineering appeared before her now accompanied with what appeared to be a display showing her life signs on the right-hand side. Her team was standing over her obviously completely stumped about what to do.

Her body felt like it was now returned to her as she sat up startling some of her men. " It's okay guys. It's still me." She said though the robotic tone of her voice startled her. Looking at one of the consols the andorian couldn't help but laugh at her appearance. Parts of the armor had morphed and grown giving her a full body armor that made her resemble some sought of a mixture between a Greek hoplite and the earth comic hero iron man.

" Well, this will be something to tell the captain." She said wondering how she could get this thing off. Her mind snapped back to the Greek myths book and the legend of Achilles. Giving the back of her left foot a tap she was rewarded as with an alien buzz the armor contracted back into it's normal pieces other than the two bracelets which staid firmly attached to her wrists.

" Well, at least that was easy. " Thex said as she looked at her team. " Okay everyone i want all data stored and logged and someone get a dangerous material container prepared for the armor. I don't want anyone touching it without my say so."

Her team nodded and got to work as Thex sat down in her chair. The bracelets came off with a simple clip which she placed on the desk. This was going to be something to put in the report.

As the trio of officers left the Hera through the Starboard side docking port and headed into the worldship, they were met by a group of three of the locals that rather resembled humans, but were a bit shorter on average and wore brightly colored, paneled uniforms with trim all over them. "Greetings, Captain. Our lord has informed us of your arrival and bids us to escort you to his antechamber and to do all that we can to make your stay as comfortable as possible. As well, your people may conduct as many scans as they like, though we caution you that those summoned may be dangerous. If you will follow us..."

Motioning towards an ornate, golden tram styled after a dragon, they led the Starfleet officers aboard to be whisked away deeper into the worldship.

"I'm Rita Paris, what's your name?" Paris turned to one of the diminutive humanoids, offering her hand. Time to do what I do. Hello, local guide.

The small woman offered her hand and a bright smile. "Hello! My name is Flumia Lox! I'll be your local guide during your stay. I'm also a luck mage, if you need any luck."

One of the others elbowed her in the ribs and chastised her quietly. "Shhh... I don't think we're supposed to tell them things like that. We don't know what kind of powers they have yet."

"Oh, that's okay, I can just tell you. I'm very lucky and unlucky, that's my power. So a luck mage surely sounds like a friend to me!" Rita smiled brightly. "So who is your master? What can you tell me about the august personage are we about to encounter, so that we might know our host?"

"Flumia smiled even brighter. "I knew you were special! Well, Log'yerm/// floats off the ground about a meter, looks like a wad of meat, has thirteen eyes... He's normally a kind and benevolent lord with all sorts of ninth dimensional powers. He formed most of this ship on his own, in fact. He also saved our people from extinction when our sun was about to collide with another one several thousand cycles ago. He says our evolution has been stunted living here, but no one has really wanted to leave so we've taken to summoning spirits from other planes to try and force our own evolution. They seemed lonely there as well, so we have someone to have fun with and so do they!"

The other two stared at Flumia like she'd gone mad. "Now you really have said too much! Log'yerm/// is going to punish all three of us now!" In the midst of freaking out over the loose lips of Flumia, one of them almost fell off the tram and dangled for a moment over the railing before flopping back on the floor, rolling around in distress over the apparent situation.

"Oh hush, you two! It's going to be fine! The pointed ear one found out more and Log'yerm/// just laughed it all off like it was no big deal!" Flumia crossed her arms and pouted like a cross child at Christmas.

"Well, if anyone is going to get into trouble it would be me, because I was the one who asked," Paris insisted as she helped the clumsy one back to their feet and reassured the paneled unformed little person.

"Log'yerm///?" the crimson-clad commander asked, checking her pronunciation. "9th dimensional powers? What's that all about?"

Flumia relaxed a little as she tried to explain. "As we understand it, he comes from part of the void and can reshape reality, probability, time... But only in a localized area."

"Sounds like a powerful being," Enalia considered this new information and tempered her expectations. This may be one of the more interesting first contact scenarios she'd ever heard of, let alone been involved with.

"One would imagine that someone who is the master of all space, time and reality in the local area would be pretty easygoing, all things considered," Rita optimistically opined, looking to the other two officers. "Right?"

"We should not speculate without actual data," Sonak retorted with seriousness. "Judging by encounters on record with such beings like the Q, the Dowd, Naguile, the Metrons, the Squire of Gothos or the Organians, there is no set pattern of behavior of entities with such a high level of power. Only one thing is certain; beings with limitations as ourselves when in the presence of such entities must be very careful. They could harm us even unknowingly."

"Especially if he isn't aware of the effect he's had on New Texas or the Titans," Enalia added.

"New Texas?" Flumia looked curiously between them. "Is that one of your worlds? And what are the Titans?"

"New Texas is a world quite close to here yet somehow paradoxically far away simultaneously. A human settlement- some people of my world who came to settle a new frontier close to the heart of the galaxy, the very core itself. Which is only a geographical position as far as my star charts read," the chatty commander rambled, marveling at how much terrain and distance were whizzing by as the dragon tram flew across the landscape. "As for titans... there are gods here, yes? Beyond Log'yerm///, there are other extradimensional beings of power and ability on this station, yes?"

"If they're seeing them from New Texas, it's a high likelihood that's bleedover from whatever's happening here. So," Paris fixed Flumia with one of those smiles that made people feel good. "Gods and titans and legends come to life, striding the stars, perhaps of the stars themselves, for is not all life made of naught but stardust? Yes, Flumia. Primordial beings who dwarf the local manifestations, apparently. Dark matter brought to motion and sentience and sinister purpose."

Sonak raised an eyebrow at the rather ecclectic and broadly generalized statement of the first officer but did not say anything about it. At this moment, she was more qualified than he was to deal with their hosts; and, as a good scientist, he was first concentrating on gathering data and testing hypothesis before making any claim or offering any theory to work with. So far, they had so very little information, most of it highly conflicting and incoherent; but that was to be expected when dealing with beings farther beyond them than they were from Terran termites.

So he stayed silent and listened attentively to what they were saying and observing closely the reactions of the aliens of this strange place; and everything else around them. Again he did not take his tricorder out, not knowing how these people would react to such overt intrusion. For the moment, his senses, his memory and his mind would suffice.

Especially now that he was feeling something a bit odd since the psionic surge that had hit him on the bridge; as if he had eyes but couldn't see because they were shut and he only had to open them to see again... yet didn't know how.

It was... intriguing... like everything here.

Before the Elfin-like trio could respond, the tram finished its trek across the surface of the worldship and entered a rather large tree-like structure that seemed to be lit from within with crystals. "We're almost here!" Flumia was clearly excited as she hopped up and down. Slowing, the tram eased into the central chamber - the inside of a giant hollow tree lined with aquamarine crystal latticework.

Hovering above the central dias was Log'yerm///. "Greetings, travelers. I am Log'yerm///. I welcome you to the worldship of my children."

Addressing a roughly spherical life form that had one central eye, surrounded by a halo of smaller eyes that protruded from the central mass on stalks that looked not dissimilar to Andorian antennas was a new one on the experienced explorer. But as the captain was staying back and observing, Rita took the cue to step forward.

“Greeting, Log’yerm///. I am Rita Paris, of the United Federation starship Hera. We thank you for your hospitality and your welcome to this worldship. This is Captain Telvan, commander of our vessel, and Mr. Sonak, our chief science officer. We are explorers, who greet you in peace and friendship,” Rita inclined her head in slightly, offering a small bow to the alien life form that eyed her so.

"As you say and as I have confirmed with your thoughts and intentions passing through my outer skin. If it were otherwise, your negativity would have prevented your entry. Similarly, if you have negative intent upon leaving, it will prevent that as well. Please do not take that as a threat, but merely as a warning. I and my children mean you no harm while you are here. The ones they summoned may be a bit more difficult to deal with, however." The floating meatball chuckled softly, revealing more of Log'yerm///'s pointy teeth than they may have been inclined to see. "My children do enjoy their past time though, so I allow it."

"That's actually what we came to investigate, if we're to be completely honest." Enalia had recovered, having had a bit of a dizzy spell once they had entered the chamber. Apparently the mere presence of this being wasn't the kindest to her symbiont's health if it's movement was any indication. "We've been having visitations from those that your children have apparently been summoning and beings more powerful called Titans are being summoned into the galaxy. We traced the energy feeding them here."

Frowning, Log'yerm/// thought on this for a moment before responding. "This is troubling news that you bring and an effect that I was not aware of. Would you be so kind as to explain the full situation to me, as you know it?"

Given the situation, Rita looked first to Sonak, who cocked his head slightly and both eyebrows rose almost imperceptibly. This was the point where he had inconclusive data, and could not reasonably draw a hypothesis of the situation without resorting to the creation of a considerable amount of connecting unknown, unverified and unknown data. Also, it was a diplomatic negotiation, in which he tended to follow her lead and support her efforts. Glancing to the captain, the pirate princess of Starfleet nodded her head in the direction of the floating eyeball, her unspoken order loud and clear. You're the 'people person', so you go people with him with your 'we come in peace'...

"The full situation..." The charming commander stepped forward to address the alien intelligence who had dreamt a world into being. "I cannot offer you as we understand it, but I can speak to my impressions of it all. Which is admittedly flawed, through my limited perception and having only witnessed parts of this cosmic mystery." Pivoting to the left, Paris began to slowly pace as she spoke, as she often did to organize her thoughts as she worked through a challenge.

"What your children can do here has happened elsewhere. These are beings that once existed, or apparently never existed and were dreamed into being. Belief became a palpable energy that could bring forth the gods of legend. And as the gods returned to take host amongst the stars, apparently the titans, the greater beings that begat even those gods, have begun awakening."

"Should the titans awaken, apparently they are prone to overwriting reality and starting over. We believe we encountered one in the roiling formation stage, an ion dark matter storm." Paris paused raised a finger and nodded. "Vaemyn figured out how to map a dark matter storm, which means he figured out how to identify dark matter. Clever fellow. Point being," Paris redirected herself, wagging that finger out before her as she resumed her pacing. "The energies that leak out of here definitely seem to make it conducive for those out there in our galaxy to engage in that past time your children are so fond of. Hera said she'd been back for a hundred years, so it seems to be a long term plan of some sort coming to fruition, someone playing a very long game."

"If there is a singular guiding intelligence behind it all I could not say. Perhaps the titans themselves conspire together, I don't know. Did I leave anything out?" Rita Paris turned back to her shipmates, inviting input.

"Succinctly and accurately put, Commander," the Vulcan science officer confirmed. "What we are dealing with here is the willful limitless transmutation of energy and matter without instrumentality. There is little probability that this is a random event, or of natural occurrence, as it seemingly defies all the laws and principles of established reality. Therefore, there is a specific source to all these manifestations... and a definite intent."

"What he said," Paris offered to keep it going. She had spoken the truth as she knew it with a bit of guesswork and likely an incorrect fact or two, but if this Log'yerm/// was as old as he was purported to be, the human adventurer suspected he knew when someone was lying to him. "So that's what we know."

Log'yerm/// looked a bit distant for a moment as he considered what had been said. "I sense much from your words... And there is much yet I must know, but this I must investigate myself. I will do my best to cease these disturbances in your areas of influence, though. Of this, you have my word. Does this include the ones that you brought with you aboard your starship?"

"No, great Log'yerm///," Enalia piped up to explain the situation with them. "The one known as Hera, though we think that your people summoned her about a hundred cycles ago, and is aiding us for now. As for the one in our computer core... We ask that you ignore that one. He's there to help keep the ship safe from... Extradimensional intrusions."

"Hmmm... Very well... This is a very dangerous game that your people play using a being such as him, but I will not interfere." Log'Yerm/// eyed the smiling leopard skinned captain for a few minutes before moving on. "I sense many questions in all of you. Please, if there are any more I may answer, feel free to ask them now."

"How do the titans form of dark matter and ionic energy?" Rita Paris began, then began ticking off questions she'd apparently either been considering for a while or was coming up with them on the spot. What is their final form? How do these gods manipulate energy so effortlessly that it appears magical to us? Is the superhuman endurance and durability common to all of them or just some?"

"They appear humanoid in most documented cases so far, is the body an avatar or is it the adapted form of the entity? They reproduce with mortals and produce demigods who in some ways outshine their godly parentage because of their popularity, which equates to energy- which we'll get back to that in a second. Question being, does that mean that the superiority of the physical and energy manipulation adaptation that they seem to possess is genetically hereditary? And how does that worship into energy work? How do they absorb the supplication in one form or another and transform that into palpable energy?" The human adventurer paused, glancing about as she realized she might have gotten a bit carried away, then decided to own it.

"For now, at least. Mister Sonak, anything to add?" the cheerful cosmonaut half-turned to the chief science officer with a smile.

Of course the Vulcan did not smile back. But he nodded to her and started to speak looking at her but then exchanged a glance with captain Telvan before ending looking at Log'yerm///.

"As fascinating as all those questions are and their answers eagerly wanted, the most important one remains; why are they here?"

"The beings you know as deities?" Log'yerm/// asked with a bit of a chuckle. "My children are tired of nothing changing after millions of cycles so they've found the power from my aura to summon them to try to spur their own evolution forward. As I understand it, most of the population favors this, though there are of course some elements of the population that do not. As it has not caused too much social stress or harm to my children, I have allowed it."

The first officer waited to see if anything else was forthcoming, and when it was apparent it was not, she narrowed her eyes and smiled, a tight-lipped smile of a perfunctory nature. “Wow, nice to see some things don’t change no matter where you go in the universe,” she muttered. “So much for that.”

“So are we done here, then?” Rita Paris asked at conversational volume with professional pleasantry.

Log'yerm/// looked rather downcast and apologetic, if a meatball covered in eyestalks could do so. "I believe they use summoning stones? I'm not exactly sure of the specifics myself. My apologies, but you'll have to question my children further on the specifics that you're after. I try not to interfere with their daily lives since my aura can have a drastic effect with even the slightest of shifts. As for your other questions... They are a fair bit more complicated and require a much more drawn out answer. If you like, I can compile that knowledge and transfer it into one of your data devices."

“That would be most appreciated,” Paris replied, somewhat mollified that at least he’d recognized that she had asked questions. “So where would be the best place to ask your children about these summoning stones and such? It’s a big worldship,” the clever commander observed.

"Actually, young Flumia is a priestess of one such faction, as I understand it. Perhaps she will be willing to aid you in that endeavor?" Log'yerm/// shifted his attention to the talkative young elfin woman and though her head was bowed, the pressure of the polydimensional being's attentions upon her were clearly visible. The other two stepped back respectfully, though from their earlier interactions it was clear what they thought of Flumia's talkativeness.

Her breath quicker and clearly excited to have garnered her master's attentions for a good reason, Flumia blowed deeper. "I will endeavor to do so, Great Log'yerm///."

“That would be a great boon to us, thank you so much. Have you any questions of us about our culture, our ship or our mission, Great Log’yerm///?” Rita offered, offering what they had as a diplomatic gesture.

Log'Yerm/// was thoughtful for a moment before responding. "I do have great interest in your peoples. You seem to be a diverse mix of cultures among your crew and with any culture, comes literature. If you would be willing, would it be possible to do a cultural exchange involving that literature? I will share the collected works I have collected over the millenia and you share the greatest works of your Federation?"

"I believe we already have such a package already prepared in the ship's computer, great Log'yerm///," Enalia replied, smiling brightly. "We'd be honored to share our cultural works with you."

"Cultural exchange is the Federation way. To receive your collected works in exchange would be greatly beneficial to our scholars and cultural scientists, great Log'yerm///. We would be most appreciative of such an exchange. Is there any other aid or assistance we may offer you or your people while we are visiting your realm?" Paris added, slipping in the concept that they did plan to leave, to see how it would be received.

"I hope that you enjoy your visit and learn much from your interactions, but any assistance you provide to my children would be a boon to both them and myself. Personally, I can not think of any assistance I require at this time, but if that should change, I will contact you." Log'yerm/// seemed to shuffle a bit on his podium. "Do you have an idea of how long you're planning on staying? A few day cycles? A fortnight perhaps?"

For that answer, Commander Paris turned with an upraised eyebrow to Captain Telvan, who was the one who made such decisions for the USS Hera.

"As long as our investigation takes, I suppose. Though with your cooperation into our search for knowledge and possibly resolving the issue of these summonings happening outside of your sphere of influence..." Enalia did some quick mental calculations, hoping that she wasn't too far off or vastly miscalculating. "One of our weeks at most, I think."

The giant floating meatball grinned as benevolently as he could. "Then I will treasure our time together and do all I can to speed you on your way. Flumia, my dear, please aid them in any way that they require."

"That'll be swell! Say, Flumia, might you happen to know where we could find Commodore Meowlith?" Rita turned to their diminutive hostess with a cheerful smile and turned on the charm.

"I believe she's been staying at one of our inns while her crew perform repairs on her vessel," Flumia replied, looking thoughtful for a moment, one finger to her chin. "She's been spending a lot of time at one of our universities so finding her might be a bit tricky."

"Maybe not," Paris quipped with a smile, tapping her comm badge. "Commander Paris to Commodore Meowlith- do you copy?"

As clear as day, the Vulcanoid Rigelian's voice rang through the air, surprising the elfin people. "I'm here Commander. I see you made it to the worldship. How was your trip?"

"Much easier than it would have been if not for your report ma'am," Paris reported cheerfully. A breifing would probably benefit all parties involved, and since the captain seemed to be waiting for her to take the reins, Rita pressed on. "How would you feel about a meeting, some sightseeing and taking in a meal all at the same time? By now you've been here long enough to get the lay of the land, and we have a delightful guide to lead us," Rita paused to offer a grin to Flumia. "So if you've the inclination for an indulgence, Commodore, how about a party of five for brunch?"

"I know just the place. They cater to taller folk like us and the summoned ones and they have a wonderful array of steamed pastries. Have your Flumia bring you to the Golden Donut next to my inn and I'll meet you there."

"Wow, she even knows the name of our guide. She's good," Paris muttered before finishing the report. "Aye ma'am, we're on our way."

Turning to the assembled diplomatic corps of the USS Hera, Rita Paris spread her arms wide and radiated enthusiasm. "So... Brunch?"

The cold metal deck plates of the smuggling ship, the Forrager, dug into the knees of the young Melanie Dox. The four year old part Romulan little girl was crying, locked out of the bridge of the ship she called home as the frantic voices of her parents leaked through the cabin doors.

The voice of Jaeih, Melanie's mother, was an angry roar of rage. Declan Dox's voice, Melanie's father, was more plaintiff. The sluring, drunk human was begging. Melaine strained to make out what they were saying but the words were muffled by the thick door. Suddenly, she winced in pain as she felt a cold stabbing sensation on the sides of her head.

Looking down, she squinted through tear filled eyes to see a small pool of her distinctly brown colored blood at her knees, flowing down from her head. Her hands were sitting between her legs, tiny fists clenched and covered in her own blood.

As the screaming continued from the bridge of the small freighter, Melanie shuddered as a chill ran down her spine. She felt... something in her closed hands. In each hand, she felt a rigid but soft, warm wedge. They were slippery and wet with the blood that seemed everywhere.

With a feeling of panic and dread overwhelming the child, Melanie slowly opened her hands. Looking down, she saw in each hand the tips of pointed, Romulan ears. Each with jagged, bloody edges. Melanie screamed, realizing that these were hers.

Suddenly, the door to the bridge slid open with a grinding sound. Melanie looked up, sobbing at the sight of her mother looking back at Melanie with panic across her usually stoic, Romulan facace.

"Mnhei'sahe!!! Melaine heard her mother scream as wave of nausea overcame the young woman. Her vision blurred and shifted out of focus, and suddenly Melanie Dox was again aware of where she really was.

In a corridor, she found herself back on the U.S.S. Hera. She was curled up on her knees, clutching tightly to the experimental flight control helmet she now remembered she was trying to keep from the invading God of stories, Anansi. Next to her on the floor was her shipmate, Yeoman Ila Dedjoy, also a victim of the psychic manipulations of the charming God.

With a stab of pain from behind her eyes, Melanie doubled over again. And again, she found herself on the Forager, but now as she was now. A woman and Starfleet pilot.

"Mnhei'sahe..." Melanie heard her mother's voice echo off the walls of the cold freighter as she shot back to her feet. "Mnhei'sahe..." The word echoed off the walls, warping and distorting to the familiar voice of Anansi.

Stepping into view from the shadows, the dapper dream god spread his long-fingered hands then began to move his fingers as a spider locomoting upon its web, as if reeling himself in toward the stunned starship jockey.

"Look it choo, all wrung out just by a little memory you doan wanna remember," the god of stories said slyly to Lieutenant Junior Grade Dox as he slid smoothly into a crouch beside her, his arms resting on his thighs with his hands dangling between them. "I'm bringing you da troot, child. You want to believe that I'm making this up and screwing with your head, but thas not me. I'm just tellin you the story like it happened."

Shaking in place as her mind raced with the images Anansi had just show her, Melanie shot back away from the intruding god, falling back onto the floor of the corridor in a panic. "What... Why are you doing this to us?!"

Before Anansi could respond, Dox's eyes fell to Yeoman Dedjoy on the ground next to the mischevious god and the panic was replaced by anger as she snapped out of it enough to remember her responsibility as a Starfleet officer. She scrambled to her feet and shouted "You have no right to do this! Get away from her!"

"Her?" The lanky long-limbed earthman with the bright glinting eyes smiled that perfectly white even-toothed smile as he chucked a thumb at Dedjoy, unconscious on the deck. "That one, her sister died, and a part of her died with her. She always wondered what those moments were like, how her sister died. She learning now. I am generous with my stories and dreams. Maybe she will believe it when she wakes. Maybe she will think it just a dream. I just offer the truth. But you... oh, baby, you... you got what I need. So give it to me... I'll show you the whole truth, and I'll be gone, pfft! Out cha hair. Off ya ship. Duty done, aye?"

Stepping back slightly, Dox tucked the flight control helmet tightly under her arms. It's what he said he wanted from her before and he was reinforcing that idea, which made the stressed young pilots mind race as a realization came to her. "That's not my duty." A rush of fear went through her but she pushed past it. "I'm... I'm right here and you're supposed to be a GOD. Why not just take it?"

'Why indeed?" The slender man whirled and blurred in the space he'd occupied, and he drew the shadows toward himself to add to his mass, those long fingers growing into long hairy legs, those sparkling eyes multiplying then doing so again, leaving 8 shining black eyes on the giant spider that filled the corridor. The giant spider who leapt into Melanie Dox's personal space, the fangs dripping with venom centimeters from her face.

"I... am the god of stories. If I kill you here and end your story, it isn't nearly as interesting as it's going to be, because anything is more interesting than dead. I like you, child. I want to help you by telling you a story, YOUR story." Those eight insect eyes studied the Starfleet officer with sinister intent.

Eyes wide with terror at Anansi's transformation, Dox tried to scream but found her voice refused to respond. Falling backwards, she slammed the back of her head against what she thought was the corridor floor. But when she opened her eyes, she was somewhere else.

There was no enormous spider, but instead Melanie found herself staring up into a series.of bright lights. She was on a cold surface that felt like metal and she couldn't move or scream. Her eyes went wide with panic as she saw arms breaking the light above her as her eyes struggled to focus.

At first, she feared that it was the spiders arms again before the shapes and shadows became more clear. There were two people standing above her in stained gray gowns, their faces masked. The figure on the left gestured to the one on the right, who passed over a long knife that reflected the light from above into her eyes.

The other figure picked up a syringe and plunged it into Melanie and she felt a stab of pain in her arm and a flush of warmth. Her eyes felt heavy but she struggled to keep them open. Suddenly, the figure with the knife put one hand her forehead. She struggled to move but was still paralyzed as the knife moved closer and closer to her face. It slid to the side of her head and she felt a sensation like being burned by freezing ice

Suddenly, the sensations changed and Melanie felt a wave of nausea overtake her as an intense stab of pain exploded behind her eyes. The image of the cold room and the lights blurred back to the corridors of the Hera and the face of Anansi as Dox let out a high pitched scream of agony.

The enormous spider screamed in unison, scuttling back from the pilot. "What was dot?!? What's in your head, child of Roma?" The spider scuttled back into the shadows, drawing them about him like a web, then disappeared.

From the deck of the corridor, Dox clutched the back of her skull as she squinted at the vanishing Anansi in confusion. "In... my head?" The pained pilot slurred. Her right arm tingled as she struggled to her feet. "What the fuck..."

Steadying herself against the wall, she felt the pain subside and her nausea abate enough for her to think. She somehow had held on to the helmet through the visions and pain, but Anansi's words started to process.

"The nanobots. Asa's nanobots. They were designed to... help me regulate the visual input from the helmet... They must be... Doing the same with his..." While thinking through the problem, she stumbled to a knee to check Dedjoy's vitals. Her pulse was steady and she seemed okay, if still trapped in whatever vision Anansi was giving her. But it was Melanie that the god wanted.

'No...' she thought. 'It's the helmet. If it projected me into his... Astral whatever. It enabled me to somehow pick up their psychic energy. Maybe it could BLOCK it too.'

Putting the helmet on to free her hands, Dox tucked an arm and began pulling the limp form of Ila Dedjoy up. Taking nearly a full minute, Melanie finally made it to her feet with her arms tucked in the armpits of the unconscious Yeoman and began dragging her down the corridor toward the turbolift.

Once inside, she flopped hard against the rear wall of the lift. The weight of Dedjoy feeling that much heavier for the effort. For a moment, the door to the turbolift remained open and Dox began to worry.

Which was when, in a bizarrely surreal moment, Jaeih Dox stepped around the corner and into the turbolift, as she eyed the panting Starfleet officer underneath the unconscious yeoman. Clad in the black coveralls she had worn in every message to her daughter, the stern maternal figure arched an eyebrow critically as she took appraisal of the situation. When she spoke, it was in flawless Rihan, in the inflection that Melanie Dox knew all too well from her childhood.

“Endangering yourself for another who is not even of your people? Fleeing, stubbornly refusing to bargain with an entity vastly more powerful, who only wishes to make a deal over something easily replaced? You disappoint me, daughter.”

Initially shocked and frightened, Melanie pushed further back against the rear wall of the turbolift, pulling Ila Dedjoy's limp frame in closer to her. Her mind was spinning trying to process what she was seeing, and she responded in the same Romulan tongue, "M... Mother?"

Rihan was Dox's first language and in her current state, it flowed much easier than English did. Her expression, thought pained, snapped to suspicion. "No! This is another hallucination. My mother isn't here!"

"An hallucination is a lie a child tells herself, to deny the truth she wishes not to face, Mnhei'sahe. I offer you only the words you know to be true, to pose a question you do not wish to answer because you continue to defend your poor choices." Turning to stride back out of the turbolift, Jaeih Dox tossed a wave over her shoulder. "Do as you see fit. I will have nothing to do with it."

It was a phrase the young lieutenant junior grade remembered from her upbringing, which was her mother's argument when Melanie made a decision with which her mother disagreed, but she refused to debate it because of her conviction that she was right and Melanie was wrong.

The panicked young part Romulan pilot felt like a little girl again as the words of her mother reverberated in her head. Still speaking in Rihan, Dox whispered to herself. "It's not real... It's not real..."

As the door to the turbolift hissed closed, Melanie slumped down as she felt the same stabbing sensation behind her eyes as before. Struggling to speak, much less stay upright, her words were slurred slightly in partly broken english as tears streamed down her cheeks. "Computer... D... Deck 4... FL... Flight Control."

To her shock, the turbolift whirred into motion. She was afraid that it too would fail to work in the presence of Anansi's power like her comm badge. "Hold on, Ila." Melaine mumbled, her words switching back to her native Rihan. "I've got you. I've got you."

The turbolift doors opened up on deck 4 as Dox continued to drag the still prone form of Ila Dedjoy with her as she inches her way towards the flight control office. Her head was throbbing and she felt faint from the effects of Anansi getting into her mind again.

'Something's... Something's wrong. Asa's nanobots are pushing Anansi's hallucinations out of my head. Blocking him... but something's wrong... It shouldn't be hurting like this...'

As the doors to the flight control office whooshed open, Dox fell hard into the room with the body of the sleeping Dedjoy splaying out over her. Two young ensigns were talking in the center of the room and turned with a shock at the sight of their department chief struggling to get up.

"Mona..." Dox called out, weekly and almost inaudibly, from the floor, desperate to find Ensign Gonadie, the Miradonian pilot and inventor of the flight control helmet which had rolled off her head into the room. The two young ensigns rushed over to help. One rolled Yeoman Dedjoy off of Melanie while the other helped the lieutenant to her feel.

"Ensign... Harnell. Ensign Paulsen. I... I need your help." Melanie's voice was weak and her complexion was a pale, sickly yellowish green.

The young Ensign helping prop Melanie up went to tap his comm badge, but like before, nothing happened. "You need to get to Sickbay, Lieu... what the hell?" The ensign replied.

"Listen to me!" Dox snapped, pushing herself to stand under her own power. She looked back down the corridor to the direction she had just come from and saw nothing. Turning, she gestured to the other end of the corridor. "Arm yourselves... I need the two of you to take Yeoman Dedjoy to Sickbay NOW! Once you can, call security and tell them we have an intruder from the God ship... but get her and get yourselves away from this room as fast as you can."

The two young officers looked confused and a little frightened, but Melanie's head was splitting and she was rapidly running out of patience. "NOW! That's an ORDER!"

Once they had left, the doors to the room hissed closed and Dox was as certain as she could be that Dedjoy was safe, she righted herself and stumbled over to the closed door of Gonadie's office as it hissed open. Sighing with a momentary bit of relief at the sight, she called out to the brilliantly colored ensign, "Mona!!!"

Startled from her latest project, Mona looked up from her displays to see a bedraggled Melanie entering her office, her prototype helmet under one arm. Quickly clicking her desk screens off, she rushed to her friend's side to help support her. "What in the sky? What happened? You look like a lemuria cat caught you."

"Lemuria giant spider god... actually." Dox replied, hurriedly. "But there's not enough... No time."

Removing the helmet to gesture with it. "It's this. Your helmet." Her head felt like it was splitting open as she tried to summarize for the concerned looking Ensign. "Somehow... It made it so that I could... their psychic energy. The helmet picked it up. And now they want it... he wants it. One of the gods... Anansi. He attacked us... In our minds."

"That's not good..." Mona was a bit unsure what to do, but if one of the gods wanted her invention and was willing to harm people for it, it was definitely not for a very nice reason. "Maybe we should destroy it then."

"No... He wants it too much. I think... He's afraid of it somehow, maybe. If it can receive psychic energy, maybe it can be made to block it. He's... I think... Feeding off it. We cut off their ability to get strength from our minds... that's a weapon." Her idea was meerly conjecture at this point, but it was enough of a reason to keep moving forward.

Looking behind her at the door to the corridor, Melanie knew Anansi would be on them in no time. She winced in pain again as she turned back to Gonadie. "He... For some reason, I don't think he can just TAKE it. He's trying to make me give it to him. You can't let him see you with this or he'll come after you." Dox pushed the helmet towards Gonadie.

"Get this out of here... Engineering... Figure out if we can get this thing to block their psychic energy. I just need to get him away from it." Stumbling over to the console on the wall, Melanie slapped the computer controls. "Computer... Replicate non-functional replica of flight control helmet."

In the alcove in the wall, a perfect recreation of the helmet appeared in a flash of light. Suddenly, Dox felt a wave of nausea that passed after a second as she picked up the fake, replicated helmet and turned towards Mona Gonadie. "Go! Get out through the flight deck so he won't see you. I need to have him focused on ME, Mona."

As the colorfully-plumed aviatrix made her recommended getaway, Lieutenant Junior Grade Melanie Dox was getting precisely what she wanted. The great weaver of stories and dreams was indeed focused upon her, and he was coming for that he desired. The experimental adaptation of a Dominion technology to sensory perception to aid in piloting.

To Anansi, the crown to the realm of the Dreaming.

Standing alone in the center of the now empty office, it's Chief Flight Control officer, one Melanie Dox, struggled to stay on her feet. In her hands was a non-functional replica of the flight helmet that enhanced her perceptions enough to enable her to navigate the HERA's way through the tumultuous chaos of the spacial anomaly in which they were now docked in a starship that carried a world within it at the center core of the galaxy.

The real helmet had somehow allowed Dox to perceive the psychic energies of the god-beings they were there to investigate. And that perception had caught the attention of the god of stories, Anansi. Because of its ability to project onesself physically into the Dreaming, Anansi desired to have it for his own. Anansi wanted the helmet, Dox had theorized, because he feared it could be made to eventually BLOCK their psychic powers.

That wasn't it at all.

Anansi was a god and loosed again, and quite powerful because of his folio. But if he could physically ascend to the Dreaming, he could live in the subconscious of all sentient life forever. He would endure, and be more powerful than the Sky-God, Nyame himself had ever been. A realm of his own if no other dream-gods dwelled there now, and sustenance and entertainment for an eternity. This would be his best trick yet, and he would make sure every race had a legend of how Anansi had come to rule the realm of dreams, across every world.

Mister Nancy. He liked that one. But they would invent names for him across every culture, iterations of the stories told in different ways relevant to that peoples. So many names, so many guises, but always the great spider who moves like a man, or a man with elements of the spider.

Closing in on the office where the brain-fried, exhausted and determined young woman who held the prize he sought hid from him, Anansi reviewed his options. The rules were clear- he could not take it from her. She had to give it to him, willingly. How he managed that was up to him and his cleverness, and he was confident. He still had a trick or two up his sleeve, and his ability to keep the ship nightmarishly distant from her was working well. She simply could not perceive most of the crew, nor they her, thus the ship seemed surprisingly empty.

The god of stories did not see the switchceroo, however. Because he was involved in this story. Which meant he could not see how it ended until they all arrived at that moment. The sheer excitement, the thrill of not knowing set his mandibles ashudder with anticipation.

The real helmet was now safe with it's inventor, Ensign Mona Gonadie, who Melanie hoped was halfway to Main Engineering. For her own part, Dox made her way slowly to her desk where she plugged the bundle of cables from the back of the helmet into her desktop computer interface.

"C... Computer. Call up the data from the last helmet simulation. Begin playing back the data diagnostics in real time on a... on a loop." The computer chirped it's reply and her screen came to life. Dox lurched back in her chair, taking a moment to try and compose herself.

The pain and disorientation she was feeling was being caused by nanomeds that Doctor Asa Dael had placed in her head to help her clear up the otherwise mentally overwhelming perceptions that the helmet caused. But it had become clear that they were malfunctioning somehow, trying to protect the exhausted Lieutenant Junior Grade from the psychic attacks of Anansi that took the form of vivid flashbacks and hallucinations.

She felt a stab of pain behind her eyes, which she had learned meant that Anansi was near and trying to push into her brain again. She had a plan and was desperately hoping her fake helmet would fool the trickster god long enough to enact it as she pretended to work at a quick pace.

That's when the office double hatch to the main corridor opened, and in strode Commander Rita Paris. All six foot one Amazon of command, with a stride of military confidence and a smile that lit up the room, fading quickly as she beheld the beleaguered officer slumped in the chair. "Miss Dox, are you all right? You look like someone landed a shuttlecraft on you."

The sight of Rita Paris filled the young pilot with a mix of relief and fear. In her exhausted and pained state, her sense of Starfleet protocol was more than a little off. "Rita!!" Dox yelled, instead of 'commander', standing up quicker than she should have done in her current state and stumbled back against the desk, shaking the one bit of decoration on it: A scale model of the Constitution-class starship Exeter that Paris had left there when she bequeathed the office and it's position as chief to Melanie.

"You... you shouldn't be here! It's not safe... he's coming! He'll..." Dox's mind flooded with everything she knew of Rita Paris' implausibly chaotic past. Being trapped as a ghost of living energy for 5 years. Being displaced across time and space. The idea of Anansi getting in Rita's head the same way he had attacked Melanie filled the young officer with a flood of anger and panic. "I can't let him get to you! I'm sorry... you have to get out of here! Get to security! Get help, but please..." She struggled to right herself but the pain in her skull had intensified beyond anything she had yet experience as her right side began to go numb.

"Hey! Hey hey hey!" Paris rushed to the side of the collapsing officer, catching her and easing her into the desk chair. Looking to the overhead, she barked an order that despite its polite phrasing, God himself would have obeyed. "Computer, please activate the EMH, medical emergency!"

When nothing happened, Paris began gathering up Dox in her arms, rolling her over the tall human's shoulder for a fireman's carry. "One way or another, I'm getting you to sickbay. Shipmates don't leave behind shipmates," Paris grunted as she slowly hefted Dox up, bearing her weight, which was apparently a bit more than the first officer with the lean musculature had anticipated.

In her arms, the short but hefty young woman began to squirm. "He's... the comm system doesn't work when he's around... I don't know..." The pain had become more intense and there was growing nausea in Dox as she weekly struggled against her superior officer. "You have to leave me, Rita! He's got to be almost... almost..."

At that instant, Melanie's stomach tightened as a horrible thought occured to her. The pain caused by the nanobots had only gotten this bad when Anansi was trying to get inside her head, and he was a shape-shifter that had already taken on the form of her own Mother to try and manipulate her into giving the helmet up. What if this wasn't Rita Paris?

"P... please, let me down, Commander. I... I can walk." She didn't honestly know if she could, but she had to know the truth.

Having just gotten under the load of the dense little pilot, it was more effort to put her down safely. But Rita Paris would never haul a fellow officer about if they said they could walk, and certainly not one of the section chiefs. Toting her about the starship would be undignified, and if she said she could walk, Paris gave her the benefit of the doubt and set her down, leaning against the desk. Holding the young woman by the shoulders, the compassionate commander made solid eye contact. "Steady? You okay to stand?"

While the pain continued and her vision had begun to blur as she tried to focus on Paris, Dox steadied herself and tried to downplay the agony she was in. "I'm... I'm okay, Commander." Her eyes darted between where she was standing against her desk chair and where Rita was standing before her. The decoy flight helmet was on the desk, just out of her reach but closer to the Commander. But if she was right, for whatever reason Anansi needed her to give it over. "I just... I need to get the helmet out of here. Away from Anansi if he attacks again!"

"I don't pretend to know what's going on here, but if the situation is as dire as all that, we'd better get moving." Drawing the antique-appearing phaser pistol from her hip, Paris held out her hand. "Hand it to me and we'll get you to Sickbay."

In a flash, Dox's pain was replaced momentarily by anger. She leaned over and picked the helmet up by the cables, disconnecting the leads. "Right... yeah... Commander."

Righting herself against the back of her chair, Dox looked back at Rita, and taking a breath, pulled hard on the cables. She swung wildly with the cables, using the helmet as a club, to slam it across the side of Rita Paris' head.

"How DARE you!!!" Dox screamed as her swing sent her slamming into the transparent aluminum wall behind the desk that overlooked the flight deck, as the pain in her head exploded. Her vision spun, threatening to go black around the edges and a stream of brown blood leaked from her nose as she screamed in agony.

Which was when some genuinely awful things started happening.

Spun about by the impact of the helmet, as Rita Paris came back to bear on Dox, two pairs of long, thin, hairy spider legs began unfolding from the back of the first officer. Growing to nearly twice her body length, they hoisted the curvaceous form up to loom over the injured pilot, even as 'Commander Paris' shrieked in pain. "What are you doing to meeeeee!"

Struggling back to her own feet, Dox wiped her nose and squinted through the pain at the sight of the horror happening in front of her.

From between those full lips, a protrusion grew obscenely, widening the mouth of the chronal cosmonaut until the protrusion split into two horrific mandibles, dripping with venom, as those bright blue eyes turned solid black. "What have you done to me? What is this in my head? What is happeninnnnnng?!?" the voice, half that of Rita Paris' familiar alto and half horrific nightmare echo as the eyes multiplied, then multiplied again as the bizarre nightmare creature wobbled unsteadily.

Tucking the helmet under her arm, Dox shuttered at the nightmare transformation, trying desperately to think clearly. The creature was wild and clearly in pain. But her own mind was clearing. "The... The nanobots..." She muttered to herself. "Pushing you out!"

With legs that felt like heavy bags of jelly, Dox let her academy training kick in to push past her fear as she stumbled out of the office into the corridor. "You want it, come and get it, fehill'curak!" tossing in a Rihan insult for 'asshole' for good measure as she broke into a limping half-run.

Behind her, the dream god shrieked as the mindlink he had established with Melanie Dox to manipulate her perceptions was now working against him, draining him of power and robbing him the ability to cloud the lieutenant's mind with illusions. The illusiory form of Commander Paris was rent asunder as the spider god could no longer maintain the phantasm.

God of Stories he be, but he was IN this story. In this story he was no mere observer- he could be hurt, outsmarted, outwitted. This thing, these ants in his brain that wore at his soul, these nanobots, were tearing away at his godhood. Now, when he was so close to so much more.

"HSSSSSS!" he roared, pedipalps waving fiercely as he declared war on the mortal. Rules be damned, he'd have his prize, and none could take it from him once he was the lord of the Dreaming. It was a tight fit, but the giant spider raced down the corridor of the starship, in hot pursuit of one stroke-addled Melanie Dox.

Sliding down the corridor wall to steady herself, Dox ran as fast as she could manage. Her right side was tingling and she had broken out into a cold sweat as she could hear the raging shrieks of the creature scrambling behind her.

Slamming into the doors of the nearest turbolift at the end of the corridor, Dox was panting as the pain in her skull continued the throb. Seconds later, the doors opened and Dox fell into the lift.

Looking up at the corridor, Dox pushed herself up the rear wall of the lift as Anansi scrambled after her, screaming in rage at the terrified pilot. She clutched the helmet tight as she shouted to the ceiling. "Computer!! Close doors, close doors!! Deck twelve... Sickbay!!

"Give me what I ask for and I shall be merciful to you upon my ascension. Else I shall enter your mind once more, child of the stars! I can survive another round- can you say the same?" Anansi roared in the corridor.

With the doors finally closed, the turbolift began to speed to it's destination even as the shriek of the frustrated god echoed briefly behind it. Dox tried to catch her breath as she felt a cold sensation in her ears. Feeling her ear with her free hand, she felt a wet warmth, and pulled her hand in front of her face to see that she was bleeding from inside her ears.

As the doors opened, she stumbled onto the deck of the corridor but only made it about twenty feet before collapsing to the ground with a thud. Hoping that with Anansi weakened, his effect on her communicator might be weakend as well. As her right arm didn't seem terribly cooperative, she brought her left arm up weekly and tapped it as she struggled to her feet. To her surprise, she heard the familiar computer chirp in response.

"Yes... C... computer... Please... Please call the EMH."

"Please state the nature of the medical emergency," the EMH said as he grabbed a bedkit out of an emergency wall panel and popped it open to pull out a tricorder and scan the bedraggled CFCO. "You look like you've seen better days."

"Please... I'm sorry... We don't have much time, Doctor. I know we haven't really talked so you have no reason to trust me here, but I need you to listen." Dox looked behind her with a look of panic as she could hear the faint whirr of a turbolift in the shaft approaching.

"Behind me... The god Anansi. The... the spider... I know this doesn't make sense. He can get into your head. He feeds off of your memories and fears. He attacked me and Yeoman Dedjoy."

"The Yeoman is in sickbay being treated now, which is where we need to get you for safety." The EMH smiled brightly as he finished scanning, tucking the tricorder back in the medkit. "Besides, I doubt this Anansi can hack my program. I'll make sure your body is at least safe, ok? Now let's get you to sickbay."

As her knees began to wobble, Dox tried to protest against the Doctor and explain all that happened, but all she could manage was barely audible gibberish in Rihan.

With a shock down her spine Dox turned, hearing the turbolift arrive.

"He"s... He's here." Dox slurred in Rihan. Then, suddenly as she felt Anansi draw nearer and the Nanomeds began to his psychic energy trying to reach her mind, her eyes rolled into the back of her head as her body went numb. Finally, the pressure in her brain overwhelmed her and she collapsed to the floor as the turbolift doors hissed open.

Turning weekly from the deck at the feet if the EMH, Melanie looked toward to open door of the turbolift to see... nothing. Anansi was gone and Dox could feel the pressure in her brain lessen. But the damage had been done, and the young woman finally passed out.

Hours later, multiple procedures and plenty of reassurances, Doctor Dael had done their work, and chief pilot of the USS HERA was going to be all right. Some damage had been done, but it was reversible. Now she just needed rest.

The lights had been dimmed and the localized white noise turned up to isolate the patient without having to use a private ward. It was in the dark of the night that Melanie Dox awoke, to see a medical crewman checking one of her monitors.

Squinting at the unfamiliar crewman, Melanie felt nervous. Her head was still fuzzy and as the crewman moved his hand across the monitors to wave a sensor over Dox, she flinched. His fingers seemed somehow too long and his eyes seemed too dark. There was a shine in those dark eyes as the crewman smiled down at Dox with what seemed like too many teeth.

"Sleep well, child." The crewman spoke, but it was the voice on Anasi that cane out as Melanie began to scream.

Suddenly, the crewman was gone and Melanie's eyes snapped open. She was still in Sickbay. Still recovering, but Anansi was nowhere to be found.

Was this just another one of his projected dreams, her dreaming that she was all right? Or was it simply a nightmare of her own?

Melanie Dox didn't know... and she wasn't sure she would ever again know for sure.

Laying on a medbay bed in the now quiet sickbay of the U.S.S. Hera, lieutenant Junior Grade Melanie Dox wiped a tear from her eye, hoping nobody would notice. But it wasn't easy as she was still in intense pain.

Dried brown blood rested, crusting under her nostrils and had collected in her ears from her encounter with the trickster god Anansi, earlier that very day. The self proclaimed 'god of stories' invaded the anxious young pilots mind and pulled out a host of painful memories, twisting them into waking nightmares.

There was a numb ringing in her skull as she squinted up at the medical lights overhead, trying to contain what felt like a growing sense of panic on the table. Flashes of the nightmare memories assaulted her. She could hear the ships Chief Medical Officer shuffling around her, hard at work.

The hypospray in Doctor Asa Dael's hands trembled slightly. The young doctor injected blood thinners and cortico-stimulants while suppressing their own sorrow that their friend was suffering. The nanobots in Dox's system were being flushed out through a series of electronic pulses aimed at the pilots left hemisphere, but some damage had been done. Thankfully nothing beyond healing thus far, but Dael felt responsible as they had placed the bots in Dox's system to begin with.

Stupid, stupid, stupid. Just inject a foreign substance into someone and send them into the field with that untested. Great job, Asa. Maybe next time you can just stab her in the eye and cut to the chase, Dael berated themself internally.

Turning to the nearby nurse, Asa instructed "Increase sub-psionic pulses at 25% until we reach a 5 micrometer per cycle recession rate. Then return to current levels until nanobot levels are consistently evacuating at rate with less than 2% variance per cycle."

Seeing their instructions were understood, Dael turned to asses Dox. Her pain receptors were in overdrive, so Asa injected another round of painkillers. The pilot was approaching maximum levels, but the doctor figured they had one more round in the next four hours that could be administered.

Watching the vitals above the biobed begin to stabilize, the doctor began to gently wipe the dried blood off Melanie's intrepid form.

"Your neurological function is beginning to stabilize, and the nanobots that caused the damage are leaving your system. We are sending pulses to aid the process and help heal your injuries. I'm not going to lie- the next few days are not going to be fun, but you are going to get through this, I promise. I'm so sorry this happened to you," Asa's voice began to crack, "I'm going to make this right. Tell me, how are you feeling?"

The doctor moved to sit next to their patient, holding her hand and letting a few tears fall freely.

Squeezing Asa's hand weekly, Melanie forced an awkward smile on her face. It was a bit of an effort in her exhausted state. "I'm..." She spoke weakly. "I feel very much ALIVE Asa. I don't think that would have been the case without your nanobots. They... they forced that... thing... out of my head. We wouldn't have... stopped him otherwise."

Closing her eyes for a brief moment, Melanie took a breath. "And I've got you to get me through the rest, Doctor. So please, don't beat yourself up. There's no way we could have predicted what happened. What Anansi..."

Wincing slightly, Melanie trailed off. But it wasn't the physical discomfort that was bothering her. It was flashes of memories of her encounter with the trickster god. Memories of what it showed her.

Memories she didn't want to think about anymore. But memories she needed to find out more about.

"Asa... Are we... alone?"

With a nod to Nurse Hathaway to leave, Asa turned to Melanie, "Well, the EMH is somewhere in the ether, but he's pretty good at respecting privacy, so yeah, it's just us. You ok? You drifted off there for a minute. Let's breathe together ok?"

Leading by example, Asa took a deep breath in and out, then said, "Try to sync your breathing with mine for a moment. Breathe in when I do, then exhale when I do. Think about the sensation of the air going in through your nose, out through your mouth. Just focus on that for a few minutes whlie the nanobots leave your system. I'm right here with you, I'm not going anywhere."

Seeing comprehension in Melanie's eyes, Asa continued to breathe at a slow, measured pace. It was extremely uncomfrortable to their El-Aurian biology and high metabolism, the doctor naturally tended towards shallow breaths in quick succession, but they were able to moderate it to help calm their friend. Seeing Melanie's vitals were continuing to stabilize and her cortisol levels were receding, Asa said, "OK, there you are. Let's catch up....you don't have to tell me anything you don't want to, but I think you need to get some stuff off your chest. Want to tell me what happened?"

"It's... more than just that." Melanie struggled to find the strength to tug at the loose strands Anansi had left in her mind. "He... his power. Anasi could... pull your own memories out of your mind. Make you... relive them." She sniffled, holding Asa's hand just a bit tighter. "But what you see... comes from your own memories."

"He... showed me things, Asa. Things... things I DIDN'T remember at first." Melanie was starting to get aggitated as she recounted the events, but paused to catch her breath and relax. On top of her own problems, she knew she was worrying Doctor Dael and wanted to try and not add to their stress.

"He said they were things I tried to... to forget." A tear ran down Melanie's cheek as she spoke. "I was... I was just a little girl. I was home... on the Forrager." Dox rattled off the name of the smuggling ship she grew up on, not thinking if Asa had any idea what she was talking about. But she was now lost in the moment.

"I was on my knees... In a corridor outside the cockpit. Listening to my parents. They were screaming at each other. Screaming about something... about... me." Melanie stopped herself again to try and slow herself down. Without thinking, she began mumbling 'calm down's in Rihan, the Romulan dialect she was raised speaking. "mos'eiheu... mos'eiheu."

"Sorry. It's... It's hard. I'm..." Melanie struggled to remember, but was determined to get it out. "I was on my knees. It was cold. No, I was cold. I was... wet." Tears began to well up in the injured pilots eyes. "My hands. I looked down at my hands and they were brown with blood. I was bleeding. It was streaming down my head and..."

Wincing, Melanie pulled her hands loose and up to her ears as if reenacting the memory almost unconsciously. "Something happened. I was bleeding from..."

Suddenly, Melanie stopped. She shut her eyes to breathe and wiped tears from her face. "When I dream... when I dream I don't look like this, Asa. I look like my mother. I look Romulan. All my life, when I dream, I have her ears, Asa."

Looking up with a pained expression on her face, Melanie's voice cracked as she spoke. "I think... I think they... I think they cut them off when I was little." She grabbed an ear again feeling a wave of panic welling up in her. "I think they cut them off and I forgot."

"I... I need to know if..." Melanie looked up at her friend. "I'm sorry... I don't know what to do."

Bad parenting was no stranger to Asa Dael, they came from a home destroyed by an overbearing fathers need to control the health of his wife and children. Perhaps that is what had drawn them to Melanie in the first place…one damaged child sensing another. The doctor made an effort to keep their face calm, not wanting to cause any additional distress to their patient.

“Well, I can check and see if there are any signs of alteration if you like. Keep in mind, dreams can be strange like that, and memory is tricky. About ¼ of what we remember is inaccurate in some way…our memories change over time, and that’s ok. Sometimes we remember things the way we need to.”

Moving a little closer and pulling up a chair, Asa continued, “Melanie, I’m so sorry this happened. If you want to find out the truth, I’m here for you, 100%. Just don’t feel like you have to, or that you have to rush to know what to do, or that an alteration to your ears made you any less wonderful. You are a kind, brave, brilliant, beautiful person, and anyone who would tell you otherwise is a fool……god or not.”

Between the lingering pain of her injuries and the emotional strain of talking about what Anasi had shown her, Melanie was now barely holding herself together. The memory of being surgically altered was only the first in a series of revelations that she needed to learn the truth about. Revelations she wasn't ready to talk about yet. But both of her parents were incarserated by Starfleet on Earth and she had no idea how she could ever confront them directly. This was the only revelation someone else could possibly confirm.

"If I don't... If I don't find out now... I don't think I'll ever be able to ask again, Asa." Melanie tried to wipe the tears from her face. "I'm s...s... I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have put this on you. You don't deserve it. You've been nothing but kind to me and I'm... I'm so sorry..." Her voice fell into a whisper.

"I... Just need to know if any of it was true, ya' know?"

With a squeeze to Melanie’s hand, Asa ran to the replicator and retrieved a hot cup of Earl Gray, returned to help Dox sit up, and brought the cup gently to her lips. In the doctors mind there is precious little in life better for curing the soul than a friends hand and a hot beverage….except maybe chocolate, but not while still in recovery.

The warm tea felt wonderful and soothing, as Melanie tried to calm down and let it do it's job.

They turned to Melanie and spoke gently, “Hey, come on now. First all, you are my friend, and I literally asked you what was going on. That’s because I care. Secondly, what kind of pitiful doctor would I be if I didn’t want to help you heal, both body and soul? Taking care of people is kinda why I took the gig, silly. I want to be here, I want to help, thank you for trusting me with that.”

Happy to be sitting up, Melanie's head started to feel a little more clear. Or, at least her snot filled sinuses from crying were getting to drain a little. Still, she found herself blushing at the doctor's kind words as they spoke.

Seeing the tea had done a bit of good, Asa placed it on the table next to the biobed. “And let’s not make you ask again, eh? Answers are a scan away…then we can face what comes after them together. And hey, Melanie? Your emotions are probably all over the place right now. That’s ok. You just had an ancient and powerful being mess with you and nanobots go nuts and scramble your brain too. I’d be surprised if you weren’t a bit of a mess. It’s going to be ok. Whatever the truth is, I’m here to face it with you. You aren’t alone, and you aren’t going to be. Heck, I live next door to you. Can’t escape me if you want to, my friend,” Asa concluded with a smile.

The doctor leaned over to an adjoining biobed station and secured a deep tissue triocorder. A small specialized device, it was able to determine the surgical history of tissues and organs that might otherwise be hidden from medical records and scanners. The whirring sound was tinny and high pitched, but thankfully the scanning process was brief. Asa put the device down, suppressing a sigh or a wince. It seems Melanie’s suspicions were correct….she had been cosmetically altered during her youth.

“Hey Mel…I don’t know if this is good news or not, but you were right. Your ears were surgically altered when you were around 5 years old. They did a good job though, and I don’t detect any loss of functionality. This does raise a question as to if there are any other parts of your anatomy that have been changed, so I do recommend a full genetic sequencing to compare to active physiology, but that can wait until you are doing better. In fact, I’m going to insist on it. I don’t want any further stresses to your noggin until it’s been bot free for a while, ok? And hey, um, can I give you a hug? It really seems like you need one.”

The last sentence was said with trepidation and shyness. The normally tactile cheery doctor was suddenly at a loss, knowing their friend must be questioning her existence and wanting to help somehow.

The conflicted pilot's mind was racing with questions and emotions. She sat, staring forward silently for a moment but she leaned in quickly for the much needed hug.

Enveloping the trembling client in a strong embrace, Asa felt Melanie’s hidden sobs quaking through her body, and the doctor tightened their grip around the pilot.

“You do realize this means I’m going to yell at Anasazi now, right? No one hurts my friends and escapes unscathed. Let’s see if I can’t kill the SOB with an arched eyebrow and a weaponized sneeze. Our little secret. Betcha I can find a germ or two the bastard doesn’t have immunity to…,” Asa said, attempting levity.

"He's... He turns into a giant spider, Asa." Melanie replied somewhat flatly, appreciating their efforts but feeling a bit too numb to smile.

"Well that's an easy one then. Pesticide! Or a friendly giant with big boots. As weird as the universe is lately, we will probably run into the jolly green giant soon enough. How ya feeling? Physically, I mean. Can you left each arm, one at a time, and then show me you can still move both sides of your mouth and blink? "

The bio bed indicated Melanie was returning to baseline, albeit slowly, but sometimes the old ways of checking on patients were best. After all, a patient cant read the complex med screen without training, but they can lift their arms and blink, and sometimes just proving to themself they were not permanently harmed could go a long way towards restoring health.

Lifting each arm slowly one at a time, Melanie sniffled a little. "There's still a little... tingle. Like my arms were asleep or something. But they're doing what I tell them too." A medical order, even one asked sweetly was still an order and.the officer in Melanie was attentive and it helped her to get out of her own head and do literally anything.

"How's this?" The still shakey lieutenant winked each eye, one at a time and turned the corners of her mouth up.

"It's almost a smile and an a flirt, so it's excellent," the doctor replied. They scanned with their tricorder, and seeing the nanobot recession rate was stable, continued to allow the bots to leave.

"The nanobots are leaving still, should be all out in about 30 minutes. The tingle is the electrical impulses in your body trying to normalize. Combined with the alteration in blood flow while we rectify the mini-strokes the bots caused, things might feel tingly or tickley for the next day or so off and on. I know it's not enormously comfortable, but it does mean you are healing."

Further reading the tricorder, Asa turned to look Melanie in the eyes. Speaking softly, they said, "You know that cosmetic surgery can be undone, right? If you want your ears returned to their genetic shape, I can do that for you. It's your choice, and not one you have to make today."

Lost in thought again, Melanie replied a few seconds longer then normal. "Huh? Oh... yeah." The emotionally torn young woman ran her finger over an ear nervously. "Yeah... maybe. I don't know."

Looking back up at her friend with a somewhat pained expression. "I just don't know what to think about this yet, ya'know. It's..." Melaine dipped her head back down. "I need to... think about it all. Figure it out. But... Thank you, Asa. Really."

Lightly bumping their shoulder against hers, Asa replied, "That's what friends are for, silly. And hey, if your quarters get too big at night and your head gets too loud, just come on over. I'll program you access to my door, and we can set up a second bed for a while if you want, or just climb into mine. I generally sleep curled up like a cat, so there is plenty of room. Or we can talk, or we just can occupy the same space for a while if you need. Trauma is funny that way- it heals best with a friend."

'Friend' was a word that Melaine Dox still had a hard time wrapping her mind around. Friends were something she had never managed to find in her adult life until joining the Hera and she didn't quite know how to behave. But she let an honest, albiet awkward smile crack her otherwise nervous expression. Being around Asa made her feel more comfortable in her own skin and she was glad for it.

But the smile was Melanie's only real response, as she couldn't find the words to express herself in the moment. A part of her was terrified that if she tried to say any more that she would simply fall to pieces. So, she smiled.

The smile was all she could manage as it was clear she was exhausted from her experiences.

Sensing Melanie was a bit overwhelmed, both physically and emotionally, Asa stepped back into doctor mode.

"Rest now. Sleep as much as you can for the next day. Your brain needs the REM cycles and delta sleep to get straightened out. I'm programming a sleep aid to your replicator in case you need it, but try not to if you can. No substitute for natural sleep. Let's get you home, ok? I'll walk you there if you want. Try standing up for me?"

Nodding quietly, Melanie slowly turned in bed and hesitantly brought herself to her feet. She was thankful that the nausea of the last few hours was gone and while she felt a tad wobbly due to fatigue, she stood up fairly well.

She turned and smiled weakly at Asa. "Everything feels like it's working, Doc."

"Glad to hear it, now let's get you to bed," Asa said, placing Melanie's arm entwined around theirs for support if needed, and began walking arm in arm towards the pilots quarters.

Another day and another round of testings was taking place down in engineering. A smile was on Thex face underneath the armor as the readings showed that the radiation wasn't even coating the armored surface. " Okay, guys lets start decontamination before the next shift gets here. " She said onto the comms as the bright white light began to decontaminate the room. She had been nervous at the start of this, but after a few tests, she was quickly becoming very happy wearing this suit. She felt like the sky was the limit whilst wearing this thing.

" Flight mode activate. " The suits computer voice echoed in her head as she felt something emege from the suits rear plate.

" Oh f...." She managed to say before there was a loud thud that rang out across the ship as she hit the roof of the room.

______________________________________________________________________________________________

Thirty munites later.

Thex thankfully had survived with no damage other than an Andorian shaped dent in the ceiling that her team would have to buff out. Still, at least she knew the suit had a flight mode which she now needed to test out. For that, she needed some help and the shuttle bay. For that, she knew who to ask. She knew she should have checked in on Dox a while ago, but her job was keeping her busy. Still, she knocked politely on her office hoping the hybrid would be in.

Sitting at her mostly bare desk in the spacious flight control office, Lieutenant Junior Grade Melanie Dox was lost in thought, focusing intently at the computer display. Today had been her first day cleared for duty after almost dying as a result of her attack by the trickster god, Anansi only three days prior.

The young pilot was still feeling fairly out of sorts, as the attack was psychic in nature and revealed a host of repressed memories that weighed heavily on the part-Romulan officer. So she was burying herself in her work to distract herself from her own thoughts as best as possible. And even though her shift had ended twenty minutes ago, she desperately wanted to keep busy to distract herself from having to think about what she had learned, or about the monstrous horror that was Anansi himself.

Momentarily confused by the sound of knocking rather than the familiar chime, Melanie straightened in her chair, adjusted her uniform top and replied. "Come in."

Stepping in Thex gave her a warm smile. " Hello, Dox sorry for not coming to see how you're doing. How are you feeling? " The andorian asked as politely as she could.

Smiling a little awkwardly, as was her way, Melanie replied. "I'm... better." Emotionally, she was struggling to keep it together, but physically she was all but fully recovered. "Doctor Dael put my brain back together expertly. Still feeling a little off though. Almost like a three-day hangover, for lack of a better phrase."

"I can't even begin to imagine what you've been through, but if you need someone to talk to just let me know. You're not alone here Dox and we'll do everything we can to help." The Andorian responded before running her fingers through her head. " Now I have a favor to ask off you. I need the hanger by cleared for some testing. That loud thump you may have heard a while ago was me discovering the god armour has a flight mode." She said looking rather sheepish.

Blushing slightly at the offer of help, Melanie quickly shifted her focus to her Andorian Lieutenant Commanders problems. She winced slightly, imagining the scenario hinted at by Thex. "That's no problem. We're on a skeleton crew down there right now as I'm just about done with a crew rotation." Dox leaned back and tapped her comm badge while standing up to walk over to the large window at the other end of the office overlooking the Hera's main flight deck. It was an awesome sight and Dox understood why Rita Paris was often found standing and staring out over it when this was her office. "Ensign MacNeille, please clear the flight deck. I'll be needing to run some tests with Commander sh'Zoarhi for a bit. Thank you."

Looking down through the window, she waved down to the young officer who offered a nod as she exited the chamber. Turning back towards Thex, Dox replied with a smile. "The deck and her chief are at your disposal, Commander." She was happy for the challenge of the work.

" Thanks. I don't want to try using the flight mode until I have some space to use it. Well, try and use it. I still barely understand how it works. Not that I expected some god tech would be easy. " Thex said as calmly as she could. " Could you monitor me while I try to see what it can do?" She asked politely.

Walking back to her desk, Dox replied. "Absolutely, there's a control station down there I can monitor you at directly. Aaaannndddd..." Punching in some controls into her computer for a few seconds, she looked back up at the andorian officer. "For good measure, I've instituted an impact dampening force field in the bay. It's usually used in the event of a shuttle coming in fast, but at 25% power, should be a perfect cushion for training in this case."

"Okay, let's get this started." Thex said as she walked down to the now empty hanger bay. Pulling out the two bracelets from her pocket she slipped them over her wrists before crossing her arms across her chest. " Protect." She yelled as a flash of light enveloped her as the armor folded around her. The Andorians eyes looked along the data to see if everything was okay. " Pretty cool isn't it?" She said looking over at the hybrid.

"Wow." Dox replied as her eyes widened and a smile crept across her still wearly looking face. "That IS sutibly impressive, Commander. Let's see what you can do with it."

Thex closed her eyes breathing in deeply as she thought of flying. At the word sky, she felt the same shift in the armor as something sprouted on the rear plates. "Flight mode activated. " the suits robotic voice said as she felt herself float from the sky. Her mind scrambled as she thought about stopping leaving her hovering in the air. Gazing at one of the shuttle screens the andorian she saw that a pair of metallic looking wings had sprouted from the back of the armor which was pulshing with a light purple energy.

" Well, that's something. Can you get any readings Dox?" Thex asked trying to hide her excitement from flying.

Looking at the console in front of her, Dox was partly confused by some of the readings for a moment before working it out. "I'm getting some interesting data, Commander. That visual energy signature is not all that different according to the sensors to the HERA's tractor beams. It tells me that's likely the mechanism that's holding you aloft, and probably propulsion as well."

Walking a little to the side with a PaDD that gave her access to the rooms console array, Dox stepped over to get a closer look. "What's really interesting is that I'm getting a very distinct signature here from the armor. It's the same frequency we found from the flight control helmet I was using that inadvertently enabled me to pick up..."

Trailing off for a moment as the discovery had caused a brief flood of memories of the psychic attack she had only barely survived just days prior, Melanie cleared her throat and continued. "It's a telepathic frequency. The first our instruments have ever been able to identify, really. And I'm guessing it's keyed in to your brainwave patterns, Commander. Hold on."

Pressing a few buttons, Dox switched the sensors over for a basic medical scan. "The helmet tuning me in to their psychic energy played havok with my blood pressure, but you are in the green. This technology is clearly.more advanced and likely designed to do this."

Smiling up at the floating Andorian, Dox followed up. "Well, I'm not a doctor but your number ARE a little over baseline, but that's understandable. That DOES look fun."

" It was also probably designed to work with us easier as well. Hephaestus did seem to care about us." The Andorian said from her aloft position. " It does feel amazing. I hope i can figure out how to fix it so anyone can use it." Under the helmet, a smile spread over her face as she turned and looked towards the opposite end of the hanger.

The thought of flying towards it filled her brain as she felt her body shift as she roared towards the other side. Thex couldn't help but laugh out loud as she tore around the hanger.

Smiling as she watched Thex circle the hanger, Dox couldn't help but share in her excitement. "That's a lot of Data, Commander. But one of the hardest parts of flying can be landing. Let's see how you bring her in."

Thex nodded as she thought about slowing down to which she slowly did until she had returned to hovering in place. " Okay now lower..." She began before the voice echoed in the helmet. " Flight mode deactivated."

" Oh fu.." She began before the wings faded back into the armor causing her to fall to the floor with a thud. She felt no pain the suit canceling out any inertia. " Well, still need to learn how to handle the landing. " Thex said as she stood up and gave the deactivation switch a slight tap with her foot causing the armor to begin to disassemble and fall to the floor. She pulled the helmet from her head and gave her head a shake before she started to pick up the pieces.

"Well, there are a few tricks I can show you to help out thre with landing." Melanie kneeled down to help Thex pick the pieces back. "Stuff you can practice in the holodeck, even. But if you'd like, we can bring this data back up to my office and go over it. There's several really interesting stuff here."

" Sounds good. Could you imagine the possibilities if we can reverse engineer this armor? It could be the biggest jump in tech the federation has had in decades. " Thex said as they walked back to the office.

"You should talk to Ensign Gonadie about that. She's working on ideas along those lines, and when it comes to flying, she's forgotten more than I know." Dox chuckled as she spoke of the brilliantly plumed Miradonian officer that was second in command of the Flight Control Office.

Back at her desk, Dox called up the data. "Computer, data projection please."

With a chirp, the Holo emitters in the center of the room flaired to life and a three dimensional projection of the flight armor appeared. Surround it was a listing of data, charts, and graphs. "Ultimately, I'm no engineer, so most of this data probably means more to you than it does me, but I know flying and this thing projected some very familiar shaped fields."

Waving her hand in front of the projection, the view shifted to a digital green wireframe of the armor with an overlay of gold curved lines. "See these. This gold is what that purple glow was actually creating. We couldn't see it, but these are forced energy projections. Like a forcefield that takes on specific shapes."

Reaching to tap a button projected in the air, the gold lines shifted their shapes, one by one. "And the configuration changed every time you thought of a different flight action. Each configuration affected the airflow since you were flying in an atmosphere environment. Forward momentum created this wing shape, like a terran Manta Ray. When you stopped, the wing shape formed this wedge."

"Now, there's one VERY interesting thing you might not.have noticed. And that.came up when I checked your vitals." With a swipe, Thex's vital information came up with a holographic representation of the Andorian officer. "When that field was on, according to the sensors, your lungs were breathing recycled air. And it was NOT our air. That field was recycling your air from your own respitory system. It's self contained, Commander. We can test it, of course, but I think you can take that out of the ship for a ride without a suit."

On hearing those words Thex had been half tempted to jump in the suit and try flying outside of the ship, before her Starfleet mind snapped back to attention. " Yeah, I'd like to test that in a controlled environment before jumping into outer space." She said as her fingers began to move over the data.

The ship's scanners were still struggling to actually get a look at the inner workings of the armor due to it's the hardened material it was made from. Still, the had something from this result. The energy coming from the wing attachments was enormous according to the reading. " Whatever powering the suit must be very powerful. We'd need most of the ship's power to get the energy of this level." The andorian said looking at the holoprojector of an image of the wing attachment of the suit.

"Well, that is significantly beyond my abilities, but I hope this was helpful, Commander." Walking back to her desk, Dox pressed a few buttons on her desktop computer. "All the data is in your system for review, and we can run any further tests you need."

" Thank you Dox you've been a big help. Don't suppose you want to get something to eat after all that because I'm starting to feel hungry? " The andorian asked as her stomach started grumbling.

Grateful for the opportunity of company, the usually socially shy part-Romulan smiled her awkward smile. "I am officially off duty, so that would be great, actually." The young department chief logged out of her workstation, deactivating the hologram and relplied. "Thanks."

" Well, let's go. I have to drop this off back in its security box then we can get some chow. Want to go to the officer's mess they have fresh pizza?" Thex said looking at the armored pieces then back to her friend.

"Pizza sounds great." Dox replied.

____________________________________________________________________________________________

It didn't take long before the two had stored the armor back in engineering and had arrived at the officer's mess. The smell of fresh dough and cheese filled the small room as the fresh pizza's sat in the holding trays. " That smells lovely doesn't it?" The andorian said to her hybrid friend as they stepped into the room.

Walking somewhat hesitantly behind her Andorian Lieutenant Commander, Melanie entered the officer's Mess a step behind Thex a little nervously.

"Yeah..." Dox replied somewhat shortly, the aroma of fresh Pizza was quite welcome but the anxious part-Romulan hadn't been in the officer's Mess since the senior staff lunch briefing weeks ago. The socially awkward young lieutenant preferred to eat in her quarters, more often than not.

Thex gave a polite smile as she picked a pepperoni pizza from the holding trays. " Come on, the booth on the far end by the window's nice and quiet."

Picking up a tray and a bit more pizza then she probably needed, the rotund young pilot followed, sitting with her back to the room, where she could see the stars streak by through the window.

Thex still had her smile on her face as the stars streaked by the window. She took a bite from her pizza before looking out the window. " I wonder which direction Andor is from here?"

While the question may have been rhetorical, Melanie Dox grew up memorizing star charts, navigating by the stars and learning to fly a freighter by the time she was ten. She looked blankly up at the ceiling for a moment, running numbers in her head. She knew where the Hera was, where she was headed and her current speed.

After a drawn out moment, Melanie gestured toward the back right corner of the room. "Pretty sure... That way."

" So away from it. Always a comfort." Thex replied as she took another bite from her pizza. " Sorry, you probably don't want to hear about my mess of a childhood."

Recongnizing a sense of loss that was all too familiar to her in her Andorian friend, Melanie leaned in putting her pizza down on the plate. "If you want to talk about it, I'm not going anywhere."

Thinking about how Asa Dael listened to her cry in Sickbay over her own family memories, Melanie felt she could do no less now.

" It's okay. You don't need my troubles on top of your own. Let's just say you're not the only one with a shitty childhood and I have no intention of going back. " Thex said calmly. " Sorry, I shouldn't have brought it up. Especially given what's happened to you recently."

An awkward smile crept on the anxious officers face as she thought about it. In the few days since the attack, she had learned that she was surgically and genetically altered as a child. But outside of Asa in Sickbay, she had kept much of the details.of what she had learned to herself. Of course, starships being what they are, the broadest stroked had already made their way around the ship.

But Melanie didn't want to dwell on it any further at this point. "Nothing to be sorry about, really. I'm... Working through my shit. And I really don't mind if you ever do want to talk." She took a drink of her regretfully syntholic beverage and chuckled. "But it's nice to know shitty childhoods are a universal experience."

" That we can both agree on." Thex said taking a drink from her own glass. " Here's to beating are shitty start in life."

While she was feeling particularly defeated by her life at the moment, Melanie let herself smile, happy in that moment to not feel quite as alone in the universe. She raised her own glass as well. "I'll drink to that."

Flumia was an able guide and was quickly able to lead the group of starfleet officers to the restaurant called the Golden Donut next to Farenia's inn that she had been staying at since she had arrived. The trip was mostly accomplished on another of those dragon styled trams, then across a streetcar in a similar style. Everything so far had been on the 'surface' so there was plenty of light and open air and even though there was a dome, it still felt like they were on an amazingly well done recreation of a planet, if not a planet itself. Wandering the streets there were a few elfin peoples wearing fancy clothes and some obviously higher tier summoned beings, but other than that, it seemed this part of town was reserved for the upper class and VIPs.

As they arrived at the Golden Donut, Flumia bowed graciously and announced their presence. "Captain and crew of the USS Hera, arriving." With that, the wait staff called out warm greetings and Farenia, who had been sitting at a special taller table, looked up from an old tome she had been reading and smiled warmly.

Closing the large book, she handed it off to an identically dressed elfin woman standing next to her. "Thank you, Flumia. Please take care of this for me." With a nod and a smile, the woman rushed off with it to stash it away safely. "'Nalia, it's great to see you. I knew you and your crew would make it." With that, she tackled the spotted captain in a tight hug.

"Ah, well, if you were crazy enough to do it in an Oberth and I wasn't going to do it in my ship, I'd never hear the end of it, now would I?" Enalia returned the hug, then held Farenia out at arm's length to look her old friend over. "You're looking well at least."

"I feel great. Everything about this place is fascinating. They've taken energy flow to a level we can't even imagine reproducing for at least another... Six hundred years? Maybe? The tech behind everything is amazingly advanced, yet they live as if they're in a pre-computer boom era. It's..." Farenia flailed her hands about for a few moments before motioning to the table. "Let's sit down and talk over brunch." Looking over at the wait staff, Farenia waved at them. "Full course brunch for four, please."

While waiting for the senior officers to sit first, Sonak scanned everything around them; not with his tricorder, as it could have been interpreted as intrusive, but only with eyes, ears and nose, relying on his photographic memory and analytical mind to sort out the bewildering array of forms and colors, noises and voices, odors and fragrances that were mixed all around them. Quite experienced with alien worlds, he sorted out the trivial from the significant, ever watchful for opportunities... and risks.

Since everything in this environment was artificially implanted for a purpose, he made a conscious effort to find out that intent.

Active while Sonak was passive, Rita Paris was the counterpoint to the somber scientist. As he silently studied their surroundings, she had been chatty with the locals the entire trip, taking in the sights, asking questions of points of interest and interacting with the locals to get a feel for them, their culture, their society and whatever might lie beneath the surface of the Worldship. Charming and positive, she had a way with people, and she felt as though she had made inroads with her guide, although she was surprised to see an identical guide tending to the Commodore.

"So as this is seemingly the source of the energies that are summoning back the gods of the galaxy, I assume that's our mission here? Or did you have something else in mind, Commodore Meowlith?" Paris inquired. As the Captain had been passive, Rita assumed that was to observe and analyze while Rita ran point, not unlike how she partnered with Sonak for away missions, so it hadn't fazed the anachronistic astronaut. She naturally stepped up to ask questions and try to plot a course for interactions.

"There's a lot that we need to discuss. Like the fact that Flumia isn't so much a name as a title? I think? It's confusing. I've met like six of them now." Sitting back down at the table, she glanced around at the locals as the servers brought several trays to their table loaded with pastries and four large mugs of hot chocolate. "Also, everything here is made of sugar and spices. Even the meats are sweet."

She then pointed out another local entering the shop surreptitiously and lowered her voice. "That's another Flumia. They're like assistants or priestesses. You can tell by the gold striping on the collar and lapels. Anyway, this is definitely the source of the energy. I tried talking with... Ah... Log Yerm... I have a hard time pronouncing that name... But I didn't get very far."

"We spoke with him as well and thanks to Rita's pure heart, I think, we made some headway with him." Enalia ginned as she picked up one of the more sugary looking pastries and bit into it, her eyes widening as the sugar rush hit her tongue. Washing it down with the hot chocolate, she gasped a bit. "Holy... Yeah, we're going to need to get checked for diabetes after this mission..."

“Mmmm, I’d have to disagree, ma’am,” Paris said quietly, knowing that the sharp ears of the Vulcanoids would be able to hear her regardless, and Captain Telvan was close enough to pick up what she was saying. “He didn’t really give us any answers, and he stalled us. Friendly enough and a seemingly generous host, but he was almost exclusively evasive, and we learned far less than he did in the exchange.” While she was an optimistic explorer who came in peace, Rita Paris was also nobody’s fool, and she was a canny judge of behavior and interactions.

"Exactly," Enalia set the sweet aside and chose one that looked slightly less sugary. "Which is why you're here to tell us what wasn't said."

Cocking an eyebrow in a manner that was striking reminiscent of one of Sonak’s expressions, Paris frowned slightly, then after a few second’s consideration she forged ahead. “The locals are at an evolutionary standstill since he’s been maintaining this contained ecosphere for generations, thousands of years apparently. The excess energies that our host ‘leaks’ is apparently sufficient to be harnessed to use some sort of summoning stones- which we haven’t seen nor analyzed yet, but that needs to happen- to summon beings of mythology or even imagination. So a coalescing of mental energies to form lifeforms would be one theory, but Hera has full memory of a very long life and was actually summoned from the afterlife, whatever she called it, I can’t recall right now.”

“So, the locals are summoning using stones, which implies ritual, which is often just a mental exercise to channel energy, as I understand it. Which doesn’t jibe all that well with the data we got from New Texas, which indicates that just a little bit of wishful thinking goes a long ways, as I accidentally summoned Hera from her imprisonment on the Odin’s Breath. Which will likely be a diplomatic incident to deal with later,” Paris noted to the Commodore. “Mister Sonak, anything to add?”

"If thoughts can take actual form here, I would recommend to be very cautious; ideally stay very focused on the mission at hand, and avoid any stray thought," answered the chief science officer.

"If our ride in the tram was any indication, the locals didn't take well to a lack of mental discipline." Enalia added. "And the culture thus far doesn't seem to be particularly advanced, either, which would lend credence to the idea that it's a mind based society."

Farenia nibbled on one of the pastries as she listened. "Yeah, from what I gathered from the creator of this worldship, he made it to save these people from the destruction of their homeworld and they worship him as their god and in return he powers everything about this whole place. Sounds like the whole mount olympus fallacy to me, but with the sticking point of, he literally keeps the ship running. Anyway, from their history books I've managed to get my hands on, I've seen the same names repeated over and over for the past several thousand years. Either these people use titles for names for everything, they're immortal, or they like to use the same names over and over. It's only the past two hundred years that they've been trying to summon outer beings like Hera - the book I was reading detailed the early history of those summonings using the early circles and stones. Apparently, now, they have it down to an art and can summon them almost at will in the underbelly of the ship according to one of the Flumia's I've spoken with."

"Anyway, one week galactic standard with these people searching through an early industrial revolution level society's records... That's what I've got." Farenia stuffed another pastry in her mouth and washed it down with some of her hot chocolate.

"Have you seen it done? The summonings? Have you had the chance to record some scans of the energy interchange and such?" Rita asked, dropping a few more marshmallows into her hot chocolate. "If not, it seems that would be a priority. Other than that, I guess the mission is to convince Log'yerm/// to seal the breach between our realities so those energies and beings will stop affecting our universe. Which he seems inclined to do. Since he seems willing to let us depart before he does so, this looks like an exploratory mission, other than trying to avoid trouble with the gods. Aye?"

Glancing around at each member of the assemblage, Rita Paris sought input.

Enalia poked at the air with another pastry. "I have to wonder how much the Prime Directive applies in this case. One one hand, they're interfering with the rest of the galaxy in a rather massive scale with these energies in a way that has the potential to destroy all life as we know it. On the other, their society is now based on this internally."

"It's exactly because of their involvement with the rest of the galaxy that the prime directive no longer applies," the Commodore clarified. "We'll do our best not to interfere, but we still have to try to convince them to not destroy the rest of the galaxy. After all, we live in it. As for scans, I haven't been able to talk my way into one of the summoning chambers yet. I'm hoping that your crew are more resourceful. With an Oberth class from Intel Command, they only gave me a crew of six so we've been stretched pretty thin."

"We'll find a way to observe one of the summonings, and we'll work to stay in our host's good graces," Paris offered, assuming the portion of the mission for which the hard-luck heroine would be responsible. "We got a lot of very thorough scans on our side to share with him, so assuming he's serious about helping to close the interfacing of our reality, hopefully those will help. We're allowed to scan freely, I recall someone mentioning?"

"As far as I can tell, they don't even have scanner tech, so they've been curious about that as well so feel free to conduct as many scans as you like." Farenia punctuated the air with a particularly tasty looking pastry before munching on it. "Besides, I'm betting they'd love to see things the way we do with our sensors. A new point of view seems to be what the people here crave."

"Then, with your permission, Captain, Gentlebeings..."

Saying so, Sonak activated his tricorder and began a full and thorough scan of the area around them.

"Interesting; I see much similarity with those readings and those taken on other such constructed places like Organia and the Starfleet Academy mock up of Species 8472 and what the USS Enterprise D recorded beyond the edge of the known universe during the experiments of The Traveler. Without such previously recorded data, my reading would have seen all this as totally genuine and not the mind-directed materialized energy constructs that they are."

"We are all motes in the eyes of the gods, praying they don't blink," Paris quoted. "Okay, data exchange is a go, we'll ask them to perform a summoning so we can watch, it isn't taboo so it shouldn't be a problem as long as we summon something harmless. I've set an investigative team to work, we'll see what they come up with through unconventional channels. Do you have clearance to explore local space with your starship, Commodore? Get some long range external scans of the rift from this side as well as the Worldship itself?"

"Once we finish repairs, we should be able to get all the scans we need. If you can spare a few engineers, we should be up and running in a few hours instead of a few days." The Commodore eyed Enalia hopefully.

Enalia chuckled at the not so subtle hint. "I think we can spare enough crew and supplies to build you a whole ship if you need it. Just send me a list and we'll get everything sorted. We'll scan from inside and you can scan from outside. And remember to think happy thoughts. It seems to help." Finishing her tea, the spotted Captain stood and looked around the quaint little pastry shop once more. "That being said, I'm going to head back to the ship. Commander, Lieutenant, you two conduct further research here as discussed. Commodore, if you would be so kind as to discuss those repairs with me? Unless there's anything else we need to know about?"

Farenia thought about it a moment before replying. "Well, we've estimated that our sensors could be wrong about the scale of this place. There were closer to twelve billion sentients living aboard this worldship at one time. And I have a theory that it's originally more of an ark than a replacement for their world but that they decided to stay here rather than resettling a new world for some reason. I found mention of that in the oldest book I read but Flumia snatched it away from me not long after I started reading it. There's apparently some history that they refuse to even acknowledge. It likely has no bearing on our mission, but there's a chance that the people here are also constructs, like the surroundings and the people actually did resettle... Or they perished... Or they're the real people and have really been stuck like this for over a million years for some reason... Who knows..."

"On that note..." Enalia frowned suddenly, realizing something. "Have you seen any children since you've been here? I know we haven't been here long, but normally, even in an upper class neighborhood, you'd see some sign of children... Or elderly..."

"No... Neither... Everyone looks about the same age." Farenia stated it as a simple matter of fact, but the implications of it ran much deeper than she needed to speak. There was far more mystery afoot.

“It’s a fish tank,” Paris observed, then noted the strange looks she got from the Commodore and Captain. “He’s sustaining all of these people like one would pets, and their lives and activities he observes in order to keep him entertained and interested. Or at least that’s my thought,” Paris opined with a shrug. “I mean, he’s maintained this ecosystem for how long? Clearly he has no intention of relocating the locals to a planet to colonize, so it looks a lot like he’s just watching them swim along. I could be wrong…”

Farenia definitely had to think about that analogy, but after a moment she couldn't help but concede it. "No, I think you may be on to something. Even in slowly evolving civilizations, progress is made. Here there has been none apparent over the course of a million years. Logically, an outside influence such as Loggy would be the cause for this since there doesn't seem to be any other obvious source of suppression."

"You really have a hard time pronouncing his name, don't you?" Enalia asked softly.

The Vulcanoid Rigelian glanced around and leaned in, softening her voice. "Actually, I have a theory that he takes notice every time you say his name. My Betazoid science officer noticed a tingle in the back of her mind every time she said it so I've been trying to avoid saying it outright."

Sonak nodded.

"This would be consistent with the supernatural theme regarding these encounters and events. In many worlds' superstitions, the True Name carries magical powers; in our case, actual powers, be they psionics or transmutational in nature. Something more to be cautious about. it would suggest that language as much as thought has effective consequences on reality here."

"Great, watch my mouth, and my thoughts AND my ass," Rita Paris grumbled. "Well, here's hoping he's planning to work with us. Meanwhile those scans should give us some options. Captain, you and the Commodore will be absconding with Thex I assume to get the Commodore's vessel up and running, while Mr. Sonak and I investigate?"

Enalia nodded in affirmation. "She'll likely have her hands full with our own repairs, but I'm sure she'll be able to spare a few hands and one of the industrial replicators."

"We weren't damaged in transit, ma'am. A little turbulence was the worst of it- Lieutenant Dox guided us through like a surfer off Maui. By now what there was her damage control teams have cleaned up. So, with that said," Paris rose and offered a snappy two-fingered salute to the Commodore and a nod to the Captain. We'll get to it, then."

"In a land where what we say and think can cause catastrophe, it seems the sooner we're out of here, the better!"

A scowl of annoyance spread over the andorians face as she heard the news over the coms channel. " Well, at least we can rule out nothing wrong with the ships scanners. Looks like this is just to dense to scan through." She said to her team as she kicked her heel to deactivate the armor. Standing in the testing room she looked at her team who had been working for hours. " Go and get some chow and some rest people. I'll have a word with science and see if I can get something made to give us a good look of this suit." She said calmly as her team nodded before packing up and leaving.

Letting out a slight sign the andorian walked over to the desk and opened a channel to the Hear's science division. " Commander Thex to science division is Lieutenant Sonak available. I need some help with the god armor and I'm hoping you guys can help." She said politely into the coms.

On deck 7, the chief science officer of the Hera tapped his combadge.

"This is Sonak. I can be with you in five point three minutes, Lieutenant Commander. Will that be convenient?"

" That's fine Lieutenant. I'll see you then. " Thex said. She could use the time to grab a drink.

Exactly at the appointed time, the Vulcan entered engineering. He went straight to the Andorian chief engineer.

"How may I be of service, Lieutenant Commander?"

" Ah thank you for coming so quickly, lieutenant. Have you had a chance to read over the reports over the god armor that managed to get repaired? " Replied the andorian as she held up on the pieces. " Well, we've still had no luck even getting a scanner to get through whatever this material is made from. I was hooping science could help me find a way to take a look inside. "

Sonak nodded.

"Exochemistry and the physics department have a joint study ungoing about this artifact. I took a glance at the report but have not involved myself directly into it, since you yourself were leading the overall research. However, as you now request it, I can try and assist you. First off, what have you done exactly to try examining the object?"

Thex reached around for a padd which they had all the results on. " First we've tried using the scanners to see if we could take a look inside, but whatever the material is are scanners can't get through. We've tried removing a few flakes for a better analysis, but the highest frequency cutting laser doesn't even seem to heat it." Thex explained as she handed over the padd.

It took mere moments for Sonak to read and absorb the data.

"Obviously this material is of an unusual high density, beyond what nature may produce. I would suggest to try the same approach as we do with large cosmic bodies scanners can't penetrate; sending in a probe."

He went to the nearest computer terminal and input several data referentials to access the ship's massive computer banks. hen he showed her on the screen what he started to explain.

"While at the Academy, I became quite intrigued by the experiments in nanotechnology performed by an acting ensign named Wesley Crusher aboard the then USS Enterprise D. Commander data, my guide during my refresher training, confirmed all of the data and provided me with his own insights into nanocommunication, as he had been himself the host of sentient nanites for a time. From this, here is an idea I beleive should allow you to proceed better with examining this artifact."

The screen showed strangely moving geometric forms along with a string of complicated data as he summarized it all for the chief engineer.

"If something is material, it is made of atoms; there is no way around it. These nanites you see here are subatomic artificial lifeforms that can be programmed and inserted within the quantum lattice of any form of matter. Programming them as probes to collect data, they should allow us to penetrate even this allegedly impenetrable substance. Once inside, neither matter nor energy will hamper them from scanning the artifact from within. And once retrieved, their collected data would be transfered to our analyzing computer for study."

Thex slowly nodded as she listened to the Vulcans ideas. It all made sense. " That could work. Even if the armor has some defense against nanites. We should get some information that is better than nothing. It shouldn't take long to get some ready for an examination. Would you be willing to assist? " She inquired.

"I come to serve," he simply responded with his usual deadpan tone. "I have recalled the Crusher Algorythm and the Enterprise science logs in order to replicate the advanced nanites they ended up with; minus of course the sentient awakening that resulted in their interaction with the ship's computer. We will avoid this mishap and keep them as advanced scanning micromachines only as long as we do not lose any of them within our own computer banks. I will remove their self-replicating capability to avoid any possibility of them escaping outside of the confinement zone and infect the ship. I suggest also to preprogram a short lifespan to further ensure secure proceedings of the attempt to probe the artifact."

" Sounds good. I'll get the armor set up and have a shield put up to help keep them contained. Can't be too careful with nanites. " Thex replied as she got to work preparing the Test armor and the testing area.

"I concur," said the Vulcan as he checked the programming. "Since these nanites are able to slip between atoms, I recommend a level 10 forcefield. It will also block all forms of energy and therefore any transmission, but since they are autonomous, they will collect the data which we will retrieve when we retrieve them."

Fifty-three minutes later, Sonak held a magnetic-bottle injector full of some greyish liquid like substance he had taken out from the engineering replicator.

"Nanoprobes ready, Lieutenant Commander."

" Okay lieutenant place them next to the armor and let's get started. " Thex responded as she took her position next to the console.

The chief science officer went next to the confinement area. he affixed the injector right on the artifact then stepped back to allow the forcefield to encase the entire table where it rested. Going back to a nearby console, he remotely deactivated the magnetic confinement of the injector and activated the apparatus itself. The greyish morass spread to the surface of the armor then seemed to sip right through like water drank by soft earth.

"Nanoprobes insertion completed. I estimate five point three-four seven minutes before completion of their scanning and recording of data. Then we will be able to proceed with the extraction."

" Sounds good. " Thex said as she kept a keen watch on the mass of goo. For a minute it continued to seep into the material until the armor let out a bright flash of light. The goo on the armor vanished and what was left seemed to retreat from the armor. " Great looks like it has an anti nanite defense. Do you think they may have gotten anything though?" The andorian asked.

"There is no purpose in speculating. We shall retrieve them and recover what they have gathered even from such a brief contact," the Vulcan answered without even blinking. "With billions of them working at the same time, there should still be substantial data."

Sonak waited until the nanite wave took refuge in the only shelter available to them; the injector they came from. Once they had reintegrated it, the magnetic containment field automatically reactivated. The forcefield was then lowered and the CSO went to retrieve the assembly. Not wanting to risk any infection of the ship's systems, he connected the nanoprobes to a tricorder instead of a computer terminal and downloaded the data they had collected. Then he took the data storage chip out of the tricorder and inserted it into his console.

"I am transmitting the data gathered to your terminal, Lieutenant Commander."

Thex nodded as she received the data which she quickly brought up onto the screen. " Well, this is something. It does look like it has some defenses against what it believes are hostile nanites. " She said looking at the massive energy spike that it had detected.

Even still they had received a lot of information from the brief time the nanites had been able to work. The material it was made from appeared to have been artificially created as it resembled nothing that Thex or the computer had ever seen. They had found one thing though. The gem was putting out the same energy and radiation of a young star which seemed to be the suits power supply. " Well, that is interesting," Thex said looking at the energy readings.

"Indeed, Lieutenant Commander," agreed Sonak. "That now opens up an avenue of work on this artifact. "Stellar radiation is nothing else than nuclear energy. Therefore, all methods of regulation of nuclear energy, starting with antique heavy water and lead bars and shielding and up to current subatomic recombination used in our replicator and transporter systems, should be effective to take control of this power source."

" It may be rather hard though. It does appear to have ways off preventing of tampering with it. I'd hate to try and tap into it and suddenly the Hera has a sun burning a hole through the ship. Still, at least we have something. I'll take a look at the rest of the data and see if I can find something. Would you mind assisting me with something else lieutenant? " Thex replied as she made a back up of the data.

"Of course," he simply answered.

“Leave it to the ancients to incorporate modern energy sources into antiquities,” a familiar voice added from behind, as Commander Rita Paris arrived in Engineering. “Under ordinary circumstances I wouldn’t interfere in an investigation between science and engineering, but in this case it seems I have something relevant to bring to the table.”

Stepping into the work area, Paris slowly paced around the ornate armor suit in the containment field, speaking deliberately as she did so, eyeing the antiquity with a critical eye. “What we have here is the Armor of Achilles which, according to legend, renders the wearer invulnerable, enables them to fly due to a favor owed the mythological hero by a god who lost to him at dice, and hypothetically even allows one to operate freely underwater. It tends to bond to one person, and only function for them.”

Pausing to make eye contact, Paris offered a self-depreciating shrug. “Or so I have been told by informed parties.”

" Thank you for the information Commander Paris. " Thex said letting out a little sigh. " Well, at least we can stop the testing to see why it would work with anyone else. A Pity I'm sure security could use a few of these. Did Hera inform you of this?" She said looking at her human friend giving her a warm smile.

“Ugh,” Paris roiled her eyes. “For an intel ship we are the worst at keeping secrets. I can neither confirm nor deny the source of this information,” Paris replied with a smirk.

" Well at least we know what it is and now's it's bonded to me. Never thought I'd be wearing the armor of a human demigod." Thex replied with a grin.

“I’d be careful with that,” the crimson clad commander opined. “I’m no expert, but I’ve been told that magic always has a price, and if you are going to try to use that, it will quite likely exact some sort of cost. No idea what that might be, but as I recall, Achilles didn’t come to the best of ends himself. Although I promise not to shoot you in the ankle with an arrow…”

" Yeah, that is something to worry about. " Thex said looking at the armor. " I don't suppose are guest mentioned anything about it affecting anyone? I know Achilles was more god than i ever will be."

"Actually, according to myth, he was not," Sonak corrected her. "Achilles was a mortal man rendered invulnerable after his mother dipped him into the river Styx while still an infant; thus having no memory to loose yet while rendered impervious to harm. However, since she had to keep hold of the baby by the heel while dipping it in onto the magical waters, that part was the only one not affected by the magic; hence why he died of Paris' poisonous arrow to the heel."

His eyebrow went up slightly as he realized the similarity of his wife's surname with that of the legendary hero slayer. But his tone remained the same as he finished.

"This armor is meant to symbolize the hero's power. But in itself, it is an inaccurate rendition as Achilles needed no such protection. Therefore, mythological references will not be much relevant in studying it."

Thex was running her fingers through her hair as she leaned against the desk. " So much we don't know about them. I mean they had the tech and powers to build this and make someone's skin indestructible but started a war over this. " She said reaching for the solid gold apple that she was now using as a decoration for her workbench.

"Some wars were started for less," noted the Vulcan. "And speaking of wars, Achilles is most famous for his participation in the legendary war of Troy, fighting on behalf of the Greeks against the fabled city to retrieve the Spartan king's wife Helena, seduced and taken by Paris. He slew many great warriors, including the amazon Penthesilea and most of all Hector, greatest hero and favored son of Troy. Also according to the Illiad of the bard Homer, he is just as famous for refusing to fight for a time after the death of his lover Patroclus at the hands of Hector... and of course the manner of his death, from which comes the expression "sulking like Achilles in his tent" and the term "Achilles heel."

Sonak then raised an eyebrow.

"If this armor is meant to be a physical manifestation of this legend... then it means that it should have one specific weak point; and a weak point related to it's making."

“Uh, also might want to be careful with that apple, if the legends are to be believed,” Rita Paris observed, pointing to the golden apple. She herself, having seen much more of time in the universe than her lifespan would allow, had no interest in immortality. While she had dealt with the fact that everyone she had ever known was dead, the prospect of outliving her spouse and anyone else in her life through a linear progression sounded hellish to her, and she’d have nothing to do with it. If Thex wanted to toy with such forces that was on her, but leaving a potential key to immortality sitting on her desk as a paperweight seemed radically irresponsible to Rita’s eye.

" Well, the armor does have an off switch on one of the feet when it's activated. " Thex replied having put that info in her first report on the armor. " As for this, I've scanned it and it's just a solid ball of gold in the shape of an apple. Maybe it can do something in their hands, but it's harmless to us. Unless someone fooled Hera and she just hasn't noticed?" She responded the thought jumping into her head.

“Hadn’t asked, just operating off mythology,” Paris admitted. ”An apple is representative of wisdom in my culture, and the golden apple was the key to immortality. Given that it came from the same batch of mythological artifacts, I’m just advising caution. But if you want to use the retrieved ancient artifact of potentially unknown properties as a paperweight on your desk, that’s your call. I assume there is a report floating around about your analysis so far for review?”

" Yup." Thex said as she leaned over and drew a padd from her pile before handing it over to Rita. " I'll get a security case made for this and get it stores at once Commander." She said Profesional.

“As you see fit, Commander,” Paris replied, glancing at the report before looking back to the two senior staff officers. “I’ll get this to the Captain, and nice work on cracking the code, Chief sh’Zoarhi.” With that, the old-school officer offered a snappy two fingered salute as she pivoted and marched off to continue her rounds.

"Do you still require my services, Lieutenant Commander?" asked Sonak.

" No lieutenant that will be all. I'll make sure to send you the data." The andorian said as she turned to pack away the armor.

The only feeling Thex was feeling was what earthlings said was butterflies in the stomach. Here she was sitting on the holodeck waiting for Tathaa to connect and hopeful she wouldn't mess this up.

She'd been worrying about this for at least a day after she received the message and to make matters worse that dream off her's had came back. She knew she should tell someone about it, but she had more important things to deal with than a twice recurring dream.

What had put her mind at rest was the talking she had done. Tathaa had a love of music and dancing so they had decided on a date to match said interest. Even still meeting a date at a holographic Orion dance club was something she wasn't expecting to do.

Blinking she took in a deep breath as the computer gave out a beep. =^= Link established. Loading program. =^=
Here we go the andorian thought to herself.

Within a microsecond, she was surrounded with the familiar sounds, exotic smells and that taste that never left you're mouth. She breathed in as her body relaxed. Only for her lungs to empty from shock as someone touched her shoulder.

" Hello Thex." said the annear wearing an orion dancers outfit that left very little to the imagination. A smile was on her face her pale milky white eyes staring right at the andorian engineer.

" Hello Tathaa. " Thex said weakly as she regained her posture and voice. She tried to speak but her eyes were drawn to the anerar outfit.

" You like it? " Tathaa said with a grin on her face.

Thex's brain had stopped working at the moment, but she was still able to nod in reply before she finally was able to speak. " Love it. May i ask was it hard to put on with your abilities?"

The anear let out a slight laugh as she smiled and spun around for the andorian. " I had help from my roommate. She let me use her eyes and helped me with some of the other parts."

" Um, what do you mean by she let you use her eyes?" Thex inquired.

" Oh sorry, i keep on forgetting most people don't know. Some anear have developed a psychic ability to be able to create a link that allows us see as most of you can see. It also allows whoever we create a link with to see the world as we see it." The anear explained calmly.

Thex had never heard of such an ability though it did sound fascinating. " Interesting you'll have to tell me more about it later. Shall we get started on your lessons?" Thex said as she stepped onto the stage before she offered Tathaa her hand.

" Lets." She replied as she took Thex hand and stepped onto the stage.

____________________________________________________________________________________________

Several hours later the two of them were sitting on the stage edge drinking a cool andorian drink laughing about the lessons. For Tathaa the rookie mistakes had been hilarious and for Thex they remind her of her first few times dancing.

A buzz alerted Thex to her time nearly being up which made her heart sag slightly. In the short time she'd known her she was growing rather fond of Tathaa. " Well looks like our times up. It's been fun will have to do this again next time. " She said looking to her date.

" You're forgetting something Thex." Tathaa replied slyly as she leaned closer

" And what would that be?" The andorian replied fluttering her eyelashes. The anera said nothing as she leaned in and kissed her in a long passionate kiss. Only as the alarm went off did the two slowly pull apart both having a smile upon their blue and white faces.

" I choose the date next time Thex." She called as the signal ended and the holodeck program ended leaving Thex alone sitting on the holodeck floor. The chief engineer licked her lips as she stood up and headed for the door an indestructible smile on her face.

She had a good feeling about this.