Deacon approached the table looking at the redheaded figure, "Pardon me, Miss may I join you?" He asked, "Figured it might be nice to talk with the one person on board who's probably feeling more out of her depth than me."

Valywen looked up, surprised at having anyone approach her. Being alone and not having any friends was causing her to rethink her decision to remain with the aliens but she would also think of the possibilities if she remained on her planet--it wasn't a pleasant thought. "Yes you may."

Deacon smiled as he sat down, placing an empty plates in front of both Valywen and himself, along a bowl of fragrent meat and vegtables, "Coq Au Vin, similar to a dish my wife made," he explained, ladelling a small portion on to Valywen's plate"Tastes pretty good, you can find it in the replicator under 'Picard's Dishes'." Deacon brought a forkful of the dish to his mouth and inhaled the smell of the broth, knowing the woman would probably find it similar, it would still taste painfully alien, "So Valywen of Carrion, the famed author of De revolutionibus orbium coelestium (On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres) my grandson would be so jealous."

Valywen tilted her head in confusion. "Why is that? And you do not look old enough to be a grandparent."

"My vanity thanks you my dear," Deacon replied as he ate the chicken, "I'll be 68 of your years old on my next birthday." The Rigellian smiled slightly knowing he could still pass for someone in their 30's by human standards, "My wife hated it, was starting to become an issue too. My stepkids were beginning to look older than me." Deacon considered the chicken dish again, slightly disappointed. Janosian cooking tended to use more aromatic spices. Another thing to get use too. "As for my grandson, Mateo, he's read your book, dissected it actually. He was sure your conclusions about the planetary circular orbits was incorrect. He thought the were elliptical and irregular. Showed me pages of calculations to prove it. Knew he was right, but could never tell him."

"Oh? I would have liked to meet your grandson sometime. He seems to be very intelligent. Those observations took me years to map," Valywen said, before taking a small bite of her food.

"'Smart as a whip', as the humans say. Don't be too amazed, Mateo had an advantage over you, more information. He had your observations, five years of my observations, though I was looking for other things in the night sky," Deacon explained rapping his knuckles on the table for emphasis, "Used the observations of the great Aabid el-Mona of the Apatia. That old coot couldn't help but see the value of your work." Deacon added, giving Valywen a knowing wink, "The cantankerous fossil even wrote Mateo that he sent copies of your work even further afield for 'further study and confirmation.' So your life work gains acknowledgement, sparking debate in lands far flung." Then Deacon sighed, "As for when you could talk to Mateo himself,,,,, the universe seems to have other plans for you in the immediate future. Question is are you ready to grab the 'dragon's tail'?"

"Dragon's tail?" she asked, confused as she studied the question. It was never wise to grab any animal by the tail. Perhaps it was a metaphor. "Oh! You mean am I ready to see and learn about your culture? It is very odd."

"Well with everything I've been through, 'odd' is the kindest way people tend to describe me." Deacon smiled, holding his hand up he shook his head, to let her know he knew what she meant."I guess that is one of the things I'm wondering about. Are you ready? It's going to be a wonderful, incredible, and at times confusing ride."

"It has already been all of those things...I do not think I will be able to sleep tonight. It is simply amazing to see stars streak by so fast outside your windows," Valywen admitted.

"You will be even more amazed as time goes on, just remember not to be intimidated," Deacon warned, though in a friendly way, "Remember they aren't much different than you." Not bothering to see if the woman believed him or not, he went on. "It's like Mateo, he's smart but I'd bet 30 silver coins against a copper you're smarter, and more clever by half.. Mateo just had the advantage of more information and better equipment. Same is true here, the differences are more pronounced but not insurmountable. I would like you to remember that."

"Thank you...I will try," Valywen said. "Do you...belong to this ship? Or is there another ship you belong to since I am understanding that you crashed on my planet several years ago?"

"Bit of an orphan in that respect. Had my own ship, the 'Arethusa'" Deacon explained, "Named her after a famous rum runner." Deacon looked at Valyen and furrowed his brow, "Sorry 'rum running' is another cultural reference. Anyway, lost her to Klingon raiders, pirates of a sort, just above your planet. They thought,,,,,well that's another drawn out and complicated story. They marooned me on your planet back, well back when you were probably still a little girl in pigtails. Been looking for a ship to hitch a ride on and off for the past 20 years. Finally lucked out with the Valiant. So somewhat like you, I'm in a bit of freefall as to where I fit in and what I'm going to do after we reach the starbase. But for now, I'm going to enjoy some chicken. What do you think of it?" He asked leaving the 'It' to be answered up to his dining companion.

"It is good...but something tastes....off," Valywen admitted.

"I agree, It's different just off kilter," Deacon replied contemplating his next bite, "Trick of it is not to fear or hate those differences. Just experience them." Chewing up another mouthful was just a further reminder of how much he missed his wife's cooking, "You won't love everything but it will open you up to a universe of possibilities."

"That I can agree with," Valywen said after swallowing another bite. "Is this the standard ship size? It seemed bigger on the outside."

Deacon cocked his head at the young Ur'ok and grinned, "You know, if you weren't from Janos, I start thinking you were pumping me for intel. Careful you have a natural talent for getting a lot without saying much. Might have to recruit you, myself." He added winking at Valywen, but before she could protest he continued, "No worries, the only intel I can give you is 20+ years old."

"But to answer your question, no this ship is not standard for a Federation vessel, at least it wasn't before I was mothballed." Decon explained, "Valiant is a straight out warship, built to take a pounding, and give one out. She's small for a Federation ship. Farmer, an old friend of mine, who oddly enough is on board, says she carries a crew of 50. That makes her an escort, a damn powerful one which makes me worry about the kind of Federation I'm returning to." Deacon said mostly to himself. Shaking himself clear of his wool-gathering, he smiled again at woman sitting across from him."Sorry, my pessimistic tendencies bleeding through. Anyway most Starfleet ships were much larger. The largest was a Sovereign class , had a crew of little less than 900. 29 decks over three million metric tons of metal. They were floating office buildings and research stations. Even the lowliest crewman had a cabin bigger than our Captain's. Had holodecks, research labs, a medical facilities that would rival most cities."

Valywen could not believe her ears--ships larger than cities traveling through the stars? What she wouldn't give to see these ships. "That is amazing! But if this is a warship. is this...Starfleet at war with someone?"

"United Federation of Planets," Deacon corrected her, "Starfleet was their exploratory/research arm for years. It always had a military aspect, but they seemed to use violence as a last resort. Hell when I worked for them, we seemed to work at stabilizing a sector of space, though in the end I was responsible for pitting two of the Federation's rivals against each other." He added with some regret. Looking slightly embarrassed at Valywen he shrugged, "Sorry, that's some of my own baggage. As far as who's who now? Like I said kiddo, I've two decades to catch up on. Seems like their were a few 'Brush Wars' that flared up while I was gone. Those are inevitable." Deacon looked at the reinforced crossbeam above their heads, "But something else happened, something bad. Something that resulted in this change in design philosophy. Farmer told me about a couple of things, still need to get a handle on it though"

Deacon sighed as his brain went to work on the problem, "I think the worst of 'it' passed. This ship is an escort, that's not escorting anything. The brig they had me in was an afterthought. Just some converted crew quarters" Deacon's eyes narrowed, trying to piece other things together, "The walls in the Medbay are modular, so you could expand bedspace for injured soldiers. Well they haven't been moved in years." The Rigellian's eyes narrowed, "Still this battlewagon with an intel suite,,,,,," Shaking his head, "Sorry don't mean to drag you down my wormhole of paranoia."

"Right now everything's shiny for you. Let me get a handle on what's going on and I'll let you know fact, not supposition. Or better yet, ask someone who's hasn't been living on your planet for the past 20 years." Deacon advised, "Ask Farmer, I mean Colt,,,,, Senior Chief Xan, he's taken a shine to you, and he's a good man to boot."

Valywen tilted her head as she studied the information given to her. "Thank you. I will do so," she grinned.

"Good girl!" Deacon replied, "See told you, you were smart." Then looking down at the bland chicken, "You know I used to really like this dish, funny things memory and time. My short term advice, try some human Indian food. I swear, damn replicators are made by humans for humans. Their patterns tend to be the best, and their Indian chefs are masters with spices. Again they will be different but like I said 'Enjoy don't fear.' Now if you excuse me, have to bug a workaholic about a chess match and eating food on a regular basis." he added standing up with a flourish, "And remember if you need to talk, or just have questions, I'd be happy to help you out."

Deacon felt his heart begin to race as he entered the armory. It was a stupid reaction caused the primitive part of his brain that was hardwired, despite millions of years of evolution along with the thousands of years of culture, to see itself as a tree dwelling herbivore. That herbivore was now protesting the fact that, for some inane reason, he was walking toward what it perceived as an apex predator. As a way to calm himself, Deacon tried to work out exactly what species the Lieutenant was. She was a couple inches shorter than him, with prominent teeth that reminded him of the Kzinti, but the body type was all wrong, so that excluded the Vedala and the Lyrans as well. She could have just been a large Caitian, but something about her seemed more,,,,, he didn't want to say feral, more aggressive? No. A pent up aggression like,,,,like a Klingon maybe.

The thought of the Klingon let Deacon put some pieces together. He vaguely remembered a client species of the Klingons, they seemed to show up on the Orion syndicate's radar too. All he really remembered was some sage advice not to piss one off. Judging by the way she whipped her tail back and forth in the brig, that ship had pretty much sailed. "Morning Lieutenant," Deacon said as he reached the 'gun cage,' "Just came by so you could record my biometrics for security and give me C7 general security clearance with I3 clearance in the Information Center, under supervision." C7 was the lowest security clearance, giving him access to the ship's library and news feeds, but not much else, The Intelligence-3 clearance, which gave him access to lower level classified files, might be a little more problematic.

The sound of the armory door opening had drawn Me'Shlaht's attention, and she had listened to Deacon approach with one ear swiveled directly toward him. Between his scent and his footsteps, she'd known who it was before he spoke. Her fur bristled, an instinctual reflex that she couldn't - and didn't want - to suppress. Ferasans were suspicious by nature, and such instincts had always served her well.

She waited a moment before turning to look at Deacon, her ears and tail twitching as she looked him over. "The C7 security clearance I can do. But I will need Lieutenant Lougheed to sign off on your I3 clearance before I can approve it."

Nodding Deacon produced a PADD, "I think this should do." carefully handed Me'Shlaht with all the enthusiasm of a deer placing a hoof into a bear trap.

"Thank you." Me'Shlaht took the offered PaDD with more grace than one might expect from such a frightening individual. She read over it, finding the information she needed. "It seems this is in order." It did not quell her suspicious or keep her feline instincts at bay, but it checked all the boxes. She handed the PaDD back to him. "You may need this to show Commander Jacobs."

"I'll schedule some time with her after I leave here." Deacon assured her, "Before I go I was hoping to talk to you about the weapons you confiscated, the pistols are of no consequence. It's in regards to my knife and the three kar'kethet blades I was carrying."

"They are safely secured in the armory." Me'Shlaht seemed to grow more wary, if that were possible. "I can understand that you want them back, but I'm not comfortable with that just yet."

"That is understandable," Deacon replied, trying to convey only respect to the security officer, "I only ask if you'd permit me to come in to blood and oil the blades. I've maintained them for over 20 years, and would not want them to degrade before they can be won back."

"I can arrange for that." Despite her feral appearance and obvious suspicion, Me'Shlaht was still a reasonable person. "There is someone on duty inside the armory at all times. If they give you any hassle, talk to me."

Deacon smiled in appreciation as his left hand went into the inside of his jacket and pulled out one of his last piece of Sapodilla fruit. Breaking it open, a sweet tart smell filled the room. "Just one last thing. Lieutenant," Deacon added before going, "I'd like to thank your honesty in regards to myself. You've no reason to trust me. Don't know if I'll be with Valient to prove otherwise." Sighing he looked the Felinod right in the eyes, hoping she'd see it as a sign of respect," Just wanted to let you know I don't take it personally, you're just protecting you and yours."

The smell of the tart fruit quickly filled the room, and Me'Shlaht's nose twitched slightly. It wasn't a bad smell, but it wasn't familiar to her either. And while she still wasn't so sure about this strange Rigelian man who had joined them, he did at least offer the respect her position was due. Some Ferasans took eye contact as threatening, but Me'Shlaht had lived with her Trill family long enough to know it wasn't always the case. "I see no point in being dishonest, even if the words are not what one wants to hear. I am... pleased to know that you understand me in that regard." After a short quiet moment, she simply couldn't contain her curiosity anymore. "What is that? I have never seen such a fruit."

"This? Not surprised, it's from Janos III, it has a few names depending where you are on the planet; Sapodilla, Chico, Zapote, Naseberry, few others" Deacon explained, "Medical cleared it as edible when they scanned me which is good considering I've been eating them for the past 20 years." Deacon smile at his own joke, hoping Me'Shlaht had a sense of humor, "The Ur'ok use it as,,,,well lots of things. Food, obviously, tastes like somewhere between a pear and crunchy brown sugar. flowers provide a blue dye, the seed provide a medical oil, Promised the medical guys half the seeds, hadn't thought about it much, but may try to germinate a few plants myself. I know Carnivores don't go for plants much, but would you care for a slice or two? Just need the seeds back."

Me'Shlaht shook her head slightly. "I was only curious. Ferasans don't digest plant matter very well, but we do enjoy the smells of such things sometimes."

"Funny, they use the oil from the peel for aroma therapy. Do you like the scent?." Deacon replied, happy to be connecting with the,,,,FERASAN!!!! That was her species!?Oh my Sweet and Fluffy Lord I am rusty Deacon thought. Still that little bit of information queued up a half a dozen other questions in his head.

"It is... interesting. I'm not sure if I like it or not." Me'Shlaht's nose twitched a little at the sweet scent.

"Let me know if you do, I still have a couple of pieces of fruit left an can make an extract of it for you." Deacon offered, "Use to make it for my stepdaughter, always helped her fall asleep as a kid."

"I will let you know what I decide. At the moment, I simply find it a bit odd." Me'Shlaht wasn't opposed to fruity smells, but this one was definitely not something she was used to. "Is there anything else I can help you with, Mister Kane?"

"No, that's all Lieutenant" Deacon replied, not asking for her to call him by his first name. They weren't ready yet. For that yet. Trust still needed to be built up between them, "Thank-you, Miss, for your help and honesty, Have a good day."

Deacon grimaced slightly as he made his way down the corridor carrying a small tray. Not that the look on his face, was caused by the items on the tray. It held a variety of human sweets from something called 'hishi mochi', a rhomboid shaped confection with layers of red, green, and white smelling vaguely of Jasmine to a brownish yellow thing called a 'twinkie' that honestly Deacon doubted was actually edible. Next to the plate of high sucrose bribery were several flasks of heated rice wine, that seemed to be the replicators best approximation of Sake. The tray actually smelled quite nice.What as making Deacon grimace was in regards to the wall he had hit in trying to decrypt some transmissions he'd came across. He needed an expert to help him out, As he approached the ops office the doors parted. "Afternoon Lieutenant, How are thing?"

"Shit is crazy," Xiulan reported bluntly, her fingers working over the new textured interface she'd had installed. "That dampening field that crashed us did a lot of damage to the ship, but she's coming along alright; just a pain in the ass 'cause I'm new to this job," she explained. "So what brings you around?"

"Just in the neighborhood and figured I'd stop by," Deacon answered coyly, "And I was wondering if I could ask your help with something, but before I do have to tell you I brought caloric breaktype food." he added placing the tray on a flattened surface.

"I could use a break," Xiulan said with a shrug, then found her way back to her desk where he'd placed the tray. "Do I smell rice cake?" she asked curiously as she sat down. "And... sake?"

Deacon snorted a bit of a laugh, "Well, there are a couple different varieties. Fanciest one is something called 'hishi mochi,' kinda smells like flowers, have some 'kutsinta' with shaved coconut, some 'espasol' along with some other things," he explained, "Sorry, didn't know your preference so figured the shotgun approach was he way to go. And yes warm, replicated rice wine. So synthahol, hope it's not too early in the day."

"Modern replicators can make a pretty decent synthahol, so you're pretty lucky you resurfaced when you did," Xiulan remarked as she felt about the try to find each little treat, then she found the Twinkie. "Oh be still my beating heart!" she declared, then took the Twinkie and shoved a large portion of it in her mouth. "So, what do you need my help with?" she said around a mouthful of cheap sponge cake and cream filling.

"Well, need some help decrypting some civilian transmissions I picked up in the SSES. It's for a project..." Deacon stopped short not wanting to implicate the Captain, she didn't know what he was doing anyway, "Well lets just say I'm trying to develop a profile and these transmission seem to always line up. Just want to know what they are." he explained handing Xiulan the encrypted files.

"This isn't the first time I've worked with SI, you know, so I'm used to working with very little information," Xiulan informed him with a grin. When she felt the datarod touch her outstretched hand, she quickly plugged it into her terminal and started working. "Oof, this is some heavy encryption for civilian transmissions," she remarked, her brow furrowed with intense concentration. "Yeah, next time you have something like this, just give it to me; it's far more interesting to me than snacks, you don't need to butter me up."

"Sorry, Just following a quote from one of your great Earth leaders, 'it's better to ask with a smile and a gun than just a gun', Al Capone." Deacon answered, "I think he was the mayor of Chicago or something. Any luck breaking the encryption?" He asked hopefully.

"Trust me, decrypting is a far better treat to me than sweets; I got the first set done, but this second set is being stubborn..." Xiulan said, but she did pause for a moment to pour a cup of the sake and sip on it. "And it looks like... you have some... currency transactions? Uh, oh! Bank transfers, mainly the Bank of Bolias and the Orion Depository. I'll display it on the visual wall monitor," she offered, and then the data appeared for him.

Deacon sighed focusing on the IP address and name "Hello there Admiral. What have you been doing?" he asked the air as he studied the readout.

IP Address: 5634AF226-ZZ335
Terminal Type: PADD Voxtrate Model 994
Owner ID: Roberts, James Alan


Bank of Bolias Remote Access Roberts, James Alan CFO. APIRDTI

Transaction 15734 Confirmation
12000 Bars Latinum
From: Yoshitoni Institute
To: Andor Prime Institute for Regional Development and Technological Improvement


Transaction 33631
7383.62 Bars of Latinum
From: Andor Prime Institute for Regional Development and Technological Improvement
To; Account #5584493d74 Routing #AV606

Transaction 33632
3106.88 Bars Latinum
From: Andor Prime Institute for Regional Development and Technological Improvement
To; Account #52g33721 Routing #PN465

"'PADD Voxtrate Model 994" Deacon said out loud, "Know anything about that type of PADD, eL Tee?"

"Uhh, Voxtrate is a civilian model, very high end security protocols," Xiulan said with a shrug. "My Braille PADD that I use to read non-tactile interfaces, it's a Voxtrate with a customized tactile interface and it runs a sandbox of the LCARS OS for secure use on duty. But, uh, it's an older model, I'm not familiar with the 994."

"We'll figure that out," Deacon narrowed his eyes and clicked his teeth as he thought. "Twelve thousand bars in, about ten thousand five hundred bars out. Little over 12% laundry fee. Not bad overall."

"You do realize that's conjecture I probably shouldn't be privy to?" Xiulan remarked as she finished decrypting the second set of data and displayed it. "When I do cryprography work, I like not having the 'full picture', keeps me from getting curious and asking questions I really shouldn't ask. You wanna bounce information off someone, go talk to one of them Intel Analyst gurus, I like staying out of that cloak and dagger bullshit." Although... that did bring a certain question to her attention. "You know, now that I think about it, how do you even have anything up and running right now? You were on that planet for decades, you ain't even been cleared to work yet, so you must have some damned good contacts to get you this information so quick!"

"Sorry, too use to talking to myself over the years I guess," Deacon replied with a lopsided grin, "And that wasn't even conjecture, it's what our engineering friends would call a 'WAG' for 'Wild Ass Guess.' As for work, there isn't any," he admitted, "Just a exercise in profile building. Started with a transmission the Captain received from this fine officer, worked backward searching for other transmissions with a high correlation with his official ones. Means nothing," Except the bastard's names on them he didn't add, "It's probably nothing, forget about it. Just old Spook paranoia, we think everyone is bent. After being out of the game for 20 years, I don't see zebra's where there are be horses, I see full fledged unicorns." Still that did not stop him from studying the other transmission.

IP Address: 5634AF226-ZZ335
Terminal Type: PADD Voxtrate Model 994
Owner ID: Roberts, James Alan

Orion Depository Remote Access Account #5584493d74

Transfer 33631 Confirmation

Transaction 33631
7383.62 Bars of Latinum
From: Andor Prime Institute for Regional Development and Technological Improvement
To; Account #5584493d74

Transaction 54226
582.36 Bars of Latinum
From: Account #5584493d74
To: Lodubyal Center for the Performing Arts, Starbase 326

"Just much or nothing." he said again, "Still if you can burn me a copy of that, I'll include to that in my report to Lougheed. I'm sure he'll get a laugh out of it." Lodubyal, Orion Geisha knock off. Deacon thought, Someone had a sense of humor. Still it might be good to go and become 'cultured' ater the ship docked. Looking at the half eaten twinkie he looked at Xiulan and said, "You know those things have an expiration date of 'never,' What kind of food it that?"

"The best kind of food, the junky kind," Xiulan said with a grin as she secured the decrypted data back to the data rod, then held the rod out to Deacon. "And by the way, I'm from China, not Japan or the Fillipines or wherever that other rice cake came from. If you wanna get into my good graces, just bring me coffee, fresh brewed coffee, and we'll be the best-est friends forever."

"Ok China, got it." Deacon replied taking a bite out of the kutsinta, finding himself pleasantly surprised, "Llamas, Andes mountains. Now the coffee makes sense."

Xiulan's face scrunched up with confusion. "Isn't that Chile?" she asked as she pulled the tray closer to herself so he couldn't take anymore goodies from it. "Also, I will find a place for these... in my stomach," she affirmed; after all, he brought them for her to eat, and just because she didn't usually like sweets didn't mean she couldn't appreciate them from time to time!

"Well yes," Deacon replied looking slight confused at the forlorn piece of kutsina in his hand, "I suppose a mountainous region is somewhat cold. Any chance for a thimble of sake?" It was amazing to see such a small girl tear into the tray of food. It reminded him for a cartoon he'd seen once, "Hey 'Taz', anybody ever feed you around here?"

"Taz? I don't get it," Xiulan said bluntly, but she did pour a cup of sake for odd Rigellian, pushing it towards him. "And I eat! Actually, I eat a lot..." Then she bit into the hishi mochi; damn the Japanese knew how to make good mochi, and rice wine too!

"Well Taz is..." Cocking his head, he stood their wide eyed watching Xiulan knock down another flask of sake. Shaking his head he laughed and said "He's so so much your spirit animal. Trust me it's a Rigellian thing. Anywho thanks for the decrypt eL Tee. Try not to eat the tray, Taz my girl."

"Yeah, if that name sticks, you better hope I don't find you because I'mma kick your ass," Xiulan said in no uncertain terms. "Feel free to stop by with more stuff for me to decrypt so I don't get bored," she then offered with a grin.

"Thanks Taz," Deacon shot back with a wink, "Sorry I meant. 'Thank you, Lieutenant Xiulan Song; Communications and Linguistics expert, Chief of Operation.' Trust me, the last thing I want to see is what you would do if you were bored. Have a good night eL Tee."

"Later," Xiulan replied with a casual wave, then returned her attention to the mochi waiting to be eaten; dammit, this was gonna go right to her butt, she just knew it!

Names, destinations, places, lists, significant events and mundane gossip. Truth, lies and everything in between. Whispers in the night or screams to an indifferent universe. It was all there if you knew how to look. It was something everyone knew but few truly understood. Can't stop the signal. Everything goes somewhere. And the SSES (Ship's Signals Exploitation Space) was more than adept at capturing information along several thousand of the most common subspace communication corridors.

Like always, it wasn’t a problem of getting information, it was one of sifting through it to find anything useful. Sort and see what it tells you. Praza had always said. It was a skill that that the old Ferengi had taught him long ago. Then it had been refined by the Starfleet Intelligence when they made him a NOC and recruited him to spy on both the Cardassians and Klingons. Later, oddly enough, the Cardassians taught him some more tricks when they recruited him to spy on the Klingons and the Klingons taught him a little more when they recruited him to spy on the Cardassians. Whose information he also gave the Federation. Spying could be so confusing at times.

Pushing his musings on the past away for the moment, Deacon concentrated on dusting off old skills. He adjusted latest search algorithm and sent it off into the data feed culling bits here, bits there, building a mosaic that would be the first steps in making a profile. This was the third algorithm he’d written on this particular individual, the first two equations having yielded so many interesting results. The Rigellian rubbed his eyes and checked the status of the three dozen other data searches he had running. Five had crashed, another eight yield little to nothing, but the others appeared to be humming along.

Deacon looked at the clock and winced, 10 hours had passed by. He stood up and stretched, working the kinks out of his back and shoulders. “Computer, status on power-systems J-36 and FE-231.”

“Subsystem FE-231 drew 36 kJ of energy at time index 1636, subsystem J-36 drew 250 J of power at time index 1245.” Came the response.

So Deacon thought, the replicator used enough energy to product a cup of coffee two hours ago and she’d been working in there for about six hours. Or at least that’s a possibility. shrugging his shoulders Deacon left the Intelligence center and stopped off at the messhall long enough to grab a tray of food and a small chess set. He made his way to the bridge and the captain’s ready room. Pressing the chime, he waited to see how ready the Skipper was for a break and some food.

Leigh leaned back in her chair that had her uniform jacket tossed across the top at the sound of the chime--both annoyed and relieved that someone needed her to give her a break from doing reports. "Enter," she called.

"Good afternoon, or should I say nice early evening, Skipper." Deacon said as he entered the ready room. Spotting an empty space on the desk he set the tray down remove the napkin. "Let's see, We have Blue-leaf salad, some Kindem rolls with Espra cheese, rolls are hot and crusty hope that's alright, And for the main dish, steamed oscoid in a light curry sauce with vegetables. One of the best meals I had on Betazed. Was a 'mom and pop' place on some nowhere island in the Hedayan Archipelago" picking up Leigh's coffee mug Deacon grimace at the layer of oil that collected on the surface of the now cold liquid, "The drinks are my best approximation of a 'fruit smoothie' I had. Memory's a little cloud about the exact taste. Hell, after the fifth one I think I lost the power of speech." with a smile he added, "Now don't worry I used the 'Shirley Temple' option when replication them. Do you have any idea what that woman had against booze? Anyway I have dibs on one if you insist on eating alone. Just so you know."

Leigh was slightly taken back by the offer of food. "You went through the trouble of making the food so you might as well as enjoy it," she gestured to a chair. "And thank you. What took you to Betazed?"

"A busted restoration coil and opportunity." Deacon replied cryptically, as he sat down and started making a plate for himself, "I was working for this Ferengi named Praza. Our ship, Latinum Queen was old Orion Freighter constantly threatening to breakdown. Well she followed through on the threat stranding us at Starbase G-6. Anyway, we had a lead on a certain Gul who was looking for exotic furs. He not only pay for them, but would also,,,,, 'expedite' cargo inspection coming in and leaving from Cardassian space." he shrugged as if to say that's the way things were,' before going on, "Now Betazed, a mere shuttle ride away had Bjondax whales and therefore Bjondax whale fur, famous 'Pelts of Royalty' making the softest and most luxurious robes of Kings and Queens, if those sappy holo-novels are to be believed. So Praza had a proposition for me. Take the ship's shuttle to Betazed, find some whale pelts, and I'm Captain and Chief Negotiator for the Queen." Looking at Leigh's plate he cocked his head and asked, "How's the food?"

The idea of a Cardassian Gul looking for furs on Betazed sickened her. She despised the Cardassian Government and military--they had invaded, killed, raped, pillaged, and conducted experiments on her people during the Dominion War. Betazed was still recovering from that invasion to this day. "It is good," she said truthfully after swallowing a bite. "Who was the Gul you worked for?"

"His name was Gul Crarlirr Ledot, his actual rank was Dalin, Lt Commander. But he commanded a shitty little border cutter so made us call him 'Gul'. But I didn't WORK for him." Deacon explained, "He was just a minor official, who I had to pay off for the privilege of making a living. He was full of himself and felt he deserved,,more, out of some displaced sense of privilege or inadequacy. Not too sure which." Deacon looked at Leigh sadly, "I forgot what happened to Betazed in the war with the Dominion. Hope I didn't spoil the meal." He added with some regret. "If it makes you feel any better, he was executed three years later for taking bribes."

Leigh shrugged. "It is alright--at least there is one less self-serving Cardassian in the galaxy. So...how did you know I was still working?"

Deacon smiled and clicked his teeth. "The honest answer is I didn't 'know.' Not absolutely, not for sure." rubbing his beard between two fingers wondering how best to answer her. Honestly his brain finally told him. He'd let her tell him how far down the rabbit-hole she wanted to go. "Short version. It's a combination of psychology, probability, along with my gut, a pinch of witchcraft and a dab of tradecraft. Hope I didn't overstep with the meal. Most starfleet captains seem to compelled to live a life of noble isolation and deprivation."

"Ah, so that's your way to say that you were spying on me," Leigh said a as a grin slowly formed. "You know...some of the crew could get the wrong idea with you coming into my ready room at odd hours--with food nonetheless."

"Scew'em if they can't understand simple gratitude and kindness," Deacon replied returning Leigh's smile, amazed how good it looked on her. He also found himself appreciating the playfulness in her eyes half a heartbeat too long. Shaking his head he coughed feeling childish about acting this way around a stranger, "Ah, the rumor mill on a small ship." he said just a little too loudly, "Always the same. Swear some the biggest, baddest, knuckle-draggers, I've worked with, feed on gossip worse than my Great Aunt's Tilly's sewing circle."

"Just to be on the safe side, there aren't any dramatic personas that will take issue, and challenge me to a duel to the death with pool noodles at dawn?" he asked cocking his head and raising an eyebrow, "Because I can't function much before eight-thirty, nine o'clock."

Leigh chuckled at Deacon's comment. "No, there isn't anyone you need to worry about. I understand you had a family on Jonas Three. Are you ok with leaving them?"

Her dinner guest stopped for a moment and stared at something beyond the bulkhead. Some of this roguish exterior seemed to slip away. With a melancholy smile he finally whispered, "Ask me in six months, if I'm still around." Deacon shrugged, then in a normal voice said, "Kids were all grown, out pursuing their own adventures and families. I will miss being the doting grandfather. 'nother story Paw-paw, 'nother story," he said in a high-pitched voice, "They'd always insist jumping up and down in my study They'd sit their and just smile wide-eyed even if I was told them the same story fifty times in a row." The Rigellian sat there silent. Even if Leigh wasn't an empath, she'd be hard pressed to help basking in the warm glow of the love he felt for his family. It was a very personal moment.

But then like a flash it was gone, like a door closing, leaving the cock sure look of the man who had barged into the ready room with a tray of food. "It was just a part I was playing, nothing more," he said, possibly not realizing the true irony of what he was saying. "Hell, even if you didn't arrive like mana from heaven, I would of had to disappear one way or the other." sighing he went on to explain, "It was my wife's funeral when people seemed to notice. When I first met Marytra I was the 'mysterious older man who rescued the young widow from the river,' at the funeral it was painfully obvious that my step-kids had more gray hair than me. As accepting as the Ur'ok of the Bastion were, there was still enough superstitious paranoia that would have ruined my family and earned me center stage at my own horrific barbeque."

Leigh nodded as she remained silent, letting Kane continue as she swallowed another bite of food.

"Now then, Captain Leigh Jacobs of the award winning smile. I came here to try and help you relax and unburden, not take on any of my baggage," Deacon said reprovingly, "So come on bear your soul, or at least pass the rolls you've been 'Bogarting'"

Leigh grinned as she passed the rolls. "I'm not much for bearing my soul to anyone," she replied before letting out a sigh. She had alot on her mind to say the least and as the Captain of a Federation Warship, there wasn't anyone she could talk to as warships didn't have the need of a counselor which always brought her back to the question of why Starfleet decided to assign a Defiant Class to independent assignment as opposed being attached to a Starbase. However, she found it easy to talk to this Deacon Kane. "We've had two disastrous missions so far...and to be honest, I'm just wondering if I should even be in command of a starship."

Deacon considered what Leigh said very carefully before continuing. "Skipper, We've just met and I'll admit I don't know much of your own personal history. I can just comment on what I see. So let's objectively consider your command style and its impact on your ship." Deacon again rubbed the tip of his goatee between his thumb and forefinger as he put his thoughts into words, "First and foremost your crew; they trust you, the decisions you make and despite the relatively short time you've been together, show an unusual degree of loyalty. They know you listen to them and take their opinions seriously, but aren't offended when you decide to go your own way."

He then folded his arms and support his statements. "Consider Lt. Me'Shlaht, she voiced her opinion about keeping me in the brig, you listened, made your decision, and she respected it. Then there's Farmer, sorry I mean Senior Chief Xan, I knew his back in the day. He doesn't give his loyalty lightly or easily. Honestly I'd think he'd kick the teeth in of anyone who threatened you. You know, his quick thinking stabilized the whole Mutara sector for a time? One of these days, I hope the Secrecy Act will be relaxed enough to explain to him how. Lt. Lougheed helped work with you to find justification for me to be walking around. Trust me, us spies don't stick our necks out for anyone we don't have faith in. Lt. Song,,,, haven't talked with her long enough to get a read on her opinion of you. She's more an example of your ability to spot talent, where most would just disregard her."

Leigh considered his words. Perhaps she just needed to hear someone else say it. She finally nodded. "Perhaps you're right. But what about you? What do you want to happen when we reach Starbase 239? To be honest, I believe the Valiant could use someone of your experience."

"Oh my dear Captain, you need a chess partner that badly?" Deacon replied with a wink as he placed the chessboard on the desk, "Actually, I could think of worse places to hang my hat and Lt Lougheed seems a decent sort to work for." he observe as he set up the small magnetic pieces on the metal board. "Tell you what, you promise me that you'll be in the Captain's chair when the Valiant leaves spacedock, and I'm in. Now white or black?"

"Black," she said. She hated making promises but she was going to fight like hell for her small ship and crew. "Promise."

Today was the day! Arturo had arranged for he and Xiulan to stay in a nice ‘hotel’ on SB239 so they could have some time together in a suite with room to move. He was dressed in his best suit of clothes, the finest velvets and silks, rich and soft to the touch for Xiulan’s benefit as much as his own vanity. He had plans to take her to dinner and maybe dance with her a bit...but today was the day...tonight was the night! Tonight, Arturo would make an honest woman out of his Graceful Orchid...that is...if she said yes....

Arturo reached for a box on the dresser. It was a lacquered box, black, green, and white, with a raised carving of an orchid on it, raised so that Xiulan could ‘see’ it with her fingers. Song Xiulan meant ‘Graceful Orchid” in Federation Standard and ‘Graceful Orchid’ was what Arturo called Xiulan in private, mostly, though occasionally in public. Xiulan made a big deal about how she was making a huge concession by ‘allowing’ Arturo to call her ‘Graceful Orchid’ but he always caught her smiling when he said it. Even when she wasn’t, he’d learned to read her mood and he could tell the difference between when Xiulan was grumping because she was really grumpy and when she was actually happy with him but didn’t want to get caught being ‘too soft’. When they first got together, Xiulan used to cover her emotions often. Less so now that years had passed. A ruby was set into the lid of the box as well, ruby being the gemstone for those born in the Chinese Year of the Dog.

Arturo opened the box. Inside was an ornately carved hair comb resting on the silk lining of the inside of the box. The carving was of a dragon and a phoenix centered around another orchid. The carvings were raised enough and clear enough that, like the carving on the box, Xiulan would be able to ‘see’ it with her hands and fingers. The material was white jade. Normally, for what Arturo intended, there would be two bracelets, one with a dragon, the other with a phoenix, but Xiulan hated jewelry.

Arturo and Xiulan had been together a while now, years. One of the ways he showed his love for her was to comb out her hair. Xiulan had been dubious about that at first. She just hadn’t been used to being with a guy like Arturo. But it had grown on her and now, if he neglected to offer quickly enough, she’d ask, or just hold out her comb, sensing that he was watching her. He’d chosen the comb because, if she said yes, every time he combed out her hair, and even when she did it by herself if he was tied up somewhere, she’d be reminded that he loved and cherished her above all others. Arturo set the comb back in the box and picked up the other item in the box.

After combing her hair, Xiulan usually put hair sticks or a hair fork in her hair. Arturo had thought about a set of hair sticks, one dragon, one phoenix, but then if she lost one, that would be a whole thing. So, Arturo settled on a hair fork, also of white jade, with the dragon and phoenix centered on an orchid, carved by the same crafter so that the carvings matched those on the comb. The comb was something to be shared in private between Arturo and his Graceful Orchid. The hair fork was something Xiulan could wear in public to show off to her friends and co-workers…which she’d likely never admit she was doing, but the thought of her trying to play it off as though it didn’t mean anything to her made Arturo smile. Arturo placed the hair fork back in the box and gently closed it.

The Imperial Hotel was Chinese theme to it, because it was owned and operated by a Chinese company. The hotel had a truly fine Chinese restaurant and Arturo had done some digging and the the head chef was even from the region of China that Xiulan was from, and promised to make her feel as if she was at home when he brought her for dinner. The reveal of the hair fork and comb...that was up in the air. Would he reveal it before hand or after? He really wanted to reveal it when he got the opportunity to comb out her hair...oh how he loved when she let him do that...even more so when she asked him to do it. But that might happen before dinner, or when they returned. He would have to play it by ear.

Xiulan was getting ready for their night out, so Arturo waited as patiently as possible.

Arturo wasn't giving her any clues about what he had planned for the night and it was killing Xiulan! She had taken notice of the fact that he had already taken his nicest clothing from the closet and then told her to dress nice; so she guess that meant no frumping about in a giant hoodie or one of his t-shirts... The closest thing to 'nice' that Xiulan even owned was her dress whites! Although, there was that one tunic she had picked up a few years back... she never wore the thing, she just liked how it felt. Being mostly blind, visual appeal meant little to her, but she loved exploring textiles with unique textures, and she picked up this one tunic made from a pulled silk; it lacked the ultra smooth sheen of its cousin, reeled silk, and it was so impossibly soft, truly a unique texture all its own. Maybe it was time to finally wear this tunic...

Xiulan rustled about in her closet until she found the mauvy-pink fabric, not that she cared what color it was, and slipped it over her head and the tips of the long handkerchief hem fell past her knees, then she dug out some leggings and a pair slip on shoes, both in black. Now her hair... For some reason, she decided to wear it down, pinning back a few bits so her shaggy bangs weren't hanging in her eyes. She wasn't sure if this was what Arturo meant by 'nice', but she hoped she had achieved something at least kind of decent, but she was as done as she was going to be, so she grabbed her cane and went to go meet up with Arturo.

Arturo looked at his chronograph. Xiulan had told him that if she wasn't at the hotel by this time, she'd meet him at the restaurant.

So the reveal is to be after dinner and a little dancing...well, that would probably work out even better.

Arturo headed downstairs, went to the restaurant and got the the attention of the maitre'd. She immediately showed him to the table they'd set aside for Arturo and his (hopefully) fiancee to be.

"She doesn't know yet," he told the maitre'd, an attractive Chinese woman in her thirties. "So don't give me away!"

The maitre'd smiled.

"Of course not, Commander," she said. "We'll show her in immediately once she arrives!"

"Thank you!" Arturo said. He sat and struggled to resist the urge to pace, and waited for the maitre'd to show Xiulan to their table. There was music playing, and there were couples dancing, as hoped to do a little of later. It wasn't exactly Xiulan's kind of music, but she seemed to enjoy dancing with him to it anyway.

After a while of wandering the station, Xiulan was beginning to wonder if maybe she should have had Arturo meet her at the gangway, because she was fairly certain she was lost...

"Lieutenant Song, it's a pleasure to meet you!" someone said to her with an energetic excitement; okay, maybe she was in the right place! "Commander S'Rohass has been waiting for your arrival. Shall I take you to him now?"

"Uh, sure," Xiulan said awkwardly. "I'm in the right place, right? The Imperial Hotel?" she asked as she let this strange person lead her to Arturo.

"You certainly are, Lieutenant," the maitre'd said. "Please come with me!"

The maitre'd led Xiulan through the restaurant to Arturo. There was music playing and the smells of food from her childhood wafting through the air as steaming and even sizzling plates carried by waiters move swiftly around her as though their movement was choreographed.

"Commander S'Rohass," the maitre'd said. "May I present Lieutenant Song Xiulan."

Arturo looked at Xiulan and took in her appearance. He remembered when she bought that top, primarily because of the way it felt. He'd liked the feel of it on his fingers...when she was in it, of course, he enjoyed the feel of it sliding across her skin. He rose and walked over to her, slipped his arms around her and brought her close to him and kissed her.

"You look lovely," he said. "Thank you so much for letting me take you out this evening. I know you had a long day."

"Well, I smell pork buns and hotpots, so you definitely decided to take me to the right place," Xiulan replied with a smirk. Arturo definitely knew the way to Xiulan's heart, through the traditional food she had grown up with, and the spicier the better! And she was pretty tired, but even she knew she was overdue for some quality down time, and some good food that spoke to her soul sounded like just the thing she needed!

"Here, this way," Arturo said. Without 'overhelping', led Xiulan to her chair. Once she was seated, he took the seat across from her. "So, I picked this place not only for being probably the best accommodations to be found here, but also because, as you might be able to smell, the chef here is from the same region of China you are from, as is most of the food he prepares. He has told me that you may ask for anything you like, and he'll make it for you. As for spirits, I understand that they have both Huangjiu and the much stronger Baijiu available. We are here to celebrate...as to what we're celebrating...that will come out as the evening progresses."

Arturo reached across the table and held Xiulan's hand. She couldn't see him, not really. She could see his heat signature, but she couldn't look in his eyes. For that reason, especially when they were out together, he liked to hold her hand, so he could communicate to her by touch what he might otherwise communicate by a glance or a smile.

"You're seriously not going to tell me?" Xiulan asked. "Alright, whatever we're 'celebrating' better be worth it or I'm just gonna have to kick your ass," she added candidly, grinning wide. "Now let's get some food over here, I barely had time for lunch today!" she said with her usual tact and grace.

Arturo chuckled and motioned to the maitre'd with his free hand. The maitre'd sent over their waiter, and attractive young woman of Chinese descent.

"Good evening," their waiter said. "Lieutenant Song, Commander S'Rohass has requested that we prepare anything you ask for, so please, feel free to ask for anything you desire. The Commander mentioned some of the alcohol we have available, and we have more as well. Commander S'Rohass has already assured us that should you over indulge and begin dancing on the tables or swinging from the chandeliers...his words, not mine, that he will cover the damages. So, what can I get you to start?"

It was at this point that Xiulan began speaking Cantonese with the maitre'd, much faster than the Universal Translator could keep up with, at first talking about the food, but then they started laughing and their conversation became increasingly excited.

"Oh damn, this is so weird!" Xiulan said to Arturo. "Okay, back in the day, I used to sneak out of the temple at night to go do mixed martial arts brawls, and at the end of the night me and my friends- well, I say 'friends' in the loosest sense of the word; we would wail on each other all night, then winner would buy the first round of drinks. Anyway, Lien here-" Xiulan gestured to their server, "was a waitress at one of the bars we used to go to! Damn, the galaxy is a much smaller place than I thought it was! Uh, so, she says they have really good Dim Sum, I thought that might be a good start?" she said with a shrug.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Lien," Arturo said. "Dim Sum it is."

Lien bowed and left, returning briefly to bring them tea and pour each of them a cup, before leaving again.

"So," Arturo said, after taking a sip of his tea. "Can you believe we've been together almost three years?"

"Yeah, it's been a wild ride, hasn't it?" Xiulan replied with a nod. "'So, how do you feel about casual sex?'" Xiulan quoted from that really bad that had started it all; they had met on the Beifong and they were more or less fugitives at the time, and it had been one of those days where bad just kept getting worse and worse, until Xiulan had gone to his quarters to ask for casual sex. Xiulan never could have guessed that what started that night would last through three long years!

Arturo chuckled.

"Happy that I agreed to...service your needs that evening!" Arturo replied. He leaned in close so only she could hear him. "Very happy indeed. I already admired you, and not just for your beauty. You were and still are smart and funny, funny even when you don't intend to be. You make me smile and laugh, but I never do so to belittle you. You were driven to live up to responsibilities you didn't feel prepared for. You felt out of your depth, but you didn't let that stop you. You were...and are, the complete package. So when you showed up at my door wanting sex...well, I never could have turned you down in a thousand lifetimes."

Xiulan snorted with amusement. "And here I thought you were just grateful I didn't leave you in that escape pod," she teased. "I just went to your door because there was something about you, something undefinable..." For a moment, it almost looked like she was going to say something sweet and heartfelt, but then the moment was gone. "I just knew you'd be good in bed," she said bluntly.

Arturo grinned. Trust Xiulan to stick to her baser instincts. Arturo wasn't troubled by her response. Xiulan had only been interested in his body when they met. It took time to help her realize there could be more between them than that, and that that more was worth the effort.

"Funny," Arturo said. "I had the same thought about you. Xiulan..."

Arturo was interrupted when Lien appeared pushing a cart with their Dim Sum on it. She placed several steamer baskets and other covered dishes on the table.

"Is there anything else I can get you right now?" Lien asked.

How about the moment you just barreled through? Arturo thought. Okay. It's okay. I have all evening. I knew the food was coming. It was a bad moment. The right time will come...

"I'm good," Arturo said. "Xiulan?"

"Oh yeah, can I get some Shacha, some chili oil, and Sriracha," Xiulan rattled off, all very spicy sauces. "Oh! And some sesame sauce with garlic and chives!" she added with glee as she reached for a steamer basket to figure out what was in it. "Oh damn, that smells good, maybe lamb? But where are the pork buns, I know I can smell pork buns somewhere."

Despite himself, Arturo smiled, but bit back an actual laugh, both because Xiulan like a kid in a candy store, and because she seemed totally oblivious to what he was building up to. On the other hand, he really hadn't gotten that far before Lien, may she be cursed to the Hell of the Horny Dragon, had interrupted them. Arturo quietly enjoyed Xiulan's glee as she poked around in the different baskets and dishes, and let her determine what was what by smell. Xiulan's cute little nose was almost as sensitive as his, so he had no doubt she could find everything without his help. Lien returned with the sauces and oils Xiulan asked for. Arturo didn't even bother to try and get between Xiulan and her dinner. Lesser men had died for such a crime...well...probably not, but it was possible. Besides, the food really did look and smell wonderful. Arturo took up his chopsticks and picked up a pork bun before Xiulan could grab them all and took a bite.

"That really is excellent," he said.

"Hey, gimme one!" Xiulan reached over with a pair of chopsticks to grab a steaming dumpling and dipped it into the spicy concoction she had mixed up. "Damn, that's some kind of good right there," she said around a mouthful of succulent pork. After a few bites, Xiulan grew thoughtful, and finally she tilted her head curiously. "So, three years," she started, pausing just long enough to sip at her tea. "I don't think I've ever been with anyone for that long," she admitted; then again, not many people could put up with her for too long... "Back then when we were just messing around, did you ever think we'd still be together this long?" she asked.

Arturo swallowed and washed down the last of that particular dumpling and grabbed another one from a steam basket. He wasn't sure what it was, but it smelled delicious.

"I had hoped," he said. "But I was not sure. I was prepared to patiently while you made up your mind. I enjoyed being with you, and we spent time together even when we weren't tearing each other's clothes off which gave me reason to believe that you might come around. And then there is the fact that I am brave and true of heart and so must always win!"

Arturo used to speak in exclamation points all the time, but he had mellowed just a little over the years, and besides, this was an occasion for intimacy. Acting like Don Quixote might ruin the moment he was looking for. That said, he was still himself. Arturo must be Arturo.

"Well, you are that," Xiulan answered with a chuckle. "I decided to keep you around when you brought me fresh coffee.... and you give the best hair combings," she added, offering a sly grin.

Arturo chuckled.

If you only knew...well, you will know. Just not...yet. The moment will come. Patience. Patience. Slow and steady wins the hand of the lady...HA! Xiulan is many things, but most people wouldn't consider her a 'lady'...but I do...she's my lady.

"I do enjoy that you let me do that," Arturo said. He grinned. "You are a artist with a furminator yourself!"

Arturo ate more of his dinner, but ate lightly. He was nervous, but he felt he was hiding it well...hopefully. He drank some more tea. He rather wanted something stronger, but he was already feeling slightly giddy and lightheaded. The two ate in companionable silence for a little bit. Arturo watched Xiulan as she ate and drank and chatted with him. One of the advantages of having a blind lover was that Arturo could usually watch and admire Xiulan without making her too uncomfortable.

"Do you remember," Arturo said. "Very early in our relationship...I do not think you were even thinking of what we had as a relationship at the time...you announced to Nerys that we were having sex in an attempt to shock her? And then she turned the tables on you and offered us help in conceiving a child? The look on your face was priceless!"

A piece of spicy lamb got caught in her throat and she was able to quickly dislodge with a good cough. "Oh fuck," Xiulan blurted out as she quickly grabbed for her drink to wash everything down. Then she managed to laugh "Damn, you just had to remember that while I was eating, didn't you," Xiulan said with a dry smirk. then her smirk faded. "Alright, what's up with you? This is more than just 'celebrating' 3 years, it's got to be! You're heart is racing faster than when we have sex, so what's the deal?"

Arturo took a deep breath. He reached into his large belt pouch and pulled out The Box, AKA THE BOX THAT WOULD HELP DECIDE THE FUTURE OF ARTURO S'ROHASS. Arturo pulled out the box and held it for a moment.

"Xiulan, my love," Arturo said. "I have somethings I'd like to give you. I had everything, including the box their in, specially made for just for you."

Arturo rose and walked over next to Xiulan's chair. He turned Xiulan's chair so that she was now facing him. Getting down on bended knee, he placed the box in her hands.

"Look at it, with your fingers," he said. "It was designed for that. You should be able to tell what's on the box, except for the stone from the year of your birth, a ruby. When you're ready to open it, let me know. I want to guide you to both items. They each require just a short explanation."

Xiulan's brow furrowed when he came around and turned her chair, then her breath caught in her throat when he knelt before her. "What are y-" but then the box was in her hands, and curiosity drove her to explore its carved surface. She could feel the stone and the signature facet cut that was usually reserved for rubies, then she could feel the subtle curves and shapes of the orchid surrounding the ruby.

"Arturo... is... is this what I think it is?" Xiulan asked, her hands beginning to tremble ever so slightly.

Arturo smiled and kissed Xiulan on the forehead.

"That all depends, my love, on what you think it is," he said. "Patience. I've worked the whole thing out. Patience, my love. If I am correct, you will not regret waiting. Now, the traditional gift for this occasion is a pair of bracelets, one with a dragon on it and the other with a phoenix. However, I have been your lover, companion, and true friend for three years now and I am well aware of how much you despise jewelry and I have come up with what I think is an elegant solution."

Arturo took the box from Xiulan's trembling hands and opened it. He guided her finger first to the comb of carved white jade, with the dragon and the phoenix centered on an orchid.

"Look at this with your fingers," he said. "Like the box, this was designed especially for you. Can you tell what it is and what the carvings are?"

Xiulan nodded as her fingers explored the exquisitely designed comb; it was the most beautiful thing she had ever 'seen'. But she knew what a 'traditional gift' of a dragon and phoenix bracelet meant. "Are you asking me to marry you?" she asked with an uncharacteristic softness.

Arturo smiled and squeezed Xiulan's hands.

"I will be, yes," Arturo said. "Patience, love of my life. The comb is for you, but also us. When we share the intimacy of combing out your wild, but truly beautiful hair, at night before you go to bed, when you come out of the shower, or just when you want me to comb out your hair, but also for the times I will not be able to be there, so that in that moment you can be reminded of my love for you and of the love we share. It's made of white jade. As is the next item in the box..."

Arturo placed the comb back in the box and guided Xiulan's hands to the hair fork.

"While you don't wear jewelry in public," he said. "You do use hair forks. This one is also made of white jade and the carving matches the comb. This is for you to wear in public, to show off, if you're so inclined, or simply to have with you as a reminder of our partnership."

Artruo gave Xiulan's hands a squeeze, then with his right hand he gently caressed her cheek.

"Song Xiulan," Arturo said, using the formal, Chinese way of saying his lover's name. "My Graceful Orchid. You are the love of my life and if you will have me, I will spend the rest of my days loving and cherishing you above all others. Xiulan...will you do me the great honor of marrying me?"

For a long while, she sat there simply holding the hair fork, her eyes staring blindly into nothingness, unblinking; well, this was the next step for them, right? After all, he made her happy, and she didn't see herself wanting to be with anyone else, so this was the next logical step. Right?

"Okay," Xiulan finally said after a disconcertingly long silence. Wait, that wasn't right, she was supposed to be excited! But he had so thoroughly short-circuited her brain, it was taking a moment for the excitement to catch up.

Arturo looked at Xiulan, a little taken aback. Honestly, he had been expecting a little more enthusiasm. Maybe she was in shock? Arturo knew she was probably feeling things she wasn't used to feeling, or at least not used to feeling those feelings so intensely...at least he hoped that was it. Did he break her? She seemed almost as if she was disassociating.

"Um...Xiulan...dear Graceful Orchid," Arturo said. "Are you...alright? I was expecting a bit more of an enthusiastic response..."

It was time to get creative. Arturo was an avid fan of old Earth stories. Of knights rescuing princesses and living happily ever after. There was one story, one about a beautiful sleeping woman, under a spell that won't allow her to wake unless she receives true love's kiss.

Well, it couldn't hurt!

Arturo leaned in a gave Xiulan a kiss that was truly 'true love's kiss', a kiss into which he put every ounce of the love he felt for Xiulan.

That succeeded in snapping her out of her fugue, but it didn't exactly get the result he was looking for.

"What are you doing?" Xiulan asked when she pulled away from him. "You know the rules, I don't do PDA's," she reminded him. "You save it for the bedroom where I can jump your bones," she said very matter-of-factly as she reached behind her and twisted her hair up and put the hair fork in place as a sign of acceptance of his offer.

Arturo frowned, then looked at the fork and smiled.

"I'll take that as a yes," he said. "As for jumping my bones, I've arranged the perfect place for both of us to do that to each other whenever you're ready. Big bed, whirlpool tub with plenty of room for two, and plenty of other surfaces, to lay on or lean on. I love you Xiulan song...fiancee...wife to be. Shall we go?"

"But.... food..." Xiulan said, looking downright confused; because you don't get between a Chinese person and food, especially if it's 'all you can eat'. "And we haven't even broken out the booze yet! This is a moment that requires booze, we should be celebrating!" Then she called out to Lien in Cantonese, telling her to bring a bottle of Baijiu.

Arturo laughed.

"There you are," he said. Arturo let Xiulan straighten her chair up and took his seat again. "I was worried for a moment. My desire for food is sated, but I will gladly drink with you."

She really is happy. She's having them break out the strong stuff. She's a bottomless pit when it comes to good food. Where does she put it all?

"I don't understand how you can survive on how little you eat," Xiulan said bluntly as she dug into another steamer basket. Lien came around with a bottle and extra glasses, pouring a glass of the potent wine for Xiulan and Arturo, then left the bottle behind. Xiulan raised her glass, then quickly took a drink. "Ah, that's some good shit right there," Xiulan said with a pleased grin. But then something occurred to her, and she tilted her head curiously. "So, you've clearly done a lot of research about traditional Chinese customs to make this gift for me, but I don't know much about Caitian traditions," she pointed out, clearly interested in what marriage would be like on the Caitian side.

"Well," Arturo said. "Usually there are displays of physical prowess, where the male shows off how strong and skilled he is, and shows off his skill as a hunter, bringing the female a deceased animal they killed for her. There are mental tests to prove how smart the male is, and social tests to prove that the male can provide a good home for kittens. Some of the larger breeds of Caitian will hunt down and kill a Nundo, which is a large, primitive feline quadruped native to Cait."

"Yeah, no offense, but if you start leaving dead carcasses for me to find, you can have your comb back," Xiulan said bluntly, then took another drink of her wine. "But other than that, if you feel the need to show off your 'prowess' then go ahead, but really you've got nothing to prove to me; I've already seen enough to know that most people are dumb as a box of rocks compared to you, and I've grappled with you enough times to know how strong you are."

Arturo grinned and then drank some of his wine.

"Whew," he said. "I was not looking forward to trying to take down a Nundu. Most Caitians resemble Earths 'Big Cats'. I am more like an Earth domestic cat. So imagine a house can from your world trying to take on a giant leopard. For you, I would do anything, but...if we can skip the Nundu, that would be for the best. And...thank you for the compliments. I also know you to be smart, funny, strong, and brave."

"I guess I should start brushing up on Caitian culture so I don't offend your clan," Xiulan remarked in between gnawing bites on something that required a bit of work to chew through. "I mean, I knew enough to get by when you took me to meet your parents, and I'm fairly certain I impressed them being able to speak a bit of Caitian," or as much as human vocal chords were able to produce, "but getting married is different, I feel like I should know more about your clan by now..." And she sounded vaguely regretful about this fact.

"My parents love you," Arturo said reassuringly. "They want you to be you. We grew up on Alpha Centauri. AC is a melting pot of many cultures and peoples. Anyway, they are happy I found some who I love and who loves me. They are unconcerned about whether or not you have fur and speak our language. But you can always ask if something doesn't quite make sense to you. Everyone in my immediate family has been given strict instructions to be helpful to you without treating you as though you are helpless."

Arturo took another sip of his wine. It was strong and he didn't want to get too drunk just yet.

"As for knowing more about my clan..." he said. "Well, as you may have noticed when you met some of them, we've blended in with the community on Alpha Centauri and picked up customs from various cultures. My clan came to Alpha Centauri shortly after Cait joined the Federation, to get away from Cait. On Cait, the 'Big Cats' rule. There's a hierarchy and we small cats fall below the lowest of the big cats. But on Alpha Centauri, members of my clan were equal citizens. The hierarchy is less important these days, but still plays a significant role in Caitian society. I occasionally catch back talk and resistance to my authority when faced with 'Big Cats' that I outrank in Starfleet, but most Caitians who join Starfleet follow Starfleet's chain of command."

"Guess I never realized..." Xiulan said as she finally realized the significance. "I mean, I knew you where short, and on an intellectual level I knew there was a hierarchy in Caitian society in which size was a factor, but because appearance is something that's so unimportant to me, I guess I never made the connection." Although, now that she knew this, she could understand why his clan immigrated to Alpha Centauri. "Well, as you may have noticed, I don't really stand on ceremony or care for tradition; I'm touched that you did so much research to get me a meaningful engagement gift and I do love it, but when it comes to the wedding and stuff, I'm really not too particular. Hell, we could go get our dress whites now and go see the Captain if you wanted to." Although she suspected he wouldn't, that he would want their families present, and she could respect that.

"Well," Arturo said. "I would be willing to just have the Captain officiate. We could throw a sort of 'after party' next shore leave and invite family and friends. Or we could combine those two ideas. We could get married next shore leave, which would give us time to invite a few family and close friends, and the Captain could officiate."

"Whatever works for you," Xiulan said casually around a mouthful of food. "You sure you don't want anymore of this?" she asked, pointing her chopsticks at another basket of goodies. Yeah, not like she was talking about anything important like marriage...

"Alright," Arturo said. "Enough planning. We can do that tomorrow. Tonight, we celebrate!"

Arturo picked up a bit size dumpling with his chopsticks and held it out in front of him.

"Now," he said. "I know I usually say this in the bedroom when we're alone, but please open your mouth and hold still!"

"And I'll tell you what I say in the bedroom, 'I'll do what I want'," Xiulan declared, then leaned forward to gobble up the the small heat signature floating before her. Mmmm, that one had some kick to it!

Arturo laughed.

"And that right there is your usual response," he said. He picked up another. "This is rather fun. Here, have another one!"

Arturo sort of waved the dumpling around a bit, but then held it absolutely still. Stabbing your lover...fiancee (was that really true?) in the eye would not lead to a satisfying evening. Was it really true? Had Xiulan agreed to marry him? Arturo looked at the top of Xiulan's beautiful head, saw the white jade hair fork with the dragon and phoenix and orchid on it poking out from the top of her hair, and was reassured. He smiled like the cat that ate the canary.

She did actually say that she would marry me! She did! She did!

It took Xiulan a moment to 'see' it after he'd been waving the dumpling around, there was so much steam coming off the table, but she managed to find and eat the dumpling without any risk of bodily harm. "Ok, I think I might be getting full," she said as she munched, then washed the dumpling down with some wine. "Damn, that's good. I hope we can stop by here often while we're stationed out here, this place is great." She let Arturo feed her once more before she had to call it quits, then she waved to Lien to pack up the leftovers, because there was no way she wasn't going to finish all this good stuff later!

"So, what's the verdict?" Xiulan asked as she leaned back in her chair to sip on some more wine. "You sounded really interested in the idea of just going to the Captain now."

Arturo smiled at Xiulan's enthusiasm. It was one of the aspects of her personality that made them perfect for each other.

"Yes," Arturo said. "Let us go to the Captain! Though I think we should ask her tomorrow. Tonight, I want you to myself. Would you like any of the command crew to attend? Or just you, me, and Captain?"

Arturo motioned Lien over and whispered to her to have a jug of the wine sent to their suite. Xiulan might have heard, she might not have, but either way he didn't think she'd mind. Arturo could handle his liquor much better than most Caitians, and it seemed to have the opposite affect on his...performance, than it had on most males.

"You know, I'm not really into voyeurism, but if you want the command crew in the bedroom, I guess we could give that a try," Xiulan said with a shrug, but she knew full well what he meant, she was just messing with him.

Arturo roared (okay, he meowed) with laughter.

"Very amusing, Graceful Orchid," Arturo said. "But I wouldn't want us to give anyone an inferiority complex! So, do you want to have some of our new colleagues and hopefully soon to be friends at our little ceremony?"

"Yeah, sure, why not," Xiulan said with a shrug. And that was that? Apparently they were getting married tomorrow, cool! "So, back to the ship?" she asked as she found her cane.

"No," Arturo said as he rose and gathered up the food. "Upstairs. I was not jesting when I said I arranged a place for us to stay. This is our night to enjoy ourselves and I have secured the perfect place to do that! Shall we?"

'Shall we' was code between them for Arturo to stand on Xiulan's right side and hold out his left arm for her to hold onto as they walked. She could find him by heat signature and by the sound of his voice...or by whacking him in the legs or poking him with her cane when she was either in a playful mood or, less frequently, annoyed with him.

Xiulan found the engagement box, making sure not to accidentally leaving it behind, then found Arturo's heat signature and took his arm. "This better not be some sleazy 'pay by the hour' holosuite thing, because you know I need a lot more liquor before I'm willing to stoop that low."

Arturo sort of kitty snorted.

"I assure you," he said. "Everything will meet and exceed your highest standards. And if not, well, I asked Lien to send a jug of Baijiu to our suite."

Arturo adjusted the collar of his dress whites as he and Xiulan stood before the door of Commander Leigh Jacobs' quarters. He glanced at Xiulan.

"Are your ready?" Arturo said. Arturo was absolutely sure he was ready. "I'm going to knock on the door in 3...2..."

"Enter, Commander," Leigh called from her quarters, setting down a holo novel as she stood from her chair.

Arturo's ears went back in embarrassment. He wondered how long Leigh had been aware that he and Xiulan were standing there. He entered Leigh's quarters with Xiulan.

"Captain!" he said, proudly. "I have asked Xiulan to marry me, something I should have done some time ago, and she has done me the honor of agreeing to become my wife! We were...we were hoping that you might be willing to officiate our wedding for us."

Leigh grinned. "Congratulations Commander and lieutenant!" She paused for a moment as she thought about her duty as a captain to preside of marriages. "I would be honored to officiate your wedding. When is the big day?"

"Uhm...today?" Arturo said. "We're going to throw an after party next shore leave and invite some family and friends, and of course our colleagues from the the Valiant, but we were hoping to get married as soon as possible. We've waited a long time to come to this point, and we don't want to wait."

"Well, talk about short notice," Leigh joked with a grin. She stood and donned her uniform jacket before walking over to a desk and grabbing a PaDD out of a drawer. "Do you have the rings?"

"Uh, I'm from China, using rings isn't really a big thing there, plus I don't really do jewelry... so he made me a comb," Xiulan admitted sheepishly, gesturing to the jade dragon/phoenix hairfork holding her bun in place. "Guess Caitians don't really do rings either, do they?" she realized suddenly.

"No," Arturo said. "We don't use rings. I'll just mark you with my scent every morning after you shower and before you go on duty."

"Oh dear God," Jacobs whispered to herself with a chuckle.

Xiulan just shrugged. "Sounds good to me," she said with a grin. "So, we doing this?"

"Absolutely," Arturo said. "Captain, could we go to your Ready Room and do this right away?"

"Of course, commander," Leigh replied as she stepped out of her quarters and headed for her Ready Room, which was just down the hall. With her quarters and ready room on Deck One, along with the bridge, she felt as if she was always on duty.

"Thank you, Captain!" Arturo said, as he followed Leigh to the Ready Room with Xiulan in tow.

Xiulan said nothing, holding tight to Arturo's arm as he escorted her inside the office. She was equal parts nervous and excited, and some part of her still couldn't believe this was happening. But she was happy, even if she didn't show it much; her ever present scowl was nowhere to be seen as the corners of her lips were pulled up into the tiniest hint of a smile.

"Ok, shall we begin," Jacobs said, standing in front of her desk.

So there they were, Arturo and Xiulan, dressed in their dress whites in front of the Captain, ready to get married. Arturo took Xiulan's hands and faced her, but she freed one to reach up to touch Arturo's face, to feel the expressions that he made as they were bound together.

Jacobs looked at the PaDD in her hand and then back at the two officers in front of her. "Commander S'Rohass, do you take Lieutenant Song as your wife. To have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do you part?"

Arturo smiled and a tear formed in the corner of his eye and rolled down onto Xiulan's hand where she touched his face. Finally. Finally.

"I do," Arturo said. "I most wholeheartedly do."

Jacobs then looked at Lieutenant Song. "Lieutenant Song, do you take Commander S'Rohass as your husband. To have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do you part?"

"I do," Xiulan said with a lopsided grin, repeating herself in a softer tone. "I do..."

"Then by the power invested in me by the Federation of Planets, I hereby announce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride," Jacobs recited with a huge grin on her face.

Arturo leaned in to kiss his bride, then dipped her back in his version of the famous WWII photo of the sailor kissing the woman at a parade for returning soldiers and sailors. And he went on kissing her...and kissing her...and kissing her...seemingly he had forgotten where they were and that anyone was in the room with them.

Lots and lots of tongue, Arturo and Xiulan certainly weren't afraid of making out right in front of their CO! Xiulan had been glad that Jacobs had decided to forgo all the pomp and circumstance of some long speech, choosing instead to keep it short and sweet.

"By the way, I'm not taking your name," Xiulan said when she forced their lips apart, only for them to come crashing together for another tongue-filled kiss a second later. They certainly were an odd pair...

Arturo came up for air, or tried to, in order to thank the captain.

"Thank...mmmm...you...mmm...ver...mmmm...y much...Capt...mmmm...tain," Arturo said. "We...Xiulan...why don't...we...go back to our suite?"

"Sounds good," Xiulan said before stealing one more kiss. "First person naked gets to be on top!" she declared, practically pulling him towards the door.

"You're on!" Arturo said as he ran out of the room after Xiulan, leaving Leigh standing alone in her Ready Room.

Jacobs simply smiled and shook her head as she watched her XO and Chief of Operations rush out of the door.

Arturo had acquired considerable resources as a privateer and invested them wisely, so he had the credits to afford the suite he'd rented for him and Xiulan to spend their shore leave/honeymoon in. Since it was much, much larger than their quarters on the Valiant, they were taking full advantage. They'd been having a lot of fun but now they needed to finally tell Arturo's mother and father that they'd gotten married.

"Now, remember," Arturo was saying. "My mother thinks the world of you. So she's going to be really happy. She's been telling me to marry you before you got tired of me and moved on since the day she met you. My father feels the same way about you. So you have nothing to worry about! They think of you as one of their own kittens."

Arturo was combing out Xiulan's hair with the special comb he'd had made for her for just this purpose as a symbol of his desire to become her husband. She really had beautiful hair, so soft and silky and...

Arturo shut down that line of thinking right away before he, or they, became too distracted to make the subspace call.

"Do I detect a hint of nervousness in your voice?" Xiulan teased with a grin, her eyes closed in relaxation as he combed her hair. She felt him brush some hair aside so he could plant a kiss on her neck, his signal that he was done combing. Xiulan quickly put her hair up into a large bun and secured it with her new hair fork, then she turned to give Arturo a reassuring kiss. "Don't worry, I like your parents, I think I'll be fine."

Arturo took a deep breath and centered himself.

"Alright," he said. "Let's do this."

Arturo used the room's console to place the subspace call to his parents on Alpha Centauri. He'd sent a message earlier telling them he would call at this time and that both his mother and father should be present. Finally, the call went through. On the screen appeared Arturo's mother, Lelani. His father, Arhass, was standing behind her.

"Hello?" Lelani said. "Oh, there you are! What a treat! My favorite kitten and my eldest son in one call! Xiulan, you look...radiant...wait...did you two..."

"Uhm..." Arturo said, a little thrown by being bumped from favorite kitten status by Xiulan. "We've gotten married. I'm sorry we didn't wait for you to be here, but this seemed to be the best way to..."

"EEEK!" Lelani said. "Xiulan you little devil you! You finally asked my son to marry you! Tell me all the details!"

Arturo facepalmed.

"Oh, uhhhhh...." Xiulan started before, then she grinned. "Haha, I'm favorite kitten, suck it!" she said to Arturo, giving him a playful nudge to his ribs with her elbow. "Actually, Lelani, he asked me, and you would be proud of the thought and care he put into the proposal," Xiulan reported to her new mother in law. "He proved he knew how to get through to my heart, he fed me, and then since he knows I don't do jewelry that I wouldn't want a ring like most humans do, so he made me the most beautiful comb I've ever touched. It was really special," she continued.

There was something comforting about the warm acceptance of his parents that allowed Xiulan to show her softer side, which she did by leaning over to Arturo to rest her chin on his shoulder at first, then she nuzzled against his cheek with a smile.

Lelani laughed with glee again.

"Oh, that's lovely!" she said. "Isn't that lovely, Arhass?"

"Yes, dear," Arhass said from the background, giving them the thumbs up with both hands, from behind Lelani.

"Ooh!" Lelani said. "That sounds sooo romantic. Arturo, son, I now re-elevate you back to favorite kitten status, but you have to share it with Xiulan. You'll have to share everything with her from now on, so you might as well start practicing."

"Mother," Arturo said. "We've been living together for the last two years, I think we have some experience sharing."

"It's nice that you think that, dear," Lelani said. "Don't worry, Xiulan will set you straight. Now, down to business! When are my two favorite kittens going to bless me with a litter of grandkittens?"

"I think we can share," Xiulan said, nodding slightly with her chin still resting on Arturo's shoulder. But then Lelani dropped the big bomb, 'litter of grandkids', which quite effectively short circuited Xiulan's brain with shock. She grew stiff, her expression one of pure horror.

"Mother!" Arturo said. "She's human! You know they usually have only one or two at a time...okay, well, some people triplets...or quadruplets...or quintuplets...or sextuplets...is sextuplets a funny word? I mean, you got the sextuplets by having sex..."

Arturo shook his head and stopped babbling.

"Really, Mother!" he said. "Despite all of that I just said, most Humans have one child at a time. Look what you've done now! You've broken my wife!"

Arturo pulled Xiulan around into his lap before she fell over.

"Graceful Orchid?" he said. "It is I! Do not let my mother's ill chosen words frighten you. No litters for you. One child at a time, and only when you're ready. Xiulan? Xiulan? Are you still with me?"

When Xiulan finally snapped out of her fugue, she looked positively shell-shocked. "When did we agree to have kids, much less a litter?!"

"It's a discussion for later, Graceful Orchid," Arturo said. "Let's get used to being married first and then get to an assignment where we can have kittens...kids before we talk about it at all. I promise I won't rush you. AND NEITHER WILL MY MOTHER! Is that clear, Mother?"

Arturo said. His mother had crossed a line and Arturo had switched to Alpha Cat mode. Not angry, but firm.

"We'll have children if and when we're ready," he said. "And not a moment before."

Lelani's ears went back. She looked as though she expected Arhass to do something, but he wasn't having it.

"Don't look at me, dear," he said. "The boy is right. You should apologize."

Lelani looked like she was going to object, then softened.

"I'm sorry, kittens," she said. "I just thought...well, I should have known better. Your careers, the work you do is important, and if you need to put off having kittens...children, then I can wait. Besides, your sibs have given me plenty of grand kittens to play with and spoil...not that there's not room for more! But...I'm truly sorry Xiulan. You know how much I love you. I didn't mean to frighten you."

"I don't know if I even want kids!" Xiulan exclaimed. "I don't get why just because I have a uterus that it becomes mandatory I'd want to become a baby factory! I never wanted them before, why would that suddenly changed just because I got married?!"

Arturo looked a little shocked and hurt and started mentally kicking himself for not having the guts to bring this conversation up before now. His ears went back.

"I..." Arturo said. "I guess I should have brought this up with you before, but, I want children. Not right away. I assumed...I assumed this was a discussion we could have in the future, when the time was right. I was going to tiptoe up to the subject, very, very, VERY, slowly, and I wasn't even going to begin for several years. But...if you really don't want children at all, and you're not willing to consider it later...I guess...I guess I'll just have to live with that."

"Oh fuck..." Xiulan muttered when she realized how she had hurt him. "Look, we can talk about this later, but right now I just... I don't know, it's just not something I really want to think about..."

"Yes," Arturo said, furious at his mother for bringing this up the way she did, forcing it to be an issue before Arturo was even ready to discuss with her. He wasn't even really upset at Xiulan. She'd reacted true to form, a form he loved deeply, even when it made her very difficult to deal with. But...to completely close the idea of children? Arturo decided he'd have to settle for her being at least willing to discuss the subject later. "Of course."

Arturo turned to his mother.

"I think we need to end this call, right now," he said. "Before I say things everyone in the conversation are going to regret. Goodbye."

Arturo cut the link and looked up at Xiulan.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I never would have brought the subject up with you in that matter."

Arturo was still hurt, but he was also worried about his relationship with Xiulan. Was that relationship more important to him than having children? Arturo had once felt that it probably was. Now, having everything said out loud and all at once...had this conversation ruined things between he and Xiulan. Arturo believed that what they had was stronger than that, but did Xiulan share that belief?

"No, I'm sorry," Xiulan said, much to her own surprise. "Your mom just blindsided me and I put my foot in my mouth like I always do. Really, we can talk about this later..."

Arturo smiled, a little weakly, but he smiled.

"That's all I can really ask of you," he said. "I'm still upset, not at you, at my mother. I think I need to take a walk to cool off. I'll be gone no more than an hour. Afterwards, there's a band playing at one of the base's pubs. Your kind of music. Want to go? We wouldn't be able to hear each other in there anyway, so we could just be together without having to talk about anything."

Arturo gave a little smirk at the part about not being able to hear each other. Suddenly, without warning, he pulled Xiulan down into a powerful kiss and held her in it until he was forced to come up for air.

"I am your husband," he said. "You are my wife. We're partners. We will get passed this."

There was just the slightest bit of extra emphasis on the words 'my' and 'wife', a...possessiveness, for lack of a better word.

Xiulan abruptly pulled away from Arturo, practically pushing him back after his kiss. "Okay, you better go take that walk now," Xiulan said with a frown. What the hell was going on with him? Even when she provoked him into going all Alpha Male during their fun times, he was never like this!

Arturo frowned, too, and just barely managed to suppress a growl. Now he WAS getting irritated. What had he done wrong now?!? Just what did Xiulan want from him?

"Alright then," Arturo said, a little stiffness in his voice. "I'll do that."

Without another word, he rose and left the room.

Xiulan wasn't that far behind him, grabbing her cane to take herself to the hotel bar; fuck this noise...

[Later]

Arturo returned to the hotel after his walk. He had been frustrated and angry, but felt somewhat calmer now. He wasn't sure why Xiulan had gotten angry with him, but just as he was sure the Bajoran Wormhole led to the Gamma Quadrant, he was just as sure that Xiulan would let him know what he had done. For some reason, though, he wasn't feeling quite as willing to let her steam roll him as he usually was. Being Xiulan's mate required patience and sometimes finesse, maybe a firm hand sometimes, but that was usually only behind closed doors in more intimate situations. Not that she was truly submissive in any part of her life. He really and truly loved that about Xiulan, no matter how much of a pain in the ass it could be sometimes. Arturo had spent the last hour reminding himself of that fact so that he wouldn't come back too angry to be reasonable.

When Arturo entered the lobby, their waitress from the other night flagged him down and told him that it would be in everyone's best interests if he went to the hotel bar. At first, Arturo tried to get an explanation, but then he just waved the the explanation off, thanked the waitress, and walked into the bar.

Xiulan sat at the bar sipping at a beer and snacking on a battered and deep-fried onion. She was calm, but considering how the bar staff was keeping their distance from her, she probably hadn't been that way the entire time she had been there.

"Hey," she said simply when she heard the familiar footsteps of her husband; damn, husband, that was going to take some getting used to...

"Hello," Arturo said. He wanted to kiss her on the cheek, but she was clearly still upset and her posture was stiff. "Lei told me I should come in here and check on you. I don't see any broken furniture or people, and Shore Patrol doesn't have you in restraints, so whatever reason she felt I need to come in here couldn't have been that bad."

He should have led with an apology, but for some reason, he just didn't want to. He was fine with Xiulan being pissed at his mother. He was pissed at his mother. But he didn't understand why she was mad at him.

"I may or may not have dumped a drink in someone's lap, then pushed him out of his chair, forcibly; the guy was hitting on me and wouldn't stop," Xiulan said, then took another piece of her onion and dipped it in a tangy sauce before popping it into her mouth. "Are you ready to listen to what I have to say?" she asked. She sounded calm enough, but if experience meant anything, then looks could be deceiving.

Arturo's back bristled at the thought of someone hitting on Xiulan, but he calmed himself relatively quickly. She could take care of herself, obviously.

"Yes," he said. He wanted to tell her that he was always ready to listen to anything she had to say, but even he could see that he wasn't ready to listen earlier. "Do you want to say it here, or shall we go upstairs?"

"Why would I leave a perfectly good bloomin' onion?" Xiulan said, then nudged out a barstool with her foot for him to join her. She even pushed the onion closer to him so she could share. "So, I didn't appreciate your passive aggressive comment that I don't listen or that we simply don't talk to each other," she started, then paused to snap her fingers at the barkeep to get his attention, then tapped at the bar to indicate that her glass was now empty and that she needed a refill. "I listen, Arturo, and as to talking, I'd like to think I've gotten better at it; well, maybe not 'better' but at the very least more willing. Anyway, I heard your sadness and I really did want to talk to you about it, but I felt backed into a corner and you were emotional, so when I said we'd talk about it later, I meant it, I just wanted us to both cool off first; I'd already put my foot in my mouth enough times, I didn't want to ruin the talk with a hot head."

Arturo took the offered stool. He asked Xiulan to hold that thought, and when the bartender came to refill Xiulan's drink, he ordered his own.

"Bacardi 151," he said. "Rocks. Make it a double."

He waited until his drink arrived and drained half of it, taking a moment to figure out what she was talking about before replying.

"Is this about my suggestion that hearing that band play was a good idea because we could be together without talking about anything?" he asked. "I thought...well, in retrospect, maybe that wasn't as funny as it sounded in my head. But I was afraid to have the conversation tonight, either! I thought if we had the conversation tonight or even anytime soon, you'd make a final decision one way or the other! I wasn't ready for the decision to be final, not yet."

Arturo drained the rest of his glass and ordered another.

"Sorry..." Xiulan said. She took a heavy pull of her beer, then sighed. "I really did think you meant it as a jab, but we were both emotional, and I'll be the first to admit I ain't perfect... But then you got really possessive, and it kinda freaked me out; I normally like it when you get possessive, but this time it didn't feel right... I felt like... I dunno, property," she admitted, then took another drink of her beer.

Arturo was silent for a moment. Then he spoke.

"Possessive, maybe," he said. "Property, no. I don't think of you as my property, but there are times when I want to possess you, claim you, mark you as mine...and maybe I just needed to do so in that moment to reassure myself that you were going to be there when I got back. Maybe not right there, but still with me...you know what I mean! That need...maybe it has become a bit more pronounced since we've gotten married. I don't know if that's true or not. But never believe that I think of us as anything but equal partners, not ever!"

Xiulan nodded, but remained silent for a while as she picked at her bloomin' onion. "And as for the talk... Now definitely isn't the right time to be talking about kids, not while we're on a Defiant-class, but I'm willing to leave the door open for the future. I don't know what's so great about kids that you want them so bad, but I've changed a lot since I've met you, I'm willing to open myself to change on this too," she finally said.

Arturo's ear's pricked up and his tale started swishing back and forth happily! He took a long drink from his glass in celebration.

"Thank you," he said, simply. "As for why kids? That's a conversation for another time. A time when we're both ready for it."

Arturo started to help Xiulan finish decimating her bloomin' onion.

"You know," he said. "Offering food to a male Caitian is a real turn on to them. Very intimate. It comes from the lions. The lionesses do the hunting and bring their kills to the lion. But I've always considered myself a lion at heart...ouch! Meow! I wasn't suggesting that you let me attract a whole pride of lionesses! Besides, I'd share them with you if I did!"

Hearing him joke around about other lionesses helped relieve some of the tension, and she actually managed to snicker. "I'm serious, though; what's so great about kids?" Xiulan asked. "They're loud, smelly... All they do is eat sleep and poop, which is a cherry deal for the kid, not so much for the parents who have to clean up all the vomit and poop! Honestly, I wouldn't know what to do with a kid if I had one."

"Well," Arturo said. "Even Human children grow out of that after a few years. Catian babies grow up faster than Human children and they don't spend as much time totally helpless. I'm really not sure what our child would turn out to be, but Catian DNA tends to be dominant in most cases. That's good, because that tends to greatly lower the probability of producing a child who resembles a Mexican Hairless Cats from Earth. Regardless, my mother always told me that children make up for being aggravating by being cute and adorable. Otherwise, their parents would kill them. They have a way of...touching hearts, especially the hearts of their parents. And they're what we leave behind when we pass, a part of ourselves, a part of who we are. They're a way to be relevant even after we're gone, through them, and through their children, and so on."

"I guess that does sound kind of awesome..." Xiulan admitted with faux reluctance. "And before you ask, me not wanting kids was never about pregnancy itself; yeah, it's an annoyance, but it's one I get, it's just how that goes..." She sighed. "Don't rightly know why I never wanted kids before, I was just... never interested; it never appealed to me, so I never put much energy into thinking about it. But I'll give it some thought now. We'll be here for a while, so I'll have plenty of time to really consider it, then once we move on to an assignment that would make kids a possibility, we can talk about it some more."

Arturo leaned over and kissed Xiulan on the cheek.

"Thank you," he said. He drained his second drink. By now there was a giddy sparkle in his eyes...which Xiulan couldn't see, of course, but she could probably get some sense of how he was feeling. "So, you know, conceiving a child is something that has to be done just right. It takes lots and lots and lots of practice, and we have time before that band plays, and we do have that awesome suite, so..."

Xiulan gave an exaggerated sigh. "I suppose I could let you twist my arm..." Then she leaned over to kiss her husband; her husband, seriously!!! "But first we should probably tell my dad the good news."

Well, there was a buzz kill, but the kiss made up for that.

"Hmmm..." Arturo said. "Yes, of course...uhm...about that..."

"About what?" Xiulan said suspiciously. "What did you do?"

"Well," Arturo said. "I may have, purely to show respect to your father, and not in anyway to imply that you are the property of either of us...uhm...asked him for your hand."

Arturo winced and waited to be hit or kicked or have his ear twisted.

"Uh huh..." Xiulan replied, looking mildly perturbed. "You're lucky you're really cute and I'm horny," she said bluntly, then grinned. "Let's skip the band," she suggested.

"YES!" Arturo said. "Er, I mean, ahem, that sounds great!"

Arturo kissed his bride again and loved every bit of the kiss...even the bloomin' onion and beer breath.

"Shall we?" he said, 'shall we' being code for Arturo to stick out his left arm so Xiulan could take it and they could walk side by side without her needing her cane. He was very eager to get upstairs. Xiulan wasn't the only one who was raring to go. He hadn't been kidding earlier. Somehow, he found Xiulan even more desirable now that they were married.

Instead of taking his arm, Xiulan grabbed him around the waist and settled him on her shoulder to carry him back to their room. Then she gave him a playful whack to the backside with her folded cane, then snapped the cane open to guide her back to their room; yup, they were going to have fun tonight!

It was early when Deacon got up and got dressed in some loose-fitting clothes he replicated. He jogged down to the shuttlebay to get a little exercise in hoping to use the weight set tucked away in the corner. When he arrived he found he was not alone. A small figure was already there, going through warm up drills with what appeared to be some sort of practice sword. The Rigellian shook his head remembering the Caitalin XO taught fencing and knife fighting in the bay. He must have caught him warming up for the class. Deacon was just going to leave when the hatch closed behind him with a horrid squeal. The officer came to a sudden stop and turn towards him “Umm, Sorry XO didn’t mean to disrupt your routine.”

Arturo stopped and set the practice blade down. He sometimes practiced with a blade a bit heavier than his real one in order to get more exercise.

"Not to worry, Mister Kane!" Arturo said, feeling enthusiastic after spending some time imagining skewering bandits and road agents as he practiced, not to mention rescuing princesses, one in particular: a lovely young Chinese woman with emerald 'eyes'. I am done with the sword for the day! I presume you are here to make use of the weights?"

As he talked, Arturo reached into his work out back and pulled out his liccasapuni, a narrow folding blade with a 25.4 centimeter blade. He began to dance with it a bit, letting it flow in his hand, going through the motions of a duel in the Sicilian style.

Deacon nodded in appreciation, looking at the knife's simple utility. It wasn't built for over the top intimidation, it was built for work. The blade with its tapered shape definitely would have a high degree of penetrability. When the Caitlin clicked it open the overall length surprised the Rigellian. With a easy thrust it the armpit you could even transect the heart of a Nausicaan if you had the mind. With a simple twist you could pull it put out with little or no effort. "Was hoping to use the weights," Deacon admitted, "But honestly, I could use some practice on my knife work. Chief Xan said you were pretty handy with those. Don't suppose you could show me a thing or two?"

Arturo stopped moving his Liccasapuni around and turned to Deacon.

"Well," he said. "Learning to use one of these is mostly for historical value, since the are difficult to conceal, even folded. That's not to say that I've never carried one concealed, or that I haven't used one on bandits, road agents, and other various and assorted brigands! Because I have...much the pity. As I'm sure you know, taking someone's life with a knife is not as...sterile an experience as, say, shooting them with a phaser. Taking a life is not something I enjoy, but I do enjoy the art of using blades, both short and long. It takes a much different kind of skill. Here..."

Arturo closed the Liccasapuni he'd been using, which was a real one with a sharp edge, walked over to his bag and put it away. He came up with two blunted versions. He came back and handed one to Deacon.

"Open that and move it around a bit to get the feel of the weight and balance," Arturo said. "Then we'll practice a bit. You'll notice that it cuts well, but it stabs even better. The Italian and Sicilian styles of blade work, going back to Ancient Rome, rely heavily on the point of the blade. Often the same is true to a certain extent with their stick and staff work, primarily because the use of the stick and staff by commoners was copied from blade work practiced by the soldier and noble classes."

The weight of the weapon surprised Deacon. He knew that practise blades were usually twice as heavy as normal blades, and this seemed light as a feather. Opening it he spun the knife in his hands a couple of times and over his knuckles to got the feel of it. He couldn't deny its balance, however when he tried to hold it in the hammer grip he was used to, it felt alien. Unlike the heavier Klingon d'k tahgs he tended towards, this blade lacked both a guard and pommel. If he ever took anyone in the chest with it he could see the blade getting wedged on a rib or other bone, resulting in his hand being sliced open as it continued down the knife's length onto the blade itself. The lack of pommel meant a of the backswing attacks would be of little use. Most of the knife-work he learned depended mostly on strength, in both offence and defence. This was the product of a wholly different philosophy.

Deacon shifted back into a flat footed fighting stance and practiced slashing the knife in a cross pattern followed by a 'x' pattern, still slightly frustrated with its feel in his hand. He could tell already his grip was wrong. Nevertheless he continued the warm up drill, pushing forward, sweeping an imaginary opponent's arms away and following with a strong lateral strike. He then went through several defensive drills, with repostes again feeling like he was forcing the blade into movements it wasn't designed for. He the shifted to his other hand and repeated the drill, When he was done with the warm-up he looked at Arturo who had been silent as he watched the Rigellian's movements.

It was at this point he knew that Farmer hadn't lied about the XO teaching blade work. The Caitian's eyes were sharp observing all of Deacon's movements. He had no doubt the the officer could tell him not only the style he was attempting but all the problems with it. Closing the knife, Deacon node at his short furry instructor, "So basically forget everything I just did, Right" he asked half snorting.

"Not exactly," Arturo said. "Watch me."

Arturo began to move, his practice blade flowing. His movements were almost dance like.

"You have to match your blade work to your weapon, to your opponent, to your opponent's weapon, to the clothing both of you are wearing," he said. "This blade is light. It's narrow. You can't make heavy slashes with it. The grip is almost as narrow. Even in my hands, I can't grip it correctly for a heavy slash. Now, what can I use it for then?"

Arturo began to move around more.

"Light cuts, and," Arturo said, then lunged. He went on to perform several more strikes with the point. "Stabbing with the point. Remember that this blade was developed from the stiletto, which the French Humans called the rondel. That weapon was designed to puncture chain mail or to strike at the weak points of plate armor. The armpits, the inner thigh, the eye slits in the helmet. The commoners who used a blade like this, this blade is called Liccasapuni, didn't have to worry as much about armor, but they were faced with the same realities of the design of the blade. To you that means what? Well, protective clothing is still worn by many cultures. If you were to use a heavy slashing attack across the chest of an armored Klingon with a normal heavy bladed knife, you'd likely only irritate him. Doing that with this knife? Pointless. Same with, say, a Nausicaan. But if you could find your opening and strike with the point, into a joint containing an artery, like an armpit or an inner thigh, with a long, narrow blade such as this...well, I can tell you from experience that even Klingons can bleed to death."

Arturo stopped moving.

"Alright," Arturo said. "Grip the blade like so, that's right. Now, we'll try a few passes back and forth. Ready? Excellent. First, come at me like this, and I'll show you some proper responses."

It amazed Deacon how much more comfortable the practise blade became with slight adjustments Artro made. The Caitlin showed that with only three fingers the blade became a subtle instrument, capable of lightning fast movement that the swiftest snake would envy. Then with a last minute clasp of the other two fingers struck harder that the strongest of Klingon steel. The drill was slow going, starting at quarter speed, working on the fundamentals of movement and technique. But Arturo proved an instructor of worth, driving Deacon hard enough until he was sure his new student had more than a passing acquaintance with each move. Of course like any good teacher, the XO made sure his student didn't become overconfident or complacent.

"Ow! Son of a Bitch!" Deacon yelped as the practice blade clattered to the tarmac, his lower arm numb. Arturo's blade, well in hand, now poised centimeters from his eye. "You kicked my arm." Deacon said with a half laugh, and a large measure of respect for his instructor, "When do I get to learn that move?" he asked knowing it would indeed take some time. The Caitlin amazed him in both technique and stamina. While Deacon was doing a fair job controlling his breathing, he could not hide the amount of sweat that was pouring out of him, yet Arturo showed no outward sign of fatigue.

Arturo was about to answer Deacon's question when he detected movement behind him. He immediately struck a defensive stance and prepared himself for what he knew was coming.

His preparation would come just a second too late as his ever-lovely Graceful Orchid body slammed him to the mat. Both combatants were quick to kip up back to their feet, then what transpired was pure perfection. Xiulan engaged Arturo with a volley of fast, powerful kicks, testing his defense for an opening, completely without fear of the blade Arturo held in his hand. They exchanged a number of fast-paced blows, both anticipating the other's moves so well that neither could find an opening, and their spar soon became an elaborate dance of high energy. After a while, Xiulan backed away and bounced on the balls of her feet.

"That was fun!" Xiulan said with a big grin, her long braid swaying behind her. "So what were you two doing?" she asked as she continued to bounce, seeming no worse for wear considering their exertions.

"Mister Kane," Arturo said. "I believe you've met Lieutenant Xiulan Song?"

Deacon stood slack-jawed at both their displays of the speed and technique. It made him feel like a slow uncoordinated child when comparing it to his performance with the blademaster. They had each launched expert attacks with blinding speed that were mostly blocked, though enough blows landed to make Deacon suck air through his teeth at the pain they must have cause. What was more amazing was the fact that this didn't appear to be a routine, but an improvised exchange between to experts in very divergent styles of fighting. What was also evident as th XO introduced the Lieutenant was that there was something more between the two than a simple professional relationship. It wasn't too obvious, just a momentary silent exchange between them.

Cocking his head, Deacon simply nodded and gave them both a small lopsided grin, then realizing he was supposed to be saying something coughed shaking himself out of his stupor. "Yes Sir," he replied to Arturo, "I have indeed had that honor." the looking at Xiulan he bowed to her slightly an added, "That was quite an amazing display, Lieutenant."

"Yeah, he tried to bribe me with sweets," Xiulan said, then she started doing some lunges to stretch her calves.

"Gifts of food will always earn my wife's favor," Arturo said. He went over to his bag and switched to his real Liccasapuni. He pulled out a sharpening stone and began to hone the edge of the blade. "Food and coffee. Especially from me. Oh that's right, you may not have heard. We just got married."

"Wait I thought I DID bribe you with sweets!" Deacon replied with a familiar laugh, "Ah, Lieutenant, as I said before you are far too easy to underestimate." he added with coyly with an admiring glint in his eye, then to Arturo added, "You're lucky, Commander. Lieutenant Song is as talented as she is beautiful."

"Talented?!?" Arturo said, moving towards Deacon, moving the long, narrow-bladed knife menacingly. "Just how do you know how talented she is?!?!? And you underestimated her? Just what about her did you underestimate??"

Xiulan snickered with amusement as she stood straight and parted her legs at shoulder's width, then she bent down until her head nearly touched the mat.

Ah, the protective nature of the Caitian male Deacon said to himself regretting his choice of words. Deacon folded the blade of the practice Liccasapuni back into its handle and stared at some point below the decking, giving him a few precious seconds smooth the situation. "When I first came on board, your wife let me use the long range sensors so I could see and sort of say good-bye to my adopted family. And then, rather bluntly, gave me some rather sage advice about happiness. That was a special kindness to a stranger. She had a kindness and compassion,I hadn't expected from a starfleet officer, mixed with an iron and wisdom I'm not use to seeing in one so young. Hell, she even let me go on a bit about me burning my wife" He added to emphasize the platonic admiration he had for her. "Guess I'm still not really over losing her. Still sleep on the right side of bed." Deacon the fell silent to let that last little fact sink in.

"As for her talents," Deacon continued to say as he innocently met Arturo's eyes, "Yesterday I saw her decrypt a 500 base algorithmic cypher that I'd been wrestling with for six hours. It took her about 3 minutes, then without apparently showing off, she decrypted a 2000 base cypher in just under ten minutes. That is talent." Deacon explained honestly, "Now, on top of that, I'd just seen your wife, a blind woman, fight you, a fully sighted individual, to what can only be described as a stand off. And I wouldn't take you on without having a half dozen Klingons, a couple of Nausicans and a Gorn to back me up." Deacon finally shrugged, "So Commander, I find your mate to be an incredible individual who does both your name and your line honor. In that you are indeed quite lucky." Deacon then gave a short respectful bow to the Caitlian, hoping this confession would placate the Commander and make him feel just a little foolish.

Of course Deacon was also very careful to keep Xiulan out of his line of sight. She was still bending over in her stretches. She had a real nice ass, and her being married or no, Deacon was still very much Rigellian.

The confession didn't make Arturo feel foolish at all, because he'd never been serious. He held his scowl as long as he could, then burst out laughing. He laughed so hard he was crying.

"Oh...oh my...I'm sorry..." he said, as he got himself under control. "Oh, my. Okay. I'm back now. Xiulan, love, I think Mister Kane thought I was going to stab him because he brought you food! No, no worries, Mister Kane. I wouldn't have stabbed you over bringing Xiulan food. Do you have any idea how time consuming it is to keep that woman fed? She's a bottomless pit. Having someone else bring her food now and again saves me the trouble of having to run around behind her with a portable food replicator. No, I was having fun at your expense. I guess I played the part too well. I was a thespian at the academy, the star of the drama club!"

Arturo suddenly stopped and looked more serious as he seemed to consider Deacon seriously for the first time.

"Xiulan is all the things you've described her to be, and more," he said. "I'm glad Xiulan was able to assist you and I'm sorry for what you've suffered these last twenty years. As you say, Mister Kane, I am a lucky man, and I'm a luckier man to be able to call you shipmate and perhaps friend, when you feel the time is right."

Arturo closed his knife and transferred to his off hand, then offered his right hand to Deacon.

"Welcome home, Mister Kane," he said. "Welcome home."

Deacon hesitated for a moment looking at the XO's hand suspiciously. Letting out a sigh of relief he took it and gave Arturo a firm handshake. "I won't say had me going, Commander." he said rolling his eyes, "Just remind me to send you the bill for the new set of drawers I'm going to need." then with a laugh he added, "Thank-you Commander, It's good to be home."

Colt looked up from his work and realized it was lunch time. As he rose to leave for the Mess Hall, he had an idea. He tapped his comm badge.

"Computer," he said. "Please give me the location of Miss Valywen."

"Valywen is in her quarters," came the female voice of the computer.

"Thank you," Colt replied. He cleaned himself up, then set off for Valywen's quarters. He figured he wasn't the only one interested in sharing a meal with her, but he also thought it best that she get out and socialize as much as possible. She'd acclimate to her new surroundings faster that way. When Colt arrived at her quarters, he hit the chime and announced himself.

"Miss Valywen?" he said. "It's Chief Xan. I'm going to the Mess Hall to get lunch. Would you like to join me?"

It took Valywen some time to find the button to open the door before it finally opened to reveal the alien called 'Chief Xan' standing there. "Lunch? Ah, good. I am starving! Where is the food on this ship? Do you grow it? Or store them in salt wraps?"

Colt chuckled.

"Come on," he said, offering his arm. "I'll explain on the way."

"Oh, um, ok," Valywen said, hesitantly taking the man's arm--she was still getting used to this alien ship and their strange ways and fascinating technology.

"Okay," he said. "Okay, let's start with something simple and see if we can find some common terms to work with. In your science, do you have a word for the basic building block that all solids, liquids, plants, and animals are made of? For us, we might say 'matter'. Does your science have a concept like that?"

Valywen nodded. "Yes--Ron. That is what my people call matter." She wasn't entirely sure of what Ron had to do with getting something to eat.

"Okay then," Colt said. "Well we have the technology to take matter--ron, break it down, and convert it into specific items. We call this technology replicators, because we use this conversion process to replicate specific items. Tools, raw materials, build materials, and even food and drink, all from patterns on our...computers? That probably doesn't translate."

"Computer....um, machines?" she deduced. Her head was swirling with all of these new words, ideas, and concepts. "There...is alot to learn." What she didn't tell was how all of this information made her feel. She had been wrong about so many things. Would her people ever someday reach the stars? In comparison to this ship and these people, she doubted it.

"Yes..." Colt said. "Um...information machines might be a better description. They can store or process information, among other things. The computers store the replicator patterns we give them. When we want something to eat, for example, a salad, we can ask the computer for the list of replicator patterns for salads, which we can narrow down by provided the computer with more criteria about what kind of salad we're interested it. Or we can tell the computer what kinds of foods we want in our salad and it will make one to order. That's only one example of course."

Colt smiled at Valywen.

"Don't worry," he said. "I'll help you figure it out so you don't starve. We'll start simple and then you can get more complicated with your orders as you start to figure it out. It's a lot simpler than it sounds."

"Perhaps to you," Valywen said. "But it's all one big puzzle to me. How many planets have you visited?"

Colt looked thoughtful a moment before responding.

"I stopped counting at one hundred," Colt said. "And that was a long time ago. Think of the galaxy we live in, one of many, as being divided up into four quadrants. The Alpha and Beta Quadrants are relatively close together compared to the Gamma and Delta Quadrants. We've been exploring the Alpha and Beta Quadrants for over 200 years, and we've barely scratched the surface as far as exploring all of those two quadrants. So there are a lot of planets out there to visit."

"Over one-hundred planets?" Valywen asked, amazed as they entered the messhall. 'So where is this...replicator of yours?"

Colt led her to the wall where the replicators were.

"Okay," he said. "I can help you make your selection. Might be easiest for you to ask for help until you figure out how the interface works. In this case, interface refers to the way a computer is designed to interact with a users, in this case you and me. So, what kind of food do you like for lunch?"

"It can make anything I want?" Valywen asked, looking closely at the replicator.

"Well," Colt said. "It can make anything it has a pattern for. If you give me some ideas about what you want, I can help you piece together something you hopefully will like. For example, are you interested in a hot or a cold meal? Do you eat meat? Are you a vegetarian? Do you eat fish? Hmm...I wonder if your world has anything like pizza...I can show you a picture on my PaDD if you'd like."

"Ooooh...anything like Aes...um, steak?" Valywen asked. On her planet such food was often reserved for those of the upper class. She had tried it once and remembered that she loved the taste.

"That I can do," Colt said. "Not as good as the real thing, but pretty darn good. How do you like it cooked? Well done? Medium? Medium rare? Uch, please don't tell me rare! That's practically like eating raw meat...which I've had to do before."

Valywen chuckled. "No, I like it cooked Medium. Thank you."

"Great!" Colt said as he programmed in a medium steak for Valywen. "Now, it's pretty normal for most humanoids and related species to have a starch and a vegetable with their meat, though some races have different dietary needs or have different dietary customs. My favorite thing to have with steak is a baked potato with butter or sour cream and usually something like green beans. A potato is basically a tuber-type thing and green beans are a green vegetable. Any thoughts on what you'd like? Or do you just want the meat for this meal?"

"Just the meat for now...thank you," she said as she soon watched in awe as a steak appeared out of thin air. "That is amazing!" Valywen gently poked the steak with her finger.

"Careful," Colt said. "It's hot!"

Colt took the tray out of the replicator and handed it to Valywen. He ordered himself some chicken teriyaki, vegetable tempura, and rice, with a small bowl of fresh fruit cocktail...well, as fresh as could be expected under the circumstances.

"Let's have a seat over here," he said, leading them both to a table.

"Your technology continues to amaze me," Valywen said as she followed Colt to a table. "What takes minutes or hours for me, takes you mere seconds!"

Colt chuckled.

"When it comes to food," Colt said. "The stuff that takes hours usually tastes better than the stuff we produce in seconds. While food replication keeps improving, the real thing is almost always just a bit better. But, food replication has extended the range of our starships, allowed us to feed colonists for longer periods of time while they begin the process of food production from agriculture, and allowed us to supply outposts and research stations in more remote locations. Replicator matter can be stored almost indefinitely, it's easier to transport, and, best of all, it can be recycled. We'll be recycling the trays, plates, utensils, cups, napkins; everything you and I don't eat at this meal will go back in the replicator and be broken down and used again. And it's not just for food. For example, while I do keep some items of clothing and outfits around, both personal and professional, most of the time, I replicate a uniform for the day and then, at the end of the evening or the next morning, I'll recycle that uniform and replicate another."

Colt decided to forgo telling Valywen about the rather unpleasant fact that the biological waste products produced by the crew's bodies were also recycled.

"So...this is your way of saying that I am actually eating someone else's leftovers?" Valywen now eyed the steak suspiciously.

Colt laughed.

"Sorry," he said. "I've never actually thought of it that way. Sort of? I guess? But the likelihood that the matter used to make your steak was a steak in any of its recent incarnations isn't very high, I don't think...at least, not all of it. To be honest, it's better not to think of where replicated food comes from. You'll lose your appetite thinking about whether or not at least part of your steak used to be someone's dirty socks."

"Great...lucky for you I am starving!" she replied before cramming a piece of the steak into her mouth to eat.

Colt smiled at Valywen's enthusiasm and then started to dig into his own food while he waited for her to chew and swallow.

"So," Colt said, once Valywen had swallowed her food. "How do you like it?"

"It...is good surprisingly good!" she exclaimed. "But it's lacking...I don't know...texture, maybe?" she took another bite and began chewing to test her hypothesis.

"Yeah," Colt said. "Replicated food is always 'off' from the real thing to varying degrees. So, tell me about yourself. Who is Valywen? All I know about you is what I've observed, which is that you are a very attractive, inquisitive, brave, and intelligent woman. I'd love to learn more."

Valywen blushed at the compliments. "Thank you for your compliments. I have always been curious--too curious according to my parents and many so-called friends. I look for facts and truth in all things. I have always been fascinated by the heavens, ever since a meteorite crashed in my parent's barn when I was little, so I came to study the stars and heavens."

Colt smiled, the touch of a twinkle in his eye.

"The compliments were well deserved," Colt said. "Considering how your people feel about that kind of thing, to pursue such knowledge was courageous of you. How did you go about studying the heavens with the equipment you had available? Come to think of it, you must have had to make some it yourself, right?"

Valywen nodded. "Some, yes. Others I managed to purchase. It took several years and alot of saving to acquire my intruments," she said, becoming quiet as she imagined what was happening to her work, house and equipment. 'Damn fools have probably burned it to the ground already,' she thought bitterly before shoving another piece of steak into her mouth.

Colt reached out an placed a comforting hand on hers.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I'm sorry that helping us cost you all of your hard work. That's decidedly unfair. I hope we can make that up to you somehow."

Valywen smiled. "You already have. My being here on this...this starship is wonderful. There is so much more that I can learn!"

Colt grinned.

"Yes," he said. "Yes there is! So, where do you want to start?"

"I have no idea!" Valywen exclaimed "I would like to know more about this...Federation, though. From the basic ideal principles of it's existence, it sounds wonderful. No poor people, no money. Sounds like a dream to me."

"It is a dream," Colt said. "A dream that a lot of people gave their lives to make come true and I dream that many people put their lives on the line to protect. The basic principle is that we can do more together than we can separately. The Vulcans have a concept that they, as founding members of the Federation, brought to us. In Federation Standard, the abbreviation is IDIC, or Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations. The Federation brings together many different species and cultures and from that diversity comes our strength. Different species and cultures bring different modes of thought, different philosophies, different approaches to science, art, engineering, mathematics, and technology. We have a broad base of knowledge and experience to draw from. Again, from our diversity comes our strength. As for the no poor and no money...I'll find you a good explanation for how we manage that. Economics was never my strong suit."

"Ah. Very interesting," Valywen said before chewing another bite of steak in thought.

Colt also went back to attacking his meal. He hadn't answered Valywen's question very well, but he couldn't really think of a better one. Colt decided to direct the conversation back to Valywen. His father had tried for years to drill into his head that when talking with someone he should be asking more questions than he was answering.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Colt said. "Er...that's an old Human expression. A penny was currency, a very small piece of currency. The expression is just a way of asking someone what they're thinking about."

"Many things," she confessed. "Everything is alot to take in...I suppose it will just take time to get accustomed to this new life."

"Yes," Colt said. "It will. If there's anything I can do to help, let me know. Well, I should get back to work. Actually, has anyone given you a tour? I usually take a walk around the ship after lunch so I can check in on things. If you haven't seen the whole ship or even if you just want an excuse to see something again and ask questions about it...I mean ask the people who actually know how things work better than I do, you could come along with me...if you wanted to, that is."

Valywen nearly jumped out of the chair. "Sure! It beats staying in that room you refer to as quarters."

Colt grinned.

"I'll go recycle this stuff and we'll be off!" Colt said. In a flash he had everything recycled and he and Valywen set off to do some exploring.

Leigh sighed as her phaser beam narrowly missed the flying drone. "Damn," she cursed. She and Me'Shlaht had challenged one another to a marksmanship competition and now it was Me'Shlaht's turn. "Eight out of ten," Leigh read off her score.

"This was your idea," Me'Shlaht reminded her gleefully, obviously enjoying both the shooting challenge and that Leigh had finally missed a shot. They'd been at it for a while, and Leigh had proven to be a pretty good shot so far! She took her time tracking a drone and then fired at it, dropping it out of the sky... and grinning rather toothily as she did so. "I have nine. You might still catch me."

Leigh had one wast turn as she tracked the drone and fired but the drone abruptly changed course that caused a glancing shot but not enough to kill the drone. "Damn drone," she cursed with a grin as she placed her phaser down. "Guess you win," she admitted defeat at Me'Shlaht's toothy grin. They had made a bet that if Leigh lost, she would have to undergo Ferasan training and trials on a holosuite on the Starbase. Me'Shlaht had intrigued Leigh ever since she came aboard. Reading up on a culture only provided so much insight as opposed to undergoing it personally, which she was now bound to.

Me'Shlaht made that odd purring noise that served as Ferasan laughter. "I did warn you about this program. You chose it anyway." The challenge had been a fun diversion, and had Leigh won... well she hadn't told Me'Shlaht what the consequence would be. She did suspect it might be mildly embarrassing, however. "The jungle will be fun too."

"Well, I enjoy a challenge. When do we begin?" Leigh asked. At the moment, her schedule was clear for the next day or so and she had a feeling Me'Shlaht would not go easy on her.

"Whenever you'd like. My schedule is more flexible than yours." It was strange not calling Leigh ma'am or commander. Me'Shlaht had to remind herself that they were both off duty, and most Starfleet officers didn't like to be called by their rank off duty. "We can start with one session and see how it goes. If you enjoy it, perhaps it can be something we do more often? Or I can offer it to other crewmates?"

"I'm free for the next day or so...so I'm all yours," Leigh grinned. "We can use the holosuite. I reserved a couple for the the crew to enjoy while we're docked."

"Well then." Me'Shlaht's toothy grin got even toothier, if that were possible. She practically pounced on a wall console, pulling up a file to show Leigh. "We'll start by having you replicate something similar to this." She tapped the screen with her claw, pointing at a picture of a Ferasan in traditional hunting dress. It was somewhat scant clothing, just enough coverage for the naughty bits... with a heavy-appearing collar around the throat. "You don't have to wear the collar... I don't unless I'm hunting something that can hurt me back."

"What is the purpose of the collar?" Leigh asked, studying the scant outfit.

"It protects the airway and blood vessels in the neck. Useful when fighting other predators... or hunting prey with horns." Unlike some Ferasans - and some Caitians - Me'Shlaht wasn't embarrassed by sharing such information. She didn't see the resemblance to the collars other sentients might put on pets.

"I see. I will change and meet you at Holosuite Four, then," Leigh replied.

"I'll be there." Me'Shlaht's tail twitched just at the tip. This was going to be so much fun!

**Holosuite Four**

Leigh stepped inside the holosuite to see Me'Shlaht was already present. With a sigh, she shed the long coat, revealing the scant outfit that hung to her body, barely covering her private areas, along with the collar. Leigh's hair was pulled back into a basic braid. "I guess I'm ready," she replied.

Surprised by Leigh's absolute dedication to the costume, Me'Shlaht slowly got a big toothy grin on her face. She was dressed much the same as Leigh, though her paws were bare as usual. "If you want to hunt, you'll need a weapon, but you look fabulous." She wasn't planning on a hunt this time out, but she'd be up for it if Leigh wanted to.

"I'll give it a try," Leigh said. "What types of weapons do you hunt with?"

"For this? My teeth and claws. But you don't have claws or teeth like mine so..." Me'Shlaht paused to think for a moment. "Something primitive, like a bow or a spear would work well."

Leigh nodded, knowing she would likely have a better chance at hunting with a bow than a spear. "Computer, one traditional terran hunting bow with a quiver of standard arrows." A simple bow and quiver of arrows soon materialized as Leigh moved to pick them up.

"That's perfect!" Me'Shlaht's excitement was genuine, and she practically vibrated. Like a cat about to pounce on a mouse. "How fast can you run?"

"Depends if something is chasing me or not," Leigh joked. "But I'd like to think I'm pretty fast--doubtful I'm as fast as you, though."

"I'll let you set our pace and direction then." Me'Shlaht liked to run very fast indeed, but it wouldn't be fair to Leigh if she just ran off.

"Ok," Leigh turned, getting her bearings in the tropical, humid jungle. She heard the sound of a waterfall not too far off and decided to head in that direction. "What sort of animals are we hunting?"

"This is a jungle on Earth, so most likely we will find birds and small primates." Me'Shlaht followed Leigh through the trees, listening for where the waterfall was. "There are fish too, but I'm not going to make you try to catch a fish."

"That's good but water sources always attract animals, so I think that will be our best bet for hunting," Leigh stated as the sound of water grew louder. From the humidity of the jungle she theorized they were either in the Amazon or on the African continent.

"You're right. And with the trees hanging over the river, we can hunt from above." Me'Shlaht grinned happily until she remembered that she wasn't hunting with a fellow Ferasan. "...oh. Do you know how to climb a tree?"

"It would be easier if I had shoes," Leigh admitted with a grin. "I think we could hunt from two directions--me from the ground and you from the trees."

"That will work! There should be some brush you can hide in." Me'Shlaht took a moment to study the trees around them before choosing one and scampering up into the branches.

Leigh stared after Me'Shlaht for a moment, amazed at her ability to climb so effortlessly and quickly. She shook her head, drawing an arrow from the quiver and setting it into her bow as she crept through the brush slowly until she had a clear view of the river bank while remaining concealed. Over the stream, there weren't any animals currently. After several minutes of waiting, a warthog emerged from a brush and made it's way to the stream for a drink.

Spotting the warthog, Me'Shlaht made a chirping noise, drawing its attention upward so that it wouldn't spot Leigh creeping up behind it.

Leigh drew her bow, taking a breath and released. The arrow sliced through the air before piercing the warthog's hind legs. The animal squeled in pain and ran off to the cover of the nearby brush. Leigh ran after it, drawing another arrow.

Me'Shlaht followed up above, leaping from branch to branch to stay with the warthog as it ran. As the smaller animal ran toward a break in the trees that led to a clearing, she dropped down in front of it, and it slid to a stop with a loud squeal.

Leigh ran up from behind as she let loose another arrow that missed the warthog. "Damn," she cursed as she loaded another arrow, wishing she was a better shot with the bow. The warthog snorts, turning towards Leigh.

Me'Shlaht took that moment to pounce, grabbing the animal with her claws and holding it still, despite its loud squeals. She would give Leigh the kill, but holding the critter still might help.

Leigh drew once again as she quickly approached the hog and released the arrow that found it's target, puncturing it's heart as death instantly claimed it. "Ok, I suck at archery," Leigh joked as sweat glistened her skin. "Thanks for the help."

"You're welcome." It would be rude to laugh, so Me'Shlaht merely smiled and she gracefully got up from the ground. "And you do not 'suck'. You just haven't practiced it. Of course you won't be good at it right away."

"Well, it's obvious I need alot of practice," Leigh replied. "So what's next?"

"Well, normally we'd eat it. But you can't eat it raw, so you'll have to cook it if you want to do that. Or we could just call this exercise done and play more another time." Me'Shlaht gave Leigh a lazy sort of grin.

"Let's call it a day and continue later," Leigh replied.

"Agreed. Computer, end program." The scene around them blinked out of existence, and Me'Shlaht cheerfully bounded toward the exit. "See you next time!"

ON:

Nora had received a message earlier that some of the women aboard the Valiant had planned a get together to relax and have fun after their two tragic missions. It was a welcomed relief to have some down time and not have to worry about work, hostile aliens or getting back home. Now she waited on the promenade near a fountain which was the meeting spot mentioned in the message, dressed in a purple blouse shirt and black slacks. So far she was the first one to arrive--she hated being the first to arrive.

Me'Shlaht did not understand the concept of a girls' night out. Such things did not happen on Trill, at least not in the outback of the southern continent. Similarly, she was uncertain as to what sort of attire one would wear to such an event. Obviously not a uniform. That was too formal. But her casual clothing consisted mostly of scant pieces of cloth or leather, just enough to cover the more private bits of her anatomy. That didn't seem appropriate either. So she'd taken a long time to decide what sort of clothing she could be comfortable in that would not make the other women uncomfortable. It had been a difficult decision, but she'd eventually settled on a pair of loosely fitting black pants and a flow-y pink top that she picked at random.

Nora was there when Me'Shlaht reached the meeting place near the fountain, but she didn't see anyone else.

Vita was glad to have a chance to get off the ship and relax. The message about a 'girls night' seemed like a good chance to socialize and relax. Although the idea did seemed bit a sexist she was sure that some of the male crewman would have equally as enjoyed the night out, as she walked along the promenade she remembered her academy roommate in her first year, a very excited blond human who identified herself as a 'valley-girl' had always loved the girls night, a hold over from Earth's past when social engagements were apparently separated by gender.

The black dress she was wearing flowed just past her knees as she came up to the fountain, she gave a friendly smile to the somewhat intimating security chief, and seat down on the edge of the fountain. "Anyone else glad to be off the ship for a bit?"

Xiulan was glad that someone had chosen to speak, because she was getting worried that she had shown up at the wrong place. She heard the fountain and noticed some blobs of heat as she approached with her cane guiding her, but hearing a familiar voice was very reassuring. "I miss the familiarity of the ship, but I can't complain," Xiulan chimed in as she collected with the forming group. While the others had decided to dress nice, Xiulan didn't really get the whole 'girls night out' thing so she was the epitome of dressing down; her hair was down, including her shaggy bangs which covered her eyes, she wore heavy-soled leather sandals and a pair of over-sized khaki shorts that went well past her knees, and a green tank top with an over-sized fleece hoodie jacket.

Jacobs grinned as she approached the group, with Valywen in tow. Leigh wore grey slacks with a black halter top and her hair worn down. Valywen was dressed in a dress of Janoasian fashion that was peach in color with a floral print design that she had managed to replicate with some help from Nora. "It is nice to be able to walk more than a fet feet and not come to a bulkhead," Leigh agreed.

"This place is amazing!" Valywen shrieked in awe, looking around at all the different people and technology.

"So, any suggestions on what we do first?" Leigh asked the group, wanting to get a feel of their desires.

"I vote for anything related to food," Xiulan answered simply. "Especially if there's coffee involved."

"I've never seen so many places to eat." Me'Shlaht looked around, a bit in awe of this place. She didn't drink coffee, and probably none of these restaurants carried any sort of nepata beverage. But she smelled plenty of cooking meat around, and she could be happy with that.

"Food it is then," Leigh said before looking around and spotting a restaurant called Venus Diner. "How about Venus Diner? I have heard good things about it. They serve coffee, as well as a good selection of meat on their menu.. She looked at Me'Shlaht with a grin.

"As long as they have meat, anything is fine." Me'Shlaht smiled back, trying not to look like a predator about to eat its prey. At the same time, she wondered how the Venus Diner felt about carnivores like Ferasans.

"I like meat," Xiulan chimed in simply, nodding her approval.

Vita lead the group in the direction of the restaurant and asked the host for a table. The young Bolian girl lead the group to a larger circular table near the back.

Xiulan held on to a random arm as she followed, hoping not to trip on anything and make a fool of herself.

"Hello ladies, I'm Tor'Jen and I'll be you're server this evening, can I get you something to drink?" The server said coming to the table as the ladies took their seats.

"Do you have nepata tea?" Me'Shlaht paused to consider what the answer would be, slowly realizing how unlikely that would be. "If not, water is quite fine."

"Coffee, double strong, splash of milk," Xiulan said as she settled in at her seat. "Nepata tea, isn't that basically catnip? Doesn't that make you trip balls?" she asked bluntly.

"I'm Ferasan. Our tolerance is higher than that of the Caitians, but yes... if I drink enough. One cup is only enough to relax our more..." Me'Shlaht paused, thinking of a good way to say it. "Aggressive tendencies."

Jacobs laughed while Valywen looked confused. "Is it safe to be around this...officer?" Valywen asked with a worried tone.

"It's perfectly safe," Nora reassured Valywen and then looked at the waiter. "I'll have a gin and tonic."

"Same," Vita chimed in.

"I'll have a Mai Tai," Leigh ordered.

Valywen looked at the menu. "Oh, I'll have this Tamarian Sunrise. That looks good."

"Good choice," Leigh complimented.

Me'Shlaht grinned at Valywen, though her ears flopped a bit sadly at the question of whether she was safe to be around.

"Hey, new girl, how do we know we're safe around you?" Xiulan said in a show of solidarity for her fellow officer. "After all, we don't know much about you. For we know, you could kill us with your brain," she pointed out.

"The medical scans likely would have revelled something to indicate higher psionic abilities." Vita added.

"I do not possess such power," Valywen began. "But if I had, I probably would have used it the first time I saw you all--even now, you're still a bit strange to me. It's hard to process so many different aliens."

"Yeah yeah, so when do we get food?" Xiulan said to move things along. She had her Braille PADD sitting atop her menu so she could 'read' it with her fingers. "I wonder if they can make really big burgers with lots of bacon, that sounds really good..."

"A burger with... bacon?" Meat topped with more meat, where did people get these ideas? Izze had never put bacon on anything. Me'Shlaht seemed to brighten a little as she turned her attention to the menu. She knew that a burger usually had a bun, but she could always ask them not to bring the bread out with it. And then she saw that they had steaks and chops! Including something called a lamb chop. Somehow, she'd never heard of such a thing. "What is 'lamb?' What does that taste like?"

"It's a baby sheep, a delicious meaty creature from Earth," Xiulan replied candidly. "They're raised primarily for their wool, which is sheered, but they are still very tasty. Mmmm, lamb... Or burger? Such a hard decision!"

"Oh, we had something like that on Trill." And it was delicious too, but Me'Shlaht wasn't sure if it would be quite the same. Either way, it was intriguing to her, so she settled that as her decision and then skimmed over the sides. Most were vegetables and noodles. Things she didn't care for and couldn't eat anyway.

Vita was amused by how quickly the conversation turned to all things meat. Looking through the menu she settled on the chicken pad thai.

Leigh looked at the menu and decided on the Maple-glazed salmon and pineapple.

Nora hummed as she scanned over the list before coming to decide on the spaghetti.

Valywen looked at the strange menu--none of the words made any sense to her. "Um...what is a...hot dog? Is it really a dog?"

Leigh laughed in response.

The waiter returned with drinks and set them on the table. "Are we ready to order or do we need a few more minutes?"

"Double cheeseburger with bacon, mayo and pickles, and a plate of fries with cheese and double bacon," Xiulan said without waiting for the others. "And can I get an extra plate of bacon, just in case it's not enough bacon."

Vita smirked, "Chicken pad thai extra spicy."

Leigh, Nora, and Valywen gave their orders. "It will be nice to have good food, finally," Leigh admitted.

It was Me'Shlaht's turn, and she hesitated for just a moment. "I would like the lamb, cooked as rare as possible. With a salmon filet, please."

"I'll get those put in right away." The waiter said with a nod before walking away from the table.

"So, I've never done a girls' night out sort of thing," Xiulan admitted when she heard the waiter shuffle off. "What happens during one of these things?"

"Anything, really," Jacobs said. "It's mostly about just having fun."

"Oh, does that mean we'll be doing some mud wrestling later? Because that would be fun," Xiulan suggested.

"I'll pass on the mud wrestling, gets stuck in the antenna and I'll be off balance for a week." Vita said as he she took a long sip, form her drink.

"I wouldn't have thought you were a fan of wrestling in the mud. Especially after your colorful complaining about the swamp on Janos Three when you were deploying that distress beacon," Leigh chuckled.

"Well a swamp is different!" Xiulan declared. "A swamp is muck, and it stinks, and it's deeper than it looks, and I can't swim," she explained. "But mud wrestling is surprisingly clean. It's actually a mix of clays to give it slip so it's harder to hold onto your opponent. Very fun! But if that's not your cup of tea, we could do Jell-o or pudding, which taste much better anyway."

"I think you have very difference ideas about what girls night entails that it does in my experience. It's usually a lot of shots and then dancing to obnoxiously loud music." Vita replied.

"I don't really dance, but I'm good with shots; never met an alcohol I didn't like," Xiulan replied with a nod.

"Except Bloodwine. I can't stand the stuff," Leigh replied.

"I hear they use real blood when making it," Nora interjected.

"Ok, I kinda have to agree with you there, bloodwine is definitely an acquired taste," Xiulan said in agreement.

The waiter returned with the food, setting them down on the table. "Here you go, ladies. Enjoy," he said with a slight bow before turning and leaving.

Leigh took a sip of her Mai Tai, savoring the taste before beginning to take a bite of her food. "Is there anything anyone wants to do after this?" she said after taking a moment to swallow a bite of food.

"I heard there's a new Risan club that opened recently, we could check it out." Vita suggested.

"Will there be lots of loud music?" Xiulan asked around a mouthful of bacon.

"What does one do at a 'club'?" Me'Shlaht inquired around a mouthful of salmon.

"Mostly dance and drink," Leigh answered.

"Risian clubs tend to be a bit more low key, the musics isn't generally as overpoweringly loud as some clubs, but yes usually involving dancing and drinks and hanging out." VIta added.

"That sounds like fun," Valywen said, before downing a long sip of her drink.

Me'Shlaht shrugged. "Okay. Why don't we go there and check it out?"

The courtroom consisted of a raised dais with a table and seating for the fleet officers. Admiral Robertson was already seated their flanked by a Tellorite wearing the pips of Commodore to his left and an Andorian Captain to his right. In front of the dais sat a single chair facing the board, the ‘hot seat’ as it was known around the fleet due to the single spotlight that bathed the chair in an uncomfortably stark light.

Admiral Robertson sitting in the senior member’s position picked up a small metal hammer and struck a copper bell sitting on the table in front of him three times. “This board of inquiry will come to order.” He said in a solemn, almost pompous sounding voice. “The reporter will note the time and date for the record.”

“The Commanding Authority, Admiral Robertson, convened this board by an appointing order dated SD 72614.6.” the Recorder stated, “The following officers named in that order are present: Admiral James Robertson as the senior member. With Commodore Khilend chim and Captain Syzo Zh'qilrirh, substituted to the Board, with two of the officers named in the appointing order being called to field duty.” It was odd to see Robertson glower with the introduction of the other board members, and the way he almost snarled at the mention of them as being ‘substituted.’

“The appointing order had a Captains Wendell Addington and a Mercy Highmore listed.” Barik whispered to Leigh, “Two officers who apparently are up and coming proteges of our good Admiral Robertson.” He explained, “Strangely, they were both diverted by their assignments to the starbase just prior to Robertson authorizing the board. And just as strangely their ships were ordered back to their assigned missions this morning” the Ferengi added glance over to Admiral Viktor sitting in the corner of the court.

Their attention was then brought back to the recorder as he continued with the preliminares of the board “I am Commander Asan Fredricks. I have been named as recorder for the board and is present. Independent Advocate, Barik Nah Gregg, has been assigned as the counsel for the respondent and is present." Fredricks added nodding to the ferengi. "Both the recorder and counsel for the respondent are lawyers certified under Article 27(b)(1), UCMJ (Uniform Code of Military Justice). The board's legal advisor is Admiral Viktor, a judge advocate certified under Article 27(b)(1) of the UCMJ. The legal advisor provides such assistance as the board requires, but does not participate, in closed sessions of the board.”

"You can thank Robertson for that maneuver." Barik explained, "Keeps Viktor close but neutralizes any overt pressure he can place on the board."

"Silence in the court." Robertson ordered striking his gavel to silence the ferengi, “The respondent, Commander Leigh Jacobs is present.” Robertson then said, unable to keep the venom he had for Leigh completely out of his voice. “The record will reflect that this board is properly convened and constituted. The purpose of this board is to consider relevant facts in the case of the respondent, who has been recommended for discharge from the service by reasons of substandard performance of duty, misconduct, moral and professional dereliction making her retention not consistent with the interests of either the service or Federation security as a whole. Does either side have any motions to present the board ?

"The government does not." Fredrick replied in a crisp efficient tone.

"As the advocate for the respondent, I would like to restate my motion for an extension to the opening of these proceedings so I can confer with my client and become more familiar with the case against her."

"As the counselor is well aware the convening authority has already reviewed this motion, as well as the eight others you so,,,,, dutifully submitted, All are denied in then spirit of bringing a swift conclusion to these proceedings." Roberstson replied almost sneering at Barik, "This is especially true concerning you slanderous implications of the board members."

Barik took in a breath of air as if to protest but held his tongue knowing Robertson was itching to have him removed for contempt. Instead the ferengi looked into Robertson's eyes and said, "The senior boardmember's tireless pursuit of swift justice is a amazing thing to behold, as always."

Robertson' stared at the dirty ferengi that dared challenge him with a look that spoke volumes. After several heartbeats he turned to Fredricks, "The recorder may proceed with an opening statement."

"Thank-you Admiral Robertson." Fredericks said, as he stood up, "Officers of the Board it is the government's position that Commander Leigh Jacobs, a woman who previously suffered a reduction in rank and lost her command due to her flagrant disregard of orders, should have never been given command of another starship. In the course of this inquiry, the government will prove that Commander Jacob's lack of judgement and ability to effectively command resulted not only and multiple violations of established treaties and procedures regarding the Tholian Empire, but also contributed to an unnecessary hostile interaction with a previously unknown species. It was during these actions that the commander also showed a gross Dereliction of Duty and or Cowardice in her inability to determine the status of Lieutenant Commander Mark Cross listed as MIA most likely KIA during the Tholian incident."

"In addition the Commander's later actions resulted in a major violation of the prime directive in which she potentially jeopardize the natural development of a pre-warp civilization after crash landing on Janos III by exposing the Valiant to the local population and by kidnapping one of their leading scientists." Fredrick added, "After the government has stated its case, the board should find sufficient evidence to proceed with the general court-martial of Commander Jacobs."

Jacobs sat, anger building within her. She hated these bureaucratic morons who never knew or forgotten what it was like to be assigned to the fringes of Federation Space. To have to make decisions on a moment's notice while they get all the time in the world to sit back and second guess your decisions.

Colt, who had been sitting in the back of the room, bristled at the accusation of kidnapping. Robertson was an arsehole of the first order. If Robertson had possessed the guts to join the Marines after Starfleet Academy, which he hadn't then and he didn't now, someone would have fragged him long before he made flag rank. Hell, Colt was seriously considering fragging him now. Bastard.

The Ferengi stood up and using a cane, hobbled his way over to the front of the said and started to pace back and forth as he began his statement. “Members of the board, as counsel to the respondent is my duty to inform you that the government’s case, or more precisely the ‘convening authority's' opinion of events at hand is pure claptrap.” Barik said waving his hand dismissively In back of him, vaguely in Robertson's direction casuing the Admiral to huff slightly, “That’s right I said ‘claptrap’ because those opinions are ‘bullshit` and a ‘waste of the boards time’ might offend the board." The Ferengi said as he turned to face Commodore Chin. The favorite, far from looking offended, actually smiled down at the Ferengi slightly, almost admiring the little alien’s bravado.

Barik turned and limped back down the length of the dais, “The board will find that if it ignores ‘biased opinions’,” he said glancing briefly at Robertson, “and instead pays attention to the actual events it will find that Lieutenant Commander Jacobs showed not only good judgement and an effective command style while on this initial patrol, but also acted in such a way that prevented a significant diplomatic crisis between the Federation and the Thollian Empire. And in addition was able to collect valuable intelligence on a previously unknown species that may yet pose a threat to the security and stability of this sector.”

“As to the second charge of breaking the prime directive,” Barik added seemingly playing to the Andorian officer whose antenna followed the impassioned Ferengi, “It is my intention to show that Jacob’s quick and decisive actions not only prevented the detection of her ship, by a prewar culture, but also removed not one but two sources of cultural contamination, in the forms of a native scientist that discovered the Valiant and a marooned Federation citizen that her crew had found there.” With a respectful nod to the Recorders deck Baric made his way back to his table to sit next to Leigh.

Not a bad start, Mouthpiece, Colt thought. Now we just need to actually prove all of that.

Arturo sat with Xiulan in the back of the courtroom.

"I hate these things!" he said, quietly, but with great intensity. "They bring back bad memories! Damned Chairborne Commandos second guessing a starship captain...so...insulting! At least her attorney sounds like he knows what he's talking about!"

"I have no idea what's going on," Xiulan murmured in return. Then a thought occurred to her. "The Tholian incident is prior her recent stint in Command, so why is that relevant now? Hasn't that already been dealt with? It can't possibly have any bearing on what happened since she took command of the Valiant," she asked Arturo, quietly.

"This Admiral Robertson has made it his personal mission to end Commander Jacobs' career," Arturo replied quietly. "He's going to try and bring up everything he feels she's done wrong, every little violation, every minor error in judgement, he's going to bring them all up in the hopes that some of it will stick to her. They did the same thing to me in the Halsey inquiry."

"But the Tholian incident was already dealt with; she can't be tried twice for the same incident, can she?" Xiulan asked in return.

Arturo shrugged.

"Maybe not," he said. "But Admiral Chickenshit can use it to try and show a pattern of behavior."

"Dick move, Admiral Chickenshit, dick move..." Xiulan grumbled.

"Agreed!" Arturo said, returning his focus to the board.

Robertson stood, glaring towards the observer section at Arturo. "There will be silence in this hearing or you will be removed!" Robertson slowly sat back down and sighed, glancing at the other panel members. "Well then, Mister Barik, I personally can't wait to see what sort of defense you can muster for your client as these charges are grave." He then turned to Commander Fredricks. "Commander, you may begin."

Fredericks stood, adjusting his uniform as he did so. "Thank you, admiral. "The government calls Commander Leigh Jacobs to the stand."

Leigh let out a slow breath and approached the stand and sat down. "The computer recognizes Commander Leigh Jacobs, Starfleet, assigned as commanding officer of USS Valiant, notably awarded the Silver Star, the Legion of Merit, and the Starfleet Distinguished Service Medal," came the computer's voice.

"That's enough," Robertson interrupted. "Let's get on with it, shall we? Commander Fredericks, continue."

Fredericks nodded. "Commander Jacobs. You have a habit of disobeying orders and directives, don't you?"

"Excuse me?" Jacobs replied. "I do what's in the best interest of my ship and my crew."

"Oh, is that so?" Fredericks sneered. "Because isn't it true you were found guilty of disobeying Admiral Robertson's orders to pursue Pirates that had attacked several civilian freighters?"

"Yes, however--" Leigh protested.

"And isn't it true you left your XO behind on a planet in Tholian Space, quite possibly killing him in the process?"

"No--" Jacobs began again.

"No?" Fredericks grabbed a nearby PaDD and holding it up. "I have a sworn statement from an Ensign Braith--a former Head Nurse aboard the Valiant, who was on the Away Team during the incident in which he states that you left Commander Cross behind as the Away Team retreated from a botched first contact mission! You, Commander Jacobs, are a coward!"

"Objection!" Barik exclaimed, standing quickly.

Robertson, grinning, held up his hand. The damage had already been done as he looked down at his prey of Commander Leigh Jacobs. "That is enough, Commander Fredericks."

"Aye, sir," the commander replied, placing the PaDD with the statement on the desk in front of Robertson.

"Funny," Colt said. He didn't shout, but he wasn't quiet about it either. "That doesn't sound like what happened, and I was there."

"Commander Jacobs," Commander Fredericks turned to look at Jacobs. "Is it true that you violated the Prime Directive? Yes or no."

Leigh sighed and gritted her teeth before responding. "Yes."

"And isn't it also true that not only did you violate the Prime Directive, but that you also kidnapped one of the natives on a primitive world and literally forced her to help you to escape the planet when you should have simply waited for a Starfleet vessel? Yes or No," Fredericks continued.

Leigh sighed, silently cursing Fredericks. "No."

"No?" Fredericks stopped in his pacing. "Your own sensor logs dictate otherwise, commander! Have you stooped to lying before this panel?" he gestured to the admirals sitting beside him.

"Yes I broke the Prime Directive but I never forced anyone to do anything!" Jacobs shouted, standing from her chair.

"Sit down, Commander Jacobs!" Robertson shouted. "Or I will hold you in contempt of court."

"She wouldn't be the only one in contempt of this court," Colt said, leaning over to speak quietly to Arturo and Xiulan. "I find this proceeding pretty damned contemptible."

"You and me both!" Arturo said.

Xiulan had been silently seething as she listened to the proceedings. A reasonable thing would have been to leave so as not to make things worse or get herself into trouble, but Xiulan was done being reasonable.

"No one kidnapped Valywen, and to imply that we did insults the bravery of her choice to help us!" Xiulan blurted out loudly as she rose to her feet. Oh shit, now she had done it.... Oh well, she was going to get kicked out of the courtroom anyway, so better just say what was on her mind and get it over with. "You're framing everything like you didn't even bother to read any of the after action reports from the crew; you made up your mind regardless of what the truth was, you spew out these vile theories to plant a seed of doubt, but you don't call on any proof or witnesses to corroborate these theories before moving on, and you deprive Captain Jacobs of her right to answer in her own words, she has the right to defend herself! This is not justice!"

Arturo didn't know whether to cheer or pull Xiulan down. Ultimately, he decided to stand by his woman.

"Lieutenant Song is right!" Arturo shouted. "She's going to get us both thrown in the brig, but she's right! This is not justice! This is a FARCE! You, Robertson, are the king of a kangaroo court!"

I cannot believe I just did that! You are absolutely rubbing off on me, wife...and I love you all the more for it!

Roberston glared at the group of officers he recognized from the Valiant's manifest--the miniature caitian was Jacobs' XO nonetheless. "Security, remove those officers from my sight this instant!"

Security moved towards Arturo and Xiulan and Arturo struck up a defensive pose and started growling.

"Touch her and it will be the last thing you ever do!" he said menacingly.

Colt stood as well, ready to help.

"It's ok, I knew this would happen," Xiulan said quietly to her husband. "He's just protective 'cause I'm blind, so be careful when you lead me out," she cautioned the guard as she surrendered herself to be removed.

Arturo growled a bit more, then, reluctantly, allowed he and his wife to be escorted out of the court room.

Colt quietly returned to his seat.

Upon Xiulan and Arturo being removed, the court continued. Fredericks turned to the panel. "Do you see, your honors? Even her own crew cannot follow simple proceedings and bring dishonor to this very courtroom. I have no further questions."

Barik stood and approached Jacobs. "Commander Jacobs, it was stated you were awarded the Silver Star, and the Legion of Merit. What were those awarded for?"

"For assaulting a Dominion Stronghold on Cardassia when I was a rifleman with the Seventh Marines during the invasion of Cardassia," Jacobs replied.

"Were you wounded during the battle?" Barik asked casually.

"Yes."

"And were you evacuated?" Barik continued.

Leigh shook her head. "No. I stayed and continued to fight on Cardassia where my squad also prevented a Dominion Patrol from executing innocent Cardassian civilians."

Barik turned to the panel but staring at Robertson. "I don't know about you, but that doesn't sound like a coward to me, you honors." He then turned back to Jacobs. "Commander Jacobs, would you please state what really happened at the failed first contact with the Gluak."

Jacobs nodded. "The Away Team and the USS Valiant had been engaged by the Gluak after the Gluak ship caused the Stasis Unit that had been located under the destroyed Tholian base to power up. The result was an earthquake that broke the tetonic plates apart at the site. As the Away Team boarded the shuttle, the ground underneath Commander Cross gave way and he fell," Jacobs paused, clearing her throat. "I ordered the Away Team to get back to the ship immediately. Any time spent looking for Commander Cross would have endangered the entire team."

Barik nodded silently. "Your honors, Commander Jacobs did what any commander would do--they make the difficult decisions in the heat of battle that will save the most lives. I believe the old Vulcan proverb is: The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. Commander Jacobs, did you kidnap a native of Janos Three?"

"No. We were going to wipe her memory and transport her back near her town of origin," Jacobs answered.

"And why didn't you?" Barik questioned.

"Because we learned that Janos Three had a local supply of dilithium which we needed to obtain enough power to get off of Janos Three, and the best way for us to obtain that dilithium was to use Valywen's knowledge of the town," Jacobs replied.

"And why didn't you wipe this Valywen's memory and leave her on Janos Three?" Barik asked.

"Because leaving her there would have been a death sentence. She was well known as a rogue scientist and the local population believed that Valywen's work was against their religious beliefs and we learned that the punishment for such crimes was death by being burned alive. Starfleet's Second General Order dictates that I should do what is necessary to preserve intelligent life. Leaving her on that planet to die contradicts that order. At the end of the day, Starfleet is a life saving organization."

"There you have it, gentlemen," Barik gestured to the panel. "To leave a young woman, whose only crime was to pursue knowledge on a planet to die would have been as cold and heartless as the Borg. All of Jacobs decisions have been based on saving lives. Who are we to second guess her? Let her do her job. I have no further questions."

"Step down, Commander Jacobs," Robertson grumbled.

"I believe we will take a recess to discuss the findings," Commodore Khilend chim chimed in. "The court is adjourned."

**Outside of the courtroom**

Leigh sighed as she glared at Arturo and approached him, crossing her arms. "Commander S'Rohass, what the hell was that about in there?"

Arturo's ears went back.

"No excuse, Captain," he said. "The inquiry board just brought up some bad memories for me and then Xiulan committed herself, and, well, I felt obligated to follow. And then Security moved in on her and, well, I may have gotten in over my head."

"This situation is fragile enough without having members of my crew speaking out. If I do it, it's on me and if you do it, it's also on me. The commotion in the court room didn't help my case one bit," Jacobs scolded before letting out a frustrated sigh and continuing a minute later. "I do appreciate the support, however."

Arturo grinned sheepishly.

"Of course, Captain!" he said. "Xiulan and I are behind you 1000%."

"'Never give up, never surrender!'" Xiulan chimed in, quoting from some old entertainment flick she'd listened to when she was younger.

Suddenly there was shouting, along with a red-faced Admiral Robertson storming out of the deliberation chambers and down the corridor the opposite way as Commodore Khilend chim and Captain Syzo Zh'qilrirh looked at one another as they stepped out of the room as well and watched Admiral Robertson continue to walk away before soon disappearing around a corridor.

"What the hell was that about?" Leigh asked, curiously.

"He doesn't look too happy, does he, Skipper?" Colt said.

"What's happening?" Xiulan asked, unable to see who was storming off.

"A very angry Admiral 'Chickenshit' Robertson just stormed out of the court room!" Arturo said. "Livid might be a good word to describe him."

"Anything that has Robertson pissed is music to my ears," Jacobs replied with a smirk.

Admiral Viktor proceeded to walk up to the Captain and commodore and after a moment of speaking, Viktor seemed to nod and look at Jacobs before making his way over. "Commander Jacobs, the hearing is over."

Jacobs was now curious. "Why, sir?"

Viktor sighed and shook his head. "Because that SOB Robertson blew up when it was decided that Commodore Khilend chim and Captain Syzo Zh'qilrirh were going to side with you and find you not guilty. To be honest, I don't know what's gotten into him lately. And since Robertson--the head convening authority in this trial--has withdrawn from the proceedings, the case is forfeited."

Jacobs let out a sigh of relief. "That's good to hear. Thank you, Admiral."

Viktor nodded with a slight grin. "I'll see you again before you leave. Just be careful in the mean time--who knows what's gotten into Robertson lately."

"Will do, admiral," Jacobs replied as Viktor turned to walk away.

"Well," Colt said, once Viktor was out of earshot. "That went better than I expected!"

"Indeed!" Arturo said. "Though, somehow I don't think that's the last we've seen of Ole Chickenshit. Not by a long shot!"

"I agree. I've been having Lougheed look into Robertson's recent actions," Leigh said. "Commander S'Rohass, you just got married, so go and enjoy your time off while I check in with Lougheed to see if he's dug up anything.

"If he has trouble finding anything, tell him to come see me," Xiulan offered. "I've done a lot of work in cryptography, I live in patterns, so I might see patterns in Robertson's behavior he might miss."

The Intelligence Center on the Valiant was a small room located behind the main bridge, yet the room contained the most state of the art computers in Starfleet in order to accommodate for the small space available. Leigh, entered, along with Lieutenant Song. "I apologize for taking you away from your honeymoon, lieutenant."

"No worries, Captain, I wouldn't have offered if I wasn't willing to take one for the team," Xiulan replied with a grin.

Leigh waited until the doors closed behind them before speaking to Lougheed, who was at a console already. "What have you found Lieutenant Lougheed?

"Computer activate protocol-2-1-zero-black." Lougheed said, the computer chirped several time in acknowledgement, all the computers in the room when dark and the room was illuminated by a single overhead light. "I hope you'll understand the need for added privacy, I've adopted the dampening field to allow Ms. Song's eyes continued functionality. I've been doing some digging, I have reason to believe Admiral Robertson is under the influence of an external power. At least he is being coerced somehow, at worst, he may have been replaced with a double or by some other means is completely under alien control." The Lieutenant started.

"I've been reviewing information and have found a number of order given by him, they completely counter Starfleet protocol and compromise the security in the region. I believe the vendetta against the Commander is part of this, to move the Valiant under the control of someone loyal to him. Which from what I've found is not an insignificant pool of senior officers. There are a lot of similarities to Admiral Leyton's coup on Earth during the lead up the Dominion War."

"Interesting hypothesis, Mr. Lougheed. Do we have any solid evidence?"" Leigh asked.

Lougheed pulled out a large tablet, non-networked and shielded from the dampening field. "I've identified 47 command orders he's issued in that last 6 months that countermand Starfleet strategic directives in the region. A significant number of them correlate with incidents happening in the area. Ships pulled from a preplanned patrol route and that an pirate attack on a civilian freighter where the nearest Starfleet asset was 9 hours away instead of 15 minutes." Lougheed reported. "There's a number of questionable command transfers as well, relatively junior officers escalating quickly to command billets including 3 officers promoted to Captain with less than a year in grade at Commander. Ships with COs and XOs with less than 3 years of experience in Command combined. As well several officers who have launched complaints against reassignment orders have ended up injuries, in two cases apparently dying in freak accidents. Three others resigned, and are now untraceable. People who had families they claimed to be the resign behind their resignation who haven't seen them since. It's all circumstantial but together it paints a pretty grim picture."

Leigh took the PaDD and looked it over. Lougheed was right--a few orders by themselves didn't prove anything but altogether, they showed a pattern--a dangerous one at that. "Great job, lieutenant. I should get this to Admiral Viktor. Keep looking. Lieutenant Song can help you if needed."

"Ma'am, there's more. I believe that Robertson may have, for lack of a better term, a mole on the Valiant. There are three crewman who's transfers to the Valiant were authorized by the Admiral, not directly but through one of his senior proxies. Commander Pictoa, currently serving with the Fleet's Personnel department." Lougheed said.

Leigh paused for a moment as she considered the idea "Keep track of those crewmen and you and Song investigate further. Also try to find out more about this Commander Pictoa," she finally replied.

"Aye ma'am." The Intelligence Officer replied.

"I need to find Admiral Viktor and tell him about this," Leigh took the PaDD and exited the Intelligence Office, heading for the docking port.

"Wait for a moment, would you Senior?" Arturo said. Xiulan went off with Loughheed to investigate Robertson in their way. Jacobs went off to tend to her own command business. That left Arturo and Colt to their own devices.

"Sure, Commander," Colt said. "What can I do for you?"

"Do you think you can pin a tail on Admiral Chickenshit?" Arturo said.

Colt nodded. "Sure thing. I'll go see if I can catch up to him. Back me up?"

Arturo grinned. "Like old times. Er...he has a head start. How do we find him? It can't be as simple as asking the computer for his commbadge location, right? He must have disabled that, right?"

Colt shrugged.

"Let's find out," Colt said. He and Arturo went over to a wall console and accessed the base computer. "Computer, please locate Admiral Robertson."

"Admiral Robertson is in his VIP Quarters on Deck 54, Section 69 Gamma," came the computer's response.

Colt frowned. So did Arturo.

"Well," Arturo said. "We can't get in there. Flag officers and visiting Captain's only. Any thoughts?"

"I guess we'll have to sit on the VIP lounge and see what happens, but," Colt said. "If you can sit on the lounge and see if he comes out, I have something in my quarters that might allow us to hack the visual sensors of the VIP lounge. I can get it and meet you outside the VIP lounge in five minutes."

"Excellent!" Arturo said. "I shall be stealthy and silent and invisible as I wait for this poor excuse for an admiral to emerge from his lair!"

Colt bit back a laugh. The idea of Arturo being stealthy and silent when stalking someone wasn't too hard to accept. He was a feline after all. Silent and invisible, that was a little harder to believe from such a flamboyant personality.

"Ah, right," Colt said. "See you in a moment." Colt tapped his commbadge. "Xan to Valiant. One to beam up."

Colt disappear in a shimmer and Arturo padded off to sit on the VIP lounge. He arrived there and found there was a small coffee shop across from the lounge from where he could observe the entrance to the lounge. He ordered an espresso (because Arturo was someone who needed more caffeine...right) and took a seat near the street. As he watched, several captains entered the lounge. Eventually Colt walked up to the cafe. He also ordered a coffee and then down at Arturo's table. He had something in his hand, which he slipped to Arturo. Arturo took the device from Colt in a way that didn't show anyone else what it was, which was a Type I phaser. Arturo slipped the phaser into his pocket. Colt also had a rugged looking PaDD with him. It looked like the ones used by the SFMC.

"Is that it?" Arturo asked.

"Yes," he said. "Standby."

Arturo nodded and turned his attention back to the VIP lounge. He frowned.

"Why did those two MAs just turn away that Captain?" Arturo said. "He's entitled to entry. I can't imagine they're at max capacity in there."

"Hmmm? Yeah, that is odd," Colt said. He slipped Arturo an earbud. "Make like you're scratching your ear and put this in. Okay, let's see what's going on in there."

Colt angled the rugged PaDD so both he and Arturo could see what was happening. Robertson seemed to be having some kind of meeting...there were bowls of some kind of...food in front of each of the officer's present. It looked like...was it moving? The two men watched an listened closely.

Robertson downed some of the "food" in his bowl. The squirming of the live "worms" ended as he felt relief as the food was digested.

"What are we going to do now that Jacobs is free?" a human captain to his right asked as he downed some of the "food."

"I have friends that should be taking care of that issue as we speak," Robertson replied with a wicked grin. "Then I will submit you as the new captain of the Valiant. I already have two aboard the ship that are loyal to me. The rest will be a matter of time."

Both Arturo and Colt watched the strange meeting unfold, both mildly disgusted by the sight of the officers downing live worms. Neither had ever much enjoyed watching Klingons or Ferengi eat live food live.

"What..." Arturo said. "What are we looking at?"

Colt frowned.

"Nothing good," he said. "It sounds like they're going to make a move on the Captain. But what else are they planning?"

"We need to secure the Captain," Arturo said. He tapped his commbadge. "S'Rohass to M'Shlaht! Respond please!"

"Yes, sir?" Me'Shlaht's voice, as always, sounded oddly predatory even over the comm link. "What is the problem?"

"The Captain is in imminent danger!" Arturo said, speaking softly, urgency in his voice. "Find her immediately and secure her safety. Robertson has been...taken over by...something...or replaced! Look, either he's a Pod Person or he's been possessed or he's been brainwashed into eating squirmy little bugs, along with several Starfleet Captains and who knows how many other people. Colt's sending you the evidence we gathered. Hang on to that for us and go secure the captain!"

Me'shlaht gave a deep, throaty growl. "I will find her. Me'Shlaht out."

Meanwhile, Colt kept on observing and recording the meeting, grotesquely fascinated by what could be the end of life as he understood it.

Robertson stood upon finishing his food. "I have matters to attend to with my associates. We will meet again after Jacobs is taken care of...and leave that moron Viktor to me. He has interfered with my plans for the last time," he said as he concealed a Type One phaser in his waist band. "Once Captain Jacobs and Admiral Viktor are out of the way, our brethren will arrive and the Federation will be at our beck and call." Robertson then exited the dining room, heading for the exit to the quarters.

Colt casually slipped the rugged PaDD into a shoulder bag he was carrying and after Roberston had passed, he left to follow the admiral. Arturo left a moment later and spread out from Colt so they could better tail the man...if that's what he still was. Followed him, but he seemed to be leading them to a secluded area of the station.

When Robertson saw no one was around, he stopped in his tracks, spinning on his heel, glaring at Colt. "Did you really think I wouldn't notice one of Captain Jacobs' crew following me?" he said, frowning. "Let me guess, you're following me to hope to find something dirty on me and then report it to that moron Viktor or your precious Captain?"

"Actually," Colt said. "I already did find something dirty on you, Admiral Pod Person, and I transmitted the data to the Valiant for safekeeping. You've had it, whoever you are."

Arturo and Colt drew their small, Type I hand phasers.

"Raise your hands above your head and turn around," Colt said. "I'm going to relieve you of any weapons and anything else I think I need to take from you, and if you move, Commander S'Rohass here is going to stun you into the middle of the next century, are we clear?"

Robertson laughed. "I would honestly like to see that happen, you pathetic little fur ball!" Robertson said, his voice seemed to have a growl to it as he rushed at Colt, who was closest, catching a phaser blast to his chest at close range. "That tickled," Robertson commented before grabbing Colt and tossing him like a rag doll against the bulk head.

Even with his denser Rigelian bones, hitting the bulkhead hurt like Hell and when he head smacked against the duranium he saw stars as he slid down the wall in a heap.

Meanwhile Arturo fired several more times at Robertson, steadily raising the level of the stun setting until it was at maximum. Forgetting that Starfleet internal security systems wouldn't allow a Starfleet issue weapon to be raised to above heavy stun, he tried to switch it up a notch and pressed the trigger. Nothing happened. Cursing, he pulled his San Fratellano folding knife from his pocket and flipped out it's leaf shaped blade.

"Phaser stun may not hurt you," Arturo said, weaving the knife back and forth in front of him. "But I'm willing to bet you can be cut!"

Colt seemed to have a similar idea. From his boot came a stiletto style knife, similar to a Fairbairn-Sykes Fighting Knife, this one closer to the ones used by the United States Marines in Earth's Second World War. He dragged himself painfully to his feet, dagger in hand.

"If Arturo just tried to fire his phaser on a lethal setting, then security is on the way," Colt said. "You have nowhere to run to."

Of course, Colt and Arturo couldn't be sure how far this conspiracy had spread. They couldn't know whether the masters-at-arms who responded to the Arturo's phaser violation would be the good guys or more Pod People. Colt was seriously bluffing here.

"And they will see two officers attacking a Starfleet Admiral. Quite a serious offense, furball," Robertson replied with a grin. "And the information you claimed to have gotten on me will be taken care of by my brethren on your ship."

Robertson again launched himself at Arturo this time, closing the distance quickly, delivering a backhand that sent Arturo reeling backwards and into a rushing security officer, knocking her over onto her back.

"Ow! What the hell?" she exclaimed as her partner stepped next to her to help her up.

In a murderous rage, anger and adrenaline flowed through Robertson as he continued his attack, breaking the neck of the aiding security officer. The young female office was in shock as she recovered and fired in fear, her phaser reset to kill. The hit hurt, causing Robertson to take a few steps back, clutching his chest. "You bitch! Our brethren will soon arrive and you will know fear as only the Gluak can teach it!"

Arturo dragged himself to a standing position, but he wasn't steady on his feet. Admiral Pod Person had fists like sledgehammers and he hit hard. Arturo placed himself between Robertson and the remaining master-at-arms.

"You...you'll have to get past me...first, monster!" Arturo said.

Colt moved quickly while Robertson was distracted. He moved up to Robertson, grabbed him from behind, and drove his Raider/Sykes-Fairbairn knife into the man's back where the Human kidney should be. He drove it in, twisted it, and drew it out four times rapidly. The Human kidney was rich with blood vessels and trauma to the kidney in this manner would kill a normal Human quickly. Colt had no idea what it would do to Robertson.

Robertson turned and as he did so, the female security officer fired again, hitting the wound as Robertson cried out in pain but remained on his feet. Not taking any chances, the woman continued to fire in disbelief that anyone or anything could be so hard to take down. A few seconds later, Robertson's body collapsed as the flesh disintegrated, and a large insect-like creature with two mandibles by it's mouth emerged, emitting an angry shriek. 'What the hell is that!"

"Computer!" Arturo shouted. "Emergency containment field around the small lifeform at the center of the our three commbadge signals!"

The creature was too quick and skittered away before the computer could contain it.

"Dammit!" Colt said.

"After it!" Arturo said, streaking down the corridor in pursuit, his predatory instincts taking over as he scanned for the scurrying little insect-like creature. Or was it an arachnid? Damn. He thought back to his friend from the Academy, Aaron Daniels. He would know the difference! Regardless of the creature's classification, they had to catch it before it reached the Promenade and took over someone else, and before any of it's friends showed up!

Colt tore through the corridors, hot on Arturo's heels.

Starfleet, he thought. Never a dull moment.

While he was running, Arturo got a call from M'Shlaht about Jacobs. (continue further down)

====Elsewhere on the Starbase====

Jacobs had come from the docking bay where the Valiant was currently berthed, making her way to Admiral Viktor. In her hand was a PaDD with some discoveries and theories Lieutenant Lougheed had come up with about Robertson. She couldn't imagine that some among her crew would be loyal to Robertson. As she rounded a corner, the lights flickered off followed by flashes of white light replaced by large shadowy figures. "What the hell?"

Jacobs was struck from behind by a hard blow, nearly causing her to lose consciousness as she dropped the PaDD and stumbled. She heard the rushing footsteps and despite the pain, she spun out of the way of the rushing attacker and wrapped her arms around the attacker's head into a rear-naked choke hold. She could barely make out the shadow of a second attacker rushing her as she raised her feet, casing the attacker to run into them and pushing all three to the deck as Jacobs maintained the choke hold, increasing pressure onto the attacker's windpipe as the attacker struggled, emitting a gurgled sound in response. Jacobs suddenly released her hold and slammed her forearm down, smashing the attacker's windpipe, who immediately began gasping for air. Jacobs stood and tackled the nearest attacker.

"Enough of this!" Another of the attacker said, striking Jacobs in the back with a stun baton. "We have our bounty. Let's get out of here before Starfleet restores power." A moment later, the attackers and Jacobs disappeared in flashes of white light just as power was restored to the section.

Running at top speed on all fours, Me'Shlaht burst into the section and pounced on the nearest of Leigh's attackers, only for him to vanish just before she made contact. Sliding across the deck, she scrambled to get her paws under her. When she gained purchase on the deck again, Leigh and the shadowy figures were gone. Snarling, she tapped her commbadge to advise Arturo of the situation. "Me'shlaht to S'Rohass. I missed them by less than five seconds. She's gone."

Arturo cursed.

Scan for her commbadge!" the Caitain executive officer said. "Try to figure out where her abductors are taking her! If you find something, we'll meet you there!"

====In the Back Corridors====

"Don't lose it!" Colt shouted. "We'll never find it again!"

"Of course I shouldn't lose it!" Arturo said. He was grumpy and his head hurt, but he soldiered on.

The creature scurried as fast as it could, trying to sense a safe place as an alert sounded, indicating an intruder. 'Damn,' the creature thought, hoping it's offspring could continue their work on making the Federation weaker for when the Gluak returned. It sensed footsteps closing in from multiple directions until it stopped in it's tracks at the sight of Admiral Viktor, along with a team of security guards leveling their Type 2 and 3 phasers at it and firing . One of the beams struck, causing it to cry out, slowing it down. It soon found itself inside of a forcefield as it clashed violently against the shields several times, emitting a shriek each time.

Viktor frowned at the creature as he sheathed his phaser. "Transport this thing to the Science lab. Maintain a Level 3 containment field until further notice and you are not to discuss this creature with anyone without my direct consent," Viktor told the nearest security officer.

"Aye, sir," the young man replied.

Viktor looked at Colt and Arturo. "You two ok?"

"The commander took a nasty shot to the head, sir," Colt said, standing next to Arturo just in case he passed out. "But I can take care of him as soon as he's ready."

Arturo scowled.

"You got hit in the head, too, and you don't see me babying you!" Arturo said. "And we have bigger problems. Commander Jacobs has been taken on the orders of that...thing. And Robertson wasn't the only one of those things on base! Show him! Stop being a mother hen and show him!"

Colt took out the special PaDD he'd 'liberated' from his former assignment, cued up the recording, and showed the recording to Admiral Viktor.

"We used these in the Raiders for Intel gathering and Recon," Colt said. "I used it to hack in the internal feed in the VIP lounge, where Robertson went after he stormed out of the courtroom, and from where we followed him until he turned on us."

Colt was pretty sure Viktor knew about this already, but he followed Arturo's orders anyway.

"I've had my suspicions but could never act on them," Viktor replied, his Russian accent seemingly stronger as he looked over the PaDD. "Jacobs was kidnapped you say?" Viktor immediately slapped his comm badge. "Admiral Viktor to Starbase Operations. Scan the are immediately for Commander Jacobs' comm badge and her life signs.

"Aye, admiral," came a man's voice. "It will just be a moment...there's alot of traffic but I'm not picking up her life signs or comm badge signal."

"One moment, Admiral," Arturo said, then tapped his commbadge. "S'Rohass to Me'shlaht! Report!"

"She's Valiant's Chief Sec/Tac," Colt explained to Admiral Viktor. "She got to the scene of the abduction right after the kidnappers made off with Commander Jacobs. She was trying to track them, last I heard."

"My scans are not picking up Commander Jacobson's combadge either, sir." Me'Shlaht sounded frustrated and disappointed. "I would expect once they had her aboard their ship, they went to warp and left us with nothing but their scent. I saw only two perpetrators, but there is the scent of a third man here."

Arturo cursed.

"Did they all exit by transporter?" Arturo said. "Or did one or more them exit the area on foot? If the latter, can you track them by scent?"

"I believe one of them left on foot. His scent leads back out of this area... I will follow his trail and keep you updated." There was a hint of a growl in Me'Shlaht's voice, the growl of a predator ready for a hunt.

"Find them, Lieutenant," Viktor commanded.


TBC...

Lathor breathed hard as he leaned against the bulkhead. The human woman had been one hell of a fighter and nearly crushed his esophagus. However, he found pleasure in the thoughts of the woman being disciplined and broken by the slave handlers on his ship. He pushed off of the bulkhead and began to make his way into a more populated area, hoping to lose any security that may be following him until he could get off the station.

"Lieutenant," Arturo said to Me'Shlaht. "The chief and I are moving to get around ahead of your target. We have...concerns about a large scale mobilization of station security, for reasons I'll have to explain later, but we have several masters-at-arms with us. In the meantime, be cautious about everyone you encounter, even those in Starfleet uniforms."

"Always, sir." Still hunting her scented target, Me'Shlaht kept her voice low. "I have seen no one thus far, but I hear people nearby."

Lathor stopped to catch his breath. His damaged throat made it difficult to breathe.

"Are you alright, sir?" asked a trill man in civilian clothing.

Lathor nodded. "Yes," he managed to croak out with a grin. "Sore throat. Seeing doctor."

"Ah, ok. Be well," the man greeted as he made his way off to his destination.

Lathor spotted a sign indicating the direction of the docking ring and made his way through the crowd of people.

Arturo and Colt, followed by the security personnel they could trust, just missed their quarry and began to look around. Then it was Arturo's turn to use his nose. He sniffed the air.

"The Captain!" he said. "No...too faint...a trace of her...that way!"

Arturo started moving in the direction of the scent trail, Colt and the masters-at-arms following along behind.

Lathor moved down the corridor that led to the docking ring when he heard rushing footsteps behind him. Turing, he spotted several Starfleet offciers running in his direction. The diminutive caitian seem fixed on him. 'Damn,' he cursed silently as he drew his disruptor pistol and fired at the group.

Arturo saw the Orion turn and lock eyes with him. He saw the Orion drawing a weapon as if in slow motion. He dove out of the way, firing off a shot as he went, and shouted a warning to the others. "Down!"

Colt also saw the Orion draw his weapon and took cover. Two of the masters-at-arms were not quick enough and got hit. Colt popped up and let off a burst from his phaser at the Orion.

Lathor tried in vain to dodge in his injured state and the phaser hit him in the arm as he fell to the deck.

Arturo's instinct was to assume this Orion was one of the invaders and just shoot him until he vaporized. He restrained this instinct, because the Orion was their only connection to Commander Jacobs. He quickly thumbed his phaser down from a lethal setting to heavy stun and shot the Orion while the man was on the ground. Colt came out from behind cover, phaser at the ready. He and Arturo looked at each other. Each man nodded to the other, and Arturo covered Colt as the Senior Chief moved closer to the Orion. When he got close, Colt poked the Orion with his foot. He looked back at Arturo, who shrugged as if to say 'your guess is as good as mine'. Colt Looked back at the prone Orion and then kicked the man, hard, in the side. The Orion grunted, but remained unconscious. He looked back at Arturo, who nodded.

"Restrain him!" Colt ordered the masters-at-arms as he disarmed the man. The masters-at-arms rushed to obey Colt's orders, one of them pulled restraints from his belt.

"S'Rohass to Admiral Viktor," Arturo said, tapping his commbadge. "We've taken an Orion man we believe to be one of the kidnappers into custody. Permission to take him back to the Valiant until we know who we can trust here! We will get answers from him!"

"Understood. I'll join you on the Valiant. Viktor, out."

Arturo tapped his badge again.

"S'Rohass to Me'Shlaht," he said. "We've got the target. Return to the ship and meet me at the brig."

Me'Shlaht acknowledged his command and Arturo tapped his badge a third time.

"S'Rohass to Valiant," he said. "Three to transport to the ship immediately. Myself, Senior Chief Xan, and an Orion male currently prone at our feet."

"Acknowledged."

Less than a second later Colt, Arturo, and the Orion man shimmered out of existence and reappeared in the Valiant's transporter room. Colt and Arturo stepped off of the platform and the Orion was beamed directly to the brig.

"I'm so glad you did that, Commander," Colt said. "Because there was going to be a mutiny if you asked me to carry that oversized son-of-a-bitch to the brig myself."

Despite himself, Arturo grinned.

"Well," he said. "I didn't think Me'Shlaht would be any more inclined to carry the bastard than you are, so I went with the next best option. Come, let's brief the others and figure out our next move."

Lougheed watched the door as the CO left, deactivating the highest levels of ECMs he moved to the replicator. "Would you like something before we start?"

"Uh, yeah, coffee," Xiulan replied. "Thanks" she added when she 'saw' the heat signature of the mug before her, taking it carefully. "So, three people, each potentially a mole... Now how to figure out which one, or more than one, is against us," she mused aloud before taking a sip of her coffee. "Maybe we could start by going through communication logs? Won't know what they're saying, but maybe we can figure out who they're talking to, and then tag their clearances to intercept all future communication," she offered.

"Sounds good, the three suspects are Chief Petty Officer Oliver Wallace, Engineering Mate, he served under Robertson for 5 years almost two decades ago. Then he served an 18 month tour as an admin aid to the Admiral ending two years, a very odd assignment for an engineer. He was assigned to the Valiant 3 months ago reportedly at his request. The transfer was signed off on by Pictoa." Lougheed started.

"The second is Lieutenant JG Esmernna, a helm officer. She did a cadet cruise under Pictoa aboard the USS Hok'jon, I did some digging and Esmernna was due for promotion to full Lieutenant and assignment as Department head on Rotterdam, but instead the Admiral reassigned here." The Lieutenant continued. "Third we have is Master-at-Arms First Class Danika Mayford, she's got quite a temper it almost got her kicked out of basic. Her first tour she started a bar brawl, but the Admiral had the charges dropped, transferred her to his command. She spent the next decade in relatively low level postings always near where actions we believe the Admiral responsible for occurred. These are the three I believe most probably to be the Admiral's mole, there is however the potential that two or possibly all three are actually involved, we don't know how large the Admirals network of support is."

Xiulan nodded. "I'm tagging all their communiques and work logs to be routed through a subroutine I'm writing to filter their chats and actions for anything suspicious. I'm working this subroutine into the baseline LCARS programming, so it shouldn't alert them to the fact that we're observing them," she explained as she typed at the console. "'Shouldn't', but as I'm sure you know, it's no guarantee they'll remain oblivious, but with any luck we'll catch onto the mole before they catch onto us."

"That's fine, I'm sending you a list of about 2 dozen others, I'd like you to set the same protocols up for them but funnel the data to a seperate file. This way if anyone starts digging it will look like we're monitoring a large section of the crew, hopefully if anyone finds it it will look like routine monitoring and not us hunting for an individual." Lougheed said.

"And this is why you're the super spy and I'm just the cryptographer," Xiulan replied with a grin as she made the adjustments to her program. "Okay, the program is active, no action on any of our suspects yet, but that just means they're not doing anything suspicious yet. The computer will give you an alert if they do anything that flags as suspicious, and it will check all logs for anything suspicious, not just communication and personal logs but system logs ship-wide; basically checking if anyone, not just our suspects, is accessing a ship system they're not supposed to, and send us the logs before they can delete it. You know, just in case it's not one of our suspects, but activity from our suspect list is prioritized."

"Good, now the worst part of the job. Waiting." Lougheed replied, "Thank you Lieutenant, we should be good for now."

There wasn't much to the interview/interrogation room on the Valiant. It was small, and the large Orion sitting at the table, shackled to the floor, would have made the room feel over crowded by himself. Arturo, who was standing with Colt outside of the room, observing, didn't even want to think about how it felt for Evan and Me'Shlaht who had to be in the room with the Orion. The stench alone would probably make his whiskers fall out! Colt had been in earlier to make sure that the Orion was bug free and in good enough condition to be interviewed. At Arturo's orders, Colt and Me'Shlaht had taken vids and copious notes describing the prisoner's condition when he was brought in. Arturo didn't want any accusations of torture to interfere with finding the Captain and punishing those responsible for he kidnapping. He'd asked Evan and Me'Shlaht to wear earpieces so he could feed them questions if he felt something needed clarification. He watched through the transparent aluminum window and listened over the speaker mounted next to it.

Me'Shlaht let the Orion sweat under her predatory gaze for several long moments. The room did indeed already have a heavy scent to it, but she was less bothered by it than Arturo might be. "Let's start with something simple. Your name. What is it?"

The Orion named Lathor stared back at the feline as he sat back in the chair, remaining silent. These Starfleet were fools if they thought he would betray his crew and his employer. To do so, meant certain death in the Syndicate.

Arturo rolled his eyes...as best as a feline could role their eyes. "Colt..."

Colt chuckled. He sent some information to the two officers via his PaDD. Using the channel to Evan and Me'Shlaht's earpieces, so only they could hear him, he informed them of what he had. "I don't know who this guy is, but you have a file on your PaDDs with a short list of aliases attached to his DNA sample, retina scan, fingerprints, and visual image. He hasn't spoken, or I'd have gotten you whatever was attached to his voiceprint."

Me'Shlaht growled at the Orion's lack of response, slowly tapping her extended claws against her PaDD. "I have your DNA, retina scan, and fingerprints. It's only a matter of time until I know who you really are, but let's run down the list we've been able to dig up without your help."

"Well according to our records," Lougheed started, he was sitting across from the Orion and already felt the overwhelming need for a shower. "You're wanted on Ardoss IX in connection to a arms deal that went south, 14 police officers were killed in the action. Hellicant Prime has a warrant for a man that looks rather similar to you for charges involved in human trafficking and no less than 17 kidnapping charges. This list is rather extensive I should say, if I were you I'd be answering the Lieutenant's questions. If have to start asking all of these different groups about you, I'd hate to think someone far less law abiding than us coming to take over."

Lathor chuckled the best he could with his still very sore throat. "I do not know what you are talking about. Your accusations are merely heresay. I was the one assaulted," he gestured to his throat. "In fact, I am very tempted to press charges for the assault since that Starfleet bitch ran off after assaulting me."

"By all means, if you would like to press charges that is your right." Lougheed started, "If you would like we can contact the sector JAG, have them come here, have internal affairs begin to investigate the actions of the Starfleet personnel involved." He paused and focused his attention on the Orion, "but paperwork, and reports, and reports on reports, all with your name, your photo, all this biometric data would all become part of the official Federation record. Accessible by anyone in Starfleet who was interested to look at it, and of course shared with our allies. That seems like an awful lot of attention Rassid."

"Attention can be redirected," the Orion said calmly, maintaining a grin before leaning forward. "And I do not think you would want the attention of my friends, whom are quite well connected--even in your puny Federation."

"Others might be afraid of them, but I am not. Nor am I afraid of someone who occasionally calls himself Gaalo the Grumptious." Me'Shlaht bared her teeth in a wicked-looking snarl. If it weren't for Starfleet's rules, she might have used her claws on the Orion man as well.

"Ah, so you know who I am," he concluded, his smile disappearing. Then you should know my associates will not stand for my being held by Starfleet so it will be best if I go now."

Observing near the door to the observation area, Admiral Viktor, glared through the viewer at the Orion. He knew this man was behind the disappearance of one of his most trusted commanders and friend. He was tempted to enter the room himself and beat the answer out of that smug bastard but he had to give Jacobs' crew their chance as this was their ship and their prisoner at the moment. He had heard of this Gaalo the Grumptious. He also knew the man had several other alias. He was some big shot in the Orion Syndicate the last he had heard.

"I also know that as much as your associates dislike us, they dislike people that talk more. I'd hate for some of the things you've told us to get, leaked, although Ms. Me'Shalaht here is excellent at matter of security." Lougheed said pausing to gesture to the Security Chief. "We both know mistakes happen, such as a communication to Gorleth II using the old encryption codes instead of the new ones. All that information that Dikem the Discontent shared with us about the activities of Elzoran K'to and Grant Mahara. If word got to your associates that you told us about the plans they have for that Ferrimite shipment. I don't think things would end well for you."

Lathor grumbled. "Fine. We were paid to capture your captain and do with her as we saw fit. Then plan was to make her a slave and sell her to the highest bidder. A Starfleet Commander would fetch a nice price on the market...especially one that is also a female."

"Who paid you to do this?" Lougheed asked.

"I don't know. Only the captain knows that...and well...he isn't here," Lathor shrugged. "Credits are credits."

"Where can we find the Captain? We'd like to have a few words with them." Lougheed replied.

"I'm sure you would but alas...the captain, as any good captain, is with his ship," Lathor responded with a casual shrug. "In other words...not anywhere you can get a hold of him," a grin slowly formed.

"Now, not that I have inclination to believe you, but when we accessed your comm records there seemed to be a lot of communications going to a seemingly empty part of the system. Now my hunch, and of course it's just a hunch is that there is either a cloaked ship or a relay of some sort there." Lougheed said, "Am I getting warmer?"

Lathor shrugged. "Perhaps."

Viktor was now pacing, fuming at this asshole's attitude. "Lieutenant Lougheed has one minute to get something that we can go on or I'm going in there and break several Federation Rules," he told Arturo and Colt.

"Give him a moment longer, Admiral," Arturo said. "If he doesn't get anything, you can kick everyone out, yourself included for plausible deniability, and Chief Xan and I will have a go at him."

Admiral Viktor entered the room, instructing Lougheed to leave. As the doors closed, Viktor kicked the chair out from under the Orion. What are you--"

Viktor picked him up and slammed him against the bulkhead. "Give me the information on your ship or I'll have you beamed into space," he snarled.

"You're bluffing. You're Starfleet," Lathor responded. "You have rules..."

"And see these pips? I'm an admiral. It means I can pretty much do what the hell I want. Now, are you going to tell me what I want or do I have your next room with all the 'space' you can think of?"

Lathor was usually good a judging people's intentions from their body language and facial expressions. Both told him the admiral wasn't bluffing. "Fine," he said through gritted teeth. "Its the OSS Venom, and has a Type-9 dilithium-based Warp Drive System. They are likely on their way back to Orion Space...but I am not certain because as I said, only the captain often knows our true destination."

Viktor slammed him again against the bulkhead. "Good. And if I find that any of this is a lie, I promise you will not like my next visit. Until then you will be a guest in the station's brig." Viktor turned and exited the room. He looked at Arturo. "Get your crew together and go after Jacobs. I will be joining you with my ship, the USS Odyssey."

He then walked briskly out of the observation room and headed for the docks.

OOC: Ok everyone. This begins the mission: Captain Lost. Please read the details in the Mission Notes and if you have any questions, suggestions, or concerns, feel free to contact me. I know things have been moving VERY slow (and that's my fault) but let's get this simm up and running again. :)

ON:

Jacobs let out a moan as feeling came back to her. She felt the cool sensation of a deck under her. Attempting to get up, she immediately realized that her wrists had been shackled together as well as her ankles. She forced her eyes open, blinking several times in an attempt to clear them. She felt weak and a bit nauseous.

The sound of a metallic door opening caught her attention as she looked up. For the first time, she took in her surroundings. The deck and bulkheads appeared to be a rustic color.

"Well, it's good to see that you've finally come around," came a husky voice. She looked up to see a bald, heavy-set green-skinned orion male entering her cell through the forcefield. He wore grey pants, black leather boots and a black shirt. He also wore a bandolier full of daggers and at his hip appeared to be a disruptor pistol. "I was afraid my men were a bit too rough in capturing you."

"Where am I?" she asked, looking up at the Orion. "Who are you?"

"You are aboard my ship, the OSS Venom...and you are now property of the Orion Syndicate. I suspect a female Starfleet Commander would fetch a very nice price on the market," the Orion captain replied with a grin as his eyes studied the bound woman before him. He was tempted to bid on her himself and force her to submit to his every will. Breaking that discipline would be half of the fun. "As for me, I am Captain Onor.

"I will not be anyone's slave!" Jacobs retaliated.

"Oh, but I am afraid that isn't up to you, my dear," Onor replied, smiling widely. "I will visit again, after you've been fed."

Onor turned and exited the cell.

Jacobs let out a ragged breath. "Arturo, your ass better be looking for me," she muttered softly to herself.

****

Admiral Viktor stood aboard the USS Odyssey's bridge as the Sovereign Class ship cleared space dock. With a glance at a terminal to his right, he ensured the Valiant was following suit. "Mr. Jaheem, have you found the warp signature I gave you?"

"Yes, admiral. The trail is deteriorating but it appears to be going on a course of 137 mark 215," replied the Operations Officer.

"Good man. Send the information to the Valiant," Viktor replied and turned to his helmsman. "Helm, lay in that course and engage at Warp Factor 9."

"Aye, sir," replied the helmsman. "Course laid in and engaging warp drive."

The Valiant and the Odyssey both jumped to warp.

OOC--Allison: This is basically a staff meeting post on tracking the OSS Venom through hostile (near Orion Syndicate) territory. Please feel free to add ideas and suggestions during the course of the post.

ON:

Valywen shifted in the chair some--it wasn't the most comfortable chair. She had elected to stay aboard the Valiant, especially since learning of Commander Jacobs' abduction--she owed the woman and this crew her life. Now, she waited for the others to arrive at this meeting. She wasn't considered a senior officer but she wanted to feel useful in some capacity as she finally stood and made her way over to the replicator. "Um, computer? Can I have seven cups of the coffee beverage?"

The computer chirped in response as the sups soon materialized. The sounds of doors opening caused her to turn suddenly, spilling a cup onto the deck as it shattered. "Jukkette!" she cursed in her native tongue. "Sorry," she said, looking up at the person who entered, as she began to pick up the shattered pieces of the cup.

Arturo entered with Colt on his heels. Arturo smiled at Valywen to show it was nothing, while Colt stopped to help her pick up the pieces.

"No problem at all," Colt said. He grinned. "Whatever that expletive was, the UT didn't translate it. I'm guessing it's something really nasty. Hey, sorry I've not been around to talk. Things have been...hectic."

"Yes, I can tell...and there is no need to apologize," Valywen said as she placed the pieces of the shattered cup into her hands. "Thank you for assisting me but I can get it from here," she smiled at Colt as she stood and placed the broken pieces onto the replicator, recalling that Colt had showed her how to recycle objects. "I got coffee for everyone," she announced as she grabbed the cups and began to set them on the table.

Arturo moved to sit at the head of the small table in the little conference room.

"Thank you, miss Valywen," he said. "That was very thoughtful of you."

Warrant Officer Nalla Kalor and Ensign Sienna Nora walked into the room, headed for their respective seats. This was Kalor's first Staff meeting since for the moment, she was the ranking officer in Medical until an actual doctor could be assigned by Starfleet. "Greetings, Commander, Senior Chief," Kalor greeted with a small grin.

"Ensign," Colt said. "Miss Kalor. You've both met Valywen?"

"It's good to see you again," Nora said with a grin

"Not personally, but I did get a chance to review her medical profile," Kalor replied. "It's good to see you finally, Ms. Valywen."

Valywen smiled. "Thank you. It's good to see you as well."

"Yes, welcome, both of you," Arturo said. "As soon as everyone is here, we'll begin."

Me'Shlaht was quiet on entry... and as stonefaced as a feline could appear. Her tail, however, gave away her mood as it lashed back and forth. She didn't know whether to be angry that someone had taken their captain or to be angry that she'd failed to catch them. Either way, when she finally caught up with them, she had some... aggressive negotiations for them.

Xiulan entered shortly after, pausing in confusion at the heat signatures at the table; there were small spikes of heat on the table at each seat, but a second later she caught the aroma of coffee and realized that someone must have set out a steaming mug for everyone. Accepting this assumption, Xiulan found her way to an empty chair, hoping she hadn't stolen someone else's seat at the table. Mmmm, that coffee smelled good... No, bad Xiulan, they had more important things to talk about than coffee!

"Sorry if I'm late; Lougheed and I were looking into possible suspicious individuals and I wanted to make sure the program I wrote was tracking properly. Unfortunately, there's nothing to report just yet, but my program is still running, if something hinky is going on then it will find evidence of it," Xiulan said as she settled into her chair.

"Thank you, Xiulan," Arturo said. He almost chose to refer to his wife by her rank, but everyone knew she was his wife, and it seemed stupid to try and pretend differently. "Alright. Our interrogation led us to an Orion vessel called the Venom. It's headed towards a system controlled by the Orion Syndicate. I've already got us headed in that direction at maximum warp. If we can intercept that ship and board her, I believe we'll find the Captain. We're not entirely sure why she was taken, but she seems to have a role to play in the plans of an old adversary."

Arturo sighed.

"Around thirty years ago," he said. "A parasitic species attempted to take over the Federation by infiltrating by physically entering the bodies of key figures in Starfleet and taking them over. Those thus controlled possess great strength and speed and are resistant to phaser fire, particularly when we use the stun setting. They very nearly succeeded but were stopped in the end by Jean-Luc Picard and William Riker. Colt and I followed Admiral Robertson after the hearing and observed that he and several Captains and Commodores had been possessed. Robertson was killed in our confrontation with him and his possessor was captured. You may have noticed Security scanning everyone aboard and then physically examining the backs of your necks. The tail of the parasitic race, just the very tip, sticks out of the back of the neck at the base of the skull when they possess someone. The entire crew of the Valiant has been cleared. However, we know that even though our Orion 'guest' was in the employ of the parasites, he was not himself possessed. So, Xiulan, you and Evan will continue to look into the crew, quietly please, because it is entirely possible that someone or someones aboard are in the employ of these parasites, knowingly or not."

'Bugs controlling people?' Valywen thought in both interest and disgust.

"I'll keep working with Ensign Nora is studying the creature you were able to capture, sir," Kallor stated.

"If one is not possessed, how is it possible that they would not know they were being... employed?" Me'Shlaht was, admittedly, not scientifically minded. Nor was she versed in the tactics used by those who would force others into their employ. "Don't most people have an innate sense of right and wrong?"

"That's philosophical discussion for another time," Arturo said. "As for how they might not know..."

"The parasites possess some of the right people here," Colt said. "And manipulate some of the right people there. I'm fairly certain Robertson had others in his employ that had no idea that he'd been possessed by an alien parasite bent on interstellar conquest. That way they minimize our opportunities to catch them."

Nora looked at her PADD, running a comparison test of the DNA sample she had taken from the mother parasite. Her PADD soon chirped as it found an 85 percent match. Her eyes went wide with shock. "Umm, Commander. I just ran a DNA comparison of the mother parasite with any known species...and one came back with a 85 percent match. It's the Gluak."

"The Gluak!" Arturo said. "That means...I wasn't here when you encountered the Gluak so you're going to have to tell me what that means."

Nora shrugged sheepishly and brought up information on the Gluak from the Valiant's Database and transferred it to the view screen. "The Valiant first encountered the Gluak during our first mission. Gluak appear to be between 6-7feet tall, covered mostly in a hard exoskeleton rendering them nearly impervious to phaser fire save for the soft tissue at their abdomen. And they are immensely strong. One managed to go toe toe with a Tholian and nearly crushed the Tholians carapace. Their ships seem to run off of polaron energy. They are a very aggressive and dangerous species.

Arturo frowned.

"I liked them better when they were bugs I could step on," he said. "Or at least swat with a newspaper made of duranium. If the Orions are planning to rendezvous with one or more Gluak warships, I would rather we intercepted them before they make their appointment. In case we cannot do that, I would absolutely love some options for dealing with Gluak ships and the Gluak themselves. Give that some thought, people, while we're bearing down on our quarry like the Hammers of Hell! Dismissed!"

Captain Onor shifted in his command chair. His thoughts drifted from his new captive to the source of his information that allowed his men to capture this Commander Jacobs. Why were their identity a secret? Who were they really? Whoever they had been, had inside knowledge of Starfleet Security and defenses. That meant the employer was, however unlikely, Starfleet. What would cause a Starfleet officer to betray one of their own? Despite the large sum of gold pressed latinum paid to him to kidnap this Commander Jacobs, something felt off about the whole thing.

An alarm sounded, breaking Captain Onor's train of thought. "What is it?" he demanded.

"Incoming vessel at high warp, sir!" one of the bridge officers reported.

At that moment, a large tri-pointed ship dropped out of warp nearly on top of the Venom. "What the hell is that?" Onor demanded, jumping up from his seat.

"I- I don't know," another officer replied, near panicking. "It's design is unknown but it's nearly 3000 metres in length, 600 meters high, and 1500 meters wide!"

"Hail the--" Onor began before being violently thrown to the deck as fires erupted from exploding consoles. Sounds of burning and injured crew filled the bridge. "W--what happened?"

His demand went unanswered but he knew what had happened, the strange ship had fired. But what kind of weapon could cause so much damage so quickly with only a single strike? The Venom had had formidable defenses. He pulled himself up back into his chair, glancing at the damage status and hope almost immediately left him. A quarter of his ship had been destroyed in the attack and running on 50 percent reserve power. "Abandon ship!"

---------------------------------------------
Within the ship, Jacobs stumbled out of her cell towards a dead guard. She searched the body and after a moment, found the master key for the shackles. She pressed the button as the shackles released and fell to the deck. "Finally, " she muttered, grabbing the guard's sidearm and making a break down the corridor.

TBC...

Inside the Ready Room, Jacob's sat at her desk, looking over the tactical readings taken of the Gluak ship when the chime sounded. "Enter."

Evan stepped inside and let the door closed behind him. "Are you alright Leigh?" He asked. The two weren't the closest but they had known each other in the academy, and with a relatively new XO still, Evan would consider himself one of the COs friends.

"She looked up at Evan and sighed, tossing the PaDD onto the desk. "I don't know, to be honest. I never imagined myself facing these kind of odds. Am I being a fool for not waiting for Starfleet to send backup and risking everyone's life aboard the ship against an enemy we know little about? Can we count on the Klingons to respond?" She wondered what then Captain Picard thought when he first faced off against the Borg.

"You did what you thought was best, it's what any Starfleet officer does in that situation. Leave the second guessing every decision to the inquiries and admirals." Evan replied. "We survived, we got you back, and the ship is more or less in one piece. In terms of Starfleet missions it's not a bad days work." He added.

"Things that yet remain to be seen," Leigh commented before chuckling lightly. "It always seemed easier when I was enlisted during the Dominion War--only myself to look after."

"Well that's why they pay ya the big bucks, to worry about all us lowly grunts." Evan replied leaning against her desk. "Did they do anything, while you were captured?"

"I'm fine," she reassured him. "They didn't torture me--they were going to sell me on the Black Market. And wait...I'm supposed to be getting paid?" she finished with a smirk.

"Well that's good at least," He said smiling, "I get paid, I assumed we all did but maybe I'm just special." He added. "You had us worried."

"Oh really?" Leigh replied, sitting back in her chair. Normally she didn't read others' thoughts but she sensed something more from Evan. "You seem to be especially worried."

The spook shrugged, "Maybe I was, someone has to look out for you."

Leigh chuckled. "Hmmm, you seem sincere," she remarked. Evan had always been friendly and charismatic. "I appreciate that, Evan. It's nice to know I'll have someone to pull my ass out of a fire, so to speak."

"I am sincere," He replied with a smirk, "I mean I'd like it a lot more if your ass didn't need to be pulled out of the fire in the first place but I think I know you well enough this isn't going to be the last time you get yourself into a situation where you need some back up. At least the XO is the one who has to try to argue with you about not leading away teams and not me."

"It's a hard habit to break," Leigh said, getting up from her desk and rounding the desk. "So, how long have you cared so much?"

"A while I guess, we didn't exactly run in the same circles at the academy but I certainly had taken notice, you know these defiant-class ships. Close quarters and all that." He said with a smile.

Leigh grinned. "Yeah, there's not much privacy aboard these ships but I never really realized how much you cared," she finished quietly.

"Care, concern, whatever you want to call it." He said quietly, "So be careful."

"I guess I've felt the same...but to be honest, I never wanted to get close to anyone. But you've always been a good friend and were there when I needed you," Leigh replied.

Evan smiled, he hadn't expected Leigh to feel the same but he was glad she did. He moved closer and wrapped his arms around her. "Well try to stay out of trouble, but know I'll be there to get you out of it when you do."

"You'd better," she replied, with a smile before responding to his embrace with a kiss.

He kissed her back, smiling.

It had been a hour into their trip and after she had spoken with Evan--he had always been a good friend since the Academy. She thought about her mentor, Admiral Viktor. She recalled when she first met him during Operation Killjoy when they had gone after Cardassian Insurgents. The sound of the door chime broke her from her thoughts. "Enter."

Colt entered and approached Leigh's desk. The Defiant Class was very small, so he didn't have far to walk. He was armed with a Type II phaser pistol because the ship was on alert.

"Captain," he said. "On behalf of the crew, let me tell you how glad we are to have you back and, presumably, in one piece. I say 'presumably' because you didn't let our medical officer look you over and no one has actually evaluated your mental status, because according to Warrant Officer Kalor, you practically knocked her over unassing Sickbay after we got you back. Not to worry, as the complete Command Senior Chief, I am able to solve that problem for you. You know. Independent Duty Corpsman. Trained in all kinds of health stuff, physical and mental. I know there's a medkit in here. I stashed one here myself in case you ever decided to be stubborn about your health and well being. Hows about I give you a once over and then you can tell me all about how your mother didn't hug you enough as a child."

Colt grinned.

"Remember, Skip" he said. "if you collapse or go bonkers, Commander S'Rohass will be in charge, and next thing you know Arturo will have us tear-assing around the galaxy taking on road agents, brigands, pirates, and buccaneers!"

Leigh chuckled--something she needed at the moment. "You're probably right. And sure, go ahead with the examination. It's good to be back--I just wish it was under better circumstances."

"Don't we all," Colt said as he retrieved the medkit from where he had stashed it shortly after coming aboard and taking out the medical tricorder. He scanned Leigh and generally looked her over. "Well, you're a bit malnourished and dehydrated. I'll give you shot full of the vitamins and minerals you're missing, but you need calories. Have you eaten anything since we got you back?"

"No, not yet. I've been a bit preoccupied," she replied, holding up a PaDD that contained the limited information available on the Gluak.

Colt put away the medical tricorder, selected two ampules from the kit and picking up a hypospray. He loaded one of the ampules into the hypospray and injected Leigh, then swapped the ampules and injected her again. When he was done, he unloaded the hypospray, put it and both of the ampules back in their place, and put the medkit away.

"Okay," he said. "Tell me all about that while I get you something to eat and drink. Any preferences?"

"A steak would be great, to be honest," she said, realizing just how hungry she was. "As for the Gluak, what we know of them is from reports and scans taken during our encounters with them."

Colt ordered Leigh a steak from the replicator and a glass of water. He brought it to her and then went back to the replicator and ordered two whiskey glasses with ice in them. He brought these to the desk as well, then went to another wall compartment, opened it, and came out with a bottle of amber liquid with the Xan Clan's crest on it. He brought that to the table and poured them each a healthy serving.

"Bet you didn't know this was here, either," he said. "I've stashed all sorts of goodies in this office. Drink, drink! It's from my family's agricultural concerns. On Earth, this would be called 'applejack'. My family on Rigel IV made a hybrid of an Earth apple and it's Rigelian analog. They produce a regular cider, a normal hard cider, and they cold ferment some of that hard cider even further and they get this. It's pretty strong, but Arturo is your designated driver so I think you can get away with a drink or two. Cheers."

Colt held up his glass to Leigh.

Leigh grinned. "I'm not sure whether I should be impressed or have you thrown in the brig," she joked before taking a sip. The taste was enjoyable and smooth. "Mmmm, that's quite good."

Colt took a sip from his own glass and sighed. "A little taste of home. And please don't throw me in the bring. It stinks of Orion scumbag in there. So, do the files say anything about any weaknesses the Gluak's have that we can exploit, either in their ships or their bodies? Other than shooting them really hard with a phaser carbine until they take the hint and die?"

"No," she replied with a frustrated sigh. "Even the readings on this battlecruiser is inconclusive. All we know is that the battle cruiser has nearly 6 foot thick hull made entirely of Tetraburnium, which puts Duranium to shame and seems to have a dedicated power core for it's main polaron cannon. To be honest, a part of me is impressed by their technology level for being an ancient species."

"Ancient doesn't mean primitive," Colt said. "The Orions weren't always made up of an interstellar criminal organization, corrupt corporations and oligarchs, pirate fleets, and a crumbling 'empire' on Rigel VII. They were once one of the most advanced peoples in the quadrant. Go back thirty, forty, fifty thousand years ago and you'd find the Orions completely different and in possession of tech that exceeded our current capabilities. There's even evidence that they possessed functional transwarp drives for their ships. How old do we think the Gluak are?"

"Nothing has been ascertain as of yet but as you know they claim to have had a hand in wiping out the Iconians, so that puts them around 200,000 years old," Leigh replied. "Dating from our scans have confirmed the claims to around that time. But how many Gluak are left? Are we facing the last of them? The last thing I want is to be responsible to wiping out an entire species--that would look wonderful on my already tarnished record."

Colt chuckled. "You and me both! Look, if it comes down to it, they're clearly hostile. We have to do what we have to do."

"Yeah, but will the admiralty see it that way if it comes to that?" Leigh wondered before chewing and swallowing a piece of steak.

Colt shrugged. "Worry about that problem if we survive to have it, I say. At the moment, the species known as the crew of the Valiant is at as much of a risk of being wiped out as the Gluak if we're not careful."


"Not on my watch. I only hope Admiral Viktor can persuade the Klingons to assist us," Leigh stated before taking another bite.

"These days," Colt said. "The Klingons usually seem to have better things to do than something silly like honoring an alliance that has roots going back a century. Though they do like a fight, so he might be able to convince some to join us. On the other hand, they like to argue about these things, then fight duels to the death, then argue...wash, rinse, repeat. It could be some time before they come to a consensus and agree to help us."

Leigh chuckled at the comment. "Very true. To allies and future battles," she offered a toast.

Colt raised his glass and clinked it against Leigh's. Then he chuckled. "I knew this woman, a Gunnery Sergeant in the Raiders, a real hard ass...with a really hard ass as I recall...but that's neither here nor there. Anyway, her favorite toast was 'To our wives and the women we love!' to which everyone would respond 'Never the twain shall meet!' I have no idea why that came to mind, but there you have it."

Leigh laughed. "A good of a toast as any."

"You seem like you're feeling a little better," Colt said. "Make sure you're drinking the water as well as the booze, please. The booze will just dry you out. There's a good commanding officer."

"Yeah, but booze makes things better," Leigh complained with a grin.

"Only until it doesn't," Colt said. "Drink the water, Captain. It's good for you."

"Yeah, yeah," Leigh replied before drinking the water.

The Valiant came out of warp with the Odyssey not far behind to find a Gluak ship firing on one of a design frequently used by Orion Syndicate gangsters and pirates.

"Red Alert!" Arturo cried from the command chair. "Lieutenant M'Shlaht, raise shields but be prepared to drop them if we find the captain and need to beam her aboard! And plot firing solutions on that Gluak ship! If the captain is aboard that Orion vessel, we can't let the Gluak destroy it! Ensign Nora! Scan for the Captain! Helm, bring us closer but be prepared to evade if either ship targets us!"

Lougheed was at his station, technically the secondary tactical station it also worked for his purposes. He began analysing the tactical capabilities of the attacking Gluak ship. "They've done substantial damage to the orion vessel, her shields are failing and numerous sections are breached. The Gulak vessel is heavily armed and even with the Odyssey could out gun us."

"Sensors are having a hard time cutting through the massive polaron radiation emitting from the Gluak vessel," Nora reported as her hands frantically worked the science console in attempt to locate the Captain. Her mind kept wanting to focus on the massive Gluak Vessel that dwarfed even a Galaxy Class. A part of her wanted to urge the commander to retreat and yet the Starfleet Officer within her had a duty to her captain. Soon, she caught readings that briefly indicated a human or betazoid lifesign. She focused the sensors on the area. "I think I got a bearing but we'll need to get closer in order to get a clear transporter lock!"


-------------------------------------------------

Leigh breathed hard as the escape pod launched from the Orion vessel--with a sigh of relief, she was happy to be off the orion vessel. Only now if she could far enough away before. She was suddenly slammed against the side of the small pod as the shockwave from the exploding Orion ship sent her small pod tumbling through space as the power shorted out. Outside the viewport, the stars tumbled in various directions. 'Shit!' she thought. 'Not good!'

-------------------------------------------------

Aboard the Odyssey, Admiral Viktor stood from his command chair as the Orion ship exploded. He felt a wave of sadness and anger wash over him at losing a close friend. "Jacobs..." he breathed.

"Admiral!" the Odyssey's Operations Officer called out. "The Gluak vessel appears to have warped away as the Orion vessel exploded."

"See if you can pick up their escape vector while we search the area for survivors," Viktor replied.

"Aye, sir."

-------------------------------------------------

{Valiant Bridge}

"Helm!" Arturo said. "Get us closer to the Orion..."

Just then, the Orion ship exploded. Arturo shielded his eyes as the viewscreen adapted to the sudden bright light.

"No..." Arturo whispered. "Helm, get us closer! Ensign Nora, if there is an escape pod with the captain in it or she's out there in a space suit or even in her underwear, I expect you to find her!"

Nora nodded. "Aye, Sir." She worked the sensors as they swept over the debris filled area. There were no power signatures being reported, causing her face to fall before something caught her eye. She redirected the sensors to the new area just past the debris field. It was a powerless life pod. Normally a pod would have been destroyed...unless it had been launched prior. She focused the sensors on the powerless pod and found a human life sign. "Yes!" she shouted excitedly before mentally kicking herself. "Commander, I have a disabled life pod at 329 mark 125, 40 kilometers off our starboard bow. I'm detecting a human/betazoid life sign within.

"Helm!" Arturo said. "Get us into transporter range of that pod! Xiulan, the moment we're within range, beam...would it be easier to beam the Captain out of the pod or just grab the whole pod?"

With the coordinates from Nora, Xiulan was already able to establish a lock on the biosignature, they just needed to get close enough for transport.

"I've got a lock on the Captain, so I can get just her and beam her directly to sickbay as soon as we're in range," Xiulan reported as her fingers worked over the tactile interface at Ops. "Although her life signs are fading fast, so a little haste would be nice."

"Acknowledged," Arturo said. "Helm, put a little pep in our step please!"

Helm acknowledged and the ship's speed increased. Moments past and then...the proximity telltale informing Xiulan that the Captain's pod was in range went off!

"Establishing pattern lock, transporting now," Xiulan reported as she worked, the telltale sound of the transporter controls operating followed by a moment of silence. "Sickbay reports successful transport, we have her."

"Advise the Odyssey we have Commander Jacobs and that we are unassing this area RFN!" Arturo said. "Helm...unass this area RFN! Bridge to Sickbay!"


{Sickbay, Deck 2; USS Valiant}

"Kalor, here," came the nurse's reply. "Commander Jacobs is stable and concious."

Jacobs sat up on the bio bed as the room spun in response. She pushed herself to her feet, stumbling a bit as the room slowly began to stop spinning.

"I'm fine, commander," Jacobs said. "I'm on my way to the bridge."

"Ma'am! You need to be checked out and cleared medically," Kalor protested.

"Not now, Ms. Kalor!" Jacobs snapped as she continued out of the sickbay and towards the bridge with Kalor following behind.

{Bridge; USS Valiant}

Jacobs entered the familar bridge and couldn't help but grin at the familiar faces that looked back at her. "Glad to see you didn't destroy my ship, Commander," she joked.

"Welcome back!" Arturo said. "And of course I did not destroy the ship!"

Jacobs sat down in the chair. "Hail the Odyssey."

A moment later Admiral Viktor appeaered on the view screen. "It's good to see you again, Commander," Viktor grinned.

"You as well. I'm guessing you locked in the Gulak's warp trajectory?" Jacobs asked.

Viktor nodded. "You know me too well, Commander. We have no choice but to pursue them. Their trajectory is taking them to the Rochanie System near the Klingon Border. However, it's a mostly unexplored system. I will contact the Klingon High Council to see if they can render assistance as we're the only Starfleet Vessels in the sector at the moment and any Federation reinforcements are a day away at maximum warp. So unless the Klingons decide to help--"

"We're on our own," Jacobs finished and let out a sigh as a wave of doubt washed over her. This new Gluak vessel was vastly more powerful and larger than the last one they engaged and that one had destroyed a Tholian Dreadnaught without much trouble. Yet, she had to exhibit confidence--not just for her but for her crew. "Just like the old days, sir. Let's kick their ass."

Viktor smiled. "Like the old days, commander. Viktor, out."

"Mr. S'Rohass, lay in a course to the Rochanie System with the Odyssey and engage at maximum warp," Jacobs ordered.

"Aye, aye, Commander," Arturo replied. "Matching course and speed with the Odyssey."

Jacobs tapped a few commands into the console next to her chair. ETA to the Rochanie System was three hours. "Lieutenant Me'Shlaht, we have three hours to get the ship as ready for combat as possible. See to it that it happens." Jacobs paused for a moment. "I'll be in my ready room if anyone needs me. You have the bridge, Mr. S'Rohass," she said as she stood from the chair and headed for the Ready Room, feeling alone despite being surrounded by people.

"Of course, Captain," Arturo said. He reluctantly let the relief helmsman take over Flight Control and resumed his place in the command chair. After Leigh had retreated, Arturo turned to Colt. "You should check in on her. I'm assuming since she got up here so quickly, that she did not submit to an exam."

Lougheed sent the request to the Odyssey for their sensor readings of the engagement for his report. He noted the Captain's departure. A few moments later he rose and stepped off the bridge. He pressed the chime to her ready room door.

Colt watched as Evan left his post and spoke softly to Arturo. "Let Lougheed talk with her a bit first. She knows him better than she knows me. I'll corral her later."

Arturo nodded. Contrary to what some officers might think, Chiefs, Senior Chiefs, and Master Chiefs were the ones who ran Starfleet. If an officer truly wanted to succeed, letting the chiefs do their thing was the way to go.

<>

Jacobs let out a nervous, yet determined sigh as the Odyssey and Valiant dropped out of warp. The image before them, chilled Jacobs to her core as she stood. There was a vessel that matched the one that attacked the Orion Vessel, as well as four other smaller ones orbiting what appeared to be a station of some sort. "Get me readings on what we're seeing!" Leigh ordered, hoping her fears would be unfounded. Had they just traveled to the Gluak's homeworld?

"Gluak Battlecruiser for lack of a better term, four ships that appear to be heavy destroyers or cruisers. Weapons are not currently charged." Lougheed reported, "Life signs on the fourth planet small population into the millions, class O planet, mostly water, a small continental archipelago along the equator and several other island chains."

The image of Admiral Viktor appeared on the view screen. "Commander, seems we have our hands full. I'm not seeing any signs of the Klingons, so it seems we're doing this on our own." There was a sound of resignation in his voice.

Leigh nodded. "I suggest we hit the station and smaller ships first before they can get them launched and then turn our attention on the large Gluak battlecruiser."

Viktor grinned. "I agree Commander. See you in hell."

"Not before me, sir," Leigh grinned back before the view screen returned to the image of the system that showed the battle cruiser beginning to change direction towards them. "Mr. S'Rohass, set a course for the station and engage at full impulse. Lieutenant Me'Shlaht, target and destroy the smaller ships. Mr. Lougheed and Ms. Song, keep an eye on that battlecruiser and see if you can detect anything that can give us an advantage against that thing!"

"Aye, aye, Captain," Arturo said. His fingers danced across his console and the Valiant leaped into action, launching itself towards the station. "ETA to weapons range is two point six eight minutes and counting down."

Lougheed gave an affirmative response and turned his focus to the scanners. "Song can you try to hack into their comms, if we can get their frequencies we might be able to get a bit of an edge." He said across the bridge to the Ops Chief while focuses on trying to find weak spots in their hull.

"Try? Consider it done!" Xiulan said with a grin as she probed the frequencies to try to find what the Gluak were using. "I'm detecting multiple frequencies, I think I'm going to need a moment to figure this out," the blind linguist said, then stuck an earpiece in one ear to help her untangle the unusual frequencies she was picking up.

The Odyssey and the Valiant closed the distance to the smaller Gluak vessels and station they were docked at. "Me'Shlaht, lock weapons onto the closest ship and work your way back. Wait until we close to within 15 kilometers and fire everything we have."

A moment later, the Odyssey and the Valiant unleashed their weapons in a magnificent display of power as phasers, quantum torpedoes, and pulse phaser bolts ripped into the smaller ships, causing many to explode, severely damaging the station in the process.

There was a flash of bright purple light that lit up the port side of the view screen. "What the hell was that?" Jacobs demanded.

Nora was wide eyed, reading the sensor logs that came in. The Odyssey was just hit by the battle cruiser's main weapon! Showing moderate damage to their engineering section and several hull breaches. Their shields are down to thirty percent!"

"Jacobs to Admiral Viktor, come in!"

The image of Viktor sitting in his command chair on a smoke filled bridge appeared. "We're still in the fight, Commander. But we can't afford another hit from that primary weapon."

"We'll try to take it out for you. It would be best if you hung back while we keep them busy up close."

Viktor nodded. "We'll cover you the best we can. Viktor, out."

Arturo's fingers danced across his console as he maneuvered the Valiant through the incoming fire, with very little of the enemy's weapons fire achieving any direct hits. Glancing blows, on the other hand.

"I am doing the very best I can to keep us from taking a direct hit, Captain," Arturo said. "But even I zig when I should zag every now and again. May I suggest we end this as quickly as possible, preferable BEFORE I get my zig confused with my zag?"

"That weapon of there's uses a considerable amount of power and seems to need to charge up. If we do an attack run right down the middle and unload a full spread of quantums right as its power is peaking we should be able to take it out, and hopefully the rest of the ship with it. The downside is if we're wrong the entire ship will likely be vapourized when their weapon fires." Lougheed said.

Arturo shook his head. "If we fire into it as it powers up, we'll be vaporized by the resulting explosion before we can pull away. Unless the Captain objects, we should go in after it fires and before it completely powers up. The resulting feedback through their system from even a partial power up will disable the Gluak ship, and if that causes the ship to explode, it will almost certain take long enough that we'll be able to get clear. We have no idea what their power source is, or what their projectile ordinance is, or how many warheads they have, or how much fuel for their sublight engines they are carrying. The explosion from your plan could destroy us and the Odyssey."

Leigh watched as the monstrous ship grew in size, knowing she had to make a decision now. "Do as Arturo says."

"Aye, aye, Captain," Arturo replied as he worked his console and began angling his bobbing and weaving in such away that he could easily move into an attack run on their main weapon. "As soon as they fire their weapon, I'll start our run. Lieutenant Me'Shlaht, stand by to fire a full spread of quantum torpedoes as Lieutenant Lougheed suggested."

With the Valiant moving swiftly to it's target. "Weapon is about to fire!" Nora shouted.

"Evasive maneuvers!" Leigh commanded.

At Leigh's command, Arturo started yanking and banking. Well, he was flying using a keyboard, so there wasn't much yanking going on, but there was a whole lot of banking! To the left, to the right...


The massive energy beam narrowly missed the agile Valiant. "Fire full weapons!"

Smaller explosions followed rippled out from the weapons impact and the massive ship seemed to shake. Within the vessel, The Gluak computer system in nanoseconds of detecting the feedback, shunt all systems connected to the primary weapon down and shielded the power core that powered the weapon, denying the catastrophic result that would have happened had it not done so.

"I'm reading moderate damage done to their structural integrity fields and shields," Nora reported. "But they're still in the fight!"

--------------------------------

In engineering, Warrant Officer Nalla Kalor looked at the engineers bustling about as she entered, monitoring consoles and backing up systems. Her eyes then went to the warp core and grinned. Raising her Type 2 phaser, she fired, causing the entire ship to lurch as several consoles exploded in retaliation.

"What the hell?!" a nearby engineer exclaimed in shock and horror at what she just witnessed. "What is--"

The human engineer never finished her sentence before being killed by a second phaser shot from Kalor. "I will willingly die for my people to rise again!" Kalor boasted.

The Security Officers guarding the outer entrance rushed in before one was hit by a phaser from Kalor. The second officer fired, causing Kalor to stumble.

The officer aptly thumbed the setting to kill and fired again. This time Kalor fell to the deck, dropping the phaser. The security officer rushed over, securing the phaser while keeping his trained of Kalor's body. "Petty Officer T'Ral to Bridge. Warrant Officer Kalor fired her phaser in engineering. She also killed an engineer and my patrol partner."

----------------------------------

On the bridge, Leigh couldn't believe her what she was hearing and yet the Valiant was losing power to all systems. "Jacobs to engineering! Damage report! Can you get systems back online!"

"Captain, permission to leave the bridge and assess the situation in Engineering." Lougheed said getting to his feet.

"Make it quick, and see why Lieutenant Zh'challis isn't responding," Leigh replied. She could only watch as the massive battlecruiser loomed before them, powering it's weapons.

Colt moved to follow Lougheed. "I'll go with you, Lieutenant," he said. "It sounds like people are hurt down there and if Kalor was a Gluak spy, then I'm the only medic left. Plus, you know, ex-Raider and all."

"Let's go Senior." Lougheed replied as the two moved out of the bridge.

"Captain! " Nora exclaimed. "The Odyssey is moving to shield us!"

"Viktor to Jacobs, we'll give you as much time as possible but the sooner you can get going, the better," Viktor said as the Odyssey flew in front of the Valiant as an energy beam struck the Odyssey instead of the Valiant.

Arturo tried hitting a few buttons on his console, but nothing happened. "We're immobilized, Captain. If the Gluak target us...wait...give me a second...I think I can bypass to Auxiliary Power from here...it's going to take me a moment. Please standby..." from that point all anyone could hear from Arturo was muttering about the bypass procedures and some muttered curses when something didn't work. "Just another...Well, maybe a few more anothers..."

"All the time in the world, commander," Jacobs said sarcastically while grinning from her chair. She only knew by the image on the view screen that the Odyssey was taking a beating

"Got it!" Arturo said. "Captain, there isn't enough to divert to shields without cutting maneuvering and even if we do that, the shields would only take a few hits from their standard weapons. They wouldn't do anything against Big Bertha no matter what the setting. I'm going to send enough to Tactical for them to arm a brace of quantum torpedoes, lock onto that gun, and fire at it, and then I'm going to put everything else in propulsion and maneuvering. I managed to get to the reserve batteries as well. I'll use those to sure up our structural integrity fields. Between that, my bobbing and weaving and our ablative armor, I think we can get close enough to make this work without dying, and then get away unharmed...relatively. My suspicion is that we'll be cutting it very close and the resulting explosion may severely damage us due to our being unable to get to a safe distance should the Gluak vessel explode."

"Do it," she ordered. Leigh thought back to an old Earth poem. 'Half a league, half a league, Half a league onward, All in the valley of Death. Rode the six hundred. “Forward, the Light Brigade! Charge for the guns! he said. Into the valley of Death Rode the six hundred,' she recalled the first verse. She could only hope the outcome was different than that of the 600 men of the Light Brigade.

"Aye, aye, Captain," Arturo said. An alarm went off on his console and his fingers stared dancing over the controls. The Valiant lurched into action as the Gluak's main cannon took a shot at them. Arturo deftly avoided the shot and started their attack run on on the cannon. "They're powering up the big gun again. We have another shot at this. Beginning attack run. Me'Shlaht, lock on to the enemy's main weapon, arm a brace of quantum torpedoes. You may fire when we are at optimal range unless this order is countermanded. Everyone brace yourselves please."

The Valiant zipped through incoming fire from the enemy's lighter weapons, it's structural integrity fields straining, taking only a glancing blow here and there. Though glancing, each hit took off some of the Valiant's ablative armor. When that was gone, the ship would be completely vulnerable. As he worked, Arturo responded to Leigh's quote with the next verse of the poem.

“Forward, the Light Brigade!" Arturo began, his vocal training from the stage evident as he spoke in a powerful voice for such a small person. "Was there a man dismayed? Not though the soldier knew. Someone had blundered. Theirs not to make reply, theirs not to reason why, theirs but to do and die. Into the valley of Death rode the six hundred."

"Really? REALLY! We're quoting poetry while flying to our untimely doom!" Xiulan called out as she clung to her station for dear life. "Fine fine, canons to the left, canons to the right, canons in front of them, volleyed and thundered," she then paraphrased. "Now can we do something that won't get us killed? I cracked the Gluak comm channel, but I don't know what Lougheed wanted me to do with it!"

"I'm...a little...busy...at the moment...my love," Arturo said, his maneuvers requiring more concentration. "Be a dear and call the man and ask what he had in mind. Otherwise, when we get the shot lined up, we're going to fire, and in the interests of full disclosure, my lovely wife...I'm not 100% sure we can get clear of what will hopefully be the resulting spectacular explosion!"

"That sounded uncomfortably orgasmic..." the blind Operations Officer grumbled, then slammed her hand on the comm, "Lougheed!"


----------------------------------

[Engineering]

Lougheed entered Engineering and almost didn't know what to do first. Kalor was on the deck with a phaser trained on them. The warp core was offline and a pair of engineers where busy trying to get it back online. "Report!" The Lieutenant's voice boomed through the bay causing everyone to stop and turn.


"The warp core was severely damaged when Kalor fired her phaser at it, Sir!" reported an engineering ensign.

Colt went over to the engineer who'd been shot and scanned him with a medical tricorder. He shook his head. "He's gone, Lieutenant." Colt turned to the Master-at-Arms who'd been shot. "Him, too."

"Damn." Lougheed said angrily.

Colt rose and went over to Kalor's body and spoke to her prone form. "It looks like he only shot you once or twice, so I know you're still conscious. I'm going to check the back of your neck. My friend here is going to dial his phaser to the highest setting and if you do anything aggressive or uncooperative, he's going to shoot you until you have the good sense to die. Since you just murdered a friend of his, I don't think he'll have a problem with this plan."

T'Ral remained silent, keeping his phaser trained on Kalor.

"I am not afraid to die, Starfleet but can you truly say the same. The Gluak will once again be recognized as a fearsome people," Kalor said calmly

Colt shrugged. He checked Kalor's neck and, sure enough, there was the tail of one of the parasites sticking out of the back. How had that happened? He and Security had checked everyone...hadn't they...wait...Kalor joined the crew at the last minute...they must have missed her.

Colt turned to the MA. "Call for some back up and take her to the brig. I'll help cover her until they get here. Tell them to arm up with compression phaser carbines, and set the dials all the way up. The carbines, not the rifles. Rifles are hard to maneuver in this little ship." Colt drew his phaser. "If it was up to me, this young man and I would open fire on you until you finally vaporized. Try anything, and it will be up to me, and I swear to you, I'll do it and sleep easy tonight."

"Lougheed!" The comm sounded off with the voice of Xiulan Song from the Bridge. "Hey, I cracked the Gluak comm frequency, now what do you want me to do with it?"

"Lougheed to Song, find something to give us an edge over them." He said closing the channel.

Vita climbed out of the jefferies tube. "Get the anti-matter injectors primed, we're going to have to flush the plasma from the nacelle and start them up cold."

"Lieutenant what's the status of the warp core." Lougheed said approaching the Andorian.

"Kalor shot it with a high power phaser. It cause the emergency system to shut the core down and purge the reaction chamber. It was that or a core breach. We're restarting it now but these aren't meant to be flipped on and off." Vita shouted as she set to work on the main console next to the core.

--------------------------------------------------------


{Bridge; USS Valiant}

On the screen, sections of hull were blown into the void of space as a Gluak polaron beam ripped into it. Atmosphere and a few bodies were sucked out following the hit before the emergency fields could be erected. The Valiant closed to within weapons range, moving at a slower pace due to losing the warp core--only temporarily, Leigh hoped. "Fire now!" Leigh ordered.

The Odyssey followed suit as several volleys of quantum torpedoes and phasers burned their way through space towards their target.

Find something to give them an edge? Xiulan's ears burned as she heard those word over the comm; why did he have her waste time cracking this damned frequency when he didn't have a plan to use it in the first place?! Well Xiulan was nothing if not quick on her feet, so to speak, and using the algorithm she used to crack the frequency, she quickly translated a nasty computer virus into Gluak coding. With no clue if this would have any effect at all, the blind Linguist transmitted the virus to the Gluak ship.

Meanwhile, as soon as the Valiant's quantum torpedo barrage left the little ship's forward torpedo tubes, Arturo altered course and pulled away, transferring as much power as he could to the engines, leaving only enough power in the structural integrity fields to keep the ship the ship from flying apart under the strain, and then only just. System after system overloaded as the Valiant made a...valiant...effort to pull away from the Gluak ship before it exploded. It was a...valiant...effort, but Arturo was the kind of pilot who could do these kinds of calculations in his head. They weren't going to get completely out of range of the explosion. There just wasn't enough time with the power available.

On the bright side, the Gluak ship was cooperating and appeared to be doing its level best to die in an extraordinarily violent series of explosions that threatened to take the Odyssey and the Valiant with it. Xiulan's virus seemed to have disrupted the systems that prevented the expected overload on their first attack run. Small explosions could be seen occurring throughout the ship. The explosions were getting larger and more violent. Things were very clearly going to come to a head any moment.

Arturo glanced at his sensors. The Odyssey was making a much swifter getaway than the Valiant was capable of. Maybe, just maybe, if Arturo could get them far enough away, the Odyssey could pick them up...or at least what was left of them.

"Xiulan," Arturo said. "I'm ever so very glad I'm your husband, and if we die here, just know that knowing you has been, without a doubt, the most rewarding experience of my life."

And then the Gluak ship exploded. The shock wave slammed into the Valiant from behind, and the accompanying electromagnetic burst fried her remaining functional systems. With only minimal power to the structural integrity fields, the force of the shock wave broke the little ship's back and sent her tumbling end over end. Now it was the Valiant experiencing minor explosions and fires on almost every deck.

Arturo, who like any good interstellar motorist had been wearing his seat belt, was still in his seat. There were fires on the bridge and blown consoles everywhere. He checked his own console. It was still functional...but just barely. Arturo managed to get the all call working. He didn't need the status report he was going to ask his wife for in a moment to know it was time to leave. "Commander S'Rohass to all hands. Now hear this! All hands abandon ship! Repeat, abandon ship! This is..." Arturo was about to say 'this is not a drill' out of habit, but stopped and chuckled. "If any of you think this is a drill, then you need more help than I can provide."

"Xiulan!" he called out. The diminutive Caitian unbuckled and quickly went to check on his new bride. "Easy. There. Take it easy. I hate to ask, but I need a status report. I assume we're all going to die if we don't get off of the ship quickly, I just need to know how long we have to prevent that from happening."

Unlike Arturo, Xiulan had been thrown from her station in the explosion. Once her husband got her upright, she checked her console. "Tactile interface is dead, I got nothing," she said, but then grew still; she definitely didn't have 'nothing' when she heard a low groan from the ship. "We definitely need to get out of here; I think I hear the frame buckling, and if it does we'll have ship-wide hull breaches as the Valiant breaks apart."

"Alright then," Arturo said. "Let's get you up. I'm going to put you in your seat and check on everyone else."

Arturo got Xiulan in her seat and then went to the command chair. "Captain...Leigh, we need to abandon ship, right now. I need you to get Sienna and Xiulan into the bridge escape pod. I have to do something. Do you understand?"

Leigh groaned--her side, elbow, and head hurt from hitting the deck before crawling back into her command chair. It took a moment for her to comprehend what Arturo was saying to her. Here she was, losing another command. With a reluctant sigh she nodded and hit the intercom. "Attention all hands, this is the Captain," she paused, not really wanting to utter the next words as if it were a nightmare. "Abandon ship." Leigh pushed herself up to her feet and looked down at Arturo. "You better be right behind us, Commander or I'm kicking your ass. Alright, Nora, Song, get to the nearest escape pod, now!" she ordered before taking Song's arm to escort her.

"I will be, I assure you," Arturo said. I hope. he thought. "Me'Shlaht, you'd better get out, too." Then Arturo left to save a dear friend. Xiulan wasn't the only lifeform on the ship that would need help getting to an escape pod. Arturo only hoped he had time for this admittedly harebrained rescue mission.

Arturo made his way through the corridors often knocked from side to side or forced to walk on part of a corridor wall when the ship pitched to one side or the other. The inertial dampening fields and artificial gravity were clearly both failing fast. By the time he got to the small quarters he shared with Xiulan, he had more than a few bumps and bruises, and both his uniform and some of his fur were singed. He had to force the hatch to their quarters. Once inside, he found everything in disarray, but Arturo found that what he was looking for was still intact and breathed a sigh of relief. Gerri the Fire Lizard's terrarium was still welded to the little table in their quarters and the table was still welded to the floor. Gerri was, however, looking both indignant and terrified.

"Don't worry, my dear little friend!" Arturo said. "I would never leave you to die in such a place!" Arutro carefully opened the terrarium lid and scooped Gerri out. Gerri made grateful noises, comforted by Arturo's presence. Knowing Gerri had to be kept warm, Arturo put the lizard in his uniform jacket and held him close so he wouldn't fall out. "What do you say we get out of here, little one?" Gerri made what sounded like an affirmative response. "I agree. Hang on!" Gerri responded by digging his claws into Arturo's shirt.

Arturo made his way to the nearest escape pod. It was empty. Arturo got in, but, before he launched, he transmitted a final call from his commbage. "Commander S'Rohass to anyone near escape pod J372. If you can here this, please respond." No response came. Arturo waited a full two minutes, but when he saw the hull start to buckle, he was forced to launch with just himself and Gerri. Once clear of the ship, he activated the comm in the pod. "Arturo to Xiulan! Do you read?"

"I'm here," Xiulan said from her pod. Her mind was a bit addled, likely from a concussion from being thrown from her station moments earlier, and so she was fumbling with her seat restraints. She felt someone else's hands on hers, probably the Captai'sn, but she couldn't quite tell from the heat signature with her brain feeling so fuzzy, and these hands helped get her strapped in. "We're in a pod and launching, we're okay. Tell me you're alright."

"I'm fine," Arturo said. "In a pod and already launched, and, even better, I have someone with me who will be very happy to see you when we are reunited. I know I must have worried you. I'm so sorry. I just couldn't leave the little fellow behind."

Little fellow? It took a moment for Xiulan to realize just what Arturo was talking about, and when she did she rested her head back onto the bulkhead with a groan.

"You crazy, stupid, adorably sweet cat... You went back for a lizard?!" Xiulan exclaimed. "Not that I'm not happy Gerri will survive, but what if you hadn't made it out? I can replace him, I can't replace you."

"My dear wife," Arturo said. "Whenever you worry about me, just remember: Your husband is brave and true of heart and so must always win!"

Gerri chirped, and Arturo laughed.

"And so is Gerri," he said. "Stay safe, my wife. I'll see you soon."

-------Engineering----------

Colt picked himself up off of the deck after taking a moment to determine that he was actually okay. He quickly looked around. He saw T'Ral on the deck across the room from him. Neither of them were where they were before, and Kalor was missing. Colt checked T'Ral only to find that the man was dead. He found Lougheed. After examining the man, Colt pulled hypospray from his kit, inserted an ampule, adjusted the setting and pressed the hypospray against the Intelligence Officer's neck, injecting him with enough stimulant to get him on his feet again.

"Lieutenant," Colt said. "We need to get the Hell out of here. I'm going to check on our lovely Andorian engineer, and then, if she isn't dead, the three of us are going to unass this starship before it breaks up. You read me, Lieutenant?"

Lougheed appeared to be waking up alright, so Colt went over and helped Lieutenant Zh'Challiss to her feet. "Let's go, Lieutenant. We're leaving. Now."

"Aye Sir." Vita managed to reply.

The three of them made their way to an escape pod, entered it and launched it. Once free, Colt activated the pod's comm. "Xan to Jacobs. I've got Lougheed and Zh'Challiss and we're clear of the ship. Kalor got away and I don't know where she went. Advise you inform Odyssey immediately in case she is aboard an escape pod or perhaps the shuttle. Hopefully, if she took that, she's long gone. I'd rather not have her running loose on the Odyssey in the middle of this clusterfuck."

----------------------------------------------------

Leigh nodded. "Acknowledged." Leigh was pushing the escape with all the power the the pod could muster. She set a course for the Odyssey and took a moment to look out the aft port back at the Defiant as it drifted in space, expending it's last moments of life. A moment later, the hull cracked as the ship began to break up and within a second, the break hit the engineering section. There was a blinding light as the Valiant exploded. The sight saddened Leigh as she turned back to focus on piloting the small pod and opened the comm channel. "Jacobs to Admiral Viktor. Please be advised--be on the lookout for our head nurse, Warrant Officer Nalla Kalor. She has been infected my the Gluak parasite and was the cause of the Valiant losing power by firing a phaser at our warp core."

"Understood, Commander," came Viktor's reply. "We detected the shuttle leaving the Valiant a minute ago but it went to warp almost immediately before we could react. We'll start transporting you and your crew aboard and then set a course to Starbase 239. Starfleet is already sending a taskforce to the system to open possible negiotians with the remaining Gluak."

"Aye sir. Thank you for your aid," Jacobs replied solemnly.

"Anytime, Commander," Viktor replied. "Standby to be transported."

A moment later, Leigh, Nora, Xiulan, Valywen, and three other crew dematerialized in a blue transporter field and almost immediately found themselves in the transporter room on the Odyssey.

After Leigh and the others stepped off of the pads, Colt, Lougheed, and Zh'Challiss arrived. When they stepped down, Arturo was beamed aboard. Sticking out of the top of his uniform jacket was a lizard the color of cooling lava.

Colt smirked. "Welcome aboard, Commander. Is that a lizard in your jacket or are you happy to see us?"

Arturo grinned. "Can't both be true? I'm very glad to see you all made it. Everyone, this is Gerri. Gerri, this is everyone." Gerri chirped, then snuggled in against Arturo. Without his heat lamp, the lizard was dependent on his favorite furry biped for warmth. Arturo walked over to his wife and gently touched her cheek, then leaned up to give her a soft kiss. "I'm very glad to see you." Gerri chirped, causing Arturo to laugh. "Gerri is very glad to see you, too."

Xiulan pouted when she felt Arturo kiss her. "I can't tell if I'm angry at you for taking such a stupid risk, or relieved that you're both here and safe," she said honestly.

"I'll ask you the same question I asked Colt," Arturo said. "Can't both be true?" Arturo took Xiulan's hand and put it on Gerri's head. "Our little family is safe, wife. We're safe, and so, it appears, are many of our new friends."

"I'm gonna kick your ass later," Xiulan said in promise to Arturo as she rubbed Gerri's head ridges. "Definitely after a trip to Sickbay, I think I hit my head earlier."

"Well then let's get you to Sick Bay," Arturo said. "Captain, permission to escort Xiulan to Sickbay?"

"Go ahead. I'll be on the Odyssey's bridge," she replied.

"Thank you, Captain," Arturo said. "I'll report to you as soon as I have Xiulan and Gerri squared away."

Arturo escorted Xiulan out of the Transporter Room and off to Sickbay.

Evan gave Leigh a small smile, glad to see she was in one piece. "It's a shame that we lost the Valiant, she was a tough little ship." He said. "I'm going to check on our people and I'll get a final casualty report to you and the Admiral."

"I'm going to check in with the Odyssey's Chief Corpsman and see if they can use an extra set of hands," Colt said. "Unless you want me to come with you to see the Admiral, Captain."

"No, that's ok," she said with smile that was more forced than geniune. "And thank you, Mr. Lougheed." Leigh turned and exited the transporter room. She was frustrated, tired, and angry. Inside, she wanted to scream but outward, she maintained her composure as she entered the turbolift.

Lougheed had spent the last two hours meeting with the crew of the Valiant, there had been a total of 14 fatalities in the battle with the Gulak, and the status of Kalor was unknown but appeared to have escaped aboard a shuttle, a problem for another day. The crew had seemed to congregate in one of the galaxy-class' large lounges, other than those in sickbay.

The inevitable conversations regarding what came next were already starting. Would they get a new ship? if so another defiant? Would the crew stay together or would they be split up to another postings. Would Leigh even be given command again?

Evan did what he could to reassure the crew without actually knowing any answers. The loss of a ship was never a good thing for a Captain, and given the recent events and the tribunal it was possibly Leigh wouldn't be granted another one, hopefully the Admiral would be able to ensure she did.

Double checking his report one last time he stopped and replicated two mugs of coffee and asked the computer for the Commander's locations.