[ON]

Lieutenant Cameron Tenm usually sought tension relief in one of two ways. The Klingon side of him preferred to fight, while his Trill half thoroughly enjoyed the company of a beautiful woman... or two. While the former had gotten him into trouble with the law while he was growing up on Chiron, the latter was still more than capable of earning the chagrin from parents, friends, and the occasional significant other.

When he entered the holodeck to vent in one fashion or the other, he'd fully intended on running one of his sensual love simulations. But the fact was that he was no longer the single man he once was. At least he didn't think he was.

Tallara Lifal-Lesteh began as a childhood friend and over the course of their friendship became something more. She'd been chiefly responsible in helping him to overcome the troublesome consequences of fighting his peers or pursuing other women, giving herself to him instead. But she was much more than that. She was his conscience. His soul. A source of temperament that he lacked before her.

It was because of her that Cameron had made out of that colony without a prison sentence; it was because of her that he joined Starfleet, and that he managed to graduate from the academy without so much as a single reprimand. Because every time he felt like causing trouble one way or another, she was there.

Broken from his thoughts, Cameron dodged a lumbering mass of stone... or what looked like stone this up close. The holographic Brikar and he had been sparring for almost a half an hour, and Cameron was exhausted, nonetheless still committed to his opponent. Defeating a Brikar in hand-to-hand combat required both speed and cunning; you had to know exactly where their 'weak points' were. And Cameron Tenm did. The problem he was facing right now was reaching them.

Khros, as the holographic Brikar was called, was making it very difficult, using his immense mass and weight to keep the Klingon/Trill hybrid at a distance, lest he catch one of those powerful fists to the jaw.

Tallara, having been looking through the halls of the Nebula class ship for some time now, paused for a moment near the holodecks. Curious about the ones on the ship, she looked at the controls of the first one she came to and it coincidentally was the same one Cam was in.

With a grin at the sight of the name on the screen, she entered the holodeck, trying not to disturb him in his sparring match. Standing off to the side, she watched him silently, a wry grin on her face. He hadn't changed a bit, had he?

Khros looked past Cameron and towards the new arrival. The Brikar grinned as it took another swing towards Cameron's head, which Cameron dodged easily. "There is a beautiful woman standing behind you, Tenm."

"Liar," Cameron retorted, coming in low and actually managing to get a solid jab at the Brikar's soft underside. Khros grunted and pulled away.

"Blue, young looking too. And also very naked..." Khros answered.

The description and its temptation proved too much for Cameron. He risked a sideways glance and saw Tallara. Seeing her, he couldn't help but to smile. But the opening was all Khros needed, however. As Cameron jolted himself out of his momentary daze in order to refocus on his opponent, all he saw was a large sand-colored block heading towards his face.

The next moment, Cameron felt himself going into the air. He crashed outside of the contest ring, thankfully on some gym pads to break his fall.

Khros chortled heavily.

"Bastard..." Cameron grunted, holding the sore spot that was his face. Then he looked to Tallara. "Hi Tal,"

"Hey you. Up to no good, I see." Tallara said with a grin, remembering how many times she'd cleaned his face up from just the sort of thing that had just happened. "Sorry I'm not very naked."

Picking himself off the ground, Cameron wiped an open gash on his forehead where the Brikar had struck him. It was bleeding. But the safety protocols made sure that the impact of the blow had been largely superficial. "I'll forgive you this time," he said to Tallara, then glancing behind him towards Khros. "That was a low blow, Brikar."

The Brikar chortled again. "Know your enemy to defeat your enemy," he said, giving Tallara another look over with his own beady eyes. "Is she one of your past conquests? Or soon to be?" He suggested about as jovial as a rock.

Cameron felt a mixed reaction. "Computer, remove Brikar from the simulation."

In a shimmer, Cameron's opponent vanished.

"Sorry about that," the Klingon/Trill hybrid told Tallara.

Tallara was still in a teasing mood though. "I'm a conquest now, am I? I'll have to remember that." Pulling out a handkerchief, she dabbed at his forehead a bit with it, a grin on her face.

"You were always more than that," Cameron said, wincing in a very un-Klingon-like fashion as she worked on his cut. He took her hand in his, cradled it in his palm, and brushed a thumb over hers.

Her grin softened to a light smile, remembering other times he'd caress her hands like that. "So... do you have any plans after this?"

Before Cameron could so much as come to a response, a brown/black blur of four legged motion crossed around from the opposite end of the gym area and flung itself into Tallara. Nearly knocking her completely backward, Cairo panted happily as he hopped up and started planting eager kisses on her face.

Cameron's first instinct was to laugh, then it occurred to him that he should try to pull Cairo off his former lover, and then the thought of laughing came again. The first and latter instincts won out.

Laughing heartily, Tallara couldn't help but wonder where Cairo had been hiding before he had streaked over to her. Ruffling his ears, she smiled a bright, winning smile to Cam as if to share a secret of some sort.

"For the record, after a shower I was thinking about lunch," Cameron admitted. Cairo's ears perked up at the word, having associated 'lunch' with 'food' years ago. "Care to join me?" Cameron asked.

"I'd love to." Tallara said with a wide smile. "Want me to watch Cairo while you shower?"

Cameron grinned mischievously. Despite the fact that he was sweaty and bloody, he reached and brought her in close, stroking her cheek with one hand. "Oh... I'm sure Cairo can watch himself just fine." He kissed her.

Kissing back tenderly, Tallara had to agree. Cairo could watch himself.

Ven was on a break and it had been a while since he had seen Amelia, so he decided to track her down and suprised her with a visit.

"Computer, location of crewman Takethen please." He called out.

"Crewman Takethen is on deck B, Sensor Lab 4 Control." the computer replied.

Ven quickly made his way to the Lab. When he got there he was able to sneak in with out Amelia hearing him and up behind her. He wrapped his arms around her waist and whispered in her ear "Surprise."

Giggling a little and leaning into him, Amelia rested her hands on his. "Hey hon. What brings you up here to the pod?"

"You..." Ven said quietly as he held her tighter as she leaned back into him. "I talked to the captain about helping you transfer over to op's." He said quietly into her ear, his lips perpously brushing aginst it.

"Oh?" This was a surprise to Amelia. Turning to face him, she rested her hands on his shoulders, a curious smile on her face. "What did she say?"

"She said it was a good idea and I get to submit my own performance evaluations based 9n the work we have done together. She said once we fix your review you may submit the request and she would approve it." Ven explained. "She thinks you would be better in the shuttle bay. So, what are you you doing in the pod?"

That was excellent news indeed. Maybe she could get somewhere and work in peace. Motioning to the console she had been concentrating on, Amelia explained. "I was looking over the pod power systems. It was a nightmare getting them all working right in the first place and I wanted to make sure they were all still ok."

"Well...are they?" He asked, but Amelia could tell Ven really didn't care as his eyes started to travel down along her body. She was his only distraction, the only one who could pull his mind away from the jumble of projects and repairs that awaited him.

"Well enough. I'd like to run a manual check of a few of the junctions, but everything so far looks just fine." Amelia replied, looking back into his eyes and noticing how they were wandering. "So... Anything I can help you with?"

Ven's eyes moved back up to hers and he grinned at her. "You already did. I just wanted to see you...oh no! Wait, there was something else." Ven pulled himself from Amelia and pulled a gadget out of his tool belt.

"Check this out. I'm making a portable replicator!" He held it out for her to look at. It was rough, and still needed a lot of work. BUT he was proud of it and wanted her to be the first to see it.

Taking the fascinating device, Amelia looked it over carefully. "What kind of things does it replicate? And how are you powering it? is it pulling raw materials from the ship or generating them on its own?"

I striped a power supply from an old phaser rifle. The material is the one down fall right now. It can only hold a small amount and when that used up it need to recharge." Ven explained to her.

"Ingenious," Amelia said, looking it over a bit more before handing it back.

The grin on Ven's face exploded into a huge smile, "You really think so?" Amelia's compliments ment everything to Ven and he knew what a compliment that was, coming from her.

"Mmhmm. It is. I've seen a portable marshmellon generator but that could only do like a dozen at a time and that's all it could do." Amelia said with a wide grin. "This seems infinitely more useful and practical."

"I have been thinking of some kind of transporter unit inside. Maybe when the raw matter gets low it can just beam more from a larger container. Something that could be in a backpack." Now Ven was just thinking out loud.

"Or replacement canisters. You could carry extras in a belt pouch." Amelia offered, helping in the brainstorming.

"Oh!" Ven said. "I could make it feel more like a wepon. Slap the clip in the bottom and POW!" Ven pretended to fire the thing. "Pancakes!" He said with a chuckle.

Amelia giggled happily, leaning against Ven.

Ven set the device off to the side and slid his arms around her again. "You got time for a break?" He asked.

"Up to you. I got off duty an hour ago." Amelia said, draping her arms around his neck lightly.

"Wanna..." Ven blushed lightly and bit his lower lip as he meekly looked Amelia in the eyes, "seek off and make out in an access port with me?"

"What if that's too far away, though?" Amelia said, her best pout on her face.

"Are you trying to say you wanna stay right here?" But Ven didn't give her much of a chance to answer as he pressed his lips aginst Amelias. Little tingles ran through Ven's body at the contact causing him to shiver aginst her, he loved feeling her skin on his. Even if it was just them holding hands, her touch excited Ven on a level he had never experienced with anyone else.

As they kissed, Ven's arms tightened around her waist pulling her against him. After a few moments Ven slowly broke the kiss. "Amelia," Ven said softly gazing into her eyes. "I love you."

Responding in kind to the kiss, Amelia melted against Ven as he finally said those words. "I love you, too." she replied, her antenna taking on a somewhat submissive position as she gazed lovingly into his eyes.

Ven grinned at Amelia, he had known how she felt ever since she perposed to him. But he needed more time. But not any longer, he knew he loved her and he knew that he needed her in his life. No other woman had ever caught Ven's attention and to be honest he had never caught the attention of a girl before. Not untill Amelia anyways.

"Thank you." He said to her. "You could not be more perfect to me."

Resting against him, Amelia softly purred a bit. "Thank you. I can't imagine life without you. I know we've hardly known each other, but i know for certain that you complete me."

Nexi was in her ship collecting supplies for the mission she had just been assigned to when she had the feeling that she was not alone. She abandoned the cockpit and made her way down to her cargo hold which had been converted into holding cells. There she found Rhett Beaumont waiting for her.

"I was wondering when you'd come find me," Nexi muttered as with a nod of her head she indicated he follow her to the common area she had refashioned into a living area and kitchen.

"Don't count on it, Sweetheart" replied Rhett standing there with his arms crossed. "I only come see you when I need you or at the very least, I need something from you. Information or otherwise" added the half-Orion.

"Well, then I guess it's a good thing I got some information for you," Nexi said, motioning with her hand to follow. Inside, she headed for what amounted to the kitchen. She tossed a Ferengi PaDD on the table then started to make some coffee.

"Dark and sweet" said Rhett looking up from the PADD as he noticed Nexi heading towards the galley. "Coffee" he added with a noticeable smile. "If that's what you are getting. I take mine black but sweet and strong."

The Orion looked over the information on the PADD "Interesting" he said as he read over what she had provided him. "No wonder I couldn't turn up anything when I was on Orion investigating. I was looking at the Syndicate, looking for some Orion that my parents may have crossed."

Nexi nodded and pulled down a couple of mugs while the coffee percolated. "It wasn't easy getting that information. I actually had to make a trip out there, my contact would only relay the information in person," Nexi said. "So what do you wanna do about it?" A moment later, she came back to the table with two very strong cups of coffee and a bowl of Denobulan sugar.

"Where" relied Rhett shaking his head. "Where do I find the filthy rat eyed bastard who had my family murdered. I want to know where to find this Daimon so I can cut his lobes off" said the half-Orion.

"Are you sure you wanna do that?" Nexi asked. "I can take care of this for you if you want, bring back his lobes as proof," she offered instead. Killing for any reason was nasty business and it would cost him his career. Not only that, but there would be repercussions from the other Daimon once they found out the Syndicate brat was out for revenge; at least if he hired her, she could do it quietly.

Rhett groaned. "Federation and Starfleet and their damn fucking regulations" said the Ensign looking at Nexi coldly. "Why can't they just let me find this piece of Ferengi shit and do everyone a favor?"

"Like I said, I can take care of this, it won't be traced back to you," Nexi promised, then sipped at her coffee. "And while I'm at it, I can try to reclaim some of your family's legacy. I know it ain't a replacement for actually having your parents, but it's better then their hard work being abused by slime like this."

"Slime isn't even enough to describe this....Ferengi" replied Rhett shaking his head. "Nexi, I appreciate the offer, but what needs to happen... It has to be personal. He needs to know what pain feels like. It can't be quick and easy" said the Ensign.

He handed the PADD back to Nexi. "Who is he. Who wants him dead other than me? Someone like this... they make more than one enemy over the years. Do some more digging around and tell me who Daimon Marg is. I want to know the scum that liquidated my family."

Nexi sighed, then took the PaDD from him. With a few commands, she unlocked the information he wanted to know, then handed the PaDD back to him. "If you're going to do this, at least let me go with you," Nexi said. "We can go in the 'Star, she's not Federation owned, it won't be traced back to Starfleet." And at least this way she could minimize the damage he would do to his career. Maybe if she was lucky, she could keep his involvement a secret.

Rhett shook his head "No" he said firmly. "We both know I cannot go for several reasons. I just got back from my trip to Orion and Captain big tits wasn't too thrilled with letting me go. I had to play the whole woe is me, my family has been killed and my sister isn't safe card. There ain't no damn way she'd let me leave again so soon" explained Ensign Beaumont.

"Besides, I can't get blood on my hands. If Daimon Marg ends up dead or severely hurt, word will get around. Fingers will point at me if that happens, and I need to be as far away from Orion, Ferenginar, and this Daimon Marg as possible. Plus, I have work to do on Hera."

"Then send me," Nexi insisted. "I'll make sure he suffers, and you'll get a nice souvenir."

"Don't make me wet myself with excitement" replied Rhett with a smirk. "I'm an easily excitable boy, you know?" he added as he took a sip of his coffee. "Go ahead. Do what you must and bring me back a souvenir if you feel like it."

It took Nexi a moment to write up a contract, then handed it back to Rhett for his thumbprint authorization so she would get paid for all this. "I know the price is a bit steep, but like I said, this information was not easy to come by. Not just that, but Marg is pretty close to my former boss, Liquidator Grek, and I'll have to tread carefully on this. But I can assure you, you will appreciate the end result."

"Do what you must, Nexi" said Rhett. Sexy Nexi he added mentally and chuckled. "Just don't exploit your body for information... at least not without me getting to place a bid on it first" added Rhett.

"I do what I must for a job," Nexi replied factually. "Now get out of here. I got someone who needs killin'," she added with a crooked grin.

"Nexi, you and this ship have a lot in common. You both turn me on... so hot, and the two of you have the finest afts I've ever seen" said Rhett with a smirk.

He moved closer to her and placed one of his hands on her thigh. "You know... you and I. We could have some fun before you go. If you just lie down and spread your nacelles" he began as he moved his hand up her thigh "Or you can just turn around and take it in the aft."

"Mmmm, you haven't paid for that service," Nexi teased without bothering to remove his hand. Instead, her body began to produce an electric current that would surely cause him to remove his hand of his own volition. "Besides, if you're a good boy, I just might put in a good word with Captain Big Tits, maybe convince her that she's in need of an... overhaul."

Rhett felt the electrical charge and pulled his hand off and backed away quickly. "Ouch" he said naturally. He looked at her and blushed. "Is it just me or did you feel a spark between us? I think there's something" he said with a wink.

He liked her response and smiled. "I think I'll be a very good boy. Captain Big Tits... you're both women. Have you two ever been in a locker room together? Those spots.... are her tits spotted?" asked Rhett

Nexi rolled her eyes and shook her head. Men were all the same... "You know, the more you waste my time, the longer it'll take for me to kill Marg."

"A boy can dream" he said with a sigh. "Fine, go kill the bastard. Bring me his lobes."

[24 hours later]

Sitting on Rhett's office desk was a parcel wrapped in brown paper and secured with a rough twine. No one had seen anyone enter or leave the office since Rhett had been in there last, and there were no logs of the door even opening, so how the package got there was something of a mystery. But there it was, waiting for Rhett as he entered his office.

Rhett entered his office to find a parcel wrapped in brown paper and twine. He knew what was in it before he opened it. It just drove him to unwrap the 'gift' faster. Then he held them up and pressed them in place against his own ears with a devilish smirk "I got your lobes, fucker!" shouted the Ensign with the bloody Ferengi lobes in hand.

Enalia was on the bridge, nervously awaiting the imminent historical battle between the first of the Aries class ships and the Klingon D-6 cruisers. Sensors were giving them some unusual data though. According to history records, the USS Pirandello wasn't directly involved with this battle, yet there it was on sensors. The science and medical ship wasn't a common class in the Starfleet of this era, but the design would eventually lead to the Oberth, Miranda, and even the Nebula class designs with its saucer, twin nacelle, and sensor pod configuration. It was really little more than an old light cruiser with a starbase class sensor array cobbled together and strapped to the underbelly of the ship but it would serve well for long range recon and deep space exploration before it would be decommissioned.

As Enalia watched the sensors, the Pirandello pulled away from the main group and headed towards the asteroid ring. The same part of the asteroid ring the Hera was currently hiding in... Then she saw something else on sensors... A cloaked Klingon patrol craft was almost on top of them.

"All hands, prepare for contact. Go to red alert but maintain our stealth and sensor scrambling. Keep those holo-emitters online. I want them to think we're just a derelict Federation carrier as long as possible. Helm and weapons at the ready and start that thing charging with the weapons just in case."

"Red alert... weapons ready... shields up." Having anticipated the order to come eventually, Angelica had her panel ready in a matter of seconds, carefully disguising her weapon and shield signatures so they wouldn't break the Hera's disguise and give away what type of ship they really were. Weaving Amelia's triolic modification took more time, but soon she'd colored their phasers that distinctive blue color native to the period. "The 'thing' is charged. We're ready... if we need it."


Sick Bay:
Ethan was looking in the mirror at his new arm, when the Red Alert klaxon went off. He had wanted some time for it to integrate with the rest of his body, but that was probably not going to happen. He began prepping the ER for causalities.

Cameron emerged from the corridor in a hurry. His uniform jacket wasn't even pulled up all the way, and the collar was split far enough to give his throat some room to move. He moved around to the bio bed and started going over his tray. These Klingons were 22nd century beings facing a 25th century Starfleet vessel. The odds of them being able to do serious damage would have been remote had there not been so damned many of them.

"Chaparral, go to the replicator and replicate fifteen units of Neurotropan," the newly minted CMO ordered.

"Aye, aye sir," the junior officer responded as he moved to the replicator to carry out the order, "coming right up."

Ellery envied Ethan for having something relatively normal to focus on, such as a medication run. Activity like that could almost make her forget they were in the wrong era at all. To their new CMO, she offered, "May I be of assistance, Doctor?"

"Who are you?" Cameron asked, looking at the red-head. Granted, he'd not met his entire staff yet, so for all he knew she could have been one of his nurses.

Ellery shook her head, having forgotten he didn't know who she was yet. "Forgive me, Doctor. I'm Doctor Ellery Bretton, psychiatrist. It's been a while since I've worked a regular sickbay rotation, but I'd be happy to help with triage."

"I'll take whatever help I can, doctor," he glanced up towards the ceiling at the sound which he recognized as inertial dampeners increasing for a potential attack. "Let's get to work. These Klingons might be a few centuries behind us, but God knows they make up for it in aggressiveness."

As Ethan was returning with the list of supplies, he was almost knocked to the floor as the ship shook. The shields must have held, because the shaking subsided. He was about to breath a sigh of relief thinking the worse was over when an Ensign came into the sickbay with a dislocated shoulder, then a Lieutenant Junior Grade with a gash to his forehead, then a civilian bartender with a broken wrist. Then the trickle became a stream and the stream a flood, most of them talking about some kind internal attack.

Ellery wasted no time in getting to work. As she had said, it had been a long time since she'd done any straight medical work, but the triage protocols came back to her just like an old familiar song. She prioritized people according to the severity of their injuries, sending the most severe injuries to Ethan and Cameron while she focused on the less critical patients in order of severity. Even if she knew she wasn't going to be able to get to a patient for a while, she made it a priority to acknowledge their presence and to offer symptoms and sensations to look for that signaled a worsening of their conditions. The medical staff couldn't treat everyone simultaneously, but the least they could do was acknowledge their presence and offer a reassuring word in the meantime.


Bridge:
Lieutenant Commander Sinek monitored sensor readings. He kept his ears tuned to all on the bridge ready to comply with any orders that came his way.

Watching everything from his station like a hawk, Dylan tried to work out what Angelica had meant by 'the thing'.

Watching the sensors like a hawk, Enalia looked up at the viewscreen just in time to see the old Klingon D-6 Cruiser decloak and begin firing on the Pirandello. They were a bit too close for comfort and soon it was obvious who would win this battle. "Helm, move us into firing position. Shift our sensor signatures to match the Pirandello. Let's give them something else to think about."

"Matching power and weapons signatures." Double checking the scans of the Pirandello, Angelica quickly matched the Hera's outputs to the other ship.

"Captain," Sinek evenly expressed, "The danger exists that we may inadvertently reveal ourselves in the process. If the Klingons pick up the Hera's capabilities, they may begin to design ships ahead of our time to defend against a ship such as ours. They will gain an advantage in superiority that they did not have at this time in history."

Glancing up at her CSO, Enalia suppressed a grin. He was as spot on as she expected him to be. "Thankfully, these old Klingon ships don't have many windows. As long as no one is looking out of them, they should see an identical ship on every sensor and camera. Besides, according to history, the D-7 and Constitution classes will both be deployed soon so their R&D is about as high as it gets right now."

Almost lethargically, the Nebula class ship moved into position, presenting an identical sensor image to that of the Pirandello to the Klingon D-6 battle cruiser. Within moments, it was firing on both ships. From the back of the bridge, the Ensign monitoring comms called out. "Captain, the Pirandello Captain is expressing his thanks and is curious as to who we are."

Damn... The Pirandello had a lot more windows and were less easily fooled... "Relay a text only message to them of only 3 words. Temporal Prime Directive. Commander Fairchild, please fire conservatively on the Klingon vessel. They'll want a good death or victory so use your discretion on targeting."

"Yes, ma'am." Not wanting to destroy the offending Klingon ship - at least, not too quickly - Angelica took the order to mean she should be creative as well. She took her time choosing targets that ships of this era were likely to aim at, then began a methodical counter-assault on the bird of prey, mimicking the firing pattern of the ships already in combat.

Suddenly the turbolift doors swung opened revealing a pink haired officer in a sciences uniform. She looked frustrated. She walked onto the bridge. "Doctor Vi Mingenbach reporting for duty..." She sighed. "My shuttle docked just in time before things got nasty."

"Ah, our last shuttle before we were sucked back in time. Welcome aboard." Suddenly, the lights all went to a creepy blue for several seconds and several ghost like shapes moved across the bridge. "Someone please tell me that was a lighting malfunction."

"Oh no..." Angelica whispered under her breath, accessing the internal sensors to confirm what her eyes told her. To her dismay, the triolic radiation hadn't stayed locked inside the phaser beams. They'd made a terrible mistake.

"Okay...what are they?" Dylan looked around at the others then at the ghost like shapes as he reached for the phaser on his belt.

Sinek was getting sensor readings as well. He glanced at Commander Fairchild and realized she was picking up the readings. Looking to his new Science Officer, Sinek motioned toward the Science Station. "Lieutenant, you may take the post."

Vi nodded with a smile. "Thank you, commander."

Sinek now spoke toward Captain Telvan. "Captain, sensors are picking up readings of triolic radiation. If the levels increase it will be dangerous to those aboard. However, if we could somehow harness the energy, it could be most useful. The Devidian race used triolic waves for time travel."

"Great... We have Devidians, but also the possibility of flying the ship into a Triolic energy portal." Enalia grumbled, punching up commands on her console. "Arm all security teams and post them at key junctions and public areas. No one is to go anywhere in any group less than 3. I want to know why they're here and ideas for getting rid of them."

Vi shivered a little. She didn't like the thought of going against Devidians. "I think I may be able to answer that question, captain," Vi replied, "Although I'm not that familiar in alien anthropology, I know a little bit." She bit her lip. "The Devidians frequently use time portals to feed off of humans from the past. They hunger intensively for neural energy, sir. This is their only form of nourishment, and this portal back in time gives them easy access to feed." She looked at her science chief for recognition that she knew what she was talking about and then back at her new captain.

The Vulcan merely raised a brow and said, "Indeed. The are also shape-shifters."

"Um..." Unusually, Angelica sounded timid, as if she were afraid of Enalia's response. "It's my fault... when I was working with Crewman Takethen to change the color of our phasers, she suggested triolic waves. It should have been safe... no temporal anomalies nearby, no weird comets..." As she spoke, Angelica was signaling her teams to split into groups of three and start purging the Devidian presence. "I'm sorry, Captain. I should have told her to come up with something different."

"What's done is done. I'll throw both of you out an airlock later. For now, lets..." Enalia was interrupted by a larger Devidian with a serpentine tool coming from a portal onto the bridge. "Kill it! Get that staff!"

The words had barely left Enalia's mouth as Angelica vaulted over her station, drawing her phaser and firing it before she'd hit the ground again. She might not be able to kill it herself, but she could distract it long enough for someone else to get a weapon!

Sinek saw Angel's quick reaction. He also noticed the Devidian's attention was upon her. The CSO had no phaser, but began to move behind the Devidian. Perhaps, if he drew the being's attention from Angel, she would can an upper hand.

Vi watched from behind her console as the CSO tried to distract the Devidian. She clutched the edges of her monitor, frozen with fear, and not wanting to move. "Please kill it..." she muttered under her breath silently.

Having no idea whether it would work, Dylan, who was positioned behind the whole kerfuffle, quickly unholstered his phaser and set it to kill before firing at the alien, hitting it square in the back.

Two thoughts entered Angelica's mind as the Devidian turned to face the new attack from the rear. The first was, That's helpful. It was quickly followed by the second. What the hell is Santiago doing carrying a phaser on the ship?! She couldn't yell at him while he was distracting the floating phatasm, but boy was he going to get it later. She hadn't cleared anyone outside of the security department to carry a sidearm on board yet. Resolving to deal with the situation later, she took advantage of Dylan and Sinek trying to distract the invader, quickly tweaking the settings on her phaser to be as close to 'out of phase' as she could get without a positron adaptation module. Finished, she dialed the setting as high as it would go and fired again.

After a few seconds of the phaser fire, the Devidian dissolved, the Ophidian cane falling to the deck and writhing a few moments before turning into an ivory gentleman's cane. Enalia stood and walked towards it, the lights flickering back to normal as the ship rocked from weapons fire. Glancing to the ops console, she cursed under her breath. "Hurry up with that Klingon ship. We have a new enemy to focus on. And someone see if we can use that cane to get us home."

Holstering her phaser, Angelica had barely a moment to breathe before the Hera rocked under weapons fire, sending her scrambling back around to her station to shoot back. "If you still want blue phasers, there's going to be more of those things. The cane's a better weapon than phasers, but we only have the one."

Plopping her spotted butt back in her chair, Enalia braced for another salvo of weapons fire. "Stick with torpedoes then. Those aren't much different. Fire a full spread from all forward launchers."

"Torpedoes only, got it." Shutting off the controls for the phasers so they couldn't be fired accidentally, Angelica switched to torpedoes only.

Sinek approached the spot where the Devidian was last standing. The others were engaged in the battle with the Klingon cruiser. Battle was not his concern; Science was. The cane drew his attention. Stooping down next to it, the CSO picked up the cane and began to examine it, looking for a means to activate it.


Sensor Pod Lab 4:
"Ven! Ven!" Amelia screamed, crying into his shoulder. Ven and Amelia had been in one of the science labs in the pod when the Devidians had attacked and she had survived unscathed because Ven had tried to protect her valiantly. Unfortunately, he now lay limply on the deck floor.


Bridge:
The battle was going well, the Klingons now functionally disabled and no longer a threat to the Hera or the Pirandello, who was adrift as well, but stable and still able to relay sensor data to the rest of the fleet fighting on the other side of the system.

With the Klingon ship no longer causing them trouble, Angelica turned to the incoming reports from various decks on the ship. "Damn... we've got portals opening all over the place. Devidians everywhere..." Pausing, she looked up at Sinek, who was holding the cane. "Think you can get that thing working for us? Quickly?"

Lieutenant Commander Sinek examined the cane. He found that at the precise area the Devidian held the cane, he sensed the life force of the Ophidian. He sensed it's drive to feed on neural energy.

"I would advise you to keep your distance," Sinek announced to Angel. "It will still drain energy from you." He awaited for Angel and others to distance themselves before he activated the Ophidian.

The lights quickly went back to the eerie blue and a portal opened on the bridge, quickly growing larger and moving away, through the hull, towards a strange blue comet nearby. Soon it was big enough for a small starship to fit through and the ship was shaking due to the proximity of it.

Sinek was feeling light on his feet, and for good reason. He was elevated slightly above the bridge deck. "I am not sure how much longer I can hold it, Captain."

Monitoring the size of the portal, Enalia pulled up a scan of it. "Anyone mind going to the year 2392? No? It's big enough for us to fit so helm, get us through it." As the ship moved into the portal, the shaking got a lot worse and on the viewscreen another nebula class ship was seen flying past them and barely missing the Hera going the other way. After a few moments, the ship emerged from the portal and the shaking stopped, the stars returning to their normal pattern.

"Are we back?" Dylan asked, figuring that the year didn't matter, all that mattered was that they were close to their own timeline and in their own universe.

"We'll see." Having taken a few steps back from her panel while Sinek was holding the staff, Angelica returned to her station, sifting through the information there. From what she could tell, they were at least close to when they were supposed to be. "Casualty reports coming in from all over the ship... three reported dead." Reading the names of the deceased, she winced slightly. "Ensign Oreka On, Lieutenant Ventarus Nosplet, and Commander Aelyn Radt. Doctor Tenm is on the critically wounded list."

"Great, another doctor out of commission..." Enalia grumbled. That department seemed cursed. Everyone in it kept dying or worse.

From Main Engineering, Ensign Beaumont chimed in over the comm "Engineering to Bridge, can we try to keep this starship in one God damn piece?!" he shouted over the comm. He was shaking his head and cussing at several engineers in the background "I don't have enough people down here for this shit" he added.

Punching up her comm panel, Enalia spoke calmly. "Everything should be fine now. What's our status down there?" Glancing at her own readouts, she saw that at least the ship was out of danger and there was no sign of the Devidians. They were just 4 years ahead of when they left...

"Status is a lot of damage, Captain. It will be a while before I know exactly how bad. I'll keep you updated...Engineering out."

With the Ophidian cane deactivated, Sinek gently dropped to the deck of the bridge. He glanced around the bridge to gather his bearings. When his eyes met Angel's, a friend, a new concept to him, he gathered his strength and resolve.

The CSO's attention now returned to duty and Science and the cane. Looking it over once again, Sinek wondered if they could learn more from the life form within it. He realized it still posed a danger, but did it have other capabilities? Turning to his new Science officer, he evenly intoned, "Lieutenant, take this to Science lab 2 and place it in containment. I place you in charge of investigating it. Does it have other uses?"

Vi stood there, blinking blanking for a second. She didn't know what to say after what had just happened...she quickly closed her mouth and nodded. "Yes! Yes sir! I will take it to the science lab immediately." She grabbed the cane cautiously. "Um...you mean other uses besides generating temporal vortices?" She started to leave the bridge. "And um commander, just FYI, I prefer the title doctor over lieutenant, just a little quirk." She smiled and left.

Standing and adjusting her uniform, Enalia headed off towards her ready room, pausing at the door for a moment. "Commander Fairchild, you're now my acting XO. Commander Sinek, you're my acting second officer. I'm going to contact Starfleet. Depending on what they say, we might have a senior staff meeting right after." And with that, she vanished into her office.

"I--" Before Angelica had quite completed a thought - let alone a sentence - Enalia was gone. No time to protest, and now that Angelica thought about it... why would she? Other than the whole not really having any experience commanding a ship before. Signalling for one of her junior officers to come take over the tactical station, she instructed him to keep a close eye out for any approaching starships and then went down the ramp to Enalia's chair, a chair she was not prepared to sit in. But she did sit down in it, foreign as it felt. "Commander Sinek, check our internal sensors and make sure there aren't any Devidians left on board."

Sinek gave Angel a nod. "Aye, Commander," he stated , no excitement showing, despite being elevated to Second Officer. He hadn't expected it so soon after his promotion. However, the Captain's choice was logical.

Looking at the sensors, no more Devidian life forms were reflected. "It would appear your orders have been effectively carried out, Commander."

Enalia sat at her desk and sighed, dreading how she was going to describe this situation to... well whoever she can get in touch with... Turning her desk computer on and tapping up her comm lines with Starfleet, the first thing she noticed was that the Hera had been marked as missing for the past 4 years. Thus she was going to have a hard time getting in touch with anyone... Changing gears, she instead decided to contact the office of temporal investigations and let them sort it all out. Typing up a report for them, it seems she couldn't get a live person before a report or request was sent in.

Thankfully, the summary of recent events was easy enough and soon she was on hold waiting on an agent.

---=An Hour Later=---

Enalia leaned back in her chair and looked over all the data streaming in that they had missed. Posthumously decorated? Presumed lost to a Borg incursion? Hopefully that agent she spoke with could get them back on the right track... For now though, they would be heading to New Sydney to await new orders and to meet up with a Temporal Investigations team there that would test the ship for... she still wasn't sure what... and to reintegrate the crew back into the universe as a whole.

Tapping her comm badge, she did have one thing to handle first before announcing all this to the crew. "Commander Fairchild to my office please."

The call to report to the ready room took Angelica by surprise, and she didn't answer right away. It took a few seconds for the call to even get her attention, and her tone was uncertain when she finally did answer. "Yes, ma'am. I'll be there in a moment." Already on the bridge, it was a short trip to the ready room, and once she'd handed the chair over to Sinek, Angelica tapped the 'call' button next to the ready room door, just to announce her presence.

"Come in," Enalia called, pulling a couple tiny black boxes out of her desk. She'd need to replicate a lot more of these...

Coming inside, Angelica immediately spotted the little black boxes and raised an eyebrow at them. "You can't be promoting me again... so what are those?"

"Starfleet promoted several of us posthumously, including you, and you and I get to keep the rank. You're also in the wrong color now." Enalia said as the door closed behind Angel. " What size do you wear?"

"I haven't exactly had time to change." Angelica barely blinked at the promotion being posthumous; she knew damn well they'd traveled forward in time... and that when they disappeared, the ship had likely been listed as lost with all hands. "My uniform's a size 10... and I'm not sure I'm ready to be promoted again so soon. I mean, to us it's only been a few weeks..."

Enalia paused in the middle of pinning her own 4th gold dot to her shirt. "So you don't want it?"

"No, I do. I just... it's weird, okay?" Time travel in general was weird, and it didn't get any less so when it thrust extra surprises in her face. Angelica laughed, just a little. "I'll take it. Just... don't expect me to be perfect right out of the gate. I was never in command before I came here."

"And from what I've heard you're not well liked on the ship. You might even be the worst choice for XO aboard." Enalia said, finishing her own uniform and pushing a black box across her desk with a dead serious expression. "But I can't think of anyone I trust more for the job. Unless you'd rather Aewia take the job. She was posthumously promoted to Captain."

"No way in hell. She's sweet and all, but unless you want to have ice cream socials and pizza parties all the time..." That prompted a real laugh, and Angelica relaxed a little as she picked up the box from Enalia's desk. "You're right though... there's not too many people on board who like me. Even fewer now that we've lost Ven..."

Punching up a new uniform top with command red on it for Angel, Enalia nodded morosely. "Yeah, we'll need to keep an eye on Amelia. They were romantically involved." As soon as the uniform finished materializing in her replicator, she handed it to Angel too.

"Aw, hell. She's such a sweet girl, to have to go through that..." Angelica sighed, not having considered that members of the crew might have been dating.

"Yeah, we're responsible for more than just the careers of this crew. Over seven hundred lives are in our hands." Enalia replied, leaning back in her chair.

"Thanks for the reminder." Angelica had a feeling this job was going to be so much harder than just handling the duties that Aelyn had been responsible for. Over seven hundred people had just lost their homes, their families, and four years out of their lives that they would never get back. "I'll talk to Amelia. Oddly enough, she seems to like me. It may soften the blow a bit."

"Good luck. I'll unlock her personnel file so you can see all the other crap she's been through." Enalia said, still waiting for Angel to change uniforms.

"Oh lord, there's more?" Angelica looked at Enalia, seeing the expectant look on the other woman's face. "...let me change first so you quit giving me the 'fix that shit' look. Mind if I borrow your bathroom?"

"What bathroom?" Enalia asked blankly. "I have to use the one behind the bridge."

"Uh huh." Angelica pointed at the extra door, on a separate wall from the door to the bridge. "What's that then, a personal closet for your pet cat?"

Looking at the door in mock surprise, Enalia exclaimed, "Goodness, is that a restroom? Wherever did that come from? I guess you can change in there."

"Either you're the universe's biggest troll or you're really unobservant." Angelica chuckled a little, slipping through the bathroom door and locking it behind her. She knew now that Enalia was the worst prankster on the ship, and she wasn't taking the chance that the door would suddenly fly open while she was changing. She took her time, transferring all three golden pips to the collar of her new tunic before putting on the new uniform and glancing in the mirror. The red looked strange on her... not bad, just odd. Maybe she would get used to it. Giving her old yellow uniform a somewhat wistful look, she gently folded it and set it in the clothing replicator, recycling it before heading back out into the ready room. "This feels weird, wearing red."

"I think it suits you," Enalia said, clicking her computer back off. She had been looking over a few things while Angel was changing. "I'll need you to find a replacement for Security Chief, first off. Then find room for a court martial and the Temporal Investigations team. We've been ordered to report to New Sydney, an independent colony world. I'm to arrest another Captain and we'll get some shore leave during the proceedings."

"I'll see who I have that's up to the task... for now the young man at tactical will have to do. His name's Fredrickson, good kid just not much experience." And who was Angelica to be talking about experience? She barely had any command level experience, and here she was, first officer of a starship. "As for room for the court martial... we've got several large conference rooms that should work, and I can get cabins for the investigation team. I know of at least two that are empty now, maybe three."

"Give them the biggest conference room we have and have the holoemitters and recorders deactivated. We'll be strained on guest quarters, but I'm sure you'll find the room somewhere." Enalia continued. "Temporal Investigations will be working on our reintegration back into things so we'll need to afford them all the courtesies we can. And be patient if they interview you. They like asking the same question over and over throughout an interview."

"I'm not so good at being patient." Angelica cringed slightly at the thought of being asked the same question repeatedly in the same interview. "But I'll do my best."

"Thank you." Enalia said, finally relaxing a bit, leaning back in her chair. "Would you also mind too terribly much if I asked you to make sure I wasn't disturbed for an hour or two? I haven't slept in at least two days I think... depending on how you count time..."

"Oh god, don't remind me." She'd be fine until Enalia mentioned lack of sleep, and then the exhaustion hit Angelica like a brick to her face. "I can make sure no one bothers you, but I can't promise I'll stay awake."

"Then how about we make an announcement to the crew and both go get some sleep. Want to join me in my quarters? I have a nice big, soft bed." Enalia teased.

"And give you the opportunity to take holo-pics and send them out to the crew? No thanks." Angelica grinned a bit crookedly. "I appreciate the offer, but I think I'll go to my own bed. Suppose I'll have to move into Aelyn's old place soon, but I'm too tired to mess with that."

Enalia raised her hands in defeat. "Fair enough." Then her mood sank, remembering the people they had lost. Ven in particular was a good friend and confidant. "Ven was there for the entire refit of the Hera. I'd like you to put Amelia in charge of those records now since she's the only other one besides me that knows them all."

"I'll do that before I head home. It will keep her busy... keep her mind off losing Ven..." Suddenly the mood in the room was somber again, and Angelica found she was fighting tears for the first time since all the insanity had started.

"I hope we don't lose anyone else." Enalia muttered, staring at her hands in her lap and trying to hold back tears of her own.

Aewia sat peacefully on the couch, munching on some fried rice and asparagus while looking at a PaDD with pictures of places she'd supposedly been. She didn't remember most of these places, though she did remember having been to most of them.

"Hey kiddo," Nexi said as she flopped onto the couch next to her sister, kicking her feet up onto the coffee table. "Whatcha lookin' at today?"

"Places they say I've been." Aewia said, showing the current picture to Nexi - a large arched structure next to a river. "I think I remember a few of them, but most just make my head hurt, like this one."

"Maybe you're trying too hard to remember," Nexi siggested, taking a look at the PaDD. Nexi felt like maybe she'd been there too, but she had been to so many places that they all sort of blurred together after a while. Or maybe she was simply picking up on Aewia's sense of failiarity. "That place looks nice. what is it?"

"Supposedly, some sort of early industrial monument to exploration in a city called Saint Louis. This is a picture I apparently took while on Earth." Aewia remembered taking pictures in a city that might have had the same name, but she had no recollection of a giant silver arch.

"Never been to Earth," Nexi said as she handed the PaDD back to Aewia, but it made her wonder where she had seen that image. "I guess you went for the Academy and stuff, huh?"

Setting the PaDD and her food aside, Aewia leaned against her sister, a troubled look on her face. "Yeah three times I think. For the academy, then intel training, then again to prep for that last mission."

"What's the matter?" Nexi asked, noticing right away the change in Aewia's demeanor. "Are you remembering something?"

Shaking her head, Aewia's demeanor darkened a bit more. "No, it's more what I don't remember... The Academy... I remember getting ready to go and I remember graduating but nothing in between. None of my time on Earth."

Nexi sat up with a serious gaze. That was odd. So far, Aewia's memory issues had been fairly global; her brain, and thus her memory, had been left in pieces after what the Romulans did to her, and none of her lapses in memory were so neatly confined. "Don't try to remember if it hurts," Nexi cautioned gently. "If it's there, it'll come eventually." But still, it didn't sit well with her that such a defined block of time was just missing. Maybe she should bring this up with Angel or Enalia later. Certainly the doctor should know...

"No, it doesn't hurt... It's just not there." This was starting to bother Aewia. Had she lost these memories during her imprisonment or had she really never gone to the Academy? No, all the proof said she had and she remembered her first assignment well enough. Glancing up suddenly, she felt something she hadn't expected to feel ever again... "I think someone just died... like they were just sucked out of their body..." This disturbed her even more. Was her Empathy coming back that much? She was certainly more clear headed than usual lately.

Nexi felt it too. "No, that's not dying..." And she had been around enough death that she would know. "It's like they just stopped...." In the end, it amounted to the essentially the same thing as death. It was a cold, hollow feeling that encompassed the two Betazoid women, and Nexi knew that something dangerous was happening. She was torn between wanting to check this out and staying to protect Aewia, though she didn't know what she could do against whatever could end a life like this!

"I remember this feeling," Aewia said, getting up from the couch and looking around in a daze. "The ghosts of light and shadow are here." As she said that, the lights turned to that blue eeriness that comes with triolic energy and ghostly figures floated across the room, ignoring the 2 women for now.

Nexi had no idea what a Dividian was or what they were capable of, and when the ghostly figures appeared in their room, Nexi put her arms around Aewia to hold her back and protect her. But the ghostly figures seemed blessedly uninterested in them, but Nexi kept holding Aewia for a long while, her heart racing.

Aewia was strangely calm, eyeing the Devidians as they made their way past the two women. She wasn't afraid of them but she was definitely cautious as she snuggled with her sister protectively. Soon they had passed and the lights flickered back to normal for a moment before returning to the blue tint. The ship started shaking at the same time, getting progressively worse as the seconds ticked by.

"Fuck this noise," Nexi said as she let go of Aewia, disappearing into her room to get her pike. "Aewia, I'm going to take you to Sickbay, you should be safe there. Try to help around if you can, but most importantly, don't get in the way. I wanna find out what's going on here." She shrugged into her leather coat and then, with pike in hand, rejoined Aewia.

While Nexi was gone, there was a brighter flash and then the lights returned to normal and the shaking stopped. Aewia looked to Nexi wide eyed. "What was that?"

"I don't know, but I'm gonna find out," Nexi said as she led her sister out of their shared quarters and headed for Sickbay. "Are you going to be okay if I leave you at Sickbay?" she asked. She sure as hell didn't want to leave Aewia alone right now.

"Mmhmm yeah I know most of the staff pretty well now I think. I should be able to help out a bit too." Aewia said as she followed close behind her sister.

"Good," Nexi said with a nod. Once they were in the lift, she rested her pike in the crook of her arm and faced Aewia, cupping her sister's cheeks with her rough, calloused hands. "Aewia, I've done some terrible things in my life. I don't deserve a sister like you and I don't deserve the peace you've brought me. Dammit, you can drive me up a wall on the best of days, little sister, but if something were to happen to you I think I would truly die inside." Then Nexi planted a soft kiss on Aewia's forehead.

Aewia wrapped her arms around her sister and hugged her tenderly. "I drive myself crazy too. I don't think I can help it and I'm sorry. Thank you for saving me. In more ways than one, I owe my self to you." Her coherence was fading fast, strained as it was by the current events going on, but she was doing her best to stay lucid for Nexi.

Nexi just held her sister until the lift came to a stop and let them out. Then it was on to Sickbay, and to find out what the hell was going on...

After Enalia left and the Devidians were confirmed to be gone, an almost eerie quiet had fallen on the bridge. No one spoke, and only the ship's native beeping noises broke the silence. It was calming... but also somewhat nerve-wracking. As much as Angelica liked it to be quiet, this was almost too quiet. She didn't even have her security reports to keep her busy; Fredrickson was handling them, which left her alone with the remnants of her adrenaline rush from earlier to keep her company. As such, she was feeling downright edgy, and it showed as she tapped her fingers against the arm of the chair she sat in.

The lift doors opened and Nexi stepped out onto the bridge, with her pike in hand. She knew someone would probably try to take it from her eventually, but she wouldn't give it up without a fight, not after what had just happened in her quarters.

"Fairchild," Nexi said as she approached Angel. "What the hell is going on?! Aewia and I felt... something, and then these fucking, I don't know, ghosts or something floated through our quarters!"

Angelica dearly wanted to tell Nexi to put the pike down and watch her language, but she could hardly blame the woman for being scared of the Devidians or wanting to defend herself. Still, she didn't exactly feel like explaining it either. "Felt 'something' hardly gives me a direction to go on, but the ghost things... they're called Devidians. They're gone now, not that it would make you feel any better." Knowing they were gone certainly didn't make Angelica feel any better. "I know how distressing it is to see that sort of thing, trust me."

"No, you don't understand, Aewia and I felt people, well, die for a lack of a better word," Nexi said. Now that the danger was passed, she collapsed the staff of her pike with a flick of her wrist, and tucked the weapon into its sheath at the small of her back under her jacket. "But it wasn't like they were killed... it was like they stopped existing, like their essence was just... sucked out of them." It had been a disturbing feeling, and that was saying something considering all the things Nexi had been around, but she'd never felt anything quite like this before. "What happened?"

"I might not be telepathic, but I did watch three people die on that Romulan space station. Not the same as feeling it, I know, but it does give me some perspective. Sit down." Angelica gestured at the empty space beside her, where she would sit when Enalia came back to the bridge. "We made a mistake. Used triolic radiation to make our phasers blue... we thought it would be safe as long as it was only in the phasers."

"I don't understand, what does that have to do with those things?" Nexi asked. "And they... they sucked the life out of those people?!"

"The triolic radiation attracts them and then they... feed on neural energy." Angelica shuddered ever so slightly as she said it. "It's terrible, what they do to survive."

"We brought them here?" Nexi asked, rising from the oh-so-comfy chair she had been nicely invited to sit in. "The fuck, Angel, why the fuck would you use something like that if you knew it attracted those things?!"

"It wasn't my idea! And I did tell Amelia that it could happen... it was a risk we took to avoid contaminating the timeline." Angelica wanted to jump up and protest much more vigorously, but with Nexi's temper already running high she didn't want to risk it. Staying put was a challenge though. "I know this is my fault, all right? I don't need you to remind me."

"Please tell me we ain't doing that again or I swear I'll take Aewia and jump ship. I don't care about contaminating the timeline, and it's better than staying and being ghost food!" Nexi said in reply.

"We aren't doing it again... we're not even trapped in that time period anymore. We... jumped forward." It had been a bit too far forward, but Angelica wasn't about to drop that bomb on Nexi yet. "And please stop yelling."

"Fine, I'll stop yelling," Nexi said begrudgingly, crossing her arms over her chest with a disappointed scowl. She may not be yelling, but she sure as hell was going to have a talk with the Captain about this later! "So who all died?" Nexi asked curiously.

"Ensign On, Lieutenant Nosplet, and Commander Radt. Doctor Tenm may or may not make it," Angelica said quietly, not quite looking at Nexi anymore.

"They got Ven?" Nexi asked. Not Ven... And Doctor Tenm? Aewia really liked him! "Shit," Nexi muttered, sinking back into the chair.

"That was my first thought too." Angelica sighed, still looking away from Nexi. God, she felt so guilty for this whole mess. "There may be more we don't know about. I hope not."

"I don't know about what Aewia felt, but it felt like more than just 4 people to me... but then again, ain't never felt anything quite like that before, so I could be wrong," Nexi said.

"I don't have a full count yet... but I had security teams all over the ship." Reality was quickly hitting, and Angelica wondered how many men and women she'd sent to their deaths.

Nexi could feel Angel's grief and guilt, but she didn't know what to do about it. Nexi was a paid killer, she had no problems dispatching large numbers, but she rarely was personally responsible for someone's death. It was one thing to kill when someone was paying you to do it, but this was something else... "Yeah..." Nexi muttered, then nervously stretched out her hand to make an attempt at a comforting pat on the shoulder, but after the first pat it felt too weird, so she drew her hand back and tried to forget that ever happened.

Despite how upset she was over this situation she'd caused, Angelica smiled a little at the attempted nice gesture and resulting awkwardness. "Thanks. I know you're not really a people person and that wasn't really natural, but I appreciate it. Like, a ton."

Nexi just nodded awkwardly, really wishing she could just disappear now. "Yeah, just don't go spreading it around that I'm nice or nothing like that," Nexi grumbled.

"Your secret is safe. No one would ever believe it anyway." Angelica was quiet for a moment, not sure how she was going to handle this situation as it continued to unfold. She had so few people to turn to, and with Ven gone she had even fewer. At least Nexi and Aewia had each other. "You should be with your sister. She needs you after a trauma like this."

"Yeah, I was thinking the same thing," Nexi said, rising from the chair. "If those things do show up again, is there anything we can do to stop them?" Nexi asked.

"Something that can go out of phase or that forces them to phase completely into our reality. Maybe something protonic... I don't know for sure. I'll be looking into it." Angelica suspected in reality she'd be telling someone else to look into it. "I'll let you know if I come up with anything."

"Thanks," Nexi said, then returned to the lift to go check on Aewia back in Sickbay.

Ensign Rhett Beaumont was in the ship's holodeck when he received a summons from the Bridge. The Captain had requested to see him at his earliest convenience. Great thought the Chief Engineer with a sigh. He was running the scenarios through his head, walking to the turbolift, taking it up and seeing Captain Big Tits in her office. What's it going to be this time? Not pleased with how slow repairs are coming, upset that I am having downtime in the Holodeck? Going to replace me with a more senior Engineer? pondered Rhett.

"Exterminate! Exterminate!" shouted the robotic looking life form, the exterior armor of a smaller more delicate creature. Rhett let out a chuckle as he turned around glared at the oh so threatening thing.

"Piss off Dalek" said Rhett countering his holographic foe's 'battle cry' I love the cheesy Science Fiction genre from Earth thought Rhett. "Computer, end program" ordered Rhett. Everything around him vanished, the room returned to its natural grid like state and the sonic screwdriver in his hand was no longer there.

He let out a sigh and proceeded towards the exit. Rhett walked down the corridor and took the nearest turbolift up to the Bridge. He poured out of the lift and looked around. Captain Big Tits wasn't there. She was clearly in her Ready Room.

Ensign Beaumont made a shrp turn and headed in said direction, standing outside her Ready Room doors and awaited the Captain's welcoming invitation. He had been off duty and dressed down, leisurely into a simple grey tank top and some loose relaxed fit jeans.

"Come in," Enalia called, staring at reports on her screen and on PaDDs. She had a lot of trolling to get done today and Rhett was first and foremost on her list with all the shit that had gone down recently.

The ensign Chief Engineer of the USS Hera responded to the Captain by stepping forward and into her Ready Room, the doors parting for him and closing soon thereafter his entering. He looked around the small office, though it was more spacious than his own. He couldn't help but notice something different about the woman now. A look of focus perhaps mixed with a little concern.

He had also noticed something more, something shiny and new on her uniform. One..two...three...four! She's been promoted? pondered Rhett, but he knew she definitely deserved it. "Captain, you've been promoted to Captain" commented Rhett with a small smile. "Congratulations" he added as he approached her desk.

"Thank you. Please have a seat. We have a lot to go over." Enalia said, not even looking up. "What's the status of the waste reclamation intercouplers on deck 19?"

Usually, I prefer to stand, but what the hell...I'll sit he thought to himself, pulling out a chair, turning it around and straddling it with his legs. He folded his arms across the back of it and looked at the Captain. "It's a shitty situation" he said with a chuckle. "We had a little problem and there's been some back up. Some of my repair crew weren't very happy being knees deep in crap" he added.

He let out a sigh. "The situation should be under control and the reclamation intercouplers on deck 19 should be repaired by the end of the day, Captain."

"That's good to hear. I don't want to tell the crew to stop crapping." Setting her PaDDs down, Enalia leaned back in her chair, concern and worry on her face. She sat there like that for several moments before speaking again. "You've done well enough as my Chief Engineer. I'm honestly surprised you haven't spent half your time here in the brig."

Well, I learned to get away with a lot of shit thought the Chief Engineer. "Thank you, Captain. I am glad that I have been able to surprise you, ma'am" he answered in a reply with a small smile. "Captain, there are still a lot of repairs that need to be made and were a small ship. You know my Engineering bunch is not a large department. As I understand it we will be meeting the USS Katana soon?" asked the ensign for confirmation.

"May I request permission to visit their starship? I could use some materials that we don't have presently aboard, plus I would really like the assistance of some of their Engineering and Operations personnel with repairs here."

"Small?" Enalia asked incredulously, leaning forward in her chair. "You think the Hera is small? And compared to a dinky little piss-ant Intrepid class? Our Ops and Engineering departments have more people than that entire ship can even hold." Enalia was insulted by her ship being called small, with good reason. "Only 3 ship classes in service are larger than the Hera, and not by much. Call her small again and you'll find yourself scrubbing every inch of hull by hand. If you spent half the time you claim you do in main engineering rather than on some hairbrained scheme to turn this ship into a gambling den, you'd know she's far from small. She's a big, sexy mother of a ship with a beautiful aft."

"She's a giant saucer on the nacelles, ma'am" replied Rhett firmly. "I like the ship and am devoted to her as Chief Engineer, and I did not say anything about that piss ant Intrepid-class being better" countered the ensign shaking his head. "I wanted help because of who is on that ship, not because of the ship" added Rhett.

The ensign sighed. "Captain, with all due respect, I appreciate your passion for the Nebula-class starship, but we've traveled through time and have been spat at a home that isn't quite our own. There's more than three classes presently in service that are larger than us."

Enalia relaxed a bit, the weariness of the past few days showing on her face for just a moment. "Yeah you're probably right. And the Katana is a good sturdy ship, either way. She'd have to be to travel from another universe, I'm guessing. Who is it you're hoping to meet?"

Rhett smiled, glowing with delight. "The Engineers and Operations personnel" replied Rhett feeling himself bursting with happiness and excitement. "Imagine the engineering and technological geniuses that the Katana must have" explained the ensign. "They managed to keep an Intrepid-class starship together through traveling though time and crossing into an alternate universe."

"Sounds like some amazing people." Enalia said, trying to remember the name. "If you have time between the court martial and the temporal investigations team, then by all means invite them to the brig with you."

Rhett looked at her a bit perplexed. "Court martial?" he said looking at her seeking more of an explanation. "Brig?" he added. "Captain?"

"You're a wanted man, Rhett," Enalia said softly. "I don't know what you did before we got pulled back in time, but that's how it is."

Rhett shook his head. "I haven't done anything, nothing at all, Captain. And what would it even matter here? I am not from here" added the Chief Engineer. "I haven't left the ship since returning from my parents' memorial service."

"On the contrary, we are from here. History seems a tiny bit different and we're 4 years ahead, but this is still home." Enalia said calmly. "And all I have to go on is your word against theirs. I have no idea what you did while off the ship."

Rhett nodded but he still wasn't pleased with this. "Captain, I joined Starfleet not as a member of the Federation but as a citizen of the Orion Syndicate. What I did or did not do was done off duty, out of uniform, away from the Hera and not in Federation space."

"On or off duty, you're still a Starfleet officer. No matter where you are or how you're dressed, you still represent the Federation and are expected to act accordingly." Enalia explained patiently. "Therefore, all of Starfleet's regulations still apply to you until you resign. As a Lieutenant, I expect you to know this."

"I'm not a Lieutenant" said Rhett firmly. "So, don't expect me to know shit, and don't expect me to go through a court martial that I did absolutely nothing to deserve it" added Rhett with a huff. He began to take off his comm badge and his single solid pip.

Picking up one of the numerous small black boxes on her desk, Enalia opened it and looked inside for a moment before sliding it over to Rhett. "You are now. You're a wanted man by me. I want you to keep in Main Engineering and out of the brig as you've been doing. As for the court martial, I encourage you to attend, but it's not required. After all, it's not every day a Captain goes up for violation of General Order 7."

Rhett looked at the box and at the woman presenting it. "You have a sick sense of humor" countered Rhett, taking the box and putting it back on the Captain's desk, sliding it back at her. "I'm a new man here. Well, in theory. A few years older at least in some sense" he added. "I'll get back to you on it. I have some options to consider and weigh" he finished.

Sure, offer me this now when I am already finishing up a transfer request he thought.

"I like messing with my favorite friends." Enalia said with a lopsided grin. "Sorry. As for the pip, keep it. Starfleet posthumously promoted a lot of us and Temporal Investigations is letting me decide who keeps that rank. Besides, being a Lieutenant Junior Grade is better than being an Ensign, right?"

"Right" said Rhett with a sigh. He looked at the Captain almost apologetically. "Look, Captain, being here has been great and all, but I've been thinking about putting in for a transfer maybe to another starship. I'm sure there's got to be some good openings."

Enalia sighed heavily, leaning back in her chair. The chair he had modified for her. "Well, once all this temporal BS is cleared out and we're free to intermingle with the fleet, I'll put in a recommendation for you if that's your decision."

"That whole court martial thing with Captain Kerouac of the USS Katana" said Rhett looking a bit nervous. "I've been reading up on some things, his Captain's logs and some of their adventures... last I heard, his Chief of Operations stepped down from her position. Do you think maybe I'd make a good Chief Operations Officer?" asked the half-Orion.

The Trill woman's first response was to say 'hell no, don't go' but she had to at least pretend to think about it... After a moment, she replied with an obviously BS answer. "I think that you would rise to any challenge laid before you in a very creative way."

Rhett nodded. "I am a bit unorthodox, but hey, their Captain went to Talos IV and they have a Provisional Commander as a First Officer. I like my chances of fitting in there" added the half-Orion a bit cheerfully.

"Honestly?" Enalia began, her eyebrows raised a bit. "I think you might be a bit too 'normal' for that crew. Have you seen their Chief Diplomat? Shes a former sex android with boobs bigger than small moons."

"Hey, maybe I can set up a date between you two? You may actually like her? She has green skin, and you know green skin is an attractive feature" he said with a wink.

"Sometimes," Enalia replied with a wink of her own. "Either way, I hear she's married to an ex-borg."

"Well, that's a shame" he said with a sigh. "Must be the former Chief of Operations. I read that she was a former Borg. What do you know about that Captain Kerouac fellow?"

"Cavalier, a drunk, and a rogue element. His counterpart in this universe blew up a Breen colony and his ship and I know I shouldn't hold that against this one, but it does make you wonder how similar they might be." Enalia replied with a sigh. "And in the end, that's for the court martial to decide."

"Understood, but who knows maybe in his universe you murdered a Klingon Ambassador" said Rhett with a shrug. "We have no idea how things really were for the guy. Have you read any of his Captain's logs? They had been in the Gamma Quadrant you know."

Rhett looked at his Captain. "Captain, he's facing a Court Martial here aboard the Hera. That means there will be a prosecutor and someone legally representing his as defense. Court Martials typically call for Command Officers and Flag Officers, at least three of them to serve as the court and one of the three to be the President or Judge in the matter. Will you be involved in this as a Captain?"

Enalia raised an eyebrow for a moment, surprised that Rhett would know this when he claimed to know nothing earlier. "I'd be willing to be his defense if asked. As the commanding officer hosting it, I normally wouldn't be directly involved but with things as they are..."

"Maybe they'd want you to be part of the court or preside over it all?" pondered the Chief Engineer. "I do not know if you would make for the best defense, Captain, the description 'Cavalier, a drunk, and a rogue element' doesn't sound like the best defense unless you'd plan on saying he's insane" offered the Engineer.

"Probably. And saying he's insane would still get him executed. Not the ideal outcome." The Captain replied. "I think being the prosecutor might be easy enough. Present the evidence and just let it speak for me. I could take naps through most of the proceedings."

Rhett nodded and the crossed his arms. "You know, if I were in command and I was asked, I would defend him myself. I don't know if I would be any good at it, but I would want to play his defense" replied Rhett.

"Maybe you understand why I'd want to as well." Enalia said with a grin.

The Chief Engineer picked the box up and again, opened it up and looked at the pip. He put it onto his collar with the solid gold one. "I'll stay with Hera" he announced. "But I want to know something" he added looking at his Commanding Officer. "If you were the Captain of Katana, in Kerouac's shoes... your ship crossed into an alternate universe and traveled forward in time, would you do whatever you could to get the crew home?"

Enalia was happy he would be staying. That question though... "Considering our situation isn't too far from their own, being thrown forward in time and a few historical things having changed... It's something I'm struggling with now. Honestly, I'd like to know what made him think the Talosians could help."

"I think we all would like to know that" replied Rhett. "It won't be like he can't have visitors while the trial is underway. Maybe you should go ask him yourself?"

"I plan to, if I'm able." Enalia said, wanting to change subjects. "New Sydney has a bit of an Orion Syndicate presence. Do you plan on taking advantage of that?"

"No" he said shaking his head. "I'm a Lieutenant and member of the ship's Senior Staff. I think it is best that I stay away from anything criminal" replied Rhett.

"Good plan. I'll ask Nexi then." Enalia said with a hint of a grin.

Rhett crossed his arms and looked at the Captain. "Ma'am whatever you have planned, it's best you do not say anything to me about it. As an officer in Starfleet and representation of the Federation, I am obligated to report you for any sort of criminal activity" he said with a smirk.

Enalia had a look of surprise and shock on her face as she replied. "Me? Criminal activity? Never... I just want to make sure she's going to behave herself while we're there. You two are the ones I worry most about."

"And I worry about you" he countered. "Do you know how many Chief Medical Officers you have had since I've been aboard?" he said shaking his head. "Well, it doesn't mater. I'm not going to New Sydney. You have a nice day, Captain and thank you for the promotion" replied Lieutenant JG Beaumont.

"Too many..." Enalia muttered. "Be safe and stay out of trouble, Lieutenant. Dismissed."

Here was one more piece of business she had to take care of... Promoting up a new CMO. Enalia couldn't believe her past FOUR Chief Medical Officers had all died since taking command. Was the position cursed or something? Nonetheless, she had to have someone. Tapping her commbadge, she summoned the next person to take the position. "Doctor Ethan Chaparral, please report to my ready room."


Ethan was working out, testing the limits of his new arm and himself, doing one handed pushups. His personal best had been fifteen at a time, now with his artificial limb he was up to 30 and not really slowing down. He heard the the commbadge vibrate and the Captain call his name.

He quickly put his shirt back and and hightailed it back to the bridge. He pushed the chime waiting for her response."

"Come in," Enalia called, expecting the Doctor and not being disappointed as the door opened to reveal him. "Please, have a seat. We need to talk."

Ethan nodded his head as he sat in the nearest set. Had his plans to take care of Ian once and for all been detected by Sinek in their mind meld and had he reported him to the Captain, or was it something else.

"How can I help you?" he asked her trying to to keep his face as neutral as possible,though unsure if he were succeeding.

"Due to recent events, we are once again without a Chief Medical Officer." Enalia said seriously. "The position may be cursed or something because every single one I've had under my command has died within months. What I want to know is if, knowing this, you want the position. If not, I understand."

"I'm still alive despite Ian's attempts. If I can survive that, I'm pretty sure I can survive anything. And I'm going to have Ethan around to have my back. So if you want to give me a shot, I'm willing to take the risk. On the condition that the two of us can get a two week leave once we're married."

"I think that can be arranged." Enalia said with a grin, sliding a small black box toward Ethan. "In that case, Commander, you're my new Chief Medical Officer. Congrats on the promotion and the assignment."

"Lieutenant Commander?" Ethan asked his small smile growing larger. "Well now Captain i guess that means you're going to have to come have dinner with us sometime. Whatever your favorite meal is, I'll fix it for you."

"Tea and pastries, actually. At least that seems to be most of what I have for meals these days." Enalia said with a grin.

"Well that's easy enough, I think I can manage it. When is a good time for you?"

"Hopefully I'll have some free time during this Court Martial and Temporal Investigations ordeal. Once we get to New Sydney, let's see how things pan out." Enalia said with a gentle smile.

"Sure, " Ethan said, I really appreciate your confidence in me, it meas a lot. I'll try not to let you down."

"Don't die and you won't," Enalia said grimly. "Do you have anything for me?"

He demonstrated his new arm to her, "No nothing more really. The arm is working really well though."

"That's good to hear. I was worried about that." Enalia said with a smile. "If there's nothing else, I have more of these boxes to hand out."

"No, nothing else, I'll let you get to it. I think I'll go try to relax. Thanks again, Captain."

"Any time." Enalia said, directing her attention to the computer on her desk as Ethan made his way out.

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It had been several hours since Ven had been declared dead and moved to the morgue. Amelia was back in his room, crying and preparing to do something she'd regret if she lived. She had tried to make this a home with him. Become a family. She had even gotten him to eat regularly with her after she moved in. Without him here... She'd have to move back in with her roommates and that was even less appealing than what she was planning.

Angel had promised to talk to Amelia once she'd gotten at least a few hours of rest, and the moment she was feeling semi-functional she tracked Amelia down to the cabin the other woman had shared with Ven. Worried that Amelia might blame her for Ven's death, Angel lingered outside the door for several long seconds before gingerly pressing the chime.

Instead of replying, Amelia finished her preparations. Standing on a chair, she placed the noose around her neck and readied herself to kick the chair out from under her. Whomever was outside the door would just have to go away.

No answer, and that worried Angel more than the possibility that Amelia would be angry at her. Concerned, she tapped the comm button next to the door. "Amelia, it's Angel. I know you're in there... please open the door."

Angel? What was she doing here? Then again, did it really matter? Kicking the chair out from under her with a clatter, Amelia dropped a few inches, the rope cinching around her neck.

Still no answer, and then the clattering noise of something falling over. Angel's well-honed security reflexes took over, and she had a phaser in her hand without thinking about it. "Computer, security override, authorization Fairchild bravo charlie one!" The door flew open, and Angel dashed inside, expecting an attacker. Instead, she found Amelia. Hanging from the ceiling. "Oh no you don't!" Swapping the phaser for the knife hidden at her hip, Angel grabbed Amelia around the waist and lifted the other woman up to take the tension off her neck. "This was a silly decision, Amelia," she said gently, cutting the rope free and taking the other woman into her arms, hoping that she'd gotten inside in time.

With the loosening of the rope, Amelia broke into a raspy, burning cough as air reentered her lungs through her now severely bruised windpipe. For some time, all she could do was cough and wheeze as she leaned against Angel, tears streaming down her face.

Angel breathed a sigh of relief as Amelia began to cough; the harsh sound indicated some damage, but Amelia was alive. That was all that mattered. "Don't you ever try to do that again," she scolded Amelia gently, taking the remains of the noose off Amelia's neck and dropping it on the floor. "Ven wouldn't want you to hurt yourself."

"I killed him..." She managed to rasp out between coughing fits. In her mind, this was true. It was her phaser modification that had summoned the Devidians that had sucked out his very life while he lay in her arms. After a little longer, she stopped coughing for the most part, her breath still rough. All she had the strength to do though, was lean on Angel and cry.

"Amelia, you couldn't have known about the comet. This wasn't your fault." It was ironic, echoing Sinek's words to her earlier. Angel hadn't wanted to accept it at first either. "You didn't kill Ven. The Devidians did. We had no way of knowing the modification would be enough to bring them here."

"I should have known," She whispered. Then louder, with a bit more strength, Amelia exclaimed, her throat grating. "Damn it, I should have known!" A trickle of blue blood was at the corner of her mouth, obviously from her coughing. Holding Angel tightly, all she could do after that was break down crying again.

"And I shouldn't have let you do it." Amelia was leaning so hard on her that Angel was having a hard time staying upright, and she took a half-step back to re-balance herself. "I'm sorry, Amelia. We both missed it."

Her sobbing finally subsiding, Amelia finally looked up at her rescuer. Not in the eye, but at least generally in the face. She noticed Angel was wearing the wrong color and had an extra pip... Curiosity had to take hold of her at that point. "How long has it been? You're a Commander now? and in Command red?"

"Well that's a story and a half. Here, sit down." Angel pulled Amelia over to the couch and sat down with her. "We're four years ahead of where we should be... some of us were, uh... posthumously promoted. A bit prematurely."

Amelia sat with her and nodded, wiping the finally slowing tears from her face. "Ok... Wait... Four years?" Amelia had no idea yet how they got back to their own general time, let alone missed that mark by four years.

"Mmhmm. There was a Devidian on the bridge with some sort of staff. Sinek picked it up and opened a portal... but it brought us to 2392 instead of 2388." Angel paused, not really sure she should tell Amelia how she'd gotten Aelyn's job yet. "The Devidians all disappeared when we got here, but we'd already lost people."

Amelia nodded slowly. That made sense. "And now you're a Commander and wearing red and Ven is dead when it should have been me... A lowly Crewman."

"No, Amelia, don't say that. His life wasn't any more valuable than yours." Angel was so not the touchy-feely sort, but she pulled Amelia into an embrace anyway. "The work you do on this ship is so important. And it's about to get even more important, as long as you promise me you're not going to hurt yourself again."

Amelia leaned into the hug, the flow of tears picking up again as she nodded. "I can promise I won't try that again. It hurts almost as much as losing my love."

"Good. I was going to wait to give you this, but I think I'd best do it now." Angel freed one of her hands and fished the tiny little box out of her pocket, flipping it open. "Remember that part about posthumous promotions?"

Nodding slowly, Amelia peered into the box at the tiny little enlisted chevrons inside. "Petty Officer... Second Class?"

Angel nodded, unpinning Amelia's old rank from her collar and replacing it with the tiny chevrons. "You've impressed a lot of people. Some of them are important brass-wearing types, but the important ones? That's me and Enalia. You do good work, and I expect to see a lot more of it."

Nodding, Amelia straightened up a bit. "Yes, Ma'am, I'll do my best..."

"We'd also like you to take over the files Ven was keeping on the Hera and her refit. I don't think he'd want anyone else to touch them." Angel smiled a bit. "He trusted you more than anyone, and I think he'd want you to do it."

Take over the Historical Records? Ven wasn't big on reports and all that but those... he spent a lot of time reminiscing over those. "It would be an honor, Ma'am. Thank you." She didn't quite smile at that, but a corner of her mouth did quirk upwards for just a moment.

"I had hoped you might say that." Angel squeezed Amelia's shoulder, smiling a bit more. "I don't want you spending the night alone in this cabin. Do you have someone you can stay with for a few days while we sort out Ven's things and figure out whether you'll be rooming with someone again?"

Amelia had to shake her head at that. She really had no one other than Ven on the ship at all. The other crewmen would work with her but they didn't like her and annoyed the piss out of her at all hours of the day. "I don't, though I know a few maintenance junctions that are cozy enough."

"Enalia might skin me if I let a member of her crew sleep in a maintenance junction my first night as her first officer." Angel had to chuckle just a bit at the thought. "I don't have an extra bed, but I do have a rather comfortable couch. Better than a maintenance junction."

"Thank you," Amelia said weakly, her throat still raw. "I just need to get a couple things. Also, most of the things in here are actually mine, if you don't mind me grabbing them as well."

"I don't mind. Take your time." Angel sat back a bit on the couch to wait.

Getting up, Amelia went into the bedroom for a few minutes. When she came out, she had a moving box with a blanket and a plushie of Ven peeking out of it. She then picked up a couple Andorian ice resin sculptures and put them in the box as well. Sadly, that was really all that was in the spartan quarters. Ven hadn't decorated them at all and the few decorations there were, were now in Amelia's box. After a moment more, Amelia looked over to Angel and nodded. She was ready to go.

Once Amelia was ready, Angel got up from the couch and gently guided the other woman out the door into the corridor. She didn't think Amelia would do anything drastic again, but there was no way in hell she was going to leave the poor woman alone with her thoughts.

Having colluded with Nexi as ordered, her monitoring systems had been enabled for stealth mode. The battle played out before her, but she wasn't particularly interested. The logs would be more interesting to review later. She had to make sure their cover wasn't blown...

...Or she would have, except for a Klingon ship of the time that somehow stumbled on them. "Frackin Klingons.." she mumbled. Her weapons hadn't undergone the same modifications, so if she engaged..she'd probably tear through the D-6 like paper. Or at least give them a bloody nose.

"This is why I hate timey wimey stuff.." Airi grumbled, noticing strange streaks of blue after effect from the "blue" phaser blasts. The hair on the back of her neck stood up...the characteristic "bad feeling about this." that she would get.

Between maintaining stealth silence and observing, sometime after the disabling of the Klingon ship, there was a portal that opened. Her first instinct was to board the Klingon ship, but after seeing it open, she thought better of it. Instead, in confusion at the Hera seemingly entering the portal..she broke stealth and followed it into the portal, promptly blacking out...

Lieutenant Commander Sinek departed the bridge after his duty shift were completed. Actually, it was his first time doing bridge duty after being newly elevated to Acting Second Officer. It was the first he had command of the entire bridge.

At the same time he was elevated, Angel was elevated to Acting First Officer. She seemed to be taken aback by the quick promotion herself. The Captain made logical choices. They were the highest ranking officer's aboard, no matter their short time in their current roles. The death of Lieutenant Commander Raydt left a void that quickly needed filled.

Sinek thought Angel might need to process a bit. He had promised to be a sounding board for her, a center of logic. Without hesitation, the CSO went directly to her quarters and rang the chime.

Angelica hadn't been home for very long, just long enough that she should have fallen asleep by now. Yet, she was still sitting on the couch, leaning forward with her head bowed and her arms resting on her knees. So many people had died, and while she hadn't directly killed them... it was still her fault. Starfleet had seen fit to promote her anyway, but she didn't deserve it. And she knew that if Aelyn had survived the last battle she wouldn't be wearing this new red uniform. That thought stung a bit, and she blinked away tears she still hadn't been able to shed.

The sound of the door chime broke through the guilty fog in her head, but Angelica didn't bother to look up at the door. She didn't know who it was, and for a moment she was tempted to send them away. Or ignore them completely. But she didn't want to be rude, so she just sighed. "Come in."

The door whisked open. Sinek paused outside taking a view of the interior of Angel's quarters, until he spotted her on the couch. In his observance, she did not appear well.

"I thought I would check on how you were, Com...Angel." She had informed him to call her Angel. It was Sinek's protocol to be prim and proper, which meant to use titles for everyone. However, the protocol for friendship seemed to trump that of duty.

"I got a lot of people killed," Angelica replied quietly, not looking up at him. She didn't know if Sinek would understand that feeling or not, but saying it was better than not answering at all. "People I was supposed to protect."

Sinek sat down next to Angel. "Sometimes we take risks that we know may have drastic results. However, we do not control those results. They may or may not happen. There are an infinite number of possibilities. You did not cause the deaths; the Devidian's did."

"The Devidians wouldn't have been here if I hadn't let Amelia use the triolic radiation to turn the phaser beams blue. I should have told her to find a different way, but I didn't. I was too tired to fight her about it, and now her boyfriend's dead."

"I understand your point, Angel," the Vulcan stated. "But it may not have happened as well. We cannot account for other species choices. Or even those of our own species. We can take all the preventative measure we choose, but sometimes, the only choice we have is to react. We had to take the risk; we had no other choice. We did not have the old technology in our hands. You had to make the decision to improvise. We have all made decisions that have not panned out."

Sinek hoped he was making sense. "The truth is, I was attempting to do my own Philadelphia experiment to try to get us back. I had asked the Captain to investigate it."

"That doesn't make it any less frustrating." These were things that Angelica knew she should be addressing with a counselor, but there was no way in hell she was going to go talk to one. She had too many secrets for that, and she'd never met a counselor that could be trusted with that sort of secret. "I've heard of the Philadelphia experiment. Probably not a better option... no one knows what happened to those people."

"I made some adjustments," Sinek admitted. "The Captain wanted further testing before jumping into it. It was the correct decision."

Sinek leaned forward so that he were more eye level with Angel. "Angel, all of us have our plans frustrated from time-to-time. We cannot allow those frustrations to defeat us. The Captain sees that you will not. Otherwise, you would not be the First Officer right now."

As Sinek matched her posture, Angelica looked over at him, smiling a tiny bit. "I know. And I do appreciate the faith she has in me. It's just... well. I'm exhausted. The few hours I slept while Amelia worked on the phasers was the most sleep I've gotten in weeks. Maybe in months. This is too much all at once. I can't deal with it."

"You can and you will," Sinek expressed as a matter of fact. "I will assist you to succeed. I am your Second Officer and your friend." He was becoming more at ease with the term. With Angel, it seemed natural.

Angelica was quiet for a moment, mulling over Sinek's words. "Maybe I should rephrase that. I can't do it by myself... and I can't go talk to the counselor. Counselors drive me batty with all their questions and their psychobabble." But Sinek wasn't a counselor. She could talk to him; he was probably the easiest person on the ship to talk to. Turning sideways on the couch so that she faced him, she brushed her hair back from her face, looking at him more directly. "I'm fine when the pressure's on. When people are looking to me for a decision or to stand between them and the enemy. But when the moment passes... I get tense. Agitated. And once that fades... I look about how I did when you came in." She paused, not really sure where she was going with this train of thought. "I don't want to be some sort of Vulcan zen master. Honestly I don't know what I could possibly expect you to do about it. I just don't want to burn myself out and end up not being there when the crew needs me."

"Angel," Sinek began as he turned sideways to face her gray eyes, "you would not be yourself if you became Vulcan-like. The staff will only follow you if you are yourself. They do respect and follow you, because you are authentic. You are a natural leader. You do not ask them to do what you would not do. You earn respect; you don't demand it."

"I don't want to change who I am, Sinek. I just want to handle this better is all." Angel sighed a bit, though this time she didn't look away. "Can you teach me how to meditate? Just so I can sort through my emotions, not to suppress them."

"I will," the Vulcan replied. "Indeed, you have partially begun by relaxing." Already, Sinek had sensed a release of some stress from Angel's body language.

He quickly decided to start with her form since Angel was already sitting cross-legged on the couch, concentrating her gray eyes on him. "You are sitting in a good position. You must continue to relax and straighten your back, keeping your body centered." As he explained this position, he demonstrated it before her.

"Okay." Angel watched him change his position and then copied it, finding that as she straightened her back and let her weight settle in that position, some more of the tension she'd been holding flowed out of her. She didn't normally sit so straight, but she could see how it was beneficial; she breathed a lot easier in that position.

Sinek gently took Angel's hands. He eased her arms bending them at the elbow, forming a triangle with her thumbs and fingers just in front of the center of her torso. He was surprised from the sensory intake he received from his hands touching hers. His nervous system had not reacted to touch like that in a while. In six years two months to be exact - pon farr. He knew it was not yet time for him to experience the event again. Sinek had just never experienced this sensory stimulation outside of pon farr.

Always one to at least try to be a good student, Angel let him guide her hands into position, her attention on how he manipulated her posture. There was a brief rush of warmth and support before it rapidly faded, so quickly she thought she must have imagined it. "Will this help me focus?"

He eased his hands away and placed them in front of his torso in the same manner. "We usually have a lamp to keep focus. The flame represents the chaos that consumes when left out of control. The lamp is what controls the flame, keeping the chaos in check."

"Um..." That could be problematic, Angel realized. She didn't think she owned a lamp, at least not the sort with an open flame. "Should I replicate one?"

He spoke calmly. Evenly. "For now, keep your focus on me, my eyes. As you visually focus on my eyes, focus your mind on the center of the triangle. The triangle represents the center of your being. Slowly control your breathing. It may be difficult at first, but with more practice, you will be able to mentally focus on the center of being, while visually focusing on other things. This is the beginning of controlling emotions, instead of allowing the chaos they can cause control you."

Angel nodded slightly as she looked directly into Sinek's eyes, slowly focusing in on just him. As her visual focus narrowed, she found that her breath naturally began to slow, but she didn't have conscious control of it. When she tried to focus on her breathing, her gaze wandered away from Sinek's eyes. Gee, he wasn't kidding when he said it could be difficult. Feeling herself growing frustrated, she pulled in a deeper breath and gently released it, not entirely realizing that she'd just done exactly as she'd been bidden.

"You are doing well for the initial attempt, you showed ample control of your breathing." Sinek stated. "If you like, I can bring you a lamp for your next session. As you improve, you can decrease the rate of your heart, easing even more of the stress you feel. You are an excellent student, Angel."

"This is a lot harder than I thought it would be." She did have to admit to feeling better though, calmer and more grounded. It was such a strange feeling; Angel had nearly always felt some level of stress, even if she didn't show it. "Definitely bring the lamp next time. If it helps, I can replicate one for myself."

Sinek continued to keep Angel's eyes in focus, helping her to focus on his. He noticed the definite stress reduction in just a few moments. Vulcans could meditate for hours, even to the point of reducing their breathing and heart rate to the point of not being detected. For Angel, he would keep it to 1/2 hour intervals, seeing the effectiveness just a few minutes had.

"I have the ideal lamp; it is considered a gift to my student...and my friend," Sinek evenly stated. "I recommend meditating twice a week with your teacher. One or two times a week on your own. When you get to the point your are efficient on your own, you may elect the solitude over the teacher."

Angel smiled a bit, not having expected him to simply give her the meditation lamp. "I can make time for that. I'll be honest though... I don't know what my schedule's like anymore. Haven't had a chance to look at Commander Radt's calendar to see what was already planned."

"When you confirm the time you are available, notify me," Sinek offered. "I will make time." He could be more flexible, work while she rested. He knew he did not require as much rest as Angel.

As it stood, he would have to meditate tonight. His sensory system and mind were in conflict. Remembering the charge he had felt when he touched Angel, Sinek's mind reminded him that she was now his student. It was a question of ethics.

"I'll do that. Thank you, Sinek." With the tension and stress of the day no longer weighing on her, Angel couldn't quite resist yawning. It had been a long time since she'd slept more than a few hours at a time, and it would be a long time yet until she'd have regular full nights of sleep.

He recognized the tiredness in her eyes. "You should rest a while, Angel. I am able to fulfill anything you need accomplished. Get rest and do not be anxious."

"Good idea." Angel yawned again, rubbing her eyes. "Have Enalia wake me if anything critical happens."

"Indeed." Sinek walked to the door, turned and nodded his head to Angel, pushed the button for the door. He quietly exited, the door whisking shut behind him. Outside, he reviewed the time with Angel. She was a promising student and friend, no matter what his sensory system was saying. He had made it a practice not to mate outside of pon farr. Still, Angel fascinated him.

It had been a week or four years depending on one's point of view and Ethan was having a hard time wrapping his hear around the whole concept. Reading about the effects of time travel, or even acting it out in a holodeck adventure was much different than the real thing.

He wasn't sure if now was the right time for a mind meld with his friend Sinek, but he knew if he didn't take action soon he'd give up on the idea. The longer he delayed the more reticent he would be to actually follow through. So he'd asked Dr. Seeger, an intern to sit in on the procedure and had asked the Vulcan to meet him here.

He'd had another nightmare about Ian. He didn't remember much of it but he remembered enough. He hadn't told anyone, not even the counselor or Dylan about the nightmare, nor did he plan too. But somehow, some way he had to get the man out of his mind.

He sat down on the desk in his office and waited for the Chief Science Officer to make his appearance.

Lieutenant Commander Sinek was preparing for the mind meld within his suite. He was meditating, controlling the thoughts, slowing the blood flow and breathing, suppressing emotions. The Vulcan didn't know what to expect; he had never melded with a human before. It may prove to be a strenuous undertaking.

Feeling prepared, Sinek showered and got dressed in a newly replicated uniform. He always demanded that look. Crisp, clean, free of wrinkles. Satisfied, Sinek strode with purpose towards the Medical Offices. Outside of Doctor Chaparral's office and rang the chime to be admitted.

Ethan was trying to sort through his feelings when the chime rang. Part of him felt like he was a kid going to see the principal while part of him felt like he used to at Christmas time. But none of that mattered, it was time.

He stood to his feet, and walked out to greet his visitor. "Hello, Commander, "he said., "thanks for coming."

Sinek bowed before the Doctor. "Are you prepared?" he asked. "Do you have another doctor present?"

"I am as prepared as I can be." Ethan said, a trace of nervousness coming out in his voice,"and yes, I have another doctor here. A Doctor Seeger. He's waiting for us. I'll grab him and we can get started.''

Ethan came back a few minutes later bringing a rather young looking human woman with him. She had ash blonde hair and hazel eyes. "Hi," she said to Sinek,"Ethan said you needed my help, what can I do?"

Sinek bowed toward Doctor Seeger. "We are about to meld minds. I have never done this with a subject that was not Vulcan. I requested your presence knowing it may be strenuous and drain energy. Your assistance may be required after the meld. It is highly important that no intervention take place as long as the connection is made. The meld must be completed and fully disconnected before any other interference. Is that understood, Doctor?"

She nodded, "Crystal clear Commander, "I'll make sure no one disturbs you during the process and I'll be right there afterwards if you need me."

"Doctor Chaparral, please be seated," Sinek evenly expressed. "It would be best if you were as comfortable as possible."

Ethan did as Sinek suggested, trying to relax, "I can' thank you enough for doing this, I just hope it works."

"I do not doubt it will work," Sinek stated matter-of-factly. "Before we start, I need to know a few things. The fear of course comes from your trauma with this Ian fellow. Is there anything else causing anxiety, such as past experiences or dreams?"

Ethan's left brow quirked upwards, wondering if it were just a general question or if the Vulcan were already reading his mind. "When I was 16, my best friend, Kyle and I were kidnapped. His family was well off, mine was not. My mom tired to rescue us, but she was too late to rescue him. If I hadn't tried to play hero when they took us, he would still be alive. My folks had rigged a transponder in me. When they shot me it caused a temporary failure in the transponder. By the time it had reset, and they were able track my location, it was too late.

He was killed, his body was never found which only made his folks' grief more pronounced. They never really got closure and neither did I."

"Now," the voice showed no emotion, "I desire you to relax. I will find those memories and will reroute the synapse response to them. Fear and anxiety are common to your species. As well as grief. However, we do not have to allow these emotions to control our responses."

When Sinek saw that Ethan was ready, he placed the fingertips of his right hand at certain points around Ethan's left eye and temple. These locations housed nerve endings and blood vessels necessary to make and monitor the link. Sinek would know any distress Ethan would experience. If the distress would become too great, he could discontinue the connection. Sinek understood though, that he himself would probably experience the most distress. He would experience the emotions of a human.

"My mind is your mind," the Vulcan began. "Your thoughts are my thoughts."


Ethan resisted at first. Not intentionally, it was purely instinctual, he didn't like people poking around on him, but slowly he relaxed letting his mind drift. It faded back to happier times, vacation, birthdays both his and other family members, Christmases. hours spent in his father's office and hanging out with his mother. There were other memories too. His first kiss with a girl, which had been a failure his first date with Kyle the kidnapping, his being shot, meeting Dylan,their fight, Dylan's walking out, his coming into sickbay, then the time with Ian, their meeting in the bar, his being drugged and then in minute detail the torture he'd endured, frame by frame in slow motion.

The two minds formed one consciousness. Sinek knew where to begin - the Limbic System of the brain. This was the place that stored and compartmentalized memory. He probed into the amygdala. It was here that a person stored emotionally charged memories. Opening a compartment, Sinek felt the joy Ethan had on his first date with Kyle. The recent engagement to Dylan was also there. Sinek's lips actually formed a smile. He moved on from there, entering another compartment. Here, Ethan stored his memories of embarrassment. Like when Ulani interrupted his time with Kyle. A green blush came to his cheeks in this compartment.

Ethan relaxed more feeling a peace he'd not felt in a long time. Sinek just exuded tranquility and calm, he rested in it while the Vulcan continued to search his mind.

In the next explored compartment of the amygdala, Sinek experienced deep grief. Deep moans echoed from deep within him as he felt the grief Ethan had when he learned of Kyle's death. This grief seemed to hinder all else. It caused him to want to retreat within himself - to isolate himself from those who may or may not care. The amygdala would produce sweating, an increase in heart beat and respiration, and a release in stress hormones.

The anxiety Ethan felt from remembering this event was relayed to the hypothalamus, causing his circadian rhythms to be disturbed. Ethan experienced countless sleepless nights full of anxiety. He experienced an altered homeostasis - a lack of appetite.

Sinek began to take charge, sending out messages to decrease the heart rate and respiration. He worked at bringing peace to Ethan's mind. Sinek rerouted the feeling from the amygdala away from the hypothalamus and to the frontal lobe of the neocortex, the logic center. He reasoned that Kyle was good for his life, his life had a meaning in Ethan's, and though he would miss Kyle, it served a purpose. Now, he needed to concentrate on Dylan being in his life. Although Dylan was not Kyle, Dylan filled that purpose now in his life. With Dylan filling that void, the anxiety has no role in his life. Sinek then when back to the memory storage of the good times Ethan had with Kyle and with Dylan. These memories became the primary focus of Ethan's thoughts. Ethan had a new pattern of thought, which brought the feeling of thankfulness and joy for those times.

Ethan really wasn't sure what was going on at the moment. For a brief instant he'd shared Sinek's memories, but then they faded away like a pleasant dream one could never quite recall. Then all of the bad memories started to fade away. Replaced my images of Kyle and Dylan, for the moment that was all he could think of.

Satisfied with those anxieties, Sinek went back into the amygdala. Finding the storage compartment for Ethan's most recent traumatic memories - those of Ian, Sinek began to feel a dark fear. Everything from this memory was bringing to life the primitive part of the brain. The brain was overloaded in survival mode. The trauma had caused Ethan to react to every fear with a sense of survival.

Sinek began rerouting the synapse toward the frontal lobe - the place of logic. He began to reason that this event is over; it is past. Yes, Ethan was hurt, but he had come out of it stronger. He had lost an arm, but the one that replaced it was just as functional and stronger. He was aboard a ship with those who cared for him. This brought a sense of security to Ethan.

There was still some concern on Ethan's part over what had happened but it was no longer at the forefront of his thoughts. He felt safer, with Dylan being by his side, his other friends that surrounded him. Ian was there, still a threat, but no longer did he dominate Ethan's thoughts and the threat that he posed was far less ominous.

Ethan was in a good place now, with a bright and promising future. He felt at peace with himself for the first time in a long time.

Sinek released the meld. As soon as the connection was broken, a sense of fear and dread came over him. He had not experienced fear such as this in his entire lifetime. It was foreign to him. The memory of Ethan's fear now fresh in Sinek's mind became real to Sinek. He lost control and urinated, falling to the ground in a fetal position, his body quaking uncontrollably.

Ethan tried to catch Sinek before he fell, but wasn't quite fast enough. He didn't know what
had happened, but it couldn't be good. He got hold of Sinek' shoulders and directed Seeger to get his feet and they carried him to the nearest bio bed.

Ethan, still feeling guilty about the previous night, but the excitement mixed with more than a little nervousness dominated his feelings. This was the day, he was going to be fitted with hi new arm. It would never of course compare to the one that he lost, even if it was superior, but it would be far better than the alternative and it would serve as a constant reminder of what he had lost and what he could have lost.

Whistling a tuneless song, he stepped into the sickbay, looking for his boss.

Cameron yawned as he reached a mug of coffee towards his lips when he heard the doors to sickbay open and close, announcing a new visitor. In his other hand was a small PaDD, and on it were the latest testing results from the new cybernetic arm he was about to fit his ACMO with.

Glancing up and to the left, he caught sight of Ethan. "Good morning," he said, standing up and crossing the table towards where Ethan's new arm waited. For the moment, it lacked the aesthetes of synthetic flesh; it was a shiny and metallic looking assemblage of components and nano-fiber tubing. "May I introduce to you your new arm. Once it's installed, I'll synthesize a skin coat so it looks as natural and as real as the one you had."

Ethan smiled at the prospect. "That sounds great Cameron, and will I be able too have any feeling in it? Will I be able to know I'm holding a laser scalpel, or a tooth brush? Or feel Dylan's face the surface of a rock as I'm climbing?"

Cameron nodded. "Past the matter of needing occasional maintenance and a recharge, it'll look and feel as close to the real thing as I can make it."

"Good, then let's get started."

Guiding Ethan into the main sickbay area, Cameron had him lay down on the surgical bed before readying a hypospray. Pressing it to Ethan's neck, Cameron hit the initiator and heard the audible hiss that told him anesthesia was now working its way into Ethan's blood stream. Once Ethan's eyes closed and the readouts on the table indicated he was unconscious, Cameron began working on building the cybernetic to organic connection nodes that the new arm would need to work with Ethan's nervous system.

The rest of the surgery would probably take another two or three hours, depending.

***

Ethan's eyelids fluttered open For a couple of seconds, the room seemed to spin on its axis and he felt nauseated, but then things settled down and he opened his eyes. He wasn't feeling any pain, though he'd feel some later, he was sure.

For the moment he took a deep breath and lifted his new arm, or tried to, but things felt wrong and he was having difficulty controlling it.

"Hey,"he called out, "what's wrong."

Cameron rounded the corner and found his assistant already trying to use the new limb. He flashed Ethan a wry smile. "You came out of anesthesia earlier than I expected you to," he chided, returning with a small PaDD a moment later. Thumbing at its controls, Cameron knew things were now working the way they were supposed to because he heard the audible whine of the arm's power cell rising, the releasing of magnetic locks, and a confirmation beep. "Try it now."

Ethan tried it a second time and this time it worked. It would take a bit of getting used to but it looked and felt like his real arm had. It could probably a lot more durable than his old one had been and could withstand more punishment.

"So, I'm assuming that if I can feel the things I want to feel, then I can feel pain too. What happens if it gets cut will I bleed? Can it get broken?"

"Pain sensory is determined by your custom options," Cameron indicated. "You can choose whether you feel pain and how much pain if you do. But it won't bleed." Cameron pointed to the arm. "That entire thing is made out of the same composites as Starship hulls, so I'd be surprised if anybody ever cut through it. The skin composition is molecular chameleon-skin designed to look and feel like the real thing, without any of the disadvantages."

Ethan had some very dark and candid thoughts about what he would do with his new arm if he ever saw Ian again, but he kept those to himself. "I was assuming that it wouldn't bleed, but I'm glad you confirmed that. As to being indestructible or virtually so, that I didn't know about. Thanks for all the good work.

Cameron nodded, providing a smart smile to accompany the nod. "Not a problem."

Ethan turned to go. "I'm going to celebrate, maybe a little workout. You'll have to stop by and have dinner sometime.

Sinek lay upon the bio bed. Fear was becoming a part of him. Instinct brought him back to the fetal position. His body shook as tremors along a fault line. A cold sweat broke over him, soaking his once pristine uniform. One could not tell where the sweat ended and the urine began from his kidneys failing when the fear overwhelmed him. Darkness was overtaking Sinek, bringing a deeper sense of dread.

Ethan ignored the stench of the urine, it really didn't faze him. He'd smelled worse. What did worry him was Sinek's condition and the realization that he had put Sinek there. That realization shook Ethan to his core, but he didn't let it show. His professional side took over.

He tapped his com badge =/\=Commander Fairchild, this is Commander Chaparral, I need you in Sickbay stat. No time to explain, just get yourself down here.=/\=

=/\=I'm on my way.=/\= The call for her to go to sickbay was unusual; in her time aboard the Hera, Angel had never heard any member of the command team called down to sickbay for an emergency. That alone was cause for her to head that way immediately. Something very serious had to be going on.

Ethan pulled out a hypospray and pressed against Sinek's neck giving him a mild sedative.

As the sedative began to enter Sinek's blood stream, the tremors decreased, eventually ceasing. Sporadically his body would give a nervous twitch. The darkness continued to overtake him.

"Sinek" the doctor spoke gently as he bent down, "Sinek, it's your friend Ethan. I'm here for you. Just hang on to the sound of my voice. You're going to be okay."

A few minutes after she'd been called, Angel came into sickbay to look for Ethan. He wasn't hard to spot, leaning over a biobed where another man in science blue lay, shaking and visibly wet, even from a distance. A jerk of his head revealed a pointed ear before it disappeared behind Ethan's body again. Sinek? It had to be. He was the only Vulcan on board. But she didn't have time to worry about him as a friend. "What happened?" she asked calmly, joining Ethan by Sinek's bed. Though professional, her question carried a note of concern that went beyond being worried about a colleague.

"We did a mind meld," the doctor explained, "to help me overcome some of my fears, because of what Ian did to me. I thought he was fine, but the fear must have overwhelmed him. I've given him a sedative to calm him down, but that is only a temporary fix. He'll need his friends around when he wakes up. We're going to have to help him erect those logic walls or whatever you want to call them when he comes to, Otherwise he's going to get worse."

She'd been called not as the ship's first officer, but as Sinek's friend. Were the situation not so grim, she might have smiled at the idea of Sinek telling others about their friendship. "I'll stay with him."

The darkness turned to a nightmare, something else Sinek had never experienced. Vulcans rarely slept, hence no dreams. Everything seemed so real. Wave after wave of Borg were boarding the Hera. The Doctor had been assimilated, his artificial arm had pinchers. Something had a hold of Sinek, while a Borg was preparing to assimilate Angel. Sinek began to flail.

Seeing Sinek start flailing on the biobed, Angel pushed past Ethan and grabbed Sinek's hand, paying no mind to the smells of sweat and urine and with little regard for her own safety, should he lash out at her touch. "Hey," she said softly, trying to get his attention.

The flailing ceased as a look of bewilderment came to the Vulcan's face. In the nightmare, Angel was yelling. However, coming from somewhere beyond the dream, her voice calmly came through. He felt the hand holding his. He knew from the touch it was her. Sinek squeezed it tighter in response.

"You can hear me. Good." Angel squeezed Sinek's hand, giving Ethan a 'I have no idea what I'm doing but let's roll with it' look. "I don't know what you're seeing in that Vulcan brain of yours, but it's not real. You need to accept that and come back to us, okay?"

Her voice was reassuring to him. Sinek tilted his head toward were he felt Angel's voice was. It's not real! began to sound in his mind. Slowly, the Borg began to fade. The Doctor was no longer a Borg. Angel was there, looking like her name. In his sleep, a look of calm came to Sinek's face. In his mind, he was beginning to turn the battle.

Seeing a look of peace wash over the Vulcans face Ethan breathed out a sigh. Whatever Angel was doing it was working. "I'm going to go do some paperwork, reports and so forth. You two can be alone. I'll be back in about 30 minutes or so and give him something to counteract the sedative. Call me if something comes up in the meantime, I'm right over there in the office."

"I'll yell if we need anything. Thank you for calling me." Sickbay was woefully short on chairs, particularly near the bio beds, so Angel gently nudged Sinek over on the bed and sat on its edge, where he would see her when he woke up. Whatever had been going on, somehow she'd stopped it, and if she had to sit there until he came out of this, that was what she planned to do.

Still holding to Angel's hand, Sinek now felt the change of her position. His arm now gently tightened about her waist. Over the next few minutes Sinek's breathing and heart rate drastically decreased. If not for the fact the bio bed had been picking up the readings, he would have been presumed dead. Inside now the mind was beginning to win. Synapse were firing up and new neural pathways were being laid. Fear was being backed into a corner.

That was more than just a friendly gesture, and Angel chuckled quietly at it. Now those brief flashes of supportive feelings she'd felt before made sense, affection buried beneath layers of Vulcan control. "You'd better hope no one sees you embracing me," she told him quite seriously, a stupid grin on her face. "Not very Vulcan of you, Sinek."

The heart rate and respiration slowly returned to normal. The fear had been banished to the nether reaches of his mind.

Sinek stirred and slowly opened his eyes. The light coming from behind Angel formed an aura about her frame. His body still feeling the effects of the sedative, Sinek whispered, "Fascinating," before closing his eyes and drifting off once again asleep.

"Fascinating. Is that all you're going to say?" Relieved that he was apparently all right now, Angel released a breath and relaxed. She didn't know what this little miracle even meant... didn't know Vulcans could get that scared. Then again, she hadn't known many Vulcans. The one she did know hadn't mind melded with any torture victims either.

Ethan walked back in the room and examined his patient and friend. 'I'm going to give him something to bring him around," he told Angelica, "but I think we need to clean him up. I don't want him to be embarrassed when he comes to."

Do Vulcans get embarrassed? Angel didn't know if it would be more embarrassing to wake up still soaked in those fluids or to have someone change her clothes while he was asleep, but she nodded slightly. "So how do we do that without disturbing him?"

"Well, he's still under right now, so that shouldn't be a problem. The question is does he want to have his clothes changed by a gay man or a woman?"

Amused by the question, Angel shook her head, trying not to laugh at that absurdity. "That's not a question I ever thought I would have to answer, especially about a sleeping Vulcan." She had to think about it for a moment, not knowing if either of them were appropriate choices for the task. "From a logical standpoint, you're in a relationship with someone already. Plus he doesn't have any... equipment you haven't seen before." She was supposed to be an adult, damn it. This wasn't supposed to be so damned funny! "Then again I came up through security. There's not much I haven't seen either."

"Maybe I better do it," Ethan suggested, "I'm not going to touch any of his equipment. And yes he's not exactly my type."

"That seems... more appropriate." Still trying desperately not to snicker at the situation, Angel gently freed herself from Sinek's one-armed embrace around her waist and got up from the edge of the biobed. "I'll just pull the curtain around and wait on the other side."

"Sinek,"Ethan told him, "If you can hear me, you had, well a bit of an accident and I'm going to clean you up. It means I'm going to have to take your clothes off."

As Ethan spoke to Sinek, Angel quietly pulled the privacy curtain around the bed and stepped away to a discreet distance to wait.

Taking another man's clothes off was not exactly a foreign concept to Ethan he'd done it more than once before. Taking another man's clothes off in this particular fashion was. He lifted the Vulcan's shirt off pretty much without incident, and tossed them in relying bin, then he moved to Sinek's pants.

Sinek was still asleep, but sensed someone's presence. It may have been an effect the sedative had, but he began to mumble. "Angel...you should know...I..." Sinek again fell silent.

Still close enough to hear, Angel gave the curtain a curious glance. She knew Sinek must still be asleep or he'd know it was Ethan touching him now. It would be more professional to remain away from the curtain, but curiosity won out and she stepped back over so she was just outside it. "What is this thing you want me to know, Sinek?"

Hearing her voice, Sinek continued, scattered "You...I cross...action...no emotion...choice...lv..." He went silent again.

Ethan continued to work ignoring Sinek's words as best he could. He had was having problems of his own to deal with at that time. He'd taken off the Science Officers pants and disposed of them. No he was faced with the rather delicate task of removing his underwear.

Knowing she was on the other side of the curtain he ignored Angel to for the moment.

Puzzled by the random nature of Sinek's words, Angel was quiet for a moment. She didn't know if there was a real message there or not, but if it was... she didn't think he'd say it once he was awake.

"I...," the voice was calm and slow, " love...you."

Ethan hand froze just above the Vulcan's underwear, as his brow rose above his hairline. He was aware that the sedative was doing most of the talking, but he was pretty sure it was only releasing Sinek's inhibitions.

Then taking a deep breath he tugged the underwear off and tossed with the rest of the discarded clothes. He averted his eyes, for the most part, then turned his back and headed to the small replicator to create some new clothes for his friend.

The words hit Angel over the head like a brick, and initially she took a step back, trying to wrap her head around that statement. Sinek loved her? Without a second more of thought, she pushed the curtain open and went back to his bed, paying no mind to his current state of undress. She'd seen it all before on the security tapes, and frankly she wasn't phased by male nudity after so many years in security anyway. "Did I hear that right? Those words came out of Sinek's mouth?"

Sinek was beginning to stir now. It seemed the sedative was beginning to be coming to an end. His eyes slowly opened.

Seeing Angel by his side as before he asked, "I was asleep?"

Confusion came over him when he realized he was in the nude. This seemed to becoming a strange habit. It was a second time he had awaken baked since boarding the ship. This time Angel was standing next to him. The Vulcan showed no embarrassment, only confusion.

"I've got you some new clothes," Ethan said to him, "you, uh ruined your last set. I am going to go now and leave the two of you alone. You obviously have a lot to talk about. You can get dressed when you want."

Sinek received the new uniform from the Doctor. "Doctor, the meld. Are you well?"

"I am, thanks to you, but I could ask you the same question. It seems it was a real strain on you."

Sinek began to get dressed. "I am well, Doctor. It got dark for a while in my mind." He looked up at Angel. "Your voice brought me through."

"My voice in particular?" While Sinek got dressed, Angel politely averted her eyes to give him some privacy, not that he seemed to care. "You said something while you were asleep."

"I recall battling within my mind. I do not recall having a conversation," Sinek stated without inflection, while he finished dressing. "The Doctor stated we needed to talk. I assure you Angel, I am well and may remain on duty."

Ethan quietly slipped out of the room leaving the two remaining occupants to themselves.

"Oh, this isn't about you remaining on duty." If Sinek didn't remember their pseuso-conversation, he might not even know what it was he'd said. Still, Angel wanted to know if he'd say it again. "I wouldn't call it a conversation... not really anyway. You were... rambling. Disjointed. A lot of it didn't make sense."

Sinek raised a brow. The thought of a Vulcan not making sense, well, did not make sense. "Angel, I am a Vulcan. A Vulcan saying something and not making sense is illogical." The CSO bent his arms at the elbows, forming a triangle before him with the fingers of his hands. "What did I specifically say?"

"You were sedated," Angel reminded him matter-of-factly. "Well." Since he was sitting up now, there was an empty space on the bed, and Angel sat down there. "You started off with 'Angel, you should know that...' then some random words that didn't quite make a sentence. Followed by..." she hesitated, not sure if she wanted to continue prying. After a moment, she sighed, deciding to just go for it and make the best of whatever he said next. "Sinek, you told me you loved me. And I can't just forget you said it."

Sinek gazed into those steel gray eyes and stated, "Indeed." He thought how best to express it. "Since coming aboard, I have been impressed by your actions. You keep emotions in check while on duty; you've made quick progress in meditation. It seems everything you do fascinated me. I've thought about it much. The logic states that I'm not fascinated by what you do, but I am fascinated by you."

He looked into the memory of the meld. "I have learned during my first meld with a human mind." He paused, then continued, "We Vulcans have the wrong idea about love. It is not an emotional thing, like we believe all humans have when they see a puppy. Love is a logical choice of the one that is loved."

Sinek thought the hope of Angel understanding him was great. He was Vulcan; logic made sense. "Angel, I have chosen to love you."

"It's more that there's different types of love," Angel began. Then the rest of Sinek's words connected in her brain, and she had that same 'hit by a brick' look on her face as when she'd first heard him say it. Of all the men she'd ever served with, it was a Vulcan who chose her. Wanted her for who she was, not how she looked or what sorts of things she could do. "Pardon my surprise," she said after a moment, having gathered her wits again. "I... well I don't quite know what to say!"

She thought about it for a few moments, searching for words that would express how she felt. "I wasn't very nice to you when we first met, but you've been the kindest soul on this ship since that day. I wasn't sure what it was, but I thought there was something different about you."

"When I was struggling, I knew your touch and your voice. Your touch is stimulating to me. I have never had that type of experience outside of pon farr. It seemed like an illogical user experience on a computer. I did not know how to interpret it until I melded with the Doctor."

"I will understand if you believe I've crossed the boundaries of friendship, or for that matter of a teacher with his pupil. It is indeed what I have done."

"Sinek." Angel knew that Vulcans weren't extremely fond of close contact, but she gently took his hands, pulling him out of the meditative position. "It's common for friends to transcend that particular boundary, and you can still teach me how to meditate and control my feelings. I don't want you to be the professionally distant teacher."

Her touch sent electrical relays up his arms. Sinek gently squeezed Angel's hand. Her statement didn't fully mean that his love for her was being reciprocated. Did Angel wish to remain close friends or was it open for a deeper relationship? There was only one way to find out. He was after all, a scientist. Sinek leaned in to Angel and gave her a soft, gentle kiss on the lips.

Caught off guard, Angel did not immediately react. She was too surprised! Everything she knew about Vulcans suggested they didn't do such things. After a few seconds that felt like an eternity, she put her hand on the side of his face and ever so gently returned that kiss.

Ethan's curiosity had gotten the best of him and he had decided to go back and check on his patient and his friend to see if everything was alright. He returned just in time to witness the kiss. He remained silent, smiled to himself and slipped back into his office.

Red laser beams pierced the darkness, backing her into a corner. Groans and shuffling footsteps... these weren't Borg. They were... something else. Something not quite dead but not quite alive. One came close enough to reach for her, its hand starting to close around her arm...

The insistent beep of an incoming subspace communique jolted Angel awake... and sent her crashing to the deck as her panicked flailing toppled her chair. "Ow," she grumbled, pulling herself up and setting the chair upright again. As if seeing those... things in her dreams at night wasn't bad enough, now they were haunting her during the day too. She went to slap the 'decline call' button when the caller's identity caught her attention. What did the Section 31 information office want with her? Didn't they have better things to do instead of tracking her down four years after she supposedly died? Scowling, she accepted the call. "What the hell do you want?"

"We ask the questions, Fairchild. Where have you been?" The man on the screen exuded calm, and instantly Angel hated him for it. "We lost contact with you."

"Yeah, you did. Four years ago." There was a definite growling note in Angel's voice, colored by frustration. She'd finally found a ship where some of the people liked her, and suddenly she wasn't so keen on passing any information back to some sort of handler. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't contracts end when one party ceases to exist?"

"Yes..." There was hesitation in the man's voice.

"Then please kindly fuck off. I don't work for you anymore, on account of being dead for four years," Angel said dismissively, reaching for the button to terminate the call.

"Lieutenant Fairchild--"

"Commander Fairchild," Angel corrected him, somewhat venomously. "Contact me again and I'll see to it that the brass know you're reaching out to people in the field. As I recall, you're not supposed to do that anymore. Goodbye." Slapping the comm channel off, Angel felt a sense of relief and freedom she hadn't felt in years. It was amazing how she hadn't seen the oppression or controlling nature of the agency until she'd been free from it for a few days...

Ethan paced the bedroom back and forth like a caged tiger. He was off duty, so he was dressed casually, very casually. He was wearing khaki colored board shorts and an unbuttoned teal colored Risan style shirt and was barefoot. He was now fully acclimated to his new arm, though he kept marveling at it whenever he looked in the mirror. He had a question to ask Dylan a question he didn't want anyone else to know about. He waited for his boyfriend to return home, he knew he was having to put in some long hours.

Having just piled through a mountain of paperwork, Dylan had finally escaped from his office and trudged wearily home. All he really wanted was a long hot bath and a massage but knew he'd have to make do with the sonic shower instead. Stepping inside the quarters that he now shared with his fiance, he called out "Ethan! You home?"

Ethan stopped the pacing, he could hear the weariness in Dylan's voice. "Yeah, in here," he called out. "I'll be right there." He walked out of the bedroom into their main living area."Hey babe," he paused, "uh, you look like shit. Are you okay?"

"Busy day." Dylan ran a hand through his dark hair, "And a mound of paperwork like you wouldn't believe." he added, taking Ethan's hand and pulling him close, "And how is my favourite person doing?"

"Better now that you're here," Ethan replied as he found his arms wrapping around his lover. After a brief hug he said,"I wasn't sure what you wanted and I didn't want to bother you at work. What are you in the mood for?"

"Well that depends on if you're on the table or not." Dylan smiled at his lover, marveling at how good he could look consider the brutal ordeal he'd been through.

Ethan laughed,"You have a dirty mind, just one of the reasons I love you. I could probably arrange being on the table, but first we better eat something. What would you like?"

"I'm in the mood for comfort food." Dylan replied with a yawn, "Something stodgy and horribly bad for you." he added as he let Ethan go and headed for the sofa.

"How about some Mac'n Cheese, the real thing, not any replicated stuff, with some bacon and some smoked potatoes?"Ethan asked as he moved towards the kitchen, "and I've got some news to tell you."

"Yes on the food and you're not pregnant are you?" Dylan asked, trying to sound shocked.

"Gods no," he said with a laugh, "Though not for the sake of trying on your part. I've been given a promotion. I am the new CMO and I outrank you now."

"Seriously?" Dylan grinned from ear to ear, "That's fantastic news!" he pulled Ethan into a bear hug, "Congratulations gorgeous." he added as he kissed the side of his cheek.

Ethan's smile matched Dylan's."Thanks,"he replied, "I just hope I can do the job and live up to everyone's expectations."

After about half an hour he came back with a couple of platters for each of them. He put them at their perspective places then went to touch Dylan on the shoulder, this time he was no longer smiling, "We've got to talk," he said simply, "over dinner or after, but I need to confess something to you."

Ignoring his plate, Dylan replied, "Well considering I won't enjoy the food if I'm left here fretting about what you're about to say, how about we talk right now?"

"Sure," Ethan said, setting down his utensils. "This whole thing with Ian was driving me crazy. Close to literally. Sinek and I did a mindmeld together today, to help me get over it. It has helped a lot, but it looked like Sinek wouldn't be able to handle it for a while. He took on all my fear and it was almost too much for him.

So here's the good news, I'm at a place now where we can get set a date for our marriage. Here's the bad news. Before when I talked about getting rid of Ian, it was motivated by fear Now its motivated by something else. As long as he is out there someplace, we'll always be looking over our shoulders. Well I will anyway. And he deserves to pay for what he did. He needs to be stopped before he does it to someone else. I want you to help me find him and kill him."

Without even hesitating, Dylan nodded and said "You'll have it. I want that bastard dead too for what he did to you." The look in Dylan's eyes revealed a deep hatred for what Ian had done to the man he loved and he would do anything to make Ethan feel safe once more.

"I never thought I'd feel that way. I'm a doctor, I'm supposed to heal lives not take them. But this is not the first time something like his has happened to me. When I was fifteen I was kidnapped and Kyle my first boyfriend, the only one I ever loved bsides you, was killed."

Dylan looked up sharply and looked at Ethan. "You never told me that...were you hurt?"

"Not really. I was shot with a disruptor which hurt like hell, but it wasn't serious. But Kyle and I were really close and I thought I'd never get over losing him. But I did. Then I thought I'd never really love someone again. Really love them, but then you came along.

That's why I didn't want you going into Intel, I didn't want to take the chance of losing you too."

"I'm sorry." Dylan replied, the missing pieces of their previous argument all those years ago finally falling into place, "But I can't help who I am...I'd never have been happy doing what I was doing before."

"And I wouldn't want you to. Not now anyway. Back then I was insecure and still blaming myself for what happened. Now I know better. Not that I'm not going to have some sleepless nights if you're away on an assignment . But I know you can take care of yourself. And I love you, I want you to be who you are, who you want to be. You're called to doing what you do Dylan. You shouldn't have to give it up and I'll never ask you to."

"We really are in a much stronger place now aren't we?" Dylan looked at Ethan, "No secrets, and we've grown up. I won't let anything come between us ever again."

They're conversation was suddenly interrupted by someone from the bridge reporting a subspace communication for Doctor Ethan Chaparral.

Ethan glanced over at Dylan with a what could it be now expression. ^=^I'll take it down here,^=^ he said. Then he go up and moved to his computer.

The monitor soon showed the face of Ulani. Her concerned look turned to joy when she saw that Ethan indeed was alive and well. The past four years had been a hellish nightmare for her. She didn't wish to relive it again. She was dressed in black and gray.

"Ethan! You're alive! I'm so thankful to see you alive and well!"

Ethan, not knowing what she had been through smiled. "Yes, I'm doing great. I've got new arm and everything. Dylan and I were just sitting down to dinner. How are you?"

"Much better now that I see you...my lost child." "When your ship disappeared four years ago, I didn't know what to think. It's been four years since I have spoken to anyone aboard the Hera. I hopped aboard an Intel ship and headed for the spot where you had vanished. Their was some space debris in the area, but nothing that appeared to be from the Hera. Nothing that was Federation issue."

A tear rolled down her left cheek. She had more to say, but it had to be done in person. She was doing her best to be brave for her son.

"Where are you headed now?" she asked.

Realization hit Ethan like a runaway shuttlecraft. "Oh my gods, mom!!! I didn't even think of that. We ran into some kind of space/time anomaly, it's only been a few days for us. I don't think we're that far from where we disappeared from. We are on our way to New Sydney. I don't have our exact coordinates though. It should be easy to track us though, its not like we're cloaking ourselves."

"Is Dylan okay?" She asked.

"Yes, we both are thanks for asking. Did you want to talk to him?"

"No, that's okay, Buttercup. Just let him know I'll be wanting to work closely with him from time-to-time in the near future."

Standing behind the console so that Ethan could see him but Ulani could not, Dylan mouthed "Buttercup?"

Ethan's face reddened. "He's right here, I think he heard you mom." Then he looked over at Dylan and in a lower voice said, "yes, buttercup and you breathe a word of this to anyone and you won't get any until we're married."

Ulani grinned, "I guess I've let the cat out of the bag. I'm just glad you're both okay. I'll be seeing you." There was no word as to when, why or how. Just that they would see her. Perhaps at the wedding.

She had to speak with him face-to-face. There was so much to tell him. With the trauma he had in the past four years (to her), it definitely needed to be face-to-face. Before she gave too much away, she had to end the transmission.

She winked as she ended the transmission with, "I love you, Ethan."

"Whatever you say Buttercup." Dylan grinned as the screen went blank, clearly enjoying the moment.

Ethan flashed him a single finger greeting, but he was smiling the whole time."Oh and one more confession. About Sinek. I took his clothes off."

"You what?" Dylan raised an eyebrow, not sure what he thought about that.

"There's nothing to be jealous about, I do like the little pointed elven ears, they are cute. But he's not really my type and I'm not his. After the mindmeld, he was overtaken by fear. He really wasn't used to dealing with something like that. And well, let's just say it was kind of a necessity."

"What he got scared and just had to take his clothes off?" Dylan replied with a hint of annoyance in his voice before pausing, his eyebrows lifting as realisation dawned on him and he added "Oh...he got that scared."

"Yes, that scared," Ethan paused, looking into Dylan's eyes. "you do know I would never, you know cheat on you don't you?"

"After what we've been through, I'd hope not." Dylan replied, "And the same goes for me...whatever my meddling sister might tell you." then he paused as he thought of something Ulani had said and groaned "Damn...I bet my family think I'm missing too don't they?"

"I trust you and I don't care what your sister says. But yeah, I didn't think about that either you better try to reach them, let them know you're okay," he paused the smile returning to his face, "and that we're getting married. Maybe they'll be so relieved that they'll actually accept it."

"Yeah, you met my family right?" Dylan chuckled, figuring that even four years of absence wouldn't make them change their minds.

"Okay," Ethan responded, "maybe you're right, wishful thinking on my part. Still, I can always hope."

"Yeah you keep doing that Buttercup." Dylan grinned at him cheekily.

Ethan gave him a mock scowl, "My mother and I are going to have a long talk the next time I see her." he promised, "and as for you well I have some plans for you after dinner. As long as you don't call me that name again."

"Oh you do huh?" Dylan's eyes darkened, "Does it involve you, me and no clothes?"

"Of course it does. You know, if you're up to it."

"You really need to ask that?" Dylan smiled, "I spent a lot of years trying to get over you and now I have you back I'll never get tired of being with you...I know now that I have to relish every second." he reached out and caressed Ethan's cheek as he added "I almost lost you recently for a second time. Never again."

Ethan took hold of Dylan's other hand, "Never again, " he repeated leaning in and stealing a kiss.


End


Lt. Commander Ethan Chaparral
CMO

Lieutenant Dylan Santiago
Chief of Intelligence

Everyone dealt with loss their own way, but there was one thing that Angel was absolutely certain of. As someone dealt with a loss, they needed to be distracted. And since she also was in need of some distraction - lest she fall victim to thoughts of zombies and ghosts - she'd paged Amelia to meet her at the holodeck the moment their schedules aligned to give them both a few hours of downtime. The trouble was that Angel couldn't decide on a program. She didn't know Amelia that well yet and wasn't sure what sorts of things the Andorian woman might enjoy. And she didn't want to do some stereotypical thing about Andorians liking cold weather or being aggressive people. She wanted something a little more personal. Not really sure what she was looking for, she flipped through the available programs, waiting for something to catch her eye.

Amelia rounded the corner, Looking down at a PaDD and looking like she hadn't slept at all. "Commander," She said in greeting, looking up at Angel. "What do you have planned for us then?"

"I haven't quite decided yet. But something peaceful... relaxing... and that does not in any way remind me of zombie things or ghosts." It was possibly the most vague description she could possibly come up with, but Angel wasn't exactly firing on all cylinders after those recent events. She doubted any of the crew truly were.

"What about one of those Earth nature preserve things? People say they're relaxing..." Amelia said, looking back down at her PaDD.

"Nature preserve... that sounds nice and safe." Tapping in a keyword search, Angel pulled up a list of those programs, eventually selecting one that primarily held herbivores. A nice, peaceful place where they could hang out and talk without the fear of being eaten by a holographic predator. She wasn't normally so timid and afraid, but she also didn't normally tangle with zombies and ghosts! Loading the program, she looked over at Amelia with a puzzled expression. "What are you doing?"

"Please let it not be one with cages..." Amelia muttered as she put up her PaDD. "Nothing much - just looking over an inventory of broken parts that never made it to recycling." Amelia wasn't looking forward to anything dangerous either and her experiences growing up... the few zoos she had been to had just left her feeling worse. Maybe a nice 'nature preserve' where the animals roamed free would be nice.

"No cages. I don't much like to see animals in them either." It wasn't something Angel admitted often, but she did have a small soft spot for animals. The program announced it was ready, and the doors opened to a lovely green space just in time for a deer to trot past into the wood line.

"That's... unexpected..." Amelia said, giving a slightly awkward sideways glance to Angel as she stepped out onto the holodeck floor. "You're not what I expected at all, you know. By the rumors and your reputation, that is."

"If you were to believe my reputation, I kill six people a day before breakfast." Angel rolled her eyes a bit at that as she followed Amelia into the holodeck. "Or what's the other one the security boys tell... that my heart is truly made of ice? Something like that?"

"That your heart is 'of ice so cold, even Andorians shiver' if i remember correctly." Amelia finished. Looking off in the distance, Amelia could see some strange animals she had never seen before. Animals that were decidedly used to warmer climates than she was.

"Yeah, that was it." Angel followed Amelia's gaze to the animals in the distance, wondering how those had gotten in the same program as a deer. Perhaps the deer had actually been an antelope? Or this was a park that had animals from all over Earth. "Honestly some of the rumors are a bit silly. I know where they come from, and I might even encourage some of them a bit... but there are a few I'm not fond of. The heart of ice, for example."

"Understandable. Even on Andoria, a heart of ice isn't entirely good." Amelia waved her antenna at a group of large grey animals and some long escalator-necked yellow and black creatures. "Do you know what those are? And that first creature we saw... was that what's known as a... a cow?"

"The first one was some sort of deer or antelope. Didn't get a good look at it." Angel looked at the far group of animals again, realizing now there were two groups. "The tall ones are called giraffes... they pretty much only eat leaves off trees. The other ones..." She paused, watching as one of the large grey animals flapped its ears. "Those are elephants. The giraffes are gentle, but elephants can be aggressive. Don't get too close."

"Giraffes and elephants... What strange animals..." the Andorian muttered under her breath as she walked along the footpath that led near the long necked animals.

"Andoria doesn't have many big animals, does it?" Amused by Amelia's fascination with the large creatures, Angel followed her down the path.

"No and neither did the colony I grew up on. About the biggest thing I saw growing up was a redbat and that was on a plate." Amelia replied, a bit fascinated by the animals and starting to come out of her shell. Suddenly, a large flying creature flew overhead with long legs and a large pliers-shaped beak. "What was that?" She exclaimed, having never seen anything with feathers before.

"Some kind of bird. Maybe a stork or a heron." Angel watched the bird fly off into the distance, but she wasn't really sure what sort of bird it was. "What's a redbat?"

"An Andorian flying mammal. Not much to look at but it's tasty if cooked right." Amelia explained as she watched the avian fly away, her antenna twitching excitedly.

"Can't say I've ever eaten a bat. Don't think I'd want to... Terran bats don't have much meat on them." Finding a grassy spot under a large tree - close enough to the giraffes to watch them for hours if they wanted - Angel sat down on the ground, leaning against the tree's trunk.

Plopping down next to Angel, the younger Andorian woman sat cross-legged, staring at the long necked beasts. "How long do you think it takes for food to reach their stomach?"

"I really don't know, but I imagine it's a long time." Angel watched as one of the animals stood on just its hind legs to get some leaves from the top of a tree.

Leaning back against the tree, Amelia nodded and just enjoyed the breeze and watching the animals. The smell of grass was new to her as well. She knew most planets had green and yellow plant life and she had even seen it a few times but there was so much green here... Running her hands over the grass, she picked a few blades and brought it to her nose, sniffing it.

Angel smiled a bit, amused by how innocent Amelia seemed as she sniffed the blades of grass. "Good thing that's holographic or you might start sneezing."

"Sneezing?" Amelia looked up, worried. "Is it toxic?"

"Oh no, not at all. But some people are allergic to its pollen, and that makes them sneeze." Angel had to remind herself that such problems weren't always common on other worlds. Now that she thought about it, she'd never heard of an Andorian being allergic to anything.

"Ah, allergic." Amelia said, mulling the word over. "It sounds unpleasant. Is it like when I try spicy Earth foods and my guts hurt? Is that possibly an allergy?"

"Maybe. It could just be that you're not used to the peppers and spices."

Her antennae perking up, Amelia directed her attention to a scurrying sound not far from them in the grass. Glancing back at Angel a moment, she waited for whatever it was to show itself.

Following the noise, Angel looked over just in time to see a tiny fox with enormous ears dart out and stop dead, staring at them. The small animal started to back away, then changed its mind, coming close enough to sniff at Amelia's leg.

Amelia held her breath, trying to remain as still as possible, her eyes wide as the creature sniffed her. What was it? It was too cute to be edible but she still wanted to know what it was.

"Cute, isn't he?" Angel said quietly, as to not drive the animal off. "He's a Fennec fox... usually lives in the desert, but these parks don't usually differentiate much in habitats. Just lump everyone together."

Amelia started breathing again, slowly moving her hand so her palm was up towards the strange fox so it could sniff it. Without disappointing, the fox sniffed her palm, then licked it slightly. "So cute..." Amelia breathed.

"Some breeders on Earth have tamed the Fennec fox and offer it as an exotic pet." Angel had never been one to keep formerly wild animals, but she could see the appeal in this case. The little fox was downright adorable.

"I think I'd want to stick with a holographic one." Amelia said softly as the fox decided to head over to Angel and check her out too.

"In that case, I'm sure there's a way to have a hologram of one in your cabin," Angel said gently, noticing how Amelia seemed to relax in the tiny animal's presence. She almost didn't notice it sniffing her until a little paw came to rest on her leg. Looking down, Angel was surprised to see the fox so close.

"They do say animals are therapeutic. I never understood that before now since all the animals I've met before have been for food. I can't see eating this one though." Amelia said as the fox became a bit braver with Angel.

"It's been documented as a positive effect of owning pets for a long time... Earth medicine's agreed on it since sometime in the twentieth century." Angel held her hand out for the fox to sniff, grinning as it first licked her and then gave an exploratory nibble. "I don't have a pet here... never had one on a starship..."

"I was a pet for a while..." Amelia didn't know why she said that. She hadn't even told Ven. Strangely enough, her mood didn't darken that much. Normally she'd be in tears just thinking about it but somehow with Angel and this fox, she felt safe. Safer than she'd been in... well, ever...

"I'm sorry, did you say you were a pet?" Angel gave Amelia a surprised look.

Nodding slowly, Amelia was silent a moment before saying anything more. "Before I joined Starfleet I was kept in a cage a lot. He called me his pet Andorian." Falling silent, she watched as the fox crawled into Angel's lap.

"That's... well that's rather terrible." Angel patted the fox's head, not paying a great deal of attention to it now. "Putting people in cages..." She'd put plenty of people in the brig, but they weren't pets.

"It made working on shuttles and tinkering with things a bit difficult." the Andorian woman said with a sigh. "I don't know why I told you that. I didn't even tell Ven that." Feeling something poking her in the butt, Amelia looked down and saw another strange critter. This one looked decidedly out of place out on this grass, being black with a white stripe. Gently picking it up and moving it to her lap, Amelia ran her hand down its soft fur. "What's this animal called?"

"I'm glad you're comfortable enough to tell me. I can make allowances for it now, give you more spacious work areas, if you need them." Looking at the animal Amelia had on her lap now, Angel scooted a little bit away. "That's a skunk. Don't startle it... they spray a really nasty substance when they're scared."

Amelia just pet over it softly as it sniffed around on her. "Is that what that sweet smell is? Interesting." Scritching behind its ears, the skunk flopped down into her lap and settled there.

"Um, sweet? I don't think so..."

"To my nose, he smells sweet and tangy. If he sprays something else, I don't smell it." Amelia said, finally cracking a smile as she enjoyed petting this skunk animal.

"I don't smell anything yet." If the skunk hadn't sprayed, Angel wasn't sure what Amelia was smelling. She figured it was the difference between their senses of smell... lots of aliens had stronger senses than humans.

"Then let's hope he's nice and pleasant the whole time. Do you think he'd make a good pet? He's so fluffy." Amelia asked as she smiled and rubbed the skunk's belly as he rolled over in her lap.

"I don't see any reason why not, but if he does spray his other scent, people might not like it." Angel had to admit, the little skunk was cute. Cute the same way the tiny dogs some women carried in handbags were cute. "If he's holographic though... you can turn that off and it won't be a problem."

"I wonder what it'll take to set up a holo-pet..." Amelia mused as the skunk got off her lap and wandered off, sniffing the ground curiously.

"Shouldn't be too hard... doesn't the ship have holo-emitters just about everywhere?" Angel scratched behind the little fox's ears for a moment. "At least you don't have to train it to pee on a newspaper or something."

"Yeah, there's a dedicated system for ship-wide holomatrixes but that's really more for so the emergency holograms can do stuff. For anything dedicated or long term, it's advised you use one of the 47 holodeck matrixes." Amelia explained, having had installed most of the power systems for them during the refit. "Maybe I can put in a requisition order for a smaller holomatrix for personal use... Do you think the Captain would allow that?"

"She will when I tell her how much more relaxed you are with a tiny animal sitting in your lap." Angel grinned a bit. "Honestly I don't think she'll mind all that much. It can't be the strangest request she'd have gotten."

Amelia's cheeks tinged a shade darker blue as Angel spoke. "No, I'm sure it wouldn't be. Now if I could just ditch my roommates... Thank you for letting me stay at your place, by the way."

"You're welcome. I'd do it again in a heartbeat if I thought you were in trouble. As for your roommates... I don't know if I can solve that problem."

"Yeah, you'd have to promote me a couple more times, I think." Amelia said, the slight blush leaving her cheeks. "Or if I was made a secretary or yeoman, but there's no real hope of that either." Gazing off into the distance at the larger animals, Amelia had a bit of a distant look as she studied them.

"A yeoman or a secretary..." Angel trailed off for a moment, thinking back to her discussion with Enalia. Amelia was uncomfortable working in small confined spaces, and she was unhappy with the living situation she'd be going back to with her roommates. "Is that a position on the ship you'd like to have?"

The andorian woman glanced over at Angel with a hint of surprise, her antenna waving curiously. "And brush elbows with the senior staff on a daily basis and be treated like an errand girl?" Now that she was thinking about it, it didn't sound too bad... "Maybe..."

"Have a little faith in me, Amelia. I wouldn't treat you like an errand girl.... I can probably even get you set up in an office. It would be small, but it would be your own space. You'd deal directly with me... and the best part is, no roommates. You'd get a private cabin near mine." Angel paused for a moment, letting the idea sink into Amelia's head.

Amelia nodded slowly, thinking it over. "So I wouldn't be working directly with the Captain then? I don't mean to be rude, but..." Leaning in slightly, Amelia lowered her voice. "I heard she's been a bit of a troll since the refit."

"You have no idea. She tried to get me to change uniforms in front of her, pretending she didn't have a bathroom." Angel shook her head slightly. "But no, you wouldn't be working directly with her. I'd be between the two of you."

"I can imagine that." Amelia had to grin widely, shaking her head in disbelief and a light chuckle barely managing to escape her lips. "Ok, I'll do it. For you."

"Fantastic. I'll put the changes into the computer when I get back to my office." Angel couldn't help grinning a bit; she'd solved some of Amelia's problems and alleviated some of her workload at the same time.

Lieutenant Commander Sinek was full of energy. Yesterday, thanks to a sedative, he had gotten enough sleep to last a week. Now, he was full of energy. The Science team noticed it and advised him to take a break. It was nicer than saying to give them a break.

Sinek thought this to be the best opportunity to keep a promise to Angel. He went to his quarters, wrapped a small lamp in a cloth, grabbed some oil and headed to her quarters. He could tell that Angel had been working on meditating since he taught her some basics. The lamp was to honor her as his student.

Standing just outside her quarters, Sinek reflected on the night before. He had never told anyone he loved them. Many Vulcans would criticize him. However, Sinek's logic and the mind meld with the Doctor had taught him that love is a choice of the will. He has chosen Angel. He didn't want to make the mistake of his parents and other Vulcans. Sinek wanted those he cared for to know it.

He reached and rang the chime.

Having fallen asleep on the couch soon after her shift had ended, Angel woke up with a startled yell at the sound of the door chime. Not quite free of the dream - if you could call it a dream - she looked around frantically before realizing it had just been the door. Feeling a bit sheepish, she went to the door and opened it, finding Sinek waiting outside. "Hey!" Happy to see him, she pulled him into an embrace, cheerfully ignoring the Vulcan custom of avoiding unnecessary touch.

Her embrace of him was warm. Sinek could not resist returning the embrace.

"I have brought what I promised," Sinek said into her ear.

He stepped back and held out the lamp wrapped in a cloth. The lamp itself was a deep brown in color. Engraved into it and painted black were symbols that looked like they belonged on a musical score. He handed it to Angel.

Angel gently took the lamp, folding the cloth back to look at it. "It's beautiful."

"It was a gift from my first mentor to me. It was given to him by his teacher. And now, I give it to you," Sinek evenly expressed. "You honor me as your teacher."

"It's a lovely gift. Thank you." Angel kissed his cheek. "Why don't you come inside for a while?"

The spot on his cheek where she kissed him felt like the Fire Plains of Vulcan. "Indeed."

Sinek glanced about he quarters as if expecting someone else to be there. "I had heard you took in a roommate. I did not wish to intrude upon her."

"I was rescuing her from a night spent with people she'd rather not be subjected to... got her moved into a private cabin today. She needs her space." Angel hadn't told Sinek about Amelia spending the night on her couch, but she wasn't surprised that he'd heard. "I made her my yeoman so she could have that space."

"It is satisfactory that we are alone," came the steady voice of Sinek. He reached a gently touched her cheek, sweeping her hair behind her ear. He feel of her skin ran like electricity from his fingers up his arm. For just a second, it appeared the corners of his mouth rose, then returned to their normal state.

Angel grinned, fighting the impulse to laugh. "Sinek... you can say you're happy. I'm not going to tell anyone." Pulling him inside her cabin, she set the lamp down on her coffee table and gently unwrapped it. "And I'm sorry if I seem a little scattered. Fell asleep when I got home so I haven't eaten." She decided not to tell him about the dream unless he asked about it. So far she was pretty steady; her hands weren't shaking and she wasn't pouring sweat so it was easier to just pretend it hadn't happened.

"By all means, eat," Sinek replied. "We will then meditate together. I will prepare the lamp while you prepare a meal for yourself."

"Very sweet of you, thanks." Angel hated to keep him waiting, but she didn't remember if she'd eaten lunch or not so skipping dinner wasn't going to be an option. She wasn't especially hungry, so she just flipped through the replicator menu until she found something that at least looked appealing... and nearly replicated some sort of cheesy ham casserole before she realized that might be rude. Not wanting to offend Sinek, she backtracked to a similar casserole that instead had a variety of vegetables in it and replicated that instead. She hadn't set up a dining table yet, so she took the plate with her to the couch and sat down there, watching Sinek as he worked with the lamp.

Sinek spread the cloth in the center of the floor. He filled the lamp with oil and placed it upon the cloth. He sat cross-legged on the floor before Angel. He simply sat and watched her eat for a few moments.

From his observation, he stated, "You seem to be doing well with your meditation. You appear more rested."

"I feel more rested," Angel confirmed between bites of her dinner. "But I have to confess something... it's not been peaceful sleep... at least, not as peaceful as I'd like."

"Are you meditating before you sleep?" Sinek asked. "The slowing of the breathing and heart rate should prepare you for a peaceful rest."

"Sometimes. And it does help." Angel smiled just a little, poking at her food with her fork. "But if I forget or I fall asleep before I do it, I have nightmares. Usually the zombie-like creatures on the Romulan research station or putting a bullet in Cooper's head over and over. Today it was Devidians sucking out people's life forces, and I didn't even see any of them do that..."

Thankfully, Sinek had experienced a dream when he was under sedation. He knew this came from the limbic system within the brain. He redirected the dream using the hypothalamus to regulate his sleep cycle after hearing Angel's voice.

Sinek arose, gently took the plate from Angel's hand and brought her to the floor in front of the lamp. He encouraged her to take the seated position as he lit the lamp and took a position directly across from her.

"Tonight, you have the lamp on which to visually focus. Remember, it is symbolic of that which controls the chaos within you. You are that lamp."

Sinek fell silent and focused upon the lamp. He held his hands in the triangle before him. Although meditating himself, he kept his pointed ears tuned to Angel. He would also guide her to the hypothalamus; help her to regulate her sleep to be more peaceful.

It was oddly fitting that Sinek would use those words to connect her to the lamp, Angel thought. After all, she had often been called 'fiery' or 'hot-headed' early in her career. Sitting on the deck across from him, she easily copied his position and almost immediately settled into a more peaceful state. Soon she found that watching the lamp's flame was much easier than trying to focus on Sinek's eyes or a non-moving object in the room. Fire was a captivating thing, and little competed against it for her attention.

"Bring your mind to the limbic system," he coached, his eyes remaining on the lamp. There you will find the hypothalamus, just above the pituitary. The hypothalamus regulates sleep. It is here you will be able to change your sleep patterns."

For the next twenty minutes he walked Angel through bringing herself more peaceful sleep. The next ten minutes, he remained silent, meditated himself, and allowed Angel to work things out. After the session, Sinek extinguished the flame and refocus his eyes on Angel.

Angel remained quiet for several long seconds, taking solace in the quiet space she'd managed to create inside her mind. She was still afraid of the zombie creatures and the Devidians, but she wasn't afraid to sleep. She had the tools to turn the dreams around when they came. When she opened her eyes again, she reached across the lamp to hug Sinek, whispering in his ear, "Thank you."

Sinek held her close as they both stood. Angel's cheek against his brought warmth. The feel of her body pressed into him caused Sinek's body to react. Sinek quietly spoke into Angel's ear as he continued to hold her. "May I stay the night?"

"Yes," Angel answered without hesitation. "Absolutely."

Sinek looked her in those gray eyes, his lips showing a faint curl upwards. He kissed her deeply then stooped, picked her up and carried her to her bed. He also knew nerve centers of the body; knew where to caress her to elicit a response.

That night, as their bodies entwined, Sinek reached out with his mind to Angel's so that their total beings became one. One mind. One body. One Soul. His mind was open for her to know him, not just what she physically had experienced, but all of him. She would realize that in his 79 years, she was the only female he had chosen. She was his first and only love. He was hers physically. His mind belonged to her. She had his loyalty, faithfulness and integrity.

As the Hera was approaching New Sydney, sensors picked up an approaching shuttle. It's heading showed it's destination was the Hera itself. Sensors picked up one life form aboard, not human.

Activity on the bridge was all a buzz as the shuttle approached. It was a Federation shuttle, called Aphrodite. As it neared communications officer Ensign Wes Grey notified Enalia, "Captain, we are being hailed."

"On screen," Enalia said as she looked up from her status readout built into her chair. Another shuttle inbound? Was Starfleet already ready to reintegrate them into the fleet? Not all the families of her crew had even been notified they were still alive...

The view screen awakened to activity. The person aboard the shuttle came into focus. She had auburn hair, flowing to below her shoulders. Her eyes were a piercing jade, which seemed to be able to transcend the screen.

A mischievous grin came to the lips of the woman. "Captain Telvan, we finally meet. Permission to dock in one of your shuttle bays."

More sensor readings on the shuttle revealed that although the shuttle was Federation issue, there was nothing linking it with Star Fleet. The registry stated that it was a personal shuttle, but did not state whose it was.

From his station at the back of the bridge, Dylan's mouth fell open as he saw who it was. What in the hell was she doing here?

"I'm afraid you have me at a disadvantage. " Enalia declared as she stood and took a few steps towards the viewscreen. "To whom do I have the pleasure?"

"Of course, Captain," the woman kept her grin. "I'm surprised the Intel Officer behind you hasn't filled you in." Her eyes moved to Dylan. "How are you doing, Sweetie?"

Shifting her attention back to the Captain, she introduced herself. "I am Ulani, Star Fleet retired. I believe my son is your CMO. Let's hope what happened to the previous four doesn't happen to him. It is important that I visit with Ethan."

Unable to help himself, Dylan groaned and then forced himself to say "Hello Mrs Chaparral...I'm fine. Captain, meet Doctor Chaparral's mother."

"Thank you for the introduction, Sweetie." Now Ulani's face turned serious as she looked back to Dylan. "I trust you are taking care of Ethan?"

Not waiting for Dylan to reply, Ulani again turned back to Captain Telvan. "Do I have your permission, Captain?"

Grinning mischievously, Enalia glanced to her Chief Intel officer before looking back at this most intriguing woman. "Families of crew members are always welcome to visit, Mrs. Chaparral. Please prepare to land in the main hangar deck. Lieutenant Santiago, I assume you'd like to see to her accommodations and welcome her aboard personally?"

"Yes Ma'am." Dylan heard himself say when inside his instinct was telling him to run as fast as he could. Ulani was a force of nature and there wasn't much in life that unsettled Dylan but his soon to be mother-in-law was one of them. "I'll meet you in the main hangar." he looked at Ulani and then back at Enalia and added "With your permission Ma'am...I'll get going."

"Thank you, Sweetie," Ulani exclaimed with a grin. "And thank you, Captain Telvan."

The shuttle maneuvered toward the shuttle bays and awaited a door to open. No sooner had it arrived, another ship came into sensor range. This was a Ferengi vessel and it too was hailing the Hera.

As the shuttle awaited the bay doors, Ulani took out a small transmitter box. She connected one fuse to another on the console. The mischievous grin returned to her face.

"Another shuttle? Busy today..." Enalia said, staying where she was. "On screen as well."

"Federation star ship," stated the Ferengi aboard his star ship. His anger was as sharp as his yellowed teeth. "My name is Squart! I believe you may be hoarding a fugitive that has pilfered from me. I demand you turn this swine over to me!"

"Mister Squart, I am Captain Enalia Telvan of the Hera. This is a serious accusation. Who on my ship are you making this accusation of?"

The Ferengi bared his teeth. "You are denying hiding that green-eyed swine of a fugitive? Her shuttle just came this way. Again, I demand that you surrender her to me! She stole a case of my Saurian Brandy! I demand justice!"

Returning to her chair, Enalia paused dramatically. "Lock weapons on that shuttle. Mr Squart, I pleasantly requested information about your claims. If you would prefer our discussion on the matter break down into mudslinging and hostilities, I will oblige with a full salvo of torpedoes. Now would you like to discuss the situation rationally?"

Realizing the predicament in which he had himself, Squart backed down. "Tell that sow that I will have revenge."

The Ferengi ship turned and headed the direction it came. As Ulani's shuttle entered the main hanger, she pushed the button on the transmitter. The Ferengi warp core exploded, leaving no survivors. Ulani threw the transmitter into a replicator, hit recycle and landed the shuttle nicely beside Nexi's.

After the screen went dark, Enalia made a note in her log as the shuttle blew up. "As you never gave us her name before your untimely demise, I have no one to deliver your message to..." she muttered to herself.

The shuttle's ramp opened and Ulani exited. She was dressed in form-fitting black leather with black leather boots with heals up to her knees. An operations officer awaiting to check the shuttle in stood with his mouth gaping and a PaDD in his hand.

Ulani took the PaDD and teasingly said, "Thanks, Hon...is that a sausage stuffed in your pants or are you happy to see me?"

She pushed the buttons required to check in her shuttle and hand it back to the operations officer, who was now blushing. "The only thing in there of note is a case of brandy. Can you see it gets to my guest quarters?" She paused as he nodded in the affirmative and entered her shuttle.

"Such a handsome young man...too bad Ethan is taken; I'd have him check that one out..."

Ulani began to check out the shuttle next to hers. She was certain this belonged to the young woman of whom one of Ulani's contacts spoke. What was her name...Lexi...no Nexi. I'll keep her in mind if a joint task is needed.

Having overheard Ulani's words the moment he approached her, Dylan stood behind her and cleared his throat, "Mrs Chaparral...it's good to see you."

Ulani turned and exclaimed, "Hi Sweetie," with a smile and a voice that never revealed if a person was on the good list or the shitty one. "I would have thought you would have brought Ethan with you."

"He's meeting us here." Dylan explained, wondering why this woman made him feel so awkward all the time.

Ethan had been rearranging the CMO's office. His office. It was doubly strange doing so. In the first place he was fairly young and hadn't been expecting to be promoted to CMO for another year or two later. More importantly though he was cleaning out the office of a dead man. A man who had helped make him whole with a new arm.

When Dylan had contacted him and told him that his mother ha arrived Ethan had been relieved at the distraction. Relieved and shocked. In fact, at first he thought that Dylan was playing a joke on him. But when Dylan had insisted that he was telling the truth, what could Ethan do?

He was wearing a teal scrubs rather than an official uniform, it was more comfortable for him, especially just moving with no patients expected for the afternoon. Deciding not to bother changing, he ran to the nearest turbolift took it to the right level and then rushed into the shuttle bay and looked around for his mom.

"Over here!" Dylan called, relief flooding through him as he saw his fiance. Being alone with Ulani was definitely something he did not relish.

Hearing Ethan's voice, Ulani turned to see him. For the past four years, she thought she would never see him, let alone embrace her son. The moment overwhelmed Ulani. She had to hold back the tears because of the effect they would have on the men. It would be scandalous for her son's boyfriend to suddenly become enamored with her. Rushing over to Ethan, she pulled him to herself in an embrace.

Ethan, however being only half Elasian and a man, had no problems in expressing his emotions or crying. It had been so long since he had seen her and so much had happened to him. For him the four years had been mere days, but everything that led up to that point still effected him.

"Oh mom, I love you so much," he managed, "I'm so glad you're here."

Despite his own discomfort with Ulani, Dylan smiled as he watched mother and son reunited, genuinely happy for Ethan that he had family that he loved and trusted so much. More than could be said for his own.

"I love you too, Ethan." The temptation was there to use the nickname, but she didn't want anyone besides the three of them to know it. It was private; it was intimate.

"So how about a tour of the ship?" Ulani asked. "I'd like to start by meeting the fine pilot of this shuttle," she added pointing to Nexi's vessel. "Then, some private time," her face turned more dark and serious. "I have to catch you up on the past four years."

"Sure mom," he said, "but first you haven't really been properly introduced to my bo... fiance. Dylan, come say hello."

"Oh...uh...we kinda met." Dylan replied awkwardly, debating if he should tell Ulani to avoid Nexi like the plague, "But...uh...hi." he flashed her his most charming smile.

Ulani grinned. "It's nice to see you in person and not on a screen," then she laughed as she added, "Sweetie!"

Forcing himself not to wince at the sentiment, Dylan replied "Good to meet you too Ma'am." Then he looked over at Ethan with a 'help me' look in his eyes.


Ethan recognized the look and quickly moved between the two, "Hey mom, let me give you that tour of the ship you wanted. I think Dylan has to get back to his bridge duty."

"By all means," Ulani replied, "I wouldn't want to keep a man from his duty." The thought of what she had just said shot emotional pain through her system knowing what she had to share with Ethan. It had to wait for now. Wait for a private moment. But she would have to tell him.

Forcing a smile, Ulani said, "At least walk with us to the turbo lift, Dylan." She linked her elbow around both young men and followed along with them.

Everything was a blur since the Hera had gone to the Romulan research station, and Angel had a feeling she wasn't the only person still reeling from it. It had only been a short time, relatively speaking, and yet so much had happened. The crew had seen enough nightmarish creatures to last anyone a lifetime... and that was only counting the Devidians. She had no idea how to explain any of it to Temporal Investigations... how they'd ended up in the past, how they got back, or that there was still an Ophidian cane aboard the Hera, stored in one of the many science labs. Honestly, Angel was hoping she could avoid the explanation part of it all, but as Enalia's newly appointed first officer she suspected she wasn't going to have a choice in the matter.

New Sydney loomed on the viewscreen, and Angel sighed as she looked at it. Time to face to music, she thought to herself, thumbing the comm button on the arm of Enalia's chair. "Captain, we're approaching New Sydney. Might want to come out here for the official greeting nonsense."

Not bothering to reply, Enalia instead got up from her desk and walked out onto the bridge. "Thanks. Do we have contact with either the Katana or the Solstice? The Solstice should already be in-system." The Solstice was the Rhode Island class ship that the Temporal Investigations team and the Court Martial team had been assigned for now.

"No comms contact, but the Solstice is on sensors." With Enalia on the bridge now, Angel moved to her own chair. "No sign of the Katana yet."

Taking a position in the middle of the open area in front of the command chairs, Enalia took a deep breath. "Hail them please." Punching some keys on his console, the ops officer hailed the Solstice, bringing up the Captain on screen. "Captain Hollis, I presume. I'm Captain Telvan."

"Ah yes, your reputation precedes you." The young man said with a smile. "We have your 'visitors' ready to beam over whenever you're ready. Fair warning - I don't think there's a single sense of humor between them."

"Roger that. No time in their schedules to, I'm guessing." Enalia replied. "Will you be docking with us during your stay? Or are you off to some other assignment?"

Captain Hollis shook his head, chuckling lightly. "Sadly, we won't have time. They have us heading out to recatalog some systems in the JFS47 stellar nursery."

"That sounds amazingly fun..." Enalia replied, wondering why that area sounded so familiar.

"Have fun with that. The JFS47 nursery's been unstable for as long as I can remember, and I don't even study the thing." Angel knew she should have kept quiet, but it just wasn't in the cards today. "And if you have our guests, where is the Katana? She was supposed to meet us here."

"The Katana is en route and should be here within a day. I have no idea what's taking them so long, but I do know they're under a comm blackout. Your contact there will be a Commodore Krull and a Commander Maica." Captain Hollis replied.

"Thank you, Captain." Enalia said, moving so that Angel could be seen.

"Yes, thank you. Please have our guests ready to beam over... I'll meet them in transporter room two." Angel got up from her chair, tugging her jacket straight from where it had pulled up behind her back.

"Thank you Commander," Enalia said to Angel as she headed off to handle their guests. "Captain Hollis, thank you for all your help. I wish you luck in that stellar nursery."

"Thank you Captain Telvan. Good luck with your own trials. Solstice out." As the viewscreen reverted back to the image of New Sydney, Enalia plopped her spotted butt down into her chair.

"Time to deal with the time cops. I'll stall them as long as I can." Not exactly looking forward to greeting their visitors, Angel headed into the turbolift and ordered it downward toward transporter room two.

It didn't take long for Angel to arrive at the transporter room, and she sighed before going in. No one liked dealing with these temporal enforcement types. After a few moments, she went inside to greet the transporter chief. "Energize. And smile, Chief... don't give them a reason to dislike us."

Nodding, the transporter chief smiled and activated the transporters, bringing their first set of guests aboard - the Temporal Investigations team. The dour group of men stepped off the platform and offered Angel a PaDD. "Our timetables and schedule. Hopefully they meet with your approval."

So much for a cheerful greeting. Taking the PaDD that was practically shoved at her, Angel plastered a big fake smile on her face. "I'm sure we can accommodate any scheduling you might desire. Please, allow me to show you where you'll be staying while you're on board."

"Ahem..." The chief cleared his throat. "Should I transport the other group now, Ma'am?"

Other... group...? "Er... yes. Of course." Angel's smile quickly turned apologetic; she'd thought there was only one group waiting.

This time it was a full transporter pad full of people that materialized, each with a big bag of stuff. Their leader stepped forward and addressed Angel with a PaDD of his own. "Commander, I'm in charge of the Court Martial team."

"Right, of course. Welcome to the Hera... the Katana hasn't arrived yet, so you'll have plenty of time to set things up for the court martial." Clearly the lack of sleep was interfering with her brain; Angel didn't just forget about things like that.

"Excellent. I just hope we don't interfere with your Temporal Investigations guests." He said with a sidelong glance at the dour gentlemen in black suits. "We will, of course defer our timetable to their own if there are any conflicts."

"Thank you. Commander, our quarters and conference rooms, if you please." The more dour of the gentlemen said somewhat arrogantly.

"Of course." Angel's smile was becoming somewhat strained as she gestured for them to follow her. "You'll be at opposite ends of the same corridor, but that should be sufficient distance to avoid disturbing each other. The conference room is on deck 1."

"Excellent. We'll use that one." The TI gentleman said as he waited for Angel to lead them out of the transporter room. The Commander of the Court Martial team gave Angel's elbow a sympathetic squeeze.

"Okay. Let's... do quarters first." Feeling like she was under a microscope already, Angel quietly turned and led the way out of the transporter room and toward the turbolift.

"Commander, if you'd like to show them to their quarters first, we can wait here for you. I'm not sure we can all fit in the turbolift." The CM team leader said as they walked down the hall.

No, you can't leave me alone with them! Despite that thought, Angel smiled sweetly. "All right, we can do that. I'll be right back." Motioning for the temporal investigations team to follow her, she called a turbolift car and went inside the moment it arrived. The faster she could get them settled the better.

Stepping into the turbolift, the TI team all stood there stoically, staring... Just waiting for someone to say something or for the doors to open.

The tension weighed on her, and just when Angel thought she might break under it, the turbolift doors opened again to let them out. Oh thank god. She went out into the corridor and waved them out. "We'll be going left down this corridor, to the last set of doors."

Following Angel in silence, the team paused outside their doors, the leader giving one more look to her and asking a sudden question. "Do you consider your Captain to be competent?"

"Yes, I do," Angel replied immediately, bristling slightly under the question. What was that even supposed to mean? Of course she thought Enalia was competent! Clearly Starfleet thought so too or they wouldn't have promoted her.

"Do you believe that the command decisions she made were the best during your...escapades in the past?" He followed up with.

Angel had to take a moment to reign in her temper before turning to look at him. "Look, I don't know where you're going with this, but we tried not to get involved in the past. We made some hard choices, but I think they were the right ones."

The man's expression never wavered - it was as if he was looking for this response and meticulously measuring everything about it. "What kind of woman is Captain Telvan?"

"A good woman," Angel said firmly, turning to unlock one of the doors. "A bit of a prankster, but she's fair and she leads this crew well. Why?"

Making a mental note, the man answered Angel with a question. "Do you know why we requested you to greet us?"

"I don't know anything about a request," Angel replied with a confused look on her face, stepping away from the door as it slid open. "I volunteered to come down and greet you, and it's my responsibility anyway as first officer."

"Indeed," He mused, glancing into the room. "I requested that you specifically meet us upon coming aboard because of certain connections you have. I'm... Happy... that things worked out." Indeed, he looked even more dour and stoic than before, if that could be called 'happy'.

"...I see. Well, let me unlock the other cabin..." Instantly, Angel felt beads of sweat on her forehead, and she hoped none of these temporal agents noticed. If they knew that she had connections to Section 31, who knew what else they had all figured out? Her fingers fumbled a bit with the unlock code on the second door, but soon it too slid open. "Please let us know if you require anything."

"There is one more thing... Commander..." He started, slowly turning back to look at her again. "We will be asking you about your connections... AND what connection they had to your mission, if there was any."

"Thanks for the warning," Angel replied sweetly. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have another group to escort down to their cabins."

Without another word, they both entered their assigned quarters and closed their doors, apparently satisfied with what they had accomplished.

Angel wasted no time in getting back to the turbolift and heading back up to the transporter room. She hadn't quite gotten her heart to stop galloping along like she was being chased by the time the doors opened again, but she smiled anyway, waving the court martial team over.

The apparent leader of the group smiled at her knowingly as the doors parted. "I hope they didn't stress you out too much? They can be very... unnerving."

"I've dealt with worse." Angel didn't know if that was really true, but it was better than being angry at them. "They should be in their cabins by now so at least you won't have to deal with them."

"Thank goodness," he sighed as they piled into the turbolift with Angel. "Hopefully their stay will be a short one."

Oh god I hope so. As the turbolift headed downward again, Angel just shook her head slightly. "I do hope so, but investigations take time."

"Especially their investigations..." The man muttered just before the turbolift doors opened and everyone started piling out.

"Exactly. Turn right please." As she exited the turbolift, Angel looked to the left and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw the corridor was empty. "All the way to the end, and it will be the last two cabins on either side. I apologize if that's not enough room... we might be able to find one or two more empty cabins if you need them."

"I'm sure that'll be fine for the six of us. After all, we'll be in that courtroom you've set up for us most of the time. We'll just be in here to sleep." the man said with a warm smile.

This time, Angel's smile was real, if a bit weary. "I appreciate your gratitude." By then they had reached the four cabins at the end of the corridor, and she quickly unlocked all of them. "I can show you the conference room now or you can rest for a while first. I know how difficult traveling can be when you're not used to your accommodations."

"I'm sure the computer can direct us there just as easily. Thank you for all your help." He said as the others settled into their cabins. "I would ask that you meet us in the courtroom later to go over the setup and preparations, if you're not taken by Temporal Investigations."

"I'll try to be available, but no promises." Angel flashed him another smile. "The computer may not respond to your voices right away, but you can just touch a panel on the wall to get its attention." She put her hand on one of those panels, touching its corner to open the computer interface. "Then just ask the computer for directions to where you want to go, and it will light up a path for you to follow."

"Ah, just like the Galaxy class. Thank you." He said with a warm smile.

"Yes, exactly. The Hera is a Bonchune-series Nebula... it actually used to be named Bonchune." Angel chuckled a bit, beginning her retreat down the corridor. "Please let me know if you need anything else. I'll be happy to provide it."

Vi had left the bridge and was currently in science lab 2. She sighed to herself. She was still getting used to everything, as this was a new ship. When she entered, there was already a crewman working inside and he looked at her with a confused look. "I'm Dr. Mingenbach," Vi said softly. "A new officer...just posted..." He nodded and finished his things and left.

Vi then placed the Ophidian cane under quarantine. "Computer, begin sensor scan of the cane," She said and then tapped her communicator. "Um...Dr. Mingenbach to Commander Sinek...could you please join me in science lab 2?"

Sinek was still on the bridge, gathering more information from the reports on injuries and deaths from the recent attack. Those only injured may have experienced permanent damage from the draining of neural energy. Perhaps the Science team can find something that would be of use to the medical team in their investigation of the Ophidian cane. What he knew was the Ophidian was a species of snake that was from Devidia II. It fed off neural waves, just as the Devidians did. Beyond that he was not certain. That's when he heard Doctor Mingenbach call through the communicator.

"Aye Doctor," the CSO intoned upon tapping his comm badge.

Within ten minutes Sinek entered Lab 2. "Are there any findings, Doctor?"

Vi smiled at the CSO. "Yes, commander." She looked at her console. "The computer is still scanning the object, but I do have some information." She crossed her arms. "Besides the obvious of them feeding off neural waves like the Devidians, they also use a gigantic about of triolic waves." She looked at him and gulped. "Because they feed off Human energy, I do not recommend anyone touching and that it is to stay in containment until further researched. The only benefits I see of this is that holder of the cane can use it to drain neural energy from themselves and channel it to them and thus making them a little less susceptible to Proton damage. Engineering could possibly turn it into a weapon...and probably also make it grand enough for accurate time travel."

The Vulcan raised a brow. "Fascinating," he stated. The even tone continued, "I felt the life of the Ophidian within the cane. If that life force drains, will the cane be effective? If not, do we have to feed it neural energy to keep it alive?"

These were questions that needed to be answered before turning the project over to Engineering. Sinek also felt it was time to bring his superiors into the knowledge they had learned.

Tapping his communications badged, Sinek called for the First Officer, "Commander Fairchild, please come to Science Lab 2."

The CSO turned to Doctor Mingenbach, "When the commander arrives, you may report your findings to her." This would give the doctor more exposure to her superiors; it was pertinent that she was comfortable with those in command. It also was good to keep those in command informed.

"On my way," Angel called through the comms. She'd thought she was busy as chief of security! Now she was answering more calls in a day than it felt like she did in a week before.

Once Angel had arrived, Sinek reintroduced her to Doctor Mingenbach. "Doctor Mingenbach has been examining the Ophidian cane that I retrieved from the bridge. Her report of findings may be useful." Sinek turned toward Doctor Mingenbach and gave her an affirmative nod.

Vi looked at Angel's neck, noticing that she now had three full pips. She wondered if she should congratulate her on the promotion. "Well, commander, with a few adjustments to the cane I assume that we can integrate this cane into a way to possibly perfect time travel or turn it into a weapon to drain neural energy."

"Either of those options risks bringing the Devidians back to the ship, which is not a risk I am willing to take." Perhaps Enalia would risk it, but having dealt with the mess the ghostly beings had left behind, Angel wanted no part in anything that would possibly invite them back on board.

"Your concerns are justified, Commander," Sinek evenly spoke. "Can the cane be used in a way without activating triolic waves? It may benefit us to investigate further."

Vi shrugged. "If there is...I haven't figured it out yet. Triolic wave is what essentially powers and activates the cane. We could research and see if we could potentially find an alternative in place of it to not bring back Devidians."

"Keep working on it," Angel said firmly. "And for heaven's sake, be careful."

Very well, Commander. Thank you." Sinek now turned to Doctor Mingenbach, "Carry on Doctor. Keep me apprised."

Her business in the main hanger done, Ulani headed for Ethan and Dylan's quarters. She promised to give him an update on the past four years. Some of it would be hard for her to deliver, but Ethan must know. Sooner or later, he would find out. It was better if it came from Ulani's mouth. She hoped the Saurian brandy on her breath was not too strong as she rang the chime to the door.

Ethan was laying on his back clothed only in a pair of gym shorts doing crunches when he heard the chime sound. He knew instinctively who it was, who it had to be. So he rolled to his feet and grabbed a towel off the couch an mopped his sweaty brow and chest, then he went to the door and opened. "Hey mom..." he started then seeing the expression on her face and the alcohol on her breath said,"mom what's wrong?"

Ulani instinctively averted her eyes and face away from Ethan. With a tired voice she said, "I've just met Nexi. A talented girl. She reminds me of my younger self. She should be a valuable asset to Dylan."

She took a deep breath, sat on a couch, then admitted, "We have to talk about the past four years."

Ethan slipped the shirt on taking a deep breath as he did so. "What about them?" he asked apprehensively.

Not really knowing where to begin, Ulani decided to start at the beginning. "When I had heard of your losing your arm, I made a few contacts. One was with Dylan. I began a search for this Ian fellow. I had some friends still in Intel that was willing to help. We went to the area where everything happened to you, used it as a central location and spanned out from there."

"So did you find anything?" he asked curiosity replacing apprehension for the moment.

"We found a debris field that appeared to have been a star ship. My heart began to race; my first thought was that it was the Hera. We latched on to some of it with a tractor beam and brought it on board. The parts we examined were not from a Federation ship."

"We found no trace of this Ian or his ship," Ulani continued, "unless the debris was his ship. We decided to seek out the Hera. We were able to get information on your destination and where you were. So we set an intercept course. When we arrived at the intersection point...no Hera. We scanned the area with negative results. We checked your destination; you hadn't arrived. We began a new search pattern, but could not find you."

"Yeah, as you know we kind of got sucked into some kind of anomaly and found ourselves back in time fighting some Klingons and some weird ghost like things. Then when we came out four years had passed. I'm sorry, you must have been frantic."

Ulani left out a long sigh. That wasn't the difficult part of what she had to say.

"A shuttle was provided to me to continue an off the records search. I searched two years, hoping I'd find the ship and it's crew alive and well. Then I got word that an epidemic broke out on earth in Morocco." Her voice trailed off and she had to pause to pick up the nerve to continue.

The look on her face told him more than he wanted to know. His heart thundered in his chest and he had to find a place to sit down. "Dad's dead, isn't he?" he managed to get out.

Elasian tears flooded from her eyes at the truth of his words. "I hurried home. Your father tirelessly worked to help the victims, ease their pain, discover the cure. He worked day and sleepless nights. He worked so hard that his body fatigued and succumbed to the virus." No deep sobs came between each word. "I helplessly watched from behind a containment field as Jaime died a long and painful death."

She gathered herself some before saying, "they say the virus didn't originate on earth. That's why it took so long to find a cure."

Ethan just sat there in stunned silence as the reality began to hit him. He loved his mother with all of his heart, was devoted to her. She had always been there for him. But he had especially close to his father. He spent more time in his office growing up then almost anything else.

He tried to hold back the tears, but couldn't. They started slowly at first but then the floodgate opened and was crying freely. Deep agonizing sobs. He couldn't speak for several long minutes and finally he said, "I should have been there instead of out in space."

"No!" Ulani demanded. "I know your heart, Ethan! You would have been right there by his side, wearing yourself thin. I couldn't have stood losing both of you!"

She momentarily paused to gather her thoughts. "The Federation believes it was a biological weapon since it was not an earth born virus."

"It's Romulan," he said quietly, "I was working on it, well a cure for it. That is why he tortured me. to find out why I knew. I was close too. If we hadn't gone back in time I would have had a cure all those people would still be alive. Dad would still be alive."

"How can you be sure it's the same?" Ulani asked. "The Federation connect four Ferengi to it, because they profited so greatly from it. When people panicked in the beginning, these four promised transport to a safe haven for the right price. However, they transported these same people into slavery, selling them to the highest bidder. Perhaps someone else paid them as well to test the effectiveness of this virus."

Ulani placed her head in her hands, her face beginning to turn blood red, offsetting her green eyes. "I promised myself I'd see these four on hell! One of them got there earlier today. Intel is allowing me leeway, since I'm no longer in Star Fleet."

"Don't you see mom," Ethan said his voice just barely audible, "it has to be the same one. How could it be anything else. Ian was working for pirates, pirates that were looking to profit from it just like the Ferengi did.

I may have taken more after dad, but I remember what you say about coincidences, there aren't any and only a fool believes that they are. Dylan and I are planning of tracking down Ian and killing him. And I, I want to be the one to do it. Now more than ever. Is that wrong?"

"I understand how you feel," Ulani confessed. She arose from her seat and sat next to him. Taking his hand, Ulani urged, "But Ethan...son...you are not a killer. It's not your heart. You've got your medical career to worry about as well. Maybe this is something I can convince Nexi to help. I really like her style."

In his heart he knew she was right, but some darker Ethan was talking now, "He branded me, did you now that? He carved Ian's property in my chest." His voice rose for the first time. "Did you hear me?" he asked almost shouting now, he fucking carved Ian's property. he broke every bone in my hand and foot. Do you know what that feels like? Really feels like and then he cut off my arm. He cut of my godsdamned arm and burned it. I don't want Nexi to do it. I want to be the one. I want to be the one to make him pay for me, for dad for everyone else he killed just so he could make a profit.!"

The tears were coming again, but this time they were tears of anger, not of sorrow.

Ulani wrapped Ethan in caring arms. She stroked his hair, just as she had done in the past to comfort him.

"Believe me, son, I understand how you feel." Could Ethan be more like her than she knew? "But the greatest thing you can do for your father's legacy is to continue it. He placed that legacy within you." Then she said something she never thought she would say to one of her children. "I don't want you to be me."

She had done terrible things for the sake of the Federation, for the sake of her family, for the sake of revenge. The alcohol had become a way to forget those things; it wasn't for the grief she felt.

Ethan took some comfort in his mother's words and actions,they'd always worked for him in the past. But they didn't have the same effect as they had in the past. The mindmeld with Sinek had helped, but it had only made his determination more logical, less emotional. The shock of his father's death had only renewed that determination.

But her words did give him pause.

"What's wrong with being like you?" he asked weakly.

The hollow look returned to Ulani. "I'm haunted by things I have done, Ethan. Even though they were done for a just cause, they haunt me." She wanted Ethan to consider his father, all that he had taught him. "The same heart that was in Jaime, is in you, Ethan. The heart to do not only what is right, but also what is good. I beg you, as your mother, keep it that way."

There was a long pause, "It just doesn't seem right handing that off on someone else. but I'll try. I can't let it go entirely and I know Dylan's not just going to bow out either. We have to be part of whatever it is."

"I would imagine Dylan would be a part of it," Ulani suggested. "I wouldn't want to take an opportunity from him to show his love for you and to prove he is able to protect you to me. He has more connections than I do. Mine are old and few these days."

"What about the rest of the family, "Ethan asked suddenly changing directions, "how did they take it. How are they doing?"

"You know your brother and sister," Ulani replied with a smile returning to her face. If there was anything she loved to talk about, it was her kids. "They're a lot like me. They have found ways to survive. Jhammon is now a part of the Presidential Security Detail. Rose is married and is using her Archeology studies to make new discoveries."

"Security detail? Good for him. Is he seeing anyone? And Rose what's her husband like?"
Ethan asked. It was small talk but it kept his mind off of more pressing matters.

"Jhammon," answered Ulani, "is unattached. He doesn't feel like putting someone through the stress of being married to another that will throw themselves in the line of fire. Rose's husband, is also an archeologist; his name is Hunter Fjord. They work together."

Ethan took a deep breath, he couldn't say the short respite from the conversation about his father's death had been enough, but he had to know more. "How long ago did he die?" he asked.

Ulani left out a deep sigh; she was becoming exhausted. The emotional strain on top of the alcohol consumption had drained her energy. "A year and a half ago. He held on for four painful months." She laid her head back against the wall and closed her eyes. She appeared haggard and in need of much needed rest.

Ethan nodded, "Mom, I, I need time to deal with this and you look like you could use some rest. You can go now if you want. Dylan will be home soon."

There was no response coming back to him. Ulani's breathing was deep and full as she was out cold, sleeping.

Ethan made sure she was as comfortable as possible on the couch, got a blanket for her and then retreated to the bedroom.

"Your presence has been requested in conference room three."

Buried in trying to modify the duty schedules to accommodate the Temporal Investigations team's 'interviews' and to account for the crew they'd lost, Angel rolled her eyes at the computer's announcement. "Requested by who, exactly?"

"Temporal Investigations Agent Alden Engstrom."

"Dammit," Angel muttered under her breath, setting her project aside. If she kept them waiting, they had too many ways of making her life absolute hell. Shoving the PaDD into a desk drawer, she got up from her desk and grabbed her uniform jacket, pulling it on as she headed down the corridor to the seldom used conference room three. Without knocking or otherwise announcing her presence, she went inside, plastering the sweetest, most innocent smile she could manage onto her face.

"Ah, Commander..." Agent Engstrom began as he looked over a PaDD. "You're right on... time..." he said without a hint of joviality at all. "Please... Have a seat. There are things I'd like to discuss." The other agent was off at the other end of the table, making notes.

"I imagine so, otherwise you wouldn't have called me," Angel replied sweetly as she sat down in an empty chair at the table.

"Yes..." the agent said, still looking at the PaDD before him. "I've read your report on the situation. I want to know what you left out."

"I didn't leave anything out, sir." Technically he didn't outrank her, but Angel knew that a little respect went a long way, even if she didn't like the guy. "Everything I witnessed is in my report."

Finally setting the PaDD down, Agent Engstrom finally looked at Angel. "Then what about what you did not witness."

Angel gave him an innocently bewildered look. "How can I report things that I did not witness?"

"From the reports of others, Commander. You were responsible for a lot during your... sojourn... I expect you to have at least pieced together some of what happened in your purview. Such as how the Devidians were even involved in the first place." Alden said in an even tone, not letting his annoyance show.

"Agent Engstrom, I explicitly stated in my report that the appearance of the Devidians was my fault," Angel replied evenly, doing her best not to let him get to her. "I believe it's also explicitly stated that we attempted to use filtered triolic radiation to make our phasers match the color of those native to the time period. The risk should have been minimal, but we made a mistake. I made a mistake. And believe me, I am already paying for it."

"Thank you for refreshing my memory, Commander." He said. that was what he was looking for. An emotional outburst. "Were you and your staff not aware of the proximity of Driffin's comet? Did you not scan it with this ships... crude sensors?"

That was in the report too, Angel realized. Wondering what exactly this guy was up to, she raised an eyebrow at him. "It didn't appear on our sensors... probably something to do with residual chronitons. I don't know the specifics because I'm not a scientist. I'm a security officer... or I was until Commander Radt died."

"Yes... How unfortunate for her." Alden said, not bothering to look up again. "What about the Borg Probe? Are you familiar with its origins?"

"No, I am not. All I really know about it is it was somehow responsible for our journey backward through time and it blew up pretty much immediately afterward. We have some sensor data, but as I said... I'm not a scientist. I can tell you all about the tactical and defense systems, but the the other sensors? Not my field." Angel was starting to feel like she was repeating herself a lot, and Alden seemed to be asking her questions that would be better suited for Sinek to answer.

"So you know nothing of the connection between the Probe and a surreptitious group that now resides in a closet at Starfleet headquarters?" Alden pressed.

"No." Angel gave him a truly puzzled look. "If you're talking about Section 31 - and I think you are - I hadn't had contact with them since before I came to the Hera, and my most recent contact with them was me telling them to leave me alone. Not in such nice words though."

Setting the PaDD back down, he pressed further. "So you are unaware that a man named Franklin Drake was in command of that Probe? Do you know what, if any connection Captain Telvan has to that same group?"

Angel blinked at him, trying not to laugh. "You're kidding, right? Enalia Telvan working for Section 31?"

Alden didn't show any emotion - he just waited for an answer.

"Oh my god. You're serious." Angel couldn't connect those thoughts in her mind; the idea of Enalia working for those people just seemed so ludicrous. "First off... no. I didn't know Drake himself was on that probe, and frankly I don't care. That man's caused me more trouble than necessary. Second... as far as I am aware, Enalia Telvan is not connected to Section 31. Now, that doesn't mean she's not doing things behind my back, but I personally don't think she's connected to them."

Alden finally blinked. "And why is that?"

"Because I've been connected to them for years and she doesn't strike me as the type they're interested in. I may not be a 'people person', but I tend to recognize fellow spies when I see them." Angel sat back in her chair, not quite a casual position but one that was less tense. "Enalia is a total troll... loves to prank people. But taking orders from the spies in the closet?" Angel snorted at the thought, trying to keep from laughing too hard.

"Indeed..." Alden said as he looked back at his PaDD and his companion took notes. "How about the Pirandello then? Do you think Captain Telvan's decision to... interfere... was the correct one?"

What was this, a journey back to Starfleet Academy? Angel refrained from rolling her eyes at the question, but it still bothered her. "We are required as Starfleet officers to render aid to fellow officers in distress. I would consider a ship under attack by Klingons to be in distress, so yes. I do believe it was the correct decision. We knew from history that the Pirandello survived that battle, and if we hadn't intervened... well. It wouldn't have."

"Whether you rendered aid to a ship in distress or not is not in question." Alden said, clarifying. "You're saying that you intervened because history said the Pirandello survived. So if you hadn't gone back and intervened, history would be different? The Pirandello would not have survived and all hands would have been lost?" Alden pressed.

"Oh, come on. Even I know that temporal mechanics isn't a simple linear progression of events. It's fluid... it changes whether we mean for it to or not." Angel leaned forward on the table, looking at him with an unwavering gaze. "I have studied that battle, and you know what I found? A log from the Pirandello's captain about a strange ship that fired on the Klingon vessel. A ship that did not identify itself to him. I'd say that meets the parameters of our presence there, wouldn't you?"

"Perhaps. Or perhaps it only seems that way now. Are you aware that the Pirandello was destroyed during a battle later that year? It survived long enough for Starfleet to design ships with dedicated sensor platforms as fleet support ships." Alden replied with, leaning back in his chair and showing a slight hint of relaxing. "In other words, if they had not survived, this ship and its predecessors might never have been built."

"Suppose you could look at it that way too." Angel hadn't done enough follow-up reading to know about the Pirandello's destruction, but it wasn't terribly surprising. Starfleet had lost a lot of ships that year. "Whatever the original event was, the Hera took the place of that unknown ship. And prompted the development of this type of design... and you know the best part?" She smirked just a bit at a realization she'd just come to. "Section 31 existed then, stronger than they are now but not as pervasive as they were during the Dominion War. They could take all the credit for it... secret ship design, refusal to identify. It's right up their alley."

"Exactly. That's where we found this." Alden said as he slowly slid his PaDD over to Angel. On it were highly detailed sensor readings of the Hera... Taken by the Pirandello.

Curious, Angel picked up the PaDD, reading over it. "This is... rather detailed for a ship of the time period. They even picked up clues that the Hera is a Bonchune-series, not that they'd know the word for it." She paused in her reading, looking up at him over the PaDD. "Is there something you're withholding from me about that ship?"

"Section 31 admitted that it was one of theirs. Anything else, that's what we're trying to find out." Alden replied seriously. "Such as how they knew how to scan through your jamming and sensor scattering."

"I certainly didn't tell them... I was too busy keeping the Klingon ship off their back and fielding calls from my security teams about the Devidians..." Slowly setting the PaDD down, Angel realized that meant that Section 31 likely orchestrated the whole event, possibly with help from someone on the Hera.

Seeing the realization of what this meant cross Angel's face, Alden nodded and took the PaDD back. "You understand our concern then?"

Angel nodded. "I do. And I appreciate you bringing it up... now I'm concerned as well."