Mark opened his eyes for the tenth time, and decided to give up on the idea of trying to get some rest. It was only afternoon ship time, but he was tired, yet every time he closed his eyes, he saw the blood that had been spilt, he saw Se'Lah practically indifferent to him, as if she was a stranger, and the bodies of his family on Turalek. He sighed. "Whistler to Iniya, do you have a few minutes?" Mark asked, tapping his comm. badge to open a channel.

Vicky was a bit groggy herself, sipping at some tea as she looked over paperwork and data. "I do. Do you prefer my place or yours?" she asked.

"Either, I need your professional assistance." Mark said, standing up and taking his hammock down.

"That sounds ominous," Vicky said with a hint of a smile in her voice. "How about you come by and have a seat on my professional fainting couch then."

Mark nodded, and left his room, making his way quickly towards Vicky's office. As he reached it, he rang the chime, and waited to be let in, just so she knew he was there, rather than bursting in.

"Come in," Vicky called, just finishing up setting out a tea set with hot ginger herbal tea. "I made up some tea you might enjoy. At least I hope you do. I grew the leaves myself."

Mark smiled as he sat down. "Appreciate that." He said, looking at her. "Thanks for seeing me on short notice."

Not mentioning how she grew those leaves, she sat down as well, pouring each of them a cup of the tea. "Any time. What's on your mind then?"

"Turalek. Se'Lah. Death." Mark said, sighing. "I can't stop seeing what happened on Turalek, and now Se'Lah doesn't even remember me."

"Yeah, the whole situation is pretty messed up," Vicky replied, picking up one of the tea cups and breathing in the aroma. "And that's my professional opinion. Let's start with your mission first then. What about it bothers you?"

"I escaped that place years ago. I knew, however, that one day I would need to return there. But I should have gone back sooner. So many good people died, and they could have been saved if I had gone back years ago and got them all off of that hell. I keep telling myself that I didn't go back because Starfleet said they would go there for me. But that wasn't it. I didn't go back...because I was scared of finding them all dead." Mark admitted.

"Fear is a powerful enemy, but it's also a friend. Perhaps that fear was holding you back until the time was right to go out there for something larger. I know you've done a lot of good since leaving and with your Starfleet training, I'm sure you were more prepared for what was to come when you did go back. Does that make sense?" Vicky said calmly as she sipped her tea. "Either way, now you have to find a way to come to terms with how things unfolded."

Mark took a sip of his drink, and looked at her. He felt the tang of the drink, and he found it a little...bitter, but it also tasted...familiar somehow. "And how do I do that? I mean, I failed my people back there, three officers are dead and someone might be making an army. Part of me wants to take a ship and hunt them all down...but I know I wouldn't even be able to manage to start that." He said, sighing.

"On top of that, the Islandica may be a powerful little ship, but she's exactly that. A single small ship." Vicky replied, hoping he enjoyed her tea leaves. "Personally, I'm glad that you came back with so many others. I mean, yes it's sad that 3 officers were lost... But they signed up for risks like these. That's one of the things that we risk wearing this uniform."

"Oh, I'm glad I could save so many, but there are many more who need help. How can anyone see the universe as it is and not want to do more?" He asked. "The damned prime directive. I hear it used so often as an excuse not to help, or a threat if we do try to help."

"The prime directive is there for a very good reason, even if it does seem to get in the way. We're not here to debate that though." Vicky replied. "in the end, what happened likely couldn't have happened any other way and suffering in the universe isn't going to simply end that easily. I hope Starfleet helps out where they can, but this is the Expanse we're talking about. It's rare for any known ships to be out here, let alone of Federation origin."

Mark nodded. "And that's one thing I think Starfleet made a mistake about, not having ships in here sooner. But knowing that there may be other Turalek's out there, how do I keep from getting the job done, whatever the cost? I don't care about the prime directive: That's most likely why my family have tried to get me out of the fleet more than once."

"Perfectly understandable. Sometimes that tenacity is needed though." Vicky said, sipping her tea once again. "How's your tea? You've hardly touched it."

"It's a little...bitter, but it reminds me of a drink I had as a kid. It was a drink that was meant to help soothe after battle. It was a little sweeter, but also had a darker color." Mark replied, taking another sip. "Of course, Turalek never grew anything like ginger, as far as I know. But then, there's a lot I don't know. We found something on the planet which...unsettled me." He said, before going into detail about the enhanced soldiers. "The question I need to know is were they planning for me and my clan to be part of their army? And if so, why are our implants so much more...advanced?"

"I'll try to eat a bit more sugar the next time I grow tea leaves then." Vicky replied, finishing off her tea. "questions like these can only be answered by others. I would keep them in mind but not dwell on them since answers aren't going to be easy to get."

Mark took in what she said, but he was grateful that she would share something like that with him. "Or I can add sugar, you don't need to put yourself out. Appreciate the effort it must have taken." He said. "I think the worst thing about this is that if I'm meant to be a weapon, does that mean others are right about me? I can kill and not even care. Does that make me a machine?"

That was a worrying thought, indeed. Vicky had a test for it though. "Could you kill me without a second thought? Would you not mourn my death if you did?" she asked, setting her empty teacup aside.

Mark thought for a moment. "Could I kill you without a second thought?" Mark asked. "Yes, I could. Would I? I'd like to think not, but that does depend on the reason. But I would definitely mourn your death." Mark said. "And I'd hunt down and kill whoever created whatever situation led me to having to kill you."

"As unsettling as your response may be, It still doesn't sound like the rationale of a machine. And if you had to kill me... I think for that I might have to abandon my pacifist ways." Vicky replied, smiling softly. It wasn't quite what she wanted, but it was close enough.

Mark looked at her. "I somehow doubt you could, though. You remind me a lot of Carrie, my sister. She could never fight, and she never wanted to. She's...well, she's not like me. She's never taken a life, and I'll never let her do so. Just like you, I'll do whatever it takes to make sure you never have to sacrifice your morals. I'm already going straight to hell. I'll be damned if good people like you go with me."

"Though I don't share in your religion, I do find it odd that you would think that you're going to hell for getting blood on your hands in the service of your ideals and so others don't have to give up theirs." Vicky mused thoughtfully. "I thought I understood the concept of religion, but I see there's much more to learn about it."

"Religion is something that people will never understand. But then, it's about faith. I'm going to hell for the lives I've taken. I've killed so many people. I'm a monster, and I've worked with monsters. I've been forced to kill men, women and children before. But I did it because I wanted to build a better world for so many others. I failed at that, and now look at what's happened."

"Because of the concept of 'sin' I assume. The histories of many races are littered with wars and killing and survival. I can't see you going to some bad afterlife based on your actions being something you were forced to do. Besides, I'm betting you made a difference in at least someone's life." Vicky replied.

Mark looked at her, and then stood up. "But does it excuse what I've done?" Mark asked. "You know, every Starfleet Counselor I've spoken to has wanted me to open up to them. I guess they wanted to know if I ever felt remorse for what I'd done. You're the first I've ever opened up to." He said. He sighed. "I've never felt remorse before. I've never felt guilty at taking a life, because I always knew it had to be done. Starfleet...they teach a kinder way, a more peaceful way, but is there a place for someone like me in this grand utopia? That's the question my family set to me, my blood family. And I always ignored them, because I didn't care, but for the first time, I felt love...and now I question so much."

Vicky stood as well. "Personally, I prefer a policy of not regretting your actions no matter what they are. I guess I'm different like that. Yes, you've taken lives. Yes, you've done what's considered to be 'evil' things. But I feel the same way now as with my prior assessment. You know the weight of a life and you know the toll of taking one. You've only reinforced that assessment, now more than ever. Is there a place for you in this Starfleet? Yes. Precisely because of your past. Does it excuse you? Legally yes, I feel you are excused and given more chances. How you take that and use it is up to you though. What you do with this knowledge determines your future from here on out." Vicky replied.

"Tell that to my family. My oldest brother is about to join the ranks to the admiralty, and they're trying to get me removed from Starfleet. The Captain wouldn't hear of it, thankfully. I did, however, swear my loyalty and my blades, my weapons, to her. She's given my people a home, and I've finally started to feel like I have a place." Mark said.

"Family is not determined by blood. It's determined by who you fight for and who fights for you." Vicky replied as if it was the most obvious thing in the universe.

"You'll never hear any argument from me, but they are still family. And you never give up on family, even if they give up on you. Is it wrong to hope that maybe they'll learn and understand? Or is it just a fool's hope?" Mark asked, sighing as he sat down again.

"I believe the saying is 'hope springs eternal.'" Vicky replied simply, also sitting back down.

"Yes, well, I need a lot of it, especially with Se'Lah. Are you aware of what happened?" He asked.

"Because of patient confidentiality, I can't reveal any personal information about her circumstances... but yes... I'm aware." Vicky said with a hint of sorrow to her voice. "The best I can recommend is to be patient."

"See, this is where karma comes and bites me in the ass. I find happiness, and then Turalek comes in and takes everything away. She was injured on Turalek, I'd bet that has something to do with the whole thing. I just...I didn't tell her, though. I had a chance to, but I thought better of it." Mark explained.

"When she switches to the personality that's been in control the past few months, open up to her." Vicky recommended. "I'm sure you'll have plenty of chances, but the sooner the better, I think. It might help avoid distress and mental troubles."

"I think she started having them when she started a relationship with me. I just...Vicky, am I insane to think any kind of relationship could work?" He asked.

"Professionally, I have seen no signs of insanity in you. As a friend, my assessment remains." Vicky replied with a soft grin. "You remain insanity free in my eyes. Just keep in mind that those issues were likely already there and you're one of the very few she reveals them to. Oftentimes, a loved one... Family... Is the only one we show our true selves to."

"Hence why I wanted to see you. I think you're the first counselor I've ever considered to be family, and so the first I've trusted. I'm glad someone thinks I'm not insane, though." Mark admitted. "I will admit, though, I'm a little surprised the Captain let me keep my people aboard. I then made an oath to her that I've never made to anyone, swearing my loyalty, and my blades, to her service, for all time. I never make that lightly. Hell, I've never made that to anyone before. My family automatically have it, naturally, and that does include you."

"Judging from the Captain's profile, I assume she sees them as an asset not linked to Starfleet. Her mission reports are replete with instances of third party usage in places Starfleet simply can't go." Vicky stated. "Thank you though. I'm not sure how to take that but as a pacifist... Well, I'm just not sure." She was a bit sheepish saying that, but she did truly appreciate it.

Mark nodded as he leant back in the chair. "It means that as long as we're around, you'll never need to break your rule of non violence. I won't let it happen. You remind me of Carrie...she's so innocent, doesn't fully grasp the darkness, which is good because it means she can never be consumed by it...and the same goes for you." Mark said. "The Captain...we had an interesting first meeting, but she has placed her trust in me, despite the Admiralty warning her not to do so. She isn't like other Captains...and Se'Lah...she is unlike any woman I met before her. I think that's why I fell in love with her so quickly."

"One of the reasons I feel at home here - so many unusual people. In a way it reminds me of the SS Sanity's End." Vicky had a teasing, lopsided grin as she said it. "Seriously though, I love being around interesting people, don't you? They always surprise you with the smallest things."

"You mean such as being able to turn into a tree?" Mark asked, with a small smile. He then adopted a more serious look. "I grew up knowing how people would act in any situation. Again, part of being on Turalek is knowing these things. But then I came out into the universe, and things were a little more difficult to understand, but I could still anticipate. This ship...it's different. I can't ever anticipate anything, and growing up that would be a weakness. Here, it's just another day in the office."

"Is that a bad thing?" Vicky asked with equal seriousness. "I mean, eventually you'll figure out the patterns everyone uses. It just takes a little time to get to know everyone."

"I honestly don't know how to answer that question Vicky. Life here...I'm reminded how lucky people are, with replicators, beds, computers, ships...anything anyone could ever want. And yet, there are people who still suffer. And Starfleet officers...most of them try to help those in need. The history of the Federation is rife with examples. People who go above and beyond the call of duty to ensure the innocent don't suffer. When I left Turalek, I never thought I'd ever see such a sight. But the ship I stole had information on the Federation, and during the journey, I began to read it. It sounded like a fantasy to me." Mark said.

Vicky nodded, motioning for Mark to continue.

Mark sighed. "Then I came across a Starfleet vessel, and it was commanded by one of my older brothers. I thought that perhaps I was being given a great gift. Then, of course, my oldest brother came along and cast me out of the family, for what I had done. He tried to get Carrie to stay on his ship, but she refused to leave me. Since then, my brother's have tried to get me removed from Starfleet, because I don't represent the Federation's ideal image. So I thought that was a prime example of Starfleet, and lost a lot of respect. Since being here...it's like this is the ship I should have been found by, this crew. If I had...maybe things would be different. So no, it's not a bad thing that I can't anticipate, because I've always seen the worst in people. Maybe it is time I started seeing the best in them."

"Given the chance, most people will do what they feel is right. At least that's what I like to think." Vicky replied. "Ideal or not, I feel you're trying to do that as well."

"But that's always been the trick, hasn't it? Knowing the difference between right and wrong? People have different views on right and wrong, always have and always will. To my family, and to others, I am wrong, because I do not hesitate to kill. But in my view, they are wrong because they are hypocritical, and will likely falter in the face of real adversary." Mark said. "Who gets to decide?"

"Both are right in a way."Vicky said as if it were simple. "From each point of view, it is correct. As for a universal 'right', that's for better people and courts to decide."

"Better people? Better than who?" Mark asked. "You're better in many ways, to be sure, and so are a number of people I've worked with. But who are they better than?" He asked. He wanted to find the answers, needed to find them, now more than ever.

Vicky thought it over a moment. "It depends on your definition of better, I guess. But overall i think it's those in power that put the good of the many above the good of the few and try to help all peoples. That's a personal opinion though."

"That's the thing I've always seen it as, opinion. But only a few opinions matter to me, and none of them rank higher than Captain." Mark said. He sighed as he rubbed his eyes. "I think the worst part is Amelia. She died back on the ship, and we're not sure why yet. It feels like I failed. Some of my clan stayed behind, to help organise others and bring some semblance to peace, and to protect others. But I feel like I should be with them, yet I know there's more to this than meets the eye. Some things just don't add up."

"Reality and opinion rarely line up and truth is often obscured. I'm a bit out of my depth on that sort of thing, but I can at least recommend that you start at the beginning and work from there. Maybe you missed something in the heat of the moment." Vicky replied.

Mark nodded. "It's possible. I was talking to her just before she died, and she...she seemed fine." Mark said. He then frowned. "Wait a minute...she was about to say something. What was it?" He asked, standing up. He frowned. "She said that when she was captive, there were people talking about something..." He said. His eyes widened as he realised what she was saying. "Oh god, she said Circle. The Circle of Eternity. They're the ones behind Turalek." Mark said. "This is...I don't believe it."

Vicky smiled pleasantly. She had no idea what he was talking about, but she'd be supportive of it none the less. "That sounds like something important to remember. I assume you can do something with it now?"

"They're a terrorist group. I've been chasing them for a while now. I suspect they were the ones who wanted our deflector dish." Mark said. "They must have been trying to raise an army, but we stopped them on Turalek."

"Then I wish you luck with that. It's a bit out of my expertise, but if you ever need someone psychologically profiled, please let me know." Vicky replied, a bit lost now.

Mark nodded. "Actually, I do need you to speak to my people, see if anyone needs help. I'll also be needing your skills for interrogations when I find someone." He said.

"Consider it done. Several are already scheduled." Vicky said with a bright smile.

"Thanks Vicky." He said, returning the smile. His smile then dropped. "Now comes the hard part...tracking the bastards down."

Vicky raised her hands in mock defeat and giggled slightly. "That's all on you, I'm afraid."

"It's my speciality. It's a small galaxy for people when I'm angry with them." Mark said, the coldness in his voice clear.

"I guess good luck to them. It sounds like they'll need it against you." Vicky replied, becoming serious again.

"They'll need a Miracle." Mark said. "Thank you, Vicky." He said, before he stood up. "I'll speak with you later."

ON:

Syrena groaned as she began to awaken from her slumber. The room around her was dark, with various items of clothing and empty liquor bottles haphazardly strewn throughout the room's interior, on the edge of the bed, and all over the floor. Where the hell am I and why am I feeling so sore? Thought Syrena as she attempted to move, but she stopped when her sore muscles protested in response to her movements by sending a jolt of pain throughout her entire body, causing her to groan again as her body suddenly stiffened from the movements she'd made. Not to mention, her head was thumping with a real bad headache that was caused by a real wicked hangover; which could only be had when one had just too much to drink and she'd felt like she had also gone a few rounds against an Andorian with a mean left hook, or so she thought, but that clearly wasn't the case.

She gasped with shocked surprise the second she'd discovered her clothes had been removed when she pulled the sheets of the bed off of her, revealing her completely naked, yet athletically well-toned body. Syrena was even more surprised when she discovered that she hadn't gone to bed alone when she threw the sheets back over her clothes-less form. "Oh by the name of Kah'Less, What have I done?!" She moaned in a quiet tone as she noticed the still sleeping form of a young man, whom she'd recognised as none other than Ensign Theron Storme himself, laying beside her on the bed that she was still sitting on. Still snoring peacefully into his pillow. The last thing she remembered, was having a few drinks with him and the Bolian lieutenant, Brott? or whatever he'd said his name was; she wondered if she'd gotten the lieutenant's name right, and she remembered seeing some creepy looking alien out of the corner of her eye, who had been staring at the three of them for half of the night while they were at the bar.

Syrena decided it was best not to awaken Storme from his slumber, but instead, She picked up a pair of the man's undergarments and upon finding a pen, she wrote the word 'Thanks' in big letters, followed by a large exclamation point. When she was finished, she placed the undergarment, writing side up, on the pillow beside the sleeping man, and proceeded to gather her clothes and very quickly and quietly dress herself, trying her best to not awaken Storme from his slumber with her movements. Once she'd finished dressing herself, Syrena carefully stood up and gingerly picked her way past the mess of empty bottles and the discarded clothing, and exited the room as fast as she could possibly manage.

---

Theron woke up and thought he must have been captured and tortured. He felt an intense pain in his skull, like a massive blade had been jammed into his forehead. He opened his eyes cautiously and found himself in his own bed in his own quarters. Realization and memories of the night before on Glebben Station returned in the gloom of the room. He remembered walking into a club with Brott and that Cadet. "What was her name?" He said aloud, but wished he hadn’t as the sound of his own voice was like a speaker in a resonation chamber.

After a moment, he turned slightly to see the time, but had to stop as pain ran up his neck, across the back of his head, where it met the previous pain. The Tandaran closed his eyes in a feudal attempt to shut out the pain. After a minute or so he took a slow deep breath and said, "Lights on, low."

The computer complied and brought the room lights up to one quarter strength.

Theron Storme couldn't believe that he had been so foolish to go drinking in a strange location. He moved about slowly on the bed and placed his feet on the floor. That was when he looked down and found himself to be naked. He glanced about shyly, but found no one, but next to where he had been lying was another pillow and blanket that had been tossed aside. He looked about the room again, very uncertain of himself and the situation. "Is anyone here?" Again, he wished that he had not said a thing.

With no response from the room, he moved his hand over the place where someone had laid next to him. The bed was still warm, which told him that they had not been gone very long. But then, he saw a note written on a pair of underwear on the pillow. It simply said, 'Thanks !' with a big exclamation mark. Theron's eyes almost bugged out of their sockets. There were way too many mysteries going on here and his head was literally killing him.

He glanced at the time display, which read '05:48'. "At least I have time to fix a few things before I have to be on duty in a couple hours." Theron carefully got up and softly walked and said, "A shower and clean uniform to start." As he made his way he saw clothes everywhere on the floor, as well as, liquor bottles and things that use to be on tables. It was like a cyclone had come through his room.

The warm water hitting his body was a comfort. That is until the water began to hit his shoulders and back. Theron physically cringed, gritting his teeth through the pain. There were tingling points of fire on the top and around his shoulders. He glanced down and saw deep impressions into his skin, almost punctures. He tried to let the water flow over his back again. Painful streaks of pain radiated from his neck, down his back, to his sided. Yet the more warm water flowed the better if felt.

Finally, the heat of the warm water casting down on him began to sooth his sore muscles. Theron tried to put all the elements of the mystery into perspective. He knew that he had gone into the bar with Hansen, “Yes, that’s the cadet’s name, Hansen . . and Brott.” His mind sat at that point with nothing more to dredge up. He had no further memory except of a vague memory about a strange alien watching them all the time.

The facts of this morning were also undeniable. He had become highly intoxicated or drugged to the point of lack of memory. He had spent time with some . . ‘one’. His body was sore from either fighting or very ruff ‘horseplay’. It was very likely that he and another person had engaged in intercourse. He stopped dead in the shower, water streaming down his face with his mouth gaping open, as another uncertain question and all its possibilities filled his mind. The other person may have been a male. There was nothing in the room that indicated that the other person had been a female. He had never known himself to be homo-phobic, but the possibility remained and he was not sure how to process that idea.

This mind came back to the present as the water was stopped and Theron reached for a towel. Then there was the note written on the underwear, which told him that the other ‘person’ had realized were they were and left without waking him, yet took the time to write a note. He thought, A kind person, no doubt. Possibly they were just as embarrassed.

The pain in Theron’s skull began to intensify again. “Definitely time to get to sickbay.”

---

Syrena made it back to her room, the second the doors closed behind her, she breathed a deep sigh of relief. Though, she looked like she'd been through a long fight, and her roommate, a Bajoran man by the name of Taniks Rem, noticed her arrival and commented, ”What in the name of the Prophets happened to you last night, Syrena? Where were you?"

"Nothing, and nowhere that you need to know." Syrena shot off annoyed as she glared towards the young Bajoran male with a look that could sour fresh milk. He looked as though he was going to ask what she did, but instead, Taniks shot back with, "You know you look like you've been through a tornado with a bad attitude problem.. Right?" He commented on Syrena's current appearance before stuffing his face with the hasperat he'd currently been eating before Syrena arrived.

With a hiss of disdain and annoyance, Syrena grabbed a small pillow off of the chair near her and tossed it at the young Bajoran crewman, where it smacked point blank into his face with surprising pin-point accuracy. Knocking the half-eaten hasperat out of his hand, and sending it all splattering to the floor, "Hey! I was eating that!" Taniks protested as he glanced at the remains of his food that was now a messy pile about an arm's reach away from him. "Not cool, Syrena! You owe me another plate of that!" He called towards her as she turned and made her way towards their shared bathroom with a clean towel and an armload of fresh clothes. "Get it yourself. I'm gonna go take a shower." Syrena shot back coolly without turning to face him, "Don't you even think about it unless you want me to break that arm of yours, Rem." She added when she heard him pick up the pillow she'd thrown at him, and he froze in mid-throw, still holding the pillow in his left hand. "How do you even do that?!" He asked her with a look of surprised disbelief at the fact that she knew just exactly what he was going to do, before tossing the pillow back onto the chair that Syrena had removed it from.

Syrena didn't even answer, she entered the bathroom and when the doors closed behind her, She dropped her towel and clothes pile onto the counter and moved over to the shower to turn the water on. Next, Syrena turned the nozzle to the desiringly warmest temperature that she likely favored the most. When she was done with that, she hissed in pain as she started removing her clothes to prepare to take her shower. Muttering to herself, "Ow, That hurts!" She wondered what had happened as the water started to sting against her bare skin after she'd stepped clothes-less into the shower.

That was when Syrena looked herself over and noticed several strange looking scratch marks on her skin that was indicative of it being from someone's fingernails. "Where did these come from?" She asked herself as she glanced at each scratch mark. She knew she didn't cause them, so somebody must've either fought with her, or attacked her and she defended herself. She was still trying to figure out other possible scenarios, but only one of them truly hit her realisation, and it hit her hard, "Oh Kah'Less no!" Syrena muttered when her hands covered her face in utter embarrassment, she'd just realised that she'd slept with someone, and somehow ended up sleeping all night in Storme's bed in his quarters instead of her own. Syrena wondered if the person she'd slept with, was either Storme himself, or Brott, She couldn't tell for certain who had been with her since her head thumped with the migraine that still pounded against her skull like a hammer hitting a nail into a wall.


OFF:


Ens. Theron Storme
Helmsman
USS Islandica

&

Cadet Senior Grade Syrena Hansen
Assistant Chief Security/Tactical Officer
USS Islandica

ON:

Se'Lah approached her quarters, along with the guard who had been assigned to her for the day. She hated having to be escorted everywhere she went, but with the uncertainty of split personalities, she didn't disagree with the sentiment. Having a Yeoman as an on-duty escort who seemed to be more... knowledgeable than she should be for her position did have Se'Lah curious though. One thing she had going for her was that Mark was still adamant about being there for her, despite the odd situation. As they approached, the young Ensign took his place standing next to her door. Se'Lah looked at him, and sighed. "Thank you, Ensign."

"You're welcome, Ma'am." He replied with a smile.

Se'Lah entered into her quarters, and only moments after the doors slid shut, the sound of something flying through the air made her simply react. Without any thought, Se'Lah reach up, instinctively closing her hand, catching the handle of a throwing knife that otherwise would've caught her right in the throat. "Lights!"

As the lights came on, her would be killer's eyes changed from clear to normal, and he stood there, smirking at her. "Staunt said you were quick, Mary Anne." The man said. "I wouldn't count on your bodyguard protecting you, woman. He's dead at this point." He added, before launching himself at her.

Using her Vulcan strength, Se'Lah flung the knife away from both of them, embedding it into the side of a wooden book shelf. This action came at the cost of the unexpectedly strong impact of this man's body against her's. She twisted the best she could to try to redirect him, and they ended up sprawled over her desk, leaving her dazed for a short moment.

Using the distraction, the man grabbed her, and threw her at the wall, before getting up and grabbing her throat. He held her and lifted her up, slamming her into the wall.

In a swift reaction to save her own life, Se'Lah kicked this man as hard as she could in the throat, causing him to let go of her. As she he let go of her, she landed on her feet, before she grabbed his arm, and twisted hard to flip him over onto his back. She stepped back breathlessly, wondering how he'd gotten into her quarters undetected. "You're under arrest for attempting to murder a Starfleet officer." She said, deliberately not identifying her real name. "I suggest you give up now, and make it easy on yourself." She knew it wouldn't happen, but she had to try... As a Starfleet Officer... she had to try.

He laughed before using his strength to throw his body, and therefore Se'Lah, forward, before getting up and racing at her. Grabbing her, he landed a blow against her chest, sending her backwards against the wall, before pushing her towards the doorway.

The painful blow sent Se'Lah flying the distance to the wall, slamming her hard against it. She grunted as she landed, and slid to her feet. Staggering for only a moment to get her bearings, Se'Lah brought her hands up, shaking her head as if to clear the cobwebs and looked at him. "The hard way it is then..." Se'Lah stepped forward with a series of random attacks, putting her strength and speed to use as she quickly surmised he was stronger than he should be. She managed to get some good shots in, before the man caught her with a surprisingly strong side kick, which sent her towards the door to her quarters.

Once again, Se'Lah found herself flying backwards. With her doors security locked for her protection, she felt the impact when they failed to open, sending her and the doors into the corridor. She landed hard against the opposite wall as the surprised guard moved to pull his phaser, turning into the Commander's quarters.

"Hold it right there-!" He didn't even get to finish before the life was gone from him.

Seeing the guard, the man swiftly brought his fist up into the man's face, before grabbing his throat, and with one sharp twist, he snapped it, dropping the man's body to the ground.

Seeing the guard running into the room was a distraction that Se'Lah took, as she hauled off down the corridor. She decided to try for the holodeck. It was one deck down, but at least it would give her more of an advantage against someone so strong.

"You can run, but you can't hide." The man called after her, as he ran to where she had gone. He saw a crewmember on the way, and just for fun, he grabbed the young woman, and shoved her into the nearest wall, before removing a dagger and shoving it into her neck, leaving it there as he continued on for his target.

As she ran, Se'Lah heard the woman scream as her attacker grabbed her. She inwardly cursed herself for failing to take into account the safety of others aboard the ship. She continued to sprint down the corridor, and decided that if she passed anyone else, she'd order them to run for their own safety.

*************

Meanwhile...

Mark stood outside his quarters, making the final touches to his report, and leant back against the wall. It covered everything in detail about what had happened on Turalek, all the information he had gotten since from his people, and all of his conclusions. It did not paint a pretty sight. He sent the report to the Captain's terminal, and then entered his quarters. Before he could turn the lights on, however, he felt a sudden urge to duck, so he leapt forward in a roll, calling for the lights to come on as he did.

The pair of hands that had gone to grab Mark caught only air as he rolled away. As he turned back around, he was looking at a woman with long blonde hair, wearing a black jumpsuit. As she looked upon her target, she gave him a sweet, but wicked smile, and all the color seemed to fade from her eyes. The top half of her face was covered in a black mask, obscuring her identity. "Staunt says hello." She said, then brought her hands up as she rushed him.

A part of Mark knew he should call for security, but at the mention of Staunt he knew it was going to be his fight, something he had to do. He spun around and landed a kick on her, and faced her. "I'll be sure to send him a return message." Mark replied, standing ready to defend himself.

The kick caught her off guard, and while it didn't knock her down, it did spin her around a bit. As she straightened back up, there was blood seeping from her now injured lip. She touched her fingers to her lip, pulling her hand away to see blood, then looked at Mark. "You're a dead man!" She brought her hands back up, and this time she was a bit more cautious as she advanced on him. Staunt had handpicked her for this mission, specifically for the enhancements that her implants gave. She'd been fitted with ocular implants identical to Mark's, as well as another implant that significantly increased her strength. She'd also been fully versed on everything she needed to know about the combat abilities of her target. She stepped in, starting a low side kick that was meant only to set him up for her next move.

"You're not the first to try." Mark said. He watched as she looked at her blood, and guessed she wasn't used to seeing it. He looked at her, and noticed that her eyes...they were like his. As he watched her sweep for his legs, he leapt up to avoid the blow, before realising his mistake a second too late.

Just as she'd hoped, he fell for her trap. As his feet left the ground, she leapt up and side kicked him hard, her increased strength adding significant force to the impact. If she couldn't kill him, she at least had to keep him busy while her comrade took care of Staunt's pet Vulcan.

Flying backwards, Mark struck the wall and slid to the ground. Ignoring the pain in his chest, he kicked up from the ground, and then ran towards her, launching into a furious tirade of attacks, not letting up.

With her implants, Mark, and his attacker were easily matched in strength, allowing her to take the occasional kick or punch easier than a normal woman her size. Quickly tiring of being hit, she found an opening, and took it. She retorted with her own series of attacks that ended with her grabbing him, and with all the force she could muster, she threw him in the first direction she could manage, which happened to be towards the door to his quarters.

Thankfully, the doors opened as Mark neared them, so as he landed against the wall, he groaned in pain, but forced himself to get up. Several crewmembers were nearby, and watched as Mark stood up. He ran just inside his quarters and grabbed a sword from the wall, a memento from an old battle. Holding the sword, he faced his attacker.

Weapons... The room was practically lined with them. Seeing something she could use to her advantage, she grabbed it from the wall. It was a little shorter than the one Mark had, but it was slightly lighter weight. She held it up to test it, then stepped forward, forcing Mark to defend himself against an onslaught of deadly attacks.

Mark saw several crewmembers watching him as he stepped backwards into the corridor, as he began to defend against the oncoming attacks, moving swiftly as he did, taking several steps back as he blocked the attacks.

Ignoring the surprised eyes of the crew members nearby, the young blonde Human continued to advance on Mark. He was making a show of things, and now her job was that more difficult. She wasn't going to let him get away now. Her skills were now being put to the test, and she realized this was what she'd been training for.

Mark gripped the handle of his blade, and stepped back again as he blocked another attack. He ducked to avoid another attack, and this time, he pushed the advantage. He swung his sword at the woman, swinging high, then low, then high again. With each swing, his blade made contact with hers, and a clashing sound could be heard all the way along the corridor. Ignoring this, however, Mark continued to press the attack, turning as he swung his blade, trying to gain any advantage. He then kicked her in the chest, and moved down another corridor, an empty one. He knew he needed more room, and a better area.

As he kicked her, she lost her footing, landing on the deck, before kipping back up to her feet. Just as she did, two Security officers attempted to grab her. Unfortunately for them, her strength far outmatched their own. Yanking her arm away from one of them, she used the sword to stab the other through the chest, before yanking the sword out of his chest, and using it to decapitate the second guard. Before the second guard even hit the deck, she was already advancing on Mark once again.

Realising what he could do, he took a defensive stance as he continued to block the attacks, one after the other, moving backwards as he went. He needed to keep her focused on him, and no one else. As the two blades clashed, Mark pushed forward, their blades together as he stared into her eyes, showing his fury, his fire, and seeing the fire in her.

She continued to fight against him, working hard to try to end this man's existence. As their two blades pushed together, she could see the fire in his eyes, and decided now was the time to give him the message she'd been given. "You've messed with the affairs of John Staunt for the last time." She told him. "You and your Vulcan girlfriend are to pay the price for your recent interference to his experiments."

"Se'Lah." He said softly, and suddenly a new fire burnt within him. This woman had just said the wrong words. "I'm not done messing with his experiments." Mark said. He pulled back his sword, and himself, before jumping up, spinning and sending her backwards. As he landed, he saw she was still on her feet, so he ran at her, and attacked like he had never done so before. He swung his blade a lot faster than he had before, the rage building within him, sending her backwards with every strike.

With every strike, the woman was forced to take a step or two backwards, her strength and training the only things keeping her from losing her head. In a quick movement, she deflected one of his swings, then caught him with a hard push kick to his midsection, sending him backwards. "You will be if I have anything to do with it!"

Moments later, Se'Lah came around the corner, stopping dead in her tracks. "Mark!" She called as she saw him, inwardly glad that he was still alive. "I've got incoming behind me!"

Using the momentary distraction that was provided, Mark spun around and kicked his attacker backwards. He kept an eye on Se'Lah for a moment, before launching into a new tirade of attacks. Right now, they were in trouble. The area was getting smaller and smaller for the fight.

"Dammit!" The woman said, distracted for a moment by the sudden appearance of Se'Lah. Though distracted, she was still skilled enough to keep from losing her life against Mark as he continued to swing on her.

The male attacker reached the two, and saw Mark. He recognised him, and saw him fighting his companion. He removed a dagger from his belt, and threw it at Mark. However, Mark dodged the attack, barely, and as it got stuck into the wall, Mark swung his sword downwards, and used one hand to push down as the woman blocked and pushed upwards. Mark used his other hand to grab the dagger and threw it at the man, barely scratching him, but certainly enough to allow a few drops of blood to drop to the ground. The man cursed, and faced Se'Lah, aiming an attack at her.

"We need more room!" Mark called out to Se'Lah, as the man began to attack her.

Se'Lah dodged the man's attack, grabbing him and flipping him to the ground, before taking a step back. "Computer, emergency site-to-site transport for 4 to the holodeck! Authorization Se'Lah, delta, delta, 259!" A moment later Mark, Se'Lah, and both of their attackers were engulfed in the blue haze of a transporter beam.

To be continued...

Standing in the holodeck, Mark saw his attacker standing a short distance from him. He had loaded one of his training programs, and rain was now pouring down from the sky. They were atop a ruined building. The program was of a city hundreds of years after the end of a war, and a scenario Mark enjoyed running. He gripped his sword, and ran at her, swinging his blade at her head, before spinning and launching into a new tirade of attacks.

The woman was easily able to deflect Mark's swing for her head, side stepping as she moved to block his oncoming attacks. During the attacks, Mark tossed a Kulak at her comrade, which gave her enough of a distraction to strike. She deflected his Sword, and grabbed him, using all her strength to fling him in the direction of the edge of the roof top, hoping to end him right then.

As he skidded towards the edge of the roof, Mark rolled backwards, and he rolled over the edge, grabbing the side of the building, and using it to launch himself back up onto the roof. As he landed, he spun around and kicked her in the head, before picking up his sword which had fallen from his hand. It was then that her mask fell off, and her face became visible to Mark. Now, finally, he understood why she was attacking him. Staunt had used her anger and hatred of him against her.

Her name was Marla, and she had been a member of his clan, and his sister, the daughter of his adoptive father, Scourge. He had been closer to her than anyone, except for Carrie, until she had been captured years earlier. "I failed you, Marla. I failed you." He confessed, hoping to reach her. "That's why you hate me so much." He said, feeling a pain in his heart, hoping he wouldn't need to kill her.

As Mark kicked her, Marla spun around, nearly hitting the ground, but managed to steady herself. Yet again she was bleeding from the mouth where he'd kicked her. Instead of touching her mouth this time, she spit fresh blood onto the rain soaked roof top. She looked at Mark with hatred in her eyes. "You left me alone on Turalek to die!" She told him. "Had John not taken me under his wing, I would've been a corpse by now... You abandoned me!" With that, she launched herself at him, wildly swinging her sword as her anger and hatred flared out of control.

"Staunt was the reason we were fighting that day!" He reminded her, as he blocked every attack. "I had no choice. Cannibals were coming, and we couldn't hold them off." He added, as he launched a new attack, moving quickly. "I tried to save you. I came back, but you were gone!" He added.

As he launched his attack, Marla saw it coming. She deflected his sword, and the moment it missed her, she stepped forward, decking him square in the jaw, before grabbing him and forcing him backwards to pin him against a nearby wall, both of their swords dropping out of reach in the clumsy, yet powerful movements. "That man saved me from the cannibals, after you ran like a coward!" she told him. Tears escaped from her eyes to streak down her face along with the drenching rain. "I loved you, but I will never forgive you for leaving me, when I needed you the most!" As she held him there, she proceeded to punch him over and over again, working to let her hatred out against the man who was once her brother.

Mark allowed the first few punches to hit, before grabbing her fist, and holding it. "I'm sorry, Marla." He said, as he looked at her. "I'm sorry I failed you. Don't let me fail you again." He said softly.

"Let go of me!" Marla nearly screamed as she wrenched her arm out of his hand. Using the momentum that movement created, she spun around, bringing her foot up to kick him the same way he'd kicked her twice, coming back around in a loose boxing stance.

Leaping up, he faced her. "I won't lose you again Marla." He said. "I failed you before." He confessed, the rain striking his face, mixing in with his tears. "I remember the day father died. He told me to protect you, but I failed you. Do you remember him telling us to stick together? Always?"

Marla seemed to hesitate as she looked at him, but her anger and hatred were still there. "You disobeyed his dying wish, and Staunt was the one who took me in, and kept me safe!" She told him, nearly bursting into fresh tears. "Why did you leave me to die!?" As she asked the question, she reached up to a hidden pocket on her side, and with the flick of her wrist, sent a single blade hurling across the distance between them.

Mark caught the blade, and threw it to the ground. "Because I was scared." Mark finally confessed, revealing a secret he had never told anyone. "I was scared of losing everyone to the cannibals. I told everyone to run, because I didn't want them to die. But to save you, I would have had to fight ten of them." He said, still facing her. He saw his sword, but he refused to pick it up. "Now, I can do it. Back then...I was scared, Marla. I still am, but I've done a lot since then. I saved our family, the clan, all of them. But now, I need to save you."

She stood looking at him, but this time made no aggressive moves against him. Her loose boxing stance was still up, and there was still fire in her eyes. "What if it's too late?" She asked him. "What if I tell you that you've lost that chance?"

He looked at her, and looked into her eyes, their gaze meeting. "You never give up on family, even if they've given up on you." He said. "I won't give up on you."

"But you did give up on me!" Marla yelled at him. She stepped forward to attack him, wanting to just get this over with now, so the hurt would end.

He grabbed her hands, and looked at her. "I'm sorry, Marla." He said, before pulling her into a hug. "I failed you before, but never again." He whispered into her ear.

She struggled against him, trying to beat her way out of his arms, before finally relenting. She went limp in his arms, sobbing uncontrollably as her rage finally broke. "You left me alone!" she cried against him. "I was alone, and so scared!"

Mark kissed her forehead. "I'm sorry." He repeated, holding her close to him. "But I'm here now. We're together now." He promised. Unknown to everyone, another figure had made their way into the holodeck during the fighting. As he saw Marla's reaction to Mark, he knew what he had to do...

After another moment, she calmed a bit, but didn't pull away. "If I don't kill you, he will kill us both..." She finally pulled back a little, but not out of Mark's arms as she looked at him. I can't let that happen...!" As soon as the words were out of her mouth, a surprised look crossed her features, and a blade protruded through the front of her jumpsuit. Another moment passed, before the blade was ripped back out of her body, and she collapsed in Mark's arms, blood pouring from the fresh wounds on her back and stomach. "Too... late..." She managed to say as the life began to seep out of her.

"MARLA!" He shouted, as he fell to his knees, holding her. He lowered her to the ground, and faced the man who had struck her. "You're going to regret that for the rest of your life." He snarled. "Both seconds of it." He added, before launching at him, landing a strong blow at the man's face.

Unlike Marla, this new man lacked the strength implant. Instead he had one for speed, but even that wasn't enough to allow him to dodge Mark's attack, which sent him sprawling to the ground, leaving him dazed.

"You son of a bitch." Mark snarled, as he leaped onto the man's chest, and began to punch him again and again, over and over. He stood up, and looked down at the man. "When you get to hell, tell them Whistler sent you." He said, a phrase he hadn't uttered in many years. He picked up the man by the throat, and lifted him up. With a roar, he brought the man down, head first, onto the ground, snapping the man's neck, hard to the point that it tilted further than any head could. As he dropped the body, he ran over to Marla. "Hey, come on, we need to get you to sickbay." He said, cradling her head softly.

Despite the pouring rain, the area around where Marla was laying was covered in her blood. She looked up at Mark, reaching a bloodied hand to touch his face. "Thank you... for believing... in me..." with those last words, the last bit of life drained from Marla, and she went limp in Mark's arms with no more signs of life.

Mark trembled as he held her, and he leaned down and kissed her forehead. He then roared in pure anger, the sum of all his rage and hatred coming to the surface. Fire burnt within him, and as he gently lowered Marla's body, he went over to Marla's blade, and used it to cut his hand. "Staunt, I swear, I will find you, and I will kill you." He vowed. He then went over to the edge of the building, and saw Se'Lah and her attacker, Jonas, still engaged in a fight. Se'Lah was managing to hold her own, but soon, the man would know pain. He would know why it was a bad idea to cross Mark Whistler.

*****

Meanwhile, Se'Lah's attacker was on a lower building, and smiled as he ran at her, swinging a fist at her, and striking her face. He grabbed her by her clothes, and threw her towards the side of the roof, watching as she landed and skidded along the ground. As the man went to move towards her, however, a Kulak shot past him, missing him by mere inches, thrown by Mark, but distracted him for a moment.

In that moment of distraction, Se'Lah stopped moving, and her eyes glazed over. With the heavy rain, a soft repeating beep heard only by her came from the device attached to her ear. She blinked a few times, then tapped the device, before she noticed the man who was now looking at her. Before he could resume his attacks, she simply launched herself off the side of the roof top, tackling him to the ground, attempting to pin him there. "Jonas Morin, I'm going to arrest you, but first, you're going to tell me where that snake Staunt is hiding." Though her Vulcan emotional control was intact, Se'Lah's words were forceful, and full of intent. "Where is he!?"

"Wouldn't you like to know, bitch." Jonas snarled, kicking her off of him and jumping up. "Won't do you any good, you'll be dead soon." He added, as he ran at her, attempting to launch a new attack at her.

Se'Lah landed on her back, kipping up onto her feet. As Jonas launched at her, she side stepped, grabbing his arm and using his own momentum to send him hard into the nearby wall, nearly losing her balance in the process. "Enough innocent lives have been snuffed out, Jonas." She told him, before lashing out with the intent of taking his feet out from under him, before he could recover. "Justice will be served."

"Justice will be decided by us. We are the future." Jonas said, as he leaped up, and kicked her in the face, sending her flying backwards. "Your Federation will fall. All will fall before the Circle." He told her.

The hit was hard as she flew back several feet to land on her back. "Oh... that's gonna leave a mark." She said as she got herself up to her feet. She spit out green blood onto the roof top, then looked at him, bringing her hands back up into a Tai-Chi stance. "If you don't tell me what I want to know, I'm going to beat it out of you, Jonas." With that, she launched herself at him with a flying side kick.

Jonas smirked as he stepped to the side, and watched as her foot got stuck in the wall. "You won't beat anything out of anyone." He snarled, as he punched her hard, in the face. Yes, he had a blade, but he wanted to savor this moment, this kill. He landed another blow on her. "You think you're so much better. But you are better than no one."

He landed two hard blows to her face, and as he went to throw another, Se'Lah caught it with both hands. Using all the force she could muster, she held him firm, yanking her foot from the wall, and promptly caught him with a hard round house kick to the ribs. "I'm just the woman Staunt tried to kill two months ago." she said then kicked him again in the same spot. "I'm also the woman who's going to put him away for life!" her words were forceful as she landed a third kick, this one a hard push kick to the chest, which sent him flying back.

As Jonas landed on the ground, he groaned in pain, but managed to get up quickly. "You won't have the chance. I'll finish what he began." He promised, as he ran at her, and launched a new tirade of attacks, aiming at various parts of her body, again and again, not letting up, not giving her a chance to return the favor.

With this personality in control, Se'Lah had full control of all of her fighting skills as she expertly blocked, or deflected Jonas' attacks. The man's strength hadn't escaped her notice as she remembered Staunt adding implants to some of his crew on Starbase 122. "Give it up, Jonas!" She called as she side stepped to dodge one of his attacks. "You can't win!"

Jonas smirked as he faced her. "I remember the last person who told me that, before they died painfully." Jonas said, before punching her again and again, launching a quick flurry of attacks.

Se'Lah took a few hits, dodging, or deflecting others, but that last one hit her hard in the chest, sending her flying backwards to slam into the wall. As she impacted, her head hit the wall, causing her to see stars, and leaving her momentarily out on her feet, as she slowly shifted personalities once again, causing the device behind her ear to emit a softly repeated beep, heard only by her.

Jonas saw that she was stunned briefly, and quickly began to launch a new attack on her. He knew that it would only be a matter of time before the security officers of this ship would locate them, and would send a lot of people to capture him. Of course, he had his escape planned, but he needed to finish this woman off first, especially if he was going to receive his reward.

Though she was out on her feet, Se'Lah's instincts allowed her to react to the sudden threat on her life. As Jonas came at her, she brought her hands up, slapping his hands away, and decking him full force in the jaw, before following up with a strong side kick to the chest.

Feeling the blow, Jonas allowed himself a small groan of agony, but then rolled out of the way, before getting up quickly, and facing her. He spun around, and kicked her in the chest, aiming to send her towards the edge of the rooftop.

Just as the kick landed, Se'Lah finally came around to find a bad pain in her chest, and that she was in the air. As she went over the edge, she managed to grab it with her hands, one of them slipping off to leave her hanging from a roof top, hundreds of stories high by a single hand.

Jonas laughed as he walked over to her, smiling. "No safeties, no backup and no hope. What does that leave?" Jonas asked, with a grin, as he brought up a foot to stamp on her hand.

"Me." Came the familiar deep voice which suddenly sent chills down Jonas' back. A second later, he found himself thrown across the rooftop, as Mark stood there, the rain pouring down upon him, covered in blood. He reached down, grabbed Se'Lah and pulled her up. "Stay back." He said. He then turned and ran at Jonas, leaping into the air, spinning as he did, and as he came to land, he stretched out a leg, striking Jonas in the face.

Dealing with the pain this man had put her in, Se'Lah dropped to her knees, as she watched Mark take on the man who'd tried to kill her. She inwardly wondered how much she'd missed of this fight as she watched.

As Jonas landed on the ground, he snarled in anger, and knew that now he had to give it everything he had. He had prepared to fight the woman, not the abomination. As he leaped up, he faced Mark and ran at him. He tried to land a blow on him, but Mark was quicker, and dodged every strike he made. Mark then retaliated by launching into a furious tirade of attacks himself. He punched Jonas in the chest several times, sending him stumbling backwards, before leaping at him, and landing a punch on his face, breaking the man's nose. As Jonas fell to the floor, he spat blood out of his mouth, got up and looked at Mark. He ran at Mark, and launched himself like a projectile. Striking Mark, both men fell to the ground, and through a skylight into the floor below. They both landed on the ground, and forced themselves up. Mark grabbed Jonas by the collar, and ran into the wall with him, smashing him against it. Jonas responded by bringing his elbow into Mark's face, sending him stumbling backwards, and then threw Mark into the wall.

As the two men fell through the skylight, Se'Lah got to her feet, moving to the now broken skylight. She peered down, quickly judging the distance, before she jumped down just in time to see Mark flying past her. Allowing her muscle memory to guide her actions now, Se'Lah ran towards Jonas, dropping down just at the last second, to vault into a cartwheel kick, before landing on her feet in a Tai-Kwon-Do stance. "Hands off the merchandise!"

Using the distraction, Mark got up and leaped past Se'Lah, and landed against Jonas, who was still trying to recover from Se'Lah's blow. As Mark struck him, both men went through the nearly destroyed wall, landing in the next room. Both were in pain, but both were trained to ignore the pain. The battle was all that mattered. As Jonas landed, he rolled away from Mark. "Computer, Katana." He demanded. The computer created a Katana, so Mark ordered the computer to create one for him as well. As he grabbed his, he immediately used it to block an attack by Jonas, and sent him flying backwards with a well placed kick, towards Se'Lah. He landed on the ground, but swung his sword at Se'Lah's leg, just as Mark ran towards him, aiming a strike from his blade, which was blocked.

As Jonas' katana came at her leg, Se'Lah simply reacted, her muscle memory allowing her to back flip out of the way. She considered the idea of calling for a weapon of her own, but decided to keep true to the orders she'd been given... no weapons. If Jonas came after her again, she'd have to make do without one.

Jonas now knew he had to ignore the woman, for now. His focus on Mark, he brought his blade up towards him as Mark ran at him. Swinging the blade, Mark was able to deflect it, so Jonas ran out of the room they were in towards a staircase which led back up to the rooftop. As he got onto the roof, he stood ready to attack Mark the second he came out of the staircase, but he wasn't prepared for Mark leaping up at him, sending them both to the ground. They got up again, and faced one another, and then ran at each other.

As Mark reached Jonas, he swung his blade at the man, again trying to aim for his head, then his chest, but Jonas was using all of his strength to block every attack. Jonas had his determination. Mark had his anger. Both were giving the men ungodly strength to continue this clash. Mark briefly became aware of Se'Lah coming out onto the rooftop, and also saw Marla's body out of the corner of his eyes. He knew Se'Lah would want to fight, but he wouldn't let her fight this man. She had almost been killed, and she wasn't in the best state. Primarily, however, this fight was his. Staunt would be his. Whatever happened, Staunt would die.

Jonas forced himself to push forward as he and Mark attacked one another, each swung their blade so proficiently, each using their strengths to their own advantage, and neither man having the advantage. Jonas could feel himself getting fatigued, but he wouldn't allow that to stop him. He had to win this fight. He would not allow any other outcome other than victory. He growled in anger as Mark cut his leg, and launched into a new furious series of attacks.

Mark blocked a new attack from Jonas, but this time, Jonas was quick enough to cut Mark with the blade. As Mark felt the blade cut into his chest, he let out a growl of anger and pain, and began a new attack. Jonas couldn't help but laugh as he saw Mark attempt to make the next move, and blocked it. "You think anything you do matters? We killed your family, we killed your father, Scourge. We killed your sister, Amelia, on this ship. And now, I will kill you." Jonas said. Mark's head snapped up, facing him. Suddenly, before Jonas could react, Mark leaped up, his head striking Jonas' chest, sending him backwards.

With every ounce of strength he had, Mark ran at Jonas, just as thunder roared through the sky, as if to express Mark's anger. He reached Jonas and punched him in the face, again and again. He swung his blade, cutting into Jonas' chest, and then punched him again. Jonas stumbled backwards, and tried to block Mark's next attack, but failed as he felt his arm get cut. Mark's eyes were then visible to Se'Lah, and they were terrible to behold. They held a fury never before seen, an anger that would not be extinguished. Mark picked up Jonas by the throat, and punched him again and again in the face, breaking his nose, before striking his chest. He held Jonas' hand, and snapped it, hard.

As Jonas screamed in pain, which could barely be heard over the thunder, Mark held his blade, and cut through Jonas' hand, severing it. As Jonas stumbled backwards towards the edge, he looked up, his eyes wide with fear. "Hell's Messenger...Whistler." He whispered, truly afraid. Mark held his sword in one hand, and a Kulak from his belt in the other. He threw the Kulak up, watching it spin as he did. As it came down, Mark grabbed it and threw it at Jonas, watching as it embedded itself in Jonas' chest. Mark gripped the sword. "For Marla, for Se'Lah, and for my family." He said coldly, running at Jonas. As he neared him, he spun around, and swung the blade, slicing through Jonas' neck, screaming as he did so. He watched as Jonas' head fell off of his body, and down the side of the building. In one last fit of rage, he kicked Jonas' body, which then followed the head. Jonas' blood was on the rooftop, now being washed away by the rain, just as thunder roared above them, and lightning flashed, brightening the sky. Mark, now covered in blood, turned and faced Se'Lah. His face was covered with Jonas' blood, as was his body, but that was mixed in with Marla's blood as well.

During the fight, Se'Lah had ducked out of the way as the two men nearly ran her over in the process of trying to kill each other. As she watched, Mark fought with a coldness she'd not seen in him, not even during their shared time on Turalek. She watched as first Jonas' head, then body went off of the rooftop, then stood looking at Mark. Through the eyes of a cold blooded killer, she could see a pain so intense it made her wonder how he'd ever managed to keep any sense of sanity over the years. She stood looking at him with uncertainty, knowing that her feelings wouldn't change from this, but at the same time seeing something that she knew he'd tried to bury. "Mark...?" She asked, trying to get his attention. She stood there, ready to react if he decided she was a threat in his dark rage.

Dropping his blade, Mark fell to his knees, tears and blood rolling down his cheek. He felt the darkness within, and he felt the rage, and an anger he had not felt in a long time. Turalek had almost brought out the animal within, but he had kept control. Now, however, he had lost that control. He had lost all control he had built up over the many years, and Se'Lah had seen it. But he had found his sister again, only to lose her, right in front of his eyes. He had lost everyone. He let out a loud roar of anger, of fury, which reverberated through the sky, as if louder than the thunder which continued to roar. He became aware of Se'Lah, and stood up, facing her. "This...this is who I am. Who I never wanted you to see." He told her.

"Your past is part of who you are, Mark." Se'Lah explained to him. I can't fault you for that, just like you wouldn't fault me for mine."

Mark walked over to Marla's body, and scooped her up in his arms, gently cradling her. He held her as he faced Se'Lah, standing next to the man whose neck he had snapped earlier. He approached Se'Lah. "Staunt will pay for this with his life. This was my sister, Marla. He turned her into this, and now killed her." He explained simply.

Se'Lah quietly watched as Mark picked up the body of the woman. She was about to say more, when the holodeck doors opened, and several security officers poured into the room, bringing phasers to bare on the two.

"Computer, end program." One of the security officers ordered, and the buildings, and rain were replaced by the normal holodeck grid, along with the two bodies, and the swords from Mark's quarters.

"Hold your fire!" Se'Lah called out. "The situation is under control, but we'll need to get an autopsy on these bodies over here." She pointed to what remained of Jonas and the other man, then turned to Mark. "I'll meet you in Sickbay when Security is done here."

"I have something to do. There is a planet less than an hour away. I have to go there. I have a funeral to attend to." He said, heading towards the exit, ignoring the looks of the security officers.

Se'Lah watched him leave as one of the security officers called for a team from sickbay to come get the bodies. "Guess I won't be getting any rest before my bridge shift."

As Mark walked out of the Holodeck, Arianna passed him by, sporting a Tricorder on one hip, and a phaser on the other. The two of them made eye contact, holding each other's gaze momentarily before each continued on their way.

"Seems I can't leave you alone for more than a few minutes, without you causing trouble, Commander." Arianna said as she approached Se'Lah.

"I didn't cause this, Chief." Se'Lah said with a raised eyebrow. "Mr. Whistler and I were both attacked."

"You look like you took a beating." Arianna said, puling her Tricorder to begin a quick scan of Se'Lah. "How do you feel?"

"I'll be fine, but it might be wise to send an Engineer to repair the door to my quarters." At the confused look Arianna gave, Se'Lah explained further. "I was forced through them."

"It'll get taken care of." Arianna said. "In the meantime, let's allow security to do their jobs, and get you in for some quick questions."

With that, Arianna led Se'Lah out of the holodeck. The young Chief had her work cut out for her with the task of getting Se'Lah ready for her bridge shift that started in only a few hours.

After a through cleaning and properly dressed for the day, Ens. Storme made his way to sickbay. He hoped that someone there would be understanding and help remove the fictitious dagger from his brain.

The doors to sickbay whooshed apart and Storme stepped through cautiously with one hand on his forehead and another on the wall to make sure he didn't fall over.

Valyre didn't need a tricorder to figure this case out, and she gave Theron a mild disapproving look as he took his cautious steps into sickbay. "I ought to let you suffer, but I'm a nice nurse so I won't." She might not approve of such heavy drinking to leave one with a hangover the next day, but denying him treatment would just be wrong. "Sit down and tell me what you drank."

Theron more or less stumbled his way over to the biobed and sat on the edge. He shook his head slightly, "it wasn't supposed to be like this. I really . . " He knew better than to lie to a doctor or nurse. "Well, we went into the station last night, to one of the clubs."

"Well that was dumb, going to a club on a station owned and run by Ferengi." Valyre might be obligated to treat his symptoms, but she didn't have to approve of his actions. Or pretend to. "You didn't answer my question."

Theron continued, "I started with a nice dark ale. Hansen recommended a Bajoran drink." He shook his head slightly to the negative, "I cant remember its name, but it was yellow and very very tart."

"General treatment it is then." Valyre picked up two hyposprays, injecting them one after the other into Storme's neck. "Ondanestron for the nausea with ibuprofen for the headache. The rest..." She took a dermal regenerator from a nearby table and dropped it in his lap. "I think you can handle that... pretty straightforward. Just turn it on and let it do the work."

Theron then paused as he considered bringing up another matter. "Ah . . . thanks, but there's something else."

Valrye gave him a dry, un-amused look. "Yes?"

The Ensign continued, but spoke very softly and slowly, "I may have had . . sexual relations last night." He paused for almost too long before adding, "And I do not know who it was with."

"Sounds like a personal problem, Ensign." Maybe it was wrong, but Valyre had little sympathy for such situations. Starfleet officers were supposed to know better than that. Running a cursory scan of him, she tucked the tricorder back into her pocket. "Your scans are clean. Get yourself cleaned up and on duty before the captain starts looking for you."

Theron was still nervouse about the situation, but glad to hear that he was okay, physically. It would have been nice to get some moral support, but maybe this was the wrong place for that. Storme felt the twinging on the skin of his back where the scratches were, but decided not to bring it up. He probably would not have gotten any sympathy for those either. He looked at the Commander and replied nervously, "Ah . . Thank you. I appreciate your time."

"You're welcome. Next time try not to get drunk before having sex with people you don't know. And for Goddess' sake, get medical clearance if you're doing that nonsense with alien races. Some of them have bodily fluids that can kill you." Valyre paused for effect before adding. "Or the female gets the male pregnant. Think about that for a while before your next adventure."

Theron nervously swallowed, nodded, and replied, "Yes, Ma'am." He slid of the edge of the bio bed. When his feet hit the floor, his many aching muscles reminded him of his woes. He knew the medication would help soon. He looked to the Commander, smiled, and said, "Thank you again," and walked toward the exit.

As the man sat behind his desk on Glebben station, he looked at the information in front of him. "Damn it Whistler, why haven't you responded?" He asked. He tapped a code into his computer, and opened a secure channel to the Islandica. "I need to speak with Mark Whistler, Chief Intelligence Officer." The man said.

Tyler had been at his station on the bridge, he had been running diagnostics for the better part of an hour. It was mundane work, but necessary. He didn't really mind doing it, though as the ops officer on duty, he didn't have a choice in the matter. A soft beep had sounded, drawing his attention from a diagnostic report. Someone was sending a message - which wasn't unusual - but the way it was routed was. He paused one of the diagnostics, his fingers danced across his workstation board to bring the message up on the embedded monitor. He furrowed his brow at what was being told. This seemed all too sketchy to him. "I'm Lieutenant Alvarez, with whom am I speaking?"

The man activated his voice filter so his voice was shrouded, and sounded different. "I can't tell you that, but I need to speak to Whistler. I need his help with a vital mission."

Something seemed off about all of this. He didn't really know anything about Whistler beyond his Starfleet record. He had wondered if the captain knew about any of this. But, it being intel, who knew. He did a quick check to see if Whistler was even around. "I'm sorry... he isn't on board," he said.

"Not on board?" The man asked, frustrated. "Fine. Who is your best computer expert on board? There is a computer virus in Glebben Station, and I need to stop it. I work for Starfleet Intelligence, so I need help from your crew."

A computer virus? Tyler's mind spun with a hundred possibilities, and a hundred more questions. Why would intel care about a computer virus on the station? "I'm the operations manager on board, and I know a computer inside and out. I'll be able to diagnose and fix your problem." Even though he was told it was a virus, it would still need to be researched and diagnosed in order to be eradicated.

The man thought for a moment. "Not like I have a choice. Meet me on Glebben Station, in the secondary cargo bay." The man said. "Thirty minutes."

Tyler nodded. "Thirty minutes. I'll be there." After his confirmation, the transmission suddenly stopped, not that he was surprised by this. After a twenty minutes, he got his relief to continue the diagnostics he was running, then he left the bridge. On the thirty minute mark, he was standing in the secondary cargo bay, on Glebben station. All he had with his was his diagnostic kit, which he was pretty sure would be thoroughly searched. Now, he just waited.

Watching the area, the lone man stepped out of the shadows. "Lieutenant Junior Grade Tyler Alvarez." The man said, approaching him with a hand scanner. He ran it over the man, and oper the diagnostic kit, before taking it and checking it. "Good. You may call me Garuda." The man said.

Garuda looked around and then at Tyler. "I have been working with Mark Whistler for some years now. I work with him on undercover operations, and I am part of a network of Intelligence Operatives. Right now, I need help because we have learnt of a threat to this station, and your ship. As far as we can tell, someone is planning to destroy the entire station, and we don't know how. You and I must stop this." Garuda said.

As expected, a scan happened, and his tool kit was searched. However, when he was briefed, Tyler began to second guess whether he was the right man for this job. "You won't get an argument from me there," Tyler responded. He pretty sure this 'computer virus' was going to be far more complicated than the run of the mill virus. "Lead the way, Garuda."

Garuda nodded, and led Tyler down a second exit of the cargo bay, down a dimly lit corridor. "We're going down to the main computer core. The Ferengi who run this place either don't know or don't care about whoever is down there, as long as it doesn't affect their profits. You armed?" Garuda asked.

"Um no," Tyler said as his gaze swept the area as he walked. He made mental notes of various landmarks, just in case he had to run back. "I didn't think I needed one." Which was the truth, if he would have known or thought of the true dangers, he would have brought a phaser.

Garuda sighed, and removed a Klingon disruptor from his belt. "I trust you know how to use this, kid." Garuda said, continuing to walk down the corridor with Tyler. "Rule number one: Never be without a weapon." He said. He then handed a knife to Tyler. "And keep this one, just in case."

Tyler bit back a snarky remark, but instead just nodded. "I understand," he said as he took the disruptor and knife. "Maybe the Ferengi need to rethink their security practices, I'm sure losing a station, a Federation starship, and the possibility of lawsuits that would follow doesn't seem very profitable to me." He shrugged as he fingered the trigger of the disruptor. "Seems almost, lazy... and uncharacteristic."

"Nor to me. But the Ferengi don't generally think ahead like that, at least not with stations like this. Of course, it could be that they know, and are being paid to look the other way. Either way, we're not going to like what we find." Garuda said, checking another Klingon Disruptor he held. As they reached a turbolift shaft, Garuda looked at the control panel and saw it dark. He sighed, as he moved to pry the door open. "Give me a hand, will you?" He asked.

Tyler nodded. His dark brown eyes darted to the darkened control panel, but didn't bother with it beyond that. He set down his tool kit, tucked the knife into the back of his uniform pants, and followed that by tucking the disruptor under his arm. He stood beside the other man, and did what was asked. He dug his fingertips into the where the doors came together and began to pull in the opposite direction of Garuda.

As they pried the doors open, Garuda remained on alert, just in case. The doors finally open, he looked down the shaft. "Hope you're ready to climb. It's a long way down." Garuda said, as he took hold of a ladder and started to make his way down.

"I can handle it," Tyler responded as he peered down the shaft than swung himself over to get a good grip on the ladder that was bolted to the duranium bulkheads that made up the lift shaft. He still couldn't believe that the Ferengi were so lax concerning security of their computer core, but he wasn't going to bother going over the finer points of why that seemed contrary to what he was taught. He had also wondered how a simple fix was turning out to be complicated and shrouded in mystery. He continued his way down, moving at a steady pace. He wondered what they were going to encounter, but more important he wondered why they couldn't beam in?

As Garuda continued down, he tried to decide on the best course of action. He knew that the kid was not likely trained in intelligence, or any sort of security work. "Tell me something, Alvarez. Why did you join Starfleet?" He asked, knowing there was still at least four minutes of climbing down to do.

Tyler sighed inwardly. He had assumed the question was to feel him out. "Tradition," he replied. Forced was more like it, he thought. He continued down, his gaze began to deviate, taking in the tube wall. "I do my job, I keep my nose clean, and I hope to retire sooner than later."

Garuda nodded. "Family. That's why I'm here. Mark is a brother to me, we grew up together on Turalek." Garuda said, as they neared the bottom. "Alright Alvarez, you ready?" He asked.

Tyler really had no idea much about Mark Whistler, but he nodded his head nevertheless. To him, family wasn't all what they were cracked up to be, but it was what it was. "I guess I'm as ready as I'll ever be."

"Stick behind me, kid." Garuda said, hearing voices on the other side of the hatch. Garuda opened the hatch, and quickly leapt out. The two guards standing there were surprised for a moment, and that moment was all Garuda needed. He drew a blade from his belt, a single bladed dagger, and used it to slice the throat of the first guard, before shoving it into the throat of the second guard. As the bodies fell to the ground, Garuda turned and faced the doorway. "I'm good at fighting. Not so good with computers." He admitted.

Kid? A dark brown eyebrow arched at that, but nothing came forth from Tyler's lips. Then he saw a man's throat being slit, it was a clean cut, but nevertheless Tyler almost threw up. He considered himself pretty strong stomached, but that wasn't a sight he was used to. He gulped hard, and blew out a breath. After the throats were slit, Tyler found the haze of what he just saw lifting. "Good thing I'm here then," he said in a voice that sounded distracted.

"Indeed." Garuda agreed, with a nod as he wiped the blood off of the blade using the clothing of the dead guards. "Let's move." He said.

Tyler gave a quick nod, and without saying a word further, moved with Garuda.

It took them less than a minute to find the control room, guarded by three people inside. Garuda walked into the room, and as the men looked at him, he wasted no time in taking the men down, swiftly using his blade to end their lives. "I'm starting to think this was a little too easy." Garuda said, indicating a console for Tyler to sit down at. "Right, we need to find this virus, before it goes off. Time for you to work your magic, and I'll cover you."

"Right," Tyler said, a firm nod followed. He sure as hell wouldn't be able to defend himself like that, though the only thing he had in his favor was that he was quick, and agile. He moved to the console that was indicated, and had his kit open before he even sat down. He opened his tricorder and pressed several buttons on it to start the specific scans he needed. His own thin fingers began to dance over the controls, his dark brown eyes focused on a small monitor. The tricorder continued to do a sing song of soft beeps as it began to erase his steps.

He started to bring down firewall after firewall, and almost chuckled at how easy it was. The Ferengi were ruthless when it came to greed, but didn't seem to care about protecting their systems. The firewalls were rudimentary, easily taken down by the multiple algorithms he had memorized over the years. Then... "Uh oh," he called out. He hit a sub-routine that was not allowing him through. He tried a few 'non-traditional' attempts, but kept getting blocked. "Dammit," he growled under his breath. He stopped, picked up the tricorder, tapped in a few more commands for the device, and set it back down. Out of his kit he pulled out another device, it was flat, and had fiber optic cables attached to it. On the flat service was a small LED screen.

Tyler stood up, kicked away the chair and dropped to his knees, then with a bit of effort pulled off a small hatch cover. The cover came off with some struggle, but at least it came off. He took the device in one hand, the fiber optic cables in the other and that hand disappeared inside the rectangular hatch. He began to attach each cable to a different part of the ODN network, and the little LED display on the tool lit up. "AHA Gotcha," he said softly in triumph. Leaving the device, he stood up but didn't sit back down. "Almost got it..." again his fingers danced over the work station, and within moments he brought down the firewall that was giving him trouble.

"I'm in!" He explained. His dark brown eyes scanned the small monitor. "I've never seen anything like this." He eyes darted as he watched a bunch of characters scroll down the screen. A finger followed the trail. "It's self replicating, I can tell that much," his fingers were once again on the workstation. He isolated the self-replicating part of the virus, eradicating it with an algorithm of his own invention that he came up while still a cadet at the Academy. He mumbled to himself as he concentrated on the characters, his mind came alive as he mentally pulled the virus apart to make more sense of it. The group of subset B affected communications, the set that belonged to C and F led to more disastrous results. There were sets, and sub-sets, and backups to those, but he could easily find the pattern. Stuff like this, came easy to him.

He began to rearrange those sets, pulling characters out, then replacing them with algorithms he knew could easily be transplanted in. "Almost... got... it..." He bit on his lower lip, his fingers flew faster as he began to rearrange the sets and subsets, replacing, rearranging, and replacing again. The tricorder beeped, he looked, and smiled. The screen changed in color, from an angry yellow hue to a brilliant blue. Everything fell into place, he did one last check, and everything looked good. "Got it!"

As Tyler had been busy doing his work, five guards had entered the room. Their bodies now on the floor, Garuda smiled as he patted Tyler on the shoulder. "Damn, you're good." He complimented. "Can you install a safeguard to prevent it from being reinstalled?" He asked.

The compliment was nice to hear, it wasn't often he got complimented on creative thinking. As an operations officer, his job was pretty routine, he liked when he got the chance to be challenged. Tyler nodded at the request. "Certainly," he said, his mind already coming up with several ways to safe-guard the system. He picked up the tricorder, reprogrammed it to what he needed, and set it back down. "I am going to install my own firewall," he began as his fingers did it's familiar dance over the workstation. "However, what will be unique about this firewall is I am going to incorporate some of the background subsets of the virus to reinforce the firewall..." He had a feeling that Garuda probably didn't care about the specifics, just that it got done.

After a few minutes of constantly tapping against a lighted workstation...

"Annnnd... there we go," Tyler called out. "All set, I installed a layered, self-replicating firewall that has rotating character algorithms. Which means, it would be a tough code to crack," he stated proudly.

Garuda nodded, and patted Tyler on the back. "Damned good job. That'll make my job a lot easier. Let's get you back to your ship. I'll clean up here." He said, as he removed a small device from his pocket. "Personal transporter. It'll beam you back to the airlock. Thank you, Mr. Alvarez, I couldn't have done this without you. I'll let Mark know how much you've helped." He said, handing the device to Tyler.

Tyler nodded, and then took a hold of the device. Despite a dangerous situation, he was glad he was able to help. "Thank you, sir. I'm glad I was able to help you out."

"Good luck in the expanse." Garuda said. "Be careful out there, very careful. And next time, check someone's credential's before working with them. I could have been anyone, you just accepted I work for Starfleet. Luckily, I do. But it's an important lesson, Mr. Alvarez. Safe journey." Garuda said, before remotely activating the transporter.

Tyler's brows furrowed at that, his elation at solving the virus problem fell flat. "But, you said..." he didn't get a chance to even finish his sentence when a transporter beam took a hold of him and moments later deposited him back into the airlock. He felt angry with himself for not checking, but if he was going to be honest with himself, he didn't even think to check. He took Garuda at his word, everything at face value. That was certainly a failing of his, he was too trusting. At least that seemed to be the issue. He shook his head in dismay, he didn't want to be that person who was skeptical of everyone. However, he had to do some serious reevaluation, he needed to be more cautious. He tapped his comm. badge, ""Alvarez to Islandica... one to beam up."

ON:

Ens. Storme had sat at his station on the Bridge for most of his duty shift. There wasn't much to do at the Helm when the ship was in spacedock, but the post had to be manned. He preformed the usual checks and did have a little fun when an engineering crew contacted him about a test. It didn't take to long and then it was back to sitting.

Most of his thoughts during the day, unfortunately, was taken up with what had happened this morning, or more importantly, last night. There were so many questions that needed to be asked, but he didn't want anything bad to end up on his record, so he had not reported anything yet to his superiors.

His mind kept wondering what happened last night? He had made a couple requests to Lt. Brott, but they had not been answered.

He had so many uncertainties about this morning and not knowing who had he spent the night with; Hansen, Brott, someone else?

Theron was very relieved when he was asked to hand deliver some programing charts from the Bridge to Main Engineering. With the datapak in hand he stepped aboard the turbo-lift, "Deck 4".

---

Syrena was wandering around in the corridors of Deck 4 when her wandering travels led her straight for the doors of a turbolift. Her security rounds weren't due to start for a while, and she had some time off-duty to kill before her next shift would begin, So, Syrena decided to take a quick tour of the ship.

She'd absent-mindedly pressed the button on the control panel beside the turbolift doors to open them, and just before she had the chance to enter the turbolift; Syrena froze right where she stood, and gasped in surprise the second she looked up and saw Theron standing there in the very same turbolift that she was just about to enter into. You would've thought Syrena was looking right at a ghost from the way she'd been staring at Theron at that very moment. She wasn't sure what to think, or for that matter, what to do or say, except, "Hi.." Syrena blurted out rather hastily and tediously, and at the same time, she crossed her arms around her chest and turned her head to look away from Theron as her cheeks turned slightly red. She wasn't sure whether or not to enter the turbolift, or turn around and run away before Theron could answer her. Instead, she stayed exactly where she'd been standing for the past few minutes.

When the turbo-lift doors opened Ens. Storme saw Cadet Hansen standing before him in the doorway. Theron’s throat went instantly dry and couldn’t move. His body seemed to become rigid. It seemed that she hesitated too before saying a brief greeting. He saw her blush slightly, and then doors tried closed, but Theron put out his hand and stopped the door, which reopened. He was able to get a guttural answer back to her through his blocked airway, “Hi”. When a slight buzzer sounded in the Turbo-lift he quickly stepped through and ended up very close to Syrena. Realizing his closeness, Theron took a slight step backwards and swallowed hard before saying, “I . . ah . . was going to call you later.”

"Oh?" Came Syrena's response, though it seemed to have sounded like she wasn't sure whether or not she meant her response as an actual question, or a show of interest in what Theron was about to say. "I was just.." She cleared her throat before continuing, her cheeks began turning slightly redder than usual, "About to call you myself actually." Syrena finally admitted, clasping her hands together infront of her albeit a bit nervously as she spoke. She'd noted the closeness when Theron had moved towards her to avoid being shut inside the turbolift, prompting Syrena to involuntarily step back a little bit to give Theron some room to move should he feel like doing so.

Theron noticed some hesitation on her part and saw her blush slightly. He became worried what she might have been embarrassed about. There were so many possibilities and uncertainties, but he had so few facts. “I . . ah . . wanted.” He leaned forward slight and lowered his voice, “to ask you if you . . if you know what happened last night at the bar?” He pursed his lip and with a concerned look on his face and leaned back.

Syrena shrugged, "Not completely." She answered whilst tucking a strand of her hair behind her left ear. "The last thing I really remember, Was the bartender giving us some free drinks, Then that brawl started with those three Klingons, and that odd-looking alien staring at us while we were there."

Theron nodded his head slightly, "That's about what I was remembering too."

"And I think you also asked me if you could escort me back here to the ship, and I accepted." Syrena replied after a moment's silence, "I don't recall what happened after that, Since I must've passed out when we got back here." Syrena scratched her head thoughtfully with her hand before continuing, "What about you, Do you know what really happened?"

Theron shook his head to the negative this time, "No. Not really." He licked and pursed his lips a couple times nervously. He then took a partial step towards her and spoke in a softer tone, "I think I slept with someone last night." He paused and looked both ways in the passageway, then added, "But they left before I woke up." He stepped back, "I really don't know what to think about the situation."

That was when Syrena's heartrate instantly ramped up from a gentle thudding, To a full-speed pace within her chest; And at the same time, Her cheeks became a brighter shade of red as her skin turned a paler shade than the normal light-olive undertone that she'd always had, and her entire body felt completely numb with fear and worry.

For a moment Syrena looked as though she might actually faint right where she stood, but to her surprise, She didn't even flinch. "I see." She mused, Hoping Theron didn't notice her reaction, "I.... Uh... I think I slept with someone last night too." She managed to choke out after a few seconds' silence. She wondered if Theron had hit the mark completely on the assumption of her being the person that he'd actually slept with, or that he may have just been guessing about it. Though, Inwardly, Syrena silently hoped and prayed that Theron didn't catch on, or pay close attention to her immediate hesitation in responding to his words, or to her answer to them. "Have you spoken to Lieutenant Brott about what he remembers about last night?" She added merely a few seconds after clearing her throat.

Theron shook his head nervously to the negative, "I haven't been able to locate him yet. He hasn't responded to my messages either." He crossed his arms and looked behind himself nervously.

"Me too." Syrena admitted rather sheepishly, Holding her left arm across her chest and she pressed her hand against her right arm, Just above the inner crease of her elbow, and rubbed that spot up and down a few times in a nervous manner; Acting as if she might've felt a cold breeze of air pass by her before adding, "I've lost count on how many messages I've sent to him, But he hasn't answered me back yet also."

It was quiet for a few seconds. Theron thought about the bartender passing on that unusual drink. Anger was building in him as he pressed his lips together tightly before saying, "Ya know, if I had my way I'd go back to the place and rattle that bartender and find out what he knew."

Syrena nodded in agreement. It would appear that she too, Was suddenly angry. Since her mood went from being on the edge of nervousness, To fear and worry, To a sudden fit of rage, "I myself, Would do alot more than rattle him; If I get MY hands on him, I'd personally skin him alive with a spoon!" She remarked almost in a shrill shriek.

Theron's eyes widened in unbelief of the capabilities of Syrena. He knew she was part Klingon, but had not seen that part of her yet. Just then the scratches on his back twinged and made him think, Maybe I have seen and felt her aggressive nature? A more curious and uncertain look came over his face. Storme looked away for a second to recompose himself. Looking back at Hansen and still uncertain about many things, he said, "Well, I ah . . I should get on to my duties."

Theron's response caught Syrena off-guard. One moment, She was very angry, and the next, it seemed like her anger had dissipated into nothingness, "Alright. I suppose I should do the same." She answered after a moment's silence before waving goodbye to him.


OFF:

Ens. Theron Storme
Helmsman
USS Islandica

&

Cadet Senior Grade Syrena Hansen
Assistant Chief Security/Tactical Officer
USS Islandica

Myomoto had just gotten off duty and was feeling a little drained. Sighing he rubbed his neck as he walked down the corridor contemplating how he wanted to unwind. After dismissing a visit to the holodeck for combat simulations and the lounge for drinks he smiled as he came to the obvious conclusion. Shae's it is.

He rang her door for entry and was almost bouncing in anticipation of a hug from Shae and Aoife.

Almost immediately, he could hear the sound of Aoife's hi-pitched squeal, very near to a scream. What he could not hear through the door was that each scream she uttered was also followed by laughter as she watched her mommy peek over the edge of the bed. Shae had propped Aoife into a seated position on the bed with some pillows, then she proceeded to 'hunt' Aoife, hiding beside the bed and stalking around her daughter, popping up to nibble on baby fingers and toes much to Aoife's delight, or sometimes they would just make funny faces at each other. When they heard the doorbell, Aoife immediately shrieked, causing Shae's ears to lay back to dampen the sound, but both ended up laughing.

"Come in," Shae said, allowing the door to swish open. As soon as Aoife turned her wobbly head to see Joseph, she shrieked again, a wide grin on her drooly face.

Myomoto immediately broke into a grin and dropped down on to all fours to stalk up to the bed. As he passed Shae he rubbed his body down the length of hers and licked her cheek playfully. Grinning at her he pulled himself onto the bed and play tackled a laughing Aoife into a tickle hug.

After a few minutes of chasing her around the bed tickling and laughing he collapsed onto his back and plopped Aoife onto his stomach in a sitting position. "Oh man I needed that."

"Long day?" Shae asked, pulling herself up onto the bed to lay beside him. Aoife saw fit to flop forward to start chewing on his duty jacket, to which Shae started chucking as she tried to get the heavy fabric out of her grip to replace it with something a bit more chew-worthy, like one of her toys.

Myo chuckled as he watched Aoife. "It wasn't too bad. Just some admin stuff and then some time with Mark going over some his intel stuff for the coming mission." He sighed slightly "Office stuff. I knew I would have it but sheesh I hate it." He turned his head to the side and kissed Shae. "This makes it the best day ever though."

Shae blushed; she was still new to this relationship-thing and she was so shy about it, so she still blushed over the littlest things. "I'm glad we could make your day better," she said as she nuzzled against his shoulder. Aoife was content with the teething toy substitution and quite happily chewed her toy on Myo's chest, occasionally growling while simultaneously pawing at her toy with her feet. Her little tail was wagging so happily and that made Shae happy. "Tell me, what can we do to make it even better?" Shae asked softly.

Myomoto chuckled in a very masculine way as he winked at Shae suggestively. Then he burst into a grin. "Seriously though I am only half joking." Stuck out his tongue. "An evening of supper and your company with maybe some wine would do wonders." He wiggled Aoife a little to get a giggle. "I used to use physical activity to unwind and this is a very different experience. I like the exertion and sweat and muscle ache and flopping down after for a sleep. But this is I guess a better... emotional... release."

After another second he continued "That reminds me. I have a hiking program on the holodeck I would like to take you 2 on. Its a mixture of mountains form back home in Russia and a little Japanese flora and fauna thrown in. We can make a day of it with a picnic. Maybe even 2 if we want to camp. I'll talk to the captain about letting us have extended use of the system.... You know.... If you want." He had moved closer to her as he spoke and smiled into her lips before giving her a playful peck.

"So what do you want for supper?"

Sometimes Shae wondered if he would give her those suggestive glances simply to see her blush, which she did again quite profusely, but she did nothing to deter him if that's what he wanted. "I would love to go hiking. After the trip to Turalek, I really need to unwind," Shae admitted, blushingly accepting the gentle peck and then rising to head for the replicator, starting first with a bottle for Aoife. "I've been trying some of the Irish dishes already loaded in the replicator. The corned beef is alright alright, or maybe we could try the stew?" she offered, though she really liked it when Myo cooked for her, but it felt right to share some of the cuisine she had grown up with after he had shared so much of his. She brought the bottle and a blanket over to Myo to see if he wanted to try to feed Aoife, who wasn't too keen on the switch to the bottle and growled at hated thing.

Myo swooped Aoife up into his arms and settled onto the couch with her in his lap and played "dock the shuttle" with her to get her to start drinking. He looked up at Shae and smiled "I could go for a good stew and brew." He winked and her before returning his attention Aoife and cooing at her playfully.

Aoife growled at Myo and even kicked at the bottle, but eventually hunger and his amusing noises won over and she was nursing away. Shae set the table with a robust Irish stew and a nice dry, foamy stout (Guinness) for Myo. Shae made a cup of tea for herself since she wasn't much of a drinker, usually only drinking on social occasions. As Aoife neared the end of her bottle, her eyes began to droop, but she was fighting the urge to fall asleep.

Myo saw Aoife struggling to stay awake and started to rock slightly and began to hum tunelessly. Looking down at her he stroked the side of her face lightly as his tuneless humming became one of his favorite songs Amazing Grace.

By the time he had begun the 3rd verse Aoife had settled and was beginning to doze off. He smiled at Shae and motioned for her to sit next to him. "Cuddle time."

But she just got dinner on the table! Oh, but they looked so cute! Okay, they could cuddle for a few minutes... Shae took the bottle from him to run it back through the replicator, then joined him on the couch to cuddle up next to him as she watched her daughter sleep. "She really is quite taken with you," she said softly as she rubbed one of Aoife's ears to start the little Chameloid purring on Myo's chest. "Like me, she's wary of new people. Fascinated, but wary. But you... You walk into the room and she's all smiles. How do you do it?"

"I honestly don't really know." He turned his head thoughtfully. "Maybe I just don't feel any need to be guarded around her so I am not. I just let her, and you, see me as I am. And she seems to like me." He kissed the top of Aoife's head "Which is good because I like her." He turned and kissed Shae deeply and winked at her "and you. I REALLY like you."

Shae blushed deeply with a warm smile; he always made her feel so special. Once she was certain Aoife was well asleep, she lifted her from Myo's hold and carried her over to her little bed and laid her down so they could go eat.

As she was putting Aoife down Myomoto made his way to the table and waited for her. As she approached he pulled one of the chairs back and gestured for her to sit down. "My lady your chair awaits." Then he burst into a grin. "Lucky chair gets your bum."

Now she was convinced he was saying these things to make her blush, which she did once again rather profusely. Though she did smile with a soft laugh as she sat in the seat he offered. "Yes, but you get all of me," she countered with a shy coyness.

This time it was his turn to blush and replied "Believe you me, I appreciate that." After she had sat down he leaned down and planted a kiss on her neck. "Let's start with supper and go from there shall we?"

She answered the kiss to her neck with a soft, cooing chuff. "Just waiting on you," she teased, then started digging into her stew. It was good, but not as good as she remembered her mother's cooking to be. But then again, memories could be kind of funny that way, making things out to be better than they really were, and she had to remind herself that she had changed a lot over the years. "It's not bad, but I think I prefer your cooking," she said in between bites.

Myo smiled appreciatively and ate a few bites of his stew. He mmmmmmm'd in satisfaction. "Food is secondary to company. But this stew is fantastic, which says alot about the company." He raised his beer in a salute to Shae.

"Makes me miss mum's cooking, though," Shae said as she took a sip of her tea. "Maybe I'll call back to Earth before we leave the station, let my family know I'm still alive and have them transmit some replicator patterns of her home cooking," she mused with a faraway stare. Her family still believed her to be missing, not that they ever believed she was dead even though Starfleet had her declared dead years ago. Keeping her family in the dark was actually a request she made to Se'Lah; Shae knew they deserved to know, but there were some things that needed to be said that should come from her and not some report from Starfleet, and Shae would tell them when she was ready. But her little jest made her wonder if she would ever be ready; what if they had moved on, and coming back into their lives was painful for them? She sighed heavily; she wouldn't know until she tried to contact them and mulling it over like this was just going to ruin her evening with Joseph.

Myomoto was still just getting to know Shae but he felt he knew her well enough to tell that something about what she had said was bothering her. Instead of pressing her he got up from the table and walked around behind her and began to gently rub her shoulders. "You have been through a lot lately. I hope I am not out of bounds or sound callous when I say that maybe you should wait a little before contacting your family. Get yourself settled and comfortable with you and your situation before handling something that... Well, monumental." He kissed the top of her head and gently lifted her to her feet and turned her around. He suddenly blushed and admitted to her "I was hoping that I had something profound and romantic to say when I got you to your feet but honestly... My mind went blank." He paused for a second before continuing. "I really like you Shae. A lot, and I really want what is best for you and Aoife. And honestly I wish I had more to say again but, well, that's it." He smiled at her sheepishly.

Shae offered a small smile and a laugh at his awkwardness at the end, then leaned in to nuzzle his cheek with a contented sigh. "You are right," she said with a soft purr. "This is monumental, I should get my thoughts and feelings together before I contact them. But I do miss them..." she melted into his embrace, still nuzzling against him as she enjoyed the safety and comfort that he made her feel.

"I know you do sweetheart. I know this is going to be hard on you but when you feel ready I will be here for support. And of course I am here for whatever you need until then." He put his hands on either side of her face and kissed her. "I don't know about you but I'm not really hungry anymore." He dropped his hands to her lower back pulled her in closer.

Shae nodded slightly and continued to nuzzle against him as he held her. "I'm finding myself more than a little tired... Getting used to duty shifts and training new officers all while relearning the technology and taking care of Aoife... it is all quite tiring," Shae admitted with a soft sigh. She would clean up the dinner dishes later, right now she wanted to cuddle with Joseph.

Myomoto gently led Shae to the bed and lay her down beside him. Rolling onto his back he lay her head on his chest and gently stroked her hair. "I know what you mean. Being on board a ship is VERY different then the life I am used to leading. And not to mention I have to try and set up a meeting with the CO and XO to talk about something that happened on the bridge today. I am sure it is just some crossed wires caused by me getting used to a new style of command but some air needs to be cleared."

"To be honest, after what happened with Se'Lah, I am surprised that she was allowed to remain on duty. Not that I am in any way unsympathetic to her plight, but Bridge officers need to be reliable, an Executive Officer most of all..." Shae shivered at the memory of the attack in the holodeck, at how close had she and Aoife had come to being seriously hurt by Se'Lah. Shae was conflicted by this because Se'Lah, or at least the version of the woman Shae had come to know on Turalek, had earned Shae's trust, but this other side of her scared Shae...

TAG

ooc: I am not entirely sure how to write the fact that he isn't hinting at sex but a good comfort cuddle. Just maintain a good body contact... I don't even really know what I am trying to say but I am sure you do lol :)

Andrea had only been aboard for thirty minutes before she stepped into her tiny quarters, having reviewed the Ilandica's deck layout while enroute to the ship. The small, spartan space made the red haired woman sigh, tossing her duffel bag onto the deck next to her bunk. "At least it's not a Defiant Class," she sighed. In all honesty though, she liked smaller ships. That meant a smaller team for her and less of a ship to take care of. "Betta go an' see the Captn' an' Commander," she told herself as she walked out of her quarters and headed for the nearest turbolift.

As Andrea was making her way to the turbolift, a door where a guard was standing opened, and a Vulcan woman exited into the corridor. Unlike most Vulcans, her long hair was somewhat on the wild side, and she was wearing a bright blue knee length skirt with black pants underneath, a bright blue short sleeved blouse with a long sleeved black shirt underneath, and bright blue fingerless gloves that covered her wrists. The woman stopped, raising an eyebrow as she saw Andrea approaching. "Excuse me Lieutenant." She said simply, her voice laced with curiosity. "Either you're new here, or you don't belong here."

Andrea looked at the other woman for a moment. Her looks wasn't something she'd expected from an officer, yet a ship this small wasn't likely to have civilians as the larger vessels did. "Well, I'm pretty sure I belong 'ere," she held up a PADD. "Orders an' everthing," she grinned.

The Vulcan woman took the offered PADD, skimming over it in short time. "Everything appears to be in order." She said, handing it back. "I am Lieutenant Commander Se'Lah, the ship's XO."

"Ah, excuse me, Commander. I didn' recognize you," Andrea replied with a smile. "It's good to be aboard."

"Welcome aboard." Se'Lah said, offering a handshake, which was something unusual for Vulcans. "I was about to go for a walk around the ship. Would you like to join me?"

"Well sure," she replied happily. "Lead the way, Commander. Could ye catch me up to speed on things aboard the ship?"

Se'Lah took two steps in the direction of the Turbolift, but then she suddenly stopped dead in her tracks. For several seconds, she stood staring, seemingly at nothing as her eyes glazed over. Finally she blinked her eyes, looking around, and a soft, but repeated beeping sound could be heard. Se'Lah reached up pressing her finger to a small device just behind her ear to stop the beeping, then glanced at the PADD in her hand, before looking back up at Andrea. "This is going to sound odd, but I have no idea who you are, or what we were talking about." She said simply, and before Andrea could reply, she continued. "Please forgive me. I suffer from a condition of split personalities. Each one appears to have it's own set of memories."

Andrea was silent for a moment as she was unsure of how to continue. A vulcan with split personalities? Was that something new? Usually Vulcans were boring save for every seven years. "Um, ok. I'm Lieutenent O'Grady. The new Chief Engineer."

"Assuming I've already checked your orders, welcome aboard, Lieutenant." She said as she resumed walking, figuring this new Chief Engineer would follow, as the security guard fell into step behind them. "Have you had a chance to meet with the Captain yet?"

"No, I haven't, ma'am," she said before glancing back at the security guard. Was the guard for the commander's safety? She hadn't seen senior officers with a security escort outside of battle conditions. "Could ye update me on what's goin' on?"

"According to the reports I've seen in the last few days, the ship is undergoing minor repairs, mostly to the computer, and a bit for the deflector dish that was recently stolen." Se'Lah replied simply. They arrived at the lift, and the doors opened. Se'Lah stepped inside, along with the guard, both moving to make room for Andrea. "There is also an investigation taking place into the group which was responsible for stealing the deflector dish... among other things."

"H-how'd in blazes did the deflector dish get stolen? What else is being investigated?" she gasped. She was aboard the ship of the damned...or the demented.

"Apparently with a transporter." Se'Lah replied to Andrea's first question. "Main Engineering." She ordered, and the lift began it's journey downward. "There is also an investigation into the possibility that a group on the station is affiliated with those responsible for stealing the deflector."

"Great," Andrea sighed, closing her eyes and pinching the bridge of her nose as she digested the information. "Has the Engineering crew aboard been cleared? It would take a group knowing exactly how to disengage the latches and connectors or else they'd blow the ship in the process."

"The deflector dish has already been attached." Se'Lah said simply. "At this point, it's mainly minor repairs from damage caused by transporting it away."

"I can only hope," Andrea sighed heavily. "Is that why we're en route to Engineerin' ?

"Just a coincidence that this is where I usually start my walks." Se'Lah explained. "Did you wish to go somewhere else?"

"No ma'am. Jus' curious is all. Besides, it'll give me a chance to look over Engineering."

"Indeed." Se'Lah replied. "The plan is to leave the station within a few hours. As long as the critical bits are done, and the deflector is working as expected, any other repairs can be completed in transit." Just as she finished speaking, the turbolift doors opened onto the Engineering deck, and Se'Lah gestured towards the door. "After you, Lieutenant." She said simply.

"Thank ye," she said, stepping out and getting her first look at Engineering. The Warp Core was currently dark and offline. It was a sight she always hated as an Engineer. To her, it made the ship seem dead with no heart beat. "We'll have that rectified in no time, commander."

"Of that, I have no doubt." Se'Lah said simply. "I will leave you to it, but I recommend you see the Captain, and check in with the Doctor for your boarding physical."

"Aye. That I'll do. Best to get the rest of my check in before I'm labeled a stowaway," she chuckled.

Se'Lah held out her hand, offering a hand shake. "Welcome aboard the Islandica, Lieutenant." She said simply.

"Thank you, Commander," she replied, shaking the woman's hand while wondering why as many vulcans did not offer handshakes.

"You're welcome." Se'Lah replied, before she headed down the corridor, away from Engineering, followed by the guard assigned to her.

END

Mark had arrived on the planetoid, which had no name, but it did have an atmosphere, and a large area suitable for what he needed. He had spent hours setting up the two funeral pyres. He had wanted no help, and he had needed no help. A small group was now a short distance away from the pyres. On them were two bodies. One was Amelia, his close friend, and one was Marla, his sister. He had found her, only to lose her again.

He stood and lit the pyres using a log which already had a flame on it. Lighting both pyres in several locations, he finally placed the burning log in Marla's pyre, and took several steps back, watching as the flames quickly took hold, eating away at the wood.

From a distance, hidden in the woods, the lone figure of Arianna D'Tal stood watching, just out of sight. Mark Whistler was her investigation target, and for her, this was a perfect opportunity to observe, without being detected as she stood there wearing a camouflage jumpsuit that allowed her to blend in with the surroundings.

Mark stood there, the wind gently striking him. The smell of burning flesh and wood struck his nose, but he ignored it. He had known those smells all too well back on Turalek, but he had hoped to have escaped them. Obviously, he hadn't. His past had caught up with him, and now Se'Lah knew of how dangerous he truly was. He had shown the attackers, both of them, why he was one of the most feared men on Turalek. As the flames continued to rise, Mark felt a part of himself burning with them. Shae had wanted him to give life a chance, to fight for a life with Se'Lah, but now he couldn't.

He wanted to remain with Se'Lah, but Staunt was after him, and the first blood had been drawn. Staunt had won the first battle by taking away someone Mark had loved dearly. Several people, in fact. Back on Turalek, and here. He would search the ship, of course, for any trace of whoever could have killed Amelia.

He hadn't, of course, shared his thoughts with anyone but Vicky. They couldn't know. Not yet.

As Arianna stood watching in silence, part of her wondered what was going through the man's head. It was quite obvious what he was doing, but what he was thinking was something entirely different. Was he dangerous? According to the Admiral he was, and based on what she saw in the Holodeck a few hours before... She could easily surmise that he might very well be a dangerous man.

As the flames grew, one word Mark whispered carried on the wind, a word that everyone knew, and hated.

"Goodbye." He said, before turning and walking away from the pyres. No one would follow him, because he needed to be alone.

As Mark turned to walk away, Arianna ducked out of sight, and stealthily began to shadow him. She understood that he obviously wanted time alone to grieve, but her mission made following him more important to her.

Mark made his way to another clearing, in view of the pyres, and as he watched them, he roared in anger, sorrow and pain. Everyone at the pyre heard it, and knew how deep Mark's wound was. Drasko and Pak stood a short distance from Mark, not noticing Arianna. "He's not going to be okay, is he?" Pak asked.

"In time, maybe. But there's one very important thing that Staunt will find out. The universe is a very small place when Mark Whistler is angry with you, and Staunt...well, we need to keep an eye on Mark. Last time he was this angry, he tortured and slowly killed someone."

"I missed that. When?" Pak asked. Drasko frowned.

"Back on Turalek. He literally cut someone into pieces after he found out they killed his dad. No, I do not want to see Mark angry." Drasko said, as he saw Mark on his knees, a blade in his hand and a cut on his wrist.

Mark watched as the blood dropped to the ground. "I offer my blood to this world, and ask you to watch over Amelia and Marla." Mark whispered, as though praying.

After hearing the conversation between the two men standing only a few meters from where Mark was on his knees, Arianna realized that the Admiral would indeed get a rather interesting report. Another name she hadn't recognized was Staunt... a name she would have to research, because this man was obviously Mark Whistler's target. Despite her own turbulant past, she wondered what could turn a man so cold with anger. She herself had been known for uncontrolled violent episodes, but nothing even remotely along the lines of what she'd just heard.

Having heard enough for now, Arianna decided it was time to make a strategic retreat. Wanting to be back aboard the ship to prevent Mark from having any idea that she had even been here, she silently headed away from the area, moving back in the direction of the shuttle she had used to get here.

Mark finished what he was doing, and as he stood up, he caught a whiff of something...of someone. It wasn't a scent he recognised, but then, it could be anything. He didn't care about that at the moment. No, his mind was busy planning on finding Staunt, and when he did...

Nothing would stop Mark from delivering final judgement.

ON:

Andrea studied the readouts of the ship on the Master Console. Everything seemed to be in order and the deflector Dish assembly was coming along well. She was planning to go to Deflector Control and help out. Fortunately for her the previous Chief Engineer had done a good job of keeping everything organized. All that was needed now was to add her own touch to things and it would be perfect. She was, however, focused on the flow regulators operating at 92% efficiency. Well within Starfleet Regulations but she was sure she could increase it, giving the Islandica a quicker response and acceleration time.

Ens. Drake walked into Engineering with PaDD in hand. He stopped before the non-operational Warp Core and looked right then left. He looked sadly at the silent beast before him, “Don’t worry. You’ll be back in business soon enough.” Theron didn’t usually talk to inanimate objects, but it wouldn’t hurt he thought. Drake saw one of the engineering techs look at him strangely, so after cringing slightly he turned and got back on track to deliver the information to the Chief Engineer. After just a few steps, the Helmsman saw the senior officer in question standing next to the major engineering console. Upon arriving next to her, he came to attention, “Lieutenant O’Grady?”

"That be me," she turned and looked at the man who spoke. "What brings you to engineering?"

Theron extended his arm, holding the PaDD before the engineer, "I'm Ensign Storme, Helmsman. I was instructed to bring these computer projections to your attention. They are the interface reaction times between bridge controls and the thruster and impulse engines."

"I was actually just looking at those," she smiled as she grabbed the PADD and looked it over before handing it back to Theron. "If ye are free, I could use your help as you've been aboard longer and have more of an idea of what's goin' on aboard the ship."

Theron was rather surprised by the request, yet kind of pleased. He smiled and replied encouragingly, "Sure. I mean, yes Ma'am. How can I help?"

Andrea smiled and slapped Theron on the shoulder. "Relax. This isn't Security or the Marines. Down here, I'm Andrea. Ma'am makes me sound old, and I am not old. Want to help me realign the power flow regulators to the Deflector control from the core?"

Theron felt a bit of a lift emotionally by her encouraging and welcoming words. With a big smile he replied, "Sure, sounds like a lot more fun than just sitting at a console while in space-dock."

"Good," Andrea smiled in return. "Since the deflector has been physically reattached, we can supply power to the Deflector Control. I'll need ye to slowly open the circuits and steadily increase power. Don't want to overload the relays."

Theron nodded slightly as she explained, “Always a good idea.” He tapped his finger to his chin in thought and then said, “As I recall there are 120 individual relays. This could take us a few hours.”

"Better safe than sorry. It'd be a few days if we blew the relays."

Ens. Storme walked over to another console with a large display. He glanced to his left to see O'Grady getting ready. Storme brought up a diagram of all the deflector relays. A quick scan of all relays showed them to be attached. "All right. All relays are reporting as active and ready."

"Beginning to transfer power at five percent," she operated a nearby console. "So how long ye been aboard?"

Theron watched as the power gauges began to fluctuate and show the results. Without looking away from the monitor he replied, "A few weeks now. Not too long." He checked all the levels again and informed, "Holding steady now at 5%."

"Good. Increasing flow to 10%," she said. "I still cannae believe someone was able to steal the defector dish. Luckily the ship didn't explode in the process."

The power levels increased slowly as expected. Theron kept an eye on the situation, and replied, "It was a real miracle. In some ways I wonder if they had someone on the inside, but there has been no evidence supporting that theory."

"I'm not a big believer in miracles and luck. Someone knew their way around a ship's systems in order to pull off such a feat so well." She continued to slowly increase the power flow. "Anyhow, that's the past and I'm here and nothing will harm this girl again," she grinned.

Theron couldn't help from grinning because of the Engineer's pride in her new vessel. He glanced toward the lieutenant and back to the console. He could have sworn he saw a smile from the side of her face. "Levels are balanced across the board."

Andrea heard a warning alarm go off. She glanced at her console. Power flow was proceeding normally on her end. "What are the readings on your side showing?"

"Ahh . " That's all Theron could get out as he frantically tried to narrow down the issue. He said excitedly, "Here it is, here it is. The relays for delta 4 and 5 are constricting the flow." He looked over to the Engineer for confirmation or instructions.

"Let's see what we can do about that." She tapped in a few commands into the console to confirm the problem. A moment later the problem flashed on her screen. She looked at Theron with a grin. "Easy enough to fix. Decrease the flow in those relays and distribute it evenly with the rest. They should be able to handle the slight increase in load."

Theron looked over the different views of the relays and confirmed that the flow was balanced, "Yes Ma'am, all the levels are balanced now and standing strong." He looked to her and asked, "Will those relays need to be replaced later or will this compensation be good enough for the time being?"

"They'll have to be replaced but they should hold during the power up phase," Andrea stated. "Once that is done, I will be able to transfer the extra load to auxiliary relays and replace them. If we replace them now, it'll take longer to get them powered up and you know how ship commanders are--they're like impatient two year olds. They want everything done now."

Theron held back a chuckle. He knew full well, as Helmsman, he had experience quite a bit of expectation and at times demands from the big chair, but not necessarily this CO. Without turning he simply replied, "Yep." After a couple seconds added, "All relays looking good."

"Good," she grinned as she continued the power flow.

An hour later, the transfer was complete. "The deflector is stabilized and fully operational," Andrea smiled. "Ye'd make a great engineer, Theron."

The Helmsman made a comical sideways grin and shrugged. "Ya, . . Maybe, . . . if I can stay out of trouble long enough." He was very proud of his accomplishments with the Chief Engineer setting up the relays to the deflector dish. Maybe one day he could go back to being an engineer, but for now he truly was looking forward to flying the Diligent Class vessel . . . and soon.

"Well, I don't know about you but I'm grabbing a bite to eat." She turned, "Li, get those damaged relays replaced while I'm gone. Be back in a bit." She then turned to Theron. "Wanna come?" she said, walking past him.

Theron with a smile took a step toward her and replied, "Yes. Definitely a good idea."

Andrea smiled. "Good. I hate eating alone."

END:

After having dealt with the issues, and questions following the botched assassination attempt earlier in the day, Se'Lah, and Arianna were both sitting on the Bridge, while the Captain was taking some down time in her quarters. With most, if not all of the repairs to the ship complete, all they were waiting for now was the final reports from all departments, and the go ahead from Glebben Station that they were cleared to depart.

"Unless something critical happens, we should be ready to depart the station within the next few minutes." Arianna explained to Se'Lah in low tones. "At last check, repairs were nearly complete, and Daimon Galm's goons have been paid up-to-date for our parking space."

"Good." Se'Lah replied. She raised an eyebrow at Arianna's use of the word 'goons' as she noticed more and more that this woman wasn't your typical Vulcan. "Recall the crew from the station, and have them report to their assigned posts." She said loud enough for those on the Bridge to hear. "We've sat idle long enough."

"No arguments from me." Mark said, having just entered the rear of the bridge. "Sorry I'm late." He added, having just returned from the planet he had held the funeral service for both Marla and Amelia.

"We haven't left yet, so you're not exactly late, Mr. Whistler." Based on her reply, it would be hard for most just showing up on the bridge to figure out which of her personalities were in control. With her permission, the basics of Se'Lah's condition had become common knowledge to the Senior Officers, and only vague hints to others of the crew. She found interest in the odd looks she got from many crew members upon seeing her on duty wearing civilian clothing with rank insignia tacked to her collar. "Is your business taken care of?" She asked, being deliberately vague.

Mark nodded. "Everything's done." He replied simply, not wanting to open up about it on the bridge. They would talk about it later, but for now, there was nothing to discuss.

Ens. Storme entered the Bridge and walked quickly to the Helm. He had just finished up the last of a checklist of items to personally confirm. He gave an acknowledging nod to the Ensign at the post, who then turned and moved away. Theron took up the Helm seat, scanned over the controls one more time, closed his eyes, and took a long slow breath. It was finally time for everyone to see just how great a vessel the USS Islandia was and how it could handle. There was no finger crossing here. Over the last two days, he has personally spoken to the engineers and service personnel on board. The ship was ready. He was ready. Theron was just waiting on the word.

Lieutenant Junior Grade Tyler Alvarez was already sitting at his station, doing last minute checks on everything. His hands danced over his workstation, dark eyes glued to the monitor that was embedded into the workstation itself. He only looked up briefly when Ensign Storme entered, then he went back to his work. Everything was running smoothly... so far. But, as an operations officer, he knew that things eventually would hiccup. It was just a matter of when. However, for now everything checked out, and the smallest of smiles tugged at the corners of his lips at seeing every thing in the green.

Myomoto entered the bridge after completing his walk through security checks. He stopped as he got to the security station and made a brief report "The ship's security is as tight as a drum. All personnel are alert and report all stations secure." He knew that lately he hadn't been performing as well as he could be and was thankful that Mark had been filling in remarkably. He vowed to never be slack again and that started today.

"Good." Se'Lah replied simply. "All departments, report status."

Andrea's scottish accent came over the intercom. "Engineering is ready. Engines and Power systems are green across the board. Deflector is running normally."

The Engineer's lovely Scottish accent was then complemented by Shae Brennan's soft Irish lilt over the comm, "Astrometrics reporting ready, course is plotted and with flight control."

"My team is ready to go, we've gotten all the intel Starfleet has on the Expanse, and some intel they don't have." Mark said. "We're as ready as we'll ever be."

With a notice showing up on her arm rest that all the crew were aboard, Se'Lah decided it was time to get things started. "Mr. Alvarez, please hail the station, and tell them we are ready to depart."

"Aye." Tyler nodded. His thin fingers danced over his workstation, and within moments had gotten a response. "Operations has cleared us, Commander. We are good to go."

"Clear all moorings, disengage umbilicals, and docking clamps." She ordered. "Mr. Storme, Set a course for the Expanse, warp 6."

Storme confirmed and reported, "Aye Sir, all moorings and umbilicals confirmed disengaged. Rear thrusters at 1/4." The USS Islandica eased out of the bay. The stars filled the bridge's main viewscreen.

Tyler, found himself looking up, his dark brown eyes glued to the forward viewscreen. Despite how he felt about being in Starfleet, despite how he felt about serving on a starship, he always found this part breath taking. There was just something about a large starship being maneuvered carefully from the mooring web and into the openness of space. It was a testament to how far humanity had come over the centuries, and at that moment he felt some pride at being apart of something much bigger than himself.

Se'Lah quietly watched as the ship slowly backed out of the bay doors, revealing the beauty of the stars. It always gave her a sense of peace, as she thought of how many distant places had yet to be explored.

Myomoto wasn't new to starship travel but he was new to being in a ship command staff, and as such had never been on the bridge during a station departure. Watching as the ship was maneuvered with obvious skill impressed him immensely. The massive ship moved like a fish in water. The ship and the pilot were where they belonged and the joy the ensign took in his job was obvious. Hoping he was not out of order Myomoto spoke a few words. "Mr Storme, I have never witnessed this particular part of a departure before so I am not exactly an authority but I must say, well done." He grinned at the young pilot before turning his attention back to his station.

Storme reported, "We have cleared the bay, increasing thrusters to full."

Ens. Storme set a course for the Expanse. Once the Islandica reached 1 km, "Impulse engines engaged." The Diligent Class vessel pulled away quickly now from Glebben Station. "Sir, warp engines are at your command."

Se'lah opened her mouth the give the order, but froze before the words could come out. After a moment, a barely imperceptible repeated beep permeated the silence of the Bridge, and Se'Lah's eyes glazed over.

Theron waited for the command. It wasn't too uncommon to pause before going to warp speed, but he definitely wasn't going to dare and turn around and check on the XO.

Mark noticed the scene, and knew then he'd need to remain on the bridge. He also made a mental note to get an alert when Se'Lah had a...moment, so that he could take command as needed. It was, however, not something he relished, but it would need to be done.

After a couple soft beeps, Arianna realized what was happening, and took the initiative. "Engage, Mr. Storm." She said simply.

The instructions came from a different direction than expected, but understood the weight of the command. With his finger already poised over the button, Ensign Storme tapped his finger which activated the warp engines. The stars before them on the viewscreen streaked in the typical fashion, but Theron never got tired of seeing that spectacle.

Only moments after the jump to warp had been completed, Se'Lah blinked a few times, before reaching up to tap the device attached to her ear, stopping the alarm. She looked at the PADD she carried, after seeing the stars streaking by on the view screen. "I take it we haven't been at warp very long?" She asked, turning to Arianna.

"We just left the station a moment ago." Arianna explained simply. With what medical knowledge she had, and the extensive knowledge she had about Vulcans, she felt bad for Se'Lah. By her knowledge, it was rare to find a Vulcan suffering from split personalities... even more rare to find one that could still function.

"Ensign, how long before we enter the Expanse?" Se'Lah asked.

Storme glanced over the data and creating a program for arrival, then replied, "Remaining at Warp 6, we should arrive at the Expanse in 4.7 hours."

"Mr. Alvarez, any sign of ships on long range sensors?" Mark asked. He knew the expanse, and knew there would be at least three ships, one of which would likely be keeping an eye on the Islandica. If there was, he would bet big money on the Ferengi.

"Aye," Tyler said. His fingers danced over his workstation, bringing up the sensor readings for the long range sensors. "It's affirmative on the vessels," he called out. "Though, the Expanse is messing with the sensors, trying to compensate," for a moment he just concentrated on clearing up what he was seeing, adding filters, and using algorithms to do so. "It looks to be three ships, they are spaced out. One looks to be Ferengi in origin, but it's not specific enough." He turned to face Whistler. "We would need to be closer to get a better reading."

"Shields up!" Se'Lah ordered as she heard this, her emotions signalling that she was in the personality that the whole ship knew her as. "Go to yellow alert! Keep a close eye on those ships, if any of them approaches weapons range, go to red alert."

"Aye sir" Myomoto activated the yellow alert and raised the shields. His adrenaline started to kick in as this could end up being his first experience with ship combat. He calmed himself down with long practice and began to run calculations for target selection and prioritization for practice and preparation.

Just then, Farenia decided to make her appearance on the bridge. She looked rather worn down and slightly stressed out, but that didn't make her any less commanding as she took a place next to the helm and motioned for Se'Lah to stay where she was. "Status report please."

"We only left the station moments ago, Captain." Arianna spoke up, knowing that the Commander wouldn't remember enough to provide a proper report. "All departments have reported ready, and all repairs are complete. Weapons, and defensive systems are also fully operational."

Thinking over the report a moment and glancing at the navigational sensors a moment, Farenia set a small PaDD down next to Ensign Storme with coordinates not far into the Expanse. "I picked up a distress signal from an old... acquaintance... on an unlisted subspace carrier. Make for these coordinates at maximum warp and keep an eye out for the smuggling ship 'FSC Venture's Bounty'. Be ready for anything, including those other ships to come 'help' as well."

"Shall we go to red alert?" Myomoto asked.

"Let's wait until we get there. What's our arrival time?" Farenia replied, resting a hand on the back of Storme's chair for a moment before heading to an open side terminal and typing in an access code.

Ens. Storme imputed the new coordinates and recalculated for traveling at warp 9, "ETA on the new coordinates at Warp 9 will get us there in 2.6 hours."

Mark walked over to Ensign Storme, and looked at the coordinates. "So people have decided to run the gauntlet. Talk about stupid." Mark commented.

"Pardon me?" Se'Lah spoke up for the question that was probably on most minds on the bridge. "The Gauntlet, Mr. Whistler?"

"The gauntlet is an area of space within the expanse that generally people avoid. From the Intelligence Starfleet has from the Orions, ships have...disappeared there. It's considered to be similar to the old Bermuda Triangle legend of Earth." Mark said.

Theron glanced over his shoulder for a second at Lt. Whistler. He wasn't familiar with this Bermuda Triangle legend, but it didn't sound good.

Se'Lah queried her PADD about the Bermuda Triangle of Earth's legends, and raised an eyebrow at what she found. "An area on Earth where legend states that both air, and sea vessels had simply... vanished without a trace." She said, looking back at Mark. "Fascinating, and dangerous."

Syrena didn't really have a reason to be on the bridge; Except to deliver a padd with the latest security checks to Myomoto for his review, But she was there nonetheless and had heard the conversation going on, and chimed in, "And also interesting, to say the least."

Myomoto gave Syrena a severe look and said rather pointedly "Thank you for the reports CADET. I believe you have other duties waiting for you elsewhere." Inside Myomoto was mortified and angered by this massive breach of protocol. He breathed slowly and calmed himself down. This was a starship and not a marine combat camp. Things may be done differently here, but he was still going to go with his initial reaction to dismiss the cadet. She may be the ACTSO, but she was still a cadet who had lots to learn.

Syrena's face turned slightly red as she gave a nod to Myomoto and promptly turned and walked away from his station towards the turbolift, in effort to make a quick exit. Not that she didn't feel like he had slapped her down like some upstart kid. She did, however, feel like she wanted to just yell at him as loudly as possible; but instead, Syrena decided it was best to keep calm and not get angry with him since, after all, Myomoto was her superior officer. She was actually surprised that she'd kept a tight lid on her anger just now, which she'd felt building up inside her ready to explode at a moment's notice.

"Wait, Cadet." Se'Lah said as she stood up out of the center chair, glancing at Myomoto, before turning to face Syrena. In the two months that she could remember, Se'Lah had learned on her own that the ideas, and opinions of others were important, regardless of position, or rank. As well she also saw the potential for this young woman to learn valuable skills, and information that she could put to use later in her career. "As you are still a cadet, this could potentially be a learning experience for you." She said with some compassion in her voice. "If there are no objections from the Captain, or Mr. Myomoto, I'd like to invite you to take a guard position on the Bridge... At least for a portion of your shift. I believe your input could potentially be just as valuable as any of the Senior staff."

Syrena simply just nodded to Se'Lah, and stayed right where she was. Making absolutely sure that she was not in the way of everyone else. Her anger completely forgotten for the moment as she observed the activity going on around her.

Theron had listened to all the dialog about Syrena. He had a special connection now to her and felt bad for her, but could not interrupt nor even turn to give her an encouraging look. Theron was very relieved when he heard that the Cadet could remain on the bridge and the dismissal had been minimized.

"Not a bad idea. This is a good opportunity to see what happens when we're going into a ..." Farenia started before pausing and tapping at the console she was at. "Storme, increase speed to the best the engines can possibly give us. Fly her apart if you have to. They sent out telemetry of a massive energy burst and the signal cut out."

"Captain, I recommend against pushing the engines past warp 9.75." Se'Lah spoke up, her numbers showing her understanding of the ship's specification. "Doing so puts the entire ship at risk... and we won't be able to do any good, if we destroy ourselves before we arrive."

"Objection noted. Our last tests said we can do warp 9.78 for a few minutes. I want that at a minimum." Farenia replied as she closed down the terminal she was at and stared at the viewscreen with a concerned look.

Storme knew that meant to follow through with the original orders to bring the ship to maximum velocity. Theron had never been much of a religious person, but at that moment he wished he could remember one of the prayers his Nannam had taught him as a child. "Increasing warp velocity Sir, passing warp 6.5."

Se'Lah hesitated, but then tapped her COMM badge =A= Bridge to Engineering. Let's put those repairs to the test... Give us all the warp power you can. We're pushing the engines to warp 9.78. =A=

Andrea was in disbelief. Such speeds would really put the deflector dish to the test. 'Damn impatient commanders,' she thought before opening the comm channel. She glanced at the core and her team who were looking at her with similar concerns. "Aye. You fly her apart and we'll try to hold her together." She then turned to her crew. "Set flow capacitors to full and keep an eye on all systems. One hiccup and I want to know about it."

The engineering crew nodded and proceeded to their assigned areas.

Helm reported, "Now passing Warp 8, . . . and increasing." The ship began to vibrate and shimmy for a few seconds, but it passed and the Islandica continued on smoothly.

As the ship's speed increased, tensions on the bridge began to rise. Glancing over at Arianna, Se'Lah could tell the woman was anxious, and concerned. "Don't stop, until we reach 9.78, Mr. Storme."

Without hesitation Storme replied, "Understood Sir." He did not turn around, but did swallow loudly out of nervousness.

"Captain, Commander, I object to this course of action-" Arianna stood up, and started to openly object, but Se'Lah cut her off, by putting a single finger up in the woman's view.

"Your objection is noted, Chief, but before you say anything more, know this..." Se'Lah said sternly. "I may not be in the best of conditions, but that woman there is in prime condition, and she knows exactly what she's doing. Now sit!"

Arianna stood staring at Se'Lah in defiance for a few moments, before finally sitting down with a sigh. Her true reason for being here was to investigate Whistler, and because of her cover, she was forced to sit back, and watch as these two put the entire ship at risk.

"Mr. Storme, when we reach 9.78, hold that speed for as long as you can." Se'Lah said, as she eyed the Captain. She would allow this course of action, but she would take steps to ensure the safety of the crew too. "The moment such speed threatens the safety of the ship, drop down to warp 9.75."

Theron glanced out of the corner of his eye to see the XO standing there. He could tell there was a lot going on at the moment that was way over his 'pay-grade'. "Now passing warp 8.5".

Farenia nodded, moving across to the other side of the bridge to check a readout on the structural integrity field. It all looked solid and within tolerances, thankfully. She might be able to pull this off if the ship could get fast enough... Punching in a few commands, she glanced to the viewscreen and prepared to execute a secret command level order that only captains and above should know about. Something that the Enterprise 1701 had done on accident. "What's our speed now, Mr. Storme?" she asked calmly, giving no hint as to what was hopefully about to happen.

Storme glanced down and replied, "Warp 8.8, 8.9, now 9.0 Sir. And still increasing."

Having managed to see what Ferenia entered into the nearby console, Se'Lah understood what was happening. Despite the fact that only Captains, and above were supposed to know that code, Se'Lah had used her clearance to do her research before coming aboard, and knew the deal. Silently, she made her way over to where the Vulcanoid Rigelian stood, and leaned in close. "What you're doing is dangerous." She said in tones low enough that only the two of them heard. "Artificial wormholes can be extremely unstable, and there is no telling where we might end up... Not to mention the damage you could do to this ship."

That Se'Lah recognized the commands shouldn't have come as a surprise to Farenia, but she still paused and stared at her a moment to process that information. "The fact that this ship has that flaw has the highest secrecy classification. I'd ask how you know about it, but me using it should tell you what I think of that." Farenia spoke in hushed tones, leaning in even closer for the next part. "I assume you also know that it's at Warp 9.78 that the wormhole effect forms. As soon as it does, we'll have less than thirty seconds to get the ship under control or we'll fly right past our target and into a sun on this path. Consider this a test of your command ability under stress, Commander." She didn't mention that she knew exactly how to knock the ship out of the artificial wormhole. Part of her wanted to see if Se'Lah had come across the trick to it in her research. She still had a torpedo loaded for the necessary blast, just in case.

The Helmsman called out, "Warp 9.5".

Knowing the dangers inherent in what was happening worried Se'Lah to no end. She looked around the Bridge at officers, many of which were watching the two of them. After a few quiet moments, the station that Ferenia had most recently walked away from grabbed her attention. She moved across the Bridge to the station, noting the Torpedo controls prepped to release a torpedo that could theoretically knock them out of an artificial wormhole. Finally, she looked over at Ferenia, and sighed. "Things are about to get really interesting..." She said, then looked to the helm station. "What is our current speed?"

Again Storme swallowed hard and he could feel a cold drop of sweat trickle down the left side of his face, and he replied, "Warp 9.72". He looked over his display one more time and reported, "and now at warp 9.78".

For a moment all was calm and the ship was running perfectly as if nothing was about to happen. Then the viewscreen started changing. The star streaks faded from the center outwards into the walls of a red tinted wormhole. As the ship continued into the effect, it started to shimmy slightly and the red alert sounded automatically, the lights dimming accordingly.

Farenia looked at her chrono and started counting the seconds, glancing up at Se'Lah expectantly. They were now fourteen seconds from their target if her calculations were right.

Tyler sat calmly as the increase to warp speed was happening, he wasn't entirely sure what was going on but he didn't question it, now did he voice an objection. Starships pushed the limits all the time, though to him it was reckless, it wasn't surprising. Was he nervous that the ship would tear itself apart? No not really. Would it have sucked royally? Definitely! But, at this point it was what it was. His gaze lifted multiple times from his station, the stars streaked by just like always when a ship was at warp. It was a mesmerizing effect, but one he had gotten used to over his time serving on a bridge. Then the viewscreen started to change, and as it did he knew his jaw went slack. He couldn't believe what he was seeing, and more to the point he couldn't believe that the Islandica was still in one piece after what he was seeing. "I don't believe what I'm seeing," he said under his breath. The words came out as more in awe than anything else. He tore his gaze from the viewscreen for a moment to check on his readings. Everything was going haywire, and his dark brown eyes tried to keep up with the streaming data, but it all looked like a jumbled mess... a jumbled mess he would have to untangle later. "It seems stable..." his brow furrowed in confusion at what he was looking at, but yet he couldn't tell which way was up or down at the moment.

Theron watched intently the Helm control display before him. He glanced up at the view screen every now and then, but when he saw the stars start to disappear and turn red he began to hear singing. It was almost like an acapella chorus. He looked about the bridge at other’s faces, many of them ‘slack-jawed’ or otherwise transfixed on the visual on the screen, but no one was singing. The singing was not bothering him. He still monitored the helm; everything was on track and steady at warp 9.78. He thought, Am I going crazy? But then he heard a voice over the chorus, No Brother, not crazy, but a bit out of your realm. You should go back to your own, before it’s too late.

Theron Storme could not believe that he just had a conversation in his head. He had no understanding of how or why, but felt very secure in making the recommendation, “Captain, I would seriously recommend reduction in velocity.” After a second added, “Before it’s too late.”

The ride, quite bumpy at first, suddenly and seemingly without explanation became much more smooth, like the forming wormhole was suddenly not causing as much strain on the ship's structural integrity. Down in Astrometrics, a very irritated Chameloid was working furiously at her station, making minute changes to various ship-wide settings to lessen the strain of the wormhole on the ship and make both more stable. Figures that someone on the bridge would do something like this without consulting the resident expert on astrophysics, and Shae was going to have a serious word with said someone about it later, but for now she wanted to get through this jump without tearing the ship apart, silently cursing the genius who thought this was a good idea...

In Engineering, Andrea gauged the readouts from the Master Display Console with her arms crossed. She had a serious and unamused look on her face. She knew from experience that it would be futile to complain over comm channels. Stress levels were currently rising but still within acceptable limits. She glanced over at the core which humming loudly as it generated the necessary energy to propel the ship at these terminal speeds. 'Keep breathing, girl,' she thought as she continued to look at the heart of the ship beating hard. She turned her attention back to the Master Display Console. "Damned ship captains," she cursed to herself.

Arianna's jaw dropped as she saw, and could physically sense the sudden change in velocities. She'd heard of some ships completely ignoring the laws of physics in this manner, but it had been rare, and before her time. Somewhat disorienting, and definitely dangerous, it was still incredible that they'd even reached these speeds.

Mark remained silent, but as he remembered the logs of Starfleet, his mind went back to the fact that the Enterprise was almost destroyed when they created what he dubbed a Warp Tunnel. Some called it a Wormhole, of course, but he preferred his term.

As the ship traveled past the known limits of Warp velocities, Se'Lah stood, intently watching the timer, displayed on the console in front of her, glancing up every few seconds to see the awe inspiring view on the screen. "Mr. Storme. On my mark, drop to impulse."

Without taking his eyes or hands from the console, Storme replied in a straight tone, “Yes Ma’am.” Inside he was deeply relieved.

As the timer reached zero, Se'Lah pressed a button on the console, launching a torpedo with a trajectory that was directly in their path. She waited until just the right moment, then pressed the remote detonation button. "Now, Mr. Storme!"

It took just a fraction of a second for the Helmsman to flip a couple switched to disengage the warp field about the ship and reduce velocity. Unfortunately, even though the instruction had been given to the ship’s systems to leave warped space, the vessel had remained at Warp 9.78 for a couple more seconds until the torpedo detonated.

As the torpedo exploded, the wormhole explosively dissipated, dropping them out of the wormhole, and into normal space. At first glance, it was easy to see that they were not where they had started. "Damage report, and location please." Se’Lah said after a quiet moment.

Storme focused on the ship’s speed and close range sensors. Sensor indicators had become quite confused just prior to returning to normal space. He wanted to make sure that they were not flying into any kind of spacial anomaly, especially a star. He sighed deeply when he saw that they had returned to clear and empty space. At the same time he tried to read navigational coordinates, now that the computer could correlate their position to the corresponding stars.

Andrea couldn't help to smile as she looked at the warp core. "Good girl," she said softly. She then ran a full systems check on the Master Display Console. "Warp engines have been strained and will need some time to cool down," she reported to the bridge over the intercom. "Recommend we not jump to warp for another hour. Impulse engines are functioning at 100 percent and all other systems show green across the board."

Ens. Storme had looked at the navigational readings, then double checked them, and was quite amazed. They had arrived very near the Expanse. Sensors indicated there was a ship just off to starboard. But the Comm activated and he listened to the Engineer’s report first. He totally understood what had taken place with the engines. Theron tried to refocus and reported, “Sir, we have arrived near the Expanse.” Theron was still amazed that they had stopped short of it. “I do have a sensor blip about 2 kilomoters out, at Zero-seven-two mark twelve.” He didn’t have the tactical readout in his sensors, but the ship or object didn’t look right. It was rather fuzzy, he thought, possibly debre?

"On screen," Farenia ordered, seeing how close they were. The image on the viewscreen was hard to make out - there was lots of weapons scoring on the hull of the notorious bulk freighter. As the main body rotated, Farenia's stomach sank as she realized the extent of the damages to this vessel. She doubted even life pods survived the blast this ship had took. The main hull... a thick Federation style saucer similar to an overgrown insignia class... It had been melted straight through the center by an energy blast. The only thing holding the cargo pods together was melted duranium - the entire central area was simply gone. The minimal engineering hull was blasted to shreds and all 4 nacelles were hanging limply in space. It was as if whatever hit this ship was powerful enough to forego the warp core breach and just vaporize the whole lot into subatomic particles. She had seen similar wrecks from Borg attacks, but never so clean as this. Slipping into one of the side chairs, still stunned at the sight, Farenia muttered something unintelligible under her breath before getting out her next order. "Sensors. We need answers. Scan... scan what's left of her."

Myomoto had pretty much just been riding along and filing away information up to this point. His augmented hearing had caught everything said on the bridge and he was going to have a talk with the Captain when time allowed. Now that they were back out of warp and in what he judged to be a combat zone he left everything else to the other bridge crew and brought weapon systems online. Taping into the scanner feed he kept and eye out for threats. "Weapons and defense systems online and ready captain."

"Mr. Myomoto, scan for any other nearby vessels, and keep us on red alert for the moment." Se'Lah said after a moment of quiet hesitation. What she saw was... powerful. Seeing the devastation of the freighter in front of them told her that this was no ordinary weapon. "If it moves, I want to know about it."

Arianna for her part just sat there, looking a bit uncertain. As the image of the freighter floated on the view screen in front of her, she studied it. In it's own horrifying way, it was fascinating to think of the kind of vessel, or weapon that could critically damage a ship in such a manner.

Storme calculated and laid in a course that would bring the Islandica near the wreckage, but waited for the order.

"Now that you've finished trying to kill us all, Captain, I'd recommend sending a team over there. Sensor's will only be able to tell us so much. That having been said, I don't recommend using transporters. The whole area of space is unstable. One electrical discharge, and our atoms will be scattered everywhere." Mark said.

"I highly doubt you will find any survivors." Se'Lah told Mark as she turned to face him. "I'd suggest wearing EVA suits, since it looks like systems such as life support won't be functional."

The Islandica was fast approaching the target debre, Ens. Storme asked, "Sir, should I fly a course about the de . . vessel?" Wow! Theron thought, I may have just stuck my foot in my mouth.

"Yes." Se'Lah replied simply. "Let's take a closer look at the damage, and scan for any survivors."

Andrea watched a monitor in Engineering as the Islandica approached the freighter. She let out a low whistle. "What in blazes could do such a thing?" she asked no one in particular. She then noticed the Islandica's course and speed. They were going to board the other ship. She wanted nothing more than to go and get a closer look at the damage on the freighter.

Tyler's gaze kept going from the viewscreen to his own readings. He was running continuous scans himself, watching power levels mostly. He was also feeding that information to the sensor analysis team. They were the ones who dissected what was being seen. He wasn't entirely sure what this was even about, he wasn't sure if he wanted to know. The less I know, the better probably, he thought to himself. However, the sensors were still trying to decipher what was what, the electrical discharges, combined with the instability of the space around them was wreaking havoc on what they were trying to see.

"It looks like most of the inner hull was just... melted away." Arianna finally broke the silence on the Bridge as she voiced what her eyes told her. "Whatever did this might be more than we can handle."

"Mr. Whistler, prepare a team to beam over." Se'Lah said, turning to Mark. She wanted to go with him, and felt somewhat useless with everything going on. "Look for survivors, and if you can get anything at all to work... try to get whatever information you can from their computer."

Mark felt a brief moment of curiosity, why he was being asked to go over and not Myomoto, but he had been given an order...and it certainly beat standing around doing nothing. "Aye, Commander." Mark said. "Mr. Alvarez, you're with me." Mark ordered.

"Whistler to Intel Team Alpha, meet in shuttlebay, with life support field generators, plus two extra's." He ordered, as he went towards the turbolift. "Whistler to engineering, I need three engineers, all equipped with life support fields." He added. "Shuttlebay." Mark ordered. As the turbolift doors closed, he looked at Tyler. "Garuda told me of the good job you did on the station." Mark commented.

Getting an idea of the Captain's mental state, based on her reactions, Se'Lah made her way over to where Farenia sat, leaning in close to speak low enough for only her to hear. "I know you're upset." She said. "Whatever did this could prove to be a great danger to this area of space."

Shaking her head to try to clear it, Farenia stood and nodded to her XO. "Sorry about that. Conduct scans and whatever research you can. If you find a trail to follow of the other ship, notify me immediately. I doubt they'll be back any time soon, but let's still hurry on those scans and samples. As soon as the engines cool down and Engineering gives us the ok, let's get back underway. And at a more reasonable speed this time. Commander, you have the bridge." Farenia turned towards her ready room and paused for a moment before heading into it.

Se'Lah watched as Farenia disappeared into the ready room. The woman would need someone to talk to eventually, but for now, they had other concerns. "Mr. Myomoto." She said, turning to the tactical station. "Let me know if, and when any ships enter the area." She then sat back down in the center chair, logging into the arm rest console. "If whatever did this comes back, we don't want to be caught unprepared."

"Aye sir. Weapon systems are still hot and I am linked into all scanner systems and keeping an eye out for anything that could be a threat." Myomoto was was a little confused as to why he wasn't being involved in the away mission but he figured command knew what they were doing and kept to his job. He envied Whistler his mission but instead of being bitter he sent a message to gis pad. "Watch your back over there. Shae would be upset if something happened to you and I wouldn't be to pleased either. We have BBQs to have and brews to share."

Ens. Storme cringed slightly when some small piece of debris hit the shield. He couldn't dodge them all, but made his rotation pattern bigger as they flew around the vessel and its debris field.

Down in Engineering, Andrea was in a Jefferies Tube cursed as the ship shuddered from a debris hit. Slapping her comm badge and rubbing her head from where she banged it against the crawl space of the tube.. "It helps NOT to hit the debris."

Ens. Storme at the Helm was not sure if he was supposed to respond to the Engineer's comment or not and glanced over his shoulder to the XO for a little guidance, raising his eyebrows.

Se'Lah raised an eyebrow, and gave Ensign Storme a light shrug. She tapped the COMM button on the arm rest. "There is a lot of debris." She said simply. "Kind of hard to miss it all."

Little did the crew yet know, but as soon as Farenia entered her ready room, she put out a call to the ship's counselor, tapping her comm badge. "Farenia to Lieutenant Iniya, Vicky... I want you to go on the away mission assembling now in the main transporter room. There's no atmosphere left over there so plan accordingly. And please... Try to find the remains of a man named Ven Kyro. he was... special... to me."

Vicky didn't have to ask any more about this - she knew enough just from the Captain's tone of voice. She'd make a note to sit down and have a long chat with her about it though. "Yes ma'am, I'm on my way." was her only reply before grabbing gear she had hoped she wouldn't need for a while longer.

ON:

After speaking with Theron by the turbolift and parting company with him; Syrena went to continue on with her tour of the ship and started to walk back down the corridor she came from, deciding not to take the turbolift that Theron had just come out of earlier. As she walked, she wondered why she didn't receive her menstrual cycle this month. After all, Syrena didn't see any blood in the shower stall when she took her shower earlier this morning, neither did she feel any cramps or moodswings that typically indicated when her expected period was about due to arrive, which to her, seemed rather odd. But she dismissed it as probably something stress-related that caused her to miss it, and probably thought it was just being a day or two late. However, as Syrena walked, she didn't get very far down the other side of the corridor, when a passing crewman caught her in his arms the second she suddenly started to faint and had tripped over her own two feet, causing her to fall towards the deck's floor. "Are you alright, Ma'am?" The crewman asked as he helped pull her up and attempted to keep her steady on her feet.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Syrena instantly grumbled and pushed the crewman's hands away, releasing her from their grip once she'd completely regained control of her balance. "I just had a little clumsy moment for a second, that's all. Carry on with whatever you were doing." Without another word, Syrena rushed past the crewman, who raised a thoughtful, yet concerned eyebrow at her before shrugging and continuing on his own duties. As she moved down the corridor, Syrena wondered why she had that little clumsy moment. She'd never been that clumsy before, except once when she was a child during a camping trip with her parents, and she'd tripped and fell over a small tree branch when she wasn't paying attention to where she was walking, and had scraped both her knees up in the process.

She decided it was best to pay a quick visit to Sickbay; just in case she'd have injured herself when she slipped and fell, and entered the turbolift upon reaching the other side of the corridor. She spoke to the computer once the doors closed in front of her, "Deck Five, Sickbay."

Once the turbolift stopped at the deck she'd ordered it to take her to, Syrena exited the turbolift and entered Sickbay. I hope I don't make a habit of this. She thought silently to herself, since after all, this would have been her second visit to Sickbay in a matter of just a couple of days. Looking around Sickbay, she could not find the doctor, so she decided to activate the EMH.

"Computer, activate the EMH program."

The EMH shimmered into existence in front of Syrena, and as he did, he spoke, "Please state the nature of the medical emergency."

Sighing, Syrena pushed a strand of her hair out of her face, clearly embarrassed about her sudden clumsiness in the corridor of Deck 4. "I uh.... wanted to make sure I didn't injure myself since I apparently had a little clumsy moment on Deck Four a bit ago, and I slipped and fell." She didn't want to admit this little incident, since being half-Klingon, her pride was a little wounded right now.

"I see." Replied the EMH, "Please lie down on the biobed, and I'll be back in a moment to scan you to be sure your injuries aren't serious."

"Alright." Syrena shrugged, then moved to a biobed and laid flat on her back on it. Waiting patiently as the holographic doctor went off to fetch his tricorder and other medical equipment in order for him to take a few scans of Syrena.

When he returned, he immediately set to work on initiating his scans of her. After several seconds, he raised his eyebrow and muttered, "That's strange."

"What's the problem?" Syrena asked with a look of concern, "Is it serious?"

The holographic doctor shook his head, "No, there's nothing to be concerned about. You're as healthy as a Targ." He noted, seeing as Syrena was half-Klingon, and it seemed to her like he didn't want to insult her for fear of what she might do to him if she didn't exactly like what she might've heard. "I just had to double-check my scans for a moment since I detected another life-sign inside you."

This prompted Syrena to sit straight up and widen her eyes in surprise, "You detected WHAT inside me?!" She nearly shrieked at the doctor, the look of both shock and disbelief, mixed with anger now covering her facial features.

"You're pregnant, Cadet." The EMH clarified with a smile, "Congratulations."

"But... But that's impossible!" Syrena cried out, not completely 100% sure why she was suddenly very angry now, "My period should've happened first..!!"

"I don't mean to pry, but when was your last expected period due?" Asked the holographic doctor as he began to put away his tricorder.

"I don't know- A day or two ago? I think." Syrena snapped rather annoyed, waving a hand in the air, presumably to dismiss the question. After sighing for a bit, she looked up at the doctor, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap at you, Doc. I just....this is very unsettling to me. How could this happen?"

"It is quite likely that you might've miscalculated your menstrual cycle, and you were instead on or close to your ovulation cycle." The EMH pointed out, "Do you remember what you were doing before you became pregnant, Cadet? If you'll pardon me for asking."

Sighing once again, Syrena shrugged her shoulders in response to his question, "Well, If I remember correctly, I was off-duty in the mess hall here on the Islandica when Ensign Theron Storme and Lieutenant Ranav Brott came and asked me to join them at a bar on Glebben Station; since I didn't have anything to do at that time, I decided I'd join them for dinner." She went silent for a moment to recount the events that happened that day, "We found a bar, had a few drinks, ate some food." She rattled off the items of what was done in that order.

"We had a few conversations, most of them being introductions to each one of us from the other person, and telling of our families and past histories, that sort of thing." She'd clarified afterwards. "I think the drink I had was called a 'Samarian Sunset', whilst Storme and Brott had their own drinks- I think Storme had a dark ale, and Brott had something he called Tarija?" She shrugged at this as she glanced back at the holographic doctor, "I don't know what that is, but I think he said it was some sort of tart wine."

She mentally counted further ahead after that part, "I think there was a brawl that had started between a couple of Klingons and some of the bar patrons; and after that, the bartender gave us another free drink that a gentleman ordered to welcome the three of us to the bar. It was yellow at the bottom, white in the middle, and cyan blue at the top of it, and if I recall correctly, while we had our drinks, I noticed a strange-looking alien standing at the other side of the bar staring at me, Storme and Brott the whole night with a big smile on his face before the three of us returned to the ship. I think he might've been that gentleman who ordered that drink for us. After that... things got really foggy, and I must've blacked out."

She paused to sigh once again, "Just a bit ago, I did ask Storme what he remembers about the bar situation, but he said he couldn't talk to Brott since the Lieutenant never returned the Ensign's messages." She paused for a moment before continuing, "Or mine for that matter either. Since I, too, have been trying to get in contact with the Lieutenant to see what he remembers about that night."

"Well, the way I see it, Cadet. The probable cause for your pregnancy is rather simple." He explained to Syrena. "You probably don't remember how it happened; and I don't mean to be indelicate with this, but it is possible that you might've been drugged or intoxicated to the point where you cannot understand, or even determine your actions very clearly. Perhaps that might've lead to your being pregnant now?"

Syrena sighed and nodded, "I guess that would explain it, but I don't recall doing that. The last thing I remember was returning to my quarters to take a shower." She'd left out the part where she'd discovered herself waking up in Storme's quarters early that morning. To spare further embarrassment for not only herself, but for Storme as well. Sighing once again, Syrena decided it was best to ask the doctor for a personal favor. "I have a favor to ask." She told the doctor after a moment's silence.

"Of course, Cadet. What can I do for you?" He asked after a moment's silence.

"Could you possibly check the DNA of the baby, and tell me who the father is?" Syrena asked as her hand now covered the lower part of her stomach just below her bellybutton, where the apparent baby-bump would probably now be beginning to form. "As I said earlier, I don't remember who was with me the night I got back here with Storme and Brott." Syrena answered after a moment's silence.

"According to the scans I just took." The holographic doctor answered as he checked the computer terminal he'd just walked over to, "There's no evidence of Bolian DNA present in the baby's genetic material. I have determined that Lieutenant Brott is not the father of your baby, but Ensign Storme is, as his DNA is present in these scans."

Syrena didn't answer this time, she only just nodded. Confirming her own theories as to how she discovered herself being in Storme's quarters instead of her own the morning she woke up. "How long will the pregnancy last?" Syrena asked the doctor, since she never had a baby at all in her entire life, she was curious to know when the baby would be born if she decided to keep it, if not wanting to abort it right away.

"Typically, Klingon pregnancies run around thirty weeks, but with mixed species, it's possible that it may be sooner or close to twenty-five weeks. Give or take a few days." he answered Syrena, "Would you like me to inform Mr. Storme about the baby?"

"No, I'll talk to him myself and tell him the news." She answered rather dejectedly. Syrena slowly slid off the biobed and stood upon her feet once again, "Thanks, Doc. Computer, deactivate EMH." She managed to say before leaving Sickbay through its double doors. She didn't even wait for the doctor to shimmer out of existence before she left.

Once outside Sickbay and a few steps or paces down the hall, Syrena tapped her comm-badge, "Hansen to Storme."

=^=This is Storme. Go ahead.=^= Theron froze after his automatic response. He looked about the bridge, as if to confirm that no one else was around, or at least listening to him.

"There's something that we need to talk about." Syrena said cryptically. A hint of embarrassment, mixed with uncertainty could probably be heard in the tone of her voice as she spoke, "When is your next time off-duty?"

After their last conversation, Theron was concerned what this was all about. He replied, =^=I'll be off in 30 minutes.=^= There was a long pause as he thought further about possibilities, but then wanted to be helpful and asked, =^=Where would you like to meet?=^=

Ah, Good. Thirty minutes to think about how I should tell Storme the news. Syrena thought silently to herself before answering, "Would the mess hall be alright?"

Considering the situation, Theron wondered if such an open location was the best, but then he wasn't sure what she wanted to talk about. =^=Alright. I'll meet you in the mess hall, just after 1900.=^= He looked down feeling drained and uncertain. I wonder what she has found out?

From behind Storme came a booming voice, "Mr. Storme if you are quite done with your nap, get back to paying attention. And quit taking personal calls while on the Bridge. I don't care if we are in dry dock or not."

Syrena had heard the verbal lashing that Storme had received just before the channel had been closed. Yikes. Glad I wasn't there in person to see that. She thought silently to herself. After a moment or two, Syrena decided to make her way down to the mess hall in order for her to meet Storme there.


To Be Cont . . .



xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx




1900 - Mess Hall

Syrena stood facing the mess hall's windows, not really paying much attention to the small crowd of people who were busily having various conversations with one another and laughing around her. She kept herself focused on what she had thought about saying to Storme when he'd meet her there.

Theron walked into the mess hall and hesitated as he looked about, searching for Hansen. He then saw her looking out the window. He thought, Too bad they were not in space where she could see stars. He walked casually over to her and stood next to her and in a cautious tone simply said, "Hi."

At the sound of Theron's voice, Syrena turned to see him standing next to her, "Hi." She returned the greeting he'd given her just a moment ago; she didn't really say much else, except, "There's something that we need to talk about." As she said this, Syrena gestured towards a nearby table, indicating to Theron that he should sit down before she said anything else.

Theron really had no idea of what was going on. He hoped that she had found out about something of their unknown activities. He gave her a nod and walked over to the small table and sat across from her. He leaned forward slightly with elbows on the table. With an interested look he asked, "Did you find out more information about . . you know . . last night?"

Syrena nodded, "Actually, now that you mention it, I did." She answered as she took her seat in the chair across from Theron.

Theron actually felt elated that they had some good information. "Well, don't keep me in suspense. What happened to us last night? Who caused all this?"

"Do you remember that shady-looking patron who stood at the end of the bar that we sat at last night?" Syrena asked Theron, hoping he would remember that shady-looking alien that had been staring at them that night.

Theron was feeling excited. He whispered, “Yes!” Raising both eyebrows wanting her to continue.

"I think he might've done something to our drinks while the bartender's back was turned, and we weren't paying attention to that because we were focused on watching the brawl between those three Klingons and the other patrons." Syrena clarified, "We don't remember what fully happened because whatever it was that was in our drinks, messed us up more than it usually would've done to us; also, I think because of that, you slept with...." She paused to let this last part sink in, "With me when we returned to the ship."

Theron was stunned; his mouth dropped open, he leaned back slightly, and his eyes became big in disbelief. After a moment he added cautiously, “Are you sure?” Then looked away feeling stupid for questioning the obvious. He looked down, looking side to side, “Of course you’re sure.” He looked to Syrena, “You wrote the note, right?”

Syrena simply nodded, "Yes. The note is mine. I wrote it on a pair of your underwear after I woke up next to you in your quarters." She sighed and added, "Since I couldn't find a piece of paper or a padd to write it on."

Theron looked down rocking his head side to side slightly, embarrassed by the whole situation.

"There is one more thing I have to tell you." Syrena said as a waiter came by their table and left a couple of drinks near them; both were alcoholic, but Syrena didn't even touch hers, instead, she'd opted for the glass of water that she'd replicated earlier.

Theron looked at the waiter and gave an approving nod before he walked away. Storme picked up the drink, looked at it as he took a big breath and let it out slowly. He then drained the drink in one gulp. Setting the glass down he looked to Syrena, “You were saying?”

This is it. Time to rip off that bandage of 'truth'. Syrena thought silently to herself, "I'm pregnant. The baby's yours." She added before Theron could even respond.

This was way too much for Theron to rationalize through by himself. He felt like he was looking about frantically, but probably only with his eyes as he leaned back in his chair with his hands pressing against the edge of the table. He thought, Asking ‘are you sure’ would again be a stupid thing to say. After a long moment Theron looked up to Syrena with her beautiful oval shaped face and dark hair. He could see the concern on her face as well as the seriousness of the situation. Somehow the words escaped his lips without control, “Are you sure?” He then slapped his hand over his mouth, as if to somehow stop any more words from escaping.

"Positive. I got the results of the test right here if you wanna look them over yourself." Syrena passed Storme the padd that displayed her medical file and the EMH's test results of her pregnancy on it.

Theron leaned forward accepting the padd and fingering through the different data readouts and scans. He laid the device down on the table, leaning forward again and spoke in a soft and compassionate voice. “Okay. I don’t want to call this a problem. That’s not who I am. This is a child . . “ he glanced down at the display, . “only a day of conception, but still a life.” He looked back at Syrena, “What have you been thinking . . ?” He wasn’t even sure how to finish the question.

Syrena sighed, though the question might've sounded like an insult, and everyone knew to never insult a Klingon, or suffer the consequences; however, she acted like it didn't even phase or anger her, "I wasn't, and obviously neither did you." With a shrug, she added, "We were both obviously too drunk to notice what we were doing last night. I didn't talk to Doctor Reen, as she wasn't in when I went to Sickbay and found out about this. I actually talked to the EMH, and he had told me that the Klingon-Human conception rate's very high, so that's probably how it happened to me... " She looked up at Theron, noticing the apparent slip-up she'd made, and added, "To us."

"No, no." Theron said without thinking. "No, I didn't mean to question that you didn't think through the situation last night." He rolled his eyes in confusion and looked about to see who might be listening, then back to her he said, "I know that was out of our hands, somewhat. I mean to ask what are your thoughts about the child and raising it?"

"Honestly? Well." Syrena began, "I won't consider getting rid of it, as that would be the wrong thing to do." She told Theron solemnly, "Though, I suppose I will have to rearrange my quarters to make room for the child when it's born." She was silent for a moment as she considered other possibilities, "I may have to consider finding a babysitter from time to time so I can continue my duties." She sighed and glanced up at Theron, the look in her eyes showed that though she'd never been a mother in her entire life, but she was willing enough to take up the task. "And there is the question of the child's safety. After all, it might not be an easy transition for the child to be raised on a starship, Especially if the situation becomes dangerous." Glancing up at Theron once again, she wondered what his thoughts were, and how he felt about their current situation. "What about you? What are your thoughts on this?"

Theron had listened intently to Syrena. He agreed with all that she had said, but he knew better than to just say the same thing, which would make it seem that he had not though about it at all. He realized that at that moment he felt very nervous and under pressure. He swallowed, physically straining to do so. He finally said, "I too agree that it would be wrong to 'dismiss' the life you carry. It deserves all that 'we' can provide for it." He canted his head slightly in thought, "Safety and nurturing are most important for the young child." There was a long pause and after a deep breath, "I too would be willing to share in those responsibilities."

Syrena simply nodded and smiled at Theron in thanks, but the smile didn't last, it was gone just as quickly as it had appeared, and with a sigh and a shrug of her shoulders, she simply said, "I should warn you that with this pregnancy, I may experience some behavioral volatility according to the EMH. Which means, my anger might get a tad more difficult for me to control."

Theron raised both eye browns with caution, then frowned in thought before saying, "You mean because you are Klingon, you are expecting these anger mood swings?"

Syrena gave Theron a quick glance that looked as though she wasn't certain what he meant, but she answered his question with, "Well, lemme put it this way; When my mother was pregnant with me, my father kept his distance from her because he was afraid she'd shred him alive with her bat'leth." She took a drink of her water, then set the glass down on the table before she continued, "I believe he called the mood swings 'misdirected rage' or something like that."

"Well . . " Theron nodded, not sure exactly how to respond to that, "duly noted," and then smiled. "I'm sure that is something we will deal with as time goes on, but . . ." He looked down, rubbed his chin with his hand in deep consideration. He finally looked up and encouragingly said, "Well, I think WE have some planning ahead of us, which doesn't have to be decided today, except I believe we both want a positive outcome. Yes?"

"Of course." Syrena answered with a nod of her head. She smiled a little at what Theron had said, since he'd said the exact same thing that she'd been thinking. However, her smile faded a little as she considered something, "Speaking of planning; I don't suppose my roommate would mind finding a new roommate to share their quarters with, as I am not sure that my quarters will be large enough for him, myself AND the baby once it's born."

"Your're right, definitely right. But realistically, we will not need to make any changes for a while, a few months at least. During that time . . we can get to know each other better." A soft and caring smile came over his face.

Syrena nodded in agreement with Theron's point, "That's certainly true." She moved a strand of her hair away from her face, then added, "Would you mind if we ordered something to eat while we talk about this? I haven't eaten anything since lunch, and I'm starting to feel a bit peckish." She sighed, "Either that, or the baby's hungry and I'm not, and it's just wanting me to stuff my face to feed its own hunger."

With all that had been said so far, when Syrena stroked her hair from her face, a warm feeling came across his face and shoulders. He didn’t quite understand why, but it must mean something good. After the comment about food, Theron stood up awkwardly, nervous again, speaking quickly, “Sure, would you like me to get something for you?” He looked to the food replicators, then to her, “Anything you like, what would you like?” He realized his childish behavior and shook his head in an attempt to calm down.

Syrena could do nothing but smile at that moment when Theron stood up rather awkwardly, she glanced at the food replicators when he looked at them, then back to Theron when he looked back at her, "Fettuccine alfredo noodles with a touch of garlic butter and shrimp, a nice thick steak; Well done, and a little side salad with ranch dressing." She pondered whether or not to order something for dessert, but then decided against it since she felt like it might be a bit too much for Theron to handle. Though, Syrena would've ordered the Klingon food instead, but she felt like Theron wouldn't be able to stomach the sight of the more gross-looking dishes of the Klingon cuisine, should she'd have ordered it.

Theron sort of counted on his fingers as Syrena gave her list of items. He wasn't sure why he was doubting his own abilities to remember her request. So, it must have been nerves. As he walked away he thought, Is this how it will now be ?

END:


Ens. Theron Storme
Helmsman
USS Islandica

&

Cadet Senior Grade Syrena Hansen
Assistant Chief Security\Tactical Officer
USS Islandica

This is a retelling of the story when Theron Storme stole a small private atmospheric shuttle and evaded the local police for a couple hours.
it demonstrated Theron's inate abilities to not only fly, but has the use of some kind of ability that allowed him to know distances and his position compared to other craft and obstacles.

after writing the memory, as someone to help start and end the story. That way its more than just him telling himself a story or making up an NPC for it.


He did well with his studies as a youth, but would rather spend time outside flying a kite and later flying remote controlled models. When not able to be outside, Theron would spend hours reading. His reading encompassed adventure novels, as well as, technical specs on the latest Starship designs.

His fascination with flying vehicles led him to trouble more than once. When he was 16 he “borrowed” an aircraft from a family friend. He was doing low level flying through the trees and gullies in the area when the authorities spotted him. He evaded them and they chased him for 2 hours before he finally was cornered and put the craft down safely. No charges were pressed, because the aircraft owner was so impressed with the story he had heard. Theron’s father, however, was furious and punished him severely and lost all faith in Theron. Storme was very intelligent, but did not have the ambition to match. It was suggested that he apply to Starfleet, and that he might find his calling there. His father did not approve of this, and discourage him up until the day he attended the Academy.

It had been a nice moment the day she'd gotten to work and discovered that Farenia had changed her title from 'Head Nurse' to 'Chief Medical Officer.' As much as Valyre liked Ronnie, she'd harbored some resentment over that; it always felt like she was being punished somehow for being a doctor of nursing instead of medicine. In the days that had followed, however, Valyre was beginning to wonder if she should have taken Starfleet up on their offer to work for Starfleet Medical when the Aristotle was decommissioned. Surely the patients there would be less strenuous than the ones she dealt with on the Islandica! If it wasn't amnesiac Vulcans shooting fellow crew members, it was ensigns getting beaten up having sex with people they didn't know. It was all getting to be a bit much.

After surviving one of those insanity-fueled shifts, Valyre scooped Snickers up in her arms and went to find Vicky. Knowing that her friend's office occupied part of her living quarters, Valyre found Vicky's cabin and respectfully rang the door chime.

At first there was no answer as Vicky was currently in her tree form sunbathing. It took her a few seconds to register the door chime and to hurriedly morph back into her humanoid form. Though she forgot her clothes this time... Silly silly clothes... She had such trouble with them sometimes...

"Come in," she called, realizing the lack of fabric on her lower self and turning away from the door so she could concentrate on forming those all important garments. "What can I help you with?" she asked once she was done. How much had her visitor seen? she wondered as she turned to face her guest with a slightly embarrassed smile.

"Relax, it's me. And I just need to be somewhere the crazy people on this ship won't look for me." Once the door was closed, Valyre set Snickers down on the floor, smiling a bit when the little holographic fox went immediately to Vicky to be petted. "I'm starting to understand why the dusty old Antican wanted to eat everyone."

Scooping up the little fox, Vicky cooed softly and scritched under his chin tenderly as she made her way to one of her comfy chairs. "So you come to the place where they all congregate? Fair enough. Sometimes I wish I was back on the Sanity's End. At least the patients there know they're crazy."

"I figured if you pretended you had an appointment they'd stay away." While Vicky entertained her pet, Valyre commandeered Vicky's fainting couch, sprawling on it as lazily as the worm in her belly deemed semi-dignified. "This ship is the least sane place I've ever been. The first officer is a textbook example of dissociative identity disorder, the chief intelligence officer is a murderer who openly admits to being one, and then there's the rest of them... getting drunk and having stupid wild sex with people they don't know."

Still petting the cuteness that was Snickers, Vicky chuckled softly. "And that's just the tip of the ice cream. At least Mark is reforming nicely and Se'Lah... She's at least functional in a limited capacity. Technically we now have a Yeoman as our XO for all intensive purposes. On the note of crazy, what do you think of our newest Captain?" Vicky pretended to be sly in asking this, but it just made it seem that much more blunt.

"She's a nut, but I kind of like her. She did do away with that stupid 'head nurse' nonsense that Ronnie stuck me with." It wasn't nice, but Valyre rolled her eyes anyway. "And she pranked me! Her first day here and she let me think for ten minutes she was a really sick Vulcan. I'd have smacked her if it wasn't so funny."

Vicky chuckled softly, shaking her head. "Yeah that fits her profile. I think she enjoys it a bit too much. The reason I ask is because she's not come by to see me for anything but official business and she seems somewhat guarded around me. I might need your help when it comes time for her annual eval. I know she probably wants to seem like a bastion of strength, but everyone has bones in their closet and I'd like to make sure she's ok with them as they are."

"Ew. I hate psychoanalyzing people." Valyre made a face at her. "But sure, if you need me I'll help. Same with your actual crazy Vulcan... even if I don't agree about putting her on duty, I trust you to handle her. But if she gets to be too much, just say so."

"Thank you. I think I have that ok, but I might need to run her through that big biobed in the middle of sickbay. The scanners I have aren't geared for the full range of molecular scans that your toys are." Vicky smiled as Snickers hopped out of her arms and went prowling and sniffing around the rest of the office, being all cute and stuff. "In the meantime, I've been researching her history trying to find something that might help the personalities join together in a healthy way. Information on Vulcan psychology is limited at best and nonexistent at worst. I might end up making some feces up and using her as a grinning pig."

"Guinea pig," Valyre corrected, grinning and trying not to laugh. "I swear, I think you mix those phrases up on purpose."

Nodding, Vicky smiled widely. "That's it. There are just so many to keep track of. At least I hope I'm finally using them right."

"Getting better at least. 'Tip of the ice cream' was still a bit weird, but at least I understood 'bones in the closet'." Valyre grinned a big wider, knowing Vicky wasn't likely to take offense. "It takes time, and I have the unfair advantage of an ancient worm in my belly who's heard all those expressions before."

"And my people never developed that particular vocal anachronism. Verbal communication in general is minimal." Vicky thought about it a few seconds longer before asking another question. "What does rats racing in a maze mean, then? No... Rat race... and rats in a maze... aren't they the same thing?"

"That's one I've never really understood myself, beyond that rats in a maze means you're lost and being experimented on and a rat race is... well I'm not sure what it is, actually." Valyre had never really put any thought into either expression.

"I'll try to avoid them then," Vicky replied, obviously about to change the subject. "So what else is on your mind, anyway? Have you heard from anyone back at home?"

"No one writes to me. I'm the red-headed black sheep, I swear." Forgoing dignity and ignoring the worm's protests, Valyre flopped over dramatically on the fainting cough and sighed. "Well, Ilarra's kid does sometimes, but mostly because his dad and I told him that if he sends me pictures, it's like his mom gets to see them."

"That sounds slightly more exciting than the weather reports I get from my home world. Nothing more interesting than calm skies for an entire cycle." Vicky let her disdain for those reports punctuate her point. "On the more interesting side of things, our orbit seems to be a fraction of a millisecond faster than last year."

"How thrilling," Valyre remarked dryly. "Ilarra might have found that fascinating... and so might Jorin. To you and me... that's useless information. It means nothing."

"At least they still care enough to send them though. There is that, at least." Vicky pointed out.

"Yeah, true. I guess that's something." Val rolled over on her belly, waving her fingers at Snickers, who cheerfully ignored her in favor of sniffing around Vicky's cabin.

"But no one ever said this wasn't a lonely life, being in Starfleet. Just look at all the singles at the bars on shore leave." Vicky replied.

[Bridge]

Se'Lah stood on the bridge, quietly pacing back and forth as she waited for the away team's first report. Though she'd sent Mark on the away team, she was worried about him, and she was hopeful that maybe there would be survivors. The only reason she'd sent him instead of Mr. Myomoto was because she wanted to have the Chief Tactical officer on the bridge in case whoever had destroyed the freighter decided to come back.

"Commander, if you keep this up, you're going to wear a hole in the deck plating." Arianna said simply. "Worrying is not good for the soul."

Se'Lah's eyebrow came up in surprise as she looked over at Arianna. "If I didn't know better, I'd say that was a Human response, Chief."

Storme sat at the Helm and a smile came to his face, but didn't dare turn around during the exchange.

"I am not entirely Vulcan." Came Arianna's reply. She was going to say more, when she noticed two small ships warp into view on the view screen, followed by an alarm on the tactical, and Operations stations.

"Report." Se'Lah said, turning back to look at the view screen.

"Two small vessels have just warped into the area." Came the reply from tactical. "Both of them are moderately armed."

Under normal circumstances, Se'Lah would've ordered yellow alert, but they had yet to stand down from their earlier red alert. "Hail them."

"No response, Commander." the tactical officer replied. "They are charging weapons."

The two smaller ships suddenly split off, each of them firing on the Islandica from different directions. The ship shook, and Se'Lah shook her head with a sigh. "Return fire, and try to disable their weapons." She said, immediately turning serious. "Helm, evasive pattern Se'Lah echo. Try to keep us between them, and the freighter if you can."

"Pattern Se'Lah echo, Aye." Storme replied and caused the ship to flip and duck. Theron thought that out maneuvering these two ships was not going be a problem. Keeping the Islandica between them and the freighter was going to be the real trick.

Se'Lah sat down in the center chair, using the hand rest to get more information. As the ship shook from another volley of weapons fire, she opened a COMM channel. "Islandica to away team. We've run into some uninvited guests and we are taking fire."

=/\=Understood. We're still trying to find survivors, or any hint of what happened here, but I'll make sure we're safe here.=/\= Mark promised.

"Do what you need to do, and get back to the beam in point." Se'Lah ordered, without missing a beat. "We'll try to keep them busy in the mean time. Islandica out." The ship shook again, and Se'Lah looked at the display on her arm rest. "Helm, bring us about, heading 226 mark 56... full impulse!"

Theron understood exactly what that heading meant, but didn’t hesitate, “Aye Sir.” He then slowed the Islandica and banked it hard to port, straining the inertia compensators, and then increased impulse to full.

"On my signal, target the lead ship, and give them everything we've got." Se'Lah gave her next order. She wasn't about to make this easy for them.

"Weapons are ready."

As the ship came about, they found themselves in a head on collision course. Se'Lah wasted no time as she gave the order to fire. "Fire!"

Lined up for an easy shot, the Islandica let loose with a volley of torpedoes, immediately followed by phaser fire, before the ship quickly veered off out of the direct line of fire.

Ens. Storme tried to keep the heading as he watched the phasers fire on the main view screen.

That was when the turbolift doors to the bridge opened up to deposit a young Betazoid-Human female wearing command red and sporting four small solid gold pips on her uniform's collar. She wasted no time as she marched up towards the console that Farenia had been sitting at, "I would not bother sending over an away team, Commander." She commented as she glanced towards the main viewscreen, "I'm not sensing that anyone is even alive on that ship."

At the same time, Drasko came out of the turbolift, having been sent as an escort by Mark, who didn't trust the woman he hadn't met before. "Se'Lah, Mark's away with the team." He said.

"We'll be beaming them back once these two ships are taken care of." Se'Lah replied, without missing a beat, then turned back to look at the view screen.

"Excuse me, Captain." Arianna addressed the newcomer to the bridge, allowing Se'Lah to command during the battle, but keeping ready to take over should the woman shift personalities again. "An away team has already been sent. Right now we are protecting the freighter, until they return.

"Thank you Ms. D'Tal." The half-Betazoid Captain responded, "However, That may not have been necessary seeing as I can't sense anyone being still alive over there." She noted the look of surprise about to form on the woman's face, "I am half-Betazoid, By the way; Just in case you were about to ask me how I can sense who's alive, and who's dead." Akima smirked a knowing smile, "Also, I knew your name before I came on this ship; Because I read all the relevant information about it, Including the personnel roster before I came on board from your brief stop at Glebben Station where I was temporarily assigned until it arrived there."

Theron sat at the Helm listening to all the explanation, but he had more questions than he knew what to do with. But for now he needed to focus on the Islandica and where she lay in this mess. Storme glanced back at the woman giving all the explanations. She looked fairly attractive and saw the 4 pips on her collar, but then realized that she had not informed the Bridge who she was nor why she was there. He also noticed that Ensign Hansen was now also on the bridge. He had to wonder if her and this Captain had something to do with each other. After seeing Syrena he also felt very concerned for her and their unborn child. WOW he exclaimed to himself. I really have to focus. There are too many distractions taking place for me.

Syrena barely registered the new woman's presence while she'd taken her place near the back corner of the bridge, Observing what was happening during her presence there. As Syrena listened to the woman's explanation, She caught a glimpse of Theron looking right at her from his station; His facial expression looked to be one of concern. Probably for the well-being of her and their unborn baby, Which she was now carrying inside her. Syrena understood the look he gave her, and didn't say anything, but she gave Theron a reassuring nod as her hand floated up towards her stomach. Silently letting him know that she and their unborn child were alright, and that she was concerned for him too.

As the lead ship veered off out of the direct line of fire, another quip came from Tactical. "Direct hit, Commander." He said. "Their forward shields are down." Just then another volley of phaser fire hit the shields, causing the ship to shake. "Our shields are down to 70%."

Se'Lah hadn't failed to notice the Captain who had entered the Bridge, but her attention was focused more on the battle than anything else right then. "Mr. Storme, evasive pattern Se'Lah Alpha." She ordered, knowing this would bring the ship around, allowing them another volley of fire against the lead ship. "When we come around, hit them again. Let's disable the lead ship, and move on to the next one."

"Disable? All due respect, they want us dead. We should return the favour." Drasko said, standing near Mark's station on the bridge.

"No offense, but this is not Turalek, Mr. Drasko." Se'Lah said, turning her attention to the man. She remembered the short stint she shared with Mark on Turalek, where she'd first met Drasko. Their mission had been full of death, but the killing had been the only way to complete their mission. By her logic, that was not true in this case. "Starfleet is not in the business of taking lives, unless absolutely necessary... and neither am I."

Ens. Storme brought the ship about as requested. He also angled the ship for a more narrow profile with its side toward the enemy ship.

As the ship lined up, Se'Lah barked the next order. "Fire!" She watched as phasers lanced out from the ship, striking the hull of the lead ship.

"Direct hit. The lead ship is disabled." Came the reply from tactical.

"They're trying to kill us. Seems necessary." Drasko commented. "But your ship, your call." He added, as the ship shook from weapons impact. He frowned as he looked at his console. "Looks like there's some additional life forms on the other ship. Could be they detected Mark and the team." He said.

"Inform the away team that they have incoming, possibly armed." Se'Lah replied

Arianna moved from her seat to the station that this new woman was standing at. "Forgive me for being rude, Captain, but this is not the best time to complicate things on the bridge." She said simply. "It would help to know who you are, and why you're here."

"I have been sent by Starfleet Command to replace your current captain, Farenia Meowlith; As the Islandica's new Commanding Officer." Akima announced to the entire bridge crew. "I am Captain Akima Laveta, For those of you who are wondering who I am." She glanced over at Drasko, Who had checked her credentials merely a few moments earlier, ”Mr. Drasko, Won't you kindly inform the crew that my orders are genuine?"

Drasko glared at her, a little annoyed at being put in the middle. "Unfortunately, she's telling the truth. Mark decrypted the orders himself and showed me." He confirmed. "Although Mark, and the rest of us, are wondering how she got aboard without us knowing."

"That's something we can work out a little later." Se'Lah replied as the ship shook again. "After the battle has ended perhaps?" She turned her attention to Theron. "Mr. Storme, bring us around for another pass. It's time to end this fight."

"Aye, aye." Storme replied with confidence as he brought the Islandica back around a with a touch of a spin that allowed the weaker shields to be on the back side and away from the on-coming vessel.

"Fire again." Se'Lah ordered, and she watched as yet again more phaser fire lanced out to hit the second ship, followed up by a few torpedoes.

"Their shields are down..." He hesitated long enough to read the tactical display. "Both ships are withdrawing, Commander."

"Sir, according to sensors, those ships left their men behind on the freighter." Alverez said from the OPS station.

Se'Lah tapped her COMM badge. "Islandica to away team, report."

*****

Mark leapt over one of the attackers, and as he landed, he kicked the man in the back of the leg, sending him spiralling to the ground. He then drew one of his kulaks, and lodged it into the neck of the man. "Bit busy at the moment Se'Lah." Mark said, withdrawing the kulak, and ducking to avoid being shot with a blaster. "Can this wait?"

=A= "The attacking ships have withdrawn, and abandoned their away team." =A= Se'Lah's disembodied voice rang through Mark's COMM badge. =A= "We're preparing to beam both teams to the Islandica on your order. Security teams will be standing by to take the other team into custody." =A=

Mark quickly landed a blow to the face of one of the attackers. "Not sure they like that idea." Mark said, before bringing his foot up into the face of the same man. As an energy blast shot towards him, he grabbed the man next to him by the throat, and used him as a shield. He then threw the body at the man who had fired the shot. "If you wanna get the other team off, now would be a good time." He added, diving behind a wall as three energy blasts headed for him.

=A= "Stand by." =A= Se'Lah replied, and without even closing the COMM channel, issued the needed orders. Having heard the conversation, the officer sitting at the OPS station was already prepared to beam them over. =A= "Security team to transporter room two. Erect a level 4 forcefield around the transporter bay in transporter room two, and energize." =A=

A moment later, Mark, and the remaining away team members found themselves standing alone on the freighter, the only sounds coming from their EVA suits, and the still opened COMM link.

*****

"Now beam our team to transporter room one." Se'Lah ordered, then closed the COMM.

"Aye sir." came the reply from OPS. "The team is aboard."

Arianna, still somewhat skeptical, decided to do what she believed the Commander would do anyway. "Not that I don't believe Drasko over here, but I'll need to verify your orders." She said simply, holding her hand out, with a raised eyebrow. "Standard procedure."

"By all means. I've nothing to hide." Akima answered the woman, Then with a flick of her wrist, Akima tossed the padd over to Arianna as she added, "As I told Mr. Whistler, Use decryption algorithm 96-Alpha, and that should prove those orders are genuine and that I'm telling the truth."

It might not have been the smart thing to do, but that was the moment that Theron turned from the helm to get a look at this 'Captain Laveta'. Theron found that she was prettier than expected, especially her dark brown hair. His eyes then glanced at Syrena before quickly turning back at the Helm control. He couldn't read minds, but that look from her was not a happy one.

Syrena was glaring furiously at Theron when he glanced at her. After all, She was carrying his child inside her, and she'd just caught him looking at this "so-called" captain! Although, Technically speaking, Syrena and Theron weren't really dating or having a relationship with each other; They'd only had dinner and a few drinks together at the bar on Glebben Station before the situation, Which had ended with Syrena becoming pregnant with Theron's child, Had happened. Even though Syrena was still angrily glaring at Theron, She had to admit to herself that she and Theron weren't really in a relationship together, Since he never even asked her to be his girlfriend, or even his fiancée. When Theron turned back to his station at the Helm, Syrena heaved a quiet sigh, and silently told herself that she'd have to deal with Theron later. Right now wasn't the best time to get angry at him for the moment.

Arianna skimmed the contents of the PADD, pressing her thumb to it to verify that she'd seen the orders. As she did, another thumb box appeared, requesting Se'Lah's verification, confirming that the computer was aware they were working as a pair. "The orders look genuine, Commander." Arianna said as she walked over to Se'Lah, handing her the PADD. "It needs your verification."

Se'Lah looked over the contents of the PADD, providing her thumbprint verification. She stood up, and faced Akima, finally getting her first good look. The woman had a fairly attractive appearance, and very little, if anything, was out of place on her uniform. "You will find Captain Meowlith in the ready room." She said simply, as she moved to hand the PADD back to Akima. "If you haven't already, I would also suggest a visit to sickbay for your boarding physical."

Akima gave a nod to Se'Lah, "Very well." Though, she, like all Starfleet captains, didn't like going to sickbay. But she decided to take care of that later after she had a chat with Farenia. "The bridge is still yours, Commander." She answered as she headed right towards the doors to the readyroom, pressed the door chime, and waited for a response from the other side of the doors.

Vicky was the first to arrive in the transporter room, armed to the teeth with... well... a tricorder and a biohazard personal shield unit. She was sure the rest of the team would need EV suits, but as she proved in her cadet days, she didn't need much protection for a short stay in a vacuum. Hence she was particularly well suited to this sort of thing and why the call went out from the Captain herself for her to go with the team. What her particular skills would add to the mission, she wasn't sure about, but if there were survivors, she could at least tag them to be beamed to sickbay, she supposed.

Akima was the second person to enter the room, She was already expecting Farenia to be there as well, but alas, She wasn't there yet. She made a mental note to speak to the woman when it was convenient. Even if it meant having to relieve her of command on the away mission. Akima barely even registered Vicky's presence, Much less see her standing there. "You're Vicky, Islandica's counselor? Correct?" She asked as she turned to face her.

Tag- Vicky, changed this part to fix any errors or confusions here.

Mark walked into the room, having grabbed his weapons from his office, along with three other members of his team. All three of them were armed with phaser rifles, and bladed weapons. "Alright people, let's get this show on the road." He said. He checked his life support personal shield, and looked at the others. It was then that he registered the presence of the new person. "Can I help you?" He asked, using his wrist communicator to signal for another member of his team to join him, without being seen.

"Captain Akima Laveta." Akima responded to the man who'd just walked into the room as she gestured to herself with her thumb, "I'm here to observe everyone onboard ship. Then later, I will need to speak with your captain when time permits."

"Well, with all due respect, my team are departing the ship now. I don't know you, and whilst I would love to know how you got on board without me knowing, Captain, I have a mission to go on." Mark said. He then saw Drasko enter the transporter room. "This is Drasko, he's one of my men. Drasko, please check the Captain's credentials. If she isn't Starfleet, brig her." He said. He was blunt, and didn't care about offending anyone. "Captain Laveta, if you are on the level, then I'll apologise. Until then, this is a restricted area."

"Naturally." Akima said, Smirking as she did so, "But as you can see." She produced a padd with her transfer orders, and held it up towards Drasko, "I've been ordered by Starfleet to take direct command of this ship." She glanced back to Drasko, "Use decryption algorithm 96-Alpha. From there you'll discover my orders are indeed from Starfleet Command, and they are infact, One hundred percent genuine as plain as the nose on my face."

Drasko passed the PADD to Mark, and entered the code. As he looked at it, he frowned, and then passed the PADD to Drasko. "So Starfleet sent someone to take over from the Captain? Drasko, find out how we didn't know, but stay with her." He said. "The orders may be genuine, but at the moment, I've got a mission to complete. When I get back, I'm happy to discuss this with you." Mark said, as he stood on the transporter platform. "Vicky, Alvarez, let's go." He said, stepping onto the transporter platform. "Energise when ready." He said to the operator.

Tag Vicky/Alvarez

Drasko looked at Akima. "You'll have to forgive him Captain. He's normally a little friendlier, but there's been a lot of crap going on recently, including his sister and a friend being murdered, on this ship, and Starfleet jerking him around, trying to get him removed from duty." Drasko said.

"Tough luck." Akima murmured, More to herself than to anyone else as she glanced back towards the transporter pad that Mark and his cohorts had just stepped onto. She made a mental note to speak to the man personally, Once her tour of the ship was completed.

Tag Vicky

Mark looked at the transporter chief. "Energise." He ordered. He felt the transporter wash over him, taking him away from the Islandica.

Once Mark and the others had phased out of existence on the transporter pad, Akima left the transporter room, With Drasko trailing right behind her, Whilst she continued on with her tour.

*****
(Aboard the Bounty)

Hanging in space, the freaighter FSC Venture's Bounty was silent, and dark. There was no oxygen, no heat, and what little power remained was dwindling away as consoles lightly flickered in various places. The silence, and darkness were broken as blue matter streams appeared, bringing with them the Islandica's away team.

As they appeared on the ship, Mark looked around. "Alright people, spread out, see what you can find. Vicky, Alvarez, you're with me." He said.

Tag Vicky/Alvarez

As the three of them walked through the corridors, Mark looked at them. "What do you think happened here?" He asked.

Alverez flipped open his Tricorder, taking scans as he looked for a usable console. "I don't know, Sir." He replied somewhat absently. "The energy signatures left behind by the blast aren't consistent with anything in the Starfleet database."

Tag




Tags

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Az: I'm starting up the post for the away mission to the 'FSC Venture's Bounty' and I'm including Vicky for this. I should have a reprieve in my appointments long enough to get through this. If i missed anyone, please let me know.

Se'Lah: Am I added to this for COMM purposes during the away mission? Se'Lah's not leaving the ship is why I ask.

Az: you assume correctly. now we just need someone else to tag in...

Az: I think we should probably just delete this. and Vicky isn't in an EV suit...

Holly: D'oh! X_X I gotta remind myself to read these posts more than once before I respond so I can make sure I get the details right.

Se'Lah: Can I be confused now? lol Just quickly pointing out that Laveta being in this away mission literally puts her in two places at once, since she's coming to the bridge only a few minutes after this point in the post. To clarify, this away mission happens at the same time as the bridge post.

Holly: I was just thinking that. What should we do here?

Whistler: There you go, I just gave you an out, we'll have this set a minute or two before, giving her time to get to the bridge.

Se'Lah: I'll play the part of Alverez, since the player has resigned from the simm.

An area for OOC Chatting, Once in a while the CO will clear the Convo for the sake of sanity. Please Call out who you are when you comment. and do not save unless you have added.

---

Hansen/Laveta: Sorry for the delay folks. I've been dealing with a lot of stuff with work and other problems lately, But I'm back now. I was wondering, Should we continue the 'Smuggler's Delight' chapter, or begin a new one? And if we do begin a new one, What do you guys and girls think we should call it? I myself, Have tinkered with a few names; Though, only one sticks in my mind entitled 'Masters of Disaster' or something along those lines. What do you all think? Should we keep that name, or try working out another one? I am open to suggestions.

STorme: I'm not sure if I like the word 'solitude'. I didnt think we were cut off from the federation. My understanding is that the Islandica has been asked to patrol a certain sector of space and that we will be using the Ferengi space station as a base of operations. We even have a docking bay that we take our ship inside.
I would suggest that we do a restart of some kind. Possibly, set this new mission a couple months later. We set out from the Ferengi station on a standard patrol and come across something. A mystery. nothing too hazardous or life threatening. Possibly an artifact from an ancient culture sent out. maybe a just a shipping container that was hundred years old. Inside we would find personal effects; like toys, pictures, maybe letters of someone wanting to say goodbye, maybe even a missing work of art from Earth's extreme past (1500).
What ever we find, we need to have all parts of the crew involved. I'm open for any ideas.
I would also like to see some events taking place on the Ferengi station. Each player could take on an NPC and have fun with it that way.

Storme-7/31: ahh... I'm not sure where I got the word 'Solitude'. But 'Masters of Disaster' sounds like fun. Have we taken a role-call recently to see who is still on board?

Se'Lah: Due to some changes with my available time, and because I'm taking the time to restart my own sim, and dedicate to it, I'm resigning from the Islandica. I have already saved my character's Bio, and the Wiki page created for her (Deleted wiki page after saving a copy). Thanks for understanding, and sorry for the inconvenience.

STorme: Wow! that was worded exactly like a resignation from a character on the ARCADIA. I can only assume its the same player.

Se'Lah: Yep. same one lol

Hansen/Laveta: If that's the case, Then who should I appoint as my new XO?

Storme: Well, there are a couple other Lieutenants still on board. But I would wait until you got things rolling before you make that appointment. You could have an NPC in that spot in the mean time, until someone steps up or someone knew comes along, that you think would be great for that position

STorme: Oct 10th, I sure hope that someone will take over and restart this SIM !

Az: if anyone is still here, please reply here within the next week. I will be cleaning up the roster and reporting to the fleet to see if anyone is even still here. Holly, if you don't reply, this applies to you as well.

Storme: Hi Azmaria, its good to hear from you. Are you thinking of stoking the fire under this bird? I hope so. I would very much be interested in continuing with the Islandica. If I can help in any way, please let me know.

Az: I'd love to, but with my health bar falling dangerously close to the red area, I don't have much time for the sims i'm on and have had to temporarily close my baby, the Hera. But as Task Group CO, I need to see if this sim is still alive or if it's dead, and then leadership can decide on if they want to offer it up as a sacrifice to the gods of writing or see if someone else wants to take it over from Holly.

Az: So Storme is the only one left here? Of course. I guess everyone else gets the boot. Storme, do you want command?

Storme: Hi Azmaria, good to hear from you. To your question . . No, I'm not interested in command. I need a little more experience as maybe a 2nd or 3rd in command before I even attempt the 'Center Seat'. I left my hat in the game hoping someone would step up. I've had two other Sims fold up on me in the last two weeks. And I got a CO that won't talk to me. He just seems to want to bark at me. Frustrating to say the least. I hope you will have a great week.

Az: Join us on the Katana then. We could use more people. I'm hoping this week turns out good as well. I have an MRI finally tomorrow and counseling the day after and my new meds should be in any day now. Please be safe and let me know if you want to join any of the other sims I host. (the Katana, Star of India, Beifong, and Juan Cortina could all use crew. http://wiki.split-world.com/doku.php?id=member_simulations )

Storme: Well, I will definable your look at them and see if I feel that something fits. I'll stay in touch. If this site gets closed up. How can I contact you directly? Email?

Az: azmariaxelloss@gmail.com

ON:

Ens. Storme crept through the jungle cautiously. There were so many sounds about him, coming from every direction; animals and creatures of all sizes and levels of danger.

"Ow !!" Crewman Stephens exclaimed as she slapped her knee.

Startled, Theron turned around to see Bree rubbing her leg. "Shh! Not so loud," he added with a whisper.

Bree stood up with hands on hips, "Listen here mister. I'm not going to hold back my exclamation of pain just to make you happy." She knew she was only a crewman first class and him an officer, but that had not stopped, could not stop, the affection they had for each other. So, she was definitely not going to let him boss her around, especially when they were alone.

Theron saw the expression on her face and took it as mad, disappointed, and a bit of contempt. He took a step toward her, bending down slightly with palms open toward her, "Okay, okay. I'm sorry for the bugs."

A more stern look came over her face, "And why was it, again, that you volunteered me for this assignment?"

Theron stood more erect with a smile on his face, "As I told you, we needed to do a ground survey for any signs of the grave robbers in this area." His actual intent was to move their search past a beautiful waterfall and pool of water that he had already seen in the aerial survey, but he knew she would not like that answer at all.

"And we couldn't do that from the air in the shuttle," Bree turned about in the direction they had come. The shuttle nor the clearing were anywhere in sight. Looking back at Theron still frustrated. There were so many questions, she didn't know where to start, but finally just said, "Why?"

His was where Theron needed to be very creative with his answer. He did not want to lie or mislead her, but didn't want to give away his secret intent, at least not yet. He took another step toward Bree, resting a hand gently on her shoulder, "Because I wanted to spend some time with you . . alone."

Bree's face softened as she looked up into his blue eyes, "I want that too . . , but Sweety . . " without turning her eyes from his, "the jungle is not my idea of fun. We could have done that on a holodeck."

Theron placed his other hand on her shoulder and slowly brought her closer. Their faces were much closer now, their breath intermingling, their lips parting, anticipating.

*SNAP* came a noise louder than the others of the jungle.

The two Starfleet personnel crouched quickly at the same time, turning in the direction of the sound. Theron silently pulled out his phaser and brought it up cautiously in the direction of the unknown.

An abrupt and annoying voice resounded, "Stand down Ensign!"

Storme definitely recognized that voice and stood slowly as he felt Stephons do the same right behind him.

Lt. Kramer stepped out of the jungle and onto the path the others had been walking, "The Commander has called off the current search. He wants us all to meet up at the temple ruins. That's going to be on a baring of 030 degrees for you. Understood?"

"Yes Sir," Storme replied as he put his laser away. He was wondering if he should ask the question on his mind, not sure if it was appropriate, but asked in the end, "Will you not be joining us?"

Kramer looked down at Storme, slightly irritated, "No. And even though it's none of your business, I'll tell you anyway. I'm on my way to meet up with Lt. Valdez. He has found a stone column in the middle of 'no where' directly south of here. So, . . I'm going there and you . . will no longer question my agenda. Understood?" His mouth came together with a bitter expression.

"Yes Sir. Sorry Sir," was Ens. Storme's meager reply. Both Storme and Stephons stepped off the trail to allow the Lieutenant to pass them by.

As he walked away, Kramer did not turn around but said, "No doddling you two."

Theron and Bree stepped back onto the trail, but neither replied to the senior officer, for he was in the bush and out of sight within a few seconds. This really messed up his plans for finding that waterfall, but he still might make it happen. He looked her as if they had just been caught with their hand in the proverbial cookie jar, "Well, I guess we should keep moving."

Bree looked up at him grimacing shyly as she placed her hand on his upper arm and rubbed it comfortingly. "Ya, we should get going." As they both then turned to walk, Bree's hand slid down his arm to find his hand and gripped it tightly.

Theron hesitated for a second, looking back at her, but then griped it back and gave her a wink.

TBC