OOC: Here, I hope this works.

Mizuki, despite being the daughter of a bona fide badass, had never really taken up fighting that much. Sure, she got the minimum on her preliminary security and tactical tests, but that, along with that fateful night on a frontier planet, had been the extent of her fighting ability. But, it was standard regulation to at least know how to fire a phaser, and she had found herself impressed by the Compression rifle.

So here she was, with a pair of glasses on, training with the phaser, and the rifle lay on the table in front of her. At present, she was attempting to fine-tune her aim and ability to hit the target.

Arthur was walking the short distance between his office and the training room. Arthur knew that he needed to hone his marksmanship, as it was not what it once was. At the age of 47, Arthur was one of the older members of Starfleet, and his physical prowess had certainly deteriorated over the years. Arthur whistfully remembered his late teenage years, when he was the best marksman in his Starfleet Security class. And so, Arthur strolled into the training room, to mull over some memories, and (hopefully) hit some targets.

Stepping onto the training range, Arthur noticed that there was someone there other than him, facing in the other direction. A very young woman in a command uniform, though not one he recognized. Arthur found that a bit odd, considering that the range was a restricted area. Arthur cautiously eyed the phaser rifle that sat on a table next to the woman. Her presence could just be a misunderstanding, but it never hurt to take precautions. Placing his left hand on the phaser hanging from his belt, Arthur called out to the girl. "You there! Put down the weapon, turn around, and state your name and business!"

Shimata [Damnit, in an ancient earth tongue] Mizuki muttered, slowly putting the phaser down and turning around slowly. "Cadet Junior Grade Masterson. Just trying to practice my marksmanship, since no one was around I thought I could do so. But I'll leave if you ask it."

Arthur nodded to the girl, and took his hand away from his phaser. As far as he could tell, she was telling the truth. "You're fine, just make sure to ask permission from me or the Security Chief next time." He walked over and put out his right hand for a handshake. "Sorry for the hostility, but security's been extremely cautious after the attack a little while ago. I'm Chief Warrant Officer Arthur Waterson, Assistant Chief of Security. Nice to meet you."

Mizuki nodded meekly. "Understood." Then, when he greeted her with a handshake, the girl shook his bigger hand with her smaller, more delicate one, and a shy smile. "I heard about it, but never got the chance to read about what happened. I'm sorry to hear that it happened, though. It's nice to meet you sir." Her confidence was slowly beginning to build, from being on board. A lingering thought in her mind was that she was thankful for his sake that he hadn't pulled the phaser and pointed it at her.

Arthur chuckled, and gave Mizuki a warm smile. "Well, I wasn't onboard during the attack. I was transferred to make sure that it doesn't happen again. The Katana's missions have been quite hazardous. As a matter of fact, our Chief Counseler and Executive Officer both died in the attack." Arthur glanced at her rank pips. "Speaking of which, why would a cadet like you be positioned out here? The Katana is prone to running into danger, and I think it's quite irresponsible to bring a cadet along, no matter how skilled. Nothing personal, but this is a dangerous place to be."

"I see." Mizuki replied, listening to everything he had to say. "The ones who sent me here must have great faith in this ship and its crew." was her initial reply. "I appreciate the sentiment, but the frontier is dangerous. And books can only teach you so much. I think..if it comes down to it, I'll come through where it counts."

Arthur nodded gravely, taking her words seriously. "I sure hope so, Ms. Masterson. My friend Devin had a similar confidence in his abilities. He believed that he had what it took to survive in dangerous situation. But sometimes luck is more important than skill, as Devin learned."

Arthur's expression softened as he looked Mizuki straight in the eyes. "Devin died more than 25 years ago, Ms. Masterson. You can't change your luck, Cadet, so it's up to you to prepare for whatever fate throws at you." Arthur put his right hand on Mizuki's left shoulder. "You have the potential to become a fantastic officer, but you need to learn how to effectively use the different departments of the ship, and security is a great place to start. I think you can learn a lot from me, Ms. Masterson, so I'm offering you the chance to learn a bit about security under my tutelage." Arthur gave Mizuki a hopeful smile. "I'm willing to teach, Ms. Masterson, but are you willing to learn?"


Mizuki nodded, taking in the story. And she was comforted by the hand on the shoulder. "I was hoping to learn some from you, sir. So, I'm willing to listen and learn. Hopefully, I won't follow the path of your friend." Giving a thumbs up, she smiled a little. "So whenever you want to start, I'll be ready." He really seemed like a sincere man, and she hoped that she would do well. Cause he was taking the time to offer to help, and that needed to be properly utilized.

Arthur smiled at Mizuki, and took his hand from her shoulder. "Good choice, Ms. Masterson. There's no time like the present, so let's start now." Arthur promptly snagged a pair of glasses from the table and lined up with one of the targets. Pulling his phaser from his belt, he said "Since we're at the range, I'll show you the finer points of firing a phaser." Lining up his shot with target, Arthur took in a breath of air and pulled the trigger. A beam shot out of the phaser and hit his target in the second ring, right outside of the bullseye. Arthur sighed in relief. It seems that he still had some accuracy left in him. Glancing over to Mizuki, he said "All right, your turn."

Mizuki gulped and took the phaser that she had again, stepping up to the spot and elegantly holding it up, lining up her shot on target. She fired, and managed to make a mark in the third ring, two from the bullseye. She looked back at him questioningly, not sure where she went wrong.

Arthur smiled thoughtfully, and stroked his goatee. "I don't think you should use that phaser. The type two doesn't come with a sight. Pick up a type one from the table." Arthur flipped up two posts on his small phaser, the back one a circle with a crosshair, the front sight a pole. "Line up the back and front sights, and keep your eye on the front sight." He placed his legs shoulders width apart, and pointed his phaser at the target down range. He lined up the sights, held his breath.

The phaser beam streaked across the room, and hit the target on the line right between the bullseye and the second ring. Arthur smiled triumphantly, and faced Mizuki. "Now, you try."

Mizuki picks up a type one. "Isn't the type one a lower-powered one?" She asked, having flipped up the two posts and followed his instructions for sighting. One leg was to the left, in a half-crouch, the other was angled to the right in the same manner. She raised up her arm, sighted in, and fired, this time hitting very close to the bullseye, but her posture seemed..different. Or all wrong, perhaps? All she knew was that she assumed the pose instinctively.

Arthur raised an eyebrow. He eyed Mizuki with a curious gaze. "Hmph. That posture is unorthodox, to be sure, but shoot a few more times in that position. If it works for you, then I won't complain. And yes, the type one is lower powered, but it still goes up to disintegrate, and has a kill setting. I prefer the type one because it's lighter, concealable, and has sights."

"Hmm, all good points.." Mizuki gave aloud, firing a few more times from the position. The target grouping was in the circle around the bullseye, though very near unto it. "The type two, since it doesn't have sights, seems like it would be more of a close up weapon. Short range, 50 to 100 meters max."

Arthur shrugged. "Not exactly. They both have the same range. The type one is made specifically for combat. The type two is more widely used because you can use it as a drill, or a cutting tool. The versatility of the type two is why most people prefer it. Try firing the one a bit more, then switch to the two. All the senior staff and important positions should carry a type two phaser when on duty, so you might as well just get used to firing it."

"I understand sir." Mizuki replied, taking in the information. "If I recall correctly, the type two can also sync up with a tricorder's energy field frequency reading in order to shoot through forcefields and the like. I could be wrong."

Arthur chuckled. "Yep, that's right. It seems that the Academy taught you well! But I've only used that once, in my entire career. You won't have to worry about it for now. Any questions you want to ask about weapons or security in general? I do have a lot of paperwork to attend to in a bit, but can answer a few questions for you."

"Hmm...well first question is..what are the restrictions on carrying the Compression rifle? I think it makes me look cooler, but that probably isn't practical. And what hand to hand weapons do we have, or have we decided we don't need them?"


Arthur glanced over to the compression rifle on the table. He was somewhat bewildered. Someone in security must have left the rifle on the table when they stopped training, instead of putting it back in the armory. Arthur would have the idiot responsible for this breach of security later. "Compression rifles should be under guard at all times in the armory, which requires a level 4 security clearance to enter. Noone should be using the compression rifles, especially unauthorized personnel, unless the ship was being boarded, or an away team is embarking on a dangerous mission. And a KaBar knife is kept in each weapons locker on the ship."

Arthur bent down, reached into his boot, and pulled out a small, three pronged dagger. "Of course, there are other weapons that you can keep on your person, if you know the right people. I am one of those 'right people' if you were wondering. I always keep a Klingon D'k Thag dagger concealed on me at all times, and I have a small collection of melee weapons in my room."

"I see. Understood sir." Mizuki replied, and continued. "A KaBar knife..hmm. Could I see this collection, sometime?" She was curious, at least. "You can only learn so much about a blade from a book." She was being attentive, at least.

"Sure, my office is just a few feet away. We can do it right now." Arthur strolled over to the door and opened it, hoping that Mizuki would follow.

Mizuki nodded without a word and followed, stepping inside, since ostensibly he was holding the door. She stepped to one side, affording him room to come in too. She awaited his next actions.

Arthur stepped into his office, nodding to Mizuki in gratitude. Once inside, he headed straight behind his desk and opened a drawer. He looked up at Mizuki and asked "How familiar are you with Klingon melee weaponry?"

"So far I only know of the Bat'leth, the honor weapon. I've never had a chance to try using one, so it might be too heavy for me." Mizuki replied, looking on as he opens the drawer. "But I would like to learn more."

Arthur pulled two knives from the drawer, each with three prongs, and one slightly shorter than the other. "The longer knife is the qutluch, an assassin's blade. The other is another D'k Thag, a Klingon dagger. I insist that you take it, and keep it on you at all times in case of an emergency." Arthur took the blade side, and put his hand out to Mizuki, the handle side facing her. "This could come in handy."

She nods and takes the handle of the D'k tahg. "And you'd recommend this over that other blade?" Mizuki asked him. "Where's a good place to keep it? Or should I get creative?"

"The entire purpose of this blade is to have a concealable weapon that you can easily reach, so the longer blade of the qutluch defeats the point. I prefer to hide my knife in my boots, but you could tape one to the inside of your shirts, pants, or just about anywhere comfortable where the knife is not visible."

Well, there was a reason she liked the longer blade, but *that* wasn't something she was going to discuss with the man. She nodded instead, and ponders for a moment. "I'll think of somewhere comfortable for me to put it. Thank you for the blade, sir."

Arthur nodded to Muzuki, and smiled. "It's no trouble." Placing the longer knife back in his drawer, Arthur looked at his computer screen. The screen was filled with different forms, requests, and other paperwork. Audibly sighing, Arthur looked over at Mizuki. "Ms. Masterson, I have some work to do. I bid you good day, I will try to talk to you again soon."

Mizuki bows as a sign of respect. "I'll see you later, sir. And good luck.." She turns around crisply and walks out of the room.

Arthur smiled as Mizuki left, before returning to his work. The cadet was a quick learner, and had a lot of potential. Arthur would enjoy seeing how her first tour on a ship turned out.

Nathan came into main Security rubbing his left shoulder. He had just busted up a two crewmen who were drunk and throwing punches at each other in the mess hall. He was formulating a plan in his head to help control Maicas free flowing supply of alcohol to the ship.

But that was not what he was most worried about now. He slapped his comm badge as he walked into his office. =^= "Lieutenant Tonkin to Ensign Vara." =^= He sat down heavy in his chair and sighed, still rubbing his left shoulder. Would this thing ever be normal again?

Vara was actually heading into security when she got the call so she just kept walking, heading into Nathan's office. Her uniform was torn right down the middle in several places and she was holding it closed. Apparently owls had sharper claws than she expected. "You called for me, sir?"

"Yes have a se..." Nathan stopped and looked at her. "Do you want to pull yourself together first Ensign?"

"Yes, sir." Heading to his replicator, she punched up a new uniform top and started changing unashamedly. She had her back turned to Nathan, at the very least. "Sorry. I had an altercation with an escaped pet owl of some sort while on my rounds."

Nathan turned in his chair away from her out of respect. "So...Jhu's little shadow. We have not had a chance to really talk yet. I have two things to discus with you, but I would also love to hear a little about you. You have made quite the impression on me."

Pausing in her changing and glancing over her shoulder, Nathan would have seen a slight blush creeping into Vara's cheeks if he had been looking. As it was, she quickly regained her composure from the apparent nickname and finished changing before replying. She didn't know what to say so she just stuck with the simple replies for now. "What would you like to know, sir?" she said as she turned back to face Nathan, putting her old uniform into the replicator before clasping her hands behind her back.

"Take a seat Shadow." He extended his hand to one of the chairs in front of his desk. " I have your personnel file..." He picked up a PaDD " Lagashi with multiple spouses back on her home world, augmented, multiple notes of excellent service from the Captain...Blah blah blah." He set the PaDD down. "I want to know what you have to tell me. I have found that personnel files can only give you so much information."

Shadow. There was that nickname again. Vara fought hard not to blush again, her augments and implants doing nothing to help her. "What I have to tell you..." This was a difficult conversation for her already. "I enjoy my work and look forward to future missions. The only thing I enjoy from the replicator is tomato soup. I prefer real food and enjoy rice wine." She didn't know what he was looking for so she just offered a mix for him to ask about further.

Nathan chuckled " Ok ok, so first off on a personal note I wanted to thank you for the great job you have been doing with Jhu. I know your well aware of the relationship we have been working on and I feel if you had not been there for her like you have we might not have ever had this chance. I know you feel guilty about the panic attack she had but I want to assure you, being in that room with her there would have been nothing you could have done to help her. In no way do I, Jhu or anyone else feel that you 'failed her'."

Vara nodded slowly at his words. "Thank you, sir. I assume the night she drugged me was for your first rendezvous with her. I was just relieved nothing happened that night. I do trust you with her and know that you're capable of protecting her as well, but I can't help but feel there was something more I could have done if I had been a little more vigilant." The words were coming a bit easier now as she stood there. She wasn't opening up exactly, but in time...

"Drugged you? Uhh..." That didn't seem to make much sense, but Nathan already knew about the holographic guy she had seen right before Nathan made his move. "I was not aware of you being drugged and would never have condoned that." He quickly moved on, he really didn't want details about that night. " As for her panic attack, the only thing you could have done is what I did do. Leave the situation with her. But while we are on the subject I want to be clear about something. Unless someone is being killed, my quarters are completely off limits. I will relent to you being posted out side if you feel the need to be there, but inside I don't want to be bothered. Understood?"

"Completely, sir. I have the same arrangement with the Commander. I'll also not interfere with holodeck time, dates, meals, and professional duties unless absolutely necessary." Vara spoke professionally, no longer betraying her inner emotions.

"Good, ok so I have a special task I need your help with. I think your uniquely qualified for this. Main security and the brig should be the two most secure places on this ship. I want you to asses both rooms for me and give recommendations on how we can make then both more secure. The brig in particular. I don't need people beaming out and punching threw my cell walls." Nathan said.

Thinking on that for a moment, Vara already had an answer ready. It was an answer most people in Starfleet didn't like hearing either. "Sir, I've already assessed the security systems and the only 2 things I can recommend are full surrounding force fields with standalone shielded power supplies and tetryon interference scramblers to prevent most scans and beaming. The current transport inhibitors are fine enough, but with those and sound wave dampeners, even I couldn't break in or out of those areas." Pausing a moment, she realized the last bit didn't need to be added. "I mean... If i were to seriously test the security, that is..."

"What about if someone, say a section 31 agent just for hell of it, had a personal transport device on him? Would he be able to beam out?"

"With one of those transwarp teleporter modules? As best I know, yes. The field will scramble all known signals in or out in both subspace and realspace. The downside is that you'd have to set up a wired comm relay at the main desk so authorized users can call in and out. It would also prevent PaDDs from wirelessly synchronizing. The Lagashi Republic uses the technology in a lot of the more sensitive locations without too much trouble." Vara explained it as best she could but though she was familiar with it as a security technology, she wasn't an engineer so didn't really know much about the specifics.

Nathan leaned back in his chair and thought for a moment. " I want that thing off my ship..." He said more to himself then Vara. "Could we rig up some kind of scanner to check and see if someone had one implanted inside of them or something like that?"

"My threat assessment scanners can normally tell if someone has implants. Andy can also tell and can probably reprogram a medical tricorder on the fly." Vara was starting to relax a bit as she noticed her slip up calling her former lover by her given name rather than by title and family name. Even after all this time, she still loved that woman and wanted to try to pay her back for all she had done for Vara. Thinking about Andy again, Vara's features relaxed a bit, the coldness in her eyes warming just slightly.

Nathan knew that look, he had seen it a lot over the past few days, but he would not comment on it. He nodded. "Excellent. I would like you to write up a report about how we can secure the brig and main security and give it to the Commander Tegan. ASAP. Also see about working with engineering about what supplies we have and what we would need to make the modifications."

"You'll have the report by the end of the day, sir. Is there anything else?"\

"Nope, get back to being Jhus little shadow." Nathan grinned at her. "I'm sure we will be seeing a lot more of each other."

It was later that evening, and Mizuki was tired. But, instead of sleeping in her bed, she had decided to go to the holodeck. Her quarters had been bare, and something just didn't feel right. For the moment, the program was empty, save a stage outdoors in the sun, near a beach, but far enough away to view it. There were chairs, and tables, and the like, and she was sitting on the stage, reading a PaDD. Dancing and singing on the stage had really helped her relax before, but there weren't any holograms around.

For now, she sat there, absorbed in a work padd.

Kyle was also having a tough time sleeping. He thought with his friendship with Will, where ever that might wind up leading, he was over Noah, or at least over him enough to be able to sleep. But it wasn't so that night. And he really didn't feel like seeking out Will, it was late and he didn't know what the other man might be up to. So instead he headed to the holodeck.

Nathan just happened to be up. He was never much of a sleeper, only really needing a couple of hours each night. Being new to this ship he would wounder the halls at night, learning the lay out. He turned the corner and damn near slated right into Kyle. " Hey there!" Nathan exclaimed.

Mizuki heard voices. Since the holoprogram was not full and alive yet, she had set it up so she'd hear if anyone was coming. A male? Setting her padd neatly on her lap, Mizuki watched the area where the door would appear.

"Hey Nathan, " Kyle replied, 'What brings up this hour? Hey who's running a program in the holodeck?"

Nathan chuckled " Oh I don't sleep much. I tend to spend my nights looking around the ship. Its the best way to get to know a ship with out running into super grumpy doctors or engineers. What about you?"

A couple of senior officers? She began looking up someone on her padd by the name of Nathan. And soon pulled up the personnel file. The picture was rather...well, she didn't want to think about that as she read up a little on this Nathan person.

Nathan was distracted but the control display on the out side of the holodeck door. "Hey, this holodeck has a program running and its open to the public... That's strange right?" He looked at Kyle.

"Yeah it is but we should check it out. I've always wanted to play with you." It took several seconds for Kyle to realize what he had said and color rose to his cheeks when he did so. "Wait a minute, that just sounds so wrong."

Nathans gave Kyle a sideways glance. "Easy there, might get yourself all worked up."

Mizuki couldn't help but giggle at what she overheard. For reasons she wasn't sure of. Revealing the identity of who was in the program might be interesting. But how would the other man react? The little princess' curiosity was piqued, and so she listened.

"Come on Nathan, let's go inside,"Kyle insisted.

Nathan went over to the control and hit the open button. He smiled as the smell of sea air and the warm breeze of a beach hit his face. As he stepped through the arch, he could see that tables and chairs were set out in front of a large stage with the water behind it. On the stage, sat a girl. "huh..." Was all he could say.

Kyle walked in right behind his friend, "Now who's in danger of getting himself worked up?" he challenged.

She waved to them. "Hello there." Since they both outranked her, just like about everyone else on this ship. But she didn't mind. "If you need the holodeck for something, I can leave, sirs." Didn't hurt to be friendly while knowing her place too.

Nathan gave Kyle a short glare then moved away from the arch and towards the girl ((OOC: Is she in uniform?)). Being as it was off hours Nathan was not dressed in his uniform, but instead in a t-shirt and pants. "I'm off duty so no need to cal me sir, Nathan will do just fine." He stopped just in front of her. "And you are?"

"Nathan? I-it's nice to meet you. I'm Mizuki." Still had to get used to the whole off-duty thing. Especially nervousness, with the virtual giant and all. She was in her uniform for now, though she was planning to try out the pants vs the skirt configuration for herself sometime. Photos just wouldn't do it. "What's your name?" she asked, somewhat hesitantly, to the other.

Kyle was even less formally dressed than his friend, in a rather snug fitting teal A shirt and a pair of white cargo shorts. He waited for Nathan to respond to Mizuki before he did.

"Mizuki, its very nice to meet you. Whats a Cadet doing on board?" Nathan took a seat next to the young woman.

"I'm Kyle," the blond man said, "Nathan's our security chief so don't take it personally if it sounds like he's interrogating you."

"I'm used to it." Mizuki replied calmly, crossing one of her legs over the other in order to not have her legs become stiff from being in the same position too long. "But, well. This is my cadet cruise..an opportunity given to me to advance myself and continue towards graduation. While also helping out this crew on the frontier." Giving Nathan a glance, she smiles a little.

Nathan glared at Kyle "Hey, this is not my interrogation technique." He glanced at Mizuki and chuckled "This would be a pretty lame interrogation technique don't you think? Well welcome aboard! This ship is...well crazy. You will get to see a lot of action on this boat I promise you that."

Kyle gave his friend a small smirk. "I just love giving Nathan a hard time. He's so cute when he blushes." Then turning serious he said,"I'm sorry I can be a bit of smart ass, but I grow on people. Welcome aboard. You'll learn a lot of things here they don't teach at the Acadmy."

Mizuki blinked a little at the cute comment. "That sounds good to me. A lot of action. And learning special things. Books and the academy only get you so far." She replied, before plucking up her courage a bit. "Though Kyle is right about one thing. You are handsome, Nathan." It was half-blurted and half said deliberately. But she wasn't ashamed of saying it.


Kyle was a trained Intel officer, an infiltration specialist to boot. It was the only thing that allowed him to maintain a neutral expression. "She does have good taste." he said ducking out of Nathan's reach.

Nathan crossed his arms over his chest and looked at his feet. If Kyle thought Nathan was cute when he blushed, Nathan must be gorgeous at the moment cause his face burned red. "Oh..heh yeah? Thanks Mizuki. Your not to bad yourself...heh" Not to bad yourself??? what the hell is wrong with you???

Luckily for these two, Mizuki wasn't feeling energetic enough to protest, or argue anything. Instead, her cheeks became a little pink in appearance and she smiled. "No problem. I suppose I'm not too bad if you can match my color so well." You should probably stop with the attempts at flirting Mizuki. Since no one will really like them.. she thought to herself.

Kyle, could be a smart ass at times, in fact he could frequently be a smart ass, but he usually didn't push it too much and he did have the good sense to back off now. He'd rather see the Nathan-Mizuki show as an audience member, not a cast member. So he just backed away and said nothing.

Nathan gave Mizuki a glance and chuckled. "Looks like were are a matching set. I am not very good at flirting." He could tell when he was being flirted with, it just tend to embarrassed him and he would get all tongue tied.

"Same here." Mizuki admitted, giving in. "Let's just think about something else. Like...got any programs in mind to run?" She supposed it was better to steer the topic of conversation onto something that she could talk about better. Though, beach activities could still happen if they wanted them to.

Nathan nodded in agreement and looked around. "I don't have anything in mind, what were you making here?"

"I was just going to mess around some, maybe go on the beach. The stage here is a stage I used to sing and dance a lot on. Though the audiences were small, and I didn't much feel like having holograms." Mizuki gave, looking between the two of them for a moment.

Nathan smiled " You sing? You should sing something for me."

This placed the younger on the spot and she looked down at her feet briefly. "W-what would you like to hear?" A singer would like to sing what the audience would want to hear, if possible. And place their expression into the dance that goes along with the song.

Nathan shrugged "I don't know what you know... how about something happy. I hate sad music. Music should lift you up, not weigh you down."

"Agreed." Mizuki gave simply. "It's been a while since I've performed. But let's see what I can do. Please take a seat down there and I will be ready shortly." Then she walked towards the back of the stage, giving a series of commands to the computer as the lighting darkens in preparation for such an event.

Nathan stood and took the closest seat. He watched her wish a smile on his face. He could not think of the last time he had seen real live entertainment of any kind.

Soon, a single spotlight appeared on the stage, and highlighted an approaching figure. Gone was the tired uniform of Mizuki, and replaced by an absolutely killer purple dress (its in the photo gallery). With the microphone in hand, she spoke. "It's been a while since I've performed, and I'd have to relearn several of my songs, so here's a little something that I thought would be alright." She bowed, and then began to sing, in a smooth voice, having brushed her hair to one side..

You stand, staring into the dark...
Now reach out your hand... and grasp what you are searching for.
Even if, once again, someone laughs at you
And says, with a smile, that it was just a dream...

But it wasn't a dream to me
I'm going to make it reality one day, just you see
I'll overcome the obstacles and be free
A Federation officer, not a Maquis, thus decreed!

But I suppose that with every new pride...
There must always be... new pain
Even so, can you be content to stand and watch?
Become more than what you are
For we need you now.

You begin to move. None can stop the future
The possibilities that lay ahead for you and me
Don't be afraid to face the challenge.
Burn up, body, heart, and follow your instincts.
Become stronger, the meaning, the future, when you understand it, you'll be stronger
Believe yourself and go towards the future!

Nathan stood and began clapping his hadn't together. "Very nice! I'm impressed. Your voice is lovely!"

Mizuki bowed and smiled to him. "Thank you! I'm glad that you liked it." She then descends from the stage, still in the dress. She wasn't going to do any dancing, because falling and embarrassing herself wouldn't be good. "Perhaps..if we think of nothing else..a walk along the beach would be fine." Mizuki was also barefoot, which was different.

"That sounds like a great idea. Its been a long time since I have done a beach program." Nathan took a moment to glance around from Kyle. Where did that guy go?

She noted the look, and looked around herself. "I know we had one more here before...I wonder where he went?" Mizuki shrugs a little and started walking towards the beach with an even gait.

Kyle who had remained standing in the back not wanting to intrude on their time, moved towards the pair as Mizuki spoke. "I have to admit that I'm impressed as well."

Then turning to Nathan, he said, 'You know this gives me an idea. Why don't we start a talent show here on the ship?"

"A talent show? It's an interesting idea.." she trailed off softly, "But what benefit do you foresee it bringing?" Mizuki asked.

Nathan kicked off his shoes. He loved the feel of sand on his feet. "A talent show could help to bring the crew together in celebration of our hobbies. Maybe even bring to light a group of people how have similar talents that might want to do something together."

She also liked the feeling of sand, and looked back over her shoulder at them. "That seems like a good idea, since you put it that way." Mizuki smiled, the breeze being felt as the slow walk would go on.

Kyle stood back a little, not venturing out on the beach. He looked between his two fellow officers. He was observant by nature and it had been pretty obvious there were some sparks there, some potential chemistry. "Would you two like me to leave, so you can have the place to yourself?" he offered.

"Um.." Mizuki trailed off softly. "You're not bothering me, but it's up to you." She gave Nathan a look, deferring any sort of opinion on that to him. Oblivious to most of what Kyle had observed.

"Uh, heh. Naw Kyle. Your not bothering me either." Nathan said, not really sure that being left alone here was the best of ideas.

Kyle shrugged. "Okay if you both say so, so what do you want to do now?"

"I was content with a walk on the beach. But Kyle, if you have something to suggest, then please do. I'm open for new things." Mizuki replied cordially.

Nathan looked to Kyle to see if there was something he wanted to do.

"Walking on the beach is fine with me. Nice and relaxing. It should make me tired enough to go to sleep."

Well, that was one way of looking at it. Instead of waiting around, Mizuki nodded and decided to walk ahead a little bit, taking a deep breath of the sea air. Even though in the back of her mind she knew it was a holoprogram, it still felt real. It made her shiver and tingle a bit, since her shoulders and collarbone were exposed.


Kyle turned to Nathan, "You know she and I don't swim on the same team, but even I can tell she's a looker, now get your ass up there and walk beside her, or I'm going to grab your hand and give her totally the wrong idea."

Nathan turned and glared at Kyle, his face burning red " Not all of us think with our other head." Then he lowered his voice hoping only Kyle could hear him "She's gorgeous, but I am trying to build a relationship with someone else right now. I would like it to be serious." Then he grinned and spoke back up so Mizuki could hear. "If you need me to hold your hand I will. I know how your scared of beaches."

Kyle face colored, not with embarrassment but with anger "Keeping his voice equally low, "I was trying to be a nice guy. I didn't know you were involved and I don't think with the other head. Aside from Will, I've only ever been involved with Noah." Then in a louder voice he said,"You're right I am kind of afraid, so I think I'll eave after all."

He then turned and stared towards where he knew the arch was.

Nathan sighed and turned to his friend "Kyle...I'm sorry." He looked down at his feet " I did not mean to insult you." Now Nathan could care less who heard. He had hurt one of the very first person's he had meet. Kyle had been nothing but nice to him. "You were only trying to help and I know you did know about me..." He shrugged "Just...don't go. I'm really sorry. I'm an ass"

Mizuki had a unique sense for danger, it seemed. Like a sixth sense, mainly. This meant she overheard some of the things. Including the part about her being gorgeous. She looked over her shoulder and then walked back towards them, her confidence building. "Hey, let's not fight, please? The two of you are friends and there's no reason to fight. If you're afraid of beaches, we can do something else." She gives her best pouting look, desiring simple company of friends, for the moment not enticed into the complexities of their relationships and the like. So Nathan had found someone? Well that was good. And Kyle seemed more of someone who liked guys. That was fine too. None of that mattered to her at that point. Since no one really liked her in that way anyway, and her expectations were low.

Kyle looked between Mizuki and Nathan and let out a small breath. "I'm sorry too Nathan, you're not an ass. Well maybe you are but that makes two of us. So let's just forget it, I'll stay."

Then he turned to Mizuki, "I'm not really afraid of beaches, I like them. I was just joking with my friend. I'm good now. Let's go."

Nathan put a hand on Kyles shoulder and squeezed gently " You have nothing to apologize for. Thank you for trying to help me, really. I'm not always really good at telling jokes. I will watch myself in the future."

"I'm kinda bad with jokes myself. But I'm trying to get better while endeavoring not to offend." Mizuki gave with a smile. She patted them both on the shoulder, though she had to stand up on bare tiptoes to do so. "Let's go on the beach walk, then?"

"Yeah, sounds like a great idea," said Kyle. He took off his shoes tying them by the laces and throwing them over his shoulder. Then walked out onto the sand and down to the edge of the water.

Nathan smiled, hoping that things were better now. He followed his friends out onto the sand and down to the waters edge.

Mizuki crouched down for a moment, getting her hands wet with the water. "Both of you know how to swim?" she asked.

"I'm in security, You cant in in Starfleet Security with out knowing how to swim." Nathan said looking out onto the water, knowing exactly where this was going.

"I grew up in Colorado, I used to swim everyday," Kyle offered, "I'm actually pretty good at it."

"Well...we should have a pool exercise sometime. Or whatever the official moniker for it is. I've been swimming since a young age, so I imagine it'd be a fun hobby." She wasn't going to suggest it now, which may be other than what the stronger man expected.

"Yeah that would be fun," the blond officer agreed. "I wouldn't mind doing it on a regular basis."

Nathan chuckled " Yeah that would be fun!" He then scooped up Kyle in his massive arms and carried him out into the surf dropping both Kyle and himself into the water.

Kyle fought momentarily against the bigger man, but almost immediately it was hopeless He had enough time to prepared himself for the dunking, so he didn't come up sputtering. The water was a little colder than he preferred, but it wasn't too bad. He managed to get to his feet and splash water in the bigger man's face.

Mizuki chuckled and gasped as she watched the action, before looking around. "I'll uh..be right back!" She ran off behind something that they couldn't see through, and then came back a minute later in her swimwear (It's in the gallery, a one-piece with a diving cap and goggles), and walked into the water a little bit, letting it get up to her knees.

Nathan took the splash in the face and laughed, then sent a spray of water over to Mizuki showering her.

The splash promptly soaked her. Her reaction was a gasp and a loud giggle before she splashed water at the two of them, feeling like she was having fun, for the first time in a while.

Kyle leaped on his friend then, trying to bring him down into the water this time.

Generally Nathan would not have a problem holding someone on his back, but the combination of surprise and water caused him to topple over into the water backwards.

Kyle, of course had been prepared for just such a circumstance, though the was somewhat surprised that he'd been so easily successful so he came up out of the water with a huge smile on his face.

...Only to be greeted by a large splash of water from the girl before she swam over to try and push Nathan up to his feet.

He hadn't been expecting to be attacked by her and so he wound up swallowing some water and coughing, but he was laughing at the same time.

Nathan stood with the help from Mizuki. He wondered for a moment how someone so tiny could even begin to move someone as massive as he was, but he chalked it up to the fact that they were in water. Nathan wiped the water from his face while he laughed hard.

"Are we having fun yet?" Kyle asked trying to stifle his laughter.

Mizuki could be strong, when she wanted to be. And as she surfaced from the water, she was grinning widely. "Yes, I believe we are." she gave, soaked to the bone, but otherwise fine. It was a refreshing feeling.

Nathan sat down in the water and laughed " Yeah this is fun alright."

"Of course, I am going to have to tell everybody that our big, bad security chief got beat by a girl." Kyle teased.

"Well there's nothing wrong with that~" Mizuki chuckled. "But I only splashed him and brought him to his feet. The credit for this one goes to you, Kyle."

"Well I guess that is true," Kyle responded, 'good thing I'm cute and cuddly as well as being deadly in the water."

Nathan could not help but laugh " I think about half the girls on this ship could kick my ass if they really wanted to. Have you ever seen Vara fight?"

"Cute and cuddly? I would ask to test that theory, but I doubt you would want to. And that's okay." Mizuki said simply, before looking to Nathan. "I get the impression that Vara-san is really good at her martial arts. But I've never seen them in battle."

Kyle grinned at the girl, "We don't swim on the same team, but you're pretty cute for a girl."

Nathan busted up and slapped the water. "Swim on the same team!"

Kyle shrugged. Hey, you know what I mean, I don't cuddle with girls. Now you, you I'd cuddle with if you weren't straight as ruler."

She blushed and smiled anyway. "Thank you! That's well appreciated." Though she then heard about straight..and wasn't really familiar with the labels. The confusion showed on her face, but she said nothing about it.

Nathan got his laughing under control and saw the look on Mizuki's Face. " Straight means I like girls. And I bet you would Kyle, I mean look at me!" He laughed again, Nathan was not arrogant at all and he could not keep a straight face while pretending to be.

Now, it was Kyle's turn to laugh. He knew his friend more than he let on. Though he really wasn't his type, even if he hadn't been straight, that didn't mean he didn't know him well enough to know what he was really like.

Mizuki nodded and walked a little closer, watching the two. So there were various labels. She'd have to go look them up later.

Nathan stood up and looked at his friends. "Guys, I need to be going. I have a lot of work to take care of in the morning and it was late before Kyle and I walked in here."

"Yes," said Kyle, "I came in here not tired at all and now I'm pretty much exhausted I need to be going as well."

"Well, I'm glad we had fun. It was nice relaxing with you both." Mizuki gave, bowing to both of them. "Have a good night." she added, ending the program and walking out first, in her normal uniform.


Cadet Junior Grade Mizuki Masterson
Yeoman
USS Katana

Lieutenant Nathan Tonkin
Security Chief
USS Katana

Lieutenant Patrick Weaver
Assistant Chief Intelligence Officer
USS Katana

Andy was reclined back in one of the mess hall chairs, her feet propped up onto one of the tables, her lunch mostly eaten. In one hand she had a straw and in the other a wad of a napkin. She seemed quite pleased with herself, humming something badly out of tune as she periodically took a bite of the napkin, chewing on the tiny bite before bringing the straw up to her mouth.

THOOMP!

Another shot hit Crewman Varley in the side of the head. He glared at Andy and flicked the spitball away, then attempted to continue eating his lunch in peace, but it was not to be.

THOOMP!

Nathan was in mid bite as a spit ball went flying right past his eyes. He glared across the room at Andy. “Hey that almost hit me!”

“Didn’t even come close,” Andy shot back, then sent another spitball flying at Varley. Varley, fed up with this treatment, attempted to walk away. “Sit down, Varley, you have this coming!” she said sternly to the Crewman, who sat back down with a glare.

THOOMP!

Nathan shrugged, he was not on duty yet. This might be fun to watch. “What did you do Varley?”

“Argued with the Chief,” Varley admitted begrudgingly.

“About…” Andy prompted.

“The temperature limitations of a phase transition coil,” Varley continued as a spitball stuck to his ear.

“And…”

“I was wrong,” the Crewman admitted feebly, utterly defeated by the admission.

Andy just grinned wide and shot another spitball at him.

Nathan took another bite of food and leaned back in his seat. with a chuckle “You really argued with her? Even I know better than that!” He shook his head.

Varley hung his head. “In front of the whole team while she was teaching,” he admitted, knowing Andy would just punish him more if he tried to weasel his way out of answering.

“And what have we learned?” Andy asked him, prepared to shoot him right between the eyes if he gave an answer that did not appease her.

“You’re always right?” he asked, hoping that was the right response. It wasn’t, and Andy’s aim was true.

THOOMP!

Nathan shook his head again “Oh man… where do these kids come from?”

Andy snickered and shrugged. She had read Varley’s file, but she didn’t care enough to try remembering where he was from. “Do you know the right answer?” she asked Nathan. Varley looked hopeful for a moment that Andy might shoot someone else for a change, but her straw remained fixed on the Crewman.

“I do.” Nathan stated matter of factly, but he was not going to offer up any help to the floundering crewman. Even Nathan went through his hazing. Its just something you have to suck up and deal with.

THOOMP!

“Hey! He didn’t even give an answer, why are you hitting me again?” Varley asked, having reached his breaking point.

“Do I need a reason?” Andy asked, chewing on another piece of napkin. “CO2 scrubbers, overhaul them, now!” she ordered, then took one last shot at Varley as he left the mess hall. Then Andy grabbed the coffee off her lunch tray and moved over to Nathan’s table. “So it’s just you and me now,” she said with smirk.

Nathan smirked back at her. He had spent enough time around her to be able to play back a little, “What will people say??”

“Oh, I don’t know,” Andy replied a bit dramatically. “Poor Maica, what’ll she do when she finds out about us?”

Nathan grinned “I hate to tell you this, but I spent the night with her before you and me had this little get together.”

“You little man-whore!” Andy laughed in return.

“There’s a first time for everything I guess!” Nathan chuckled and ate the last bite of his meal.

Andy laughed and drank her coffee slowly, appreciating how nice it was to just joke and laugh for a bit. After the past few night she’d been having, she needed a good laugh. “So…” she said, leaning back to balance on the back two legs of her chair, “what’s the lesson you think he should have learned?” she asked curiously, just to see if they had come to the same conclusion.

“That if he wants to say you’re wrong, prove it don’t argue it.” Nathan said flatly. “You would still be pissed off but at least he would have been right.”

Andy nodded. Wasn’t exactly what she was looking for, but if Varley had said it she would have accepted it. “He was right, though,” Andy said. “‘Was’ being the operative word. The argument he made was for an older model coil that’s still in use on a few ships. But what I was punishing him for was challenging my authority in front of a class of new recruits. There’s a time and a place and a right way to do things. He needs to learn it.”

“I feel for your staff….” was all Nathan could say about the situation, but there was a big grin on his face. “What about that new Cadet you got? I ran into her at the Holodecks the other night.”

“Oh my GAWD!” Andy said, rolling her eyes. “I’ve never had a recruit wound so tight. Well, she ain’t a recruit, but she’s doing a job that’s normally held by one of my people, so I’m treating her like one of the recruits. But damn if it ain’t any fun to get her all futzed up. Sometimes it looked like a strong wind would knock her over.”

“ Yeah, she's something else all right. Good singer though." Nathan chuckled " I can't believe I was ever that green."

“I remember being green,” Andy said, her tone taking on a more somber tone. “It didn’t last long…” A faraway look settled into her eyes, but she quickly blinked it away, her trademark smirk showing in full force. “I’ve got the Cadet this afternoon. I’m supposed to teach her about protocol, but I think I’m gonna drag her around the ship. Her file says she’s still undeclared, which is odd for a Junior Cadet. Maybe exposing her to the ship will help her find an area of interest for her to specialize.”

“She’s been working with the Captain a lot also.” Nathan shrugged “But yeah, being green like that never last very long does it. I can’t believe they stuck the poor girl way out here with us.” Nathan chuckled.

“Yeah, but it just seems a waste to go through 4 years of the Academy just to be a career paper-pusher,” Andy remarked. Of course the girl was working with the Captain a lot, she was his Yeoman! But maybe she wouldn’t always be a Yeoman and that’s what Andy was trying to prepare her for. “And you’re right, it is odd they sent a Cadet all the way out here. Who knows, maybe she requested this gig?” One of many conundrums she had noticed about this Cadet.

“Normally I would say ‘who would request this gig’ but…” Nathan trailed off with a smirk on his face

“I know, right!” Andy chuckled, then sipped at her coffee. “There’s something off about her, though. When she came to me for her quarter assignment, she… I dunno, there’s just something off about her,” she said quietly. “Keep an eye on her.”

Nathan nodded “I will do exactly that. I agree, there is something about her. But she seems nice. Innocent...”

“Weren’t we all once upon a time?” Andy countered. But she doubted just how innocent this girl was.

“That was another life ago.” Nathan shook his head. “Oh hey I was thinking about something.” Nathan changed the subject quickly. “Do you think Maica would be interested in opening an actual bar on the ship? Her handing out bottles to everyone uncontrolled is starting to...cause problems. Nothing too bad yet but I keep breaking up drunken fights.”

“I’m sure she wouldn’t mind having something to do with her free time,” Andy said as she rolled the idea around in her head. But she was concerned about the drunken fights. Well, the drunkenness in general; several of her crewman had shown up for duty drunk lately and Andy wasn’t having that. “I’ll at least talk to her about handing out the booze so freely,” Andy assured Nathan.

“I dont want to get anyone, mostly Maica, in trouble over this. I just think some more control over the situation would make it better for everyone. To be honest I have already gotten some from her too. So I’m just a guilty as everyone else on this boat.” Nathan said with a grin.

“Heh, I’ll talk to her,” Andy said with a nod, definitely in agreement that she didn’t want Maica in trouble. “What’d she give you?” she asked curiously.

“Whiskey.” Nathan admitted

“Nice,” Andy said with a grin. “She gets the good stuff from all over the places. She’s got this one that…” she stopped abruptly and actually blushed. “Nevermind, you don’t wanna hear about that one…”

“Anything thats going to make you blush like that I probably don’t want to hear about.” Nathan nodded his head in agreement.

Andy hid her smile behind her mug of coffee, sipping at the brew with a chuckle. Damn, she was just grateful Nathan didn’t wanna know all the details.

Andy moved silently through the forest, hot on the trail of her target. Her space had been invaded by another and she quickly sought to hunt down this intruder. She blinked, her eyes focusing through the dense foliage to the heat signature quickly approaching her location. She reached back, her fingers brushing against the fletchings of her arrows. She held her breath for a moment as she calculated the angles. Just a little closer…

In a flash of movement, the arrow was between her fingers and then on the bow. Time became something immaterial as she drew back. She barely had to aim, the action was so deeply ingrained in her body it was automatic. She released her breath, then the arrow, watching as time came crashing back on her as the arrow pierced the air, sailing true towards her target. She didn’t even need to check that she hit her target, she knew she had. Instead, she took off through the trees to see who had come to visit her while she was in the holodeck. She so rarely took time for herself so she was understandably upset that someone had come to bother her now.

Nathan just stood there, bow in hand and quiver on his back, an arrow sticking threw his shirt and into a tree. He blinked a few time. “Uhhh Andy?”

Andy stepped out, bow drawn. Though when she saw who she had hit, she quickly released the tension in her bow and returned the arrow to the quiver. “Nathan…” she said flatly, making no movement to help remove the arrow pinning him to the tree.

“You forgot you invited me to join you?” Nathan held out the bow in his hand.

“I thought we were talking about doing hand-to-hand combat training…” Andy said warily, just staring at him blankly. Had she forgotten? She couldn’t really forget things, just misplace them. Sort of. “And wasn’t that tomorrow?” Now that she was thinking of it, what was today? Had she worked through the night again?

“Well yeah we were talking about sparing but when I came in and saw what was running I just thought maybe you changed your mind.” Nathan pulled himself off the arrow. “Nice shot by the way. Thanks for not killing me.”

“Yeah…” Andy said, grasping the arrow and pulling it from the tree, checking to make sure it hadn’t taken any damage before returning it to her quiver. “Sorry, I guess I got my days mixed up. We can still spar if you want,” Andy offered.

Nathan shrugged “Well we are here and the Bow is not something I have ever been really good at, maybe you can give me some pointers?”

Andy mirrored his shrug with one of her own. She wasn’t used to practicing with someone else and she had never taught anyone to shoot before, but there was a first time for everything… “Sure, I guess. You have shot before, right?” Andy asked, just to be sure.
Nathan nodded “Yeah, for my red belt test I had to pass a basic understanding of several different kind of martial weapons. Bow was just never my specialty.”

Andy nodded. “Come with me,” she said stoically, then turned to walk deeper into the forest without bothering to check if Nathan was following her. She led him to a clearing with a few targets set up on bales of hay. She turned back, then pointed to the targets, indicating that she wanted to see him shoot.

Nathan did follow her out into the clearing. “Ok.” he said as he knocked an arrow and raised his bow. He drew his string back back and aimed. He drew in a breath and held it as he let the arrow fly. He hit the target, but no where near the bulls eye.

Right away, she could see what was going on with his technique. She shouldered her bow and came up behind him, pulling him against her to correct his posture. “Don’t hold the bow too tight, just let it rest in your hand,” she said quietly into his ear as he drew another arrow. “The strength of your draw is in your shoulders, use them,” she instructed.

Nathan did as she instructed, letting the bow rest in the crook of his hand between his pointer and thumb, almost right away his left shoulder started screaming at him. He lowered the bow and rubbed his shoulder. “I really need the Doc to check this out I think…”

Andy looked at his shoulder. She could see inflammation in the joint, indications that he was still recovering from his ordeal when the Jem’Hadar boarded the ship. She took the bow from him and looked it over. “Computer, reduce the draw weight of this bow by… 7 pounds.” the computer chirped in affirmation of the command. At first glance, the bow didn’t look any different, but Andy could detect minute changes to the lamination that took the weight difference into account. She handed the bow back to him. “Here, that shouldn’t be so hard on your shoulder,” Andy said, “and yes, you do need to get that shoulder checked out.”

Nathan rotated his shoulder a couple times while she was working with the bow. He took it back from her and gave it a test pull. “ Much better, thank you.” He once again too his stance and knocked an arrow. He drew in a breath and slowly let it out as he set his arrow flying. Much closer this time, but still not dead center.

“Good, remember to breathe…” On the next arrow, she again corrected his posture, but he didn’t need as much correction now that the bow wasn’t so heavy. “One of the biggest rookie mistakes, taking a bow that’s too heavy. It’s always good to go lighter, get your form right first, then work up to heavier draws.” Yet another arrow saw even more improvement to his aim. But she could see the strain in his shoulder; he wouldn’t be able to shoot for long as he was.

“This is the best I have shot I think. I see what you mean about taking a lighter draw.” Nathan said to Andy.

Andy nodded. “If you’re fighting the strength of the bow, you don’t get your stance right, then you’re useless. but once you get it right and your arms become conditioned to the motions, then you move up to stronger bows.” He was shooting well now. Not perfect, but well on his way, though she was concerned about that shoulder. She stepped away a few strides and raised her bow, but she didn’t aim at the target. As he fired, she began shooting his arrows out of the air, just to show off.

He turned and looked at her. “Well that’s not fair” He grinned. “ That’s impressive.”

“Been doing this since I was 8,” Andy said with a shrug. “And having an ocular implant to better calculate the angles and speeds helps.” not to mention she could calculate all that shit in microseconds to leave her with enough time to react to his shots. So maybe she was cheating, but with what she had to go through to get that advantage, it really wasn’t that much of a ‘win’. “Your shoulder had enough yet?” she asked.

“Yeah, it has. I’m not use to this kind of pressure on it.” Nathan rubbed his shoulder again.

“It’s inflamed,” Andy informed him, turning her attention to the targets and firing off a few arrows in rapid succession. “What happened to it, exactly?” she asked. She had been on Kendi when she ship had been taken, so she didn’t know everything that had gone down. Not to mention, she had met Nathan after all that, so she had no idea he had been injured.

“When the Katana was stormed I was ordered to secure Engineering. There were three soldiers in there. I’m not sure what they were doing but I stuned two of them and the third one got me right through the shoulder. I was jumping and rolling a lot so I guess I tore a blood vessel or something because I was bleeding out really quick. But not before I got that third one. I was lucky Jhu got to me in time.” Nathan explained. “Its just never been right since.”

Andy nodded as she continued to fire at the targets. She could relate. “Take it from me, don’t put that shit off for too long or it will come back to bite you in the ass,” she said to him. “I hate going to Sickbay, but even I know when it’s time to go for a visit.”

Nathan rolled his eyes, but he knew she was right. “ Yeah yeah, you right. I’m going to start getting charged rent in there Jhu said.” Nathan chuckled.

“After what happened on the Lexington…” Andy paused, her bow aim drifting slightly as she sighed. “I spent weeks in Sickbay… At the time, I was still new to the ship so I had never even slept in my quarters. And then I spent a lot of the time in the Cargo Bay regenerating… That’s when you need to get charged rent!”

“Fair enough, you got me there. The Lexington where…” He pointed to his face where her optical implant was located.

Andy nodded, lowering her bow. “I was the quartermaster and transport specialist. I had boarded the day before and was doing inventory overnight. We got called out to the Typhon Sector, there was a Borg cube headed for Earth and we were part of the task force trying to stop it. We didn’t.” Of course, everyone knew of the Battle for Sector 001 and how the Enterprise had stopped the cube, but it was a different experience entirely for Andy.

“Thats horrible. But it made you who you are today right?” Nathan said, fidgeting on his feet a bit.

“It made me something…” Again, there was that faraway look in her eyes, like she wasn’t really here in the holodeck with Nathan, but rather in a memory so distant… “...sometimes that something isn’t anything good.”

Nathan nodded, he had that exact same look in his eyes. “I know what you mean…”

“It’s been bothering me lately,” Andy said, her voice hollow. “I had to do some things to save Maica, things that bring up bad memories… And a friend from the past… I just wish those memories would stay buried, you know.” She wasn’t afraid to tell him this, he had already seen her agitated after her recent nightmare. It wasn’t like she had anyone else to talk to about this. If she went to the Counselor, it became a counseling matter. She couldn’t worry Maica with this, and though Will would understand she couldn’t burden him with this while she was trying to help.

Nathan came back to the here and now. “If it saved Maica then I say it was worth it. On top of that if we forget where we came from then we chance making the same mistakes we made back then. It is still important not to live in the past.” He chuckled “ Complicated stuff huh?”

“It wasn’t like I even made any mistakes,” Andy said, her expression revealing the troubled nature of her thoughts. “I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time… And then…” She looked off into the trees, then closed her eyes, breathing deep the crisp mountain air. Fake air, but whatever… “I learned what I was willing to do for my ship and her crew… And what I was willing to do to save Maica…” In a brief moment of lucidity, she flushed the cargo bay, sacrificing herself to save the Lexington, and to save Maica she had nearly worked herself to death trying to build an android body that should have taken months to complete. She opened her eyes, fixing her odd-eyed gaze on Nathan. “Tell me, what did you learn?”

Nathan looked slightly confused. “Learn about what?”

“I can see it in your eyes, you’ve been through your own personal hell,” Andy said quietly. “What did it teach you?”

“It taught me who I wanted to be and who I didn’t. I’m glad I was able to take that lesson to heart. I’m a lot more happy now. But the scars still hurt sometimes.” Nathan replied to her.

“Yeah, they do…” Andy said in agreement. Her hell hadn’t taught her how to be happy, but it had taught her the importance of living. But all these years later, the scars would always be there.

“I believe that everything happens to us for a reason. A lesson to learn from if you want. It’s not always pleasant but someday I think the reason you went through your lesson will show itself. The trick is to be open and perceptive enough to see it.” Nathan said.

Andy had never ascribed to the philosophy that things happen for a reason. She could never see a reason to what had happened to her or others like her, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t a lesson to learn in there somewhere. “I learned what I needed to learn…”

“Good.” Nathan stated. “ No matter what, you have to admit that the here and now is going fairly well.”

“That’s subjective,” Andy countered, shouldering her bow and tromping over to the targets to remove the arrows. It was a wasted effort, the arrows weren’t real and would disappear with the rest of the program, but it was habit for her.

“You are correct. But everything is subjective in truth. Just depends on what spin you put on it I guess.”

Andy knew a lot about spin, she had made use of it aplenty over her life, even before the incidents on the Lexington. “Some people… they just can’t understand what it means for your life to end…” She may not have died in the cargo bay that day, but her life had come to an abrupt ending. What came after was something different, she could never go back to the life she had before. Somehow she knew Nathan would understand what that meant. “But it taught me how to live. For a longest time I just… existed. It stays with you, but after a while you don’t even notice it anymore… And then you wake up and you realize how much time you’ve wasted… But still, it’s always there…”

Nathan walked over to Andy and placed his hands on her shoulders “ Its important not to dwell on what has passed. That moment is gone. Whats real and important is what’s happening right this moment.”

“But it’s not in the past,” Andy replied, looking at her hand and the exoskeleton encasing her hand. She knew others carried reminders of their past, scars and the like… But the Borg had changed her on a fundamental level. It had taken years to accept that she was no longer entirely human. She thought she had accepted it, anyway, but now… For some reason, she was doubting herself, doubting the revelations she had made, doubting those lessons. Everything was turned upside-down, her mental equilibrium was so off kilter. What had happened recently to shake the foundation of who she was? Andy didn’t know and it was beyond disconcerting for her.

Nathan watched the storm behind her eyes and it worried him. He was not overly sure how best to help her so he did the only thing he could think of. He pulled her into his chest and held her.

Andy’s eyes went wide when he grabbed her, then she went stiff. She wasn’t good at this touchie-feely shit, so she was surprised when she felt her arms wrap around him, surprised when she felt her body shake, and even more surprised when she felt her eyes grow hot with tears. “I still hear them…” she confessed, her voice escaping from her seemingly against her will. “Sometimes… in the darkness… I can feel them…”

He just held her. If she wanted to talk he was here to listen or if she just needed to cry or scream it out he would be there. He knew exactly what she was talking about, just in a different way.

For a while, all she did was let out all the tears she had held in over the years. How many times had she tried to talk to someone and they would reply ‘I can imagine…’? Those responses always angered her and ended any interactions between them. No, no one could imagine what the Collective was like and she wouldn’t want them to even try! But Nathan… somehow he understood…

“They took everything!” Andy cried out. “They hollowed me out and stuck something else inside” She clung tightly to him now, like he was the only thing holding her to reality. “And when it was over, I was just so empty…”

Nathan had to steel himself. This was probably one of the hardest things he ever had to deal with, but he would be strong for her. Hardest thing since that night so long ago anyways.

How had things fallen apart around her? Andy had always been so collected and sure of herself, but now it was all crumbling down around her. Why? What had she done to prompt this reaction? “Why?” she cried, not really asking Nathan but rather posing the question to the universe as if it could answer. “Why do they take so much?” But really, she knew why… She had been inside the Hive Mind, she knew the answer, but it brought her no solace.

"I once had an experience with the Borg. It's not something I talk about, but it changed me forever..." Nathan offered to try and let her know that he could relate on some level with her.

“It does…” Andy said, nodding as she wiped her nose with her hand. Ew… “It really does change you forever,” she added as she wiped her hand on the back of his shirt.

"I can't believe you just did that you brat!" Nathan said as he poked her in the ribs.

“Did what?” she asked ‘innocently’. She sniffled a bit more, her tears mostly gone now, but she still hadn’t let go of Nathan. It felt nice to be held like this. Sure, she had physical contact with Maica quite frequently, but this was different...

“You know you mean the world to me right? You and Maica both.” Nathan asked her.

“Jeeze, don’t get all mushy on me,” Andy said with a roll of her eyes. Like she hadn’t just gotten all mushy… But his words did touch her deeply. “Thanks,” she added with a deep sigh.

“Who? Me? Mushy? No I don’t do that.” Nathan said with a chuckle.

Andy snickered and finally let him go, using the back of her sleeve to wipe her eyes as she sort of staggered away from him. She meandered over to a fallen tree and sat on it, suddenly finding the dirt to be very interesting, staring at it long and hard. Really, she was just having trouble looking at Nathan. She knew he understood what she was feeling, but it was still hard for her to be so vulnerable around others and it just felt odd to appear so ‘weak’.

“You know, you can talk to me too,” Andy said quietly. “You know, if you need to talk…”

“Thats really good to know, and when I’m ready I just might take you up on that.” Nathan walked over and took a seat next to her. “I’m still dealing with it though… Time is what I need still.”

“Yeah, time…” Andy was silent and still for a while, but then she leaned over and rested her head on Nathan’s shoulder. “I thought I had dealt with all this… I don’t know why it’s all coming back to me like this now.”

“Who knows, I wish I had some great understanding about why things like the roar their ugly heads like they do but...they just do.” Nathan said to her looking up into the trees that were around them. “Do you ever talk to Maica about this stuff?”

“I don’t want to scare her,” Andy admitted. “Plus, she and I don’t see eye-to-eye on some things. Being what she is, she don’t understand individuality and self-preservation the same way we do.”

“I think you should try. You should give her the opportunity to surprise you. She cares about you very much and I’m sure she would want to be the one to comfort you. Not that I’m not ok with being here for you. I will always be here for you.” Nathan suggested.

“I know she cares, but…” Andy heaved a heavy sigh. “I tried to explain something to her, but she just couldn’t understand why that made me so afraid. It was still nice that she was there for me, but it was frustrating that she couldn’t relate.”
“Well I’m happy to be here for you.” Nathan smiled.

“Thanks,” Andy whispered. Her eyes felt heavy, a drowsy feeling settling into her. She hated crying, it always made her feel drowsy, not to mention the headache she always got… “Sometimes I wonder what life would be like if I hadn’t been assimilated that day…”

“You would not be the Andy I know.” Nathan responded.

“Would that necessarily be a bad thing?” she asked, feeling a bit numb over this entire conversation.

“Yes it would. I think it would be a very bad thing.” Nathan said looking over at her.

Andy was silent for a long while, her head resting on his shoulder as she stared out into nothingness. “How do you do it?” she asked after a while. “It’s been so long and still I don’t know how to live with this… I thought I did, but now I’m not so sure…”

Nathan chuckled “ You’re just having a day, trust me I have my days. It’s not something you really ever learn how to deal with completely. You think you have control and you think that you have it all together. Then something happens. You smell something or hear something that reminds you of what you don’t have anymore….” Nathan stopped and took a shuddering breath.

“It just… becomes a part of you…” Andy remembered now. He was right, but she still felt so unbalanced. She looked up at him, wondering what he had lost. Or maybe who… When it came to the Borg, it was always a who… Again, she rested her head on his shoulder and sighed. “A friend of mine from the Lexington, he was transferred here, but he lost something along the way. He helped me through my recovery, now I get to help him… But it’s bringing everything back. It hurts.”

“Yeah. But you will still do it won't you?” Nathan said, bumping into her shoulder.

“Yeah, I will,” she admitted easily. “Don’t matter how much it hurts… I’d still do it… For him… Maica… you…”

Nathan hooked his arm around the back of her neck and pulled her in for a lopsided hug. “We are going to be ok, all of us. We just got to stick together. Right?”

“Right,” she said simply as she hugged him back.

Her hand had been fixed, but the replicator display panel hadn't. Jhu hadn't realized the extent of the damage she'd done to it until she'd cleaned up the glass shards and the replicator itself failed to work when she asked it for a cup of her favorite jasmine tea. The machine hadn't reacted at all, and now she stared at it with a dumbfounded expression on her face. Sure, she'd lost her temper in the past, but this had been different. She still felt precariously on edge, even after finishing the rest of her shift without any further destructive moments. Which was why she wanted the tea.

Grumbling a bit, she made a note to call a repair team and went into the tiny 'kitchen' area of her cabin to make the tea the old-fashioned way.

Vara pressed the door chime to Jhu's new quarters, thinking about the report she had intercepted about a smashed up hand and a broken replicator. That woman needed some zen in her life and though Vara doubted she could help much, she intended to at least try.

Startled by the chime, Jhu nearly dropped the mug she was holding. Hastily setting it down next to her old electric kettle, she scooped Lydek up so he couldn't escape or trip her unexpected guest. "Uh... come in?" Going back to the sitting area to greet them, she prayed it wasn't Andy or one of the other engineers.

Opening the door and stepping inside, she nodded to Jhu. "Commander, do you have a few moments? I'd like to speak with you about some training and stress relief."

"Yeah... you can come in. But if you want a drink you'll have to check my fridge." Jhu didn't have to explain why; the broken replicator was pretty obvious. "Stress relief I can understand. Training? With you? Sounds dangerous."

"I'm pretty good at controlling my strength for the most part," Vara said, ignoring the offer of a drink. "I'd like to offer both sparring practice and meditation training, if you're willing." Indeed the broken replicator was very obvious. It was also obvious it was broken by someone recently and that they were lucky they weren't electrocuted or worse. "Besides, I pushed myself too hard in my own training the other day. I really need to take it easy for a while."

Jhu was quiet for a moment, scratching Lydek's ears. Vara's offer was a bit unusual, but it also held some appeal. "I don't know if I can meditate... my father tried to teach me and it never worked. 'Too much Air and no Earth' is what my mother said. It means I don't have as much control." Another thing the replicator could testify for. "Sparring though... been thinking about it. Not a lot of people here would be good partners for it."

Vara cracked her ice queen demeanor for a moment, smiling awkwardly with no sign of her inner wolf. "Too much air, is it? Then I know exactly how to teach you to meditate. Are you familiar with Tai Chi?"

"Sort of. I know it's a Chinese martial art." Jhu set Lydek down on the couch. "From what I've seen of, it's similar to the Klingon mok'bara."

"Both would be good, but since I'm a master of the Lagashi heritage Tai Chi, I'd rather teach you through that. I can't promise you control, but I can promise you'll be able to better redirect the times you lose control. Your replicator would thank you as well, I think." Vara explained.

"I doubt a Kohlinar master could teach me control," Jhu said dryly, smiling just a bit. "But knowing a safer redirection would be nice. That really hurt." She gestured at the replicator's broken display.

"Then whenever you'd like to start, I'm ready." Vara smiled awkwardly again. She had trained others before, but they were all augmented children like herself. She wasn't so sure of herself teaching someone without a supercomputer in their brainpan.

"I have time now, but..." Jhu trailed off, not certain she could put her current mood into words.

"...but your heart rate and bodily tensions are too high?" Vara could see that much at least and though she wasn't psychic, she could tell Jhu was stressed out by something.

"Yeah, you could say that." Relieved that Vara understood, Jhu sat down next to Lydek, stroking the cat's back. "I'm on edge and I don't know why."

Sitting on the other side of Lydek, Vara nodded understanding. "In that case, I recommend a bath and some good tea. We can train tomorrow if you like. Unless you feel like trying to hit me, that is."

"Think I've done enough damage to myself today, but I appreciate the offer."

Standing and heading back to the door, Vara regained her disciplined demeanor as she spoke. "Then please let me know when you're ready, Commander. And if you feel like breaking anything, I'll be close by - call for me and you can hit me all you want."

Jhu shook her head. "I won't do that. Beating up a junior officer is the last thing I need on my record, even if it wouldn't hurt you all that much. Besides, I don't want to hurt anyone."

Vara looked at the replicator sadly for a moment. "That poor replicator... It isn't anyone... I just hope Andy or someone can restore its electronic spirit."

Jhu looked at her blankly for a moment. "Okay, I won't break any equipment either. It's not like I'm plotting against the replicator. Or singling it out. I hit the wall too."

Vara did her best to look aghast. "That poor wall! What did it do to deserve that?" This was probably the most animated she had been since she left the Hera. Something about her new friends was bringing out her friendlier side. Friends? Yes, they were friends. She hadn't had many of them and the thought made her feel a bit warm inside.

Oh. Suddenly realizing what was going on, Jhu laughed, starting to feel a little bit better. "Guilty by association. It's friends with the replicator."

"Ah well then, best to keep them in line I guess. No more jell-o from it when you order tomato soup." Vara said teasingly.

"Haven't had that problem yet, but now it won't dare." Jhu grinned, and Lydek looked at them like they were both crazy.

Normally Jhu went back to work after a briefing, but not today. Something about the briefing had her riled more than normal, and her office held too much important - and fragile - equipment to take a chance on going there. Instead, she headed home, where she could cool off more safely. She was fortunate that no one passed her in the corridors; she'd have sent them scurrying into the Jefferies tubes with little more than a glance.

Nathan came running after her. He knew she was upset from the briefing and the way she stormed out of the room he knew something or someone was going to get hit, and hard. "Jhu!" He yelled as he rounded a corner and saw her just down the hall.

Briefly Jhu considered ignoring Nathan shouting at her, but she paused and glanced over her shoulder. Did he intend to stop her or just follow? "Not the best time, Nathan."

"Yeah, I can tell...do you want me to go? Cause I will... but I'm worried about you." Nathan was following her, he had no intentions of trying to stop her.

"You should be worried about who I might run into." Jhu was conflicted. Did she make him leave or let him follow? "Might not like what you see if you follow me."

"Didn't I already tell you I'm not here to judge you?" Nathan was not going to push it, but he he didn't fall for the girl with Romulan blood running through her without accepting that there were a few risks. He walked right up to her. "Do I stay or go? It up to you."

Right. No judging. She knew that. "You can stay." Not waiting for him to follow, she went around him and continued on her way. She would reach her cabin soon, and then she could blow off steam.

Nathan nodded and followed right behind her, hoping not to run into anyone.

Luckily, they didn't pass anyone before they reached Jhu's cabin. She paused in her stride only enough to unlock the door then went inside, setting the door to lock again after it closed behind them. Barely a moment after she'd entered, that tiny sliver of control broke, and without hesitating - or thinking about it - Jhu put her fist through the bulkhead display panel above her replicator, her shoulders heaving with each breath she took.

Nathan lead back against the door and was quiet. He was just there so she didn't have to go through this alone.

The pain barely registered, and she didn't feel any better. Pulling her hand free, she muttered a few Romulan and Trill curses under her breath.

Nathan winced as he looked at her hand. He was sure the most permanent damage was done to the wall terminal, but that hand didn't look like it felt good.

A soft purr from ground level announced Lydek's arrival seconds before he weaved around her ankles then stood on his hind paws to nudge his head against her good hand. The moment he did, Jhu hit the bulkhead itself with the outer edge of her already injured hand, sending the cat streaking off under the couch. This time it hurt, just enough to cool her jets. She winced slightly, mentally cursing herself for giving in to the impulse.

Had she not broken bones, Nathan would have just taken her to Maica to get patched up, but he was sure this would require a trip to sickbay. But still he just waited for her.

Still breathing a bit heavily, Jhu dropped moodily into a nearby chair, not quite looking in his direction. "I know what you're thinking," she said quietly after a few tense moments had passed. "I don't want to explain this to Cohen."

"I'm sure you don't, what are we going to do about your hand?" Nathan pushed himself off the door, shocked that Vara had not burst in yet and he moved over to the couch. He knelt down and started making clicking noises, trying to Lydek to come back out.

Lydek purred, coming to the edge of the couch but not coming out. Meanwhile, Jhu shrugged. She knew she had to get her hand fixed, but she didn't want to hear the anger management lecture.

Nathan reached out and rubbed behind the cats ears gently. "Hey buddy, nice to see you again."

Lydek twisted to sniff the hand that was petting him. Oh! He recognized this man. Purring, he crawled out from his hiding spot and rubbed his head on Nathan's arm. Jhu watched him, and after a long pause there was the tiniest twitch of a smile on her face. She was still upset but no longer angry enough to act on it. And Nathan was cute from this angle, not that she would admit it.

Nathan grinned and stroked the cat down its back, not worried about the cat hair getting all over him. He looked up at Jhu. "You feel any better?"

"Maybe a little. Still pissed off though." Jhu rubbed her sore hand, not paying much attention to the bleeding cuts. She was more concerned that it might be broken, which meant a trip to sickbay. Not her first choice at all.

Nathan moved over to her, still sitting on the floor at her feet. "Let me see it." He held his hand out to her.

Wincing a little, Jhu held her hand out to him. "Be careful. Please."

He looked up at her and smiled "Always." He very gently looked over her hand, how deep the cuts were and if there was any bruising or swelling.

It didn't look swollen yet, but there was some angry-looking redness near her wrist that looked like it would start turning purple soon. Jhu whimpered in pain when he touched it, the flash of white-hot pain turning her stomach. "Ow..."

Nathan gently let it go, making sure not to just drop it. "Oh hun. We need to do something about that. I wish I had a better idea then sick bay." Nathan looked up to her. "What do you want me to do?"

"I don't know." Resting her arm against her knee so that her hand didn't rest against anything, Jhu leaned forward a little. "I feel sick."

"Ok." Nathan said hoping up and looking around for a bowl or something for her just in case she throws up. " Fair warning, if you pass out on me I'm taking you to sickbay."

"At that point I'd expect you to." Seeing him looking around, Jhu pointed at her desk. "Waste basket's by the desk."

Nathan grabbed the waste basket and handed it to her, then he went to the replicator. He called up an ice pack, and brought that over to her. "This might help."

Jhu gave him a grateful look as she took the ice pack and gently laid it on her injured hand. It numbed the pain a little, but her stomach didn't feel any better

Nathan to a seat on the are of her chair and rubbed her back.

A moment or two passed, and the nauseous feeling started to fade. But Jhu wasn't convinced that her stomach was going to behave so she stayed put. "All right. Sickbay then. Might throw up before we get there."

"I'll carry the trash can in case you need it on the way. You take care of that wrist ok." Nathan stood and took the basket from her, then held his hand out to help her up.

"Okay." Once he'd helped her up, Jhu cradled her injured hand close to her chest, with the ice pack carefully balanced on top. She had no idea what she was going to tell Liam.

Nathan unlocked her door and lead the way to the sickbay.

Arthur strolled through the halls of the ship, thinking about his new post. His boss, a younger man named Nathan, seemed nice enough. Arthur had his own office, which was also nice, though uncommon. But now, it was time to find his quarters. Though, when he thought about it, Arthur didn't know his quarters number. And so, Nathan walked over to a wall console and said "Computer, find me the Chief of Operations."

"Chief Petty Officer Andrea Carter is in Cargo Bay 2," the computer answered to Arthur's query. And so she was; Andy was doing some maintenance on the bay's cargo transporter, a task that had been missed in the recent refit and was well overdue.

Arthur made his way to the cargo bay. Stepping in, he looked around at everyone there. Over at the transporter, a yellow uniformed woman was hunched over the transporter console. Walking over to the woman, Arthur tapped her on the shoulder. "Excuse me, are you the Chief Operations Officer?

"A-yeah," the woman replied without looking up from what she was doing. "If you have a request for a repair, send it up through your department head. If you have a complaint about repairs or one of my repair teams, I have a complaint box in my office." She didn't really have a complaint box, just a sign that read 'Complaints' affixed to the waste bin in her office. Not that he had any way of knowing that...

Arthur was a bit taken aback by her response. He expected her to at least look up, or show a tiny bit of respect. Arthur gritted his teeth, and held in his frustration. Scowling, he tried again. "I'm an assistant department head, I can file requests myself. And I have no complaint, I would just like to find my quarters assignment."

"Name?" was all she asked.

"Chief Warrant Officer Arthur Waterson, Assistant Chief of Security."

As soon as the words left his lips, the fiery red-head paused in her work. She didn't need to look up the information, it was already in her head. "CWO Waterson, deck 7, section 15 alpha, room 207," Andy recalled, then fixed him with an intense, odd-eyed gaze. "Do you need help finding that?" she asked. Despite her curt manner earlier, she question now was a genuine courtesy and her tone reflected that.

Arthur nodded, looking her in the eyes with a sort of curious stare. "Yes, please. That would be quite helpful."

Andy nodded and saved the diagnostic she had been performing on the transporter, barking out some orders to a crewman to check the targeting scanners while she was gone. "Come on," she said to Arthur as she headed out of the Cargo Bay. "You've been assigned an office. Have you found that as well?" she asked as they walked.

"Yes, I have." Arthur nodded as he walked in step with Andrea. "It's very nice. My room shared, or do I get my own room?"

"You get your own room," Andy assured him, then they reached the lift and stepped in. "Deck 7" she ordered the lift, the continued as the lift traveled upwards, "It's a bit small though, but a real efficient use of space."

"Oh, good." Arthur stepped into the lift with Andy. Glancing over at her rank pips, he asked, "So, how long have you been in Starfleet?"

"A while," Andy said vaguely as she thought back to when she recruited. "I did my apprenticeship just before the War, so.... Maybe 16, no... 17 years? You?"

Arthur frowned as he reminisced back to his own enlistment. "I take it you're talking about the Dominion War. I joined during the Federation-Cardassian War, back in '58. So, that would mean I've served for 29, er, 30 years."

"Yeah, Dominion War..." Andy replied with a nod. The lift arrived at Deck 7 and let them out. "So, 30 years? Bet you've seen some things..." That was a lot of experience.

"Oh, that's for sure," Arthur said as he stepped off the lift. "I've fought in three wars, saw all my friends die, and somehow escaped from numerous impossible situations. But I've never fought a shapeshifter, which is something you lot on the Katana have done."

"Impossible situations... yeah..." Andy mused over that thought for a moment. "I didn't get a chance to deal with this changeling, but I did during the Dominion War. That experience will really come in handy if we're going to be stationed in the Gamma Quadrant for a while."

Arthur chuckled. "The enemies I've fought in my Starfleet career are all generic. Klingons, Cardassians, Romulans, a few regular Dominion soldiers. I have a lot of experience, but not with some of the insane creatures out in this quadrant."

"Hardly generic," Andy said with a snicker. They arrived at his quarters and she punched in her access codes to open the door and turn over access to him. "Here ya go, home sweet home," she offered. "We've got some gremlins in the replicator system. For some reason it keeps spitting out red jello. We're still trying to track down the cause, so if your replicator does it, it's a known issue and just go to the mess hall. We've got a civilian tending to hydroponics and is growing enough produce to feed the crew, so there's real food there most of the time." It seemed fair to warn him, the bugs in the replicator system had been a common complaint, hence her reason for setting up the 'Complaint' sign on the waste bin in her office.

Arthur looked around his new room and nodded in approval. "This is great. I'll make sure to heed your advice if anything goes wrong with the replicator. But don't worry, I love Jello."

"Good deal," Andy said with a nod. "Well, you know I'm your friendly neighborhood Chief of Ops, but I'm also Chief of the Boat, so if you have an issue with the Officers, let me know. Most people just call me Chief, or Andy so take your pick. I have an office, but I'm rarely there; I like to get my hands dirty, so I'm typically working on the ship somewhere," she informed him. "If you have any questions, I make myself available, even when I'm busy."

Arthur let out a hearty chuckle. "All right, and please, call me Arthur. Many people call me Chief, too, that may be a bit confusing." He stuck out his hand towards her. "It's nice to meet you, Andy."

"Likewise," Andy said with a grin, taking his hand and giving it a firm shake. "Well, I'll let you settle in. If you've got any cargo to bring up, the Quartermaster should have it delivered before the end of the shift." Andy ran a tight ship, so if she said his belongings would be here, then it would be here.

"Aye, thank you. Have a good day, Andy." Arthur waved, and stepped into his quarters.

Andy nodded and headed down the hall, giving a casual wave at the Warrant Officer as she walked away. Interesting guy...

Kyle was finally starting to feel a bit by his old self again. Not quite at 100%, that might take awhile, but he was better. His encounter with Will Morgan had been an interesting one and was part of the reason Kyle was no longer mopping around. Still a distraction or two couldn't hurt. He had a holodeck program he wanted to run, one that was better off with two or three, not just one. So he decided he'd go see his friend Nathan, he was Security Chief, he would probably enjoy it. He might even see if Will wanted to join in the fun too.

His first stop was the Lieutenant Tonkin's office.

Nathan was in his office in main security. PaDD's were scattered about his desk. he was currently facing the large terminal behind his desk reviewing Katana's tactical read outs. His duty jacket was draped over a couch that was in the corner of his office.

Kyle walked into security and after requesting to talk to "the boss" was directed to Nathan's office. The door was opened so he just walked in. 'Hey Nathan, you busy?" he asked.

Nathan swiveled around in his chair to face Kyle. He looked tired and overworked, but he smiled as soon as he saw who it was. "Hey, come on in. Have a seat." Nathan indicated a chair that was in front of his desk. "I have never been busier in my life. The captain should be grateful that I work well under stress." Nathan sighed and leaned back in his char, rubbing the bridge of his nose. Then he smiled at Kyle again. "But I always have a moment for a friend. What's up?"

Kyle came over and sat down. "Well, I'm off now and needed to relax. I was stopping by to see if you wanted to run to the holodeck. I've got a new program I wanted to try. Not all fun and games, though, you could use it for training."

Nathans first thought was that he was way to busy to be playing in the holodeck, but glancing around his desk he decided otherwise. "If I don't get out of this office I might go crazy. Thank you for inviting me, I would love to join you."

Nathan stood and grabbed his duty jacket, slipping it on. "You said I might be able to use it for training?"

"Well basically, its a cat and mouse game. Set in 21st Century Earth, but the Nazis won the Second World War and America fell. Now we have to get from San Francisco to Denver while being chased by guys with Uzis. Thought my ... friend Will who is the new Assistant Ops might guy play too."

Nathan gave Kyle a sideways glance and grinned " Your ..."friend"?" Nathan said exaggerating the last word dramatically, then he gently punched Kyle in the arm. "I'm glad to see you bouncing back so fast from your ex-husbands dumb ass move of leaving you. I don't know the hell that guy was thinking." Even though Nathan was not gay at all, he still felt badly for his friend and was more then happy to encourage him in any way he could. Nathan did honestly feel that leaving Kyle was a big mistake.

Kyle shrugged his shoulders. "He's a nice guy and well let's just say I don't kiss and tell and leave it a that. But I think he'd enjoy something like this. If you can tear yourself away, we can go look him up and see if he wants to join in."

Nathan grinned " I'm not very interested in your kiss and tell, I just think you deserve to be happy... and the next guy that break your heart Ill break in half like a twig." Nathan said with a slight chuckle, but it was hard to tell if he was joking or not. " I'm done for the day, its either track down Maica and see if shes got a old fashion bottle of whiskey laying around, or to the holodeck with you. Frankly your offer sounds like a better deal to me. Let go find Will."

"I appreciate the offer to 'take care' of any heart breakers for me. I'll keep that in mind. Its good to have a friend like you. And I'm kind of glad you have no interest in the details. Let's go find Will."

Nathan lead the way out of main security, but fell in beside Kyle because he had no idea where Will would be. "I want you to understand, my lack of interest in your sex life has nothing to do with you or who your having sex with...things like that make me uncomfortable. It would not matter if you were with a guy or girl...are any other gender that might be on this ship." Nathans face actually turned a slight pink just talking about this. " I just don't want you to get the wrong idea about me."

"Its okay Nathan, I understand. Will is the only other guy I've ever done anything with, except Noah. I wouldn't broadcast things even if you wanted the details."

Will was headed back from work on the internal sensor array with tool kit in hand after finishing his shift off. It had been a hard job and he'd decided he'd earnt a good cold pint of cider. As he rounded the corner, he recognised one of the two officers walking down the corridor. Kyle. Damn that man had reminded Will of how much fun he had missed out on after their night together. He hadn't met all of the other crew yet and decided to take the oppurtunity presented before him.

"Hey Kyle, so who are you whisking off now for another adventure?" he asked playfully.

Kyle chuckled, "Not that kind, you rogue. Nathan here is not exactly my type and besides he's straight. But we are headed to the holodeck for a little fun. We were actually coming to get you. Are you free?"

"Yup, I just finished my shift," Will nodded as he turned around and secured his tool kit in the maintenance panel on the corridor wall. He turned around and looked at Nathan, extending his hand in a greeting, "Hi, I'm Will Morgan, Assistant Chief Ops," he said introducing himself.

Nathan watched the banter between the two men. He took Will's hand in a firm, but not crushing hand shake. Will was almost as tall as Nathan, something that did not happen very often. "Welcome, so your Andy's man huh?"

Will nodded back."Yup, that's me, newly on board. We served together during the war on the Lexington, so this is almost Deja vu in some weird way, seeing as she's my Department boss now," he explained. "So whats your little role on this ship and whats the plan for the holodeck? I need some fun," he said.

"I'm in charge of security on this crazy boat." Nathan stated then turned to look at Kyle "Yeah, what exactly do you have planed for us?"

"Well, we are all on the run. The year is 2014 and the Nazis won the second World War. They control America. We've escaped Alcatraz, one of the few to do so and the authorities aren't happy about it. We have to get to Denver which is a Rebel strong hold, the capital of Free America. I know what my crime is, being gay of course. You'll have to decide your crimes, if you want to that is."

Nathan grinned and looked excited. "Awesome, Ill be a terrorist fighting for the rebellion that got caught."

Kyle turned to Will, "And you?" he inquired,

Will smiled, "Naturally, I stole a loaf of bread from a Nazi officer whilst he was having his breakfast at a roadside cafe and when they caught me, I was speeding as well," he said, "Why not rack up the offenses eh!" Will laughed afterwards,but his uncle had taught him about how silly at times the law could have been back in the 21st century.

"Okay, sounds good. I'll warn you the period clothing may take a little getting used to. We're starting off near Pier 39, in San Francisco, our first goal is to get out of the city. By the way, I have the safety protocols set at 70%, I think that makes things more realistic, but we still can't get really hurt. Any objections?"

"None here," said Will as he mentally prepared himself to enter the programme with Nathan and Kyle. He was looking forward to this and getting to spend some down time with Kyle, as well as getting to know Nathan too.

Kyle turned to Nathan, "you have any?" he asked.

"Everything sounds great to me! I'm excited to get in there. Let go get our costumes!" Nathan indeed look excited about this program.

"I'm excited too" Kyle said as he began making adjustments to the program to input the details the others had given him. His mind drifted momentarily as he remembered his encounter with Will, but he quickly brought his thoughts back under control. If it had just been the two of them then perhaps there would have been time for a repeat performance, but that would have to wait since Nathan was coming along. Not that he minded, he liked Nathan and was excited about seeing if they'd be able to make it to Denver.

Will looked around and found his costume for the programme and he began changing for this adventure. He looked over at Kyle and could see him go dreamy eyed as he glanced at Will. They had shared a close moment together and he could see Kyle still recalled it with affection. This holodeck adventure would be fun.

Kyle stepped in and donned his costume as well, a a pair of black chinos and a silver and black hoodie with Oakland Raiders emblazoned on it. He wasn't sure if his feelings for Will, were just lust or if there was something more, but now was not the time to think about such things.

Nathan got his costume on as well. A pair of jeans and a "Wife beater" tank top and a pair of heavy boots. He also found a dark denim jacket. He watched the two men stare at each other for a moment with a grin on his face. Even if it was not meant to last, this is exactly what Kyle needed to help him. Nathan was glad to see his friend getting back in the saddle as the saying goes.

Once everyone was ready, they stepped through the arch and into cool, almost cold night with a heavy fog enshrouding them. The fog was so dense they could see no more than ten meters. A foghorn sounded some where in the middle distance, they could smell the sat air and standing directly in front of the them was a restaurant. They could also hear the sound of several seals barking seemingly almost underneath their feet.

Will quickly took in the atmosphere before looking at Kyle. "So, which way is out boss?" He whispered to him, just in case anyone was nearby in the fog.

Nathan took a deep breath with his eyes closed. "San Francisco..." He said quietly. It was crazy how a smell can bring back memories like they just did. Nathan opened his eyes again and looked to Kyle and Will. "Let get moving gentlemen."

Kyle nodded at both the other men. "Our first step should be to find some transport. In this time, it would have to be what they called mass transit back then, or a taxi or we could try to steal, I mean borrow, a car."

Will was familiar with those type of vehicles from his story lessons and knew they were bright yellow and saloon in shape. However the thought of stealing a car was even more exciting. He looked around for a vehicle that fit the description for the three of them. He spotted a vehicle parked just down a small secluded sideroad. "Will that fit the bill?" He whispered.

Kyle nodded and looked over at Nathan,"Yeah, that should do nicely, you think you could hot wire the thing, or do you want me to give it a shot?"

Will grinned. "After you sir," he whispered and gestured.

Nathan shook his head " I don't even know how to work one of those things, let alone 'Hot wire' it. I hear they use foot peddles to make it move? Weird..."

"Yeah I know, I guess I get the honors then, I've driven one before. And you're right they have foot pedals to make it move and stop and..." but the rest of what he had been about to say faded away when they heard a shout behind them. "You three, hold it right there. Where do you think you're going?"

"Fuck..." They had stayed in one spot too long. Nathan whispered "Get the car going, I'll handle who ever that is." Nathan stood and faced who ever it was. " Evening!"

Kyle was able to get the door open and stepped inside, starting to work on hot wiring the vehicle.

Meanwhile a group of five men dressed in black uniforms, two of whom were carrying machine guns at their side, two others had heavy caliber pistols by their side. The fifth man, who appeared to be an officer and the man in charge was weaponless. "What are the three of you doing?"

"Just getting ready to leave sir's" Nathan grabbed Will by the back of his coat, lifted him up and wobbled him around a little. "My friend here was sick and worried he might throw up. We stopped to see if the cool night sea breeze would help his stomach. He seems to be doing much better." God I hope this works...

"Where did you come from and where are you going and more importantly, let me see your papers."

Awww shit " Oh yeah, my papers are in the car. Let me help my friend into the back seat and Ill get them for you." Said Nathan turning himself and Will to the car and opening the back door. As he shoved Will into the back seat he whispered "Sorry man..Kyle you ready to go?"

Kyle had just managed to get the car started,and without answering Nathan, he took off, the tires squealing in protest against the asphalt. Only a few second passed before gunfire erupted. For just an instant, it looked like they might get away if not unscathed, at least unhurt and free to continue the game. Kyle took the corner on two wheels and started down the steep winding street.

Then bullets tore into the back of the car and both back wheels. This wasn't supposed to happen like this. Everything seemed to be moving in fast motion. Kyle wasn't particularly adept at driving a vehicle like this, but he wasn't a novice. Yet when the wheels were blown out, it no longer seemed like a game any more. He lost all control of the car and the car spun crazily the rear, where Nathan was, slamming into a light pole.

Nathan had hardly been in the car when they started moving. He had a hard time hanging on to the car. But when bullets stared tearing up the back end of the car, they slammed into Nathans body as well. Lucky for Nathan, the light pole was of no concern because when the car started swerving around, and the bullets hit him, he went flying from the car. The last thing Nathan remembers thinking as he flew threw the air was that something was wrong with the safety protocols. Then things went black.


Kyle was shaken when the car stopped moving. Shaken badly But he was used to reacting well under pressure. He too realized that something was horribly wrong. The SS Troopers who had shot up the car were now racing towards them ^=^ Computer freeze program !" he shouted. For just an instant it looked like nothing had changed, Kyle heard the bolt of the two machine gun being pulled back. Then, before any triggers could be pulled the holodeck revered to its orange and green grid. He looked in back and saw Will, who at least seemed like he was breathing and began looking for his friend Nathan.

He finally spotted him, then raced over towards him.

He hit his comm badge ^=^ Weaver to sickbay. Medical Emergency! Emergency site to site transport. Everyone here in the holodeck to sickbay. NOW!!"

Cohen emerged from his office just as the transport cycled. "What the hell happened?" He shouted as he approached the men.

"We were on the holodeck, and something went wrong. I'm going to go check things out and see what happened, but you need to take care of thees two, they were pretty shaken up."

Kyle's head, hurt like hell and and his ribs were not much better. There was a sticky wetness in the small of his back, but he wasn't going to mention that. He had to find out what had happened.

Will looked up from the biobed and realised that they were in sickbay. The last thing he remembered was being shoved in the back of the car on the holodeck, hitting his head in the car as it was driven away from gunfire and now waking up here. He reminded himself to find out who drove later. "Ok, whose dumbarse idea was it to knock me out in the back of the car by driving like a drunk Romulan??" Will moaned.

Will looked over seeing Dr Cohen in the room. "Hey Doc, whats happening,?" He asked.

"So help me I'm going to disable the fracking holodecks on this ship if I have to do it myself with a self-sealing stembolt." He said as he began to attend to the worse of the wounds.

Cohen made quick work of the lacerations. "I'm seriously going to start restricting access to the holodecks, what do you all have against safeties." He said as he ran a tricorder over the wound.

Kyle slipped out while no one was looking and made his way, rather painfully at times to the holodeck. He began checking what might have gone wrong and what he found there made his blood run cold. When he saw the safety protocol's settings he knew what he had done. He had been focused on Will, specifically Will's ass and it might have cost both Will and Nathan their lives.

He could have covered it up, it would be easy enough to do. No one would ever be the wiser, but he just couldn't do it. He was going to go back and check on Nathan and Will, then he'd have to go see the Captain.

Step by step and dreading everyone of them he made his way back to sickbay to check things out.

When he arrived, he went over to where Nathan lay recovering, or at least he hoped he was recovering. Not know whether the other man could hear him or not he said, "Gods Nathan I'm sorry. This is all my fault. I had the controls the safety protocol set wrong. Cause I had my head up my ass, well really because I was thinking about Will's ass instead of focusing on what I should have been doing. I'm going to go turn myself into the Captain."

Nathan's eyes opened and he looked up at Kyle. "Well at lest make it worth while, go check on Will before you go to the Captain... Wait what happened? Sick bay again?"

"Yeah, I'll do that. You're not pissed that I almost got you killed?"

Nathan shook his head. "What good would that do? I'm guessing that since your the one still standing you also saved Will and I?" Nathan gave Kyle a knowing look.

"Yeah, I guess that's right."

"Shit happens man...Go find Will. I'm ok." Nathan said laying back and closing his eyes.

Kyle nodded, still feeling plenty of guilt and turned to go find Will.

The QM's office was a small room up on Deck 1. It had space for a desk, and a chair in front of an behind it. Ethan reclined in his chair, feet up on his desk. On the desk console's screen was a supply requisition from the science department. Ethan had a good-sized list of supply orders and requests to be looked over, but Ethan wasn't really in the mood. He had just arrived yesterday, and hadn't met anyone yet. All his assignment PADD stated was that he go to his office next morning, and work the B shift. He'd been in the office for several hours now and he'd only processed five orders. Oh well, he'd do the rest in an hour or so, after a quick nap. And so, Ethan sat back a bit farther in the chair, and closed his eyes, hoping to catch a few Zs.

Andy came into the office a while later. She noticed right away that the occupant of this office was asleep. Andy wasn't really 'built' for stealth, but she could be silent and sneaky when she wanted to be. She came right up beside Ethan as quietly as she could manage and tapped his chair with her boot, hard enough to unbalance him.

Ethan woke up to his chair being hit. Being quite surprised, he leaned over to the right, trying to get out of the chair. Breaking the precarious balance that briefly kept his chair upright, the chair fell over, and Ethan spilled onto the ground, dazed and bewildered. "What the hell?" He uttered as he lay sprawled across the floor. Ethan wiped his eyes, and slowly picked himself up off the ground. Looking over at Andy, he yelled "Who the bloody hell are you?!?"

Oh, this one had some bite to him! Fun... "CPO Andy Carter, Chief of Operations," Andy said with a wicked grin. yeah, let that sink in...

Glaring over at Andy, Ethan sputtered and indignantly spewed out bits and phrases, extremely pissed off. "You can't- In all of the- I outrank- That could've- But..." Ethan's words trailed off for a second, before flailing his arms in the air and wailing "You can't just do that!" Ethan was so enraged that he didn't care that she was his boss. It wasn't right, and he felt a strong urge to let her know that.

Andy couldn't help but chuckle all throughout his inane ranting, crossing her arms over her chest as she watched him flail about. "Are you done?" she asked once his outrage seemed to have waned.

Finally calming down, Ethan realized that he probably made himself look like a fool. Sighing, he nodded to Andy and said "Yes, I am done."

"Good," she said, dusting off his jacket and straightening it out. "Next time I see you with your eyes closed while on duty, you better be dead or dying," she warned him, but there was a strange grin on her face. She wasn't mad at him, not really, maybe a little pissed, but not mad. Although, he would be paying for this little outburst for a while.

Ethan nodded. What she said was fair, though he wasn't very happy about it. "Well, that's all fine and good, but there are better ways to make your point than knocking me out of my chair."

"I coulda stuck your hand in a bowl of warm water," the ex-Borg woman offered nonchalantly. "Now, I want a full inventory of both Cargo Bays on my desk by 0800. Think you can handle that?"

"Yes, ma'am. I'll work on it right away." Ethan rolled his eyes. This was going to be a long posting, it seemed.

Andy reached over and flicked him on the ear, no doubt a painful experience with the metal plating covering her fingers. "You need to learn some respect, kid," Andy scolded with a good natured smile. "Don't think that just 'cause you've been to the Academy and you're an officer don't make you any better than anyone else. All that fancy schoolin' only goes so far, you still got a lot to learn."

Ethan winced as Andy flicked him in the ear. "Yes, ma'am." Ethan saluted her and headed towards the door, so he could start inventory. As he opened the door, his ear still throbbed with pain.

"And don't call me ma'am!" Andy hollered after the spirited young Ensign. Yep, she was going to have fun breaking this one in...

[ON]

Lieutenant Commander Cameron Tegan should have assumed that he'd receive a few cautious glances on his way from the holodeck to sickbay. After all, it wasn't everyday that people saw their executive officer coming back from what looked like a serious fight -- which it was. Only Cameron hadn't fought with a member of the crew, he sparred against a holographic opponent, a Brikar.

Fighting a Brikar, even a holographic one, was immensely difficult even for a Klingon, much less a half-Klingon. The average Brikar weighed nearly a ton, necessitating that they use personnel anti-gravity generators when off-world, otherwise they'd collapse under their own weight. They also possessed some of the toughest hides -- turning them into living armor. Hit a Brikar in the wrong place, and you risked breaking your own bones as well as its. A lesson that Cameron knew all too well.

"Ensign," Cameron nodded to a passing officer as he turned off the corridor and passed through the dual opening leading him into sickbay. With most of the crew still on the station, sickbay was empty save for the Chief Medical Officer on duty. "Hey doc. Got a minute?"

Cohen looked up and saw the new XO. "Commander, what happened?" He said gesturing the XO to the nearest biobed.

"I got into a fight with a Brikar." Cameron said as he took a seat.

"Well that was stupid." He remarked. Using the tricorder to began to check for internal injuries. "It's nothing life threatening but you're going to be sore for a few days."

The executive officer shrugged indifferently. Being sore after a hand to hand bout with any worthy opponent was usually an expectation. "Glad to hear it," he said as the doctor ran a medical tricorder up and down his body several times. A moment later, a dermal regenerator had appeared by his head and was healing the considerable gash across his brow. Cameron glanced up at the doctor and smiled thinly. "The second part... that is. As for the first, it was a holographic Brikar. And I at least beat him one time out of three; Brikars are tough sons-of-bitches."

"Would know in that regard, although I did have the, interesting, experience of trying to repair one's broken femur, well the Brikar equivalent. He'd apparently been his by a shuttlecraft." Cohen said as he finished treating the wounds. "There, that should do it."

Cameron reached up and touched what had been a gouge, and only seconds after the doctor ran his instruments over the wound, was now indistinguishable from the rest. "Ah, the modern miracles of 24th century technology..." Cameron added jovially. He stopped and studied Cohen, who aside from his duties as Chief Medical Officer, was also one of the senior officers on board the Katana. If something had happened to Kerouac, Cameron, and Jhu t'Dharvanek, he'd find himself in command. "I don't think we've had the chance," Cameron began, extending a hand out to the CMO. "Cameron Tegan."

"Liam Cohen, You're our new XO correct." He said shaking the man's hand.

"That's right," Cameron admitted, his lips thinning into a small smile. He was still feeling his way around most members of the crew. While it seemed apparent that few people took to liking his predecessor, Tul Zanaar, the loss of their former executive office had to have had some impact. "I think we'll all have a little more chance to introduce ourselves during the next senior staff briefing," he looked around. "Unfortunately, there's not much need while at Starbase."

"Well I already know you're reckless, should I keep a draft letter to remove you from duty on my desk." He remarked.

Grinning jovially, Cameron shrugged. The half threat (if it was one) surprised him but he made no motion to indicate that it had. "Doctor, I'm half Klingon. Better to get all that pent up aggressiveness out on a holodeck where there are safety protocols to keep me from getting into any serious harm," he decided to end his defense there. There was no justification in suggesting that he wouldn't be so 'reckless' on duty or in the real world. He had other ways of channeling his aggressiveness in those cases. "I don't think it'll be necessary."

"Yeah, I had a klingon first officer once who managed to break 8 ribs, both arms and his jaw, on a holodeck, with safeties." He said.

"Sounds about right," Cameron suggested. "But for a Klingon, those injuries barely surpass what one would account for a flesh wound," he chuckled.

Cohen rolled his eyes. "I've patched up enough Klingons to know, I'm surprised your people haven't Darwined themselves out of existence by now." He remarked as he made a few notes. "No offence. Sir."

Cameron chortled. "None taken, doc. And you know what they say: what doesn't kill you makes you stronger." He stood up and flexed his shoulders. He was definitely sore, which was expected. But it wasn't anything a good sonic shower wouldn't alleviate. At least until his body had time to heal fully. "Well, I appreciate your attention, but I'd better get back to it. I'm on duty in an hour."

"Alright, and take it easy on the holodeck, a third XO in a year away would be bad for moral." Cohen replied.

"Fair point," Cameron admitted. "Take it easy."

[OFF]

Lieutenant Commander Cameron Tegan
Executive Officer
USS Katana

Lieutenant Commander Liam Cohen, MD
Chief Medical Officer
USS Katana

Sabby came out of the bathroom, with just a towel wrapped around her head. She smiled when she spotted Shira. "Oh good, you're back. I have a date. Will you help me pick out an outfit?" She asked. Sabby had been nervous since lunch, when Lieutenant Dallas Weatherly had asked her out...again. The first time she's still been getting over Petty Officer Heath, and had stuttered out something about busy and washing hair. It was rather embarrassing. When he'd asked her for a second time, his smile and blue eyes had gotten him a yes. But now she needed girly advice!

"You need an outfit for a piece of fruit?" Shira asked dubiously as she put away her lesson PaDD and fluttered closer to Sabby.

Sabrina smiled. "No, for going out with a man, having dinner with him. It's called a date." She clarified. But she'd never thought about the double meaning of the word, and found it amusing.

Oh, right! Some words had different meanings! "So a date is a fruit, but it is also having dinner with a man," Shira repeated for clarification. "I still do not understand the requirement of special clothing for this activity."

"Neither do I to be honest." Sabrina smiled. "It's just one of those things you do. I just want to look nice." She headed to her closet with a sigh. "I have nothing!" Which wasn't true, Sabrina had a small assortment of casual sun dresses, two pairs of nice jeans, and three pairs of short shorts. But she did not have any 'date' clothes.

"If you wish to look nice, I believe you need to do something about that... thing on your head," Shira offered, having forgotten the word 'towel'. She knew it was for drying off, but she kept forgetting why Sabby kept putting it on her head like that. "I like the color of this shirt," she said in an attempt to be helpful, pointing at one of the shirts in Sabby's closet.

Sabrina smiled. "Yes, I won't be wearing the towel on my date. I'm just not ready to blow dry and curl my hair yet." Sabrina looked at the shirt. "It is nice." She pulled out the purple blouse, and tossed it on the bed, then slipped on a simple bra and panties. He definitely wouldn't be seeing those anyway. "Should I just wear jeans?" Sabrina asked, pulling out a pair in case Shira had forgotten the name for those as well.

Shira carefully considered the garment, then looked at the others still in the closet. "That one," she suggested, pointing to a different pair of jeans that were just a bit darker. She didn't know if she was offering good advice, but she liked how the darker shade of blue looked with the purple top.

"Ok" Sabrina was happy to take the advice, and actually agreed, the darker pair did go better. She pulled on the jeans, but left the blouse on the bed. She grabbed her curling iron and blow drier from a drawer and started on her hair, but conversed with Shira as she did. "How was your day today? Do anything exciting?"

Shira simply shrugged as she watched Sabby do her hair. Nothing overly exciting had happened to her that day and she was far more interested in what her roommate was doing. After a while, she looked at her grassy hair, running her fingers through it, then looked at Sabby's hair. As she dried it, it was becoming so nice looking, a bit fluffy, but she had seen Sabby use the curling iron before and knew it wouldn't be so fluffy in a bit. then she looked at her hair, then her reflection. She looked so different from everyone else. But that was ok, right? Not everyone looked the same on this ship. Andy and Vara had metal pieces attached to them, Maica was green, Jhu had spots and pointy ears, Verak had pointy ears, Cameron had spots and ridges on his forehead... Not everyone looked the same, but Shira looked really different. Not just that, but Verak had once asked her out. Was that what a date was?

"Sabby, could you explain this 'date' thing to me?" Shira asked meekly as she watched Sabby work on her hair.

"I'm probably the wrong one to ask. I haven't really dated much at all, but I'll do my best." Sabrina smiled. "When you like somebody and want to get to know them better, you ask them out on a date. It usually involves dinner, but not always. Sometimes you can go see a movie, or a play, really anything you are interested in."

"Oh..." Shira thought on this for a moment. "I have had dinner with Maica, but I did not put much effort into my appearance and I do not believe she did either..." Perhaps she was simply not getting it. "I have shared a meal with Kris as well." But same deal, neither had put much effort into their appearances either.

Sabrina smiled. "And we've eaten together and talked a lot of times, and gotten to know each other. I think what makes a date special, or different is that there is the potential of it becoming more. Maybe leading to something romantic."

"Ro-man-tic?" Shira repeated. She didn't know this word and was instantly curious as this seemed to be the thing she was lacking to understanding this 'dating' thing.

"Oh, ummmmm." Sabby had to think. "You know what kissing is right?"

Shira stared at Sabby blankly. She knew what kissing was, but she had no way of knowing it because she simply did not know the word itself.

'oh great' Shira obviously had not idea what kissing was, or had no idea what the word meant. Sabrina stopped messing with her hair and decided to just show her. She'd had to show her the shower, and the toilet, and after those two awkward experiences, this didn't seem nearly so bad. Sabrina kissed Shira, just a simple touching of lips, something one would give their grandmother. "A kiss"

Shira's eyes went wide as realization dawned on her. Sabrina was talking about courting! Not that Shira knew that word, but she understood the concept, she had expressed interest in courting on her world and some males had expressed interest in courting her. Though she had never been on a 'date', she was still young after all, she was familiar with the concept in context with her people's customs.

"So you and a man will share a meal to see if you have mutual interest in copulating?" Shira asked to make sure she had the concept right.

Sabrina's mouth went agog for a moment. Actually, as crudely as it was put, Shira wasn't really that far off. "Ummm well. Not right away, I mean I guess some people do. I never have though." Sabrina sighed softly. "I'm sorry. I'm doing a bad job explaining this."

"I have never done that either," Shira admitted with a blush. "Verak asked me to dance once," she added softly.

"Did he?" Sabrina smiled. "That's a very popular date activity too. Did you dance with him?"

"Oh, not yet..." Shira said, wiggling a little. "He has been very nice to me. He was waiting for me to wake when I was taken to the medical place after what happened on Kendi. He brought me flowers and held my hand and we talked." As she talked, she had this glowing smile and her blush intensified.

Sabrina joined in the smiling. "I'd say he likes you, and it looks like you like him too."

"He makes me smile," Shira said to affirm Sabby's assumption. "And you wish to see if this man makes you smile?" She was trying so hard to understand the differences and similarities of their ways. Shira wanted so much to fit in with her new friends.

"Yes!" Sabrina smiled widely. Shira had put it so wonderfully, and she was the one who thought she didn't understand. "I want to see if he makes me smile. He seems very nice, but he's an officer. Not in engineering luckily."

Shira was still learning about the ship departments, but she didn't understand why this would be a problem. "It is a good thing he is not in the same department as you?" Now she was confused all over again! "And it seems that he is an officer is a bad thing?" she added awkwardly.

"Well, if he is my superior within engineering, we aren't suppose to date. It's even frowned upon for officer's to date enlisted, but there aren't any actual rules about it. So it's not a bad thing, it can just be complicated at work." Sabrina hoped that helped.

"Your superior?" Shira thought on this. Andy had taught her something about this. "Because it would be a conflict with the chain of command?" she recited questioningly. But she still didn't understand what the big deal was about being an officer or not being an officer. She still didn't totally understand that Sabby wasn't an officer, the difference in rank still went over Shira's head a bit.

"Yes, if somebody can tell you what to do, which is pretty much everybody on this ship for me." Sabrina smiled. "It's considered a conflict, because they could try and order you to do something you didn't want to do by threatening your job. That isn't suppose to happen, but I think that's why they have the rules, to make sure it doesn't."

Shira nodded. Andy had explained some things relating to that as well. "Or he could show favor to you, and that would be unfair to the others," she said to illustrate that she was understanding it better. Would that be a problem for her and Verak? She hadn't done her testing for her apprenticeship, but once she did, Shira would be subject to the same chain of command as Sabby.

"Right. It would be playing favorites."

Shira looked at their reflections in the mirror, Shira with her grassy hair and pale, almost grey skin, and Sabby with her creamy skin and pretty curled hair. Standing next to Sabby, the little Arboreal was feeling a bit inadequate. She began wringing a lock of her grassy hair in her hands. "Sabby... if Verak takes me to dance, will... will you..." Shira blushed again, feeling a bit embarrassed about the question. "Will you make me look pretty like you?"

"What?" Sabrina was shocked. How could Shira think she wasn't pretty? "Shira, you are beautiful! I have plain brown hair, and plain brown eyes. You are exotic. I will help you get ready if Verak takes you to dance though, yes."

"Exotic?" Shira had heard this word before, but she didn't know what it meant. Even still, Sabby seemed to express it in a way that seemed positive, so Shira was trying to take it that way, but it was still so hard to past the differences. "Thank you, Sabby," she said with a meek smile.

"You're welcome." Sabrina smiled. "Exotic means different, in a good way different. I mean brown hair and brown eyes is very common. You have a different look, people find different attractive."

Shira nodded with a smile. She was still so insecure about the differences between them, but Sabby's words were making her feel better. "Sabby is pretty," she said shyly. "Common or not, you are still pretty."

"Aww thank you Shira." Sabrina hugged the other woman. "Dallas is very handsome, He has dark blonde hair and blue eyes. He could probably go out with anybody he wanted."

The way Sabby worded her statement was very confusing for Shira. "If he can go with anyone he wants... then he must want to be with you," Shira said awkwardly.

"I suppose. I just wish I knew why. I mean I've really only dated two other guys. My high school sweetheart, and then Petty Officer Cowell, but that was only one date. Still both of them only wanted sex."

"And this is bad?" Shira asked. Oh, this was getting more confusing...

"Well, I guess not if the other person just wants sex too. I mean sometimes people just want to have sex, but they don't want to be with each other except for that." Sabrina blushed. "I really am the wrong person to try and be explaining this. I want to spend time with somebody though. Listen to music, go to the beach. I'm not sure I'm ready to even have sex."

Shira nodded. She could understand that much. "I hope he wants to spend time with you," Shira said softly. Sabby deserved someone to make her smile.

"Me too." Sabrina smiled. She finished getting ready, then hugged Shira. "Thank you, I'll tell you all about my date when I get back."

Shira hugged her back, excited to hear all about it later tonight.

PO3 Sabrina Corbin
Repair Specialist

Shira
Ship Pet

[ON]

Executive Officer Cameron Tegan waited patiently at the entrance to holodeck two. His hands were clasped at the small of his back, and aside from nearly a full days use, his uniform looked relatively untouched. Kristopher Kerouac had decided (on rather worthy rationale) that it would be a good idea for the Klingon/Trill to take a few members of the crew on a holodeck simulation based on the Katana’s recent run-in with the Jem’hadar. If the Katana was going to be operating in deep space, its crew needed to be ready for anything.

He’d contemplated exactly what sort of simulation he should program. The wounds from the recent attack were… well… recent. And he didn’t want to force anybody to relive those experiences in such a way that it would cause further traumatic stress. But at the same time, it needed to be relevant to what had happened.

Deciding to start small, he selected the Katana’s Chief of Security – Nathan Tonkin, its Chief of Intelligence – Jhu t’Dharvanek (although he still had some concerns over the Romulan-half of her Romulan/Trill heritage), and Lieutenant Visari Ifarr – one of the Katana’s newest surgeons.

Admittedly, Visari Ifarr had been an unexpected volunteer.

Nathan came walking around the corner and up to the man standing out side the Holodeck. He stopped right in front of him "Lieutenant Commander Tegan?" Nathan asked extending his hand.

"That's right," Cameron admitted, shaking Tonkin's hand and nodding curtly. "You must be Lieutenant Nathan Tonkin, Chief of Security," the Klingon added. It was a change of pace having to look up slightly, as Tonkin was nearly an inch taller than Cameron was.

Nathan nodded quickly to the man " Aye sir, its a pleasure to meet you. Welcome aboard."

Showing up promptly, wearing a black training outfit, Visari was not looking pleased, her hair was tied in a bun severely. Volunteering for training not her first choice, she was realizing she was needing to face her fears, causing harm to others again. The holodeck was the best way to do that head on. Taking it out of her mind, she was giving sharp nods to the gathered crew. "Commander. Lieutenant." hands behind her back she was waiting.

Nathan smiled at the woman who had just shown up " Lieutenant, nice to meet you. I'm Nathan Tonkin, chief of security." He held his hand out to her.

She did not shake his hand, "Dr. Ifarr, biomechatronic surgeon." the betazoid was introducing herself abruptly.

Nathan eyebrows raised and he lowered his hand to his side " Alright...."

Jhu took her time in heading down to the holodeck. She hadn't even met this 'Tegan' yet, but she was starting to wonder if the man was delusional. Any sane person would know looking at her file that she hadn't been on away team duty with the Katana crew yet, so there wasn't any possible way she could have messed either mission up. Still, he outranked her. And she had to admit it was nice not holding down the first officer position on top of doing her normal job. Regardless, she couldn't quite manage a sincere smile as she approached the gathered group. Oh great. He's Klingon! she thought a bit crossly. She had nothing personal against the Klingons, but experience showed that they often did not like her.

Cameron noticed the face of who could only be the Katana's Chief of Intelligence step up, and immediately noticed where the Trill-like features ended and the Romulan-ish features began. In a way, it was strange; Cameron and Jhu had been linked by their Trill parentage, and yet were also locked by the blood of two mortal enemies. He scrunched his lower-lip upward, nodding politely to the Intel officer.

Jhu politely nodded in return, simultaneously giving him a studious look. His appearance was easily as unusual as her own, though his spots faded more easily into his darker skin. Interesting.

Nathan smiled at Jhu when she first approached, she being the only one he had actually meet in this group when she broke into engineering to save his life after the Katana was stormed. But he kept quiet watching the interaction between Tegan and her. He was well aware of the bad blood between the two races. He just hoped he would not have to jump into a fight between the two of them... He owed one of them his life.

Arthur strolled over to the small group, and looked around. The only person Arthur had met was Nathan, an he flashed him a quick smile. The old Chief noticed that one command-uniformed fellow with commander pips seemed to be the most senior officer there. Arthur considered it a good idea to introduce himself. He walked over to the fellow, gave him a good-natured smile, and extended his hand. "I'm Chief Warrant Officer Arthur Waterson, Assistant Chief of Security. I'm pleased to make your acquaintance."

Nathan nodded to Arthur but let him make his introductions to the EO.

"Chief," Cameron accepted Arthur's handshake before turning to the group. "Well, since I haven't had an opportunity to meet with most of you since we've been in dock, let me introduce myself. My name is Cameron Tegan, and I have been assigned, by Starfleet Command, as the Katana's executive officer," the way he spoke indicated that his introduction was some kind of unnecessary formality. "Captain Kerouac has suggested that, in light of recent events with the Jem'hadar, I organize a series of training exercises. I decided to start with the senior members of our security team," he indicated Arthur and Nathan. "-plus our Chief Intelligence Officer. Doctor Ifarr is joining us to cover a medical perspective."

After speaking, Cameron hit the console and brought up a series of commands. A few moments later, the computer chirped, reporting that the simulation was ready. "After you," he said to Jhu who happened to be closest to the door.

"If you've sent me into a trap, you are so dead. Sir." Higher rank or not, Jhu had little fear of poking fun at Cameron. Either he'd take it well or he'd start yelling, but either way... his temper had to be better than the previous XO's. She still had no idea why he'd brought her into the training, but she went through the door first all the same, one hand already poised to draw her hidden phaser if he had set an ambush for them.

Cameron smiled as he and the other three officers followed the Romulan/Trill into the holodeck. They found themselves on the Katana's bridge, with holographic avatars of the crew presiding over their stations. Nothing seemed amiss; everybody was just going about their duties. As the doors closed behind them and the arch vanished into the environment, Cameron took up a position near the middle of the room, turned, and faced the others. "I don't believe in the benefit of throwing people into some random situation in order to see how they react. This is the bridge shortly before the Jem'hadar attack. We're going to study what happened, and come up with solutions and new ways of thinking to prevent something similar from happening in the future. An After Action Review -- nothing else. Any questions so far?"

Suddenly, Jhu knew why he'd invited her. It wasn't the away team he was concerned about... it was ship security. "Sounds like a plan." Something had seemed off in the days leading up to the attack, but she'd never been quite sure what it was. Maybe the simulation would clear that up too. She paused, wondering just how extensive this simulation was going to be. "Is this just the bridge or will we be following the teams trying to repel the boarding party?"

"Let's just say that this will be a working lunch," Cameron answered.

"As long as there's actually a lunch provided, I don't think anyone minds." Jhu smirked a little then gave him a more serious look. "Let's get started then."

Nathan looked around the bridge. What a great idea. Nathan was not able to be part of the fight on the bridge, as he was charged with securing engineering. He had seen the security footage but a 3D perspective would do a lot for his report to the Captain.

Cameron looked around. Everybody was still frozen in place. "Computer, begin program."

In a snap, and thanks to the internal sensor records, the bridge came alive as officers were busy at their stations. A yeoman stopped by one of the rear consoles and deposited a data PADD which, inevitably, would reveal itself a Changeling. In a way, it was a bit eerie, looking at people go about their lives not knowing what was to happen. "These are actual sensor logs," Cameron pointed out. "So don't expect anybody to react to our presence," he gestured to the PADD lying on the far console. "Our enemy is already aboard and we don't even know it yet..."

"I'm more interested in how it got aboard. We can't stop another attempt until we understand how that happened." Jhu idly rubbed the lingering sore spot at the crest of her hip, considering a few possibilities. "Could have been cargo, someone's luggage... hell. It could have just walked in for all we know."

Nathan walked over to the PaDD and watched it. "I tried to follow it back, but the way PaDD's are passed around and moved in and out of people personal quarters its impossible for my to backtrack the route of this fake guy."

"Probably wasn't always a PADD. And you're not going to know a Changeling by looking at it when it's being a PADD... it would even show up on scans as a PADD. Unless you're Vara, Carter, or Maica, you'll never identify one on sight alone." Jhu examined the PADD, waiting for it to change. Was it the Founder she'd seen before or had there been two?

Nathan nodded his head looking at Jhu, "You are right of course. With the new Phaser modulators Chief Carter installed for us we will be able to keep on top of issues like this from now on." He added.

Cameron crossed his arms. Everything about what had happened began and ended with that Changeling infiltrator.

"Anything to report, Commander?" Kristopher Kerouac asked of Cameron's predecessor -- Tul Zanaar.

"Nothing." The Andorian replied simply.

"Very well," Kerouac nodded. "If anything changes, let me know. I will be in my ready room."

As if on cue, the PADD turned gelatinous.

"What the hell!?"

Having revealed itself, the Changeling attacked, killing one of the Orion members of the crew. A fraction of a second later, a troop of Jem'hadar soldiers materialized on the bridge, and began their assault.

"Computer, freeze program." Cameron ordered. The simulation froze just as electric-purple bolts of disrupter-fire tore into the Katana's previous Executive Officer. Cameron opened his mouth to say something, but stopped himself. For him, this was just a review, a way to find out what went wrong so as to allow something so terrible to happen to the ship and crew. But for some of the others standing in this room, it was something very different... very real. It was the day they lost friends. Siding with caution, the Klingon/Trill hybrid heaved an audible sigh and waited.

Jhu hadn't been on the bridge for that, and she hadn't had time to review the actual footage when all of Tul's unfinished work had hit her desk. She winced slightly watching it, but it was the Changeling's face that had her taking a step - or five - backward and wanting to dive behind the nearest solid object. There was no doubt in her mind just who that was, even if no one else knew him. And he'd been right behind Sirigh for several minutes before the attack. Somehow Sirigh had missed it, and he'd been ex-Borg. If he didn't see the blasted Changeling, what hope did anyone else have?

Nathan walked around the bridge looking everything over. Like Cameron this was nothing more then a review. When this attack happened it was his second day on the job. He had not even had time to unpack yet. He had also watched the security footage of this incident probably about 200 times already. Nothing happening here was new or shocking to him, but then his eyes locked on Jhu's face, and what she was looking at. Touchy situation in deed. He walked up and placed himself in between the Lieutenant Commander and the Founder, examining the shapshifter. "So can they see and hear things when the object they shifted into does not have ears or eyes?" He asked to the room.

"I always assumed they could." With Nathan blocking her view of the Changeling, Jhu was able to think again, though knowing the Changeling had been aboard at all really did nothing for her anxiety. "I mean, they can hear you when they're a puddle."

"It's amazing how little we know about them, even after everything." Cameron said in observation as he passed Tul Zanaar's body with a black crater in his chest. "Other than the fact that they use morphogenic enzymes to facilitate their shape shifting ability, or that they don't appear to possess a sense of smell, there's not much in regards to their biology that we know about." He heaved an audible sigh. "Knowing one's enemy is the first key to defeating them, and Starfleet's been in the dark for as long as we've known about this species." He turned to the Chief of Security. "Assuming we'll come out of this no closer to finding a way to prevent a shape shifting infiltrator from coming aboard, let's focus on them," he pointed to the Jem'hadar. "Most importantly, how do we prevent the Jem'hadar from beaming directly onto the bridge. Their transporter technology is centuries ahead of our own, but there has to be a way."

Nathan eyes lingered on Jhus for one more second before he turned to Tegan. "From a tactical stand point we have done what little we know how to do. I have already reset the ships shield harmonics to recycle themselves randomly every 5 minutes. Its a bit of drain on the power but I feel its one that's worth it. Even if our harmonics are broadcast again they will only have a short window to get on here. I will be working with Chief Carter to see if we can get that window down even more. I would like the harmonics to recycle every 60 seconds personally."

Cameron nodded. "They cut through shield inhibitors like sliced bread. It's like the interference buffer doesn't exist. I'd like you and Chief Carter to look into ways to change that, as well." He turned to Jhu. "You've had time to study these reports in detail. Any insights?"

Time? He thought she had time? The idea was almost laughable, but Jhu maintained her composure. "Not from the reports. But I have something better." She tugged back her left sleeve to show him the scar that lurked there. "Personal experience. And there is a way to block their transporters... they do it in their terrible little arenas. I don't quite remember how it worked."

"Alright, let's study this from a tactical perspective." Cameron said, feeling like reaching a technological advantage over the Dominion was as unlikely as ever. "To be completely honest, what disturbs me most of all was how completely the Jem'hadar were able to seize control of the ship. If not for your... act of gallantry, in preventing the Jem'hadar from seizing main engineering, I very well doubt that the Captain would have had any sort of leverage in putting an end to the attack. Situations like this will happen again, and it's not like we'll be able to call for reinforcements," Cameron looked to Waterson & Ifarr, who seemed very quiet, before turning back to Tonkin. "We need to be self sufficient, and self reliant. Ideas?"

"Thank you for the compliment Lieutenant Commander, but if I'm being honest with you all I believe them when they said they were not interested in the ship itself. There were three Jem'hadar in engineering. Enough to disable the ship and give me some trouble, but not really much else. From a tactical stand point if there plan was to take the ship for themselves...well let just say that this was not the mighty Jem'hadar force that I had heard so much about." Nathan looked around at the other for input.

Jhu smiled grimly. "I know what they wanted. Heard it from up there." She pointed at the grate covering the ventilation duct she'd used to access the bridge, wondering just how she'd ever fit through it. It looked barely large enough for a child to crawl through. "I can tell you or the program will, if you prefer to hear it from them."

"Shira," Cameron said, nodding. He'd already met the Arboreal, and while he found her to be quite odd, she was also extremely friendly, if not severely naïve. "I understand that the Jem'hadar's supply of ketracel white was at risk, and that the founder's knowledge of Shira was a motivator for attacking this ship."

"More specifically, her ability to make plants grow. I've seen her do it... it's like magic." Jhu shook her head slightly. "I'll admit to not knowing much about ketracel white, but I didn't think it came from plants."

Nathan looked back and forth between the two of them then shook his head. "So their idea of asking for help is to storm our ship and kill our crew? They damn near took me out too. I don't understand how some races think."

"Their idea of genetic research is slicing into people and trying to remove vital bits of anatomy," Jhu remarked dryly, still not quite looking at the holographic Changeling. "Jem'Hadar are soldiers... they just take orders."

Nathan walked back down to the front of the bridge and started looking at the weapon that one of the Jem'Hadar were using.

As Nathan stepped out of the way, Jhu inched backward, putting more distance between herself and the holographic Changeling. Even knowing it couldn't actually see her, she was having no part in being close to it! She'd had quite enough exposure to it on the bridge. But now she had nowhere to go as she bumped into the console behind her. She hoped she remembered its path correctly, otherwise there was nowhere to run if the Changeling turned in her direction.

Cameron shook his head. It was hard to fight an enemy like that.

"Let's continue," Cameron suggested. "We still have a lot of work to do. Computer, resume program."

When the program resumed, Jhu saw immediately that she had miscalculated. The Changeling looked right at her, and she swallowed nervously as she tried to move sideways 'out of sight'. Which put her in a corner she couldn't get out of quickly enough. She didn't hear a word the Changeling said this time around; the only sounds she heard were her heartbeat - moving along spectacularly fast - and the increasingly ragged sound of her own breathing as the edges of her vision went grey and sparkly.

But the final straw was when the Changeling - by pure chance - extended its hand toward her. She made a panicked squeak and bolted for the closest apparent exit, the holographic turbolift door. Which naturally didn't open... this was a recording, not a simulation. And she couldn't remember where they had entered from.

Nathan turned to the now panicking Jhu and watched her for a moment, not really sure what she was doing. When she attempted to push threw the turbo lift that would not open for her he could see the wild look in her eyes. He slowly started walking in her direction.

"Jhu..." He said softly.He knew what this was, He could almost feel the sensation in his chest as well watching her. He had been on the other side before. If she did not calm in a moment she would start hyperventilating and crying.

That too was a familiar voice, but Jhu didn't take much heed to it. She was too busy trying to find a way out! No amount of pushing or prying would open the turbolift door, but she kept trying until the reality of its futility hit and she collapsed against it, hiding instead of running.

As she collapsed, Nathan sprung to her side, at the same time bellowing "COMPUTER, PAUSE PROGRAM!" Lucky, as chief of security the computer on the ship would do just about anything he told it to do. There were those who could over ride him, and two of said people were in this room, but he doubted any repercussions would come of this.

Nathan knelt down next to her and wrapped his strong arms around her and hauled her off the floor. Clearly she needed out of this situation and was not capable of getting out herself.

Someone scooped her up off the floor like she was a child, and Jhu shoved at them, trying to escape whoever that was too. It didn't do much good; they were bigger than she was and didn't seem at all fazed by her somewhat frenzied - and feeble - attempt to get away.

Nathan just drew her into his chest and held her tight and close, he began whispering into her ear " It's ok, I got you, it's ok..." He walked over to Lieutenant Commander Tegan. "Permission to escort Lieutenant Commander t'Dharvanek off the Holodeck, sir." He said in a flat even tone. Then he went right back to whispering into Jhu's ear " Shhh it's ok, I got you now. I'm going to get you out of here."

Put me down! The thought was coherent, but Jhu couldn't put it into words so she struggled against him instead, clawing at his hands completely ineffectually.

Cameron had watched events transpire wordlessly, but it wasn't until Jhu collapsed onto the ground that he realized that something had gone terribly wrong. She was having some sort of panic attack. "Computer, end program," he ordered, and the scene of the bridge dematerialized into the static expanse of the holodeck. After watching her flail for several seconds, he joined Nathan at Jhu's side and gripped her wrist. "Lieutenant Commander!" He ushered firmly with as deep a voice he could manage, hoping it would shake her out of whatever it was she was experiencing.

"Sir, with all due respect. I don't think scaring her more is going to help. Let me get her somewhere quiet..." Nathan's eyes pleaded with Cameron. He was about to just leave with her and deal with the consequences later.

Nathan grit his teeth together as Jhu dug her nails into his hands. "Shes becoming combative and hurting a fellow officer, if you need me to I can exercise my authority over this situation and consider her a security issue, Sir."

"Let's be clear, Lieutenant," Cameron began firmly, dividing his attention between Nathan and Jhu. "When it comes to matters of this ship and it's crew, there's me, there's Captain Kerouac, and then there's God. Compared to that, you have no authority." The words that came out of Cameron's mouth cut as sharp as he thought it would. This was no time for a dick measuring contest. Jhu yanked her wrist free from Cam's grip, pulling back away from the yelling. Which wasn't helping, just spiking her adrenaline higher and making her escape attempt more violent. "Contact sickbay," he ushered to Nathan. "Get a hold of Doc Cohen."

Nathan shook his head at Cameron " Sir, I think you misunderstand me. I am in no way challenging you or your authority here. I know your position on this ship. I was just providing options. I think shes suffering from a panic attack and just needs to get away from everyone. Have people watch this only makes it worse." Nathan had no malice in his tone, only concern for the woman he held in his arms. He made a mental note to try and smooth things over with Tegan as soon as he could. But this was not the time or the place.

They were talking over her head, but only part of it made sense. Panic. That's what it was. But she couldn't tell them that. Breathing was too difficult without trying to add words to the situation. Slowly, she became still, clinging to Nathan instead of fighting him.

"That's not what it sounded like a moment earlier," Cameron pointed out firmly; arguing like this was a waste of time. The fact that Nathan had blatantly ignored an order was also chafing at him; he felt a half-Klingon urge to physically deck the officer, but resisted. Doing so would only make things worse. He looked back to Jhu. "Right now, this woman is a danger not just to herself or you and I, but to anybody else she comes across. She needs to be sedated. Now contact sickbay, or I will."

Maybe the adrenaline was starting to wear off because Jhu understood that, and she shook her head. Liam would just give her a shot and she didn't want to be drugged. Drugs made it worse later. "No. No drugs." It still hurt to breathe, but she got the words out at least.

Cameron looked down to the intelligence officer and furrowed his brows. "Commander? Are you back with us?" He opened his mouth to ask her what specifically had caused her to go into a panic attack, but decided against it. It could rile her up again. Nevertheless, he was relieved to see her returning to the real world. "How are you feeling?" It sounded like a dumb question, but he had to start somewhere.

"Sort of." Jhu wasn't quite sure how long she'd been 'gone', but the program was clearly over. And she didn't know how to answer Cam's question, so she shrugged instead.

Cameron swallowed a ton of concern. He looked to Nathan and recognized the expression. It was something he had... too. "Do you know where you are?" Cameron asked gently. "Do you understand what happened to you?"

"Holodeck." Jhu swallowed then nodded slightly. Oh she knew what happened all right. And it was damned embarrassing.

Nathan stood there quietly watching the two of them, a bit of relief washing over his face. He had just about relented and called sickbay. But he had rocked the boat enough today and would not be the one to interrupt the first, and second officer of the ship's conversation...if that's what you want to call this. So he stood there with Jhu in his arms and waited.

Dressed in her black Lagashi workout suit, Vara had been working through one of her exercise programs on Holodeck 1 when her biosign alarms she had set up on Jhu went off. Checking her location on the arch, Vara cursed under her breath. These stupid holodeck walls were too thick for her to hear through so she hadn't even realized her charge was right next door to her. Turning the program off, she left that holodeck and entered the one Jhu was in ready for combat. As soon as the door opened, she started surveying the situation. Nathan was holding Jhu and she seemed to be in shock from something. She didn't seem to be in any immediate danger so she hurried to her side, checking her vitals. "What happened?" she asked Nathan and Jhu, completely ignoring everyone else in the room. Classic signs of a panic attack from what she could tell.

Oh, great. Vara. Jhu knew that Vara was always close by and watching, but the last thing she needed was more people staring at her.

Nathan Looked at Vara and nodded to her. "Easy Ensign, Lieutenant Commander Tegan is dealing with this." Nathan did not need anyone helping him dig the hole he had found himself in.

"A holodeck accident," Cameron suggested after weighing in on whether to respect Jhu's right to privacy. He eyed the Romulan/Trill carefully, studying the exhausted look on her face for any indication of relapse. Fortunately, she looked like she was coming to. "No major injuries..." Cameron added, looking over to Nathan. He'd wanted to take her someplace where she could catch her breath, and now that she was demonstrating some sense of normalcy, the Lieutenant Commander was inclined to agree. "Lieutenant, take the Commander somewhere quiet where she can rest. We'll discuss what happened later. But I do want to be made aware of any changes, understood?"

One thing was for sure in Cameron's mind. Lia had just earned herself a new patient.

" Take her somewhere quiet and get her to rest, inform you of any changes in her condition and I will seek you out once I am done. Yes Sir, complete understood." He felt that maybe it was best to reiterate the Commanders orders back to him. Nathan glanced to Vara " Ensign your with me..." Then he turned on his heals and marched Jhu out of the Holodeck.

Nodding, Vara followed wordlessly as she fell in step behind Nathan. As soon as they were out of earshot of the holodeck, Vara spoke softly. "I'm sorry Commander, I've failed in my duties to you." She felt terrible at the thought that something... anything had happened to Jhu while under her protection.

Jhu wanted to tell Vara that it wasn't her fault and there was nothing she could have done, but the words to do so would not come... and she couldn't breathe again. She'd have to tell her later.

[OFF]

Lieutenant Commander Cameron Tegan
Executive Officer
USS Katana

Lieutenant Commander Jhu t"Dharvanek
Chief Intelligence Officer
USS Katana

Lieutenant Nathan Tonkin
Chief Security Officer
USS Katana

Lieutenant (JG) Visari Ifarr
Surgeon
USS Katana

Chief Warrant Officer Arthur Waterson
Assistant Chief Security Officer
USS Katana

Ensign Cho'ren Vara
Security Officer
USS Katana

Nathan flew through the halls of Katana as fast as his legs would move him without actually running, Jhu still in his arms. Several members of the crew stopped and watched the event unfold, but Nathan ignored the snickering, all except for a ensign that was under his command. "Eyes on your task, Ensign." he said surprisingly calmly. He made it to a turbolift and hit the call button with the hand that was holding her legs.

She still couldn't breathe, but it didn't take long for Jhu to become acutely aware of her new predicament. Being carried through the corridor? Now that was embarrassing, and the thought of it didn't do much to improve the situation. Instead, her breathing quickened more, giving her an asthmatic-sounding wheeze... which scared her more... which made the problem worse.

The turbo lift opened, and he stepped inside. "Come on Jhu, you got to calm down, hun. We are going somewhere safe and quiet...Deck 4" and the turbolift started moving. He leaned back against the wall but did not put her down. "Focus on your breathing. Take a deep breath in and hold it for 3 seconds and let it out. Come on..."

That was easier said than done. Jhu could get a deep breath, but holding that breath was out of the question, and she shook her head vigorously. "Can't." It was only one word, but it was the most she'd said since they'd left the holodeck.

Well that was progress at least. But the turbolift began to slow. "We have to go out in the hall one more time, Jhu, just bury your head in my chest and try not to think about it. One more minute is all I need." He pushed himself off the back wall, and as soon as the doors opened he made a beeline out of the lift.

What? More people? That wasn't a pleasant thought, and she didn't need much encouragement to hide. Not thinking about it was harder... she was trying to just breathe, but it only sort of worked.

Oh thank god, the hall was empty. That made sense, it was normal operating hours for the ship and most people were performing there dutie. He opened another door and immediately started talking to the room. "Computer, dim lights to 10%, and put on some quiet music, something Zen..." And the computer complied, the room went dark and a soft flute melody with nature sounds filled where every they were. The room they were in smelled of a light incense, something cinnamony.

But Nathan didn't stop moving. He walked farther into the room and set Jhu down on a bed, then he leaned over her and wrapped a blanket around her, completely covering her. He took a seat on the bed next to her and started taking the braid out of her hair. "All better, alone and safe."

Darkness and the smell of cinnamon were gently soothing, but being ensconced in the blanket provided a sense of security she hadn't had before. Jhu was nowhere near calm - not yet - but her ragged breathing evened out. Not quite back to normal, but the sparkly edges on her vision were going away.

And she recognized the voice now. Great impression, Jhu. No. Really.

Once the braid was out of her hair he laid down next to her and just held her tight. He had been through this before; he knew that a sense of security and safety were the key steps to calming the beast that showed its ugly head when anxiety took over. He whispered to her, "I got you..."

This time Jhu didn't resist being touched, but she did tug the blanket up over her head to hide how flushed her face was... and for the extra warmth it provided. She could breathe a little better, but her chest ached and her head was starting to hurt. Now she was mostly embarrassed and just wanted to hide.

Feeling that her breathing was calming Nathan asked her one simple question. "Water?" He knew how gulping in air like that cause your mouth to dry out.

Jhu nodded slightly, then realized he couldn't see her. And she wasn't coming out from under the blanket until he had the glass in his hand. "Yeah. Water would be good." She hated how thin and weak her voice sounded, but at least she could talk.

Nathan got up and went to the replicator. "Water, cool, no ice." and the cup materialized. He grabbed it and walked over to the side of the bed and knelt down. "Here you go...don't drink it fast. You just swallowed a lot of air hyperventilating. It will make you throw up...and you're wrapped in my favorite blanket so that would kind of suck."

Jhu cracked half a smile from under the blanket, pushing it back enough to sit up. Taking the cup of water, she took a tiny sip of the cool liquid. "Where are we?"

"My quarters. It's the only place I could think of that fast to get you where you would not be screamed at any more. Klingons..." His room was not what most people expected. There were green plants everywhere, in the corners, on the windows, hanging from the ceiling. On the night stand by his bed he had a bonsai tree. In the corner of his room was a statue of the laughing Buddha.

"You're a Buddhist." Jhu decided not to comment on Cameron's yelling. She hadn't heard most of it anyway, and she didn't want to think about it. Instead, she drank some more of the water. It didn't help her headache or the burning ache in her chest, but it eased the irritation in her throat.

Nathan nodded " I am..." He was not sure what else to say to that so he got up and took a seat on the bed next to her. "Your hands starting to tingle yet? How about your head?"

"My head hurts. A lot, actually. Haven't noticed any tingling... just pain."

Nathan thought for a moment how strange this next question was going to be seeing as he literately brought her here in his arms but he felt he should ask anyways. "I can rub your neck for you if you don't mind being touched?"

Jhu thought about that for a moment then nodded. "Okay. I can deal with that."

Nathan moved behind her and pushed the blanket down around her shoulders. His hands moved to her neck and began to move, finding the knots that had taken up residence. "If I push too hard tell me...or if not hard enough."

"Believe it or not, I'm tougher than I look." Some of the tension started to release, which eased the headache but didn't fully resolve it. "I'm sorry about all this. I thought I was past this point."

Nathan worked her neck and moved down to her shoulders, pressing a little harder at some of the knots. "Why are you sorry?"

"Because I feel ridiculous. It was just a stupid hologram."

"It was not just a stupid hologram, you were reliving a traumatic even in 3D up close and personal. In real life, right in front of you." Nathan took a shuddering breath. "The best would crack under that situation. If he was going to try and bring up what I went through I was just going to leave. Last thing I want to see is me laying on death's door step. Don't think for a moment your the first person who has had a panic attack. How do you think I learned what to do?" The whole time he talked he continued his work on her shoulders and neck, moving from one tense spot to the next.

"You know what I meant. It wasn't real. I stood next to the real one and didn't flinch. But I can't look at a simulation. Tell me how that makes sense." Jhu set her half-empty glass on a table that was just barely within her reach before pulling her knees to her chest and resting her forehead on them.

"Why does it need to make sense? You body reacted and decided that you were not going to be in control. It clearly did not understand that you were not in an extreme amount of danger. Why? Well if science had figured that out then we would not be here right now would we? We would still be stuck in that Holodeck." Nathan chuckled a little "So thank you. You have any idea how many times I have had to watch that?" Nathan moved his hands a bit lower on her back, rubbing just below her shoulder blades.

"Haha. Very funny." Despite her dry tone, Jhu did smile a little. "I guess you're welcome then. I still feel like crap though."

"Feel like crap out there, just relax in here. I'm not judging you." His hands moved back up her spine "How's your head feeling?"

"Better. Still hurts a little... tiny bit lightheaded. Not like I'm going to pass out... just kind of... spinny. Upsets my stomach more than anything else."

Nathan stopped rubbing her back and cracked his fingers, then moved over to the other side of the bed and laid back taking in a deep breath. "I have been through the exact same thing..."

"Really?" Curious but not wanting to pry, Jhu tilted her head just enough to look at him. "You don't have to tell me. Believe me... I know how it is."

"I'm in security, I have lost count how many of my friends have died. But when you hold your brother as he..." Nathan leaned his head back and closed his eyes. " I understand."

"Aw, hell. Now I feel really silly." Jhu sighed a little. "This wasn't anything like that."

Nathan turned and looked at her. "We are not in competition here over situations. My situation lead to a panic attack exactly like yours." Nathan leaned back up. "Who cares why it happened, it just did. I'm glad I got to be that one that was there to help you. So stop beating yourself up or you might fall back into it again." He leaned back on the bed again and looked up at the ceiling. "You're the only one I have ever told that too..."

Jhu blinked in surprise. That was a lot of trust. "I'm glad you trust me enough, but I had to tell a million counselors. And admirals. Investigation boards. You'd think that would make it easier, but of course it doesn't. You just start thinking you're better and then something sets it off again." Pulling the blanket back up over her shoulders, she settled into a more comfortable sitting position.

"Yeah, well having a father who's an admiral and can remove something like that from your records so you're never bothered by it again doesn't help any either so..." Nathan shrugged "Time. That's all that really works."

"Yeah, that's what all the counselors said. And I guess they thought sending me to the Gamma Quadrant wouldn't be a problem. But what were the chances that we'd run into him?"

Nathan looked over at her "Him?" Then he stopped himself. " We don't need to talk about it if you don't want to. But if you do want to I am always here for you. For anything."

"That specific Changeling." Jhu freed her left arm from the blanket and pulled the sleeve back again. "A gift from the Dominion. One of several places they cut into me in the name of 'science'. While Starfleet and Section 31 did nothing to stop them."

Nathan sat up and took her arm in his hands, his thumb tracing the scar. But he looked her in the eyes. "Jhu..."

"I was tortured for three weeks before Starfleet Intelligence worked up the nerve to start rescue operations. Another two before a team even got close. Then two more before they finally pulled me out. And then Section 31 interrogated me too." There wasn't much emotion left in those words; she'd used it all up during her anxiety attack. Now her intonation was just flat. "So you can guess why I left them, even though it's not in my file that way."

Nathan didn't have words for her, though he wondered how she could think his secret was nothing compared to hers, and he had a new found seething hatred for changelings...one in particular. He reach out and placed his hand on her cheek and just stared into her eyes while she talked, obvious concern on his face.

Jhu didn't say anything else for a few moments, slightly stunned by Nathan's genuine concerned reaction. No one else had believed the parts she'd told them, and she hadn't expected him to either. "I can't blame the Vorta or the Jem'Hadar they forced to do the experiments. But that Changeling knew. He knew, and he told the Cardassian in charge not to tell them. Neither of them spoke Standard near me. They took my communicator away so I couldn't understand them. And they told the Vorta I wasn't intelligent and it was okay to hurt me just before they took it."

Nathan thumb still rubbed her scar and he just listened to her. That's what he had said he would do and she was not asking for advice. He believed every word she said and it showed on his face, even if it was now washed in a mix of emotions, sadness, anger, concern, but there was also a softness there too. He was happy that she was opening up to him. This is what he told her he wanted last night on there date, to get to know her better and he was ready to prove it to her.

"You're the first person who isn't a counselor that knows. And I am not talking to any more of them about this. They all said the same things... none of it helped." Jhu didn't pull away from him, but she glanced off at the wall. "I'm not crazy, I'm not crazy, and I'm not exaggerating. Who would make things up like that? But that's what they said."

"Yeah, well, not a single one of them punched a section 31 member in the throat for you... You're not crazy. I didn't need the proof, but I have seen it, fought it and am currently holding it under 24/7 security in a secluded cell. You are not crazy, Jhu."

"You haven't seen anything until they sent a top level agent after me." Jhu sighed then smirked just a little. "They'll need to, if they want to actually do any damage. They did too good a job training me."

"Be that as it may, I know you're not crazy. I know they are at least watching you and it looked to me like they were trying to kill you. That will not happen on my watch. Regardless of our personal relationship, the safety of this crew and ship are my responsibility, my liking you just adds a extra level of wanting to keep you safe." Nathan still stared into her eyes. "I don't care what I have to do, I have your back. That I swear to you."

There was that word again. He'd said it twice now, not that Jhu was really keeping count. "Nathan... I like you too. But I'm a dangerous person to be around. You have to know that if you're going to make that promise."

Nathan had to chuckle at that. "What part of being head of security on this ship is safe? I don't make promises lightly, Jhu, and if I didn't think I could keep it I would not say it. I have your back. That's it, it's done. I am there until you no longer want me there." He nodded his head at the end to emphasize the point.

"You didn't have to repeat it. I believed you the first time." Jhu smiled, a real smile this time though it still looked a bit shaky.

Nathan smiled back at her. "I'm glad you believe me. That means a lot to me." He pulled away from her and got up off the bed and walked over to the replicator. "Milk chocolate bar, one serving." One it was there he took it to Jhu. "I hear that this helps. Something about the reaction it causes in the brain, it will also help stabilize your sugar levels." He crawled back up on the bed and sat next to her.

"Chocolate?" It wasn't the strangest medical treatment she'd heard of, but it didn't exactly sound typical. Still, she gleefully took the offered candy and broke a piece of it off, popping it into her mouth before offering the bar to Nathan. It would be rude to not offer to share.

Nathan broke a small piece off and ate it. He was not one for sweets really but since she was offering he might as well. "It's been a long time since I had chocolate."

"I don't usually eat it... too much sugar, and I usually get my caffeine boost from coffee. Which I drink way too much of." She wasn't sure if it really was some chemical in the chocolate or just the idea of it helping, but she did feel better.

"You and me both with the coffee. How do you drink yours?" Nathan was glad that they were able to move on from the depressing topics. Not that he minded comforting her, but he did not want to dwell either. Moving past it showed that she was recovering.

"Strong and sweet, no cream. Sometimes with vanilla and cinnamon. Hot in the morning but iced later in the day."

Nathan nodded while she spoke. "Nectar of the god's that is. I'm not sure how I would have made it threw this stop off if it were not for my coffee." He chuckled.

"How do you think I did my job and the XO's work on top of it until Tegan got here? I swear, I was drinking three pots a day and still falling asleep at my desk." Jhu shook her head slightly, eating another square of the chocolate bar.

"So, I have a story to tell you. You might find it interesting." Nathan was still trying to wrap his head around this. "Remember when I was out on the floor with a hole in my shoulder?"

"Well... yeah. How could I ever forget that? Should have seen the look Cohen gave me when I brought you in."

Nathan had held of on being anything but support for Jhu, but now that she was clearly feeling better he felt comfortable being bold again. But only a little. He moved his right arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer to him. He chuckled at her. "I can only imagine. Cohen threaten to send me the cleaning bill for all the blood I have spilled in his sick bay since I arrived..." He realized she might not have heard about his holodeck incident yet, but that was a story for another time. "So I don't know why, but while I was out I had a...dream, or vision...or something. Anyways, you were in it. I had not even met you yet but you were in my dream."

"Considering I found you, it's not terribly strange." Decidedly not a cuddler, Jhu was a little resistant to snuggling, but it only took a moment for her to relax. "Same room, you could hear my voice. I was touching you."

Nathan started running his finger through her hair. "Yeah...maybe but it was really weird." Nathan then went into detail about the dream he had and the elven warrior who looked like Jhu and called herself by the same name. "... and her horse was named Wild Fire. But there was not much after that, next thing I knew I was waking up in sick bay."

Jhu was quiet for a moment. The dream was a bit unusual, but a lot of the elven words were things she'd said to him while she was trying to bandage his shoulder. "Well. I don't have a horse... and you must have seen my name on the manifest."

Nathan chuckled "It's just a dream. You are right though, I took the time to study all the senior officers files before I ever stepped foot on this ship. But the files do little justice... I was just sharing with you."

"Then the elf thing makes sense!" Jhu laughed a little, recalling how often someone had called her one. "The rock does too, the one the goblin threw. Jemmy bastards woke up and one of them shot me."

Nathan blinked and looked down at her. "Wait what? I had that phaser on maximum stun! They should have been out for hours..."

Jhu shrugged. "They were Jem'Hadar. Sometimes they don't stay down."

"I guess so. It was the first time I have fought the Jem'Hadar. You think that time I had to face the Borg would have prepared me for anything."

"The Borg... they're easy. Predictable." Jhu ate her last square of chocolate, shifting her weight off the lingering soreness in her right hip. "Jem'Hadar will play dead... lull you into thinking they're out when they're not."

Nathan just buried his nose in her hair, lost in though over the last thing he said. He had had a hard time ever looking at Andy before he got to know her better. Now he hardly saw her implants. Painful memories danced in his mind until one thought pushed it way to the front My god she smells amazing. It was a good thing Jhu could not see his bright red face at the moment.

"Don't tell Carter I said that about being predictable." Jhu snickered a little; she liked Andy and knew a little good-natured ribbing would ruffle the ex-Borg's feathers, but Andy would get over it. "Anyway... I took a stun blast or something. Cohen said it broke my hip."

Nathan laughed hard at that. "Your hip? Do I need to get you a walker?"

Jhu pretended to scowl at him. "You're cruel. Carrying you didn't help."

He grinned "That's okay, I have a frequent user card now for the sick bay now. I a preferred customer...Oh that's right, you most likely didn't hear about my holodeck accident did you?"

"Um... no? What'd you do, fall off a mountain?" Jhu snickered at him.

Nathan huffed dramatically, but it was all show. "I don't fall off things, I climb up them. And no, I was riddled with 20th century bullets and went flying out of the back of a car at high speed at the same time. Much cooler then falling off something."

"Stupider too. Safeties off, I assume?"

"They were supposed to be on, but I guess Kyle was too busy checking out Will and didn't set them correctly. Don't give him too much hell though, he feels really bad about it."

"Kyle?" Jhu laughed, shaking her head at him. "I wouldn't do that sort of simulation with him. He's insane! I should know... he works for me."

Nathans fingers drifted slowly through her hair. "He's been a great friend to me. He was one of the first people I met here."

"Oh he's a sweet boy. But crazy."

Nathan snuggled down into her. "I hate to bring up the wonderful topic of what happened earlier, but how are you feeling now?"

Jhu sighed, blushing slightly. "Better. Still a little... I don't know. Not right, but I don't know how to explain it."

"You don't have to." He wrapped his arms around her and just held her, listening to the music that was still playing.

"I guess... weak. Tired. Kind of nauseous but not really."

"The wonderful effects of the adrenaline wearing off. It will pass soon."

"Sure hope so. It's kind of a miserable feeling." Jhu closed her eyes for a moment, hoping he was right.

"There are only two things I have found that fix it. You can rest and wait, or you can exercise in some way to try and release endorphin's that will help balance your system again. At lest that's what works for me."

"Cohen said to take it easy for a while." Which left Jhu with only one option, to rest. "But I'm supposed to be working..."

"When did you see Cohen?"

"After I dropped you on sickbay's floor. Been a while, but it still hurts, so... trying not to stress it."

"Oh your hip. Right. I didn't hurt it carrying you did I? I was holding you kind of tight."

Jhu shook her head. "It doesn't hurt any more now than it did when I woke up this morning."

Nathan sighed "Oh good. Hurting you was not on the agenda today."

"I would hope not. Speaking of hurting each other... I didn't draw blood earlier, did I? Because I didn't mean to."

"Bah." Nathan said showing her his hand. He realized now looking at it that maybe it was not as superficial as he had thought. There were deep fingernail cuts in his hand and they had been bleeding. His hand was red from wiping the dripping blood off it, but it had stopped bleeding a while ago. Nathan was going to try and play it off anyways. "Hardly a scratch, only bled a little."

"Well, I doubt Tegan will agree! He'll say something about poor control or dangerous or..." As Jhu listed the various things Tegan could say, her breathing picked up again, and it took a massive amount of will power for her not to crawl back under the blanket to hide again.

Nathan felt the tension in her body return and her breath quicken. He just wrapped his free arm around her enclosing her in an embrace and holding her closer to him then she was before. He spoke softly into her hair. "Hey now, easy there. No one needs to know about the little scratches on my hand. Just breathe, Jhu."

"I am breathing," Jhu retorted, a sign that her sense of humor was returning even if her normal stability was not.

"Okay good." Nathan chuckled " Don't worry about Tegan right now. You can worry about that later, right now just try ad relax with me, okay?"

"I'm trying. But I can't help it... I know what I'd be thinking if I were in his place. He already didn't trust me, and now I'm a total train wreck on top of being Romulan."

Nathan sighed. "That's the stupidest thing I have ever heard. The whole I don't trust you because you are part Romulan. I wish we could move past that kind of thinking. Don't you guys have anything in common with your Trill heritage? But I don't think you have to much to worry about. Hes more pissed off at me right now, I can take his anger. Might not feel that great but as long as you promise to take care of me after I face his wrath we will be good."

"I don't even care that he's Klingon. It doesn't bother me. But me being Romulan bothers him. I know the look... got it a lot from Worf on the times I ran into him." Jhu paused, twisting slightly to look at him. "Wait... pissed off at you? What'd you do to deserve that?"

Nathan swallowed. "He told me to call sick bay for you. I didn't comply right away. He also felt that I was challenging his authority I guess. I offered to consider this a security threat and remove you, and he told me I have no authority on this ship." Nathan chuckled and shook his head remembering the absurd comment. "He's new and was trying to flex his authority over me... its not the first time I have dealt with something like this. I'm going to go deal with it later. I figure when we are done I'll either be a bloody mess or we will both be drunk. Time will tell."

"Buy him a barrel of bloodwine," Jhu said dryly. "And calling sickbay wouldn't have helped. The only drug that's ever worked is lorazepam, and it just knocks me out. I wake up and the whole thing starts again."

"I know, I knew exactly what you needed, clearly. But I did ruffle his feathers and now I have to try and smooth them again. If beating the shit out of me will do that they so be it. I'm Chief of security and he second in command, we need to work together and I'm willing to do what ever it takes to make sure that happens."

"Good luck with that. At least I have the privilege of working from my office. Sucks being isolated like that, but I get more work done with no one judging me."

Nathan shrugged as best he could with Jhu pressed up against him. "Thanks, I'm sure I will need it."

"Not as much as I will. He's my direct boss... other department heads report to me. I report to him." Jhun scowled slightly, clearly not pleased about that setup right now. "He's going to hold this over my head. I just know it."

"I will do what ever I can to shoulder the brunt of this. He seemed more worried about you and pissed off at me. If you really want to fix this, go see the counselor like he said. I know, I know. Not what you want but I know can suck it up for thirty minuets and tell the doctor what she wants to hear. If you want I'll even come with you, you know to 'make sure you go'."

"I hate talking to counselors," Jhu groused, not happy about that idea. "She'll have me put on restricted duty or some other nonsense that won't help at all and will just mean I can't leave the ship."

"You got stuck on the 'talk to the counselor' part of what I said and didn't here the 'tell her what she wants to hear' part. You are the intelligence officer on this ship. I have faith that you can go in there, tell her everything is okay, and walk out with a clean bill of health." Nathan hugged her a little. "Because your not crazy..."

"Oh I'm very good at that. They aren't always good at listening. And the psychobabble drives me nuts."

"So you sit there, smile really pretty; you already got that part down, tell her how you just had a moment of anxiety, how the gallant Chief of Security saved the day," Nathan could not help but chuckle a little at that part. "Then you move on with your life."

"I guess I can do that. I won't enjoy it, but--" Part of what Nathan said clicked a few seconds late, and color crept into her cheeks. She really wasn't used to those types of compliments anymore. "I can do it. She might not believe me, but I can do it."

"Look at it like a mission. It is your job to go into that room, be 100% polite and relay the information that will get you out of that room. I know you have been in tougher situations then that." Nathan moved his hand up and stroked her blushing cheek. "Now there is something new, me making someone else blush. Its normally the other way around."

"Don't get too used to it." Jhu laughed a little. "Fine... I'll go see the counselor. And pretend to listen to what she says."

"Is that a challenge?" Nathan asked jokingly.

"More like a warning." Jhu lightly pinched his side, grinning a bit crookedly. "I'd hate to have to hurt you on purpose."

Nathan jerked to the side a little when he got pinched and laughed "Don't threaten me with a good time!"

Jhu stared at him for a moment. "A good time...?" That might be more than she really needed to know.

Nathan was still laughing, "Its just a say. I'm not a masochist or anything."

"Oh. Okay. Didn't think you were the type. I mean, it wouldn't bother me any if you were." Jhu said it without thinking, realizing too late that it might be too much information. "Uh... I mean... never mind."

"Oh are you the type?" Nathan asked.

"I don't know if I should answer that." If Jhu was blushing before, it was nothing compared to the emerald green color rising in her face now.

Nathan grinned. "Don't get used to you blushing, huh? Why don't you know if you should answer that? Scared I'm going to toss you out of my room?" There was a joking tone to his voice.

"Maybe..." He sounded like he was only teasing, but Jhu wasn't sure.

"If I'm that shallow, you should never talk to me again. You would deserve someone better them me. But lucky for you I'm not that shallow. But I also don't want to push you into saying or doing anything you're not comfortable with." And he left it at that.

"Cat's kind of out of the bag already," Jhu replied sheepishly. "I don't like pain. But I can get a little... violent. Not on purpose."

Nathan gently pushed Jhu off his shoulder, scooted up on his knees and turned himself so he was facing her. He had a very serious look on his face. He took both her hand in his. " Okay, over the past 24 hours now you have made one thing very clear to me, even if you didn't mean too. You have been judged unfairly your whole life. You have been judged because you're Romulan, you have been judged because you're Trill, you have been judged because you were captured, you have been judged. I need you to know something about me. I am not here to judge you. I'm here to enjoy our time together, no matter how long or short that time may be. I don't care that the people on this ship speak badly of you, I don't care that you were in section 31, I don't care that you grew up on earth and I don't care if you have an panic attack every single day that we spend together. I just want to be here, with you. Is that okay with you?" His face was serious but his tone of voice was soft and caring.

Jhu listened quietly then nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, that's okay." She didn't remember telling him a lot of that, but an astute enough listener would have picked up on the things she'd left unsaid. It seemed he'd been listening far more closely than she'd realized. "And thank you. You don't know how much that really means to me."

Nathan smiled. "I'm going to kiss you again..." But this time he didn't wait to see her reaction, he just leaned in and pressed his lips to hers.

He didn't give her much time to think, but that was okay. She didn't need to think about it, and by the time they parted she wasn't sure who had started it. Smiling a bit shyly, she rested her forehead against his, closing her eyes.

Nathan ran his hand up her back and rested them on her shoulder blades and just held her, he was could not help but smile too. "I am really glad I took this assignment."

"Mmhmm. Me too." Elements, she was tired. Talking was starting to feel like work.

Nathan pulled back from her slightly and laid back down on the bed, pulling her down with him so she could lay on his shoulder.

He didn't give her a warning - or a choice for that matter - so her transition was less than graceful, but she didn't really care. And while the change in their position was unexpected, she almost instantly curled up beside him, her head resting comfortably on his shoulder.

Suddenly a thought hit Nathan. "If you're going to fall asleep on me, put your weapons somewhere else. I would have for you to wake up, not know where you are and stick me on accident." He chuckled.

"What weapons?" Jhu asked innocently, casually producing a phaser and three very sharp knives from their hidden locations.

Nathan shook his head and chuckled. "Is that all of it?"

"No." Giggling a little, Jhu also produced a second, smaller phaser. "That's everything."

Nathan was still chuckling and removed his own small phaser and tossed it on the night stand. "That thing digs into my ribs..."

"Carry it at the small of your back. Fits better, still easy to reach." Jhu casually dropped her stash of weapons on the night stand then curled up next to him again.

Nathan wrapped his arms around her again and pulled her close to him.

No matter how much Jhu could insist she was not a snuggler, she easily began to drift off once she was 'trapped' in his embrace. Work could wait a few hours.

Nathans shift had ended about thirty minutes ago. He had gone to his quarters to get ready for the task at hand. He changed out of his uniform and gathered what he needed. "Computer, Locate Lieutenant Commander Tegan please."

***

Cameron Tegan had all but collapsed into the small sofa representing what was part of his living area. His jacket unzipped but unremoved, he sighed and leaned his head backward into the cushion. Today… was one hell of a day Between Lieutenant Commander Jhu t’Dharvanek’s psychological meltdown on the holodeck, and the result of the Katana’s senior staff meeting, he’d been putting one fire or another out all day. He reminded himself mentally to apologize to Lia. As much as he had agreed that it was better to risk a small probe (and the chance at stirring the pot) than a crewed shuttle, she’d obviously seen his intervention as a slight to their personal/professional relationship.

“Thank God we have a Chief Diplomatic Officer,” Cameron said aloud as he reached across to a side table and pulled the half-opened bottle of whiskey that he and Maica had shared the night earlier. He uncorked it and, being too tired to go to the replicator for a glass, planned on drinking straight from the bottle when the door chimed.

“For Sto’Vo’Kor’s sake…” the half-Klingon/half-Trill muttered as he put the bottle down and made sure it was out of obvious sight. Nobody needed to know, or even surmise, that the executive officer of the Katana wanted a drink. Not bothering to remove or re-zip his jacket, Cameron announced “Come in,”

Nathan took in a deep breath and pushed the door open button. He stepped into the room and right up to where Cameron was sitting. In his right hand he had two bottles. One was a very rare bottle of earth whiskey, it was about a quarter gone. In his other was clearly a very old bottle of Blood wine. the total cost of the combined bottles in his one has would fetch Nathan a small fortune in gold pressed latnum. In his left hand he had two glasses. "Lieutenant Commander, sir. Permission to speak freely."

Cameron regarded both bottles in Nathan's hand, and thought about Maica's bottle behind the sofa. "This entire ship seems to be made up of alcoholics and sexual deviants," the half-Klingon half-trill remarked, although a wry, albeit slightly strained smile took root in Cameron's features. He gestured for Nathan to come deeper into the room so the doors behind him would close, which did. "Speaking freely doesn't appear to be one of your difficulties, Lieutenant. Go right on ahead."

Nathan set the bottles and glasses down on the coffee table, then looked at the Commander. " First I would like to report that Commander t'Dharvanek is comfortable and resting. I was able to talk her down and get her to sleep. Also I have taken the liberty of getting her to go see Counselor Grae and will take personal responsibility to make sure she goes. With all that being said, Sir, I fucked up today. I let my personal feelings get in the way of following your orders and worse then that I made you feel as if I were challenging your authority. I saw the look in your eyes Sir, and know if I had not been holding the Commander I would have been picking myself up off the floor. I do not believe that it is in the best interest of this ship or crew for the two of us to be at odds with each other, and we have a lot of away missions with each other in our future. So I want to tell you that I am sorry, and am willing to do whatever is necessary to rectify the disrespect I showed you today. Even if that means I end up picking myself up off the floor."

That was a mouth-full, Cameron thought. He absorbed most of it, threw out the parts of what Nathan had said that he didn't feel like addressing at that very moment, and nodded. "I'm only half-Klingon, Tonkin. Just because I give you a look doesn't mean I'm thinking about killing you; you have my half-trill genetics to thank for that." Cameron let a pause slip in. "As for Commander t'Dharvanek," he started again, although he only barely managed to pronounce Jhu's family name correctly, "I'm glad to hear that she's recovering. But given the fact you and Ms..." Cameron hesitated. He didn't want to try to pronounce her family name again. "...Jhu, are clearly involved. I think that it's a matter that we need to discuss. Have a seat."

Nathan took a seat. Aww great he thought. He knew this conversation would come sooner or later. He had just been hoping for later. "Ok Sir, what would you like to know?"

“That your personal feelings will not undermine your responsibilities to this ship, her crew, or your chain of command ever again,” the words that came out of Cameron’s mouth were filled with a tough-love rhetoric. “Putting it rather bluntly, Lieutenant, you allowed your personal life to get in the way of your duty as a Starfleet Officer. We were lucky that it happened during a holodeck exercise and not in the middle of an actual crisis. But we cannot afford those kinds of mistakes... especially from a member of the senior staff.

"Frankly," Cameron continued, and maintaining a stone-edged tone. "if you can’t give me your personal guarantee, and mean it, then I will order you to end your relationship with Jhu. It's either that, or I arrange your transfer to another posting."

"Never ever again Sir. This is a bit of a new experience for me. Not an excuses, just a fact. I swear to you that will never happen again." Nathan was very serious sounding.

Cameron eyed Nathan skeptically. He wasn't fully convinced that Nathan could do what he proposing. Then again, take any two people who had feelings for one another and ask one of them to sacrifice the other in the name of duty, Cameron wasn't sure how many people could. The Klingon/Trill stood up, a strong enough indicator that Nathan should as well, and cleared his throat. "I have your word then. Thank you for the bottle. You're dismissed."

Nathan stood eyeing the bottle of Whiskey he had clearly brought to share, but just smiled. " Your welcome Commander." He turned to leave.

"Oh, and Lieutenant?" Cameron added. He waited for Tonkin to stop and turn. "Make the mistake of not honoring our agreement, and you will have the misfortune of dealing with the half-Klingon part of me. Just some friendly words of caution. Enjoy your evening."

Nathan nodded and smiled again. " Understood sir, you have a wonderful evening as well." But the smile melted from his face as soon as he turned back around. He quickly made his way out of the room.

[OFF]

Lieutenant Commander Cameron Tegan
Executive Officer
USS Katana

Lieutenant Nathan Tonkin
Chief of Security
USS Katana

The USS Katana was under her way and the starship's Commanding Officer, Kristopher N. Kerouac had finally received new orders after his Engineering and Operations crew worked hard and long hours to rush repairs on the starship. Though still not back to 100%, Kris was willing and able to bluff it if need be. So what if the Katana was only around 90% operational? Even if the starship was not in perfect condition, she could still carry out this mission and hold her own in a fight should they encounter a problem. However, the aim for the current mission was scientific and to allow time for the final repairs to be made 'on the go' as the Admiral had instructed just an hour ago.

Commander Kerouac was walking down one of Katana's corridors and soon entered a turbolift to head to the proper deck. Kris had hated the limitations of the Intrepid-class when it came to conference and staff meetings. The Briefing Room where Intrepid-class starship Captains were to typically hold their meetings only held six to eight individuals in a rather cramped setting. It simply did not work for Commander Kerouac and his large Senior Staff. Kris had made some decisions that were not common aboard Intrepid-class starships. He insisted on having a Ship's Counselor and added an Intelligence Department and Diplomatic Department to his starship.

Though he did not appreciate the Dominion attack on his starship, Kris did capitalize on the need for repairs. It had allowed him to work with engineers in order to create a larger Conference Room on deck three by renovating VIP quarters. It featured a much larger table with all the technology tools to make meetings run smoothly. Kris had asked his Yeoman to assemble the Senior Staff (Department Heads) and in the absence of Lieutenant Matthews who was busy with repairs, for the Chief Engineer to send someone from her department to attend the meeting. Kris was ahead of time and expected to be first to arrive. However, his Yeoman had beat him to it.

Mizuki had been busy. Though perhaps it wasn't that busy? She'd sent out a mass text communique through the ship's LCARS system to the department heads, with additional recipients in Engineering's case. Then, just in case they hadn't received the text, she had contacted each one personally. Her confidence had grown by the end of it, and while she had done all of this from the conference room itself, her face was all business.

The Yeoman turned to the door, sitting at the head chair, legs crossed, PaDD resting in her lap at a diagonal angle. "Hello sir. I've sent messages to all of the Department Heads and others who were in need of them. Now we wait?" A light chuckle is heard as she elegantly vacates the head chair and sits down in the one that would most likely be hers.

"You make my life so much easier" commented Kris as he headed for his seat at head of the table. "Nothing like breaking in a new conference table. Now, I just have to figure out what to do with the Deck 1 Briefing Room. It is a nice room but it doesn't have nearly enough space to hold a full Senior Staff meeting" said Kris to make casual conversation. However, when he looked at the woman it came to him.

"You're often in my Ready Room doing work. How would you like your own office?" asked Kris with a small smile. "We can easily convert the Briefing Room on Deck 1 into your own private office to work on whatever the hell it is I don't do and you end up doing for me."

Mizuki's mouth dropped at such a suggestion. A Cadet having her own office? She was the Yeoman, but..it floored her. "Um...Sure! That'd be great. I could do my work while staying out of your way in there." Surprise and shock still registered, though she did close her mouth, so as to not be rude. "And, thank you sir." Mizuki added, bowing her head in respect.

"My thoughts as well" replied Kris with a smile. He then turned his attention to the entrance as his Senior Staff arrived.

Jhu was never not busy since the attack on the ship. Between reading - and re-reading - reports and fielding personnel problems that still kept ending up on her desk instead of Cameron's, she hadn't been doing much besides working. Which led to her being asleep at her desk when the call for a briefing came through. Startled, she nearly fell out of her chair until she realized that the incessant high-pitched noise was just a message from the captain. Oh, great. Hopefully he won't notice I wasn't awake when he called. Hurriedly straightening her hair back out, she grabbed her uniform jacket and put it back on as she went out into the corridor, walking past Vara like she wasn't there. Vara would follow regardless; that was their arrangement.

Not even batting an eyelash to being ignored, Vara indeed did follow. When they got to the conference room she took up a position next to the door and scanned with her Lagashi sensors while reading something on her PaDD.

Mizuki was already there, so Jhu wasn't the first person to arrive, which suited her just fine. Though she usually didn't bother with food or drink during these briefings, she paused at the replicator to get a cup of coffee before turning to admire the new conference room. "Wow. They went all out on this one."

Nathan was right on Jhu's heals. He looked tired and stressed, but smiled and nodded looking around the new room. "Very nice. This should work much better." After Jhu was done at the replicator Nathan also got a cup of coffee and moved to take a seat at the table.

Cameron Tegan appeared in the revitalized conference room a moment later and made a low whistling noise as he came to the table. Part of him was nervous; this would be his first 'formal' meeting with the rest of the senior staff, although he'd already met several over the course of the last few days while going over repair schedules and the like. Finding Jhu and Nathan already inside, the executive officer's face glazed into a more serious composure. The last time he'd seen them, Jhu experienced some sort of panic attack brought on by their replay of the Jem'hadar attack on the Katana. So far, he hadn't said much of it, even though he intended on suggesting that the Romulan/Trill see the Katana's new counselor.

"I can see someone pulled all the stops," Cameron pointed out as he ran his hands over the table surface. He'd seen the plans for the new conference room, but hadn't had time to visit it in person until now.

When Lia Grae first received the summons for the meeting she almost made the mistake and telling the turbolift for deck 1, but caught herself. She arrived shortly after Commander Tegan and her eyes widen a bit as she saw looked around the room. "This is nice..." she commented as she claimed one of the empty chairs. "whoever designed this room sure has style and class."

Hayley walked into the new conference room. "Not bad," she said looking around the room before dropping into her chair ad leaning back in it. "Could have made the seats a bit more comfy though."

Kris looked at Lieutenant Collins and chuckled. "They never make these damn seats comfortable, Collins" commented Kris who then looked around the table as it began to fill up.

Sabrina stepped into the Conference Room carrying a small satchel filled with more PaDDs then she could ever need for one meeting. But whatever the Captain threw at her, she planned on being prepared. She had reports from every section and subsection of engineering, and lengthy details about the current repair status. She wouldn't let Matthews down, not if she could help it. Sabrina wasn't sure what to do with herself once she was fully in the room though, it seemed rude and unprofessional to just sit, or to even say hi to the room full of senior officers. She slid against the wall and played 'fly on the wall'.

Kris had took notice of Sabrina and shook his head. "Petty Officer, Corbin... sit your ass down" said Kris firmly though he flashed her a smile to show her that was being slightly playful. "Have a seat, Sabby. You are here for a reason."

Sabrina breath a sigh of relief when Kris smiled and called her Sabby. She smiled back "Yes sir." Then took a seat, placing her satchel of PaDDs beside her chair.

Liam entered the newly renovated conference room, it was nice, a tad flashy almost, he'd just finished patching up a pair of POs who'd felt like ice kitting on Andoria was a good idea. Three broken legs between the pair, half a dozen fracture ribs, a nearly severed finger and a punctured spleen. It seemed the crew of the Katana were more than capable of practically killing themselves just by having fun, who needs the Jem'Hadar when you have holodecks and recklessness. Dropping into the seat the CMO ran his hand over his slightly stubbled jaw and took advantage of the replicator built into the table to replicate a Risan coffee he was particular fond of. "What's next Captain chaises on the bridge and a movie theatre in my OR?"

"Yes, all the above, Doctor. It is my secret plan to slowly make this Intrepid-class starship and compacted Galaxy-class" countered Kris with a bit of tongue and cheek. "We needed a larger room to hold conferences or else I would have to close a few Departments and break up this wonderful family. I simply could not have that."


"And my office is still a closet. I feel so loved." Jhu smirked at Kris as she found her seat, hoping it wasn't too apparent she'd been asleep in that office just a few minutes ago.

Kris glared at Jhu. "Nobody likes a bitch" replied Kris with a matching smirk. "I gave you an Assistant Chief and just allowed you to have another intelligence officer, Commander. Do you really need a larger office?"

"I will if you keep assigning me people. We can barely fit the three of us in there for briefings." Jhu took a sip of her coffee.

Kris rolled his eyes. "Oh sure, tell me you want a department set up... that you couldn't do everything on your own and then when you get a few people in your department, you complain about it. Jhu, your Romulan is showing" said Kris playfully.

Lia watched the exchange between Jhu and the Captain and couldn't help the smile forming on her lips.

Nathan leaned back in his chair and drained his cup. The he set it to the side and watched the interactions going on. It was hard to believe but he hardly knew half of the people here.

Mizuki so far had been memorizing names and faces. Taking notes of who appeared and reading files to catch up, while also listening for what Kris said. Here, at least, she was the true fly on the wall, and the lowest ranked in the room.

Rushing in, Maica surveyed the new conference room with a slight 'mou' on her lips. It wasn't anywhere near as nice as most of the conference halls she had been in over her career, but it was much better than the closet on deck 1 that they tried calling a conference room. Finished with her assessment, she turned to the replicator, ordering a chilled glass of tomato soup. Taking a seat towards the end of the table, she commented on the room itself. "It's functional. Not much of an upgrade from the old conference room, but I suppose there isn't enough room on the ship for what I'm used to, is there?"

Will had recieved his summons regarding the Senior Officer staff meeting and the message from Andy to go and represent Operations on her behalf whilst she was busy attending to other matters. This wasn't a problem as he'd been a Department Head before earlier in his career and he knew what to do. He arrived at the Conference Room and looked around briefly, taking note of the layout of the room and the people. "Good Afternoon, Lieutenant Will Morgan, I'm here representing Chief Carter whilst she attends to some important work," Will said introducing himself before he sat down.

Bridget was still adjusting to her new position as Chief Science Officer and had therefore almost forgotten that she was now part of the senior staff. She cringed a little when she noticed she was the last one to arrive.

Commander Kristopher Kerouac was pleased to see that everyone had arrived promptly. He looked at Lieutenant Will Morgan and gave a polite nod. If Andy was going to send anyone in her place, it was a smart idea to send her Assistant Chief. His rank and experience was enough for Kris to know that Will would be valuable to have at the table in Andy's place. "I see" replied Kris to Will's announcement. "Yeoman Masterson, please make note for the record that Petty Officer Corbin and Lieutenant Morgan are here for Engineering and Operations respectively" ordered Commander Kerouac.

Mentally taking note that his Senior Staff had arrived, Kris called the meeting to order. "Thank you all for assembling promptly. I would like to start by extending a welcome our new faces on the Senior Staff. Additionally, after the recent events aboard and the losses we suffered, I want to remind everyone that Counselor Grae is here for a reason. Should anyone need to talk with her about anything, please schedule a meeting with her" said Kris with a small smile at the Counselor.

Lia gave a nod to the Captain and smiled at her crewmembers, "The door to my office is always open, so feel free to stop by."

Kris then turned in his seat and after tapping away at a small control panel beside him him, the center of the table came to life with holographic projectors. "If you'll please draw you attention to the center of the table" announced Kris. The holographic image of some Gekli 'swam' around above the center of the table.

Commander Kerouac looked over at his Chief Science Officer to see if the image triggered any sort of response. "Lieutenant O'Connor, what is your knowledge of these spacial creatures?" asked Kris with a look of curiosity in his eyes.

"Well," she started, "they are generally benign and mutually beneficial creatures; they tend to work with other species as a kind of team. They don't occupy a "home" world per se, but exist in space. And, as far as I know, there isn't any understandable vocal language. Not that I've been able to find at least," she finished.

The Commanding Officer nodded and took in the information. "Good, saves me time from having to learn about them from these damned Science reports" commented Kris with a small smile. Science, my achilles heel thought Kris as his attention was focused on the Chief Science Officer. "All good information, Lieutenant. Starfleet Science and the Federation have very little information on the Gekli.

Kris then looked down the table at his Chief Intelligence Officer. "Lieutenant Commander t'Dharvanek, is there anything that the Intelligence Department can add on this life form?" asked Kris as he sought additional information if there was any to be dug up.

"They have a symbiotic relationship with the Hylasa, a humanoid race that worships them as gods and is able to telepathically bond with them. Theoretically, any telepath could do the same." Jhu sipped her coffee between thoughts. "Basically though, they're space whales."

"The hell they are" said Kris with a small smile. "Aye, they are in a way what you'd call space whales and Starfleet would like to know more about them especially considering we have only had a few encounters with them. This ladies and gentlemen is our new orders from Starfleet. A school of these Gekli have recently been spotted around the nearby massive Haydon nebula. Katana, is the closest Federation starship with the necessary scientific tools to properly study these life forms."

Nathan let out a sigh of relief. After everything this ship and crew had been through in the last month, a nice calm science mission is probably exactly what they need.

"Do we have any information about the effects they may have on telepaths on the ship?" Cohen asked, his eyes locked on the space whales "Intentional or not, anything capable of working on that scale could likely interfere with some our crew, especially Shira, who we still know very little about her telepathic skills."

Now that was a particular point that Kris valued, the medical concerns from his Chief Medical Officer. "Very little information in that regard, Dr. There have only been a few encounters with the Gekli. Only one time was this a matter. The USS Enterprise-D was the first Federation starship to encounter these creatures. They encountered one with child and unintentionally killed the parent. The Enterprise had a Half-Betazoid aboard, their ship's Counselor. However, I do not believe that we have any information on the effects on the empathic Counselor. We would be going in blind in regards to our Empathic and Telepathic crew."

"If I may..." Maica interjected. "If I remember right, I once read a Devoran scientific study on that particular Gekli that theorized that they aren't originally from our dimension of space or something of that nature. I didn't understand it very well, though I know they mentioned something about realigning their interspacial sensor arrays and hormone secretions. If that helps..." Her words trailed off as she sipped at her glass of tomato soup.

Kris smiled at Maica. "That actually is quite helpful, Maica. It is a matter of interest to me. The Enterprise's reports also made note that the offspring attached itself to the starship and was unintentionally putting the crew at risk. That was one young Gekli and a Galaxy-class starship. The school of Gekli is whole other level of concern. I do not want a repeat of the Enterprise-D incident" said Kris looking at Lieutenant Tonkin and Lieutenant Morgan.

Nathan shrugged at the Captain "Not my area of expertise Sir. The only suggestion I have is to keep the the ship back a safe distance so they don't attach themselves to our haul. We can do sensor sweeps of the pod and if we need to get up close and personal we can take the run about out. Hopefully it would be to small to interest them." Nathan leaned back in his chair and thought for a second. "Its was feeding of the energy of the Enterprise if I remember correctly, so in theory a run about would be of little interest as a food source."

"Yes... I recall something about souring the milk to get the lifeform off the starship. A runabout or smaller craft would be an option to explore. However, I would feel safer if we took precautions in case a smaller craft still is seen as a food source. Lieutenant Morgan, in theory could we 'sour the milk' of an axillary vessel?"

Will sat forward having thought about the situation and recalling the reports on the Enterprise D Incident. "Well, we could reset the intermix mixture of the Impulse Output Generators to try and put it off. A change in shield harmonics, output and nutation should also allow for protection for an auxiliary craft, although I'd recommend using a Runabout more than a Shuttlecraft, based on the fact a Runabout has more to work with," Will suggested to the room.

Kris then looked at Lieutenant Hayley Collins, Chief Flight Controller. "Collins, you are the best damn pilot aboard...excluding myself of course" said Kris with a small smile. "Lieutenant, how would you feel about navigating an axillary through and around a school of 'space whales'?" asked Kris with a smirk. He was fairly confident that the woman would jump at the opportunity.

"Should be a walk in the park, Captain," Collins shrugged, confidently.

Lia leaned forward placing her arms on the table as she listened to the different suggestions, "Wouldn't probes be better for this mission than sending a shuttle out?"

"I doubt a Gekli would appreciate probes," Jhu remarked quietly. "To us they're normal but to a species that doesn't use them they might look like torpedoes. Probably better not go take that chance."

"Yes because a larger shuttle is more subtle and nonthreatening to them compared to a probe a third it's size." Lia replied glancing at Jhu.

"A shuttle also has no resemblance to the weapons used to hunt them. They're less likely to be afraid of it." Jhu thought that was a simple concept, but clearly it wasn't.

"Not all probes use torpedo casings. Some probes have very unique designs that looks nothing like torpedoes; like the class-5 for example; used for reconnaissance and intelligence gathering." Lia replied with a smile.

"...you're missing the point." Jhu sighed at her. This is why she didn't like dealing with counselors. "They're Gekli. They don't know what a probe is, and we don't know what their sensory system actually sees. All we know is they can tell the difference in size... a Galaxy class starship looks nothing like an adult Gekli, and a baby easily latched onto it, thinking 'this is my mother'. It's my opinion that a probe is more harmful than helpful, and our goal is to help them."

Cameron saw the situation turning into a heated back and forth exchange between the ship's Intelligence Officer and its Chief Counselor. He leaned his elbows against the table, interlaced his fingers, and rested his chin on his knuckles. “We have to consider both options, but to be frank, the counselor may have a point. Obviously we don’t want to startle the Gekli, but if we did, I’d much rather an unmanned probe be at risk than a crewed shuttlecraft. I don’t want this turning into a rescue mission,” the Klingon/Trill hybrid turned to Jhu. “We can start small and work our way up. Conduct a long range survey of the pod using a class-5 probe; as long as we keep our distance, I doubt the Gekli will consider the probe an immediate threat. And once we have an idea as to how the Gekli will respond to a foreign presence, we can then determine whether or not to send a manned expedition. Slow is steady, and steady is fast.”

Lia almost glared at Cameron for getting involved in the debate with Jhu but merely sighed out her frustrations. "Do we know how many Gekli we are dealing with for this mission?"

Mizuki made note of the attendance, as Kris ordered. Her face remained impassive, but she frowned mentally at the exchange between the Counselor and Jhu. In her mind, Jhu presented the better point, but, she would say nothing of it right now. This was her chance to observe a command crew in action. Since one day, she'd have to manage something similar.

Maica just sighed and shook her head. She didn't like where that argument was going and she didn't approve of how the XO had put a stop to it or that he had made concessions to a counsellor that was trying to apply humanoid psychology to the gekli over an intel officer with a pet that knows how animals think, she wasn't about to say anything for now. Besides, though she felt that a probe could be seen as a parasite and she didn't know of any reasons why the main sensors wouldn't work at a safe range through all that open space, she was a diplomat - not some sciencey space whale biologist. Why should they listen to her opinion on something like this?

"From a tactical standpoint, how far away from the pod do we need to be? Probes are for situation like if we come across a wormhole, or nebula cloud that our sensors can't breach, correct? So that being the case, would this be a waste of our resources?" Nathan leaned on the table "But if we do decided to use the probe, I would suggest we fire it out far in front of the pod and then let it sit there while the pod moves by it, that way we are not firing it into the middle of a group of animals that we don't know the expected reactions of."

Kris had been rather quiet for a few moments. He was observing how his crew would work with the new faces. Already, there was a potential problem areas and unsurprisingly, it was the two that Kris was most concerned about. Lia and Jhu. Kris' new First Officer had made an attempt to cut the two down the middle and defuse the situation. However, Kris needed to chime in.

"Probes are wonderful and I can certainly see your point, Counselor. Commander, t'Dharvanek also has made a good point and again Counselor, well played with your counter. However, what Starfleet wants is as much information as we can get about the Gekli. They are moving... not stationary. Where they are going is unknown and that is something that needs to be taken into consideration. A probe can provide excellent information so I would like to launch some and collect as much information as we can. However, I feel as though we also need to travel with the school or pod of these life forms in order to thoroughly study them. Obviously, I do not want to put Katana in more danger than necessary. Therefore, I believe that a shuttle would be a reasonable action" explained Kris.

Cameron chewed on the lower corner of his lip as he mulled over the Captain's decision. "I'd like to be on that shuttle, sir." He added. "I'm not about to ask anybody else to do something I wouldn't."

"I wouldn't have it any other way" said Kris with a nod. Really? Did you think I was going to go chase space whales? thought Kris as he struggled to conceal a smirk. "I would recommend the Aeroshuttle" said Kris, speaking from his helm experience.

"Sounds good to me, sir." Cameron replied.

To directly respond to Lia, Kris looked at her. "Exact numbers, we do not know. However, the reports that Starfleet sent our way indicate that the passing vessel spotted dozens of Gekli, mature and adolescent."

Lia nodded, "Thank you."

Another thought occurred to Maica and this one she had to speak up about. Punching up a holographic comparison between the gekli and the Katana, she spoke. "Doesn't the ship look a bit like one of them? We have a weird tail, but other than that, is there a way to disguise our energy signatures to blend in with them so they think we're one of them? According to that report I mentioned earlier, they were able to 'swim' with the gekli they were following for several days with little trouble. Granted, they took a somewhat specialized ship..."

Kris flashed a smile at Maica. "Excellent observation, Lieutenant." Commander Kerouac turned his seat slightly and looked at Lieutenant Morgan once more.

"Lieutenant, would it be possible to create some sort of camouflage for Katana and the Aeroshuttle...to somehow make us read as though we were a Gekli?" asked Kris.

Will nodded to the question. "Thats not a problem. I could have the main deflector on the shuttle reconfigured to give an inverted shield profile similar to a Gekli. Its also possible to setup a field generator underneath the shuttle to give of readings and life signs that mimic a Gekli," Will explained.

Jhu kept her cool through the mediation that followed the disagreement, but inwardly she was seething a bit. What was the point of giving her opinion if she was going to be immediately shot down? She might not be a scientist, but she wasn't stupid either. Kris combining the plans didn't help matters; she just knew the probes were a bad idea.

Collins bit her lip during the exchange but decided not to speak--the Captain had obviously made up his mind an from the looks of spook, Jhu wasn't so happy with the idea either. She didn't like the fact that probes would be out there. Their presence would be a problem. Last thing she wanted was to be among a school of spooked space whales.

Sabrina wasn't sure if all briefings were like this, but this one made her slightly nervous. She'd never heard of these creatures before, but everybody else seemed to at least have some clue as to what they were. "Ummmm." She raised her hand. "Sir?"

Oh Sabby thought Kris as he saw the hand of the young woman. "Petty Officer, Corbin... you have something?"

"Well sir." Sabrina began, a bit hesitantly, but then she spoke up. "If these Gekli are like space whales, why couldn't we just give them something to feed on. I'm sure we could outfit one of the larger probes to provide an energy source for feeding, then while they were distracted, our probes could take readings from the edge of their range. That way we don't risk our probes, or accidentally harm the Gekli."

Kris smiled. "I like that idea" said Kris with a nod. "I just wouldn't want to do it more than once. Do you think there would be any harm, Lieutenant?" asked Kris looking at his Chief Science Officer.

Bridget took a deep breath, she supposed she would have to get used to meetings such as these. "Based on our limited knowledge of these creatures, I don't think there will be any harm in going this route. But I agree that the fewer times we use this method, the better."

Kris then looked at his Chief Diplomatic Officer, "Lieutenant Maica, I understand that we've been contacted by Shira's people?" asked Kris looking for information on the matter.

Shaking her head no, Maica explained. "No, they have no way of contacting us. My request earlier is for a runabout, gear, and 3 people so we can make second contact with them. I promised the Elder I would try to be back for her answer on continued diplomatic relations in a couple weeks and it's been about that. I put Shira and Lt O'Conner in the request as well as a pilot. I think Verak would be a good fit for that role. I expect the whole trip to take 48 hours total so we should be back in plenty of time to see the Gekli."

Kris brought his hand up. His palm to the center of his face for a few months as he let out a sigh. He then removed his hand and looked at Maica. "I'm sorry. With the crew changes and the security improvements being made, I had neglected to pay much attention to your request, Lieutenant. I'll grant you permission to take a shuttle, Shira and Lieutenant Verak. However, we do not have the 48 hours to wait" said Kris with a shake of his head.

"Thank you, sir. What about a science person in general then? I may be akin to a walking tricorder at times, but I honestly suck at sciencey things." Maica said.

He understood the need for a science officer to accompany Maica. He thought for a moment and then looked at his Chief Science Officer. "Lieutenant Connor, I would like either Lieutenant Merin or yourself to accompany Lieutenant Maica. I will leave that in your hands."

Bridget perked up a bit; she was very interested in seeing Shira's world. "I'll join them," she replied.

Nathan spoke up. "I'm not really comfortable with this trip with out some security on board."

Jhu cleared her throat. "Nath-- er, Lieutenant Tonkin has a point, Captain. We'd never send a landing party without armed security, and this trip should be no different."

Kris looked at Lieutenant Tonkin "She is correct. I would not" said Kris. He then looked over at Jhu and flashed her a bitchy smirk. "Thank you for volunteering yourself, Commander t'Dharvanek" added Kris with a small nod.

Clearing her throat, Maica glanced meaningfully towards Jhu. "While I agree with Nathan, if Jhu goes, won't Vara insist on going too?"

Ignoring Maica's teasing emphasis on Nathan's name, Jhu gave Kris a 'you better not be messing with me' look. "Of course she will. So long as Lieutenant Tonkin doesn't need her here, I don't expect it will be a problem."

Nathan shifted uncomfortably in his chair. "Uh...no as a mater of fact I insist she go especially if Commander t'Dharvanek is going." He said recovering his composure and nodding to the Captain.

Kris shook his head. "No, we cannot afford a diplomatic catastrophe, Mr. Tonkin... Lieutenant Commander t'Dharvanek will be remaining here with me" said Commander Kerouac as he looked at the Security Chief. I have found it best it keep this starship's head bitch in charge on a short leash thought Kris privately. However, his thoughts were open to those with telepathic abilities to 'listen in on'.

Jhu scowled, looking down at the table. What a cruel joke.

Commander Kristopher Kerouac looked at Maica. "This is a Diplomatic mission and though I feel Shira's people to be safe and not the least bit hostile, Lieutenant Tonkin does have a point. Maica, you'll have command of your Diplomatic mission to Arborea. You may have Lieutenant O'Connor and whomever else you deem necessary. However, I want you to take at least one security officer with you."

Nathan looked to Maica. "Who ever you want, I'll make available to you."

"Then I'll get with you on it after the meeting. I'm not that familiar with your staff." Maica nodded to Nathan.

Kris was satisfied with that as well. "Good. Now that we have settled that matter... the Gekli are this starship's primarily focus. Commander Tegan, you'll take an away team on the aeroshuttle to follow and observe those Gekli. Take whomever you wish. However, with Lieutenant O'Connor unavailable, I'd recommend taking Lieutenant Merin as the science officer for your little scientific venture."

Cameron nodded. He stared straight and developed a mental picture for who he wanted with him. A small group of experienced would be best. If something went wrong, they'd have the talent to find a way out of the mess. if something went really wrong, losing three would be better than losing four or five. "Lieutenant Collins," he looked to the Chief Flight Control Officer. "You'll be my pilot. Compared to a nebulae, I'm sure a pod of Gekli will be nothing." Cameron then looked to Bridget. "You mind if I pluck your ASO for this one, Ms. O'Connor?"

"Not at all," replied Bridget.

Kris looked around the room once more. "I appreciate the questions and concerns brought up here today. You are all proving to be my best support as Commanding Officer. Thank you. If there are no other matters to discuss, You are all dismissed" announced Kris.

Jhu needed no more prompting than that. Annoyance and frustration practically rolled off of her as she shoved her chair back and stalked out of the room. The argument was nothing new, but Kris taunting her like that? Dangling away team duty in front of her then yanking it away? It was downright cruel of him.

Mizuki was still recording various notes and thoughts about the briefing, along with reactions and cliffnotes of what was discussed. When he said dismissed, she put the exclamation point on her work and sat back in her chair, placing one leg over the other and sighing gently. She'd noticed the friction between officers, and the attempts to mediate, while good, were heavy-handed to a degree. A frown came to her face as she noticed Jhu leave, but she said nothing, and the frown quickly dissipated. She wasn't assigned to any of the action, so she had little to add.

Sabrina grabbed up her satchel, containing more PaDDs then she could ever need for one meeting. She was pleased that she'd been brave enough to offer her opinion, and that said opinion had actually been considered. She left the Briefing with a smile on her face.

Bridget didn't wait to be told she could leave twice. She could practically feel the tension in the room. She hurriedly grabbed her bag and made her way out of the room.

It had taken Kyle hours to fall asleep and even then his sleep had been fitful and filled with small nightmares, most of which were centered about his being left alone; on a deserted island, on a shuttle where he was suddenly the only passenger, in middle of a pitch black cave. He knew the images weren't real, but they were grounded, as most dreams are, in reality.

He and Noah had been together since they were both 14 and now that was over. Noah really hadn't really given much of a reason, there hadn't been any giant fights since the big blow up. Noah had just announced he was leaving. He'd filed for divorce.

It had hit Kyle hard. Harder than he could have imagined. He'd manged to hold things together when he was on duty, or around people but when he was alone he sometimes lost it. He hadn't thought it was possible for him to cry, but it was. He had, more than he would ever admit to anyone.

He woke partially and his hand reached out almost of its own volition to where Noah should be. But Noah, naturally, wasn't there. He awoke fully then and knew he couldn't get back to sleep.

So he took a quick shower and put on a pair of jeans and a teal rugby shirt and headed to a holodeck.

Commander Kristopher N. Kerouac had been too busy to sleep. The Operations and Engineering personnel had been working round the clock with very little sleep to finish up the last of the repairs. New crew were arriving on transports from various sectors. In addition to the new arrivals were a few departures from the crew. However, one departure had taken Kris by surprise. Lieutenant Noah Evans, Chief Science Officer. It had hit Kris rather hard. He had lost a few of his Senior Staff to deaths and injuries. However, to lose one at this time via a request to transfer was a blow.

What had struck Kris as extremely abnormal was that he had seen and approved of Noah's request to transfer and yet, there had been nothing from Noah's husband. It was not unheard of for couples going in different directions for their careers, being reassigned or transferred. Kris knew things had not being going all that great with the couple. They had hit a rocky patch and the turbulence was sensed when the two were around one another.

"Computer, locate Lieutenant Weaver" said Kris as he left his Read Room, crossed across the Bridge and entered the turbolift.

"Lieutenant Weaver is in the Holodeck" replied the computer in a distorted voice. Kris made a note that the computer was having auditory problems in the vocal processor. He would have Crewmen Corbin give it a look.

"Deck Six" ordered Kris. He would proceed to the holodeck and check in on Lieutenant Weaver. There was no good reason for the man to be awake at this hour. It meant that there was trouble in paradise. It was a quick trip from deck one down to deck six, and at a brisk pace, it did not take long for Kris to be outside the holodeck and overriding the lock with his command codes.

Typically, he would have respected the man's privacy. However, Kris felt as though it would be best to just proceed into the holodeck and talk to the man. He did not want to give Kyle a way to opt out. Kris found the Intelligence officer and Kyle looked as though he had seen better days. Kris slowly approached the man who was clearly off duty, not a single piece of Starfleet uniform on him. He could also tell by the man's facial expression and the look around his eyes that Noah's leaving was Noah's choice and not Kyle's.

"Kyle, I'm sorry" said Kris immediately. He went to the man's side and placed a hand on the Intelligence officer's shoulder. "Did he say anything to you about it?"

The holodeck was nothing elaborate, An open air bar, on a beach. The sound of the surf, a briny smell in the air and the glint of the sun off an azure blue sea was somewhat peaceful It could have been drawn from a dozen planets, though it had not been. Kyle was standing at the bar and had just taken a swallow from an amber long necked bottle, when Kris touched him.

He turned, not even bothering to hide the grim expression on his face. "That's the damn problem Kr.. Captain, he never does say anything. He just goes silent and I'm supposed to freaking guess what he wants, or what I've done... did wrong."

He pulled the ring off his finger, "You know what this means? Apparently, not a whole hell of a lot. He's divorcing me and I don't know what to do."

"Kris" replied the Captain, patting the man on the shoulder and then letting go. "You can call me Kris when we aren't waist deep in Jem'hadar shit" added Kris with a small flash of a smile. "There is unfortunately not much that you can do, Kyle. Noah made his decision without consulting you or anyone aboard as far as I am aware. I read over his resignation and transfer request several times. It was quite detailed but gave me no reasoning. I can only imagine that he has put a lot of thought into this and his thoughts were of leaving."

Kris took a deep breath. He had worn a band on his finger for years before he had the courage or whatever it was that caused him to take it off and put it away. "It means that you loved someone enough that you wanted to spend your life with them. We take a lot of risk when we fall for someone enough to want that. Unfortunately, it does not always work out."

There was a long pause as Kyle fought to keep his composure. Letting out a long sigh he said, "We were together since we were teenagers. I know I have a bit of a reputation, but its not deserved. He's the only man I'vie EVER been with. I've never even kissed another guy."

"Reputations are hard to live down, especially when they are not based on facts" replied Kris. He understood how the man felt. "Things can change, Kyle. You need to grieve for your loss. I understand that all too well. We have new Counselor aboard. I don't know much about her yet but if you need to talk to someone about this. She may be better at this than me."

"I should probably do that, see a counselor that is, but you've been through something like this, I doubt she has. Only your man didn't leave on his own. He died. that's even worse. Do you want to have a drink? I'm being rude. You know I really just want to get drunk tonight. Maybe that would help me sleep."

"Presumed dead" countered Kris firmly. "They never recovered his body nor have they ever discovered his starship. Starfleet gave up on him. I have not" added Kris sharply. "I will not give up. I need answers and his family needs closure." Kris chuckled "I shouldn't drink but I think a time like this is a good reason to do so. However, you aren't going to find anything good or damn near strong enough in a Holodeck or from a replicator."

"The holodeck was just to keep me occupied, I know I can't really get drunk on the crap here. " He placed a hand on his Captain's shoulder. "Sorry, presumed dead." He pulled his hand away "Um, sorry, I shouldn't have done that. Anyway, do you have any of the hard stuff, you know real stuff, we could go back to your place." Color rose in his cheeks, "I mean, just to drink."

Kris smirked "Rumors about your reputation are greatly exaggerated" said the Captain with a small playful jab at Kyle. "Is an Andorian's ass blue?" countered Kris as he lead the way out of the Holodeck. "Oh yeah, I've got the real stuff. Probably the best private supply that you are going to find on any Federation starship. I even have some illegal items. Don't inform Security."

Feeling somewhat on safer ground and slightly less embarrassed, Kyle followed Kris back towards his cabin. "My lips are sealed, your secret is safe with me. Security doesn't have to know a thing. At least if I get to test those items."

"Sample as much as you'd like and however long as you want. My quarters are rather spacious and I do not mind if you pass out somewhere" replied Kris with a chuckle. "I've woken up all over the place. Have you ever had real Kentucky Bourbon?" asked Kris as they approached the turbolift.

Kyle shook his head, "No is it good? Will it make forget? Sorry, I'm being maudlin and a pussy."

"Your husband just up and left you without much of a reason and very little notice. I think you have a good reason to be a little emotional, Kyle. Pussy is not something that I'd associate with you. Kentucky Bourbon... can't do it justice to describe it. You'll just have to experience it for yourself."

They stepped into the turbo lift and Kyle leaned against the wall as the cab started moving. "I think Noah was interested in you, Did you know that?"

Kris looked perplexed by that statement. It was not something that Kris was expecting to hear and he looked at Kyle, struggling to find the proper words. "I... No, Kyle, I did not know about it. I do not really know what to say about that."

"It's not your fault. I'm not blaming you. I doubt he'd ever have acted on it. but I caught him looking at you, more than once and when i asked him about it, he got pissed and started talking about my reputation. That's when I knew it was true. I know, knew him too well. Oh, I doubt he would have acted on it, but he did think you were good looking."

"Well, he was good looking too. However, I would have never interfered with what the two of you had."

"I know that Kris. You're a good man. A really good man. Maybe we should talk about something else. Something to get my mind off of him. So tell me more about this Kentucky Bourbon of yours."

"Oh I have so much. Kentucky Bourbon, Vodka, various beers and wines. I may even have some Romulan and Surian Brandy" added Kris with a smile. The two had entered a Turbolift and it had taken them to the deck where the Captain's quarters were. "You should socialize with some of the new crew. I saw a rather interesting personnel file today about a Mawasi soldier coming aboard. He's been assigned here by the Federation and Starfleet Command as a warrant officer in the Intelligence Department."


Kyle didn't smile, but his frown did lighten slightly, "A new Intel officer, well he sounds interesting. I can't say I am familiar with the Mawasii."

"Don't worry, you are not being replaced any time soon" joked Kris. "Jhu has been bitching up a storm ever since she got here about the lack of personnel in her department. That's how you got this assignment. The new guy has nothing on you. He's young and is not really a field operative so much as he is a programmer and analyst. His expertise is in cybersecurity. I think he'll be an asset to have on the crew. I don't know much about the Mawasii myself either. We made first contact with them a few years back. They are native to the Gamma Quadrant and were once part of the Dominion, but they rebelled and liberated themselves."

"Well he does sound interesting. When is he coming aboard?"

"We are expected to cross paths with a Federation mining freighter tomorrow. He's traveling aboard it. The Mawasii Allegiance consists of several planets who have business relations with the Mawasii in exchange for full military protection should any planet under their protection be attacked. They do not like outsiders entering their space. However, the Federation was able to broker an interesting deal. Their planets are rich in dilithium but they have absolutely no use for it. We get to mine their dilithium for a small price... up to date intelligence information on the Dominion."

"And who else knows about this?" Kyle asked warming to the subject, momentarily forgetting about Noah, or at least putting thoughts of him on the back burner. "Do you know how many races would want to get their hands on the dilithium? And they wouldn't be as nice as we are."

"The Higher ups in the Federation, the President... Federation Council, Starfleet Command and various other Departments like Starfleet Intelligence. Obviously it goes without saying that Section 31 probably have their eyes and ears on it. You should be able to find additional information if you know where to look. We've been in business with the Mawasii for couple of years now but if I am to be honest, I do not particularly like how we handled the situation. I am well aware of how many species would love to get their hands on it. Fortunately for us, we can and do. Unfortunately for the rest, the Mawasii do not take kindly to outsiders."

"Good, they can take care of themselves. I like that. I'll have to read up on them, but something you said bothers me. How did we treat them What did we do?"

"We treat them just fine, more than even... that is actually the problem that I have. in 2386 when Captain Lee Valdez of the Venture made contact with them, they pretty much forced Valdez to leave. They were nice enough about it, but they were quite clear on their stance. Valdez and his starship made the discovery of the dilithium and contacted Starfleet Command who in return contacted the Federation. When all was said and done we got to set up shop and mine dilithium. However, we are doing so by supplying them with intelligence information on the Dominion. They use that information to perform strikes against the Dominion. If another war breaks out between them and the Dominion... our hands are as guilty as theirs."

"So your concern is they aren't just using this for their defense they are, how should I say they're engaging in a preemptive strike and their actions to defend themselves might not only backfire and cause a war, but that the collateral damage could be enormous.

"More or less...yeah" replied Kris as they neared his quarters. Kris opened the doors to his quarters and entered with Kyle in tow. "What really pisses me off is the whole dilithium for information deal. It seems like a huge violation of the Prime Directive. Are they advanced, yes! However, we are sharing more than simple replicators or anything. We are sharing intelligence information that they are using to attack the Dominion. Now, I am not a fan of the fucking Dominion but we are practically funding a little war when we are supposed to be working on good relations with the Dominion."

"Which just goes to prove that Star Fleet and Intelligence is an oxymoron," Kyle offered, "now maybe we can discuss this more over that Bourbon you mentioned."

"Right this way" said Kris as his motioned for Kyle to follow him. Kris took the man over to his private stock. It was a well sized room adjacent to the Captain's living Quarters. They had been at one time been crew quarters, but after recent modifications, the room became a walk in storage room for all things alcohol.


Kyle took one look and his eyes widened."Holy Shit, this almost as big as ou... my cabin."

"I call it my vault" joked Kris with a small smile. "A little something to help when times get tough... and they do get tough."


"Yeah, I imagine they do. What I'm going through is painful, but its not life-threatening. You're a good man Kris. A really good man."

"I don't know about that, Kyle" said Kris as he looked around the vault for something to drink. It was actually not a hard choice for Kris as he more or less knew what he wanted. He moved forward and snatched up a bottle of rum. "If there is a good man in this room, it is probably you."


"Sounds like a mutual admiration society. So you're loss is different than mine, at least I know where Noah is or at least that he is safe. You don't. How do you deal with that?"

"As I said, welcome to my vault" joked Kris, only he was not really joking. He looked around and shook his head. "It takes the edge off, dulls the pain for a bit but it is not the answer. It does not get me answers and I have had a long history of trying to numbs myself to the point where I've lost myself. I don;t drink so much anymore nor all that often. I don't deal with it Kyle, he's why I am out here with Task Force 9. I know he's out here... somewhere."

"You want help, looking for him?"

Kris smiled. "Jhu has been working on it since she's arrived. I am hoping that she'll be able to help pinpoint where he could be. That ship is out there, Kyle. I don't know if I will ever find him alive... but I just want to find him."

Kyle wanted to place a comforting hand on Kris's shoulder. What was happening with him and Noah was nothing compared to what his Captain was going through, but he thought it might be taken the wrong way. "If you do need more help, let me know. My father is an Admiral he has sources and resources you can't find elsewhere."

Then in a lower voice he continued, "And Kris, if somebody did something to him, then I'm the guy you want by your side. I won't ask questions and they'll never find the dismembered body. Dismembering is a painful way to die I've heard."

"It is not quite that simple, Kyle. I lost Uri during the War. Something happened to the starship that he was serving on. They never found out what happened. For years, she was listed as MIA. However, they gave up and now she's listed as a ship that is presumed destroyed, all crew suspected to be Killed in Action. I feel like he's here, out in the Gamma Quadrant."

"I'm sorry, I didn't know," Kyle responded. He found a bottle of Bourbon and held it out to the Captain, "Maybe we both should get drunk."

Kris smiled nervously. "Please, feel free to. I really can't hold my liquor well... I tend to do really stupid things when I've had too much."

"You say stupid, like its a bad thing." Kyle responded, "there's just the two of us, what stupid thing could you do?"

Kris scoffed. "Nothing if I were lonely and needed some company, Kyle. Before I took command of this starship, stupid things would have happened. However, I have something now... this starship. I also am considering dating Dr. Cohen."

Kyle cocked his head to one side, as color slowly rose in his cheeks, "Wait," he said, "I think you may have misunderstood what i said. I was just trying to lighten things up. I thought we could both use that. I didn't mean, not by any stretch of the imagination, suggest that you and I would... you know... Is that what you thought? You're just a friend Kris. I would never sleep with you. I mean, well not never but.. but I'm going to shut up now before I say something even more stupid."

Commander Kristopher Kerouac felt mildly embarrassed for thinking that way. However, he quickly recomposed himself. He let out a small sigh and shook his head. "I'm sorry, Kyle. I just... the alcohol... stupid things... it... yes, I thought that maybe you weren't quite in your right mind" said Kris in a rush to explain and to apologize. However, he found himself moving closer towards Kyle and smiling. "You are a good friend."

"Thanks Kris so are you. And you are a good looking guy. In another place and time,.." he let his voice trail off. And for the record I probably am not in my right mind. But I'm not enough off for that. You know maybe we should change the subject."

"Right, we should" said Kris with a small shrug. "Um.. let's see.. tell me about growing up. Where are you from?"

"Well, San Francisco, if you want to be technical. I was born there, but we moved to a little town called Cortez Colorado when I was like four or five. It was close to Mesa Verde National Park. So I guess I'm kind of a country guy. Love doing anything outdoors. What about you?"

"Surviving on Turkana IV. I did not really have an enjoyable childhood as you can imagine. I had to steal things to get by, I had to do a lot of things that I did not like having to do and some of it I regret to this very moment. It was hard to live on that damn planet."

"I'm sorry Kris, that must have been really rough. But I'm glad you made it. Do you want to talk about when you meet your Imzadi, or would that be too painful?"

Kris looked at Kyle. "Imzadi? Oh I have no idea how I feel about Betazoids and that term. I mean I have never been with a Betazoid. I hear that it is an interesting experience though."

"Well I've never been with one either, but I don't think the term is exclusive with them. I mean, I remember when I met Noah. I was 14 and some asshole found out I had two fathers and was giving me hell about it. Then his friends chimed in. I mean I could have done something about it, I'm augmented you know, but I couldn't just beat the shit out of them cause I looked pretty scrawny. So I was just sitting by myself at a table outside, crying and Noah came along. There was almost an instant bond between us. And we've been... we were together since then. He may not have been Betazoid but he was still my Imazdi."

"Was he?" asked Kris with a dismissive shake of his head. "I do not mean to disrespect or question what the two of you had, but he left. He put in for a transfer and just left. You did not get any sense of peace or closer from it. I don't know much about Imazdis but shouldn't you two still be together."

Kyle turned away, downing the drink he'd been given in a single gulp, then flinging the glass across the room. It hit the wall and shattered into a score of shards and slivers. "Goddamn it Kris why do you have to be right?"

"Because, if I am always wrong this starship would be in serious trouble


"They don't let you sit in the Captain's chair if you aren't capable of being right a fair amount of the time" replied Kris. "I liked that glass."

"Sorry Kris, I'll buy you another one. I just don't know whether to cry again or find something heavier to throw. Why did he do it. Why did he leave me?"

"Temper problems?" said Kris with a small chuckle. He looked at Kyle with sincerity in his eyes and thought about something serious to say. "I really do not know Kyle. The only person who has those answers is him and he is not here to answer you... not that he would have anyways. I do believe that he did what he did because that was what he wanted. The fact that he could not face you and inform you that he was leaving is just more proof that this was not going to work out for the two of you."

Kyle sighed, "Yeah I suppose there is some truth in that. Well you know something Kris, I'm not going to whine about it anymore. I don't know how to get over it. I don't know that I will get over it. I just know that bitching about it or him, just ain't going to work."

"It doesn't usually work" commented Kris with a small smile. "You just focus on your duties and getting yourself together. You will adapt to not having him around. Hell, you may even come to enjoy the freedom."

"We will have to see about the last thing, but I'm willing to try to sort through things."

Kris nodded and sighed. "It is really all that we can do... try. I try every day to get my ass up and put this uniform on in order to try and keep this starship operating under Starfleet and the Federation. However, truth is some days, I get up and just want to say fuck it."

"Yeah, I think I know what you mean. if you're ever having on of those days, you can always call me. maybe I can help."

Kris chuckled. "Sure, I'll call ya. I just will have to make sure I am sober. I do not want to make anything uncomfortable with one of my finest officers."

"You'd never make me fell uncomfortable Kris, though I appreciate your thinking of me as one of your finest officers. Maybe you're thinking that right now because you're not sober.'

"Well, that may be true. However, I have to read far less incident reports regarding you than I have had to Chief Petty Officer Carter" said Kris with a small chuckle. "You are welcome to come by and share some fine liquor with me anytime, Lieutenant" added Kris.

"Thank you sir, but I think I'll be headed back to my place now. Though I might take you up on that offer."

Kris nodded. "Sure, feel free to, Kyle."

After thoroughly destroying her replicator and getting her broken wrist fixed, Jhu was still seething. Kris probably thought his little joke was hilarious, but she was not in any way amused. She could deal with the crew's disregard of her opinion. And she could put up with Kris overriding her suggestions. But she couldn't tolerate the 'giveth and taketh away' game. She'd thought she was finally getting a position on an away team, only for Kris to pull the carpet out from under her. It wasn't fair.

Carefully concealing her ire beneath an icy, professional look, she rang the chime to Kristopher's ready room... and waited.

Commander Kerouac was in his Ready Room looking through the PADDs that Yeoman Masterson had sorted through by priority of Kris' attention. Kris had recently held a staff meeting in which he could tell that something bad was going to happen. There had been a storm brewing and that storm was in the eyes of his Chief Intelligence Officer. Kris was mentally preparing for the chaos when the chime of his Ready Room rang. There was just something in the way that it sounded, as if someone smashed it that felt very Jhu.

"Enter" responded Kris as he took a deep breath and waited for the lashing that he had been prepping for. Here comes the pain he thought as the doors parted ways.

Oh, there was that tone. The one that said 'oh crap.' Jhu relished it for a moment before entering and letting the door slide closed behind her, glaring at him with her arms crossed. "Diplomatic catastrophe?"

Kris snickered at hearing his own descriptive words reflected back at him. "What?" replied Kris with a shrug. He looked at Jhu, studying her for a few moments. I had better stay here behind my desk where I am potentially safe thought the Katana's Commanding Officer. "I meant no disrespect, Commander. However, you have to admit that you have a bit of a....temper. You are a excellent intelligence officer, but diplomacy may not be your strongest area" said Kris a little hesitantly.

"I think I'm doing a rather nice job of controlling that temper considering I haven't kicked your ass yet," Jhu snapped at him, not at all appeased by his complimenting her intelligence skills. "I have been waiting for an away mission since I boarded this ship. You knew that, and you still thought it would be funny to offer one as a joke and then snatch the opportunity from me! Not funny, Captain Kerouac."

Kris glared at her. "Damn it Jhu, don't let your thong ride up so far" countered Kris with a shake of his head. "Have you ever considered that there may be a damn good reason why I kept you off either of those Away Teams?" asked the Captain with a small look in his eyes. I need you thought Kris as he looked down at the PADD that he had been stressing over.

"And have you ever considered that taunting me about it might not be a good idea?" She put her hands on the desk, leaning forward to look at him more directly. "This better be a good reason, Kristopher."

Kris glared at Jhu and cocked his head slightly "I know you shouldn't stick your hand in the bee hive, but sometimes the reward is well with the risk. Besides, I like when you are pissed," replied Kris with a small chuckle. However, the seriousness of the matter made him stiffen in his chair. He picked up the PADD and slid it over to the edge of his desk.

"It is what was left out of the meeting" said Kris with a small nod. "There's a quantum singularity near by. The reason why we are chasing these 'space whales' is more than simply to understand them better. Starfleet Science has been studying these creatures based off of little evidence, much of which has been circumstantial and theoretical. However, they suspect that the Gekli caused this singularity. A Vulcan science vessel launched a probe into the rift. That PADD contains the few moments of information collected and transmitted before the probe was destroyed and something else came through the rift" explained Kris as he set the stage for Jhu to read through the information on the PADD.

"The Vulcan science vessel was destroyed" added Kris

"Keep up the sass and I will hit you." Jhu picked up the PADD that Kris had slid over, her expression changing from anger to concern as she read it and looked at what had come through the rift. "You should have sent me this the second you received it. We're not equipped to handle this threat. No one ship ever could be, let alone one the size of ours."

Kris sighed "I know" replied the Commanding Officer. "To be honest, I am showing you this now against direct orders. It was for my eyes only" explained Kris shaking his head. "We are not equipped for this threat currently. However, I want to be... we need to be. The USS Voyager ingeniously used modified Borg nanoprobes and weaponized them against Species 8472 should we come across them. Sickbay does not have any as we are not approved to carry such technology... highly against Starfleet Security protocols."

"And that's why you kept me on board..." Jhu sighed, setting the PADD down. "You want to use my connection to Section 31."

Kris smiled "Not quite" said Kris. "I want you to get as much information as you can about Species 8472 and fluidic space as you can get... and I don't give a shit where it comes from. However, I would like to arm this starship with nanoprobe weapons. Now, Sickbay does not have any... but we do have nanoprobes" said Kris with a crafty smirk.

"And a very crafty ex-Borg engineer. She'll figure out what we're up to before we ever get close to finish... is that a risk you want to take? She might not like us using her nanoprobes to kill things."

Kris nodded "I would never invade my crew's privacy or go behind their backs if I did not have to. We will have to convince her if she does not comply immediately. It is a very real possibility that we may cross paths with Species 8472. A threat to us all, Maica included. That may be enough to wave in front of her face."

"That's cruel, but I'll do it if I have to."

"Sometimes, we have to do what we must in order to survive. I am hoping that she will allow us to have some nanoprobes willingly and will want to assist us. However, we need those nanoprobes and if that means doing something that I'm going to regret... I'll do it" commented Kris closing his eyes.

"You mean you'll have me do it. Not that I mind doing so, but it's me she'll take that anger out on. Not to mention Maica. Hard to say who's going to be more pissed off."

Kris looked at Jhu, his eyes showed a sympathy. "We'll cross that bridge if it comes. Right now, I just need to prepare for hell."

"We all do. They just don't know it yet." Jhu set the PADD down on his desk. "By the way, since I'm here..."

"Not to the face, anything...but the face. I have a date tonight" replied Kris.

"Oh no. Not that. My replicator is broken."

Kris looked at her suspiciously. "Did you take out some anger on it?"

"Maybe," Jhu admitted sheepishly.

Kris shook his head. "You should see the Counselor about some anger management strategies that do not result in making poor Petty Officer Corbin to work overtime" replied Kris.

"I've only done it once!"

"Yep, and I've only had sex once too" said Kris with a smile. "Next time, go to the holodeck. I'll have Corbin swing by your quarters to fix your replicator."

"The holodeck? That won't work... I'll find something else..."

Kris looked at her and shook his head. "I don't want to know. Go... dismissed. Go find Andy and see if she's willing to help us but don't tell anything that you do not have to."

"Wasn't going to tell you." Jhu smirked as she left his ready room, going to find Andy.

The PADD in Commander Kristopher Noah Kerouac's hand was in flux as the young Commanding Officer's hands shook. A tightness formed in the man's throat, making it difficult for him to breathe. Commander Kerouac was in his quarters when he had been sent the most recent data from the Intelligence Department. There had been a few pieces of Starship debris found by a Federation cargo vessel. The debris was consistent with an Excelsior-class starship, the type of starship that Uri was aboard. The more and more that Kris read on the report, the more he shook.

“No” he said softly to himself though there was a forcefulness to it in his mind. He had faced this before. He had confronted this very possibility long ago, back when Uri and the starship were first reported as missing. It was during the war and Kris knew how likely it was that the starship had been destroyed. However, knowing the possibility of something so horrible was so much easier than being confronted by the gravity of the reality. Pieces from an Excelsior-class starship had been loacated by a damn cargo ship on the boarder of Dominion space, the pieces apparently adrift having been pushed out by a rogue asteroid field.

Kris clenched his right hand, making a firm fist and punched the nearest bulkhead hard. The pain was immense but did not have much influence or reaction from the angry and hurt Commanding Officer of the USS Katana. All the rage and anger quickly melted away as he slumped down to the floor and began to break down. Kris had forgotten in those moments about his meeting with Andy. He had asked her to come over to discuss her new Assistant Chief.

Andy was prompt when it came to her duties, and she was likewise on time for her meeting with the Captain, ringing the chime and standing back to wait. But something wasn't right... Kris didn't respond to the first chime and Andy was about to reach for the panel to ring it a second time when she stopped short. Her eyes refocused on the door in front of her, the eyepiece and ocular implant allowing her to collect data from the other side. His heartbeat was elevated, respiration was irregular, and his heat signature was... was he on the floor? Panic hit her and instead of ringing the chime a second time, she entered in her maintenance override codes to open the door.

As soon as the door was open, she was by his side. "Captain, you alright?" she asked, immediately feeling stupid for asking. Of course he wasn't alright, he was crying and her implant was registering damage to his hand, though it made more sense once she noticed the damage to the bulkhead he punch.

Kris looked up at the Chief of Operations and struggled to find the words. He wanted to tell her everything that he could. He wanted to explain what had happened but all he could muster was to grab onto her, clinging to her like a child would cling to their parent when scared. Kris shook and sobbed. Everytime he attempted to say something... anything... Nothing came out. Then it came. It came with a choked question. "What if he's dead?"

At first Andy remained rigid as Kris clung to her. She wasn't good at the 'comforting thing' and had no idea what to do. Eventually, she put her arms around him, still feeling at a loss for what else she could do. But his words crashed down on her and suddenly his current state made sense. Andy finally allowed herself to relax. She may have been a colossal bitch nine times out of ten, but she could relate to such raw pain. "Who?" she asked simply, holding him a little tighter to offer him as much comfort as she could muster.

"Uri" said Kris shaking his head. "Uri Brennan... we were engaged to be married. The war. The war did this to us, split us apart and I've lost him. It is why I'm here, Andy. It is why I wanted to be on the Katana. We were going into the Gamma Quadrant. Uri's starship went missing during the war and I vowed to find him. I knew he had to be in the Gamma Quadrant. They've found debris from an Excelsior-class starship near the Dominion boarder. What if it is Uri?"

Andy sighed, closing her eyes as she thought on this. She could understand his loss and what drove him to this. "It's just debris, it don't have to mean anything," Andy said softly into his ear. "Starfleet don't send out wimps. If the ship went down, I'd bet my rank that there are survivors out there waiting to be found. You held out this long believing there was hope, don't give up just yet."

Kris looked at Andy and smiled through his tears. "He asked me the marry him before they left for their last mission. I told him that I would give him an answer when he came back... but he...he...they never came back and his clothes were in my quarters. His tooth brush and everything. I had to take then with me when I got a new assignment, Andy. I've never had to face my fear. There's debris Andy, debris could mean he's not coming home to me ever again" said Kris before losing his control again and let go of Andy to rock himself back and forth.

"I thought you better than this," Andy said as she rose to her feet. "Debris is a clue, not a sign to give up. What if he's still out there waiting for you? Are you just going to throw in the towel because they found some debris that might be from his ship? More than one Excelsior when missing during the war, ya know! Are you just going to sit hit here crying and feeling sorry for yourself or are you going to do something about it?"

The ex-Borg woman stared at Kris for a moment, her expression unreadable. But there was something in her eyes, a wisdom dark and haunted, and pain, so much pain... She knew what he was feeling, but still she could not believe he was so quick to fold. "Get up, Captain," she said in a stern tone. "Get up and go find Uri's ship. Maybe he's alive, maybe he ain't, but crying about it won't bring you closure either way. You're stronger than this, so pick yourself up and keep moving, keep looking. The moment you give up is the moment you don't deserve to find him."

"The pain" Kris said with some hurt on his face. "I know. I know that I have to get up... Uri would be pissed if I didn't. He would be disappointed if I just gave up and sat here sobbing over debris. Uri was an engineer. He would tell me that debris was nothing, shit happens in space. All starships lose some parts along the way." Kris took a few breaths. "I need a damn drink."

"I could go get something from Maica's stash," Andy offered as she extended a hand to help him up. She was worried he was still stuck in his fatalistic view that Uri wasn't coming back, but he was starting to really think about it which was a start.

Kris scoffed "Maica's got a stash... I have a vault. Over there, that control panel on the bulkhead. Just press unlock and open. You'll see... that door over there opens up to a room with every damn wine and liquor you've ever heard of. About a quarter of it is illegal in Federation space."

Andy did as instructed and found the panel, opening the door to what Andy believed was a little slice of heaven. Nice! Maica needed one of these in her quarters. "If you think this is impressive..." Andy muttered with a chuckle. Maica had him beat by a lot! She picked out a few liquors, giving them each an experimental whiff before picking one she liked. Oh yeah, this would make them appropriately numb! Grabbing a couple of glasses, she locked up the room and returned to Kris. "Trade you for the report you received," she said, the assumption being that he wouldn't get the booze until he let her take a look at the report on the debris field.

"It is an Intelligence report, Chief. You don't have the clearance to even know about it at this point let alone put your eyes on it" said Kris wish a sigh. "Oh fuck it" added Kris as he tossed the PADD over her way. "There isn't any crucial in it just the discovery of the debris and speculation that it is from an Excelsior-class."

Andy caught the PaDD then handed him the bottle of booze, not at all offended that he had attempted refuse initially. Of course, nothing would leave these walls; if anything was leaked from this file it wouldn't be from Andy. "Hull fragments... composition consistent with the Excelsior class..." she muttered more to herself than to Kris. She tapped her glass on his desk, a signal for him to pour the drink for her. "But it's also consistent with about a dozen other configurations. Energy readings fall in those same margins, consistent but it could still be any number of other ships..." But the damning part of that evidence in the overlap of both the energy reading and hull composition, there were only a few classes that met both the criteria. While there was a possibility it wasn't an Excelsior class, she was leaning towards agreeing with the assessment of the report.

Kris poured the Chief of Operations a drink, but kept the bottle for himself. Fuck the glass he thought as he took a few swigs from the bottle. His short swigs soon became much longer swigs as he listened to her talk. "So, it could be debris from an Excelsior-class but it also could be something else? Lovely. More questions than answers."

"Do you have any idea of just how many ships were lost during the War?" Andy asked, then took a swig of her drink. Even losing one ship had been too many in Andy's opinion. "If we could get out to the debris field, if I could take a look at what's out there... I don't wanna give you false hope, but this report don't look good." She took another swig of her drink as she looked the report over again. "The good bit of news, it looks like the debris is just hull fragments, meaning the ship could still be out there intact, limping along with a few missing bits of hull."

"We have orders, Andy. I have to follow them" said Kris with a sigh. "However, I will make sure that as soon as we are free of our standing orders, I'll request that the Katana be sent to the debris site. We are as far as I am aware the closest starship to the site."

Andy nodded and held out her glass for a refill. Once her glass was topped off, she took herself to the couch with the PaDD and flopped down to continue studying the contents of the report as she nursed her drink. "Will you be able to handle it if it is his ship?" she asked, casting him a wary glance.

Kris took another long ass drink from the bottle. He looked at Andy and there was pain in his eyes. "Would you be able to handle it if Maica stopped existing? If she could not be turned back on or transferred to another body?"

Ouch! That was kinda low, Kris... "You saw how I handled it this time, I nearly killed myself trying to save her," Andy replied dryly. If she had to be honest, she didn't know if she could keep it together long enough to do it a second time. "But you make your point quite vividly," she admitted sadly. She would keep an eye on him to make sure he didn't do anything self-destructive like she had.

"I had a point to make... Figured I would make it as sharp as possible to get it across to you" replied Kris. "I have no idea what I would do if faced with that. I really do not think that anyone can know what they would do until faced with it."

"Yeah..." Andy said, taking a long draw on her drink. She could definitely relate to that last comment. "I had people looking out for me, to keep me in line. Somehow, it seems fitting I do that for you now," she offered after a moment of silent contemplation.

Kris smiled "Are you going soft of me, Chief?" asked Kris a bit playfully with a tease. "I think our Android may be warming your heart."

"Not soft, no..." Andy replied quietly. The things he didn't know about Andy could fill a book... "What about you?" Just the other day, Kris couldn't stand Andy and now he was sharing his deepest darkest secrets with her, showing a vulnerability she could have never expected to see in him.

"I like you" said Kris softly. "However, that does not change the fact that you have a special way of pissing me off. I wouldn't change it for anything."

"Like you're the first person to tell me that," Andy replied with a snicker, her grin so carefree. True, she did things her own way, but that way was not without its flaws, but that was part of what made Andy who she was, and she wouldn't change that for anything either.

"Of course not" said Kris sharply. "I know that I am not the first nor will I be the last. You should see the fun comment from past COs, XOs and Department Heads that I have gotten to read. Pain in the ass and bitchy are some of the more plain descriptive words to describe you" commented Kris with a smile. "You are exactly the kind of person I want on my crew."

"When you say things like that, it makes people question your sanity," Andy advised him, but still she smiled, amused by his criteria for working on this ship. "Of all the complaints, none of them have ever tried to get rid of me though. They knew I got shit done and I'm a hell of a motivator on the job." But that made her wonder about Kris. She was starting to see what kind of a person he was, but what endeared him to his position? Maybe it was his unorthodox thinking, who the fuck knew?

Kris chuckled and shook his head. "Well, damn it. It is about time that they do. I question my sanity every time that I sit in the big chair" commented Commander Kerouac.

"And so you should," Andy replied with a good-hearted chuckle, followed quickly by downing the rest of her drink. "Some people are made for that chair, some people ain't..." It would be interesting to see if Kris would learn to 'own' his position or if he would always be a reluctant leader. Either way, it would be interesting...

Kris inched closer to Andy and gazed at her with his intoxicated eyes. "Anyone ever tell you that you are beautiful" said Kris in a heavy breath. He reached out and touched her face. "Very beautiful" added Kris.

Maybe she had one drink too many, but Andy allowed the contact, closing her eyes with a soft sigh. "You're drunk," she murmured softly as she allowed herself to enjoy this simple contact between the two of them.

"So? When am I not drunk?" replied Kris as he leaned in and started to kiss the woman's neck somewhat passionately.

To be honest, he wasn't often sober. Just about any time Andy had seen him, he'd had a blood alcohol level high enough that she could detect it. "I thought you were pining for your long lost love," Andy reminded him quietly, making no attempt to stop what he was doing.

Kris kissed her on the lips and then pulled away and sighed. "I'm just a mess. I drink to dull the pain but dulling the pain dulls my mind and there ain't much in there to begin with anyways. I barely got through the Academy and I was only good at flying things like a brainless fool. I was good with my hands though... in more ways than one" said Kris chuckling. "I was also good with starship technology" added Kris.

Andy's odd-eyed gaze reflected the pain he felt. It wasn't the same as losing a loved one, but... no, she had known her fair share of loss, but her pain was something different. "Nothing ever dulls the pain," she confessed, reaching out to touch his face as he had done to her. "It'd be a lie to say that these things get easier with time because it don't... It becomes a part of you and eventually reaches a point that you don't notice it so much, but it's always there." But she'd rather deal with her problems with a clear head, not she hadn't hit the drink often enough in her day. Anyway, her Borg physiology wouldn't let her really enjoy the full numbing effects of alcohol like Kris could, and to be honest she couldn't fault him for choosing that.

"Amen to that" said Kris with a sigh. "I've enjoyed our heart to heart, Andy. However, if I don't get my ass to sleep soon, I may not want to wake up for my next shift" added Kris.

"Don't worry, I'll come by and make sure you're awake in time..." Andy said with a lopsided grin as she rose from the couch. So much for talking about whatever it was he called her here... She paused for a moment, then looked down at him. "At some point, you'll have to make a choice. I don't know what it'll be for you and I ain't gonna tell you what it was for me... Just make sure that when the time comes, you make a choice you can live with," she cautioned him.

"I'm not living now, Andy. I haven't since he went missing."

Andy didn't know why, but his answer made her angry. If he was so willing to give up, then he didn't deserve Uri. Hell, he didn't deserve to live! In the time it took her to blink, she turned on him. She had his hand at his throat, gripping him hard with her vise-like grip. She could easily crush his throat like this, but she had no intentions of killing him. "Are you really so willing to die that you would give up now?" she asked coldly, her expression blank and hollow, haunted and seemingly without life.

"Let go of me, Andy" said Kris, struggling to free himself but only causing him to choke. "If I were willing to die, would I be out here looking for him?"

Good, he wasn't dead inside, he just thought he was. There was hope for him yet... "You're not out there looking for him," Andy replied as she shoved him down on the couch, releasing her grip of his throat. "The minute you stop living is the minute you don't deserve to find him. Now stop wallowing in your self-pity and grow the fuck up!" she challenged him as she stormed towards the door.

"At least I have feelings!" shouted Kris somewhat chasing after her and shouting down the corridor.

Andy smirked as she stopped, shook her head, then turned to look back at him. "Does it make it easier for you to ignore your own inadequacies if you believe that I'm a soulless, emotionless drone?" she asked with a wicked grin, pleased that he still had some fight in him.

Kris let out a small laugh. "No, it is easier to see you as cold heartless bitch!"

"You only know one side of me, Captain, I can assure you that I'm neither cold nor heartless," Andy said softly. But she would own 'bitch'.

Kris was satisfied and returned to his quarters, the doors closing behind him.

Again Andy woke with a start, drenched in sweat brought on by intense fear. It had been a while since she’d had so many nightmares so close together, but at least this time she hadn’t woken Maica. Andy laid back down, but no amount of tossing and turning to find a comfortable position could bring her any closer to sleep. If she hadn’t given away her violins to save Maica, she would get up and start composing something… Nah, she probably still wouldn’t, she didn’t want to wake Maica…

Andy remained sleepless in the bed a while longer, then rose to get a glass of warm milk from the replicator. Since that first nightmare when Maica had offered her warm milk, Andy had been getting it on her own when another nightmare disturbed her. She didn’t know why exactly. Still, the milk wasn’t helping tonight. She crawled back into bed but sleep was denied her. There was just so much on her mind, she wanted to get it all out, but…

With a heavy sigh, Andy again pulled herself from bed, this time putting on the pajamas that she had discarded on the floor earlier in the night when she and Maica… well, they were consenting adults, after all… She stepped into the closet for a cardigan since her tank top left her shoulders so exposed, slipped on some shoes, then she headed out of their quarters and down the hall.

At first, Andy just wanted to walk, to get out of her head for a while, but it wasn’t long before she found herself at the holodeck and pulling up the program for her recording studio. She hadn’t even realized what she had done until she was halfway through the arpeggio practice on the holographic replica of her Rhonheimer violin. Another heavy sigh and Andy finished her warm-ups, then pulled over a stand to hold sheet music and filled it with blank pages. With her pencil in hand, she began working through notes on the violin, furiously jotting them down on paper as she got the sound right. She didn’t know exactly what she was composing, but that wasn’t all that strange during times like this. Sometimes she set out to create a certain something, but sometimes music seemed to create itself and she was merely the instrument of its creation.

Maica awoke several minutes later because the bed was getting cold. Feeling around the bed for Andy and unable to find her, she had a horrible thought that her dream had come true as well - that Andy had been taken from her. She didn’t remember why or how, but the sudden fear of it being true left her heart-like organelle beating in her ears.

Andy’s things were still here. Maica could still smell her. She was just missing. Leaping from the bed and kicking the blankets away, Maica rushed to her desk to check with the computer to see where Andy had gone. The holodeck? At this time of night? Nevermind that, she needed Andy in her arms right now. Still stark naked, she nearly rushed out of their quarters before realizing she should put clothes on.

Torn between leaving and getting dressed, she stayed stuck there in the door for several seconds before rushing back to the bedroom and grabbing a loose fitting slip on dress from the dresser. It left little to the imagination, but at least she was covered as she ran to the holodeck, panting as she arrived at the door and tried to open it.

Andy hadn’t thought to lock the door to the holodeck when she entered. She had done it on autopilot, if she had come here consciously she definitely would have locked it, but perhaps it had been a good thing she wasn’t really thinking about it when she entered. She didn’t hear the great doors opening, the soundproof room doing it’s job well to negate any warning that she was no longer alone. She continued writing and playing, completely unaware that Maica was now in the mixing room looking in at her.

Now at least able to see Andy, Maica could calm down a little. She was still crying, but she knew her love was still here. Sitting down at one of the chairs in front of the massive mixing board, she watched Andy with a relieved smile on her face. Flipping a monitor switch, she could hear what Andy was composing and it was beautiful if disjointed as it was being written as she played.

Andy caught sight of movement out of the corner of her eye and looked up from her sheet music to see Maica in the mixing room. But something was off. She was smiling, but… Andy put her violin on a stand and rose from her chair, passing through the door separating them.

“Hey, you alright?” she asked, concerned. Now that they were not separated by a plate of heavy glass, Andy could see the evidence of tears on Maica’s face and that really had her worried.

No longer separated by anything, Maica leaped from that chair and plowed into Andy, hugging her as tightly as she dared. Relief washed over her as she buried her face in Andy’s shoulder and wiped her tears on her love’s shirt. She spoke disjointedly, trying to get it all out at once. “I’m sorry, I couldn’t find you, I thought you were gone, You weren’t there and I thought you had been taken away like in my dream.”

Andy put her arms around Maica and held her tight. “Hey hey hey,” she said softly, “I’m here… I’m alright…” she assured her lover gently. “I just had another nightmare and I didn’t want to wake you. But I’m not going anywhere, I’m still here…”

“Please don’t let anyone take you away from me,” Maica said, still trying to recover. She was starting to relax but she refused to let go of Andy.

Andy had no intentions of letting go of Maica before she was ready, hugging her tighter as further assurance that they were both still here in this place together. “Take me awa-” Now that was a rather specific fear. “No one is going to take me away. Maica, what’s bothering you?”

“A dream…” Maica began, still crying and clinging to Andy. “I thought you had been taken away. I don’t know how or why, just that you were gone and I couldn’t get you back.”

Andy simple worked them over to a chair, sitting down and pulling Maica into her lap. She held Maica and let her cry out her frustrations and fears for a moment as she thought on this. This had to be because of the nightmares. Maica may not have expressed understanding of Andy’s fears, but it had clearly seeded a different fear in Maica. What was sad, there was no way for Andy to prove that she wasn’t going anywhere, only time could mend this fear.

“No one is taking me away,” Andy did her best to assure Maica as she rocked the woman in the chair. “I’m not going anywhere.”

Nodding silently, Maica just sat there in Andy’s lap, trying to rationalize her dream. “I don’t think I like dreaming very much anymore. I keep having dreams like this.” Maica relaxed a bit more as she continued. “I mean I know you’re not going anywhere. I know that odds are good that I can get assigned to any ship you do. I expect that I’ll eventually outlive you, but that’s a lifetime away and not part of this worry.”

“Dreams are just… it’s the brain’s way of working through shit we deal with during the day,” Andy tried to explain. She’d had similar explanations given to her when she was going through counseling after her assimilation, but those explaination always made more sense when coming from a licensed professional. “Sometimes these things just come out in our dreams ‘cause we’re not dealing with them when we’re awake…” Somehow, she didn’t think this was helping any. “I can disable your dreams if you really want, but I don’t think it’s gonna help. You’re afraid, Maica, afraid of something you can’t find reason for…”

That made some sense to Maica, though it didn’t really help her any. She was afraid of losing Andy and her dreaming mind was trying to figure out why? Yeah she could see that. Maybe it was because of those rogue Borg she had helped resettle. The whole mission was ill planned and a really bad idea but she had somehow pulled it off. Sort of… “Andy… What does being assimilated feel like?” She asked almost out of the blue. “I assume it hurts a lot but though I saw it 3 times, I don’t know much about it.”

Andy stiffened. Yep, there it was, the question she knew was coming. She dreaded this question, she didn’t want to answer it, but she needed to. Maybe they both needed it.

“Yeah, it hurts…” Andy started as she tried to force herself to relax, but there was this tension in her body that would not go away. “There’s… different ways of doing it. As part of landing teams, it’s....” Her heart was racing. Andy knew she was going to have to bite the bullet and just tell Maica what happened, but she really didn’t want to. “Our shields were down and the Borg appeared in the Cargo Bay where I was working with a few others. We didn’t even have time to react… I didn’t…” Damn, this was so hard. Andy swallowed past the lump in her throat and gripped Maica tighter, needing that contact to keep her sane.

“One of them grabbed me by the hair, lifted me off the ground. That’s why I don’t like people touching my hair, it makes me go back to that moment… I felt the tubules in my neck, it burned. I hit the floor, I couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe… Everything hurt, it burned so bad. I tried to call for help, but…” Andy didn’t know if she could tell Maica, it was just too much.

Leaning in closer, she kissed Andy softly to silence her. “I get it now. No, I don’t understand, but I think I know why they’re so feared. Studying them as I was, ignored for being ‘technologically inferior’ I saw them more like a colony of chimera ants, absorbing other animals into their collective to better themselves. But that’s the wrong way of looking at them, isn’t it? They take what they want without question. Steal people away against their will. They destroy other ecosystems in the name of efficiency.”

“Perfection,” Andy corrected. “Efficiency is one thing, but they strive for perfections without any idea of what that is or how to achieve it…” At least this talk had helped Maica to better understand why Andy’s nightmares haunted her so. “They didn’t even want us, they had another objective. The boarding party was just a distraction. We couldn’t focus on attacking the cube if we were too busy fighting ourselves, trying to secure the ship from the drones assimilating the crew.”

It was almost painful to admit it. Andy’s assimilation hadn’t even meant anything in the grand scheme of things, she had been little more than part of a distraction. And she had taken part in it completely against her will. Still holding tight to Maica, she leaned forward in her chair to reach over to the mixing board, to the computer panel off to the side. She accessed her medical file and the documentation of her assimilation and recovery. She brought up the image of her drone state and had the holodeck recreate that image before them. It was a drone, just a drone like any other, unrecognizable under all the implants and armor plating, the proverbial grain of sand among billions...

Maica looked the holographic recreation slowly before speaking. “You were a maintenance drone. Judging by the cranial implants, you were made to specialize in power systems. You were meant to disrupt the Lexington’s power systems, weren’t you?” Maica spoke softly, turning back to face Andy and block her view of the holo-drone.

“Among other things,” Andy admitted weakly. “You can also tell from the tool arm that I was used in the installation of Borg technology on the ship. A lot of the tech I helped remove in the aftermath I put there in the first place…” She ran her fingers through Maica’s hair, then buried her face in the android’s neck, shuddering as she was taken back to those agonizing days.

“It hurts, Maica…” Andy’s voice was so distant. It was like she wasn’t even here, she was just so far away. “It hurts to be made into one of them. A lot of that shit is grown from the inside out… and I couldn’t even scream, they took that away from me.” In her mind, she was back in the Cargo Bay, the feel of implants erupting through her flesh burning through her. She could feel other drones working on her, putting on the armor plating, mutilating her arm. And the sound of the Collective, her own screams echoing in her head, the mental screaming of the other victims… They may have been silent outwardly, but inside it was hell.

Maica saw that distant look in Andy’s eyes and her fears flared up again. She clung to her love and tried her best to comfort her but feeling utterly useless. It was just like something else… Something she had forced herself to forget. Or perhaps those memories had been all but deleted. Either way, Maica was experiencing deja vu. She could hear herself crying over someone else’s body. Samacha’s body. Her first friend. That damn Ferengi had killed her and let people rape her corpse while Maica watched. Why had she forgotten this? She hadn’t been able to speak or move - almost all her functions were overridden by her ‘master’s’ orders. She was an obedient slave by design.

The look Andy had reminded Maica all too well of that day. The day she swore to escape from that hellhole. “Andy… Please come back to me…” she whispered.

That whisper was like a lifeline for Andy. She held tight to that faint whisper and followed it back to safety, to Maica. “I’m here…” she whispered back, her voice still sounding a bit hollow, but she was back in the here and now, back with Maica.

“Thank you,” Maica whispered. “I don’t want to lose anyone else. Not like that.” She could still see both of their faces even though her eyes were closed. Was this her fear? She thought it might be and the pain of that loss was crippling, real or imagined.

“Anyone else?” Andy asked, her voice starting to sound more like Andy. Pushing her own discomforts aside, her focus was solely on Maica. “Talk to me… what happened?”

Maica shook her head to try to clear it, looking into Andy’s eyes like a lost puppy. “Something I think was deleted years ago. My first friend…” Slowly, Maica related the story of what happened to Andy, pausing now and then as she got the words out.

Andy simply held Maica, rocking gently and stroking her hair as the android woman talked through her memory. Now her fears made sense. “It’s alright…” Andy assured Maica once her tale was complete. “I’m not going anywhere, you won’t lose me…” She leaned over to remove the image of herself as a drone, but then resumed stroking Maica’s hair. “I know you’re scared, but I’m not going away, nothing is going to happen to me…”

Maica leaned against Andy feeling so small and weak. Here she was needing to support Andy and try to help her and she’s the one needing support, a crying mess in Andy’s arms. She didn’t know what it felt like to be a kid, but she imagined this might be something like it. “Thank you. Thank you, Andy.” That was all she could get out now that she had finished reliving that event in her telling of it.

Andy just sat in silence for a while so they could both absorb and work through these tough emotions, but eventually she did speak up again. “I’m sorry my nightmares have affected you this way,” she said softly. Maybe Maica needed to face these fears anyway, but that first nightmare had certainly been the catalyst that set this all off, and for that Andy was sorry. “I know I’m afraid that one day I’ll wake to find myself back in the Collective, but it ain’t gonna happen. I’m out, they ain’t got a hold on me anymore…”

“No, it’s not your fault. If it hadn’t happened with you, it would have been someone else and they might not have been able to understand.” That was Maica’s reasoning, anyway. “Besides, you risked everything, pushed past your comfort zones into this nightmare field to save me. If anything, it’s my fault you’re having these nightmares so often now.”

“No no no…” Andy said, holding Maica tighter. “No, it’s not your fault, love,” she said softly. “Never think that, ‘cause it ain’t true… There’s a friend who just transferred in. He and I served on the Lexington. He helped me through a really dark time in my life and now it’s my turn to return the favor. He… he was held by the Borg, but not assimilated. It was… like an experiment, but after a while they let him go and now he’s broken inside. Now he’s just trying to pick up the pieces and helping him is bringing back all the memories I thought I had put behind me. So don’t think for a second that my nightmares are your fault. It’s no one’s fault, it just… it ain’t no one’s fault.”

Maica just nodded weakly at that, silent for a moment as she absorbed this. “If he’s special to you, I’d like to meet him. I don’t know if I can help, but I’d at least like to talk with him, you know? Maybe my skills as a diplomat and a ‘sex therapist’ will do him a little good, at the very least.”

Andy chuckled slightly and gave Maica a playful squeeze. “Sure, I’ll bring you with me next time I go to his place,” she said with a smile. “His name is Will Morgan and he was like a mentor to me on the Lexington. A lot of what I know about ship Operations, I learned from him.”

“Then he must be pretty amazing if he was your mentor. Or were you this awesome before? I wonder…” Maica trailed off, lost in random thoughts. Her normal thought patterns were starting to return, now relatively calm and no longer crying.

“I was always awesome,” Andy said with a snicker, but then she grew serious. “I’ve been trying hard not to worry you about my past, but now that you know… I won’t try to hide it from you. But talking about it ain’t easy…” She was just glad that Maica was there for her. So many times she had been alone to deal with her pain, but not anymore. Just knowing Maica was there made things easier for Andy to bear.

“Nothing worth doing is ever easy.” Maica quoted. “Besides, we’re married now, right ‘wife’? We’re supposed to share these things with each other.” Maica leaned in and planted a kiss on Andy’s lips.

Andy chuckled into the kiss. “Indeed, wife,” she replied with a lopsided grin. “I can’t promise I’ll be open about everything all the time, but I do promise to try.”

“Thank you my love. That’s all we can promise each other, isn’t it?” Maica said with a smile before resting back against Andy.

“You want me to take you back to bed?” Andy asked, placing a few gentle kisses along Maica’s forehead and temple.

“Only if you’re there too. Oh yeah.” Maica sat up again for a moment. “I almost went running naked through the halls looking for you.”

“Why didn’t you?” Andy asked teasingly, her eyes ghosting over Maica’s barely clad form. Like this dress was any better than being naked...

“Believe me when I say it was a real moral dilemma for me. I wanted you back that badly. I’m just glad this sheer… dress… thing… was handy.” Maica leaned back against Andy with that confession.

“I kinda like it,” Andy admitted with a wolfish grin. “Maybe we should change your whole wardrobe to that stuff…”

“Maybe. It would certainly be enjoyable by some of my associates. I like my uniforms too, though. All 11 styles have a certain charm to them, I think.”

“Fuck that noise…” Andy replied. She had a couple changes of uniform, but they were all the same style. 11 styles? who has time for all that?! “I like this much better…” she leaned in to pepper Maica’s neck with tickling kisses.

Moaning softly at the kisses, Maica had a moment of clarity. “The door isn’t locked, love. Perhaps we should go back to bed…”

“I already asked you if you wanted to go back to bed…” Andy reminded Maica teasingly, working a hand up the sheer thing masquerading as a dress. “I could lock the doors…”

“Computer, lock the doors. Authorization Maica mu tango four seven asterisk space.” Hearing the compliant chirp of the computer, Maica let her own hands wander under Andy’s shirt.

Andy was going to make it her mission to make Maica forget all about the fears that haunted them both. ‘Relentless’ was her middle name, and neither one of them would look at this room the same way after this...

Maica had arrived a few minutes early at the holodeck and was starting to set up the clothing racks for Shira, humming a little as she went through all the various uniform designs and variations in use. Shira had asked her to help her with her clothing options for duty since she was going to be participating in the operations of the ship and Maica wanted to do her best to help the Arboreal girl. She also had something of a more personal nature to ask her away from other ears and the holodeck walls… Not even Maica’s android hearing could make out what was said in there… She was pretty sure Andy wouldn’t hear a thing even if she were on the other side of the door.

Shira flinched as the great doors opened before her to reveal the setting inside. Those doors were so loud! But she was getting quite used to everything going on around here. Loud doors weren’t too bad and strange rooms that could create magic places was actually fairly easy to accept. She was even getting used to navigating around the ship, and when she got lost she was able to find her way back to safety with the help of the computer. The little Arboreal girl had come such a long way since the crew had rescued her from the Ferengi.

She entered the holodeck and smiled as she saw Maica. She was so excited about starting her apprenticeship, though she was not nearly as excited about trying on uniforms, but she understood that working on the ship and wearing a uniform went hand in hand.

“Hello Maica,” she greeted cheerfully, a ray of sunshine in this magical room with it’s magic people. “Are you feeling better?” she asked, trying her hand at social conversation.

“Shira! Hi!” Maica said, scooping Shira up in a hug. “I feel wonderful, thank you. how are you doing?” It was so good to see Shira again, she could barely contain herself.

“I am well. When I told the doctor I was no longer tired, he said I was…” Shira paused to remember the phrase correctly, “fit as a fiddle?” The little ‘fairy’ giggled at that. “And a woman, um, Bridget? She came and talked to me. I will start learning from her soon.”

“She’s the new Chief Science Officer… I hope she teaches you well.” Maica’s expression darkened just slightly at the mention of Bridget. She definitely needed to meet this new woman - possibly with one of her smaller more refined bottles. “Are you ready to look at uniforms? The designs can be changed around a bit, but since you’ll be in science, you’ll be stuck with blue as the main color.”

Shira’s face scrunched up, obviously disliking the idea of wearing a uniform, but she would get over it. The holographic tailor came over and began taking measurements of Shira, a task that was made all the more difficult because she couldn’t remain still and she had a constant barrage of questions the entire time. But the tailor got his measurements done and then began the task of figuring out a garment construction that would accommodate her wings.

After much frustration and countless designs, Shira settled on a skant variant of the uniform. She simply couldn’t adjust to the constrictive pants and duty jacket, and while the skant was not in active use it was still a valid variant that would be acceptable for use. Modifications were made to the back and soft, supportive boots were designed since shoes would be required as well. All in all, a productive day! The tailor saved the uniform designs and transferred them to replicator patterns for Shira, to be used once she was cleared for duty.

Pleased with how well that went, Maica started moving some racks around, pulling out something else she needed Shira’s help with. “I was hoping I could get your help with something special. I can’t get real wood on the ship, and I want to make something special for Andy since she gave up her precious violins to fix me.” On the bench she had hidden were arrayed a series of wooden parts - a violin from the blank blocks, to the shaping and finally the end product. “Do you think you could find or grow the woods I would need to build her a new one?”

Shira studied the instrument and the strange parts in various stages of construction. She didn’t really understand what was being asked of her. “What is that?” she asked, point to everything in front of them

Pointing at each setup in turn, maica did her best to explain. “Normally, a violin is made with different kinds of wood - spruce, willow, and maple are common. Then the parts are sometimes treated with a fungus or chemicals to change the wood a bit, but it isn’t necessary. Then the parts are shaped and cut, then assembled. The final product is further treated and finished to protect it so it lasts a long time.” Picking up the end violin and bow, she played a soft and brief melody on it to show Shira what the end goal would sound like.

Shira’s eyes went wide when she realized what Maica was trying to show her. It was an instrument! Oh, she understood! She took the finished product from Maica’s hands and carefully plucked at the strings to feel them vibrate. Then she pressed the back of the violin to her ear and continued to pluck the strings as she listened to the wood. Even through the treatments the violin had received, and even though it was just a magic violin, she was still learning quite a bit about what the wood was speaking to her.

“You wish to have one of these outside the magic room?” Shira asked in conclusion, showing her comprehension that this particular violin could not leave the room because it was not real. “And you wish me to help you find suitable wood to craft one?”

“I do,” Maica said, all serious and stuff. “The replicators can make wood, but as you know, it’s not right. It wouldn’t make a good violin.” She really hoped Shira could help her out with this… She wanted to try to repay Andy at least a little for everything she had done to save the android’s life and to show how much she loved the ex-borg woman. She knew she could craft the violin once she had the wood, she just had to have the wood in the first place…

Shira nodded and again placed the violin to her ear and continued to pluck the strings. This wood was telling her some interesting things indeed!

“This wood is… strange. It is…” Shira frowned when she couldn’t think of the right words. She resorted to humming to describe that the wood was not as dense as she would have expected, indicating something had happened to interfere with the growth pattern of the tree it came from.

Maica switched to song as well, explaining why as best she could. That the trees had lived through an ice age and had grown really slowly so were more dense than normal, thus the unusual sound. At least, that’s what she tried to say… ‘Ice age’ wasn’t easily translated. She then went on to explain that without the right trees, people had tried to simulate it with fungus and chemicals to some degree of success.

The face Shira made indicated that ‘ice age’ hadn’t translated correctly, but she understood that somehow it made the tree grow slower, thus altering its density. She picked up the pieces of wood that could become a violin, studying them. She could smell the chemical treatments on the wood and while she reasoned that it would produce a nice sound it would not be equal to that of the instrument Maica had shown her. Thus she understood the importance of finding the right trees.

“On my world, there are… artisans. They know which trees to pick. They make instruments with nice sound,” Shira offered feebly. She didn’t know if she could pick the right quality tree to produce an instrument of such fine quality. But if Maica wanted her help, she would try her best, and such determination showed in her features.

“Then I say we go see them. Want to go on a trip with me? I know it’s still pretty soon after we left, but I think i can talk the Captain into letting me use a shuttle for a diplomatic mission.” Maica said, smiling brightly.

“A trip?” Shira asked curiously.

“Yeah, we leave the ship in a smaller ship and go to your homeworld for a few days.” Maica explained.

“Oh,” Shira said, nodding her understanding. Then she frowned. “But Shira has to learn from Bridget,” she said. With all the confusing talk, she had inadvertently reverted back to first person speech, though she quickly realized her mistake. “I mean I have to learn from Bridget.”

“Then we’ll have to see if she can come too.” Now Maica was plotting. nothing sinister, but it would be a great opportunity to corner the new CSO and get to know her.

Shira nodded, but she wasn’t entirely certain with how she felt about this plan. To get her ready, Andy had been teaching Shira about duty and responsibility to her job, that once she accepted that role that she had to do her job to help keep the ship in good order. Maybe Shira and even Maica could leave the ship, but could she expect Bridget to drop everything she was doing? Didn’t Bridget have responsibilities?

Maica was thinking of how she’d talk Kris into letting her take 3 people, a shuttle, and a bunch of long range comm gear out to Arborea. The Katana was cruising along at low warp, so she calculated she could be there and back in 2 days while spending about 24 hours planetside. “I’m sure she’d jump at the chance to meet your people and besides, we’ll only be gone for 2 days at most.”

“Days?” Shira had to think about that for a moment. The way the people in space kept time was so difficult for Shira to grasp. “Light and dark cycle most worlds have. On the ship, they turn out the lights during… during…” Oh, Andy had told her about this….

“The night shift? Gamma shift?” Maica offered.

“Oh, yes!” Shira said, applauding slightly. “A day is the light and dark cycle, so two light and dark cycles for this trip?”

Nodding, Maica smiled at how well Shira worked that out for herself. “Yeah, that’s how long I expect things to take, and that’s spending a full day on your home world. 24 hours.”

Shira nodded. 2 days was not that long, but then again a lot could happen in a short amount of time. “It will be nice to see my family,” Shira said with a smile.

“And I might get a chance to learn some more about your people as a whole.” Maica was excited in general, but any means of opening further lines of communication always got her excited.

Shira nodded. She was always so happy to share about herself and her people, but from watching the people from the ship, there were some things she realized that had to be observed rather than explained. “I am sure they will enjoy seeing you again. Elder liked you.”

“I enjoyed talking with her. I just hope she’ll at least let me install a little comm gear so you can call home now and then.” Maica also hoped she would accept further Federation teams to visit, but one step at a time.

“That would be very nice,” Shira replied with a grateful smile. Maybe that would help make the distance easier to bear.

“There was one more thing I wanted to ask you about… What with all that’s happened… The attack… Do you still want to stay aboard?” Maica hoped so and she thought Shira wanted to, but it was a big thing that had happened and a lot of people had died. If Shira didn’t want to… Well, she just hoped that being able to visit her home would help at the very least.

“With all you know now, could you go back to the place you came from and still be happy?” Shira asked as a way of answering the question. Shira doubted the wisdom of leaving her world, but she was staying here, she had no intentions of returning to her world for more than just a visit.

Maica was a bit relieved at least, but Shira’s question kind of struck a sour note with her. “Go back to the Ferengi troll that made me and be his slave again? No, never.” Shira had been captive for a short while but maica was pretty sure she hadn’t been forced to do a lot of the things maica still remembered clearly. “Not after tasting freedom and being able to choose my own path.”

“If I ever went back to my world to stay, I would always look to the stars and wonder about each of you. Maybe it wasn’t wise for me to leave, but I am here now and I am staying,” Shira affirmed.

Smiling warmly, Maica nodded her head. “Good. So am I.”

Vara was upset with herself but instead of moping or drinking or getting upset, what did she do? Training. She had loaded up her hardest training program to help her burn off some steam. Namely, her verses a combined army of Brikarian and Breen soldiers along a rocky outcropping. Pushing her augmented body to it's limits, she literally tore through a Brikarian and 3 Breen without even drawing her weapons. She was in full 'wolf' mode now, dodging enemy fire and punching her enemies to death, a wild look on her face. After some time she was halfway through the battle and way to involved to notice when the holodeck doors opened.

Nathan stepped into the Holodeck and found a piece of...something, maybe a busted up wall, to lean against while he watched Vara go all out crazy on her holographic enemy. She was in full on berserker mode and Nathan knew it. He'd been there a time or two before he learned to control himself...hell every now and then it was fun to just let go like this even now. Make sure you still had it in you.

Vara still didn't notice Nathan as he watched her. She was too busy with her enemies - of the 50 Brikarians and 100 Breen, she only had about 50 total left. Literally punching through the last Brikarian, she shifted her weight and threw him through a gun emplacement wall, distracting her next 2 victims whom she efficiently beheaded in a flying roundhouse kick. The look on her face was deathly calm though ravenous. Like a wolf knowing her prey was hers and just taking her time for the kill.

Nathan ducked out of the way as the Brikarian flew threw the air. He needed to be careful in here, last thing he needs is Vara feeling guilty because he got hurt.

Motion behind her? Vara turned slightly as she took out several more enemies with relative ease to see Nathan standing there watching her. Damn... She didn't like putting on a show for people... She was almost done though.

He leaned back on his wall, making eye contact with her for a moment. She was impressive to say the lest, scary vicious if he was being honest with himself.

Deciding to make things a bit quicker, she finally drew her weapons - a pair of Klingon mek'leths. With those out, her reach was almost doubled and she made quick qork of the remaining Breen. Once the last one was dead, She sheathed her blades and slowly walked towards Nathan. Covered in blood, she imagined she was quite a sight but she felt better, peaceful relaxation washing over her. "Is there something I can help you with, sir?"

Nathan began clapping his hands together" I'm off duty, call me Nathan. I was just interested what you were doing and the door was unlocked. Impressive. "

"I see. Computer, switch to after training program." As the horrific battlefield faded away it was replaced with a waterfall and hotsprings open air bath. "Would you care to join me... Nathan?" Vara asked wearily. That training had taken more out of her than she would ever admit but it was starting to show.

Nathan shrugged " Sure, I'll join you." He looked around the new setting. "Nice..."

Heading into one of the changing booths, Vara shucked her clothes and slipped into the bathing outfit hanging in the booth. "This is one of the bathhouses from the colony I grew up in. Cold waterfall and hot spring water make for a wonderful combination." Leaving the booth, Nathan had a good view of the bruising all over her from her recent 'workout'. She had apparently pushed herself well past her already impressive limits.

Nathan followed suit, changing into some short. When he came out of the booth Vara would see something that not everyone has seen, most would not even think Nathan the type. He was covered in tattoos. Both arms had full sleeves, and his chest and back were covered in ink. Punctuated buy a a laughing Buddha covering the majority of his back.

Vara wasn't sure how to take this revelation. Was he a thug? Or was he a monk? The designs on him made her lean to the latter, but it still somewhat worried yet excited her. The confusing mix of emotions left her there studying his tattoos with a strange look on her face.

He just held his hand out. "Yeah..."

Vara reached up and touched the one tattoo she had. It was on her face next to her right eye and it was a mark from her martial arts instructor. It wasn't nearly as much as Nathan had, though. Her other hand reached out and lightly rested in his hand.

He let her take him by the hand, but he was awkward about it, like he was not use to people taking him and leading him.

Quickly forcing herself to recover from her confusion, Vara pulled her hand back. Was she blushing? Maybe she was flush from earlier. Either way, she turned away and headed into the bath, slipping in and leaning against the rounded stones that made up the walls. "I've told you some about me. What about you? tell me something about yourself." Vara was still bad at smalltalk, but at least she was trying.

Nathan got into the bath, sitting across from her. "My father is an admiral and I hate tomato soup, fresh or replicated."

"Interesting," Vara said as she sank a little deeper into the bath. "I understand that's not a common thing among humans. Three of my four mothers served in the navy. Two of them fought bravely in the defense of our home against the Breen. The third one retired with honors as a ship captain and now has her own mercantile ship. My home mother is a lawyer and my father is a delegate for the senate."

Nathan nodded " Yes, its not very common for humans to attain that level in Starfleet. My mother is a Doctor, but she stopped taking assignments on ships when the Admiral got his promotion so she could be close to him."

"Admirable careers. Is that why you joined Starfleet then? To follow in their footsteps, as it were?" Vara asked, genuinely curious.

"Yes, exactly. I look up to both of them. When I was younger I really put them through hell. I try to make up for that by being and doing the best I can here." Nathan confessed. " Not to mention I truly love what I do."

"Then I'm sure they're very proud of you." Vara said, slipping a bit further into the water. "Sometimes I have to wonder if I make my family proud, with me joining Starfleet rather than the navy. It seems I'm a peacekeeper and an explorer here, rather than the warrior I was designed to be..." There was the heart of her stresses and worry. She was opening up to this man but she didn't really know why. Was it because he was her boss and a fellow warrior?

"I hope they are, your doing good working out here." Nathan looked around. "So you said this is your home world?"

Vara nodded at the question. "It's the indoor open air bath I visited after training on my colony." 'Indoor' and 'open air' weren't 2 things that normally went together, but in this case the invisible domed ceiling made it apt.

"Its very nice, very relaxing." Nathan looked up into the sky and smiled.

"It is," Vara said simply, the water melting her tensions away.

Nathan just sat there enjoying his surroundings, almost meditating.

Vara was almost meditating herself when she stood and headed to the waterfall, the cold water pounding over her as she sat down under it cross legged, hands on her knees. Sitting under this waterfall always seemed to help her with her inner peace.

When Nathan opened his eyes again he was not sure how long he had been there. He had not fallen asleep but had fallen in to a very deep meditative state. He figured it must have been so easy because meditating is something he does often, and the atmosphere of the bath house. He glanced around.

Vara had taken up a very zen position under the waterfall. Her eyes were closed but as soon as she sensed Nathan looking her way, she waved to him to join her.

Nathan stood and moved under the cold water fall next to Vara and took up a similar pose to hers. The cold water was a little shocking after soaking in the hot pool.

Vara was feeling a lot better now, though she was still bruised internally all over. She hated seeing doctors, but perhaps this time she needed to... If she was still feeling bad in the morning, she'd make the visit. "How does it feel?" she asked over the sound of the crashing water.

"Intense." He said, his voice carrying over the crash.

"Please feel free to use this program any time." Vara said back, leaning forward to adjust her swimsuit so it wouldn't fill with water.

"Thank you, I think I will take you up on that offer." Nathan raised his head, letting the water fall directly on his face.

Vara wanted to ask something rather personal and definitely outside of her smalltalk comfort zone. She figured all the other signs pointed to it, so she should be safe asking the much taller and much larger male sitting next to her. Until now she did her best to see him as a fellow warrior, but seeing his tattoos... "Are you a monk?" she blurted out, nearly blushing in her brazenness.

Nathan chuckled and looked at Vara. "No. I would not be seeing Jhu if I was a monk now would I? I guess I just have some strong morals. And I really like tattoos."

Vara nodded, blushing deeper now. That made sense. "And the Buddha on your back?"

"I follow the path of the Buddha from earth. I don't follow the overly dogmatic side of the faith though." Nathan grinned " And I thought it looked really cool. What do you think?" He turned in his seated position so she could get a better view, even if it was threw falling water.

And see it she could, very clearly with her augmented vision. "It reminds me of home." The small shrine they had growing up was also a laughing Buddha. Vara could still remember the scent of the incense they often burned.

"This one..." He moved his right arm over so she could see it. " Is an actual blessing that an actual monk tattooed on me in the traditional way. That's why its not as vibrant as my left arm that was done with modern tech."

"Oh my..." Vara recognized parts of that blessing from the few Lagashi monks she had known. There weren't many of them left, and she was very impressed with Nathan right now for knowing an Earth one. "Did you know that Lagashi monks are normally women? We don't have enough men to let them take any vows of celibacy so only completely sterile men are allowed to take the oaths. They're still required to donate a genetic sample, though."

"I remember something about that in my Anthropology class back at the academy." Nathan replied "That's also why its very common to have multiple partners, right?"

"It's a law born of necessity. To bring a second man into the family, you have to have at least 3 women and a lot of honor in your family. Every woman is expected to support the family, doing the dangerous jobs that other races seem to assign to men, which we try to keep safe in much less risky jobs. That's also why you'll likely never meet one of our men unless you visit." Vara explained, still in a bit of awe at Nathan.

"That's right." Nathan said, now remembering the little bit he had learned. "I love learning about other cultures but I never really made a job out of it. I hate calling it a hobby, but really that's what it is."

Vara nodded slowly, still studying the ink on Nathan's arms. "At first, I just wanted to know what would help me defeat my enemies in combat but now... I think it's become a small hobby for me as well, now. I mean beyond downloading the reports and assessments, that is."

"I truly believe that knowledge is the greatest power that could ever exist. I also believe that all the beings all over who have the ability to understand knowledge have the responsibility to learn as much as they can and use that knowledge to do good." Nathan chuckled " But here I go getting all preachy."

Vara did something she rarely did, and without a hint of her inner wolf. She smiled. It was awkward and she barely remembered how, but she smiled. This male claimed to not be a monk, but here he was saying things a monk would say.

Nathan shrugged kind of bashfully. "I don't find to many people who have similar beliefs as I do. I get kind of excited."

"Neither do I." Vara was quiet for a bit before speaking again. "It's funny how our 2 cultures are so different and yet so similar. Most of what we hear about Earth growing up is pretty foreign and negative."

"There is a lot of negative things to say about earth. My people have not always been like they are now. Hell even now some of them..." Nathan trailed off in thought for a moment.

"Our history isn't exactly paved with good deeds, either. Most of them are ignored, but still learned from." Vara said in way of reassuring Nathan.

"So few really are. Sad isn't it?"

"Not really. As long as those mistakes are learned from and the society grows as a whole, I see them as good." Vara was definitely the overarching positive thinker in that subject. "Isn't that part of what life in general is about? Learning from your mistakes?"

"You are correct, I just wish there was a better way. No, that's wrong. I wish there was a more peaceful way." Nathan said.

"Not all blights in history are violent, though I agree. Far too many are," Vara said.

Nathan leaned back. "Look on the bright side right? If everything was happy and peaceful, you and I would be out of a job."

Vara considered that a moment before replying. "We might not have had our current jobs, but we would likely have other jobs more suited to a violence free world. I myself would likely be a monk, I think." That admission wasn't far from the other career path she had almost taken once before.

"But we dont live in that world, do we Little Shadow?" Nathan grinned at her.

The sudden reminder of her nickname brought on another slight blush from Vara. She was starting to get used to it and to be honest with herself, she liked it - She sounded cute in a way that she liked. "We don't," she said, looking away slightly.

"No we don't. Frankly I'm glad. I don't think I would know anyone I know today in that other world" Nathan said.

"That's for certain. You also wouldn't have such a naturally beautiful girlfriend." Vara might have tried to snatch her up for her own in another world.

Natha could not stop the grin that spread across his fact if he had wanted to. "She is isn't she? How did I ever get so lucky?"

"I have a feeling our local Chief Diplomatic Officer had something to do with it, considering her background." Vara knew about Jhu's visits to Maica so it was a logical assumption in her mind.

"Yeah, she gave me some good advice. I'm lucky to have her as a friend." Nathan admitted.

"We all are," Vara replied. "I haven't seen Andy this happy in a long time and it warms my heart knowing all the good she's done for her."

"What they have done for each other " Nathan was serious. " I have not see love like that in...along time. Its very refreshing."

Vara could only nod at that. "In a way, I'm glad she refused me so long ago. She might not have met Lt Maica and neither would be where they are now."

Nathan looked over at Vara. "She refused you?"

Vara hadn't meant to let that slip, but she did and now she had to at least try to explain it. "We were lovers at one point and I proposed to her, with the consent of the rest of my family. I wanted to share her with the others..." This was one of the few subjects Vara didn't like thinking about. "She thought it was another business deal or something and I guess I was pretty awkward in how I expressed my love..." The word 'love' stuck in her throat as she spoke.

Nathan was still confused. "Are we still talking about Maica?"

"Ah no, I meant Andy." Vara said. "Andy and I..."

"Oh, that makes a bit more sense. I'm sorry she turned you down." The thought of Andy brought a grin to his face. But Nathan could see the pain on Vara's face so he would let the subject drop if she didn't want to get into it.

It was indeed still a tender subject for Vara, but taking a deep breath and exhaling, she let go of those emotions for now. "I can still feel her electronically when we're near. It's similar to how all Lagashi are networked, but nowhere near as clearly. I owe Maica more than I can put to words for taking care of her, yet I can't help but feel a little jealous."

"That's natural. Once you share a connection with someone like that how can you not long for it?" Nathan replied.

"This is true," Vara said, deep in her own thoughts. She had lost many of them from her cybernetic brain during the incident, but she still had her biological memories. They weren't as clear and were often fleeting, but they were still there.

"I am going to use this program a lot." Nathan said more to himself the Vara.

[ON]

Andy felt gross. She wasn't one of those girly-girls who felt gross after getting just a little dirty, she was well acquainted with getting truly filthy. But today she just felt gross! Environmental Controls had a breakdown in the area she was working, and since she couldn't abandoned her work to go fix the temperature controls, she had no choice but to stew in the heat of the Jefferies tubes for hours while she finished the repairs. By the time she and her team crawled out of the tubes, they were all rank. Knowing that she could tolerate the heat longer than her team, she sent them to their quarters to shower and cool down for a while, but there was no rest for the Chief. She went straight to Environmental Controls where several officers were already hot on the gremlin trail. A couple more hours in hot tubes to fix the problem and Andy officially felt gross. She wanted to go straight to her quarters to shower and change, but Maica was in some sort of meeting... Probably with Caitians... It was always the Caitians...

Since she couldn't disturb Maica in their quarters, Andy went back to her office. She replicated a clean uniform and undergarments and then checked to see if the gym was in use. There were a few people down there, but it was not in heavy use. Maybe if she was lucky, she could hit the showers without anyone else being there. She didn't like using the showers while other people were there. It wasn't like she was ashamed of her body, she just didn't like the staring...

Liam Cohen had told Cameron to take it easy, at least for a couple of days, while his body recovered from injuries sustained during his fight with the holographic-Brikar. This order made sense, considering Cameron had sustained multiple contusions, some internal bruising, and a hairline fracture on his third rib. Unfortunately, Cameron preferred exercise to doing nothing. And if he went any more than a day or two without some means of exerting himself, the part of him that was Klingon made him want to act out. So, while he limited himself to some light calisthenics and some muscle endurance training, Cameron spent about an hour in the gym.

Now it was time for a shower.

Rubbing a tender spot on his shoulder, the Klingon-Trill hybrid entered the small shower bay. Since the Katana was designed to be as efficient with its space as possible, the bay lacked separate showers for male and females. People had to rely on a sense of maturity when dealing with members of the opposing gender.

Cameron had closed his eyes to crack his neck, and when he opened them again, he found a familiar face looking back at him as if he'd intruded. Then again, from what he saw, it was apparent that she'd just begun to disrobe. She hadn't gotten far.

"Oh, hey Andy," Cameron greeted, paying little attention to the concept of modesty as he opened his wall locker and started to take off his clothes. He hadn't noticed her in the gym during his workout. "Is your sonic shower not working?"

"No, I suspect it's workin' just fine..." Andy said with an exasperated sigh. Dammit, why couldn't she just get a minute to herself? "I moved in with Maica, and since her quarters doubles as her office an' she's in the middle of a meeting... I'm having to improvise. It was either the gym shower or a sponge bath in my office." Andy finished peeling off the rest of her clothes, literally peeling them off since all the sweat had them sticking to her. Oh gross! She wasn't even going to try to recycle these, this uniform had seen its day and was being disposed of!

But now standing in the locker room in only her undergarments, her body was more or less on full display. Few people had ever seen the full details of her past etched on her body, and it was something to see. Most ex-drones put effort into removing that evidence of their past life, but for some reason Andy held onto those scars. And then there was the exoskeleton... Most people assumed it was only around her hands or some such nonsense, but that wasn't the case. It worked up her arms and there was a bit of it over her shoulders. And her feet too bore the same silvery lines, tracing up her legs and over her hips. But none of that detracted from the scars. She was covered in them from where implants and armored plating had been removed. The worst of it was a large purple scar running down her back, tracing her spine and coming to a knot in the small of her back. No doubt it still gave her pain even to this day.

Andy’s bare body was the work of a deranged artist; it told a cruel story that few people likely wanted to hear… even in private. And by merely standing there, she’d invited him to listen. Cameron’s eyes followed the strands of silver from one emergence site to another, and although it took him some effort not to, he didn’t grimace. But after staring long enough, he began to notice the things about her that he could appreciate: her full breasts, sharp figure, dual color eyes, unruly hair – part of who she was as a human being. These things when combined with all her scars, turned Andy into a piece of beauty in his eyes.

Cameron smiled and turned to mask the telltale look in his eyes. Now fully undressed, he started pulling stuff out of his locker: a small handheld sonic emitter and a towel. He wrapped the towel around his waist. “There’s always my shower,” he suggested, intending it more as a sincere offer and less of a lustful attempt.

Andy just shrugged. "Maybe next time. For now I'm here and I just wanna get clean..." She had caught his eyes wandering as she disrobed, but she brushed it off as she did with most things. She grabbed a towel and some soap and headed for one of the few shower stalls that had a water hook-up. She hated real water showers, but her hair was not going to get clean with just a sonic shower. Plus she was still feeling overheated, the cool water would do her some good. "But thanks..." she said awkwardly before she turned on the water. The offer had been... nice.

Following Andy into the shower area, Cameron hit the console and activated the sonic shower. Behind him, he heard a distinct hiss of actual running water. He turned, and couldn’t help but to admire the shimmer of her wet body. “So I take it the problem with environmental is resolved thanks to your diligence?” He asked, trying to sound interested. “I’m sure that was fun.” He said, thinking that it was her time in the Jefferies tubes that had made her so sweaty.

"Yeah, a load of fun..." Andy said with a forced laugh. Let him try hauling around an extra 15 pounds of weight comprised of titanium grafted to his skin and skeleton and see how much fun it was... That shit gets hot! "We shouldn't have any more malfunctions in temperature control anytime soon," she assured her superior as she let the tepid water rain down on her, closing her eyes as the water streamed over her face. She was tired. She didn't realize until just now, but she was dead tired. Maybe once she was done with the shower, she could pop by her quarters for a quick regeneration cycle. Unless Maica was still working... Shit!

"That's good to hear. Well done," Cameron said, almost seeming to read her mind... or at least her expression and make the obvious deduction, "You look exhausted. Just how long is that meeting with Lieutenant Maica supposed to last, anyways?"

Andy's eyes opened slightly and she peered through the water to Cameron in his own shower stall. "Do you usually watch people so intently when they shower or am I just special?" she asked suspiciously. She was tired and she had no clue how long Maica's meeting was supposed to last.
Cameron shrugged. “Sorry. I suppose I’ve always had a thing for redheads.”

A thing for redheads? Must be an epidemic... Andy snickered and quickly soaped up. "Don't worry about it," she said with a nonchalant shrug. "And to answer your question, I have no idea how long Maica's meeting will last. Sometimes it's just a couple of hours, but they can run pretty long." She began to work shampoo into her hair, the part she hated the most about real water showers. Washing and drying her hair was always a pain in the ass! "Hey, if it's not too much of a bother, can you scrub my back?" she asked as she tried to work some tangles out of her hair.

The question had surprised him. It had taken non-relevant conversation and careful breathing for him not to respond to certain impulses that, even as he measured his response, persisted. He was learning that a light workout in the gym wasn’t enough to quell his needs. He could manage it well enough from across the bay, at least. But if he were right next to her, touching her, Cameron wasn’t sure he’ be able to.

He reminded himself of his singular rule: No sleeping with fellow officers. And for a moment, he thought that would be enough. "Sure," She handed him her loofa. Taking her by one hand on her hip to steady her (and him), he started scrubbing her backside in circles. Andy was warm.

Drum...

Andy closed her eyes with a soft sigh at the feel of him scrubbing her back. His hand were so strong, they felt nice... "That feels good," she said quietly, still running her fingers through her soapy hair. With her back to him, she couldn't tell the affect she was having on him, but he was definitely having an effect on her. Warmth, soothing warmth... After that initial shock of the damage her body had endured, she knew he saw her and not just the scars and she couldn't put into words what that meant to her.

Cameron tried unsuccessfully to focus on the sponge rather than on her, working it from her shoulders down to the small of her back, but it became more and more difficult. Another drum, his heart beating in rising tempo, reminded him of what his own body expected. He could almost feel the dopamine in his brain dulling out every sound and sensation beyond her, the norepinephrine renewing his strength and vigor. By the time he started working his way back up to her shoulders, he’d forgotten the task at hand.

To hell with the rule, he thought. Cameron grinned as his hand used to steady her tightened as his free hand moved down to the other side, drawing him in behind her; he towered over her. It had become apparent that he was no longer interested in washing her back.

Andy's eyes opened slowly and she leaned against him, indicating that the contact was not in any way unwelcome. She abandoned the tangles in her, focused now on the heat of the form behind her. "You do know that I promised to share you," Andy said softly, moving away slightly to step under the stream of water to wash away the soap.

Assured that his advance was reciprocated, the Klingon/Trill hybrid followed her, leaned in, and began placing soft kisses down her neck. "Oh yeah?" He asked coyly, turning her around so that she was facing him before easing her -- and him -- further into the shower mist. Without waiting for her response, he sailed his fingertips up along the contours of her body before he had her wrists in both his hands. Pulling them in behind the small of her back, he pressed her against the wall -- pinning her. "You know where I live."

She didn't like the way he held her hands, didn't like the way he pressed her against the wall, it made her feel helpless. Maybe it was because the painful memories were so close to the surface with the resurgence of her nightmares that she felt a brief moment of panic, her eyes widening to display that fear, but she quickly schooled her features. She knew he was not the enemy, but it saddened her that she had to remind herself of that.

"Sorry," Cameron said simply, releasing her and giving her about an inch from the wall. He should have known better. But Andy came off as a strong woman, and he assumed that, like most strong women he'd met, that she wouldn't have minded being restrained. He returned his hands to her lower hips, where his fingers caressed playfully along her butt. He didn't want to say anything else about it. It might further ruin the mood budding between them. But he also wanted to be sure that she was ok.

"Don't be," Andy said, pulling him closer, rising up on the balls of her feet to kiss him. Andy didn't mind being restrained; in fact just the other day she and Maica had played around tying each other up! But sometimes her fears found unusual outlets at the most inconvenient of times, and that was nothing for him to apologize about.

Andy knew she often came off as cold, heartless, even emotionless, but that was simply not true. She was actually a passionate individual, she just had strange ways of showing that passion. It showed in her love of ship functions, her dedication to the welfare of the ship and crew, her unyielding loyalty to her friends, and Maica had seen that passion, that love of life, when Andy played the violin. More importantly, she was passionate now. As they continued to burn each other with their passion, one thing became abundantly clear: Andy was most definitely not cold and emotionless.

Scars or not. Tonight was going to be a good night.

[OFF]

Lieutenant Commander Cameron Tegan
Executive Officer
USS Katana

Chief Petty Officer Andrea Carter
Chief of Operations
USS Katana

Commander Kristopher Kerouac sat in his quarters gazing out at the blackness of space as the USS Katana had set sail as it were and was finally departing from Starbase Unity with the Katana's new crew safely and securely aboard, having settled in on the starship. Kris' quarters were the largest on the starship and it certainly helped that he had some remodeling done after the recent attack, having taken part of the neighboring quarters and turning it into a walk in vault for his treasured alcohol. Surian, Brandy, Kentucky Bourbon, Tennessee Whiskey, Romulan Ale and so much more that he had collected over the years. He used to be a heavy drinker during the Dominion War and after in order to cope with the personal losses to him. However, it deteriorated his ability to perform at his best. Before the war, Kris had been one of the best damn pilots that the Academy had to offer. The first few years of the Dominion War were fine, but by the end, Kris had been looking for solace at the bottom of every bottle that he could get his hands on, it was a throwback to his days as a youth on Turkana IV.

'Patient is prone to addiction' the words rattled around Kris' head like the shards of glass shattering during the several bar fights that Kris had been involved in. Those words were on his psych report from past counselor who had dug into Kris. 'Suffers from extreme insomnia', another one of those phrases that made Kris feel more of a need to avoid the Starfleet shrinks. How the hell do you want me to act and feel? My friends were killed in the war and my fiancee is missing thought Kris as he impatiently thumped his foot and held his knees as he sat at the window seat at the observation port in his quarters. The truth was something that a sober Kristopher Kerouac would not talk about easily. However, while intoxicated or under a form of hypnosis, he was a lot more forthcoming about his past and his feelings.

Counselor Lia Grae was Counselor Pano's replacement. She was a Ventaxian-Xenexian, which to Kris just meant she looked like a strange ass human with brown hair, a debutante appearance albeit with peculiarly piercing amaranth colored eyes. Kris knew about Xenexians, there were a few in Starfleet. Lieutenant Commander J'n'e't of Glyndar who had humanized her identity to Janet Glyndar. She was First Officer aboard the USS Challenger. Kris had never personally met her. However, when it came to the Ventaxians, Kris was not aware of them. Katana's Commanding Officer took a deep breath and waited nervously for the Counselor to arrive. When Kris was nervous or anxious, he tended to end of drinking.

Lia made her way down the corridor making her way to the Captain's quarters. The invitation to dinner had taken her by surprise, she had only met the Captain when she arrived. The invitation did leave her curious though. Last time they talked he was responsible to set a time for his evaluation. She arrived at the foot of his doors and reached out and pressed the door chime and waited.

Oh great thought Kris as the chime rang throughout his quarters. "Come on in" replied Kris as he left his window seat and headed towards the entrance of his quarters to greet the woman. She stood there with her brown hair and pinkish eyes, that Counselor expression that intimidated him so damn much. "Please, come in and make yourself at home" added Kris with a forced smile.

Lia walked with her own smile, it didn't take a telepath to know there was some tension in the room. He was the Captain, she was the Counselor; and knowing how to read people, Lia decided to cut that tension out right away. "I hope you don't mind me asking but you didn't invite me for dinner so we could do your eval did you? I'm off the clock." She said pulled her hair out of the bun she normally keeps it in and let if fall past her shoulders.

"You said whenever I had the time, Counselor" countered Kris a bit defensively. "When would be a better time? I am off duty and when I am not, I am either on the Bridge sitting in my command chair or in my Ready Room dealing with pissed off Admirals" explained the ship's Commanding Officer. He looked at the woman with a shrug. "Can we do this here and now?"

Lia looked at him skeptical for a moment and then nodded, "Very well." She said quickly as she thought about how to proceed. "Can we make it a bit informal though? Like dropping the rank."

"Last time I checked, Counselor was a title or position... Lieutenant is your rank" replied Kris with a small rebuttal to her request. However, Kris did flash a small smile and nodded. "Lia" he said calling her by her first name. "We can make this as informal as need be. Would you like something to drink?" asked Kris as he made his way towards his vault of alcohol.

"Yes I would." Lia answered with a smile and when he walked by the replicator she asked, "what you have?" Curiosity getting the better of her she proceeded to follow him.

"The ship have numerous beverages to offer. Should you want something weak" commented Kris as he accessed his vault of alcohol. "The good stuff is in here. Care to pick your poison, Lia?" asked Kris with a small smirk as he was already in the process of selecting something for himself. If someone is going probe my mind about who I am... I'd rather be so hammered that I have no memories of what they know about me thought the Commander.

Lia smirked as she looked over his vault. "Well...this is very fascinating." She glanced at him from the side, "You are very lucky, Kris. If I was your typical Counselor I would have failed you right now for having a room like this. So many red flags and all that." Her eyes looked through the collection and then found something that caught her attention. She pulled the bottle from the rack and read over the label. "Oh I haven't drank this in years..." She proceeded to show him the bottle. "Branca Stravecchio, very nice. But as I was saying; as far as I'm concerned this room means you pass in my book."

"We all have our hobbies" said Kris with a shrug. "I guess mine has been acquiring and collecting some of the finest wines and liquors of the galaxy. I am very glad that I pass. That makes me feel a little better. How about we have some of that Branca Stravecchio Brandy and celebrate this joyous moment" joked Kris. However, he was very serious about opening the bottle.

Lia grinned and handed him the bottle. "Sounds like fun."

Kris smiled. "You get the glasses and I'll open this up. What does it taste like? I don't think I have ever had this before. I've has Saurian Brandy but nothing from Earth."

Lia looked around for the glasses and found a cupboard. "Fruity, easy to drink, there is an oakish hint to it but very faint and almost mocha aftertaste. I quite like it. It was dad's favorite brandy, he'd always serve that when dignitaries visited the house."

"Someone sounds like a posh little princess" commented Kris as she explained the taste to him. "You lived quite comfortably, I take?" he asked as politely as he could. She's going to try to get to know me... why the hell not try to get to know her a little? Damn it! She knows what I am thinking now.

"I grew up in San Francisco, so yes I was quite comfortable, at least until the Breen attack." She sighed shaking her head, ''However, I wasn't some spoiled brat if that's what you were thinking, just well mannered."

"Prissy?" he joked. "I wish I could say my childhood was as comfortable. I am sure the Breen attack sucked though. What did your parents do?"

"My father was a diplomat for the Federation Diplomatic Corp, and my mom served as an aid. They are both doing quite well on Earth."

Kris was starting to feel just a little looser as he allowed the alcohol to work its way through his system. "I do not know crap about my family. Actually, I never had a family. I just had parents and I know nothing about them of any worth. My true family has always been the crew of the starships that I have been on."

Lia nodded as she took sip of the brandy. "Well, then I hope in time you see me as a new addition to your Katana family."

Commander Kerouac smiled slightly "You are the Ship's Counselor, Lia. You are already a part of this dysfunctional family like it or not" joked Kris. Moving about his quarters, Kris too a seat next to the woman and rested his head on her shoulder. "Most counselors tell me about my problems as if I am not aware. I know. I hide from my problems and drink away the pain."

Lieutenant Grae rested her head on his, "I think most counselors makes things worse. They always want to find some deeper issue as if the problem you are facing isn't recent but part of the pattern..." She chucked the rest of the brandy in her glass, "they are usually full of shit."

"Aye" replied Kris with a smile. "You're a good one... a damn fine Counselor and woman. You're not full of shit, just good brandy" added Kris as he turned his head slowly and his drunken gaze met the Counselor's glossy pink eyes. Soon, Kris found his lips gently touching hers.

Feeling his lips upon hers Lia's eyes drifted shut as a debate went on in her head. This is wrong....wrong...but his lips feel nice. It's the brandy...but the kiss feels good. Someone may get hurt...well not from my end. It's just a friggin kiss, go for it. Lia found herself kissing him back and instinctively reaching up and caressing his cheek.

Hey dumb ass, you are supposed to be avoiding alcohol. See what drinking gets you? Don't let you First Officer find out about this Kris told himself with a mental reprimanding. He went for it and he accepted it. Kris kissed the woman more and it became quite passionate before he was able to finally pull himself away from her. All that he could do was look at her worried that he had done something so very stupid.

When the kiss broke Lia inhaled much needed air. "Y-you are...quite the kisser." she panted out but with a smirk, "why do you have that horrified look upon your face?" she asked.

I kissed a girl and I liked it... that's been a while thought Kris with a small smile at her compliment. "Thank you" he replied briskly as he stumbled to find a response to her question. "Many reasons, Counselor...Lia. I am seeing someone."

Her smile grew, "Really? Congrats Kris. It's good to here that the Captain is finding time to have a personal life." Lia straightened up on the seat, "so who's the lucky person?" she asked curiously.

"Not my new First Officer, so fear not... you still have a chance with him" countered Kris defensively. "I would rather not say. I do not want it becomming Katana scuttlebutt" Kris further explained.

Lia couldn't help but chuckle when Kris brought up Cam. "I already had my reunion with the good XO," she winked at Kris before adding, "but as for relationships... I'm not that kind of lady." she sighed before finishing off the rest of her brandy.

Kris shook his head. It was too much information. "I am sure your reunion was lovely. What caused you to not be that kind of lady? Were you ever that kind of lady, Lia?"

She let the question linger for a moment. Why don't I just be honest, we already shared a kiss why not a secret. "Well," she started, breaking the silence, "lets just say there are downsides to being a hybrid...genetically speaking."

"You cannot have kids of your own?" asked Kris, his curiosity peaking.

"Among other things but that is one of the larger downsize." Lia confirmed.

Kris was interested in this matter. "Is that what caused your thing with the First Officer to end?" asked Kris. He did not want to get into her personal life too deep but he wanted to know more about everything that he possibly could. "Why does that have to be something to cause you not to want a relationship? Family can be anything, it doesn't need to be genetic. You could still have children, Lia. Hell, with medical science these days... why not give it a shot with a surrogate mother?"

Lia shook her head, "The First Officer was never officially in a relationship through our years together at the Academy... we were more like casual friends. When we graduated he was assigned to a starship and I to a starbase. So we kept in touch, just not as frequent." She explained not sure why she felt the need to but just did. "As for using a surrogate; there are 'no eggs in the carton' if you catch my meaning; and besides my genetic make up is so unique I wouldn't be compatible with anyone to create a child even with today's science. I've basically been regulated to being a Lustmate. "

"I see...one both accounts" replied Kris unsure whether he should be trying to comfort her or not. Does she need me to comfort her. She's a Counselor... she would know to seek help if needed, right? the Commanding Officer asked himself. "Lustmate does not sound all that pleasing to me" added Kris as he mentally smacked himself. This coming from the guy who has drank so much that he blacks out and wakes up with strangers in his bed that he doesn't even know their names. Excellent hypocrisy, Kristopher. Kris looked at Lia, his eyes somewhat reminiscent of a small puppy. "Would you want children if it were a possibility? I mean, there's always adoption, right?"

Lia chuckled at Kris's question; shrugging her shoulder she replied, "I don't even know if I want kids. As for adoption... it's frowned upon in Ventaxian culture because I am considered a lustmate. All Ventaxians are allowed two partners, one who is for procreation, your traditional wife or husband. The other mate is strictly for physical needs." She explained.

"Shit, I need to move to there... a lustmate? I might like one of those" said Kris with a small smile.

Lia looked at him before letting out a healthy chuckle shaking her head. "I'm surprised you didn't try to get assigned to Risa."

Kris shook his head. "I needed to be out here in the Gamma Quadrant" replied Kris sharply. Lia was getting close, too close for Kris' comfort. This was getting too close to talking about Uri and that was a topic that Kris did not want to talk about. "You have enough for your psych evaluation, Lia?"

Looking down at the empty glass she nodded and leaned forward to place it on the coffee table. "Yeah... and I'll take the hint." she replied as she stood up. "Thank you for the drink."

"Thank you for the evaluation, Lia" replied Kris trying to be as pleasant as possible.

A minor medical emergency had meant pushing Liam's dinner plans with Kris, as an attempt to make up for it he'd asked Kris to meet him for lunch the following day. His morning had been long and tiring and he'd been looking forward to it. Entering the mess hall he saw Kris already waiting and smiled as he approached. Smiling he leaned in and gave the other man a quick kiss. "How was your morning?" He asked, settling down across from the other man.

"Strange" replied Kris with a mysteriously shrouded smile. "I am not sure how to really explain it aside from strange" added the Commanding Officer as he felt a nice warm sensation from his cheeks. Can he tell that I'm blushing wondered Kris as he responded to the Kris simultaneously trying to discuss how his morning was. "I've been thinking about you quite often through the morning" explained Kristopher and soon took a sip of his drink.

Liam smirked "That's good." He looked over at the buffet and noticed a slightly steaming pot, the small tag in front of it read PLASMA LEAK SOUP. "What are you planning to have?" He said turning his attention back to the Captain.

"Not that" said Kris looking at the Plasma Leak Soup. "I mean it looks alright if you are into oddly green soup. However, I think the leak is plasma leak soup may be the leek vegetable. I cannot say that I am much of a fan. Even if not, I am not sure how I feel about soup at the moment. I think I may just stick with something that I am used to."

"Where's your sense of adventure." He remarked, "I think I'll try it, what's the worst that can happen."

Kris scoffed at the comment about adventure. In due time thought Katana's Commanding Officer. He shook his head at the Doctor's go getter attitude as the Chief Medical Officer seemed set in his ways of exploration and adventure with his lunch. "You tell me... you are the Chief Medical Officer of this starship. What is the worse that could happen? Severe allergic reaction?" prodded Kris.

"Don't have any, maybe food poisoning, but I'm sure you'll carry me to sickbay before i'm at risk of dying." He said, rising to his feet and retrieving a bowl of the orangish food.

"I don't know if I trust your new medical staff" said Kris with a warm smile. "I may just carry you back to my quarters and do my best to treat you myself" added Kris who had ordered himself a nice Vulcan salad from the replicator.

"I don't think I trust your medical skills." Liam said with a smirk as he put the spoon in his mouth, "It's actually pretty good, kind of like veg curry with a little something, almost taste like Bajoran spices." He remarked as he took another bite.

Kris laughed at that well placed comeback. "Fair enough. I am sure my medical skills are about as good as your helm skills" replied the Commanding Officer. "It sounds good but I am still not going to try it."

"I'm actually a pretty decent pilot, I have many, many skills." He said, winking at the Captain as he ran his foot up the other man's leg.

This interested Kris. "Skills? Care to share what these skills are?" asked Kris with a smile.

Cohen laughed, but suddenly his stomach turned. He stopped, and he could feel the colour drain form his face.

Kris looked concern as the Chief Medical Officer's colour began to drain from his face. "Liam, you aren't looking-"

Cohen got to his feet, "Excu-" he tried to say to the captain but the rest of the apology was lost as his plasma leek soup ended up all over the captains uniform.

"-so well" finished Kris as he looked down at his uniform which was covered in some plasma leek soup. "Well, at least it looks better on me than it did in the bowl" joked Kris with a small sigh. Though the situation was embarrassing and uncomfortable, Kris had to just let it be what it was. He put an arm around Liam.

"Let's get you to Sickbay" added Kris with a small inner chuckle I'm taking the Chief Medical Officer to sickbay for nausea and vomiting thought the Commanding Officer.