"Preparations"
by Lieutenant Troy Blair
Tactical Officer, USS Galaxy

*** First Officer's Conference Room ***

Troy sat at the conference table, waiting for Commander Coe to begin. He had never been in the XO's conference room, it wasn't that much different than the main conference room. Troy's mind began to wonder, but was quickly brought back by Commander Coe's voice.

" Thank you for coming people." Coe said this as he sat at his seat.

" I have asked you to come today to discuss certain issue's regarding the upcoming docking at Station Beta two. As you all are probably aware, the Galaxy will be responsible for the safety and well being of the station whilst STB2 brings their shields offline to reprogram the modulation levels. Which means we must be completely prepared to handle any possible threat that could arise. Remember, STB2 is on the frontier of explored federation space. Meaning ANYTHING could happen out there. We would be without assistance for sometime due to the fact that the closest starbase is 2 days away at maximum warp. So, I want to be prepared." Coe finished what he was saying and handed out a pile of PADDs to the officers in the room. Before he continued.

" Lt. Blair. As usual the tactical issue will be handled by you. I want you to read up on, and prepare for a conflict with all known alien vessels which could pose a threat whilst we are stationed in the beta quadrant. Coordinate your actions with OPS to gain the maximum amount of strength this ship can put forward if the time arises. Run simulations on the holodeck, the usual package. You know whats needed. " Blair nodded his head seriously.

" And contact the tactical officer of station beta two and coordinate-discuss possible threats with him, her understood?" Coe looked intently at Blair.

" Yes Sir." Blair nodded.

" Great. Now, Miss Morris, Your next............"

As Commander Coe went into the other assignments, Troy began to think about what he was just told. There was a lot to be done to prepare for any possible conflicts, and he was up to the challenge.

After the meeting, Troy returned to his office to begin his task. The first thing he did was pull up, on the computer, a list of all known hostiles in the Beta Quadrant, and their ship specs. There were quite a few, but the technical specifications of their ships, and their standard tactics should make them no match for the Galaxy, Troy thought.. Hopefully, they wouldn't have to find out if his hunch is correct.

The next thing Troy did was to contact the Strategic Operations Officer for SB2, a Lieutenant Matthew Cohen. His intentions were to obtain a more specific list of hostiles that SB2 has encountered recently.

" Computer, establish contact with Lieutenant Matthew Cohen of Station Beta 2. Use a priority channel."

" Affirmative " The computer answered. After a few minutes, the Federation insignia was replaced with a man's face.

" Lieutenant Cohen? " Troy asked

" This is him. How can I help you?" came the reply

" Lieutenant, I'm Troy Blair, Chief Tactical Officer for the Galaxy. I was contacting you, because I was wondering if you could provide me with a list of hostiles your station has encountered. So that I can prepare for any possible conflicts, in hopes of defending the station better."

" Well, I'm afraid I can't really be that much help for you. I've only been on the station a couple of months. But, I can tell you some of the incidents I've encountered since I've been here."

" Anything you can provide me with will be greatly appreciated."

" Ok, well here it goes.... Immediately prior to my arrival here, there was some trouble from a changeling. We've also been briefly attacked by Klingons, and later, Romulans after an incident concerning a Romulan Ambassador. And recently, there was a problem with our Captain, XO and CMO on Yiridia. That's about all I know of."

" Well, I don't think we really have to worry about the Klingons, since they re-allied themselves with us. The Romulans, we may have to watch for a little. But the changeling is what concerns me the most. If there's one, then there's bound to be another at sometime, plus you never know when a few Jem' Hadar ships will decide to show up. Never can be too careful when it comes to....The Dominion"

" I know exactly what you mean. I've taken measures to lookout for future changelings, and any Dominion ships in the area. If there's anything else I find out, I'll be sure to pass the information along to you."

" Thank you, you've been a great help to me" Troy said

" No problem, I'll be looking forward to your arrival. Cohen out."

Troy leaned back in his chair, rubbing his forehead with his hand. There probably won't be a problem out in the Beta Quadrant, but after hearing about the changeling he became concerned. You can never tell when The Dominion is going to pop up, or how strong it's forces are going to be. But one things for sure, he was ready to fight The Dominion to the death if they showed up. He owed it to his father for what they did to him and his crew. He got out of his chair, and headed toward the holodeck to run some drills. He had to prepare.

*** Holodeck 2 ***

" Computer, run Tactical Simulation Alpha 7. Use standard Galaxy class ship, against two Jem'Hadar Battleships."

The black and yellow grid was replaced with a controlled chaotic bridge. The red alert klaxon was going off, sparks were flying and some bodies were scattered around. A thin layer of smoke made it difficult to see clearly. After quickly assessing the situation, Troy began his counter attack.

" What's the distance between us and those ships?" The holographic captain asked.

" About 200 kilometers and closing " Troy responded

" Are they in weapons range?"

" Just barely, sir" Troy looked down at his arch. The Captain returned his attention to the front. Apparently the starship was running from the Jem'Hadar ships. There wasn't much to be done in this type of situation, except continue the present course. But then, the computer threw out a surprise.

" Captain, I'm detecting another Jem' Hadar ship on an intercept course off our Starboard Bow." An Ops officer yelled out

"He's trying to cut us off. Tactical what can we do?" asked the Captain.

"It's risky sir, but lets come about and head straight for the two ships behind us." The captain stared at Troy. "Sir, it's our only chance"

"Very well, Helm come about, head straight at the two pursuing ships."

"Aye sir."

The bridge leaned a little as the giant starship came about. It was now on a direct course at the two Jem'Hadar ships. Troy watched as the two ships got bigger and bigger on the view screen. He waited with his finger on the fire button. One of the ships let loose with a volley of phaser fire, which struck the Galaxy vessel, causing it to shake violently. Troy watched his readouts, 200 kilometers, 150, 100, 50, 25.... at 25 he fired a full volley of Photon Torpedoes and yelled for Helm to break hard to Port.

The red streaks screamed toward the closest ship, barely giving it enough time to react, then slammed into it's hull causing a ripple effect of explosions, and finally one enoroumus explosion killing the ship and it's crew. There were now two battleships left, one in front of them (badly damaged from the explosion of it's 'wingman') and the other directly behind them. With a quick turn of the Galaxy vessel, Troy was able to let loose another volley of torpedoes, causing the death of the second ship ahead of them. Which now left one target, that was firing everything it had at the Galaxy vessel.

The giant starship rocked from side to side as it took hits, trying to regain it's speed. Which dawned on Troy as a mistake, whenever your ship is trying to regain speed while a pursuing ship is closing in, you don't continue to speed up, you come to a complete stop. (A tactic his grandfather used successfully a number of times.) After a brief explanation to the Captain, the Galaxy vessel went to all stop, allowing the battleship to fly by at a high speed. Giving Troy a clear shot. He took the shot and severely damaged the battleship, but did not destroy it. Both ships were heavily damaged and could no longer fight. They drifted around, facing each other.

" Computer, end program"

" Too easy " Troy thought, " The real thing is going to be more difficult than this"

Two ensigns walked past the holosuites, taking a quiet evening stroll. Various doors were marked as in use or vacant, but they paid them no heed, ignoring the soft sounds audible through the various portals... until they reached the last. Their passage by the door was met with a loud thump, sending both scurrying, not wanting to know what had hit the door on the other side, or what that infernal racket was...

* * * * * * * *

Matthew Cohen was singing. Unremarkable enough in and of itself. The fact that the hebrew dialect the song was in, and the song itself for that matter, had not been heard in fifteen hundred years was just another of the lieutenant's quirks.

He was also swinging a war-hammer, striding through a battlefield striking out at various races in Byzantine uniforms, though the vast majority were Klingons. Dressed in medieval attire and wielding the weapon, he was joyfully belting out a Khazarian war song while he took out his various frustrations on the holographic foes, twirling the long shaft of the hammer in his gloved hands, feeling the burned flesh still beneath. It would be some time before he was physically normal again, and even longer before he would be emotionally normal.

Ops had not been so stressful, the truth be told. As he'd argued to Seles - He was fully capable of upgrading his own station, and had managed it with little problems. It was the little things, though... the lack of foresight to expect a response to spying on the Rihannsu ship. The constant warfare between himself and the Ops officer. And above it all.... his growing concern that something was wrong with his family. It had been nearly three months since his last message from his parents. Something had to give.

At that moment, another Klingon broke from the melee, charging at him. Matthew banished the thoughts of the world outside the environment, and once more the battle was joined on the shores of the Volga.

Lieutenant Matthew Cohen
Station Beta 2 Strategic Operations Officer
teej@txdirect.net

With the Romulan embassy, Seinor Ambassador Kale tr'Herrian sat and brooded, he had heard nothing from the Ghost so far. He sighed and poured him self a glass of ale, that was the down side about the espionage business, demanding constant status reports was bad practice, especialy with freelancers. No Doubt the Ghost was out there burrowing through Federation computer security, soon he would have his data and the federation would know the folly of of messing with the Rhiannsu.

......... From an obscure terminal somewere in the residential section of Beta 2 a lone figure operated a touch pad. The Ghost slowly and with infinite care wormed her way through the Federation computer security Who ever was working on computer security for this place was good, to Good, the Feds on this station were more concerend with computer security than most others she had seen, though if half the things she herd about this place were true she could see why. Patiently her work continued.........

Salvine sat reviewing the medical logs again, no one had come into Sickbay needing assistance and Commander Morris had not responded to his haiil yet but that was perfectly understandable....with the Galaxy coming and all the projects she had to coordinate it was a wonder she had time to sleep.

"Emergency Transport arrival in Main Sickbay." the computer informed him.

Salvine rushed out of his office and saw Ramone lying on a bio-bed. Instinctively he grabbed a tricorder and ran it over him. His isoplaimine levels were ten times the norm, that meant he was in telepathic overload but he would have to have had......

The tricorder registered massive amounts of hydophine in his system.....the exact drug needed to increase betazoids telepathic range and strenght. Grabbing a hypospray he inserted the counter agent into the bottom and injected Ramone with it. Slowly his isoplamine levels began to return to normal.

~He might even benefit from having his telepathy blocked for a couple of hours. It will help him rest.~

Salvine loaded another hypospray with tagit 4, which would completely dull his telepathic abilities for sixteen hours, and then gave him a sedative. What he needed right now was uninterrupted rest.

"Computer, inform me the moment Lt.Pescadeiro awakends."

"Salvine to Kilan. Please report to the Infirmary."

"I am on my way."

~I have you now "father"~ Salvine thought.

Salvine returned to his office to investigate what exactly it was that his father had given Ramone.

"Computer display the record of Lt.Pescadeiro's last visit to Sickbay."

The text appeared on the screen and according to this he recieved the counteragent to hydrophine which would have lowered his isoplamine levels to lower than normal, exactly what he wanted. Instead his father gave him something to increase his isoplamine levels ten fold, effectively sending him into telepathic shock.

"The USS Galaxy arrives at Station Beta Two"
by Captain Robert Edward Lee Price

It was several hours into Alpha shift when the USS Galaxy neared Station Beta Two.

"Captain, I'm picking up the Federation identification beacon now. We are entering Station Beta Two's sector of space." Lieutenant Ti said over her shoulder from the Helm. She looked beautiful sitting there. Still glowing since becoming engaged to Lieutenant Deiran Casey, acting Chief of Operations on the Galaxy who was sitting directly adjacent to her station.

"Very good Lieutenant." Captain Price began as he stood up from the Captain's chair. "Drop us out of warp and proceed at one quarter impulse."

Ti nods, "Aye Sir." as she pivots back around and prepares to carry out the Captain's orders.

"One quarter impulse Captain?"

Lee turns around and faces the Galaxy's Chief Tactical Officer, Lieutenant Blair. "Isn't that rather... slow sir?"

Lee smiles at the Lieutenant. "Aye. But reading through Captain Zahn's records I see he has a severe dislike for Starship commanders that buzz the station 'mate."

Blair smiles. "Then I guess that would be the prudent thing to do then Captain."

"Glad you agree Lieutenant."

Captain Price turns and watches as the Galaxy drops out of warp. Station Beta Two can be seen in the distance on the main view screen. Lee glances over to his First officer, Commander Coe.

"You have the Conn Commander." As the Captain says it he walks over to his ready room, exiting the bridge.

Commander Coe changes seats as he watches the Captain exit. This is the second time since he'd become Executive Officer of the Galaxy that Captain Price had broken Starfleet protocol and left him to command the docking of the Galaxy class Starship.

"Incoming message Commander." Lieutenant Blair called out from the Tactical station. "It's Lieutenant Seles from Station Beta Two."

Coe nodded. "On screen Lieutenant."

Blair tapped a few buttons and the image of the half Klingon Chief of Operations of Station Beta Two appeared on the main view screen.

["USS Galaxy, welcome to Station Beta Two. We have been expecting you."] Seles tone was professional, yet at the same time friendly as well. Troy smiled at her.

"Thank you. I am Commander Coe, First officer of the Galaxy. I will be in charge of the docking procedures toda

y."

Lieutenant Seles raised an eyebrow, as it is normally the Captain of a Starship that commands when a ship docks or departs from a Federation Starbase, but she didn't bother pressing the issue, letting her facial expression speak for itself.

["Very good Commander. Please proceed to Docking bay five. It has been prepped for your arrival."]

Coe nodded. "Understood. Thank you Station Beta Two. Proceeding to Docking bay five."

["Captain Zahn had asked to speak with your Captain upon arrival. Is he available?"] Again Lieutenant Seles used her eyes to relay more of a message than her words alone could carry. She was curious why the Captain wasn't handling the docking himself, but wasn't going to come out and ask directly.

"Yes, you can patch Captain Zahn through at any time. Captain Price is standing by in his ready room as we speak."

["I see. I will let Captain Zahn know you've arrived. I'm sure he will wish to speak to your Captain. You are cleared to dock on bay five whenever you are ready Commander. Station Beta Two out."]

As the channel closed, the screen returned with the giant image of the Federation space station. Commander Coe glanced around the bridge at the Alpha shift crew as they prepared to dock the Galaxy for a second time under his command.

*****

Lee stood in his ready room sipping a cup of Bajoran coffee and cream. He watched as the Galaxy slowly drifted closer to the massive, Yridian built, space station. It was an elegant design, not like anything built by the Federation. Starfleet had always opted for functionality over artistic expression. Station Beta Two was more than just an island in space. It was a work of art. Captain Price enjoyed the moment as he took in the sights, as if admiring a great painting by one of the masters.

["Captain, incoming transmission from Station Beta Two. It's Captain Zahn sir."]

Lee took another sip from his ceramic mug as he moved over to his desk. He sat and reached for the monitor with one hand.

"I'll take it in here Lieutenant Blair."

The image of Captain Joseph Zahn snapped onto the monitor.

"Captain Zahn, it's a pleasure to meet you 'mate." Lee said with a smile. His Ausy accent coming through in full.

["Welcome to Station Beta Two Captain Price. I'm glad we will be able to be of service to your ship."] Zahn was wearing his glasses initially, but as he greeted the Captain of the Galaxy, he reached and began to remove them.

"I understand we get to return the favor while your engineers perform modifications to the Station's shielding systems as well. A bit of 'tit for tat' wouldn't you say 'mate?"

Joseph smiled. It was the first time he had met the Australian Captain, known through out the Federation as "The General", because of his full name, Robert Edward Lee Price. He had heard how charming and down to earth Price could be, but this was the first time he had experienced Lee's charms first hand. He was glad to see it was true. ["You could say that. We have been planning these modifications for some time know. But we were unable to carry them out until a Starship could be stationed here long enough to offer us the protection needed while our defenses are down."]

Lee smiled back. Captain Zahn's personnel records said that he was somewhat introverted. He was happy to see that didn't appear to be the case at all. Joseph seemed quite friendly.

"Outstanding. I know that several of my officers are looking forward to shore leave and a tour of your facilities there Captain. I believe my Chief Engineer and Operations Manager have been working with your people to facilitate the repairs to the Ship."

["Yes. Chief Engineer Hanson and my First Officer, Commander Morris have been making the arrangements. I'm sure everything will proceed as scheduled."]

"Commander Morris, that would be Lieutenant Morris' older sister I presume." Lee said with a grin.

Zahn nodded. ["Yes. Kra'lana is quite excited at having her sister here to visit."] After a slight pause, Joseph continued. ["Which reminds me. I'd like to invite you and your Senior Staff to dine here tonight as guests of Station Beta Two."]

Lee blinked once. "That sounds wonderful Captain. Thank you." He thought for a moment than asked, "Do I need to make them wear their dress uniforms?"

["I'm going to make mine wear theirs. You can do what you like Captain."] Joseph leaned back and crossed his arms playfully, as if saying "you'd better..." without speaking the words.

Lee winced. "Okay, I'll get all dolled up then. I'm sure they will hate me for it, but I'll just blame you..." A smile burst out on Captain Price's face.

["That's okay. I'm telling my men it was your idea."] Zahn smiled as well, lowering his arms. ["Take care of your ship Captain. I'll expect you and your staff as my guests at 16:00 hours?"]

"That will be perfect Captain. I will look forward to it. Captain Price out." Lee deactivated his monitor and sat back for a moment. He picked up his cup of coffee and took another sip. Gazing out the observation portal, Lee could see the Galaxy was slowly using the thrusters to glide into final docking position. Commander Coe had done an excellent job docking at Starbase 123 a few days earlier. His first ever real life docking of a Starship. This was going to be easier on the Commander.

Lee sat back and enjoyed the view out of his observation window. He was trying to think exactly how he would break the news to his senior staff that full dress uniforms would be required for the dinner this evening at Station Beta Two.

Tolan arrived outside of Tatalia’s quarters. He pushed the doorbell and waited for a response.

“Enter,” Tatalia said. The door slid open in front of Tolan. He stepped through and the door slid shut behind him. “Hi Tolan, thanks for coming by,” Tatalia’s voice came from the bedroom. “I’ll be right there.” A few seconds later, Tatalia exited her bedroom, finishing wrapping her hair into a bun.

“May I ask why you invited me here?” Tolan asked as Tatalia proceeded to the replicator.

“Can I get you anything?” Tatalia asked politely.

“No thank you,” Tolan said. He waited patiently for Tatalia to answer his first question.

“Orange juice,” Tatalia told the replicator. A tall glass of orange juice shimmered into existence. Tatalia took a sip and turned back to Tolan. “The reason I asked you here is I have a business offer. Interested?”

Tolan raised his eyebrow, “What kind of offer?”

“At dinner with Ibor last night, he asked if we would be interested in opening a small business with him. I thought you might be interested in joining our little group. We are going to have to grow Earth almonds some where. After we have enough we are going to start making and selling Horchata. What do you think?” Tatalia put the empty juice glass into the replicator and it shimmered back to the nothingness it had come from.

“A very interesting idea,” Tolan said. “A homemade Earth drink may catch on. I will help if you think I am needed.”

“The more the merrier Tolan,” Tatalia said. She walked over to the door. “Come on almost time for our shift.” Tolan and Tatalia left her quarters and headed for the Promenade.

* * * *

Tatalia and Tolan entered the security office. Tim was already waiting for them. The trio signed in with the duty officer and holstered their phasers.

Chief Dawner entered the office as the trio was signing in. “Good morning Alpha-One,” he said pleasantly.

“Good morning, sir,” the trio replied.

“I have some news for you before you begin your patrol. With the arrival of the USS Galaxy in a few hours we have to double our shifts. You will be on Alpha and Beta shift with one hour between them for lunch. Hope you three had a good breakfast,” Dawner said and entered his office.

“Double duty just wonderful,” Tim said sarcastically.

“It is a reasonable precaution. With the increase of personal on board security should be increased to meet the demands,” Tolan said.

“Spoken like a Vulcan,” Tim muttered.

“We have a job to perform,” Tatalia said. “If Dawner assigns us double duty, we'll take it. Now lets go do our job.”

Tim and Tolan nodded in acknowledgment and the trio moved down the Promenade starting their normal patrol.

V: "Arrival"

***Main Operations***

Lt. Seles had stayed up all night upgrading the cloaking detection system. She was running through the diagnostics when her OPS console beeped. A Galaxy class starship had appeared on her sensors. She tapped the comm button on her panel and hailed the USS Galaxy. A few seconds later she could see the bridge crew.

"USS Galaxy, welcome to Station Beta Two. We have been expecting you."

[Thank you. I am Commander Coe, First officer of the Galaxy. I will be in charge of the docking procedures today.]

Interesting. Wonder where the Captain is. Hopefully Coe knows how to do this. The last thing the station needed was ANOTHER docking bay accident. Katarina felt fortunate that Captain Zahn hadn't thrown her in the brig yet over recent events. Yet.

"Very good Commander. Please proceed to Docking bay five. It has been prepped for your arrival."

The First Officer nodded. [Understood. Thank you Station Beta Two. Proceeding to Docking bay five.]

"Captain Zahn had asked to speak with your Captain upon arrival. Is he available?"

[Yes, you can patch Captain Zahn through at any time. Captain Price is standing by in his ready room as we speak.]

"I see. I will let Captain Zahn know you've arrived. I'm sure he will wish to speak to your Captain. You are cleared to dock on bay five whenever you are ready Commander. Station Beta Two out."

Katarina involuntarily held her breath as she monitored the docking procedures. Please, no more accidents. She had repaired two shuttle bays and one docking bay since she had been on the station and didn't want to repair anymore. She breathed a sigh of relief when the Galaxy docked safely and she tapped the comm button again.

"Seles to Captain Zahn."

[Zahn here, go ahead.]

"Sir, the USS Galaxy has arrived."

[Understood. Zahn out.]

* * * * * *

Katarina was reviewing the upcoming work schedule for the shield modifications when her console beeped. She switched to her comm panel and scrolled through her messages. She made a face at the first one. Dress uniforms. Ugh. Her frown deepened at the second one. Ramone was in Sickbay. She hoped that it wasn't serious because Lt. JG Pescadeiro was supposed to be in charge of the shield remodulation project. Katarina called for a relief Ops officer and left for Sickbay.

Lt. Seles, Chief Operations Officer Station Beta Two

Ramone woke up laying on a biobed in sickbay. The first thing he noticed was that he wasn't hearing very much telepathically. That's strange, he usually had to block it out himself, but this was not his doing. How long had he been here? How long was he unconscious?

Then Dr. Salvine was there. Scanning him with his tricorder. Ramone tried to use his telepathic abilities on the doctor, but that didn't seem to work. What did he do to me? He could just barely feel the doctor was in the room. If he didn't see him, he doubted that he'd realize the doctor was even there.

"You're going to be okay. You went into telepathic overload. I've given you a telepathy inhibitor. Right now you need rest."

Ramone struggled with that. "Doctor, how long have I been here? How long was I unconscious? What caused the overload?"

Dr. Salvine looked at him for a moment before answering. "You've been here for just over 4 hours, and you've been unconscious since your arrival. It looks like Dr. Kilan gave you something to increase your telepathic abilities instead of what he was supposed to give you. I have countered that and also given you an inhibitor. It will suppress all telepathic powers for some time so you can regain your strength."

Just then the sickbay doors hissed open and in walks Lt. Seles.

Reading over Grigg's answer Jalal thinks to himself. Glad that the lieutenant told me what he knew about the humans. With some quick work the Chief sets up the new duty rotation. Standing up he walks into the front office of security and hands a PADD to Ensign Ramos.

"Please have that posted to all security personnel. This new rotation begins with alpha shift today. And holds until farther notice. If any want anything changed have them talk to me. Thanks Ensign."

"No problem Chief. I'll have this posted right now. How's your arm doing?"

"The sickbay is very good here. It's really not that bad now. A day or so having the bandages changed and it'll be fine."

"Glad to here that."

Heading back into his office Jalal gently sits down behind his desk. Tapping a few keys on his desk he puts up a listing of equipment. Wonder which would be the best for viewing the bays? I guess I'll need to talk with the Hanson about my idea. His thoughts are interupped by Ensign Ramos tapping the door frame. As Jalal looks up Ramos says.

"Chief, the Galaxy is here and docking."

"Thank you. Have Section Adoni transported to the docking bay. No one goes on the Galaxy, who's not crew either at the station or the ship." Jalal tells him.

"Does section Adoni change equipment for this duty?"

"No, the mark IV rifles and combat armor will be alright. I'd rather they have and not use it. Then to possibly need it and not have it. Use the mobile sections during the shifts we can spare them easier."

"Consider it done Chief." The ensign says then leaves for his own desk.

"Computer record this message." Jalal tells the computer.

To: Lt. Sterner, Chief of security, Galaxy
From: CPO Dawner, Chief of security, Beta2

I'd like to welcome you to Beta 2 lieutenant. I hope you enjoy all the station's different offerings. I have assigned a security section to guard the docking bay while the Galaxy is here. Please don't take this as me believing your crew cannnot protect the ship. When we can get a chance I'd like to discuss with you about augmenting these guards with some of your security personnel. Again welcome to Beta 2.

CPO, Jalal Dawner

Salvine had made Ramone comfortable and went back to his office to check his messages.

~Full dress uniform huh? I hate those damn things~ he thought to himself as he saw the message to the senior officers.

But at the moment that wasn't his main priority....his father had never showed up and had been ignoring his hails for the last four hours. When the doors whised open salvine turned hoping to see his father but instead was greeted by Lt.Seles.

He went to greet her, Ramone needed his rest at the moment and not to be bothered by work.

"What's the matter with him?" she questioned. At this point she noticed he was asleep and opted to get her information through the doctor.

"My dear father gave him a drug that sent him into telepathic overload when Ramone asked for something to dull his telepathic senses. I have given him an inhibtor and when it wears off I am going to keep his telepathic senses dulled. These visions he was having were not normal."

Seles's demeanour remained professional but at the same time there was an air of concern about her. "Do you know when he can return to duty?" she questioned.

"I want to run some tests tomorrow and after that he can go on restricted duty tomorrow and depending on the results of the tests we will see."

"And your father?"

"He was supposed to be here four hours ago and Commander Morris was supposed to be here over four hours ago....people must have forgotten how to get here."

Seles did not like that answer.

"Computer transport Dr.Kilan to Sickbay."

A second later a shocked Dr.Kilan materialized before them.

"A Walk on the Promenade"

Ensign Shanika, helmsman and part-time lifeguard, was doing one of the things she really liked to do: teaching kids how to swim.

"Kerri, get your tummy up! Llia, big armstrokes! Good job! Now who wants to go off the diving board?"

A chorus of "Meeeeee!!"s were heard. The kids crowded around the diving board and each took their turn jumping into the pool. Finally, swim class was over and all the children went to where their parents were standing with towels outstretched. Shanika picked up all the kickboards, showered and changed back into her Starfleet uniform. She had just barely gathered up all her stuff and closed up the pool area when the computer announced:

"We are now docked at Station Beta 2."

Shanika went up to the observation lounge for a few minutes, but the whole area was so crowded with other personnel and passengers trying to get a glimpse of the station that there was no space right next to the window.

{{Hmm. Well.}} Shanika thought to herself. {{What do I do with myself now?}} She didn't dare go back to her quarters, Terris was likely to be there and would harass her as usual. She decided to go for a walk on the promenade. That was one good thing about stations; there were always interesting things to see and hear on the promenade. She walked back to her quarters, pausing at the door and hoping Terris wasn't right behind it. She entered carefully, gratefully noticing that Terris was in the sonic shower and was therefore unable to bother her. As quickly as possible, she grabbed a pad and pencil from her desk and quietly left the room. No need to push her luck. No one even noticed her as she proceeded to the airlock and left the ship. She stationed herself on a bench in the middle of the promenade, pulled out her pencil and began to sketch....

Appointment with Ash Terra. Dr. Salvine vs Kilian Dress Uniforms for dinner

Kra'lana swore, again, as the multiphasic oscillator arced, again, and singed another hole in her uniform. This was a bad time for the power relays to go down to this junction. The USS Galaxy should be docking in about . . ., make that docked 20 minutes ago, and the Clinic was supposed to open tomorrow. The medical supplies had been 'hijacked' and she had a splitting headache. Infrustration she finally threw down the oscillator and stood up. "I'm the Executive Officer of this station. I just have to have Engineering come and do this!" she said out loud to herself.

Shaking her head, she finally realised that the obnoxious noise she was hearing wasn't inside her head, it was from the computer. First was from someone named Ash Terra who wanted to speak with her. She quickly set up an appointment for tomorrow morning. Next was a series of messages from Dr. Salvine, the CMO, who said it was urgent. The next was about a dress dinner with the Senior staff. Apparently Captain Price was a stickler for protocol and wanted dress uniforms at dinner. The last was from Reix apologizing for having to leave their date early. Kra'lana just smiled. She quickly washed her hands and straighten her dirty and stained uniform. She headed for sickbay.

On her way there, she thought she saw a familar face. Suddenly she heard, " *"^^^ - ^*!+ :~* " All sound and foot traffic stopped at the sound of the high pitched speech of Delphinians when used in air. Kra'lana ran toward her sister Ronni and hugged her.

"Ronni, I'm so glad you're here!" Kra'lana said.

Right then, a Klingon woman walked up. Ronni turned and said, "This is my best friend and mutual trouble maker, K'arta." The Klingon woman smiled and grasped Kra'lana's forearm.

"Ka'pla Commander." said the Klingon woman in the Security Uniform.

"Ka'pla Lieutenant. Please call me Kra'lana. " she said with a smile. "Please join me, I'm on my way to sickbay to visit with the CMO."

K'arta followed along and said, "Didn't you used to be the Chief Medical Officer onboard the station?"

"Yes. The current Chief is Dr. Salvine. He's a very good doctor and very resourceful." Kra'lana said.

Ronni piped in and said, "So, why is the Executive Officer of the Premier Space Station in this quadrant dress so slovenly?"

Trying to look very dignified, Commander Morris said, "Because we are very short staffed and I've been trying to get a power conduit to function correctly in the soon to be opened Promenade Clinic. Frankly, I'm not very good at it. That is why I'm giving you an order to look at it."

By then, they had arrived at sickbay. Kra'lana said, "Things are always quiet here. Dr. Salvine always has things in control. As the door of the sickbay opened the three women heard loud shouting from inside. Apparrently Dr. Salvine and Dr. Kilian were having a rather heated discussion.

=/\= Lt Grigg =/\=

Grigg beat the rush caused by the arrival of the Galaxy by having a meal early, then enjoying a quick snooze before reporting to work. Alpha shift had just started, and Grigg noticed on his PADD the shift changes and the guard locations. With nothing left to do before the Bravo and Gamma shifts, he took to wandering the upper levels of the promenade. The number of hoomans more than doubled once the great ship arrived. Pausing at a window, Grigg admired the massive curves, the grand, sweeping lines, and the overall graceful appearance of the U.S.S. Galaxy. Briefly he felt a little homesick and missed hopping between the stars. He thought of his next upcoming posting to Utopia Planitia as a Marine Instructor, in little more than a few months.

Idly strolling, he was fascinated by even more colors and shapes hoomans came in. He took to leaning against the rail, just watching. One woman sat at a bench along one wall and started sketching, looking around, soaking in the scene. Spotting the Selaiian on the upper level, her eyes opened wide for a moment. Grigg wasn't sure what he should do, so he waved, a gesture he'd seen others do. After a moment, she smiled and waved back. 'No doubt', Grigg thought, 'that she'd never seen a Selaiian before.' He wanted to make it a point to wander down there and talk to her.

Kilan stood in front of Seles and Salvine, surprised to be in Sickbay.

"What is the meaning of transporting me here?" Kilan demanded.

"I paged you four hours ago and you said you were on your way. What happened to that?"

"I got distracted." Kilan said nonchalantly, this whole incident was nothing to him.

Salvine'e eyes burned with rage, assaulting him was one thing but when he began to use the crew of this station for his little games, that was another thing entirely.

"LISTEN TO ME!!!! YOU ARE NEVER EVER GOING TO PRACTICE MEDICINE ON THIS STATION OR ANYWHERE ELSE EVER AGAIN!!!!!!"

Kilan laughed, he actually laughed. This was all a big joke to the man.

"DO YOU THINK THIS IS FUNNY!!! I DON"T SEE ANYONE ELSE LAUGHING!!!!"

Commander Morris and two other officers entered at this point. Salvine was fired up and it did not look like he was going to cool off anytime soon.

"Hold it." Dr.Morris interjected.

"Dr.Kilan wait in Dr.Salvine' office." Morris instructed but it was not a suggestion it was an order.

"Now what was all that about?" she questioned.

"Ramone came in here asking for something to dull his telepathic senses so my father gives him something to heightn them to a very dangerous level."

V: "Retribution - Part 2"

Lt. Seles quietly observed the conversation between Doctors Salvine and Kilan. She didn't really know what was going on except for the fact that Kilan had attacked one of her officers. And that was unacceptable. Katarina tapped her comm badge. "Seles to Security. Please send someone to Sickbay. Seles out."

A few minutes later, Commander Morris, her sister, and a Klingon woman arrived in Sickbay. Seeing that the situation was under control, Katarina went to the back of the Infirmary to find Ramone. She spotted him on a biobed and walked over to him.

"How are you doing, Ramone?"

He looked a little groggy, but said, "Dr. Salvine treated me and he said I would be okay. He wants to keep me under observation and put me on restricted duty."

Seles nodded. "Rest up while you can. We won't be starting on the shield remodulation until the Galaxy repairs are finished anyways."

Ramone looked a little relieved. He had been wanting to work on the shields for months now and he didn't want to let the opportunity slip away. Seles said goodbye to Ramone and stopped by the CMO's office on her way out. She saw Dr. Kilan making himself comfortable in Salvine's chair with his feet up on the desk. Katarina entered the office and said in a calm voice, "Stay away from Lt. Pescadeiro or I will have you thrown in the brig." With that said, she left Sickbay to return to Ops.

Lt. Seles, Chief Operations Officer Station Beta Two

"The Fixings"
By Captain Joseph Zahn, Commanding Officer, Station Beta Two

Captain Joseph Zahn stood with Electra and Given Teer in the Officer's Mess Hall aboard Station Beta Two. The dining area would be the site of a convergence of sorts. Two Senior Staffs from two Starfleet operations would meet and eat together tonight. Joseph was wearing his open jacket uniform feeling unusally nervous. Electra suprovised her staff as they set up a traditional buffet of local and sesonal faire.

"I must thank you for helping me cater this event Miss Electra," the Mess Hall Cook said with a smile, "I am only a staff of one and I don't nearly have the food supply or connections you do."

Electra smiled back, "It's no trouble at all Given. I know how much you dispise using replicated materials. Luckily a Yridian freighter brought in some wonderful spring crops from the homeworld yesterday. I do hope the Galaxy crew enjoy Yridian food. It's not everyday starship crews get real food," the seductive Orion woman said.

"Very true. I remember my days on the Merrimac. It was a rare occassion we had a entire real meal. I guess there are advantages to living on a space station," Joseph added.

"Indeed Captain," Given said moving to help the staff.

Captain Zahn looked over at Electra, "I need to go back to my quarters to change into my dress uniform for the dinner." He leaned over and kissed her green cheek. "I'll see you latter," she said as he walked out into the corridor and into the turbolift.

"Permission Granted"
By: Dr. Jacqueline Rousseau

Chiron started to use telepathy again, but then thought the better of it. Jacquenine quickly typed something else in.

He took a deep breath, then began again.

{May I take a portion of my leave on the station?}

It took Jacqueline a few moments to process the different form of communication, and then a few more moments to think about it.

He nodded, adding a quick {Thank you,} then turned on his heel and walked out of sickbay.

She couldn't remember the last time she'd gotten some time away from the ship. It seemed like there was always some sort of emergency that kept her back in sickbay. At the end of her shift, Jacqueline had gone back to her quarters to slip into civilian clothing and pack a few things into a small pack.

She strolled to the transporter room, then took her place on the pads. Then, after giving the order, she felt the transporter take hold and the world fade away.

Dress uniforms... The bane of every Starfleet officers' existence. Some whisper that they were created by some sadistic Admiral just to let the underlings suffer... more imaginative lines say that they were made to prepare men for the possibility of having to go undercover as a woman...

Varin disliked them no matter what their intent was, and stood in front of his mirror trying to get it straightened out perfectly. All this fuss... did it honor the crew of the Galaxy any more if they wore these.... things... instead of regular uniforms? Zahn had told him it was Price's Idea... Figures... Visiting starship captains always seem to want to be honored like a hero when coming back to port...

Well... if they had been in such a battle that the Shuttle bay doors had been blown off, that would certainly warrant some kind of recognition.

The gentle chime in his quarters struck twice as a warning that there was five minutes unntil the dinner began... Varin hated to be late.

Ash was pacing outside the XO door when she got the news "Tomorrow morning!!" She screamed "That'll be too late!!" Ash paused mid-sentence her tone changed suddenly. "Actually that's ok."

She could *feel* Ghost in her mind, but there was someone else calling her. This felt strange, although it had happened many times to Ash while meditating. Her father had said something along time ago about her mother being a telepath. She ignored the mind calling her even though it was so powerful it almost made her faint.

Her hand moved to her comm badge "Ash to Morgath and Russ."

[Morgath, here]

"Morgath can you get my phaser, the sword and it's sheath which is hanging on my wall, and the PADD on my bedside table."

[Ok, I don't want to know why do I?]

"No."

[Morgath out]

[Russ, here what did you want?]

"You know this station better than anyone I know I need to discuss some things with you."

[Alright, I'm on my way.]

Russ and Morgath soon arrived. Morgath handed her what she asked for. "Thanks Morgath."

Ash deftly attached the sword and it's sheath to her back, placed the phaser and PADD in her side ho

lster.

"Russ, I'm thinking Ghost would defiantly be in the civilian quarters"

"Deck 43-51." Russ informed her.

"Alright, now which one of those is the least populated?"

"Deck 49," Morgath answered that question "they had a few problems there."

Ash smiled "Ok, now where can you get me access to a computer?"

Russ smiled "My room.....Deck 49." Ash smiled back and took two steps toward the turbolift, when her legs gave out from under her. Russ caught her before she hit the ground.

"Ash are you ok?" Ash stood herself up from Russ arms. She shook her head something, no someone was calling her but she pushed it again into the back of her head "Yeah I'm fine. Listen some thing bad is coming guys I can feel it. Go to the promenade and warn security. Tell them that the hacker won't be obvious it will be real discrete. This I have to do by myself."

"Ash.." Russ started but Ash but her index finger on his lips.

"Please..." Russ nodded. Ash close her eyes and searched out for Ghost with her mind. Ash opened her eyes gave him a weak smile, turned and ran down the corridor weaving through the shadows making her way towards the turbolift. She knew exactly where Ghost was.

"God's speed..."

"Whoa Ash! I have to get these materials to the Captain. Morgath, go with her. " Morgath nods his head and follows Ash down the corridor.

"Alright Invincible, beam the cargo to bay 13." The cargo chief said.

The crates of materials is beamed off to the station and leaves the cargo hold of the Invincible quite empty. "Tomin, I'm going to see the Captain of the station. Hold down the fort."

"I will sir."

As Russ is walking to the turbolift, he sees the USS Galaxy dock with the station. "On second thought, I'll go see the Galaxy." Russ heads off to where the Galaxy has docked.

As Russ arrives, the crew of the ship are disembarking. He looks around, trying to find someone he has known since his Academy days. He spots the Captain coming off. "Captain Lee Price. Haven't seen you in ages." Captain Price stopped to see who was talking to him. "Who are you, 'mate?"

"Why, Lee, you don't remeber me? Always the flamboyant one of our class. It's me, Russ Falkland."

Captain Price's eyes widen at the site of his good friend from the Academy days. "Russ Falkland, haven't seen you in what seem's like eternity, 'mate. Didn't hardley recognize you. What've you been up to since leaving the Academy? Still looking for a job, 'mate?" Price's eyes show the humor that he is hinting at.

"No, not anymore. Got rid of that requirement a long time ago. I own my own cargo frieghter and I make a fairly good living. Some of that stuff in the cargo bay are things that I delivered. It looks like your keeping busy yourself."

"Yea, I am 'mate. Being the Captain is pretty hard. Especially a Galaxy class ship. Well, I'll see you later, Russ. I gotta go talk to Captain Zahn. "

"Alright, Lee. See ya around. " Russ watches as Lee Price walks off.

Cohen's reflection met him in the mirror. Black boots polished, check. Black slacks pressed, check. Grey dicky beneath, check. Black gloves (his own choice, to keep his burned hands hidden), check. Red tunic....

The red tunic remained on the bed, commbadge, pips and all. It... Even after returning to Starfleet, the uniform felt wrong. A dress uniform more so. Somehow, it was more a symbol of what he'd been than anything else, a symbol of the acceptance of someone as a Starfleet officer and the sacred trust that went with it.

Of course, there was the nagging feeling that he could perhaps get out of dinner if he didn't wear it. He'd have been much happier, honestly, with being informed that the dinner would be a formal affair, and he'd have worn the black jacket he loved so much. Though.... he had as much a chance of getting out of it as he would by informing the captain that the dinner violated his dietary laws, somehow doubting that the Service would distribute a separate set of china and flatware for his use (in accordance with the laws of Kashrut, of course), even if Electra provided the proper food. Oh well.

On went the red dress tunic. Fastening the last few inches of cloth, he turned to the humming box by the replicator.

"Makh'sheva, /*Timed setting. Prepare a meal at random from Cohen's database, and store for replication upon my return.*/" And then he was on his way, to do his duty.

--So, Lt, what can I do for you?--

Chiron started to use telepathy again, but then thought the better of it. the Doctor quickly typed something else in.

--If it's easier for you to transmit your thoughts telepathically, I won't mind.--

He took a deep breath, then began again.

{May I take a portion of my leave on the station?}

Chiron saw the Doctor struggling to digest the information... Telepathy was so fast and intense... She handed him the PADD.

--I don't see why not. Just be careful. I think I may take some time off and explore Beta Two myself, but if your headaches and pain come back, I'll be there as soon as I can, no matter where I am.--

Chiron nodded, sent a {Thank you} then turned to head for the station.

Still not forgetting the ordeal of being stuck in a transporter for a week... or was it longer?... Chiron bypassed the Transporter Room, and headed for the airlocks.

***Station Beta 2, Promenade***

Chiron loved life on a starship, but it was always refreshing to have a new environment to explore. He wandered along the promenade, taking in the breathtaking vista of the Yridian archetecture.

As he was looking around, he stopped walking. He sensed the mind of someone who had studied science... 'Probably the Cheif of Science here,' He thought. 'His name... Varin Reix... on his way to.... No, I shouldn't probe minds without permission.'

Controlling his telepathy was going to be hard, now that it was so powerful, but he felt that it would happen in time. He still got some headaches from time to time, but even those were getting better. Doctor Rousseau had been quite understanding... especially after he had decimated her medical staff. He suddenly looked up. He knew how to repay her.

After Seles had left, Morris had succesfully managed to calm Salvine down.

"Now, I realize your upset but acting irrational is going to get you no where." she calmly expalined to him....she knew he was hearing her but he didn't want to.

He threw up his hands in the air. "I am tired of him Kra'll....er.....Commander, and I think it is time he left the station."

"I.......oh god the dinner is in a short time." Both officers were going to be late and that was not going to make the captain very happy.

"Morris to Security. You have a prisoner coming your way. Keep a close eye on him he is a crafty one."

"Acknowledged Commander."

"Computer, beam Dr.Kilan to security, cell alpha 1."

A shocked Dr.Kilan was torn away from his son's office and placed in the brig.

"We can deal with him later, right now both of us have to get ready to go to this dinner."

With that they both left to get ready in a record amount of time.

Ash and Morgath crept through the corridor. Ash stopped and turned around looking at Morgath she said "Sorry morgath but.." she swung and knocked Morgath clear out.

She ran further down the corridor and turned around the corner to knock straight into three Security officers.

Moments later in Beta2 brig.

"I need to talk to Lt. Jack Stracker. It's of the upmost importance!! Tell him a password. Jack-in-the-box."

The Vulcan that she was talking to continued to stare at her. "Alright, if he can spare you the time. Tolan to Jack Stracker"

[Jack Stracker here.]

"I have a young woman here in the brig who would like to speak to you."

[Is that so?]

"She told me to tell you a password. Jack-in-the-box......."

USS Galaxy
Lt. Deiran Casey
"Dress Uni’s"

Deiran stood in front of his mirror, making sure his dress uniform was in perfect condition. This was his first official dinner as acting Chief Ops, and he wasn’t about to let the crew of Beta 2 outshine him in any way. Deiran loved the way different crews were competitive with each other. But, from what the others were saying they were all nice and didn’t seem to care about competition. Deiran thought this would be a nice change of pace.

Deiran checked his hair one more time.

[You are three minutes late to meet Lt. Ti Miran.] the annoying computer voice reminded him.

Deiran ran out of his room and to the turbolift. He was on deck 4 in minutes.

When the transporter room doors opened, Miran was standing in front of the transporter console, not real happy about him being late. He walked up to her and said,"Sorry, honey, I was in front of the mirror primping and lost track of time."

Miran laughed at him. He was so honest and charming at the same time.

"Shall we go?" he asked Miran.

"Yes. I’m ready."

"Put us right at the door of the Mess Hall. Okay Chief?" Deiran said.

"Aye sir, will do," Chief Jensen punched in the coordinates of the Mess Hall entrance. "All set sir," he told them.

Deiran looked at his future wife, very few women could make a dress uniform look great, but Lieutenant Ti Miran pulled it off, she looked awesome,"Miran, you look beautiful in that uniform. It’s the first time I’ve seen you in it."

"You’re just blinded by love, I look horrible!"

They both stepped on the transporter pad. "Energize," Deiran said. And seconds later they turned into little blue molecules, going through the transporter buffer, through the transporter array and re-materializing at the entrance of the Mess Hall.

"Ladies first," Deiran said, and waited for Miran to enter the room.

As they walked in, they surveyed the room. It was decorated in a Yridian style, nice china on the table. All in all the quintessential Strarfleet banquet setting. They remained standing and waited for everyone to arrive. They were ten minutes early. As always, Deiran Casey was punctual.

"Excuse me Miran," Casey said, and tapped his comm badge,"Ensign Freeman, have you contacted Beta 2’s Ops officer on duty yet?"

[Aye sir, everything you wanted has been specified to the Ops department on Beta 2. Is there anything else sir?]

"Nope, that’s it Freeman. Casey out."

Casey was silent for a few seconds and looked at Miran. "I am marrying the most gorgeous helmsman in all of Starfleet," Casey was showering his fiancé with compliments. He couldn’t take his eyes off her in her dress uniform. He thought she looked superb. There wasn’t one other person in the room who could match her appearance, or at least that’s what Deiran thought.

They sat at a table near the entrance and waited until all the other officers were present.

"This should be a pretty, run of the mill dinner. I heard that we’ll have actual food, real, non-replicated carbon-based food!" Casey laughed.

"I’d eat a real crate, if it wasn’t replicated," Troy Blair said as seriously as he could, sneaking up behind the couple as they sat in their chairs.

"What maniac wouldn’t?" Deiran shot back at him and laughed at Troy’s reaction. He had a "who me?" look on his face.

Troy sat next to Deiran.

As he sat down, a half-Klingon woman entered the room. "Whoa, that’s the best looking Klingon woman I’ve ever seen!" Troy exclaimed.

"Not bad!" Deiran said, almost whispering.

"Troy, don’t point women out to Deiran please!?" Miran asked, half-joking.

"Sure, Miran. Well, you haven’t even taken vows and the ol’ ball in chain is already locked on and she’s thrown away the key," Troy laughed.

Miran gave Troy a look that would’ve burned Troy’s eyebrows if it was possible.

"Yea, I swallowed the key on the first date," Deiran laughed with Miran.

Troy immediately changed the subject. "Who is she? Do you know her?" Troy was acting like his usual, girl-chasing, flirting, infatuated self.

"It’s not enough you have to torment Ronni and K’arta, you have to torment Lieutenant Katarina Seles too?"

"Yea, when she looks like that, I do!"

"FYI, she’s the Chief Ops Officer, I’ll be working with her closely. I can set up a date if you want?" Deiran smiled. "Common’…I dare ya buddy."

"Let me think about it." Troy tried to look like he was thinking.

After reading the notice about the formal dinner, Jalal thinks to himself. Dinner with formal dress uniforms. Never been to one of these before. But it gives me a chance to actually wear my dress uniform. Damn, I need to go and get it. Just as he stands up, a section walks into the front office escorting a human female.

Walking into the front, Jalal asks. "What's up guys?"

"She ran into us as we came around a corner on deck 49. She had knocked out a man named Morgath."

"Alright, put her in the third cell. How about this Morgath?"

"I had him taken to the infirmary."

"We'll need a report from him about what happened. Go ahead and take her to the brig." Jalal tells the section leader. The ensign at the desk says.

"Chief, doctor Kilan is being transported to the first brig cell. We got a warning that he's tricky. I've downloaded it all on to your desk."

"Nothing all day then it all hits at once. Tricky you say. Well, I've got a answer for that. " Jalal steps back into his office. Opening a drawer he takes something from it. Then he turns and walks back into the brig area. Tapping in his code, the field of cell one goes down.

"Doctor, you get to be my first field test of my new...item." He locks one end of a long rope looking device to one end of the bunk and the other to the doctor's right arm.

"You can't hoo k me to the bed. Take this off!!" Kilan yells at the Orexian.

"Watch me. You can move around and get to everything. I tested it on myself first." With that said Jalal leaves returning the force field to it's place. Going into his office, Jalal pulls up the report on Kilan. Just as he starts, he glances at the timepiece on his deck ans suddenly remembers the dinner. Tapping a few keys, he calls nurse Blla. As her face appears on the screen in his desk, he says.

"Blla I know your off duty, but could you do me a large favor?"

"Depends on what it is."

"Could you go to my quarters and take out my dress uniform and bring it to main security?" Jalal asks politlely.

"Sure, my quarters aren't that far away from yours. I'll just need your door codes to get in."

"Hang on just a second." Jalal with a couple of key strokes unlocks his door. "It's open now."

"I'm on my way then. See you in a few." Blla says unhooking the connection.

++++++++++

Walking into Main security, Blla goes into Jalal's office. "I told you I'd only be a few." Handing him his dress uniform she turns around and closes the office door. Jalal quick changes his clothes and puts his regular one into the bag.

"Are you done?" Blla calls over her shoulder. Hearing his reply she turns around looking at the uniform. "I think you look better in your court clothes, but this is alright too. Hang on a second." She moves next to him and fixes a loose hair from Jalal's braid. "There you, perfect. What time is this thing your going to?"

"If I don't hurry, I'm going to be late. Thanks for the favor." Leaning over he gives her a light kiss. Then ducks out of the office, heading for this dinner.

Shaking her head, Blla thinks. Once I wish he'd do that and Not leave the room right afterwards. Maybe I'll have to do something about that. With a evil grin she leaves the office taking the regular uniform with her.

Chiron was on his way to a small shop, when an announcement caught his eye. Beta 2 Ops needed a shuttle pilot to test out some sheild modifications.

This was his chance to redeem himself. He looked at the name at the bottom, and set off to ops to try to find this Lt. Seles.

***Beta 2 Ops***

Chiron tapped the shoulder of the Klingon woman operating the station. She jumped slightly at the sudden touch, but then quickly regained her compsure. 'May I help you?'

Chiron cocked his head, then raised his PADD. After tapping it, he handed it to Seles. --My name is Chiron, I am the Assistant Cheif of Engineering on Galaxy, and I would like to pilot the shuttle you need. The reason for the PADD is my lack of hearing... I am currently deaf.--

Chiron looked at her intently, waiting for her response, and after she read it, she handed it back.

Liam was in Ten Forward at the bar pondering something " Computer where is the Captain?" "Captain Price is in Holodeck One" "Compose message" the computer beeped to notify him that the computer was ready":

"Captain Price, I have just recieved the latest AFL hightlight reel and game of the week from my friend on earth and I was wondering if you would like to watch it with me in the near future. Yours, Liam

P.S. If there is anyone on B2 who would like to watch this or on the Galaxy for that matter they are invited too."

"Computer send to Captain Price"

the computer beeped again and Liam turned around to serve another customer

"What'll it be?"

"Arriving at Beta 2"
by Lieutenant Joerg Sterner

After the meeting with Commander Coe and the other department heads, Joerg was left with the task of developing a defense strategy for both the Station and the Galaxy. He returned to his office and shortly after that was contacted by the Captain.

[Captain Price to Lieutenant Sterner.]

"Sterner here Captain."

[G'day Lieutenant. Chiron is being released from sickbay for inactive duty. I would like to arrange for an armed security guard escort to accompany Chiron at all times.]

"Aye sir. Will those be standing orders until the hearing Captain?"

[They stand for now Lieutenant. I want to hear back from the Counseling department on Chiron's profile since being separated from that alien. If it comes back as positive, I may rescind the order 'mate.]

"Very good Captain. I'll assign someone at once. Sterner out."

A short check with the duty roster and Joerg tapped his comm badge.

"Sterner to Enquist."

[Enquist here sir.]

"Ensign I have a task for you. Lieutenant Chiron has been released from sickbay and I want you to keep an eye on him during your duty shift. Just be sure to carry a phaser all the times, just in case."

[Understood. Enquist out.]

After finishing this conversion he wrote a message to both his assistant chiefs that they also need to arrange for an escort. He also suggested Ensign Chandler and Ensign Sanchez for this job, but the final decision was theirs.

Upon sending this message Joerg accessed the security files on Station Beta 2, for the task the Commander had given him. He worked on some holoprograms to accomplish this task. These programs included surprise attacks by different species on the station and his security team had to repel those attacks in a given time.

Till the arrival at Beta 2 all security staff had to use those programs every day and in the end their performance had increased in some degree.

The Galaxy was on her final approach to the station and Joerg busily evaluating the results when suddenly two new messages arrived at his terminal. The first one was from the Captain regarding a dinner for the senior staff of both the Galaxy and Beta 2. Captain Price ordered them all to wear full dress uniform.

The second message was from the Chief of Security from the station.

To: Lt. Sterner, Chief of security, Galaxy
From: CPO Dawner, Chief of security, Beta2

I'd like to welcome you to Beta 2 Lieutenant. I hope you enjoy all the station's different offerings. I have assigned a security section to guard the docking bay while the Galaxy is here. Please don't take this as me believing your crew cannot protect the ship. When we can get a chance I'd like to discuss with you about augmenting these guards with some of your security personnel. Again welcome to Beta 2.

CPO, Jalal Dawner

After reading this, Joerg quickly wrote a reply to the message.

To: CPO Dawner, Chief of Security, Station Beta 2
From: Lt. Sterner, Chief of Security, USS Galaxy

Thank you for your warm welcome Chief. Since we both will certainly meet at the dinner tonight, perhaps we can talk about the specific security measures afterwards. Another thing that I have to tell you before we dock is that one of our crew members, Lieutenant Chiron, recently had an encounter with an alien entity, which caused the death of several of our crew. Until the complete innocence of Lieutenant Chiron could be proven, I have a member of my security staff escort him all the time. Perhaps you could also send one of your team to escort them on the station.

Thanks

Lieutenant Joerg Sterner, Chief of Security USS Galaxy

After sending this message he once again checked with the crew manifest and duty roster of the Station's personal. He was especially fond of a certain Ensign Conner, who was like him interested in hand-to-hand combat. He hoped that he would meet her sooner or later.

**************** After docking at Beta 2, 1710 hours ****************

Joerg was in his quarters adjusting his full dress uniform for the last time. He didn't really hate to wear this one, but it felt a little bit uncomfortable. Finally he finished looking at the mirror and left for the transporter room, when he met a familiar face in the turbolift.

"Hi Andy." he just said to the Chief of Engineering.

"Hi Joe. I only hope this dinner will not last forever." Lieutenant Hutchcraft replied while looking down on his dress uniform.

The two continued to talk about the station and the repairs on the Galaxy while they went to be transported aboard Beta 2.

V: "Busy Day"

On her way back to Ops, Lt. Seles saw Lt. Cmdr. Hanson in the corridors and waved at him.

"Hi Katarina."

"Hi Tom. Thanks for having Lt. Straker run the security check on the computers." Seles knew that if there were any computer hackers around, Straker would find them.

"No problem."

Katarina turned to leave when she remembered something else she wanted to ask the Chief Engineer. "I got a call from my mom on Qo'noS. I guess the Klingon Internal Security Dept. tracked a computer pirate to Beta 2. I guess he stole some specifications on some holographic communication devices. Goes by the name of Jack-in-the-box. Know anything about it?"

Lt. Cmdr. Hanson shook his head. "Nope. Sorry. I gotta go now. See you later at dinner."

* * * * * *

Lt. Seles was standing at her OPS station running some routine diagnostics when someone tapped her on the shoulder. It startled her and she turned quickly to face a Tamarian. Odd...why doesn't he say anything. "May I help you?"

Chiron cocked his head, then raised his PADD. After tapping it, he handed it to Seles. --My name is Chiron, I am the Assistant Cheif of Engineering on Galaxy, and I would like to pilot the shuttle you need. The reason for the PADD is my lack of hearing... I am currently deaf.--

Interesting. Well, Chief Winston had wanted Ensign Pesquil to pilot the shuttle but she had been injured on the away mission to the Badlands. And Katarina wasn't all that anxious to do it herself. She tapped out a response and handed it to Lt. Chiron. --You do realize that this is a volunteer assignment, don't you? Would you be willing to make the engineering modifications to the shuttle as well? I would like to test phaser and disruptor fire if possible.--

Chiron read her response and nodded. Katarina took the PADD and continued typing. --We are testing our new redirective shielding system. The shields are designed to redirect phaser or disruptor fire back to the Threat ship and through its shields. You realize that you might take heavy hull and shield damage to your shuttle? You still want to do it?--

Chiron nodded again. Okay... She tapped some more on the PADD. --Please report to Chief Winston, our Shuttle Commander. He has set aside an old shuttle for the testing. Let me know when you have finished the shuttle modifications.--

* * * * * * *

Lt. Seles in dress uniform entered the Mess Hall for dinner with the Galaxy crew. She spotted Matthew on one side of the room and decided to try to stay clear of him for the evening. She didn't want to start a fight at dinner. As she turned to get some bloodwine, Lt. Cohen walked over to her and said hello. So much for that idea.

"Hello, Matthew." After an uncomfortable silence, she said, "So have you met any of the Galaxy crew yet?" He shook his head and at that moment a young couple walked over to them and introduced themselves.

"Hi, I am Lt. Deiran Casey and this is Lt. Ti Miran. I am Chief Ops on the Galaxy and Miran is Chief Helmsman."

Katarina smiled and said, "Nice to meet you. I'm Lt. Katarina Seles, Chief Ops and this is Lt. Matthew Cohen, our Strategic Operations Officer. I guess we will be working together over the next few days."

They chatted and Katarina noticed that there was someone staring at her. Hmm...It couldn't be because I'm half Klingon. I know they have a half Klingon officer on the Galaxy so that should be nothing new.

Katarina put it out of her mind and asked Deiran if he knew her friend Stephanie Chen. "Hmm...she wasn't on the Galaxy for very long...kinda quiet?"

"Yup, that's her."

Lt. Seles, Chief Operations Officer Station Beta Two

" An invitation to dinner."
By Commander Coe

**** First officers quarters, USS Galaxy ****

Coe eyed himself in the mirror. He made a minor adjustment to his uniform and was soon satisfied that it was straight and looking good. Next he combed his hair, doing it as he softly whistled an old klingon tune that Commander Jamson had taught him.

He looked in the mirror again. His good looks and athletic body were a gift from his father. He placed the 3 solid gold pips on his collar and for the last time, checked that his dress uniform was up to standard, before heading out the door on his way to meet Captain Price.

**** Entrance to air lock adjoining SB2 and Galaxy ****

" Hi Mate!" Captain Price said in a friendly tone as Coe neared the air lock.

" Evening Sir." Coe replied politly. Captain Price motioned forward and was soon climbing through the hatch that joined the Galaxy and SB2. The two officers exited the hatch and got their first view of the space station. A young ensign stood waiting for the duo.

" Captain Price and Commander Coe. Please follow me." Coe was impressed that the Ensign already knew his name. The ensign led the two officers through the cargo bay, where, Coe noticed, 3 freighter ships were currently being loaded with exotic foods and plants.

They entered a turbolift and were soon heading toward the stations main dining room where the two senior staffs would meet for the first time...

**** Captains dining room ****

" Captain Zahn, this is my first officer Commander Coe." Captain Price said. Coe was not sure but he felt that in Price's words, as he introduced the galaxy's senior staff, was a touch of pride. Coe shook hands with the Captain before excusing himself from the two Captains conversation. He noticed many other officers in the room that he did not know.

" Well, now is as good a time as any..." Coe said softly to himself. He approached a young Lt who did not seem to be engrossed in converstation. Perhaps he could discuss strategy.

" Hi. Im Commander Coe, first officer of the Galaxy." He intorduced himself formaly.

" Lt Seles." She smiled the response.

" So Lt, whats your specialty?" Coe added with a hint of cheek....

Chris N
AKA: .Commander Johnathon Thomas Coe
First Officer, USS Galaxy Email Sim NCC-70637
Indentification: Foxtrot delta 769

"Meetings"
written by Ensign K'arta, Security Officer

Ronni, K'arta, and Ensign Harris were relaxing after their shifts in Ten Forward when K'arta noticed Captain Price enter. He received his drink from Liam then turned and surveyed the room. He spotted the trio and Ronni motioned him over.

The captain joined them at the table. Harris looked as if he was about to be forced to eat gagh, the Klingon delicacy. Ronni and K'arta shared a smile about that and continued talking to the captain.

Captain Price was suprised to learn of their conversation topic, Deiran and Miran's engagement. K'arta was happy that the two had finally gotten together.

Ronni and K'arta were having a good time teasing Harris. His nervousness wasn't something that was new to them, but they had grown out of it. In time he would too. The captain looked as if he was several light years away while they were teasing Harris.

"Is everything okay Captain?" Ronni asked.

Price smiled at Ronni. "Fine Lieutenant. Just thinking of all the things that need to get done is all."

"You need to relax more Captain." K'arta explained. "Our last few missions have been quite hectic. It's times like these when one should rest and enjoy life!" Harris gave the half-Klingon a dumbfounded look, like he couldn't believe that she had given the CAPTAIN advice on how to relax. K'arta just smiled and raised her mug to her friends as a signal to drink to relaxation. They clinked their glasses together and drank.

"Good advice Lieutenant. I'll have to keep that in mind." Lee responded then looked over at Ensign Harris. "You don't speak very much, do you Ensign?"

Michael looked like he'd just gone on stage in front of thousands of people stark naked. He sputtered an answer and looked to the two women for help. That was all it took to cause the three to laugh. As he realized that he was being picked on he didn't look to happy.

"Don't worry Ensign. Once you make Lieutenant, you'll realize how much fun it is entertaining new officers." Captain Price reassured him.

Michael finally smiled. "Yes sir. I'll look forward to that."

The four talked for a while longer and Harris began to relax in the presence of the captain.

* * * * *

After the Galaxy docked at Station Beta Two, it wasn't too long before Ronni hunted K'arta down again. She arrived at the Klingon's quarters right before K'arta's alarm was due to go off.

"Geez, Ronni. What are you doing here?" K'arta said rubbing her eyes.

"Come on! Get up, lazy. I want you to meet my sister." She said poking K'arta in the ribs.

"Go away. I'm trying to sleep." K'arta tried to brush her friend off. Just then her alarm rang. She shut it off and glared at the Delphinian. Ronni just smiled.

"Give me a minute to get dressed." K'arta finally acquiesed.

She grabbed her gold uniform and went to the bathroom to get dressed. She returned to find Ronni looking at one of her pictures.

"Who's this?" Ronni asked, holding up the frame.

"That's my horse Sandstorm." K'arta said proudly. "I still have to take you riding on the holodeck don't I?" she added.

"Yes you do, but first you have to meet my sister." Ronni set the picture back on the table and grabbed K'arta's arm and led her out of the room.

They arrived in the bustle of a typical space station. K'arta fell a little behind Ronni as she took in some of the sights. All of a sudden she heard the high pitched voice of her Delphinian friend. She looked ahead to see Ronni hugging another Delphinian. The Klingon approached as the two disengaged.

Ronni turned to introduce K'arta. "This is my best friend and mutual trouble maker, K'arta."

"Qa'pla Commander." K'arta smiled as she grasped the Commander's forearm. She could see the family resemblance in Ronni's sister.

"Qa'pla Lieutenant. Please call me Kra'lana. " she said with a smile. "Please join me, I'm on my way to sickbay to visit with the CMO."

"Didn't you used to be the Chief Medical Officer on board the station?" K'arta asked, trying to remember.

"Yes. The current Chief is Dr. Salvine. He's a very good doctor and very resourceful." Kra'lana answered.

Ronni piped in and said, "So, why is the Executive Officer of the Premier Space Station in this quadrant dress so slovenly?"

K'arta smiled at Ronni's teasing of her older sister. Commander Morris attempted to regain her dignified composure to answer her younger sibling.

The trio arrived at sickbay and heard a rather loud argument. Kra'lana informed them that sickbay was usually fairly quiet. They entered to find two doctors having words. K'arta stood back and watched the commander handle the situation. She noticed another Klingon woman who left shortly after the trio arrived. K'arta watched with curiosity as the situation was diffused and one of the doctors was transported to the brig.

They left sickbay and K'arta glanced at her chronometer. Her shift would begin soon.

"Unfortunately, I must go. My shift starts in 20 minutes. It was very nice meeting you, Kra'lana." K'arta felt a little wierd calling a superior officer by her first name, but decided that it was okay. "See you later, Ronni." K'arta said in parting.

"Find me after your shift. Let's do something tonight, OK?" Ronni said as K'arta was turning to go.

"Sure. Will do. See you!" K'arta said over her shoulder. She headed for an area where she could transport back to the ship with no difficulty.

Lt. Chanor was pulling another Gamma shift on the Galaxy, whilst all the senior officers where out in full dress uniform eating. He'd heard that there was going to be real food, something he'd not had in ages, and would have liked to have gone. However, he wasn't ranked enough and spent the entire shift filling out reports and making sure everything was in order. Lt. Quall was checking on a couple fighting down on deck 8 at the moment, Ensign Taylor was with Lt. Chiron, and that left Ensign Sanchez with him in security.

He spent a few moments relaxing, then got down to the next matter, leaving a note for lieutenant Sterner.

------------------------------------------------------
To: Lieutenant Sterner, Chief of Security
From: Lieutenant JG Paran Chanor, Assistant Chief Gamma Shift
Re:

Sir,

With the ship docked at Station Beta 2, will any of the security arrangements change? The current situation is that the stations shields will be down for some weeks whilst the refit is done, and that means the Galaxy is the main defence of the station. If so, will any security officers from the Galaxy be posted to the Station to augment it if any hostile force is encountered, or will the reverse be true, so that the Galaxy has enough security to deal with any threat from external forces before they reach the station? Thanks.

---------------------------------------------------------

He finished up his message, reread it. Realised it was a bit blunt, and so liked it, and sent it off.

Lt. JG Paran Chanor - USS Galaxy

Chiron turned to leave. Lt. Seles had been very kind to him, even after he had scared her a tad... Spooked Klingons are usually the ones to get you dead. He thought about the mission Seles had outlined. An older shuttle, redirective fire that would pass through his shields, injuring himself. It didn't sound like the ultimate mission, but someone had to do it. This station was on the edge of Federation space, and they needed some new technologies.

As the Tamarian headed down toward the shuttle bays, he sensed a mind that was concentrating on on his position. Chiron turned, and saw Ensign Enquist watching him from the second promenade level. Evidently Galaxy Security was still a little leary of him. He proceeded to the turbolift, tapped the panel, and the lift carried him through the bowels of the station to the main shuttle bays.

***CPO Winston's Office***

"Well, if ya ask me, the whole mission is bloody risky... Ah, hell, that's right, ya can't hear me..."

Winston grabbed a nearby PADD.

--What are your qualifications, young man?--

-+I am Assistant Cheif Engineering officer of the USS Galaxy, and I have completed Starfleet level 5 shuttle piloting skills.+-

--Why aren't you a helmsman, boy? That's great! Any problems I should know about?--

Chiron drew a deep breath before typing again.

-+I am currently undergoing psychiatric evaluation after an alien being entered my mind and took over.+- Chiron was about to hand over the PADD, then he quickly added something else.

-+I am the one who caused the damage to Galaxy's Shuttle bay doors.+-

Winston looked over the PADD, and then grimaced when he came to the part about the bay doors. --Well... you've got the marksmanship for the project... How long before you're back in active duty?--

-+It shouldn't be more than a day or two. Do I have the Shuttle cheif's permission?+-

Varin entered the room where everyone was assembling for the dinner. Some familiar, some not... He noticed a human and a Bajoran sitting on the opposite side of the table, smiling, and holding each others' hand. ::Must be married... or about to be...:: Then he saw the Captain of the Galaxy. He leaned over to a Galaxy crew member sitting next to him, 'I was told your Captain Price wanted us to dress up...' He looked at the man's collar, 'Lieutenant...'

"Hutchcraft, sir, Andrew Hutchcraft, Cheif Engineer... and I was told your Captain Zahn wanted us to dress up."

'Ah, the deception of captains... How long have you been Chief of Engineering? You don't seem like the engineering type.'

"Only a few weeks, I used to be the Chief of Security."

'Quite a job change...'

"May I ask your name, sir?"

'Certainly, I am Varin Reix, Chief Science Officer... Well... looks like someone proposed a toast, and far be it from me to go against a toast...' Varin rose his glass, then took a drink. Perhaps this won't be so bad after all...

'Anyway, Andrew... How has the Galaxy been treating you?'

Stepping onto the lift, Jalal turns waiting for the doors to close. "Deck 35 please."

"On the way, Chief." the computer voice replies.

It's still strange talking to thin air. Would you Stop itching arm. I shouldn't complain Cohen was burned worst then I was. And now this doctor is going to learn about my two fingers being able to grow back. Why doctor's are Soo interested in that I'll never understand.

As the lift stops and the doors open Jalal steps out. Walking up to the enterance he waits for a second. Taking a deep breath, slowly letting it out he steps past the door into the dining room. Glancing slowly around he notices two groupings of people. For a second he waits, then moves towards the group of people he knows.

"Lieutants." Jalal says as he comes up to Lt. Cohen and Seles. "How are things going?"

USS Galaxy: "Visiting friends"

Ensign Thomas Enquist was happy to be able to see his friend, Jack Straker. Now that the Galaxy has docked, he went to his superior officer to ask for a few hours shore leave.

Thomas entered the Security center and walked up to the boss. "Sir, I request a few hours shore leave to meet a friend of mine, a resident of this station."

Joerg Sterner looked up to see one of his junior officers standing in attention, with an eager expression on his face. "At ease. So, who’s this friend of yours?"

Thomas relaxed and answered with a smile. "He is a computer engineer on this station. His name is Jack Straker, and he is a Lieutenant jg. We are friends since we were at the Academy together. I have challenged him on a game, and wants to make sure that he takes it."

Joerg Smiled. "Yes, I’ve heard about him since we arrived. Isn’t he a little strange?"

Thomas shrugged. "Yeah, some consider him offensive and driveling, but he as excellent computer technician, and he may be a little… eccentric."

Joerg laughed, "Well, that’s what I heard to. Ok, You got four hours leave, to meet your friend, but be back to finish the reports by tomorrow, You can waste your time with your friends when your chores are done."

Thomas snapped off a salute. "Thank you sir, I will."

He left the room, and went to his quarters to pick up his duffel bag. He then walked to the causeway, leading into the station. He walked up to the security guard with the Shore Patrol badge on him. "Hold it, Ens Enquist, aren’t you on duty today?"

Thomas smiled. "Check your log, friend. You will find that I has four hours of shore leave to waste away with the inhabitants on the station."

The Duty Guard looked into his console. "Hmm. I don’t know how you pulled it of, but if you’re not back here within the stipulated time, I’m going to find you and drag you back onboard. And say hello to any nice girls for me. They will need something better after meting with you."

Thomas laughed. "In your dreams, sport. I will be warning them from you!"

Thomas laughed all the way into the station.

Well inside, he did not know where to go. He decided to look for a terminal. "Computer, locate Lieutenant jg Jack Straker, Engineer."

The computer beeped a happy tune. [Lieutenant jg Jack Straker is currently in his quarters. Follow these instructions to his room.] The computer displayed a map of the station and marked the way to deck 34. Thomas memorized them, a strolled away with a happy smile.

The station was a strange mix of new and old. There seemed to have been extensive damage on the station, and the repair has just been finished. In the corridors and by the various shops and stores, lots of strange races mingled. Thomas wished he brought his phaser with him, but he followed the regulations strictly. ‘No side arms when not on duty’. He walked pass the hawkers and steered his way toward the main turbolift section, no meaning to risk a lesser used lift. Suddenly, a woman’s scream echoed down a side passage.

Thomas looked in, and saw two big brutes manhandling a human female in through a door to a warehouse. Thomas looked around, to see if there were a security officer on duty, but there were no one around. Thomas made a quick decision, he was going to help the poor woman. Thomas sprinted into the side passage, and dropped his duffel bag outside the door.

He burst in, and found himself surrounded by a team of Romulans in civilian clothes, they held their disruptors aimed at him. "Welcome, officer. We have been waiting for you."

Thomas reacted by throwing himself at the door, but it was closed behind him.

"Take care of him, we have some use of this one." The romulans obeyed their leader, and fired their disruptors on him.

The world went dark……..

"Formal Affair"
Lieutenant Troy Blair
Chief Tactical Officer, USS Galaxy

*** Troy's Quarters ***

'Geez...these things must have been designed by a Romulan bent on choking Starfleet to death!' Troy thought as he put on the tunic to his dress uniform. Looking at himself in the mirror, he made a few last second adjustments and headed out the door.

As he walked through the corridors, on his way to the airlock, he noticed that everyone was staring at him. At first he thought it must be the dress uniform, since the crew hardly gets a chance to wear them, he ignored it and stepped into the turbolift.

About half way into the trip up, Troy realized that he wasn't alone in the turbolift, and that the other occupant was staring at him.

"What?!?!" Troy exclaimed throwing his hands out in front of him

"Nothing sir.... are you ok?" the Petty Officer asked

"Yes I'm ok, well except for the fact that everyone keeps staring at me!" His mind began to race with thoughts of something he forgot to do, but he couldn't figure out what.

"Oh..ok, just checking." she said. The trip continued with silence, until Troy noticed the Officer was still staring at him.

"WHAT IS IT?!? Is there something I overlooked?" He felt like he was going crazy.

"No sir...well sir, you look like you're about to pass out or something. Here look" the Petty Officer stated as she produced a mirror and handed it to Troy.

Troy noticed that all the color had left his face, and his eyes were practically bulging out. He had heard that dress uniforms were annoying and slightly choked it's victims, but he had no idea they made you look like this. He handed the mirror back to the young lady traveling with him, and tried to adjust his collar with little success. He was about to try again, but the turbolift stopped on his floor. As he approached the airlock, he saw Captain Price waiting next to it.

"Are you ok 'mate?" Price inquired

"Yes sir, except for the fact that I'm slowly dying by this thing" Troy said still adjusting his collar.

"Your collar is too tight 'mate. Here let me show you a trick I learned along time ago." Price began to adjust Troy's collar, instantly he felt the color come back.

"Thank you sir, I can breathe again! I'll see you at the dinner" Troy said while stepping through the airlock

"See you there Lieutenant"

*** Officers Mess Hall ***

Once Troy stepped through the door, he instantly scanned the room for anyone he knew. He found Deiran and Miran setting next to each other at the table, engaged in a conversation. He headed in their direction

"This should be a pretty, run of the mill dinner. I heard that we’ll have actual food, real, non-replicated carbon-based food!" Casey laughed.

"I’d eat a real crate, if it wasn’t replicated," Troy said as seriously as he could, sneaking up behind the couple as they sat in their chairs.

"What maniac wouldn’t?" Deiran shot back at him and laughed at Troy’s reaction. He had a "who me?" look on his face.

Troy sat next to Deiran.

As he sat down, a half-Klingon woman entered the room. "Whoa, that’s the best looking Klingon woman I’ve ever seen!" Troy exclaimed.

"Not bad!" Deiran said, almost whispering.

"Troy, don’t point women out to Deiran please!?" Miran asked, half-joking.

"Sure, Miran. Well, you haven’t even taken vows and the ol’ ball in chain is already locked on and she’s thrown away the key," Troy laughed.

Miran gave Troy a look that would’ve burned Troy’s eyebrows if it was possible.

"Yea, I swallowed the key on the first date," Deiran laughed with Miran.

Troy immediately changed the subject. "Who is she? Do you know her?" Troy was acting like his usual, girl-chasing, flirting, infatuated self.

"It’s not enough you have to torment Ronni and K’arta, you have to torment Lieutenant Katarina Seles too?"

"Yea, when she looks like that, I do!"

"FYI, she’s the Chief Ops Officer, I’ll be working with her closely. I can set up a date if you want?" Deiran smiled. "Common’…I dare ya buddy."

"Let me think about it." Troy tried to look like he was thinking. Of course he didn't have to think about it, his mind was already made up the second Deiran suggested it. He began to look at Lieutenant Seles, actually more like stare at the Lieutenant. (If Ronni was there she probably would have slapped him for drooling.)

"Good thing Klingons aren't telepaths..." Troy whispered to himself, but was still loud enough for others to hear.

"You got that right Troy" Deiran commented, "Tell you what, I'm going to go talk to her right now"

"Wait a minute...I can...Hey! Deiran...." Casey was already next to the half Klingon talking to her. There was nothing more Troy could do.

"Great...now she's going to think I'm some young teenager who doesn't have the guts to speak for myself." Troy shrugged it off and decided to thank Deiran later, if it went well.

"All Your Eggs in One Basket"
by Cmdr. Kra'lana Morris

As Dr. Salvine headed to his quarters, Commander Morris turned to Lt. K'arta and Lt. Morris. "I'm sorry, but I have to run too to get ready for this dinner. If you're looking for a good place to go,

I would recommend Club Spectrum or the Latnium Palace. Have fun!!"

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

Kra'lana turned and hurried to her quarters. The dinner was to begin in about 15 minutes. She hurried and showered and got dressed in her dress uniform. She was still shocked by the red of Command rather than her Blue for Sciences. She had worn the Blue for her entire Starfleet carreer, but this also felt right.

She hurried down to the party, still thinking about Dr. Kilan. He was up to someting more than just giving the wrong medication to someone. But what . . . . .

As she entered the party, she saw Captain Zahn talking with Captain Price and Commander Coe. She walked toward the group and put on her best smile.

Captain Zahn smiled and said, "I wasn't sure you were coming. Captain Price, I would like to introduce you to my first officer, Commander Morris. Commander, this is Captain Price and Commander Coe."

Both of the USS Galaxy officers shook her hand and said hello. "I am pleased to meet you. I hope my sister, Lt. Morris hasn't given you too much trouble."

Commander Coe spoke up and said jokingly , "Nothing that we can't handle."

When it came time to be seated, Kra'lana found herself seated next to Varin Reix, and across the table from Dr. Jacqueline Rousseau.

"Dr. Rousseau, I have to say that I am very impressed with your Neurological studies and findings. I studied them while I was at Science Center Sarek. "

The conversation continued and it was wonderful. The only thing that was bothering Kra'lana was Dr. Kilan and what he was up to and the danger of the two sets senior officers being all together in one place . . .

"People Old & New"
by Lieutenant Andrew Hutchcraft

Waking up from his slumber, Hutchcraft remembered what had been planned for today. The USS Galaxy had finally arrived at Station Beta 2. Andrew was very excited. He had never been on a starbase before, at least not physically. He usually stayed on board the vessel.

The journey had been a long one, with several stops along the way. Hutchcraft got up, and opened his closet. The dreaded Dress Uniform sat there, waiting to be worn.

Like all self-respecting officers, Hutchcraft hated the Uniform. Yet it did seem to make a change from the uniform he usually wore. He added the uniform to his body, and prepared for the day ahead of him

---------------

After walking only a small distance away from his quarters, Hutchcraft rang the door bell of a former mentor. The door was answered by his previous Commanding Officer.

"Hey Andy, do come in!" came the voice of the Austrian. Hutchcraft smiled at Joerg, and entered the room.

"You ready yet, Joe?" he asked, still getting to grips with the large, open spaces that came with Senior Officer quarters.

Joe neatened himself up a little bit more "Almost, Andy. You looking forward to your first senior-officer dinner?"

Hutchcraft thought for a moment ... "Not really" came an apathetic reply.

"Thought now" smiled Sterner. The Chief Security Officer finished neatening himself. "Shall we leave for the Station, Hutch?" he asked.

"I've been on this ship since the Borg incident .... please, let's go ..." Andrew quickly replied.

Hutchcraft and Sterner then left the room, and made their way to the transporter room.

---------------

The room was full of them. Men and Women in horrid, dress uniforms. At least duty uniforms looked slightly nicer than the dress. Andrew looked around. A lot of the people in the room he already recognized. Some of them were even friends. A few were almost the oppos ite.

The other officers were an interesting looking bunch. Trills, Delpharians, Half-Klingons .... many strange races. One in particular stood out. Hutchcraft could not figure out what type of race it was.

"What kind of creature is that?" Hutchcraft muttered to Sterner.

"That's an Orexian, Andrew. Stay on the right side of him. In other words, do not get drunk. Myself or K'arta or Paran will let you go if you do something like that here. He probably won't" answered Sterner. Hutchcraft was suddenly filled with a mild fear for the creature. Though getting drunk on a space-station probably had it's upside. The bartenders probably don't have too much ethics, unlike the one on the USS Galaxy.

Hutchcraft took a seat by Sterner and a Trill Science Officer. Andy had met few Trills before. One had been Shtik's near-wife, D'tarna. Though she really did not count, being half-Vulcan.

The Trill motioned towards him "I was told your Captain Price wanted us to dress up... Lieutenant"

The Trill made a look at Andrew's rank. Hutchcraft could clearly see the Trill's. Lieutenant Commander. He swallowed any saliva in his mouth. "Hutchcraft, sir, Andrew Hutchcraft, Chief Engineer... and I was told your Captain Zahn wanted us to dress up." Hutchcraft responded. 'Dress up .. heheh' thought Hutchcraft to himself.

"Ah, the deception of captains..." continued the Trill "How long have you been Chief of Engineering? You don't seem like the engineering type."

Hutchcraft laughed inside his head. Engineering type ... Hutchcraft was barely the Starfleet type. "Only a few weeks, I used to be the Chief of Security."

Sterner made a look to him, and smiled. The Trill was quite talkative "Quite a "job change...'

Hutchcraft nodded "May I ask your name, sir?"

"Certainly, I am Varin Reix, Chief Science Officer... Well... looks like someone proposed a toast, and far be it from me to go against a toast..." Varin rose his glass, then took a drink. Hutchcraft did the same. He felt sick ... any wine-like drink was not for Hutchcraft's tongue. But it just didn't seem right drinking whiskey at such a senior event. Nor would orange juice or any ale.

"Anyway, Andrew... How has the Galaxy been treating you?" spoke Varin.

"Not bad ... it's my first ship. I came here as an Ensign, about six months ago. I think between myself, Blair ..." Hutchcraft moved his head towards the Chief Tactical Officer, and then to Casey and Ti... "... and the to-be-weds we've broken a few promtion records"

Varin nodded. "So how long were you Chief Security Officer" he asked, inquisitively.

Hutchcraft slightly panicked. He had slightly lied about that one fact. "About a week" he answered, truthfully. He grinned. "In fact, I was on duty when Lieutenant Chiron smashed through the shuttle bay door"

Varin laughed. "That is not a smart thing to do, breaking through a shuttle bay door"

Hutchcraft chuckled, and sipped some more of the sickly-sweet wine that was in his hand. "Well he was possessed by an alien at the time ... he is fine now, by the way. He's deaf though, at least for the moment. He's my Assistant Chief, you know?"

"Sounds appropriate..." commented Varin "So who is Chief Security Officer, usually?"

Turning his head to the Austrian next to him, Hutchcraft replied "Lieutenant Sterner..."

Joerg moved his head to Hutchcraft and Varin. "You say something, Andy?" queried the Lieutenant.

"Yeah, Joe. Lieutenant Joerg Sterner, meet Lieutenant Commander Varin Reix" As Hutchcraft spoke, the officers shoke hands.

"Reix, where have I heard that name... I remember there being a Captain with a similar name ..." Joe thought our loud.

Varin shrugged. "No one I know, Lieutenant..."

The dinner continued, and Hutchcraft seemed to enjoy the small, select social occasion. As the officers talked, Andrew focused on the other officers. He was still worried about the huge Orexian officer. He made a note to not cross the officers path. If he was to cause trouble, he would stay out of Security's way.

Hutchcraft took another sip from the foul liquid, and continued with the evening.

Captain Elitia, CO of the USS Sovereign Sim
Lt.Hutchcraft, USS Galaxy

"First Course"
Written By Captain Joseph Zahn Commanding Officer, Station Beta Two

Joseph stood with Kra'lana in the Mess Hall. Mister Teer and Electra had done a beautiful job with decorating and preparing the meal. Captain Zahn and Commander Morris were both wearing their dress uniforms. Joseph's uniform was adorned with a few rustic-looking medals. He didn't like wearing them. It felt like putting them out on display. He wore his sqaure-shaped glasses, trying to go for a sophistacated look. It was Electra's idea. The Orion Froom walked by holding a platter of hor'dours.

"Thank you," Kra'lana said grabbing a Yridian sauce cracker.

Captain Zahn smiled as he watched the blue-skinned woman inhale the oval shaped creamy appatizer. She finshed the bite and looked up at Joseph.

"I'm sorry. It's just with working on the Promenade clinic I haven't gotten a chance to sit down and have a real meal. I'm really starved. I haven't eaten a bite at all today," she said.

Joseph broke his silence, "Don't apologize Kra'lana. I understand completely. At least now we can sit down to a terrific meal, even though it is with a bunch of strangers."

She nodded thoughtfully and noticed Joseph's medals out of the corner of her eye, "Captain, what did you . . ."

Just then Captain Edward Price of the USS Galaxy approached the duo holding a glass of Tula Berry Wine. "Good evenin' Cap'n Zahn!" the Aussie said with a bright smile. Morris paused what she was saying as Zahn held out his hand. "Good evening to you Captain Price. Welcome to Station Beta Two. I'd like to introduce to you Commander Kra'lana Morris, Ronni's sister."

"Pleasure," she said shaking his brusqe hand.

"Captain Zahn, this is my first officer Commander Coe," Price said standing next to his right-hand-man.

"Nice to meet you Commander," Joseph replied, "I hope the Galaxy will enjoy it's five week stay here aboard Station Beta Two. I am sure we will be great assets to each other both," he said politely.

"Indeed 'mate!"

Suddenly a large chime sounded from the center of the room. It was the Mess Hall Cook Given Teer holding a Ornanian chime-bell. "Dinner is ready! Please take your seats at the table. You'll be enjoying a wonderful Yridian tossed salad and a traditional Yridian buffet with a few Terran seasonal items thrown in for good measure. The main course will be served a la buffet. Enjoy!"

Matthew Cohen sighed from across the room.

The officers began to be seated at the long elabrolately decorated table. Given intercepted Lieutenant Cohen, the Strategic Operations Officer, before he took his seat. "Don't think I forgot you Lieutenant. Miss Electra informed me of your preference. I took the liberity of preparing a Kosher meal for you."

Cohen cracked a half-smile, "Thank you very much Mister Teer."

"Guess Who's Coming to Dinner"
by Jonathan Hanover

Lt. Clay dreadded putting on his dress uniform. He had no problem with the senior staff of the Galaxy eating dinner, but why did they have to eat with him? The uniform looked like a skirt. Sure, he hadn't been on the station for long, but this wasn't the look he wanted everyone to remember. Martin would repel of the side of the cliff, but he wasn't going to wear a skirt.

Lt. Clay finally finished dressing and headed towards the dinner. He heard some guy yell "Nice legs!" and turned around to teach him a lesson. Unfortunatly, he found this person to be more than a foot taller than him. Clay turned around and headed for the dinner.

Jonathan Hanover

Varin turned from Hutchcraft, the conversation appearing to be over. He began to eat, then sensed the presence of someone near him. He turned to his left, and found that Kra'lana took a seat right next to him. ::She even looks good in her Dress Uniform:: he noted.

'Well, Ms. Morris, It seems that we got our dinner after all.' He looked across the table, and subtly pointed to another woman, apparently Delphinian, too. 'Your sister?'

She swallowed her food, "Yes, her name is Rr'lonni... would you like to meet her?"

'Of course.'

USS Galaxy
Lt. Deiran Casey
"Introductions"

Deiran and Miran got up from their chairs and started for Lt. Seles. Deiran liked that Miran was jealous and protective of him and smiled as he thought of it.

"Lieutenant Seles?" Deiran asked as he walked up to her.

"Yes, Lt. Casey, right?" Seles asked.

"Yes, Chief Ops on the Galaxy and this is Lt. Ti Miran, my fiancé, she’s the Chief Helmsman on the Galaxy."

"Nice to meet you both. Do you know my friend Stephanie Chen, she was an Ops officer on the Galaxy?"

"Quiet girl, shy, hardly ever speaks?" Casey replied.

"Yep, that’s her."

"Yes, I only knew her for a short time. I believe she transferred to the Crusader."

Deiran noticed that Katarina was noticing Troy staring at her.

"Lieutenant that man staring at you, happens to be Lt. Troy Blair, he’s the Chief Tactical Officer on the Galaxy. He’s very attracted to you, he wanted me to fix you up with him on a date while we’re visiting your station. Would you be interested?"

Lt. Seles didn’t respond right away, she looked in Troy’s direction and then back at Ti and Casey.

"And whatever you do don’t talk to Ronni Morris or K’arta about Troy. They have a jaded view of him. He’s a nice guy actually. Besides one little date couldn’t hurt, right?"

Lt. Seles smiled at Deiran,"It all depends on what kind of date it is Lt. Casey."

As Lt. Seles responded a bell rang, ricocheting through the room and commanding everyone’s attention. Everyone looked in the direction of the Chef, his name was Teer.

Dinner was ready he said, and the officers took their seats. Miran and Deiran sat next to one another. Lt. Seles sat across from them. Hutchcraft and Sterner were just a few chairs down. Troy wanted to sit next to Deiran, but was beaten to the chair by Commander Morris. Instead, he took the seat next to Lt. Seles.

Deiran smiled. He knew Troy would eventually get his nerve back and talk to her. Not that he ever lost it.

Deiran liked joking with him. Deiran knew Troy could ask her out himself, but Casey always loved to rib Troy. It was fun.

Deiran didn’t feel like talking about duty or repairs and for some reason was too quiet during dinner. Something wasn’t right. It wasn’t the officers or anything, the Beta 2 staff were good at their jobs and nice people. It was the station.

Deiran had almost a sixth sense and could feel when something wasn’t quite right. He could sense it in the atmosphere. Everything was fine in the Mess Hall. Outside of the Mess Hall…was what concerned Deiran.

This station was on the outer reaches of known space, and a dangerous place. Deiran just couldn’t put his finger on what was bothering him. But, something was wrong and he knew that whatever it was, ‘it’ was coming… like when you’re in the eye of a hurricane and just beginning to come out of it. An eerie quiet and then…

Deiran tried to enjoy the first real food he’d had since visiting his parents on Earth months ago. But, his premonitions wouldn’t subside. And so he sat at the table in silence, eating his Yridian salad, drinking his Vulcan tea and staring at his future bride...and waited for the inevitable.

"Close encounters of a different kind"
by Captain Robert Edward Lee Price

The Yridian feast Captain Joseph Zahn had prepared for the visiting Galaxy crew was thoroughly enjoyed by all.

Captain Price was introduced to the Station's senior staff, and was doubly pleased to meet Commander Kra'lana Morris, First officer to Captain Zahn and the sister of the Galaxy's own Lieutenant Rr'lonii Morris. The two Delphinian sisters sat next to each other and didn't stop talking for barely a minute all through the festive meal.

Lee had the opportunity to meet many of Zahn's staff. Lieutenant Commander Tom Hansen, the Chief Engineer in charge of the repairs to the Galaxy's main shuttle bay doors. Lieutenant Cohen the Station's Strategic Operations Officer. Lieutenant Katrarina

Seles, Chief Operations Officer, and many, many more.

"I must say Captain, you seem to 'ave a very competent staff here 'mate." Lee said as he raised his glass in a toast. "I'm sure the Galaxy will be in good 'ands while she's here."

Zahn smiled as he raised his own cup, as did everyone else at the table before drinking. As Joseph finished, he looked across the table at Price.

"Thank you Captain. If you'd like, I can arrange to take you on a quick tour of our facility." Joseph was beaming with pride. It was easy to tell he was fond of his station and wanted to take this opportunity to show it off.

"A walk about? That sounds lovely 'mate." Price said as he leans back patting his stomach lightly. "It'll help work off a few of the pounds that wonderful feast must 'ave given me." Lee said with a grin.

Patting the corners of his mouth with his napkin, Zahn began to get up. "Great, I'll take you myself Captain. Any of your staff that wishes to come are more than welcome. Though I know many of you are anxious to get to your shore leave."

Many nods circled the table as some officers excused themselves, in a rush to get to the Dabbo tables no doubt. Some decided to take Captain Zahn up on the offer and joined the tour.

"Well, just follow me and I'll talk as we walk. I think better that way." Joseph says with a grin.

"Know what you mean 'mate." Price replies as he walks stride for stride with Captain Zahn. Hands folded behind his back. All of the officers looked rather spiffy in their full dress uniforms.

"We might as well begin with the construction of this station. It's a Yridian design, constructed in 23..."

******

"And here we enter one of the most expansive areas of the entire station aside from the docking bays, the main promenade. Three full stories of shops and stores that make up the social and economic center for this sector." Zahn was full of enthusiasm as he shared the history of the space station with Price and the other officers that accompanied them. It was a breath taking site. As Joseph stepped aside to let Lee and the other officers have a good look, a tall, somewhat lanky woman wearing a pink chiffon dress, and festooned with jewelry came waltzing over.

"Joseph! Oh Joseph! My, aren't we handsome today honey? Oooh, whoo! Looking good Captain!" Dee Dee DuBois said with a huge smile as she tossed the long end of her long white scarf across her neck. As she did, her eyes caught Captain Price. Dee Dee's eyes grew wide, showing off her long, meticulous eye lashes.

"And who pray tell is this gorgeous hunk of a man Joseph? You must introduce us."

Zahn looked like he was trying real hard not to smile, but wasn't succeeding. "This is Captain Lee Price, Commander of the USS Galaxy. Captain, this is Dee Dee DuBios, one of our more distinguished traders here on the Station."

"Pleased to meet you ma'am." Lee said with a sincere smile as he took Dee Dee's hand and kissed it gently.

Fanning herself rapidly with her other hand, she declared, "Beat still my little heart. But then I always go weak in the knees over a man in uniform darling. Are those padded shoulders Captain?" Dee Dee reached up and squeezed Lee's broad shoulders lightly. "Oh my! That is all you. Forgive me Captain." She said with a grin.

Captain Zahn appeared to be looking away, and though Lee couldn't be sure, he appeared to be trying to suppress a chuckle. Some of the other Station officers were not being as successful.

Lee reached and adjusted his uniform jacket. "No 'arm done ma'am. Good as new."

"That accent! My, my, my, my MY! You certainly are the charmer Captain. It's no wonder why you are in command of that big Starship. You could command me to do anything your little heart desired... How could a girl refuse your charms?" Dee Dee pinched Price's cheek flirtatiously. Lee couldn't help but to get a bit flustered. His face turning a bright shade of red.

"He even looks good when he's blushing!" Dee Dee exclaims as she slaps Joseph in his arm to get his attention. Zahn turned back to face the pair. Before he could say anything, Miss DuBios added.

"Well, I could stand here and chit chat all day, but I have a meeting to attend to with a client." Turning Dee Dee made eye contact with Captain Price. "But I do hope we will run into each other again Captain."

Lee cleared his throat, some of his normal coloring returning, slowly. "I'll look forward to that Miss DuBios."

"Oh, PLEASE... call me Dee Dee... you're allowed!"

"okay, Miss Dee Dee. G'day ma'am."

Dee Dee smiled as she turned to Zahn. "He's just too much! Bye Bye sugar. Kisses everyone..." Miss Dee Dee began walking off with a slightly extra bounce to her step as she began whistling cheerfully until she disappeared in the promenade crowd.

Lee glanced over to Captain Zahn. "Interesting character that Miss DuBios."

Joseph just began to laugh. He couldn't take it any more. "Lee, there is something I think you should know about Dee Dee...."

As the two Captains walked on into the promenade, several officers began exchanging slips of latinum. Something about a bet... One thing was certain, everyone was in a very, very jovial mood that evening.

V: "Dinner"

Deiran noticed that Katarina was noticing Troy staring at her.

"Lieutenant that man staring at you, happens to be Lt. Troy Blair, he's the Chief Tactical Officer on the Galaxy. He's very attracted to you, he wanted me to fix you up with him on a date while we're visiting your station. Would you be interested?"

Blunt isn't he. Katarina looked over Deiran's shoulder at Lt. Blair. Looks kinda young. He's probably just curious about Klingon women.

"And whatever you do don't talk to Ronni Morris or K'arta about Troy. They have a jaded view of him. He's a nice guy actually. Besides one little date couldn't hurt, right?"

Katarina would most certainly speak with Lieutenants Morris and K'arta before going anywhere near Lt. Blair. Lt. Seles smiled at Deiran,"It all depends on what kind of date it is Lt. Casey."

Just then the dinner bell rang and Lt. Seles slipped away from the group quietly to get a refill of bloodwine. She reminded herself to thank Electra. The Orion woman had provided a small barrel of the awful tasting refreshment. It didn't look like anyone was going to help her drink it so she scooped out another mug. Can't let this go to waste. When she turned around, a Starfleet commander came up to her and introduced himself.

" Hi. Im Commander Coe, first officer of the Galaxy."

" Lt Seles," she replied with a smile.

" So Lt, whats your specialty?"

"I am Chief of Operations. Nice docking by the way, sir."

Cmdr. Coe smiled and said, "Yes, I heard you had some trouble with your docking bays recently so I didn't want to show off or anything."

At that moment, Chief Dawner walked up to them and Katarina introduced Cmdr. Coe to Beta Two's Chief of Security.

Lt. Seles, Chief Operations Officer Station Beta Two

"Conversations"
Lieutenant Troy Blair
Chief Tactical Officer, USS Galaxy

Troy watched as Deiran talked to Lieutenant Seles, she glanced in his direction then turned back to Deiran. Apparently what Troy thought earlier was true. He turned his attention away from the two in hopes of lessening the blow.

As he looked around the room, he saw Lieutenant Cohen, who he had talked to before arriving at the station. Troy got up from his chair and approached the Lieutenant.

"Lieutenant Cohen...it's a pleasure to finally meet you in person" Troy said, coming up behind the Lieutenant.

"Ahhh...Lieutenant Blair, I was wonder when we would finally meet. So, how do you like the station so far?" Cohen asked

"It's interesting. I'll bet life here is even more intriguing." Troy stated, still keeping an eye in the direction of Deiran and the Half- Klingon

"Yup, it does have it's moments. Will you be touring the station later?" Cohen smiled.

"I'm not sure, perhaps later when I have enough time." Troy replied

Before either could speak another word, a loud chime like noise sounded getting everyone's attention. Apparently dinner was ready. Troy made his way back to the table, he was about to take a seat next to Deiran to find out what Katarina said, when a Delphinian looking similar to Ronni sat in Troy's seat. He was about to ask the lady if she would mind moving, when he saw the number of pips on her tunic. The only seat left open was one next to Lieutenant Seles, he straightened his uniform and took the seat.

He gave a slight nod to Deiran, then spoke... "Hello, Lieutenant Seles; I'm Troy Blair...."

Commander Morris was in seventh heaven. Varin on her left, Ronni on her right, and Dr. Rousseau right across from her. She talked with everyone, non-stop.

Lt. Morris was just as excited. She looked all around, but she didn't see her former mentor, Karen Davies. She had to laugh at Troy because Mr. Sauve and Sophisticated looked like he he was a recent reject from the Tyrell IV Mental Complexes. During the conversation, the Klingon woman that Troy was babbling too, said that she was Lt. Seles, Chief of Operations.

Ronni said, "So you're the one working on the new shield modification?"

"That's right. We're working on a new re-directive shield design." Lt. Seles said, obviously a little proud, meaning it was 'her baby'. Ronni knew how that was.

"Would you like some assistance? I designed the new shields for the USS Galaxy after the Borg attack on Earth and I would love a project more interesting than the one my sister wants me to work on, some Promenade Clinic. I'm like Karen Davies, I'm a Practical Sciences Officer and I would love to do it."

Dr.Salvine rushed to his quarters. There was little time to get ready thanks to his father and he was in no position or mood to meet new people. It was a very bad night plus tomorrow the clinic was opening and that would bring its share of troubles.

After a quick shower and throwing on of his dress uniform, he surveyed himself in the mirror.

~Not bad for a seven minute run. Maybe I do work best under pressure.~ With one last brush through his hair he headed for the Mess Hall.

*********Mess Hall**************

Salvine entered the Mess Hall and saw that the officers had already begun to sit down and Kra'llana was already there. ~Geez, she's even faster then I am~

Surveying the room he decided to take a seat next to Dr.Rousseau. They might be working together over the next few days so this would probably be a good oppurtuinty to get to know each other.

"Hello Dr.Rousseau. I am Dr.Verin Salvine, Chief Medical Officer of Beta Two. I must say I am very impressed with your work on the Galaxy."

Salvine waited for the woman to respond but his mind remained on his father, what was he up to. Giving Ramone the wrong medicine was obviously part of a bigger plan.....but what.

Damn, that's too sweet for me. Jalal thinks after sipping from his wine glass. Putting down the wine glass, he takes his water glass instead. Glancing around, one of the Galaxy crew catches his eye. Hooman emotions are so readable sometimes. Jalal thinks to himself with a silent laugh. Like he needs to be afraid of me. Unless of course, he does something illegal.

Turning to the couple near him. "Forgive me I'm not very good at this sort of thing. But let me introduce myself. I'm the Chief of Security, Jalal Dawner. Mostly people just call me Jalal. Did I understand that the two of you will be getting married? Then let me give you my best wishes. May your futures together be both long and happy."

V: "Dinner - Part 2"

After getting some more bloodwine and some food, Lt. Seles looked around for a place to sit. She was trying to avoid Matthew and no sooner than she sat down her recent admirer sat down next to her. Just my luck. Lt. Blair looked nervous but decided to introduce himself. "Hello, Lieutenant Seles, I'm Troy Blair."

Katarina couldn't help but smile and replied, "Yes, Lt. Casey mentioned you earlier."

Troy's face turned red and it was all she could do not to laugh. The tactical officer seemed pleasant enough but he had probably been out in space too long. Katarina would have to tell him about the little club on the station that Lt. Grigg had discovered. She was trying to think of what to say next when Lt. Morris rescued her.

Ronni said, "So you're the one working on the new shield modification?"

"That's right. We're working on a new re-directive shield design."

"Would you like some assistance? I designed the new shields for the USS Galaxy after the Borg attack on Earth and I would love a project more interesting than the one my sister wants me to work on, some Promenade Clinic. I'm like Karen Davies, I'm a Practical Sciences Officer and I would love to do it."

"Yes, I would appreciate your help very much. We actually have two shields projects going on - the redirective shielding system and the shield remodulation to use against the Borg. Lt. Chiron has volunteered to be the test pilot. It will be interesting to see if it actually works."

Katarina was a little concerned about Lt. Chiron. Chief Dawner had told her earlier that he might be mentally unstable. She didn't need someone like that shooting at the station and wondered if Chiron had a death wish. She put it out of her mind for the time being and turned back to Lt. Morris.

"Oh, you should probably help your sister with the Clinic. She has been trying to get that project done for a looooooooong time. About as long as I have been trying to get the shield modifications done." Lt. Morris just smiled. Katarina reminded herself to get the gossip on Lt. Blair from her sometime.

Lt. Seles, Chief Operations Officer Station Beta Two

Ramone, went on shift as usual in Ops. He was working away just like any other day, but that feeling of something being wrong, just wouldn't go away. It wasn't powerful like before, he guessed that the inhibitor the doctor had given him was still in his system.

All of a sudden, a priority 1 message came in:

'USS Republic has engaged Borg cube,' give the coordinates,'freighter Firefly rammed and heavily damaged Borg ship. Borg regenerating. Republic may require assistance. Returning maximum speed Beta 2. Freighter Grogers Dream.'"

Ramone looked at the message, checking for it's authentication and finding it authentic, Ramone tapped his comm-badge:

"Ops to Captain Zahn and Cmdr Morris"

[Zahn here, Morris here, go ahead]

"Captain and Commander, I apologize for interrupting your dinner, but you are needed in Ops. It is a matter of extreme importance. I might be a good idea to bring Captain Price and his first officer as well. This involves everyone."

[Understood, we're on our way.]

Ramone cut the channel. The Captain didn't sound happy that his dinner had been interrupted. But if the borg was less than an hour away, we had better be ready. He started doing long range scans of the coordinates the freighter had given. Seeing that the Republic had engaged the cut and was in a damaged condition already, they didn't stand much of a chance once the borg cube had regenerated and restored power. Seeing the freighter disengage from the battle and heading back to the station was a good sign.

Ramone ran a few testson his redirective shield programs just to be sure that they were ready and in working order should they be needed.

Just then Captain Zahn, Cmdr Morris and their party showed up in Ops.

[What's the problem?] Captain zahn asked.

Ramone showed him the priority message from the freighter and then showed him the scans of the area in question.

"Orders, Captain?"

"Object Unknown"
Written by Captain Joseph Zahn Commanding Officer, Station Beta Two

"And this brings us to our last stop," Joseph said finshing his grand tour of Station Beta Two, "The observation area is one of the most popula

r spots with travelers and visitors. As you can see, it gives a wonderful view of the nearby Uliplite Nebula. Doesn't it feel like you're almost inside of the nebula? Outside of the adjacent windows you can see the many ships arriving and departing from the station's lower docking area. We'll take a few moments for the Galaxy crew to look around before we go back to the dining hall for desert," Zahn said.

The group spilt up into smaller groups and went off exploring the observation deck of Station Beta Two. Joseph noticed Katarina intentially standing alone watching a Ferengi ship go to warp. "You were very popular at dinner Miss Seles. Enjoy the attention?" he said walking up to his favorite Klingon.

She moved her head up, looking to find the face from which the voice came. "Captain," she stated looking at Joseph, "Yeah, I guess I was getting some rather interesting glances in the Mess Hall. Nothing I'm not used to, of course, since I know seeing someone with a Klingon background in a Starfleet uniform is unusal."

"Somehow I don't think they were staring at you just because you are half Klingon, Lieutenant," Captain Zahn said hintingly with a smirk.

Before Katarina could respond Lieutenant Blair walked up to the Human and Klingon. "Good evening," he greeted. Seles remembered the Lieutenant from eariler in the evening. "Captain, this is Lieutenant Blair, the Chief Tactical Officer aboard the Galaxy," she said introducing the two.

"Nice to meet you Lieutenant," Joseph said shaking his hand. Lieutenant Blair paused before he said anything else. The trio glazingly stared out of the window at a strange-looking shuttle. The Ferengi ship had long gone to warp minutes ago. There were no ships outside of the vast space around Beta 2, except for a small oval spacemass about as large as three biobeds. It was hard to clearly see it from all the way up at Deck One, but it was brown with some type of lit decorative symbols.

"I don't remember that ship from my starship identification classes back at the academy. Is it Yridian?" Troy asked looking a Katarina. She stood in silence for a moment surveying the ship. It was unknown to her too. It didn't match any ships in this region, or anything she studied. Seles thought about Blair's question. "He obviously isn't from around here," she thought to herself, "All Yridian vessels have wings."

"I'm stumped," she said watching shuttle.

Joseph nodded, "It must be a new design. Maybe from the Benzite or Uheldian. I haven't noticed it in any intelligence files on it though. Interesting. It's very small, almost like a probe. I wonder why it hasn't docked. We've been staring at it for almost five minutes."

"Probably just waiting for clearance," Seles said, "Ramone is heading up Ops right now. He won't let anything get by unnoticed. Chief Winston wouldn't either. He'd notice an unknown ship in the Utopia Planitia scrapyard, let alone empty space," Lieutenant Seles said moving away from the view-port.

Ash watched Jack as he stood outside her cell.

"So, what do you want?" Stracker asked.

Ash eyes looked hollow as she continued to stare at him. "To find the hacker Ghost who is currently in your system you have to keep her distracted through the net while you physically track her down and stop her."

Stracker frowned her still didn't trust her. "why do you care? I mean you have everything on me. You could even give me up to the Klingon's. Why?"

Ash shook her head and laughed. "Oh, don't worry the will be a reckoning, but the station and the lives on board are more important now. The lives that the romulans will destroy if they get their hands on you new cloaking detection systems."

"So, where is she?"

"Get me out of here then I tell you."

It took the Lt.(jg) awhile to explain but he manage to get Ash released.

"Deck 43..." Ash voice faded. She started to gasp for air. She felt around the back of her neck and pulled out a small dart. Her eyes raged, as she turned around. Her eyes scanned for her attacker but she couldn't find him. She fell to the ground, continuing to gasp for air. She grabbed Jack and mumbled the room number in his ear, then she collapsed......

Later in the infirmary.....

"She's in a coma, I'm sorry sir," The nurse on duty stated to Russ Falkland. "But something very strange is happening. She has a tremendous amount of brain and telepathic activity going on in that brain. It almost like..."

"Like what?" The worried freighter captain asked.

"I don't know how to put it, but it's like she's dreaming....."

"The Tour" Lieutenant Troy Blair Chief Tactical Officer, USS Galaxy

Seles looked at Troy after he introduced himself, she said that Deiran had mentioned him, and before she could say anything else was interrupted by Ronni. "Great." Troy thought while eating the main course. He ignored the rest of his thoughts, while he finished his meal.

After dinner, there was a tour of the station, which Troy decided to go on. He wanted to learn of all the good spots on the station to go to, when he had some free time. While gazing at the architecture, he felt a tap on his shoulder, it was Deiran.

"Hey, how did it go?" Deiran asked

"Not too good. She said you mentioned me, then started talking with Ronni."

"Oh. Well, maybe she's just trying to get some more info on you, before she does anything." Deiran was trying to reassure Troy

"Perhaps. It's either that, or I've been out in space too long." Troy smiled

The tour continued to the Promenade, and was briefly interrupted by a woman who began to hit on Captain Price. Troy exchanged glances with Deiran.

"She sure likes the Captain." Deiran remarked

"Yup, look at him turn red. I didn't think The General was capable of blushing" Troy smirked

"I got news for you guys....that ain't a woman, it's a man" someone whispered to Deiran and Troy.

Deiran's eyes widen and his jaw practically hit the floor, Troy had to bite his lip and turn away to keep from laughing at the scene ahead of him. But no matter how hard he tried a few snickers were let loose. Everyone around began to stare at him and Deiran, the Galaxy crew wondering why they were acting in that manner, and the Station crew knowing exactly why they were doing it.

Finally the woman, er the man, er whatever you want to call the person, excused themselves from the group to attend to business. Troy wiped the tears from his eyes, straightened up and regained his composure. Deiran too, had to erase the surprised look on his face and regain his composure. The tour continued to the observation deck.

Once there, Captain Zahn gave everyone sometime to look around. The view was incredible, you could see the nebula as well as the ships coming to and from the station. It was unlike anything that he had seen before in space.

"Hey Troy, Seles is standing by herself, go talk to her." Derian prompted, tapping Troy's shoulder.

Looking off to his right, Troy saw the Klingon looking out of one of the view-ports. He straightened his uniform, again, and approached her. About half way there, Captain Zahn walked up to her and began talking, Troy shrugged his shoulders and continued. After all, he was half way there.

"Good evening," He said, both officers looked up to face Troy.

"Captain, this is Lieutenant Blair, the Chief Tactical Officer aboard the Galaxy," she said introducing the two.

'Nice to meet you Lieutenant," Captain Zahn said shaking hands with Troy..

Troy paused before he said anything else. The trio glaringly stared out of the window at a strange-looking shuttle. There were no ships outside of the vast space around Beta 2, except for a small oval spacemass about as large as three biobeds. It was hard to clearly see it from all the way up at Deck One, but it was brown with some type of lit decorative symbols.

"I don't remember that ship from my starship identification classes back at the academy. Is it Yridian?" Troy asked looking a Katarina.

"I'm stumped" Seles replied

Captain Zahn nodded, "It must be a new design. Maybe from the Benzite or Uheldian. I haven't noticed it in any intelligence files on it though. Interesting. It's very small, almost like a probe. I wonder why it hasn't docked. We've been staring at it for almost five minutes."

"Probably just waiting for clearance," Seles said, "Ramone is heading up Ops right now. He won't let anything get by unnoticed. Chief Winston wouldn't either. He'd notice an unknown ship in the Utopia Planitia scrapyard, let alone empty space," Lieutenant Seles said moving away from the view-port.

Captain Zahn and Troy continued to gaze at the unknown vessel. There was no area that resembled a bridge, or control area, there were no visible warp nacelles, as well as visible view-ports. If there was a crew it had to be no larger than three, even then the occupants would be crammed together. Troy tapped his comm badge, trying to get a hold of the Tactical officer on duty.

"Lieutenant Blair to Ensign Reyes"

{Reyes here sir}

"Ensign, are you picking up a small vessel on sensors?" Troy asked

{Yes Iam, sir. The computer is listing it as unknown.}

"That's what I thought. Gather all the data you can on this vessel, download it into a PADD and have it sent to my office."

{Will do sir. Shall I contact the vessel?}

"No, lets leave that up to the Station's crew"

{Aye sir, Reyes out}

"It's probably nothing, Lieutenant" Captain Zahn said, turning toward Troy

"You're right sir, but I would like to get a chance to study the specs of this vessel."

"What Tactical officer wouldn't." The Captain smiled.

Troy excused himself from Captain Zahn and made his way back to some of the Galaxy Officers.

Dr.Rousseau acknowledged him with a nod. "Thank you very much. That is kind of you to say."

"It's the truth. I'm nit a big embellisher."

"That's nice to know."

Salvine looked down at the table and at his half eaten food and an idea struck him.

"Dr, would you care to have a tour of our medical facilities? I can even give you a sneak peek of our new Clinic on the Promenade. How does that sound?"

B2: "Unexpected developments"

Lieutenant jg Jack Straker had just closed the computer session, when the Comm. system beeped. An incoming call. Weary, Jack activated the communicator.

[Tolan to Jack Straker]

"Jack Straker here."

[I have a young woman here in the brig who would like to speak to you.]

Jack frowned. Who would know him, and would end up in the brig? "Is that so?"

[She told me to tell you a password. Jack-in-the-box……]

Jack went cold. God, someone that knows he is doing some hacking into …. Secure systems, namely the Klingon Embassy. This is serious. Jack regained his wits and looked at the Vulcan image in the viewscreen.

"All right, I’ll be there, but I need a secure room to talk with her in. Sweep the number two interrogation room for bugs, and put her there. Is she dangerous?"

[She has knocked a victim unconscious, but with restraints, she will be harmless.]

Jack nodded. "Good, put restraints on her, and put her there after the sweep. I want a security officer outside, but I need to talk to her alone. I’ll be there within 10 minutes. Straker Out"

The image died down, replaced with the Federation Logo. Jack breathed out. This was going to be interesting…

*** Beta 2 Brig ***

Tolan turned to the prisoner. "You are lucky. Our computer engineer is a very busy man, and seldom has the time to see anyone. You must be important. You will meet him in 10 minutes."

Ash looked up to the Vulcan. "Yeah, I got friends in high places."

Tolan smirked. "I would not bet on it, if I were you. You are to be brought to the number two interrogation room, in restraints. We must make a security sweep first."

Ash wondered how she would be able to convince this suspicious officer of her good intentions, but she silently held forward her hands, while the Vulcan security officer clamped on the restraints.

*** Number two interrogation room, Beta 2 Brig complex ***

Two security officers with fine tuned tricorders scanned the room and the surrounding area for bugs, but no such devices has been found. If there were any here, they are in shut down mode. The ensign in charge looked at his partner. "Ok, so far nothing appeared. You take up the transmitter and I make a pass over the area, and we might find the activation code for any sleepers." The petty officer opened the engineering kit, and picked up the transmitter to send random codes on random frequencies. The ensign followed him around the room, scanning for any hidden bugs.

Suddenly, the tricorder signaled that it received a transmission. "I got something. Here point it to that part of the wall!" The petty officer did so, and the tricorder found the bug. They marked it, and continued to sweep the room, there were no more bugs in the wall. The security officers opened their toolkit, and picked up a drill, to be able to take the bug out.

"Hey, this is interesting! I’ve never seen a bug like this!" The Ensign turned the little chrystaline rod in his hand. "We must take a closer look at it later. Petty officer Duran, tell Tolan that the room is cleared, and bring in the prisoner."

The Petty officer replied. "Yes sir." And walked away to perform his orders. The ensign put the bug in a plastic container, and put it in his pocket. The equipment was put in the toolbox, and he left the room with it.

*** Beta 2 Brig ***

Tolan stood waiting for the sweep to be completed, when petty officer Duran entered. "Sir, number two interrogation room is swept, we found one bug, and it’s going to be examined at the lab."

Tolan and Ash exchanged glances. "Very well, Duran. You can bring the prisoner to the room. Stand guard outside the room,and let noone inside, except Lt. jg Straker."

Duran went to ash, and helped her to stand. "Come with me." Ash did not say anything, but did as she was told. Tolan watched them depart, and sat down at the desk to fill in the report of the prison transfer and the successful bug sweep.

*** Number two interrogation room, Beta 2 Brig complex ***

Jack found a guard waiting outside the interrogation room and smiled when the officer made a movement to his side arm. "This is a restricted area. Please identify yourself."

Jack stopped and very carefully and exaggerated, pulled out his id-badge. "I’m lieutenant jg Jack Straker. I believe I got a prisoner to talk to inside?"

The guard scanned the badge and found it to be correct. "Yes, sir. I’m sorry but my orders stated…"

Jack interrupted. "It’s ok, really. Just keep the big bad wolf away, ok?"

The petty officer looked blank at Jack. "what, a wolf? Where?"

Jack smiled. "Just stand guard until I’m finished here."

Jack walked in, and found a young woman sitting in the prisoners chair in the interrogation chamber. Jack noted that the chair was an old, rickety chair, without upholstery and slightly lower than normal, while the interrogators chair was a very large and comfortable chair, standing upon a small tiered elevation. Everything to make the prisoner feel inferior to the interrogator.

"Well, what can I do for you, my lady?" Jack sat down.

She spoke up. "Does ‘the ghost’ ring a bell for you, Lieutenant?"

Jack sat down, hard. That was a name he have heard of before…….

"Crowded Deck"
by Romulan Ambassedor Kale tr'Herrian

Kale streched his limbs, hed been cooped up in his office for to long awaiting the data from the Ghost, It seemed unlikly that the information would come within the next few hours so he decided to go for a walk, he made his way along the winding walkways of the promenade he nodded a greeting to a few traders to whome he had become a familier site on his regular walks. He slowly made his way to the observation deck, only to find it full of federation officers, he sighed; it wasn't as though he hated the Federation like he hated the Klingons or even that he lacked respect for them, some of them he wa

s sure were highly competent, but by the Elements they simply seemed to get every were and in every thing. He took a deep breath and strode across the deck toward the Lift on the farside. ignoring the officers as much as possible.

"Metal Surprise"
by Chief of Security Jalal Dawner

Jalal follows along towards the end of the mass of Starfleet officers thinking to himself. Wonder when I can safely get back to my office. Maybe I should have had Blla come with me. She seems to understand this sort of thing better then I do. As the group finally comes to the best place on the station Jalal stares out at the sight beyond the giant view-port.

As the large group of officers break into smaller groups a strange feeling hits Jalal. Looking up he scans the scene outside of the view-port. When his eyes settle on the small ship a disturbing thought comes to him. Turning away from the view-port he jogs back for the turbolift.

As the door closes Jalal reaches to tap is com-badge. When it beeps, he taps it.

[Chief, we have a problem. A borg cube might be on it's way here.]

"Call a security stage two code red. I'm on my way. Jalal out." Come on lift, faster. Let's go, let's go. Finally the doors open and he charges out of the lift heading for main security. "Out of the way!" he calls out at the people in the way. Seeing someone his size moving that quick causes them to move out of his path.

Barely slowing down he enters into the controlled chaos of main security. Moving behind the front desk, next to ensign Ramos. "Chief, the sections on duty are moving to their combat positions." Signaling the crowd arming themselves at the armors locker, Ramos continues. "The rest are here or are on their way."

"Get them to thier assigned positions as fast as we can." Seeing Lt. Grigg come into the front office, Jalal calls to him. As Grigg steps to him, Jalal hands him a key on a chain and says. "Grigg, come into my office with me for a minute." Leading the way, Jalal steps into his office. Moving behind his desk, Jalal squats down next to a normal looking panel.

Taking a chain, just like the one he gave Grigg, and unlocks the panel exposing a space behind it. "I keep important things down here. And this." Jalal pulls out a grey colored container about a foot squared. Standing up he lifts it onto the desk and opens it. As Grigg steps close to look in it, he sees eleven baseball sized silver spheres.

Recognizing what the spheres are Grigg says. "Proton grenades. There weren't any of those shipped to the station."

"I worked frieghters long before being in security. So some of them owe me favors. These are for the mobile strike sections. We have one per person, one for you and one for me. You know to use them only as last resorts against the borg."

Varin observed the rest of the group as he ate. Smiling, laughing.... blushing... He couldn't help but snicker a bit... Seles, the Klingon warrior, being asked on a date by an Admiral's son.

There were conversations ranging from Sheild modifications to the new medical facility on the promenade. He couldn't help but hear that a mentally disturbed person was requesting to pilot the shuttle. Varin was slightly alarmed, but he was sure that Zahn would evaluate the pilot before he was commissioned to fly. Varin put it out of his head, and was determined to enjoy the rest of the dinner...

Ramone showed Captain Zahn the priority message from the freighter and then showed him the scans of the area in question. The other officers stood about the perimeter of the room, trying to figure out what was going on... and apparently, it was not good.

"Orders, Captain?" Cohen's ears perked up. That definitely was not a good sign. With what could be considered his most leisurely gait, he strolled over to a nearby panel and peeked at the incoming scanner data... and his eyes went wide. Oh my. His "stroll" took him past his counterpart on the Galaxy, one Lt. Blair (and he sighed inwardly, wishing for the "simplicity" of a starship assignment again), and then behind Seles, his voice a quick whisper.

"I believe I suggested those phaser upgrades went before the rest... I do wish they were done..." He tried to keep his calm, no good panicking anyone else. Chances were that there would be enough time for that as it is, and he'd get to see how well his training had gone for the rookies.

His feet managed to get him up behind the tactical console, gently pressing the current duty officer from her post. The tunic came off quickly, dropping in a pool of red cloth before him, leaving him in his grey shirt and black slacks as he readied the station's defenses as best he could, gloved fingers tapping away at the terminal.

"Just Deserts"
Written by Captain Joseph Zahn Commanding Officer, Station Beta Two

Many of the officers reconverged in the Mess Hall for a slice of Tholian silk pie. Some had choosen to go back to the Galaxy or go for a personal tour of the station. Captain Zahn and Captain Price sat next to each other facing the large Mess Hall window. Joseph explained to Price about their unique computer core systems. ". . . so it is actually twenty different cores in one. Repairs and upgrades are much more easy and cost effective. But I can't take credit for this breakthrough. Commander Hanson deserves the credit," Joseph said motioning across to Tom.

"It wasn't a technological breakthrough. I just took Specialist Davies concept and implemented it station-wide," Hanson replied out of honesty. Edward Lee Price nodded and smiled. "It sounds fasinating 'mate," he said with a great amount of sincerness. Lieutenant Blair sat near the window staring at the ominous ship below Station Beta Two. That was fasinating to him. He was surprised it hadn't moved since they came back down to the Officer's Mess Hall.

Suddenly the small ship lit up in a bright white light. "Captain, I think you better come take a look at this," Troy said standing up staring down through the window. Captain Price stood up and went to his officer. He should match the tone of seriousness in his voice. "What is it Lieutenant?" Edward becokoned. Zahn quickly followed in observation.

He tapped his badge, "Zahn to Ops."

"Go ahead Captain," Ramone replied.

"What are the sensor readings on a small . . ."

Just then the small probe blasted a bright white beam toward the station and all it's inhabitants. Beta 2 didn't shake or rattle or roll like a usual attack - It was just consumed by a bright white light everywhere. Civilians in the replimat were enguilfed by the white tone, Chief Winston in his office gleemed at the light, the crew in Ops caught the white blast, as did everyone on Station Beta Two.

Joseph put his hand over his brow, "What the hell is going on?"

Gavin Lakarr stood on the bridge of the freighter Grogers Dream, pacing, still holding the phaser rifle he'd picked up on the Starfleet ship.

"Now approaching Beta 2," said the helmsman.

"Slow to full impulse. Any sign of the Borg?"

"No, but sensors are showing a probe of unknown origin. It's emitting some kind of energy beam, directed at the station."

"Is the beam harmful?"

"I can't tell with this sensor suite." He looked apologetic.

Gavin hesitated a moment. If the probe was hostile, he should stop it. But it could also be an alien courier trying to establish contact. Deciding that moderate action was better than either no action or aggression, he ordered, "Lock a tractor beam onto the probe and pull it gradually away from the station."

"Beam locked and activated. . . the probe is moving now. . . Aaahh!" The man's panel exploded abruptly and with great force, throwing him against the rear bulkhead.

"Get him to sickbay! Report - what's going on?"

All at once, the whole ship was filled with blinding white light and a deafening screeching noise. The crew only had time to assume pained expressions before they lost consciousness.

V: "Trouble"

Lt. Seles was looking out a view port at that strange looking vessel again. She didn't know what it was and was surprised that it hadn't docked yet. She was about to call Ramone and ask him for a report when she heard the Captain open a channel to him. Suddenly the probe emitted a bright white light at them. Katarina immediately switched to emergency mode. "Seles to Ops. What was that, Ramone?"

[I don't know, Lieutenant. There is something else you should take a look at though.]

"On my way, Seles out." Katarina still in her dress uniform rushed to Ops.

***Main Operations***

Katarina rushed over to the OPS station. "Report!"

Ramone shook his head. "I don't know what that light was, but take a look at this transmission from the Grogers Dream."

Katarina's heart almost stopped. The Borg. It was her worst nightmare come true and the station wasn't ready. No shield remodulation, no phaser remodulation, and no torpedoes. And she didn't need that damn Maquis terrorist reminding her of that.

Katarina relieved Ramone at OPS and started getting organized. "Ramone, take Mission OPS," pointing to a computer terminal nearby. "Get those redirective shields ready." The new shields hadn't been tested and she hoped that they wouldn't blow up the station.

"Ops to Security. Prepare for an incoming Borg ship. ETA 44 minutes."

"Ops to Sickbay. Prepare for heavy casualties. We have an incoming Borg ship."

"Ops to Engineering. Standby to bring shields and phasers on-line. We have an incoming Borg ship. Wait for the Captain's orders."

Now for that probe. Lt. Seles started scans on the probe to determine what it was and began running systems checks to see if the emission from the probe had caused any damage. She looked over at Science and StratOps to see if they had come up with anything on their scans...

Lt. Seles, Chief Operations Officer Station Beta Two

Varin had excused himself from the tour, his shift was coming up, and he needed to change back into his 'normal' uniform. As he was pulling his undershirt over his head, a bright white light washed over everything in the room. Varin quickly jumped for his communicator.

'Reix to Ensign Fowler!'

[Fowler here, sir.]

'What the hell was that????'

[We're trying to figure that out now, sir. It appears a probe of some kind has been in a stationary orbit around the station, and has just emitted...]

'A beam of light, yes, I figured out that part. I'm on my way to Ops. Reix out.'

Varin finished putting his uniform on, and rushed to the nearest turbolift. The light was beginning to hurt his eyes... {I should have replicated some sunglasses...} When he got to Ops, everyone was still confused, running around like Terran Chickens with their heads cut off.

He pushed the Ensign.... Diana Fowler was it? ... away from the main science station, and tapped at the panel.

'Captain Zahn! It seems to be a compressed tetryon beam, I believe it's just a very intense scanning field!'

Chiron walked out of the shuttle commander's office. He hoped to get an answer soon, for time was the essence in experiments that left the station so vulnerable for so long. He decided to go through with his Thank you plan for Dr. Rousseau.

He went to a small shop in what seemed to be a forgotten part of the promenade, run by a small bajoran woman. She didn't seem to be any more than 19 years old, but Chiron put that aside, and stepped up to the counter.

-+Is there any way I can get fresh Antaran Strawberries?+-

Antaran Strawberries were almost exact replicas of their Terran cousions, however the low gravity of the Antaran homeworld allowed the berries to reach sizes of up to a half a kilo.

The woman looked at him oddly, wondering why he didn't just say it instead of typing it on a PADD. Chiron sensed her confusion, and pointed to his ears. She seemed to understand, so he handed her the PADD again, and she began typing.

--I might be able to find them for you... a freighter has just docked, and the captain usually brings in fruit... unique fruit... for our stand. He may have some of the strawberries your looking for."

-+How much would they cost?+-

Chiron didn't usually carry money with him, but he did happen to have some Kalavian snow crystals with him...

--One Bar of Latinum... or an equivalent.--

Quite a steep price, but they were rare fruits. Chiron showed her the smallest of the crystals.

--That will do quite nicely.-- Chiron could see the young woman restraining herself... even his smallest crystal was easily worth anywhere from five to ten bars of gold-pressed latinum.

She went through a thick velvet curtain, the storeroom, he guessed, and returned with two large strawberries. Chiron nodded, took the strawberries, and walked away.

He was about to do a site-to-site transport of the strawberries to Rousseau's quarters, when a bright light flooded the entire Promenade. All traffic stopped, and Chiron could hear the confused thoughts of the masses. Confused himself, Chiron decided to go to Ops to seee what had happened. Surely an Assistant Cheif of Engineering would be allowed on the command deck...

"Danger"
by Dr.Verin Salvine

With sheer embarassment Salvine stopped Dr.Rousseau before she could give him an answer to his question about the tour....he had heard something about Tholian silk pie and his mouth began to water....his favorite and it wasn't replicated to boot.

"Do you mind if we get some desert before that tour?" Salvine questioned pleadingly. He was not going to be rude and tell her he wasn't taking her on the tour because he had to have some desert, that would be way to unproffesional for such an occasion.

"Of course not." Salvine's shoulders heaved but he managed to hide it from the Dr., as they made their way over to the desert table.

Lieutenant Blair sat near the window staring at the ominous ship below Station Beta Two. That was fasinating to him. He was surprised it hadn't moved since they came back down to the Officer's Mess Hall.

Suddenly the small ship lit up in a bright white light. "Captain, I think you better come take a look at this," Troy said standing up staring down through the window. Captain Price stood up and went to his officer. He should match the tone of seriousness in his voice. "What is it Lieutenant?" Edward becokoned. Zahn quickly followed in observation.

He tapped his badge, "Zahn to Ops."

"Go ahead Captain," Ramone replied.

"What are the sensor readings on a small . . ."

Just then the small probe blasted a bright white beam toward the station and all it's inhabitants. Beta 2 didn't shake or rattle or roll like a usual attack - It was just consumed by a bright white light everywhere. Civilians in the replimat were enguilfed by the white tone, Chief Winston in his office gleemed at the light, the crew in Ops caught the white blast, as did everyone on Station Beta Two.

Joseph put his hand over his brow, "What the hell is going on?"

Salvine and Rousseau made a quick survey of the room....no one appeared to be hurt but it was the damdest thing. Nothing like anyone in that room had seen before. Salvine was still concerned, just becuase there were no obvious and immediate after effects didn't mean the light would not affect them. He quickly made sure every one was okay and then headed over to a quiet corner to contact sickbay.

He hit his comm badge and heard the characteristic chirp. "Salvine to sickbay. Do you guys experience a bright light?"

"As a matter of fact we did but it has not affected anyone yet...and there have been no casualty reports."

"We have to give it a little while. Whatever it is may not take affect till later. How many patients do we currently have in

sickbay?"

"As of now only Ensign Pesquil and she is scheduled for release and restricted duty tomorrow. She's sleeping right now."

"All right. Make sure she gets up and out first thing in the morninig. I want to keep as many beds as we can free."

"Understood Dr."

"Salvine out."

Making his way back toward the crowd he noticed that Lt.Seles had left. Probably went to check on things in OPS. Everyone still seemed fine but he was not satisfied. The only solution would be to run some tests on that white light.

"Salvine to Pescadeiro."

"Pescadeiro here Dr. What can I do for you?" he questioned.

"Send all sensor readings from that white light to my terminal in Sickbay. I want to check a few things."

"Will do. Pescadeiro out."

Walking over to Dr.Rousseau he excused himself and promised her a tour in sometime before she left.

"If you want to collaborate efforts on analyzing this thing to make sure it won't pose any health threats contact me and we can pull our efforts."

"That sounds like a good idea."

Salvine said goodbye to everyone else and began to head out the door when he got a frantic call from Sickbay.

"Sickbay to Salvine." The voice was riddled with anticipation and stress. Salvine hit his comm badge immediatley.

"Salvine here. What's the problem?"

"Lt.Seles just told us to prepare for a Borg attack....they are expecting heavy casualties."

Salvine's stomach dropped. "I am on my way." And with that he raced for Sickbay.

Salvine rushed into Sickbay, still in his dress uniform, which wasn't very practical. He was going to need to be comfortable if they were going to be working under constant attack and a heavy influx of patients.

His office was where he headed to, where he always kept a uniform. Slowly he opened the closet to find that it wasn't there.

"Nurse!!!" he bellowed. There was only one explanation for this....his father.

Nurse Rager came rushing into the office. "What's the matter Dr.?" she was shaken up by the tone of his voice, she obviiously thought that something was wrong.

"I'm sorry Sel. Do you happen to know what happened to the spare uniform that I kept in this closet?"

She shrugged her shoulders but an idea spread across her face and she disappeared into one of the backrooms. ~What is she up to~ he thought to himself, he was wasting valuable time but seconds later Nurse Rager came into view carrying new uniform.

"You are a lifesaver. All right we need to get started....call all off duty medical personnel to Sickbay and all civilians with medical training. If we are short of anything at all....take it from the supplies of the.........uhm....get on that and prepare treatments for the usual battle injuries." A thought had entered his head and it was a good one but that was up to the Commander.

"Salvine to Commander Morris. I have a quick question. I think it would be beneficial to open up the clinic tonight....I have all availabe medical personnel coming in as we speak so I can divide them up between the Infirmary and the Clinic but I need to get going right away so do I have clearance?"

V: “Dangerous Situations”

Tatalia, Tim, and Tolan exited the main security office. They were carrying both type II phasers and phaser rifles. Solemnly they walked to the upper school room.

Tatalia’s eyes showed the pain she was feeling. The thought of the Borg invading the station had churned up old memories. In her mind, she was reliving that day when she heard of the Python’s destruction.

Tim broke the silence, “The Borg,” Tim said quietly. “Are we ready for this?”

“The Borg have been defeated a number of times by Starfleet. I am sure we will find a way to defeat them again,” Tolan said.

“Tolan, I didn’t know you were an optimist,” Tim said.

“Merely stating facts,” Tolan answered.

“I see. What do you think Connor?” Tim asked. When Tatalia didn’t answer right away, he asked a little more concerned, “Tatalia?”

“What,” she said being jerked away from her memories.

“I was asking what you thought about the Borg, are you ok?” Tim asked.

“I’m fine,” Tatalia said firmly. They arrived at the school room and before either Tim or Tolan could say anything, Tatalia’s communicator beeped. Tapping it lightly she said, “Connor here.”

Chief Dawner’s voice came over the com-link, “Alpha-One move to the Promenade clinic.”

“Aye sir,” Tatalia said. She tapped her communicator again cutting the com-link. “You heard him,” Tatalia said. The trio started to walk back to the Promenade. Suddenly the entire corridor filled with a bright white light.

“What in the world,” Tatalia said squinting at the light. Tim shielded his eyes with his hand. Tolan squinted slightly.

“What is this,” Tim muttered.

“Let’s get to the Promenade,” Tatalia ordered. They picked up their pace to the Promenade, shading their eyes as they ran. They reached the Promenade and the white light was also filling the Promenade.

The citizens on the Promenade were just looking around confused about the light. Tatalia breathed a sigh of relief that the order on the Promenade was being maintained.

Commander Morris stood on the bridge. She didn't feel like eating pie right now and too much was happening at once. The possibility of a Borg attack, though something wasn't quite right with the scans of the ship, the mass was wrong and the power levels too low, and now this unidentifiable probe.

"Lt. Seles," she called out, "could this probe be associated with the Borg ship?"

"Unknown Sir." the Lieutenant said.

"Lt. Cohen, are you able to get any readings of it?" she said hopefully.

"Not yet, Commander." he said while furiously tapping through LCAR commands. "I'm going to try a . . ."

At that moment, an eerily blinding white light made everything look like a picture from an out of sync holoprojector. There was light where there couldn't be and shadows at weird angles.

"Cohen, I want you to raise shields NOW!!" she ordered.

"Cohen, I want you to raise shields NOW!!" Morris ordered. The human's hands were flying over the tactical board, swiftly trying to execute orders as the light grew in intensity.

"/*What do you think I am doing?!*/" Matthew growled under his breath in Hebrew. The comptuers were all but refusing to respond to the orders to the shield grid, as if it wasn't there at all. There had to be something he could do besides get the micrometeor deflection grid up. Lights began to spring up across his console, warning lights regarding system status.... And the Borg were out there somewhere. Weren't they?

"Seles!" The light was starting to hurt his eyes, forcing him to yell in that direction from memory alone as he squinted, and hoped that the Klingon was at her console. "We need more power for the shield grid!"

Lieutenant Matthew Cohen
Station Beta 2 Strategic Operations Officer
teej@txdirect.net

V: "The Probe"

***Main Operations***

It was chaos in Ops. There were too many people there and Seles could hardly see the console in front of her because of the blinding light. There was a report of a Borg ship on the way, but this unknown probe was the most immediate danger.

'Captain Zahn! It seems to be a compressed tetryon beam, I believe it's just a very intense scanning field,' shouted Commander Reix from Science.

"Cohen, I want you to raise shields NOW," Commander Morris ordered.

"Seles! We need more power for the shield grid," yelled Lt. Cohen.

Lt. Seles tapped furiously at her OPS console rerouting power from nonessential systems to the shields. She tapped the comm button on her panel. "Ops to Engineering. Divert more power to the shields."

The power output increased, but it wasn't much use. "Shields are at 90% but they are still scanning us!"

"Ops to Engineering. I need a damage report."

Her OPS panel began to light up again. "I'm picking up the Grogers Dream on sensors. No Borg ships in pursuit...They are trying to tractor the probe...Commander! The probe is attacking the freighter!"

Lt. Seles, Chief Operations Officer Station Beta Two

"Here, There, and Everywhere Else"
Lieutenant James Mitchell
Chief Science Officer USS Galaxy

***Arrival at Station Beta 2*** James had just been relieved of duty and was on his way to holodeck 3 for a game of billiards when the announcement came through of the imminent docking of the Galaxy to Station Beta 2. Putting of his R&R, he made his way to a viewport in a nearby Observation area to watch the event. He'd never seen a docking up close. He was always buried away in some office or lab somewhere and never had the chance.

There were a few people off-duty and watching. A couple here, the odd person there. The Galaxy came to a slow halt and drifted towards the station moorings and past. He caught the gentle flare of a manoeuvering thruster out of the corner of his eye as it turned the ship outwards towards the expanse of deep space. He watched the stars and station gradually disappear from the periphery of the Port window.

Closing his eyes, he felt the hum of the ship as its engines throbbed at idle. They then came to a stop and a slight tug could be felt on the ship. Only those looking for it would notice, as it was not noticeable to untrained ears. A tractor beam was guiding the great beast in.

James opened his eyes and felt the hum of the engines die away and he sighed.

"I shoulda been an Engineer. Hmm....that reminds me of that problem I have....I think I might have found a solution. " He rubbed his chin where his goatee used to be. He sighed and remembered the moment Captain Price had mentioned that.

"I'm sorry, Lt., the goatee is not Starfleet accepted standard. Either you grow a beard or shave it. Your choice. Not my rules, 'mate." The Captain had smiled and shrugged.

Dejectedly, he had shaved it. Beards made him itch too much.

Scratching his chin, he grinned and turned to glance at a monitor of the rear view that someone had put on. The Galaxy had docked itself into a small version of a construction frame, seemingly restructured to fit its docking bay extension into for easier manipulation by the workmen who were replacing them.

An announcement came over the comm system by a voice he didn't quite recognize. He might've, but he hasn't had the chance to speak with the new recruits on Beta Shift. The word was that the Galaxy had successfully docked and all cre wman were authorized for shore leave. This raised an eyebrow on James.

His mind brushed back to Billiards and then to the sweet sound of credits jangling in his pocket. His grin erupted into a wily smile and he chuckled his way to Holodeck 3 to get warmed up.

***Personal Quarters, 2 hours later***

James had beaten Stephen Hendry 6 Frames to 4 when he'd had enough. He figured he'd practice his long ball first on Snooker so then he'd be ready for anything.

Sauntering back into his quarters, he saw that his "Priority Message" signal was flashing on his computer. His smile dropped.

"Oh, great. One of those rare chances I get to get social with everyone and I have to report for work once again. What the hell does a starship need with a Science Officer when we are parked at a station?" He shook his head and plopped dejectedly into his chair.

"Computer, replay Priority Message, Audio please." He lay back in his chair and closed his eyes, hoping against hope. He'd been categorizing and analysing Nebula and star charts for the last 2 days since the Nebula incident.

[To All Senior Staff, I have received a communique from Captain Zahn inviting us to dinner and a tour of the Station. Dress Uniforms are required as issued by Captain Zahn himself. Report to....]

That was all James needed to hear. He sat up with a start and groaned.

"Oh, no..that's all I need! What kind of shore leave can a person possibly enjoy in those rash-inducing starchboards? Wonderful." He stood up, threw his cue-case on the bed and inched over to the closet to retrieve the uniform. Taking it out, he threw it on the bed and went to shave before getting into the sandpaper leg/arm-hair remover.

***30 agonizing minutes later***

"God, I sure as hell didn't miss the itch from the last time I wore this! You'd think in the last 10 years they could've made improvements on it." He scratched his arms and legs, rubbing out the creases afterwards, which just made him itch more with each frictioning motion. He just grunted and left the creases where they lay.

Walking carefully not to tear any more leg hair off in the caught fibers, James left his quarters and departed for the Transporter Room.

***Transporter Room 1***

James arrived in time to be beamed down with Dr. Rousseau, Lt. Chiron, and a Security guard. The Doctor was trying to look comfortable in her blue and gold uniform, Chiron was as calm as a reefer on a windless day. He was staring off into the distance, appearingly unfocused. It was somewhat unnerving for James, to say the least. He will always be unsure whether he got the whole entity out of Chiron. He would just have to hope and pray he did.

"Hello, Chiron, how are you feeling today?" Chiron didn't look at him.

"He's partially deaf, Lt. He can't hear you unless he is looking right at you. That's why he's carrying the PADD." She gestured to the Chiron's hands, who was in fact carrying one.

"Ready to beam you down, sirs. Energizing...now." The Ensign's hands fluttered over the console and the surounding imagery faded to a crosswork of blue and yellow beams, then into the transporter room of the Station. A blue-skinned officer that remarkably looked like Lt. Morris was waiting for them.

"Welcome to Beta 2. I am Lt. Commander Morris, second in command of this station and I am here to escort you to dinner." The Delphinian smiled, turned on a heel and waved an arm towards the door. "If you'll follow me..." She waited for the others to come down of the pad and join her as they left the room.

***Mess Hall***

The room was abustle with activity. The dinner was exceptional, going by replicator standards on the Galaxy that James had been subject to, and had gone off without a hitch. James had gone off to mingle with the guests and soon became bored. He decided to go for a walk around the station on a tour of his own.

He exited the room by the main doors at the south end of the hall and entered a promenade. Moving down the semi-crowded pathways, he took in the sight of the all the people and activities around him. There were vendors out on the streets, plying their trade with various members of the crew that were out and about on the avenue. He caught the aroma of sweet herbs and spices as he rounded a corner.

To his delight, he had stumbled upon an exotic herbal cuisine shop! Hungrily, he darted in. He hadn't had the opportunity to cook with real food and spices in ages! Hr took in the soft scents that drifted to his nostrils. Breathing deeply, he closed his eyes and formalized a list of what he wanted in his head. He jumbled the credits in his pocket and decided this was more important than winning a few in a pool game.

It was a small shop, but well stocked. He moved down the first aisle and found produce and exotic root herbs. He grabbed a Ginger Root and a string of garlic. Garlic.....an Earth delicacy. So hard to find off-Earth. He smiled and made his way to the next lane, grabbing a lemon on the way.

The next lane held boxed and bulk spices. He saw a container of Fettucini and took it under his arm, moving to the bulk lane, he removed a small jar of Oregano, Basil, and Vulcan P'thay Leaves. The little yellow equivalent to Jalapeno peppers were sun-baked for three days to draw out the essence of the whole pepper and to saturate it with the heat of the juices

to envelop it with its sweet, succulent, spicy flavor.

Moving to the Bajoran shopkeeper, he grabbed a sprig of Parsley and a dozen pack of Garden tomatoes with a few other last minute choices, who happily bagged his prizes while James fished for the credits out of his pocket.

***Outside***

James carried the bag in his hands so tightly, I'd say he was paranoid that someone would steal it out of his grasp. He was extremely happy for the chance to cook again. He started to walk forward and almost ran into a local patron of the station. Glancing up to apologize, he noticed Lt. Chiron walking down the street. He opened his mouth tho call out to Chiron when he was cut off.

Out of nowhere, a bright white flash of light flooded the promenade and time fell still.

Lt. (jg) James Mitchell Chief Science Officer USS Galaxy

"Evacuating"
by Romulan ambassador Kale tr'Herrian

Bright light flooded every were kale'a attempts to shield his eyes were unsuccesful. his comn beeped "Ambassador" S'Tell's voice sounded worried, we have recently recived word, an intercepted federation transmittions indicates a Borg vessel approching the station."

"The Borg?"

" Yes sir, the Borg, sir do you know any thing about the light?"

Kale fought hard to contain his own rising sense of panic, first the probe and now this! Kale muttered several untranslatble things in a Rhinanssu gutter dialect "Pardon ambassador?"

"nothing S'Tell, heres what I want you to do, get all the embassy staff and take the Llair back to rhiannsu space for the duration."

Kale had seen reports of what happened to individuls the borg captured he had no intention of his people ending up that way.

" You will not be acompanying us?"

"No, there is a potential first contact situation ((no pun intended)) here and I must be present to insure Rhiannasu intrests are not compromised, besided I have no intention of giving the federation the satisfaction of watching me run away"

"Sir are you..."

"Go S'Tell, go now"

Kales eyes were begining to ache.

"Ambassador tr'Herrian to operations , I need clearence for the Llair to depart, my staff are evacuating, befor you make any coments about the shields I assume you will be lowering them to allow the Galaxy crew to return in preperation for the borg arrival."

"Planing a visit to Beta Two"
by Cadet Christopher Campbell

Everybody seemed excited. Christopher could understand that. Station Beta Two had a reputation of being a very exciting place. Christopher was sure he was going to find out for himself.

He could see the station through one of the windows. It did look very intresting from his position at one of the tables in Ten-Forward. He took another sip from his rootbeer.

He wondered what it would be like to work there. It would definitly be some variation to life on the USS Galaxy, he decided.

Maybe someone he knew would want to come along to visit Beta Two tomorrow after his shift? If not; he'd go himself, he thought as he finished his rootbeer and left for his quarters.

In the turbolift Christopher yawned. His mouth was still open when a female ensign he didn't know entered the turbolift.

"Good evening", she said politely.

Christopher, struggling to close his mouth, responded with a 'Ahhmmaanmae'.

She just looked at him. Niether one of them said anything more until Chris left the turbolift.

" An uninvited guest "
By Commander Coe

**** Bridge USS Galaxy ****

" What is that?" Coe muttered to himself. The formal dinner was over and Coe had taken watch of the ship whilst the rest of the senior staff enjoyed themselves on the promenade of SB2. Coe looked again, intensly this time, attempting to scan his memory, searching, probing for and answer.

" Commander, the probe appears to generating power for some............." Ensign Reyes stopped when suddenly a bright light shot out from the probe and temporarily blinded everyone on the ship. The Light not only came from the screen, but appeared to emerge from the walls also.

Coe first conscious thought forced him into action.

" RED ALERT!!! RAISE SHIELDS!!" Coe yelled loudly as to distract people from their own pain and agony. The shields did nothing, and the light continued......

-- Chris N AKA: .Commander Johnathon Thomas Coe First Officer, USS Galaxy Email Sim NCC-70637 Indentification: Foxtrot delta 769

Lt. Paran had tried to keep security in order, but as Alpha shift approached, the department received word of a Borg ship headed for Station Beta 2. Shortly afterwards, a blinding white light had lit up the ship and red alert had been sounded from the bridge. The pain from the light was extremely harsh, but Chanor forced himself to go on. He tapped his comm badge.

"Lt. Paran to Lt. Sterner. Could you please report to security sir?"

The reply was slow in coming, but he did get it. Either comm traffic problems, or else this light was affecting things.

"Acknolodged Lieutenant. Keep security in order till I get there."

"Aye sir." replied Chanor, wondering how he'd do that. He' started trying to distribute phaser rifles to the security officers, when the light struck, making it hard for him to think. The next action was to contact the bridge.

"Lt. Paran to any bridge officer."

The first officer, Commander Coe, replied.

"Lieutenant. Status report?"

"Not good sir. This light is affecting us pretty badly sir. It's hard to think straight. With the Borg on their way as well, I'm trying to organise some sort of defence, but the officers aren't at their best."

"Where is Lt. Sterner?" asked Coe, slightly pained.

"I've called him sir. He's still on Beta 2. I'll try and hold things up down here for the meantime."

"Carry on then Lieutenant."

Chanor continued to try and station officers around the ship, incase the Borg suddenly hit unexpectedly, whilst this light was still going on. Alpha shift officers started arriving without being asked, but then again, who could sleep in this painful light. However, neither Cadet Campbell nor Ensign Enquist arrived. He tried to contact both, but only got Cadet Campbell.

"Cadet, report to security immediately, unless you are already assigned to the station?"

"No sir. I'll be back as soon as possible."

"Lt. Paran to Ensign Enquist. Please respond."

Their was no answer and Chanor tried again.

"Computer, locate Ensign Enquist."

"Ensign Enquist is not onboard the USS Galaxy."

~~Damn, where is he?~~ Chanor thought as he struggled to continue to give orders. He hoped Lt. Sterner would be here soon, he wasn't coping up this well to command.

Lt. JG Paran Chanor USS Galaxy

Brightness by Chief of Security Beta 2 Jalal Dawner

Standing next to his desk Jalal watches Grigg carrying the container of grenades off to the mobile sections. I hope we see each other again my friend. I refuse to fight in this damn dress uniform. Walking to his office door, he pulls the door almost close. Walking to his locker he pulls his dress shirt off. Tossing it into the locker he takes out a regular dress shirt.

As he starts to pull the new shirt on, the entire room fills with bright light. With a loud growl he tries to cover he eyes dropping the shirt. "It Had to be a sudden bright light." Blinking his eyes he tries to remove the spots from his vision.

The office door is pushed open, as ensign Ramos moves into the office. "Chief, you alright. I heard you call out." Seeing Jalal blinking to clear his eyes Ramos moves to him. "How can I help?" Ramos asks with just alittle worry in his voice.

"Orexian eyes don't handle sudden bright lights well. I'll be alright in just a second. Find out what the Hell this light is. Now, I'm fine." As Ramos ducks back to the front office, Jalal quickly puts his shirt on. From the locker he takes his Orexian sword and belts it to his waist.

With that done he steps back into the front office. As he does Ramos says. "There's to much com traffic. But I do know this light seems to have affected the shields somewhat. I'll keep trying, Chief."

Salvine stood waiting for Morris to reply when he heard a commotion in the main area of Sickbay.

"Salvine to Morris. I have a situation here but I won't open the clinic till I get the okay from you. Salvine out."

Without changing out of his dress uniform he rushed into to see a bloody young ensign....lying on a bio-bed writihing in pain.

"Hypo." Nurse Rager immediatley responded and Salvine injected the young ensign, in the hypo was a pain killer that should dull her senses for the time it would take her to get healed.

"What happened?" Salvine questioned.

A Bajoran man guililty stepped forward, his entire body was covered in blood, probably from carrying the woman to Sickbay.

"When the light hit, she was on the upper level of the Promenade....it must have blinded her cause the next thing I knew she was lying in my outside display." The man was holding something back, Salvine could see it in his eyes and although Salvine could see the man was extremely guilty over what happened, he had to push the issue.

"And what was in this display?"

"Knives."

~KNIVES!!!!! Stay calm Verin.....just stay calm. This is why you are going to have another clinic on the promenade.~

"All right thank you."

Salvine ran a tricorder over the girl and his heart dropped.

"There's nothing we can do........she has two punctured lungs, she's lost almost all her blood, her heart has been severly severed and she took a stab right in the center of her brain. Computer record time of death 023:00 hours on stardate....."

Salvine tossed the tricorder into the medical equipment tray and headed back to his office. Nurse Rager would know to clean up the body and get the merchant out of there but this was not over yet......the Promenade needed to be a safer place and Verin was going to take that project on himself, to make sure it got done right.

"We aren't in Kansas anymore..."
by Captain Robert Edward Lee Price

The pure serenity of the white light penetrated each person on the Observation deck. At first, it was a frightening sensation, but as the warm wash of white penetrated everyone's senses, sight, sound, taste, touch, smell, there was a purifying aspect to the experience.

As the light sensation faded, slowly everyone's senses returned to normal. Captain Price glanced around the Observation area of Station Beta Two. It was apparent from everyone's reactions that this phenomenon had effected the entire station, not just himself. Speculations were made about the light being some sort of alien scan. Grimmer thoughts turned to the Borg, and some kind of new weapon. Whatever it was, Lee was only certain of one thing. It was definitely an unusual experience.

Activity began to buzz about the station as Captain Zahn's people tried to determine what had just happened. Lee reached over and tapped his comm badge.

"Captain Price to USS Galaxy. What's happening over there?"

After a pause Lieutenant Coe responded, the wailing of the Red Alert signal in the back ground.

["Coe here Captain. I've raised shields and placed the ship on Red Alert. We are trying to ascertain out status now, but so far it seems like all of our systems are fine. That energy beam may have been some kind of scan."]

Lee nodded to himself. "Zahn's people are saying the same thing Lieutenant. Have you scanned the area for more of those ships?"

["Ensign Harris is checking now sir."]

Lee's eyebrows raised. "Engineer Harris?" the Captain asked.

["Aye Captain. I have him running the additional scans until the rest of the senior command crew reports back to the Galaxy."]

Lee nods. "Right, everyone will be reporting back directly Lieutenant. If you don't find any additional ships or probes or whatever that thing was, stand down from Red Alert 'mate." The Captain pauses when he hears an outburst over the comm channel.

["...my god!"]

["What is it Ensign Koch?"] Coe asked.

["Look sir!"] the helmsman said pointing at the main view screen.

["What the devil?..."] Coe responded flatly.

Captain Price wanted to know what they were getting excited about. Whatever it was, it didn't sound good. "What is it Lieutenant? What are you looking at?"

["Captain, take a look out of one of the portals... The stars! They are gone sir."]

Lee looked surprised. Walking over to one of the observation portals on Station Beta Two, he gazed out at a vast blackness. No light. No stars. No nebulas. Utter nothingness. With a puzzled look he asked, "Are sensors picking up anything Lieutenant?"

["No sir. And the Federation communication beacon from Station Beta Two is the only relay station we can receive sir. I can't locate any other Federation Station or Starbase sir."]

"What about Romulan, Klingon, Ferengi?"

["Nothing sir. I can't explain it. That scan may have damaged our sensors and communications equipment."]

"Understood. Have a complete suite of diagnostics run on all systems Lieutenant. I will be on board the Galaxy shortly. Captain Price out."

Lee closed the channel and then reached to reactivate it again.

"Captain Price to Captain Zahn."

["Captain Price, you've glanced out the view portal I take it?"] Joseph asked while standing in Ops.

"Aye 'mate. Either that energy field stole all the stars or we aren't in Kansas anymore..." Lee said with a forced grin.

Zahn nodded. ["We've tried contacting Starfleet but the communications systems seem to be having a difficulty in locating a near by base."]

"Yes, same thing we found on the Galaxy. Lieutenant Coe informs me that other than the Federation beacon emitting from this Station, they can't detect any other signals from near by systems. I'm having them run a full diagnostics on the ship's systems as we speak."

["Same with the station."] Zahn explained.

"Right 'mate. I need to get back to the ship. Let me know what you find out, and I'll do the same."

Zahn nodded in agreement. ["Very good. I'll be in contact with you shortly with a status report."]

"Aye 'mate. At least now I have an excuse to change out of this dress uniform you forced me to put on...." Lee grinned as he unfastened the front flap of the uniform, folding it over in a perfect triangle of white.

["Me? The uniforms were you're idea Price."] Zahn said with a slight chuckle. Though their tones were professional and calm, both men were worried about the recent happenings and what appeared to be the total disappearance of the galaxy as they knew it.

"We will have to argue about that point another time 'mate. Captain Price out." Lee closed the channel then proceeded to work his way through the corridors of Station Beta Two on route back to the Galaxy at Docking bay 5. On the way he began gathering up his senior staff for their return to the Galaxy.

"We 'ave a mystery to solve here 'mates. So let's get to work."

V: "That Sinking Feeling"
by Lt. Cmdr. Tom Hanson, Chief Engineer, Beta 2

Just then the small probe blasted a bright white beam toward the station and all it's inhabitants. Beta 2 didn't shake or rattle or roll like a usual attack - It was just consumed by a bright white light everywhere. Civilians in the replimat were enguilfed by the white tone, Chief Winston in his office gleemed at the light, the crew in Ops caught the white blast, as did everyone on Station Beta Two.

Joseph put his hand over his brow, "What the hell is going on?"

Lt. Cmdr. Tom Hanson literally sprinted down the corridor towards Engineering. He shook his head violently this way and that as he ran, trying in vain to clear the searing, white light from his eyes. Peering through the tears his eyes were producing, Hanson reached Engineering, which was a flurry of activity.

"Report!" he ordered.

Jack Straker looked up from his console. "Shields at 92% and rising. We had to get them back on line in a hurry --"

Hanson was next to Straker now, scanning the displays through the still-blinding white light. "What?! That's not possible!" Hanson shouted. He pointed, "That beam! Our shields should be stopping it cold, but they're not!"

An Ensign ran up from behind. "Sir, shields now back to 98%. That's the best we can do!"

After quickly confirming this, Hanson slapped his badge. "Hanson to OPS! Shields are back up to 98%, but that beam acts like they're not even there. Without being able to re-modulate the shields yet, that's all we can do!" He closed the connection without waiting for an answer -- they were busy up there, too.

Straker looked up from his console. "Science says its a Tetryon beam of some kind. They're scanning us -- on the molecular level!!"

Hanson's mind whirled. Molecular? like in a --

Transporter?

Hanson felt his blood run cold, as his brain realized what could be happening. But if the shields wouldn't protect them --

there was nothing in the Universe he could do to stop it!

The Schizoid Man
'I HATE Headaches...'

Seles cried out... "I'm picking up the Grogers Dream on sensors. No Borg ships in pursuit...They are trying to tractor the probe...Commander! The probe is attacking the freighter!"

Varin swore... why were they risking their small freighter on an unknown like this...

Varin looked at his panel. 'The Grogers' Dream has lost all primary power, and Life support is at minimal, but they have suffered no structural damage. The probe seemed to emit a highly ionized pulse that neutralised ship's systems... Sir! I'm getting a visual scan of the surface of the probe. It seems to be covered with markings of some sort... I'm running it through the Universal Translator.'

Zahn turned to the Science Officer. "Keep us advised... I want to know what that probe is, and why it's scanning us! Coordinate with Seles and Cohen, I want you to get the Sheilds fully operational, and find a way to shut that blasted light off!"

Varin tapped at the panel furiously. 'Computer, display the probe, station, and tetryon scan on this screen.' =Working...= He could sense that there were a number of people looking over his shoulder, but he kept working anyway. 'All right, now computer, alter display to show what would happen if we flooded the sheild event horizon with anti-lepton particles.

The computer model shifted, and the flowing blue lines of the tetryon beam reflected back on the probe-image. 'I don't know how long this will last, but... Seles, configure sheild generators to emit the anti-lepton particles. Cohen, you need to keep the shields going. Take each generator offline one at a time, Seles, that way we'll still have some sheild protection.'

[This is giving me a headache... I hate headaches.... I hope this works.]

The Schizoid Man
'Back in the action'

Chiron stepped off the lift... the light was still present... unbearably bright. He could see everyone scurrying around and shouting, and wondered if they knew what was going on. He went to an unused panel, and access the sensor logs. Chiron reviewed the logs, digesting the information of the probe, the scanner-light, and the small freighter trying to tractor it away.

Suddenly, there was a tap on his shoulder. The Tamarian was so immersed in the sensor logs, that he hadn't even sensed anyone coming. He turned around, and came face-to-face with Captain Price.

Price handed him a PADD, --They need some help with the sheild generators... Perhaps you and Lt. Hutchcraft could help. He's already on his way to Engineering.--

Chiron read the PADD, and nodded to the Captain. He was getting kind of bored, and was glad to get into the action. He headed to the turbolift, and tapped the commands to send him to Engineering.

"Strange Occurrences"
Lieutenant Troy Blair Chief Tactical Officer, USS Galaxy

Troy stood at the view-port, in the Officers Mess Hall, staring at the 'vessel'. It just sat there, no movement, no indication of life, nothing. "Perhaps it's gathering data?" Troy thought to himself "There has be some kind of logical explanation for it being here." Troy stopped for a second... "Logical? Great; now I'm thinking like a Vulcan!" He shook the thoughts out of his head and continued to study the small craft.

After a few minutes of guessing at it's origin, Troy decided he'd get a better look at it from Tactical on the Galaxy. As he was about to part form the Mess Hall, the 'vessel' began to show signs of life, when a small white beam of light emitted from the bow. But what was it doing?

"Captain, I think you better come take a look at this" Troy stated, looking at the light. Captain Price stood up and walked over to Troy, Captain Zahn was close in following.

"What is it Lieutenant?" Price asked. Troy shrugged his shoulders in response

Captain Zahn quickly tapped his comm badge, "Zahn to Ops."

"Go ahead Captain," Ramone replied.

"What are the sensor readings on a small . . ."

Before Zahn could finish his statement, a blinding, larger beam of light engulfed the station. Troy quickly shielded his eyes with his hand, trying to keep from being blinded. After, what seemed like minutes, the light dissipated and all went back to normal. Troy quickly returned to the view-port to see what happened to the tiny craft. But he didn't notice it, instead he saw nothing, no nebula, no stars, just black.

"Captain, I don't know if it's my eyes or what, but the only thing I see is black" Troy said. Captain Price turned his head back to the view- port.

"Same here, 'mate" Price concurred

"You don't think that light was an explosion and we're all dead now, do you?" Troy realized how dumb he sounded when he said that out loud.

"No, somehow I don't believe it was. But whatever it was, I'd like to find out" The Captain smiled.

"So would I" Captain Zahn replied

"Brightness II"
by Chief of Security beta 2 Jalal Dawner

As the final security personnel leave for their posts, main security is empty. Jalal suddenly remembers the open panel in his office. Taking the necklace off he walks back into his office. Squating down he closes and locks the panel. Standing up to put the necklace back on his eyes glance out the portal.

"By the Light!" Walking up to the portal he just stares out. "Thier all gone. Avor is real." Reaching up to his neck, he feels for a heartbeat. Letting out the breath he unkowningly had held. Well, it can't be the Orexian afterlife because I'm still alive.

"Chief...Chief!" Ramos calls from the front office. With the com headset on he steps into the office. "I have some infor...ma..tion.." Ramos says before he sees what Jalal is looking at. Walking next to Jalal he stares out the portal then he continues. "The shields are alright. there was too much sudden demand for power all at once I think."

"Alright. Have a check on all security sections. I want to know if they are all in position. Let's go back to the front office." Taking another dagger from under his desk, Jalal follows the ensign to the front desk.

Katoc Malron Kenit,
" It's Back pt1"

Katoc awoke with a start. It was back, the telepathy had returned again. He had been a telepath since birth but a few years ago, shortly after his parents death, he had lost the ability. Ability, sometimes he considered it a curse... It was hard to tune out the thoughts that people broadcasted openly, and it was even harder when someone else was having a bad day or scared because then they sent out even stronger thoughts

*Ah well, I wonder why it even left in the first place.... I guess prehaps something to do with the loss of my family, maybe I am getting over that now...* Katoc got up out of bed, there was nouse in trying to go back to sleep now, it would take a short while to train his mind to block out the thoughts again, and he put on his breather and headed out for a walk.

********** Katoc walked on the promenade and listened to random thoughts, got the feel of the people living here. *I guess this IS a welcomed thing to have happen really, it makes life so much more interesting.* Katoc sensed quite a few telepaths on the station as well. *Hmm... Perhaps I shall try to meet some of them, get help on this or give it.*

Katoc went into a bar that served basically anything you could want and sat at a table. Shortly a waiter came and took his order. "I'll have a Ber'Lek. No, make that a... Oh what's it called... A... Hot Chocolate, thats' it, I'd like to try a hot chocolate." The waiter ran off to fill the order and Katoc watchedthe people, not able to hear them as well.

When his orde arrived Katoc removed his breather (He could survive for a short while without it, but after long periods of time the oxygen would causehis brain to deteriorate and he would become brain dead.) and took a sip of the hot, brown liquid. At first he could taste nothing because of how hot it was but after a few sips he bagan to like it. Much sweeter than most of the things he was used to but good.

Katoc finished the drink, paid and walked out of the bar to continue his walk on the promenade. He had not done much on the station so far beside make arrangements to have his ship repaired and wanted to see the whole promenade. He passed many shops with their wares displayed attracting the passerby in an attempt to make a sale, quite a few eating and drinking establishments and some offices and other assorted rooms.

He walked into a small shop that specialized in artifacts from the beta quadrant and saw something that cought his eye........

Katoc Malron Kenit,
" The Light "

Katoc has just entered the small shop when suddenly a bright light came on. Katoc held his hand in front of his eyes to block it, thinking it must be somebody's idea of a joke but the heand did not helpany, in fact the light seemed to be comming from... everywhere!

Katoc Malron Kenit,
" The Light, Pt 2 "

As suddenly as the light had come, it was gone. Everything seemed darker than before, like you had come in from bright sunlight into a dimly lit room. Katoc forgot all about the item he had seen and returned to his quarters.

Katoc removed his breather and sat on the couch next to the portal and looked at the stars, they always gave him comfort. *Wait a minuet, this can't be right...* Katoc looked for the stars but they weren't there, nothing was there, it was just, black, empty.

*This is not good, not good at all...* Katoc was very disturbed by this, the stars that usualy gave him comfort were now gone and he did not like it.

"Katoc Malron Kenit to... Oh, who cares, they already know of this why bother them, I'm sure I'll get some political fish story anyhow.... Belay that order computer"

"Exploration"
by Cmdr. Kra'lana Morris
The Void

"Commander," said Lt. Seles, "The Grogers Dream is no longer under attack. The appear to have take no damage and the probe is gone!"

"How long until the Borg ship is to arrive?" Cmdr. Morris said.

"Unknown Sir." said the Lieutenant, "we can no longer sense them."

***
After determining that they can no longer reach any of the Starfleet beacons or relay stations.
***

"Captain, I suggest that we send out a Class 1 probe. I would like to see how large this field is that we seemed to be encompassed in." said the Commander.

"Do it. Send out three in different directions. Try to triangulate the size the field." the Captain said.

"Done." said the Commander. From the readings they were getting though it no longer looked like they were surrounded. They were in a different place.

"Diverted Again"
By Dr. Jacqueline Rousseau

Jacqueline was actually not very suprised when the small message unit she had with her bleeped on the transporter pad.

"Wait." She ordered. The transporter chief halted his motions.

She checked the message left...and sighed. Apologizing for the trouble, she exited to her quarters.

She was dressed in the "straightjacket," as she preferred to call it, sooner than she would have liked. 'But then, I'm running late,' she reminded herself. She carefully adjusted the last little details, then left her quarters again...this time opting for the airlock.

Jacqueline found herself seated directly across from Commander Morris and next to Dr. Salvine. What wonderful seating arrangements! She wondered briefly if it was coincidence or if someone had planned it that way...

"Dr. Rousseau, I have to say that I am very impressed with your Neurological studies and findings. I studied them while I was at Science Center Sarek. "

The question shook Jacueline out of her thoughts. "Thank you, Commander...you used to be the CMO here, right?"

She nodded her head. "Yes...although my replacement is more than capable. Brilliant is possibly the word."

Jacqueline turned her attention to Dr. Salvine, who was now addressing her.

"Hello Dr.Rousseau. I am Dr.Verin Salvine, Chief Medical Officer of Beta Two. I must say I am very impressed with your work on the Galaxy."

"Thank you...I don't think I've ever gotten such praise. That was kind of you to say."

"It's the truth. I'm not a big embellisher."

"That's nice to know."

She took a sip of water before continuing. "You have a rather impressive resume yourself, Doctor."

The man cracked a smile. "A matter of opinion."

He returned to his food plate, a slightly faraway look on his face, as Kra'lana Morris asked another question.

"So how is life aboard the Galaxy?"

"Fine, really. Busy, but fine."

"Busy...a very good reason to transfer to command, actually. Less midnight calls."

Jacqueline couldn't help but laugh. "Yes...a very good reason. But I don't think I'll give it up that easily."

As they both turned to other occupations, Kra'lana's being a question asked of her and Jacqueline's being her growling stomach,she was intercepted by a brilliant smile on Salvine's face and a question:

"Dr, would you care to have a tour of our medical facilities? I can even give you a sneak peek of our new Clinic on the Promenade. How does that sound?"

How wonderful! Maybe this was worth the straightjacket...

She was about to answer when she heard mention of the word "strawberry" mixed in with the word "ice cream." It seemed her colleague had heard the same, or something similar, because he asked:

"Do you mind if we get some desert before that tour?"

She grinned. "No problem here...I heard mention of strawberries..."

They made their way to the dessert table, and were almost there, when a blinding light came searing in, through the station and all it's inhabitants. No sudden jolt came with it...as if it were a scan.

It made no difference right now, because Jacqueline couldn't see.

She leaned against what she knew was a table until her vision readjusted. It took longer than she would have liked, but slowly, her vision cleared up.

Her first sight was that of Dr. Salvine walking up to her, an apologetic look on his face. He excused himself, then left the room.

It took a few more moments for her to compose herself. When shefinally did, she tapped her communicator.

"Rousseau to Galaxy sickbay. Report."

A familiar voice blared through the commbadge. "No injuries reported...only temporary blindness as a result if a very right light. Did you have the same problem up there?"

"Yes." She took a look around the room before continuing. "I'll be there in a few minutes. Rousseau out."

As Jacqueline sprinted for the nearest way off the station, she wondered rather bitterly if she'd ever get a vacation again. "Doctor's don't get vacations," her mother used to say.

'Yes...this coming from the doctor that neglected her children and collapsed from exhaustion twice in one week.'

Oh, why did she have to think about this *now.* in the middle of a crisis.

"Crap."

"Out of Synch"
by Lt. Jg. Ronni Morris
The Void

During the tour of the Station, Ronni ducked out of the group and headed for the USS Galaxy.

'I'll wait for K'arta before I do any exploring of the Station.' she thought.

She relieved Ensign T'chatal on the bridge's Science station so the Ensign could go visit a friend on the Station.

She was running a Level Two diagnostic of the ship's systems when the secondary scanners picked up a small obect moving at high speed. Then, a ship came out of warp, a freighter of some sort. It opened a channel to both the station and the ship, and said it was being followed a Borg cube!

Ronni stopped the diagnostic and turned the scanners toward the signature scan of a Borg cube. Fear and hatred boiled up in Ronni as she remembered how her brother Misk was killed by the Borg.

She was glad that the USS Galaxy's new shields were on line. She was very proud of them. She and her team had designed the shields and now they were going to get a field test on the USS Galaxy.

" Commander, the probe appears to generating power for some............." Ensign Reyes started.

Ensign Reyes stopped when suddenly a bright light shot out from the probe and temporarily blinded everyone on the ship. The Light not only came from the screen, but appeared to emerge from the walls also.

Cmdr. Coe's first conscious thought forced him into action.

" RED ALERT!!! RAISE SHIELDS!!" Coe yelled loudly as to distract people from their own pain and agony. The shields did nothing, and the light continued......

Ronni turned to the scanners. Gone . . . . . Everything was gone. "Commander, I don't know what happened. I can scan Beta Station Two and all of the docked ships as clear as ever, but everything else is gone."

"What do you mean 'gone' Lieutenant?" said the Commander.

"I'm not picking up anything. Not even Relay Station 493 or the Yridian Communication satillites. The sensors seem to be working fine, but they aren't picking up anything else, only Beta Station Two and the docked ships." she said quickly checking the myriad of communication check points that Starfleet and the Federation had assembled.

"What about the Borg ship?" said Cmdr. Coe.

"Nothing Sir." she said still scanning the area. "Sir, I would like permission to use the Dish to enhance the scans."

"How long will it take to configure Lieutenant?" he said.

"With Lt. HutchCraft's assistance, about an hour." she said.

"Go do it. Keep me apprised of the situation." he said turning back to the screen. He was contacting the Station again as she entered the turbolift. "Engineering" she told the computer.

Transported, but to where? by Lt. jg Ramone Pescadeiro Beta 2 Station

All hell was breaking loose in Ops. Ramone relinquished his station to Lt Seles, going to mission ops, he got the redirective shields ready to go on-line at a moments notice and then he started doing more indepth scans of that small ship.

"They using a tetryon beam to scan us." Someone said. Ramone thought for a moment.....tetryon.....thats used for scanning on a moleculure level, almost like the.....TRANSPORTER.

Immediately, he stopped his scans, and focused on the stations location. He couldn't find any federation comm beacons anywhere. He couldn't even locate the nearest starbase. The station definitely wasn't where it was supposed to be.

"Captain, that tetryon beam that scanned us, also transported us to some unknown location."

Ramone started to pulled up all the star charts to find out where they were, he overheard "The stars are gone, what happened?" in his mind. No stars, that can't be right. He looked at his monitor and checked a visual of just outside the station, "Holy jumping jehosaphat! There's no stars outside. Captain you'd better look at this!" He put the display on screen for everyone to see. All that seemed to be outside of the station was a VOID.

Lt. jg Ramone Pescadeiro
Operations Officer - Beta 2 Station