"Rescue Mission Part II"
by Ensign K'Eytyanna Samara

Lancelot looked around the corner quickly, and was glad to see one guard sitting in a chair, looking away. Motioning the others to wait, he drew his sword quietly and tiptoed over to the guard. Turning his sword so that the flat of the blade would make contact, he raised the weapon, aimed and brought it down hard on the man's head. The man slumped to the ground and Lancelot realised that the guard had already been unconscious.

"What the hell? Let's hurry before anyone realises." The knights and Samara fanned out, ready for anyone who happened by. S'Dan and Angus quickly found the keys to the cells and the location of the cell housing the Starfleet officers. K'Eytyanna cursed in Klingon about the state of Mordred's prison before replying in Standard,

"Okay, Lancelot, your with me. Everyone else, hold this position." Racing down the corridor as fast as she could with Lancelot trying to catch up, she finally reached a strong oak door with a carving of a number that was the one she was looking for. Pushing the key into the lock, she turned it before kicking the door open. Rushing in, she said,

"We don't have much time. I'm taking responsibility with who I had to involve in this rescue. If it's possible, you can take over command once we are out of.... What the hell??" Lancelot rushed into the room a few seconds behind her. K'Eytyanna snarled,

"What kind of a stupid prison does Mordred run? Unconscious guards and missing prisoners. We have to fan out through the castle and find them. Just $&)$%)^^ great!" The pair raced back towards the staircase and the others.

--------

K'Eytyanna stopped suddenly, her klingon hearing picking up the sound of someone moving cautiously along the corridor. Motioning Lancelot to be quiet, she drew her bow and notched an arrow before slowly looking around the corridor. Further up, a solitary guard was creeping along the passage towards the knights, totally undetected due to their intense watching of the staircase.

'Damn it! Add another one to the death toll of this mission. Just hope nobody with important relatives has died so far thanks to me.' Quickly, she jumped out with her bow aimed and gave a loud Klingon war-cry. The surprised guard yelped and spun around just in time to see the arrow impale itself in his chest, fatally wounding him. Racing up and drawing her dagger, she reached him in time to see his eyes finally close. Removing his helmet, she saw that the man was in fact a young boy of roughly 17 summers old. One of the knights, Sir Tor, put a hand on her shoulder and replied,

"Leave him, K'Eytyanna. All the men who joined Mordred's force are evil by heart, and all though it is sad when any of them die, it is one less person to harm others for their own gain." She stood and motioned the others forward. Lancelot spoke,

"Galahad, Gawaine, K'Eytyanna and myself will go in the front, Tor at the back, everyone else in the middle. We'll head back to the tunnel, drop off Angus, S'Dan and Kelly safely and go in to find our missing prisoners." K'Eytyanna nodded and led the charge up the stairs towards the inevitable guards at the top. Reaching the top, they ran straight into five guards, who were quickly dispatched. After ten minutes of running and clashing, the group finally reached the tunnel entrance. Outside, they found Sir Percivale waiting with a detachment of twenty soldiers and extra horses. Lancelot quickly told Percivale about what they had found. The mounted knight ordered,

"Soldiers, look after these people. Lancelot, I'm coming with you. You will need everyone you can get." K'Eytyanna handed her bow and arrows to Angus before heading back into the fortress,

"If we find Mordred, we can use him as a bargaining tool." The group slipped into the castle and ran down the corridors. Reaching a door, they burst into the room to find themselves in what looked like a Medieval kitchen. Some cooks yelped in surprise and K'Eytyanna grabbed the nearest one by the front of his shirt,

"Where is Mordred?? Tell me or I'll slit your throat." To emphasise the point, she drew her dagger. The man went white in the face and mumbled,

"Out this door, left until you reach some stairs, up two floors and his room is at the end of the corridor." She dropped him, letting him fall in a pile at her feet. Motioning the door, she led them out and towards their goal.

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

Charging up the stairs, the group hacked their way through the determind guards until they reached the correct floor. Gawaine, Tor and Galahad stayed at the stairs, defending their exit while Percivale, Lancelot and K'Eytyanna continued. Running onwards, they stopped when they reached the remains of what had been an oak double-door. Bursting in with swords drawn, they saw Mordred, in a part stage of undress, holding Ensign Nilani, her clothes ripped, against him with a dagger at her throat as Chiron stood ready to attack. K'Eytyanna yelled out,

"Put that woman down now, you scum, or I swear I will your life a living hell before I take it!!" Mordred spun around 90 degrees and stepped back towards the wall. The knights fanned out at the door on her signal, preventing Mordred from escaping. Her Klingon side mumbled mentally,

'It's times like this when a phaser would be terrific. Bajoran, got any ideas?'

'Ummm... maybe if Chiron gets him to turn, you can throw your dagger.' Closing her eyes, she put a very strong message in her mind for Chiron, willing it as hard as possible towards him. A few seconds later, his voice whispered in her head,

'Agreed, Ensign. I'll tell Nilani to duck or move away as soon as it is possible.' Chiron edged further around before making a quick move towards Mordred. The man quickly turned further away from K'Eytyanna as she slowly drew her dagger. Raising it above her head, she threw the d'k tahg hard without thumbing the release button. The point of it dug into Mordred's side and the side blades shot out inside, causing him to bellow in pain. Quickly, Nilani gave him a jab to the stomach with her elbows and dove away, unharmed by a mere centimetre. A mere two seconds later, K'Eytyanna had made the distance and smashed her fist into Mordred's face, breaking his jaw in the process. Grabbing the handle, she pulled the d'k tahg out before grabbing Mordred's hair and bashing his head into the stone wall, knocking him unconscious. Turning to Ensign Nilani who was laying on the ground from her dive, she said,

"Good work. Your jab gave me time to reach him." As Chiron helped Nilani up, K'Eytyanna gave Mordred a few savage and vicious kicks to the stomach, causing him to groan but stay unconscious,

"nuchpu'!! QI'yaH, Huh qoH'!!" Chiron grabbed her shoulder and sent,

'Ensign Samara, stop that now. You are a Starfleet officer! Swearing in Klingon counts as well' She growled and stopped kicking, mumbling something nasty in Andorian instead and causing Chiron to glare at her. Lancelot stepped forward,

"If everyone is ready and finished kicking Mordred, can we leave before every guard in the castle comes down on us?"

Ensign K'Eytyanna Samara,
USS Galaxy NCC-70637 Engineering Department

USS Galaxy
Lt. Deiran Casey
"Ion Idioms"

Casey knew he didn’t have a lot of time. He made Ensign Thomas and Ronni well aware of the fact. He was in charge of Ronni, Ensigns Thomas and Boudreau. They’re job, fix the shuttle.

Casey would fix the transporters. He retrieved his tricorder and went to work.

Scanning the primary energizing coils he saw they were weak. He scanned the phase transition coils and they were functional but needed repair. He then scanned the molecular imaging scanners, which were functional but also in need of repair. On a closer inspection he saw that the Doppler compensators were malfunctioning.

Casey analyzed the problems and used his computer-like brain to come up with the right solutions. Casey smiled as the solutions came to him. Within an hour or so he could get this working quickly.

"Miran, honey, can you get my tools outside?" he asked her in a sweet tone.

She smiled and went for them. She returned with them. Casey was just removing the PTC plate. "Thanks Hon, I appreciate it. I’ve got to work fast."

Casey took his tools and wiggled his fingers into the back of the compartment, he reached the Doppler compensators and found them to be absolutely fried.

Casey backed up and out of the compartment and yelled for Ensign Thomas to come to him.

"Yes, sir," Thomas said as he stopped in front of Casey, who was just getting out of the PTC compartment.

"Ensign, please replicate four Doppler compensators with Doctor Currie’s replicators. And do it fast Ensign. Thank you."

"Aye sir, I’ll have it done quick," Thomas replied and was gone in a flash.

While Thomas was replicating the compensators. Casey was boosting the power to the primary energizing coils on the transporter. He rerouted the phaser energy to the transporters, he doubted they’d need phasers and while doing that he boosted the field generators to give a bit of an added bonus to the transport range.

Just as Casey was finishing his work, Thomas returned with the Doppler compensators. "Thanks Ensign, you can go back and assist Lt. Morris, we have to get this shuttle ready to fly, just in case."

"Aye, sir." Thomas was a good officer.

Casey then installed the new Doppler compensators, and boosted the transporter’s capacity by installing two more compensators. They would be able to transport twice as many people and the power was boosted now. They’d get twice as many transports also.

Casey finished. It took him an hour and a half but it was done. He had to check one thing but had to speak with the Commander first.

"I’ll be right back Miran, let me know when Ronni’s finished with the makeshift repairs okay?"

"I will Deiran," she replied a luminescent smile on her face. Oh man, that made him melt when she did that. He got his mind back on the job at hand and headed for Commander Coe’s position.

"Commander, would it be okay if I increased power so that the ACB of the shuttle’s transporters would be able to handle more transports? I’ve already boosted the PEC’s but need to redirect power so the ACB can compensate; do I have your permission sir?"

"Aye, Lieutenant, do what it takes, we’re already behind schedule. Is that all you need to finish?"

"Aye sir, the engineering team has fixed the impulse engines on the shuttle. But, hopefully we won’t need them and these transporters and the satellite will work sir."

"I hope so too, Lieutenant, permission granted, let me know when you’ve finished," the Commander said as he was interrupted by some other officers.

Casey left them and headed back to the shuttle. He went inside and found Ronni and Miran gone.

"Ensign Thomas, where is Ronni and Miran?" Casey asked.

"They were here just a bit ago sir, I didn’t see them exit the shuttle," Thomas responded, clearly at a loss of what to tell his CO.

Casey looked at the transporter console,"Two people just beamed up to the Galaxy!" Casey almost shouted, but his voice was raised.

"What in the heck were they thinking!!! This transporter wasn’t even fully functioning at peek capacity yet!"

Casey wanted to shake his wife and ask her what she was thinking. Casey loved being the hero, but would never put his life in unneeded jeopardy. That one transport could’ve spewed Ronni and Miran’s molecules in a stationary orbit above Sigma II if it wasn’t for Casey’s precise adjustments to the transporter. He was going to test the reconfigurement with something inanimate, not with humans on the first try. Well, he had to admire his wife for her spunk, but grimaced at the thought of the gruesome image of Miran’s molecules being spewed, not a pretty picture. When the Commander found out she and Ronni would be in deep trouble.

Being the CO of the team he had to be the one to inform Commander Coe.

"Lt. Casey to Commander Coe," Casey said after tapping his comm badge.

[Coe here Lieutenant, what’s up?"]

"Well sir, Lt.’s Morris and Casey-Ti have beamed off the planet’s surface and onto the Galaxy without authorization, sir."

[Had you finished your adjustments Lieutenant?]

"No, sir, but the Transporters were functioning. It was extremely dangerous to use them sir,"

[I’ll be right there Lt. Casey, Coe out]

*** 10 minutes later ***

Commander Coe took volunteers for plan B. They would now have to fly the shuttle up to the secondary atmosphere, as close as possible so a strike team could beam aboard the Galaxy. The Galaxy’s shields were down.

They were down because a ship, which sensors seem to be identifying as a Ferengi ship, was firing on the Galaxy, and that’s how shields were down.

Casey thought it convenient that the Ferengi would help them like that. He smiled at his own joke that no one heard or would hear. It was a serious situation. His wife and Ronni didn’t contact them, this was not good. Somehow the Ferengi must’ve gotten control of the ship.

"If those Ferengi touch my wife, they’ll be sorry they ever set foot in this quadrant or exist at all!" Deiran thought as his rage was beginning to get the best of him.

"Commander, I would like to go with you, if I may?" Casey asked.

"You’ll be invaluable to us Deiran, I understand." Coe was a good man to let him come, he didn’t have to being that he was the only other senior officer who could take command of the away team, since the others were either not back from their time periods or in the ruins of the ancient city.

"Ensign Thomas you’ll be in command while we’re gone," Coe said.

"Aye sir," Thomas said.

The Commander then went over the plan with everyone, so no one would be in the dark.

Ensign Thomas spoke up,"Sir we can use the AHEv1.2…"

"Sorry, Ensign, it’s a good idea, but those transporters can’t be used until they’ve regenerated, we’re going to need all the power we can get. Besides the window through the ionization is closed and won’t open for another 40 minutes. We’ll just have to be patient Ensign." Casey wasn’t off the planet yet and still in command below Commander Coe.

The meeting dispersed and everyone began to put the plan into action.

"Commander, just so you know, we may not have to make an emergency landing. I think we can use the transporters. I’ve increased their capacity and range, we should be able to get our people on the Galaxy as long as those shields are down."

The Commander took into account Casey’s proposal and mulled it over in his mind.

Casey loved the excitement of being in Starfleet. But, there were times when he wished Miran was a civilian. She loved the helm too much to leave though, so Deiran would never ask her. But, in times like these he wanted to. It was difficult to keep his mind on his work when Miran might be in jeopardy.

"Outrage"
By Ensign Thomas

Chris was angry with Lt. Casey's decision to bump him from the mission to the Galaxy. His personal opinion of his commanding officer was changed forever. He would no longer look at him and see a friend. He would for the likley future see him as threat to his career in Starfleet and a potential enemy. His first thought had been to kill Lt. Casey where he stood, but this wasn't a Klingon crew. If it had been, Lt. Casey would be dead, for insulting Chris's courage and honor. He missed some of the Klingon ways through some he could live without for the rest of his life. Klingon Painsticks where the first items that he felt were out of date and something that wasn't of interest.

He learned a lesson when he was in Starfleet that helped save his life a few don't get anger, don't get even just get ahead of the oppistion. Through his insticts had gotten the better part of him almost now he was taking his furry out on the ground of this evil planet. He worked his aggression into digging down to rescure the officers trapped in the center of town. They had been digging for almost an hour. They worked in shifts rotating so no one person got to tried, except Chris he was still working on his anger and he didn't need to blow up at anyone.

They were using shovels and any digging tools that could be created or found to remove the dirt. The sciencts had even brought a small amount of explosives. Which they were using sparing as they had little to work with and they might needed to finish the job. Chris still had his personal phaser which he had recharged using the power cell he brought with from the ship when he started testing them, through only on remaind as he had earlier thorwn it down and smashed in front of Lt. Casey.

Early he had dropped off a medkit that he had managed to put together for Dev to use in treating Colby of his sickness. He had made a promission to be Colby's guadian and another one earlier to himself if Lt. Casey failed and lived things would never be the same.

He had found Soushonn and asked him to help with rescuring the trapped members and prehaps they might have a better answer than anyone on the surface did at the moment.

His main focus had been to account for as many of the crew as possible to witch he assigned an Ensign and a couple of other people to account for everyone that was curently on the surface and reachable. He would find...

"What Now?"
by Lt. James Mitchell

The huge expanse of the cavern awed James. The array of bubbles containing various lifeforms completely took him off his game. He had less of an idea now what to do than before.

Here lay the entire crew of the Galaxy. All 1000+ of them. The Captain's lifesigns flitted sporadically, Rousseau's touching on a faint shade of pink. Something caught his eye from behind the Captain's casket.

He encircled the Captain's still form, keeping a watchful eye on the blinking lights as he rounded to the other side of the simple-looking bed.

He came upon another capsule, this one containing Lt. Blair. Troy's body had picked up a rapid breathing motion, as shown by the rapid rise and fall of his chest. James aimed his tricorder over him and was shown his heart-rate increasing, endomorphins and adrenalin levels on the rise. His monitor switched over to a slow blink of yellow.

"Joerg! Got another yellow sign from Lt. Blair!" James ran around to the head of the case, looking for any sign as to how to get it open. Sterner came rushing over from where he was in conversation with Hutchcraft.

"Lieutenant. I've just been informed that several of the crewmembers have left their timelines and disappeared from the monitors. You and Hallmark were right. Solving the riddles does take you home." Sterner watched Mitchell carefully so as to make sure he practiced what he preached in not touching anything.

Just then, a swirl of red enveloped itself around Troy, it's wispy tendrils growing denser by the second until it completely enveloped him.

"No! Not again!" Mitchell screamed at the capsule. "Who are you?!" He yelled out loud to the room, his echoing voice coming back to him, then fading away in the fathoms of the expansive cavern. He punched at the capsule as the mist swallowed in on itself.

Troy was gone.

[Hutchcraft to Mitchell, Sterner]

The two of them tapped their commbadges at once, both dejected.

"We're here, Andrew. We just lost Troy. Do you have him on a monitor up there?"

[We did, but he disappeared. Where are they going?] Andrew was sounding fearful now. The crew were disappearing from their bubbles.

"Gentlemen! Another 6 have vanished!" Currie's voice rung out worriedly.

Sterner and Mitchell stared at each other. Were they next? Or were they doomed to a life of being trapped down in this dungeon forever?

James was beginning to get thirsty.

"This is getting insane. I'm beginning to think OUR only way out of here is going into the timelines ourselves...." Mitchell shook his head and looked to Enquist's and K'Trall's bodies. "I sure as heck hope we don't end up like those two. We've GOT to get out of here. And NOW. This is getting too spooky for me." The commlink was still open.

"Andrew, get Hallmark off whatever he is doing and get him to transalating the symbols on the pillars at that energy core. They must be able to tell us something."

[Aye, Lt. I'd still like to take one of these consoles apart, though...] He trailed off the last half of his sentence in emphasis.

Sighing, Mitch replied. "Lt. Do what you have to. At this point, we know nothing, so it wouldn't hurt, I guess." Sterner's eyes had gone wide at the prospect.

"Lt. I must disagree with that idea. It's too dangerous."

"Joerg, I don't see any other choice. Do you have any ideas as to how to get out of this place AND get our crewmen back to the Galaxy, too? I'd like to know what makes this place tick." Still looking to Sterner, he got back to Hutch.

"Andrew, be sure you have someone with you at all times. If you hear ANYTHING out of the ordinary. A noise, a bell, whistle, anything...get out of there. We can't lose you as well."

[Aye, Lt. Gotcha. I've no desire to go and figure out any more riddles. This one we have is enough thank you. Getting a console apart and figuring it out is a riddle enough in itself.] A smile could be heard in his words.

"Good luck, Hutch. Mitchell out." He tapped his commbadge and Andrew's tap came back through Joerg's, severing the link.

"Ms. Currie!" James called out into the dim light.

"Over here, Lt. I think I've figured something out here...." James saw the woman hunched over a bubble. He was unable to see if there was anything in it. He approached her, wounding his way through the capsules of the dead and living lifeforms.

"I hope you haven't been touching things again....."

Lt. James Mitchell
Chief of Science USS Galaxy

It must have been quite the scene for the rescuers.

An older man, partially disrobed, holding a lovely woman in tattered clothes hostage by means of a dagger at her neck, and a... well... a Tamarian standing at the ready, somewhat defeated.

Mordred turned a bit, making sure that the intruders could see the blade at Nilani's neck. A small bead of blood trickled down Nilani's neck as Mordred tighted his grip slightly. Chiron could feel the fear from Nilani, and he tried to console her, and calm K'eytyanna at the same time.

"Put that woman down now, you scum, or I swear I will your life a living hell before I take it!!" Mordred spun around 90 degrees and stepped back towards the wall. That movement effectively put Nilani between him and his attackers. Now how were they going to escape with all lives intact?

Just then, he sensed a message from K'eytyanna, "Need you... divert Mordred..." He nodded slowly, before responding, 'Agreed, Ensign. I'll tell Nilani to duck or move away as soon as it is possible.'

Chiron edged just a tad to the right, and then made a quick movetowards Mordred. The man quickly turned further away from K'Eytyanna as she slowly drew her dagger. His attention focused on Chiron momentarily, the Tamarian could quite clearly sense that Mordred was about to kill Miss Kahn. Just as Chiron felt that Mordred was about to slit the Bajoran's throat, K'etyanna's D'k'tagh flew through the air. The point of it dug into Mordred's side and the side blades shot out inside, causing him to bellow in pain. Quickly, Nilani gave him a jab to the stomach with her elbows and dove away, Mordred's knife clattering to the floor. A mere two seconds later, K'Eytyanna had made the distance and smashed her fist into Mordred's face, breaking his jaw in the process. Grabbing the handle, she pulled the d'k tahg out before grabbing Mordred's hair and bashing his head into the stone wall, knocking him unconscious. Turning to Ensign Nilani who was laying on the ground from her dive, she said, "Good work. Your jab gave me time to reach him."

Chiron went over to Nilani, bent over, and helped her up. 'Now we have matching injuries, Miss Kahn... You, your neck, I, my forehead.' Vicious anger flowing from Samara reached his own mind, and he rested a hand on her shoulder. 'Ensign Samara, stop that now. You are a Starfleet officer! Swearing in Klingon counts as well' He felt another wave from Samara, and shot her a glare that would have frozen a SuperNova.

He turned to a large man clad in metal armor, who said, "If everyone is ready and finished kicking Mordred, can we leave before every guard in the castle comes down on us?" Reading his lips, Chiron nodded, and headed into the hallway.

"Wait sir, stop! Know you the way out of this castle?" Chiron continued, not hearing the man's pleas. He turned to Samara, "Is that man deaf???"

The engineer nodded, and Lancelot blushed slightly. "Ah...I... mmm... I see."

"CHIRON!" Nilani concentrated on the man's name, and he stopped, looking back at her. She pointed, saying, "This way." He wheeled, and followed the knights as they made their way out of the castle, successful in their mission.

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

'I may have the answer to the riddle.' Chiron sent, quite suddenly, as they traveled back to Camelot.

[---------The Schizoid Man-----------]

Colby slowly opened his eyes to see that the lights were to their fullest. The sudden splash of light hit his eyes hard, making him squint and rub his eyes. He didn't feel as hot as the night before. Still quite warm, but comfortable enough. He felt that he still had no shirt on from his 'accident' beforehand. In front of the cot he slept in, there was a small table. On it was a mug of warm water, a PADD, and a dry washcloth. Apparently the counselor had been up again after she had coaxed him to sleep.

Turning from around the corner, Devlynn walked in. "Wow," she said as she smiled, "It's 4 o' clock in the afternoon, Colby. You must have really been tired."

Colby just nodded. "Yeah," was all he had to say.

In her hand, Devlynn held Colby's shirt. "Oh, by the way, I managed to have your shirt cleaned. I thought that you wouldn't want to spend all day walking around without one, getting sick all over again."

Colby took the shirt as Devlynn held it out to him. He sat up in his cot, and slipped it on. It felt good to finally to get his clothing back on himself again. He felt uncomfortable without his shirt; he felt extremely glad to have it back.

"Thanks," he said, again just having that to say.

"Now, I've got to get back outside," Devlynn said. "We're having a bit of a uhhh, problem. Will you be ok all by yourself?"

"Sure, I'll be fine," Colby replied.

"All right. Be good now." And with that, the counselor was gone, leaving Colby to his own devices once again.

Of course, being an eight year old child, Colby was not just going to sit around, waiting for someone, to come to him just to tell him that they were still busy and wouldn't get back for a few more hours. He threw back the sheets that covered the cot and sat up. He turned his upper body towards the door slowly, making sure that he would be up to the task of getting up and walking around. Feeling everything work smoothly, he turned his legs around and placed them on the floor. Ahhh, cold! The smooth floor was extraordinarily cool on Colby's bare feet. He realized that the counselor must have his socks and shoes stored somewhere, more than likely in the bathroom. He quickly walked to the door, and peeked around the corner. To his left, he saw the entrance to the bathroom. Across the small corridor, just two other rooms in the temporary shelter. He stepped further out into the hall and made his way out of the shelter.

Outside there were many people scuttling about, trying to get to this and that, talking about anything and everything that they needed to do on the ship, what they had to do now, and what they wish they could do. Colby sighed. Apparently, they hadn't found a way onto the Galaxy, and he wasn't particularly happy about this. 'Lazy humans,' he thought. 'Luxanna always said they were slow.'

He made his way out further, quite a distance. Apparently no one had seen him. His bare feet felt good against the ground. It made him relax. Relax to the point where he was no longer tense. Though, he still felt a bit warm, and his face was flushed with color again.

Colby heard a voice from behind him that he didn't recognize. "Young man, what are you doing here?"

He turned around to see a crewman of the Galaxy staring him straight in the face. "Nothing," he replied. His proper accent seemed to pierce the man.

"Why aren't you at the shelter?" The crewman gave him a stern look, which Colby didn't like.

"That's none of your business. If you were meant to know, I would have told you already!" Colby stood still with his arms crossed.

Apparently, the crewman wasn't pleased with Colby. He grabbed him by the arm.

"HEY!" Colby yelled, almost as loud as he could.

The crewman kneeled down and glared at Colby. "You little brat, you don't talk like that to me."

"LET ME GO!" Colby demanded. He yelled at the top of his lungs this time.

His face was turning red. "Can't you see that we're all busy right now and that we don't have time for little brats like you?" He squeezed his arm tighter.

"Ow! That hurts!" Colby was almost crying now. "Let me go! PLEASE! Let me go!! NOW!!"

"All right!! Listen here you pompous little son of a..." he was cut off by the voice of the counselor.

"Let him go, NOW."

She was NOT happy. She had messed with the wrong kid at the wrong time.

"Isolation"
by Ensign Greer Erikson
(Science Officer, USS Galaxy)

--------Sigma II (Present day, 2373)-----------------------

It had been a long time since Ensign Erikson heard any word from the Galaxy or any of the away teams. All attempts at communication with the ship was impeaded by the high concentration of ionised beryllium in the atmosphere. He continued searching amungst the hieroglyphics which he discovered shortly after he transported to the surface. Using his tricorder and personal interests in archaeology he attempted to decipher the vaguely familiar, yet indistinguishable, hieroglyphics which read a strange story on the stone tablets.

The stone tablets were dense and blue in hue. Embedded partially in the surface of the planet they eminated 1.2 meters high with a further 0.5 meters underground. They appeared to be 87.3% beryllium oxides, 10.7% silicon, composed of several indistinguishable trace elements and based on relative isotope decay approximately eleven thousand years old. It appeared to be abundant which minerals readily found on Sigma II. Whilst he pondered their aesthetic qualities Erikson suddenly recognised some of the symbols as being identical to Egyptian hieroglyphics he had seen on the famed Rosetta Stone in the Museum of Cairo. How could this be so? The Egyptian civilisation flourished from approximately 8000 BC until they were conquered by the Romans in the first century BC. Erikson ran identical scans to determine that he had recieved accurate information from his tricorder. Still the same. Unable to link his tricorder with the computer core on the Galaxy, or even contact the Galaxy, the young ensign attempted to translate the hieroglyphics. Sun......heavens.............travel.......day........It did not help. Despite the odd glyph here and there it was not possible to determine the context or meaning of the tablet.

------------Several hours later--------------------------

Erikson to Galaxy.

Erikson to any away team member.

Erikson to anyone able to recieve this message.

Still no use. Erikson became increasingly concerned. Isolated with a mysterious stone and unable to communicate with anyone. He starred at the writing hoping that the words would come to him, however, he was unable to understand the meaning.

Taking out his tricorder again, the ensign scanned the vicinity of his location. The tricorder sounded an alert and his eyes lite up. The small device detected a brief, yet unusually disturbence and then it was gone. Analysing the disturbence Erikson realised that it was a temporal aftershock, as if something had or was transported temporally near his present location, however it lasted only for a brief second. Playing the record over and over again he wasn't able to gain any more data on the phenomenon. Intrigued he set his tricorder for continuous scans of the area to specifically detect any temporal based disturbence, hoping to get a better reading and possibly identify what the tricorder detetced.

Erikson returned to the tablet which seemed to gnaw at his brain. What does it mean? Where did it come from? For centuries arhcaeologists have attempted to decipher the origins of the Great Pyramids and Great Sphynx of Egypt, could they have been extraterrestrial in origin? Possibly. Evidence of extraterrestrial interference in ancient human history had been reported by several investigations. He ponered the mystery over and over, like a computer running through multiple diagnostic cycles, unable to find a solution to the problem.

"Jurassic Timeline - New Discovery"
Ensign Tony Grump

As I key in the answer to my riddle I can hear the footsteps of the T-Rex coming closer to the monolith. Then just as the creature rounds the corner the red mist envelopes me and I am returned to Sigma II.

After reporting to Commander Coe, I decide to head over to discuss the strange planet with Dr. Goldstein.

*****Temporary Living Quarters - Dr. Goldstein's Room*****

"Hello Doctor, how are you today?" It is early the professor was not been awake long but already he is cleaning his glasses.

{"Good morning Ensign. I was just getting ready to look at some artifacts, would you like to come along?"}

"Sure, sounds interesting"

****2 hours later****

"Fascinating professor. You can tell that much about how this civilization behaved just from these few broken pieces of pottery and destroyed living quarters?"

{"Yes Ensign"} Dr. Goldstein says with a slight chuckle as he removes his spectacles to clean them for the 242 nd time since we left the temporary living quarters.

"Are we any closer to understanding what caused the crew to be swept back into time? Other than that curse, I mean. There has to be some reason. Was it a rite of passage, punishment, reward? I have talked to many of the crew members and the experiences all seem to be different.

Some were very pleasurable experiences, some challenging, a some even fatal with no chance of survival."

{"From what I have seen so far, the time travel appears to be related to all three purposes you just mentioned, Ensign. However, I have not been able to determine how it is controlled. I hope the team Dr. Currie is on in the heart of the city can shed some light on this for us. But until they return all we have are questions and theories."}

"I wonder how this society became exstict?" as I scanned the area with my tricorder.

{"That is part of what I hope to learn."}

"Professor, I am getting some abnormal readings from the otherside of this hill."

The Professor walks over to take a closer look at the tricorder readings cleaning his glasses again, {"Very odd indeed Ensign. Let's go take a closer look."}

Ensign Tony Grump USS Galaxy Science Officer

" Giving orders.. "
By Commander Coe

**** Planets Surface ****

Ensign Thomas approached Coe as he sat behind his makeshift desk. Using a simple rag, Thomas wiped his dirty hands clean. Even with the technology of the day, engineering work was still messy.

" Commander...." Thomas said softly to distract Coe.

" What can I do for you Ensign?" Coe looked up quizically.

" Sir, My engineering crew have done everything they can to try and fix the systems on board the galaxy. However we have met with little success. Lt Casey working with a few of the crew from ops, has managed to boost the transporters. But I dont think the shuttlecraft can be safely launced into space."

" I thought that might be the case Ensign. Thankyou for your efforts, you guys can take a break. Expect my announcement shortly. Dismissed." The young Ensign turned to leave and Coe, followed a minute later. Making sure he did not forget the PADD on the corner of his desk.

**** Outside Coe's quarters, near temporary crew quarters ****

As the gathered group talked, Coe quickly put together what he was going to say. He clapped his hands and the group hushed. Late officers running to hear what Coe had to say.

" Good afternoon Friends." Coe started.

" Over the past few days, we have all been through alot. And my respect for all of you, has never been greater. What you have proved over the last few days in your determined effort to save our friends, and bring us home, have truly proved, that you are the greatest crew in Starfleet. And if Captain Price was here, Im sure he would say the same."

" No one knows exactly what happened to us. Some of us were abducted into history. Whilst others, were spared. Some came back alive, others did not. Hopefully, the rest of our crewmates, will join us shortly. But until then, we must all do our best to concentrate on the task at hand and rescue our crewmates, the ones we can do something to help, from those Ferengi things up there that have decided to claim our ship, as theirs. " Coe paused and raised the PADD next that had been still in his hands.

" The assault team will be:

Myself in Command,
Lt Casey: 2nd in Command,
Lt K'arta: In charge of security,
Ensign Bordeau: Engineer,
Ensign Arcas: Security member,
Ensign Barker: Shuttlecraft Pilot

Ensign Thomas will assume Command of the remaining crew members left on the planet. "

" Tonight, at 20:00 hours, Myself and the assult team will lift off and fly into the upper atmosphere pass the atmospheric interference where our transporters, with Lt Casey's modifications, will be strong enough to support all of the assult teams transport onto the galaxy. The shields are currently down and we have to keep it that way until we are on the galaxy. Therefore this misson will be stealth. The shuttlecraft is not space worthy and so we are going to have to transport from the upper atmosphere. This is a one way misson people, we either get there, or we dont come back."

" Lt K'arta, your in charge of gathering the necessary weapons we have at our disposal and making sure they are ready to go.

Lt Casey, I'd like you to analyise the sensor readings on the shuttlecraft and determine how many ferengi we are up against and where on the galaxy they are situated.

And Ensign Barker, you make sure the required navigational settings are input into the shuttlecrafts computer.

I say again, we lift off at 20:00 that leaves us 5 hours."

" I would like to thank all of you for the dedication, effort and commitment you all have shown in our effort to get home over the past few days. Thats it people, dismissed." Coe finished what he was saying before turning away, amidst loud chattering and obvious excitement.

Chris N AKA Commander Coe Email: chrisn@cia.com.au

"Reinforcements"
by Captain Robert Edward Lee Price

*** Chancellorsville, 1863 ***

Captain Price hobbled along steadily on his makeshift crutch. It was difficult, the weight of Doctor Rousseau's body rested on his shoulder as he slowly took step after step, advancing down the shallow hill to the open valley where the monolith awaited.

It was still dark. The only light available was coming from the moon and the stars over head. Lee was grateful for the crispness of the night air. A refreshing relief from the physical exertion and pain his body was experiencing.

While the Captain hobbled along the trail silently, his mind was busy pondering over the riddle he had discovered in that Union soldier's bible.

Could it be some sort of metamorphosis the riddle is speaking of? Lee hypothesized. Upon thinking harder, Lee tried to think of a creature that would change so rapidly in the course of a single day. Indeed, there were creatures that could change their physical appearance. The Butterflies of Earth were a good example of this. Starting out life as a fuzzy caterpillar, spinning their cocoons of silk to rest, only to emerge as a beautifully winged creature. But that did not fit with this riddle. True there where others that could do as the riddle implied. A Changeling for instance could easily become a four legged tiger, or horse or dear in the morning, then shift it's shape into a humanoid form in the afternoon. But a three legged creature? Lee wiped the sweat from his brow as he struggled to think of a creature that had three legs. The answer was not forth coming.

Immediately ahead of the Captain and Doctor Rousseau, Lee heard the rustling of footsteps and the sounds of under brush being treaded upon. Quickly he pivoted to change direction, heading towards the cover of some near by trees. In his haste and awkward movements as he struggled against his own lame leg and the weight of Jacqueline's body, the shiny, portable holographic emitter fell out of the Captain's pocket, landing on the ground in the center of the trail. Quickly, Lee ducked back behind the trees, just as a patrol of Union soldiers wandered out into the clearing.

"Sure is a pretty night there Virgil." One blue uniformed soldier mused as he stared up into the night sky.

"Quiet. There are Rebs around here... I can feel it." The other blue coated man hissed back tensely through tight lips.

"Ah, you've been saying that for nearly an hour now Chester, an we haven't seen height nor hair of them Rebs all night." A third man comments.

"Ihm tellin' yas, there are Rebels near by..." Virgil snapped again, the tension could be felt in his voice as he stepped on a twig with a loud snap.

Everyone looked down at their feet. Across the way, Captain Price, ducking behind the cover of the trees looks as well. His eyes widen when he spots the shiny metallic holo-gram emitter laying at the base of the soldier's feet.

"What is this thing here?" one of the men asks as he bends down and picks up the emitter.

"Can't rightly say Chester. In all of my years, I've never seen such a shinny... thing." The other Union soldier responds.

"Let me see that." Virgil says impatiently, grabbing the emitter away from the other two men. "Why it's nothing more than a fancy snuff box. This button here probably opens it..."

The man presses the button, but instead of the circular object opening up, it projects a shimmering, ghostly image of General Robert E. Lee. The famous Confederate war hero shimmies momentarily while the holographic matrix stabilizes, solidifying his form.

"My god! You've conjured the Confederate General!" one of the men declares as he begins taking a few steps back.

Virgil had since dropped the emitter and also begun to back pedal.

"Good evening fine sirs. Might you gentlemen be able to direct me to the battle field?" the holographic representation of General Lee inquired politely.

The look of fear and panic swept over the three men's faces. Almost instinctively, they drew out their weapons, leveling their revolvers at the unarmed General Lee. Shakily, Virgil demands, "Hands up General. You are our prisoner sir."

The General's expression grew annoyed as he snapped back, "Son, I have to return to the battlefield directly. Now either you are going to guide me to it's location or I will no longer be able to entertain your company. Now I ask again sir, which way is it to the battle field?!"

A look of disbelief crossed each of the Union soldier's faces. Then in a moment of indecision, one of the men began to fire. Soon they all were firing. Lee watched from behind the safety of the trees as the three men fanned their weapons and shot after shot were fired at the image of General Robert E. Lee. Their bullets passing harmlessly through the holographic image and into the surrounding brush. The General looked down, quite amazed himself, as the bullets passed through his body.

"He's a demon Virgil! An Apparition! Mother of God, the Confederate General is a ghost!" one of the soldiers yelled as he turned tail and began to run away.

Virgil and Chester watched in amazement as they emptied the last of their ammunition into the hologram. Lee watched, a small hint of a smile curling on the corner of his mouth at the sight. The Holo emitter, being low on energy began to again flicker and fade in and out... adding to the men's perceptions that this image they were seeing was in fact a ghost.

"He.. he's right Virgil... our weapons are no good against a ghost! Common! Lets git while the gettin's good!"

Not convinced, Virgil drew his sword from the scabbard and approached the Confederate General, swinging a deadly blow straight through him. In amazement, the Holo gram took a step back and began to laugh heartily. Throwing down the sword, Virgil finally agreed.

"Maybes you're right Chester... let's git outta here!"

The remaining two soldiers turned tail and ran as fast as their legs would carry them, back the way they had come. Just as they left, the holographic emitter's energy cells became totally depleted, the image of General Robert E. Lee fading away until finally it was gone. The shiny emitter falling harmlessly to the ground.

When he saw it was safe, Lee hobbled back out from the trees, bracing himself on his crutch. Gathering up the emitter, and Doctor Rousseau's limp body, he again resumed the last stretch of his journey back to the monolith, now only a few hundred meters away.

*********

*** Bridge, USS Galaxy ***

["Sub-Daimon Nom, we have intruders on board. Two humanoid Females."]

Nom reached for his communicator and responded. "I want them located at once and secured in this ship's holding area."

["Yes Sub-Daimon. We will do our best to locate the females immediately."]

The channel closed and a concerned look crossed Nom's face. Reaching, he reactivated his communications device, raising the Delox.

["This is Daimon Pog, Nagaus of the first order of Ferengar. What is it you wish to report Nom?"] Pog's voice sounded annoyed. It looked as if he was busy working on his acceptance speech, anticipating his appointment to the Vice Nagaus seat upon returning home with the USS Galaxy as his prize.

"I'm sorry to interrupt your greatness. But we have discovered two humanoid females. We are attempting to detain them now, oh mighty great one, but we could use the help of additional men."

["Very well you fool. I can not see why two hue-man females would require additional forces to capture, but no matter. I will have more people sent over. How long before you will have secured the Fed-er-A-sion Starship so we can prepare to leave orbit and return to Ferengar with my prize?"]

"It shouldn't take very long great one. Maybe, fifteen minutes?"

["Excellent! I trust you will not do anything to muck this up you moron... Daimon Pog out!"]

The channel closed as a look of contempt found it's way onto Nom's face. He hated working for Pog, and Pog knew it. Unfortunately, he was also a Nagaus, which gave the Ferengi little course of action other than to obey his orders. Shrugging his shoulders, Nom moved to the flight control station of the Galaxy as all but one Ferengi left the bridge to try and locate Lieutenants Rr'lonii Morris, and Casey-Ti Miran.

Sitting at the Helm, Nom began familiarizing himself with the systems of the Galaxy class Starship.

"Sub-Daimon, shouldn't we do something to insure that the females can't access the rest of the ship's systems?"

Nom glanced back at his guard. "Excellent idea Squibs." Tapping a few controls, Nom called out, "Deactivate the transporter systems, as well as all computer access from all stations except the Bridge."

Squibs moves to the operations station and punches up a couple of displays. "Shall we disable voice computer access as well Sub-Daimon?"

"Yes... And can we erect force fields around key areas of the ship?"

"Ummm.. maybe Sub-Daimon." Squibs says as he calls up a diagram of the Galaxy. "How about Engineering and all shuttle bays?"

Nom smiled. "That sounds perfect! We will have those hue-mon females captured in no time now." The Sub-Daimon said with a smile.

Squibs nodded in agreement as he activated the controls, disabling all voice authorized computer access and computer access in general from anywhere but the bridge. At the same time, blue, shimmering force fields are erected around main engineering and all shuttle bays, in an attempt to aid in the capture of the human females presently evading the pursuit of the many Ferengi on board the Galaxy, even as more are materializing at this very moment.

"Isolation, Part II"
by Ensign Greer Erikson
(Science Officer, USS Galaxy)

--------Sigma II (Present, 2373)-----------------------

The stone tablet he had been studying seemed to stare at him and he could do nothing but stare back. Having recalled the meaning of several more hieroglyphics, Erikson still was unable to decipher the stone document. Searching through the root directory of the tricorder he attempted to extrapolate from linguistic databases. Suddenly, his tricorder began to scan the presence of another disturbance. Erikson jumped to his feet in the hope of being able to track the temporal "aftershock"! He quickly pointed the tricorder in several directions and found that a distrubance was located north of his position.

14 meters and closing.......The phenomenon continued moving rapidly towards him.........10 meters.......5 meters.......4 meters.......3 meters.......2 meters.......1 meter.......Suddenly a flash of light seemed to pass directly through him.......

----------Deck 2, USS Melbourne NCC-62043, Wolf 359 (2367)--------

He recognised his surroundings - the Melbourne - his mother's ship! He had been aboard during a semester break while still at the Acadmey. The klaxon of the red alert was sounding throughout the corridor while people were running in numerous directions. Smoke from small fires added to the confusion and chaos seemed the best way to describe the situation he saw.

He turned to an officer who was passing him. "Has anyone seen Doctor Jenna........" but before he could

finish his sentence a Borg materialised. He withdrew his phaser and prepared to fire but the Borg ignored his presence. At that moment he realised that this was the past - it had already occurred and it would be a violation of the Prime Directive to change it. But how could he just let the Melbourne and his mother be a casualty of The Borg.

The Borg continued to ignored the ensign totally, instead choosing to attack the security personnel responding to it's incursion. The intruder fired at them knocking one of them down and they responded but the Borg had already adapted to their phaser frequency. Erikson stood helplessly. In the heat of the moment he just could not help it and attempted to prevent the Borg drone from preceeding down the corridor. These people were flesh and blood, the officers his mother spoke highly of being murdered by this emotionless automaton and his "race". He took out his phaser and fired but nothing happened. The beam of energy was discharged from the phaser but it passed through the Borg and could be seen entering space through the ship's hull. Confused, Erikson scanned his surrounds trying to formulate a hypothesis. Another security team arrived and neutralised the intruder with a rotated frequency.

The comm systems from Engineering, Sickbay, Security, and the Bridge were constantly activated with reports of casualties and structural damage from all sections of the ship. The ship was violently rocked. He began to run to the nearest turbolift but it didn't open as he approached it. The turbolift doors opened for some medical personnel assisting wounded and he jumped in - he was apparently unable to interact with this time. The turbolift began to move when the controls errupted in a small explosion which showered everyone with sparks. Momentarily the turbolift stopped midway between decks 5 and 6 but resumed several seconds later it. The doors opened and Erikson emerged near Sickbay only to witness the dreadful sight of injured, dying and dead people. The medical staff were trying to do their best but they were overwhelmed and it appeared that the computer systems were not enitrely operational.

"Dr. Talbot to Bridge"

[Bridge here, Doctor]

"Commander, we are over...................." The conversation seemed unimportant and faded in his mind. He heard that familiar voice and turned to see his mother treating the injured and communicating with the Bridge. She appeared just a he had remembered her and considering the crisis before her she excpetionally calm. The ground seemed to move as the ship shook more violently than before. Erikson was thrown to his feet....he look towards his mother when suddenly the hull seemed to begin to crack with an unbearable noise of tearing bulkheads...............

------------Sigma II (Present, 2373)--------------------------

"My God" he said as he feel to his knees. The image of the incident was still so very vivid. Had he actually been in the past or was the stress of the mission mixed with his personal memories or had he witnessed the infamous battle. Looking at the sensor logs he noticed that there had been a 14 kiloquad decrease in storage space in the root directory of his tricorder. He turned the scanning device towards himself and discovered elevated levels of tryptamine in his temporal lobe - he had indeed travelled back and witness the destruction of the Melbourne.

After reviewing the data Erikson determined that he had been caught in a temporal wake for approximately fifteen minutes. He was infact present on Sigma II but the temporal wake cause a "temporal echo paradox" - he was essentially in two places at once but was also absent from both points in time. It seems to be the remnant of a temporal disturbance from somewhere else on the planet surface - possibly generated by localised temporal disturbances near his location.

Erikson decided to travell north to find the origin of the anomaly. The stone tablet hieroglyphics would remain a mystery until he was able to access the computer core aboard the Galaxy. The limitations of his tricorder had limited his success at deciphering the hieroglyphics on the stone tablets - how often is a 24th century human going to need ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics! He hoped that whilst he travelled north that he may find others from the Galaxy or any of the archaeological team on Sigma II - some hint of civilisation.

------------Some hours later---------------------------------------

Erikson had been walking for some time but his tricorder was unable to detect any further temporal wakes. It seemed as if he had been walking for hours without so much an encounter with anything or anyone. The images of the Melbourne, his mother, and that Borg were still plaing over in his mind.

[Thomas to away teams. Report in status and current locations] his communicator chirped. Erikson was almost stunned to hear the sound of a human voice he recognised after being isolated.

"Erikson to Thomas. I have been separated from the rest of the crew. I think I'm approximately fifteen kilometers from the dig site but I can't be sure"

[Understood. Maintain contact with our ground command so we can coordinate crew locations - they should be able to give some directions. Have you had contact with anyone else?]

"No, you are the first person I have had contact with since I was separated. Have you recieved any reports of unusual localised phenomenon?"

[There have been reports of unusual occurrences from most of the crew we have contacted so far but I can't be more specific right now]

"Alright. I'll begin to make my way towards the command center. Erikson out"

The young man, releaved at hearing Ens. Thomas' voice, began to trek the distance towards the command center and rejoin his fellow crewmembers and hopefully find out more about what has actually been happening.

"Ready for a Fight"
by Lt. (jg) K'arta
Assistant Chief of Security

K'arta was outraged when she found out that her two best friends had beamed up to the ship without permission from Commander Coe. The commander was busy organgizing the repair team for the scientists shuttle when K'arta approached him.

"Sir, I want to be part of the team that returns to the Galaxy." somehow, K'arta would protect her friends and ship

"I'll take that into considerations, Lieutenant." Coe responded.

K'arta quickly got out of the engineers' way and returned to the living quarters to keep an eye on everything going on there. Shortly, Commander Coe returned.

"Good afternoon Friends." Coe started. He gave a brief overview of what had been going on over the past few days, then he got down to business. "The assult team will be: Myself, Lt. Casey, Lt. K'arta, Ensign Bordeau, Ensign Arcas, and Ensign Barker."

K'arta smiled with satisfaction with her secure spot in the team. Her green eyes searched the group for Arcas.

"Tonight, at 20:00 hours, Myself and the assult team will lift off and fly into the upper atmosphere pass the atmospheric interference where our transporters, with Lt Casey's modifications, will be strong enough to support all of the assult teams transport onto the galaxy. The shields are currently down and we have to keep it that way until we are on the galaxy. Therefore this misson will be stealth. The shuttlecraft is not space worthy and so we are going to have to transport from the upper atmosphere. This is a one way misson people, we either get there, or we dont come back." Coe continued. "Lt K'arta, your in charge of gathering the necessary weapons we have at our disposal and making sure they are ready to go."

K'arta nodded and motioned to Arcas. They were going to have to rustle up enough weapons for the entire team. Coe finished his speech and the group broke up and began working on their individual tasks. Arcas made his way over to K'arta.

"Ensign Arcas, do you still have your sidearm?" K'arta asked as he approached.

"Yes, Lieutenant." He answered.

"Good, that makes two phasers. We need to scour the living quarters for other weapons and ask if any other crew members have side arms. Let's get started." The two security officers split up and began searching the quarters.

"A New Discovery"
Ensign Tony Grump

After walking what felt like forever, Dr. Goldstein and I finally made it to the other side of the hill. The entire time the radiation and interference reported by the tricorder increased. However, we were still well within safe parameters. Just a we rounded the last corner we both could see what was causing the tricorder to go crazy.... The valley we were looking at was really a giant crater from an ancient meteor crash. A scan of the meteor verified our suspicions, the radioactive decay would place this meteor's arrival at about the same time as this civilization's end. Further examination revealed that the contents of the meteor were almost identical to that of the atmosphere interfering with the Galaxy's sensors.

"Professor, I believe this was only one of many meteors and that many of them disintegrated in the atmosphere. It is those meteors that changed the destiny a this clearly advanced culture."

{"We should get back and report this to the others immediately and come back in the morning with a team to study this more completely."}

"You are right professor, let's head back."

***** 4 hours later *****

"You go report to the scientist and I will try to find Commander Coe and report to him."

{"Okay, will I see you in the morning?"}

"Maybe."

After looking for awhile I find Commander Coe and make a full report on our findings.

Ensign Tony Grump
USS Galaxy Science Officer

"Ready to leave"
by Captain Robert Edward Lee Price

*** Chancellorsville 1863 ***

Captain Price pressed on, leaning heavily on his make shift crutch while carrying the body of Doctor Rousseau over his shoulder. With every painful step, his thoughts were concentrating on the riddle he'd discovered written in the Union soldier's bible:

Lee struggled to come up with an answer, even as he neared the ancient monolith standing quietly in the middle of the field.

"What could it mean?" the Captain said quietly to himself. "What has three legs at night?"

Glancing around, Lee could see that the darkness of night was beginning to give way to the twilight of morning. Still, it was night, so in vain he glanced around trying to figure out what the riddle had meant. "What has three legs?"

Finally, his eyes fell upon his own foot prints. He could see the marks his Federation boots had left in the dirt trail, as well as the occasional imprint of a third kind. The mark left by his make shift crutch. Lee followed the trail up to his present spot before glancing at his crutch. "Could that be it?" he wondered out loud. "Could the answer be a human being, with the references to morning, afternoon and night really meaning childhood, adulthood and old age?"

With renewed vitality, the Captain bent over and placed Jacqueline's body down, leaning against the giant monolithic statue. Carefully, he rested her head to the side, checking that she was still breathing, only shallowly. Returning his attention to the monolith, Lee examined the carvings. Sure enough, he located a series of symbols depicting a human infant, crawling on all fours. Next to it an image of an adult walking upright on two legs. And the final image, that of a hunched over old man, steadying himself with the aid of a third leg... a cane!

"Looks like as good of a possibility as any others..." Lee said flatly. Carefully, he depressed each symbol in sequence. A quiet hum was heard as the icons began to glow. The sound grew louder as a familiar red mist enveloped the Captain and Doctor Rousseau completely, just before everything went completely black.

*********

*** Bridge, USS Galaxy ***

Sub-Daimon Nom finishes examining the helm controls of the Premier Galaxy Class Starship. They are quite different that the configuration of the Ferengi Marauder Delox. And the fact that the controls are not written in Ferengi doesn't help any in his understanding of the controls.

["Sub-Daimon Nom. We can not locate the females anywhere. They seem to of disappeared."]

Nom activates his communications device after glancing at his guard sitting at the Ops station. "Hold on a minute, I will use the ships sensors to help locate the Females..."

Reaching over, Nom manages to tap a few controls on the adjoining Ops console. He smiles, revealing his tiny, pointed teeth under glistening lips. "I have located them. They are presently on deck number 8."

["Thank you Sub-Daimon. We will head there immediately."]

The channel closed and Nom returned to studying the controls of the Galaxy's helm. He was almost ready to attempt bringing the ship out of orbit of the planet to follow Daimon Pog and the Delox back to Ferengar to claim the Nagaus of the first order's prize.

"Ferengi"
Lt Casey Ti Miran

"Ronni, go on without me. You can do more without me and it will be harder for the Ferengi to trap us if we are seperate. I can't hide from them too long anyway." She punctuated her little speech with a sneeze.

"But Miran..."

"I said GO." Ronni left but Miran could tell she didn't want to. Miran figured she could be decoy and led the Ferengi away from Ronni.

She didn't get too far when forcefields came up. She knew it wouldn't be long now before the Ferengi would find her. Miran sat down tired of eluding Ferengi. She was tired and wanted nothing more to sleep. She missed Deiran and wanted him to be near.

She wanted to tell Deiran about her experiances and wanted to hear of his. She wanted to feel safe in his presence. Boots came into her line of vision.

Miran looked up into the face of a smiling Ferengi.

"Home again, Home again..."
by Ensign Hunter McKenzie

Mac lay prone on the ground. Attempting to rise, he felt the same wave of nausea that had greeted him upon his first transport by the monolith.

"I feel like I 've just a bad bottle of romulan ale." muttered Mac groggily. "I wonder where I am?"

As if in answer to his question he began to here voices in the distance. Quickly getting to his feet, fighting off the waves of nausea and the the sharp pains from his still bleeding chest and and deeply bruised shoulder. He quickly moved to a thick stand of trees a short distance from where he laid. Crouching, he picked up a large branch and prepared to defend his self.

"It's probably a Borg Raiding Party." He mused remembering his luck the past few days.

Crouching even lower he heard the voices approaching closer. Mac waited until they were close and burst from his hiding place, waving his club and screaming like a madman.

*****Sigma II*****

Chief Rodriguez and the other two Security officers. walked the perimeter looking for other Galaxy crew members. per Commanders Coe's orders. So far they had found no one as the members were almost all accounted for. As they were beginning to enter an especially wooded area. the the junior enlisted members began to joke amongst thierselves.

"Quiet!" Chief Warrant Officer Rodriguez spat, shocking the two other members of the patrol. "We are still on a combat patrol, or have you forgotten the Cardassians or the Borg squad that transported back with Ensigns Tall'ark and Rogers? Be alert." As they rounded the bend, suddenly out of the bushs burst a raving lanatic. Swinging the club the man struck Danvers on the head causing him to fall like a sack of talosian spice. He wore a Federation uniform but it was ripped and showed signs of a recent battle. The man waved a large stick and menaced the patrol while screaming at the top of his lungs. The man suddenly stopped as the dumbfounded patrol backpedelled away from the Lunatic. Rodriguez was about to give the order to fire when he reconized the man.

Mac burst from the undergrowth and swung the c

lub catching the first man in the back of the head, knocking him to the ground. He turned on the other two. As the other men backpedelled he started to advance, when suddenly Mac reconized the men's uniforms.

"Wait a minute. Your from the Federation, aren't you? " Mac stammered. Quick what time period is this? "

"The 24th Century, sir." stated Rodriguez, matter of factly. "We're from the Galaxy."

"The Galaxy!" Mac exclaimed. "Good! Now I can get some sleep." he said as he pushed past the dumbfounded Secuity troops. He went another two feet before he pitched face first onto the ground unconcious. Rodriguez shook his head as he lifted Mac's uncouncious form and motioned to the other security officer to grab the unconcious patrol member.

"Officers!" the chief mumbled as he headed back to the base.

"I can make you run..."
by Jurelle Tash

Jurelle and Will were running once again. They were running from a policeman who was trying to catch up to them to enquire about a woman's missing washing. Jurelle felt pretty exhausted and she could only suppose Will felt the same. She didn't quite know what to do. They didn't know their way around this town, they couldn't run forever, and if they got caught they would surely be imprisoned or something equally distasteful and life threatening.

The pair dodged around a small house. "Jurelle, in here", Will gasped as he pulled the Trill through a small gate into a tiny backyard. They stood still for a moment, hardly daring to breathe as the policeman ran past. Jurelle took a deep breath and collapsed on the ground in a fit of coughing. Will sat down suddenly on a garden bench to catch his breath. Jurelle thought briefly of telling Will how rotten she felt but looking at him she realised that from his bowed head and the creases on his forehead he had problems of his own. Trying to distract her mind from the unhelpful ponderings it was leaning towards she started thinking of the riddle again.

"Will, could the answer to the riddle be Fear?" Jurelle said, not particularly convinced.

"Maybe... But then what does 'I can make you walk if you can't' mean?" Will sighed. He was sick of riddles, and running, and just wanted to go home to things that were familiar and safe. "How about Faith or Justice" he added, sorry he couldn't think of anything better.

"Hmmm, but what about the 'If you look, you can't see me' bit. Nothing fits, its just stupid." Jurelle sighed in frustation, she could feel panic and despair begin to creep in on her once again.

The two starfleet officers sat in the small garden for awhile, resting and thinking about what to do next. Jurelle felt sleepy and started to dose in the mid-morning sunshine. She was physically exhausted from the ordeal of the last couple of days and was starting to feel pretty out of it and depressed. Her thoughts turned into dreams as she started to sleep and visions of the monolith started floating through her head. Her subconscious was beginning to get quite pyschadelic and weird when she saw the monolith step down from its pedestal and walk away from her. Jurelle woke with a start and brushed away tears of relief as she realised she knew the answer.

"Will, come on, I know the answer", Jurelle opened the gate slowly and looked about to see if the coast was clear as Will woke from his own daydreams. There were few people about so they walked slowly to the monolith, taking backstreets, sticking to shadows and avoiding any people they saw.

The monolith was still the same, sitting mockingly out in the open near the docks. They creeped up till they were as close to it as they could get without coming into the open. Will looked enquiringly at Jurelle, wondering what the answer to the riddle was and how she had worked it out. She obviously wasn't going to tell him just now though.

Making absolutely certain a posse of policeman were not waiting to ambush them they walked up to the monolith. The monolith loomed in front of them as Jurelle looked for a way to enter the answer to the riddle. There were buttons, hundreds of them with pictures on them and Jurelle supposed one of them would be the answer.

"Jurelle, if you tell me the answer, I can help you look for the right button". Jurelle grudgingly realised Will was right of course.

"If you look, you can't see me. If you see me, you cannot see anything else. I can make you walk if you can't. Sometimes I speak the truth. And sometimes I lie. If I lie, I am nearer the truth. What am I?"

It's dreams, or dreaming, I don't think it matters" Jurelle said, sorry she had almost forgotten Will was there in her eagerness to get home.

"Of course, I could have thought of that", Will wondered why he hadn't thought of it, it wasn't actually that hard now that he knew the answer. He started looking for a button that could mean 'dreams'. A couple of minutes of searching he found one and called Jurelle over from the other side of the monolith. It had a small stick figure lying down and a thought cloud over its head with a picture of the monolith walking on two legs. Jurelle let out a groan at how corny it was and glanced at Will as she reached out for it. He nodded and she pressed the button....

Jurelle Tash
Medical Officer USS Galaxy

"Novel"
by Ensign Soushonn Arcas

( with approval from Lt Devlynn Salshyarr and Colby :)

***Salem - Just after the team's capture***

Soushonn watched the town intently... He didn't expect anything more would happen shortly, but when that anything eventually did happen, he would be right on top of it.

No crewmate of Soushonn Arcas would lose their life in this hideous, ancient century...

Suddenly, Soushonn's acute hearing picked up the distinctive electric hiss of a phaser in the distance... Once... Twice... A gunshot...

"What in blazes!?! What about the Prime Directive!?!" he yelled to no one in particular as he imagined Ensign Thomas phasering some ignorant villager into atoms. He got up and covertly began moving among those who were rushing to see what the commotion was.

"You don't have firefights in a century where even stepping on a bug could mean a drastic change in the planet's future!" he angrily whispered to himself.

* * *

Bypassing the commoners and again taking to the rooftops of Salem's little shack-houses, it was of great irritation for Soushonn to see the entire company of his fellow 24th century-goers huddled in a group just outside of the jailhouse. The counsellor looked around, unable to spot him and then called out "Soushonn... Where are you?"

He leapt down, landing from the twenty foot drop as softly as an average person might land from stepping off a transporter pad. All eyes turned on him, some uneasy, some only vaguely interested in his prescence.

"I think it is time we left this time period. I hope one of you knows how to work that monolith... Otherwise, I suggest we... run for lives." spoke Ensign Thomas, again the posturing himself as the leader of the group.

"You irresponsible, irrational, hero-of-the-day egomaniac! Are you blind to what you just did?" Soushonn yelled, stepping threateningly towards Thomas.

"You weren't paying attention to your lookout. If you were StarFleet Intelligence..."

"If I was StarFleet Intelligence, I'd have you incarcerated for using that phaser here. I would have found a way to free you all without shooting anybody or anything!!! Do you have any idea how much damage you may have just done to the timeline?" bolted the furious ensign. He looked about to lash out and knock the entire crowd over with a cleaving left hook.

The counsellor was the first to interrupt the confrontation, ordering:

"Soushonn! Stop it, he did what he had to, now let's just get out..."

"Had to? Had to?!?" he stressed, "When we get back to the Galaxy, and that's IF we get back, I'm going to have Thomas put on report for this! And that's if I can stop myself from..."

"Don't hurt my daddy!!!" cried Colby, stepping between the two of them, his eyes overflowing with tears.

Soushonn's mouth opened as if to argue the point further, but the sight of the poor frightend child in this state struck a nerve somewhere within his chest. It forced him to draw a deep breath, an involuntary venting of his frustration taking place as he slowly sighed the protesting wind back out from out his lungs...

"Don't move!" yelled a guard near the side of the jailhouse. The pistol in his hand was shaking slightly as he aimed it at the team of Galaxy personnel.

In a flash, Thomas's phaser was out, but even by the time his eyes had met his target, Soushonn had tackled the guard to the ground, knocking the pistol from his grip.

"Everybody run!" yelled Dev as more noises began to sound from within the prison cell from which they had just escaped.

Soushonn glared at the young prison guard, his finely-tailored hat now a rumpled mass on the ground. The guard backsprawled, his eyes full of fear as he tried desperately to get as far away from the "savage" as he could. He screamed for help as he turned and ran for shelter... Soushonn smiled menacingly before also turning to flee, the team already escaping from his field of vision.

* * *

Soushonn stared at the monolith. It was smooth and had an almost lustrous quality considering its dark ebony shade... It reminded him of the tombstone they had erected for his father in Kuria's "Fields of Lost Dreams". He felt a strong, familiar hurt enter the pit of his stomach as he touched it's surface... Felt a low, consuming grief as his hand sensed the cold, hard harshness that was the monolith's edge...

"How fitting a tombstone is... " he thought, "Without warmth... Without change... Without anything to disturb or erode it but the passing of time... Just like the memories... To think that this monolith might be our tombstone here isn't disturbing at all... It's a perfect reflection of death... Frozen, immobile, permanent..."

"Chris, we should tell the people about the ergot in the rye before we leave." spoke the counsellor.

Soushonn glanced at her, aware for the first time that anyone at all had approached him near the monolith... Another moment of weakness, he thought...

"Dev, I understand your concern, but haven't we messed this time line up enough yet?" spoke Thomas, approaching the monolith from the side opposite Soushonn.

"They deserve to know the truth!" Soushonn bolted, suddenly leaning over the monolith, his anger making itself known once more...

"Wait a second..." he thought, "I didn't say that..."

He had been kneeling on the ground near the monolith before his outburst, not at all concerned with their petty argument... What had triggered him to respond so violently?

Then he realized that the counsellor's hand had been on his shoulder... Her feelings had somehow been osmosed into his own psyche through the unexpected touch and he suddenly felt violated... He shrunk back as suddenly as he had stood fast, edging away from the others...

"You both realize the risk we'd be taking, telling the people of Salem about the ergot. Whether or not we can find a way home, the others still might. Logically, our best course of action is to assume that we are really in the past and that any actions (we make here) could have an adverse effect on our future as we know it. With that said, we should try to determine if we can even get home. The monolith is our priority first and foremost."

"Agreed." Dev and Soushon replied in unison.

In the next few minutes, they studied the monolith using the only tricorder that had acheived passage into this century with them... The debate somehow sprung up again and Soushonn felt himself being alienated by everything that was being said... All he could concentrate on was the pain burning inside of him... He had to get away from this monolith, and soon...

As Devlynn started away from the crowd of Galaxy personnel, Soushonn felt an intolerable scratching at his soul... He had never dealt with the death of his father... And he never would... But "right now", Soushonn was losing control.

"Dev, you do this, you may not have a future to return to!" Thomas yelled after her.

"I'm getting away from that... Thing... " explained Soushonn, pointing at the monolith in disgust. "Keep watch here... I'll do my best to convince her to stop this before it starts."

* * *

After the rather illustrative display Devlynn had staged for the people of Salem, the group re-conveined on the spot where the monolith still lay. Soushonn's mind was the second to grasp the answer to the riddle, but by the time he had figured it out, the counsellor had already spoken the answer aloud.

A mysterious keypad appeared in the surface of the monolith, seemingly both there and yet not in the same way as ghosts were supposed to present themselves. Dev reached out and touched a single key and then looked at Soushonn.

"Why so worried?" she spoke, almost musically.

"How on Earth did you know what key to press?" he asked, astonished and at the same time knowing that she had been correct through an implacable sixth sense...

She smiled and tapped her right temple with her index finger...

"Empaths..." he spoke with a rolling of his eyes before noticing the red mist that had begun to surround him... With a brilliant flash, he was gone from Salem... And from the world of consciousness...

* * *

"Where in blazes?" wondered Soushonn aloud. He stood, brushing himself off from the dust that had accumulated on him while he was unconscious and looked around for any signs as to where they might be.

Thomas seemed to echo Soushonn's concerns, and the group was left muddling for answer for a few moments more before the counsellor could inform them:

"We're on Sigma II!"

Soushonn placed his hands on his hips and himself was about to blankly supplement Dev's statement when Colby's young mind came upon the same realization the half-Rigellan had made...

"But not all of us."

K'arta and Morris were nowhere to be found. They puzzled over where they might be for a few moments more before Thomas suggested that they look for Commander Coe.

Soushonn stuck with the others up until the meeting with the Commander was over... Then it was time to listen to something besides the badge... He was fairly irritated with himself and wanted to be out of the public spectacle...

His emotional state could have been described as an unsatisfactory catharsis... The kind of feelings one harbors after reading a trilogy of excellent novels only to be totally disappointed by the ending of the last book... That empty, remorseful, baleful, self-contained resentment and stillness of mind when there's nothing more to be done about a problem that isn't about to go away...

Soushonn assumed most of the normal StarFleet attire, bothering to don neither the vest nor the jacket of a standard relief uniform. His gold-tinted security 'shirt' streched over his able frame and for the moment, made him the picture of luminescence among the others on the surface... He retained the ponytail he'd worn in Salem, only because the wind had been a constant irritation since their arrival in the 24th century.

Not long after he'd found a place to relax for a short while, Soushonn was interrupted from his 'break' by Commander Coe.

"I have an announcement for some of the Galaxy's crew... You'd better come along." he said.

"Ensign Soushonn Arcas, Security Offic

er, Beta Shift." he offered, also extending a hand to be shaken as he got to his feet.

"I believe we met when you came aboard." Coe stated, shaking the Ensign's hand... "Though I must admit those sorts of introductions are hard to keep with you."

Soushonn smiled and the two began walking towards where Coe's announcement would be delivered, conversing further on the subject...

* * *

"Strike Team?" exclaimed Soushonn to himself, "How many chances of getting killed am I going to be taking this month? To think that I manned Sector 001 defense for two years and only saw action once!"

K'arta nodded at the end of Coe's speech and motioned to Soushonn. He had noticed her enthusiastic grin during the 'mission breakdown' and wondered if anyone else had admired the way she looked with a smile as he had... He had always enjoyed witnessing the happiness of others, if only to take comfort that someone could truly be enjoying themselves in a reality where there's so many downsides to everything... Somehow, though, he doubted that anyone else was that analytical of things.

"Ensign Arcas, do you still have your sidearm?" spoke K'arta as he came within definite earshot.

"Yes, Lieutenant." He answered, surprised that she hadn't called him by his first name.

"Good, that makes two phasers. We need to scour the living quarters for other weapons and ask if any other crew members have side arms. Let's get started." she ordered, sounding quite definite about wanting to get the task completed immediately.

"I'll check the east wing of the temporary settlements... There's got to be enough for the rest of the team here... " he offered with his usual half-helpful, half-no-nonsense tone reserved for duty...

She nodded and the two split up to observe the task at hand...

* * *

"Let him go, NOW." came a stern voice from behind Soushonn's backpack.

He turned to regard a large Bolian officer whom he recognized as Feyn Parett from Stellar Cartography gripping little Colby by the arm. Between Soushonn and the duo stood Counsellor Salshyar, hands on hips and looking about to smack the officer to whom she was speaking.

"Are you responsible for this little abomination!?!" fumed the officer... "How am I supposed to work with children wandering through my personal space?!?"

Colby yelped in frustration and pain as the officer held the child away from the counsellor.

"Put him DOWN, Ensign. That's an order!" yelled the incredibly aggravated empath.

Feyn looked about to comment further on Devlynn's parenting when Soushonn grabbed the Bolian's arm and twisted it behind his back.

"Argh! What are you doing?" Parett growled as the security officer forced him down to one knee.

"Let Colby go this instant and I might not wrap your elbow joint around your eyebrows, Ensign. THAT's an order." rumbled Soushonn.

Grudgingly, the Bolian officer did as told...

Colby hugged on to Dev's leg and stuck his tongue out at the Bolian when Soushonn finally let him up to his feet.

"Now, you've wasted more time with this little excercise here than I care to reflect on, Ensign." scolded the smaller of the two men.

"I have sidearms to collect and you just cost me a good minute. This one makes number two." he added with a loud cracking of his knuckles.

"Understood loud and clear, sir." blurted Parett, obviously put in his place by the cold tone of the Half-Rigellan's voice...

Soushonn watched the Bolian head off towards a group of busy systems specialists, then turned back towards Dev and Colby, picking up the carryall of phasers he'd already gathered. He could tell from the look in Devlynn's eye what she was about to say.

"Stick to what you're known for, Dev." he advised, "You should probably get some rest... I haven't seen you sleep for days now and that little confrontation wouldn't have been a problem for you to handle if you hadn't been so spent."

"Probably true, but I don't understand what makes you so frightening to them while they look at me as being powerless here." she retorted as he turned to walk away.

"Dev." he replied, "There's three main factors that determine how people respond to your orders. One, the consequences of disobedience. Two, their personal opinion on the validity of the orders. Three, their opinion of how you rank in contrast to them as a figure of authority in the given matter."

She blinked, slightly irritated now at his predilection towards making lists out of everything.

"He obviously considered himself a better parent than you. They way to win a confrontation like that is through shifting the focus onto an area where he feels inferior to yourself and thusly will have to follow your orders. Normally, you wouldn't have to analyze it like this because you would have solved the problem before it started. I helped you out with the methodology of the solution by shifting the focus to whether or not Mr Parett would still be breathing with his next action..."

She didn't find the humour in his statement, instead posturing:

"You're avoiding the question... What makes them afraid?"

He put down the carryall and leaned forward as if to whisper something incredibly private...

"I listen to rock n' roll music." he quipped.

Soushonn smiled a little as Dev flustered and laughed out loud when she stormed off towards the temporary living quarters from which Colby had strayed. He knelt down beside the youngster, who was laughing in his own octave.

"Well, Chief, not to rain on your parade, but it's probably better if you're not adventuring out here all by yourself." he advised,

Colby made a sourdough expression and nodded as if to say "So I don't get in trouble."

"I'd find something fun for you to do to drive the grown-ups crazy if I didn't have to be gathering all these shooters, but since I am, here's the tradeoff: I'll give you a piggyback to your doorstep, okay?"

Colby looked at him strangely. "A piggy-what?"

"It's a horseback ride... Without the horse. Hop on!" he offered, kneeling with the carryall at his feet.

"Are you patronizing me?" asked Colby, sounding no less serious than a Vulcan might.

Soushonn laughed.

"Just hop on. You haven't lived 'till you've rode piggyback, Chief!"

Colby shrugged and sighed "Oooooookayyy... "

* * *

"Isn't this a lot more fun than walking back?" asked the gold-shirted ensign as Colby laughed again.

"You're supposed to be a horse?"

"Well you're not a very good cowboy, but you don't see me complaining now do you?." replied the piggyback-er.

"Cow boy? If a piggyback is a horse ride, what the heck is a cow boy?"

Soushonn nearly toppled with laughter.

"Ohhhhhh boy... When we get back to the Galaxy, Chief, I'll SHOW you what a Cowboy is... Holodeck's got a lot of neat-o programs about being a cowboy."

"Promise?" asked Colby hopefully.

"You got it, Chief." replied Soushonn, "Here's your stop!"

"Awwwwww..." protested the piggyback-ee... "One more time?"

Soushonn smiled.

"Don't sweat it, kidd-o, there'll be plenty of time for piggyback rides once we're all back aboard the Galaxy. But for now, you're going to have to talk your mo... Err... Dev into it instead... I've got grown up stuff to do."

"Everybody's always too busy... If I had a kid, I wouldn't be too busy! I'd spend all day with him and do whatever he wanted to do... Coz that's what grown-ups should do!" cried Colby, close to tears of frustration.

"You got me there, Chief. That's what I'd do if I didn't have to listen to the grown-up rules. You'll understand someday when we make you all silly in the head like the rest of us."

Colby let out a subtle laugh at the absurdity of Soushonn's comment.

"Silly?"

"Yup. Silly. Too busy doing silly stuff to have good ol' fashioned fun. We're all kids inside, some of us are just more sillied up than others, that's all."

"Like that bad guy Farny?"

Soushonn laughed heartily at that one...

"Yeah, like 'Farny'... He's real silly. Anyhow, this little piggy's goin' to market as bacon bits if he doesn't get these shooters back to where they're supposed to be."

"Bacon bits?" inquired Colby with a smile.

"Oink Oink" mused Soushonn as he picked the carryall up over his shoulder.

* * *

"Soushonn!" came a voice from the phaser-gatherer's left. He turned to regard Ensign Thomas, who looked a little hot-under the collar at somebody or something at that moment...

"We need a few good people to help dig up some of the personnel that got trapped in the centre of town... They might be able to give us some answers here... Could you lend a hand?" asked Thomas.

"Sorry, Chris, K'arta and I have to establish whether or not we've got enough tac equipment for the team between our findings... We need to make sure that everyone's got a sidearm before we go gallavanting around the ship, what with it being occupied and all." explained the carryall-toting security officer.

"I see." replied Thomas, looking down and jutting his jaw slightly forward.

"Chris... I wanted to apologize... For blowing up on you back there... I... I just felt that my credibility was nonexistant when you were giving all the orders... Besides that, though... I... Felt a little envious of the way things have been turning out for you here..."

"Envious of me?" asked Thomas, a little more than surprised.

"Yeah... I mean... One minute you're just some no-name ensign working under all the respectable officers just the same as I am... Next minute *bang*, you've earned the respect of the senior staff, you've got your confidence up and above the single pip, you've got a family... Where does that leave someone like me?"

Thomas looked about to say something, but Soushonn continued...

"I was a Lieutenant before they demoted me... I thought I had everything going my way... Nobody screaming at me for doing things wrong, honours and commendations flying at me left and right... Next thing I know, I'm being told I should resign and take up a trade that wouldn't have me so isolated and wouldn't give me the anxiety of waiting for things to happen..."

"You were demoted?" responded Thomas, with a hint of disbelief.

"Yes. Seems my psychological evaluations were bordering on the 'danger zone' so they gave me one last chance to 'fix' my mind... By starting me in a new career here, where I can't possibly avoid contact with others... I've worked under the constaints of this badge for six years and it seems that every time something good happens to me, I do something to mess it up... I envy you because basically, you've got what I've been working for all this time under your belt... While there's not so much as a glimmer of that sort of future in the works for me..."

Thomas stood, a little awestruck at what his crewmate had just expressed to him... Most of it was perfectly true... He did have a family... He did have the respect of his superiors... Things were looking up for him...

"Anyhow, I'm sorry about what happened back there... I hope there's no hard feelings because it's been bothering me ever since..."

Thomas nodded, looking a great deal less angry than he had when he'd first walked up to Soushonn to ask for his help...

"See you when this is all over..." he offered, sounding a little unsure of whether or not he'd have the means to carry though on the promise...

"See you then." replied Thomas, nodding to the gold-shirted ensign as they parted ways to attend to their respective responsibilities...

Colby sat outside the temporary quarters. Devlynn had told him not to wander off far from the shelter. She was still worried that he might have a slight fever. All there was to do was play with rocks and smash them together. Every once in a while, an officer would walk by, taking a glance at the small boy playing in the dirt. Colby wondered why they were staring. It was rude, and he didn't appreciate being stared at.

For about what seemed to be the fifteenth time, another officer walked by, carrying a pack of some sort, staring over in Colby's general location. He had had enough of being stared at. He turned quickly and looked over at the man and said, "Quit gawking!" The officer looked as though he had been insulted, and continued along his way. Colby was satisfied with the result, and went back to tinkering with the rocks, humming a nameless tune.

Before Colby sat four rocks. Two small ones and two medium sized ones, all lined up in a row. He constantly was clinking two different pairs of rocks together at random times, trying to see if... Ummm... Well... Not really trying to see anything in particular, but just clinking them together out of childish curiousty. Anything colby could find to do at this point would amuse him.

He clinked the two small rocks together. They made the same noise they did just a few moments ago. He sighed from boredom. He looked up to the bright sky, and squinted as the light of the sun became brighter. He looked back down to the dusty ground. Colby's clothes were covered in dust, and his still bare feet were a reddish color from the dirt. He reached with his arm and scratched one of his small toes, and he again sighed.

Nothing to do, nothing to do... Absolutely nothing to do! You would think that SOMEWHERE, there would just have to be SOMETHING for a kid to do for fun. After all, every OTHER planet seemed to have at least SOMETHING to do for fun! Nothing, nothing, nothing! Nothing to do!

Colby stood up, and looked inside the temporary shelter. There would definetely be nothing to do in there. Nothing but cots and mugs of water. Blah. He turned towards the main point of action, off towards the direction where the shuttle had been before it took off with lots of people inside of it. Naw, nothing to do over there. Nothing but grumpy officers, ready to grab him by the arm and hurt him. He remembered what had happened earlier that day and rubbed the bruises on his left arm.

He looked in all directions. It was all dusty. Nothing to see except dirt and dust and sand and all. Small rocks littered the landscape, and Colby didn't want to play with the rocks anymore.

Colby looked around some more, trying to spot out Dev among the crowds. Maybe she could find something for him to do. After a few minutes of searching, he couldn't gave up, unable to find her. He looked again for Chris. Again, no luck. They must've gone somewhere else to do stupid 'grown-up' things. Nothing like 'responsibility' to ruin one's day.

Colby spotted a rather large rock, and walked towards it, sitting down on it. He rubbed his hands against it. Some of its color rubbed off on his small hands, turning them red to match the sand. Suddenly, Colby remembered that Devlynn had told him to go in and check his temperature with one of the adults. She had said that if his temperature was up and he was outside, that he could feel cool, but really be hot. He evaluated how he felt for a second. Not hot. Rather cool actually. Nothing wrong with him. One of those old human tales that the counselor had picked up. He stood up and walked towards the shelter. He wiped his brow, trying to clear off some of the sand. He brough his hand down again and felt large amounts of sweat on his hand. He suddenly realized that his entire body was really sw

eaty. Really icky feeling. All yucky. He walked a little further, and made his way into the shelter.

Standing in the short hallway, a female officer looked at the small boy and smiled. "Hello there. Devlynn told me to make sure you're all right. How are you feeling?" she said.

"Fine," Colby said. He felt it come out as a wheeze, making just a hoarse sound instead of a word.

The woman kneeled down. "Oh my..." she said with a worried look. She peered into one of the rooms. "Go get the counselor, quick. I think Colby's overheated."

"I'm not overheated. I'm just a little hot," Colby suggested. He ran his hand through his hair. Sweat completely soaked his hair, making his hand smell of it. He looked at his hand for a second... Hand... Blank... Hand... White... Hand... Black... The corners of his eyes seemed to grow dark. He fumbled backwards and fell on his end with a whump. He looked up into the eyes of the woman as long as he could. He saw the darkness make its way closer to the center of his eyes and felt his whole body become limp. The last thing he could hear was "Colby! Colby?! Are you all right?! Colby..." He felt himself collapse against the cold floor.

"The Pain"
By Ensign Thomas and Lt. Casey

Ensign Thomas had been digging for sometime and needed a break. He was exhausted from the work of digging. He sat down on the dusty ground and he began to reflect the heated exchange of words between himself and Lt. Casey. Lt. Casey had been a friend when he came onboard, still hurting from the loss of his wife. He should be over most of it and he was then what was fueling his anger that he had only vented when was in formed of her death after a long time.

Chris sat quitely by himself reflecting over everything that had happened and then he remember something that Ensign Soushonn had said to him early that day.

*** thought ***

"Chris... I wanted to apologize... For blowing up on you back there... I... I just felt that my credibility was nonexistant when you were giving all the orders... Besides that, though... I... Felt a little envious of the way things have been turning out for you here..."

"Envious of me?" asked Thomas, a little more than surprised.

"Yeah... I mean... One minute you're just some no-name ensign working under all the respectable officers just the same as I am... Next minute *bang*, you've earned the respect of the senior staff, you've got your confidence up and above the single pip, you've got a family... Where does that leave someone like me?"

Thomas looked about to say something, but Soushonn continued...

*** End of thought ***

It stuck out like sore thumb and he felt like a heal for his actions. Soushoon had bullseyed the source of the anger, and that scared him. His outbust was that being removed from the mission left him feeling helpless to help his son Colby. Colby was sick and needed medical attention he was begining to realize that Soushonn was right he had something more important than his career in Starfleet, something that had been missing from his life for sometime someone to care for. His wife meant everything and her death marked then end their life together though he had managed to bury his rage and anger at Starfleet for the lack of answers it was the loss that he felt that made him upset.

He was also in love with Dev and that he could no longer deny to himself and there was another sore spot he had amends to make and sitting on his rear wasn't going to get them done. He quickly got to his feet an ran to were the shuttle had been he only hoped he would reach them. He had to talk with Lt. Casey as he felt that Deiran should be focussing on the mission not on what happened between them. This was going to be the most uncomfortable talks he had with his CO.

He reached the shuttle just in time as they were boarding the shuttle. He hoped he would have the time to convey his feelings and appologee to him.

Chris was sweaty and dusty from his run, not to mention out of breath. He had raced to get to the shuttle before it left as to resolve a dispute that he needed to appoligize for, before Lt. Casey left.

******

His talk with Lt. Casey had resolved some of the problems created by his inability to understand or agree with the decision at the time. Which his reaction was wrong, they had a job to accomplish. He should accepted the decision and then went with it until a later point.

He walked over to where Dev and Colby were staying he need to spend sometime with them and then he would rejoin the group at the digging. He walked into the room and supposed both of them, he pulled up a chair and watched over Colby while tried to sleep. This allowed Dev to get out and strech. He had his life and he was going to do everything he could to put things in order.

GM - Chris Patton aka - Captain William Evans Churchill Email: ussatlantis@usa.net http://www.geocities.com/~ussatlantis-a

" Liftoff...."
By Commander Coe

**** Sigma II ****

Coe checked the phaser rifle and put it down, satisfied. The weapons all seemed to be in good order and Coe noted that they would be sufficient for the misson until the team could make it to the galaxy's armoury and aquire more suitable weaponry.

As he surveyed the phasers and rifles that lay on a small table in front of him, Ensign Mercury confronted him.

" Commander.."

" Yes Ensign." Coe looked up.

" Sir, requesting permmission to be added to the assult team." Coe was suprised by the request and was not used to be questioned once his orders had been given.

" Ensign, I have already announced who is to be on the assult team." Coe stated.

" I know sir. however I believe I could offer some expertise to the team and you may need some help in engineering once you get up there...." Coe smiled at the ensign. He liked this kind of initiative.

" Granted." Coe stated simply before returning to the work that was yet to be done.

**** Shuttle craft ****

The windy night had keeped most of the other officers in doors. Now, only Ensign Thomas stood outside the shuttlecraft as the assult team prepared to leave. After giving some final orders to the Ensign, Coe stepped inside shuttlecraft and closed the door. The noisy wind ceasing immidiatley.

Coe took his seat next to Ensign Barker at the helm of shuttlecraft and began running diagnostics on all ships systems. He was pleased at the effort Ensign Thomas and his crew had made in fixing the shuttlecraft. All vital systems seemed functional. He turned around to see Lt Casey making himself busy on the transporter.

" Hows it going Lt? " Coe asked.

" I'll have them working for you sir."

" Good." Coe smiled as his head turned back to the controls.

" Are we ready for departure Ensign Barker?" With a few more movenments of his hand, the Ensign nodded.

" Ready as we'll ever be."

" Very well. Lets go."

" Aye aye sir. EVERYBODY HOLD ON BACK THERE! THIS IS GOING TO BE ONE BUMPY RIDE!!"

And the ensign was not kidding! Coe and the rest of the assult team were thrown all of the small shuttlecraft and Coe was amazed how Ensign Barker could manage to control the craft.

The ride began to get a little easier and Coe retook his seat. The dust particels which inhabited the red planets atmosphere slowly began to clear and darkness ruled the skys. The soft stars beginning to glow stronger as the shuttlecraft entered the upper atmosphere.

" This is as close as we can get Commander, safely that is.."

" Good work Ensign, bring us to a stop here. Lt Casey!" Coe turned his head.

" Yes Sir."

" Get the transporters ready."

" Aye sir." Lt Casey respondered.

Coe quickly took a glance at the sensor console. The galaxys shields were still down, which were good. However perimeter shields within the galaxy had been established. This could pose a problem, however he was sure that Lt Casey had a solution......

**** Ferengi Marauder Delox ****

"Oh mighty one," Nom groveled, " We had detected a small shuttlecraft entering the upper atmosphere of the planet." Nom bowed as he said it.

Pog stroked his ear lobe and smiled. " Finally.." He hissed. " Set an intercept course and prepare all weapons...."

---------------------
Chris N
AKA Commander Coe
Email:chrisn@cia.com.au

The Starfleet officers waved goodbye to their newly earned Camelot friends. "Farewell, Samara, may your journeys be filled with good fortune." Samara turned around, facing Lancelot. "Thank you, sir." Turning her horse again, she called, "Angus, are you going to come with us?"

The serf shook his head. "I have been offered a position as the King's own handservant. I thank all of you. It has been an interesting few days, and I would never have been anything more than a stablehand without your adventures." Samara dismounted, and withdrew a small pendant from a pouch at her belt. "Angus, take this. It is the crest of our house, and I would be honored to consider you as a brother."

Angus took the crest in awe, responding, "It is I who is honored, dear lady. Thank you."

Chiron called gently to Samara, 'Samara, we must leave.' Samara nodded, then said a final goodbye before turning her horse, and galloping to join the others.

===================

They finally arrived at the barn again, and the four huddled around the monolith, which, in their absence, had produced buttons just underneath the inscription Chiron had read earlier.

He looked through the small switches, his eyes finally resting on the Egyptian symbol for 'tomorrow' He tapped the button quickly, and the world faded to black around the weary travellers.

[---------The Schizoid Man-----------]

As we left the castle with the knights, we said our good byes and made our way back up to the barn. As we got there we I opened the door and Chiron flicked some switches.

DARKNESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

As everything fadded in again I realised we were on the planet and all of us were there.

"Pesky shuttle craft"
by Captain Robert Edward Lee Price

**** Ferengi Marauder Delox ****

Daimon Pog tapped his hand upon his chin as he stared upwards. He was pondering what he should say in his acceptance speech when he becomes Vice Nagaus, his anticipated reward for having salvaged the Galaxy class Starship as she orbits Sigma II, abandoned.

"It gives me great pleasure at having this position granted to me..." Pog shook his head. "No, no, that won't do. Humm... How about, I would like to thank all of the little people that made my success possible..." Pog grins as he thinks about the way that sounds. His thoughts are interrupted when the communication tone signals about an incoming transmission.

"Daimon Pog, incoming message from Sub-Daimon Nom on the Fed-er-A-sion Starship." A Ferengi operator calls out.

With an annoyed look, Pog waves his hand. "Oh, very well, put him on screen."

["Oh mighty one,"] Nom groveled, ["We had detected a small shuttle craft entering the upper atmosphere of the planet."] Nom bowed as he said it.

Pog stroked his ear lobe and smiled. "Finally.." He hissed. "Set an intercept course and prepare all weapons...."

["As you wish your greatness."] Nom replied before adding, ["And I'm pleased to report one of the Females has been captured. A Bajoran. We are placing her in this ship's holding facility now your worshipfullness."]

Pog smiled. "Excellent. See that the other Female is captured as well. They should provide me with interseting entertainment for our return trip to Ferengar with that ship as my prize..." Tightening his grip on his scepter, Pog raps it sharply on the ground. "Now go destroy that shuttle you fool!" he snapped.

["Yes your greatness. Consider it done. Nom out."] reaching, Nom deactivated the transmission.

Pog leaned back. "Now... where was I? Oh yes... I'd like to thank all of those pathetic little people that made this all possible...."

**********

*** Bridge, USS Galaxy ***

The comm channel deactivated and Nom sat back down at the helm. A serious look set on his face as he glanced out the corner of his eye at the Ferengi guard that sat next to him. The controls for a Galaxy class starship were proving to be difficult to figure out.

"Let's see... I think the first thing we should do is raise the shields." Nom said out loud. Then thought to himself, "How do I do that?"

Getting up, he walks around the unfamiliar bridge, glancing at the various consoles at Science 1 and 2, then Engineering.

"Don't you know what you are doing?" the other Ferengi asks.

Nom didn't react, just answering, "I am looking for this ship's tactical display..." His greedy eyes light up when he finds the Tactical arch at the back of the ship. "Here it is!"

Quickly he familiarizes himself with the console, tapping the controls near the ship status readout to activate the Galaxy's shield generators... only nothing happens! "I... don't understand..." Nom stammers. "That should of done it."

The other Ferengi walks over near Nom. "Are you sure? You don't seem to be very familiar with this ship's systems?"

"I am not stupid!" Nom declares as he gives the guard an evil look. "Do you forget your place?"

"No Sub-Daimon. I just thought..."

"This indicator here shows that this is the right control. It looks like the systems have been bypassed some way."

"Bypassed? How is that possible Sub-Daimon?"

In realization, both Ferengi raise their heads and look at each other.

"The other female." They say in unison.

"Not Exactly a Smooth Ride"
By: Ensign Mélissa Marie Boudreau

After getting a little rest and packing some equipment, it was time for the team to liftoff. As she entered the shuttlecraft, she was pleased to see that Ensign Mercury was also coming along. Having another engineer along would be a great help in repairing damage and just undoing anything the Ferengi had done to the ship. And of course, the two of them would work well together.

Everyone sat down in their seats and Commander Coe stepped inside and closed the door.

A few minutes later, Ensign Barker spoke. "Aye aye sir. EVERYBODY HOLD ON BACK THERE! THIS IS GOING TO BE ONE BUMPY RIDE!!"

Mélissa believed him. She hadn't expected a smooth ride but she hadn't been on many shuttlecraft and was a little surprised to be flung around so easily. A few minutes and a few bruises later, the ride became a little less rough.

Barker spoke again. "This is as close as we can get Commander, safely that is..."

"Good work Ensign, bring us to a stop here. Lt Casey!" Coe turned his head.

"Yes Sir."

"Get the transporters ready."

"Aye sir." Lt Casey responded.

Mélissa gathered her belongings and prepared to be transported over to the Galaxy. Her final move before transport was to check and set her phaser.

Amélie - Aka:
Ensign Mélissa Marie Boudreau
Engineering Officer USS Galaxy NCC-70637

"No Good Rotten Little Trolls"
by Lt. Ronni "Oh great, she's messed up the story again" Morris
Asst. Chief of Science, USS Galaxy

Ronni and Miran climbed through the Jefferies tubes to the next bulkhead. Ronni pulled the latches and popped off the door. The two women climbed out and replace the hatch.

Miran said, "Why didn't we just take those Ferengi back there?"

Ronni sighed, "Because first of all, they had Disrupters pointed at us. I don't know about you humans, but disrupters do nasty things to Delphinians. Second of all, if we can catch them by surprise, it'll be much easier. Combat with Ferengi is like shooting fish in a barrell."

Miran stood thinking for a second and said, "Well, then, lets head for the Battle Bridge. It's only two levels down, and I'll bet the Ferengi haven't been able to override the systems to get in there."

"Good idea." said Ronni. They went over to the hatch, climbed down.

On the Battle Bridge, Miran took the helm, but it wasn't responding. Ronni tr

ied to do a scan of the system. Nothing worked.

Miran, after some work, got the sensors to work. "Hey, there is a Federation shuttle headed our way."

Ronni sat down and after some work, found out that the reason why the various systems weren't responding. The Ferengi were using a Runa'm 452 System Box. It was designed to envade a system and to set control at one station.

She quickly activated the recently deactivated defense systems. She then blocked the RSB from expanding and set about to reverse the effects.

Suddenly, force fields appeared at the doors and the image of a Ferengi appeared on the screen. "Puny hoomans. You are now trapped. We will deal with you later."

Miran looked at Ronni and said, "This isn't turning out to be a good day."