"Back to Nature"
by Ensign Greer Erikson
(checked by Counselor Salshyar, Ensign Thomas and Colby)

Erikson had been walking for several more hours until he finally regrouped with the other Galaxy crew stranded on Sigma II.

"Nice of you to join us Erikson" Thomas greeted the ensign.

"Believe me, it is great to be back" he replied grateful to be back amungst his fellow officers. Looking around for familiar faces he notice that Salshyar had a deep and painful expression on her face that he had never seen before.

"Is everything alright Counselor?" he asked not sure how she was going to respond.

"It's Colby... he required medical attention" she replied.

"There's none of the medical staff available?" he inquired.

"Not that I am aware of" she responded.

"Counselor, if you can convince Colby to let me have a look at him I might be able to help" he offered.

"I'll try" she said not knowing what the science officer could do.

----------------Inside the makeshift quarters-------------------------

Colby had been to ill to respond to Salshyar. Thomas agreed to let Erikson see what he could do.

"Don't worry Counselor, my mother was a doctor and she was able to train me in some basic forms of medicine" he attempted to reassure her maternal bearing. His mother. As the word came out of his mouth he thought about the incident in the beginning of the day aboard the USS Melbourne. "I actually almost became a doctor myself" he added running his tricorder down he began to feel Colby's forehead and under his jawline.

"It doesn't appear to be an infection of anykind" Erikson said continuing to examine the boy.

----------------Outside--------------------------------------------

Erikson walked outside understanding the Counselor's grave expression. Colby was only young and had a condition probably treatable on the Galaxy, but they weren't on the Galaxy.

"What do you think Erikson" Thomas asked hoping he would hear some positive news.

"I can't be sure what is actuallu wrong. What I do know is what the Counselor told me - he medical attention" he replied hoping he had better news. "What I can do is try and make Colby more comfortable"

"How?" Salshyar interjected.

"Well I could use water and a samll fire for one thing" Erikson replied.

"I saw some shrubbery nearby - it may have some biochemical properties we could use to our advantage. Most plant species require similar biochemical processes - all we have to do is isolate to right ones" Salshyar and Thomas looked at Erikson hoping that his idea was going to work. Colby's life might be depending on it and it was a responsibility they weren't taking lightly.

"I'll be back as soon as I can. For now just keep him as warm as possible" he tried to reassure them "I'll try to hurry"

---The Shrubbery---

Erikson approached the shubbery he noticed on his way back to camp. Analysing each definable species of plant he attempted to locate and identify any useful agents which would he Colby. Many of the plants ressembled species of plants he had seen before, however, he was fully aware that although they appear similar they might be toxic for all he knew.

"Yes" Erikson said with relief. He had located one of the shrubbery which had biochemicals similar to the Terran herb 'valeriansis officianala'. He dug into the earth at the base of the plant trying hard not to destroy the root system he attempted to get access to.

--Back at Camp--

As Erikson approached the campl Salshyar hurried towards him with more optomism than he had noticed in her before. He was pleased that he did not have to disappoint her.

"And?" she questioned him, noticing the roots he was carrying.

"I have something to relax him but I could not fins anything to treat him successfully Counselor" he replied.

"Whatever can be done - do it" Salshyar said hoping it would be enough for the moment.

Erikson placed the dirty roots into some cold water to rinse off the Sigma II soil which still clung to them. Gently placing them in the boiling water he stirred the container trying to infuse the roots.

"What exactly are you doing" Thoms asked.

"This plant exhibits similar properties to a Terran shrub renouned for its sedative properties often taken as a tea. I am hoping it will relax Colby so his body can try and stabilise itself until he can see a doctor. Unfortunately for Colby there is no sweetener available for this bitter tea" Erikson replied.

---------------------Inside the makeshift quarters-------------------

With the valerian-like infusion complete he attempted to administer it to Colby. Eventhough he wasn't concious he resisted to the bitter taste of the tea.

"Damn it Colby, please try and be still" Erikson quietly told the boy. The infusion supplied all they could do now was wait and see if it did anything to help the small, ill body.

About a quarter of an hour later Colby's body began to relax and the muscles in his face relaxed. The counselor appeared a little more relaxed also, pleased to see Colby in less discomfort.

"Erikson" Thomas voice came from outside the shelter.

"Coming" he replied back. Turning to the counselor he exlpained that the tea would have to be administered every few hours in small quantities only.

-------------------Outside---------------------------------------

Having updated Thomas as to Colby's condition, Thomas informed Erikson that there were several crew trapped and they needed help digging them out. Erikson somewhat tired made his way to help those already trying to release those trapped beneath the ground.

"Concern"
By Ensign Thomas

Chris spent the night and the earlier part of the next morning with Dev and his son Colby. He loved them both, through he had only expressed his love for Colby. He came up with something to distract the children that where with the crew on Sigma II. He had spent part of the morning tinkering with the AHEv1.2 adjusting it to become a simple slide. He knew that Colby wasn't really interested in the slide, but that Chris had spent time with him. Chris was struggling to balance his duties and until recently they'd gotten the better of him. Now he was working to change that for the better.

Once he was sure that it would work he called Colby out of the shelter. "Colby, I hope this will provide you with something to do, while I return to the dig site. There are fellow officers that need our help, and I plan to get them out." Chris knew this only a temporary solution as the power cell wouldn't last forever, but from what Dev had told him Colby would be happy to have it last for a short time.

"Thanks, Chris." Colby said as he looked wide eyed at the slide. He would have enjoy every moment while it last, as his dad had said that it was only going to last for a short time.

"You're welcome son, Dev I'll handle the problem." Chris said to Dev. She had informed of the way that Colby was being treated, which he could to some point agree with they were for the most trying to look out for the kids that lived on the Galaxy, but some had gone over board and that was he drew the line.

Chris smiled at both of them and then turned for the dig site. "Oh, one other thing, no more than 1 hour usage in two hours of operation. I don't know how long the powers supply will last so, it would best to stretch it out as long as possible."

** 10 minutes later ***

He stopped and chatted with a security officer, ordering him to issue security procedures. Which stated that all personnel where to remain close to the temporary camp. With the exception of those working on digging in the center of town. The he added that anyone harassing his son Colby, would have to answer to him. He wasn't in the mood for this type of treatment to continue. The security officer agreed at set out to gather some personnel and take up security positions. He also passed the other order along to the security teams.

After finishing his talk with the security officer he made his way to the dig site. He was impressed they had moved a mound of dirt and in some places buildings were beginning to exposed to be viewed for the first time in unknown countless centuries or at least that was his speculation. He looked over the site they were digging on top of and around the center of the town. He saw several piles of artifacts that had been dug up in the process. They had created piles that were broken down into a Simi-orderly fashion. Then he saw an ops officer keeping track of the piles and the items coming out as they were found. Some categorizing and general archeology was taking place, but nothing compared to normal procedures. This was because he had thrown the book at on the proper way to dig up an archaeological site. He figured that they'd rather be found alive then be found sometime in the future as part of the city itself.

"Sir, we are making progress with the number of people and the continual rotation of fresh people into the operation we should hopefully reach there last known beamed down coordinates in a couple of hours assuming nothing stops us for succeeding." An officer reported as he reached the site for closer inspection. He knew that the officer was referring to the Frengin infestation of the USS Galaxy.

"Very good, continue with the operation." Chris departed to continue his analysis of the site. They were making progress and that was what counted he wondered about the away team did they make it back to the ship safely or not. They had there job to and he had his, he needed to get the trapped officers and archaeologist out of there location. He picked up a shovel a started digging.

** 2 hours later ***

They had uncovered more of the center of town. They had been digging around the clock to reach the latest known transporter location. He looked over the horizon they were getting close he could almost feel it.

"Sir over here I am getting something, but it tough to make out." An officer with one of only two tricorders available to search the area. Chris walked over to see what he was talking about. "I am getting two things one appears to be some sort of power signature which is masking the second reading almost completely." Chris looked at the signatures and considered the options.

He first pounded on the stone top and waited for a response nothing. There was little choice, "Ok set a small explosive charge here." Chris said as he used his foot to mark the spot.

Shortly, "Fire in the hole!" Chris called loudly as possible to ensure everyone was clear before setting of the charge.

The explosion went off as planned, resulting in an opening being created. He looked around and considered the situation, they were going to hope for luck.

"Hello is anyone down there?!" Chris yelled into the hole looking at the tricorder and comparing other given factors they should be right on top of the away teams that had beamed here. He repeated the call, with another officer repeating it after he did, as they need to wait before moving on, he hoped that they had the right place.

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

"Encounter at 100 Fahrenheit"
By Ensign John Chan
Operations Officer U.S.S Galaxy

Ensign Chan glanced over at the dig site, the heat was unbearable. Having grown up in the frigid conditions of Eastern Canada, he doubts his physiology could tolerate such warmth any longer. Beads of sweat trickled down his neck. His throat was as dry as an African desert, water rations were strict to say the least.

In times like these, it’s best not to think about the heat… Think of something else John told himself. Think of something else. "I got it !" He said. His mind shifted, his concentration heightened, his eyes sharpened. He has thought of something alright.

" It’s time my memory got a tune up." Chan said to himself. There was no turning back now, John has made up his mind, his certainty was as solid as duranium, he was going to recite the personal log he recorded on his first day aboard the Galaxy. All 3 pages worth.

He had made an effort to memorize it, hoping that it would come in handy someday.

"Here goes…" He drew a breath, then began…

"Personal log, Stardate 49707.14… My first day aboard the Galaxy has been a splash. I was ecstatic to finally be able to see a Galaxy class starship first hand. And take my word when I say it’s HUGE ! I mean, I’ve had models of them ever since I was five, but I’ve never actually seen one not to mention walking in one. While I was transferring over, I insisted on taking a shuttlecraft to board the ship instead of the much less time consuming transporter. It took me quite awhile but the commander finally agreed. I must say the trouble was worth it, the spectacular exterior view of this majestic ship is astounding. Its shining lights, the blue of the warp nacelles gleaming in the darkness of space , beautiful white duranium hull, proudly displaying the federation’s colors in all its glory. My quarters are located on deck 7 , starboard side. It’s next to some environmental systems room and it’s conveniently placed footsteps away from a turbolift. The type H quarters suits me quite well and there’s a nice window which provides me with a great view of space. Quite beyond what I have gotten used to seeing in a starbase. Other than that, I spent my first official day aboard the Galaxy to familiarize myself with my new surroundings. The ship was amazingly big , the corridors stretched continuously, seems like it would never end. If I were totally human, I think I would’ve been bewildered by the sheer size of this ship. If I were totally human… According to the Galaxy’s schematics I memorized, a place called Ten Forward should be the first place to visit. Meeting the ship’s bartender was a real pleasure. And I would very much enjoy seeing Liam again. Many friends, new and old came to welcome me aboard. I spent most of my time Ten-Forward answering questions about the weird eye device I was wearing. I was prepared to head back for my quarters when… Captain Price came over to my table and actually spoke to me ! How about this for a first day ! The captain and I chatted incessantly for half an hour, he told me about his youthful days as an ops officer, just like me, his long journey to Q’onos and his klingon friend K’Ral. He also shared his sentiments about barbecued ribs, which I found quite humorous, he almost thought of it as something possessing a godly value. I told him how my Eye gizmo worked, "a glass that deflects light towards the center of the retina… ". He found it fascinating that despite all the advancements in medical technology, a 500 year old method was the only solution to an apparently simple dilemma. I’m sure he’ll have that in mind in case he is ever in a stalemate facing a crisis. He also questioned me about my mostly human/partly vulcan heritage. He laughed quite heartily when I said I’m supposed to live 200 years. Another funny happened while I was heading towards my quarters. I bumped into a very good friend of mine, Janus Piper -a Bolian - . He and I went through the Academy doing everything together . Boy, we were chatting it up in the turbolift ! Catching up on old times . He told me he had spent the last 9 months serving aboard the Galaxy as an Engineer Junior grade. We split up after the academy and went our own separate ways. I was originally assigned to DS-5, but I luckily never got there. I am very fortunate to be able to serve aboard the same ship as my long time buddy. By the time we decided to call it a night, our turbolift had stopped somewhere on the bottom of the engineering hull. I think we were on deck 45, Anti-matter pods storage. That brings an end to my first wonderful day aboard the Galaxy, the first of what will be many more days to come. End of Log"

" Wonderful ! You ever mentioned me !"

Janus Piper had sneaked up behind Chan during the recital. John wasn’t tota

lly surprised by his friend’s sudden appearance, anybody in the site could’ve heard him shouting out his log.

" I must say, your memory hasn’t deteriorated one bit since the academy." The bolian complimented. " In fact I think it has even improved. "

Chan bowed his head ." Thank you. And I’m glad it did, I’ll get back to my cousins for what they did to me last year."

Janus acknowledged his comrades expression. "They beat you at the annual recital contest again ?"

At the beginning of each Earth year , the Chan family is invited to join all members of their bloodline for a reunion. It’s a gathering of sorts for the descendants of Simm and Hoffman, the vulcan and terran couple that started it all. The gathering lasts one week. It is a time of great harmony, where relatives catch up on the old and meet the new. Where people indulge themselves in the pleasure of life. But most of all it is a time where all descendants of Simm gather to COMPETE !

A contest is held annually to test each person’s talents, skills and intelligence. The family would rent a holodeck for three complete days and would pit one kid against another to decide who is the strongest, bravest and most important of all , the smartest. This event may only include the youngest generation and John has been participating since he was 7. The physical events were a breeze, most people mastered them quite easily. The bravery exams were an exact replica of the simulations the Academy made the cadets do. But not all members of the ancestry were in starfleet and a great deal too many failed. Especially parts of the family who chose their Vulcan side, they lost miserably. Not realizing that emotions are the quintessential drive behind all BRAVE actions. The last and most important event was the recital contest, where members had to RECITE any work of federation literature that were over 200 pages long. John’s only downfall… He had successfully recited 174 pages of his favorite novel "Adventures of Spock" until it came to a halt. Everything went blank, his memory was in a state of total collapse. He had failed to capture absolute victory by forgetting one word "tribble" ! John babbled something like "Gibbles" . Instead , his dreaded cousin, Oliver Chan. Earned the honor of carrying the family’s torch. It has been a burden in Chan’s thoughts even since he left the reunion.

" Don’t remind me of that again…" Chan said. " I can’t believe I missed that ONE word !"

" Personally, I would be proud to finish second amongst what… 20 people ?" It sounded a lot more insulting that the bolian intended. He needed to say something to change the subject, quick ! " Tomorrow breakfast, 2300 hours ?"

" As usual…" John replied.

Well, it took his mind off the heat didn’t it ?

"Return"
by Captain Robert Edward Lee Price

*** Bridge, USS Galaxy ***

"How can this be Sub-Daimon Nom?"

"I do not know. It must have been those Females... they have some how sabotaged the ship's shielding units..."

"I believe Snop has them locked up in one of the holding cells Sub-Daimon." The Ferengi guard explained.

"Then go and find out what they did to the shielding units!" Nom shouted.

"Yes Sub-Daimon!" the Guard replied, turning on his heal to leave.

"No wait! You have to stay here with me... just in case there are any other intruders to worry about. Have Snop interrogate the Females to find out what they did to the shields. And do it quickly!"

"Yes Sub-Daimon Nom." The guard replied, activating his communicator to speak to Snop.

*** Brig, USS Galaxy ***

An annoyed wrinkle creases Rr'lonii's forehead as she removes her hand from the force field with the buzz of an energy field.

"Well this is great. We rush here because we detected the shields dropping, and now we are prisoners of the Ferengi!" Casey-Ti Miran sighs.

Ronni nods. "That is true. But at least we managed to disable the Galaxy's shields before they caught us. With any luck, the others will soon be following us up." The Delphinian said with a smile.

"What's that?" Lieutenant Ti asked, hearing the doors to the security deck swish open.

"It's the Ferengi.. they are coming." Lieutenant Morris explained.

"Ah, good day Females. I trust you are enjoying your stay on this Ferengi Starship so far?"

"This is a Federation Starship you troll." Miran snapped back at the Ferengi.

"Not any more. It is now a Ferengi ship, fairly acquired under the scavenger laws of my people. If you wanted to retain possession, then you shouldn't of abandoned her..."

"We didn't abandon her you fool! We were taken away by some mysterious force from that planet."

The Ferengi smiled, showing his sharpened teeth. "That is all quite interesting hue-mon, but it doesn't really concern me. My name is Snop and I want to know what you two did to this vessels shielding units?"

Miran looked at Ronni and both girls started giggling at hearing the Ferengi's name. It obviously annoyed him, but he just barked on.

"I am glad you two are in such good spirits. I however do not have time for this. You will tell me what I want to know or you will definitely regret it. Now... lets start by getting you two out of those clothes."

Snop's expression turned to that of disgust as he assessed the women's uniforms.

*** Damaged shuttle craft ***

The tiny ship buffeted as it struggled to gain altitude, slowly breaking through the lower levels of the atmosphere. Commander Coe could feel the air thinning as the ship climbed higher into the sky. The outer seals on the shuttle had been too damaged to repair fully, the sound of the engines made it difficult to hear one's self think, let alone give orders.

"She won't take much more Commander," Ensign Barker explained, "the engines are going critical."

"I understand." Coe practically shouted above the noise. "Lieutenant Casey, are we in transport range yet?"

Deiran checked the controls and made a quick scan. "I think so Commander, I'm showing the Galaxy's shields as still being down. If we are going to go, it should be now sir."

JT nodded. "Make it so Lieutenant. See if you can land us onto deck eight, near the Battle bridge."

"Yes sir... energizing..."

Six shimmering blue transporter beams envelope our heroes and whisk them off the struggling shuttle craft just before her engines finally overload and cause the shuttle to disintegrate in a violent explosion.

*** Sigma II ***

Slowly, Captain Price opened his eyes. He saw the blurry images of what looked like clouds. He laid there for a long moment and nodded as he decided that is what they were. But upon second glance, he could see that one of the clouds was moving in a very un-cloud-like way. Blinking, he concentrated his focus more, until he realized that what he was looking at was the explosion of some type of craft in the upper atmosphere of the planet. The thought bolted the Captain to his feet immediately.

"The Galaxy!" Lee declared. He watched the explosion, and tried to track the tiny, barely visible pieces he could see falling away from the point of the explosion. He could see two spiraling plumes running away from the detonation point, but was confused by the fact that they were heading upward and not downward towards the planet.

Lee shook his head. "No.. not the Galaxy. Can't be." In that moment, he consigned to not believe his Starship had been destroyed. In the days spent back in the past, the Captain had lost track of time... but he didn't believe he had been gone for the 4 or 5 days it would of taken for the Galaxy's orbit to decay.

Glancing around, he could see that Doctor Rousseau was laying near by. He immediately smiled, walking over to Jacqueline and picking her up in both arms. When he looked at her, his smile dropped and his thoughts returned to Ensign K'Trall. He would not be coming back. And looking at Jacqueline and her head injury, her survival did not look too promising either if proper medical attention couldn't be found. Quickly.

Glancing around, Captain Price tried to get his bearings. He was sure they were back on Sigma II, but was not sure which way Doctor Currie's dig site was located. He stood there and scanned the horizon, trying to recognize the near by terrain. Lee's leg was totally numb now. The strips of his duty jacket he'd used to dress his thigh wound was as red as the color of his shirt.

"Humm, those mountains there look familiar... I think the site is this way if I'm not mistaken..."

Slowly, but with renewed energy, Captain Price began limping towards the familiar terrain. Leaving behind his make shift crutch, Lee was hobbling on his own, holding Doctor Rousseau's limp body across both arms.

Less than fifteen minutes later, Captain Price hobbled into the city.

"CAPTAIN!" exclaimed an excited Ensign Dana in her melodic voice.

Several of the Galaxy crew turned to see the war battered Captain Price stagger into the dig site, Doctor Rousseau spread out in his arms. Though the Captain looked the worst for his wear, everyone seemed happy to know that he had returned to help guide them.

"Hey Ensign. The Doctor has been hurt. She needs medical attention immediately. When is the next transportation window with the Galaxy 'mate?"

The Deltan glanced at Doctor Rousseau's head wound as an empathetic look washed over her face. Reaching, she touched Jacqueline's face gently as she spoke. "I'm afraid we can't beam up Captain. The whole crew were transported off the ship by something in the city. We still haven't been able to get back on board, and..." Dana tilted her bald head up to glance into Captain Price's eyes, "the Ferengi have taken her over Captain."

"The Ferengi!" Lee barked. Then shaking his head he added, "Where is Commander Coe Ensign?"

"He and a team of officers took what was left of Doctor Currie's shuttle craft and tried to reach the Galaxy." Again, Dana's eyes found the Captains.

"That explosion..."

The Deltan nodded. "Yes Captain. I'm afraid we do not know if they got close enough to activate the transporters. Or if the Galaxy's shields were raised or not. Or if she's even still orbiting the planet." Dana's tone sounded quite discouraged as she felt Doctor Rousseau's forehead. "She's running a temperature sir."

"Yes, lets get her to the camp. One of the medical personnel can have a look at her injuries."

Captain Price and Ensign Dana began walking back. Lee turned to the Ensign, "So who did Commander Coe leave in charge Ensign?"

"Ensign Thomas Sir. I believe he took a team of crewmen to try and rescue Lieutenant Mitchell's away team from the city center."

Lee stiffened. "Mitchell 's not back yet?"

"No Captain. We haven't heard any word from him or anyone on his team since this all began."

The Captain grew quiet upon hearing this. He looked deep in thought, no doubt wondering what had caused so many of his crewmen to go silent. Finally he asked, "Are there any Doctors on the planet Ensign?"

"I suppose Captain, I... I would have to check."

"Do that 'mate. Jacqueline will need medical attention, and quickly if she is going to make it through this. See who you can find and have them meet me and Doctor Rousseau in this building here."

Dana nodded. "Yes sir, right away Captain." and with a smile, the Deltan turned and quickly began heading back to where most of the crew were standing by. Searching for a Doctor to tend to Jacqueline's head wound.

"The Cool Night"
By Ensign Alan Hewson

The days on Sigma II were long and blistering hot, but the night provided much needed relief from the heat. The cool night wind blew through Alan's hair as he stepped out of the dinning tent with a glass of hot coffee in is hand. He started towards the housing tent that he and several other ensigns shared, but he did not feel like sleeping. Taking sips of coffee as he walked away from the camp, he stared off into the horizon. He just kept walking until he found a medium sized rock sitting by itself on the ground. There were many things running through his mind, so he stopped to think. Placing his right foot up on the rock, he leaned forward and rested on his knee.

Many things had happened to him the past few days, but the thing that was constantly on his mind was his fellow crewmates. He knew many of the ensigns, and he had gotten to know Lt. Hutchcraft, Lt. Chirion, and Lt. Blair. Almost everyone was younger than he, and that bothered him very much. He desired to be an officer once again more than anything. It wasn't that he was hungry for power or control over others, but he looked at rank as a title of respect. Seeing young officers that have had only one assignment being promoted over him made his stomach turn. It wasn't anything personal about them, but it was just the way he was. His hand moved to the collar of his uniform, fingering his single pip. Then he rubbed the place where the second pip would go. He closed his eyes and remembered when he had worn two during his time aboard the USS Branson.

Thinking of the Branson brought back the memory of his wife. They had only been married a short while when she died from a simple disease. He began drinking after her death. One night while he was quite drunk, he found the doctor who had failed to diagnose his wife. With a strong punch, he broke the doctor's jaw, which bought him a few days in the brig and a demotion.

For some odd reason, he couldn't mourn the loss of his wife after that. He didn't feel any sorrow for her death. Perhaps their marriage was premature; they hardly knew each other. It made him feel bad that he didn't really miss her. He didn't believe he had a cold heart.

"But that," he said out loud to the darkness, "is all in the past. No use feeling sorry for myself." And with that, he dumped the remaining coffee out of his glass and headed back to camp to see the rescue team take off.

Ensign Kahn Nilani

As the darkness came to light I saw Chiron and the rest of the away team (if you could call it that) all slumped on to the ground. As i got up I felt a little uneasy on my feet. After a number of min I stired the other members of the group

((( Nilani are you o.k.)))

I answered with a nod. I said allowed that we were back on the planet and we had better find the rest of the crew.

"Well, Hello There! What's This?"
by Lt. James Mitchell

*** City Control Centre, 'Training Room' ***

James rushed around the biobeds, crewmen and women disappearing with regularity now. Sterner was close behind, running bioscans on the people as he passed them. The glare of red lights burned into the corners of their eyes as they ran past each one. No time to stop and think. They were beyond help as was everyone else encased in their bubbles. James was only focussed on what Currie might have found.

The elderly lady was hunched over a niche carved into the stonework. It's opening was approximately 4 feet in diameter shaped in a semi-circle. A blue glow shimmered in it, imitating a force-field on the Galaxy.

"What the....how come this didn't register on our tricorders?" Mitchell stopped short of the woman, skidding slightly on the gravelly floor. A dust cloud arose and wafted toward the glow.

"It just came on." Currie stood up from her examinations of the hieroglyphics surrounding the base. A large symbol was set into the floor of the niche. The cloud drifted closer in the breezeless cavern.

"I was just looking at the symbol on the base of this alcove when suddenly this field of light came out of nowhere. This symbol is strikingly alike to the Egyptian symbol for Ra." The dust cloud touched the blue field.

The field's hue dropped to a shade of lime green. Currie and Mitchell felt themselves yanked aside as Sterner reacted to the sudden change.

Where the cloud drifted into the light, the field shimmered around it, sparkling as it dissipated the dust. It then shut off, immersing the room in dimly lit darkness again once the dust cloud had settled.

"What was that?" Mitchell looked to the other two as he said it. Currie shook her head and tried to approach it once again. Joerg grabbed her arm before she could move one step.

"No one goes near it until we've figured out what this is. Hold on, I want to try something." Sterner moved off, leaving Mitchell and Currie.

"Ra? What does that mean?" James scratched his chin.

"Ra was the Father of all the Egyptian Gods. The 'Creator'. Lord of Heaven, he was sometimes called. This symbol is in the form of a hawk-headed man. That is his symbol. The Sun was believed to be where he dwelled if not the God himself. This is amazing!"

[Hutchcraft to Mitchell, Sterner!] Urgency could be heard in Andrew's voice.

"Mitchell here." Sterner ran up to James as he replied. "Sterner is hear too. What is it?"

[This energy core is acting up. Readings are jumped off the scale, but it sure looks to me like it's overloading somehow.]

"I'll go check it out, Lt. Here. Try tossing this stone in that thing and see what happens." Joerg lobbed a chunk of stone at him, which James almost dropped. Sterner bolted off.

"Ok, Andrew. Joerg is coming up. Hang in there."

[Gotcha. Hutchcraft out.] The sound of the communique emitted as Andrew cutoff the transmission.

"Ok, Ms. Currie, Joerg wanted to try this, so lets see what happens, shall we? He smiled at the Doctor as he hefted the stone in his hands.

"Hmm...." Currie hummed to herself as she took notes and drawings of everything around them. They walked the two steps that Sterner had pulled them from.

The field appeared the moment they came with 5 feet of it. Stepping back, the field shut off. Forward, back on.

"This is incredible! 5,000 year old technology! This will revolutionize Earth's history as we know it!" Currie was having an adrenaline rush again. Ahh....to love your work. That is so rare in these times to see, James thought.

He reached out with one free hand to slow her up. He didn't need to see her get vaporized, too.

"Whoa, Doctor! Let's try this experiment first." Currie glanced back at Mitchell, her eyes buring with curiousity and wonder. James just smiled. He was going through the same thing. Egyptian History was a hobby of his, but he was only knowledgeable in the Middle Kingdom. After Ra in the Old Kingdom, but before Amen-Ra (Amon-Re) in the New Kingdom.

"Oh, alright. Lets get this over with." James hoisted the rock and walked toward the chamber set into the rock. The shimmering light sent tingles through the air. Getting up beside it, James could feel the back of his hair standing out. Whether it was fear or the energy, he couldn't tell, nor did he want to know. He lifted the rock and tossed it toward the field, jumping back in the same movement.

The rock glittered as it passed into the field. It's shape began to break down into a bright pattern of green luminescent energy, sending the glow reflecting off the particles in the air, giving the field an eerie lime-green glow.

The once solid rock was a ball of glowing green light. It sent off shards of green slivers that blinded Currie and Mitchell as it spun, then suddenly shot upwards into a great yawning shaft that went up and up and up and up......

Currie and Mitchell just looked at each other in amazement.

"I think you just might have found us a way out of here, Doctor...."

Lt. James Mitchell
Chief of Science USS Galaxy
Allied Email Simulations

"Suns Of Sigma" Part 1
By Ensign Chan Ops Officer U.S.S Galaxy

Three hours have passed since they left the safety of the makeshift shelters. The suns of Sigma II were falling, it was almost dark. It had been an awful day.

" I think we should head back for the dig site…" Suggested Janus Piper for the one billionth time.

"A couple more minutes should do." Replied Blair, his voice hinting at his own fatigue.

They were exhausted. The occasional fifteen minute breaks from walking wasn’t sufficient to relieve the cramps, foot aches, pulled muscles…

" Personally, I think this is quite an invigorating workout " Exclaimed Chan, albeit his superior Vulcan strength had something to do with his remark. "It’s not often we get to get out and appreciate nature like this when you work in a starship."

Janus wasn’t amused. " My friend, personal thoughts are meant for personal use, there are times when I wished you would shut up !"

It’s not the first time the Bolian had lost his temper. In fact, according to Chan’s count, it was the fifty sixth time.

" We’ll be heading back for camp soon. " Said Chan in his futile effort to calm his friend. " Don’t worry pal !"

" It’s like I’m saying it but you’re not hearing ! I think we should head home ! It’s getting late ! By the time we get back, they could have enough time to find a cure for the Bohumius virus ! " Shouted the bolian in anger.

" Logic dictates that you save your strength by not shouting." Said the female Vulcan Kamin, walking next to him.

The bolian was nothing short of frustrated. " STOP ! Stop right there ! I say let’s head back now !"

His three other compatriots just ignored him and went about climbing over a fallen tree. The Bolian hesitated, wishing to make a point. But thought better of it and followed the others.

They were in the middle of what seemed to be a giant rain forest. Small puddles of water littered the ground, massive trees reached for the sky. Fifty minutes earlier, they had been floating around in a swamp and twenty minutes before that, they were in a desert. Three different environments in a less than two hour’s walk.

John Chan was totally fascinated by the sights and sounds of his surroundings, Blair was equally amazed by the radical change of environments. Kamin on the other hand acknowledged the uniqueness of the current situation, but did not shed any sign of bewilderment. And of course there was Janus Piper. He had been wining ever since we had left the shelters. If it wasn’t his back hurting it was his blue Bolian skin feeling sun burned. If it wasn’t sun burn it was his thirst. He always found something to complain about. "I didn’t enroll in Starfleet to walk in mud, it makes my uniform look really bad !" He said. Although Chan was patient with his friend, Blair was constantly telling the bolian to shut up.

Their original mission was to find isolated crewmen and bring them back to the camp. But knowing how big the planet is, a single search team wouldn’t be enough. So the mission has since been modified. They are now on exploration duty, to find out whatever they can about their surroundings in case the whole crew was ever stranded here. They left late in the afternoon, carrying nothing but tricorders to guide them and simple supplies to nourish them.

Chan glanced over at Blair. "I think it’s time we try to communicate again, sir."

" Good idea, who should have the honor this time ?" Mused the lieutenant, looking intently towards Mr. Piper.

" Fine, fine…" Conceded Janus. " I haven’t done that since the desert."

The Bolian tested his voice , paused, then pressed his comm badge. "Hellooooo… This is ensign Janus Piper…. I come in peace ! " Purposely making it sound ridiculous. " … If anybody can hear me, please answer-r-r-r-r …. " His voice lingering as he was trying to make another one of his famous statements.

" O.k we get your point…" Blair said, cutting off the bolian.

Blair himself didn’t know why they were still trying to find missing crewmen. It was hopeless, their best chance was probably to get aboard the galaxy and scan for life signs. But then, with this atmosphere, that might prove to be even harder.

He sighed, not knowing whether to head back or to continue looking. Decisions… Decisions… The sky was dimming, shortening their visibility to less than 15 meters, great ! Then he didn’t have to decide any more.

" This is ensign Luger ! Do you hear ! Please respond ! I repeat this is ensign Luger !" The voice came out loud and clear from Janus comm badge. Blair took charge. " This is lieutenant Troy Blair, we hear you."

" We need assistance ! There are three other people with me ! They’re injured !" Shouted Luger.

John Chan flipped open his tricorder. "The range from this is limited, he’ll have to give us some directions."

" Can you give us any indication of where you are ?" Asked the lieutenant.

" There’s a huge tree here… next to me !" Janus flung his arms upward and looked away, disgusted. The indication he is giving was far from being helpful. " It’s especially tall, I think you can spot it from miles away !"

Blair looked up . "Damn, we can’t see over the tree line. Someone will have to climb. " He paused, tapped his badge. "Ensign Luger, we’ll be there shortly, stay where you are !"

It’s about time the team saw some action, Blair thought." Now who has climbing skills ?"

The Bolian glanced up at the nine storey high tree. No way is he ever gonna climb that.

"I’ll climb." Volunteered Chan. His buddy Janus gave him one of those ‘Are you crazy ? Is your head screwed on right ?’ look.

John had no starfleet equipment, no climbing experience and most importantly no second chance.

A few moments later , it was all over. John had climbed the tree in a record 20 minutes. After losing his grip and falling five times , of course. He handled the falls quite well, always managing to land on his feet. With a massive thud. His part Vulcan instincts made a cat like maneuver in the air and somehow absorbed the landing, or crash, from his legs to his body.

" Fifteen minutes due west. " He said, while recovering from his last fall. Which was the whole nine storeys. Never would’ve made the record time if he had simply climbed back down.

" Quite astonishing. The way you move in the air." Said Blair.

" And the triple flip, just incredible !" Complimented the Bolian. Oddly enough, Chan couldn’t recall doing any of that. " How did you do it ?"

" Driven by the fear of dying I guess." Replied Chan

Kamin raised an eyebrow. Which meant she was quite impressed.

Chan was not eager to accept any further compliments. "Well, let’s go !"

"Back to Sigma II"
by Ensign K'Eytyanna Samara

K'Eytyanna lead her horse, Kiri-Jolith, out of the stables and into the courtyard of the castle. Her Klingon side snarled,

'Okay you two, if you start crying or being emotional, I'm going to start pounding.' Her Bajoran side poked its toungue out, amusing her human side. As she checked she had everything, she heard Lancelot call out,

"Farewell, Samara, may your journeys be filled with good fortune." Turning her horse around, she smiled and replied,

"Thank you, sir." Noticing that Lt Chiron was waiting, she turned back and called out,

"Angus, are you going to come with us?" Realising that he wasn't following, she looked around. The brave man who had been her squire shook his head before speaking, conflicts of loyalty showing on his face,

"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." Getting down from the horse, she walked over to Angus and removed a small crest from her Klingon house that had been given to her by Chancellor Gowron during a visit back to the Klingon Homeworld during her Academy years.

"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." A few moments later, a message from Chiron informing her that they had to leave fluttered into her mind. She nodded, gave Angus a bear-hug and jumped onto her horse before galloping away.

After a short journey, they finally returned to the barn, where they had first arrived. While the others huddled around the monolith, K'Eytyanna sent the horses off towards town and made sure she had all her equipment, including her uniform, d'k tahg, and sword, before heading over to the group. Huddling down next to them, Chiron nodded and typed in the correct symbol. A familiar flash was the last thing she remebered.

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

K'Eytyanna gasped suddenly, waking up with her senses on full alert. A hand reached out and touched her shoulder, causing her instinctivly to lash out and snarl as she grabbed for the hand, squeezing tightly. Chiron's voice filtered into her conscious mind,

'Woah, Ensign. You are safe and on Sigma II.' She released her grip and opened her eyes looked around the small area where she and the other Starfleet officers had arrived before speaking,

"We had better find Commander Coe, since he was in charge on the planet."

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

"The Edge"
by Ensign Erikson
with revisions by Captain Robert Edward Lee Price

Ensign Thomas had efficiently scheduled rotations of the digging crews to free trapped crew members. Erikson was finally on a break and sat down to have some coffee trying to assemble the information he had gathered since he had been on the Sigma II. The "Egyptian" stone tablet whose hieroglyphics eluded him is if to vex his capacity as an efficient scientist. His experience on the USS Melbourne left him with some unresolved feelings he had when his mother died. He had always wanted the chance to say goodbye and now, seven years later, he had the opportunity. What would he tell his father? Could he tell his father for that matter? Erikson thought deeply about the situation brewing over a cup of coffee which left his mouth bitter. It wasn't his cup of coffee so much that left the bitter taste but the fact that he had the pieces but couldn't get the answer. He wasn't sure if fatigue played a factor but he was certain that it would come to him.

Lost in the back of his mind the data was being reviewed. Between digging and thinking, he had also taken the responsibility of acting as temporary medical officer. Non of the medical staff could be located and people required medical attention. Even if he couldn't help them he had to try something. Between the plant extracts he had been gathering and the medical equipment they had been able to salvage, Erikson had a small yet rustic sickbay near the temporary command structure. He remembered following his mother when she did her rounds, dreaming of being just like her and saving lives. He had considered a career in medicine but found he was better suited to the sciences - physical and biological alike. Now all he had from his mother was her humanitarianism, sarcastic wit and that furry little "bundle of joy" that became.......

"Jasey!" he suddenly thought. His feline companion was still on the Galaxy! It wasn't so much that the Ferengi were up there because it is unlikely they would scan for non humanoid life signs that worried him - it was the cat. Jasey at best was temperamental but since he hadn't been there to feed her, he simply began to dread what she was doing to his quarters. She woke him nonchalantly in the mornings for her breakfast and bugged him in the evening for dinner - she was the master of his quarters, or at least she like to think it.

---------------Half an hour later------------------

Ensign Dorsey had found Erikson still plodding over his coffee. It wasn't the macchiato he'd prefer to be drinking with its strong, caffeine aroma but it would just have to do.

"Erikson, the Captain needs to see you" Dorsey told him.

"The Captain?" he asked "I didn't.."

"I don't have time to explain Erikson, just hurry up" she interrupted obviously her concerned composure suggesting something wasn't fine. Putting down his "coffee" Erikson followed to wher

e the Galaxy's commanding officer was seated.

The first thing he noticed when he saw the captain was the tourniquet around his thigh - soaked in what appeared to be dried blood. The captain's face showed some fatigue but he was a strong man and kept his look of authority to help the morale of his crew.

"Erikson, the Doctor here requires some medical attention." Captain Price informed him, drawing his attention away from his own injuries and towards the limp figure of Doctor Rousseau inside a makeshift shelter. The sight of the medical officer laying there with her hair stained with blood and her face bordering on that of death.

"She was shot in the back of the head 'mate. I tried to do what I could, which wasn't very much I'm afraid." the Captain added.

"Shot, with what?" Erikson said crouching over Rousseau, "It appears to be from some kind of projectile."

"That's correct Ensign, more precisely a lead bullet like those used in 19th century Earth." the Captain explained as he watched Erikson examine Jacqueline.

"Dorsey," Erikson said to one of the other ensigns, "ask Ensign Thomas for one of the tricorders his team is using. I can't risk moving her head without knowing how much damage has been done. And hurry Dorsey"

"Aye sir." Dorsey answered with haste, running as fast as he could to the dig site.

Peeling her eyelids back Erikson examined her pupils which seemed fixed. Her eyes vacantly stared back at him whilst he examined them. Dorsey arrived back as quickly as he could holding Erikson's favorite instrument in his hand. Handing the tricorder to Erikson Dorsey looked at the captain who despite his own wounds was more concerned for the doctor's well-being.

Examining Rousseau's skull, Erikson's face lost all of it's expression. Noticing the captain was actually looking at him he attempted to reassure him with a smile. Captain Price appreciated it but Erikson could tell there was no way he could fool him.

"Well?" Price asked eagerly with hope.

"I cannot find any evidence of the lead projectile which caused the damage Sir. It appears to have ricocheted. That's at least something good. If it has been lodged in her skull it would be a possibility that the Doctor would have permanent brain damage, however, with the technology we have in this century she wold be able to make some progress." Erikson told his superior knowing that the Captain would see through any euphemisms on what was actually wrong with Rousseau.

"Can you do anything to help her Ensign?" the Captain asked as if to deliver a friendly ultimatum.

"I can only try Sir" he tried to reassure the Captain that all was not lost.

"Dorsey, you've just been promoted to head nurse" Erikson attempted to lighten the grim feeling in the shelter.

"Sir?" Dorsey said looking at the Captain with puzzlement. The Captain looked at Erikson.

"Well I am going to need help." he said, "I'm a scientist, not a miracle worker you know."

Lee laughed slightly, mumbling something about someone named McCoy at Starfleet Command. Whatever it was Erikson had said, he and Dorsey were pleased to see the Captain smile.

"The cerebellum had been severely bruised, damaging several major neuron groups in the process. Part of her posterior skull has been fractured and has been thrust into the posterior region of her medulla" Erikson rambled.

"Can I have that again in plain English 'mate? What exactly are you saying?" the Captain asked. Dorsey, his new aide, looked just as puzzled.

"The medulla, Sir, is the part of the humanoid brain which acts as a main line of traffic for nerves between the spinal chord and higher brain functions. Doctor Rousseau has suffered damage to this region of the brain rendering her unconscious." Erikson explained. The Captain looked concerned. "Sir, I have to be honest. Even if we get back to the Galaxy, she is going to require extensive surgery at a Starbase".

"When we get back to the Galaxy 'mate." the Captain reaffirmed the hopes of the junior officers.

"Yes Sir!" Erikson responded optimistically. "I'll be back in a minute Sir." Erikson stood up and began to walk out of the shelter and Dorsey followed.

----------Outside------------------------------

Erikson began to assemble a makeshift team of the officers on break. The lack of communication with Commander Coe's team and any word from the still numerous crew members absent had depreciated morale. Tired and exhausted they seemed to be revitalized hearing that the Captain was once again present amongst them. People seemed to be running everywhere. One tactical officer was getting water, a helmsman was getting some fuel to keep the fire going, an engineer was getting all the medical equipment they had found. He had asked Thomas for the officers he had running around to remain available and Thomas agreed.

Erikson showed the tricorder scans of the Doctor's cerebral damage to one of the engineers and another science officer. Together they collaborated in an attempt to help the gravely ill doctor. The three of them came up with a few suggestions but they couldn't be certain that what they could do wouldn't make things worse.

-----------Inside the shelter----------------

"Captain" Erikson approached with "his" team. "We've been discussing the Doctor's condition, and well Sir, we can't promise you that anything we do won't make her worse - possibly much worse. The humanoid brain, even in the 24th century is not entirely understood and well....." Erikson didn't know what to say. "We talked about some minor surgery but we wouldn't have the equipment to compensate for our inexperience"

"I see Ensign" the Captain replied.

"However Sir. Enders, Dorsey, and I have discussed reprogramming this tricorder to emit a low intensity stasis field. It won't be easy but at least it will buy us some time" Erikson added.

The Captain, whilst he trusted those he selected to serve on his ship, was hesitant about letting the ensigns treat the Doctor. Despite whatever medical training Erikson had received, it wasn't likely to include delicate brain surgery and Erikson agreed. The plan to modify the tricorder seemed the best course of action.

"Do it 'mate." Price said flatly. "Be sure to keep me posted on Jacqueline's condition."

"Yes sir." Erikson acknowledged, while watching Captain Price limp off back towards the others at the temporary command center of the dig site.

Ensign Enders helped Dorsey reconfigure the diode emitters on his tricorder. Although this would undoubtedly help save Doctor Rousseau, it would also slow down their efforts to free the trapped crew members they had been trying to reach. Erikson took the boiled water, which had had the beryllium removed, and began to wash the back of Rousseau's head. Using an exobiologically similar rosemary-based extract, Erikson swabbed the posterior of the Doctor's traumatized head. Although she would be safely in stasis they needed to clean the wound for any bacterial infection. The damage done by the primitive lead projectile from Earth's history was one thing but meningitis, or some other infection of the slightly exposed neural tissue, could set in if any of the native microorganisms on Sigma II decided to take advantage of her open wound.

"We've finished Erikson" Dorsey announced.

"Great, bring it over here" he responded.

The modifications were a success. Rousseau's body was completely enveloped in a stasis field slowing her biological functions until her physiology halted and her body was "frozen". At least this would give them time to consider all viable options.

"Leaving in time?"
by Lieutenant Commander Joerg Sterner
Chief of Security, USS Galaxy

"I think you just might have found us a way out of here, Doctor...." Lieutenant Mitchell said after the rock disappeared.

Joerg was not yet sure if this was the right way to leave the place.

"I'll go and check with Lieutenant Hutchcraft what he has found out so far. Please don't enter that field until I return. Perhaps there is another way out of here." he said and started to move towards the stairs.

"And one other thing." he said and turned again. "Try to find out how these machines work, perhaps you find a way to rescue our crew members from those beds."

Lieutenant Mitchell and Doctor Currie nodded as Joerg finally left them alone.

On his way back to the staircase he passed many bubbles and still there were many crew members in them, which occasionally vanished in the way he had already seen many times. Finally he reached the bottom of the stairs and began to go up.

Several minutes later he entered the large room, where he accidentally discovered the hidden stairway. He continued his way back to the control room, where Lieutenant Hutchcraft was busily working on the energy core. Upon arriving there, Joerg asked for a report.

"Lieutenant, what is the status of the energy core?"

"Well, the reactor is currently overloading. I ran an analysis on my tricorder and found out, that if it continues to overload at the current rate it will going critical and explode in a matter of hours."

"Great. How much time do you think we have left?"

"It's not very easy to calculate, but I would say we should be out of here within the next two hours, or we'll be history." Hutchcraft tried to bring in a little joke.

"Is there anything you could do to slow this process down?" Joerg asked.

"Trust me Joerg, if there'd be a chance to slow this machine down or shut it off, I would have done it already. But this technology isn't very easy to understand. We could find the right button any minute, but who guarantees there is one?"

"Ok, you're right Andy. Thanks for informing me anyway."

"On the other hand, do you have any good news yet?" Andrew asked.

"Yes, I believe we found a way out of this place. It's some kind of ancient teleporter combined with a lift. It already transported a rock back to the surface, but I'm not quite sure if there's a chance to use it on people."

"I would like to take a closer look at that one."

"I think you'll get a closer look at that very soon from the inside, if we don't find another way out of here."

After Joerg said his last sentence something fell from the ceiling. It was some dirt and pieces from the ceiling itself. Shortly after that they heard a voice.

"Hello is anyone down there?!"

It was Ensign Thomas' voice, as Andrew quickly recognized.

"Yes, we are down here Ensign." Andrew yelled back.

Joerg wanted to try something and tapped his communicator.

"Sterner to Thomas." he said.

[Ensign Thomas here. It's good to hear you sir.]

"It's also good to hear you Ensign. We have a little problem right here. We need to get out of this complex within the next two hours since the reactor that powers all the equipment here is overloading." Joerg quickly tried to summarize their current situation.

[I see Commander. Is there anything we could help you with?]

"Can you beam us out of here? Since communications seem to work through this hole, perhaps the transporter also will work."

[Ah, I'm sorry to inform you, but we currently have no transporter that will do this job. They are all broken sir.]

'Great, another opportunity gone.' Joerg thought while looking at Andrew who seemed to have thought the same thing as his face expression was far from happy.

"Can you leave one officer at the hole, so that we can keep a communication link between here and the rest of the crew?" Andrew asked.

[Certainly. I'll stay here personally sir.]

"Ok, thanks. Sterner out." Joerg concluded the link with Thomas.

"May I 'borrow' Engineer Fitzpatrick from you Andy?" Joerg asked.

"Sure. What do you need him for?" Andrew asked astonished.

"I need an engineer down at this transporter I told you about. Since your job is to find a way to slow down the reactor's overload, I thought Fitzpatrick could help me with that." Joerg explained.

Andrew nodded and gestured to the other engineer to go with Joerg. Before they left the control room, Joerg turned to Andrew.

"Keep me informed of the situation and be careful what buttons you touch. Let Professor Hallmark explain to you first what the symbols represent, with that 'trick' we have succeeded already." Joerg said before finally leaving the room.

Several minutes later Joerg and Fitzpatrick entered the huge cavern again. At first Fitzpatrick was overwhelmed by the gigantic dimensions of the room, but Joerg reminded him that they were running out of time.

Another minutes later the two found Lieutenant Mitchell and Doctor Currie. They were still trying to determine what all the buttons on the machines were made for. As they saw Joerg returning with Fitzpatrick, Mitchell turned to speak to them.

"Ah Commander. Do you have any good news for us?" he asked.

"Some good news, but I have some really bad news first. Lieutenant Hutchcraft found out that the energy core is going to go critical and explode in less than two hours." he started.

"But" he continued "Ensign Thomas contacted us up there. His team digged a hole through the ceiling of the control room. But there is no obvious way out there, since there is not a single working transporter on the surface left and climbing up there is also no option."

"And what do we do now?" Doctor Currie asked.

"I brought with me Mr. Fitzpatrick, who'll try to figure out how this field over there works, with your help of course Doctor Currie." Joerg explained.

"What can I help him with?" she asked.

"You could try to explain the various symbols to him, perhaps that's the missing link to understand this ancient technology."

"And we should better start at once." Mitchell added and started to examine the symbols again.

USS Galaxy
Lt. Deiran Casey
"Taking Control"

The repaired shuttle lifted off the ground. It shook like it was in a paint mixer as it reached the upper atmosphere. At one point Deiran bruised his forehead.

"Commander, shields of the Galaxy are down. The sensors are showing Ferengi life signs on decks 1, 2, 6, 8, 10, 12, 18 and 36 sir. But, these readings are unreliable do to the amount of interference we’re experiencing from Sigma’s upper atmosphere."

"We’ll have to go on these readings Lieutenant. Are there any Ferengi on the battle bridge?" Commander Coe asked Casey.

"Negative sir, they seem to be in several crew quarters sir, probably ransacking."

"Everyone prepare for transport!" the Commander said, making sure he was heard.

The officers stood to there feet and walked to the shuttle’s transporters. Even the pilot Gary Barker. Then Casey initiated the transport. Sending Barker, Boudreau and Mercury to where the Commander assigned them and Coe was transported to the Battle Bridge.

Casey checked the readings to make sure the transport was complete and then set the transport on automatic. He had to hurry.

[Shuttle containment field will breach in 30 seconds…20 seconds… 10 seconds… 5 seconds…]

Casey was on the transport pad when he heard the computer saying [two seconds to structural failure]

"Energize…" Deiran stood there rubbing his bruised forehead waiting… as the shuttle was engulfed in red, yellow and orange.

Casey could see the blue molecules of the transporter beam as he was sent through the buffer and then barely made it to the Battle Bridge.

Coe watched as Casey rematerialized in front of him.

"That was cutting it close Deiran!" Coe commented.

"Aye sir, it was. I’m glad I’m a religious man," Casey responded to his CO with a chuckle and smile. It was just another close call in a life of close calls for Deiran Casey. He actually enjoyed living life on the edge, where normal mortals only dared to go. But, Starfleet didn’t accept normal mortals so he was in good company. "Computer what is the location of Lt. Casey Ti Miran and Lt.(JG) Ronni Morris?" Casey asked the computer.

[Lt.(JG) Morris is on deck 9, and moving fast. Lt. Casey Ti Miran is on deck 12 in a security containment cell.]

Well that meant the Ferengi still didn’t take her clothes. The computer wouldn’t known where she was if she wasn’t wearing her comm badge. If they did undress her, he’d kill every Ferengi involved in humiliating his wife.

"They’ve got Miran sir, I’ll see if I can contact Ronni," Casey said as he tapped his comm. "Lt. Casey to Lt. Morris?"

There was no response.

"Ronni isn’t responding sir…"

The Commander could see rage in Casey’s eyes, it seemed that chains were holding him back from leaving the Battle Bridge and taking out every last Ferengi on board. Strangely enough, Casey was the type who could’ve done it too, but this was a team effort.

"I know it’s hard Deiran, but keep your mind on the job at hand. We’ll get Miran, don’t worry about that," J.T. Coe made it a declaration and a promise, he could see the torment in the Lieutenant’s eyes.

As Coe said this, four Ferengi burst through the entrance of the Battle bridge with their phasers blazing. Casey ducked, rolled and fired…disintegrating 2 of them. Coe jumped to the floor behind the Con and took out the other two. Quick and clean.

"We work well together Lieutenant," Coe said, smiling.

"Yes sir, nice move by the way."

"Yes, I see you work out, you practice those rolls?" Coe laughed.

"Yes sir, a program on the holodeck, keeps me fit and my aim precise, you can try it if you like?"

"Sounds good. Let’s take control of the ship, shall we?"

Casey and Coe walked to the access pad for the Main Computer. Casey then retrieved the security access program. "I’m in sir, you can begin stating the clearance code and lockout code sir."

Coe recited the right codes. Casey seconded the lockout codes and gave his security clearance. For now, they were the only ones who could access the main computer and control ship functions.

"I’ve locked out all stations on the Main Bridge sir, we have complete control of the ship here. Only problem is the ship is being pulled back into Sigma II’s atmosphere again. I’ll try to program a constant orbit sir. Maybe Miran programmed it into the helm?" Casey said and then looked through the files of the helm.

Thankfully she did program the coordinates of the orbit, but it had to be piloted manually. Deiran started punching buttons like crazy, he had to act fast.

"No, sir it has to be done manually," Casey said. "Commander, I don’t have time to get Ensign Barker up here, I’ll have to try this myself," Casey smiled.

He loved living on the edge, ironically the edge loved him. Casey accessed Miran’s program from the helm and guided the Galaxy to those coordinates. He then programmed the Galaxy to remain in this orbit. Using some rerouting techniques, Casey made it work. He used an engineering algorithm that sustained the warp core temperature and used it to keep the Galaxy’s orbit stationary. Simple really, he’d have to reprogram the helm later though. Or the Galaxy would never move until it was reprogrammed, it’d take a minute or two, which was acceptable.

It was fine for now, he could always shut the program down. The last thing they needed was worrying about the ship falling out of the sky.

"Stationary orbit accomplished Commander."

The Commander acknowledged Casey with a, "Good work lieutenant!"

Casey then went to the science panels and accessed all of the communications and transporters of the ship. Now, the Ferengi couldn’t communicate with each other, as Casey locked out all of their internal comm’s, then he locked out transporter access, and rerouted it to the Battle Bridge. He then shut down all containment fields on the ship.

Which meant that Miran could try and escape if she acted fast, but he hoped she wouldn’t try anything that would put her life in jeopardy. Come to think of it she already did that, Casey thought. Then Deiran enacted the shields.

[We’ve taken main engineering, Commander] Boudreau said over her comm.

"Good work Ensign, is Mercury and Barker with you? Are they okay?" Coe asked.

[Aye sir, the Ferengi put up a good fight, but nothing we couldn’t handle.]

Things were going quite smoothly for utter chaos. The ship taken hostage, officers held prisoner, and now they’d have to retake the ship. The Ferengi really didn’t have a chance as they didn’t know the ship and didn’t know the controls as well as the Galaxy’s crew.

"Commander, the transporting and communication opening through the planet’s atmosphere…" Casey stopped and looked at the timer, "we should be able to use the transporters and comm system in seven minutes sir."

Coe looked relieved. Casey looked relieved. Basically all they needed to do now was cleanup and take the Main Bridge, rounding up the Ferengi and making sure Miran was safe.

He wanted to leave and go save here, but he knew the best way to do that was stay here and run the ship until a full complement of officers were here to be posted at the stations, then the first thing he would do was get Miran and maybe take out a few Ferengi. He wanted to kill them for even thinking about touching his wife. He would be tempted to do just that.

Casey sat at the Ops Station and put all systems on the Ops Panel. Coe sat at the Con. Mission almost accomplished. Casey turned around and smiled at his CO, "The window is here sir, should I start the transport?’

"At once Lieutenant!" Coe replied, returning Casey’s smile with his own. The Galaxy crew was good and they knew it. The Galaxy Crew were becoming almost as popular as the Enterprise Crew. Casey was proud to be a part of such a group.

"Taking Engineering"
By: Ensign Mélissa Marie Boudreau

Mélissa had always loved the feeling of the transporter. She didn't know why but it was just another part of modern technology that she liked. As the transporter effect released her, Ensign Mercury, and Ensign Barker outside of main engineering however, she was thinking of more serious matters.

The Ferengi weren't the smartest species that Mélissa had ever encountered (and she hadn't yet encountered many) but at least they had the sense to post guard around main engineering. She trained her phaser on one of the guards and fired. Mercury and Barker were doing the same. By that point the Ferengi in engineering had heard them and were preparing for an assault.

Mélissa looked towards Ensign Mercury. "It gets tougher from here."

She stood by the door to engineering with Mercury beside her and Barker on the other side of the door. Barker mouthed "One, two, three." and entered instructions on the computer panel near him. The door opened and the two Ensigns nearest it entered the doorway and fired a shot each into the room. A phaser shot flew between them, singing Mélissa's uniform. She retreated back into the hallway as Ensign Mercury advanced in her place.

"That was close", she muttered under her breath. Truth be told, she was terrified. Outside of the holodeck, this was her first firefight. Barker and Mercury had made a little progress and were advancing furthe into engineering. Mélissa saw a Ferengi aim his phaser towards Ensign Mercury but before the Ferengi knew what was happening and could get off his shot, she shot him.

A few minutes and quite a few close calls later, the last Ferengi in main engineering fell. Mélissa ran towards the nearest computer console and began to check on the Galaxy's status. Mercury proceeded quickly to another console and began to check what needed repairing.

"We’ve taken main engineering, Commander." Boudreau said over her comm.

[Good work Ensign, is Mercury and Barker with you? Are they okay?] Coe asked.

"Aye sir, the Ferengi put up a good fight, but nothing we couldn’t handle." She smiled to the other two. She turned to Barker. "Ensign Mercury and I can put the ship back together. I'll let you figure out to do with all these Ferengi before they regain consciousness."

Mélissa was relieved. Despite her short stay so far on the Galaxy, she had become fond of the ship and was glad that things were back under control.

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

"Suns Of Sigma" Part 2
By Ensign Chan Ops Officer U.S.S Galaxy

They had been walking for exactly 14 minutes. Janus continued his usual whining habits and Blair persisted in telling the bolian to shut up. Kamin was as quiet as a Vulcan could be and Chan was up to his usual , talking about everything and anything that he found exciting. Which would include pretty much every molecule in this planet.

" Shouldn’t we be there by now ?" Moaned Janus.

" No, we should be able to see it once we cross this hill…" Replied Chan, his memory recalling every topographical detail he had seen when he was on top of the tree.

" You said that on the last one and the one before that !" Whined the Bolian

The ground steadily angled upwards, the four officers had to slow down to maintain a strong footing. Blair grabbed a branch of a tree nearby and used it to pull himself up. Chan followed Blair and so did the two others. Soon afterwards, they were on top of the small hill.

They looked around, the bolian had to say it first. "So where’s your tree ?"

Chan’s expression was unreadable. "It should be here… I mean…" He looked up… then down… It wasn’t a hill they were standing on. It was the Root of the giant tree. He glanced upward again. He saw it but it was hard to believe. What they thought were trees around them were actually huge stems running upward then coming together to form the trunk of the colossal tree he saw earlier.

The others followed John’s glance and they soon understood.

"Incredible…" Murmured someone.

The sight was indeed , incredible. Blair was the first one to get serious. " Where is Luger ?"

Chan flipped open his tricorder, took some readings, then shook his head "It’s faint, but I do detect someone 30 meters that way. " He pointed at a stem that was on the edge of the huge tree.

The Tricorders were not designed to operate under these austere conditions and it was far from reliable. Still, any clue is better than none.

" Let’s go." Ordered Blair.

The four dashed towards the other end. They came to a halt once they got there.

Blair was gasping for air. " Chan, readings ?"

Chan and Kamin were breathing normally, that Vulcan blood made them almost impregnable to fatigue. John took some readings, then he squinted. Something was wrong. " They should be right here…"

"Damn…" Cursed Blair, gasping, still under the effects of sprinting.

His boots were wet, his toes felt… well he didn’t feel his toes at all. The suns were nowhere to be seen and it was dark. Not an ideal way to walk back to camp. In an almost instinctive motion, he yanked the backpack from his back and threw in on the floor.

"We’ll be needing flashlights." He said as he pulled out four wrist mounted ones. The new top of the line model, Chan noticed.

Chan slammed his tricorder shut. "I’m not getting ANYTHING at all with this. I think the concentration of beryllium in the air affected its systems after such prolonged use. It’ll need to be replaced. "

This was great, no tricorders, limited supplies, nearly no more water. No crewmen to rescue, things weren’t turning out the way they had intended when they left the camp. It can’t possibly get worse than this.

Then it did.

"Stay where you ARE !" Shouted a… Cat like creature holding a federation type A phaser.

Three other cat creatures appeared from the shrubs and surrounded the patrol team. One of them dragged the corpse of what seemed like a federation officer ! If Blair’s logic was correct, these creatures killed the ensign and used his comm badge to lure his team over here.

"Your supplies ! Throw them to me !" The cat creature demanded.

" Look, I’m sure whatever you want, we can discuss a compromise !" Said Blair, unsure of what to do.

The attacker ignored the lieutenant’s suggestion. "The BAG !" Blair, leader of the group, nodded. Then threw his bag on the ground in front of the attacker. The others did the same. The team watched as the cat creature opened the backpacks and inspected its contents.

" What are they ?" Whispered Blair to his teammates.

" A race large feline creatures from Antica. " Replied Kamin. " They consume raw meat, they are most lethal in a physical confrontation. I believe they were in our detention cells when they got transported here."

It was more than Blair had desired to know. " I guess we’ll have to try and avoid a fight."

Due to the scarceness of weapons in the camp, they were forced to come on patrol unarmed. Blair , as well as the three others, wished they had done otherwise.

The Antican then turned his attention back to his captives. Still pointing the phaser at the group. "Water ! We need water !"

"We’re all out," Replied Chan. "Why don’t you drink from the ponds ? It’s perfectly fresh water ."

The cat turned to the shrubs and flung a dead corpse of another Antican at the general direction of where the team was standing. " This is what happened when we tried !"

"The heavy concentration of Beryllium in the air must have some adverse effect on the water, although it does not affect us…" Kamin stopped, realizing she had said enough.

The heavily distorted face of the dead Antican reminded Blair of the pain he endured after his father’s death. The days he spent thinking of how his father looked… Troy shook the thought away.

" Let’s work together and figure out a solution, there’s no need for violence ." Blair’s persuasive voice made the Antican think for a short moment.

" No ! You are better off as food than as an ally. " The three other Anticans grinned in agreement.

Negotiation doesn’t seem to be the most effective tactic in this situation. These escaped con-men from the Galaxy wasn’t bound to be submissive.

The four Anticans meowed to each other. Some odd form of communication the universal translators wouldn’t process. Then they started circling around the team. Walking around in circles, looking at the team, with preying eyes.

Logically this would be the best time to start running. But only Kamin used logic. The three others just stood, in some kind of trance. Not knowing that the cats were preparing to jump , to kill.

"I suggest we run" Whispered Kamin to his teammates .

"I think you are right." Replied Blair, not taking his eyes off the creatures. Hid concentration focused on ways they would escape. Then without a moment’s notice …" Run ! Run ! Run !"

Everyone started running toward the root hill they just came from. The feline creatures leapt meters into the sky and landed mere inches away from the team, nearly catching Janus on the leg. The cat creature spurred into action, it’s legs pulling at a blazing speed. Dirt being flung in the air as their legs thrusts against the ground.

Janus was the first to be caught, the cat’s claws jabbed the Bolian’s back . Making him fall forward. His face falling flat into the wet tropical soil. His lungs , gasping for more air. "Help ! Help me !" He shouted. Caught between the monster’s two legs, he was unable to get away. The creature kneeled above him, lifting his claw to deliver the killing blow. As it slashed down, toward the Bolian’s blue skinned neck, Janus couldn’t think of anything, not able to justify what to think. Death was upon him .

He felt nothing, but saw… He saw the massive twelve inch claw speeding at his neck. He saw the evil expression on the Antican’s face. He saw the claw coming pixels away from his skin. Then he saw Chan…catapulting himself at the creature. Crashing into the feline, pulling it away from Janus.

He was still alive !

Chan hit the cat with three successive precision-guided punches with the strength only a vulcan can muster. One on the head, the other on the chest and an uppercut to the jaw to finish it off. The Antican fell , dismayed by its defeat, blood trickling down its nose.

They may be fast, but they sure weren’t strong.

Meanwhile, the three other Anticans were still after Blair and Ka

min, who kept dashing for cover. Blair had a lot more trouble maintaining his speed than the Vulcan. Kamin’s steady motion made her seem more like gliding rather than actually running. A streak of orange light zipped past Blair as he took cover behind a tree, getting tired of sprinting.

" Suggestions Kamin ?" Asked Blair, breathing hard.

" The chances of surviving are much greater is we fight now, rather than to run and exhaust ourselves." Stated the Female Vulcan, as a matter of factly.

Vulcans don’t tire themselves Blair thought to himself.

"Sounds good to me" Said Blair, while picking up a large stick which should be useful to bash the daylights out of those cats. His head twisted out of cover and into the open to assess the current situation. Another orange beam hit the side of the tree where they had taken cover. Spewing pieces of wooden shrapnel all over. The Antican was fast approaching. Wait… where are the two others ? He turned around.

"Duck !" He shouted at the top of his lungs .

The two others had sneaked up on them and was in already midair when Blair saw them. Kamin dove into a ditch that laid before her, Blair on the other hand , decided to be heroic. Instead, he ducked under the arc of the cat’s jump , spun around and hit both of them with his club. The two fell back, dizzied by the pain. Troy didn’t have much time, he had to think of something. Then , just as the two Anticans got around, Blair started running toward the first Antican, the who carried the phaser. The first cat fired multiple shots at Blair, all of whom missed. He easily dodged them while dashing , counting on the fact that the Antican would avoid aiming at the two other cats that followed directly behind him. Then, he passed the armed Antican, speeding by it . Heading instead toward the other end of the forest, into a hill. The cat snickered , ‘Stupid human, he is not going to escape’.

Blair was conscious of what he was doing, he continued running as the ground started to slope. If he could only finish climbing, all would be fine… An orange beam hit the ground next to him, he knew the Antican purposely aimed for the ground and not his defenseless body. He knew that the Anticans would think that he was crazy to think we would escape. ‘I’ll show them’ he thought.

The two Antican’s feline legs and superior speed quickly caught up to Blair. He was nearly on top now, just a few more meters… There ! He was on top of the hill ! He turned to face the two felines that had pursued him. Who had also stopped, curious of why the human decided to halt his running.

"Come and get me" He said smiling, challenging the cats. They prepared to jump at Blair, claws ready, mouths open, they were going to taste human flesh at last !. The muscles on their legs stiffened as they crouched to gather more jumping velocity. Their eyes sharpened to provide a better visual lock of their target. Then they sprung loose and bounced at their prey.

Blair took a large step back, his foot reached for …there was nothing there. No ground, nothing. Just air… His body lurched backwards as all balance was lost, he pirouetted in the air to have his head facing the bottom…

The cats had jumped, but Blair was no longer standing in front of them, where was he ? They were still in the air, they zoomed past where Blair stood mere seconds ago. He was gone, but that was impossible ! Meanwhile their momentum had carried them over to the other side of the hill…

But, as they found out, it wasn’t a hill. It was a cliff .

On the bottom of the cliff, was WATER. A large river ran through the bottom.

"Nooooooooo !!!!" Shouted the Cats as they plunged into the liquid.

They were dead within seconds.

Blair’s head came out of the water like a bullet out of a shotgun. Gasping like a madman, air seemed to be on short supply every since he left the shelters. Other than a bruise from driving in the middle of such shallow water. He was perfectly alright.

But not for long.

" Did you realize you just killed two of my brothers ?" His voice echoed as it bounced off the side of the other cliff. The first Antican pointed his phaser at Blair. "You’re going to die now"

Fortunately , being the tactician he is, Blair had planned everything. Including this.

The Antican took a final second to look at him, shook his head in pity for the unfortunate man, stuck in the water. He then pressed the…

A vulcan nerve pinch was all it took, the Antican fell on the floor, unconscious. Kamin had been just on time. "Boy Vulcans are great when they are this reliable" Shouted Blair, he was wet, but happy that it was over.

Chan and Janus arrived carrying the unconscious body of the final Antican. "Looks like you had some fun, sir !" Yelled Chan.

"We sure did." Replied the lieutenant.

Five hours have passed since they left the safety of the makeshift shelters. The suns of Sigma II have fallen, it was totally dark. It had been a great day.

"Going Home"
by: Ensign Tony Grump

By the time Ensign Grump returned to the temporary living quarters, Ensign Thomas (commanding officer) had issued orders for all personnel to remain close to the camp, and for all available personnel to report for digging duty.

*****At the Center of Town*****

After taking Ensign Grump finished his turn at digging he sat down exhausted from the last few days.

**10 minutes later**

"It's also good to hear you Ensign. We have a little problem right here. We need to get out of this complex within the next two hours since the reactor that powers all the equipment here is overloading."

Everyone around the dig site let out a sigh of relief. The away team had been reached and were alright. At least for now.

After a brief discussion with the away team Ensign Thomas turns to the members around the dig site and says, "Well done folks." Then he selects several crew members to stay with him. "The rest of you, go get some rest."

*****Walking back to the Temporary Living Quarters*****

"Anyone with any medical training please come to the temporary medical tent as soon as possible." cries Ensign Erikson as he runs toward the temporary living quarters. "We need all the help we can get!!!!" he continues.

Immediately Ensign Grump heads for the medical tent where he sees several fellow crew members lying on the ground with various degrees of injuries. Calling on the very basic first aide training he had at the academy he starts to bandage and mend the minor injuries the best he can.

"Is the Doctor's status holding steady, Ensign Erikson?" Grump asks.

"Yes, for now. We were able to modify a tricorder to create a temporary stasis field for the Doctor. But we do not know how long it will last or what damage has already been done." replies Erikson.

"I feel faint. I can't stand the sight of large quantities of blood. I need some fresh air. You look like you could use some too Erikson, would you care to join me?" asks Grump.

"Sure but just for a minute, there alot of people that still need help." replies Erikson. "By the way Ensign Grump call me Greer."

"Okay Greer but only if you call me Tony or Grump not both. My nickname is Grump." says Grump.

***** Outside the Medical Tent*****

"You play 3d chess Greer?" Grump asks.

"Yes, I do. Admittedly not very well but I have been known to accidentally win a game or two from my Vulcan friend T'Raal back at the Academy." smiles Greer.

"Well in that case I hearby challenge you to a game as soon as we return to the Galaxy and have time to clean up. I must warn you though my mother is one of the best 3D chess players on Vulcan.....and I learned absolutely nothing from her but how to lose. And I was a very good student." chuckles Grump.

"Your on!! I guess I should get back inside, you coming?" smirks Greer.

"Yes, let's get back to it." replies Grump.

*****A few minutes later*****

"The assault team has re-taken the Galaxy and will be ready to transport in a few minutes. Stand by for more information." and excited Ensign states.

"Great, this nightmare is almost over." sigh Grump.

"Yes, a not a minute too soon." answers Greer.

Submitted by: Ensign Tony Grump USS Galaxy Science Officer

"Healing"
by Ensign Erikson

Doctor Rousseau's body remained protected in a stasis field. An officer was posted to supervise the functioning tricorder as it enveloped her until actual medical help could reach her. Erikson had been pleased with the modification of the tricorder which most definitely saved her life.

"Ah, the tricorder. Should never leave home without it." Erikson said to himself.

"I agree Ensign" said the Captain as he hobbled to take a seat. The Captain's leg was still bandaged with the tourniquet still around his leg. Erikson had been getting a little pushy with his commanding officer. The Captain had to make sure he was up to date with the events that transpired after his disappearance and wouldn't let any of the temp-medical staff touch his leg.

"Sir, you know you should have that seen to" Dorsey suggested.

"When I am ready to Dorsey" the Captain replied.

"Captain. I....um well....as...." Erikson couldn't quite say it. "Captain if we have to hypo spray you Sir we will. Please let me look at your leg. Now Sir. Ensign Thomas is quite capable at commanding the rest of the crew for a little while otherwise I doubt the Commander would have left him in charge." the Ensign explained in the best authoritative voice he could produce. Unsure of how the Captain would respond, Erikson expected the worst. An ensign threatening the most senior officer on the ship with a hypo spray was not exactly following the chain of command.

"Alright 'mate" the Captain replied, seeing the determination in Erikson's eyes.

"Thank you sir. I promise this won't take long" Erikson said. Grabbing a medical scanner they salvaged from the shuttle craft med-kit, Erikson began to scan the wound. "Well Sir. I can say that you are extremely lucky, the bullet passed right through your thigh. At least lead poisoning is one thing you don't have to worry about".

Taking the portable tissue regenerator they had salvaged from a med-kit on the damaged shuttle craft, Erikson began to move it over the wound. The transparent magenta beams from the regenerator hit the wound and began to slowly repair the entrance wound the lead projectile had made.

"What Erikson, no holistic approach this time?" the Captain jested.

"Not this time Sir. Unless you want to try some antibiotics we isolated from some feline saliva" Erikson replied seriously. The Captain, unsure if Erikson was jesting, just looked at him.

Although it took several minutes, the regenerator was successful at its task. The Captain was able to walk without the tourniquet but found his leg a little tender, still limping slightly. Rising to his feet he gave Erikson a nod and left the shelter. Erikson was tired. Now he realized another good reason why he was better suited to position as a science officer, however, he had a new appreciation for the medical officers on the Galaxy. He had only had to deal with a few patient whereas they have to treat the entire crew of the Galaxy - all thousand or more of them. Picking up his cup of coffee and leaning against a small crate Erikson reassumed staring at Rousseau laying there as if expecting her to move. Slowly Erikson's eyes began to fall and he began to dream of Lake Armstrong near where he was born and being able to see Earth in the horizon.

"Recalled from failure"
by Captain Robert Edward Lee Price

*** Bridge, USS Galaxy ***

"IT IS USELESS!" Nom shouted in anger. "None of these controls are responding to my commands. It's as if they have been bypassed or something."

"Duhh, I don't think the Females could do that, now that they are both locked up in the ship's holding cell." The not so bright Ferengi guard suggested.

"Of course not. But if not them then who?"

Nom didn't have to wait very long before he got an answer to his question.

["Sub-Commander! We are being boarded by more humans."] came broadcasting over the Ferengi's communication device. In the back ground, the sound of phaser fire and Ferengi screams could be heard.

"Quax, how many are there? Quax? Quax report!" Nom tried to reestablish the contact, but it was as if his crewman was simply not responding to the hail. Or not able to. A worried look creased the Sub-Commander's brow.

"That doesn't sound good." The guard said.

Nom shot him a dirty look, but didn't say anything. Glancing around the Bridge of the USS Galaxy, he wondered if there was anything he could do to regain control of the Starship. Not that he fully had the ship under control before. His thoughts were interrupted when the Nagaus of the First order, Daimon Pog hailed the Galaxy from the Marauder Delox.

["Nom, you idiot! Why have you not taken the Ferengi Starship Galaxy out of orbit and set course for Ferengar?"] Daimon scolded.

Nom and the guard stood quietly on the bridge looking at each other. Moments pass.

"Aren't you going to answer Daimon Pog? I think he's waiting..." the guard said. Nom gave him an evil look, which instantly had the guard lower his head.

More moments pass.

["NOM! You will answer me or I will have you head! Is that clear?"]

With a sigh, Nom answered. "Yes your greatness. I am sorry. We are having difficulties with the Starship's controls..." Nom started, then his face brightened as an idea struck him. "The Federation hue-mons seem to of locked out all of the ships controls. I am unable to access any of their systems oh supreme Nagus."

["It must of been those Females!"] Pog deduced (incorrectly), ["They must of done something to the ship's systems besides disable the shields."]

Nom opened his mouth to correct the Daimon, but decided not to, since he had already come to a conclusion... and was blaming the humans. "That seems most likely Great one."

"Tell him about the intruders." The guard reminded. Nom shot him another wicked look, but it was too late.

["Intruders? What intruders is he talking about Nom?!"]

Nervously, Nom forced a chuckle. "Ha, I was just getting to that your Greatness. It seems that several hue-mons have managed to transport on board the ship. They are causing quite a problem with the rest of the crewmen."

["Have you managed to loose control of the situation AGAIN you feeble excuse for lobes?"] Nagus Pog asked in a very demeaning tone.

Nom lowered his tone, and his head. "Yes your greatness. I am not worthy of your presence. What one with such superior lobes as yourself sees in a complete failure as myself is beyond my understanding. You are like my idol. I can only dare dream of one day being as wise and cunning as you are your worshipfullness."

After a bit of a pause, Pog responded, ["We can discuss that when you return to the Delox. Prepare to be evacuated from the Fed-er-A-sion Starship. It would of been a great prize... but naturally, you muffed things up again Nom."]

"Yes your greatness... I am sorry." Nom groveled with all of the skill of a Ferengi master.

["I'll have our transporters lock onto your signals. Prepare for beam out immediately."]

"As you wish your greatness... as you wish." Nom said, turning and smiling just slightly to the guard next to him. They were soon enveloped in a Ferengi transporter beam, as was every Ferengi still on board the Galaxy. In a moment they were gone.

********

*** Engineering, USS Galaxy ***

Mélissa placed her hands onto her hips and took in a deep breath. Holding it slightly, she then released it in a long, drawn out sigh as a smile curled ever so slightly onto her lips. She was home on the Galaxy, and Main Engineering had been secured.

After hailing the Commander to inform him of her success, Mélissa stepped over to the Engineering console near the back of deck, making a quick scan of the Ferengi Marauder Delox that was hovering in a hig

her orbit. Her tactical scan revealed that the ship was without weapons, so it posed no real threat to the premier Galaxy Class Starship. After a few more minutes of getting things in order, Mélissa noticed that several transporter beams had been activated from the alien ship.

"Oh no! They are sending reinforcements." Was the Ensign's first thought. But after double checking, she realized that they were no longer boarding the ship, but departing from it.

Tapping the controls, Mélissa ran another scan on the Ferengi ship while she raised Commander Coe.

"Commander Coe. Ensign Boudreau here in Main Engineering."

["Go ahead Ensign."] came Jt's reply.

"Sir, the Ferengi are recalling their people. I have detected several transporter beams throughout the ship. They are giving up sir." Mélissa explained in a cheerful tone.

["That's good news Ensign. What is the Ferengi ship doing?"]

"I'm running a scan on it now, it looks like there is a power build up in the engines...." Mélissa relayed as she stepped around the console in the center of the Engineering bay.

["They aren't readying their weapons are they?"] Jt asked in a concerned tone.

"No sir, their weapons array has been overloaded, it will take them a week to repair it in a dry dock. No, they are activating their engines. They are leaving the system sir!" Mélissa said with a smile.

["That is great news. Continue to batten down Engineering. Lieutenant Casey and I will head... No scratch that. Lieutenant K'arta and I will head to the Bridge and secure things there. Lieutenant Casey no doubt wants to head for deck 38 and release his wife and Lieutenant Morris from the Brig."]

Deiran smiled at Commander Coe's comment and assignment. He was correct, getting to Miran was the only thing on his mind right now. Jt gave him a grin before continuing.

["I want you to prepare to start beaming our people up from the planet surface. We need to get some more personnel up here before we can take the ship off of auto pilot."]

"I understand Commander. I'll get right on that."

["Very good Ensign. Nice job at taking control of Engineering too. Commander Coe out."]

The channel closed and Mélissa glanced around. Seeing that no one was there watching, she quickly smiled and let out an excited cheer at being back on the ship. "Yes!" The Ensign then quickly got to work configuring the ships transporters to retrieve the thousand plus members of the crew still stranded on the planet's surface.

USS Galaxy
Lt. Deiran Casey
"In Her Arms"

Casey watched the ship’s sensors read every transporting signature that began to beam off the Galaxy. One after the other, the Ferengi disappeared from the ship. Casey smiled. The Ferengi weren’t known for their bravery. They were good salesman and merchants, but you can’t build a race on that alone.

As soon as Commander Coe dismissed him from the Battle Bridge he went straight to Miran. He needed to see her vivacious face, her deep longing eyes, experience the smell of her hair and the loving embrace of the only woman he’d ever truly loved. He almost ran to deck 12. He entered the room and she was standing over a Ferengi, who looked to be unconscious as the Ferengi transporter beam whisked him away.

It was kind of funny actually. He could see her knocking the vile creature out. Miran was a shy young woman, but she had a bad temper and he pitied anyone who came up against it. She didn’t even know she had this temper, but sometimes the rage of her past would flow from her like water in a stream. He learned to placate her after the first two weeks of their marriage. Now, he just lovingly agreed with her and it was nice and peaceful. Which is the way Deiran liked it. Deiran hated to fight with women, he liked to just see them smile and be around them when they’re happy. And so that’s what he endeavored to do with his wife. He had the indelible gift of cheering Miran up, which kept them both happy.

He went to her. She looked up from where the Ferengi once laid, and saw her husband staring at her.

"Hello Miran," he smiled at her, a charming smile that was hard to resist. And she looked at him and smiled. She went to him and they embraced. It was a moment that seemed to stop time. This incident was the first time they’d been apart after their marriage. And it didn’t sit well in Deiran’s stomach, it hurt him to know she was in danger. But, Deiran was tough about his feelings, and he also knew that Miran didn’t survive the Cardassian prison camps by being frail and weak. She was strong and possessed the heart of bear when it came to persistence. He still didn’t like the fact that a Cardassian back-handed her and gave her the bruise on her eye. In fact, he would’ve killed the Cardassian if he were there with her. In fact, with Deiran’s fierce anger he would’ve probably cut the man’s hand off and shoved it in the piece of scum’s face.

Deiran was protective. He watched how his father protected his family, and Deiran would emulate his father in that respect. As he held Miran in his arms he began to see how much he and his father were alike. Miran had such an effect on him, he saw the world differently when he was in her arms.

"Are you okay honey? Did they hurt you, or touch you?" he asked, looking into her eyes.

"Well, they wanted to take my clothes but I showed them what I thought of that!" Miran said to her man.

"Heaven help anyone who comes up against you babe," Deiran laughed.

Miran returned that statement with a playful slap across the shoulder. And smiled at him. After the smile Miran went into a fit of sneezes.

"Bless you honey, are you coming down with a cold?" Deiran asked.

Miran smiled at him. "Are you hungry? Let’s go eat?" she asked him.

Deiran thought that was strange. "Okay, that’s fine. I have to check in with the Commander first and see if it’s okay to go to our quarters. We still have a lot of people to get back up to the ship."

"Well, go ahead and do that. I’m going to rest, I’ll fix you your favorite dinner and we’ll spend some time together, okay?" Miran suggested, a flirtatious smile on her face, her lips curled just the way that made Deiran go bonkers, her eyes seemed to illuminate like a supernova and she had a glow about her that he hadn’t noticed before. She was radiant, as beautiful as the day they were married, which wasn’t that long ago.

Miran walked out of the room. Ronni looked at Deiran and smiled.

"She’s been sneezing a lot, is she okay?" Ronni asked, swallowing back a laugh.

"I hope so Ronni, I’m concerned about her." Deiran really was concerned.

"Bajoran women sometimes have those sneezing attacks, interesting uh?" Ronni said as she walked towards the door, laughing at Deiran.

Deiran ran to catch up to her,"What are you laughing about?" he asked.

"Hey if you can’t figure it out hotshot, I’m not going to ruin it for you," Ronni laughed at Deiran again.

Deiran didn’t like being laughed at, this could be serious. There could be something wrong with Miran, that wasn’t funny. Deiran began to think what could be wrong with her. He could tell Ronni knew something he did not.

"Thanks"
Ensign Mercury

"I never got a chance before to thank you Melissa for saving my life. I owe you one!" David said as the two of them walked out of Engineering.

"Don't worry, I plan on cashing in on that sometime," Melissa replied with a smile. "I will see you later David."

"O.k. talk to you soon." David left to go to his quarters. It had been a long time since he had gotten any sleep. Crew members began beaming back to the ship. Everyone had the same look on their face. Thank God It Is Over. As David walked to his room he began thinking of the crew members that weren't going to be beaming back to the ship. Then it hit him. If it was not for Melissa, he would have became one of those not returning to there quarters.

Having to deal with death is probably the hardest thing anyone has to go through but David seems to have an extremely bad time with it. After his parents died he became disconnected with the outside world. He was depressed and alone. As if that wasn't enough he had been surgically rebuild and he felt like a machine and not a man anymore. David used this as an excuse. He showed no emotion and no feelings. People really believed that he was a machine. It took months with a counselor to help David find his emotions again.

Now that some of his fellow crew members had died David felt a struggle to remain emotionally attached. David stood at his door and waited until it openned. It was as he left it. He walked into his room as the door shut behind him. He passed by his desk and noticed the picture of his parents. With a little hesitation he crawled into bed and began to search his memory for pictures of his parents. David was all alone again.

Ensign Mercury Dan Josephs

The refugees of Camelot arrived on Sigma in a flash of light just in time to be whisked away in another. This time, however, Chiron recognised the blue sparkles of the Federation transporter.

They reappeared on the Galaxy, still clad in their medieval garb. The transporter chief gave them an odd look as people who appeared to be ten centuries out of place stepped off of the Transporter pad, and thanked him before disappearing into the corridors of deck 7.

Chiron returned to his quarters, stripped out of his filthy clothes, and stepped into the shower. He had never liked sonic showers, and had specially added a water filtration routine to his shower to allow him to take the liquid baths he enjoyed.

Wrapping himself in a robe, Chiron layed down on his couch, closed his eyes, and concentrated on the music he loved. Sometimes, if he knew the song well enough, he would be able to almost hear it, deafness or not. He focused his attentions on a beautiful flute solo he had recieved from a starfleet Captain as a graduation gift.

The mourning tones emerged in his mind, and flowed through his entire body. He relaxed as he finally achieved the state of hearing the music, and the Ressikan song escaped from his mind, finding its way through every corner of the ship.