"Visiting Sickbay"
Counselor Leslie Wilson

Leslie walked out of her quarters, and with a quick stride, down the hall. She had heard, as had most of the crew, that the wounded from Dronegar had been beamed aboard.

She wanted to visit sickbay, to see if she could do anything, maybe relax the wounded somehow. She cosidered what she would do, as the turbolift doors at the end of the hall hissed open, and she steped in.

The ride to sickbay was slow, and Leslie thought about all the injured, and what it would be like. She brushed the thought aside, she didn't want to know what it felt like.

She steped into sickbay, and looked around. Death was in the air. Blood was all over the place, and the air had a foul smell to it. She steped forward, to see if she could help.

Sunder had to leave the office before the grin spread across his face. He couldn't afford to laugh in front of the two Ensigns, Burns and Gakor. Knowing from experience that if junior officers saw you laugh, they figured you for an easy squeeze. This was Sunder's first real day on the job and he couldn't afford to lose any of his image before he started to generate it.

The situation was silly though. A targ - what crew member would bring a targ on board? He didn't know too many of the Klingon officers on board too well yet, but they seemed pretty acclimated to life on a Federation Starship. A targ was a common sight on a bird of prey, as he understood it, but fairly dangerous on a vessel like the GALAXY.

He headed down to the lateral sensor ops room. Rather than run all the way up to the bridge, he wanted a place where he could begin his work in relative privacy. Besides, he needed a chance to get familiar with the GALAXY - taking a walk without having to ask the computer for directions would be his first challenge. Everybody could spot a newbie on board - the one following the computer generated wall-path lights to his destination was somewhat akin to wearing the wrong uniform to school!

Sunder was grateful to Joerg. Despite the inanity of the situation, at least it was a chance to get his feet wet. He didn't have anything too seriously to do but find someone's pet and get used to the ship at the same time.

Thus, it was off to find the targ.

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

*** War Room ***

"If there are no further questions, this briefing is complete. Dismissed" Commander Coe said between mortar rounds.

Slowly everyone began to exit the ravaged room, each looking in as bad as shape as the building, ripped uniforms, blood stains, dark circles under the eyes, cuts, brusies, it was enough to make the fresh security teams look out of place. Officers retook their positions around the government building, watching over the Rhomboid and thinking about their part in the plan Commander Coe, and Lieutenant Blair introduced. A plan that could keep Dronegar going for one more day, or even a week, depending on how well it is executed. Then, completely and totally unexpected, the mortar fire ceased. Silence filled the Triad's hallways.

"What the...." Troy mumbled, standing on his feet and looking around. He knew the Rhomboid were up to something.

"The Rhomboid are scaling the walls! They are scaling the walls of the outer court chambers!" came a cry from a Dronegarian warrior, racing through the doorways, and down the main hall

Blair turned towards the Galaxy's XO, both knew the fight was far from over "Security teams to the walls! Repel the invading armies by whatever means necessary. They must not be allowed inside the Triad Hachurui." The Commander shouted his orders.

Without hesitating, Troy scurried to the platforms that lined the upper sections of the Triad's walls. The sight that filled his eyes was unbelievable, thousands upon thousands of warriors charged the walls. Some stopped only long enough to throw a grappling hook and rope at the wall, then began to climb, with other warriors scaling right behind them. A few stayed back, providing cover fire for their comrades in arms. They were in for a long day.

As soon as the realization of this assault sank into Blair's mind, he quickly grabbed a couple of grappling hooks and loosened their hold on the wall. He could hear the screams of a few soldiers, as their rope gave way beneath them causing them to fall to their deaths. Troy then swung his phaser rifle off of his shoulder, took aim and fired into the close knit ranks of the advancing Rhomboid soldiers.

One by one each of the soldiers began to drop like flies, and they still charged. Ropes were cut as fast as they could be thrown up to the wall, and they still charged. The stench of burning flesh and blood began to fill the air making it difficult for those with weak stomachs, and they still insisted on charging.

"They are insane!" Blair screamed between phaser blasts, "Can't they see they have no chance of reaching the top alive!?"

More blasts sound out as Ensign Campbell returns Rhomboid cover fire, "They appear to be in a frenzy. Similar to sharks on planet Earth or the ractatta raptors on DiAgus four."

"Well, none of them are going to make it up those ropes Ensign... NONE!" Troy spat back

"They may not need to Lieutenant." Ensign Campbell replied, getting Troy's attention, "At this rate, they will be able to use the dead bodies as a stairwell..." Christopher said sarcastically.

Blair glanced at the Ensign and then back at the piles of dead Rhomboid below at the base of the walls to the Triad building. Christopher was right, they were beginning to pile up in a heap down there, but no where near high enough to make a stairwell of corpses. "You have a dry wit Ensign." Troy said as he slid a fully charged power cell into his phaser rifle, slapping the base before resuming his targeting of the assaulting Rhomboid army.

By this time, the middle ranks of the enemy forces were beginning to make their way up the walls, and like their brothers before, each were picked off with little difficulty. Troy continued to fire hitting each of his targets, hating the fact that the Rhomboids did not have a chance to defend themselves properly. He watched as a group of three warriors climbed the rope that laid in front of him, he took aim and pressed the trigger. But instead of hearing the woosh sound phasers often make, he heard a fizzle noise, which could only mean his cell was out. Quickly, he felt around his belt for another cartridge, which he did not have. With little time to spare, Troy grasped the barrel end of his rifle and like an athlete in the ancient game of baseball, swung his weapon like a bat. >CRACK!< The butt-end connected with the skull of a soldier just starting to throw his legs over the wall, the fatal blow caused him to fall backwards and collide with the other two soldiers on the same rope. As soon as they all hit the ground, four more soldiers took the same rope and began climbing.

"Here sir, take one of mine!" Ensign Campbell yelled, as he tossed a charged power cell over to Troy.

"Thank you Ensign!" Troy loaded his rifle and recommenced firing it.

*** Later ***

Thousands of dead corpses littered the foot of the Triad's walls, which were stained green from the blood of soldiers who died from a foolish order. Commander Coe had ordered that watches be doubled, incase the Rhomboid decided to go ballistic again. Only a fool would order another all out assault on a fortified position, such as the Triad Hachurui.

"I can't believe they would charge a building behind walls." Christopher Campbell mutters, while staring at his field rations "If they continue at this pace, they'll all be dead and the war will be over"

"Has anyone ever told you that you are a morbid person?" Lieutenant K'arta shot back, showing her Terran side more than her Klingon.

"Despite what anyone thinks....." Troy interrupted, fearing lack of sleep and frayed nerves from the resumed mortar attack, would lead to arguments "...we must ride this out, and defend the Triad. The Dronegars are counting on our help."

"And they'll continue to get it as long as there is fight left in us!" JT added, overhearing what Blair had to say.

"This will be a day that many will sing about in the years to come." K'arta stated, before excusing herself to get some sleep.

She was right.

"Boarding and hope"
by Captain Robert Edward Lee Price

After several minutes of searching the Rhomboid-Dronegar system for a possible cloaked vessel, the patience of the Galaxy crew pays off. Within minutes not only is the ship discovered, but the cloaking device rendered inoperable on the Pakled ship.

"Their weapon system has been disabled sir." McKenzie said.

"Good work 'mate." Lee said, "Lock a tractor beam on them."

The main viewer showed the blue beams of the GALAXY tractor reach out and embrace the Pakled vessel against the image of the fifth planet. The Pakled would now be unable to assist the Rhomboid - their deception foiled and their ship seized.

"Lieutenant Commander Sterner, prepare a boarding party to take control of the Pakled ship and take the occupants into custody 'mate. They will have to answer for their crimes." Captain Price ordered.

"Aye Captain, I'll assemble a team at once." Joerg replied before turning to exit the bridge.

"Captain, incoming transmission from the Pakled vessel sir." McKenzie relayed.

Lee's eyes narrowed as he reached to pick up the isolinear chip he'd been fiddling with. "On screen 'mate."

The view screen filled with the image of the Pakled vessel's bridge. Several crew men seemed to be lost looking as they looked at each other and then at the machinery behind the Captain. One was heard pointing and saying "It's broken."

["I am Captain Grebnedlog. We are merchants. You attack us. Why?"]

Lee put the chip back down. "This is Captain Lee Price of the Starship Galaxy. You fired on this vessel Captain. We were merely protecting ourselves 'mate. Why would a merchant ship be traveling around cloaked in a system such as this one?"

["Firing on your vessel was a mistake. We are sorry. Our ship is old and in ill repair. Firing on your ship was an accident. We will go now."] the Pakled Captain explained nervously.

"I am afraid that is not possible 'mate. Now that we know you are here, and that your ship is in bad mechanical shape, we will have to come on board and inspect your systems... to insure they are safe."

["Not necessary Captain. We can handle the repairs. We look for things that make us go. You can drop your tractor beam now and we will leave."]

Captain Price glanced over to the tactical station behind him. His eyes found Hunter's.

"Their shields are still raised Captain..." McKenzie said in a quiet, near whisper.

"Captain Grebnedlog, you will lower your shields and prepare to be boarded."

The Pakled Captain looked around and then replied, ["We will not. We go now. We are sorry. Release your tractor beam."]

Behind the Pakled leader, more crewman gather around and stare at the equipment, some scratching their heads and pointing. Quietly, you can hear one state, "They are smart."

"Captain...," McKenzie called out from the tactical arch, "They have engaged their impulse engines and are trying to break free of our tractor beam sir."

Lee nodded in acknowledgment of the Lieutenant's observations. The ship shifted slightly from the pull of the Pakled vessel tugging on the tractor beam.

"Captain Grebnedlog, disengage your engines now and lower your shields or we will be forced to disable your systems ourselves." The Captain's tone was cross, but also final.

In response, Captain Grebnedlog deactivated the communication channel. The image of the Pakled ship struggling against the Galaxy's tractor beam snapped in place of his image on the main view screen.

"I'll take that as a 'no'. Lieutenant', target the Pakled ship's impulse drive and shield generators. Have the transporter room stand by to send our boarding teams over as soon as their shield are down."

"Aye Captain." McKenzie replied before targeting the ship with the phasers and locking on. "Ready sir."

"Do it 'mate." Captain Price ordered.

Two streaks of phaser fire rained on the Pakled vessel scoring direct hits on the targeted systems. A bright flash emitted from the impulse engines as they went off-line. "Got 'em sir." Mac said with a touch of pride.

"Have our people secure their ship 'mate. Once we have control, have the occupants transported to our brig for delivery to the nearest Starbase. I want their ship searched stem to stern. We know they are carrying illegal weapons, I want them found and marked for evidence in their hearing."

"Yes sir." Mac agreed, now smiling widely.

"Ensign Marshall, once we have secured the Pakled ship and have their people in custody, plot a course back to Dronegar so we can retrieve our people. I am sure the Dronegar as well as the Rhomboid will be interested in learning of these new developments." Lee ordered.

"Aye Captain." The helmsman replied before beginning to calculate the appropriate trajectory.

"Lieutenant Commander Sterner's team has just beamed over Captain. They should have the Pakled ship secure shortly." McKenzie began, "And I have a message from Dronegar sir. It seems the Anti-toxin we administered to the Dronegar is working. The Nesting caves of the sick is reporting several severe cases have gone into remission."

"That's bonzer news 'mate. I know the medical staff will be pleased to hear that." Lee said with a smile.

"Yes sir. I'm sure Ambassador Lorn will likewise be pleased." Mac commented as they waited to hear how the boarding party, lead by Lieutenant Commander Sterner, was proceeding.

*****

*** Triad Hachurui, Diplomatic chambers ***

Ambassador Lorn was sitting quietly in the chamber along with Mister J'naii and the rest of the Dronegar government officials including Speaker Yumeijin, when a young Dronegarian preparer walked into the chamber smiling.

"That is something I have not seen in a while." Mister J'naii said pointing at the young girl to get Ambassador Lorn's attention.

Turning, the Deltan saw her as well. "You are right. J'naii, I hope she brings good news as her smile indicates.

The two men got up and walked over to where Prime Minister Kokishin, Speaker Yumeijin, and the others were gathered.

"It is working Speaker Yumeijin! The Federation medicine is helping our people, in the nesting caves, get well!"

Yume reached out and hugged the young child. "That *is* wonderful news child." A tear began to well up in the Speaker's reptilian like eye. "Perhaps things are not as dark as they seem."

Ambassador Lorn nodded, "I hear that in their last attempt to scale the walls of the Triad, the Rhomboid took heavy losses Speaker."

"Yes, and we have your Federation warriors to thank for that Ambassador." The Prime Minister praised, "Without them, Dronegar would surely have fallen into Rhomboid rule."

"Our job is far from over Prime Minister Kokishin, but perhaps now the Rhomboid will be more open to listening to our negotiations for peace. I shall attempt to reopen a dialog with Spokesperson Alpha Bah." Lorn gave the elderly Dronegarian Prime Minister a nod, before turning to Mister J'naii, "Come, we still have work to do here J'naii."

"But of course Ambassador." The burly Exaltan replied as the two men exited the chamber.

"Trespassing"
Lt. D'tarna Bellen

She was oblivious to the smell, oblivious to the blood, oblivious to the dying and those in pain. The sickbay resembled a food fight, fought with phasers rather than jello. The first wave of critically wounded had slowed to a steady drizzle of bloodied officers and concerned nurses who hadn't learned the emotional discipline needed to become Doctors.

D'tarna wasn't one to talk of emotional discipline as of late, as it seems she, herself, had lost it completely. She thought less and less of Shtik in those frantic days, which she considered, in the back of her mind, a blessing. Although her mind was elsewhere, the grief had become habit. And, as almost any other humanoid, Bellen was a creature of habit. Finding comfort in the familiar, even if the familiar would prove to be the death of you.

Her eyes went wide as she noticed Counselor Wilson enter sickbay. She initially thought that the counselor had come seeking her out, but that would be rediculous. Leslie had more important things to do than to run around the ship searching for patients.

Like a courteous doctor, Bellen put away her inhibitions about conselors and welcomed her at the door.

"Welcome, I am D'tarna. Is there anything I can do for you, Counselor?"

"I would like to help, if that is possible." She offered.

Bellen looked about the disheveled room. The biobeds were full of resting officers, their arms, legs and bodies as stiff as boards. Most of them had their uniforms replaced by the less binding medical gowns. The uniforms were discarded, being so burnt, bloodied and ripped as to render them completely useless. A few officers, with minor wounds to the side and legs, had recovered enough to hobble about sickbay like looming ghosts. Their faces were pale from lack of blood and circulation.

"Most of the emergencies have been taken care of. Now its more patching up than anything else. If you could check on the patients' well being, and assure them of their health, it would be a great help. I haven't had much time to speak with them personally."

Spooky - UIN 4654491
Lt. D'tarna Bellen - Medical Officer - USS Galaxy

The Arrival
By Ensign Lawson

****Flashback****

As we arrived at the Galaxys docking port, we all sat with anticipation of the adventures to come. Six of us had been given transfers to the Galaxy, although we were in different departments. The only person of this bunch that I knew was my best friend from the academy, Julie Baxter. She was an Engineer, and a good one at that. We chatted for a while, not noticing that the small transport ship had finished docking.

The door opened and we filed out.

The Commander greeted us and gave us a brief introduction to the ship.

Julie tapped me on my shoulder.

"You want to share a room?"

"Why not, we did at the academy."

"Yeah," She said, "And the quarters will be larger."

I gave a short chuckle, "How about you go over and choose a room from the list"

"Okay" She said, walking over to the terminal where most of the new crew had gone.

Walking up to the XO, I asked him about the particulars of the job he had previously asked me to do for him.

"Commander" I said, getting his attention.

"Jack," He said turning around, "I noticed you with the new crew members."

"Yes Sir... About the task you wanted me to do"

"The Captain and I want you to do a full systems check on the ships computer network"

"Aye, may I ask why?"

"We reviewed your record, and with the review, from Lieutenant Overa, on your performance on Starbase Alpha, we decided that you were the best choice..."

"Peter recommended me to you?" Lawson asked surprisingly.

"Yep. We've had some rather interesting adventures in the past few months and we want the computer network checked. Do you have all the tools you need?"

"Yes sir." I replied looking over to the crates being unloaded.

"If you require any assistance, just ask."

"Yes sir." I replied

"Welcome aboard Ensign"

"Thank you sir."

After that Julie and I left for the room we would be sharing while on the ship.

****Flashback Over****

That had been just before we picked up Ambassador Lorn, and proceeded to the peace conference. When it was clear that war between the Dronegar and the Rhomboid was inevitable, I wanted to volunteer for the away mission, however with the task that the Commander had set for me I couldn't.

Jack Lawson
Security Officer
USS Galaxy

"Medical Relief Crew"
by Dr. Andrew Tan, Ensign

=/\= Transporter Room =/\=

"Doctor, you are just in time."

"Here, take this." A security officer passed a holster containing a phaser to Andrew.

"Is this absolutely necessary?"

"Captain's orders, doc. The war is not over yet. Anyway, it is just for safety's sake. I don't think you'll ever need to use it. After all, we are beaming down quite a number of security personnel."

"Alright." said Andrew, strapping the holster around his waist. "Are the anti-toxins ready for transport?" he asked.

"All medical equipment have been beamed down already."

"So...what are we waiting for?"

"A couple of medical and security personnel."

"Well...here they are." The security officer passed around more phasers.

"Ready when you are, sir." said the Transporter tecnician, fingers poised over his console.

"Beam us down."

=/\= The caves =/\=

The first thing that Andrew noticed when he materialized was the sense of hope in the caves. The second was the oppresive heat. Tired and haggard-looking medical personnel were walking walking about with happy faces as the got ready to be beamed aboard the Galaxy for some well-deserved rest. Wounded starfleet personnel were stabilsed and then beamed aboard for further treatment. Andrew grabbed a medical tricorder and the vials containing the anti-toxins.

"Doc, we need you over here." Andrew was led deeper into the caves by a nurse.

Andrew walked over to the nearest reptile-like inhabitant of Dronegar. Upon closer inspection, it was a mother and child huddled together. She was very weak but somehow managed a smile as Andrew approached.

"New healer, you come to make us well?" Both mother and child looked expectantly at him. The child stared at Andrew with his two big eyes. To him Andrew was someone new, not the other healers he had come to know and love.

"This new medicine will make you well, I promise." He assured them. "Nurse, pass me the anti-toxins." Andrew administered the drugs and then turned his attention to the young child. The young boy bravely took his turn.

"Right, I'll check on you later." Andrew said, as he left her side to go to the next patient, the nurse following close behind. From what he had gathered, Andrew wondered what the future would hold for these people. Will they continue with their centuries-old tradition of war and strife? They were humble in sickness and disease, but will they be arrogant and merciless in health? Andrew shook his head to clear his mind. "Don't complicate matters here." he admonished himself. "It's none of my business anyway, I'm just here to do my job." he thought, as he moved from patient to patient, admisnistering the anti-toxins.

A beep sounded from Andrew's comm badge.

"Sickbay to Dr. Tan"

"Dr. Tan here, go ahead."

"Dr. Tan, we need you here right now. Some of the wounded starfleet personnel's conditions have changed for the worse. You specialized in combat and emergency medicine, we need those skills urgently. Transporter room 1 is ready to beam you up when you are ready."

"Nurse, you heard her. I'll be leaving now. Get another doctor to continue where I left off." Said Andrew as he finished with another patient. Tapping his comm badge, "Dr. Tan to Galaxy, beam me up."

=/\= Sickbay =/\=

Immediately upon entering sickbay, a nurse handed Andrew a PADD, and led him to the surgery suite.

"Subdural haemorrhage, massive internal injuries, an open chest wound and shock, not to mention numerous broken bones."

Andrew looked down at the young security officer. He was pale from the loss of blood and almost lifeless. Andrew glanced at the monitor, his lifesigns were deteriorating fast. "Blood transfusion, please." "Give him 50cc of Paraphenol intravenously." "Hook him up to the respirator." "Set brain imaging now."

"Nurse, cranial drill."

Andrew drilled a small hole into the officers skull, using computer images to guide him. Then using a suction tube, he drained the blood that was putting pressure on his brain. After that, Andrew quickly moved on to repair the damaged internal organs, suturing ruptured vessels, closing wounds and setting bones. Andrew spent 5 hours non-stop trying to save the young officer. After he had done all that he could do, he wearily moved on to the next patient, and then the next...

Andrew glanced around the sickbay, he only saw a couple of other doctors, one of them caught his attention because of her cat-like features.

"Nurse, where are the rest of the doctors?"

"Most of them are on Dronegar. We didn't expect so many wounded would be beamed aboard. So most of the medical staff were sent down.

"Right." said Andrew as he continued on with his work, patching up as many as possible. Unfortunately, there were a number who were beyond hope and all he could do was watch as their life signs slowly ebbed away.

"Taking control"
by Lieutenant Commander Joerg Sterner
Chief of Security, USS Galaxy

Conversation added by Lt jg Samara

The moment the Captain gave him the order to assemble a boarding party to take control of the Pakled ship, Joerg was planing the whole thing in his mind. He entered the turbolift to go straight to one of the transporter decks. On his way down he contacted the members of his boarding party.

"Sterner to Sunder and Grey. Meet me in transporter room 2 immediately." he said.

After the two officers acknowledged his order, the turbolift suddenly stopped, and Lieutenant (j.g.) Samara entered. She quickly addressed the 'Commander.

"Commander, I heard about the Pakled vessel and would like to volunteer for the boarding party. Intimidation works very well on Pakleds, and I believe I would be a very good candidate. My engineering knowledge may also come in handy."

Joerg looked at her,

"Lt Samara, consider youself on the team. This may be a delicate situation and I don't mean this as any insult, but we will try negotiating first before physical assualt."

K'Eytyanna nodded as the lift started again. Joerg was glad, that Samara wanted to help them. He knew from her personal file, that she was a quite skilled fighter. He would have suspected that she would be a security officer, but she was an engineer after all.

Upon arriving at the correct deck, they both went straight to the transporter. Joerg was very astonished to find both security officers were already waiting for them. Ursa handed Joerg and K'Eytyanna each a hand phaser and they all went on to the transporter platform.

They hadn't to wait very long to get the signal that the Pakled ship's shield were down. Joerg turned to the boarding team.

"Set phasers to stun and we don't kill anybody over there, is that clear?" he said, looking especially at K'Eytyanna.

Everyone nodded to him, and after that Joerg gave to signal to beam them over. They dematerialized, only to find them standing on the bridge of the Pakled ship some moments later.

The Pakleds were busily checking their consoles, but soon saw the intruders. Their Captain addressed the Starfleet officers.

"We are sorry. We want no trouble."

"It's a little bit too late for that. Consider yourself under arrest. You will be beamed aboard our vessel and brought to the nearest starbase. Your trial will be held there." Joerg explained them.

"You are smart. Maybe there is way we could arrange something." the Captain offered.

Joerg was smiling at this offer, but then he saw that one of the crewmen was going to reach for a pistol. Joerg quickly increased the power level on his phaser and fired at an empty chair, which quickly disintegrated. The Pakled who was reaching for his weapon immediately dropped it.

"You are strong. We give up. We want to live." the Captain offered their surrender.

"That's very intelligent of you, Captain." Joerg congratulated him to his decision.

"Would you now please tell all your crewman to come to the bridge, so that they could be transported to the Galaxy, Captain?" he also asked.

The Captain just nodded, pressed a button in front of him and told his men to do as they were ordered. Joerg contacted the Galaxy and told them that they could transport the Pakleds to the brig at once.

One after the other disappeared and soon only the four crew members of the Galaxy were on board. Joerg tapped his comm badge to report to the Captain.

"Sterner to Price."

["Price here. Is the ship under your control 'mate?"]

"Yes, sir. Every single Pakled is in the brig of the Galaxy now."

["Bonzer job 'mate. I want you and your team to stay on the vessel and start searching it from stem to stern. We know they are carrying illegal weapons, I want them found and marked for evidence in their hearing."]

"Yes, sir."

["Galaxy out."]

"Well, then let's start right away." Joerg said to his team.

K'Eytyanna spoke up, "Sir, knowing how dishonorable Pakleds are, the Pakled captain may have traps set around any weapons in case any of his crew decides to steal from him. I suggest caution."

As the team left, Joerg heard K'Eytyanna mutter softly under her breath about the Pakleds being a bunch of snivelling little toads for giving up so easily.

***** Reporting in *****
By Lt. JG Paran Chanor

Chanor looked over as a Dr. Khatroweena headed over to his bed.

"Chanor, Hi, can you tell me where you are?" she asked.

"Hmmph," he replied as he tried to roll on to his side to sit up. "I’m on the Galaxy. Where else would I be?"

"Lay down, Chanor. I’m in charge. I like it on top." she smiled as she gave him a shot to reduce the shock.

Chanor just looked at her a little blankly.

"Aww, come on Chanor, it wasn’t that bad. If you don’t smile, I am going to swap that broken bone in your arm for something a bit more humerus."

He looked at her blankly again, not quite understanding the need for humour in the situation.

"OK, we’ll play it your way," and Cat put on such a serious face and began working on the fractures, making sure that they are all set properly and played the bone regenerator to accelerate the healing process.

"Well, thats it. You won’t be able to use that leg for a couple of days, after that, light duties for a while. Same with your arm, keep the stress off of it for a while. Come back in a couple of days and have someone just check you over." As she finished telling Chanor to be careful, she poked her tongue out at him. Having been told by a doctor to be careful and in such a serious way then see them act so ludicrously, he had to laugh, he could not stop that quick chuckle. Cat smiled, being able to crack that serious exterior of Chanor’s. "I’ll be careful doctor," he said with a slight smile,

As Cat was about to attend another patient, she heard a voice from behind ask, "How is Lieutenant Paran, Doctor?" Cat turned around to see Commander Sterner. "Commander, he is doing OK. He will need a few days for the bones to knit properly. By then he should be set for light duties."

"Good, very good," replied the Commander. He turned from Cat and looked at Chanor. "How about you…"

"If you gentlemen, would excuse me, I have other patients to attend to. I’ll leave you to talk," and Cat moved to her next patient.

"Of course doctor." said Sterner as he turned back to Chanor.

"I'm fine sir. I'd like to get back to duty as soon as possible sir?" Chanor asked, hopefully.

"No lieutenant. You heard the doctor. I'm officially giving you the next 3 days off duty to rest. No buts, or attempts to come on duty during Gamma shift. I may be on duty on the bridge, but I'll know if you try lieutenant."

"Yes sir. I'll head for my quarters then." Chanor answered.

"Before you go, how is it down on the planet?" Sterner asked.

"Not good sir. The Dronegar are being worn down by the constant shelling of the Triad Hachurui. I don't know how much longer they can hold out." Chanor replied, "However, I lost consciousness for some time, so my information is out of date."

"Hmmm," mused Sterner, "We'll be sending m

ore security down to the planet then, to help the Dronegar defend against the attacks."

At this statement, Chanor's eyes lit up like Dr. Khatroweena would be shocked to imagine. Sterner saw this and said,

"Lieutenant, your quarters. REST!"

"Yes sir. I will." Chanor replied, somewhat reluctant to be away from the action.

Sterner then left with a nod and Chanor grappled with a pair of crutches that the Doctor had left for him and hobbled out of sickbay towards his quarters. *I look a right fool* he thought as he hobbled down the corridor, trying to to get to his quarters without tripping. He did once or twice, and managing the turbolift was a near nightmare. The doors nearly shut on his crutch as he dragged it in. He was sure he heard the laugh of a medical officer as he walked by. He'd have to have words with him if he noticed him again.

He finally collapsed into his quarters and lay on the bed exhausted. He wondered what a crippled invalid like him was supposed to do now for the next three days.....

Lieutenant JG Paran Chanor
USS Galaxy

As soon as Sunder had concluded his business with Lt. Samara, the call to assemble a boarding party came through. Sunder tapped his communicator in response to its familiar chirp.

" Sunder here. What's up? " Joerg Sterner's voice resounded deeply from the gold emblem on Sunder's chest.

" Meet me at transporter room two. I'll fill you in later. " The security chief abruptly broke the signal. Sunder knew Sterner was a man of few words.

He dropped what he was doing; Lt Samara would have to wait. As he started to leave he turned to the lieutenant.

" Lieutenant, it's not my place to impose a judgement, but speaking as an officer responsible for the safety and integrity of this ship I find your behavior self-serving and reprehensible. "

Lt. Samara fixed him with an icy-cold stare. He could read her expression: who was this human dictating terms of conduct to her!? He disliked having to speak so brusquely in front of the captain, but Sunder was a bluntly efficient man on a deadline. Besides, this way he wouldn't have to file a formal report to the captain later on.

He stormed out of the office and headed towards the transporter room. To his surprise, Lt. Samara was dead on his heels following him. Assuming that she was simply walking in a similar direction as him, he was even more surprised to discover that she walked right on into the transporter room with him. They met Ensign Grey and Joerg. He briefly acknowledged the ensign with a curt nod.

In a few moments, after Samara had a brief discussion with Joerg, they were all armed and ready for transport over to the Pakled vessel. Sunder couldn't help but sense Samara's steel eyes raking furrows down his back. For a brief moment he reconsidered his words in the captain's office...

"High and dry on Dronegar"
by Captain Robert Edward Lee Price

*** Bridge, USS Galaxy ***

Captain Price and the rest of the Beta shift crew were patiently tending to their stations waiting for word to reach them that the security team, sent over to the disabled Pakled vessel, had secured control of the ship. They didn't have very long to wait.

["Sterner to Price."] came over the ship's communication system.

"Price here. Is the ship under your control 'mate?" Lee asked.

["Yes, sir. Every single Pakled is in the brig of the Galaxy now."] Lieutenant Commander Sterner explained.

"Bonzer job 'mate. I want you and your team to stay on the vessel and start searching it from stem to stern. We know they are carrying illegal weapons, I want them found and marked for evidence in their hearing."

["Yes, sir."] Joerg acknowledged.

"Galaxy out." Lee deactivated the channel and then smiled slightly.

"Ensign Marshall, take us back to Dronegar 'mate. We have our people to bring back on board and quite possibly a war to stop."

"Aye Captain." The helm officer replied as he activated the ship's impulse engines to bring her and the disabled Pakled vessel, held in tow by a tractor beam, back to Dronegar.

*****

Just a short time later, the Galaxy reestablished orbit around the fourth planet, Dronegar.

"Orbit reestablished Captain." Ensign Marshall stated as he leaned back in his chair in an accomplished manner.

"Fair dinkum 'mate. Open a channel with Commander Coe Lieutenant McKenzie." Lee instructed.

Hunter took a slight step to one side of the tactical station and fingered the controls. "Hailing frequencies open Captain."

"Price to Commander Coe." Lee called out.

["Coe here Captain, go ahead."] JT responded a moment later.

"Commander, we have located and detained a Pakled vessel that we believe has been supplying the Rhomboid with the weapons and technology they have been using in their conflict with the Dronegar." Lee started.

["That's good news Captain. Hopefully that will stem the flow of weapons to the Rhomboid and restore some of the natural balance between these two worlds. The medical staff is reporting that the anti-toxin is working sir. Several of the sick Dronegar have already begun to recover from the disease."]

"That's bonzer news 'mate. Now that the supply of outside weapons has been cut off, and the Dronegar are returning to health, that too may help to curb these people's tendencies to fight with one and other."

["Yes Captain. Ambassador Lorn has been trying to reopen negotiations with the Rhomboid. So far they have not responded. There was a full out assault on the Triad Hachurui here a while ago and the Rhomboid took horrendous casualties. They may still be trying to regroup after the failed assault."]

"Sounds like it 'mate. I bet they are counting on reinforcements arriving from Rhomboid to support them. But now that we have stopped the Pakled from making their delivery, I think the Rhomboid will find themselves in an awkward position on Dronegar soil."

JT smiled and you could hear it in his tone. ["That will be a pleasant change Captain. They have been giving us quite a pounding down here."]

"Well it's just about over Commander. We need to bring the Pakled ship and it's crew to the nearest Starbase for their illegal shipments of weapons to the Rhomboid. Get your people ready to be recalled to the Galaxy. As the Dronegar recover from the virus, they can replace our officers in their positions around the Triad Hachurui."

"Understood Captain. I will let them know. It will be good seeing the inside of the Galaxy again sir. Commander Coe out." JT explained before deactivating the channel.

*****

*** Rhomboid encampment out side of the Triad Hachurui ****

Alpha Bah was pacing the length of his tent. He had not heard from the High council in over a day and a half and he was expecting a transmission. A signal that their fifth assault ship was on the way carrying more troops and the weapons and supplies from their Pakled allies.

"Where are they? Why haven't they contacted me to let me know they are on schedule?" Alpha Bah mumbled as he paced. The albino Rhomboid continued his pacing even as Gamma Phra and Alpha Zan entered the tent.

"Tell me you bring news from the council. The fifth attach ship is on its way, and fully stocked with the men and supplies we need to finish off the Dronegar once and for all!" Bah demanded.

Both Alpha Zan and Gamma Phra had long faces, indications that they bring dark news.

"I am afraid I can not tell you that my Alpha." Phra began, "For if I were, I would be lying and I would never presume to do that to you Alpha Bah." The Chief Servant bowed in the presence of the Alpha leader of the Dronegar invasion.

Bah regarded her for a moment as he stopped his pacing. Then without comment to the Gamma, he turned to his consort and asked, "What news do you bring me then?"

Zan cleared her throat. "My Alpha, the High Council reports that the Pakled have not made their delivery as promised. The weapon supplies, as well as the medicine they were to bring have not been delivered. They are standing by, still hopeful that the Pakled will show."

Alpha Bah's jaw tightened. He didn't like surprises. The Pakled, though some what slow at times were always punctual. It was unlike them to miss a delivery, especially the way they longed for the loads of dilithium crystal they had been using to exchange for the weapons. "We can not wait for the supplies. Instruct them to launch the fifth ship without them. We need the additional man power more urgently than we need the additional supplies."

Shaking her head from side to side, Gamma Phra countered, "That will not be possible Alpha Bah. There presently are not enough healthy Rhomboid left on the home world to make the trip between worlds."

Bah's eyes grew wider for a moment, "What? How can this be?"

Alpha Zan snapped back a wicked response, "It is because we took the largest portion of the medicine with us to support this 'final assault' of yours my husband. Just as we are having to ration our supply of the vital medicine, the home world has been on rations for ten days hence. They grow ill from the poison that contaminates our world as it does this one."

"But the Pakled should have arrived by now with a full shipment of medicine. There delay could not be anticipated..." Bah tried to explain.

"No my Alpha, but had we not foolishly attacked the Dronegar citadel and lost so many of our soldiers, the arrival of more men would not be of tactical importance."

"Do I sense disapproval in your tone my consort?" Bah asked wickedly, "I seem to recall you thinking it a good idea at the time I issued the order?"

"I remained silent because I know my place my Alpha. Because had the siege succeeded, the battle would be over. But now that it has failed, our people will look for a place to lay the blame." Zan explained wickedly, inferring that Bah would be that someone.

Bah's eyes narrowed as he wound up and struck his consort with the back of his hand, twirling her around and down to the floor.

"You WILL NOT speak to me with such insolence!" Bah shouted, his chest heaving with fury at his wife's words.

"The Federation Ambassador has been trying to hail you my Alpha..." Gamma Phra interrupted the tense silence, "perhaps you should speak to him to stall for more time?"

"I have no desire to speak with that pacifist peace keeper any more than I wish to explain myself to Zan." Bah snapped back. "I will speak to the High Council myself."

Alpha Zan, still huddled on the floor nursing her bruised cheek and Gamma Phra watched as Bah stormed out of the tent in a huff. Slowly, the servant stepped over and offered to help the fallen Zan to her feet.

"I swear, he will pay for this Phra..." Zan said as she felt the swelling on her face as it turned black and green.

"You must forgive Alpha Bah, he is quite mad with this 'final assault' and conquering Dronegar. I fear he will stop at no ends to see his vision to it's completion." Phra explained honestly.

Getting to her feet, Zan steadied herself. "I will not allow Bah to shift the blame of his failure to me or anyone else Phra... He will answer for the decisions made in this conflict..." Zan said spitefully as she withdrew her decorated dagger and held it in her hand, "one way or another." She smiled, "And then, Phra, *I* will be in command of the forces here on Dronegar."

"The Federation Ambassador sounded sincere in his pleas that the Dronegar want peace my Alpha.... And I..." Phra lowered her head. She had forgotten herself in expressing her own opinions to a superior Alpha. A mistake that could have her punished.

Alpha Zan just nodded. "I know this Ambassador Lorn Phra. Many years ago he spent several seasons studying our religion on Rhomboid. I remember him to be an honorable man. If he says the Dronegar want peace I must admit I would believe him."

Phra's face brightened, "Then perhaps he speaks the truth. The Dronegar do want peace between our people!"

"Perhaps. But as long as people like Alpha Ban and Chief Scientist Beta Kalor have a say, Rhomboid and Dronegar will never have peace." Alpha Zan commented with a winch as she touched her bruised face.

"Then we should not allow them to have a say my Alpha." Gamma Phra commented candidly.

Zan regarded the servant woman for a moment before saying, "We will see what Alpha Bah and the High Council decide to do. Now is not the time for a revolution Gamma. Come, let's go see what Alpha Bah has learned."

Gamma Phra bowed before turning to follow Alpha Zan out of the command tent in search of Alpha Bah.

***** Till we meet again! *****
by Dr. Felicia Khatroweena, Ensign (USS GALAXY, NCC-70637)

***** Nesting Caves of the Sick *****

It had been a tiring time on the planet, not a 'bad' tired feeling, but a 'good' tired feeling. Giving the anti-toxin to all the Dronegarians really was the proverbial 'shot in the arm.' Before she left to return to the Galaxy, she had went to see Salimshar.

Cat found him in the middle of playing with two young Drongarian children, she recognised one of them to be Kumjeni, the girl that she had rescued from the Rhomboids. Salimshar was on all fours, growling low in his throat and the two kids were giggling and laughing every time that Salimshar would lunge out to 'attack' them. Watching over the scene, was a Carer, holding another child. It was the first real time she saw the real effects of what the cure was doing for Dronegar. It was bringing back the smile on the children's faces and adults had the time to waste to put that smile back on.

"My, my, Healer Salimshar, we are really showing our age aren’t we," said a smiling Cat. Salimshar looked round and stood up to speak with her. "Healer Cat, it is good to see you, I have not had the time to speak with you and to say thank you for all you have done."

"Not just me, you should be thanking, it was the whole Galaxy crew and the ol’ Galaxy herself. I certainly can’t take all the credit," responded Cat. "That is true, Healer Cat. You I know better than the others, it is through you I give all of them my thanks," said Salimshar solemnly. "Ahh, you remember Kumjeni…"

"Yes, I do," Cat squatted down to talk face to face to the young girl, "Hello Kumjeni, you look like you are having some fun."

"Healer Salimshar is trying to be a vicious trakdaw, but his is not doing a very good job, I am laughing too much, he is not scaring me at all."

"This is Akanji," he indicated the second child and Cat said "Hi." Salimshar continued "And holding Terria is Carer Yoshi." Cat said ‘Hello’ to the Carer and gave the young child she was holding a quick tap on the nose and said "Hi."

"It is good to see the smiles on the children’s faces again," commented Salimshar. "Now that the Federation fight the Rhomboids, we soon will have our planet back."

"We have the people who sold the weapons to the Rhomboids. Soon they won’t have the weapons to commit this slaughter. That is even better news," commented Cat. "That is indeed good news," agreed Salimshar.

Cat felt a tug on her pants and she looked down to see Akanji looking up at her. "Yes, Akanji, what is it that you want?"

The young Dronegarian looked up at Cat and asked "Do you know any scary monsters? Healer Salimshar is no good at scaring. "Oh, I know a couple of scary," and Cat went on to her hands and knees, "vicious monsters who have big pointy claws and like to eat children." At that she growled and roared and Kumjeni and Akanji ran to hide behind the Carer’s legs, but were laughing and obviously enjoying themselves. "Now, who is showing their age?" a laughing Salimshar commented.

Cat stood up brushing off her pants and getting the dust off her hands and just smiled at Salimshar’s comment. "I came to say ‘Good bye,’ I don’t know when the Galaxy will be leaving and just in case I don’t get to see you again before I leave. I wanted to get them in."

"Good Bye Healer Cat, what you and the Galaxy has done is a lot more than we could ever repay you, thank you," said Salimshar. "From me, I as well give thanks to you all," Yoshi chimed in.

"I don’t know what to say… Well, one day, I promise to return to Dronegar, when I can see it in all it’s beauty." As Cat turned to leave, she felt her tail being tugged. "Scare me again, Healer Cat," asked Akanji.

Cat went on to her hands and knees and roared again. This time, Akanji just stood their and laughed. Suddenly Akanji, hit Cat lightly on the head. Cat was a little confused at what was supposed to be going on, when Salimshar said, "You are dead, Healer Cat. The dreaded monster is dead."

Cat went "Ohh" and dropped flat to the ground. Akanji and Kumjeni started calling out how they killed the terrible monster. Through half closed eyes, Cat waited until the two young Drongarians were to her front, she grabbed Kumenji and went "BOO!" The kids jumped a bit and looked a bit startled, but were soon laughing again.

Cat got up, dusted herself off, repeated her good-byes to Salimshar and Yoshi and returned to the Galaxy. Feeling a hell of a lot better with herself and life in general.

Reporting Findings
By: Jack Lawson

***Jack's Room, Deck 17***

Jack was sitting at the computer terminal, when there was a beep.

"Report downloaded to PADD" the computer said.

After looking over the message again, Jack finished the message to Dr. Tash.

--------------
To: Lt.jg Tash
From: Ensign Jack Lawson
Re: Physical

I am sorry that I have not been in to see you about the physical that you requested, but with what's been happening in the past few days, I figured you and your team would be too busy with the wounded.

When you have time, please contact me about a suitable time to come and see you.

Jack Lawson,
Security Officer
----------------

"Computer, send message."

"Message sent" The computer replied.

Lawson looked over the report on the PADD that was sitting next to the terminal. There where still two main problems, firstly the ships data network was still using 256 bit encryption when it should have been upgraded to the now standard 1024 bit encryption, that was currently being used on most of Star Fleets ships and stations. Secondly, it seems that someone had used an new type of worm to access the internal sensors. They had been very careful in trying to hide it's presence, but faint traces of its path were still there. And Jack had found them.

He let out a sigh, "I better let the captain know that I've finished"

"Computer, locate the captain"

"The captain is in his ready room" The computer replied to my request.

***The Captains Ready Room***

Jack pressed the button next to the door. A buzzing sound could be heard as he pressed it.

"Enter" The captain said from inside.

The door opened, and he walked inside. The captain looked up from reading a PADD.

"What can I do for you 'mate?" He asked.

"I've finished the systems check you wanted."

"That was fast. You've only been on board for little under two weeks."

"I was top in my class at the academy sir." Jack replied.

"Aye, I know."

He walked over to the captain's chair and handed him the PADD with the report.

"Sir, As I've noted at the bottom of the report, there are two main areas of concern with the ships network."

He nodded for Jack to continue.

"The first is that the encryption that the network is using is not up to the new Star Fleet standard and should be upgraded. Secondly, I have uncovered what seems to be some sort of worm trail that leads to the ships internal sensors..."

"Yes, I know about the worm." The captain said as the worm trail was being mentioned.

"It will only be a matter of time before the source of the worm can be identified, Sir!"

The captain put the PADD on the desk, got up and stretched his arms.

"The matter is currently being dealt with. Is that all Ensign?"

"Yes sir"

"Dismissed"

Jack Lawson
Security Officer
USS Galaxy

***** Magical Midnight or Cinderella Part 1*****
by Dr. Felicia Khatroweena, Ensign (USS GALAXY, NCC-70637)
w/ Dr. D'tarna Bellen, Lieutenant.

***** Sickbay *****

Cat entered Sickbay to make sure her personal field kit was completely stocked. She looked over Sickbay and saw that the controlled panic and urgency that pervaded the whole of Sickbay was gone. It had returned to it’s old quiet and controlled self. Patients were sleeping or slowly moving around. Nurses attending those who needed something.

D’tarna was sitting at the duty nurses station, going over reports and files of the wounded in Sickbay. A movement caught her eye and she watched as Cat walked into Sickbay. As Cat was looking over Sickbay, their eyes met and for a split instant, Cat saw an incredible amount of pain and grief in the D’tarna’s eyes. Quickly, the stoic exterior of a Vulcan slid back on to D’tarna’s face and the eyes gave no clue of what Cat saw only a second before.

When they had met briefly before, Cat had an inkling of something behind the Vulcan demeanor, but could not figure what it was. This was something different, she saw it in D’tarna’s soul. Something was ripping her apart. If what she knew about Vulcans was right, it must be something bad to cause this type of reaction. What could she do that would cheer D’tarna up.

She checked out the CMOs office, seeing it was empty, headed into the office. She swung the screen around and leant on to the desk to have a close view of the screen. In a quiet voice, she said "Computer retrieve personnel file for Bellen, Lieutenant D, Doctor. Visual response only."

[Please enter authorization to access selected file,] came up on the screen.

"Khatroweena, Medical authorization - alpha, alpha, one, five, seven, gamma, three," she answered quietly. Hoping that no-one would find out of her abuse of privileges. Using her medical position, to gain access to D’tarna’s file and sections which normally people would not be allowed to view, definite black mark material.

Cat read through D’tarna’s file, with her medical authorization, she was able to view counselor reports and soon was able to form a good picture that might have happened to D’tarna. Cat looked up through the glass walls and was able to see D’tarna move through Sickbay on some self assigned duty. Cat could understand the grief, she herself had went through it, when she was a lot younger. To loose someone you love, it always hurts and is never really healed until another person can fill the empty space. Cat still looked for that special someone, how much harder would it be for a Vulcan? ‘Probably a lot harder than you can imagine, Cat,’ she told herself.

Vulcans were all logic, but she knew a couple at the academy, each had their own likes and dislikes, their own personalities. Both said, they appreciated her dancing and choreographed sequences. ‘It combined control with beauty, concertration to approach perfection,’ they said. ‘Maybe she’ll like my dancing. Well, you have a real hard task ahead of you. First things first, she definitely needs a friend. Even if she is a Vulcan,’ Cat thought.

Cat walked up to her, "Excuse me, Dr. Bellen."

D’tarna turned about, "Yes?"

"Ummm, I was just wondering, how long have you been on duty?"

"Why do you ask?" D’tarna asked in a neutral tone.

"Well, since I came up from the surface after the Galaxy got back, every time I have come into Sickbay, uh, you have been in here. I was wondering if you have had a chance to see over the ship." ‘You stupid idiot Cat, she was the Assistant Chief Medical Officer of this ship, she could probably tell you a few things about this ship, Duh! You read that in her file,’ Cat scolded herself.

"I am quite familiar with the internal workings of this ship. I was Assistant Chief Medical Officer on the Galaxy approximately one year ago."

"Well, uh, I am heading to the holodeck for some relaxation. I was wondering if you would like to join me. I enjoy having an audience when I dance," said Cat.

"I appreciate your invitation, but I have my duties to perform here. I must decline."

"Uh, OK, maybe some other time," and Cat started to head out of Sickbay. ‘Coward, if you backed off like that from a patient, because he did not want to talk, you would never have healed anyone,’ Cat thought to herself. At the doors to Sickbay, she turned walked to Brent Fisher, head nurse on duty at the time and said with her back to D’tarna, "Hey, Brent, Dr. Bellen and I are taking a bit of a break. You think you can handle things here."

D’tarna looked round, the Vulcan demeanor covering her vexation at Khatroweena's attemt at consoling an associate in need. Vulcan, her symbiot taunted, you're weakening. It won't be long until everyone can ready you like a transparent iso chip. Her fury bubbled.

"Uh, Sure thing Cat," an unsure Brent replied. Things were made worse, by the number of strange faces that Cat was pulling. Finally, he sort of got the message when she started pointing at D’tarna and mouthing something that resembled ‘No problem, have fun.’

"Uh, No problem, you two go off, we can handle things here," he said. Before Cat turned, he thought she mouthed "Thank you." Still not totally sure what was going on he returned to his duties.

Cat went over to D’tarna, held her firmly by the forearm and guided her to the empty CMO’s office. Once in Cat closed the door. Before she could open her mouth, D’tarna asked "I have not consented to this leave-"

"No, you have not said anything about taking a break, but you are anyway. Before you say anything about being a doctor and about your duty, your talking to one. I have a sneaky suspicion that you have been in Sickbay, at least, the whole time that the Galaxy returned to Dronegar from Kal-Dixis, maybe even longer."

"I am quite capable of looking after myself. I do not require a break, at this time. Vulcans can live with much less sleep than humans...even Caitians. When the time comes that it seems logical that I take leave, I can assure you I will take it." Her eyes strained to remain stolid, unemotional. "Is there anything else Dr. Khatroweena?"

"Call me Cat. Is it OK for me to call you D’tarna?" responded Cat.

"You may. Is there anything else, Cat.?"

"There is no way for me to convince you to have a break?"

"None that I can concieve of."

"Well, looks like I am stuck with plan B. Plan A never seems to work," Cat mumbled to herself.

D'tarna pleaded mercy at logic's feet, to return her to her former state.

"D’tarna, I know we hardly know each other. I can see that you do need a break. I would like to think we could be friends and as a friend, I want you to relax." D'tarna returned the comment with the traditional solid Vulcan stance and a silent glare. "Well as a friend I will be stuck with one of two options: hit you with a hypo, to make you relax or I can go off and get Liito or Leslie to come talk to you after I have had a small talk with Jurelle or Nilani about putting you on enforced leave! The choice is yours."

There was nothing false about Cat's concern for D’tarna. She was certain of the Caitian's elementary emotions. Logically, though, she wanted little to do with anyone until she could get Bellen under control. She was vulnerable, and becoming moreso with each day's passing. The grief seemed never ending, but to be removed from duty would merely give her more time to wallow in it's limitless depths. You are trying my patience, Bellen...you are trying your own.

Cat was being persistant and giving little choice. Bellen considered playing Cat’s bluff, that is all it could be. D’tarna doubted that she would be taken off duty because of Cat’s opinion. She decided to go along with it, what harm could it do.

"Alright, Cat. I will go," she sighed.

"Good" replied Cat, "meet me at Holodeck 3 in 10 minutes. Wear something comfortable and easy to move in."

***** Holodeck 3 *****

Cat had just finished setting up the holodeck, when D’tarna arrived. "What is it we are going to do?" she asked.

"Dance" replied Cat.

"I have had no need for dancing, and know very little-"

"That is not a problem, when I dance for myself, it is not choreographed, I let the music choose the steps. I feel the music. The important thing is to let the body and mind wonder, music can easily do that if you let it. Computer access Cat Dance Sequence gamma, title Magical Midnight."

She was perturbed by this kitten. Cat had somehow managed to get her into the holodeck and out of sickbay, somewhat of a miracle in and of itself, and was now attempting to coax a Vulcan into dancing! What nerve! Bellen was climbing the ambassadorial ladder before this girl was- She cut her painful thoughts short, like a reality-stricken lover brooding over 'the one that got away.'

The doors opened and the two walked into a fairy tale palace. Huge towers and spires reaching far into the heavens, they had walked into a huge courtyard with gardens and fountains, lit by torches about every 5 metres along the wall.. Farther forward, was a low wall with arches reaching for the roof, a good 10 metres above the floor. Beyond that was a breath taking view of a forested plain. Huge mountains could be seen in the distance, as the scene was bathed by the glow of three moons. The night was filled with diamond clear stars.

D’tarna looked around and saw a number of statues lining the walls of the courtyard. Many fierce knights in armour, some maidens in court outfits and others just showing people enjoying themselves. Tapestries and hangings adorned the walls. In spite of herself, or because of Bellen, D’tarna was enchanted by the scene. Beauty abounded and just being here was enough to lift a little of the depression she was feeling. Soon she realised that a soft music was filling the courtyard.

Cat saw through scrutinizing feline eyes, D’tarna’s reaction to the scene and was quite happy, watching the eyes grow a millimeter wider as the magnificence of the great castle took another ‘slave.’ Cat was pretty sure that D’tarna had no idea that her face was just a crumbling Vulcan's rendition of awe and wonder.

"What is this place?" asked D’tarna, her voice a little distant.

"It is said that this is the dream palace of the greatest ruler of Cait, V’rass of clan V’raun. She lived three hundred years ago. This is a rendition of her dream palace she described in some of her writings that have been found in the L’lura. You could call that the place where Caitian rulers live when their time as ruler ends. It also has a few touches of my own," Cat replied. "Computer, The stroke of midnight approaches," Cat called out.

Twelve loud chimes resounded through the courtyard and a faint glittering fell to the floor. The music became louder, more energetic and D’tarna felt a sense of anticipation, what was to happen next. Some movement caught her eye, she turned to see one of the statues, at first jerkily move off the statue base and with growing fluidity start walking towards her. A handsome human male in a very baroque uniform, with piping and glitter covering the uniform. She turned and saw another statue walk towards Cat, he was a like Cat, half felinoid, just as ornately dressed. Cat watched with a little worry, ‘I hope I made the right choice of partner for her,’ she thought.

"Ahh, the beautiful Lady D’tarna has arrived. My name is Lyle, may I be your escort to the ball?" asked the statue. D’tarna took his arm stiffly. She was quite unaccustomed to such rituals.

"To the GREAT BALL!"

A flash and D’tarna looked down on herself dressed in a old style court gown. She could feel the material, but it did not feel as tight as it looked. Cat saw D’tarna look at herself, resplendent in her own gown, Cat moved to her and said. "Touch I added to the holosequence, I could never dance the way I want to if I was actually dressed this way. In my practice outfit, it just would look out of place. So a compromise. You do look very beautiful in that gown."

"It is very beautiful." She hesitated. "What do I do now?"

"Enjoy yourself, have a break, allow your body and mind do as they please, the dance will follow. Your dance partner is very forgiving." Cat returned to her own partner as the statues began to climb down from the bases, musicians began playing, gentlemen and ladies were dancing, servants were serving refreshments. The courtyard soon was witness to a grand ball and Lyle watched, his hand extended towards the dancing crowd, "My Lady D’tarna if you would please."

Spooky - UIN 4654491
Lt. D'tarna Bellen - Medical Officer - USS Galaxy

"Cinderella Part 2"
D'tarna Bellen

She looked at Cat who was, by now, lost in the music that permeated the air itself. Somewhere inside the raging battle between logic and emotion, D'tarna Bellen felt an oddly warm sense of companionship. Cat had shown an ice cube the warmth of a blazing fire, and, accordingly, D'tarna Bellen was melting quickly.

Her attention was now drawn to her dancing partner. He seemed quickly programmed, rough at the edges. His movements lacked that of meticulous attention. She wondered if her programs from the previous year were still in the Galaxy's database. "Computer."

[Beep]

"Load character Bellen, Interview, Louis, Gamma." A gentleman phased in beside her. His hair, long and black, had been tied back with a black silk ribbon. His eyes, much like Khatroweena's, resembled those of a feline nature. They were preditorian eyes, with which to see the smallest detail in lifelike splendor. Bellen had always been infatuated with Louis du Pointe du Lac, ever since the Trillian race had been introduced to Human literature.

Her previous companion, smiling at her contentment, allowed Louis to take his place. Even holograms can see through me, cursed D'tarna silently. She shook the thought from her head as soon as it had entered, and resolved to spend the night as carelessly as possible.

Hours later, Bellen was lost in the midst of reverie. So many buried memories from her past hosts fought their way to her recognition as she walked about the exterior of the dancefloor with Louis at her side.

"It has been a long time..." His voice was nothing but the smoothest tone.

"Yes." She had forgotten to remove the offline 'consciousness' that she'd given all of the characters from her Vampire Chronicles holonovels.

"I had begun to think Lestat had gotten the best of you." His smile was slight, but obvious to the Vulcan. "He never would give me a straight answer..."

She smirked at this, "Lestat is a spoiled child. A brat prince."

"To you, yes, Bellen."

"And what is he to you, Louis?" Her voice tainted with a slight curiosity.

"... A love I cannot live with, nor without." He seemed tormented by this slight revelation.

Bellen drifted from the fallen angel at her side, from the holo characters artificially filling the room, from the Galaxy itself... she drifted years, lifetimes into the past, and found repose in a host she had nearly forgotten. Madrin the composer, whose music was to him as Lestat was to Louis. A bittersweet addiction. Such a blessing, but a fleeting one as well. They stole contentment from the addicted, cackling, one through violins and Trillian cellos, the other through a sonorous voice of golden sound, and revelling in the pain they prolonged. She ached for Madrin's sounds again. They were so distant in her mind. "Computer."

[beep]

"Change musical score. Bellen, Madrin, concerto 131." The tune shifted to the mournful sighing of morose violins. The holo characters shifted their step immediately to compensate. Khatroweena, mortal and not merely a database file stored inside the Galaxy's vast storage systems, lost step from within the depths of the crowd. She looked at Bellen accusingly yet playfully. Bellen merely looked back.

*** Later -- Turbolift ***

The dress was replaced with the standard starfleet medical uniform, and Louis' file was, no doubt, off to spread the word of Bellen's return to the other's in her personal programs. Khatroweena stood to her left.

"I would like to thank you, Cat." The Caitian looked at her with puzzlement.

"Do you always speak like that?"

"What do you mean?"

"You're half Trillian, you've got a symbiot inside you. But you speak like a complete Vulcan." She uttered the last word as if it were something to be ashamed of.

"I am who I am, Felicia Khatroweena." Her words began to make Bellen think, yet again, of her upcoming Trillian ritual. Khartoweena was now a likely candidate for a volunteer, though Bellen wasn't quite sure.

"Cat," she added after a few moments, "I would like you to accompany me to the holodeck tomorrow, when you are free."

Khatroweena looked a bit off guard. "Yeah, I could do that. Why?"

"I cannot tell you now. Your knowledge of my intent would hinder your actions." The Vulcan had resolved, inwardly, that Cat's response to one of her holo programs would determine whether or not she would ask her to participate in the ritual.

Spooky - UIN 4654491
Lt. D'tarna Bellen - Medical Officer - USS Galaxy

"News from Home"
Lt. jg. Mercury
Chief of Engineering

Alpha shift was ending and David was exhausted. This mission has really put a toll on him and his staff. David planned on returning to his quarters and sleeping until next week! His shift was over and he wrote out his log for Chiron. He made sure to have Beta shift do a check on the warp core, David noticed some werid readings before. Probably just a clich but it doesn't hurt to double check. David walked out of engineering with his eyes half closed already. "It was time for a vacation," David thought. The doors openned and David walked in. He noticed a message from home. His eyes openned and he suddenly felt so awake. It had been a long time or it had seemed like a long time since he has heard from someone from home. The message was from Charles Knight. Charles was a close friend of David from the academy. He was two years behind him but just as talented. In fact David found himself asking Charles for help. David was excited to finally hear from him.

David sat down in front of the communication screen. He established the link to San Francisco, California.

[Hello] Charles answer from his apartment on Earth.

"Sport, how are you doing its David?" Back at the academy Charles was known for his althetics and was rightfully given the nickname "Sport".

[Its been so long, what's it like out there]

"I can't even try to put it into words, but I know you would love it. So how is the academy going?" David asked.

[Great, that is one of the reason's why I was trying to get in touch with you, I am graduating within the month and I am looking for an assignment. I would love to be on a starship but opportunities are slim. Mostly just transports and stations available. I was wondering if you could maybe talk to someone in Engineering and see if I could fit in? I know that you have only been on the ship a short while but any help would be appreciated.]

David just laughed.

[I don't get it, what is so funny?] Sport demanded.

"Your right I have only been on the ship a short time but as you can see from my collar I have been promoted."

[Congrats, we always said that we were quick learners!]

"Sport, thats not all, I also have a new title."

[What? Don't leave me in suspense!]

"Chief of Engineering."

[I quess you were a little quicker than we thought.] Sport could only laugh at his friends great accomplishments.

"I will tell you what, I will talk to the Captain but I think I have a little pull in this situation. I will still have to run it by my assistant but I already know that you are quite qualified, well that is if you still have the same stuff you had when I was there."

[David, that was just the beginning I have some ideas that will blow your mind.]

"It was great to hear from you old friend, I will keep you posted as to the position, just keep hitting those home-runs."

[Thanks again, David, but you know football is my sport.]

David was baffled, the chance to have one of his close friends serving aboard the Galaxy with him. He needed to tell someone. David, feeling revived left his quarters and headed for Ten-Forward.

Lt. jg Mercury
Chief of Engineering

=/\= The Translation =/\=
By Ensign Matthew Albrecht

The young Starfleet ensign stood at the head of the operating table, looking across the low-ceilinged cavern at the alcove that once sheltered the Tracker named Akira. Twice he had let nurses chase him away so she could rest, assuming he would see her again, later. Well, there he was, later, and she was gone. In her place was another Dronegarian, a Preparer. This one was only beginning treatment for the Rhombid-inflicted virus, judging by the glistening forehead and dull scales.

The ensign, who had been enjoying relative peace while resting in the caves, felt his emotional balance teetering dangerously toward a precipice. His stomach began to hurt and his throat closed up. He didn’t understand his reaction – what was he feeling? *You hardly knew her, you fool!* he told himself, *I’m a wreck. It’s time for me to get back to the ship and bury myself in my work.* He knew he wouldn’t get any work to do down there on Dronegar, the security teams continued to wave him off and advise him to go back to the ship. He had only remained on Dronegar as long as he had in order to watch Akira’s recovery. The ensign tapped his Comm badge – thinking, *Who’s badge is this, anyway?*

"Ensign Albrecht requesting transport to the Galaxy" he said to the communications officer on the other end of the subspace signal. Before the reply came he was already reconsidering his decision – if he rushed he might be able to find out where she was moved to!

"Stand by for transport, Ensign Albrecht" sounded the young female voice from the borrowed badge on his uniform tunic. His authentic Dronegarian clothing was in his pack, along with his Rhomboid cutlass and pistol and his one remaining PADD. The air began to shimmer around him as the transporter beam engaged.

"Welcome back, ensign. I hope your stay on Dronegar was a pleasant one" joked the transporter operator. The security officer didn’t appreciate the man’s attempt at humor. Matthew’s reply was uncharacteristically hostile.

"Did you ask Steiner the same question when he came up in a bag? Maybe you better cut out the small talk, specialist." With that he stomped down from the platform and stalked out the door, grinding his teeth together in frustration. He considered setting up an appointment with a counsellor soon to work out his feelings in a more productive, structured manner. Right then, however, he headed for his quarters.

When he arrived at his room, he was surprised to find his bed unmade, and some women’s toiletries on his shelf next to the photograph of his parents. He looked around the rooms, becoming more and more sure that Resting Hawk had been allowing a female officer to share their quarters. After a moment’s reflection, he decided not to allow it to bother him. He set about storing away his momentos, holding each one for a few seconds and committing their details to memory.

When he removed the PADD from his pack, he wiped the dust from it and activated it. It displayed Matthew’s logs, mostly written in the Caves of the Sick. The officer sat on the rumpled edge of his bunk before putting the finishing touches on his work. Up from the sheets came the scent of a woman’s cologne, which Matthew inhaled deeply. He keyed in his last entry, and tossed the PADD onto his pillow. Then he upturned the pack and shook it. Out of the pack came some dust and grit, and two folded up pieces of yellowed paper.

He unfolded the papers to find one printed and one handwritten pages, each in the Rhombid language. The ensign refolded them and tucked them under the PADD on his pillow before stripping and getting into the shower.

----------------- Later -------------------

Ensign Albrecht approached the communications officer, limping slightly still from his ankle injury. "Lieutenant, I was hoping you could assist me with something" he began. Like many others aboard modern Star Fleet vessels, Matthew rarely dealt with communications officers. Nowadays the tactical post on the bridge handled ship-to-ship communications, and the computer routed most internal communications between crewmembers, so the communications department has a greatly reduced role in the running of a starship. However, for some things, a communications officer is nearly irreplaceable. And they know it.

Lieutenant jg Madelaine Cavanaugh swiveled away from her station to smirk at the ensign. "Were you . . .?" she began, noticing his haste because he failed to perform a polite introduction. "I thought you security types were taking communications courses at the academy these days, ensign." She tapped a laser torch across her knuckles as she smiled at him, determined to make his request for assistance a difficult one.

Matthew’s face dropped, as he realized how rude he had been; Not only had he failed to introduce himself, but in his excitement he had barged in, interrupting her project, and demanded aid from a superior officer! "I’m sorry Lieutenant, I was over-eager and didn’t notice you were busy. Perhaps I could come back at a more convenient time for you . . . ?" He turned on the sincerity, it had bailed him out in the past, and he needed bailing out now if he was going to get this message translated before his shift began. He had a suspicion that the note from Epsilon Phea contained something important.

"No, ensign," Cavanaugh said with an exaggerated sigh, "as long as you are here I may as well hear you out. Besides, you’ve already caused me to lose my place." Her scolding tone contradicted the smile on her face. She put the torch down and reached out for the notes Matthew clutched in his left hand. He released them and held his breath.

*Someone should stand outside her door and warn everyone who enters* he thought to himself. He watched her face as she studied the pages. He wondered if she knew Rhombid, since she spent so much time with each page she could have read them both twice. Soon he began to think she had drifted off into a daydream, and he opened his mouth to speak.

"Do you know what these are, ensign . . . what is your name, anyway, mister in-a-hurry?"

"Matthew Albrecht, sir, and I have no idea what is on the hand-written note" he answered, curious to know if she had understood either one.

"Mine’s Madelaine Cavanaugh, but you can call me Lieutenant until I forgive you for barging in here like you own the place" she growled, but it was an attractive growl. "This printed one is some sort of religious or political propoganda, not state sponsored, definitely underground. The note appears to be hastily written, but not personal in nature. My guess would be information, perhaps intelligence, but important to the writer."

"You could tell all that just by looking at it?" he asked, impressed and excited. He added, "Sir?" He wondered what Phea might have put on the note that was so important, but he wouldn’t let Matthew bring it out in front of the other Epsilons. Maybe it was troop size and movement info, if so, it was probably out of date, and moot now that the Galaxy was back.

"Psychology, sociology and political science courses DO have real-life application, Albrecht. If you know what to look for, it’s all in the layout, or the handwriting. Don’t believe me? Let’s make a bet on it." She appeared so sure of herself, Matthew wasn’t about to disbelieve her. But, if he took her bet it would motivate her to work on the translation faster.

So he took her up on it. "Okay, Lieutenant, what are the stakes? If the note is intelligence, or of military value, you win. If it’s a poem, invitation to a square-dance, or his recipe for pumpkin bread, I win." He hoped she wouldn’t want too large a wager, since he really wanted to lose. He crossed his arms while he waited for her demands.

"Housecleaning for a month. The loser cleans quarters for the winner for an entire month, no holds barred." The junior grade lieutenant smiled smugly. Matthew found himself hoping to win the bet after all.

--------------- forty minutes later -------------------

The propaganda flyer took no time at all to translate, the printed letters easy for the computer to read. It was the handwritten note that took time to crack. Matthew had just returned with two Raktajinos when she said, "Eureka!!" He put down their beverages and looked over her shoulder. "I found the last problem, your friend the Epsilon draws THIS character too much like THIS character, and his punctuation is non-existent. However, considering what you told me about the way Rhombid treat their laborers, I’d say he has lovely penmanship."

"So, does that mean you have it now? What does it say?" He was eager now, and the lieutenant was deliberately stalling. He was bursting with anticipation. For this moment he forgot all about Akira and all that he had seen on Dronegar. The blood, red and green blood, left his thoughts while she dramatically closed her eyes and poised her fingers above the touch-sensitive panel in front of her.

Her fingers dropped and played a series of commands into the computer. Some random-looking symbols appeared and vanished in succession, then the computer said "Translation Complete" in its familiar voice. The heads of both officers moved side to side as they raced to read it as quickly as possible. Matthew said, "I think you won, my new master." "I think you should show this to someone. . ." Cavanaugh replied.

The note read:

matthew i hope this in some way helps
to end the death and bloodshed.

rhombid are in danger from disease.
supplies of anti toxin are running out.
deltas getting bigger doses than epsilons.
on rhombid people get rationed smallest
doses, many are sick some are dying.

many rumors exist about disease and
where it came from many months ago.
no one knows what happened but we
now live in fear of it on rhombid.

time is short something must be done.
most rhombid good people trying to live.
you help the dronegar, help my people.

phea

"Download this to a PADD, if you please, lieutenant. I have to show this to Commander Sterner right away. I’ll have to clean your quarters after my shift" the ensign said, then he drank half of his raktajino in one gulp. He wasn’t sure how, but this new information HAD to be useful somehow.

As the doors whooshed shut behind him, he heard Cavanaugh say, "That’s okay, I haven’t been sleeping in my quarters lately!"

Ensign Albrecht
Security Officer
USS Galaxy, NCC 70637

"Counselors And Orions"
By Ensign Sendi Soleri

The computer awoke her with a loud buzz. Sendi Soleri sat up slowly, rubbing sleep from her eyes. "Time?" she asked the computer.

"2300 hours," it replied in the same voice it always used.

She rubbed sleep from her eyes, and made her way over to the mirror in her small quarters. She had choosen to have her own private quarters, and it suited her well.

She looked at the pictures spread out on the counter. First a model of the USS Palakari. She missed her old home, still remembering running the halls, and being on the bridge. The ship had been a Miranda Class Starship, and had been a fine one at that. Until the Orions...

She brushed the thought away quickly, and slammed her fist onto the table. The table vibrated under the impact, but Sendi had not hit it hard enough to do any damage, if she had wanted the table broken she could have done it, and probally would have broken a bone or two in her hand at the same time.

She looked at the other two displays and turned away. Holographic pictures of her parents. She looked back into the mirror, and saw a single tear run down her face. She swiped it away with her hand, and proceeded to brush her hair.

Before leaving she checked her computer terminal. A message, this was odd. She kept to herself, never talking to anyone. In fact, for the time she had been aboard the Galaxy, she had mostly stayed in her quarters.

The message was a quick one form Counselor Wilson. It asked that all new crewmembers make an appoitment with a Counselor. Well she was new, and hadn't made an appoitment since she had come aboard. She growled with anger, and was about to shout a curse in the Andorian language, when the computer buzzed.

"Now 2345 hours," it stated.

She scolded herself. I can talk to those Counselors later, she thought with anger. She needed to get some food, and get to the bridge.

This would be her first trip to Ten-Forward she thought, as she the doors to the massive room slid open. She quickly surveyed the room. She didn't know anyone of course, but that didn't bother her.

She sat down at the bar, and waited for someone to come over. What came over gave her a nasty taste in her mouth. An Orion, she thought. Things couldn't have gotten worse.

"Stress Reactions"
by Endris Gakor
with contributions by Councilor Wilson and Ens. Albrecht

Right now, Endris felt like an inebriated tourist who made a wrong turn on Lombard Street and missed the curves. She felt decidedly uncomfortable. Even though she had done her duty, someone was going to get in trouble because she reported the stray Targ hair she had located. Gakor was definitely confused over her mixed emotions, and would have to make an appointment with Councilor Wilson. Maybe the young psychologist would join her for a Risian Fiz in the lounge later. Otherwise, the plot was certainly thickening, with Burnsie releasing her from detached duty in case she was needed with the Dronegar relief effort.

=/\=Ens Gakor to Councilor Wilson=/\=

=/\=Yes, Ensign?=/\= came a swift response.

=/\=I would like to schedule an appointment with you, concerning some emotional turmoil I am experiencing.=/\=

(she said this quite evenly, deliberately enunciating each word. Endris was determined to mask her most violent emotions, after all, this was not a universe where Tellarites openly attacked anything but food, even if they were known as a gruff people...)

=/\=What seems to be troubling you?=/\= queried the voice from the intercom.

=/\=I reported a discovery that may lead to a reprimand for a crew mate.=/\=, I huffed, finally breaking though my stoic side. I paused to wipe off the tears which were quietly raining down my face.

"Be objective", I thought, "It may take some time before the Councilor can see you." Yes, I continued. It may help to see myself in third person...

----Later-----

At the academy in 'Frisco, Gakor was never the type to relax on Fisherman's Wharf while off duty. She preferred to view Picasso and Matise paintings at fantastic art museum! The Tellarite immunologist brought the same passion to everything she did. And after all, whoever modified the detectors to avoid standard ship's protocols was a genius! She would need such allies to develop technology to cure Teresi once theories were developed.

Endris couldn't see many options open, but she did know she would need friends to get through this. She recalled Ensign Albrecht in security was raised on Tellar. Perhaps Endris just needed friendship rather than Counselling. Although she would be happy for the jovial Terran's input, right now her "gut response" told her it was time for another snack!

=/\=Ens Gakor to Ens Albrecht=/\=

=/\=Yes, Doctor Swine Snout?=/\= replied the debater. He knew no Tellarite could resist a jab at their similarity to Terran swine.

=/\= Oinkus Imedius Feastum ork Troffin au Ten Forward? =/\= She invited in Swinesish, a pigeon dialect on Tellar.

=/\=I would be happy to join you for a meal or snack in the lounge=/\= Parried the young Security agent, with a phaser quick translation and a growling stomach!

Without thought, Gakor set a course for the lounge. It would be refreshing to have a meal with someone familiar with Tellarite customs. Perhaps later, they could even enjoy a mud bath on the holodeck. Even as her thoughts turned to these pleasant distractions, she recalled the incident her earlier discoveries had provoked.

Through the grapevine, she had heard Lt (jg) Samara owned the Targ. The Immunologist regretted that replicators could never capture the vibrant flavors of the Dish of Consolation. It was customary to share this repast to make amends for offences of this type. A smile broke on her face as she realized Electra might know a way to change the appropriate settings!

The Orion's experiences of traveling to remote areas must have taught her many things. An Endris looked forward to interacting with all her crew mates, especially if it involved FOOD!

----Arrival, Ten Forward Lounge----

After her meal, she would report for her duty shift in Sickbay. But now, she needed to relax. She was suprised to see an Andorian when she entered the lounge. Oh well, Gakor mused, this could get interesting. Ever since the first journey to Babble on the USS Enterprise, relations between Andor and Tellar had been edgy at best. She was glad her human friend had a background in security. The last thing she wanted was for things to evolve into a brawl....

Gakor weaved through the crowd for a table on the other side of the room, hoping to avoid an unpleasant confrontation. She pulled out the chair and requested a Guiness from the waiter, settling in to wait for Albrecht. It did not take long for the human to appear.

"Matthew!", she shouted over the din. Things improved as she saw her friend. Slowly, she dipped her hand into a bowl of bright yellow Ganchi chips and waited for the Ensign to join her...

Galaxy "Back on Board"
Written by Kahn Nilani
Assistant Chief Medical Officer
USS Galaxy

**** 30 min after beam out ****

::Entering TL:: Holodeck 3

["Acknowledged"] The computer responded

::talking to myself:: "Stupid Counselor, tell me to beam up"

As the TL came to a stop I exited the lift and made my way to the door of the holodeck, as it opened I walked into the empty room.

"Computer!! Load program Nilani02?"

["acknowledged, program is loaded."]

"Computer Bat'hlet. Warriors configuration?"

Appearing out of no where the Bat'hlet came

"Computer, set up for 12 opponents and arm them with mixed klingon hand to hand combat weapons. Execute when ready!"

["Acknowledged, program is ready!"]

With that I was rushed by a Cardassian. I skillfully dodged the attack and swiftly sliced his throat.

"Computer pause. Turn safety protocols off and set skill level 8."

["Beep"] The computer replied

"Computer Run Program?"

A second later I was being rushed by some holographic Klingon also with a Bat'hlet, This time though it was a lot harder, I eventually killed the klingon.

**** 30 min later ****

"Computer! end program"

As I looked at the scenery it was replaced with the grid pattern of the holodeck.

::Walking out of the holodeck and entering the TL:: "Sickbay"

::Exiting TL and Walking into Sickbay:: "ahhh belled can I get a little help over here?"

::Working on a patient:: ["Be with you in a second!!"]

"Fine" ::Grabing a medical tricorder off of the cart::

["let me have a look at you!!"] ::Getting the tricorder of Nilani::

["You have.... 4 broken ribs. lacerations and a couple of bruises. What have you been doing?"]

"Fighting on the holodeck!!. Why?"

["No reason. leave the safety protocols on next time o.k."]

"fine I will."

["Stay there a sec I will fix those ribs."] ::Getting a Bone regenerator off the cart:: ["There done!"]

As I left Sickbay I headed to my quarters

::entering quarters and sitting at a table. Using a communications interface contacts Garu on the planet:: "Hi Garu how are you?"

["I am much better doctor and you?"]

"I am fine. Look I will be down there soon to speak to you but I need you to do me a favor."

["Go ahead doctor. I am listening."]

"Garu when I was praying I was told by the prophets that the child I was looking after has a very big future I would like you to look after the child If that is possible as I cannot bring him back on the ship."

["Yes I would be very pleased with that. Doctor I must go, but I will see you soon."]

"O.k. Kahn out."

I finished the chat and laid on my bed falling asleep within seconds.

"The Study"
By Lt. (jg) Thomas

Chris walked into his quarters after having completed his shift on the bridge. He was looking forward to getting something to drink and then going to bed. He had earlier received a request form an old friend asking him if he'd help conduct a study of Starfleet Officers given the current situation. They'd managed to turn the tide of the Dominion back to Cardassian Space, but a lot of good officers and crew members had paid the ultimate price for freedom. The task was simple enough observe the crew from the prospective he'd made reports about the Klingons and Romulans.

He knew he was in trouble the moment he replied to the message as he'd said yes, but under the condition that his reports where to be treated as opinions and nothing more, if his friend wanted real concrete data then he should contact the ship's counselor or someone else.

Chris sat down his chair looked at a padd and thought about writing something, but changed his mind. He headed of to bed, but before he got there one of the voices keep calling him to do an outline or something similar. After fighting with the thoughts for several minutes he decided to go ahead a make some notes, as he'd finish the report and send out the following day.

He typed out some notes on the padd and then turned in for bed. His role for the day was over.

**** Next Morning **

Chris work up refreshed and ready for the days trials that he might face this day.

First stop on today's agenda Holodeck 3 where he would spend a couple of hours working on some of his projects. He was looking forward to reestablishing some sort of routine in his life, again. He'd spent hours working on decoded the information given to him by Suvak, but he was at a point that he'd have to work on it more sparingly and with greater focus. The information that he was reading was much more complicated explaining a lot of the details and why the information for the most part had been sealed.

*** Holodeck 3 ***

"Good Morning." Chris said as he walked onto the holodeck and the doors closed behind him with a swoosh.

"Good Morning, how are you doing today?" The holographic Data asked.

"Just fine, so let's get to work." Chris said and then looked around and but didn't see the Holographic Dr. Soogn.

"Data where is Dr. Soogn?" Chris inquired. The program was in is self a test a developing a program capable of adapting to changes. He was always in awe of how well the program had faired so far, but much was to be to learned and studied before he'd consider presenting the concept to an audience. He'd also figured out a couple of tricks that caused the power consumption to be reduced.

"Oh, he's taking a nap." Data responded off handed, as if the doctors' absence wasn't anything new.

"Alright we'll let him sleep." Chris responded normally computer generated characters didn't require sleep or any other from of rest. For that matter they of course required nothing beyond power to make them exist in our world.

They spent the next three hours working on a variety of projects before Chris ended the program's visual run on the holodeck. Then he decided to go ahead a shut the entire program down until he could return the following day or the day after.

With that done, Chris headed of for 10-forward to grab a bite to eat before doing something else.

Chris Patton
GM: USS Atlantis NCC 73660
A.k.a.: Captain William Evans Churchill
Webpage: http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Zone/6875/

After Deiran Casey left her office, she scheduled his next appointment. She had seen more of Deiran lately that she ever thought she would. Especially for being a proud member of the Casey clan. Among the ships of the Federation, the Caseys were like the Blairs, everywhere. One exsisted in every level of Starfleet and Federation government. She often thought that should the two families ever conspire, they could well wrest control of half the Galaxy for themselves.

She chuckled to herself, as she always did when she pictured Deiran sitting in the chair in her office. He always looked so uncomfortable despite their design. It was not the furniture that made him uncomfortable. Deiran Casey was uncomforable with Devlynn. It was her presence. Well, not her presence, anyone sitting in her place doing what she was doing would bother him. It just happened that she was his counselor.

She was drawn from her reflections when a buzzer rang in her ear. It was the door. "Enter," she spoke simply.

It was Miran, and Colby. She could sense from the young child that something had happened. But she didn't know what it was. Miran filled her in on the situation while Colby sat, pale in the face, and very quiet, listening.

Devlynn could see that this bothered the young child, and so it should. Prejudice of any sort was wrong. Devlynn could feel Miran watching them as she hugged the young child. She would definately be a good mother. Dev smiled at her. "Miran, I thank you for taking care of Colby." She said after a moments silence.

"It's no problem at all counselor. I just happened upon him. I was on my way to see the Captain anyhow, this isn't far out of my way." Miran smiled, he eyes glittering in the light.

"If I speak to the Captain about this, may I use your name Miran? You did see Colby before me." She asked, not wanting to make her feel uncomfortable.

"Of course you may Dev, this conduct should not take place aboard a starship, especially the Galaxy!" Miran was truly upset by what had happened to Colby. Which was not surprising, being Bajoran and growing up under Cardassian rule would have made her no stranger to oppression.

"Thank you, Miran." Devlynn said. They exchanged their goodbye, and Colby gave Miran a huge hug, and a big kiss on the cheek before she left.

After Miran was gone, Colby looked at her and said, "I like her Momma!" He smiled, for a breif second, but quickly his face returned to it's sombre state.

Dev turned to her desk for a moment. "Colby, do you want to sit over there on the big couch for a moment, I have to do something." She asked politely of the young man.

"Okay," he said simply and slid across the room.

"Colby," she called after him, "here, look at this." She said, flipping him a PADD. "Don't break it okay? I just got it." What she had handed him was a twenty-four century version of a toy that was very popular in the late twentieth century. Handheld creatures, they 'lived' inside the PADD and you were responsible for them, they got hungry, sick, restless, etc. Dev thought that Colby would have fun with the critter.

Meanwhile, Dev wrote a letter to the Captain. Requesting a moment of his time to report the Ensign that assaulted Colby. She was sure that he have time for her right away, but preferred to do this formally. Besides, Dev was hungry right now, and wanted to take Colby to have something to eat.

"Colby?" She asked, "are you hungry dear?" He looked up from his PADD and nodded his head slightly. "Do you want to go to Ten Forward and have something to eat?" She smiled at him.

"Ten Forward?" He asked.

"Yes Colby, don't worry, nothing will happen this time, I promise." Dev walked over and took him by his small hand. "Come on kiddo." Together they walked out the door and to the turbolift.

In a few minutes they were standing outside Ten Forward. Devlynn stepped up to the door first, but Colby held back, "what if he's in there Momma?" He asked.

"Then we'll just have to deal with that if it happens honey, don't worry about it. Okay, sport? Come on, lets get something to eat, then we'll go back and play a game in our quarters, okay?" He agreed and they entered. Colby closed his eyes until he was inside the room and was sure his grasp on his mothers hand was firm. When he openned them, he was happy to see that he didn't recognize anyone as the Ensign that attacked him.

As they walked across the room, to sit near the large windows, they heard a voice calling them, "Colby! Devlynn! Over here!" Colby tensed immediately. Devlynn pulled him in against herself as they turned around together.

Colby nearly deflated his lungs with a sigh when he saw Lt. Chris Thomas, his former guardian, standing on the lower landing waving his hands at them. "Come on you two," Chris continued, "why don't you join me?"

Dev shugged her shoulders, and Colby looked up at her with a weird look in his face. "Why not Devlynn said, at least it's someone that you know." They walked over and sat at the table that Chris had been occupying.

As Dev sat herself in her chair, Chris looked at her from across the table and said, very plainly, "Devlynn Salshyar, you know something? You're one hard woman to get ahold of!" He chuckled slightly as he waved a waiter over to the table to take their order.

Lt. Devlynn Salshyar, Chief Counselor, USS Galaxy

“I ‘aint got the Blues”
by Lt. (jg) Greer Erikson

*** Holodeck 3 ***

“Computer, run Erikson Bourbon Street program 1”

The computer made a few, brief electronic whirls as it processed the command. Moments later the Holodeck turned itself into an early 20th century street from the city of New Orleans - the traditional home of the musical style of jazz. Greer loved the sound of jazz, not only from his own species, but had also encountered some interestingly similar musical styles on other planets.

Walking up the busy street he peered up at the street sign. ‘Bourbon Street’ it read. It wasn’t suprising to Greer since he had programmed this Holodeck simulation whilst still at Starfleet Academy. Over the years he added the occasional element or character to give it some variety, however, it was still essentially the same program. As he reminisced at some of the times he had spent using the program, Greer suddenly was dragged off the street by another pedestrian.

“You gotta watch out buddy.” the man said to him, pointing at a combustion vehicle indicative of that era.

“Oh.” Greer replied, having forgotten about that addition, “Thank you.”

The man nodded and preceded to make his way in the opposite direction to which Greer was travelling. Looking at the stores, which were closed, he thought about how much things had changed in the last few centuries. Money seemed to be a driving force in Human society at this point. Perhaps the Ferengi were a little more extreme and the Pakleds were willing to make a profit from the suffering of the Dronegar, at the hands of the Rhomboid, however, the same driving force had been evident in Human history. It is fortunate that this society changed enough.

Greer continued to walk up the street until he reached ‘The Bourbon Street’. It had been some time since he had visited this place and even longer since he had actually performed here.

“Greer, good to see you.” the bartender said as Greer entered the establishment, subtle slivers of cigarette smoke moving near his face.

“Hi Remmy” Greer let out a short cough, “long time no see.”

After having listened to what AC had gone through Greer felt like not having an audience. Although, at times, he didn’t mind performing in front of other people but this time he needed to himself. It was times like this that his music was a personal matter which went beyond practice or entertainment.

“Computer, discontinue characters.”

The laughter, conversation, and clattering of Remmy behind the bar ceased. All was quiet, except for the sound of Greer’s shoes as they met with the floor. Walking over to the piano he ran his hand over the top. A small amount of sediment, probably from the cigarette smoke, lined the surface. The detail that the Holodeck used was incredible and, after many hours there, it still managed to amaze this young man.

Taking a seat, Greer raised his hands to the keys and began to fiddle with them. The sound of each note sounded like the sound of a voice, a reminder, or a thought. Greer wasn’t depressed but he was certainly lost in thought.

‘Andorrian blues’ he thought to himself. It was a unique musical style that he had discovered at the time he was in his second year at the Academy. It wasn’t suprising because he first tried playing it at the piano he found himself at, only this time he was several thousand light years away from Earth. The first time he had heard of the Andorrian blues, Greer had assumed that it was a practical joke being played on him by some friends. Afterall the only Blues that he had been familiar with was native to Earth and, considering the blue hue of Andorrian skin, he was suspicious of the whole suggestion that it even existed. He found out differently though.

It was the challenge of playing this difficult style that drew Greer to it, however, over time he began to appreciate it. The deep and somewhat aggressive tonal quality of these ‘Blues’ was more difficult to grasp than the ‘Blues’ from Earth. Placing his hands on the piano keys and began, or at least attempted to, play some Andorrian Blues.

*** Erikson’s Quarters ***

Having been able to unwind, Greer entered his quartes. The several reports he still had to write were not going to write themselves. He figured that now was better than never.

“Macchiato, hot, two sugars.” he said at the replicator.

Taking a sip, Greer moved over to his desk where the PADDs had been accumulating. A report on the efficiency of the modifications to the sensor array and several other reports needed to be completed. Sitting down Greer took the first PADD and began working on the sensor efficiency report.

Looking at the data he noticed a small fluctuation in the efficiency of the sensor modifications. Correlating it with the level of density it appeared that the fluctuation was cause by a slight, but significant increase, in the density of the radioactive pollution. Seemed logical enough.

*** A few hours later ***

Greer had finally organised his thoughts, his reports, and moved onto his personal correspondence. He had neglected to check his personal communications which had been accumulating since just prior to the mission to Kal-Dixas. It wasn’t neglect really, more like being quite busy and having simply not the time to read them.

Looking through the names on the list he noticed a message from Ensign Conklin, his father, his sister, and . . . . .

“Damn.” Greer exclaimed, seeing a message from Ensign Bancroft. He had totally forgotten to get back to her since he got back.

Greer quickly searched his draw from an isolinear chip which he removed. Taking the little information device, he left to see Tebrianne.

*** Ensign Bancroft’s Quarters ***

“Hi Tebrianne.” he said unsure if she would even welcome him inside.

“Hi Greer, come in.” she said greeting him, standing to one side so he could get through the doors.

Since he had not been in these quarters before he found them a little strange and almost, as an automatic response rather than a controlled one, wanted to survey his new environment. Aware that he was starting to do this, Greer controlled himself, drawing his attention to Tebrianne who looked as if she had something to say. He personally didn’t like starring at someone’s room, afterall, it made him quite uncomfortable too.

“How is AC?” she asked still a little concerned after her last attempt at ‘conversation’ with the troubled engineer.

“He’ll be fine Tebrianne, you have nothing to worry about.”

“I really . . . . . “ but before she could continue, Greer interrupted. He wasn’t trying to be rude, however, she looked distressed enough about the situation which occurred in Ten Forward and he had a message for her from AC himself.

“I have already spoken to Alan.” Greer said realising that he had, for the first time, not called his friend AC, “he understands that you didn’t know, and he is sorry for placing you in that awkward situation.”

Tebrianne looked at him with some relief. “That’s pleasing to hear.”

“By the way I brought this for you.” he said extended out the hand that contained the isolinear chip. “Call it a peace offering if you will.”

“That’s a . . . “ Tebrianne tried to find the best way to say it, “nice isolinear chip Greer. Thanks you.”

“The peace offering is actually on the isolinear chip Tebrianne.” but Greer was aware she knew this, she was just being a little coy.

“What is it?”

“I heard from Electra that you are a bit of a romantic. Well, I had the computer make up a holonovel of the classic novel by Emily Brontë, called ‘Wuthering Heights’. I’m not sure if you’ve heard . .. . “

Not it was Tebrianne’s turn to cut Greer’s sentence short. “Ofcourse I’ve heard of it. Thank you so much.”

“Anyway, I can’t stay long Tebrianne. I still have a few things to do.” Greer began to back away, towards the door.

“Did you want to join me in the holonovel?” Tebrianne asked a final question.

“Thank you, no. I’m not the person for those romantic-type holonovels.” Greer explained. “Perhaps something with a little more adventure or mystery.”

Tebrianne nodded with a smile. It didn’t really suprise her though. Greer nodded back, and with that, left to complete a few tasks that required his attention.

"A Friend in Need..."
by Lt jg Alan Hewson

Everyone in the Alpha quadrant knew of the famous “Romulan Ale” that had been outlawed by so many Federation worlds because of its extremely intoxicating elements. Along the same lines, the Klingon’s “Blood Wine” had made a name for itself in the past few years. But then there were some of the lesser, more dangerously known drinks out there, such as Nectii, which was spawned deep in the heart of the Klingon Empire.

Nectii was a drink that wasn’t meant to be enjoyed. It tasted like a mixture of every poison imaginable mingled in with liquid fire. The smell itself could drive a weaker man to his knees. And in desperation to escape the feelings he presently was experiencing, Alan Hewson had turned to this strange brew. It burned his tongue, throat, stomach, lungs, and every other internal organ. And that was with just one sip. Thankfully, Lt. Jg Greer Erikson had arrived in time to prevent AC from doing any more damage to himself.

The bottles on the floor indicated that the Nectii was not the first beverage that Alan had consumed during his hold-up in his quarters. Few words were exchanged for sometime as the neither of the two could think of anything to say. Alan finally cleared his throat, and spoke.

“Where to begin?”

*****Several Hours Later*****

“…And Greer, please tell Tebrianne that I’m sorry for everything that has hap…”

“Don’t worry about it,” Greer said as he stopped in the doorway. “I’ll explain all of it to her.” AC nodded and watched his friend exit his quarters.

Alan crawled off his bed and onto the floor where he searched for a hypospray he kept handy for times like this. He couldn’t recall the name of the drug contained within the device, but he always kept a hypospray of it around for the times when he bombed himself out. Its main purpose was to keep him from dehydrating and/or poisoning himself to death after taking in large amounts of intoxicating drinks, plus it helped to sober him up a little. This was the third time in a ten-hour period that he had injected the drug into his blood stream.

After managing to make his way from his bedroom to

the bathroom, he slipped off his remaining articles of clothing and slid into the sonic shower. The powerful jets of hot water soaked deep into his skin, seeming to soothe the pain he experienced within. There he sat for over an hour, letting the water chase away his hangover.

After changing into a fresh pair of boxers, he collapsed onto his bed do to sheer exhaustion. But sleep would not come. He just laid there in the dark, trying once again to push the memories of his wife away. No matter what he did, every time he closed his eyes he saw her face. All of his tears had already been spent while he had been talking to Greer. Over and over again he changed positions, trying to get comfortable.

Finally, he fell into a restless sleep. Waking up every thirty minutes was not going to help him at all. Checking the ship’s clock revealed that Gamma-shift was halfway over. He figured that he might as well make his way to engineering. At least that would give him something to do. There was one more matter he needed to take care of though, he owed Tebrianne a big apology.

"New management"
by Captain Robert Edward Lee Price

*** Captain's Ready room - USS Galaxy ***

Captain Price sat pensively at his desk staring at his computer monitor. He was reviewing the reports his senior officers had turned in about the happenings on board the Galaxy. It was a smorgasbord of reports ranging from the computer core refit, to the reconfiguring of the shuttle Yeager, to some mysterious Targ. It was a wonder the Captain could stay on top of it all and still deal with the 28 Pakled that Lieutenant Commander Sterner had managed to secure in the brig. Not to mention the centuries long war between Rhomboid and Dronegar that Ambassador Lorn was hoping to bring to a peaceful conclusion. All in all, 'The General' had his hands full.

[Tee-Bleep.]

Lee glanced up from his monitor at the entrance to his office as the door chime sounded.

"Enter." He called out. The doors parted and a slightly nervous Ensign Albrecht entered.

"I hope I am not disturbing you Captain?... If this is a bad time, I can come back." Matthew pointed back at the door with his thumb while holding a PADD in the opposite hand.

Lee smiled as he turned off his computer monitor. The Ensign looked like he was hoping the Captain would turn him away... he was that nervous.

"It's all right 'mate. What can I do for you Ensign?"

"While on the planet I met one of the Rhomboid soldiers. An Epsilon. He wasn't like the others, he was... friendly. He helped me and another officer get to safety when we were in the war zone..." Matthew said uneasily, while unconsciously tapping the PADD with his fingers.

"I see, go on Ensign." Captain Price said shifting in his seat as he listened with interest.

"The Rhomboid,... Phea is his name sir,... he gave me a hand written note before we parted company. I didn't know what to make of it at first. I assumed it was a poem or a song about their Profit... That's a religious figure that Phea was telling me about Captain..."

Lee stifled a smile and nodded for Ensign Albrecht to continue.

"When I returned to the ship, I had Lieutenant Cavanaugh translate it for me. When I learned what it said, I brought it to Lieutenant Commander Sterner. He had his hands full with the Pakled and asked that I bring it to you Captain." Matthew said clearing his uncharacteristically dry throat before handing the PADD to Price.

"Let's have a look see." Lee said taking the PADD. Quickly he read the message about how the population on Rhomboid had also been exposed to the same deadly virus that was unleashed on the people of Dronegar. Lee's expression turned to a frown.

"Damned biological weapons." He commented, "This is exactly the reason why they have been outlawed by the Federation. No matter how careful you are, all it takes is the slightest accident and you contaminate an entire world." Captain Price explained.

"It seems they are running out of the anti-toxin. I believe they were counting on the delivery from the Pakled ship to resupply them. Lieutenant Commander Sterner did find a large supply of medicines on board along with the Lysain arms sir."

"Aye. We will have to arrange to get the Rhomboid the Anti-Toxins they need. We can't supply Dronegar as a humanitarian act and then deny Rhomboid, it wouldn't be right..." Lee stroked a hand across his chin as his gaze grew distant in thought. "However... maybe Ambassador Lorn can use this knowledge as a sort of bargaining chip. Something to lure the Rhomboid back to the peace negotiations."

"That might work Captain." Ensign Albrecht said still feeling a little awkward reporting directly to the Captain. Nervously he glanced around the ready room.

"Good work Ensign." Lee said with a smile, "I'll pass this info on to Ambassador Lorn and have medical begin manufacturing more anti-toxins for the Rhomboid. Is that all 'mate?"

"Yes Sir. If you'll excuse me, I have to go and clean Lieutenant Cavanaugh's quarters."

Lee raised an eyebrow in curiosity, but decided to let it slide. "Do it 'mate. And 'ave a G'day."

Captain Price watched as Matthew turned and exited the Ready room. He was a fine officer. Getting this information was definitely going to help the Ambassador with the negotiation. Reaching for his comm badge, the Captain contacted Ambassador Lorn on Dronegar and relayed the information.

*****

*** Encampment outside of the Triad Hachurui on Dronegar ***

Alpha Bah left his command tent in a huff. Angrily he pounded his feet with every step he took until he reached the communications center near one of the armored assault transports.

"Get me the High Council,... NOW!" Bah barked at the hapless Gamma operator who jumped at the Alpha's tone.

"Yes sir Alpha sir!" He muttered as he adjusted the rotary controls bringing a loud, high pitched hiss, until the correct amplitude was manually adjusted well enough to get a signal through to the Rhomboid home world. The voice only communication transceiver finally established a link. The Gamma soldier quickly handed the bulky microphone to Alpha Bah.

Bah took it with a jerking motion as he stepped nearer to the Gamma yet turned away from him at the same time, pushing him aside.

"This is Alpha Bah on the surface of Dronegar. We need more men down here. The Dronegar are on the verge of collapse. Final victory is within our sight. You must launch the fifth attack craft now so we have replacements by star fall tomorrow."

A loud hiss responded as Alpha Bah released the transmit button on the microphone, then a High council member responded, ["Alpha Bah, You are on your own. The Fifth ship will not be launched as there are not enough healthy Rhomboid soldiers left here to make the journey. When you prepared your four ships full of soldiers, you took the healthiest of our Rhomboid people with you. Then, you also took a large portion of our stocked medicine. Our people have gone without receiving a dose for weeks now. They grow very ill. Too ill to fight."]

"But I only took what medicine the High Council authorized for this invasion. We agreed that our soldiers and High Council members would have first priority on the distribution of the serum. I only took an amount from the whole that was in keeping with the thousands of soldiers that accompanied me. It is not my fault that the alien supply ship is late with their delivery."

["You speak the truth with your words, Alpha Bah, but they also conceal much. The Pakled shipment has not arrived and we are informed that it never will. We have been contacted by the Federation Ambassador. He informs us that they have intercepted the shipment and are taking the Pakled whom you were dealing with away where they will not deal with us again."]

"They have no right to interfere like that!" Bah practically screamed, "Who do these Federationers think they are?"

["The Ambassador says it is because of the chemical weapons the Pakled used. The same weapons that were brought in to destroy our enemies. The same weapons that were accidentally damaged while loading here on Rhomboid and contaminated our own world. The Ambassador said their Federation has made the use of these types of weapons forbidden. We can all understand why,... now that we have been exposed. These Pakled delivered these forbidden weapons, and now they must be held responsible for their actions."]

While the High Councilman was speaking, the bruised Alpha Zan and Gamma Phra came walking up behind Alpha Bah and listened.

["The Federation Ambassador has made a peace offering. He says their Federation will supply us with the medicines we need to bring our people back to health, but only if we return to the peace negotiations and settle this war with Dronegar. This would normally be unacceptable of course, but we are in dire need of these serums. Rhomboid is dying and the High Council has decided that if you can not provide us with a military victory by star fall this evening, you are ordered to declare a cease fire and negotiate a settlement with the Ambassador and the Dronegarian government to end the war."]

Alpha Bah's face turned red with rage. "NO! We can not settle for peace with the Dronegar. They are barbarians. Animals that hatch from eggs. They are disgusting and must be wiped out of existence at all costs!" Bah ranted on.

While her husband was making his case to the High Council whom had already made up their minds, she slowly touched the side of her face. It had begun to swell from the beating she took just a few minutes earlier by Bah's hand. Reaching with her other hand, she pulled out her dagger and looked at it for a moment. Gamma Phra watched and looked on with uncertain eyes, but remained silent.

"If it is a military victory you want I can give it to you! But I need more men. Send the ship and I can guarantee Dronegar will be ours within three star falls." Alpha Bah's thumb released the transmit button. As he did, his consort, and beaten wife, Zan moved closer.

["You are making false presumptions Alpha Bah. The High Council is not holding out on you. Our people are dying. When we say no one is left to man the fifth attack craft, we are not being conservative. Our people are sick. Ill from the alien weapons YOU brought in from the Pakled to eliminate the Dronegar. And the Council has heard your boasts before Bah. When you had four full flights of ships, fully manned with healthy Rhomboid, you said three star falls. It has now been five. And you ask for another ship and three more rotations?"]

"It was the Federationers! Our intelligence was faulty. We were told they would not interfere because of their codes of conduct. But they did! Their people helped the Dronegar defeat our armies. But we still hold the upper hand! All of Dronegar has been taken except for their government citadel. In time we will be victorious!" Alpha Bah argued in a fanatical rant.

["The High Council has spoken Bah. You will not receive any additional ships or troops. If you can not conquer Dronegar by star fall tonight, you are to negotiate with the Federation Ambassador to end all hostilities between our two worlds."]

Alpha Bah took in a deep breath preparing to argue for the war and the defeat of Dronegar again, but he instead let out a gasp as Alpha Zan thrust her dagger deep within his back. He staggered forward, dropping the microphone as the Rhomboid woman held the dagger with both of her hands and leveraged it in a twist, disemboweling his Rhomboid organs. Wide eyed, Bah turned and looked Zan in the face as she still held her blade, stained dark green in her husbands blood. He finally collapsed to the ground, landing face first in the dirt. The transceiver began to hiss as the microphone swung back and forth on the dangling cord like a pendulum. Gamma Phra reached for it and then handed it to Alpha Zan.

"This is Alpha Zan High Councilman. I am afraid Alpha Bah has met with a terrible accident. He is dead." She said in a perfect monotone as if she didn't harbor one feeling of regret.

After a long pause, the radio broadcasted again. ["Alpha Zan, you are now in charge of the Rhomboid forces on Dronegar. You are ordered to declare a cease fire and meet with this Federation Ambassador and the Dronegarian government to negotiate an end to this war. Our need for medicine is great Alpha Zan, the fate of all of Rhomboid is in your hands."]

"I shall not let my people down Councilman. We shall get Rhomboid their medicines, and negotiate for peace. I guess Alpha Bah was correct when he called this the 'final assault'. It will be a day that is long remembered." Zan said before closing the communications frequency to the High Council.

Gamma Phra was standing silently, smiling. For a moment her eyes and Alpha Zan's caught. The new leader of the Rhomboid forces just blinked in silent acknowledgment.

"Get me that Federation Ambassador on this thing." Zan ordered the Rhomboid soldier that was operating the equipment.

"Yes sir Alpha sir!" he replied before he began to fiddle with the primitive dials and watched the illuminated gauges on the bulky box.

" You are big. " The monotonous, shrill voice exclaimed.

" You have hair on face. I do not have hair on face. Maybe you give? "

Sunder grimaced and said nothing in response. The last few hours on board this ship of fools had been an exercise in utter frustration. A series of inane comments had been the only excuse for conversation that the Pakleds could dredge up from the shallow pools of their limited vocabularies. He couldn't seriously believe that this race had managed to attain a space-faring level of technology through sheer ...idiocy! It was ludicrous.

The Pakled group he had been keeping an eye on continued to barrage him with stupid questions.

" If you so big, how you fit in clothes? " The Pakled first officer asked. His finger absent-mindedly scratching a part of his anatomy that Sunder wished he had not observed.

" They're magic clothes. " Sunder grunted. " They grow when I tell them to. " With this revelation the Pakleds were overcome by a hush of shocked silence. It wasn't until after a few moments of blessed peace that one of them dared to address him again.

" You magic man? "

Trying to absorb himself in his PADD, Sunder simply nodded his head, hoping the idiot would leave him alone. He was studying the ship's manifest in an attempt to learn how the Pakleds were safely transporting their deadly cargo. Their were none of the usual safeguard devices or protocols. The Pakleds simply replicated whatever protective equipment they needed at the time.

" Magic man must be our friend. " One of the prisoners said from behind the others. Sunder paid little attention to him. The Pakleds had been asking all of the Starfleet officers to be their friends ever since they came on board. He made a note on the PADD for the GALAXY's medical staff to examine the Pakled crew for any hint of biological contamination.

" Friends are good, but magic friends are better. " The imprisoned first officer agreed, with a remarkable leap of logic for the Pakled brain. He stepped forward and signalled for Sunder's attention.

The security officer looked up. " Yes? What is it? " The Pakled had an odd expression on his face; one uncommon for one of his scavenging race.

" But magic comes in many forms, does it not Mr. Sunder? " With those words, Sunder looked amazed as the Pakled first officer seemingly disincorporated himself into a shower of golden sparks; and disappearing into the hull of the ship.

Sunder immediately hit his communicator. " Sunder to Sterner. One of the Pakleds just disappeared. Advise that a scanning team begin a search from the forward deck up. "

He looked at the bunched up Pakleds in the makeshift force-field cell. They had bunched up together, clutching each other with a scared expression on their faces.

Beneath the fear though, Sunder noticed that they were just as surprised as he was...

"Getting Back To Business"
USS Galaxy
Lt. Deiran Casey

Deiran reported to the Bridge for Alpha shift. It was good to get back to business. To sit at Ops and run the ship’s systems. Deiran had said it over and over, but if there was no Ops, nothing on a Federation Starship would ever get done. Deiran smiled as he sat in the chair.

As he always did, he ran a level 5 diag on the console and ships systems. Sensors, warp drive, phasers, main deflector, everything he normally checked at the start of his shift. He turned to see the officer sitting at the helm. His face was unhappy. The most beautiful face in the universe was not looking at him and smiling. He would miss Miran. Of course he would see her all afternoon and all night. But, he was used to spending every waking minute with her. And he enjoyed every second.

Deiran was so proud to be a father. Soon, a life, who could not be, would not be in existence if it were not for him would be introduced into the world. And it changed him. It’s why he knew he needed counseling for his temper. Of course Miran had a lot to do with Deiran being a father, but without him she wouldn’t be a mother. Deiran smiled at the thought. Its why he was trying to change, for the sake of his child. He didn’t even know what sex the baby was. If it was a boy, he would experience so much pressure that few people could ever understand or comprehend. If it was a girl, she would be pampered and loved and allowed to be and do what she wanted in life.

And so Casey’s shift was full of thoughts similar to those above. Nothing much happened, the Pakled were in the Brig. The war on the Dronegar surface looked like it would be over soon. And the Galaxy would be moving on to another assignment.

*** End Of Alpha Shift, 1600 hours ***

Casey had been occupied by his thoughts. It was a routine shift. He was glad it went quickly. He would go and keep his appointment with Dev, and then return to his quarters and spend the time with his wife. He had a surprise for her.

He had time before his counseling and decided to spend the extra time in Ten Forward.

He walked into the room to see a healthy crowd of people. Many of his friends were here. Even D’tarna was here. Cat was here. Jurelle, Melissa, Ronni, Greer was here. Troy wasn’t which meant he was still planetside. Most of the people he knew were here, either waiting for their shift or just getting off. He saw one young woman who he knew needed some friends. So, he decided to go and say hello.

"Ensign Bancroft?" Casey asked.

"Yes sir?" Tebrianne replied.

"No Ensign, just a friendly hello, we’re both off duty. May I sit down?" Casey asked, smiling wide, being as friendly as possible. Tebrianne thought he was there to give her an order.

"Yes, sir. What can I do for you?" Bancroft asked.

"Well, I hear you play the guitar?" Casey asked.

"Yes, I do sir."

"I was wondering if you’d like to round up some people who also play instruments and maybe we can get a band together. We had one months ago, but it fell through. I just thought that we could enjoy ourselves and our music by playing together. I like all kinds of music and we can play anything you’d like. You think it over and let me know what you decide. Get back to me okay?"

"Yes, sir, I will. Thank you, I’ll let you know," Tebrianne said.

Deiran shook Tebrianne’s hand, said goodbye and walked to the bar. Cat was at the bar and Casey walked up beside her.

"Hi Cat, how are you doing? Things down on the planet returning to normal?" Casey had heard what was going on, but he needed something to break the ice.

"Yes, a lot of people lost their lives to that virus. But, people are recovering as we speak," Cat was a happy person. She was a kind person. Fun to be around, or at least that’s what Deiran heard.

"I wanted to thank you for helping D’tarna, she told me what you did for her," Casey said.

"I just saw a person who needed some cheering up," Cat said in her hiss-like voice.

"Well thank you," Casey said. And walked over to D’tarna, two drinks in hand.

"Hello sister," Casey said as he took a seat next to Bellen. "I have your favorite drink here, thought we could talk. How are you?" Casey could see she was still not her old self, the D’tarna he originally knew a year ago.

"I am the same brother," she replied stoically. She was better, but her emotions were clinging to the depression her heart had been subjected to for so long.

Deiran was taking his drink quickly, as he had a few minutes to his counseling session with Dev. "I wanted to invite you to dinner in a few days. I hope to ask Commander Coe to come also, would you accept D’tarna?"

"I will join you. I am honored to eat with you and your wife, I will be there at the time you instruct," D’tarna’s vulcan side was more evident today, she was really trying to hide her Trill side. In fact, looking into her eyes, she was struggling to keep her Trill emotions in check. She was vulcan. Only a vulcan could suppress such strong emotions.

Shanika strolled into Engineering, feeling more cheerful than she had in a long time. She didn't bother to chitchat with any of the other engineers busily working at different consoles; they had never seen her before and weren't likely to care about anything she had to say. She just nonchalantly pulled out one of the access panels and began rearranging the isolinear chips like it was second nature to her.

"And just *what* do you think *you're* doing, Ensign?"

Shanika looked up to see a male human engineer standing over her. "The gravity fields are overlapping improperly." she shot back. "We've had reports of a few small surges in the shuttle bay area. I am attempting to correct that."

The engineer straightened. "Well, be careful." he said lamely, and walked away.

Shanika smirked and kept on working.

***Several minutes later***

Click. The last chip slipped into its place. It was a "jury-rig" job, but it would do. Shanika stood and stretched from sitting all that time on the floor. After a few seconds, she had disappeared from Main Engineering, like a shadow.

The ensign's next destination was the shuttle bay. As she entered, the B-2 filled almost her whole field of vision. The comforting geometric regularity of its shape and its pure black color were a stark contrast to the curvy lines and boring gray shades of the Starfleet shuttles. Shanika drank in the sight of it; she knew it would probably be for the last time.

Drew was already there - he wasn't stupid, and when he knew freedom, he took it. "Now what are we supposed to do?" he yelled.

"It's taken care of! Get in the plane!"

Fortunately, Shanika's power of suggestion was strong, and Drew did as she said. Just in time too, for as he was scrambling into the aircraft, the gravity fields were beginning to overload, spraying purple sparks throughout the shuttle deck. As he dropped into the cockpit, a shower of sparks encircled the entire aircraft. It glowed brightly for several seconds, then disappeared with a blinding flash. When Shanika opened her eyes, the plane was gone. Shuttle deck personnel rushed to and fro, trying to figure out what happened.

~I didn't really *lie* to that engineer.~ Shanika rationalized to herself. ~I *was* fixing the gravity fields. Well... maybe I told him a half-truth. But it's all fixed now. My homemade temoral anomaly was a success!~

Tired of her escapades, Shanika headed for the crew lounge to get caught up on the latest gossip. ~Maybe the Starfleet life isn't so bad after all.~ she thought.

Introductions
By: Lt. jg Mélissa Marie Boudreau

After getting a (for once) reasonable amount of sleep, Mélissa woke up to find that it was Beta Shift. She didn't have any work that had to be done immediately and she still had plenty of time before Gamma Shift. Mélissa thought it was time to eat and decided to do it in a more social atmosphere.

She entered Ten Forward to find the place full of her friends. She saw Nate Grey sitting at a table alone. She walked over to him.

"Hey Nate! How's it going?"

"Hi Mélissa. I'm alright, how about you?"

"I'm doing pretty good today." She smiled. "Why don't you come with me and I'll introduce you to some people."

Nate accepted and followed her to where Greer was sitting.

Mélissa stepped up behind where the unsuspecting Science officer was sitting surprised him, "Boo!"

Greer looked up, startled. "Hi Mélissa."

"Greer Erikson, may I present Ensign Nathen Grey."

The pair sat down at the table with Greer and the three of them had spoke about various things. Mélissa looked around and thought to herself, 'I am so lucky to have so many friends!'

Amelie Aka:
Lt. jg Melissa Marie Boudreau
Assistant Chief Engineering Officer
USS Galaxy NCC-70637

Leave
Lt Casey Ti Miran
additions by Captain Price

Miran pressed the chime to the captain's ready room. It was time to talk about being relieved of her duties. A voice from inside called her in.

"Sir, may I speak to you. Do you have a moment?"

"Go right ahead." Lee said, motioning for Miran to sit down.

"Captain, I think its time I took my maternity leave. Its getting just a bit tight behind the helm." Miran patted her rounded stomach.

"I understand, mate," the Captain smiled.

"I would like to recommend Ensign Bancroft as my replacement. She is a good helmsman and I feel she would do an outstanding job, sir." Miran didn't know her all that well and hadn't talked much outside of duty. None the less she was a good helmsman and capable in Miran's mind of the job.

"I'll take your recommendation in consideration, Lieutenant." Captain Price said with a nod.

"Anything else sir?" Captain Price shook his head. "Permission to be dismissed, sir?" Miran came to as much of attention as she could. She believed in being highly respectful and follow protocol when possible.

"Dismissed," replied the Captain with a slight chuckle.

***

Miran went back to her quarters. Deiran wasn't there but that wasn't anything new. He was better than he was when he first found out about the baby but he still wasn't around much.

She tried to picture what it would be like with a young child running around the room. More than anything Miran worried what type of mother she would be. She hoped more than anything she would be a good mother.

Miran decided to talk to Dev not as a counsler but as a mother. Maybe she could get some pointers. The other person that she could go talk to was Ambra Trenton. She was a mother and a teacher so she would know a lot about children and how to be a mother. She would talk to these women as soon as possible.

Testing Times
By Ensign Jack Lawson and Ensign Nathen Grey

Jack walked into Ten-Forward. The counsellor had told him to relax more.

"Can I have a cup of warm Barillian Tea, Please" He said to the barkeep before walking over to an empty table.

A minute later his drink was brought to the table. Taking a sip, he gazed out the window. He had only been here a short time, a couple of weeks, and he had started to get to know the crew. His counselling session with counsellor Wilson had gone well, at least as well as can be expected, with counsellors. She seemed to be a nice person. Then there was his shift CO, Lt. Sunder. Quiet, imposing, just the sort of man who would go far in Star Fleet.

"Excuse me, can I sit here?"

Jack looked up from his drink, to see who had spoken to him. He nodded his head slightly, acknowledging the question.

"Hi, I'm Nathen, Nathen Grey, Security but everyone calls me Nate." The Ensign stated, sticking out his hand.

"Jack Lawson," Jack replied shaking it. "Also of Security"

"Beautiful isn't it?" Nate asked as Jack looked back out the window.

"What's beautiful?" Jack asked, casually looking over to Nate.

"Space."

"Yeah, I guess so." Jack responded.

****Later****

They had been sitting there chatting for a while. Jack took a sip from his cup and looked around the room. There were many faces in the crowd that had been building up since he had entered Ten-Forward. Many of the faces were unrecognisable to Jack, after all, he had only been on the ship for a short time.

Nate had only recently returned from the Pakled ship, and was about to use the holodeck. Jack turned his attention back to what Nate was saying.

"Do you want to join me?" He asked Jack.

"Sure, got any good progs?" Jack asked.

"Not really. Do you?"

"Actually, I have a bunch of them, and haven't fully tested some of them yet."

"A bunch?" Nate asked questioningly.

"About 100 of them" Jack replied.

"How did you get so many of them? If you don't mind me asking." Nate asked.

"It's a long story." Jack started, taking another sip from his drink. "I was in the academy at the time. Class had just finished for the day, and as I was walking back to the flat that I was sharing with a friend, An old lady approached me. Her terminal wasn't working, and she didn't have enough money to pay anyone to fix it. I decided to help her and walked with her to her flat, which was just down the street from mine"

By now Nate was listening intently. Jack took another sip of his drink and continued.

"It took only a few minutes to fix the problem, a faulty connection between the main bus and the MRSX Chip. She was so grateful for my assistance and proceeded to get a box out of a closet. 'These belonged to my late husband Nevel' She said. 'I want you to have them, I'm getting too old to use them.' She handed me the box, I said thanks and she showed me to the door."

Taking another sip, Jack finished his tale.

"When I got back to my flat, I found that there were over 50 holo-chips in the box."

"Are they any good?" Nathen asked

"Most of them are useless and trivial, but some are quite cool." I replied.

"Shall we go?" Nathen asked.

"Sure" Jack replied getting up.

Jack downed the last of his drink, put the cup on the counter and they left for the holodecks.

Ensign Jack Lawson
Security Officer

"Q-Questions"
by Ensign Burns

John stepped out of the Ready Room and onto the Bridge. He had just been ordered to conduct a ship wide search for the targ, however John knew it would be a negative result.

John nodded as he walked past Mac who had just manned the Tactical Station and continued to walk up to the screens in the back of the bridge and sat down.

"Computer, activate panel. Conduct a ship wide search for a Kligon Targ."

('Working..')

As the computer was working Lt. Samara stepped out of the turbolift and onto the Bridge. She headed towards the ready room initially, but upon seeing John she walked over to him.

The only words that Lt. Samara spoke when she had walked up to him were, "I'm telling the Captain." With that she turned around and went into the Captain's Ready Room.

Interrupting John's train of thought, ('Search Complete. No Kligon Targs have been detected aboard the Galaxy.')

"Yes I knew that was what you would say." John murmured to himself.

**********10 minutes later***************

Only seconds after Lt. Samara departed from the Ready Room the Captain called for John.

John stepped in as Captain Price said, "Ahhh, Mr. Burns, We have solved the little Targ mystery mate." As the Captain began to explain the information that John already knew, his mind began to drift. For one reason or another he was thinking of that infamous Q, that had bothered the USS Enterprise so many times. Recently, John had become interested in Q and the Q-Continuum. This resulted in the reading of anything he could get his hands on that was about or involved Q.

Returning to the conversation John picked up at the right moment, "... and that is about it mate."

"Interesting." John responded half bewildered.

"Well Ensign I believe that is about it for the Targ

mystery, but how is the replacement of the fried parts coming along; and when will I be able to use that Aft Torpedo Bay again mate." the Captain said sarcastically.

"Relatively soon Captain."

"Great work Ensign. I'm returning you to active duty, however I still want that Aft Torpedo Bay on line as soon as possible."

"Yes sir." Once again John thought of Q again. Suddenly he felt compelled to ask the Captain if he had ever met Q. "Sir, may I ask a personal question?"

"Let's here it mate."

"Well, I have been studying about Q lately and I was curious if you had ever had an encounter with him?"

Ensign Burns/Tactical Dept. aka Pat Burns